Monthly Archive: January 2009
J.S. BACH: Five excerpts from The Well-Tempered Clavier; Piano Concerto in D minor BWV 1052; Transcriptions by Busoni, Rachmaninoff and Liszt – Hélène Grimaud, piano and cond. Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Bremen – DGG
Music-making which lies on a foundation of music-making that awaken echos of the greatest pure Bach pianist of the 20th century, Edwin Fischer.
Martino Unstrung, A Brain Mystery (2008)
What makes this a broad-interest documentary is the amazing story of the brain surgery that saved Martino’s life but caused him total amnesia.
Jon Burr Band – Just Can’t Wait – Live at Birdland DVD + Bennett Studio Sessions CD set JBQ Media
A fine Birdland video concert, but too many vocals and vocalists.
Soliloquies – New Japanese and Chinese Music for Harpsichord and Organ = Works of MAKIKO ASAOKA, ISAAC NAGAO, ASAKO HIRABAYASHI, PEI-LUN VICKY CHANG, CHAN KA NIN, others – Calvert Johnson, harpsichord & organ – Albany
Fresh and invigorating new music that is delightful, and worth taking a chance on.
LISZT: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major; Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major; BARTOK: Piano Concerto No. 2; Piano Concerto No. 3; RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No. 2 – Edith Farnadi, piano/Orchestre de l’Opera D’Etat de Vienne/Hermann Scherchen – Tahra West
Farnadi projects an exuberant, radiant temperament, supple and passionately full-blooded.
BACH: Six Brandenburg Concertos; Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042; Two-Violin Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1043 – Soloists/Bath Fest. Orch./Yehudi Menuhin – EMI Classics Gemini (2 CDs)
I can attest to the endearing combination of reverence and exultation that marked Menuhin’s Bach performances.
Beloved Beautiful = BOHM: My beloved is mine; JOHANN CHRISTOPH BACH: My beloved, thou art fair; SCHUTZ: Arise, my beloved; BACH: Wedding Cantata – The Netherlands Bach Society/ Jos van Veldhoven, conductor – Channel Classics
Another fine concept program from Jos van Veldhoven and company.
Todd Rundgren – Arena – Hi-Fi
Todd Rundgren has created an album of sure handed artistry proving that experience is still a potent factor in rock.
Magnificent Obsession (1954/2009)
Both a beautifully-restored Technicolor presentation of Sirk’s 1954 film, and a fine restoration of the John Stahl 1935 B&W Magnificent Obsession with Robert Taylor and Irene Dunne.
HÄNDEL: “Twelve Grand Concertos” – Concerti Grossi Op. 6 1-12 – Arte dei Suonatori/ Martin Gester, cond. – BIS (3 discs)
These twelve concerti have given me enormous pleasure listening over the past three weeks.
BEETHOVEN: String Quartets No 10, Op. 74, “Harp”; No. 11, Op. 95, “Serioso” – Tokyo String Quartet – Harmonia mundi
The new Tokyo Beethoven series continues nicely
ILYAS MIRZAYEV: Overture “Yunus Emre”; Flute Concerto “From Mevlana to Today”; Dede Efendi Gulnihal; EKREM ZEKI UN: At the Tomb of Yunus; ARIF MELIKOV: Flute Concertino – Sefika Kutluer, flute/ Prague Virtuosi/ Oldrich Vlcek, conductor – Gallo
Listen first, and suppress any preconceptions about this soothing disc.
Audio News for January 23, 2009
Best & Worst of CES; Tampa Offers Obsolete Electronics Dumping Day; 3 Times More 3D at CES; Local Libraries Come In Handy in Economic Squeeze; Cambridge Audio Receiver Has Full HMDI 1.3b Reception
TCHAIKOVSKY: Variations on a Rococo Theme; Pezzo capriccioso; Nocturne; SHOSTAKOVICH: Cello Concerto No. 1 – Zuill Bailey, cello/ San Francisco Ballet Orchestra/ Martin West, conductor – Telarc
Tchaikovsky, very nice. Shostakovich, WOW!
BRAHMS: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 – Kerstin Lindberg-Torlind, soprano/Bernhard Soennerstedt, baritone/ Musikalista Saellskapet Koer/ Stockholm Konsertfoerenings Orkester/Wilhelm Furtwaengler – Music & Arts
A testament to the conductor’s devotion to a work that must have held great spiritual significance for him in the postwar years.
Tudor Church Music Volume 1 = Works of BROWNE, CORNYSH, TAVERNER – Tallis Schulars – Gimell (2) Tudor Church Music Volume 2 = Works of SHEPPARD, TALLIS, WHITE – Tallis Schulars – Gimell (2)
A fine repackaging of some great early music recordings.
* SCHUBERT: Sonata in D, Op. 53; 3 Piano Pieces, Op. post. D 946 – Sergey Koudriakov, piano – Audite
********* MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH ********
Outstanding in every way, this disc finally gives Gilels a run for his money.
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 3 “Sinfonia espansiva,” Op. 27; Symphony No. 5, Op. 50 – Ruth Gueldbaek, soprano/Erik Sjoberg, baritone/Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra/John Frandsen (Op. 27)/Erik Tuxen (Op. 50)Guild
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 3 “Sinfonia espansiva,” Op. 27; Symphony No. 5, Op. 50 – Ruth Gueldbaek, soprano/Erik Sjoberg, baritone/Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra/John Frandsen (Op. 27)/Erik Tuxen (Op. 50) Guild GHCD 2340, 69:15 [Distrib. By Albany] ****: The recordings of two Nielsen symphonies, the Third (1912) and the Fifth (1922) derive from the 1950s, marking the advent of Nielsen’s music in England, particularly in the Edinburgh Festival performance of the Fifth under Erik Tuxen (29 August 1950). The Third Symphony (rec. 3-5 March 1955) comes from a fruitful and happy period in the composer’s life, and the music reflects an exuberance and exhilaration of the outdoors, a rhythmic fancy that often finds itself compared to the Seventh Symphony of Beethoven. The opening movement wends its athletic way between modes, often reminding one of Shostakovich, but here qualified by angular, waltz figures and vigorous thrusts from strings, brass, and tympani that exert a martial, inflamed spirit. The Andante pastorale asks the two vocal soli to sit among the orchestral players, their voices in wordless melisma as rarified instruments suggestive of a hidden, bucolic world far away from the concerns of daily civilization. The third movement tests the distinction between Allegretto […]
Ruby Braff – For the Last Time – Historic final performance at Nairn, Scotland – Arbors Jazz (2 CDs)
This live concert was recorded in 2002 in Scotland a year before the cornetist’s death.
ROBERT WARD: Quintet for Oboe and String Quartet; Raleigh Divertimento for Nonet; Bath County Rhapsody for Piano and String Quartet; Arioso and Tarantelle; First Symphony – Albany
Ward’s style is described as derived largely from Hindemith plus the influence of Gershwin.
Frauenkirche Dresden: Bläsermusik zur Weihnachtszeit – Works of HANDEL, GIOVANNI GABRIELI, CRÜGER, REGER, ADOLF BUSCH, MICHAEL PRAETORIUS and others – Blechbläserensemble Ludwig Güttler – Carus
The superbly full and rich sound, with just the right touch of reverberation, was recorded in the Dresden Frauenkirche.
ARNOLD BAX: Folk-Tale; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Sonatina; Legend-Sonata; GORDON JACOB: Divertimento for Solo Cello; Elegy for Cello & Piano – Florence Hooton, cello/Wilfred Parry, piano – Lyrita (2 CDs)
Gordon Jacob’s name might be familiar to fans of the wonderful Hoffnung Festivals.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
