Monthly Archive: May 2010
Jacky Terrasson – Push – Concord Jazz
Pianist Jacky Terrasson does things a little differently with a new album on a new label.
Tom Harrell – Roman Nights – High Note
A winning formula.
BRAHMS: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano/Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone /Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus/Otto Klemperer – EMI Classics
This Klemperer recording from 1962 remains a stalwart document in the great Brahms catalogue.
SCHUBERT: Fantasy in F minor Op.103 D.940; Rondeau in D major; Andantino varié in B minor; Variations on a French song in E minor Op.10 D.624; Allegro in A minor "Lebenstürme" – Prague Piano Duo – Praga Digitals
The Hršels bring rich experience to these gems of Schubert, one hopes the first volume in a series.
Battlestar Galactica – Season Two, 5-Disc Blu-ray set (2005-2006)
The entire twenty episodes from the second season are included on five discs.
HINDEMITH: Symphony "Mathis der Maler"; Konzertmusik for Brass and Strings Op. 50 / JANACEK: Sinfonietta – Boston Symphony Orchestra / William Steinberg /London Symphony Orchestra / Claudio Abbado – HDTT
Although these recordings, originally on LP or 4-track reel-to-reel tape, were reissued on CD by DGG and Decca, they are now only available used or as expensive Japanese imports.
Andreas Oberg – Six-String Evolution…with John Patitucci, Lewis Nash, Dave Kikoski and Darmon Meader – Resonance Records
Inventive guitarist releases a diverse and stylish collection of songs.
WEINBERG: Symphonies No. 1 in G minor (1942); Symphony 7 for harpsichord and strings (1964) – Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra /Thord Svedlund – Chandos
The quality of the writing is fully mature, the scurrying counterpoint imaginative, the exposed orchestration making great demands on the principals – the Gothenburgers shining in all departments.
Vince Guaraldi – Peanuts Portraits: The Classic Character Themes – Fantasy/Concord Music Group
Peanuts Portraits: The Classic Character Themes is an enjoyable collection for both jazz and non-jazz listeners.
CHOPIN: 7 Polonaises; Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22 – Artur Rubinstein, piano – Naxos Historical
To have celebrated the Chopin bicentennial without having reevaluated the immortal work of the composer’s most enthusiastic interpreter, Artur Rubinstein, would have been inconceivable.
Harp Visions – Lavinia Meijer = BRITTEN: Suite; PATTERSON: Spiders, Bugs; BYRNES: Visions in Twilight; YUN: In Balance – TAKEMITSU: Stanza II for harp and tape – Lavinia Meijer, harp – Channel Classics
Harp Visions – Lavinia Meijer = BRITTEN: Suite; PATTERSON: Spiders, Bugs; BYRNES: Visions in Twilight; YUN: In Balance – TAKEMITSU: Stanza II for harp and tape – Lavinia Meijer, harp – Channel Classics multichannel SACD CCSA 29709, 63:08 ***** [Distrib. by Harmonia mundi]: This gorgeously recorded SACD is a selection of works written in the last 40 years for the harp. Lavinia Meijer’s attraction to modern music gives her a sense of freedom by expanding her technical and interpretative possibilities. “I also enjoy the challenge of making modern music, which is experienced by so many people as ‘difficult’, into something not only approachable but exciting,” she states in the CD notes. This disc is a testament to the sonic versatility and creativity of the harp and the sensuous pleasure it expresses. Britten’s Suite for Harp was written in 1969 for the great English harpist, Ossian Ellis, who appears on many of the great Decca early stereo recordings. Especially haunting and sensuous is the Nocturne movement, recalling Britten’s earlier masterpiece, Nocturne for tenor and strings. Most moving is the final Hymn, St. Denio, five variations on a Welsh tune. Meijer makes the most of the dynamic contrasts in this work and […]
SCHUBERT: Complete Works for Violin and Piano, Vol.2: Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major “Duo”, D. 574; Fantasia for Violin and Piano in C major, D. 934; Fantasia in F minor for Piano Duet, D. 940 – Julia Fischer, v./Martin Helmchen, p. – PentaTone
Fischer and Helmchen get the mood just right, not too plain nor over-romantic.
Wartime Music, Vol. 9 = ALEXANDER MOSOLOV: Cello Concerto No. 2; Symphony in E Major – Dmitry Yeremin, cello /St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra /Alexander Titov – Northern Flowers
No one is more deserving of justice than the monumentally-mistreated Russian composer Alexander Mosolov.
Editorial for May 2010
Welcome to Adobe GoLive 6 For May our drawing/giveaway is for two of the handy Aperion Home Audio Link Systems. They consist of a wireless transmitter and receiver that allow you to send stereo signals from your PC or Mac across the room to your audio system without wires. Or you can use them with portables or subwoofers. To be eligible as one of the two winners of the HAL Systems to be selected at the end of this month, Go Here to Register, and be sure to also give us your address and perhaps something in the Comments field about your interest in the HAL drawing. Here are the winners of last month’s drawing/giveaway. They will each receive a pair of Tallis Scholars CDs from the Gimell Records label: VICTORIA: Lamentations of Jeremiah & JOSQUIN: Missa Malehur. Congrats to all!: Colleen Jensen, Corning, CA; Leonard Ray, Southgate, MI; David Mee, Parker CO; Nigel Pond, Wilmington DE, Doug Lambert, Midlothian, VA EDITORIAL AUDIOPHILE AUDITION began in 1985 as a weekly national radio series hosted by John Sunier, which aired for 13 1/2 years on up to 200 public radio and commercial stations coast to coast. In September 1998 its […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
