Monthly Archive: April 2016
********** Ben Webster – The Warm Moods ********** With orch. arr. & cond. by Johnny Richards – Reprise/Pure Pleasure vinyl
A wonderful long and intimate vinyl session with Ben Webster. * Ben Webster – The Warm Moods [TrackList follows] – With orch. arr. & cond. by Johnny Richards – Reprise (also Discovery) R9-2001 (1960)/ Pure Pleasure (2015) [11/6/15] *****: What a sound! I had thought Stan Getz was my favorite saxist, but now I’m sure it’s Ben Webster. Having just spent nearly an hour with my best headphones, lying down and listening to this album, I feel there is no better sax player ever than Webster. The way he brings a warm and full sound to each and every note is unsurpassed by anyone. The unique breathy tone he achieves is like no other, and can be immediately identified as Ben Webster. The fine arrangements and conducting by Johnny Richards also make this a winning album in any form, and especially on this superb 180-gram vinyl pressing from Pure Pleasure, which has absolutely no hint of surface noise, even on headphones. It’s interesting and very odd that the liner notes on the original release by Nat Hentoff don’t make the slightest mention of Johnny Richards. There are a couple paragraphs at the end which do list the personnel on the session and […]
BRUCKNER: Sym. No. 9 arr. for 2 Pianos & Mass No. 3 – HDTT audio-only Blu-rays
Two newly-recorded Bruckner items in hi-res surround on Blu-ray. ANTON BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 9 in d arr. for Two Pianos – Till Alexander Korber & Reinhold Puri-Jobi, pianos – HDTT 4-channel 24/192 (2015) DTS-HD MA audio-only Blu-ray ****: ANTON BRUCKNER: Mass No. 3 in f – Cynthia Clayton sop./ Melanie Sonnenberg, mezzo/ Joseph Evans, tenor/ Timothy Jones, bass-bari./ Sigurd Ogaard, pipe organ/Houston Sym. Chorus/Moores School Sym./ Franz Anton Krager – HDTT 5-channel 24/96 DTS-HD MA audio-only Blu-ray, TT: 1:18:43 ****: Considering the orchestral impact of most of the Bruckner symphonies, to reduce the immense sonics, including major crescendos, of the full orchestra to just two pianos in an arrangement seems a bit unneeded. However, this live public concert (just recorded by John Proffitt last year at Stift St. Florian in Austria) by the two pianists does stress the clarity of Bruckner’s themes and counter-themes and shows that he really poured everything he had into his Ninth Symphony – which he worked on up to and including the day of his death. A German author and critic, Karl Grunsky (who died in 1943) transcribed all nine of Bruckner’s great symphonies for two pianos, and this is the last of them. This […]
Cory Henry – The Revival – Ground Up Music (CD + DVD)
Cory Henry – The Revival – Ground Up Music 80024621-00 (CD + DVD), 78:45 each, ****1/2: Some of that old time religion and a Hammond B-3 is a great combination! (Cory Henry – Hammond B-3 organ; James Williams – drums, percussion; Bishop Jeffrey White – vocals) As improbable as it sounds, Cory Henry began playing the organ at the age of two. His prodigious career includes working with a wide array of musicians including Yolanda Adams, Michael McDonald, Snarky Puppy, The Roots, P Diddy and Bruce Springsteen. At the core of his musical soul is gospel. Cory Henry’s latest release, The Revival, is an homage to gospel. And in the hands of Henry, there is no better vehicle for spreading the message than the Hammond B-3 organ. Returning to perform at The Greater Temple of Praise, Henry infuses several church standards and a few secular numbers with dynamic, glowing sound. Opening with “Lords Prayer”, the performance starts with a hushed reverie. Henry continues to maintain a low-key soulful vibe, building to a crescendo of vibrato and sustain with modulations and tone diversity that is electrifying. Picking up the tempo, “He Has Made Me Glad” demonstrates a foot-stomping, joyous resonance (not […]
Julian Lage, guitar – Arclight – Mack Ave.
