Monthly Archive: September 2010
Ian Dury – Rare And Unseen (2010)
An important british figure in rock unknown to many in the U.S.
Cynthia Felton – Come Sunday – The Music of Duke Ellington – Felton Entertainment
Chanteuse covers Ellington in timeless fashion.
BARTOK: Six String Quartets – Hagen Quartet – Newton Classics
These 1995 and 1998 performances of the complete Bartok string quartets remind us of Bartok’s two sources of musical debt–to Beethoven and to Debussy.
31st Annual Detroit International Jazz Festival – Sept 3-6, 2010
A superb jazz festival from beginning to end….
Portland Cello Project – A Thousand Words – Portland Cello Project Joan Jeanrenaud & PC Munoz – Pop-Pop – DeconetRecords
A number of cellists have been striking out on their own, far from the usual concert and chamber music halls.
MOSCHELES and FETIS: “Methode des Methodes”: 20 Etudes de Perfectionnement = Works of MOSCHELES, THALBERG, LISZT, MENDELSSOHN, ROSENHAIN, DOEHLER, WOLFF, HENSELT, BENEDICT, MEREAUX, TAUBERT – Mordecai Shehori, p. – Cembal d'amour
Mordecai Shehori revives a seminal study in the Romantic keyboard aesthetic, as challenging as it is illustrative of the lost art of legato playing.
RHYS CHATHAM: A Crimson Grail– Rhys Chatham, guitar/ ensemble of 216 guitars – Nonesuch
Immerse yourself in this mass of sound!
Walter Gieseking, Volume 3 = SCHUMANN: Carnaval; Kinderszenen; Schlummerlied; Vogel als Prophet from Waldszenen; CHOPIN: Barcarolle in F-sharp Major; SCRIABIN: Poeme in F-sharp Major, Prelude, BRAHMS: Two Rhapsodies – Historical-Recordings
Important Gieseking treasures find effective resurrection in these transfers, some made just prior to the great pianist’s death in 1956.
Sting – Symphonicities – Deutsche Grammophon
Pop icon lends a symphonic twist to popular songbook.
LOWELL LIEBERMANN: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra Op. 39; GEORGES HüE: Fantasie; FRANCIS POULENC: Flute Sonata (Orch. by Lennox Berkeley); NIELSEN: Flute Concerto FS 119 – Katherine Bryan, flute/Royal Scottish Nat. Orch./Paul Daniel – Linn
Liebermann’s overtly tonal Flute Concerto has a fine grasp of the particular abilities of the instrument and has become a favorite of flutists around the world.
LOUIS VIERNE Complete Organ Symphonies = Symphonies Nos. 1 in D minor Op. 14; 2 in E minor Op. 20 – Daniel Roth, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll Organ, Saint-Sulpice, Paris – Aeolus
Vierne carried the development of the organ symphony even further than his predecessors Franck and Widor had done.
KENNETH LEIGHTON: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3. Symphony No. 1; Piano Concerto No. 3 ‘Concerto estivo’ – Howard Shelly, piano/ BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Martyn Brabbins – Chandos
World premiere recordings of two compelling orchestral works by the British Twentieth century composer Kenneth Leighton.
Amina Figarova – Sketches – Munich Records
Piano virtuoso takes flight with aesthetic jazz excursion.
“Songs for the Soul” – UNDINE SMITH MOORE: Afro-American Suite; THOMAS JEFFERSON ANDERSON: Spirit Songs; WILLIAM BANFIELD: Soul Gone Home; ANTHONY KELLEY: Grist for the Mill – Mallarme Ch. Players/Nnenna Freelon/Wm. Banfield – Albany
Music unified by high quality as well as a common culture!
BRAHMS: 7 Fantasien, Op. 116; Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24; SCHOENBERG: Suite for Klavier, OP. 25; 6 Little Klavierstuecken, Op. 19 – Shai Wosner, piano – Onyx
Shai Wosner explores the Brahms-Schoenberg nexus in vital and intellectually commanding terms.
Audio News for September 10, 2010
Summit Wireless Technology in Aperion Speakers; Naxos and Emotiva Audio Partnership; Google Promises Voice Control of TV Sets; New Sharp 4-color LCD TVs; Slimmest LED TV from LG
Daniel Pollack in Moscow = Works of CHOPIN, RACHMANINOV & FRANCK – Classical Records
The “other American” from the 1958 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition makes an impressive recital in the world of the Romantic repertory.
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61; MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 “Turkish” – Josef Wolfsthal, violin/Berlin Philharmonic/Manfred Gurlitt/Berlin State Opera Orchestra/Frieder Weissmann (Mozart) – Pristine Audio
This historical document is as musical as it is “electric.”
WOLF-FERRARI: Susanna’s Secret (Il segreto di Susanna); Serenata, 5 songs for baritone – Dora Rodrigues (Susanna)/ Marc Canturri (Count Gil and baritone on the songs)/ Loic Varraut (Sante)/ Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/ Vasily Petrenko – Avie
A worthwhile and rare oddity from a composer rarely heard from.
FRANZ SCHMIDT (1874-1939): Symphony No. 3 in A major; Chaconne in D minor – Malmo Symphony Orchestra/ Vassily Sinaisky – Naxos
Schmidt’s symphonies would make a pretty powerful impression for any orchestra running an audiophile series.
John Abercrombie – Solos: The Jazz Sessions (2010)
Guitarist John Abercrombie does something very rare – goes solo – and the results are excellent.
Bob Corritore and Friends – Harmonica Blues – Delta Groove Records
Harmonica Blues is a compilation spanning twenty years and a testament to Corritore’s stature as an artist and blues historian.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
