Monthly Archive: April 2017
Arturo Toscanini = MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4, “Italian”; Symphony No. 5,“Reformation”; WAGNER: Parsifal, Prelude, Act I – NBC Symphony Orchestra (Mendelssohn)/ London Symphony Orchestra (Wagner) – Praga Digitals
The natural power and persuasive brilliance of the Toscanini experience return in music of Mendelssohn and Wagner. Arturo Toscanini = MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 “Italian”; Symphony No. 5 in d minor, Op. 107 “Reformation”; WAGNER: Parsifal: Prelude, Act I; Good Friday Music – NBC Symphony Orchestra (Mendelssohn)/ London Symphony Orchestra (Wagner) – Praga Digitals PRD/DSD 350128, 78:54 (11/11/16) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****: I can recall having traveled downtown to 49th Street in New York City, specifically to obtain from Sam Goody’s record store a copy of RCA LM 1851, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 and Symphony No. 5 with Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony, performances that benefit from the Carnegie Hall venue, 1953 and 1954. At that time, Toscanini’s presence on the podium carried a guarantee of propulsive energy tied to a virtually religious devotion to the letter of the composer’s intentions. Mendelssohn’s 1833 Italian Symphony seemed to convey an innocent, idealistic Mediterranean impression, with none of the gritty, new Realism I might find in contemporary cinema of the period, Fellini’s La Strada or Pasolini’s Accatone. Rather, the symphony invoked blue skies in the first movement and a somber but optimistic Roman processional in […]
Troy ROBERTS – Tales & Tones – Inner Circle Music
Saxophonist Troy Roberts preserves a classic and standard jazz approach. Troy Roberts – Tales & Tones [TrackList follows] – Inner Circle Music INCM066CD, 62:35 (1/5/17) ****: (Troy Roberts – tenor and soprano saxophone, producer; Silvano Monasterios – piano; Robert Hurst – upright bass; Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts – drums) On his seventh outing as a leader, Tales & Tones, saxophonist Troy Roberts has a few stories to tell, and conveys them like the expressive and professional musician he is. Roberts may not be as well-known as some other saxophonists who reside and perform regularly in the New York City area, but he’s got some solid history with established players. Roberts has been or still is a member of bands led by drummer Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts and Hammond B-3 organist Joey DeFrancesco. He’s also collaborated with pianist Silvano Monasterios, Dave Grusin and others. Roberts retains Monasterios and Watts—who were on Roberts’ previous album, 2015’s Secret Rhymes—and adds bassist Robert Hurst (who, like Watts, has some spent time with members of the Marsalis clan). Together the four musicians present an hour-long program of mostly traditional jazz (with some modern touches here and there), with six Roberts originals, and covers by Billy Strayhorn, Bernie […]
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 3; Symphony No. 4 – Andrew Staples, Rhys Owens, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Manze – ONYX
2 very finely played and recorded Vaughan Williams Symphonies B06VT5RT11 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 3 ‘A Pastoral Symphony’ (1921) Symphony No. 4 in F minor (1934) – Andrew Staples (tenor), Rhys Owens (natural trumpet), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Manze – ONYX CD 4161 TT:68:49 (4/21/17) **** From Onyx we have a continuation of their notable Vaughan Williams cycle on CD. Conductor Andrew Manze is getting excellent notices for his interpretations, and this new recording of the Vaughan Williams 3rd and 4th symphonies are going to enhance that reputation. The two symphonies are very different in mood. The Pastoral Symphony is just that, while the Symphony no. 4 is dissonant and angry. It’s often been attributed to Williams contempt for war and a prediction, perhaps, or WWII, but the composer has disavowed those observations. The Pastoral is unique for using a tenor soloist in the last movement, it’s usually a soprano, but Williams himself specified either a soprano or a tenor. Here it’s the fine voice of Andrew Staples. These are very fine performances, with the Pastoral taken a bit slower than my audio memory recalls for other performances, but I found no fault with that choice. The more dynamic Symphony no. […]
