Monthly Archive: June 2015
Conductor Kirill Kondrashin = WAGNER: Siegfried Idyll; RAVEL: Ma mere l’oye; TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade in C Major – Staatskapelle Dresden – MeloClassic
Spirited, rare readings from East Germany by Kirill Kondrashin, made shortly after his international “emergence” from Moscow, 1958.
Limelight, Blu-ray (1952/2015)
A great, though quite sentimental, late Chaplin film.
“Nature” = DAVID LANG: Breathless; LUCIANO BERIO: Ricorrenze; DENYS BOULIANE: “… A Certain Chinese Cyclopaedia…”; NAT EVANS: Music for Breathing – The City of Tomorrow – Ravello
Very refreshing collection of new quintet works!
MONK = The Complete Riverside Recordings – Riverside, about 16 hours (15-CD set)
A welcome multi-disc visit from the immortal Thelonious Monk.
Audio News for June 9, 2015
Naim Offers Tabletop Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Speaker; Walmart Tries to Improve CE Sales; Global Shipments of UHD TVs Quadruple; French Multiroom Audiophile Speakers Coming to U.S.
Christian Jacob, piano – Beautiful Jazz – WilderJazz – vinyl
This is an excellent analog jazz piano recording.
SAINT-SAENS: Cello Concerto No. 1 in a minor; LALO: Cello Concerto in d minor; FAURE: Elegy – Kim Cook, c./ Philharmonica Bulgarica/ Valeri Vatchev/ Gregor Palikarov (Lalo) – MSR Classics
Strong playing marks Kim Cook’s survey of three traditional French cello works, well supported by the Bulgarian orchestral forces.
ROSENKRANZ: Toward the Curve [TrackList follows] – Thomas Rosenkranz, pianist & surround effects – Oberlin Music (audio-only Blu-ray + CD)
Well-recorded contemporary works with piano and electronics.
EUGEN SUCHOŇ: Metamorfózy; Balladická Suita; Symfonietta Rustica – Estonian Nat. Sym. Orch./ Neeme Järvi – Chandos
Wonderful performances of these somewhat obscure works.
Joshua Breakstone – 2nd Avenue – The Return Of The Cello-Quartet – Capri
The album offers variety and inquisitiveness.
Monty Alexander – Rass! – featuring Ernest Ranglin, guitar – MPS
“dats some funky music, mon.”
STEVE REICH: Electric Counterpoint (version for steel pans, vibes, marimba & pre-recorded tape); Six Marimbas Counterpoint; Vermont Counterpoint – kuniko, percussion – Linn IANNIS XENAKIS: Pléïades; Rebonds – kuniko, percussion – Linn
Two very avant percussion SACDs from a Japanese master of the form.
STEVE REICH: Electric Counterpoint (version for steel pans, vibes, marimba & pre-recorded tape); Six Marimbas Counterpoint; Vermont Counterpoint – kuniko, percussion – Linn IANNIS XENAKIS: Pléïades; Rebonds – kuniko, percussion – Linn
Two very avant percussion SACDs from a Japanese master of the form.
Antonio Meneses – Capriccioso = Works of J-L & J-P DUPORT, PIATTI & POPPER – Antonio Meneses, cello – Avie
The Romantic art of the cello etude assumes glorious heights in this tribute from Antonio Meneses.
Martha Argerich & Daniel Barenboim, pianists, in MOZART, SCHUBERT & STRAVINSKY, Blu-ray (2015)
A magnificent, though expensive, two-piano recital to experience.
“Time Present and Time Past” = Works of A. SCARLATTI, C.P.E. BACH, J.S. BACH, GORECKI, GEMINIANI & REICH – Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord/ Concerto Cologne — ArchivCHRISTOPH NICHELMANN: Harpsichord Sonatas = 12 of them – Michele Benuzzi, harpsichord – Brilliant Classics
A pair of interesting harpsichord CDs, including some great concertos.
“Time Present and Time Past” = Works of A. SCARLATTI, C.P.E. BACH, J.S. BACH, GORECKI, GEMINIANI & REICH – Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord/ Concerto Cologne — ArchivCHRISTOPH NICHELMANN: Harpsichord Sonatas = 12 of them – Michele Benuzzi, harpsichord – Brilliant Classics
A pair of interesting harpsichord CDs, including some great concertos.
Audio News for June 5, 2015
Naxos Launches ClassicsOnline in HD; Showtime Announces Streaming Service; Amazon Grows Fire TV; Smart Plug From iHome; Batteriser Harnesses Otherwise-Wasted Battery Power
Sir Malcolm Sargent = RACHMANINOFF: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43; DOHNANYI: Variations on a Nursery Song, Op. 25; DVORAK: Symphonic Variations, Op. 78 – Cyril Smith, p./ Philharmonia Orch. – Guild
Guild continues to celebrate Sir Malcolm Sargent’s legacy, here in collaboration in vital color music with pianist Cyril Smith.
BIZET: Marche funebre in B Minor; Overture in A Minor; Patrie Ov.; Esquisse: Les quatre coins; Petite Suite; Roma Symphony – RTE Nat. Sym. Orch. / Jean-Luc Tingaud – Naxos
Conductor Jean-Luc Tingaud follows his Dukas album for Naxos with energetic rarities from Georges Bizet.
SCHUBERT: Complete Works for Violin and Piano; Fantasia in f minor for Piano Duet [TrackList follows] – Julia Fischer, violin and piano/ Martin Helmchen, p. – Pentatone
Not to be missed: richly memorable accounts in one two-disc set of Franz Schubert’s Complete Works for Violin and Piano.
MICHAEL GORDON: “Dystopia” = Dystopia, Rewriting Beethoven’s Seventh Sym.—Los Angeles Philharmonic/ David Robertson/ Bamberger Symphoniker/ Jonathan Nott—Canteloupe
The sounds of urban culture become music in Michael Gordon’s orchestral world.