Monthly Archive: December 2014
Audio News for December 19, 2014
Global CE Sales Rose 4.5% in 2014; The Sony Cave-In on “The Interview”; Amazon Begins One-Hour Manhattan Deliveries; OTT Market Expands; Vinyl Reissue Schedule from Rush
Donald Byrd – Black Byrd – Blue Note (vinyl)
A guilty pleasure…
D. SCARLATTI: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 15 = 19 Sonatas – Orion Weiss, piano – Naxos
Orion Weiss performs brilliant and imaginative Scarlatti sonatas with their lyrical as well as virtuoso capacities in mind.
FiiO X1 Portable High Resolution Lossless Player SRP $100.00
The iPod Classic has a new and less expensive successor.
FiiO X1 Portable High Resolution Lossless Player SRP $100.00
The iPod Classic has a new and less expensive successor.
Joe Sample & the NDR Big Band Orchestra – Children of the Sun – Pra
A visionary statement on the Caribbean slave trade from Joe Sample…
SCHUBERT: Winterreise – Matthias Goerne, bari./ Christoph Eschenbach, p. – Harmonia mundi
Goerne hovers around the sublime in this last Schubert issue.
“Canciones espanolas” = ENRIQUE GRANADOS: La maja y el ruisenor from Goyescas; Canciones amatorias; MANUEL DE FALLA: Siete canciones populares espanolas; JOAQUÍN TURINA: Tres arias – Danielle Talamantes, sop./ Henry Dehlinger, p. – MSR
Get this amazing disc, and get it now. I don’t know what else to say.
Miles Davis – Enigma – Blue Note Records (2014) 10-inch vinyl
New Miles Davis tracks are intriguing sixty years later.
Pieces of the World: Music for Cello by SCHUBERT, ROSSINI, TCHAIKOVSKY & others [TrackList follows] – Marta Bagratuni – cello and voice, and others. – Blue Griffin
An interesting exploration of the cello repertoire over 300 years and 13 composers.
Lenny Breau – LA Bootleg Guitararchives & 12 Hit Wonder
A prodigious talent but an unfulfilled life.
Sarah Vaughan – The Divine One – Roulette/ Pure Pleasure – vinyl reissue
The Divine Ms. Vaughan in an intimate setting…
Herbie Hancock – Speak Like a Child – Blue Note vinyl
One of Herbie Hancock’s best Blue Note issues…
LULLY: Amadis (complete opera) – soloists/ Choeur de Chambre de Namur/ Les Talens Lyriques/ Christophe Rousset – Aparte (3 CDs)
Amadis may not be a highlight of the Lully catalog, but still represents a significant effort on the part of the composer.
Audio News for December 16, 2014
You’ll Probably Be Watching More Movies at Home
ELGAR: Sea Pictures; The Dream of Gerontius – Sarah Connolly, mezzo-sop.l/BBC Sym. Orch./BBC Sym. Chorus/soloists /Sir Andrew Davis – Chandos (2)
Two of Elgar’s best choral works written back to back in wonderful performances.
Yoonie Han, p. – Love and Longing = Short pieces of GLUCK, SCHUBERT, PROKOFIEV, GRANADOS, HAHN, WIPRUD & WAGNER – Steinway & Sons
Pianist Yoonie Han provides us an extended love-scene through thirteen pieces that celebrate love’s pleasures and pains.
Nels Cline and Julian Lage – Room [TrackList follows] – Mack Avenue/ Cryptogramophone
Two stellar jazz guitarists, one room: engaging, unexpected and enticing.
HOVHANESS: Piano Works [TrackList follows] – Alessandra Pompili (piano) – Dynamic
Some first-ever Hovhaness tracks and some fine transcriptions.
Leonard Cohen: Live in Dublin, (TrackList follows) – Sony Legacy (3 CDs + 1 Blu-ray)
This is a must have for Cohen fans (and fans of poet-songwriters).
R. STRAUSS: Metamorphosen for 23 Solo Strings; Sinfonia Domestica – French National Radio Orch./ BBC Sym. Orch./ Jascha Horenstein – Pristine Audio
A fine reissue from 1953 sessions with Jascha Horenstein, with broad pace and sensitivity.
Otis Spann – Walking The Blues – Candid Records (1960)/ Pure Pleasure Records (2014) – vinyl
Muddy Waters’ piano player steps into the spotlight.