Monthly Archive: March 2018

Homunculus / Kamus Quartet –  Composer:  Esa-Pekka Salonen,  György Ligeti,  Benjamin Britten – Kamus String Quartet – Alba Records

Homunculus / Kamus Quartet –  Composer:  Esa-Pekka Salonen,  György Ligeti,  Benjamin Britten – Kamus String Quartet – Alba Records

Three contemporary string quartets stunningly played and recorded! Homunculus / Kamus Quartet –  Composer:  Esa-Pekka Salonen,  György Ligeti,  Benjamin Britten – Kamus String Quartet – Alba Records SACD/Hybrid  Catalog #: 409  – (01/05/2018)  TT: 62:00 **** This new multi-channel release, which includes the world premiere recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s string quartet Homunculus, and also includes music by Ligeti (String […]

The Music Treasury, 1 April 2018

This week, The Music Treasury is presenting a collection of performances by esteemed composers who could also wield the baton before a responsive ensemble. The dates of  the performances range from the electrical era of 78rpm through 1965, live from Boston. The show is hosted by Dr Gary Lemco, and airs 1 April 2018, from 19:00 – […]

Beau Soir = FAURE: Violin Sonata; Berceuse; FRANCK: Violin Sonata; DEBUSSY : La file aux cheveux de lin; Beau soir – Kyung Wha Chung, violin/ Kevin Kenner, piano – Warner Classics

Beau Soir = FAURE: Violin Sonata; Berceuse; FRANCK: Violin Sonata; DEBUSSY : La file aux cheveux de lin; Beau soir – Kyung Wha Chung, violin/ Kevin Kenner, piano – Warner Classics

After a substantial hiatus from the recording studio, Korean virtuoso Kyung Wha Chung returns with a soulful program of Gallic music. Beau Soir = FAURE: Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, Op. 13; Berceuse, Op. 16; FRANCK: Violin Sonata in A Major; Panis angelicus (arr. Kenner); DEBUSSY (arr. Hartmann) : La file aux cheveux […]

Reich: Drumming – Colin Currie Group with Synergy Vocals – Colin Currie Records 

Reich: Drumming – Colin Currie Group with Synergy Vocals – Colin Currie Records 

Steve Reich’s monumental composition in good sound and a solid performance. Reich: Drumming – Colin Currie Group with Synergy Vocals – Colin Currie Records CD CCR001 TT: 56:00 (3/8/18) *** 1/2 This was Steve Reich’s breakthrough masterpiece, inspired by his studies of African drumming in the 1970s. There have been many recordings of this work, […]

Re-structures = Piano music by Lansky, Ruders, Machover, Kurtág, Ben-Amots – Quattro Mani – Bridge

Re-structures = Piano music by Lansky, Ruders, Machover, Kurtág, Ben-Amots – Quattro Mani – Bridge

Quattro Mani: Re-Structures Piano music by Lansky, Ruders, Machover, Kurtág, Ben-Amots for four hands. Quattro Mani (Steven Beck, Susan Grace)—Bridge 9496—49:00, *** 1/2: I often think of Johann Sebastian Bach when I think of combining multiple keyboard instruments. The image of Bach, with one or more of his sons performing at the Zimmermann Coffee House […]

MAHLER: Symphony No. 9 in D Major – Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/ Daniel Harding – Harmonia mundi 

MAHLER: Symphony No. 9 in D Major – Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/ Daniel Harding – Harmonia mundi 

Daniel Harding realization of Mahler’s last symphony presents the work as an ongoing miracle and paradox of sound and sensibility.  MAHLER: Symphony No. 9 in D Major – Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/ Daniel Harding – Harmonia mundi HMM 902258, 82:37 (3/23/18) [Distr. PIAS] ****: Amidst a personal world of increased uncertainty and loss—the death of […]

CHRISTOPHERSEN: Woven Brass – Oslo Philharmonic Brass – Dual Disc, Hybrid SACD/ Pure Audio Blu-ray

CHRISTOPHERSEN: Woven Brass – Oslo Philharmonic Brass – Dual Disc, Hybrid SACD/ Pure Audio Blu-ray

Contemporary brass music in a stunning multi-format package Christophersen: Woven Brass – Dual Disc, Hybrid SACD/ Pure Audio Blu-ray – Oslo Philharmonic Brass (leader Jonas Haltia) (11/1/17) **** What a spectacular recording from 2L! This multi-format disc gives us some tight performances by the Oslo Philharmonic Brass. There music offered is all by Norwegian composer […]

