Monthly Archive: February 2012
Tamir Hendelman – Destinations – Resonance Records
Hendelman is a prodigious talent with complete command of the keyboard.
SAMUEL BARBER Historical Recordings, 1935-1960 = West Hill Radio Archives (8 CDs + CD-ROM)
One of America’s great lyrical composers receives a major retrospective in performances that resist age and retain their elemental, authentic power and spontaneity.
Optoma HD33 1080p HD 3D/2D Video Projector SRP: $2999; St.:$1499
An incredible 3D home theater performer for its price.
“Miniatures & Folklores: 23 Challenges for Cello & Piano” – Gavriel Lipkind, cello / Alexandra Lubchansky, p. – Lipkind Productions
A presentation-worthy package of musical bonbons and truffles.
STRAVINSKY: Divertimento; SHOSTAKOVICH: Violin Sonata – Vladimir Stoupel, v./ Judith Ingolfsson, p. – Audite
Two wildly divergent faces of Russian composition.
Audio News for February 28, 2012
Article on Return to Analog and Hi-Res for High Fidelity; Stereophile Poll Shows SACD Preferred Format; IOGEAR Adapter Brings Surround to Stereo Headphones; Boston Acoustics Quits Auto Stereo Market
TOD MACHOVER: ‘…but not simpler…’ & other works – Bridge Records
Definitely ‘not simpler’ but pretty interesting for fans of the modern.
CASELLA: Symphony No. 2; Scarlattiana – Roscoe, p./ BBC Phil./ Noseda – Chandos CASELLA: Notte di maggio; Cello Con.; Scarlattiana – Soloists/ Orch. Sinfonia de Roma/ La Vecchia – Naxos
Thanks to Chandos and Naxos, Alfredo Casella has re-entered the lists of major 20th-century conservative composers.
Alison Balsom – “Seraph” – Modern Concertos for Trumpet and Orch. by MacMILLAN, TAKEMITSU, ARUTUIAN & ZIMMERMAN – BBC Sym./ Renes – EMI
The young British trumpet player Alison Balsom brilliantly performs modern works that showcase her sumptuous tone and first-rate virtuosity.
MOZART: Piano Concerti Nos. 24 & 25 – Ronald Brautigam, fortepiano/ Die Kölner Akademie/ Michael Alexander Willens – BIS
The key of C has never sounded so exciting.
Josef Suk, violin – The Early Recordings = Music of DVORAK, SMETANA, MARTINU, JANACEK, GRIEG, RESPIGHI, DEBUSSY, POULENC, FRANCK, CHUBERT, MOZART, HONEGGER, KODALY & Others – Supraphon (6 CDs)
We witness the beginnings of a legendary career here from violin virtuoso Josef Suk, one of the greats in Czech music-making.
The Dave Shank Quintet – Soundproof – Rhombus Records
Dave Shank is a great vibe player using the multi-mallet in each hand technique.
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata “Appassionata”; CARL CZERNY: La Ricordanza; SCHUBERT: Sonata in c – Jin Ju, p. – MDG
Marvelous coupling, well thought out, and played to the hilt.
Thibaud and Cortot play French Violin Sonatas of FRANCK, FAURE & DEBUSSY – Pristine Audio
The most celebrated French violin-piano duo of its time performs music decidedly idiomatic to its taste and style, in beautifully-restored sound.
Reviews of 29 Soundtrack Albums
Film scores of all types on CD, for current, classic, silent and collections of film themes.
RICHARD GALLIANO New York Trio – Ruby My Dear – Dreyfus Jazz RICHARD GALLIANO – Luz Negra – Milan Records
A very confident band with a fine sense of style and interplay. Galliano has both virtuosity and underlying jazz aesthetic.
HAMPSON SISLER: Phoenix Forever; In the Wake of the Storm; Music in the Soul; Prayer of St. Francis – Soloists/ Praga Sinfonietta/ Marlon Daniel – MSR
One jewel on a tarnished crown does not make a king…
‘Big, Beautiful, Dark and Scary’ = Works by JULIA WOLFE, MICHAEL GORDON, EVAN ZIPORYN, CONLON NANCARROW, LOUIS ANDRIESSEN & others – Bang on a Can Ens. – Cantaloupe (2 CDs)
Wildly creative works from this cutting edge ensemble are big, beautiful, dark and…
VILLA-LOBOS: Symphony No. 4 “A Vitoria”; Piano Concerto No. 5; Momoprecoce Fantasia; Chorus No. 5 for Piano – Soloists/ Orch. Nat. de la Radiodiffusion Francaise/ Heitor Villa-Lobos – Urania
VILLA-LOBOS: Symphony No. 4 “A Vitoria”; Piano Concerto No. 5; Momoprecoce Fantasia; Chorus No. 5 for Piano “Alma Brasileira” – Felicia Blumenthal, piano (Concerto)/ Magda Tagliaferro, piano (Momoprecoce)/ Aline van Barentzen, piano (Choros)/ Orch. Nat. de la Radiodiffusion Francaise/ Heitor Villa-Lobos – Urania Records Widescreen Collection WS 121.133, 75:32 [Distr. by Albany] ****: Composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) enjoyed a healthy reputation as a conductor of his works, having recorded for EMI and assorted labels. This collation begins with the composer’s powerful inscription (no dates supplied) of his 1919 Symphony No. 4 “La Vitoria,” a passionate dirge and celebration for the end of the First World War. The brass and battery of the French National Radio Orchestra have their work cut out for them in the course of the first two movements, Allegro impetuoso and Andante, respectively. The aggressive second movement projects a series of cascading woodwinds before the appearance of “La Marseillaise” in dire harmonies. The music becomes ferociously martial in character, Villa-Lobos’ raucous answer to the 1812 Overture or Mazeppa. A powerful romantic string figure rises up over drum beats and achieves a whirling, chromatic melancholy, ending with an explosive chord. The four contrabassoons help lead us into the […]
BARTOK: Bluebeard’s Castle – Laszlo Polgar/ Ildiko Komlosi/ Budapest Festival Orchestra/ Ivan Fischer – Channel Classics
All re-releases should sound as good as this one—a model on how to do it.
PER NØRGÅRD: Helle Nacht – Violin Concerto No. 1; Spaces of Time for orchestra with piano; Borderlines – Violin Concerto No. 2 – BIS
Fascinating approaches to the problem of musical development on the borderlines of the tonal-atonal divide.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 1, “Winter Dreams”; Marche Slave – Russian Nat. Orch. / Mikhail Pletnev – PentaTone
A crackerjack recording of Marche Slave, but Pletnev’s First Symphony performance has problems.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
