Monthly Archive: October 2016
MICHAEL DAUGHERTY: Tales of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon a Castle – Zuill Bailey, cello/Paul Jacobs, organ/Nashville Sym. /Giancarlo Guerrero – Naxos
Some of Daugherty’s finest music to date in bold, innovative scenarios. MICHAEL DAUGHERTY: Tales of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon a Castle – Zuill Bailey, cello/Paul Jacobs, organ/Nashville Sym./Giancarlo Guerrero – Naxos American Classics 8.559798, 77:43 (9/09/16) ****: I don’t even know where to begin in discussing this latest release from Michael Daugherty except to […]
BIZET: Carmen Suites 1 & 2; L’Arlesienne Suites 1 & 2 – London Sym. Orch./ Neville Marriner – Pentatone
Pentatone restores Sir Neville Marriner’s intensely effective 1978 Bizet suites. BIZET: Carmen Suites 1 & 2; L’Arlesienne Suites 1 & 2 – London Sym. Orch./ Neville Marriner – Pentatone multichannel SACD PTC 5186 234, 65:10 (4.0 channels) [Distr. by Naxos] (7/8/16) ****: Composer Georges Bizet (1838-1875), tragically and ironically, died suddenly in June 1875, only […]
Nelson – For The Good Times/ A Tribute To Ray Price – Legacy vinyl
Nelson – For The Good Times/ A Tribute To Ray Price [TrackList follows] – Legacy 8898531241, 40:01 [9/16/16] stereo vinyl, ****: One country legends pays tribute to another! (Willie Nelson – acoustic guitar, lead vocals; Vince Gill – acoustic, electric guitar; Andy Reiss – electric guitar; Larry franklin – fiddle; Joe Spivey – fiddle; Kenny […]
The Girshevich Trio featuring Eddie Gomez – Algorithmic Society – Tapestry
The Girshevich Trio featuring Eddie Gomez – Algorithmic Society – Tapestry 76026-2, 59:34 ***: A release that has coherence of approach and concept. (Vlad Girshevich – piano, synthesizers/ Aleks Girshevich – drums/ Eddie Gomez – acoustic bass) Baroque music is a particular classical style that lasted for a period of 150 years from 1600 to […]
Little Johnny Rivero – Music In Me – Truth Revolution
Little Johnny Rivero – Music In Me [TrackList follows]- Truth Revolution TRR 022, 58:39 ****: A musical excursion that constructs numerous threads of Latin tradition. (Little Johnny Rivero – congas, bongo, timbales & minor percussion; Brian Lynch – trumpet; Louis Fouché – alto sax; Zaccai Curtis – piano & Fender Rhodes; Luques Curtis – bass; […]
“Russian Oboe Concertos” = By KITKA, RUBTSOV & ESHPAI – MD&G
“Russian Oboe Concertos” = VALERY KITKA: Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra No. 1; Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra No. 3; ANDREY RUBTSOV: Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra; ANDREY ESHPAI: Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra /Maria Sournatcheva, oboe /Göttinger Sym. Orch./ Christoph-Mathias Mueller ‒ Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm, multichannel SACD MDG 901 1947-6 (and […]
Bruckner: Symphonies 0-9 – var. orch./ Mario Venzago – CPO (10 CDs)
Interesting renditions of these works by one who has studied them deeply. ANTON BRUCKNER: Symphonies Nos. 0-9 – Tapiola Sinfonietta/Northern Sinfonia/Bern Sym. Orch./Basel Sym. Orch./Konzarthausorch. Berlin/Mario Venzago – CPO 555 023-2, 562:53 (ten CDs) plus PAL DVD “The Making of…” [Distr. by Naxos] (7/08/16) ***: First, let’s get this out of the way: the ‘bonus […]
FRANÇOIS COUPERIN: Leçons de Ténèbres; DE BROSSARD: Trio Sonatas; Stabat Mater – Lucy Crowe & Elizabeth Watts, sops./ La Nuova Musica/ David Bates – Harmonia mundi/PIAS
FRANÇOIS COUPERIN: Leçons de Ténèbres; SÉBASTIEN DE BROSSARD: Trio Sonatas; Stabat Mater – Lucy Crowe and Elizabeth Watts, sopranos/ La Nuova Musica/ David Bates – Harmonia mundi/PIAS HMU 807659, 70:20 (9-9-16) *****: Francois Couperin vs. Jean-Phillipe Rameau. Strange to think that François Couperin, harpsichordist to Louis XIV, and Rameau, the other great French harpsichordist of the time, […]
Audio News for October 4, 2016
CBS Radio to Cease – More and more Americans, particulary young people, don’t tune into on-air radio stations anymore. Advertising dollars and audiences are dwindling everywhere. Revenues for terrestrial radio as a whole have been on a downward march for years. The biggest indicator is that CBS Corp. – once the home of Edward R. […]
Rio Bossa – various performers – Le Chant du Monde – 3-CDs
A wonderful 3-CD intro to Brazilian jazz. Rio Bossa – various performers [TrackList follows] – Le Chant du Monde 2742394.96 (3-CD box) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] (10/7/16) *****: This is a terrific sampler of the best of Brazilian music from the bossa nova period of the mid-‘50s, which seems to coming back again. There is […]
