Monthly Archive: January 2008
HANDEL: Solomon (complete opera) – Sarah Connolly (Solomon)/ Susan Gritton (Solomon’s queen, first harlot)/ Carolyn Sampson (Queen of Sheba, second harlot)/ RIAS Chamber Choir/ Akademie fur arlte Music/Daniel Reuss – Harmonic mundi
A new generation’s take on this formidable masterpiece
Audio News for January 12, 2008
CES Over; Audio-Quality Digital Music Server; Sony Also Begins Selling DRM-free Music Downloads
WILLIAM ALWYN: Piano Music, Vol. 1 = Sonata alla toccata, Green Hills, Cricketty Mill, Prelude and Fugue formed on an Indian Scale, Haze of Noon, Harvest Home, Fancy Free, April Morn, Fantasy Waltzes – Ashley Wass, piano – Naxos
The striking half-hour-long Fantasy Waltzes are the piece de resistances of the CD.
GRIEG: Lyric Pieces (selections) – Hideyo Harada, piano – Audite
While not the equal of Gilels, this is a worthy entry in the Grieg’s lyrical sweepstakes
BACH: Goldberg Variations -Transcribed for string trio by Dmitry Sitkovetsky – Mischa Maisky, cello/ Julian Rachlin, violin/ Nobuko Imai, viola – DGG
The structure of the piece lends itself to three instruments, not one.
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-minor, op. 15; Capriccio in D-minor, op.116; Intermezzo in A-minor, op.116; Ballade No. 4, op. 10 – Norman Krieger, piano/ Virginia Symphony Orchestra/ Joann Falletta, conductor – Artisie
A shocker of a disc, with pianist and orchestra catapulting to the top of the “must have” list for the Brahms 1st
BEETHOVEN: String Quartets Nos. 1-6, op. 18 – Tokyo String Quartet – Harmonia mundi
Round two of the Tokyo’s ongoing and mellow Beethoven series
Spanish Love Songs = GRANADOS, GRIGNON, TURINA, RODRIGO, MONTSALVATGE, MOMPOU, ROUSSEL, RAVEL, CHABRIER, SCHUMANN, WOLF, TORROBA, LUNA, YRADIER, SONDHEIM – Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, soprano/ Joseph Kaiser, tenor – Bridge
More jewels from beyond the pale from the incandescent Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
HANDEL: Concerti Grossi Op. 6, Nos. 7-12 – Boston Baroque/Martin Pearlman, dir. – Telarc
The organ as part of the continuo works better on some of the slow movements than the non-sustaining harpsichord on most competing versions.
Marco Benevento – Invisible Baby – Hyena Records
Electronically-oriented jazz piano trio
The Bourne Ultimatum, HD-DVD/DVD Combo (2007)
The third film in the Bourne movie trilogy, with Matt Damon
Audio News for January 10, 2008
Latest CES News
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77; Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 – Zino Francescatti, violin/Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy – Biddulph
The Brahms exudes the sweet charm that characterizes the Francsecatti ouevre – natural music-making that is neither superficial nor over-intellectualized.
French Romantic Organ Music Arr. for Brass Quintet & Organ – GUILMANT: Sonata No. 5; VIERNE: 24 Pieces in Free Style; LEFEBURE-WELY: Offertory, from “The Modern Organist;” BOELLMANN: Suite Gothique – Elmar Lehnen, org./Int. Brass – Audite
The combination of brass with pipe organ creates the ultimate heroic sound
KARG-ELERT: Choral Improvisation; VIERNE: “Naïades;” MENDELSSOHN: Organ Sonata No. 1 in F; WIDOR: Sym. No. 9: Andante; IVES: Variations on “America;” MESSIAEN: “Dieu Parmi Nous”; LA MONTAINE: Even Song – Mary Preston, organ – Reference Recordings
The sound of this organ is skillfully captured, from its highest flute stops down to its 32-foot Tuba Profunda pipes
“Britannia” – ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos. 1 & 4; DAVIES: An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise; TURNAGE: Three Screaming Popes; McMILLAN: Britannia; BRITTEN: Sinfonia da Requiem – Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/Donald Runnicles – Telarc
The Benjamin Britten work is one of his oddest – at least in its birth – having been commissioned in 1939 by the Japanese government.
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN = Sonatas, Piano Concerto and other works played by winners of the First International Scriabin Piano Competition in Moscow – Vista Vera
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN = Reverie, Op. 24; Sonata No. 9, Op. 68; Five Preludes, Op. 74; Two Poems, Op. 69; Prelude in B Major, Op. 2, No. 2; Two Preludes, Op. 27; Fantasia, Op. 28; Sonata No. 4, Op. 30; Piano Concerto in F-sharp Minor, Op. 20 – Tanel Joamets, piano (Sonata No. 9; Five Preludes)/Yuka Kobayashi, piano (Two Poems)/ Karen Komienko (Preludes; Fantasia)/Dmitri Kaprin, piano (Sonata No. 4)/ Eugeni Mikhailov, piano (Concerto)/ State Symphony Orchestra/Vladimir Ponkin (Reverie; Concerto) Vista Vera VVCD-96010, 71:12 (Distrib. Albany) ****: From 8 February 1995, we have the various winners of the First International Scriabin Piano Competition, given in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Reverie, Op. 24, is Scriabin’s first orchestral composition, which I first heard on a Capitol disc with Eugene Goossens. Its languid harmonies set the tone for much of the this music, since Scriabin always inhabits the world of poems, dreams, and hazy, erotic, inner states. The hard patina of the various pianists makes them sound virtually the same, although several pieces, like the Op. 68 Sonata and the Op. 28 Fantasia, are knottier pieces than some of the others, which can be fiery but terse. Tanel Joamets (b. 1968) is […]
Richter the Master, Vol. 7 = Works of BRAHMS & SCHUMANN – DGG (2 discs)
Richter’s icy objectivity could re-romanticize pieces too often rendered sentimentally.
3:10 to Yuma, Blu-ray (2007)
Those who have been waiting for a decent western since “Unforgiven” have been rewarded herewith.
“Landscapes” – MASSENET: Scenes Alsaciennes; CHARPENTIER: Impressions d’Italie; SAINT-SAENS: Suite Algérienne – Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice/Marco Guidarini – Talent
All three of these suites are impressionistic musical remembrances
MONTEVERDI: Vespers (1610) – Choir of the King’s Consort & The King’s Consort / Robert King, conductor – Hyperion multichannel SACD A67531/2, 02:16:05 ****:
Plus comparisons to five other competing versions.
VINE: The Piano Music, 1990-2006 – Michael Kieran Harvey, piano – Tall Poppies
Harvey presents a strong cross-section of compatriot Carl Vine’s assembled piano oeuvre, influenced by both dance forms and contemporary Elliot Carter.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
