Monthly Archive: June 2017
Beecham at the Royal Festival Hall, Vol. 2 = MENDELSSOHN: The Fair Melusina Overture; GHEDINI: Concerto for Viola and Strings; DVORAK: Symphony No. 8 – Frederick Riddle (vla.) / Royal Phil. Orch./ Sir Thomas Beecham – Pristine Audio
Beecham at the Royal Festival Hall, Vol. 2 = MENDELSSOHN: The Fair Melusina – Overture, Op. 32; GHEDINI: Musica da concerto for Viola and Strings; DVORAK: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 – Frederick Riddle, viola/ Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/ Sir Thomas Beecham – Pristine Audio PASC 504, 70:43 [www.pristine classical.com] ****: The second of the Beecham Royal Festival Hall concert recordings from Andrew Rose is “festive” in every sense. The second installment from Sir Thomas Beecham’s appearances at Royal Festival Hall for the concerts of 25 October and 8 November 1959—as edited and engineered by Andrew Rose—includes music familiar and novel to the Beecham legacy, including the performance of Giorgio Federico Ghedini’s Musica da Concerto (1953) with the esteemed viola player Frederick Riddle (1912-1995), who always claimed Beecham as the dominant musical influence of his life: “My best times were with Tommy. He was a genius. He had a twinkle in his eye – he enjoyed music and people.” The Mendelssohn and Dvorak works, both of which Beecham committed to commercial recordings, embrace his genial, romantic style, confident and thoroughly persuasive. Mendelssohn’s 1834 Overture The Fair Melusina derives from a fairy-tale about a cursed woman who becomes part […]
Beecham at the Royal Festival Hall, Vol. I = HAYDN: Symphony No. 101; LALO: Symphony in G Minor; DEBUSSY: Cortege et Air de Danse – Royal Phil. Orch./ Sir Thomas Beecham – Pristine Audio
Beecham at the Royal Festival Hall, Vol. I = HAYDN: Symphony No. 101 in D Major “Clock”; LALO: Symphony in G Minor; DEBUSSY: Cortege et Air de Danse from L’enfant prodigue – Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/ Sir Thomas Beecham – Pristine Audio PASC 502, 58:42 [www.pristineclassical.com] ****: The first of the Beecham concerts from Royal Festival Hall displays the conductor’s brio in his chosen repertory. The “inimitable” Sir Thomas Beecham (1897-1962) appears in the first of three volumes dedicated by engineer Andrew Rose to the two concerts of 25 October and 8 November 1959 at the Royal Festival Hall. Typical of the “Beecham effect,” the spirits of these concerts remain thoroughly gracious and accessible, since before an audience – as opposed to his meticulous rehearsal methods – Beecham never took himself too seriously. The conductor’s geniality derives mainly from his thorough knowledge of his repertory, combined with his ensemble’s total technical control and nuanced response to their conductor’s wishes. While some commentators bemoan Beecham’s use of what now scholarship considers corrupt editions of Haydn, his measured, affectionate d minor Adagio of Symphony No. 101 spreads forth a luxuriant carpet that soon erupts into a festive 6/8 Presto that gallops and sachets […]
Sir Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852-1924) = Choral Music – Trinity College Choir Cambridge, Owain Park and Alexander Hamilton, organists / Trinity Brass / Stephen Layton (cond.) Hyperion
Sir Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852-1924) = Choral Music – Trinity College Choir Cambridge / Owain Park and Alexander Hamilton, organists / Trinity Brass / Stephen Layton (conductor) Hyperion CDA68174 (6/30/17) TT: 81:02 ****: A fine recording and performance of Anglican Music by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford What a nice CD from Hyperion, celebrating the music of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Stanford was arguably the most famous Irish composer before independence. Born into a musical family, he began his musical education in 1870 at Cambridge, and later at Trinity College. As a teacher, he could proudly count among his students Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, John Ireland among many others. The program on this disc spans a wide range of Stanford’s Anglican Choral music. This is a highly listenable album, with quiet contemplative tunes along with some stunning and inspiring dynamic music. The recording, in the Hereford Cathedral and in the Trinity College Chapel is a fine one, with excellent dynamic range and deep, deep organ pedals. The combination of voice, organ and brass makes for a potent brew, and the recording and performances simply can’t be faulted. Musical highlights for me include the Fantasia and Toccata for organ, which includes […]
