Monthly Archive: July 2012
ANTHONY PAUL DE RITIS: “Devolution” = Legerdemain; Chords of Dust; Devolution – Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky)/Boston Modern Orch. Project/Gil Rose – BMOP
A fascinating blend of sounds and cultures makes for strange but great listening!
The Great Violinist Endre Wolf: The Complete Tono Recordings, 1947-1951 = Works of MOZART, BEETHOVEN, TCHAIKOVSKY, BRUCH, BARTOK, Etc. – Danacord (2 CDs)
Violinist-pedagogue Endre Wolf finds impressive representation in these performances, 1947-1951, rich in expressive detail from a natural unforced master of his craft.
BIZET: The opera Carmen, 3D Blu-ray (2011)
The first opera to be shot in 3D and hopefully not the last.
Audio News for July 31, 2012
XPAND 3D Creates Home Theater Division; HDtracks Presents Historic Blue Note Jazz Hi-Res Downloads; Sceptre Ships $999 50-inch LCD HDTV; Networked Audio Replacing TVs & Notebooks in Sales
The Blasters – Fun on Saturday Night – Rip Cat
The Blasters return to prove their brand of American music has not lost appeal or confidence.
![Pharoah Sanders – The Pharoah Sanders Story: In the Beginning 1963-1964 – ESP-Disk [4-CD set]](https://www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/PharoahSandersBeginning.jpg)
Pharoah Sanders – The Pharoah Sanders Story: In the Beginning 1963-1964 – ESP-Disk [4-CD set]
Unreleased Don Cherry and Paul Bley, plus Sun Ra? It’s all part of a comprehensive package devoted to saxophonist Pharoah Sanders’ early years.
Arias for Anna De Amicis = Arias by Niccolò JOMMELLI (Armida abbandonata); MOZART (Lucio Silla); GLUCK (Orfeo ed Euridice); Giovanni Battista BORGHI (Il trionfo di Clelia); Josef MYSLIVEČEK (Romolo ed Ersilia); JC BACH (Zanaida); Pasquale CAFARO (Antigono) – Teodora Gheorghiu, sop./ Les Talents Lyriques/ Christophe Rousset – Aparte
Sparkling fireworks and impassioned technique mark this disc of music dedicated to the memory of Anna De Amicis.
Ernest Ranglin – Order of Distinction, Blu-ray (2012)
The finest acoustics on a Blu-Ray that I have ever experienced…
Total Recall (Mind-Bending Edition), Blu-ray (1990/2012)
Violent, like many Verhoeven films, but still one of the classic sci-fi blockbusters.
Joey DeFrancesco, Larry Coryell & Jimmy Cobb – Wonderful! Wonderful! – HighNote
A succinct definition of how a B-3 organ trio should sound.
ARENSKY: Five Suites for Two Pianos – Piano Duo Genova & Dimitrov – SWR2/cpo
Simple and direct melodies and miniature dance forms in these delightful two-piano suites.
Recital Favorites by Nissman, Vol. VII = BEETHOVEN: Diabelli Variations; BARTOK: Two Rumanian Dances; LISZT: “Ricordanza”; PROKOFIEV: Prelude; March from Love for 3 Oranges – Barbara Nissman, p. – Pierian
More favorites by Barbara Nissman address some hefty scores, including a potent reading of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and her patented Bartok and Prokofiev.
SAINT-SAENS: Orchestral Works = Danse bacchanale; Omphale’s Spinning Wheel; Phaeton; Dance macbre; Le Jenuesse d’Hercule; Marche militaire francaise; Ov. to “Le Princesse jaune”; A Night in Lisbon; Spartacus; Coronation March – Royal Scottish Nat. Orch./ Neemi Järvi – Chandos
A nice package of both familiar and obscure St.-Saens orchestral works in gorgeous surround sound.
MATTHEW WHITTALL: Leaves of Grass, 12 Preludes for piano after Walt Whitman – Risto-Matti Marin, piano – Alba
A new composer that might prove an exceptional talent.
RENE CLAUSEN: All that Hath Life and Breath Praise ye the Lord; O magnum mysterium; The Tyger; The Lamb; Mass for Double Choir; Magnificat; Prayer; O vos omnes; A New Creation: Set me as a seal – Kansas City Chorale/ Charles Bruffy – Chandos
The Bruffy/Chandos alliance is approaching the truly memorable.
Anthology of Piano Music by Russian and Soviet Composers: Part One (1917-1991) – 6 composers/4 pianists – Melodiya
The cadre of Soviet composers after the advent of the Revolution clearly follows Scriabin’s example, but each does so in his own, sometimes wayward manner.
Footnote, Blu-ray (2012)
2011 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Audio News for July 27, 2012
Musical Worlds of Victor Herbert at Library of Congress; Nazi Tattoo Forces Russian Baritone from Bayreuth; Pioneer’s Next Generation of Basic HT Speakers
Emil Gilels plays Russian Music = Works of PROKOFIEV, SCRIABIN, MEDTNER, GLAZUNOV, RACHMANINOV, TCHAIKOVSKY – Brilliant Classsics (3 CDs)
Brilliant Classics opens “the Russian Archives” on seminal performances of colorful virtuoso and salon works performed by the elegant master, Emil Gilels.
CHOPIN: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3; Scherzo No. 2; Nocturne No. 13; Nocturne No. 14 – Sergei Edelmann, piano – Triton
More solid craftsmanship from a reliable Chopin source.
FRIEDRICH KALKBRENNER: Piano Concerto No. 2; Piano Concerto No. 3; Adagio ed Allegro di bravura – Howard Shelley, piano & cond. / Tasmanian Sym. Orch. – Hyperion
More vituoso razzle-dazzle from the team of Friedrich Kalkbrenner and Howard Shelley.
SCOTT BRICKMAN: “Winter & Construction” = Piano Sonatas #2 & #3; L’Orfeo; Fiddleheads; Snowball; Knotty Pines; Winter and Construction – Nathanael May, p./Matt Gould, guitar/Beth Ilana Schneider-Gould, v. – Ravello Records
Some pleasant, if quirky, chamber music might take a couple of hearings.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
