Adams Archive
Best Classical of 2017 – I
Best of the Year Classical List for 2017 Recommendations by Steven Ritter Mahler: Symphony No. 8 – Mormon Tabernacle Choir/ Utah Symphony/ Thierry Fischer – Reference Recordings Spectacular, moving, and, well, what else do you need? Link to Review GORDON GETTY: The Canterville Ghost – Oper Leipzig/ Gewandhausorchester/ Matthias Foremny – Pentatone A splendid addition to the Getty catalog, one of his best works. Link to Review SHOSTAKOVICH: Symph. No. 5; BARBER: Adagio for Strings – Pittsburgh Symph. Orch./Manfred Hobeck – Reference Recordings A breathtaking release of crushing power. Link to Review Recommendations by Gary Lemco Reiner conducts Wagner Pristine Audio PASC 517 Fritz Reiner’s legacy of Wagner from shellac sources proves memorably striking, given a fine restoration by Pristine Audio. Link To Review Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 7 – Koussevitzky/BSO – Pristine Audio PASC 515 Previously unreleased Beethoven performances by Koussevitzky and BSO add significant documents to that conductor’s recorded legacy. Link To Review Kathleen Ferrier Remembered Somm CD 264 The restoration of long-buried Kathleen Ferrier archives warrants our unconditional praise and support. Link To Review Dvorak: String Quartet, Op. 105; String […]
“New World Serenade” – BYRON ADAMS: Serenade; OLIVER CAPLAN: Lunastella Fuga; JOHN CORIGLIANO: Snapshot: Circa 1909; PISTON: Divertimento; ZWILICH: Prologue and Variations – Sinfonietta of Riverdale/ Mark Mandarano – Albany
“New World Serenade” – BYRON ADAMS: Serenade for Nine Instruments; OLIVER CAPLAN: Lunastella Fuga; JOHN CORIGLIANO: Snapshot: Circa 1909; WALTER PISTON: Divertimento for Nine Instruments; ELLEN TAAFFE ZWILICH: Prologue and Variations – Sinfonietta of Riverdale/ Mark Mandarano – Albany RR7904, 62:52 (4/01/16) ****: Very diverse and rewarding collection of works for chamber orchestra. The Sinfonietta of Riverdale is a very fine chamber orchestra under the direction of the young talented Mark Mandarano. They are based in New York and perform at the Riverdale Temple. This is apparently their first recording and CD release and is quite rewarding! The director, Mark Mandarano seems like a very interesting and well-prepared conductor, having held positions with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Westchester Philharmonic and the Bard Festival. Mark has trained with several of the most important people out there including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Christoph von Dohnányi, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Roger Norrington, Valery Gergiev, Paul Dunkel, Leon Botstein, Carl St. Clair, Osmo Vänskä and Leonard Slatkin. Mandarano is also the Director of Instrumental Music at Macalaster College. I think, in many ways, this CD is about Riverdale and Mandarano. The music, itself, is quite rewarding and fairly […]
Audio News for January 15, 2015
Samsung to Supply OLED Displays for Next Apple iPhone – A new report says that Samsung Display in South Korea is getting ready to make flexible OLED displays for Apple iPhone 7. The curved OLED screens will replace the current LTPS TFT LCD screens. Samsung Display is also investing $832 million to make OLED displays for its Galaxy smartphones and Chinese smartphone makers. The latest flexible OLED screens can be folded and rolled up. America’s Most Diverse Festival To Feature Sound Installations – The Big Ears Festival, March 31 thru April 2, will feature sound installations of John Luther Adams’ Veils and Vesper and Lou Reed’s Drones, programming by Laurie Anderson. The installation will run six hours daily, and the listener is able to create their own mix by moving thru the space and basking in the harmonic colors of each piece. The setting is the sanctuary of the former First Christian Church in Knoxille, TN, which will become a place of contemplation and meditation. Other works of Adams will be performed during the festival, including his orchestral work, Become Ocean. The Lou Reed work originates from six of his electric guitars and amps. The New Yorker hails it as […]
Composing America = ADAMS: 5 Pages from Book of Alleged Dances; BOLCOM: Billy in the Darbies; COPLAND: Two Pieces for String Quartet; MORAVEC: Piano Quintet—Stephen Salters, bar./ Jeremy Denk, p. /Yousif Sheronick, percussion—Lark Quartet—Bridge
An entertaining and superbly performed collection of four chamber works that reflect the diversity and complexity of American music.