Guitarist Julian Lage plugs in. Julian Lage – Arclight [TrackList follows] – Mack Ave. MAC1107, 36:45 [3/11/16] ****: (Julian Lage – guitar; Kenny Wollesen – drums, percussion; Scott Colley – bass) In the rock music community, going unplugged (or primarily concentrating on acoustic instruments) is enough of an unusual turn it becomes a special event. In the jazz realm, it’s the opposite for some artists. Young guitarist Julian Lage (who isn’t yet 30) is as an example of plugging in and adding amplification and electricity. Lage’s 37-minute outing, Arclight, is the first time he’s employed electric guitar—specifically a Fender Telecaster, which Lage considers “the most refined embodiment of the modern guitar.” Arclight also marks other firsts for Lage. This is his debut on the Mack Avenue label (home to Herlin Riley, Christian McBride and Cyrille Aimée); and the first time Lage has recorded in a trio format: he’s superbly supported by double bassist Scott Colley (Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Brian Blade and more) and drummer Kenny Wollesen (a busy rock and jazz percussionist who has collaborated with David Byrne and has worked extensively with both Bill Frisell and John Zorn). Arclight follows Lage’s first completely solo record, World’s Fair (2015) […]
“Dawn to Dust” – Music of THOMAS, MUHLY, and NORMAN – Utah Sym. Orch. / Thierry Fischer – Reference Recordings
“Dawn to Dust” – Music of THOMAS, MUHLY, and NORMAN – Utah Sym. Orch. / Thierry Fischer – Reference Recordings multichannel SACD FR-719, 69:31 (4/8/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: Notable contemporary music from Utah in a lovely recording. Dawn To Dust contains live recordings of three significant and interesting works by leading composers Augusta Read Thomas, Nico Muhly, and Andrew Norman. Each of the three compositions is performed by the Utah Symphony under the baton of Thierry Fischer. All are world premiere recordings. The first work on the disc is a lovely and dynamic contemporary ballet for orchestra by Ms. Thomas, called EOS – Goddess of the Dawn. It has a rich palette of orchestra sounds, The piece is in seven parts and presents musical depictions of the dawn against a background of Greek mythology. The next work is by Muhly called Control – Five Landscapes for Orchestra. The landscapes in question are from Utah, and are inspired by the spectacular geography the state offers. I’ve just returned from a photo shoot in St. George and Bryce Canyon, Utah, so the disc came to me at an appropriate time. Here again, there are very rich orchestrations, and evocations of the […]
The Animals – Animal Tracks – EMI (10″ vinyl)
The Animals – Animal Tracks – EMI (1965)/ Abkco (2016) 8499-1 mono 10” 45 rpm vinyl, ***1/2: Special vinyl EP reissue shows off The Animals’ blues prowess. (Eric Burdon – vocals; Alan Price – piano, organ; Chas Chandler – bass, vocals; Hilton Valentine – guitar; John Steel – drums) The British rock scene was formed by American blues. Most (if not all) of these bands began their careers with covers of blues music. The Rolling Stones took their band moniker from a song by the immortal Muddy Waters. Along with The Yardbirds, The Animals were among the finest purveyors of British blues. Formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s, the group was initially known as Alan Price Rhythm And Blues Combo. The original lineup featured Price (piano and organ), Eric Burdon (vocals), Chas Chandler (bass), Hilton Valentine (guitar) and John Steel (drums). The Animals became a renowned act when their organ-laced version of “House Of The Rising Sun” hit No. 1 in the U.S. Burdon’s gritty vocals complemented Price’s musicality. Like their counterparts, the band continued to record American blues (“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, “Bring It On Home To Me”) and eventually created their own pop-based alchemy […]
LARSSON: Symphony No. 2; Variations; Barococo Suite – Helsingborg Sym. Orch. /Andrew Manze – CPO
