Monthly Archive: May 2010
The Jimmy Amadie Trio – Kindred Spirits – TP Recordings
Pianist Jimmy Amadie proves nothing can hold back a determined musician.
Audio News for May 14, 2010
Sony Considering Purchase of EMI; New Standard for Portable Media Connection; Paramount Recalling Saving Private Ryan Blu-rays; New Asus PC for Multimedia Fanatics; First-Run Movies in the Home
* ALBERTO GINASTERA: Popul Vuh, Op. 44; Cantata para América Mágica, Op. 27– Rayanne Dupuis, soprano / Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo /Ensemble S / Schlagzeugenensemble der Musikhochschule Köln / WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln / Stefan Asbury – NEOS
********* MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH *********
The music is wild, noisy and unearthly. As for the recording – it’s what audiophiles live for.
Escape from L.A., Blu (1996/2010)
A pretty silly and satirical sequel to Carpenter’s 1980 Escape from New York.
ZEMLINSKY: Der Traumgörge – David Kuebler, tenor / Patricia Racette, soprano / Susan Anthony, soprano / Iride Martinez, soprano / Andreas Schmidt, bass-baritone / Opernchor der Hochscule für Musik Köln / Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker / James Conlon – EMI
The hapless composer of this opera had a very similar run of bad luck to the hero of his opera.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35; DVORAK: Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53 – Ida Haendel, violin/Stuttgart Radio-Symphony Orchestra/ Hans Mueller-Kray – Hanssler
More valuable inscriptions from the legacy of Polish virtuos vioilinist Ida Haendel.
Dune, Blu-ray (1984/2010)
David Lynch is famous for his very bizarre movies and TV series, but Dune is probably his most bizarre.
Audio News for May 11, 2010
Exchange DVDs for Blu-rays of Same; Universal Music Japan Launches SHM-SACD Discs; Troubled History of Digital Radio; Low-Power FM Stations
Trichotomy – Variations – Naim
Trichotomy creates jazz piano trio music for21st century ears.
Bruce Barth & Steve Wilson – Home – “We Always Swing,” Inc.
Bruce Barth and Steve Wilson’s agile and imaginative duet album, Home, showcases two friends’ communication and kinship.
MOZART: Great Mass in C Minor, K. 427 – Maria Stader, soprano/Hertha Topper. mezzo-soprano/Ernst Haefliger, tenor/Ivan Sardi, bass/ St. Hedwig’s Choir/RSO Berlin/Ferenc Fricsay – Tahra
The live run-through for the DGG inscription proves a magnificent document in its own right.
The Art of Pierre Fournier (cello) (1959-60)
The “aristocrat of cellists,” Pierre Fournier (1906-1986) has been captured in two Radio-Canada TV recitals.
TBI Magellan MGD-200 Subwoofer Amplifier SRP: $700
The thought of putting electronics in the most highly resonant area of your system seems counterproductive.
The Romantic Violin Concerto, Vol. 8 = VIEUXTEMPS: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Minor, Op. 37; Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 31; Fantasia appassionata in G Minor, Op. 35 – Viviane Hagner, violin/Royal Flemish Philharmonic/Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion
A brilliant collation of Vieuxtemps violin works, in which every conceivable bravura device confronts the undaunted Ms. Hagner.
Stanton Moore – Groove Alchemy – Telarc Records
Drummer brings sophistication and precision to perpetuate the funk sound.
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major “Romantic” – SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Sylvain Cambreling – Glor Classics
The Bruckner Fourth by Sylvain Cambreling (b. 1948) comes as disarming surprise, often glowing in idiosyncratic colors and passion.
Audio News for May 7, 2010
Sorting Out HDMI Version Upgrades for 3D; Wi-Fi Internet Radio Tuner From Grace; Book Collects Best of Former Cassette-Tape Magazine; Wolfson Licenses Tensilica HiFi Audio for Low-Power HD Audio; Channel D Allows Rate Changing in iTunes
Geri Allen, solo piano – Flying Toward the Sound – Motema
Geri Allen offers an imagistic sound suite that is personal, spiritual and familial.
Out of Africa – 25th Anniversary Edition, Blu-ray (1985/2010)
Out of Africa – 25th Anniversary Edition, Blu-ray (1985/2010) Starring: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer Director: Sydney Pollack Music: John Barry, Mozart Studio: Universal 61112355 [4/27/10] Video: 1.85:1 for 16:9 1080p HD Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, French DTS 5.1 Subtitles: English SDH Extras: “Song of Africa” full-length documentary on making of the film, Deleted scenes, Feature commentary by Sydney Pollack, BD Live!, more Length: 2 hours 41 minutes Rating: ***** Out of Africa won seven Academy Awards and deserved them. It is an epic tale taking place in the almost too-romantic scenery of the Kenya area in Africa around the time of the First World War – a story of love, loss and self-discovery. The film is based on a true story of the Danish writer who went by the (male) name Isak Dinesen. She wanted to get out of Denmark because she was at the age when marriage was expected of her, but her lover was killed in a plane crash. She also wanted companionship and offered her money to exchange for marriage to her lover’s brother, a German. They had planned to start a dairy farm in Kenya but he started a risky venture growing […]
The Forgotten Kingdom: The Tragedy of the Cathars – Montserrat Figueras, Pascal Bertin, Marc Mauillon, Lluis Vilamajo, Furio Zanasi, singers/ La Capella Reial de Catalunya/ Hesperion XXI/ Jordi Savall, director – AliaVox (3 SACDs)
Another Savall luxury specialty book and discs beautifully recorded—almost a coffee-table item.
HOWELLS: A Sequence for St. Michael; By the Waters of Babylon & other works – Soloists/St. John's Choir, Cambridge/Andrew Nethsingha – Chandos
This is as good an introduction to the choral art of Herbert Howells as you are likely to find.
ERNST KRENEK: Sechs Motetten nach Worten von Franz Kafka; Five Prayers; Kantate von der Vergänglichkeit; Lamento della Ninfa (MONTEVERDI); Drei gemischete A-Capella-Chöre; Two Choruses on Jacobean Poems – Soloists/RISA Ch. Choir/Hans C. Rademann – HM
Krenek had long been a marked man, the composer of the jazz-inspired opera of the 1920s, Jonny spielt auf, which the Nazis branded as “Jewish-Negro filth.”
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
