Monthly Archive: December 2007
Tales of Opera – Simon Keenlyside, baritone/ Munich Radio Orchestra/ Ulf Schirmer, conductor – Sony Classical
There are few finer baritones with such lyrical propensity on the stage today.
“I Heard a Voice: The Music of the Golden Age” = Works of WEELKES, GIBBONS, TOMKINS – Fretwork/ Choir of King’s College, Cambridge/ Stephen Cleobury, conductor – EMI
Composers and choir a match made in heaven in yet another successful recording.
Delta Saxophone Quartet – dedicated to you…but you weren’t listening – Moonjune Records
Re-imaginings of the music of 70s psychedelic rock/jazz group Soft Machine
NINO ROTA: Sinfonia sopra una Canzone d’Amore; Concerto-Soirée for Piano and Orchestra – Benedetto Lupo, piano/ Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana/ Massimo De Bernart – Arts Music
Rota made no distinction between his concert music and his better-known film scores for Fellini.
Cynthia Sayer – Attractions – Plunk Records
A fresh approach to the banjo, and a fun vocalist too.
Audio News for December 11, 2008
3D TV Three Years Away?
Ella Fitzgerald – Love Letters from Ella – Concord Records
A sampler of delights from one of jazz’s finest singers.
“Vinyl Cello” – Matt Haimovitz, cello – HENDRIX-HAIMOVITZ: Machine Gun; TOD MACHOVER: Vinyl Cello; LUNA PEARL WOOLF: Apres Moi, Le Deluge; DAVID SANFORD: Scherzo Grosso – Oxingale Records
Haimovitz takes the cello where few cellists have gone before in his series of “Buck the Concerto” commissions.
RICHARD STRAUSS: Enoch Arden — Melodrama for Piano and Speaker After Alfred Lord Tennyson, Op. 38; Five Piano Pieces, Op. 3: Nos. 1 and 4 – Patrick Stewart, speaker/ Emanuel Ax, piano – Sony Classical
If Patrick Stewart’s voice were a silent film, the music’s leitmotifs would clearly identify each of the characters
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition (1977 – 2005), Blu-ray
First DVD to make use of a branching technique allowing for all three versions of the film to be included on one disc.
The Best of the Colbert Report (2005-07)
Colbert pulls out all the outrageous stops in his parody of a four-star American hero, flag and eagle-loving commentator.
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 “Pathetique”; Piano Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28 “Pastoral”; Piano Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90; Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 – Jonathan Biss, piano – EMI Classics
Fine keyboard artistry throughout makes this a Beethoven connoisseur’s must item.
SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61; Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 97 “Rhenish” – Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/ Franz Konwitschny – Berlin Classics
These inexpensively packaged Schumann symphonies contain a good deal of visceral excitement.
JAMES MACMILLAN: Tenebrae; Strathclyde Motets; Introit; Missa Brevis – Cappella Nova/ Alan Tavener – Linn
Great new choral works from one of the best modern composers
HARBISON: Songs America Loves to Sing; MOZART: “Kegelstatt” Trio, K. 498; DELLO JOIO: Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano; KENJI BUNCH: Slow Dance – Atlanta Chamber Players – MSR Classics
The Atlanta Chamber Players with yet another new commission.
Christmas CD Grab Bag
Ten festive holiday suggestions we haven’t already covered.
PAGANINI: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 6; Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Minor – Henryk Szeryng, violin/ London Symphony Orchestra/Alexander Gibson – PentaTone
Szeryng, performing in the 1970s in surround sound, brings the explosively virtuosic First Violin Concerto to life.
Audio News for December 7, 2008
Class D Audio Amps Use Growing; Advanced HD Encoder/Transcoder Chip for Consumer Devices; Nokia Offers Unlimited Music on Cell Phones; KEF Instant Home Theater Speakers
STANFORD: Symphonies No. 4 in F, Op. 31; No. 7 in D minor, Op. 124 – Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/ David Lloyd-Jones, conductor – Naxos
A new Stanford series, and about time—this one promises to be the best.
Mighty Squirrel – Mighty Squirrel
An engaging and elegant sampling of acoustic world music.
Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote from Logitech
Their top-of-line touch screen remote programmable by the user in order to save expensive installation costs
Dr. Katz Professional Therapist – The Complete Series (1995)
I think Dr. Katz is about the funniest animated series to come out of TV – right up there with The Simpsons.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