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3, Prometheus and Consecration of the House Overtures – Orch.of the Southwest German Radio/ Vienna Symph. Orch. / Jascha Horenstein – Pristine Audio
BEETHOVEN: The Creatures of Prometheus – Overture, Op. 43; Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”; Overture to the Consecration of the House, Op. 124 – Orchestra of the Southwest German Radio/ Vienna Symphony Orchestra (overtures)/ Jascha Horenstein – Pristine Audio PASC 505, 66:20 [ww.pristineclassical.com] ****: Andrew Rose and Pristine Audio extend the Jachsa Horenstein Beethoven legacy with three significant additions. Pristine Audio continues to issue, with the support of Mischa Horenstein and the commitment of audio engineer and producer Andrew Rose, the legacy of Jascha Horenstein (1898-1973) to everyone’s benefit. This release of the May 1957 Vox label Eroica only instills in us a retroactive desire that record companies had committed themselves to preserving a full set of the Beethoven symphonies from Jascha Horenstein for posterity’s benefit. The program opens with Horenstein’s leading a 1953 performance with the Vienna Symphony – from an elusive Vox disc – of Beethoven’s 1801 Overture to the Creatures of Prometheus. Horenstein might well be preparing a rendition for the Fourth Symphony, given the gravitas he elicits from the slow, introductory (dissonant) passages that will soon erupt into the boisterous muscular Allegro that celebrates the Greek Titan’s love and sponsorship of […]
Bill Evans – Another Time/The Hilversum Concert – Resonance Records
Bill Evans – Another Time/The Hilversum Concert – Resonance Records HCD-2031 [with 30-page booklet], 46:09 ****1/2: (Bill Evans – piano; Eddie Gomez – double bass; Jack DeJohnette – drums) Nearly four decades after his death, Bill Evans is making news. Producer Zev Feldman discovered a rare live recording of the short-lived trio that consisted of Evans, bassist Eddie Gomez` and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Some Other Time: The Lost Sessions from The Black Forest (1968) proved to be a critical success upon its release in 2016. Evan’s mastery of harmonic interpretation, chord blocking and “singing lines” transformed the jazz landscape. His participation on Miles Davis’ modal-themed Kind Of Blue elevated him to stardom. As a solo artist, Evans had a prolific career in jazz ensemble (primarily trio) and solo recordings. The resurfacing of a second live set is nothing short of historic. Another Time/The Hilverson Concert is an inspired piano trio set which does a lot to support Evans’ fans assertion that this instrumental configuration reveled Evans’ artistry at its apex.The opening track is a surprising diversion, Andre and Dory Previn’s endearing “You’re Gonna Hear From Me”. The song (written for the movie Inside Daisy Clover) has been recorded by the […]
Leff Pouishnoff: The Complete 78-rpm and Selected Saga LP Recordings = Historic Recordings of Piano Literature- Leff Pouishnoff, piano – APR
Leff Pouishnoff: The Complete 78-rpm and Selected Saga LP Recordings = Historic Recordings of Piano Literature- Leff Pouishnoff, piano – APR 6022 (2 Discs) 73:49; 75:32 [TrackList follows] (6/20/17) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: APR revives the legacy of Leff Pouishnoff, whose limited recorded work indicates a fiery personality who fell into decline. Among the throng of musical talents nurtured by Odessa, Leff Pouishnoff (1891-1959) showed extraordinary prowess as a youth, and Fyodor Chaliapin encouraged Puishnoff to attend the St. Petersburg Conservatory to study piano with Annette Essipova and with theory and composition teachers, Rimsky-Korsakov, Anatole Liadov, and Alexander Glazunov. Having toured with violinist Leopold Auer, Pouishnoff escaped the ravages of the 1917 Russian Revolution by migrating to Persia, and then to Paris and London. In 1921 and 1922 Pouishnoff performed at Wigmore Hall and at Proms concerts. He began making records for Columbia in 1922 and 1923 display his natural virtuoso technique, crisp articulation, melodic charm, rhythmic excitement, and a persuasive piano tone. Pouishnoff came to America in 1923-24; while in Britain by 1925, with the institution of the electrical recoding process (1926), he had already gained a repute as a Chopin exponent. In 1928, for the Schubert centennial, he […]