SCHUMANN: Symphony No.3; TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No.2 – Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini – Conductor – Praga Digitals Hybrid Stereo
SCHUMANN: Symphony No.3; TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No.2 – Philharmonia Orchestra/Carlo Maria Giulini, Conductor – Praga Digitals (stereo only) SACD – PRD 350135 TT:75:28 (1/6/17) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] *** Praga Digitals has given us two lovely romantic symphonies and Schumann’s Overture to Manfred on this remastering of some older recordings from the fifties on a hybrid SACD/CD. The disc begins with the Manfred Overture, and is followed by Schumann’s Symphony no. 3. Also known as the ‘Rhenish’, it was Schumann’s last symphony, although some works were published after this symphony. He was inspired to write this music after a trip to the Rhineland with his wife. The symphony exudes the quietness and peacefulness of this journey, and also reflects on Schumann’s own observations of his life. The disc closes with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 2, knows as “The Little Russian.” The name derives from three Ukrainian folk tunes the composer incorporated into the work, and the Ukraine at the time was knows as ‘Little Russia’. Tchaikovsky completed the work in 1872, but spent almost a decade revising it. This recording is from 1956. Carlo Maria Giulini, who died in 2005, was a fine conductor, always delivering somewhat surprising, but not offbeat performances. […]
BRAHMS: String Sextet No. 1; String Sextet No. 2 – Barry Sullivan, viola/ Zuill Bailey, cello/ Cypress String Quartet – Avie
For their last recording, the Cypress Quartet invites guests to share the music of Brahms. BRAHMS: String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 18; String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36 – Barry Sullivan, viola/ Zuill Bailey, cello/ Cypress String Quartet – Avie AV2294, 76:50 (1/6/17) (Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ***** The two Brahms sextets (1862 and 1864, respectively) enjoy a status that renders them “immune” from invidious comparison with works by Beethoven. Spohr and Boccherini had explored the medium; and in the case of Brahms, his B-flat Sextet made an immediate, favorable impression upon mentors Joseph Joachim and Clara Schumann. The second of the sextets exhibits even more internal unity than the first. Both sextets convey a degree of melancholy, each in its own way: the B-flat projects a first movement rife with nostalgia; the G Major – much in the manner of Schumann’s penchant for musical anagrams – casts a sad farewell to Agathe von Siebold, a singer from Goettingen to whom Brahms had been engaged until he wrote a letter to the effect that he “could not endure living in chains.” The patented Brahms sonority ushers forth at the opening of the B-flat Sextet, […]
“Azul” = SIAMEK AGHAEI/COLIN JACOBSEN: Ascending Bird; DVOŘÁK: Rusalka: Song to the Moon; GOLIJOV: Azul; STOCKHAUSEN: Tierkreis: Leo; SUFJAN STEVENS: Suite from Run Rabbit Run – Yo-Yo Ma, c./The Knights/Eric Jacobsen – Warner Classics
“Azul” = SIAMEK AGHAEI and COLIN JACOBSEN: Ascending Bird; ANTONIN DVOŘÁK (arr. Jesse Diener-Bennett): Rusalka: Song to the Moon; OSVALDO GOLIJOV: Azul; KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN (arr. Caroline Shaw): Tierkreis: Leo; SUFJAN STEVENS (arr. Michael P. Atkinson): Suite from Run Rabbit Run – Yo-Yo Ma, cello/The Knights/Eric Jacobsen – Warner Classics 0190295875213, 58:43, (3/31/2017) ****: A diverse and very rewarding collection of works inspired by our world. My net reaction to this collection of beautiful works, featuring the always amazing cellist Yo-Yo Ma, is “wow!”; just wow! First and most obviously, it is nearly impossible not to admire the artistry as well as the programming sense of Yo-Yo Ma. He has been one of the world’s great cellists for quite some time now but, to his credit, his work has expanded well beyond all the ‘war horse’ cello concerti and the like (which he plays very well to be sure!) His work with the Silk Road Ensemble has shown that Ma has used his sensitivity and talents for ‘world music’ and music inspired by current issues and themes to amazing effectiveness. The title to this incredible collection is also the title of the showcase work, Azul, by Osvaldo Golijov; a composer whose […]
CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 1; 4 Ballades – Seong-Jin Cho, piano/ London Symphony Orchestra/ Gianandrea Noseda – DGG
Seong-Jin Cho legitimates his current status as one of the splendid interpreters of Chopin. CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in e minor, Op. 11; 4 Ballades – Seong-Jin Cho, piano/ London Symphony Orchestra/ Gianandrea Noseda – DGG 80026046-02, 78:55 (12/23/16) [Distr. by Universal] ****: Seong-Jin Cho (b. 1994) has achieved immediate fame as the first Korean winner of the International Chopin Competition, particularly No. XVII. Cho made his first commercial, studio recording in London in June 2016 with conductor Noseda, and to the Concerto in e he adds Chopin’s Four Ballades from a session in Hamburg in September 2016. Freely admitting that his pianistic idol in Chopin is Krystian Zimerman, whose capacity to relish the bel canto element in Chopn reigns supreme, Cho has made a fluid singing line his own artistic priority, much in the arioso tradition inherited from Mozart by way of Hummel. Not only do the softer passages – in E Major – of the rather declamatory first movement prove gracious, but Cho’s phrasing of the melodic tissue of the Romance: Larghetto movement echoes with Old-World tracery. Noseda has a supreme orchestral ensemble in the London Symphony, and their contribution in the strings and woodwinds provides a […]
Audio News for April 14, 2017
More Choices for Wireless Customers – The FCC is shifting away valuable spectrum from TV broadcasters to companies offering wireless service. Industry insides call it “beachfront property” because it offers greater distances and goes thru walls for better indoor coverage. This can reshape the wireless industry and give smaller carriers a change of offer the same strong nationwide coverage as Verizon and AT&T, who together control more than 70% of the US wireless market. The 600 megahertz band is being auction off, used before to transmit TV signals. It’s likely this is the last time the government can auction off such spectrum. Its low band means carriers won’t need to put up a cell tower on every block. In exchange for giving up their spectrum, broadcasters are getting about $10 billion; the government is getting about $19.8 billion. The big winners in the auction were T-Mobile, Dish Network and Comcast. Amazon Launches Daily Deals on Many DIY Accessories, Electronics and Home Items for Easter LG Estimates Q1 Profits at $812 Million – Riding on an improved performances of its TV and hope appliance businesses, LG Electronics had a market forcast-beating figure this time. It was an 82% jump from Q1 […]
IVES: Symphonies No. 3 & No.4; Orchestral Set No. 2 – Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, p., Sir Andrew Davis / Melbourne Sym. Orch. – Chandos
A fine recording of some of the best of Charles Ives music. IVES: Symphonies, Vol. 3 = Symphony No. 3; Symphony No. 4; Orchestral Set No. 2 – Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, p., Sir Andrew Davis/ Melbourne Sym. Orch. – Chandos CHAN 5174 71:04 (3/17/17) ****: This is the third disc in a Chandos series featuring the orchestral music of American composer Charles Ives. Ives had a bit of a renaissance beginning in the late sixties after being championed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Leonard Bernstein and the New Yorkers. Ives is still popular today, even without the Bernstein hoopla, and Chandos gives an excellent disc with Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and soloists. After a nicely done performance of the Orchestral Set no. 2 by Ives, there is a stirring version of the Symphony No. 3 “The Camp Meeting”. It’s my favorite of the Ives symphonies, so I was excited to hear this new recording. Ives wrote the symphony between 1901 and 1904 on weekends while he spent his days working in an insurance office. The work was not premiered until 1946, and it won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize. The music is based on hymns from the period, […]
Julian & Roman WASSERFUHR – Landed in Brooklyn – ACT
