Monthly Archive: April 2017
McRae – The Great American Songbook – Atlantic (1972)/ Pure Pleasure (2017) – double vinyl
McRae – The Great American Songbook – Atlantic SD 2-904 (1972)/Pure Pleasure (2017) stereo double vinyl, 71:17 ****: Jazz chanteuse delivers a versatile set on a vinyl re-mastering of a 1972 concert. (Carmen McRae – vocals, piano; Joe Pass – guitar; Jimmy Rowles – piano; Chuck Domanico – doublebass; Chuck Flores – drums) Pure Pleasure Records has released a remastered 180-gram vinyl of Carmen McRae – The Great American Songbook. The album (Atlantic 1972) was recorded live at Dante’s restaurant/cafe/jazz club in Los Angeles over four nights. As described, McRae and a top-notch ensemble (Joe Pass/guitar; Chuck Domanico/double bass; Jimmy Rowles/piano; Chuck Flores/drums) deliver artistic jazz interpretations of diverse musical standards. After some glib band introductions, Domanico lays down a vampy double bass line to open Duke Ellington’s immortal “Satin Doll”. McRae joins in a duet for two verses with saucy phrasing. The band finishes as Pass executes a trademark fluid solo. Switching to finger-snapping medium swing, McRae loosens up on Cole Porter’s “At Long Last Love”. It is short and sweet (just under two-and-a-half minutes). McRae just gets better with each number. Her maturity and vibrato shine on the languid “If The Moon Turns Green”. She adapts to up […]
Thumbscrew – Convallaria – Cuneiform
Thumbscrew – Convallaria – Cuneiform – Rune 415, 72:58 ***: An album of music that is demanding and forceful. (Mary Halvorson – guitar; Michael Formanek – doublebass; Toma Fujiwara – drums) Even after several listenings of Thumbscrew’s most recent release Convallaria, it is still a challenge to find a way to begin the review of this most eclectic album. Avant-garde jazz does not lend itself easily to interpretation, and consequently finding descriptors for the music is taxing. In medieval Europe, a thumbscrew was a torture instrument designed to crush a victim’s thumbs and fingers. The relationship of that device to the name of this trio is hard to divine unless both Halvorson and Formanek believe that playing a guitar and a bass is some form of finger torture. Certainly these two instruments can play havoc with a player’s fingers and thumbs, so perhaps there is some form of allegory here. As for the music, it might be best to start with the title track “Convallaria” and work out from there. The unhelpful liner notes offer no assistance on such essential things such as track listing, compositional accreditation, or heaven forbid, some discussion of the musical intent of the performers. Perhaps there was no money in the recording budget […]
AUSTIN: Symphonic Rhapsody “Spring”; ALWYN: Blackdown; BANTOCK: Witch of Atlas; GURNEY: Gloucestershire Rhapsody; GARDINER: A Berkshire Idyll; VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Solent – BBC National Orch. of Wales/Rumon Gamba – Chandos
An encouraging start to a valuable series of British orchestral music. BRITISH TONE POEMS Vol 1 = Music by Frederic Austin, William Alwyn, Granville Bantock, Ivor Gurney, Henry Balfour Gardiner & Ralph Vaughan Williams – BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Rumon Gamba ; Chandos 10939 reviewed as 24-96 flac download; TT: 76:41 [Distr. by Naxos] ****: Following two fine volumes of Overtures from the British Isles, Chandos has released the first volume of what promises to be a series of British Tone Poems, again with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Rumon Gamba. Frederic Austin (1872-1952) wrote the Symphonic Rhapsody, Spring between 1902 and 1907. In five short sections, its sunny and optimistic mood proves an enticing opening to this collection. Passionate outbursts contrast with the andante moderato section and its effective solo for violin, played, one guesses, by the leader, Nick Whiting. Next on the programme is Blackdown, an early work by William Alwyn (1905-1985). Written in 1926, its composer was already a Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and a flautist in the London Symphony Orchestra. This “tone poem from the Surrey Hills” refers to the Downs above the Georgian town […]
BEACH: Piano Concerto in C# minor; HOWELL: Piano Concerto in D minor; CHAMINADE: Concertstück in C# minor – Danny Driver (p) / BBC Scottish Symph. Orch. / Rebecca Miller – Hyperion