Nathan BROWN trio: This Is The Moment – Gut String Records
Nathan BROWN trio: This Is The Moment – Gut String Records 028, 57:46 (6/12/17) ****: An outstanding tribute to the late ‘50s guitar trio aesthetic of Paul Chambers and Grant Green. (Nathan Brown; bass/ Felix Lemerle; guitar/ Peter Traunmueller; drums) This trio, led by bassist Nathan Brown, demonstrates a commitment to the old values of ‘50s Modern Jazz. The Aesthetic is remarkably well-dialed in. Try the opening, Curley’s Revenge, on your friends. At least one will say “Grant Green.” Guitarist Felix Lemerle has an old-fashioned, minimally-amped sound on his warm hollow-body. He thinks his way deliberately through modest blues changes without undue bustle or striving for effect. He has a hard pick and prefers staccato attack throughout. On Bird’s Opening, Mr. Brown references the key moment in modern jazz history when Paul Chambers picked up his bow and made a case for the arco solo. Few critics have been forthcoming about how uneven this all-time great bassist sounds on such occasions. While the classical bassists know that the problem stems from lax notions of tonality, the audiences generally protest the caterwauling by instinct alone. Brown follows Mr. P.C. without trepidation; We hear the arco first on the nifty bebop line […]
William WALTON: Violin Concerto, Partita & Hindemith Variations – Anthony Marwood (v.) / BBC Scottish Symph. Orch. / Martyn Brabbins (cond.) – Hyperion
William WALTON: Violin Concerto, Partita & Hindemith Variations – Anthony Marwood (violin) / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Martyn Brabbins (conductor) – Hyperion CD CDA67986 – TT: 81:28 (6/30/17) ****: An excellent survey of Walton’s music, very well played and recorded Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra follow up their definitive account of the Walton symphonies with another fine disc of Walton. We are offered the Violin Concerto , originally written for Jascha Heifitz, and the rousing Spitfire Prelude and Fugue, based on one of his film scores. Along with that there is Walton’s fine Partita for Orchestra, and one of his most interesting works, Variations on a theme by Hindemith. Walton and Hindemith had a 40 year long relationship, and Hindemith was able to hear Walton’s musical tribute to him before he died in 1963. Walton was born to a musical family, was a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral at Oxford, and later studied at the university. He left Oxford without a degree, and from 1920 lived with the Sitwell family in London. The three Sitwells siblings, all budding poets, introduced him to many major musical and literary figures of the time, including Delius, Diaghilev, and T.S. Eliot. During […]
Jean SIBELIUS: “In the Stream of Life”, Songs – Gerald Finley (bass/bar) / Bergen Phil. Orch. / Edward Gardner – Chandos
“In the Stream of Life: Songs by Sibelius” – Gerald Finley, bass-baritone/Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Edward Gardner – Chandos SACD CHSA5178 [Distr. by Naxos], 78:40, (1/29/2017) [Track list follows] ****: Splendid performances of some lesser known works. Sibelius is not known very widely for his vocal music but what a rich and rewarding collection of his songs for voice and orchestra as well as some of his legend-inspired tone poems this is! The two orchestral tone poems here in this splendid collection are actually among Sibelius’ better known works. Pohjola’s Daughter is based on a Kalevala legend in which an old mystic of sorts discovers the daughter of the demi-goddess Pohjola spinning a golden thread in the night sky. The Oceanides is simply, but majestically, Sibelius’ ode to the power of the seas (the composer was said to have been inspired by Debussy’s La Mer.) Both of these works are representative of the very colorful and somewhat impressionistic Sibelius and remain among his most programmatic pieces. The inclusion of the Romance for strings (dating from 1904) is a pleasant work and certainly an example of lesser-known and introspective Sibelius but other than the curiosity that it is it is not of the […]
