Monthly Archive: December 2016
Three Three Muskateers (Silent) (1921/2016)
The first Three Muskateers film, starring Doug Fairbanks in 1921! Three Three Muskateers (1921/2016) Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Adolphe Menjou, Mary MacLarn, Nigel De Brulier Director: Fred Niblo Writer: Alexandre Dumas Studio: Verdoux-vision/ Synergy Ent./ Undercrank Productions/ Silent Cinema Presentations Inc. 2016 Restoration: Karl Malkames New theater organ score: Ben Model Video: 4:3 B&W, tinted Audio: […]
Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series 40 – Sonny Rollins Trio & Horace Silver Quintet, Zurich 1959 – TCB
Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series 40 – Sonny Rollins Trio & Horace Silver Quintet, Zurich 1959 – The Montreux Jazz Label TCB 02402, 58:51 ****: The quintessence of small group modern jazz. (Sonny Rollins Trio : Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone; Henry Grimes – bass; Pete La Roca – drums – Horace Sliver Quintet: Horace […]
BYRD, BULL & GIBBONS: Parthenia – Alina Rotaru, harpsichord – Sono Luminus
BYRD, BULL & GIBBONS: Parthenia – Alina Rotaru, harpsichord – Sono Luminus DSL-92208, 52:52 (10/28/16) ****: Three Tudor masters assembled in first printed keyboard collection to honor a royal wedding. We first met Alina Rotaru on her debut recording dedicated to Johann Froberger back in 2012. That recording was a skillful investigation of the French […]
Wu Han Live II: Music@Menlo – Works of DOHNANYI & TANEYEV – Artist Led
Two massive piano quintets come to us by way of Music@Menlo and its founder, Wu Han. Wu Han Live II: Music@Menlo – DOHNANYI: Piano Quintet No. 1 in c minor, Op. 1; TANEYEV: Piano Quintet in g minor, Op. 30 – Wu Han, piano/ Alexander Sitkovetsky & Nicolas Dautricourt, violins/ Paul Neubauer, viola/ David Finckel, […]
Audio News for December 23, 2016
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ROY HARRIS & JOHN ADAMS: Violin Concertos with Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin) / BBC Sym. Orch./Andrew Litton – Signum Classics
ROY HARRIS & JOHN ADAMS: Violin Concertos with Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin) / BBC Sym. Orch./Andrew Litton – Signum Classics SIGCD468, 62:22 (10/1/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: Two lovely contemporary violin concertos. This is a highly desirable recording from Signum Classics. It offers two violin concertos by American composers Roy Harris and John Adams. The Adams […]
PLATTI: Six Trio Sonatas for Violin, Violoncello and Continuo – Armonioso – MD&G
PLATTI: Six Trio Sonatas for Violin, Violoncello and Continuo – Armonioso – multichannel SACD (and 2+2+2) MD&G 903 1978-6, 64:40 (12/2/16) ****: (Francesco Cerrato; violin/ Stefano Cerrato; violoncello/ Marco Demaria; cello/ Michele Barchi; harpsichord/ Daniele Ferretti; organ) Late Baroque trio sonatas from the music library of the Counts of Schonbrun-Wiesenheit. By the 1730s, the language […]
Jane Ira Bloom – Early Americans – Outline/Sono Luminus SL Ed. – audio-only Blu-ray
A gorgeous Blu-ray audio from American’s soloist on soprano sax, with her trio. Jane Ira Bloom – Early Americans [TrackList follows] – Outline/Sono Luminus SL Editions – multichannel audio-only Blu-ray SLE-70005. 52:54 (Distr. by Naxos) [11/18/16] *****: (Jane Ira Bloom, soprano sax/ Mark Helias, bass/ Bobby Previte, drums) With renowned audio engineer Jim Anderson, this […]
