Monthly Archive: November 2012
Audio News for November 30, 2012
Sony Shows 4K Ultra HD Server for 84-inch LCD TV; Linn Launches Digital Music Collections; Joe Smith Interviews with Music Icons at Library of Congress; Logitech Updates Harmony Remotes
“Weynacht Gesaenge”: Advent and Christmas in the Renaissance and Early Baroque – Stimmwerck – Christophorus
The perfect way to celebrate Christmas Eve.
BACH: Frühe Orgel Werke (Early Bach Organ Works) – Harald Vogel, organ – MD&G
Despite some niggles about the playing, I can recommend this disc as a fine survey of early Bach on the organ.
RAVEL: Orchestral Works Vol. 1 = Alborada del gracioso; Pavane pour une infante défunte; Rapsodie espagnole; Piéce en forme de habanera; Shéhérazade; Menuel antique; Boléro – Orch. Nat. de Lyon/ Leonard Slatkin – Naxos (audio-only Blu-ray)
Gorgeous three-channel fidelity in these Ravel orchestral works.
Dianne Reeves – I Remember – Blue Note Records (1991)/Pure Pleasure Records
A jazz singer ushers in the new generation.
MAHLER: Symphony No. 1 in D; Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" – Nadine Conner, sop./ Mona Paulee, mezzo/ Westminster Choir/ New York Philharmonic/ Bruno Walter – Music & Arts (2 CDs)
This performance from the early days of Mahler acceptance—1942—strikes us with dynamic athleticism.
ENESCU: Symphony No. 3; Concert Overture in A – “George Enescu” Bucharest Philharmonic Choir/ “George Enescu” Bucharest Philharmonic Orch./ Christian Mandeal – Arte Nova
An appealing way to explore Enescu’s rich orchestral tapestries.
"CHOPIN Album": 12 Etudes; other works – Lang Lang, piano – Sony Classical
An excellent survey by Lang Lang for his “The Chopin Album,” which reveals an artist of developing maturity and taste concomitant with his purely digital acumen.
![DVORAK: "Silent Woods" – Music for cello and piano [TrackList follows] – Christian Poltéra, cello/ Kathryn Stott, p. – BIS](https://www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/SilentWoodsBIS-.jpg)
DVORAK: "Silent Woods" – Music for cello and piano [TrackList follows] – Christian Poltéra, cello/ Kathryn Stott, p. – BIS
Poltéra’s own transcriptions of Dvorak violin pieces and songs.
Savion Glover – Fours (2012)
America’s premier tap dancer creates a vivid history lesson.
Weekend, Blu-ray (1967/2012)
May be a watershed 1960s film, but it’s misantropic attitude to the bourgeousie turned me off.
Coleman Hawkins – Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra – Crown Records CLP5181 (1960)/ PurePleasure audiophile vinyl
The Hawk in glorious mono audiophile acoustics.
ELGAR: Concerto in E Minor for Cello and Orch.; Sospiri; Salut d’amour; La capricieuse; DVORAK: Waldesruh'; Rondo in G Minor for Cello and Orch.; RESPIGHI: Adagio con variazioni – Sol Gabetta, cello/ Danish Nat. Sym. Orch./ Mario Venzago – RCA
Sol Gabetta displays a strong, sweet presence in this showcase disc of classics from Elgar, Dvorak, and Respighi.
Zoot Sims – Lost Tapes: Baden-Baden – June 23, 1958 – Jazz Haus (either CD or LP)
Zoot meets European jazz royalty in a swinging jam session…
Kid Creole & the Coconuts: Live at Rockpalast (1982/2012)
Forget logs or an oil heater: turn up the heat with Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
The Expendables 2, Blu-ray+Digital Copy (2012)
A violent shoot-’em-up for fans of classic action, with some of their old time action stars.
ESA-PEKKA SALONEN: ‘Out of Nowhere’ – Violin Concerto; Nyx – Leila Josefewicz, violin/Finnish Radio Sym./Esa-Pekka Salonen – DGG
Simply one of the finest violin concertos in recent years!
Audio News for November 28, 2012
Whole-Home Audio Cheap and Easy; Meridian Opens U.S. Store This Week; Dish Systems Fights FCC Proposal to Repurpose Portion of Their Spectrum; Black Friday One for the Records; Poor Consumer Electronic Market for 2012
Butter, Blu-ray+DVD Combo (2011)
A comedy about butter-sculpting in Iowa.
BRAHMS: Academic Festival Ov.; Symphony Nos. 2 & 4; Piano Concerto No. 2 – Elly Ney, piano/ Berlin Philharmonic Orch./ Berlin State Opera Orch. (Op. 98)/ Max Fiedler – Pristine Audio
Historic Brahms performances by a “living witness” to that composer’s style, though less “authentic” than often startlingly original in energetic conception.
ROSSINI: Aureliano in Palmira – Soloists/ London Philharmonic Orch./ Maurizio Benini – Opera Rara (3 CDs)
This rare Rossini opera was his only one with a role for a castrato.
After Hours – André Previn, piano/ Joe Pass, guitar/ Ray Brown, bass – Telarc Jazz/ F.I.M. Ultra HD
A most hearable enhancement over the original Telarc CD of 1989, as good as that was.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