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 6 in e-flat; Waltz Suite – Sao Paulo Sym. Orch./ Marin Alsop – Naxos
Two contrasting Prokofiev works of 1947 capture our attention through the ongoing series by Marin Alsop. PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 6 in e-flat minor, Op. 111; Waltz Suite, Op. 110 – Sao Paulo Sym. Orch./ Marin Alsop – Naxos 8.573518, 68:21 (8/12/16) ****: Prokofiev conceived his 1947 Sixth Symphony as an elegy of the tragedy of […]
Amazonia (2016)
A wonderful introduction to the wonders of the Amazon rainforest. Amazonia (2016) Narrator: Martin Sheen Director: Thierry Ragobert Studio: Grindstone/ Lionsgate (10/4/16) Also available in 3D Video: 1.85:1 for 16:9 screens, color Audio: English DD 5.1 Subtitles: English, Spanish Extras: The Making of Amazonia, 4 Minuscule Bonus Episodes, Trailer gallery Length: 93 min. Rating: **** […]
The Bad Plus – It’s Hard – Okeh/Sony Music
The Bad Plus deliver an all-covers album with lots of surprises. The Bad Plus – It’s Hard [TrackList follows] – Okeh/Sony Music 88985 337142, 40:56 [8/26/16] *****: (Reid Anderson – double bass/ Ethan Iverson – piano/David King – drums) What would you think of an all-covers album which includes music from Barry Manilow, Peter Gabriel, […]
Oscar Peterson Trio – Walking The Line – MPS vinyl
Oscar Peterson Trio – Walking The Line – MPS 0210989MSW stereo vinyl, 40:38 (1970/2016) ****: A piano master shines on audiophile vinyl reissue. (Oscar Peterson – piano; Jiri Mraz – double bass; Ray Price ; drums) In a world of legendary jazz pianists, Canadian Oscar Peterson easily stands among his peers as an equal. With […]
Wilhelm Furtwaengler conducts First Viennese School = MOZART: Marriage of Figaro Ov.; Sym. No. 40; HAYDN: Sym. No. 88 – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Berlin Philharmonic Orch. – Praga Digitals
In restored sound, classic Wilhelm Furtwaengler restorations embrace his Mozart and Haydn. Wilhelm Furtwaengler conducts First Viennese School = MOZART: The Marriage of Figaro Ov., K. 492; Sym. No. 40 in g, K. 550; HAYDN: Sym. No. 88 in G Major; Sym. No. 94 in G Major, “Surprise” – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Berlin Philharmonic Orch./ […]
“Double Triple Koppel” = Michala Petri on recorder & others – Decapo / BEAMISH: The Singing – Works of that composer cond. by Martyn Brabbins – BIS
“Double Triple Koppel” = ANDERS KOPPEL: Concerto for Recorder, Saxophone, and Orchestra; Triple Concerto for Mezzo Saxophone, Cello, Harp, and Orchestra ‒ Michala Petri, recorder / Benjamin Koppel, saxophones / Tine Rehling, harp / Eugene Hye-Knudsen, cello / Odense Sym. Orch. / Henrik Vagn Christensen ‒ Dacapo multichannel SACD 6220633 [Distr. by Naxos]; 67:25 (8/14/15) […]
CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH, Vol. 2 = Sinfonia No. 3; Cello Con. No. 3; Sinfonia in e; Piccolo Cello Sonata; Harpsichord Con. – Ophélie Gaillard, cello and musical dir. / Francesco Corti, harpsichord / Pulcinella Orch. ‒ Aparté
CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH, Vol. 2 = Sinfonia No. 3 in C Major, Wq. 182/3; Cello Concerto No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Wq. 171; Sinfonia in e, Wq. 178; Piccolo Cello Sonata in D Major, Wq. 137; Harpsichord Concerto in d, Wq. 17 ‒ Ophélie Gaillard, cello and musical dir. / Francesco Corti, harpsichord / […]
Mstislav Rostropovich, cello/ Alexander Dedyukhin, piano/ USSR Radio & TV PROKOKOFIEV: Cello Sonata; Sym.-Concerto; Concertina – Large Sym. Orch./ Gennadi Rozhdestvensky – Praga Digitals
Mstislav Rostropovich showcases three brilliant cello works by friend and colleague Sergei Prokofiev. PROKOFIEV: Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 119; Symphony-Concerto in e for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 125; Concertino in g for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 132 – Mstislav Rostropovich, cello/ Alexander Dedyukhin, piano/ USSR Radio & TV Large Sym. […]
Editorial for October 2016
The complete opera by Rameau on a Harmonia mundi Blu-ray is the free drawing for this month. It is performed by the Ensemble Pygmalion with a peerless list of soloists, conducted by Raphael Pichon and is full of colorful spectacle and entertainment. The production, by Michel Faubion, is noted for its delicious candy colors. Here […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
