Monthly Archive: July 2015
Mose Allison – Takes to the Hills – Epic/Sony/ PurePleasure – vinyl reissue
Mose Allison – the ultimate hipster – “Takes to the Hills”…
HAVERGAL BRIAN: Symphonies 6, 28, 29, and 31—New Russia State Sym. Orch. /Alexander Walker — Naxos
A brief survey of the large symphonic output of an eclectic English composer.
LANSKY: Contemplating Weather – Western Michigan U. Chorale / Kimberly Dunn Adams – Orch./Ensemble: Meehan/Perkins pianists – Quattro Mani – Bridge
Three engaging contemporary compositions.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 2, “Little Russian”; Symphony No. 3, “Polish” – Cincinnati Sym. Orch./ Eugene Goossens/ National Sym. Orch./ Hans Kindler – Guild
Guild restores the first “complete” recorded editions of Tchaikovsky’s middle symphonies.
Melvin Taylor – Plays the Blues for You – Isabel/ PurePleasure – vinyl reissue
Early Melvin Taylor session gets an audiophile upgrade…
Audio News for July 31, 2015
Dolby AC-4 for Broadcast and Streaming Services; Level Magic Selective Loudness Processing for MPEG-H TV Audio; Music Industry Grooving on Vinyl
POULENC: Oboe Sonata; Flute Sonata; Clarinet Sonata; Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano; Wind Sextet; Villanelle for Piccolo and Piano; Elegy for Horn and Piano – The Iowa Ensemble – MSR Classics
A fantastic disc that equals the very best.
“Guerre & Paix 1614 – 1714 (War & Peace)” = La Capella Reial de Catalunya/ Le Concert des Nations/ Hesperion XXI/ Jordi Savall – Alia Vox
Savall’s latest plumbs the depth of mankind’s vacillation between war and peace, with outstanding music to assuage the arguments.
PAGANINI: Violin Concerto No. 2 in b minor; Violin Concerto No. 5 – Alexandre Dubach, violin/ Orch. Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo/ Lawrence Foster – Claves
Inscribed in 1993 as part of the complete cycle of Paganini concertos, this installment provides excitement and technical mastery.
MOZART: Piano Concertos – The Complete Studio Recordings, 1933-1947; Sel. Piano Sonatas, Rondos, and Fantasias; HAYDN: Piano Concerto in D – Edwin Fischer, p. and cond./ London Philharmonic Orch./ Edwin Fischer Ch. Orch./ Lawrance Collingwood (K. 491)/ John Barbirolli (K. 482)/ Philharmonia Orch./ Josef Krips (K. 503)/ Vienna Philharmonic Orch. (Haydn) – APR (3 CDs)
Mozart advocate and brilliant keyboardist Edwin Fischer and a compendium of his commercial inscriptions.
Audio News for July 28, 2015
Stan Ricker Dies; Classical News; TV’s Future: 8K?; FCC Approves Merger of AT&T and DirecTV; Lincoln MKX Offers 13-Speaker Revel Audio System
Guapo – Obscure Knowledge [TrackList follows] – Cuneiform
A soundtrack for visitations to strange domains.
Matt MacDougall – Boy Goes to City [TrackList follows] – Maxwell Tree Music
Not your typical Nashville release.
RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloe – Rotterdam Philharmonic Orch. /Yannick Nezet-Seguin – BIS
A fresh Daphnis and Chloe well recorded and played.
All the Way Back = Works of SMETONA, BRAHMS, BRACH, SCHUMANN, LISZT & CHOPIN – Vytautas Smetona, piano – Navona
Pianist Vytautas Smetona returns to the recording studio with a recital that embodies “the rhetoric of desire” in the Romantic ethos.
Horenstein conducts BERG and SCHOENBERG = BERG: Altenberglieder; SCHOENBERG: Verklaerte Nacht; Kammersymphonie No. 1 – Irma Kolassi, mezzo-sop./ Orch. Nat. de la Radiodiffusion Francaise (Berg)/ Orch. of SW German Radio/ Jascha Horenstein – Pristine Audio
Pristine restores the historic appearance of Berg’s Altenberglieder in their original, complete performance.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D Major; BRUCH: Violin Concerto No. 1 in g minor – Tibor Varga, v./ Festival Orch./ J.M. Auberson – Claves
Volume 3 of the Tibor Varga Collection features this great violinist’s work in two Romantic staples, incisively played and recorded.
“Sing with the Voice of Melody” = stile antico – Harmonia mundi
Has it been ten years already?
RAVEL: “Orchestal Works” = Le Tombeau de Couperin; Menuet antique; Ma mère l’oye; Valses nobles et sentimentale; Une barque sur l’océan – BSO /Seiji Ozawa – PentaTone
Another excellent addition to this important series.
Paul Makanowitzky and Noel Lee = Works of BEETHOVEN, SCHUMANN, STRAVINSKY, BRAHMS, MOZART, SCHOENBERG & MONDONVILLE for violin and piano – Makanowitzky & Vitas – MeloClassic (2 discs)
The impressive art of violin virtuoso and pedagogue Paul Makanowitzky has several vehicles in diverse styles to exemplify his fierce approach to music-making.
Audio News for July 24, 2015
Sony Brings Android TV & Hi-Res to Australia; Test of Hearing Hi-Res Improvement; Fringe Festival in Kansas City; Kickstarter Adapter Connects Chromecast to Any Stereo System
The Encore of Tony Duran (2011/2015)
A touching saga about a guy who is down and out but faces himself and comes out it.