Monthly Archive: October 2011
Shaolin – Protect the Temple, Blu-ray Collector’s Edition (2011)
An excellent historically-based Chinese kung-fu film with good acting and drama.
MOZART: The Magic Flute, with Fritz Wunderlich/Bernard Haitink (1958) – Myto (2 discs)
A genuine delight to find an unearthed production of The Magic Flute with the miraculous tenor Fritz Wunderlich as Tamino.
Home Page for March 2012
During March we will be awarding this 31-Disc boxed set of The Ultimate Piano Concerto Collection from Brilliant Classics to four AUDIOPHILE AUDITION readers who register this month. It’s a must-have for any fan of the piano concerto, with the complete Beethoven cycle, all the Saint-Saens, Rachmaninov and Mozart piano concertos, plus those from Weber, Brahms, Liszt, Grieg, Ravel, Bartok, Haydn and others. The pianists include Alfred Brendel, Evgeny Kissin, Nelson Freire and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Please register right now to be considered as one of the four winners. Further details on our March Editorial Page. See our new Guide to Hi-Res Downloading
DEBUSSY: Iberia; Estampes: No. 2; La Mer; Trois Nocturnes – Paris Conservatoire Orch./ Piero Coppola – Dutton
Dutton restores an elegant all-Debussy program from the fertile period of electrical recordings from master Piero Coppola, an “essential” in your Debussy library.
Bob Shimizu – First & Monroe – Signal Strength
Guitarist Bob Shimizu creates a crossover project with a suitably accessible outcome.
BEETHOVEN Works: Piano Con. 3, Choral Fantasy, Sonatas 8 & 23 – Sviatoslav Richter – Urania Widescreen
Dynamic and aggressive Beethoven from the legendary Sviatoslav Richter in Moscow, 1952-1960; and except for one flawed recording, well reproduced.
Vince Mendoza – Nights on Earth – Horizontal
A creative effort by keyboardist/composer/arranger Mendoza, with 22 other top musicians.
Mike Garson, piano – The Bowie Variations – Reference Recordings
Bowie said of Garson that he was “…the best rock pianist in the world because he does not play rock.”
Henri Merckel, v. plays works of HUBEAU, DELANNOY, ST.-SAENS – Dutton
Paris-born violin virtuoso Henri Merckel shines in the Gallic repertory he immortalized before and during the Occupation in France.
VIVALDI: Eight Flute Concertos – Kuijken family – Accent
Luscious playing from the always reliable Berthold Kuijken.
ROSETTI: Requiem & other works – Soloists/Camerata Philharmonic/ Johannes Moesus – ARS
The title of this disc is “Requiem for Mozart”, but it isn’t; a 1791 Prague memorial service for the great composer borrowed it.
“The Contemporary Natural Horn” – Jeffrey Snedeker, natural horn – self-published
Contemporary natural horn? It’s not an oxymoron.
MOZART: Ave Verum Corpus; Requiem – Soloists/ Handel & Haydn Soc./ Harry Christophers – Coro
There’s drama aplenty here, and the singing, especially of the chorus, is fine. But there’s an overall roughness to the production that keeps this recording out of the top ranks.
Grupo Falso Baiano – Simplicidade: Live at Yoshi’s – Massaroca Records
Choro—you might even think of it as a sort of Brazilian folk jazz.
Secret Voices = Chant and Polyphony from Las Huelgas Codex – Anonymous 4 – Harmonia mundi
A wide and wild variety of music from one of the most eclectic and important codexes in existence.
Audio News for October 28, 2011
Amazon Beefs Up Streaming Options; Panasonic to Restructure Their Loss-Making TV Business; Cool Turntable Spins Your Vinyl for Only $150,000; Sony Music Unlimited Now on Its Tablet
VIVALDI: Cello Concertos (selection) – Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello/ Akademie fuer Alte Musik/ Georg Kallweit – HM
The ever-fertile imagination of Vivaldi in cello concertos has an excellent proponent in Queyras and his fiery group, Academy for Ancient Music.
RAMEAU: L’Orchestre de Louis XV: Suites D'Orchestre – Jordi Savall – Alia Vox (2 discs)
Orchestral suites by Rameau on a magnificent and entertaining new surround release from Jordi Savall and Alia Vox.
VERDI: Messa da Requiem & works of WAGNER & HAYDN – Chicago Sym./ Fritz REiner – Archipel
Fritz Reiner provides resplendent, luxuriant performances of Verdi and Wagner, bringing to bear his enormous experience and discipline with massive forces from Chicago.
Joey De Francesco 40 – HighNote Records
A testament to the organist’s continuing virtuosity.
Kevin Crabb – Waltz for Dylan – Crabbclaw
Drummer Kevin Crabb proves he’s much more than just a time-keeper on his debut solo effort.
Richard Kimball, solo piano – The Art of Aging – self-published
Pianist Richard Kimball reflects on some of the ways people handle the issues of growing old.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