Audio News for June 25, 2017
Classical Music, the Next Wave — We recently noted that the Manchester Camerata has enjoyed some three-fold increase in ticket sales, the result of imaginative programming, as well as exploring contemporary, cross-over, and fusion sounds. There is more of this in the air—a recent youth concert here featured Holst’s The Planets, with the addition of interstitial movements by Brazil’s Ronaldo Cadeu. This was cast as “A Hitchhiker’s Guide” to The Planets, and was well received. While there were some who preferred a more traditional approach, there were many new ears (and some not-so-new) who took great delight in the synthesis of sounds and styles spanning the century (performed at the 100th anniversary of the work). Besides the concert hall, this is showing up on the record shelf. For but one example, the Altius Quartet has provided a delightful blend of classical and contemporary, in their album “Dress Code”, a recent release by Navono. In this recording, Haydn’s C Major Quartet (Op. 74, No. 1) is juxtaposed with tasteful arrangements of works from various genre: jazz (Dave Brubeck) and ragtime (William Bolcom), as well as more contemporary/popular pieces (Stand By Me, Stairway to Heaven). At this point, such concerts and recordings […]
Nicki Parrott – Dear Blossom – Arbours Records
Nicki Parrott – Dear Blossom – Arbours Records ARCD 19453 58:02 ****: An immensely satisfying release. ( Nicki Parrott – vocals & bass; Chris Grasso – piano except track 4; Chuck Redd – vibes tracks 1,2,5,6,10,11,12,14; Lenny Robinson drums except tracks 4,13; Engelbert Wrobel – clarinet & tenor sax tracks 3,6,9,12; Vince Cherico – percussion tracks 1,5,14; Warren Vaché – cornet track 4) Diminutive in stature and voice, Blossom Dearie was a one of a kind performer who delivered solid piano accompaniment behind her pixie-like voice. Dearie, who died in 2009, had some early success when she moved to Paris in 1952 and began a singing group called the Blue Stars (of which Bob Dorough was a part) and that group ultimately morphed into the Swingle Singers. Later in her career, she performed regularly in New York City supper clubs. Bassist and vocalist Nicki Parrott, while in no way trying to emulate Blossom Dearie, has delivered an immensely satisfying release called Dear Blossom that focusses on songs that were either written by or closely associated with her. Parrott has light, breezy voice that is perfectly suited to this Dearie material starting with “I Wish You Love” which is done in […]
GRIEG: String Quartets 1 & 2 – Meccore String Quartet – MDG
GRIEG: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 27; String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, EG 117; Fugue in f minor, EG 114 – Meccore String Quartet – MDG Multichannel CD 9031998-6, 57:09 (4/21/17) [Distr. by eOne] *****: The Meccore Quartet presents Grieg the composer of powerful string quartets, a long way from his “miniature” style. The medium of the string quartet did not come easily to Edvard Grieg, and he completed a few before leaving one mature work of 1877-78, of which he wrote that it “aims at vigor, breadth, flight of imagination, and above all, fullness of tone for the instruments. It is in G Minor and not meant as meat for small minds!” This vivacious reading by the Meccore Quartet – Jaroslaw Nadrzycki and Wojciech Koprowski, violin; Michal Bryla, viola; and Karol Marianowski, cello – from October and December 2016 literally bristles with dramatic energy, especially since Grieg described the work as a “piece of my life story. . .into which I have poured my finest ideas and most heartfelt feelings.” The passionately intricate first movement Un poco andante – Allegro molto ed agitato belies its sonata-form structure through its reliance on a song, Spillemaend (“The Minstrel”), […]
Tigran MANSURIAN: Requiem – RIAS Kammerchor/Münchener Kammerorchester/Alexander Liebreich – ECM