LARS-ERIK LARSSON: Symphony No. 2; Variations, Op. 50; Barococo Suite, Op. 64 – Helsingborg Sym. Orch. /Andrew Manze – CPO 777 672-2 multichannel SACD, 69:53 [Distr. by Naxos] (11/13/15) ****: Very dedicated performances of these works that remain pretty obscure. There are probably a lot of reasons why the music of Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson (1908-1986) does not get played much anymore, least of all outside of northern Europe. Larsson was one of those many ‘bridge’ composers caught in the stylistic transition between the mainly Romantic idiom and the later ‘progressives.’ His music contains strains of such a style; sounding like Sibelius in places; perhaps some Franz Berwald, and is not really so unique as to sound unlike others around him. Another reason could be that, for a composer writing this way deep into the mid-twentieth century, he was battling the ‘new wave’ of genuinely new and unique sound worlds occupied by Prokofiev, Bartok, Nielsen and others. So, his music remains eminently listenable and attractive but rather lost in time (which is interesting, because according to the helpful booklet notes by Christoph Schlüren, Larsson even studied with Alban Berg for a while; disappointed not only that he did not get […]
Christopher Zuar Orchestra – Musings – Sunnyside
Keep an eye on Christopher Zuar… Christopher Zuar Orchestra – Musings – Sunnyside SSC 1434, 55:17 ****1/2: (Christopher Zuar – composer, arranger, conductor; Dave Pietro, Ben Kono, Jason Rigby, Lucas Pino, Brian Landrus – woodwinds; Tony Kadleck, Jon Owens, Mat Jodrell, Matt Holman – trumpets; Tim Albright, Matt McDonald, Alan Ferber, Max Siegel – trombones; Pete McCann – guitar; Frank Carlberg – piano, Fender Rhodes keyboards; John Hebert – bass; Mark Ferber – drums; Rogerio Boccato – percussion; Jo Lawry – voice) A pleasant development over the last 10-15 years is the progression of the blending of jazz with classical overtones. The artist that is responsible for mentoring the lyricism found in this genre was Bob Brookmeyer. Going back to his work with the European New Arts Orchestra in the late 1990s, Brookmeyer wrote and arranged works of complex beauty. He taught at the New England Conservatory of Music and was a strong influence on Maria Schneider, who has gone on to Grammy winning fame. The latest artist to help carry on this musical blend is the 29-year-old composer, Christopher Zuar, who studied with Brookmeyer. Zuar’s initial release, Musings, just released April 1, is a masterful blend of modern classical […]
KREISLER: Music for Violin and Piano – Shlomo Mintz, v./ Cliford Benson, p. – PentaTone
A charming hour of Fritz Kreisler favorites, performed by a gifted violinist who relished the composer’s renaissance. KREISLER: Music for Violin and Piano – Polichinelle; La Gitana; ALBENIZ: Tango; Rondino on a theme by BEETHOVEN; Caprice viennois, Op. 2; WEBER: Larghetto; Zigeuner-Capriccio; WIENIAWSKI: Caprice in E-flat Major; Liebesleid; Tambourin chinois; DVORAK: Slavonic Dance, Op. 72, No. 2; Recitativo and Scherzo, Op. 6; GLAZUNOV: Serenade espagnole; GRANADOS: Danse espagnole; La Precieuse; Syncopation; Liebesfreud – Shlomo Mintz, violin/ Cliford Benson, p. – PentaTone PTC 5186 228 multichannel (4.0) RQR SACD, 53:54 [Distr. by Naxos] ****: Originally released by DGG in stereo in 1981, this remastered Kreisler recital combines the violinist’s own compositions with the more notable transcriptions he made from other composers’ works. In all, we have Shlomo Mintz in 17 compositions, ably assisted by Clifford Benson. At the time, Mintz had boasted of a “Kreisler renaissance” he felt loomed on the horizon. For the most part, the pungent miking captures Mintz in suave form, with an occasional piece – like the Zigeuner-Capriccio – that allows Benson to display some fascinating touches and plastic bravura. Mintz himself adds the requisite vibrato and gypsy sizzle to those pieces whose innate sentiment – […]
“MAHLER Rarities” = Symphony No. 2 in c minor “Resurrection”: Andante moderato; Sym. No. 4 – Soloists/ Hilversum Radio Philharmonic/ Paul van Kempen – Pristine Audio
