Monthly Archive: August 2007
Tug at China’s Heartstrings – Chinese music for plucked instruments – Central Music Academy Orchestra of Plucked Instruments/ Chen Bing – Channel Classics
There are 18 players in all and they are spread around the hall to give an enveloping acoustic for surround sound
Ellen Honert, vocals – Breath of the Soul – Mill Station Records
Features a raft of guest performers from the general San Francisco Bay Area as well as Brazil.
STRAVINSKY / DEBUSSY – Katia et Marielle Labeque, pianos + videos by Tal Rosner – STRAVINSKY: Concerto for Two Pianos; Five Easy Pieces; Three Easy Pieces; Ragtime; 3 from “The Five Fingers;” Valse, Tango; DEBUSSY: En blanc et noir – KML Recordings
The Labeques engaged young videographer Rosner to provide images for most of the selections they perform on one and two pianos on the music CD
Vladimir Ashkenazy Recital = CHOPIN: Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op. 54; Nocturne in B Major, Op. 62, No. 1; DEBUSSY: L’Isle joyeuse; RAVEL: Gaspard de la Nuit – Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano – Decca “The Originals”
CD reissue of a 1965 recital released on LP
Monterey Jazz Festival 1975 (2007)
Mostly single tune samples from the top performers, including some unique combos of artists
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Blu-ray (2001)
Breakthru in CGI animation; failure in script and voice acting
MILES DAVIS – The Complete On The Corner Sessions, 6-CD box set – Columbia/Legacy
On The Corner of Way Out and Loose
Audio News for August 29, 2007
Hi-Def Format War Not Over Yet; What Really Soaks Up Those Watts; Burmester Goes Multichannel; Monster HDMI Cables Go Series
Complete Organ Works of BRUHNS & LEYDING – Friedhelm Flamm, organ – CPO
Two important but less familiar composers to discover and savor. Recommended.
MAHLER: Symphony No. 3 – Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Bernard Haitink/ Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano / Women of The Chicago Symphony Chorus / Chicago Children’s Choir – CSO Resound
This may be the long sought performance of the great nature opus.
MOZART: Complete Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, Volume 4 – Gary Cooper, fortepiano/Rachel Podger, violin – Channel Classics
While the players are relatively close-up in the recording, they nonetheless occupy a very real space in the recorded acoustic, and the sound of the instruments is startlingly realistic.
Jacky Terrasson, solo piano – Mirror – Blue Note/EMI
Terrasson uses the very low noise level of the studio to craft subtle pianissimo passages in some of his improvisations.
Astor Piazzolla – The Next Tango (1986)
Piazzolla relates his life and work on the New Tango and performs in two of his concertos with orchestra
Diego Amador – Piano Jondo – World Village
Self-taught, he has found a way to communicate the age-old flamenco musical culture via the grand piano
Victor Merzhanov, piano = Works of BEETHOVEN, CHOPIN, SCRIABIN, SCHUBERT – Vista Vera
This guy Merzhanov can play the piano!
MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde – Richard Lewis, tenor/Maureen Forrester, contralto/Chicago Symphony Orchestra/ Fritz Reiner – RCA Living Stereo
The horns are ablaze, the flute flutter-tonguing an electric current of revulsion and weeping nostalgia for life.
SCHUMANN – 3 Fantasys, Fantasy in C, Forest Scenes – Nicolas Bringuier, piano – Audite
Robert Schumann’s brilliant compositions for the piano bridge the period between Beethoven and the Romantics much more successfully than any of his contemporaries.
SCHOENBERG: String Quartet no. 4, Op. 37; Transfigured Night (original version, 1899) – Prazak Quartet/ Vladimir Bukac, viola/ Petr Prause, cello – Praga Digitals
SCHOENBERG: String Quartet no. 4, Op. 37; Transfigured Night (original version, 1899) – Prazak Quartet/ Vladimir Bukac, viola/ Petr Prause, cello – Praga multichannel SACD PRD/DSD 250 234, 58:41 ****(*): Schoenberg was enthralled with the younger sister (Mathilde) of his mentor, Alexander von Zemlinsky all during the summer of 1899. Inspiration hit like a brick, […]
JUSTIN DELLO JOIO: Two Concert Etudes; Music for Piano Trio; Sonata for Piano – Garrick Ohlsson, Jeremy Denk, piano/ Ani Kavafian, violin/ Carter Brey, cello – Bridge
Works that show this composer a force to be reckoned with
Jaco Pastorius: The Essential Jaco Pastorius – Jaco Pastorius, bass – Sony Legacy
The package includes a well-crafted and thoughtful essay by Pastorius’ biographer. Very highly recommended.
Alfred Cortot Encores = Works of SCHUBERT, BRAHMS, HANDEL, LISZT, CHOPIN, WEBER, ALBENIZ – Naxos Historical
Cortot was the first RCA Victor artist to have electrical recordings issued in his name.
J.S. BACH: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 – Simone Dinnerstein, piano – Telarc
Within a very leisurely aesthetic, Dinnerstein projects a lovely tone and a gracious sensibility
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
