Monthly Archive: September 2011
SHOSTAKOVICH: The Lady and the Hooligan; Ballet Suite No. 2 – Mnatsakanov – Delos
A third-party pastiche of worthy previously-composed music.
A Horse with Wings – Ricky Ian Gordon, vocal and p. – Blue Griffin Bric-a-Brac – Ricky Ian Gordon – Blue Griffin
The man has definite talent, and you won’t be alone if the first word that comes to your mind is “Sondheim”.
Blood Simple, Blu-ray (1984/2011)
Blood Simple, Blu-ray (1984/2011) Directors: The Coen Brothers Starring: John Getz, Dan Hedaya, Frances McDormand, M. Emmett Walsh Studio: MGM [8/30/11] Video: 1.85:1 for 16:9 color 1080p HD Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish Extras: Commentary track by Kenneth Loring of Forever Young Films, Theatrical trailer Length: 95 minutes Rating: ****½ The very first Coen Brothers film, and the first appearance of the versatile Frances McDormand in their films was a grisly semi-comic film noir. A bar owner in Texas hires a seedy private eye to killer his cheating wife and her lover—who works for him. The detective fakes photos of the dead wife and lover to show the bar owner to get this $10,000, and the viewer feels good that nobody got killed. But then things turn much, much worse and the lover does totally inappropriate things, such as burying someone alive. (Joel Coen had just co-edited Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead.) The concluding scenes pile one shock on top of another, in a highly unconventional take on the usual film noir. Blood Simple showed the Coen Brothers were starting on a very exciting career of filmmaking with a bang. Several bangs, actually. Roger Ebert […]
Evgeny Starodubtsev Piano Recital – Honens
A gifted Laureate of the Honens Piano Competition struts his affinities for the moderns, a combination of intellectual and athletic energies.
Chris Connor – Sings Gentle Bossa Nova – Just A Memory Records
An interesting release for discography junkies.
Chick Corea/Stefano Bollani – Orvieto – ECM
Live piano set by duet is uplifting.
Patricia Barber – Café Blue – Premonition Records
Sonic pioneering elevates audiophile recording.
Audio News for September 16, 2011
CEDIA Expo Attendance Over 17,600; Multi-Room Wireless Audio; Pioneer Shows Three 3D Blu-ray Disc Players; Montreal Musicians Sign Pact; Thielemann Plays It Again
BRAHMS Violin Sonatas 1, 2 & 3 – Schiff – MSR
Zina Schiff’s reading of the Brahms sonatas, as a series of love letters to Clara Schumann, informs her playing of the works.
The Alan Parsons Project – The Turn Of a Friendly Card – Arista
Concept album delivers pop artistry.
MOZART: Clarinet Concerto & Quintet – Berlin Classics
A winner on all scores.
ANDERS KOPPEL: String Quartets; Quintet – Dacapo
A magnificent disc of new chamber music by the Danish composer Anders Koppel, highlighted by a deliciously inventive Quintet for Mezzo Saxophone and String Quartet.
ROBERT MORAN: Trinity Requiem – Innova
Moving, beautiful music from a surprising source.
Badura-Skoda plays Mozart Piano Concertos – Music & Arts
Veteran Paul Badura-Skoda once more asserts his supremacy in the Mozart Viennese style in elegant collaborations with two refined conductors and ensembles.
Delicacies – Clarinet & Piano – Manhattan
Marvelous clarinet playing that really has few equals.
Carmen's Revenge, by Osias Wilenski – Navona
A cluttered storyline and eerily disconnected music make for a strange listening experience.
SCHUBERT Piano Sonata in A Major; other works – Georgy Tchaidze – Honens
Were Tchaidze’s approach more mellow in the future, his art could well resemble that of the intellectual keyboardists Alfred Brendel and Leon Fleisher.
Summer Night Concert with Vienna Philharmonic & Valery Gergiev – DGG
This summer Austrian spectacle represents the second such musical soiree led by Valery Gergiev.
X-Men First Class, Blu-ray
All in all this is one of the best of the comic book movies.
SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 15 & BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 16 – Bridge
Carrying on the legacy of the Orford String Quartet of Canada.
Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan – Peckin’ Time – Blue Note
Hank and Lee with a dream rhythm section.
Audio News for September 13, 2011
Audio Psychoacoustics and Audyssey; UltraViolet Virtual Content Locker for Digital Rights Management; ATSC 3.0 Now in Planning Stages
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