The Mahler legacy adds two rare documents of innate interest to the history of recorded sound. “MAHLER Rarities” = Symphony No. 2 in c minor “Resurrection”: Andante moderato only; Sym. No. 4 in G Major – Cadillac Sym. Orch./ Arnold Schoenberg (Sym. No. 2)/ Corry Bijster, sop./ Hilversum Radio Philharmonic Orch./ Paul van Kempen – Pristine Audio PASC 466, 62:08 [avail. in var. formats from www.pristineclassical.com] *****: Restoration engineer and producer Mark Obert-Thorn revives two significant documents for Mahler acolytes: the NBC broadcast (8 April 1934) of composer Arnold Schoenberg’s appearance before a pseudonym ensemble – likely members of the Blue Network Orchestra – leading music by the very composer who had championed his own scores in turn-of-the-century Vienna. The other, the G Major Symphony (January 1950) from the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam led by Paul van Kempen (1893-1955), a former violinist under Willem Mengelberg who himself enjoyed a strong career in Dresden, Hilversum, and Berlin. The Schoenberg recording – in music other than his own – impresses us with its stylistic sympathy for a movement fraught with a pantheistic fervor and touched by nostalgia. A small break in the recording suggests that a change to another shellac disc had been required […]
Misconduct, Blu-ray (2015)
A thriller with a twist, demonstrating that “Ambition can be deadly.” Misconduct, Blu-ray (2015) Cast: Josh Duhamel, Al Pacino, Anthony Hopkins Director: Shintaro Shimosawa Studio: Lionsgate (4/19/16) Video: 2.40:1 for 16:9 widescreen, 1080p HD color Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Subtitles: English Extras: “The Making of Misconduct” featurette; Deleted scenes; Trailer Gallery Length: 93 min. Rating: **** This thriller begins with an ambitious young lawyer played by Josh Duhamel getting involved again with his former mentally unstable but sexy girlfriend even though he is married. He finds evidence incriminating the corrupt wealthy pharmaceutical executive, who has produced a medicine that has killed numerous people. He soon finds himself stuck in a power struggle between the medical company magnate and his firm’s senior partner (played by Al Pacino). Hopkins is his usual best as the cool medical magnate. It takes awhile at the beginning to figure out what is going on. The case suddenly takes a deadly turn and the lawyer may lose not only his wife but also his career and possibly his life. Pacino is so good at playing a real baddie, that we know in the end he is going to be the one behind this mess, and […]
“Woodwinds of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra” – JANACEK: Mladi; MARTINU: Sextet for Piano & Winds; VERESS: Sonatina for Oboe, Clarinet & Bassoon; POULENC: Sextuor – Soloists – RCO Live
A delightful spotlight on the woodwind section of the great Concertgebouw Orch. “Woodwinds of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra” – JANACEK: Mladi; MARTINU: Sextet for Piano and Winds H. 174; SANDOR VERESS: Sonatina for Oboe, Clarinet & Bassoon; POULENC: Sextuor – Soloists – RCO Live multichannel SACD RCO15008, 59:59 *****: Antonine Reicha made the quintet of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon into one of the most important chamber ensembles at the start of the 19th century. Composers later explored new possibilities with this combination. An English horn and piccolo became a possible part of the equation, and the addition of a piano opened up very different possibilities, since it could be either accompanying or in a solo role. Janacek added a bass clarinet and called for the flutist to sometimes also play the piccolo. The Janacek Mladi is full of folk influences, which he collected before Bartok and Kodaly. The chamber music version didn’t do well, but Janacek later wrote it for full orchestra, and it has been most popular in that format. Bohuslav Martinu also lived in Prague and he spoke with the native language of his country. The Veress Sonatina consists of a different version of the typical […]
Audio News for April 15, 2016
Black Contributions to Classical Music Thru Video Games – The National Endowment for the Humanities has given a start-up grant to faculty members of the American University School of Communications for a web-based game called The Search for Harmony, which explores the rich influence of African descent musicians on classical music. Players will understand vital multicultural influences on classical music, learn rudimenary composition concepts and discover the expressive power of music. Tiny Tube Headphone Amp From Woo Audio – The WA8 Eclipse is pure tube, with two 6S31Bs and one 6021 tubes. It is built to the highest audiophile standards and plays from three to four hours on one charge. The built-in digital converter handles up to 384-kHz/24-bit files. It excels in transparency and seems to work with many different headphones. It has top-notch design and is currently about $1800. Virtual Reality the Hottest Technology Today – The new release of Facebook-owned Oculus Rift and the Vive – from Bellevue’s Valve and Taiwanese phone company HTC – will be the biggest test to date as ot whether consumers are interested in a device that wraps an immersive screen around their faces. A cluster of start-ups are also watching the market […]