Tigran MANSURIAN: Requiem – RIAS Kammerchor/Münchener Kammerorchester/Alexander Liebreich – ECM New Series 2508 (4/14/17) 45:25 ***1/2: Heartfelt music which reminds us of a cultural tragedy. The darkest side of human behavior has given history plenty of truly shocking incidents and stories for generations to ruminate upon and – one would hope – learn from. In April 1915 the Ottoman government within Turkey embarked upon the systematic decimation through both execution as well as neglect of its civilian Armenian population. The persecutions continued until 1923 when the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist and was replaced by the Republic of Turkey. The Armenian population of the Ottoman state was reported at about two million in 1915. An estimated one million had perished by 1918, while hundreds of thousands had become homeless and stateless refugees. By 1923 virtually the entire Armenian population of Anatolian Turkey had disappeared. The Armenians were largely Christian in a country run by the Islamic Turks. This dark period of time provides the inspiration for Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian with his Requiem. I am not very familiar with the work of Tigran Mansurian but his own website tells us he is Armenian educated and has spent a number of […]
Marcel TYBERG: Masses – Christopher Jacobson (organ) South Dakota Chorale/Brian A. Schmidt- Pentatone
Marcel TYBERG (1893-1944) ; Mass No. 1 in G Major for Mixed Chorus and Organ (1934) Mass No. 2 in F Major for Mixed Chorus and Organ (1941) ; Christopher Jacobson (organ) South Dakota Chorale/Brian A. Schmidt- Pentatone PTC5186584 SACD TT: 64:36 – (1/15/16) ****: Pentatone provides an opportunity for us to honor the music of a forgotten composer who died in the Nazi concentration camps This new SACD disc from Pentatone gives us two masses from Marcel Tyberg, While not a prolific composer, he wrote some powerful and memorable music, and these two masses are perfect examples. Marcel Tyberg was born in Vienna in 1895. In the years immediately before the Second World War II, Tyberg was a promising young composer whose Second Symphony had been premiered in the 1930s by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Rafael Kubelík. Part Jewish, but a practicing Catholic, his family did it’s best to dodge the Nazi’s increasing interest. Thinking he would at some point be arrested, he entrusted his music to friends. For many years he was thought to have committed suicide, but in fact he was exterminated at Auschwitz. The Mass No. 1 was written in 1934, for Mixed Chorus and Organ. It’s an ethereal work, […]
RAVEL by Cluytens = Orchestral Retrospective – Samson Francois, piano/ Paris Conservatory Orch./ Andre Cluytens – Urania Arts
RAVEL by Cluytens = Bolero; La Valse; Rapsodie espagnole; Valses nobles et sentimentales; Menuet antique; Pavane pour une Infante defunte; Le tombeau de Couperin; Ma mere l’oye – Suite; Alborada del gracioso; Une barque sur l’ocean; Piano Concerto for the Left Hand – Samson Francois, piano/ Paris Conservatory Orchestra/ Andre Cluytens – Urania Arts Stereo WS 121.268-2 (2 CDs) 73:26; 78:59 (11/2/16) [Distr. by Albany] ****: Urania selectively assembles the Ravel legacy of Belgian conductor Andre Cluytens, who made France his adoptive homeland. Given that Erato has issued a 65-CD retrospective on Belgian maestro Andre Cluytens (1905-1967), this Ravel set on Urania may relieve some of the fiscal (and storage) burdens of so extensive a collection. Cluytens and Samson Francois did record the G Major Concerto, but that you must seek on other sources, including the Erato set. At least one commentator has complained about both the Urania cover art – he calls it “pornographic” – and the price, so caveat emptor! The set opens with Cluytens’ 1961 rendition of the ever-effective Bolero, that amazing bit of “orchestration without music” (1927) that Ravel hoped would become the whistling staple of every Parisian pushcart owner. Having set a moderate tempo, the […]
GUSTAV MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde – Jonas Kaufmann, tenor/Vienna Phil./Jonathan Nott – Sony
GUSTAV MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde (“Song of the Earth”)– Jonas Kaufmann, tenor/Vienna Philharmoniker/Jonathan Nott – Sony Classical 88985389832 (4/17/17) 61:05 ***: First, the glorious, extravagant and often emotionally painful music of Gustav Mahler. If I were to recommend one or two works by the early twentieth century composer-conductor who was a genius in so many respects, I would probably name his songs; most likely the Rückert Lieder and the present Das Lied van der Erde. More so than even the most beautiful but wrenching of his symphonies do we get, in his vocal works, a sense of the brilliant man who was often beset by joy and contentment that could lapse into deep melancholy within the same opus. The texts chosen are the clue. In the case of “Song of the Earth” Mahler drew his inspiration from the Hans Bethge collection of ancient Chinese poetry, “The Chinese Flute.” The tone of the words and Mahler’s music varies but remains largely optimistic from the opening “Drinking Song of Earth’s Sorrow” to “of Youth” and “of Beauty.” Each of these songs is a paean – almost an admiration – to the topics of young love, young beauty and young exuberance. However, […]
