Monthly Archive: June 2014
![”Bach’s Secret Files & More Crossover Fantasies” [TrackList follows] – Burgstaller Martignon 4 – Summit“Red Hot • Bach” [TrackList follows] – Red Hot/Sony Masterworks](https://i1.wp.com/www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2-BACH-crossovers.jpg?resize=108%2C208&ssl=1)
”Bach’s Secret Files & More Crossover Fantasies” [TrackList follows] – Burgstaller Martignon 4 – Summit“Red Hot • Bach” [TrackList follows] – Red Hot/Sony Masterworks
A pair of interesting Bach crossover CDs.
PUCCINI: La Boheme (complete opera), Blu-ray (2013)
A brilliant Boheme from the forces at one of the most innovative opera centers in the world.
MARIE NELSON BENNETT: Orpheus Lex – David Arnold (Orpheus), bar./ Wendy Baker (Eurydice) / Nathan Bahny, narrator/ The New York Virtuoso Singers/ The Artemis Ch. Ens./ Harold Rosenbaum – Ravello
Orpheus in Idaho? The universality remains.
Super Duper Alice Cooper, Blu-ray (2014)
A tale of two black eyes: Alice Cooper from beginning to present day.
Rolling Stones – Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) – ABKCO vinyl
Early Rolling Stones compilation in way cool clear vinyl…
R. STRAUSS: Salome (complete opera), Blu-ray (2014)
Not bad at all, but I am still waiting for a really superb Salome.
01 – Barbara Hofling, mezzo/ Grainne Dunne, piano – Katzenberger Music Productions
Superb technology, very fine performances and notes, but not the best available in either case, and the price is sticker shock.
LISZT: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major; Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major; Piano Sonata in b – Sviatoslav Richter, p./ Moscow Philharmonic/ Kirill Kondrashin – Doron
The essential Liszt staples by Sviatoslav Richter in Moscow, potent alternatives to his commercial concerto records issued by Philips.
BERNSTEIN-SONDHEIM: West Side Story – Soloists/ San Francisco Symphony & Chorus/ Michael Tilson Thomas + 100-p. booklet – SFS Media (2 SACDs)
The first real competition to the original Broadway album, and in hi-res yet.
Canta la Serenissima: Music from 17th-Cen. Venice — Argo – Alba
An intriguing recital of good compass and easy manners, though perhaps a little too mild.
MAHLER: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and other works – Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano/ Anthony Spiri, piano/ Gustav Mahler Ensemble/ Tonkunstler-Orchester Niederosterreich/ Andres Orozco-Estrada – Harmonia mundiMAHLER: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and other works – Hermine Havelock, mezzo/ Russell Ryan, p. – Bridge
A head-to-head matchup that pits two excellent mezzos in almost identical programs—but there is a slight difference.
MAHLER: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and other works – Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano/ Anthony Spiri, piano/ Gustav Mahler Ensemble/ Tonkunstler-Orchester Niederosterreich/ Andres Orozco-Estrada – Harmonia mundiMAHLER: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and other works – Hermine Havelock, mezzo/ Russell Ryan, p. – Bridge
A head-to-head matchup that pits two excellent mezzos in almost identical programs—but there is a slight difference.
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D; MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in e – Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique/ John Eliot Gardiner – Decca Blu-ray
Another questionably-released release from Universal, with good and great performances.
BRUCKNER: Mass No. 3 in f “Grosse Messe;” Symphonische Praeludium; Organ improvisation – Soloists/ Houston Sym. Chorus/ Moores School Symphony Orch./ Franz Anton Krager/ Sigurd Ogaard, organ – HDTT
An excellent version of the Mass on an audio-only Blu-ray.
![SERENA WANG – Dances of the Dolls [TrackList follows] – Serena Wang, piano – Channel Classics of China](https://i0.wp.com/www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/SerenaWang.jpg?resize=108%2C105&ssl=1)
SERENA WANG – Dances of the Dolls [TrackList follows] – Serena Wang, piano – Channel Classics of China
A pleasant collection of music that is not a benchmark in sound or performance.
Paco de Lucia “En Vivo: Conciertos de España 2010” – Paco de Lucia, flamenco guitar & other performers – Emarcy (2-CDs)
Paco de Lucia in 2010, with a selection of eight “conciertos,” confirming his status as the most innovative and influential flamenco artist of the past three decades.
Audio News for June 20, 2014
Blumoo Bluetooth HT Control; Connected Living Room Market Worth $957 billion by 2020; NAD Launches New Masters Series Audio Components; Music Streaming on Rise in Canada
A Piano Recital by Peter Miyamoto = BACH: Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D Minor; BERG: Piano Sonata; BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major; RAVEL: Jeux d’eau; CHOPIN: Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp Minor – Blue Griffin
Miyamoto’s 2012 recital offers a diversity of musical styles performed with intelligent passion.
Gene Ludwig-Pat Martino Trio – Young Guns – HighNote
Martino and Ludwig in a red-hot session…
BEETHOVEN: Complete String Quartets, Vol. III = Quartet in C Minor; Grosse Fuge in B-flat Major; Quartet in F Major – Quartetto di Cremona – Audite
Wickedly scintillating renditions of Beethoven quartets in this third installment of the cycle make the Cremona players‘ versions irresistible.
Songs of Olden Times: Estonian Folk Hymns and Runic Songs – Heinavanker – Harmonia mundi
Music you probably never knew existed.
Billy Hart Quartet – One Is The Other – ECM Records
A self-possessed and harmonically literate band.