Classical CDs

JUST OUT

“The Kennedy Experience,” Kennedy, violin. Sony.

The ever-iconoclastic Artist Formerly Known as Nigel Kennedy performs a six-movement composition based on themes by rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

Wagner: Gotterdammerung. Astrid Varnay, soprano; Bernd Aldenhoff, tenor; Ludwig Weber, bass; Martha Modl, soprano; Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano; Hans Knappertsbusch, conductor; 1951 Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus. Testament.

Recorded by Decca at the postwar reopening of Bayreuth but never released because of contractual disputes, this performance became a legend after producer John Culshaw wrote about it in his book “Ring Resounding”--and Wagnerians have been dying to hear it ever since.

“Legends of St. Nicholas.” Anonymous 4. Harmonia Mundi.

As an early holiday item, this female early-music quartet performs almost all of the surviving music from 1200 to 1350 written in honor of St. Nicholas--whose legend and deeds eventually evolved into today’s idea of Santa Claus.

“Bach 2000: Complete Edition.” Teldec.

Anticipating the popular millennium and the 250th anniversary of J.S. Bach’s death, Teldec is issuing what it claims is his entire corpus on 153 CDs. Or if you like, there is also a “Bach 2000: Complete Edition Light”--everything except the sacred cantatas on a mere 93 CDs.

Arvo Part: Fratres, Tabula Rasa, Symphony No. 3. Gil Shaham, violin; Adele Anthony, violin; Neeme Jarvi, conductor; Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Deutsche Grammophon.

Making good on his promise to dig further into contemporary music, Shaham tackles a pair of now-standard pieces by Estonian mystic Arvo Part, in tandem with Part’s countryman Jarvi.

Richard Strauss: “Also sprach Zarathustra”; Mahler: “Totenfeier,” Pierre Boulez, conductor; Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Deutsche Grammophon.

A highly unusual pairing for this conductor, since Boulez is not known as a champion of Richard Strauss, and “Totenfeier” is a rarity, the blueprint for the first movement of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.

“Strauss Heroines,” Renee Fleming, soprano; Barbara Bonney, soprano; Susan Graham, soprano; Christoph Eschenbach, conductor; Vienna Philharmonic. Decca.

With Fleming’s January 2000 appearances as the Marschallin in “Der Rosenkavalier” at the Met in mind, Decca releases an all-Richard Strauss disc containing four lengthy scenes from “Rosenkavalier,” “Arabella” and “Capriccio.”

SEPTEMBER

Karol Szymanowski: “King Roger,” Symphonie Concertante. Simon Rattle, conductor; Thomas Hampson, baritone; Leif Ove Andsnes, piano; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. EMI.

Szymanowski’s visionary opera receives a rare recording from the newly appointed conductor-designate of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Dvorak: Stabat Mater. Christine Goerke, soprano; Marietta Simpson, mezzo-soprano; Stanford Olsen, tenor; Nathan Berg, baritone; Robert Shaw, conductor; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Telarc.

This was Shaw’s last recording, and as a memorial to the late choral master, who died last winter, the disc also includes an interview with Shaw.

Mahler: Symphony No. 7. Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; San Francisco Symphony. RCA Victor.

The Seventh has always been a tough piece to organize, but that won’t faze Tilson Thomas, a onetime protege of the first conductor to make exuberant sense of the Seventh on records, Leonard Bernstein.

“Chopin Exploration” series. Opus 111.

This strikingly innovative nine-volume series, from mostly Polish artists, promises not only large swatches of Chopin’s music but also a disc devoted to his roots in Polish folk dances, a re-creation of his last concert, and two discs of improvisations on Chopin works by the Andrzej Jagodzinsky jazz trio and jazz/avant-garde pianist Leszek Mozdzer.

OCTOBER

Mahler: “Das Lied von der Erde.” Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Placido Domingo, tenor; Bo Skovus, baritone; Los Angeles Philharmonic. Sony.

The Salonen-L.A. Philharmonic Mahler series continues with this transcendental symphony of songs, which also features Domingo’s first recorded crack at Mahler.

“Mnemosyne,” Jan Garbarek, soprano and tenor saxophones; the Hilliard Ensemble. ECM New Series.

The long-awaited follow-up to their surprise 1993 hit album “Officium.” Jazz saxophonist Garbarek improvises over the Hilliard’s early-music voices in a program that straddles three millenniums--from Athenaeus’ “Delphic Paean” (127 BC) to a lullaby by contemporary Estonian composer Veljo Tormis.

“The Arthur Rubinstein Collection: A Life in Music.” RCA Victor. All of Rubinstein’s 706-odd recordings--from the 78-rpm era through his stereo Indian summer--have been rounded up here on 94 CDs, along with interviews with the great pianist-raconteur.

Paul McCartney: “Working Classical,” Lawrence Foster, Andrea Quinn, conductors; London Symphony Orchestra. EMI.

McCartney’s third classical album will contain orchestral renditions of his recent shorter classical compositions, including an orchestration of his exquisite piano piece “A Leaf.”

“The John Adams Earbox.” Nonesuch.

It’s John Adams’ turn to get the same deluxe treatment that labelmates Steve Reich and the Kronos Quartet received earlier, with nearly all of Nonesuch’s recordings of his music plus new renderings of “Lollapalooza” and “Harmonium,” and the world premiere recording of “Slonimsky’s Earbox” assembled into a 10-CD box.

“Great Pianists of the 20th Century.” Philips.

The biggest boxed set of all time (200 discs!) comes out in its entirety in two large carrying cases, offering a controversial, exhaustive survey of 74 of the century’s foremost keyboardists.

Rimsky-Korsakov: “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh,” Galina Gorchakova, soprano; Valery Gergiev, conductor; Kirov Orchestra. Philips.

The hard-working Gergiev continues to knock out sets of Russian operas rarely heard outside their native land. Recordings of Rimsky’s “The Tsar’s Bride” and “Kashchey the Immortal” will follow in November.

Stravinsky: “Pulcinella,” Four Pieces for Clarinet, Piano Concerto, Danses Concertantes. Diana Montague, mezzo-soprano; Misha Dichter, piano; Charles Niedich, clarinet; Robert Craft, conductor; Philharmonia Orchestra, 20th Century Classics Ensemble. Koch.

Even though his Stravinsky project for MusicMasters is not yet complete, first disciple Craft is working on a parallel cycle for Koch, whose Vol. 3 is headed by a performance of the neoclassical ballet “Pulcinella.”

NOVEMBER

J.S. Bach: “St. Matthew Passion,” Philippe Herreweghe, conductor; Ian Bostridge, tenor; Franz-Josef Selig, bass; Andreas Scholl, countertenor; Orchestra and Choir of Collegium Vocale. Harmonia Mundi.

Herreweghe’s second recording of the mighty “St. Matthew” is also the flagship of Harmonia Mundi’s own massive Bach Edition; this three-CD set also comes with a bonus CD-ROM that covers biographical, critical and historical information on the composer and his work.

Sibelius: “Promotion Cantata,” “Cantata for the Coronation of Nicholas II.” Leif Segerstam, conductor; Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Philharmonic Choir. Ondine.

Two world premiere recordings of unknown early Sibelius choral works from this enterprising Finnish label.