Three inspiring works for piano and orchestra by three women composers. THE ROMANTIC PIANO CONCERTO Vol 70 : Music by Amy Beach, Dorothy Howell and Cécile Chaminade – Danny Driver, piano / BBC Scottish SO / Rebecca Miller – Hyperion CDA68130, reviewed as hires 24-96 flac download; TT 69:31 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] *****: Hyperion’s series The Romantic Piano Concerto reaches Volume 70 with this release of three very fine works for piano and orchestra, the orchestra being the one involved in the original discussion for this series rather more than a quarter of a century ago in 1990. Released to coincide with International Women’s Day during March 2017, this is valuable and most welcome addition to the collection. The disc opens with the Piano Concerto in D minor by Dorothy Howell (1898-1982). Howell was a piano pupil of Tobias Matthay, teacher to so many with so much talent, and a composition pupil of Sir John McEwen whose Solway Symphony had a rare and welcome outing on the BBC recently. Her tone poem, Lamia, was very well received just after World War 1 and had many performances, and the recording on Cameo Classics is worth seeking out. Four years later, […]
Audio News for April 7, 2017
V-Moda Wireless Bluetooth Headphones Go Hi-Res – The M-100 – a favorite of DJs – now has improved sound, better battery life, more colors, and a much-requested hinge. This model of the V-Moda lacks the noise cancellation of some other more expensive phones, but that can pollute the pure sound. The new Crossfade 2 has larger and deeper cushions and an adjustable Steelflex headband, to keep the bad noise out and the good noise in. The Japan Audio Society was involved in approval of the model in wired mode. The M-100s are both cabled models and Bluetooth-enabled. New dual-diaphragm 50mm drivers feature hi-res CCAW coils and the AptX codec has been improved. They have a concealed mic for phone calls and voice recognition. And one feature that was conspicuously missing from the original Wireless headphones was the company’s CliqFold hinge mechanism, an omission that caused much disquiet among Crossfade users and resulted in the travel case being quite bulky. This was rectified in the Crossfade 2 Wireless circumaurals. They are $350 in gold, and less in black or white. T+A Introduces MP 3100 HV Media Player with SACD Drive – Enthusiasts with substantial SACD collections will take a keen interest […]
BRAHMS: Theme and Variations, Op. 18b; Ballades, Op. 10; 7 Fantaises, Op. 116 – Denis Kozhukhin, piano – Pentatone
A distinguished set of Brahms works by Denis Kozhukhin affords us passion and poetry, at once. BRAHMS: Ballades & Fantasies = Theme and Variations, Op. 18b; Ballades, Op. 10; 7 Fantaises, Op. 116 – Denis Kozhukhin, piano – Pentatone SACD PTC 5186 568, 57:01 (3/31/17) ****: Denis Kozhukhin (b. 1986) proves himself a passionate devotee of Johannes Brahms on this fine disc, recorded in the Netherlands, March 2016. Kozhukhin opens with a gift Brahms made for Clara Schumann of an arrangement from the d minor Andante from his String Sextet in B-flat Major, Op. 18 (1860), his first chamber work without keyboard. The variation form would become a visceral aspect of the Brahms ethos, here (1860) likely obligated to his thorough knowledge of the Bach Chaconne in d minor. Brahms creates a 16-measure in a melancholy hue, and he accelerates the note values in the manner of a Baroque dance, like La Folia. If the first three variants exhibit disquiet and solemnity, the fourth in D Major, permits a degree of repose and consolation. Something of a folk element appears in Variation Five, which imitates a bagpipe, also in D. Opening the last variation in its original minor key, Brahms […]
STRAVINSKY: Violin Concerto in D – David Oistrakh(v)/Lamoreux Orch./Bernard Haitink; Pulcinella Suite – Philharmonia Orch./Otto Klemperer; Jeu de Cartes – Bavarian Radio Symph. Orch./Bernard Haitink; Movements for Piano and Orch. – Margret Weber(p)/Berlin Radio Symph. Och/Ferenc Fricsay
The cover photo of Stravinsky’s impish grin is a perfect advertisement for this collection of three neoclassical pieces, plus a serial-period “fourth deal”–the album title is a reference to the Jeu de Cartes (Card Game), a “ballet in three deals.” STRAVINSKY: Igor Stravinsky in Four Deals – Violin Concerto in D Major/David Oistrakh, Violin/Concerts Lamoureux/Bernard Haitink; Pulcinella, ballet suite/ The Philharmonia, London/Otto Klemperer; Jeu de Cartes (The Card Game)/Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Igor Stravinsky; Movements for Piano and Orchestra/Margrit Weber, Piano/Radio Symphonie Orchester, Berlin/Ferenc Fricsay – Praga Digitalis 250 329 78:37 (8/12/16) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****1/2: The Violin Concerto in D was written in 1931 as a commission for Polish violinist Samuel Dushkin. Stravinsky did not feel that he was familiar enough with the instrument, but Dushkin reassured him that he would consult on technical matters, and Paul Hindemith encouraged him to take on the project, suggesting that Stravinsky’s unfamiliarity with the time-worn tropes of virtuoso violin writing would probably yield a more original result. He was right; the concerto, while not a soloist’s showpiece in the traditional sense, is a sensory delight with the intimacy of chamber music, every phrase etched with Stravinsky’s filigree wit. David Oistrakh’s characteristic intelligence […]