Julian & Roman WASSERFUHR – Landed in Brooklyn – ACT 9829-2, 56:59 (3/17/17) ****½: Beautiful charts and ensemble work, highlighted by supremely confident and accomplished trumpet playing. (Julian Wasserfuhr; trumpet & Flugelhorn/ Roman Wasserfuhr; piano, marimba, seaboard/ Donny McCaslin; tenor saxophone/ Tim Lefebvre; bass/ Nate Wood; drums) It’s nice when siblings can get along, but one doesn’t expect them to play together as splendidly as do brothers Julian and Roman Wasserfuhr on their recent release Landed in Brooklyn. The fraternal rapport between Roman on the piano and his younger brother Julian on trumpet and Flugelhorn impresses throughout. The seven original charts and all arrangements bear both brothers’ names without distinction. I understand that that they got off to a brisk start in their native Germany as teenagers with much applauded releases on ACT label. This recording catches them on their first trip stateside. Apparently, no sooner were they out of customs, then they met up with rhythm section mates Tim LeFebvre and Nate Wood, took in the skyline, and headed towards the studio, heads filled with inspiration. Donny McCaslin, an outsized musical personality and the favored soloist with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, joins the quartet. His own musical brand, he […]
Jovan PAVLOVIC trio – Refleks – Øra Fonogram
A stunningly original musical concept featuring string quartet, reeds and accordion trio playing original charts live in Norwegian cafe. Jovan PAVLOVIC trio – Refleks – Øra Fonogram, 54:48 (3/3/17) *****: (Jovan Pavlovic; accordion/ Gjermund Silset; double bass/ Helge Andreas Norbakken; drums/ Oyvind Nussle, Tor Johan Boen; violins/ Lazar Miletic; viola/ Hans Urban Andersson; cello/ Ole Kristoffersen; clarinet/ Jasmina Zivic; flute; Andre Roligheten; clarinet and bass clarinet/ James Lassen; bassoon) It is an agreeable experience to walk into a cafe or restaurant and hear the cheerful tones of the accordion on the small stage at the back. All the better if the musician is accompanied by that ideal companion, the acoustic bass and a suitably-equipped percussionist. One’s appreciation is duly enhanced when the inevitable clarinet player or violinist joins the trio. However, would you not be surprised if, following the guest clarinetist, there strayed in a string quartet that squeezed in behind the percussionist. And would it not be like something out of Dr. Seuss if there followed a bassoonist, a woman with a flute, and a man with a bass clarinet and saxophone? Is this just another gregarious jam session? No, it is not. All carry music stands and busily […]
Adam Schneit Band – Light Shines In – Fresh Sound New Talent
Putting the spotlight on saxophonist Adam Schneit. Adam Schneit Band – Light Shines In [TrackList follows] – Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT 518, 48:00 [12/2/16] ****: (Adam Schneit – tenor saxophone, clarinet, producer; Eivind Opsvik – bass, mixer; Sean Moran – guitar; Kenny Wollesen – drums) The 48-minute, seven-track Light Shines In puts the focus on tenor saxophonist Adam Schneit, who previously did duty in the band Old Time Musketry, which often blended Americana/folk inclinations with jazz improvisation. On his debut, Schneit aims squarely at modern jazz with an enviable NYC-based quartet: Schneit is heard on tenor sax and clarinet; then there is bassist Eivind Opsvik (he runs his own label, leads a group, and has collaborated with forward-thinking artists such as Tony Malaby, Nate Wooley, Skuli Sverrison and others); guitarist Sean Moran (a longtime faculty instructor at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music); and drummer Kenny Wollesen (who has spent time in Opsvik’s ensemble and supported Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones and many more). Schneit’s seven originals (which range from four minutes to just over nine in length) pivot, pulse and are propulsive. They also showcase Schneit’s slightly edgy compositional and improvisational style. Schneit’s influences […]
ELGAR: Symphony No. 2; Carissima; Mina; Chanson de Matin – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch./Vasily Petrenko – Onyx Classics