Steve Slagle – Dedication – Panorama 

Steve Slagle – Dedication – Panorama 

Family, friends, and fellow musicians all make an impact on saxophonist Steve Slagle’s latest album. Steve Slagle – Dedication [TrackList and Performing Artists follows] – Panorama 007, 58:18 [1/4/18] ****: Saxophonist Steve Slagle’s one-hour album, Dedication, is well named. The nine tracks (seven Slagle originals) are each dedicated to someone important in Slagle’s life and/or […]

Black Gardenia – Lucky Star – Vintage Jazz 

Black Gardenia – Lucky Star – Vintage Jazz 

A self assured vocalist supported by a cohesive band Black Gardenia – Lucky Star – Vintage Jazz 5369123477 46:28*** In horticultural terms, a Black Gardenia is not an actual flower. But in musical realm, Black Gardenia is a Vancouver B.C. based vintage jazz band that combines jazz, country, folk and blues from the 20s,30s and […]

The Music Treasury, 25 March 2018

This week, The Music Treasury is focusing on the performances by conductor Willem van Otterloo.  Talented in many areas, Otterloo opted to study music, where he excelled in both cello performance as well as composition. Though his activity as a conductor was launched in the Netherlands, his career ultimately landed in Australia, where he conceited […]

“Portraits: Works for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano” = Works by CHRIS ROGERSON; VALERIE COLEMAN; GUILLAUME CONNESSON; RACHMANINOV; PAUL SCHOENFIELD; PHILIP HAMMOND; IRISH TRADITIONAL – McGill/McHale Trio – Cedille 

“Portraits: Works for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano” = Works by CHRIS ROGERSON; VALERIE COLEMAN; GUILLAUME CONNESSON; RACHMANINOV; PAUL SCHOENFIELD; PHILIP HAMMOND; IRISH TRADITIONAL – McGill/McHale Trio – Cedille 

A wonderful album all the way around. “Portraits: Works for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano” = CHRIS ROGERSON: A Fish Will Rise; VALERIE COLEMAN: Portraits of Langston; GUILLAUME CONNESSON: Techno – Parade; RACHMANINOV (Arr. McHale): Vocalise; PAUL SCHOENFIELD: Sonatina; PHILIP HAMMOND: The Lamentation of Owen O’Neil; IRISH TRADITIONAL (Arr. McHale): The Lark in the Clear Air […]

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons – Rachel Podger / Brecon Baroque—Channel Classics 

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons – Rachel Podger / Brecon Baroque—Channel Classics 

Vivaldi: Le quattro stagione, concerti, Il grosso mogul, Il riposo, L’Amoroso. Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque—Channel Classics CCS SA 40318—76:00 [Distr. by Pias] ****: I’ve been following the historically-informed performance movement for most of my life, coming to collect recordings by Hogwood and Pinnock in the late 1980s as a teen. Rachel Podger came on the […]

MOZART: Violin Concerto Nos. 4 & 5  – Nikolaj Znaider, violin and conductor/ London Symphony Orchestra – LSO 

MOZART: Violin Concerto Nos. 4 & 5  – Nikolaj Znaider, violin and conductor/ London Symphony Orchestra – LSO 

Nikolaj Znaider proves a facile and elegant purveyor of Mozart’s two greatest violin concertos. MOZART: Violin Concerto no. 4 in D Major, K. 218; Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 “Turkish” – Nikolaj Znaider, violin and conductor/ London Symphony Orchestra – LSO Live (DSD) LSOO807, 50:28 (3/2/18)  (Distr. by [PIAS]) ****: Recorded […]

Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp – Oneness– Leo 

Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp – Oneness– Leo 

Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp – Oneness– Leo  Musical collaboration and communication of the highest order. Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp – Oneness – Leo CD LR 823/825 (3-CDs), 49:24, 49:06, 43:52 [3/2/18] *****: (Ivo Perelman – tenor saxophone; Matthew Shipp – piano) How does one select the best of the best? As tenor saxophonist […]

Lauri Porra: Entropia and other works – Lahti Symphony Orchestra/ Jakko Kuusisto cond – Hybrid SACD BIS

Lauri Porra: Entropia and other works – Lahti Symphony Orchestra/ Jakko Kuusisto cond – Hybrid SACD BIS

Fascinating modern compositions, but I could live without the Finnish Rap Music Lauri Porra: Entropia and other works – Lahti Symphony Orchestra – Jakko Kuusisto cond – Hybrid SACD BIS 2305  (2/2/2018) TT: 83:18 *** 1/2 Great-grandson of composer Jean Sibelius, Lauri Porra began playing the cello at the age of six, but later switched […]