Monthly Archive: June 2010
Audio News for June 25, 2010
Everest Records 96K/24bit Downloads; Combo CD & LP?; Harman Mobile Entertainment Showroom on Tour; SRS Labs/ HD Audio Lab Software
Odean Pope – Odean’s List – In and Out
On his newest effort, Odean’s List, tenor saxophonist Odean Pope uses an all-star octet to enhance his composing and arranging skills.
JOSEPH JOACHIM RAFF: The 11 Symphonies, the Suites for orchestra, Overtures – Bamberg Symphony / Hans Stadlmair – Tudor (9 CDs!)
By any measure this complete recording of Raff’s symphonies is an important achievement and one that probably won’t be surpassed.
The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 50 = TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor; Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major and two Andantes; Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat Major, other works – Stephen Hough, p./Minn. Sym./Osmo Vanska – Hyperion (2 CDs)
Stephen Hough and Osmo Vanska collaborate for a brilliant cycle of the Tchaikovsky works for piano and orchestra.
When You’re Strange (A Film About the Doors), Blu-ray (2010)
The documentary, with much previously-unseen footage, was made with the full cooperation of the three remaining band members.
FRANK MARTIN: Suite from ‘Der Sturm’; Six Monologues from ‘Jedermann’; Symphonie Concertante – Thomas Oliemans, baritone – Stavanger Symphony Orchestra/Steven Sloane – MD&G
Listeners who want to hear something modern, but are drawn to tonal music will be enthralled by this superb addition to the music of Frank Martin.
Mads Tolling, violin – The Playmaker – MR Records
The album mixes jazz, fusion, funk, classical, rock ‘n roll and folk music.
OFFENBACH: Orphee aux Enfers (complete opera)
The DVD cover says it all: a hirsute man dressed as a fly is seducing a comely leggy woman on a divan.
“Stony Brook Soundings, Vol. One” = WEYMOUTH: in (all) the time we have left; DUYKERS: Glass Blue Cleft; KAILA: Kellojen kumarrus (The Bells Bow Down); DRUCKER: Four Sonnets by Shakespeare; GOLDSTEIN: Quintet for Alto Sax and Str. Quartet – Bridge
The Escher Quartet has the full measure of the contemporary string quartet idiom, whether it’s grinding out fortissimo double- and triple-stops or producing eerie yet diaphanous harmonics.
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6 in F Major “Pastoral”; Overture to Egmont; SCHUMANN: Manfred Overture; Alpenkuhreigen and Zwischennaktmusik; WEBER: Overture to Euryanthe; Overture to Abu Hassan – Berlin State Opera Orchestra/Max von Schillings – Pristine Audio
A powerful cross section of Schillings’ late 1920s work in the early Romantic literature, beautifully restored.
The Illusionist, Blu-ray + DVD (2006)
An entertaining and well-crafted film with first-rate acting.
HAYDN: Saint Nicholas Mass; Nelson Mass – Ann Hoyt, soprano/ Luthien Brackett, alto/Kirsten Sollek, alto/ Stephen Sands, tenor/ Daniel Mutlu, tenor/ Richard Lippold, bass/ Andrew Nolen, bass/ Trinity Choir/ Rebel Baroque Orchestra/ J. Owen Burdick – Naxos
Bargain price doesn’t always mean bargain quality…
CHOPIN: 4 Scherzos; Polonaise No. 1 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 26, No. 1; Polonaise No. 2 in E-flat Minor, Op. 26, No. 2; Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat Major, Op. 61 – Zeynap Ucbarasan, piano – Eroica Classical Recordings
Solid virtuosity and eminently capable musicianship mark this relatively standard survey of Chopin.
SCHUMANN: Manfred–Overture and Incidental Music-Drama, Op. 115 (in English) – Laidman Browne/Jill Balcon/Raf de la Torre/BBC Chorus/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Thomas Beecham – Historic-Recordings
For British Lit pedant and Beecham collectors, a fascinating musical curio of the Romantic Age.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Live at Montreux 1997, Blu-ray (2010)
The accent is on showmanship here, as was always the case with Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Green Zone, Blu-ray 2-Disc Ltd. Edition (2010)
This is the same actor and director as two of the three highly successful Bourne series, and a good action film on a conspiracy theme.
MOZART: Piano Concertos No 17 K.453 & 20 K.466 – Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano and cond. the Orchestra di Padova e Del Veneto – Exton/Octavia
Overall, pleasant and a gift for Ashkenazy fans.
Issay Dobrowen, Vol. 2 = RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Tsar Saltan Suite; Suite from Le Coq d’Or; BORODIN: Symphony No. 2 – Philharmonia Orch. of London/Orchestre Nat. de la Radiodiffusion Francaise (Borodin)/ Issay Dobrowen – Historic-Recordings
The selective small Dobrowen record library receives a magnificent addition, one for collectors and the Best of the Year list.
Audio News for June 22, 2010
Home Electronics Dealers Struggling; Livio Radio Gets Investment for Expansion; Bryston to Offer New Hi-Res Music Player Category; Dolby Technology in New Toshiba Laptops
VIVALDI: Six Concertos in arrangements by J.S. Bach and Gunther Rost – Gunther Rost, Hildebrandt Organ – Oehms Classics
These concerti were central in Bach’s self-taught musical development.
Geri Allen and Timeline – Live – Live Motema
Geri Allen incorporates tap dancing into her repertoire in a surprisingly stimulating fashion.
The Cyprien Katsaris Archives, No. 20: THEODORAKIS: Suite No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra; Concerto No. 1; Symphony No. 2 “Das Lied der Erde” – Orchestre Sym. de RTL/Chorale Infantine “Princesse Marie-Astrid”/Mikis Theodorakis – Piano 21 (2 CDs)
Cyprien Katsais performs monumental and even devastating music from Mikis Theodorakis, Greece’s modern visionary.