A very worthwhile addition to the Elgar resurgence. EDWARD ELGAR: Symphony No. 2; Carissima; Mina; Chanson de Matin – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch./Vasily Petrenko – Onyx Classics ONYX4165, 69:44 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] (3/24/17) ***1/2: Sir Edward Elgar wrote two symphonies, relatively late in life and they have a long history of fairly sparse performance. Some critics and some audiences considered the works a bit out of time against the modernist movements of the early twentieth century; by some accounts even a bit unexciting. Still others found the esteemed composer of choral works, anthems, marches and ceremonial music a slightly ‘uncomfortable’ symphonist. Once these symphonies were championed by but a few conductors, such as Boult and Beecham. Yet they are wonderful pieces and their slightly reserved qualities and a sound that feels like that of an earlier generation is a remarkable and fairly moving symbol of the composer, himself. Elgar was – like many Brits – saddened and shocked seeing his country dragged violently into what would be two world wars and watched as the lifestyle of England, itself, had changed forever. Yet, even Elgar’s disappointment at the lack of audience and critical enthusiasm for the Second Symphony would wane […]
20th Century Women, Blu-ray (2016)
A well-made feature with a fine achievement from actress Annette Bening. 20th Century Women, Blu-ray (2016) Cast: Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Lucas Jade Zumann, Billy Crudup Director & Writer: Mike Mills Studio: A24/Lionsgate [3/28/17] Video: 180p 2.00:1 for 16:9 screens, HD color Audio: English, DTS-HD MA Subtitles: Spanish, English SDH Extras: Audio Commentary by Mike Mills, “Making 20th Century Women,” Cast of film Length: 118 min. Rating: **** Writer-Director Mike Mills surprised us over six years ago with his Beginners. This one is a character study of five people in the late 1970s. Two young people – Abbie and Jamie – are important parts of the story. Bening plays sad or lonely Dorothea in an excellent job of acting. This film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Dorothea gets some help from the young Abbie, a punk artist boarding in her house, and the teenage neighbor Jamie, as well as from a handyman who also rooms in the house. This makeshift family seems to inspire its members. A thoughful script and good cast make the very realistically portrayed characters all most believable. The title hangs on its portrayal of the various women. Mostly talking heads but what […]
Thelonious Monk – Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1960) – Sam Records/ SAGA – two vinyls
Monk’s only recorded movie soundtrack – from original session tapes, now in remastered sound… Thelonious Monk – Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 – Sam Records/ SAGA – two vinyls (July 1959) **** (4/22/17 for 2017 Record Store Day): (Thelonious Monk – piano; Charlie Rouse – tenor sax; Sam Jones – acoustic bass; Art Taylor – drums. With special guest – Barney Wilen – tenor sax) The story behind the only movie soundtrack recorded by Thelonious Monk is perhaps even more interesting than the actual tracks laid down by Monk in the Summer of 1959. Monk’s career at that time was a constant roller coaster. He had received well-deserved acclaim and his acceptance by the jazz public was evident. He had won the Downbeat International Critics poll. His quartet had extended engagements at the Five Spot Cafe in the Summer, and Fall of 1958. However, in October of that year he was arrested on trumped up drug charges in Delaware, after an altercation with police, while on the way to a gig in Baltimore. This led to a downward spiral and depression after he lost his cabaret card, putting a halt to NYC club work. Around this time, Monk had been offered […]
The Vampire Bat, Blu-ray (1933)
An interesting pre-Code 1933 resurrection starring Melvyn Douglas and Fay Wray. The Vampire Bat, Blu-ray (1933) Cast: Melvyn Douglas, Fay Wray, Lionel Atwill Director: Frank R. Strayer Studio: UCLA/The Film Detective FD0767 (4/25/17) Video: 1:33 B&W & color added for flames Audio: English mono Extras: Featurette on Gregory Hesselberg, son of Melvyn Douglas, Audio commentary by film historian Sam Sherman Length: 63 min. Rating: **** First all, one never even sees a vampire bat in this early film, except for a clearly dead little one in the vest of a troubled man-child they mistakenly peg as the vampire. This macabre feature of vampire attacks in a small German village (but in English) stars the heart-throb of the time, Melvyn Douglas, and King Kong’s Fay Wray. (She was the original “horror chick.”) A featurette attempts to make a documentary of one of the sons of Melvyn Douglas. I did not listen to the film commentary, which I’m sure was fairly interesting. This is a classic horror film with not a great deal of horror in it. The most interesting thing to me was that during the periods when no one spoke, the audio dropped out completely. Guess that’s what they did […]