Snowden (Oliver Stone), Blu-ray (2016)
A gripping political thriller as Oliver Stone can make. Snowden (Oliver Stone), Blu-ray (2016) Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Tom Wilkinson, Zachary Quinto Director: Oliver Stone Studio: Open Road/ Universal Studios Home Ent. 55176941 (12/27/16) 2 discs Video: 2.40:1 for 16:9 screens, HD color Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, DD 5.1 Subtitles: English […]
“UR” – Music by EVA HOLM FOOSNÆS, ODD JOHAN OVEROYE, ØYVIND JOHAN EIKSUND, MARTIN EIKESET KOREN – Eva Holm Foosnæs (cond.)/ Orchestra/Ensemble Kammerkoret Aurum – 2L
UR – Music by EVA HOLM FOOSNÆS, ODD JOHAN OVEROYE, ØYVIND JOHAN EIKSUND, MARTIN EIKESET KOREN – Eva Holm Foosnæs (cond.)/ Orchestra/Ensemble Kammerkoret Aurum – 2L -129 multichannel 5.1 SACD, 44:46 (01/06/17) ****: Another interesting release from 2L in Norway. The recordings consist exclusively of commissioned works, written by composers in affiliation with the musical community […]
American First Sonatas – Sonatas by REINAGLE, MACDOWELL, GRIFFES & SIEGMEISTER – Cecile Licad, p. – Danacord
Cecile Licad embarks on a fine tour of first American piano sonatas, our home-spun answer to European models. American First Sonatas – REINAGLE: Philadelphia Sonata No. 1 in D Major; MACDOWELL: Piano Sonata No. 1 in g, Op. 45 “Tragica”; GRIFFES: Sonata for Piano; SIEGMEISTER: American Sonata (No. 1) – Cecile Licad, p. – Danacord […]
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 1 in g minor, “Winter Daydreams”; The Tempest – Orch. of St. Luke’s/ Pablo Heras-Cadado – Harmonia mundi
Conductor Heras-Casado and St. Luke’s capture two programmatic symphonic works by Tchaikovsky. TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 1 in g minor, Op. 13 “Winter Daydreams”; The Tempest, Op. 18 – Orch. of St. Luke’s/ Pablo Heras-Cadado – Harmonia mundi HMC 902220, 68:18 (11/4/16) [Distr. By PIAS] ****: Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony (1868) combines his strong desire to compete […]
HAYDN: Cello Concertos – Pavel Gozmiakov, cello/Orch. Gulbenkian – Onyx
HAYDN: Cello Concertos – Pavel Gozmiakov, cello/Orch. Gulbenkian – Onyx 4151, 59:55 (6/17/16) *****: The legendary King of Portugal 1725 Stradivarius makes police-escorted journey from museum to concert hall where it dazzles in two Haydn concertos. In some endeavors, say bird-watching, novelty is the desideratum. Last year a Siberian Bunting (sp. vlasowae) with a faulty […]
Pop – Post Pop Depression – Live at Royal Albert Hall – Blu-ray + 2 CDs (2016)
Pop – Post Pop Depression – Live at Royal Albert Hall, Blu-ray + 2 CDs (2016) Legendary proto-punk artist proves his relevance once again. Performers: Iggy Pop; Joshua Homme; Dean Fertita; Matt Helders, Troy Van Leeuwen; Matt Sweeney Studio: Eagle Vision EVB335569 Director: Nick Wickham Video: 16×9 for 1080i HD, color Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio […]
Audio News for December 20, 2016
Audio Issue with Google Pixel Smartphones – All Google Pixel XL smartphones, when you crank up the volume to one of the last three volume settings, produce a static distortion. Not heard on other smartphones. Google doesn’t seem to know about the problem. DEG Hi-Res Audio Pavillion at CES – The Digital Entertainment Group will […]