PUCCINI: Turandot (2016) – Orch. del Teatro alla Scala di Milano/Riccardo Chailly – Decca
Something’s different about this production. PUCCINI: Turandot (2016, Luciano Berio completion) Cast: Nina Stemme, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Maria Agresta , Coro di voci bianche dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala Orch.: Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano Director: Riccardo Chailly Studio: Decca. Blue-ray [1/27/17] Run Time: 130 minutes Video: 1.77:1 Color Audio: DTS-HD 5.1, PCM Stereo Subtitles: English, German, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, French, Italian Rating: ***** What is the most outstanding feature of this recording of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot? Is it the vividly recorded sound under the expert baton of conductor Riccardo Chailly? How about those well-miked singers, who manage to sound far better than they did in a recent Metropolitan Opera production of Turandot? Or the staging and lighting at Italy’s La Scala, so lush and regal as to be almost overwhelming (particularly when viewed on a 4K television)? Perhaps the excellent acting, judiciously understated as when Aleksandrs Antoninko didn’t grandstand during the famous “Nessun Dorma”? No, something’s different about this production. It’s the ending. They’ve changed it. When Puccini died in 1924, he left the opera incomplete. Two years later Franco Alfano penned a conclusion that, if you’re familiar with the opera, you’ve definitely heard it. Alfano was called in […]
BACH: Italian Concerto in F Major; BRAHMS: Three Intermezzi; MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition; KREISLER: Schoen Rosmarin; KHACHATURIAN: Toccata; NAZARETH: Odeon – Tango Brasiliero – Mordecai Shehori, piano – Cembal d’amour
Another in the thoughtful, excitingly virtuosic recitals that lit the New York stages in the course of 20 years. Mordecai Shehori – The Celebrated New York Concerts, Vol. 11 = BACH: Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971; BRAHMS: Three Intemezzi, Op. 117; MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition; KREISLER: Schoen Rosmarin; KHACHATURIAN: Toccata; NAZARETH: Odeon – Tango Brasiliero – Mordecai Shehori, piano – Cembal d’amour CD 187, 65:51 (2/19/17) [www.cembaldamour.com] ****: Culled from various New York City concert venues, 1982-2003, the assembled recital by Mordecai Shehori embraces a variety of national styles within a decidedly Romantic sensibility. Shehori opens with Bach’s virtuosic Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971, a one-instrument concerto that achieves the effect of the two-manual harpsichord while synthesizing strict counterpoint, playful ritornelli, and sonorous tuttis in the course its often antiphonal progress. The performance (from Merkin Concert Hall, 22 May 1986), enjoys a beguiling intimacy in the face of its brilliant intent, as a stunning, optimistic vehicle, especially in its outer movements. Shehori’s middle movement, the d minor Andante, projects a steady, flowing cantilena over a basso ostinato. The flexible line absorbs a fluent trill into the evolving line, lyrical and heatedly poignant. Shehori proceeds with more understated […]
Keith JARRET – A Multitude of Angels – ECM
A must-hear for fans of Keith Jarrett’s solo piano concerts. Keith Jarrett – A Multitude of Angels [TrackList follows] – ECM Rune 2500-03 (4-CDs), 70:37, 77:12, 73:58, 75:19 [11/18/16] *****: (Keith Jarrett – piano) There is much to absorb on Keith Jarrett’s multi-CD set, A Multitude of Angels, which contains five hours of music—spread over four discs—of live, solo piano concerts held in October 1996 at four Italian cities: Modena, Ferrara, Torino and Genova. This material represents the last (probably final) time Jarrett played solo piano with no breaks within each set. It’s a minor miracle this documentation exists. For one, Jarrett was suffering from the onset of chronic fatigue syndrome. After these shows, Jarrett was sidelined for two years while he battled and ultimately came back from his debilitating disease. Another reason is that Jarrett’s label did not record these specific performances; Jarrett used his own DAT recorder (which had no glitches over the course of four venues) and two transformer-less mikes which went directly to the recorder: no mixing board or close-set microphones. The tapes sat, unheard by most, until Jarrett listened to them again 20 years later, and decided to release the music. Why call this collection […]
