Monthly Archive: February 2012
DANZI: Quintet in F; Quintet in d; TAFFANEL: Quintet in g – Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet – Crystal
An old and very worthwhile recording gets resurrected.
Audio News for February 24, 2012
Classical News; Gryphon Mephisto Solo Monoblock Amp; Sharp Adds DTS 2.0 to LCD TVs; Pinnacle Speakers Wins Unauthorized Distribution Dispute; Yamaha Merges Home Audio with Musical Instruments in U.S.
LOUIS THÉODORE GOUVY: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 2 – German Radio Philharmonic Orch. Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern/ Jacques Mercier – CPO
This recording of Gouvy symphonies leaves me wanting to hear more.
Ivry – The Great Violin Concertos = MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto; SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto – Orch. Nat. de l’Opera de Monte Carlo/ Antonio de Almeida (Sibelius)/ David Josefowitz – Doron
That evil demon of the violin, Ivry Gitlis, strikes fear and wonder in our ears and hearts with two “conventional” items from the mainstream repertory–watch out!
Hispania & Japan Dialogues – Montserrat Figueras, sop. & other soloists/ Hesperion XXI/ La Capella Reial de Catalunya/ Jordi Savall – Alia Vox
Wonderful tribute album celebrating the arrival of Francis Xavier on Japanese soil.
Mischa Elman: BBC Radio Recitals = Music of HANDEL, BACH, BEETHOVEN VITALI, BRAHMS, KREISLER & others – Testament (2 CDs)
The BBC issues a fine 1961 recital from Mischa Elman, whose playing connects us to an earlier Romantic ethos that never should pass out of fashion.
The Piano, Blu-ray (1993/2012)
An exceptionally artistic film that gets into some emotions not often seen on the screen, and with a mute main character.
Peter Katin: 50 Years of Music-Making = Works of BACH, MOZART, BEETHOVEN, SCHUBERT, DEBUSSY, CHOPIN – rp music
Peter Katin’s own label takes an “autobiographical” approach to his half-century of brilliant musicianship, here documented in the first of two discs devoted to his art.
BERG: Violin Concerto “To the Memory of an Angel”; BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto – Isabelle Faust, v./ Orch. Mozart/ Claudio Abbado – Harmonia mundi
It would appear that violinist Isabelle Faust and conductor Claudio Abbado “conspired” to make the most beautiful rendition of the Berg Concerto they could.
Michael Rabin: The Unpublished Recordings, 1947-1971 = Works of LALO, PAGANINI, KREISLER, BACH, DVORAK, DEBUSSY, SARASATE, CHOPIN, FALLA, SCHUMANN, BRAHMS, CARPENTER & others – Testament (3 CDs)
Testament revives the art of Michael Rabin in superior fashion, exploring the evolution of his fine art in both private and commercial recordings, 1947-1971.
BACH & SCHUBERT: "Something Almost Being Said" – BACH Partitas 1 & 2, SCHUBERT Impromptus – Simone Dinnerstein, p. – Sony Classical
Her Bach this time is very good, and is matched by Schubert of an even higher order.
Hermann Scherchen: Live Unissued Recordings = Works of SCHUBERT, RAVEL, HANDEL, MOZART, BEETHOVEN, DEBUSSY, BRUCKNER – Tahra (2 CDs)
Tahra releases a diverse program of music from the extensive Scherchen previously unissued archives.
BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Billy Budd (complete opera), Blu-ray (2011)
New look and feel makes Britten’s darkest even more so.
Heiner Stadler – Brains on Fire – Labor (2 CDs)
Music that stretches boundaries and, yes, might sizzle the brain pan a bit.
Signal Live at Poisson Rouge = GLASS: Glassworks; Music in Similar Motion – Signal/ Michael Riesman, keyboards/ Brad Lubman, cond. – Orange Mt. Music
A landmark—Glassworks live for the first time.
The Pulitzer Project = WILLIAM SCHUMAN: A Free Song; COPLAND: Appalachian Spring; SOWERBY: Canticle of the Sun – Grant Park Chorus and Orch./ Carlos Kalmar – Cedille
The Beginning of an Ongoing Series?
BRITTEN: Songs, Vol. 1 – Andrew Tortise/ James Greer/ Ben Johnson/ Caryl Hughes/ Philip Smith/ Nicky Spense/ Katherine Borderick/ Robin Tritschler/ Malcolm Martineau, p. – Onyx
The first volume of the complete songs in what will be a landmark series.
RAMEAU: Les Indes Galantes – Suite de ballet – Christophe Rousset – Ambroisie HANDEL: Harpsichord Suites – Jory Vinikour – Delos (2 CDs)
RAMEAU: Les Indes Galantes (1735) – Suite de ballet, transcription for harpsichord – Christophe Rousset – Ambroisie A152, 63 mins. [Distr. by Naxos] *****: HANDEL: Harpsichord Suites (1720) – Jory Vinikour – Delos DE 3394 (2 CDs) TT: 1:27:47 [Distr. by Naxos] ****: In his notes Rousset writes, “When Rameau published Les Indes galantes, he wrote in his preface that you could play all the instrumental pieces on harpsichord. He didn’t prepare proper transcriptions for harpsichord, but he used the same ornaments as in his other books for harpsichord. By providing a bit more structure, you can create a fourth book of Pièces de clavecin, a collection of really fantastic harpsichord pieces. Strangely enough, not all of the instrumental pieces are playable on harpsichord, but I’ve tried to record everything in the book by adapting anything that was not playable on the keyboard. It all sounds very good and I’m very excited about this project. The final piece is a big Chaconne. Rameau never wrote a Chaconne for solo harpsichord–though Couperin did–and it’s nice to be able to add one by Rameau to the repertoire.” Rousset plays an original two-manual instrument that remains in virtually its original state. It has […]
Rurh Piano Festival = GLASS: 4 Movements; Etudes; The Hours – Maki Namekawa & Dennis Russell Davies, pianos – Orange Mt.
Glass shorn of all orchestral affectation.
SCHUMANN: Humoreske; BUSONI: Fantasia Contrappuntistica – Jacob Greenberg, piano – New Focus
An interesting coupling that falls a little short in the Schumann; the Busoni is superb.
Late Beethoven: Commentary and Performance = Piano Sonatas 28-32; Diabelli Variations; 11 Bagatelles; other piano and cello works – Luisa Guembes-Buchanan, p./ Philipp Weihrauch, c. – Del Aguila
A wonderful idea coupling Beethoven’s late piano music.
BACH: Sonatas BWV 1027, 1028, 1029; Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme; O Mensch, bewein’ dein Sunde; Nun komm’, der Heiden Heiland – Hariolf Schlichtig, viola/ Yumi Sekiya, p. – MD&G
These modern instrument readings are bold, mature, and for adults only.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
