Monthly Archive: July 2013
S.O.S. – Looking for the Next One – Cuneiform
S.O.S.: British free jazz worth re-discovering or hearing for the first time.
Audio News for July 30, 2013
Samsung’s Boxee Buy; Wireless Helps Bring Entertainment Outdoors; Wren Play-Fi Speaker Tops for Wireless Wi-Fi Speakers; Expansion of Retail Market for Audio Equipment
Lord of the Flies, Blu-ray (1963/2013)
A unique film classic which really gets you thinking, and has lost nothing since 1963.
Lewis Nash Quintet – The Highest Mountain – Cellar Live
A tight contemporary band lead by a veteran drummer.
PERSICHETTI: Harmonium – Song Cycle for Soprano and Piano (1951); Poems by Wallace Stevens – Sherry Overholt, sop./ Joshua Pierce, piano – MSR Classics
A rarely performed but welcome song cycle by the American Master.
SORABJI: Rosario d’Arabeschi: Guilistan – Jonathan Powell, piano – Altarus
Another of the complex, free harmony, Liszt-on-uppers piano music of Sorabji.
“ALEXANDROV: Teacher and Student” = TANEYEV: Prelude in F Major; Theme and Variations in C Minor; ALEXANDROV: Piano Sonata No. 4 in C Major; Five Pieces; Insights – Victor Bunin, p. – Caro Mitis
A valuable introduction to two Russian masters of the piano.
Ruth Posselt, American Violinist = Works of BLOCH, HINDEMITH, HILL, VILLA-LOBOS, PROKOFIEV, ARBOS, KHACHATURIAN, BARBER, TCHAIKOVSKY – WestHillRadioArchives (3 CDs)
West Hill Radio Archives rediscovers an unfairly-neglected American violin virtuoso, a major artist in Ruth Posselt, whose live concert collaborations testify to an international-caliber talent.
Basically BULL = Works by BULL, BYRD, TOMKINS, RADFORD, GIBBONS – Alan Feinberg, piano – Steinway & Sons
In a set of 20 transcriptions from the early keyboard, the virginal, pianist Alan Feinberg makes a strong case for the supreme contrapuntal and harmonic mastery of John Bull, an audacious character in every sense.
KORNGOLD: Violin Concerto in D Major; CHAUSSON: Poème for Violin and Orch.; BRUCH: Violin Con. No. 1 in G Minor – Arabella Steinbacher, v. /Gulbenkian Orch. Lisbon /Lawrence Foster – PentaTone
An odd program, but it has its points, the most compelling a lovely performance of Chausson’s equally lovely Poème.
Le Rossignol et la Rose = Chen Reiss, sop./ Charles Spencer, p. – Onyx
Clever programming, excellent production values, and above all sensational singing make for a album destined for many desert island lists.
Works of RICHAFORT, DES PREZ, GOMBERT, VINDERS – Cinquecento Renaissance Vokal – Hyperion
One generation removed, Richafort devises a tribute and emotionally affecting work in honor of his supposed teacher.
SCHUBERT: Symphonies 1 – 8 – Bavarian Radio Sym. Orch./ Lorin Maazel – BR-KLASSIK (3 discs)
Excellent live performances from Bavaria; Maazel and his band are reliable guides to the canonic Schubert Eight.
PALESTRINA Vol. 2 = Hodie Christus natus est; Christie Redemptor omnium; Magnificat Quinti Toni; Tui sunt caeli; Reges Tharsis; Missa Hodie Christus natus est; Song of Songs, Nos. 1-3; O magnum mysterium – The Sixteen/ Harry Christophers – Coro
A fine follow up to the first volume in a series that promises outstanding moments.
Oliver Jones, featuring Josée Aidans – Just for my Lady – Justin TimeChristian Howes, with special guest Richard Galliano – Southern Exposure – Resonance
Two fun CDs for fans of hot violin.
HANDEL: Chandos Anthems = No. 8, “O come, let us sing unto the Lord”; No. 6a, “As pants the hart”; No. 5a, “I will magnify thee, O God” – Susan Gritton, sop./ Iestyn Davies, alto/ Thomas Hobbs, tenor/ Choir of Trinity College/ Orch. of the Age of Enlightenment / Stephen Layton – Hyperion
We have waited far too long for this second installment—Hyperion should finish these excellent recording post-haste.
BEETHOVEN: Complete Works for Cello and Piano – Colin Carr, c./ Thomas Sauer, p. – MSR Classics
Top notch playing and a fine sense of the stylistic changes needed to cover these works make for a very worthwhile set.
Audio News for July 26, 2013
British Hi-Fi Makers Into Audio’s New High End; Huge Increase in Internet Video Streaming; Three Reasons Digital Video Needs to Rethink Its Advertising; New Orleans Trumpeter Still Going Strong at 102
SCHUBERT: 12 German Dances; Hungarian Melody in B Minor; Adagio in E Major; Impromptu in F Minor; Piano Sonata in A Major, D – Inesa Sinkevych, p. – Joe Patrych Studio
Israeli pianist Inesa Sinkevych proves herself a worthy disciple of Franz Schubert, offering here a mixture of occasional miniatures and dances as well as the awesome A Major Sonata of Schubert’s final year.
PROKOFIEV: Romeo and Juliet ballet, Blu-ray (2013)
A glorious Blu-ray version of the best production of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet.
Grand Romance = MOSZKOWSKI: Caprice espagnol; Etincelles; La Jongleuse; SCHUETT: A la bien-aimee; Canzonetta in D Major; HENSELT: If I were a bird; Petite Valse in F Major; PADEREWSKI: Nocturne in B-flat Major; CUI: Causerie; BORTKIEWICZ: Lyrica Nova; SCHLOEZER: Etude in E-flat Major; LEVITZKI: Valse in A Major; SGAMBATI: Gavotta in A-flat Minor; RUBINSTEIN: Reve Angelique; SCHULZ-EVLER: Arabesques on “The Blue Danube”; CHASINS: Rush Hour in Hong Kong – Jeffrey Biegel, p. – Steinway & Sons
With 16 selections of virtuoso showpieces, Jeffrey Biegel and his Steinway D provide more than an hour’s worth of elegant, even dazzling, salon vehicles from the Romantic sensibility.
Audio New for July 23, 2013
SoftBank Bid for Universal Music Rejected; Music Alliance Between Austin and Toronto; Aspen Music Festival and School; Music Listening Eases Pain in Children; Music Makes a Good Workout Better