Monthly Archive: August 2008
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 36; JEAN SIBELIUS: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 47 – Hilary Hahn, violin/ Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/ Esa-Pekka Salonen – DGG
She tames the formidably thorny Schoenberg Concerto, rendering it lyrical.
Joe Lovano – Symphonica – with the WDR Big Band & Rundfunk Orchestra – Blue Note/EMI
I feel this is the best album of sax with orchestra since Stan Getz’s Focus.
Patrick Williams – Threshold – Composed, arranged & conducted by Patrick Williams with 27-piece orchestra – Artist Share
This is the 35th Anniversary of one of the most listenable big band albums ever produced.
PURCELL: Keyboard Suites and Grounds – Richard Egarr, harpsichord – Harmonia mundi
A lovely recording of the comparatively rare Purcell Suites.
Danilo Perez – Across the Crystal Sea – Orch. arr. & conducted by Claus Ogerman – Decca/Emarcy Records
This versatile musician from Panama has been credited by the New York Times for no less than “the musicological rethinking of jazz.”
SHOSTAKOVICH, Vol. 3: String Quartets No. 5; No. 7 & No. 9 – Mandelring Quartet – Audite
Another stirring issue in an ongoing surround-sound cycle of no little importance.
J. STRAUSS: Waltzes = The Blue Danube; Tales from the Vienna Woods; Voices of Spring; Artists’ Life; Wine, Woman and Song – London Philharmonic Orchestra/Antal Dorati – HDTT
Dorati in virtually irresistible form, his LPO players spontaneous and virtuosic in the service of a jeweled, lost world.
“Mythical Dances” = STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring (piano duet arr. by the composer); CRUMB: Makrokosmos IV, “Celestial Mechanics” – Belli Piano Duo – Wergo
Excellent performances and concept marred only by questionable programming.
STRAVINSKY: Firebird (1910 version); The Rite of Spring (1911-13) – Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/ Mariss Jansons – RCO Live
These are two entirely different ballet scores not usually paired on one disc, but both unmistakably Stravinsky.
Yim Hok-Man, percussion – Master of Chinese Percussion (with guests and The Central Virtuosi/Zia Fei-Yun) – First Impression Music
The transparency, clarity and impact of the sharp transients in the recordings come thru more effectively than any standard CD I have ever heard.
PAWEL LUKASZEWSKI: Latin Sacred Music – Choir of Trinity College Cambridge/ Stephen Layton, conductor – Hyperion
Fine sacred music from an emerging and talented voice.
Audio News for August 29, 2008
London Philharmonic Ceases SACD Releases; DISH Network First to Offer All-MPEG-4; EU Threat to Extend Copyright Protection to 95 Years
End of Days, Blu-ray (1999/2008)
The film was released in 1999 and the Devil was prophesied to do his dirt at midnight December 31 to tie in with the much-publicized Y2K scare – remember that?
Syntagma Amici/Bernard Stilz – Krummhorn, cromorne, storto, tournebout? – 30 sel. by such as SUSATO, ISAAC, ANON., SENFL, DESPREZ, DONATO, WILLAERT, SCHEIN & PRETORIUS – Ricercar
The buzzy sound of the crumhorns – especially of six or eight of them at once – is something to be heard.
Drew Emmitt: Long Road – Drew Emmitt – mandolin, guitar and vocals/ Chris Pandolfi, banjo/ Tyler Grant, guitars/ Stuart Duncan, fiddles/ Jeff Sipe, drums/ Eric Thorin, bass/ many others – Compass Records
Although Long Road is a mostly acoustic endeavor at its core, these guys really rock out on a couple of tunes.
Marilyn Scott: Every Time We Say Goodbye – Marilyn Scott, vocals/ Cyrus Chestnut, piano/ Paul Bollenback, guitar/ Gerald Cannon, bass/ Willie Jones III, drums/ Ken Peplowski, tenor sax and clarinet – Venus Records
Her new record fulfills her lifelong dream of recording an acoustic jazz album of classic material in New York.
ERICH ITOR KAHN: Piano Works – Thomas Gunther, piano – Cybele
Lovers of the Second Viennese School will find much here to appreciate.
Aaron Parks, keyboards – Invisible Cinema – Blue Note Records
Your mind can provide its own images to fit the music if you wish.
DOHNANYI: Piano Quintets No. 1 in C, Op. 1 & No. 2 in E flat minor, Op. 33; Cello Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 8 – Kocian Quartet/ Jaromir Klepac, piano/ Michal Kanka, cello – Praga Digitals
The quintets illustrate a peak in the neo-romantic style infused with Hungarian nationalism in music.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor, Op.44 – Noel Mewton-Wood, piano / Winterthur Symphony Orchestra / Walter Goehr, conductor – Pristine Audio
Mewton-Wood plays with his customary vigour and fluidity, and his dynamic range is breath-taking from unforced loud to heart-stopping quiet.
VIVALDI: 12 Violin Concertos – Florian Deuter, violin and director/ Monica Waisman, director/ Harmonie Universelle – Eloquentia
One of the best Vivaldi collections to appear in recent years
MAHLER: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor; Kindertotenlieder – Kathleen Ferrier, contralto/BBC Symphony/ Sir Adrian Boult/Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam/Otto Klemperer (Kindertotenlieder)/ Bonus: Kathleen Ferrier Radio Interview with Eric McLean – Testament
Given the less than ideal conditions of the 1947 recording, the Boult inscription remains remarkably clear and sonically focused.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
