Monthly Archive: January 2008
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; MOZART: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550; Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 “Jupiter”; BACH: Aria from Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – NBC Symphony Orchestra/Arturo Toscanini – Opus Kura
The recording sheds its 60 years with the first onslaught of sound! Required listening for aficianados and students of orchestral discipline.
Audio News for January 7, 2008
2008 CES Continues; Warner Bros. Drops HD DVD in Favor of Blu-ray; Flash-based Memory Replacing Hard Drives in Super-Portables
The Rock, Blu-ray (1996)
Plenty of explosive action in this Jerry Bruckheimer production.
Polish Spirit – Nigel Kennedy in Two Violin Concertos (2007)
If you have not seen him in performance before you may be taken aback by some of the Kennedyisms
SCHUBERT-LISZT: Staendchen; SCHUMANN: Papillons, Op. 2; BACH-LISZT: Organ Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543; MENDELSSOHN: Variations Serieuses n D Minor, Op. 54; CHOPIN: Barcarolle in F-sharp Minor, Op. 60 – Angelin Chang, piano – Sabintu Records
The main object is to show off Ms. Chang’s beauty of tone and her clean articulation of musical figures.
The Matt Savage Trio – Hot Ticket: Live in Boston – Savage Records
Dave Brubeck was just one of the existing jazz community who flipped out at Matt’s genius-level keyboard chops at age 8.
VIVALDI: 8 Concertos for Viola d’Amore – Europa Galante/ Fabio Biondi, viola and director – Virgin Classics
The swagger of the RV 97, with its perky oboes and horns, remains a unique, experimental sound from this disc.
Waldemar Kmentt, tenor = Opera Arias, 1952-1956 – with Vienna Symphony Orchestra/ Heinrich Hollreiser, Wilhelm Loibner, and F. Charles Adler conducting – Preiser
This collation from the early-mid 1950’s captures his lyrical gifts in a broad repertory that embraces much of the same operas included in collections from Wunderlich and Bjoerling.
SCHUMANN: Fantasia in C Major, Op. 17; Kreisleriana, Op. 16; Papillons, Op. 2; Fantasiestuecke, Op. 12; Humoreske, Op. 20 – Cynthia Raim, piano – Connoisseur Society
I must note that the engineering of the piano (E. Alan Silver) is exemplary, the sonic register the most pearly I have encountered in many auditions.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Cheryomushki (Cherry Town) (1963)
Have a glass of tea, sit back, comrade girlfriend, and let‘s watch this unceasingly wholesome 1963 Soviet musical.
Audio News for January 4, 2008
Chandos Distribution Switching to Naxos; Reference Recordings Introduces HRx Format; More on Kilowatts Used by Home Electronics
PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16; RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G Major – Yundi Li, piano/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Seiji Ozawa – DGG
The final rush to judgment catapults us headlong into a kaleidoscopic abyss – wild, to say the least!
GRIEG: Holberg Suite; Two Elegiac Melodies; Two Melodies Op. 53; Two Nordic Melodies; Two Lyric Pieces – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/ Ole Kristian Ruud – BIS
Grieg had many techniques in transcribing for string orchestra to enhance the rich sound fabric
Pierre Henry – The Art of Sounds (2007)
A must-see if you’re a devotee of musique concrete, in spite of faults
BERLIOZ: Nuits d’ete; RAVEL: Cinq Melodies populaires grecques; Sheherazade – Bernarda Fink, soprano/ German Symphony-Orchestra of Berlin/ Kent Nagano, conductor – Harmonia mundi
While not the best-ever, these recordings stand as a real testament to a superb soprano
Preludes and Variations = DEBUSSY: Preludes, Book II; KOHS: Variations on L’Homme Arme; COPLAND: Piano Variations; BUSONI: 10 Variations on a Prelude of Chopin – Spencer Myer, piano – Harmonia mundi
A fine first from a very promising player
MOZART: Horn Concertos 1 and 4; Oboe Concerto; Bassoon Concerto – Katharina Arfken, oboe/ Donna Agrell, bassoon/ Teunis Van Der Zwart, horn/ Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/ Petra Mullejans, conductor – Harmonia mundi
All first rate, with the Freiburgers making a gusty, furiously exciting ruckus.
An Italian Sojourn = Sonatas and Sinfonias by CASTELLO, STRADELLA, MARINI, LOCATELLI, CORELLI, TARTINI, HANDEL, VERACINI – Trio Settecento – Cedille
The latest success from the ever-inventive Mrs. Pine
HAYDN: The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross (original version) – Le Concert Des Nations/ Jordi Savall – AliaVox
A devoted and sensitive rendition of Haydn’s original thoughts
ERKKI-SVEN TUUR: Symphony No. 4, “Magma”; Inquietude du fini; Eternity; The Path and the Traces – Evelyn Glennie, percussion/ Estonian Philharmonic Ch. Choir/ Estonian Nat. Male Choir/ Estonian Nat, Symphony Orchestra/ Paavo Jarvi, conductor – Virgin
For mature audiences only
MOZART: Piano Concertos in E-flat, K.482 and K.271 – Elizabeth Rich, piano/ Jupiter Symphony/ Jens Nygard, conductor/ London Soloists’ Chamber Orchestra/ David Josefowitz, conductor – Connoisseur Society
A fine pianist sabotaged by a muffled and distant recording
Best of the Year Discs for 2007
CLASSICAL, incl. Hi-Res & Reissues BACH: Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo – Lara St. John, violin – Ancalagon Records Multichannel SACD AR 132 (2 discs) BACH: St. John Passion – Soloists/ Rheinische Kantorei/ Das Kleine Konzert/ Hermann Max, conductor – CPO Multichannel SACD 777091-2 (2 discs) BACH: The Goldberg Variations – Glenn Gould’s 1955 performance re-created in hi-res surround sound and hi-res binaural sound by Zenph – Sony Classical Multichannel SACD 88697-03350-2 BACH: Mass in B minor – The Netherlands Bach Society/ Jos van Veldhoven, conductor/ soloists – Channel Classics multichannel SACD CCS SA 25007 (2 discs) BACH: Missae Breves BWV 233-236 – Cantus Cölln/ Konrad Junghanel – Harmonia Mundi HMC 901939-40 (2 discs) BEETHOVEN: The Late String Quartets – Quartetto Italiano – Philips 475 8685 BEETHOVEN – Symphony No. 1 in C major; Symphony No. 2 in D major – Polish Chamber Orchestra-Sopot/Wojciech Rajski – Tacet Multichannel SACD & Stereo all tubes; Tacet 157. BEETHOVEN – Symphony No. 7 in A major; Symphony No. 8 in F major – Polish Chamber Orchestra-Sopot/Wojciech Rajski – Tacet Multichannel SACD & Stereo all tubes; Tacet 149. BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 1 – 9; Triple Concerto; Leonore Overture No. 2 – London […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
