Monthly Archive: April 2008
Andreas Öberg, guitar – My Favorite Guitars – Resonance Records
First American album by the hot young Swedish guitarist
Mike Garson – Conversations with my Family – Resonance Records – CD + DVD
The final result made me think of the fine Stan Getz albums with strings and orchestral backing, only with piano as the main instrument instead of sax.
Avishai Cohen Trio – Gently Disturbed – Razdaz Records
The musics of North Africa and the Middle East give their work a special world music tinge that differs from the Scandinavian folk influences on some European jazz.
Berlin – Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile – Songs of Brecht, Weill, Eisler, Dessau, Bleckmann & others – Theo Bleckmann, vocals/Fumio Yasuda, piano & arrangements/String quartet – Winter&Winter
The disc would probably only be a must-have for avid collectors of this particular era’s music.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2008)
All he had left was his memory and his imagination, and he made fullest use of them in dictating an entire book with the same title as the film.
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade, Op. 35; Le Coq D’Or Suite – Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Hermann Scherchen/ Boston Symphony Orchestra/Erich Leinsdorf (Coq d’Or) – HDTT
The HDTT remastering achieves finely-honed sonic separation for the solo and the orchestra.
Audio News for April 22, 2008
Computer Video vs. Blu-ray Video; Gadgets to Reduce Artifacts of MP3 Compression
MELCHIOR FRANCK: Penitential Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143 – Weser-Renaissance Bremen/ Manfred Cordes, conductor – CPO
Lenten devotions not heard for nearly 400 years
Russian Recital = TCHAIKOVSKY: The Seasons, Op. 37b; RACHMAINOV: 7 Preludes; KREISLER: Liebesfreud (arr. Rachmaninov); SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 4 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 30 – Wu Han, piano – Artistled
Han confesses the Fourth is her favorite of the Russian mystic’s ten sonatas, intimate, erotic, various, whimsical, inflamed.
BACH: St. Matthew Passion, BMV 244 – Nicholas Mulroy, Evangelist/ Matthew Brook, Jesus/ Susan Hamilton, soprano/ Cecelia Osmond, soprano/ Clare Wilkinson, alto/ Annie Gill, alto/ Malcolm Bennett, tenor/ Dunedin Consort and Players/John Butt – Linn
Beautifully recorded and exceptionally performed despite the small-chorus dogmatism.
AHMED ADNAN SAYGUN: Cello Concerto, op. 74; Viola Concerto, op. 59 – Tim Hugh, cello/ Mirjam Tschopp, viola/ Bilkent Symphony Orchestra/ Howard Griffiths, conductor – CPO
Two extremely interesting concertos from the father of modern Turkish music.
Marilyn Mazur & Jan Garbarek – ECM
This CD is a result of the saxist inviting her back to share their longtime musical connections as a duo.
Paddle to the Sea (1966)
Educational, enlightening and sure to instill a sense of wonder in young viewers as well as old.
The Red Balloon (1956)
The Red Balloon has become one of the No.1 children’s movies of all time.
ARMANDO JOSE FERNANDES: Violin Concerto in E; LUIS DE FREITAS BRANCO: Symphony No. 2 – Alexandre da Costa, violin/ Extremadura Symphony Orchestra/ Jesus Amigo, conductor – Atma
A Portuguese festival of two relatively unknown but worthy pieces.
HANS ROTT: Symphony for String Orchestra in A Sharp Major – Philharmonic Orchestra of the State Theaters, Mainz/Enrico Delamboye; String Quartet in C minorl/Mainzer String Quartet – Acousence
On the other hand the String Quartet is expertly and convincingly played.
Great Conductors: Wilhelm Furtwaengler Volume I = BACH: Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G; Air from Suite No. 3; MOZART: Eine kleine nachtmusik; Overtures to The Marriage of Figaro and Abduction from the Seraglio; SCHUBERT: Ov. & ballet music – Naxos
Subtle, vibrant musicianship throughout.
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral” – Helena Juntunen, soprano/Katarina Karneus, mezzo-soprano/ Daniel Norman, tenor/Neal Davies, bass-baritone/ Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Chorus/Osmo Vanska – BIS
Most pervasive throughout the reading is Vanska’s clipped attention to staccato notes, which he plays without any sonic decay.
Aura Note CD/Amp Completer (CD/Tuner/Receiver Music System)
An innovative British-designed all-in-one unit for a price
Eugene Ormandy Conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra in HOLST: The Planets & DEBUSSY: La Mer
It is a pleasure to have this in color with good resolution and with a DTS surround track, rather than the B&W and mono sound of many historical classical music videos.
Satie for Two – Peter Kraus & Mark Bird, guitars – Marquis Classics
This is one of the fine recordings made in the 1970s by the pioneering Canadian classical label, Orion Master Recordings.
Audio News for April 18, 2008
Surround Sound Via iTunes; Blu-ray Lawsuits; CEA Launches Digital Tips Website and Technology Blog
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