Best of the Year Discs for 2013
* = The 12 Multichannel Discs of the Month CLASSICAL (incl. HI-RES), CLASSICAL REISSUES & CLASSICAL VINYL BACH: Mass in b, BWV 232 – Soloists/ Collegium Vocale 1704/ Collegium 1704/ Vaclav Luks – Accent ACC 24283 (2 CDs) BACH: St. Matthew Passion – Soloists/ RIAS Ch. Chorus/ Academie fur Alte Musik Berlin/ Rene Jacobs – Harmonia mundi SACD HMC 802156.58 (2 SACDs + DVD) BACH: St. John Passion – Ian Bostridge (Evangelist) & other soloists/ Polyphony/ Orch. of the Age of Enlightenment/ Stephen Layton – Hyperion CDA67901 (2 CDs) BACH: French Overture in b; SCRIABIN: Piano Sonata No. 5; MOZART: Variations on “Salve tu, Domine” by Paisiello; CARTER: Piano Sonata – Orion Weiss, p. – Yarlung Records 78873 A BEETHOVEN Odyssey, Volume 1 = Piano Sonatas: No. 1 in f, Op. 2/1; No. 3 in C, Op.2/3; No. 23 in f, Op. 57, “Appassionata” – James Brawn, p. – MSR Classics MS 1465 * BERLIOZ: Seven Overtures – Bergen Philharmonic Orch./ Sir Andrew Davis – Chandos SACD CHSA 5118 Derek BERMEL: “Canzonas Americanas” – Canteloupe Music CA21088 * BRITTEN: War Requiem – Soloists/ Netherlands Radio Choir / Netherlands Children’s Choir/ Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orch./ Jaap van Zweden – Challenge Classics, SACD CC72388 […]
“Barefoot” = Piano Music of Chopin, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Adams, Hofman, Kupferman, Muczynski, & Wolfgang – Joanne Pearce Martin, p. – Yarlung Records
Pianist Joanne Pearce Martin shares her favorite music.
“If You Love for Beauty” = ADAMS: Am I in Your light?; CHAUSSON: Poème de l’Amour et de la Mer; HANDEL: E vivo Ancora (Ariodante); Frondi tenere e belle (Xerxes); MAHLER: Rückert Lieder – Sasha Cooke, mezzo/ Colburn Orch./ Yuhuda Gilad – Yarlung Records
A rising star in great repertory with fantastic sound. Need convincing?
Best of the Year Discs for 2008
CLASSICAL, incl. Hi-Res & Reissues JOHN ADAMS: A Flowering Tree – Soloists/Schola Contorum Caracas/ London Symphony Orchestra/ John Adams – Nonesuch 327100, (2 CDs) “Air” – Music of DEBUSSY & TAKEMITSU for Harp, Flute, and Strings – Telarc CD-80694 ALKAN & CHOPIN: Cello Sonatas – Gerhardt and Osborne – Hyperion CDA67624 An American Journey = GERSHWIN: Porgy and Bess Fantasy; O’CONNOR: Trio No. 1; BERNSTEIN: West Side Story Suite – Eroica Trio – EMI 07351 Martha Argerich – Music for Two Pianos by TCHAIKOVSKY, RACHMANINOFF, BRAHMS, PROKOFIEV & LUTOSLAWSKI – with guest pianists – EMI Classics (2 CDs) J.S. BACH: Cembalo Concertos = BWV 1052 in D minor; BWV 1053 in E Major; BWV 1056 in F minor; BWV 1054 in D Major – Francesco Cera, harpsichord/I Barocchisti/ Diego Fasolis – Arts SACD 47729-8 J. S. BACH: Goldberg Variations – Winfried Bönig, organ – Motette SACD MOT 13494 BEETHOVEN: Symphonies No. 5 and 6 – Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra-Sopot/Wojciech Rajski – Tacet SACD S-164 Beethoven: Sonatas, Vol. 5: Garrick Ohlsson, piano – Bridge 9250 YORK BOWEN: Piano Concerto No. 3 in G minor (Fantasia); Piano Concerto No. 4 in A minor – Danny Driver, p. / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra […]
WOJCIECH KILAR: September Symphony; Lament for a cappella choir
A moving symphonic work for 9/11 created by this noted Polish composer of abstract and film music; compare with John Adams’ new work.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
