 |
||
 |
|
|
By Matthew Westphal
24 Jun 2006
Two new Deutsche Grammophon releases by legendary conductors made their debuts on the Billboard classical chart this past week. Pierre Boulez's recording of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony (No. 2) with the Vienna Philharmonic arrived at no. 10, while Claudio Abbado and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra saw their version of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, starring Christoph Strehl, Dorothea Röschmann, Erika Miklósa, René Pape and Hanno Müller-Brachmann, landed at no. 17.
Three notable titles have returned to the chart after having fallen off: Dawn Upshaw and the Andalucian Dogs in Osvaldo Golijov's Ayre and folk song settings by Berio (no. 15), Mitsuko Uchida's latest recording of Beethoven piano sonatas for Philips (no. 21), and a disc of selections from Verdi's La traviata by Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón (no. 24).
The DG recording of Golijov's first opera, Ainadamar, starring Dawn Upshaw with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, has moved back up to the third spot on the chart after slipping from second to fourth during the previous two weeks.
No Boundaries by The 5 Browns has now completed its 11th week at no. 1, and their debut disc, The 5 Browns, remains at no. 6. Two recordings by the popular violinist André Rieu, The Flying Dutchman and Tuscany, moved up three notches each to no. 2 and no. 4, respectively.
Two discs of acclaimed opera singers in lighter fare are climbing up the chart: Sentimiento Latino, tenor Juan Diego Flórez's collection of Latin American love songs, has climbed from tenth place to fifth, and Renée Fleming's Sacred Songs moved from no. 18 to no. 13.
Moving downward are Memory, pianist Lang Lang's release of favorite works from his youth by Mozart, Chopin, Schumann et al., from No. 3 to no. 7, and the Anne-Sophie Mutter/London Philharmonic recording of Mozart Violin Concertos, which leapt back onto the chart at no. 2 last week but has since slipped to ninth place.
Italian pop-crooner-turned-tenor Andrea Bocelli and boy band Il Divo continue to dominate the classical crossover chart, holding the top five spots between them for the second consecutive week. The Boston Pops did re-enter the crossover chart at no. 24, with their disc "America," as did Joshua Bell with the soundtrack to the film Ladies in Lavender.
Send questions and comments to the Webmaster
Copyright © 2008 Playbill, Inc. All Rights Reserved.