Monthly Archive: February 2010
American Serenades = VICTOR HERBERT: Serenade for Strings, Op. 12; ARTHUR FOOTE: Serenade for Strings, Op. 25; Suite in E, Op. 63 – London Octave/ Kypros Markou, conductor – Dutton
Herbert? Maybe. Foote? Definitely!!!
BARTOK: Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano; Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano; Mikrokosmos (excerpts) – Benny Goodman, clarinet/Joseph Szigeti, violin/ Bela Bartok, piano – Naxos Historical
A seminal collection for the Bartok enthusiast, we have Bela Bartok’s complete published American discs.
JOHN HAMMOND – Rough & Tough – John Hammond, guitar – Chesky Records
This record has such an authentic feel, it can’t possibly disappoint a true blues fan.
MAHLER: Symphony No. 7 in e – Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich/ David Zinman – RCA
Zinman proceeds apace with one of the best in his ongoing series.
FALLA: The Three-Cornered Hat ballet; Zarzuela Arias – Victoria de los Angeles, soprano/Philharmonia Orchestra/ Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos/Montserrat Caballe, soprano/Orchestra cond. by Eugenio M. Marco – HDTT HDCD
It’s well beyond the relatively staid performance by Ernest Ansermet, which still managed to set a fine standard of excellence.
Double Identity (2010)
Kilmer does somehow escape getting killed by all the various bad and not-so-bad guys in the convoluted plot.
MAHLER: Kindertotenlieder; Five Ruckertlieder; Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen – Klaus Mertens, bass-baritone/ Mutare Ensemble/ Gerhard Muller-Hornbach, leader – NCA
Small forces but large impact in this well-reasoned recording.
Audio News for February 23, 2010
TV Market To Grow 10% in 2010; Dolby Pulse: New Multi-Platform Audio File Format; Device Turns TVs Into Touchscreens; Dialing Down the Decibels
DVORAK: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 “From the New World”; MOZART: Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504 “Prague” – Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Rafael Kubelik – Opus Kura
Two “miracle” inscriptions from Kubelik and the CSO, a collaboration unappreciated by the musical “guru” of his own time.
John Vanore & Abstract Truth – Curiosity – Acoustical Concepts
John Vanore & Abstract Truth deliver modern big band jazz with a small combo accent.
JOHN SHEPPARD: "Media vita" = Gaude, gaude, gaude Maria; The Lord’s Prayer; I give you a new commandment; Media vita; Christ rising again; Haste thee, O God; Te Deum – Stile Antico – Harmonia mundi
Stile Antico continues their creation of fabulous music making.
Regeneration = STEPHEN LYMAN: Prelude; 3 Sketches caracteristiques; Regeneration suite; 2 Etudes; Solitaire; Winter has come early; TAKEMITSU: All in Twilight; BARTOK: 3 selections from 44 Duets for 2 violins – Stephen Lyman, guitar – IsoMike
An audiophile dilemma—fantastic sound and so-so music.
"Swiss Perspective" = Trio Note Bene. Raff: Piano Trio No. 1; Bloch: Three Nocturnes; Honegger: Piano Trio in F Minor; Martin: Trio on Popular Irish Folk Tunes. Trio Nota Bene. Claves
This beautifully programmed disc of diverse, entertaining, and unknown piano trios is performed to absolute perfection and given a recording of stunning immediacy and presence.
OTHMAR SCHOECK: Elegie, Op. 36 – Klaus Mertens, bass-baritone/ Mutare Ensemble/ Gerhard Muller-Hornbach, leader – NCA
Fine performances of a work of questionable veracity.
MOZART: Piano Quartets in g and E-flat – Mozart Piano Quartet – MD&G
Good performances with sound not quite as expected.
Latest Audiophile Vinyl Reviews – 26 Albums! – Part I of II
Offerings from Pure Pleasure Records, Original Recordings Group, Speakers Corner, Mo-Fi and others, including 45rpm double discs. Vocalists, pop, rock, blues, jazz. Worth the investment if you have a good turntable system.
CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11; Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 – Rafal Blechacz, piano/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Jerzy Semkow – DGG
Both Blechacz and Semkow impart a feeling of freedom, the national figures seeming to arise spontaneously out of their own lyric impulse.
Latest Audiophile Vinyl Reviews – 26 Albums! – Part II of II
Offerings from Pure Pleasure Records, Original Recordings Group, Speakers Corner, Mo-Fi and others, including 45rpm double discs. Jazz & Classical titles in this section.
Coco Before Chanel, Blu-ray (2010)
This is not your usual biopic, in that it deals with the young woman before she became Chanel and set about changing women’s fashion in general.
"Vintage DAG WIREN" – Serenade for Strings; Concert Overture; Sonatina for Piano; Suite miniature; Cello Concerto; Sinfonietta & other works – soloists/Stockholm Radio orch. & Goeteborg Sym. Orch./Tor Mann & Sixten Eckerberg – Caprice
Dag Wiren captured in historic performances of his familiar and rarer repertory, whose Serenade for Strings remains the unchallenged favorite of modern Swedish classics.
FRANCIS POULENC: Secular Choral Music = Chansons francais; Chanson a boire; Sept chansons; Petites voix; Un soir de neige; Figure humaine – Norddeutscher Figuralchor/Jorge Straube – MD&G
“Our (French) composers, too, write profound music, but when they do, it is leavened with that lightness of spirit without which life would be unendurable.”…Poulenc
Audio News for February 19, 2010
Audio Research’s “Last CD Player”?; QSonix Goes Hi-Res in Music Server Upgrade; Braille Outgunned by Audio Sources; Childproof Your Electronics
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
