Monthly Archive: September 2017
Chris Tordini – Midnight Sun – Newvelle
Chris Tordini – Midnight Sun – Newvelle Records NV 010LP – 180 gm vinyl – ****: Wearing your heart on your sleeve—celebrating in acoustic splendor… (Chris Tordini – bass; Becca Stevens – vocals; Greg Ruggiero – guitars) I first became aware of Becca Stevens’ talents a few years ago when she participated on Billy Childs’ […]
Bjarte EIKE & Barokksolistene: The Image of Melancholy – BIS
Bjarte EIKE & Barokksolistene: The Image of Melancholy – BIS SACD 2057, 66:28 (1/28/14) ****½: The rambunctious leader of the ale-house gang turns melancholic and leads his troupe on an investigation through folk and Elizabethan idioms to finds the beauty at the heart of sorrow. (Bjarte Eike; violin/ Berit Norbakken Solset; soprano/ Jon Balke; organ […]
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 3; WAGNER: Parsifal: Act II; Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod – Kirsten Flagstad, soprano (Kundry)/ Birgit Nilsson (Isolde)/ Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/ Hans Knappertsbusch – Praga Digitals
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 3 in d minor; WAGNER: Parsifal: Act II: “Ich sah das Kind an seiner Mutter Brust”; Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod – Kirsten Flagstad, soprano (Kundry)/ Birgit Nilsson (Isolde)/ Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/ Hans Knappertsbusch – Praga Digitals PRD 350 140, 77:13 (7/28/17) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] *****: The inimitable “Kna” makes […]
Gerald Cannon – Combinations – Woodneck Records
Gerald Cannon – Combinations – Woodneck Records 66:27****: A pleasant mixture of precision and coolness (Gerald Cannon – bass; Gary Bartz – alto sax # 1,7,10; Sherman Irby – alto sax #2,4,5,6; Steve Slagle – alto sax #3; Jeremy Pelt – trumpet # 1,2,4,5; Duane Eubanks – trumpet #10; Rick Germanson – piano #1,3,4,6,7,9; Kenny […]
Eddie Daniels & Roger Kellaway – Just Friends: Live at the Village Vanguard – Resonance Records
Eddie Daniels & Roger Kellaway – Just Friends: Live at the Village Vanguard – Resonance Records HCD 2028, 57:57 – [Recording Date: 11/26/88, Street Date: 9/29/17] ****1/2: Another sharp arrow in Resonance Records’ quiver… (Eddie Daniels – clarinet; Roger Kellaway – piano; Buster Williams – bass; Al Foster – drums) George Klabin and Zev Feldman the […]
Vladimir Horowitz — Streaming broadcast presented by Mordecai Shehori and Gary Lemco
This week The Music Treasury will be featuring recordings by Valdimir Horowitz, presented by the distinguished pianist Mordecai Shehori and hosted by Dr Gary Lemco The streaming broadcast can be heard 1 October, 19:00 – 21:00 PDT, from Stanford University’s station, kzsulive.stanford.edu This is a rather exceptional presentation; the full announcement from The Music Treasury follows. The […]
Scarlatti Sonatas: Angela Hewitt, Eri Mantani, Yevgeny Sudbin
SCARLATTI Sonatas: Angela Hewitt – Hyperion 68184, 79:14 (9/29/17) ****½ : Eri Mantani – MDG SACD 904-1987-6, 77:52 (1/23/17) ****: Yevgeny Sudbin – BIS SACD 2138, 74:30 (3/14/2016) *****: A wealth of recent Scarlatti recitals which capture the dual nature of this singular musical genius. Midway through a Scarlatti recital, astonishment prompts the puzzled query: […]
SCHUBERT: Piano Trio D. 929; Notturno D. 897 – Trio Alba – Audiomax Super Audio CD
SCHUBERT: Piano Trio D.929. Notturno D. 897 – Trio Alba (Livia Sellin, violin. Philipp Comploi, cello. Chengcheng Zhao, piano) – Audiomax Super Audio CD 9023013-6, 60:17 (9-15-2017) *****: Trio Alba’s stunning new recording of Schubert’s second Piano Trio is exceptional in the modern fashion: almost casually virtuosic, bright eyed, bushy tailed and up on the […]
Johann Sebastian BACH: Six cello suites – Richard Narroway, cello — Sono Luminus
Johann Sebastian BACH: Six cello suites – Richard Narroway, cello — Sono Luminus SLE-70010, 1:16:26, (9/24/17) **** Richard Narroway would not be the first young cellist to take-on the suites for solo cello by Johann Sebastian Bach early in their professional career. Immediately in my mind I think of a young Yo-Yo Ma, who recorded […]
Linda May Han Oh – Walk Against Wind – Biophilia
Linda May Han Oh – Walk Against Wind [TrackList follows] – Biophilia BREP0003, 63:28 [4/14/17] ****: An emerging bassist who wants to make a difference. (Linda May Han Oh – acoustic bass, electric bass, vocals (tracks 3-4); Ben Wendel – tenor saxophone; Matthew Stevens – guitar; Justin Brown – drums; Fabian Almazan – piano (track […]
Tomorrow’s Air – Contemporary Works for Orchestra – The Moravian Philharmonic Wind Ensemble / Ovidiu Balan, Vít Micka, Pety Vronský, and John Page – Navona
Tomorrow’s Air – Contemporary Works for Orchestra and Large Ensemble – The Moravian Philharmonic Wind and Percussion Ensemble conducted by Ovidiu Balan, Vít Micka, Pety Vronský, and John Page – Navona Catalog # NV6108 (9/8/17) ****: Lovely contemporary music well performed and recorded. Tomorrow’s Air is a most agreeable CD with a collection of contemporary […]
Reger – Maximum Reger / Max Reger: The Last Giant
Reger – Maximum Reger / Max Reger: The Last Giant (2016) I’ve never seen a boxed DVD set of this scope and scholarship for any classical composer. Professor Susanne Popp, Bernhard Haas, Ira Levin, Jürgen Schaarwächter, Aris Quartett, Frauke May, Marcus Becker, Rudolf Meister, Andrew Brownell, Oliver Kern, et al. Director. Will Fraser; Studio: Fugue […]