TANEYEV: Piano Trio; RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Piano Trio in C minor – Leonore Piano Trio – Hyperion
TANEYEV: Piano Trio, Op. 22; RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Piano Trio in C minor – Leonore Piano Trio – Hyperion CDA 68159, 77:58, ****: Sizzling performance of two late Romantic piano trios. In addition to becoming significant Russian composers, both Sergei Taneyev (1856-1915) and Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov (1844-1908) taught many others: Glazunov, Myaskovsky, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov and Gliere, to name a few. Taneyev was the soloist in almost all of Tchaikovsky’s works for piano and orchestra. Rimsky-Korsakov sought technical advice from the Russian master. At age ten Taneyev enrolled as a pianist at the Moscow Conservatory and after three years became Tchaikovsky’s student. When Tchaikovsky resigned from this institution, Taneyev took his place at age 22. He concentrated on writing over a dozen works for chamber music, some of them with piano so he could perform them. He was a maverick compared to his Russian contemporaries because his music was based on Renaissance polyphony and Bachian counterpoint rather than folk melodies from his homeland. Schumann and Brahms were also influences. He composed slowly, focusing on formal design and contrapuntal textures. The Piano Trio of 1907 starts boldly with strong piano chords contrasted with lyrical string motives. Tanyevev’s contrapuntal mastery results in a sonata-allegro first […]
SCHUMANN: Fantasie; Kreislerinana – Collard, p. – La Dolce Volta
Jean-Philippe Collard celebrates his long commitment to the passionate and fanciful works of Robert Schumann. SCHUMANN: Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17; Kreisleriana, Op. 16 – Jean-Philippe Collard, p. – La Dolce Volta LDV 30, 63:57 (1/27/17) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****: French pianist Jean-Philippe Collard (b. 1948) prefaces his recording (4-6 April 2016) with a motto from Schumann: “Sometimes bizarre things happen in the heart of man: thus joy and sorrow mingle there in a strange and motley nature.” The world of Robert Schumann conforms to this admission of duality in the nature of man, given his division of his psyche into the personae Florestan and Eusebius. Coincidentally, the Fantasie first came to me via a French pianist, Robert Casadesus, who combined its powerful emotional content with an equally adept sense of its structural power. For many years, the Kreisleriana suite “belonged” Vladimir Horowitz, whose own demons seemed to drive deeply into the labyrinths that the 1838 response to E.T.A. had elicited in Schumann. And since Collard had studied with Horowitz, this recording bears the mantle of tradition. The Fantasie emerges at once passionate and sturdy, lyrically evocative of storms and intimate stresses in its leaps, swirling trills, and […]
Eraldo Bernocchi and Prakash Sontakke – Invisible Tracks – RareNoise
An international summit meeting between two progressive guitarists. Eraldo Bernocchi and Prakash Sontakke – Invisible Tracks [TrackList follows] – RareNoise RNR069, 48:44 [11/18/16] ****: (Eraldo Bernocchi – baritone guitar, electric guitar, electronics & producer; Prakash Sontakke – lap steel guitar) Those who think they know the RareNoise label may not know as much as they think. The imprint—started in 2008 by two Italians and based in London—is typified by brash and noisy offerings by acts such as Brainkiller, Metallic Taste of Blood and Slobber Pup, and the label’s releases often include cross-genre music such as free jazz, electroacoustic music and avant rock. RareNoise cofounder Eraldo Bernocchi delivers a new dimension to his label with the 48-minute Invisible Tracks, his collaborative effort with Indian lap steel guitarist Prakash Sontakke. The nine pieces (which run approximately five to six minutes in length) present an ambient/electro excursion which balances Sontakke’s Indian-inflected guitar with Bernocchi’s baritone guitar, electric guitar, and electronics. Much of Bernocchi’s contributions were added in post-production. The result is somewhat akin to Michael Brook blended with modern Brian Eno: digital beats, pulsating electrical noises and sparse percussive effects riding along with reverb-laced guitar. Bernocchi admits a crucial inspiration for Invisible Tracks […]
