American orchestras and labels online, and a fine Boston podcast

Orchestras online
For several years now, the New York Philharmonic has been selling digital downloads of its programmes through iTunes – by subscription only during the season, and later as individual concerts. It’s a valuable resource, certainly, though not an inexpensive one: each concert costs as much as a full-price CD download. For those watching their wallets, the Minnesota Orchestra offers a smaller-scale ‘season pass’ subscription at a significantly lower cost – one can also purchase single works for a little more than a dollar each. Osmo Vänskä’s pliant and passionate performances of Brahms’s Fourth Symphony and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique are especially impressive but the cream of the crop is Vänskä’s long-breathed yet emotionally taut account of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony. The orchestra plays gloriously (the brass have real stamina) and the recorded sound is very good – spacious and clear. The 256kbps MP3 files can be purchased at: minnesotaorchestra.org/listen/music-on-demand

Shostakovich on Cedille
Cedille, one of the US’s most reliably rewarding independent labels, now has its own online shop: cedillerecords.org/music/index.php The Chicago-based company’s entire catalogue is available in both 256kpbs MP3 and 16-bit FLAC format; more recent releases are also available as 24-bit FLAC files. I was bowled over by the first instalment of a new Shostakovich cycle by the Pacifica Quartet – Nos 5‑8, cleverly coupled with Myaskovsky’s gorgeous Quartet No 13 – gutsy performances, beautifully recorded. A generous 1993 collection of Vivaldi concertos featuring former Chicago Symphony principal oboist Alex Klein is also not to be missed.

Vintage podcast
One of the oldest classical podcasts remains among the best: ‘The Concert’, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, has been going strong since 1997. Recent programmes include a recital by rising-star violinist Caroline Goulding, a selection of Kodály’s chamber works by Musicians from Marlboro, and Jeremy Denk playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations. One can subscribe through iTunes or download directly through the museum’s website: gardnermuseum.org/music/listen/podcasts

Andrew Farach‑Colton