Monthly Archive: July 2008
Music of the Comedian Harmonists – performed by Frommermann – Channel Classics
Reference quality recording – it just doesn’t get much better than this! Five stars!
Mercurial Love = Songs by DOWLAND and PURCELL – Jama Jandrokovic, soprano/ Jory Vinikour, harpsichord/ Charles Weaver, lute/ Carlene Stober, viola da gamba – MSR
Melancholy is exactly what Ms. Jandrokovic revels in, if her comments in the notes are to be believed.
Introducing Violinist Shannon Lee – Works of WIENIAWSKI, KREISLER, DEBUSSY, ELGAR, SCRIABIN, BRAMS, VITALI, CHOPIN, BAZZINI, etc. – Telarc
Another young wunderkind—does she have the stuff to make a mark?
Heart – Alive In Seattle, Blu-ray (2008)
Technically, this disc is a knockout – the image quality is exceedingly crisp and clear.
Audio News for July 15, 2008
Home Drive-In Movies; Class D Amps Appearing Everywhere;
Blu-ray Booms Though Wall Street Says Digital Downloads Are the Thing; Added Copy Protection for Blu-ray
SAINT-SAENS: Prelude et Fugue, Op. 99, No. 3; Fantasie, Op. 101; Prelude et Fugue, Op. 99, No. 1; Cypres; Fantasie No. 3; Marche religieuse; Prelude et Fugue, Op. 99, No. 2; Benediction nuptiale; Fantasie (1857) – Andrew-John Smith, organ – Hyperion
The composer was dedicated to formalism in music and a mix of progressive and antique coloration that took in the music of Bach and Liszt at once.
DVORAK: Symphony No. 6 in D, Op. 60; Vodnik (The Water Goblin), Op. 107 – Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Amsterdam/ Yakov Kreizberg – PentaTone
Its four movements have a generally optimistic bent to them, except for a brief more moody section.
The Wood Brothers – Loaded – Blue Note Records
It is easy to hear the roots of blues (New Orleans style) in much of the music.
Conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos = MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor “Scottish”; Symphony No. 5 in D Minor “Reformation”; COUPERIN (arr. MILHAUD): Overture and Allegro from La Sultane – Cologne Radio-Symphony Orch./Dimitri Mitropoulos – Medici Masters
Splendid readings from the passionate Greek conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos = the Scottish Symphony (24 October 1960), performed only a month before his untimely demise in Italy.
CARL REINECKE (1824-1910): Wind Octet, Op. 216 (c. 1892); From the Cradle to the Grave, Op. 202 (1888); Wind Sextet, Op. 271 (c. 1905) – Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra – Naxos
Disappointing for those who prefer the more vigorous and thrilling woodwind music of composers like Reicha and Spohr.
Birds On Fire: Jewish Music For Viols – ORLANDO GOUGH, SALOMONE ROSSI, ANON., TRADITIONAL, ALBERT KELLIM, LEONORA DUARTE, THOMAS LUPO, PHILIP VAN WILDER, AUGUSTINE & HIERONYMO BASSANO, JOSEPH LUPO – Jeremy Avis, tenor/ Fretwork – Harmonia mundi
Fretwork illustrates the cosmopolitan atmosphere that sustained musical creation at the Tudor and Stuart courts.
Al Foster Quartet – Love, Peace and Jazz – Jazzeyes
The best live quartet recording of the decade so far.
Sahib Shibab and the Danish Radio Jazz Group – Oktav
I could imagine the group scoring a movie, perhaps a bouncy romantic comedy full of intrigue and witty repartee.
KAPUSTIN: Piano Sonata No. 15, Op. 127 “Fantasia quasi Sonata;” 24 Preludes in Jazz Style: 5 Preludes; 8 Concert Etudes, Op. 40–Nos. 5-7; 3 Bagatelles from 10 Bagatelles, Op. 59; Scherzo from Piano Sonata No. 2. Op. 54 – John Salmon, piano – Naxos
Kapustin worked with progressive jazz bands in Russia, and the decidedly American influence saturates Kapustin’s musical syntax.
Karajan: Or Beauty as I See It (2007)
This ambitious documentary, through archive videos, interviews, and Karajan’s own library of concert films, projects a world-class musical personality fascinated by his own myth.
Blue Cranes – Homing Patterns – [www.bluecranemusic.com]
Inventive and energetic freeform indie jazz for the adventurist listener.
PROKOFIEV: Romeo and Juliet – the Three Suites – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Litton – BIS
Litton has put the ballet suite selections in a chronological order to follow the progression of the story properly.
The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006)
The long legal fight against their deportation is described, including its final success.
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (2007)
A nostalgic and in the end sad story of one little Brazilian boy’s coming-of-age.
JOHAN SVENDSEN – Symphonic Works – Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2; Norwegian Artists’ Carnival; Romeo and Juliet; Carnival in Paris; Zorahayda; Festival Polonaise; Andante funebre; 4 Norwegian Rhapsodies, others – Latvian Nat. Sym. Orch./ Terje Mikkelsen – CPO (3)
His wife threw into the burning fireplace the only manuscript of his just-finished Third Symphony!
BRAHMS: String Quartets (Complete) – Auryn Quartet – Tacet (2 CDs)
A fine try in a relaxed manner, but is the competition too tough?
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto; MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 4; HORACE SILVER: Creepin’ In – Nigel Kennedy, violin/ Michael Baranski, bass Polish Chamber Orchestra – EMI
The frustrating violinist Kennedy continues along the same lines
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
