Monthly Archive: September 2013
Audio News for September 27, 2013
Apple Launches iTunes Radio; Poland Celebrates Penderecki’s 80th Birthday; Sony’s New Double-DSD Hi-Res Audio System
WOLFGANG RIHM: Symphony “Nähe fern” – Hans Christoph Begemann, ba. /Luzerner Sinfonieorchester /James Gaffigan – Harmonia mundi
Not an essential work, for sure, but one that devotees of contemporary music will want to hear.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS: The Juniper Passion (complete opera) – Soloists/ Indra Hughes, organ/ Auckland Philharmonia Orch. Members/ Rachael Griffiths-Hughes – 1-2-3-4 GO/Atoll (2 CDs)
A powerful work that in many ways simply doesn’t succeed musically. You need the whole visual experience to really appreciate it.
JUDITH BINGHAM: Choral Music – Wells Cathedral Choir/ Matthew Owens/ Jonathan Vaughn, org. – Hyperion
One of the most direct and honest choral composers I have ever heard, though the experience can be uncomfortable, even if the music is highly accessible.
CIMAROSA: Requiem – Valerie Gaball, sop./ Katalin Varkonyi, mezzo-sop./ Etienne Lescroart, tenor/ Roman Nedelec, baritone/ Choir de Chambre des Musiciens du Louvre/ La Philharmonie de Ch./ Jeremie Rhorer – Ligia
The fifth available recording of this neglected work is a worthy addition to the catalog.
PSMS: Live In Tokyo, Blu-ray (2013)
The Japanese audience loves this jazz/fusion/rock group.
“Al Combate: Rediscovered Galant Music from Eighteenth-Century Mexico” = Works of JERUSALEM & BILLIONI – Soloists/ Chicago Arts Chorale & Orch./ Javier Jose Mendoza – Navona
Unusual repertory that is well worth hearing, coupled with sprightly performances make for an hour of real pleasure.
Bill Plympton’s Dogs & Cows (2013)
A fun survey of some of the DIY animator’s recent shorts, if you don’t mind some of the rather crude violence.
JON GIBSON: “The Dance” = Jon Gibson, wind instruments/ Bill Ruyle, bongos/John Snyder, conch shell & rainstick – Orange Mt. Music
The required deep listening is worth it, eventually.
“Brahms Beloved” = BRAHMS: Symphonies, No. 2 in D, Op. 73; No. 4 in e, Op. 98; CLARA SCHUMANN: Arias – Indra Thomas, Nicole Cabell, sopranos/ Orch. Sin. di Milano Giuseppe Verdi/ John Axelrod, cond. & piano – Telarc
A fascinating concept album that is a little flimsy in theory, but offering mostly excellent performances.
“Das himmlische Leben” = Lieder by LISZT and MAHLER – Anne Schwanewilms, sop./ Charles Spencer, p. – Onyx
A marvelous recital of the highest quality, with some stirring interpretative finesse.
BACH: Cantatas Vol. 16 – Soloists/ La Petite Bande/ Sigiswald Kuijken – Accent
Volume 16 is as fresh and inventive as ever, though still burdened with misapplied interpretative philosophy regarding forces.
Lucerne Festival – George Szell = DVORAK: Symphony No. 8 in G Major; BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1 – Czech Philharmonic Orch. (Dvorak)/ Swiss Festival Orch. /George Szell – Audite
The veritable master of orchestral discipline, George Szell, unleashes his musical will upon two familiar scores at the Lucerne Festival in potent readings of Dvorak and Brahms.
Kenny Burrell – Special Requests (And Other Favorites): Live At Catalina’s – HighNote
Burrell mines familiar ground with his usual style and elegance.
“ELIZABETH VERCOE: Kleemation and Other Works” = var. performers/Theodore Antoniou, dir. – Navona “Lock & Key: New Chamber Works” = by PENDER, SALVAGE, PERTTU & HAWKINS – Navona
The Vercoe album supplies more variety of expression and a lot more to think about than the second one.
Kaze – Tornado – Circum-Libra
International avant-garde jazz without boundary.
Welcome To The Machine (2013)
Wanna be a rock and roll star?… well, check this out!
Charlie Rouse and Paul Quinichette – The Chase is On – Bethlehem (1957) /Pure Pleasure (vinyl)
Rouse and Quinichette, in a friendly tenor sax duel….
LALO: “Orchestral Works” = Le Roi D’Ys; Symphonie Espagnole; Concerto Russe — Suisse Romande /Ernest Ansermet / Issac Stern/ Philadelphia Orch. / Ormandy/ Gérard Poulet /Czech Radio Sym./ Vladimer Válek — Praga Digitals
A fine stereo-only SACD of excellent performances in stereo from 1956 to 1994.
JON LORD: Concerto for Group and Orchestra – Blu-ray documentary+Pure Audio 5.1 of Concerto+CD (2013)
An interesting combo package: a “Making Of…” documentary, long interviews with two of the important people in the production, and a complete audio-only 5.1 performance of the Concerto.
Jimi Hendrix – The Jimi Hendrix Experience Box Set – Experience Hendrix/Sony Legacy Records (Deluxe 4-CD set + booklet)
Scintillating box set shows why Hendrix was the greatest rock guitarist of all time.
WAGNER: Das Rheingold (complete opera) – Rene Pape (Wotan)/ Stephan Rugamer (Loge)/ Ekaterina Gubanova (Fricka)/ Evgeny Nikitin (Fasolt)/ Nikolai Putilin (Alberich) – Mariinsky Orch./ Valery Gergiev – Mariinksky (2 discs)
I have some issues with this otherwise sterling production, but even if it doesn’t match Janowski in pacing and drama, it’s still a good opener for this series.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