Music From The Motion Picture Joy – Abkco vinyl (2)
Various Artists – Music From The Motion Picture Joy – Abkco 1877183401 [4/16/16] stereo double 12-inch vinyl ****: A wonderful soundtrack vinyl of various pop & rock tracks. (Featuring Cream; Lee Morgan; Ella Fitzgerald; Thomas Bullard, Choir Of King’s College, Cambridge; Edgar Ramirez; The Bee Gees; Willie West; The Ronettes; Salzburg Bach Choir; Ray De La Paz and The Pedrito Martinez Group; The Rolling Stones; Nat King Cole; Brittany Howard, Jennifer Lawrence; original music by Dylan Thompson and David Campbell; additional music by Blake Mills; score conducted, orchestrated and arranged by David Campbell) Abkco Records has released (in conjunction with Record Store Day 2016) the soundtrack from Joy. Based on the inspirational David O. Russell 2015 movie about unlikely housewife entrepreneur Joy Mangano, the narrative is represented by a diverse soundtrack. Vinyl enthusiasts will be overjoyed as one of the formats is a double 150-gram record that has been pressed with an electric blue finish. As with many of Russell’s soundtracks, there is a wide array of musical genres. Side A opens with the Cream’s psychedelic blues classic, “I Feel Free”. This concise number showcases why Cream was a true pioneer in rock music. Eric Clapton’s distorted guitar licks combine […]
VERDI: Aida (complete opera) – Anja Harteros (Aida)/ Other soloists/ Orch. & Chorus of Santa Ceclia/ Pappano – Warner Classics (3)
A twenty-first Aida to set the stage and the bar very high. VERDI: Aida (complete opera) – Anja Harteros (Aida)/ Jonas Kaufmann (Radames)/ Ekaterina Semenchuk (Amneris)/ Ludovic Tezier (Amonasro)/ Erwin Schrott (Ramfis)/ Marco Spotti (Il Re)/ Paolo Fanale (Messaggero)/ Eleonora Buratto (Sacerdotessa)/ Orch. and Chorus of the Dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecelia/ Antonio Pappano – Rhino/ Warner Classics 0825646106639 (3 CDs), TT: 145:36 ****: This Aida rocks! Big, bold statement these days I know, and we all have our favorites from the past—Price 1 (Leinsdorf), Price 2 (Solti), Tebaldi (Karajan), just to name a few of my favorite stereo recordings. But honor is due to Warner for putting out a studio effort in this day and age of concert-only recordings (and we must be grateful for them), and assembling a cast, while not perfect, still only on the south side of sensational. And while audiophiles will no doubt squeak at the lack of surround sound, what we have is broad and impactful, with lots of breathing room around the singers, and believe me, in this opera they need it. I won’t delve into the history of Aida—that’s easy enough to find, and the story isn’t all that complicated, love and […]
SCHUBERT: Piano Sonatas: No. 18 in G; No. 20 – David Korevaar, p. – MSR Classics
David Koervaar provides an intimate and almost intrusive glimpse into these late Schubert works. SCHUBERT: Piano Sonatas: No. 18 in G, D.894; No. 20 in A, D.959 – David Korevaar, p. – MSR Classics MS 1557, 71:37 [Distr. by Albany] ****: Korevaar, currently at University of Colorado Boulder (where this was recorded), is a wide-spectrum type of pianist who nevertheless brings a certainly stylistic sensibility to everything he records. One criticism that is often leveled at actors, for instance, is that in every role they play we discern the personality first and the character second. In music however, this is not a bad thing. One is never able to recreate, despite the best of intentions, who the “real” Beethoven or Mozart is, let alone the “true intentions” (whatever that means) of the composer. Interpretative musical art will always be a best guess scenario, and the re-creative aspects of musical performance dictate that each and every effort is in some way the union of multiple—and often disparate—musical personalities. I say this because Korevaar is an artist whose human sensibilities, no matter what he is playing, are always at the forefront. He seem anxious to communicate to us the deeply personal elements […]