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major “Romantic”; WAGNER: Parsifal – Good Friday Music – Berlin Philharmonic Orch. (Wagner)/ Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Wilhelm Furtwaengler – Praga Digitals mono
Two Furtwaengler post-War performances remind us of his spiritual commitment to the German tradition. BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major “Romantic”; WAGNER: Parsifal – Good Friday Music – Berlin Philharmonic Orch. (Wagner)/ Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Wilhelm Furtwaengler – Praga Digitals mono SACD PRD/DSD 350 130, 77:32 (3/24/17) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****: Wilhelm Furtwaengler’s relationship to Bruckner remains intricate and controversial, in that he championed in this music derived from church modes and chorales perhaps as an anodyne to the colossal turmoil of the conductor’s life and times. Praga remasters a live Stuttgart performance (20 October 1951) of the 1874 “Romantic” Symphony, which – typical of Bruckner – underwent revisions until 1888, of which Furtwaengler opts for those of Robert Haas, 1878 and 1880. Despite the genial intent of the composition – perhaps best captured by the various readings by Bruno Walter – Furtwaengler imposes his idiosyncratic sense of tragedy upon the work, providing an epic intensity where bucolic transparency might prove more apt. The Symphony itself takes its cues from bucolic traditions in Romanticism generally and from Schubert in particular. The “hunt” motif saturates much of the structure, while large, expansive periods congregate and disperse over the course […]
Kirk MacDonald Jazz Orchestra – Common Ground – Addo
Kirk MacDonald Jazz Orchestra – Common Ground [TrackList follows] – Addo AJR032 (2 CDs), 91:04 ****: This is a band that has an expressive command of some very challenging material. It doesn’t seem to be all that long ago, although perhaps it was, there were a number of significant jazz orchestras in Canada including Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, Dave McMurdo’s Jazz Orchestra both in Toronto, Vic Vogel’s Le Jazz Big Band in Montreal and Tommy Banks Big Band in Edmonton. With changing times, fashion, and economics it is a challenge to maintain a jazz orchestra on a consistent basis. Kudos go to Kirk MacDonald for keeping this formation together for their third recording Common Ground. All of the compositions on this release were written by Kirk MacDonald with arrangements by trumpeter Joe Sullivan. Although Sullivan was born in Ontario, he has worked and lived for the better part of his career in Montréal. He is currently an Associate Professor at McGill University where he directs the University’s Jazz Orchestra as well as playing in his own sextet ad big band. Sullivan’s arrangements of MacDonald’s compositions are lengthy affairs in the manner of tone poems, with multilayered harmonics and […]
Bobby Previte – Mass – RareNoise
Bobby Previte puts the massive into a Mass. Bobby Previte – Mass [TrackList follows] – RareNoise RNR072, 69:27 [11/8/16] ****: (The Rose Ensemble – 11-member chamber vocal group conducted by Jordan Sramek; Stephen O’Malley, Jamie Saft, Don McGreevy, Mike Gamble – electric guitar; Marco Benevento – pipe organ, Rheem organ, electronics; Reed Mathis – electric bass; Bobby Previte – drums, electric guitar, pipe organ, combo organ, synthesizer bass, Farfisa organ) Taking medieval-era music and incorporating it into modern songcraft is nothing new. Examples: British blues revival group the Yardbirds fused Gregorian chants into one of their singles; goth rock duo Dead Can Dance blended music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance into their popular ambient alt-pop; and psychedelic pop band HP Lovecraft closed their 1967 debut LP with a version of the “Gloria Patria.” Drummer Bobby Previte (one of the stalwarts of the NYC downtown jazz scene) has taken the notion of coalescing choral music from the Middle Ages into a modern arrangement to a whole new (and heavy) level on his RareNoise album, Mass. Basically, Previte has used 15th century composer Guillaume Dufay’s choral mass, Missa Sancti Jacobi, and re-imagined it as a 70-minute transformation which melds a […]
LAWES: Complete Music for Lyra Viol – Richard Boothby, lyra viol – HM
