Monthly Archive: March 2009
Jon Balke, piano – Book of Velocities – ECM
Any strictly classical fan who is into the piano music of Bartok, Ligeti and their ilk should hear this CD.
“Spirit of Brazil” – Aquarelle Guitar Quartet – Chandos Corona Guitar Kvartet – Albany
Two guitar quartets that warrant your interest – one from England and one from Denmark.
Audio News for March 31, 2009
Special CD Boxed Sets Big Sellers; Cellphones at the Opera; More TV Stations To Stop Analog Signals
RUED LANGGAARD: Complete Symphonies (1 to 16); Orchestral Works: Drapa (On the Death of Grieg); Sphinx; Hvidbjerg-Drapa; Fanfares for Orchestra; Res absùrda!? – various perf./Danish Nat. Sym./Thomas Dausgaard – Da Capo (7 SACDs)
Langgaard’s cycle of symphonies presents the listener with a wide variety of styles – from the large, remarkably mature and astonishing First Symphony, to the terse modernist short works and the backward-looking romantic ones from his middle age.
Various Artists and Kath Bloom – Loving Takes This Course: A Tribute to the Songs of Kath Bloom – Chapter
Kath Bloom is a folk artist who has never realized the level of fame, success or fan base she deserves.
ROSSINI Overtures = Semiramide; La Gazza Ladra; William Tell; La Cenerentola – Paris Conservatory Orchestra/Peter Maag – HDTT CD or DVD
Swiss-born conductor Peter Maag makes a potent bid as a contender for Toscanini’s throne in Rossini pyrotechnics.
ANTON BRUCKNER: Symphony No.4 in E Flat Major ‘Romantic’ (Original Version 1874) – Bayerisches Staatsorchester/ Kent Nagano – Sony Classical
This successful venture has created a recording of Bruckner’s music that will undoubtedly be discussed and remembered for a long time.
Gill Manly – With a Song In My Heart – Linn Records
She trained as an actress, which doesn’t hurt her song delivery a bit.
Musique Francais = AUBER: Fra Diavolo Overture; GOUNOD: Faust–excerpts; SAINT-SAENS: Carnival of the Animals–4 excerpts; Samson et Dalila–Bacchanale; ROUSSEL: Bacchus et Ariane Suite No. 2 – Hermann Scherchen/Gibson/Beecham/Martinon – HDTT
You’d best exert your French accent for this glowing assemblage of Gallic fare, which ranges from the relatively conservative figure of Gounod to the more exotic languor of Saint-Saens and Roussel.
The Chronicles of Riddick, Unrated Director’s Cut, Blu-ray (2004/2009)
The Chronicles creates a thoroughly threatening universe with escaped convict super-stud Riddick pitted against the even more evil half-dead Necromongers
Gianluigi Trovesi – Vaghissimo ritratto – ECM Gianluigi Trovesi & Gianni Coscia, clarinets & accordion – Round About Weill – ECM Gianluigi Trovesi & Gianni Coscia, clarinets & accordion – In cerca di cibo – ECM
Three More ECMs from clarinetist Gianluigi Trovesi
Debussy and Ravel Play (The Welte-Mignon Mystery Vol. XII) – DEBUSSY: Children Corner Suite; D’un cahier d’esquisses; La Soiree; La plus que lente; Preludes: Danseuses de Delphes, Sunken Cathedral; La danse, Le vent, Minstrels; RAVEL: 2 works – Tacet
The piano music of both Debussy and Ravel would be one of the ultimate tests of the Welte technology.
VINCENZO BELLINI: Mass in G; Mass in D – Cinzia Forta, soprano/ Paoletta Marrocu, soprano/ Stefano Ferrari, tenor/ Lorenzo Regazzo, bass/ Accademia and Filarmonici Orchestra and Chorus/ Maurizio Ciampi, conductor – Nuova Era
Easily outrank some similar works by Italian composers of the age much more advanced in years.
MOZART: Symphony No. 35 in D Major, “Haffner”; Symphony No. 40 in G Minor; Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor – Rudolf Serkin, piano/Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy/London Philharmonic Orchestra/ Eduard van Beinum (k. 385)/Erich Kleiber – Pristine
This rather intriguing amalgam of Mozart performances opens with a spirited, virile inscription (1 May 1950) of the Haffner Symphony.
DANIEL ASIA: Violin Sonata; Piano Trio – Curtis Macomber, violin/ Christopher Oldfather, piano/ Frantisek Soucek, violin/ Vladimir Fortin, cello/ Richard Ormrod, piano – Summit
Sensational chamber music of the first rank.
Gareth Williams Power Trio – Shock! – Linn Records
Most of the tracks feature Williams on the Yamaha S6 with a Fender-Rhodes sort of sound, and his bassist is electric.
Audio News for March 27, 2009
Home Electronics Cost Up to 30% Less in Korea; Russound AC Distribution System; Denon Offers Free Blu-ray Player with Receiver Purchase; CEA/CEDIA Bulletin on Home Theater Audio Design; Sony Adds Two Blu-ray Decks
Danton, Special Edition Double-Disc Set (1983/2009)
Probably one of the finest films about the French Revolution, Wajda’s version zeroes in on the fight between the two major personalities of the Revolution – Danton and Robespierre
MEDTNER: Contes and Poems – Yana Ivanilova, soprano/ Vassily Savinko, bass/ Boris Berezovsky, piano – Mirare
This is one fire-breathing album. I can’t recall in recent memory of hearing a recital so flushed with romantic passion.
Quantum of Solace, Blu-ray (2008)
May be the best Bond film yet.
Recital at Ravinia – Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano/ Drew Minter, countertenor/ Peter Serkin, piano – Harmonia mundi
More Lieberson—and welcome—though this may not be a representative recording.
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No 1 in D Minor, Op. 15; BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 “Moonlight” – Misha Dichter, piano/ Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Kurt Masur – PentaTone
Misha Dichter (b. 1945) is a musician long sympathetic to the Schumann-Brahms sensibility.