Danse Macabre—Montreal Symphony/Kent Nagano (Decca 4830396)
In time for Halloween, this release features new recordings of some usual classical suspects for All Hallows Eve: Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre, Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, and Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Dvorak’s The Noonday Witch and Balakirev’s Tamara represent newer additions to classical music’s spooky pantheon. Charles Ives’s Hallowe’en, possibly composed on April Fools’ Day 1907, is more trick than treat, two minutes of musical hijinks (in four different keys) end with an operatic send-up. We’ll feature the disc on October 31 st—naturally—and in November as well.
Featured Wed 11/9, Fri 11/18