Manuel de FALLA: Nights in the Gardens of Spain; The Three-Cornered Hat – Mari Kadama (p.) /Sophie Harmsen, (mezzo) /Orch. de la Suisse Romande/Kazuki Yamada – Pentatone
Manuel de FALLA: Nights in the Gardens of Spain; The Three-Cornered Hat; Interlude and Dance from ‘Life is Short’; Ritual Fire Dance from ‘The Bewitched Love’ – Mari Kadama, piano/Sophie Harmsen, mezzo-soprano/Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Kazuki Yamada – Pentatone SACD PTC5186-598 [Distr. by Naxos] (5/05/17) 72:59 ****: Some wonderful readings under this rising star young conductor. If you already like the music of Spanish “nationalist” composer Manuel de Falla, as I do, there are a lot of reasons to like this new and sparkling collection of his best known works. If you do not already know much of de Falla’s music this disc would be a great place to start. The piano soloist in the sublime Noches en los jardines de España is Mari Kadama, a very fine pianist best known for her knockout recording of the Beethoven sonatas. She also happens to be the spouse of esteemed conductor Kent Nagano. The Nights in the Gardens of Spain is one of de Falla’s signature works; a sultry and beautiful exploration of the mélange of cultural styles found in Andalucia and Catalonia and, for de Falla, influenced by his studies in Paris and the impressionism of Debussy. It is not a […]
Grant Stewart Trio – Roll On – CellarLive
Grant Stewart Trio – Roll On – CellarLive CL000616 49:19 ***: A cooly competent session ( Grant Stewart – tenor saxophone; Paul Sikivie – acoustic bass; Phil Stewart – drums) Grant Stewart is a former Canadian and now a transplanted New Yorker. As a tenor saxophone stylist, he is closer to Sonny Rollins than John Coltrane and is certainly far removed from the likes of Lester Young, Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins. His current release on CellarLive entitled Roll On, falls into the category of the Sonny Rollins 1957 offering with Ray Brown and Shelly Manne called Way Out West. This similarity with Rollins can only be carried as far as tone and big deep sound, but not to improvisational facility and imagination. That is not to say that Stewart is not accomplished, just that he has limitations. In this nine track set, Stewart and his cohorts tackle several compositions from the bop world, along with some standard material to provide a balanced musical offering. “Thinking Of You” by Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar is from a 1927 Broadway show called The Five O’Clock Girl. Not exactly a tune at top of mind, but the band sails into the melody with […]
Dominic DOUSA: Musical Portrait of the American Southwest – Stephen Nordstrom (vla.) / Dominic Dousa (p.) – Blue Griffin
A Musical Portrait of the American Southwest – Stephen Nordstrom (viola), Dominic Dousa (piano) Blue Griffin CD GR 429 TT: 73:37 [dist. by Albany] ****: A fine recording with premier performances and the composer at the piano The music on this disc takes its inspiration from the land referred to as the American Southwest, a region extending from the Great Plains of western Texas northwestwards to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and southwards to the desert lands of New Mexico and Arizona. The works on this program evoke the spirit of this land with a variety of lovely pieces for viola and piano. The composer, Dominic Dousa performs at the piano. The disc contains two works, Reflections on a Desert Winter and Mountain Song. Within the titles work are movements that reflect the unique Western ambiance. The music nicely evokes the subject matter, without having to use some of the more cliche’d and overused ‘Americanism’s’ originally made popular by Copland and others. (of course when Copland wrote them, they weren’t overheard or overused.) The music is lyrical, very listenable, and while I am biased toward the Southwestern theme living as I do in Arizona, anyone would enjoy the music on […]