VIVALDI: The Complete Viola d’Amore Concertos – Rachel Barton Pine, viola d’amore/ Ars Antigua – Cedille
A bold disc and stunning achievement. VIVALDI: The Complete Viola d’Amore Concertos – Rachel Barton Pine, viola d’amore/ Ars Antigua – Cedille CDR 90000 159, 79:11 [Distr. by Naxos] *****: One should never be quick to assume, even in the case of talented and multifaceted artists like Rachel Barton Pine, a transfer to another, even related, instrument will be an automatic success. I remember years ago when viola players were astounded and much put off by the artistry of Pinchas Zukerman on “their” instrument, and there have been other cases of such transferal that were not as demonstrably reliable. Barton Pine has spent a lot of time over the years tinkering with various facets of the period performance genre, so she is no stranger to the type of performance we have here. But the viola d’amore, a tricky instrument born of the viol family with resonating strings yet played under the chin, is not an easy ticket, and Barton Pine has obviously spent a lot of practice time with it. It’s tone, and especially as she produces it, has a gossamer sweep to it, very articulate yet not particularly loud, which might have sounded the death knell for the thing […]
HANDEL: “Arie per la Cuzzoni” – Hasnaa Bennani, sop./ Les Muffatti/ Peter Van Heyghen – Ramée
HANDEL: “Arie per la Cuzzoni” – Hasnaa Bennani, sop./ Les Muffatti/ Peter Van Heyghen – Ramée RAM 1501, 69:27 (2/26/16) [Distr. by Naxos] *****: Enjoy Handel at his extrovert best, honoring one of his celebrated singers. Handel is at his extrovert best on a CD that compiles music made famous by one of his most celebrated and most notorious prima donnas, Francesca Cuzzoni, amidst a flurry of instrumental overtures and other brilliant, purely orchestral pieces. The full details of La Cuzzoni’s fairy tale rise and dramatic fall – “of her last years, little is known, save that she returned to the continent where she lived a poverty-stricken existence, eking out a living, it is said, making buttons” – and more, are all laid out in Peter Wollny’s delicious liner notes. It was about La Cuzzoni the incomparable singer, and not the scandalous diva or Puccini-esque heroine, that Handel’s colleague Quantz wrote, “La Cuzzoni had a very pleasant and bright soprano voice, pure intonation and a beautiful trill. Her style of singing was artless and touching. Because of the dainty, pleasant and fluent way she performed them, her embellishments did not appear artificial; yet so tenderly did she sing them that […]
Matt Kane & the Kansas City Generations Sextet – Acknowledgement – Bounce-Step
Drummer Matt Kane proves that, yes, you can go home again. Matt Kane & the Kansas City Generations Sextet – Acknowledgement [TrackList follows] – Bounce-Step 88295524038, 64:10 [3/4/16] ****: (Matt Kane – drums; Ben Leifer – bass; Andrew Ouellette – piano; Michael Shults – alto saxophone; Hermon Mehari – trumpet; Steve Lambert – tenor saxophone) Author Thomas Wolfe wrote, “You can’t go back home.” The phrase has entered the American vernacular as a metaphor for how it’s impossible to return to one’s childhood; how memory rose-colors our past into nostalgia; and how it is sometimes not possible to realize how things change. But, in fact, people can “go back home” if they embrace the past and how it affects the present and future, and understand the difference between what was and what is. That idea is an inspiration for drummer Matt Kane’s latest project, the 64-minute Acknowledgement. Kane is based in New York City, but was born in Hannibal, MO and studied jazz at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, before relocating to NYC. He never forgot his roots, and when he felt he was ready and had the concept he wanted, he returned to where he began. The result is […]
DAN LOCKLAIR: Requiem – Choir of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church – Subito
