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Monthly Archive: December 2015

RAMEAU: The Sound of Light – Music from Les Fêtes d’Hébé, Zoroastre, Platée, Les Indes galantes, Les Boréades, Naïs, Hippolyte et Aricie, Castor et Pollux, Dardanus and Six concerts en sextuor – Nadine Koutcher, sop./ Alexei Svetov, bass / MusicAeterna Orch. & Choir/ Teodor Currentzis – Sony Classical

RAMEAU: The Sound of Light – Music from Les Fêtes d’Hébé, Zoroastre, Platée, Les Indes galantes, Les Boréades, Naïs, Hippolyte et Aricie, Castor et Pollux, Dardanus and Six concerts en sextuor – Nadine Koutcher, sop./ Alexei Svetov, bass / MusicAeterna Orch. & Choir/ Teodor Currentzis – Sony Classical

by | Dec 12, 2015 | Classical CD Reviews

RAMEAU: The Sound of Light – Music from Les Fêtes d’Hébé, Zoroastre, Platée, Les Indes galantes, Les Boréades, Naïs, Hippolyte et Aricie, Castor et Pollux, Dardanus and Six concerts en sextuor – Nadine Koutcher, soprano/ Alexei Svetov, bass / MusicAeterna Orchestra & Choir/ Teodor Currentzis – Sony Classical 88875014502, 67 mins. (2/3/15) ****(*): A quick look at the list of mostly operas and opera-ballets by Jean-Philippe Rameau from which trending Teodor Currentzis made his pick tells you it better be flashy because it sure ain’t deep. And so it is: flashy, brilliant and relentlessly passionate. In other words, totally appropriate to Rameau, which makes The Sound of Light a fabulous, stunning introduction to the world of perhaps the greatest Technicolor French composer from the 18th century who has not yet become a household name in the United States. To track this quickly, check out the sheer radiant, sublime beauty of Nadine Koutcher singing an aria about love, death and the passing of light from Castor et Pollux; the exhilarating virtuoso orchestral explosions in Zoroastre and Platée; and the iconic drum dance from Dardanus.  Interpretively, Currentzis leads his MusicAeterna forces, which include a full symphonic complement of more than 40 violins, […]

Gilles Vonsattel, piano – Shadowlines = Works of D. SCARLATTI, WEBERN, MESSIAEN, BENJAMIN & DEBUSSY – Honens

Gilles Vonsattel, piano – Shadowlines = Works of D. SCARLATTI, WEBERN, MESSIAEN, BENJAMIN & DEBUSSY – Honens

by | Dec 1, 2015 | Classical CD Reviews

Swiss pianist Vonsattel explores the roots and applications of modernism with often explosive effects. Gilles Vonsattel – Shadowlines = SCARLATTI: 3 Sonatas; MESSIAEN: Etude No. 4 “Ile de feu II”; 2 Preludes; WEBERN: Variations, Op. 27; BENJAMIN: Shadowlines: Six Canonic Preludes for Piano; DEBUSSY: Feux d’artifice; Masques; D’un cahier d’esquisses; L’Isle joyeuse – Gilles Vonsattel, piano – Honens 201510CD, 67:51 (10/2/15) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: This second album from Swiss pianist Gilles Vonsattel – Laureate of the 2009 Honens Piano Competition in Canada – testifies (rec. March 2015) to his interest in modern composition, especially that influenced by classical forms. As such, the recital may prove attractive to a musical few who embrace the intellectual over the emotional aspects of artistic expression. Well I recall my courses in the Second Viennese School with Prof. Friedheim at SUNY, in which we would trace out the geometries of Webern’s tone rows and their multiple permutations, as if a huge grid or anagram had emerged from the harmonic labyrinth!  But did the music compel as to hear it with the same affection we bring to Mozart? From the opening, jumping figures in Scarlatti’s Sonata in a minor, K. 3, we hear the rush […]

Home Page for December 2015

by | Dec 1, 2015 | Home Page

Our free drawing for December is for the largest collection we have ever offered: the 65-CD set of a giant cross-section of compositions by George Frederic Handel, except for his Italian operas. There are 12 oratorios, cantatas, odes, anthems, areas, duets, oboe concerti, plus the complete harpsichord music, complete organ concerti, complete Concerti Grossi, Water Music and Royal Fireworks Music. The comprehensive booklet for the set is available on the Brilliant Classics website in .pdf form. Here is the Amazon page for this impressive $117 retail set, which includes several reviews. To be considered for the drawing you need to register using our very simple form Here. Last month’s winners will be announced on our current Editorial Page, where you will also find more details on the drawing for this month.