WILLIAM LAWES: Complete Music for Solo Lyra Viol – Richard Boothby, lyra viol – HM 907625, 59:37 (6/10/16) ****: Elegant “musical recreations” from the Court of Charles I played on the most famous surviving contemporary instrument on loan from Royal College of Music. William Lawes was the principal court composer for Charles I, his official title “musician in ordinary for lutes and voices.” He composed secular masques as well as sacred music for private worship. Viol consorts represented the most popular amateur music of the day, and Lawes brought this form to a new height. Perhaps his greatest innovation was his “broken consort” ensemble, which consisted of a violin, viola da gamba, theorbo and harp, the next generation’s harp consort. The handful of dance suites written for this unique instrumentation are among the greatest achievements of English 17th century music. (A recent recording by New Old Albion on Brilliant Classics gives us a splendid reading of these works.) When the Civil War broke out, Lawes signed on with the Royalists. A brave cavalier, he charged into battle at the rout of Rowton Heath. He took a bullet to the head, and thus ended the career of the court’s finest musical […]
BACH: Italian Con.; Four Duets; Partita Nos. 1 & 3; Fantasia; Aria – Rafal Blechacz, p. – DGG
Rafal Blechacz transfers his natural affinity for Chopin to the music of Chopin’s idol, Sebastian Bach. BACH: Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971; Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major, BWV 825; Four Duets, BWV 802-805; Fantasia and Fugue in a minor, BWV 944; Partita No. 3 in a minor, BWV 827; Jesus bleibet meine Freude (arr. Hess) BWV 147 – Rafal Blechacz, piano – DGG 479 5534, 65:54 (3/3/17) [Distr. by Universal] ****: Polish piano virtuoso Rafal Blechacz (b. 1985) transfers his penchant for Chopin to selected works by Bach that highlight the close relationship between the ancient harpsichord and modern keyboard sonority, insofar as Blechacz – following in the Glenn Gould tradition – means to impart lyrical clarity as the main ingredient in the Bach contrapuntal ethos. Blechacz has chosen particular works from Bach’s Clavier-Uebungen as his source, works collected in a series of four volumes, 1735-1741. Many of the pieces present dance music of varied national styles, as well as virtuoso works that display the capacity of the keyboard to imitate the manuals of the harpsichord or the deep sonority and spacious range of the organ. A fine example of Blechacz’s approach comes to us by way […]
Editorial for April 2017
For our April free drawing we have a fantastic 40 CDs and 3 DVDs Rostropovich Cello Retrospective. It includes all his Erato and EMI recordings as well as recordings made during his stay in the Soviet Union by a secret mic in the Moscow hall. Music aficionados erased the Rostropovich name from the tapes after the regime denied the citizenship of the Rostropovichs. There is a balance of studio and live performance recordings, and over 60 composers are represented. Over 120 new works are included, since Shostakovich, Britten and Prokofiev were close friends of the cellist. All you need to do to enter the drawing is simply click below on the Register To Win banner and fill out the few fields we request. The lucky winner of the set will be announced here next month. EDITORIAL AUDIOPHILE AUDITION began as a local program in San Francisco and then in 1985 as a weekly national radio series hosted by John Sunier, and aired for 13½ years on up to 200 public radio and commercial stations. In September 1998 its web site for program listings was expanded to this free Internet publication. April 2017 is our 217th issue! All disc reviews are added thru […]
BACH: The Partitas and French Suites – Richard Egarr – HM
BACH: The Partitas – Richard Egarr – Harmonia Mundi 907593. CD 1: 75:39, CD 2 79:20 (3/24/17) *****: BACH: The French Suites – Richard Egarr – Harmonia Mundi 907583, CD 1: 47:04, CD 2: 58:29 (5/27/16) ****1/2 : (Richard Egarr; harpsichord) Egarr continues his successful tour of the complete Bach solo repertory played on his fine Ruckers copy double-manual instrument. In recent years, Richard Egarr has somehow managed to balance his responsibilities as musical director of the Academy of Ancient Music with his ambitious project of recording the entire solo harpsichord repertory of J.S. Bach. These recordings have appeared as collections of the “little” works such as the 2004 “per cembalo solo…” on Harmonia Mundi, but more recently as double-CDs of the major suites. Under review here are two major installments which nearly complete the journey. Egarr has been loyal to his splendid instrument, a 1991 Joel Katzman copy of a 1638 Ruckers harpsichord. It is a massive double-register keyboard with a booming voice. It can rattle frightfully on some of the heavy ornamentation of a Bach Gigue, but it possesses an almost mystical side; the 8-ft single register has such a bell-like clarity, especially in the lyrical Sarabande, that […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
