Monthly Archive: December 2015
RAMEAU: The Sound of Light – Music from Les Fêtes d’Hébé, Zoroastre, Platée, Les Indes galantes, Les Boréades, Naïs, Hippolyte et Aricie, Castor et Pollux, Dardanus and Six concerts en sextuor – Nadine Koutcher, sop./ Alexei Svetov, bass / MusicAeterna Orch. & Choir/ Teodor Currentzis – Sony Classical
RAMEAU: The Sound of Light – Music from Les Fêtes d’Hébé, Zoroastre, Platée, Les Indes galantes, Les Boréades, Naïs, Hippolyte et Aricie, Castor et Pollux, Dardanus and Six concerts en sextuor – Nadine Koutcher, soprano/ Alexei Svetov, bass / MusicAeterna Orchestra & Choir/ Teodor Currentzis – Sony Classical 88875014502, 67 mins. (2/3/15) ****(*): A quick […]
Audio News for December 11, 2015
Music Databases Proliferate; Star Wars: The Force Awakens Is Latest to Push Buying Tickets in Advance; OLED TVs – The Current Best
Oliver Gannon & Bill Coon – Two Much More! – CellarLive
A pair of aces.
“Arturo Toscanini, The Final New York Philharmonic Concert” = Works of HAYDN, RESPIGHI, SIBELIUS, WAGNER & WEBER – NY Philharmonic – Pristine Audio
The rare inscription of this 1945 pension-fund concert makes a potent impression.
Chaplin’s 15 Essanay Comedies, Blu-ray (1915/2015)
15 newly-restored shorts by and starring Charlie Chaplin, on both DVD & Blu-ray.
“Amaryllis” = Music for Recorders and Chalumeau with Frame Drums & Percussion – Nina Stern (recorders & chalumeau)/ Glen Velez (frame drums & percussion) – MSR Classics
The pleasures are not only gentle and real, they sometimes connect with deep inner feelings.
Expansions: The Dave Liebman Group – The Puzzle [TrackList follows] – Whaling City Sound
Dave Liebman and his group focus on challenge as a conduit for creativity.
Audio News for December 8, 2015
Hi-Res Logo and Promotion; New Audio Digital Format; More on Gamers From Canada; Classical News
Ernie Krivda – Requiem For A Jazz Lady – Capri
Some relatively unexplored terrain from an unconventional player.
Thrasher Dream Trio – Live in Studio [TrackList follows] – Whaling City Sound
A dream trio (plus guests) soars with selections associated with 1960s cinema.
“December Celebration: New Carols by Seven American Composers” [TrackList follows] – Lisa Delan (sop.)/ Lester Lynch (bar.)/ Musicians of the New Century Chamber Orch. & Volti Chorus/ Dawn Harms – Pentatone
Seasonal hi-res music with a twist guaranteed to make your sleigh bells ring.
Ivan Moravec Twelfth Night Recital = Works by BACH,MOZART BEETHOVEN, CHOPIN, DEBUSSY – Ivan Moravec, p. – Supraphon (2 CDs)
This previously unissued 1987 recital reveals the master Ivan Moravec at the peak of his splendid form.
“Music from the Reign of Francis I” – a combination of a bound book and 2 CDs
Audio News for December 4, 2015
Video Gaming; New Sabre Mobile DAC & Headphone Amp; Apple’s $3 Billion Mistake in Overpaying Purchase of Beats Audio and Music; Bongiovi DPS Audio Enhancer
MOZART: Die Entfuhrung aud dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) (complete opera) – soloists/ Yannick Nezet-Seguin – DGG (2 CDs)MOZART: Die Entfuhrung aud dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) (complete opera) – soloists/ Rene Jacobs – Harmonia mundi (2 CDs)
A cornucopia of Mozartian flavors in two versions suited to all tastes.
RACHMANINOV: Cello Sonata in g minor, Op. 19; Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 (ed. Wallfisch); CHOPIN: Cello Sonata in g minor, Op. 65; Etude in c-sharp minor; Intro and Polonaise brillante in C Major – Alisa Weilerstein, c./ Inon Barntan, p. – Decca
Weilerstein and Barnaton make an effective duo in romantic cello works that sing and dance ardently.
“Paul Taylor OrCHestra, Alphorn, Nordic Winds” – Eliana Burki, alphorn/Karolina Kantelinen, voice/Paul Wegman Taylor, cond. (TrackList follows) – Solo Musica (2 CDs)
Very inconsistent program played well none the less.
Gilles Vonsattel, piano – Shadowlines = Works of D. SCARLATTI, WEBERN, MESSIAEN, BENJAMIN & DEBUSSY – Honens
Swiss pianist Vonsattel explores the roots and applications of modernism with often explosive effects. Gilles Vonsattel – Shadowlines = SCARLATTI: 3 Sonatas; MESSIAEN: Etude No. 4 “Ile de feu II”; 2 Preludes; WEBERN: Variations, Op. 27; BENJAMIN: Shadowlines: Six Canonic Preludes for Piano; DEBUSSY: Feux d’artifice; Masques; D’un cahier d’esquisses; L’Isle joyeuse – Gilles Vonsattel, […]
BARTOK: Piano Music – 14 Bagatelles; 2 Romanian Dances; 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs; Improv. on Hungarian Peasant Songs; Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm (from Mikrokosmos) – Terry Eder, p. – MSR Classics
Beautiful playing, shedding a different light on an often-maligned composer.
“A Beethoven Odyssey”, Vol. 4 = Piano Sonatas: No. 9 in E; No. 15 in D, “A Therese”; No. 25 in G – James Brawn, p. – MSR Classics
It’s becoming repetitive to speak about the high quality of this series.
Home Page for December 2015
Our free drawing for December is for the largest collection we have ever offered: the 65-CD set of a giant cross-section of compositions by George Frederic Handel, except for his Italian operas. There are 12 oratorios, cantatas, odes, anthems, areas, duets, oboe concerti, plus the complete harpsichord music, complete organ concerti, complete Concerti Grossi, Water […]
“Patagon” = CINDY COX: Elegy for Solo Violin; Columba aspexit; Patagon – Alexander String Q. – Foghorn Classics
An enlivening release by an enlightened composer sets the stage for some great listening.