Audio News for April 11, 2017
Hi-Res Streaming on Smartphones, PCs, and Tablets – Qpbuz Sublime+ will offer hi-res streaming next month for about £300 annually. It will offer 24-bit hi-res streaming of 60,000 albums. Currently the highest Qobuz tier is Sublime, offering CD-quality 16/44.1 audio for £190 per year. If you want to purchase any hi-res album via downloading, there will be permanent discounts for Sublime+ subscribers. Tidal introduced hi-res streaming of its Masters-quality albums on desktop-only PCs in January using their MQA format. “WAV could Become the New Record Player” – says Dustin Bates of Starset, whose new album, Vessels, is available in a 360-degree mix for maximum VR enjoyment. He says you can definitely tell the difference between 16-bit and 24-bit recordings. He also says he sees the streaming of WAVs and FLACS as being the inevitable standard. And that he finds it encouraging that the major labels have reached consensus regarding making hi-res streaming options the standard operating procedure. And that the cost of storage of files is an irrelevant argument at this point. He says their good songs, especially with all the sampled strings, sound their best in hi-res form. Several Starset sci-fi videos are available on YouTube (in compressed audio, […]
BJARNASON: Emergence; JONSDOTTIR: Flow & Fusion; VILLMARSON: BD; SIGFUSDOTTIR: Aequora; THORVALDSDOTTIR: Dreaming – Icelandic Sym. Orch./ Daniel Bjarnason – Sono Luminus
Smooth Blu-ray sound with striking modern compositions by Icelandic composers. BJARNASON: Recurrence = Works by Contemporary Icelandic Composers – Iceland Sym./ Daniel Bjarnason – Pure Audio Blu-ray multichannel sound & standard CD. Also included are MP3, FLAC and WAV files (Two discs) – Sono Luminus DSL-92213, 67:30 (4/7/17) [Distr. by Naxos]****: This lovely disc contains works by 5 notable Icelandic contemporary composers. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra is widely known for its performances and recordings and its concerts featuring modern music. Since 2011, the orchestra’s home has been Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik. Daniiel Bjarnason is the orchestra’s Artist-in- Residence and is active in a variety of roles as conductor, composer, and educator. He is conducting on this presentation, and provides one of the featured works. The disc opens with Thurídur Jónsdóttir’s Flow and Fusion. Like the other works on the disc, this is contemporary music, contemplative at times, and like the other works we are supposed to hear a bit of Iceland in the composition. Although a short, 11 minute work, it’s quite evocative and a good listen. The next work is called bd by Hlynur Aðils Vilmarsson. He has enjoyed a diverse career in music, be it as a […]
STRAVINSKY:The Firebird Suite; Petrushka; Les cinq droits; Valse and Polka; Valse pour les infants – fragment; The Rite of Spring – Part I; MOZART: Fugue in c – Beecham Sym. Orch./ Sir Thomas Beecham/ Royal Albert Hall Orch./ Sir Eugene Goossens/ Berlin State Opera Orch./ Oskar Fried/ The Philadelphia Orch./ Stokowski – Igor Stravinsky, Soulima Stravinsky, pianos – Pristine Audio
Pristine completes its survey of the acoustic Stravinsky legacy and simultaneously accords us access to a special sound world. STRAVINSKY: Rarities (1916 – 1938) = The Firebird – Suite excerpts (1911); Petrushka – Complete Ballet; The Firebird – Suite (1919); 7 Pieces from Les cinq droits; Valse and Polka from Three Easy Pieces; Valse pour les enfants – fragment; The Rite of Spring – Part I (beginning); MOZART: Fugue in c minor, K. 426 – Beecham Symphony Orchestra/ Sir Thomas Beecham/ Royal Albert Hall Orchestra/ Sir Eugene Goossens (Petrushka)/ Berlin State Opera Orchestra/ Oskar Fried (Firebird)/ The Philadelphia Orchestra/ Leopold Stokowski (Rite)/ Igor Stravinsky, piano/ Soulima Stravinsky, piano (Mozart) – Pristine Audio PASC 496, 78:13 [www.pristineclassical.com] *****: Audio restoration engineer Mark Obert-Thorn assembles those remaining acoustic documents that fill out the Stravinsky legacy in its recording infancy, including some magical moments that the shellacs yield that prove refreshing and revelatory. To wit, the three 1916 excerpts from The Firebird that open the disc – with Sir Thomas Beecham’s leading his own ensemble – reveal a host of interior lines, especially in the woodwinds for the section Game of the Princesses with the Golden Apples, that literally sparkle with exuberant […]
