Monthly Archive: August 2009
JOHANN WILHELM WILMS: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4; Overture in D – NDR Radio Philharmonic/ Howard Griffiths, conductor – CPO
Another deserving excavation from the late classical/early romantic years.
Millennium Canons – Looking Forward, Looking Back = KEVIN PUTS: Millennium Canons; JONATHAN NEWMAN: My Hands are a City; KRISTIN KUSTER: Lost Gulch Lookout; Works of JOHN MACKEY, HOLST, ADAM GORB – U. of Georgia Wind Ens./John Lynch – Naxos
A taste of Naxos’s splendid Wind Band series.
Earth, Blu-ray + DVD (2009)
The film ties together the stories of three different animal families in various parts of the world.
HAYDN: The Complete Concertos – Various Soloists/ Cologne Chamber Orchestra/ Helmut Muller-Bruhl, conductor – Naxos (6)
This set of Haydn’s complete concertos is always fascinating to listen to.
Igor Markevitch Conducts = SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 3 in D Major, D. 200; FALLA: El sombrero de tres picos: 3 Dances; ROUSSEL: Bacchus et Ariane–Suite No. 2; MUSSORGSKY: 6 Lieder – Mascia Predit, soprano/RIAS Symphonie Orch./Igor Markevitch – Audite
Attached to the Markevitch intellectual scalpel was a driving, often explosively exciting sense of rhythm.
JOSQUIN DESPREZ: Missa D’ung aultre amer; Motets and Chansons – Alamire/ Andrew Lawrence-King, Renaissance Harp/ David Skinner – Obsidian
The many beauties of Josquin’s music will eventually conquer even the most resistant listener.
BACH: Cantatas Vol. 20 – BWV 144, 84, 92, 18, 181, 126 – Soloists/ Monteverdi Choir/ English Baroque Soloists/ Sir John Eliot Gardiner – Soli Deo Gloria (2)
These performances of Bach Cantatas are as superb as we’ve come to expect.
Impact (2009)
Another sci-fi film which would appeal also to those not normally sci-fi fans.
MOZART: Piano Concertos Nos. 23 & 24 – Mitsuko Uchida, piano and conducting the Cleveland Orchestra – Decca
Mozart himself would certainly have smiled at these performances.
Kagemusha, Blu-ray (1980/2009)
An amazing and highly artistic historical epic that has little similarity to your standard samurai movie
R. STRAUSS: Alpine Symphony Op. 64; Macbeth, Symphonic poem Op. 23 – Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/ Marek Janowski – PentaTone
The writing is some of Strauss’ most descriptive, and some of his ideas have been lifted by soundtrack composers ever since the advent of sound movies.
Stefon Harris and Blackout – Urbanus – Concord Jazz
The ten-track Urbanus crackles with elements connected with pop music, soul, hip-hop, R&B, funk, and other modern sounds.
Joel Harrison – Urban Myths – HighNote – HighNote
Joel Harrison just keeps going from strength to strength.
Fareed Haque + The Flat Earth Ensemble – Flat Planet – OwlStudios Owl00133
Fareed Haque, absolute master of world/jazz/funk.
CESAR FRANCK: Les Beatitudes – Soloists//Gaechinger Kantorai Stuttgart/Stuttgart Radio-Symphony Orch./Helmuth Rilling – Hanssler Classic
Though lacking in cumulative drama, Les Beatitudes boasts many individual moments of resplendent beauty and harmonic color.
Audio News for August 28, 2009
European Initiative Merges TV and Internet; Bryston 8-Channel Hybrid Amps; NAD Masters Series Preamp; Chord Goes Wireless with Bluetooth
RACHMANINOV: 13 Preludes, Op. 32; Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42; Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 (arr. Kirkor) – Carlo Grante, piano – Music & Arts
The collaboration between Sergei Rachmaninov and Carlo Grante seems an aesthetic inevitability.
THOMAS ADES: The Tempest (complete opera) – EMI (2 CDs) DARON HAGEN: Shining Brow (complete opera) – Naxos (2 CDs)
Two very different operas representing the new wave of contemporary art.
Sunshine Cleaning, Blu-ray (2008)
A quirky independent film in the tradition of Little Miss Sunshine.
The Waitiki 7 – Adventures in Paradise – Pass Out
Those who imagine the music made famous by Martin Denny and others has grown fallow or inert will think differently after sitting back and listening.
Not No Faceless Angel = Choral Music by GABRIEL JACKSON – Polyphony/ Stephen Layton – Hyperion
A new voice on the scene with the choral Anglican tradition in his blood.
RUTTER: Gloria; BERNSTEIN: Chichester Psalms; POULENC: Four Small Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi; Litanies a la Vierge Noire; Exultate Deo; Salve Regine – Soloists/Choir of Clare College/Wallace Collection/Timothy Brown – Brilliant
Great music from 1995 in fine sound at a wonderful price.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
