Monthly Archive: June 2008
MORTEN GAATHAUG: String Quartet No. 2; Six Songs to Poems by Jens Bjørneboe; Quintet for Piano and Strings – Various performers – 2L
This original, accessible composer’s works have been recorded with superb fidelity and clarity.
“Complete Organ Works” of MARTIN RADECK, ARNOLD MATTHIAS BRUNCKHORST, JOHANN STEFFENS, DANIEL ERICH, CHRISTIAN RITTER, JOHANN NICOLAUS HANFF – Friedhelm Flamme, organ (Christian-Vater-Orgel, Bockhorn, Germany) – CPO
This disc is very highly recommended to those wanting to explore off the main path of Buxtehude and Bach.
RONALD STEVENSON: Passacaglia on DSCH – Ronald Stevenson, piano – Appian
The models for this grueling 74-minute single-movement work are Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, and Busoni’s Fantasia Contrappuntistica!
SCHUMANN: Das Paradies und die Peri – Dorothea Roschmann, soprano/ Bernarda Fink, contralto/ Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayerischen Rundfunks/ Nikolaus Harnoncourt – RCA Red Seal
An exemplary performance of an unjustly neglected masterwork.
JOSEF GABRIEL RHEINBERGER: Chamber music with organ = Suite in C minor for Violin and Organ; Three Pieces from Op. 150; Suite for organ, violin and cello Op. 149 – Hannfried Lucke, organ/ Melina Mandozzi, violin/Orfeo Mandozzi, cello – Carus
With the concluding Op. 149 for organ, violin and cello, things come live on the grander scale of this 37-minute work.
Mad Men, Season One, Blu-ray 3-Disc Set (2008)
AMC is to be commended for such a novel and totally compelling series – this is the sort of programming you’d expect to see on HBO or Showtime.
ERNST TOCH: Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 44; Burlesken, Op. 31; 3 Cello Impromptus; Piano Quintet – Spectrum Concerts Berlin (Daniel Blumenthal, piano/ Annette von Hehn, violin/ Julia-Maria Kretz, violin/ Hartmut Rohde, viola/ Frank Dodge, cello – Naxos
Finally an excellent recording of music struggling to find its place
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”; Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36; Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 – Bavarian Radio-Symphony Orchestra/Karl Bohm – Audite
The whole ensemble lights up in Beethoven’s controlled hysteria, all dictated by a 79-year-old conductor in full possession of all principals.
BACH: Trio Sonatas, BWV 525-530; Prelude and Fugue in B-minor, BWV 544; Prelude and Fugue in E-minor, BWV 548 – Christa Rakich, organ/ Alice Robbins, cello and viol da gamba/ Dana Maiben, violin/ Wendy Rolfe, flute – Loft
As fine a conception of these sonatas as you are likely to hear
GEORGE CRUMB: Variazioni; Otherworldly Resonances; Night of the Four Moons; The Sleeper; 3 Early Songs – Quattro Mani/ Jan DeGaetani, mezzo-sop./ Gilbert Kalish, piano/ The Aeolian Chamber Players/ Odense Symphony Orchestra/ Paul Mann, conductor – Bridge
This is an essential issue in this series, not to be missed
FERDINAND HILLER: Piano Concertos Nos, 1, 2, & 3 – Howard Shelley, piano & conductor/ Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra – Hyperion
Skillfully rendered beauty from a little-known Romantic.
Be Kind Rewind, Blu-ray (2008)
A quirky and hilarious warmhearted romp
Audio News for June 27, 2008
Anamorphic Lenses for Digital Home Cinema; Blu-ray Outstripping Early DVD Market in Europe; The Source for the Processing and Data Display in Your Home Entertainment System; Dead Can Dance Nine-SACD Boxed Set
KENNETH LEIGHTON: Orchestral Works Vol. 1 = Symphony for Strings Op. 3; Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani Op. 58; Concerto for String Orchestra op. 39 – John Scott, organ/BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard Hickox – Chandos
Leighton’s organ concerto of 1970 uses a similar scoring as Poulenc’s famous work.
Streams of Tears = Music of Juan Gutierrez de Padilla – The Sixteen/ Harry Christophers, conductor – Coro
The Sixteen present us with a fine selection of his music, sumptuously recorded, and is as superior a collection of Padilla’s music as you will find.
Gangs of New York, Blu-ray (2002)
Who knew that New York City in the 1860s was such a violent and gang-ridden place?
Duke Ellington – Live at Carnegie Hall, January 1946 – Pristine Audio
Can’t believe the great fidelity of these tracks – Ellington fans will go nuts!
Artur Rubinstein in Concert (1973/2007)
Taped August 1973, Rubinstein is 86-years-old, and the musicians attend to his every note as if it were the last time they would hear him.
Lars Hollmer – Viandra – Cuneiform Records
The quirky Swedish keyboard and accordion player has penned 16 very eclectic instrumentals with innocent, folk-like and often melancholic moods.
“From HaFiz to Firewing (and beyond)” = Works by SARGON, DUTILLEUX, WELCHER, DUNHILL, PATTERSON – Erin Hannigan, oboe – Crystal
Do give Ms. Hannigan a try as she richly deserves it, but keep in mind that most recitals like this are invariably a mixed bag.
AULIS SALLINEN: Symphony No. 3, Op. 35; No. 5, Op. 57 “Washington Mosaics” – German State Philharmonic of the Rheinland-Palatinate/ Ari Rasilainen, conductor – CPO
Sallinen is a highly emotional composer, one who wears his very distraught and sometimes fragile heart on his sleeve.
BERLIOZ: Benvenuto Cellini (complete opera) – London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Sir Colin Davis, et al – LSO Live
BERLIOZ: Benvenuto Cellini (complete opera) – London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Sir Colin Davis, et al – LSO Live multichannel SACD (2 discs) LSO-0623, 148:16 total; Performance *** Sound *** [Distr. by Harmonia mundi]: This is the second time in forty years that Sir Colin Davis (b. 1927) has recorded concert versions of Hector Berlioz’s (1803-1869) Benvenuto Cellini. The present recording stems from two live concert performances on June 26 and 29, 2007 at the Barbican Centre, London, UK, while the previous version was captured in 1969 as a studio performance. Nevertheless, I own a prerecorded 4 track tape (Philips PHI W 43038) of the latter and will be using it for comparison purposes whenever possible. The score used for the two performances differ in many ways but they still have much in common although the order of the set scenes after the overture is not the same. The accompanying booklet to the present edition is in English, French and German while the opera’s libretto is in French and English only. To begin with, in general, in my experience most of Berlioz’s music performed these days exhibits a rather tranquil, calmer, solemn and rather sugar-coated music not much in tone with […]
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