Monthly Archive: November 2008
Roger Kellaway – Live at the Jazz Standard – IPO
Kellaway loves weird time signatures and other exotic techniques.
Futurama: Bender’s Game (2008)
The third of four feature-length installments with the crew of the Planet Express cartoon-version of Buck Roger’s spaceship.
POULENC: Trios Poemes de Louise de Vilmorin; Fiancailles pour Rire; Airs Chantes; La Courte Paille; Tel Jour Telle Nuit; Les Chemins de l’amour – Barbara Hendricks, soprano/ Love Derwinger, piano – Arte Verum
The return of Barbara Hendricks in an outstanding effort.
RANDALL THOMPSON: The Peaceable Kingdom; Alleluia; The Last Invocation; Mass of the Holy Spirit; Fare Well – Schola Cantorum of Oxford/ James Burton, conductor – Hyperion
An excellent recital of music by one of the world’s most popular choral composers.
BRAHMS: Symphony 1 in C minor; Begrabnisgesang, Op. 13; Schicksalslied, Op. 54; MENDELSSOHN: Mitten wir im Leben sind, Op. 23 No. 3 – Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique/The Monteverdi Choir/John Eliot Gardiner – Soli Deo Gloria
Offers a striking, almost pungent clarity in the realization of the orchestral textures with their phrase articulation.
HANDEL: Arias from Clori, Theodora, Ottonoe, Arianna, Susanna, Messiah, Radamisto, Agrippina; Nine German Arias; TELEMANN: Quartets in E minor and G major; HANDEL: Arias and Instr. music; “As Steals the Morn…”- var. performers – Harmonia mundi set
The first of a fine series of HM reissues…
MICHAEL S. HORWOOD: “Suite and Serious” – National Park Suite; Symphony No. 1; Intravariations; Amusement Park Suite – Joseph Kubera, piano (Intravariations)Sinfonia Varsovia/Ian Hobson – Albany
His compositions cover a wide range of styles and approaches, and he likes to create works involving extra-musical concepts.
Transsiberian, Blu-ray (2008)
A hard-hitting mystery-thriller in the style of Hitchcock which provided plenty of drama and the unexpected.
Audio News for November 4, 2008
Broadband Wireless Access Starting February 2009; Naxos Launches World’s Largest Online Collection of Hi-quality, DRM-free Classical Music; CEA Study Give Consumer Electronics Retailers High Marks
Pianist Geza Anda = MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 16 in D Major; Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major; BARTOK: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major – Geza Anda, piano/ English Ch. Orch./BBC Symphony Orch./Pierre Boulez (Bartok) – BBC Legends
More brilliant musicianship from “the troubadour of the piano,” Geza Anda, here captured in brisk and effusive Mozart from two different concerts.
Lori Bell, flute – The Music of Djavan – Resonance Records
A combo of the technically-brilliant flutist and the melodically/harmonically rich music of Brazilian songwriter/pop star Djavan.
Bill Cunliffe – The Blues and The Abstract Truth, Take 2 – Resonance Records
This is pianist/arranger Cunliffe’s re-interpretation of Oliver Nelson’s 1961 big band effort, The Blues and the Abstract Truth.
SCHWARZ-SCHILLING: Sinfonia Diatonica; Symphony in C; Introduction and Fugue – Staatskapelle Weimar/Jose Serebrier – Naxos
Schwarz-Schilling was a neo-Romantic working in a tonal, idiosyncratic style, who offers us a series of moving, colorist, emotionally wrought works of singular power.
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 7 in E Major; GLUCK: Iphigenie en Aulide–Overture – New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Bruno Walter – Testament
Uncanny, fresh music-making, the perfect foil to those thick, slow, overly sentimental realizations which Otto Klemperer once denigrated.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 3 in E flat, Op.75 / Concert Fantasia in G, Op.56 – Noel Mewton-Wood, piano / Winterthur Symphony Orchestra / Walter Goehr, conductor – Pristine Audio
Followers of Mewton-Wood’s career will want to hear this very fine transfer, available in straight mono or with ambient stereo.
Diego Amador – Rio de las Canasteros – World Village
Some tracks are as basic as Amador’s voice and piano, whereas others employ eight or more flamenco performers.
MAHLER: Symphony No. 3 in D minor – Anna Larsson, alto/Tiffin Boys’ Choir/Ladies of the London Sym. Chorus/London Symphony Orchestra/Valery Gergiev – LSO Live
With its alto soloist and the boys’ and women’s choirs, the work demands surround sound presentation.
American Gangster, Blu-ray (2008)
I chose to watch the uncut version, which clocked in at almost three hours. And for about the first two hours, I was almost totally captivated.
Editorial for November 2008
Welcome to Adobe GoLive 6 For our November drawing-giveaway Concord Music Group is offering a pair of their classic vinyl discs to turntable-capable AUDIOPHILE AUDITION readers. Vinyl is making a comeback in all genres of music; collectors have insisted for years that their analog sound is often better than that of digital recordings. Concord Jazz has again released 16 of their top albums in 12-inch vinyl versions, and ten winners will be selected from those who register on the site this month – they will each receive both The Bill Evans Trio “Waltz for Debby” LP as well as Sonny Rollins’ famous “Saxophone Colossus” LP. Please mention your analog slant in the comments field of your registration. Here are the winners of their choice of one of the three HDTV antennas from Antennas Direct — our October drawing/giveaway. Congrats to all!: Marshall Taylor, Radnor PA; Wally Babcock, Prattsburgh, NY; Robert Gilbert, Norcross, GA; Noel Perrin, Indianapolis, IN; Chris Nguyen, San Francisco, CA; Carol Strand, Waupaca, WI. Register Here for the Current Drawing General Editorial AUDIOPHILE AUDITION began in 1985 as a weekly national radio series hosted by John Sunier, which aired for […]
The Incredible Hulk, Blu-ray (2008)
I was expecting the worst kind of over-the-top CGI drivel, so imagine my surprise when I sat down to skim this film and ended up watching it entirely!
Roy Orbison: Black & White Night, Blu-ray (Originally released 1999)
Roy Orbison is definitely the star — and the total focus of the goings on here — but it’s also a real treat to see the star-powered back-up band in action.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
