Monthly Archive: January 2007
Quartet San Francisco – Látigo – ViolinJazz Recordings
Chamber music covering tango to jazz, classical to Latin, and contemporary to world music
GIANNINI: Symphony No. 3 in B-flat Major; Dedication Overture; Fantasia; Praeludium and Allegro; Variations and Fugue – University of Houston Wind Band/ Tom Bennett – Naxos
Vittorio Giannini has a distinguished body of work to his credit, much of it in a consciously melodic vein, warmly expressive.
WILLIAM ALWYN: String Quartets 1 – 3; Three Winter Poems – Rasumovsky Quartet – Dutton Epoch
Superb string quartets from a composer not known for such
Audio News for January 24, 2007
Dissenting View on Electronic Gadgets As Power Hogs; The Cleveland Orchestra Resumes Commercial Recordings; Lawsuit Against XM Radio Will Proceed
PUCCINI: Tosca (complete opera) (1985)
PUCCINI: Tosca (complete opera) (1985) Soloists: Hildegard Behrens, Plácido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil, James Courtney, Italo Tajo, Anthony Laciura, Russell Christopher /Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus Conductor: Giuseppe Sinopoli Production and Set Design: Franco Zeffirelli Studio: Deutsche Grammophon Video: 4:3, color Audio: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo Subtitles & Menu: English Extras: Picture Gallery; Artists’ Discussion; “Tosca, Zeffirelli, and Rome” featurette Length: 123 mins.; 36 mins. (extras) Rating: ***1/2 In the extras of this DVD of Tosca, Zeffirelli says that “opera is essential [basic]; it can’t be sophisticated.” And yet this 1985 production of the opera, the second for the famed designer (the first was in 1964 at Covent Garden), is anything but basic. In fact, it is highly sophisticated, especially in its sumptuous replication onstage of the three buildings in Rome that Puccini specifies: Sant’Andrea della Valle, the Palazzo Farnese, and Castel Sant’Angelo. For sheer visual pleasure, this may well be the best Tosca available on video. In addition to the visual delights, the viewer will revel in the excellent surround sound and in Maestro Sinopoli’s long, lush musical lines. This was Sinopoli’s only engagement at the Met, and he conducts the opera with brio and drama. The […]
American Orchestral Works = KOLB: All in Good Time; KERNIS: Sarabanda in Memoriam; HERSCH: Ashes of Memory; CORIGLIANO: Midsummer Fanfare; HARBISON: Partita for Orchestra – Grant Park Orchestra/ Carlos Kalmar – Cedille
An interesting concert with mixed results in quality. The sound is excellent, and the program notes erudite.
SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op. 73; String Quartet No. 7 in F# Minor, Op. 108; String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 – St. Lawrence String Quartet – EMI Classics
A spirited homage to the composer’s powerful, tormented spirit, for his centennial year.
HOLST: A Fugal Overture; A Somerset Rhapsody; Beni Mora -Oriental Suite; Hammersmith – A Prelude & Scherzo. Op. 52; Scherzo (1934); Japanese Suite — London Philharmonic Orchestra/ London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult – Lyrita
This music bespeaks a talent with a broad range of colors
Plácido Domingo – Moments of Passion – Sony Classical
All about pride, humanity, passion, and love
Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life (Soundtrack to the PBS Documentary) – New performances of Strayhorn works by Bill Charlap, Elvis Costello, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano & Dianne Reeves – Blue Note/EMI
The film will deal with the special 29-year partnership between Ellington and the pioneering African-American composer, arranger and pianist.
SHOSTAKOVICH: The Golden Age (complete ballet) – Royal Scottish National Orchestra/ José Serebrier – Naxos
A sort of Soviet version of Milhaud’s “Nothing-Doing Bar” ballet
Jeffrey Roden, electric bass – Seeds of Happiness – New Albion
There’s a lot more depth here musically and harmonically than most New Age CDs
GEORGE WHITEFIELD CHADWICK: Symphony No. 2; Symphonic Sketches – National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine/ Theodore Kuchar – Naxos
His neo-Romanticism was infused with very American feelings of enthusiasm and optimism
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90; Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56a – Radio-Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart/ Hans Knappertsbusch – Hanssler Classic
The interpretation itself is entirely in the Romantic, voluptuous strain, closely akin to Leonard Bernstein’s
The Plow That Broke the Plains & The River (1936 & 37)
Newly-recorded soundtrack scores by Virgil Thomson mark this historically important double feature
MENOTTI: Missa “O Pulchritudo”; VIERNE: Messe Solennelle – William Ferris Chorale/Joan Gibbons, soprano/Deborah Fair, mezzo soprano/John Vorrasi, tenor/Thomas Sillitti, bass/William Ferris Chorale/Composer Festival Orchestra/ Wm. Ferris – Cecille
Menotti but nice
BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14a – L’Orchestre National de France /Andre Vandernoot – HDTT
Beauty and spite run through this epic work, mounted by HDTT in thrilling sonic VistaVision
Audio News for January 20, 2007
Post-CES Reflections; Minnesota Orchestra Beethoven Cycle Downloads
PureLink HS-42A Digital Extender
A HDMI switcher for HT fans running out of inputs
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10, N o. 3; Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major, Op. 7; Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 “Appassionato” – Angela Hewitt, piano – Hyperion
Music played with passion, power, and eminent respect for its historical context.
JOHN HARBISON: Due Libri dei Mottetti di Montale; Concerto for Oboe, Clarinet, & Strings; Piano Sonata No. 1; Mirabai Songs – Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano/ Georgine Resick, mezzo-soprano; other soloists/Scott Yoo, cond. – Bridge
This release may end up as a definitive accounting of the many-faceted composer’s work.
* BERG: Seven Early Songs, Three Pieces from the Lyric Suite; WEBERN: Variations for Orchestra, Op. 30; SCHOENBERG: String Quartet (Orchestral version) – Claudia Barainsky, soprano/ Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur/ Jac van Steen – D&G
******* MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH *******
A recording that puts the Second Viennese School in a whole new light
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