Russian Violin Concertos – Music of PROKOFIEV, GLAZUNOV AND KHACHATURIAN – Julia Fischer, v./ Russian National Orch./Yakov Kreizberg – Pentatone
Russian Violin Concertos – Music of PROKOFIEV, GLAZUNOV AND KHACHATURIAN – Julia Fischer, violin/ Russian National Orch./Yakov Kreizberg – Pentatone multichannel SACD (5.0) PTC 5186 591, 79:00 [Distr. by Naxos] (10/14/16) ****: Three powerful violin concertos in this Pentatone reissue. This lovely disc from Pentatone is a reissue of a 2004 recording with the same […]
BALAKIREV: Piano Sonata in b-flat minor; Reverie; Mazurka No. 6 in A-flat Major; Islamey; LISZT: Sonata in b; LYAPUNOV: Etude 1 “Berceuse” 12 Etudes d’execution transcendente – Louis Kentner, p. – Appian Recordings
APR resissues the Columbia shellacs of Louis Kentner, 1944-45, in Liszt, Balakirev, and Lyapunov. BALAKIREV: Piano Sonata in b-flat minor, Op. 5; Reverie; Mazurka No. 6 in A-flat Major; Islamey; LISZT: Sonata in b; LYAPUNOV: Etude 1 “Berceuse;” 12 Etudes d’execution transcendente, Op. 11 – Louis Kentner, p. – Appian Recordings APR 6020 (2 CDs) […]
Cyprien Katsaris – Die Wahlverwandtschten = Works of BEETHOVEN, MENDELSSOHN, LOEILLET, RAVEL, WANG, Etc. – Piano 21
Cyprien Katsaris shows off his new Bechstein in a series of works that gravitate to each other. Cyprien Katsaris – Die Wahlverwandtschten = BEETHOVEN: Egmont Overture, Op. 84; MENDELSSOHN: Suleika, Op. 34, No. 4; SCHUMANN: Novellette No. 1 in F Major, Op. 21, No. 1; POULENC: Noveltte, No. 3; LOEILLET: Courante; GODOWSKY: Renaissance: No. 10: […]
Dizzy Gillespie & Friends – Concert Of The Century – Justin Time
Dizzy Gillespie & Friends – Concert Of The Century – Justin Time Just 259-2, 60:12 ****: A singular aggregation in top-flight form. (Dizzy Gillespie – trumpet/ Ray Brown – bass/ Milt Jackson – vibes/ Hank Jones – piano/ James Moody – tenor sax & flute/ Philly Joe Jones – drums) For a time after World […]
The Three Sounds – Groovin’ Hard – Live at the Penthouse, 1964-1968 – Resonance
It’s all good… The Three Sounds – Groovin’ Hard – Live at the Penthouse, 1964-1968 – Resonance, 51:30 (1/13/17) ****: (Gene Harris – piano/ Andy Simpkins – bass/ Bill Dowdy, Kalil Madi, or Carl Burnett – drums) It may come as a surprise to hardcore Blue Note Records fans that the Three Sounds were the […]
Bruno Walter – The Complete Columbia Acoustic Recordings – Works of MENDELSSOHN, BERLIOZ, WEBER, WAGNER, & R. STRAUSS – Pristine Audio
The earliest Bruno Walter records reveal a committed Romantic conductor in music in the German tradition. Bruno Walter – The Complete Columbia Acoustic Recordings – WEBER: Overture to Der Freischuetz; MENDELSSOHN: Nocturne from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61; BERLIOZ: Menuet of the Will-o’-the-Wisps from La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24; WAGNER: Tristan und Isolde: […]
MONDONVILLE: Trio Sonatas – Johannes Pramsohler/ Ens. Diderot – Audax
MONDONVILLE: Trio Sonatas Op. 2 – Johannes Pramsohler/ Ensemble Diderot – Audax 13707, 67:22 (11/8/16) ****: World premier chamber music from the twilight era of the French Baroque led by researcher/performer Johannes Pramsohler. (Johannes Pramsohler- violin/ Roldan Bernabe – violin/ Kristen Huebner – transverse flute/ Gulrim Choi – baroque cello/ Philippe Grisvard – harpsichord) Johannes […]