Altius Quartet: “Dress Code” = Haydn Quartet in C major Op.74 No.3; Bolcom Three Rags; Arrangements of Dave Brubeck, Led Zeppelin, Ben E. King, and a-ha – Altius Quartet – Navona Records
Altius Quartet: “Dress Code” = Haydn Quartet in C major Op.74 no.3. Bolcom Three Rags. Arrangements of Dave Brubeck, Led Zeppelin, Ben E. King, and a-ha – Altius Quartet (Joshua Ulrich and Andrew Giordano, violins. Andrew Krimm, viola. Zachary Reaves, cello) – Navona Records NV6078, 55 minutes, (4/14/2017) ****: Altius Quartet brings fresh life to […]
George Li Live = HAYDN: Piano Sonata in B Minor; CHOPIN: Piano Sonata No. 2; RACHMANINOV: Variations on a Theme of Corelli; LISZT: Consolation No. 3, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 – George Li – Warner Classics
George Li Live at the Mariinsky = HAYDN: Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob.XVI:32; CHOPIN: Piano Sonata No. 2 in b-flat minor, Op. 35; RACHMANINOV: Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42; LISZT: Consolation No. 3 in D-flat Major; Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in c-sharp minor – George Li – Warner Classics 0190295812942 68:56 […]
Bob Merrill – Tell Me Your Troubles: Songs By Joe Bushkin Vol. 1 – Accurate Records
Bob Merrill – Tell Me Your Troubles: Songs By Joe Bushkin Volume 1 – Accurate Records AC 5071 48:55*** A tasty tribute to a fine pianist and an interesting songwriter. Whitney Balliett in writing a feature piece on Joe Bushkin for the February 21,1983 edition of The New Yorker described his piano style as“primitive, elegant, […]
Indigos – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra
Indigos – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra Studio: HDTT (from 15 ips 2-track tape recorded by Columbia in NYC in 1957) Transfer is playable on any universal deck. *****: A delightful Ellington album in truly hi-res form. So nice to have this great Ellington album in really good hi-res sound. With Jimmy Woode on the […]
MALIJA (Lockheart/Hoiby/Noble) – Instinct – Edition
MALIJA (Lockheart/Hoiby/Noble) – Instinct – Edition Records EDN1096 – 49:29 (9/8/17) ****½; Outstanding trio jazz with a chamber music discipline and compositional reach. (Mark Lockheart: saxophones/ Jasper Hoiby: double bass/ Liam Noble: piano) The players comprising the trio Malija—Mark Lockheart, Liam Noble and Jasper Hoiby—are major figures on the U.K. jazz scene. Readers of these […]
Cantelli: New York Phil. Orch. = CRESTON: Dance Overture; SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 4; BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4, No. 5; VIVALDI: Concerto Grosso; R. STRAUSS: Don Juan, Op. 20 – Wilhelm Backhaus (piano)/ Walter Gieseking (piano)/ New York Philharmonic/ Guido Cantelli – Pristine
Cantelli: New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Vol. 2 = CRESTON: Dance Overture; SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 4 in d minor, Op. 120; BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58; VIVALDI: Concerto Grosso in d minor, Op. 11, No. 3, RV 565; BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 “Emperor”; R. STRAUSS: […]
Maurizio SQUILLANTE: The Wings of Daedalus – ZKM Institute for Music and Acoustics/Maurizio Squillante – Wergo
Maurizio SQUILLANTE: The Wings of Daedalus – ZKM Institute for Music and Acoustics/Maurizio Squillante – Wergo 2073-2, 74:40, (8/18/17) **: Stretching the definition of ‘opera’… This is easily one of the strangest things I have heard in awhile. This does not mean I didn’t like it – at least a little. Maurizio Squillante is an […]
RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé; Pavane – Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/ Gustavo Gimeno – Pentatone
RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé (complete ballet); Une barque sur l’océan; Pavane pour une infante défunte – Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/ Gustavo Gimeno – Pentatone multichannel SACD PTC5186652, 72:35 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] *****: A perfumed and utterly intoxicating reading of Ravel’s masterpiece. It was the Greek writer Longus, probably from around the 2nd century AD, […]
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas Nos. 3, 14, 23, 26, 32; Variations on an Original Theme – Evgeny Kissin, piano – DGG
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata in C Major, Op. 2, No. 3; 32 Variations on an Original Theme in c minor, WoO 80; Piano Sonata No. 14 in c-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 “Moonlight”; Piano Sonata No. 23 in f minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”; Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat Major, Op. 81a “Les Adieux”; Piano […]
Oliver Lake Featuring FLUX Quartet – Right Up On – Passin’ Thru
Oliver Lake Featuring FLUX Quartet – Right Up On [TrackList follows] – Passin’ Thru 41236, 69:44 [4/21/17] ****: Lake as composer, not necessarily performer. (Oliver Lake: alto saxophone (tracks 1-2, 4), co-producer; Tom Chiu, Conrad Harris: violin; Max Mandel: viola; Felix Fan: cello) Fair warning: fans of saxophonist Oliver Lake should be aware the 70-minute […]