Gerry Gibbs & Thrasher People – Weather or Not – Whaling City Sound
Gerry Gibbs & Thrasher People – Weather or Not [TrackList follows] – Whaling City Sound WCS 091 (2-CDs) [Distr. by Naxos] 58:12, 61:41 [2/24/17] ****: A two-for-one deal from drummer Gerry Gibbs. (Gerry Gibbs – drums, percussion, kalimba glockenspiel, balifones, castanets, mini-Moog synthesizer, mouth drums, harp, conga drums, electronics, voices, clavinet; Alex Collins – Steinway D acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, Hammond B-3 organ, vocals; Hans Glawischnig – acoustic and electric bass; Kyeshie Gibbs – guest vocals (track 2, CD1)) Most jazz musicians are content to do one thing with each release. Gerry Gibbs has more ambition than most. Gibbs’ latest project is Weather or Not, a double-disc trio venture with Gibbs on drums, percussion, electronics and voices; keyboardist Alex Collins on acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, Hammond B-3 organ and vocals; and Hans Glawischnig on acoustic and electric bass. The first disc (subtitled The Music of Weather Report) is an hour-long, 12-track tribute to the band co-founded by Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul. Disc two (subtitled The Music of Gerry Gibbs; The Life Suite: 1981-2016) is an hour-long, 16-track retrospective of Gibbs’ compositions, penned from 1981 to the present, reimagined by his current trio named Thrasher People. On CD 1, Gibbs […]
“Hommage a Boulez” = BOULEZ: Derive 2; Dialogue; Memoriale; Le Marteau; Anthemes 2; Messagesquisse – West-Eastern Divan Orchestra/Daniel Barenboim – DG
“Hommage a Boulez” = Pierre BOULEZ: Derive 2; Dialogue de l’ombre double; Memoriale; Le Marteau sans maitre; Anthemes 2; Messagesquisse – West-Eastern Divan Orchestra/Daniel Barenboim – Deutsches Grammaphon 479 7160 (3/24/17) 2 CDs, 142:27, ***1/2: Complex and fascinating music in excellent performances. The music of the late Pierre Boulez is not an easy listen. It is never harsh or overtly and purposefully atonal but his works have always required careful and patient listening. The result, if one devotes the time, is to appreciate the pallet of rich sonorities that Boulez always gave his ensembles and to try to follow the motives and snippets of ‘theme’ that ripple through his scores. What is most interesting and valuable about this very fine collection is to realize the connection and years worth of collaboration between the composer and conductor Daniel Barenboim and the composer; a relationship that goes back to 1975 and continued right through Barenboim’s tenure as music director of the Chicago Symphony and beyond. I knew but one of these works going into this recording but the dedication and precision that Barenboim brings to these complex, cerebral works is apparent. I was glad to see the inclusion of Boulez’s 1953 masterwork […]
Eric VLOEIMANS & Holland Baroque: Carrousel – Channel
Eric VLOEIMANS & Holland Baroque: Carrousel – Channel Classics 39817, 60:18 (6/16/17) *****: An astonishing collaboration that mines the many layers of the Baroque with thrilling sense of discovery. The Holland Baroque Orchestra has an original take on what the Baroque offers in terms of musical possibilities. While other groups diligently research new repertoire in libraries and museums, this ensemble seeks to connect with modern perspectives and practices. The result is a profusion of surprises. In Sounds and Clouds, Vivaldi shares the stage with an homage by avant-garde composer Hosokawa in what sounds like a Japanese dream of the the Italian Baroque. Another risky pairing has contemporary composer Reinbert de Leeuw adjacent to and thinking his way through the implications of Bach. On a third recording, numerous percussionists do battle with a baroque concerto in theatrical display of the era’s rhythmic vitality, All of these productions are first rate in concept and execution, but they are surpassed by a crossover (for lack of a better word) concept that involves improvising trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. We met this artist on these pages not long ago. Old, New and Blue finds him offering fresh treatments of Bach, Josquin, Gombert and Tallis as well […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
