Monthly Archive: May 2006
Audio News for May 15, 2006
New Record Industry Consumer Threat; IPTV Taking Over Broadcasting?
DON GILLIS: Portrait of a Frontier Town; The Alamo; Symphony No. 7: Saga of a Prairie School – Sinfonia Varsovia/ Ian Hobson – Albany
Non-intellectual concert music Americana from a non-stuffed shirt
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21; Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67; Egmont Overture, Op. 84a – Mecklenburg State Theater Orchestra, Schwerin (Op. 21)/ Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra/ Klaus Tennstedt – Weitblick
More stirring live performances from the conductor who died eight years ago
SCHUMANN: Carnaval, Op. 9; Arabesque in C, Op. 18; Toccata in C, Op. 7; Fantasiestuecke, Op. 12 – Juana Zayas, piano – Music & Arts
Cuban pianist with a grand technique delivers Schumann’s exuberant vivacity and beauty
BARTOK: Concerto for Orchestra; LUTOSLAWSKI: Concerto for Orchestra; Fanfare for Louisville – Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/ Paavo Järvi – Telarc
Effective pairing of two orchestral concertos showcasing the virtuosity of orchestra members
ROSSINI: “Bolero Tartare” = Complete Works for Piano, Volume 6 – Paolo Giacometti, piano – Channel Classics
Whimsical and irreverent character sketches in which the composer waxes Satiesque
“WEILL” – (Songs of Kurt Weill) Anne Kerry Ford, vocalist, with either WDR Big Band or small ensemble; arrangements and conducting by Roger Kellaway – Illyria Records
Fresh new treatments of classic German and American Weill songs
Sherwood Newcastle R-965 AV Surround Receiver
120w x 7 channels plus all the expected decoding abilities
GRIEG: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 27; NIELSEN: At the Bier of a Young Artist, Op. 58; SIBELIUS: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 56 “Voces Intimae” – Emerson String Quartet – DGG
Gorgeous inscription of girth and sinewy elan
Munich (2006)
Steven Spielberg’s latest is a hard-hitting meditation on revenge
Wilhelm Kempff, piano = SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata in E Minor (excerpt); Impromptu in A-flat Major No. 2; BRAHMS: Four Ballades; 2 Klavierstuecke; Intermezzo in B-flat Major; SCHUMANN: Piano Sonata No. 2 in G Minor – BBC Legends
Refined Romanticism from recitals of 1969 and 1972
BARTOK: Concerto for Orchestra; GIDEON KLEIN: Partita for Strings; MARTINU: Memorial to Lidice – The Philadelphia Orchestra/ Christopher Eschenbach – Ondine
First SACD in the new Philadelphia contract with the Finnish label
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2; String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3; String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 “Harp” – Budapest String Quartet – Biddulph
Mostly quiet surfaces in restorations from the HMV archives 1935-38
MOZART: Symphony No. 29; Symphony No. 35; Symphonies Nos. 38 – 41 – New Philharmonia/ Otto Klemperer – EMI Classics
Stylish, youthful energy pervades Klemperer’s Mozart, recorded 1956-65
DEJOHNETTE & FRISELL – The Elephant Sleeps but Still Remembers – Jack DeJohnette, drums and piano; Bill Frisell, guitar and banjo – Golden Beams
A compendium of inter-galactic sounds that would have charmed Roland Kirk
BACH: Capriccio in E Major “On the Departure of His Beloved Brother;” REGER: Variations and Fugue on a Theme of J.S. Bach; BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 24 in F Sharp Major; Sonata No. 21 in C “Waldstein” – Rudolf Serkin, piano – BBC Legends
An admirable 1973 London recital by the reknowned pianist
Audio News for May 10, 2006
Astonishing Response to BBC’s Beethoven Symphonies Free Downloads; Julian Lloyd Webber on the Dearth of Classical on iTunes; Koch Distributors Adds Labels
Ralph Towner, acoustic guitar – Time Line – ECM
Lovely sound of mostly original compositions, in reverberant acoustic of a church
Legends of Jazz – Showcase
First DVD release from the new PBS series with Ramsey Lewis
DONALD FAGEN – Morph the Cat – Reprise DVD-A + CD
********* MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH *******
Jazz in an R&B Groove / Jazz for the Wee Small Hours – HighNote
A pair of jazz samplers in stereo SACD
“The Tube-Only Night Music” – MOZART: Eine kleine Nachtmusik; Divertimenti KV 136, 137, 138 – Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra/ Wojciech Rajski – Tacet
Tube technology further warms up the warm string toneof Mozart’s entertainment music
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