Personal, private, and persuasive sum up this subdued and very intimate piece. DAN LOCKLAIR: Requiem – Choir of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, NC/ John Cummins, organ & cond./ Members of Winston-Salem Sym. – Subito Music, 38:30 [12/15/15] ****: I have been a fan of Charlotte native Dan Locklair for some time now. His music, in the best American tonal tradition, is always engrossing, engaging, and well-considered at every turn of the pen on paper. Currently Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Music at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, his is a muse that is also reflective in many ways of the best tradition of local influence and inspiration. Having grown up only a few miles from where he now works, I can testify to the particulars of his native region reaching deeply into his considerable art. This holds true for this meditative and optimistically bittersweet Requiem, given in its world premiere performance by the choir of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Don’t expect technical precision from the choir or orchestra—there are some moments of intonation slips and exuberant missteps. But that is hardly the point, as the human element in this work is only exacerbated by the very human performance […]
WEBER: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 Concertino – Paul Meyer, clarinet & cond. l’Orch. De Chambre De Lausanne – MD&G
WEBER: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 Concertino, Op. 26 – Paul Meyer, clarinet & cond. l’Orch. De Chambre De Lausanne – Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm multichannel SACD MDG 940-1922-6 (also 2+2+2), 51:27 (4-1-16) *****: Classy hi-res recordings of the two Clarinet Concertos by Von Weber. Just turned 50, French clarinetist Paul Meyer’s classy new recordings of Weber’s two Clarinet Concertos with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra eclipse his 1998 versions, for Denon with Günther Herbig conducting the Royal Philharmonic. In fact, this new recording, made in Lausanne’s Salle Métropole, eclipses most others and directly competes against Martin Fröst’s edgy version with the Tapiola Sinfonietta for BIS. Meyer, like Fröst, applies his interpretive approach with a splendid, thrilling technique. But where his Swedish colleague’s virtuosity is quicksilver and quirky, Meyer’s is smoother, more poetic, more mellifluous without any thickening of the sound. And where Fröst offers an unconventional third work, an arrangement for clarinet and strings of Weber’s Clarinet Quintet, Op. 34, Meyer takes the conventional route with a charming performance of the charming Op. 26 Concertino. Balancing the soloist against Weber’s rich orchestra is always a challenge for recording these concertos; it was best solved in the analogue days by a 1968 […]
WEILL/BRECHT: Die Sieben Todsünden – Gisela May (sop.), Peter Schreier (tenor)/ Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orch. Leipzig – Brilliant Classics
WEILL/BRECHT: Die Sieben Todsünden – Gisela May (sop.)/ Peter Schreier (tenor)/ Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orch. Leipzig – 95126, 70:33 – Brilliant Classics (Distr. by Naxos) ****½: What a difference the right style makes. A short while ago I listened to the DVD release of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (2007), the performance with Patty Lupone and Audra McDonald. It had won two Emmys and features elaborate sets, polished singing, highly stylized acting, and peppy dance numbers. It was performed in operetta style, like another musical Lupone was in: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita. But what it did not have was grit. Irony. That decadent Weimar aura. It did not have Gisela May. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that they got it all wrong, despite those shiny American awards. May, on the other hand, does get it right, with a classic cabaret style that would have made Brecht & Weill proud. You can almost smell the cigar smoke. In every piece, she belts out the famous songs from their four most notable collaborations, and in one case, performs the entire book. (Die Sieben Todsünden). From the moment audiences hear the languid woodwind opening, they may never […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