RACHMANINOV: Piano Sonata No. 1 in d minor; 3 Etudes-Tableaux; 4 Songs; Variations on a Theme of Corelli – Sandro Russo, p. – Steinway & Sons
Sandro Russo pays homage to the continuity of style and mood in early and late works of Sergei Rachmaninov. RACHMANINOV: Solo Piano Works = Piano Sonata No. 1 in d minor, Op. 28; 3 Etudes-Tableaux; 4 Songs (arr. E. Wild); Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 – Sandro Russo, piano – Steinway & Sons 30077, 78:04 (3/17/17) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: A graduate of the Vincenzo Bellini Conservatory and the Royal College of Music in London, pianist Sandro Russo means “to showcase the multiple facets of [Rachmaninov’s] artistic language.” Russo (rec. 13 & 20 June 2016) addresses the imposing Piano Sonata No. 1 (1908), a piece inspired by both the Faust legend and the Liszt Faust Symphony, with its musical portraits of Faust, Gretchen, and Mephistopheles. In fact, the sketches for the d minor Sonata suggest Rachmaninov’s symphonic ambitions, though he would discard any program from the piece, as such. In three large, intricate movements, the sonata resonates with the ubiquitous Dies Irae of the Requiem Mass, especially given Rachmaninov’s gothic sensibility and his admiration of the Liszt Totentanz. Rachmaninov presented the draft of the work to colleague Konstantin Igumnov, who premiered the work. Russo attacks the first […]
SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata D. 960; Piano Sonata D. 664 in A major – Javier Perianes – Harmonia mundi
A persuasive interpretation of Schubert’s introspective masterpiece. SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata D. 960; Piano Sonata D. 664 in A – Javier Perianes, p. – Harmonia mundi/PIAS 902282, 62:50 (3/19/17) *****: Schubert’s final Sonata D. 960 in B flat Major can be seen as a valedictory monument; he had, at the time of its writing, a sure sense of his imminent demise. This still doesn’t explain the many puzzling features of this great work. Constructed in four movements with conventional designations, it is uniquely unbalanced. Its massive 20-minute Molto moderato has little of the underpinnings of sonata-allegro form, instead presenting a maze of improvisatory ideas which circle back on themselves time and again as if puzzling over their implications, or more appropriate to the Romantic sensibility, wandering in search of a path. The experimentation with formlessness and even chaos in his final works takes many forms. Here, in contrast to the cacophonous derangements of the A major sonata, we have something closer to a distracted mentality, a kind of inspired amnesia. To help imagine this first movement, picture a man walking through a verdant countryside on a spring day. He botanizes and communes with nature cheerfully enough. He has, however, no knowledge […]
THOMAS ADÈS: Asyla; Tevot; Polaris; Brahms – London Sym. Orch./Thomas Adès – LSO Live (Blu-ray & SACD)
Audiophile quality in these works by this always provocative composer. THOMAS ADÈS: Asyla; Tevot; Polaris; Brahms – London Sym. Orch./Thomas Adès – LSO Live, LSO0798 (Blu-ray audio-only and SACD), 62:55, (3/03/17) ****: Thomas Adès has become, arguably and justifiably, England’s most prominent living composer. His music is regularly very creatively scored, picturesque and frequently a bit thought provoking. This audiophile quality package holds two different discs; a Blu-ray audio and a SACD version. I listened to both versions and they are both very clean, well balanced and “lively.” I have no clear preference as I didn’t hear a definite difference between the two. They are both very fine iterations of the same live recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, with the composer conducting. Adès has something in common with America’s John Adams in that they are both excellent and well-known composers who are also very fine conductors, it seems. (I’ve seen Adams and his music live on several occasions. One day I would love to duplicate that experience with Thomas and his work.) To the music itself, these are three of the composer’s most acclaimed works and – to his credit – these pieces have been performed and recorded more […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
