Australian Archive
“Double Concertos for Violin and Clarinet” = by MILLS, CHATMAN, CHIHARA, & DAVID – Crystal
Another great release from this dedicated husband and wife duo. “Double Concertos for Violin and Clarinet” = RICHARD MILLS: Duo Concertante; STEPHEN CHATMAN: Concerto for Clarinet, Violin and Orch.; PAUL CHIHARA: Love Music: Concerto for Violin, Clarinet and Orch.; THOMAS CHRISTIAN DAVID: Sonate for Clarinet and Violin – Walter Verdehr, v./Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, clarinet/Taipei Sym. Orch./Richard Mills/Las Cruces Sym./ Lonnie Klein/ Slovak Radio Orch./Kirk Trevor – Crystal CD973, 71:29 (9/08/16) ****: Walter Verdehr and Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr have performed as the founding members of the Verdehr Trio (using two or three amazing pianists) over the span of fifty-plus years. I read that they only recently retired from public performance but during this time they commissioned and recorded well over one hundred works for this combination. They also have given us recordings of these works under the amazingly comprehensive collection, “The Making of a Medium.” As a clarinetist, I am both amazed and grateful for their contribution for I have always found the combination of clarinet, violin a rewarding one but – in some ways – not as richly populated as the trio genre comprised of clarinet, cello and piano. In fact, for many years the best known works in the trio with […]
Audio News for September 2, 2016
Rotel Introduces New 14 Series Integrated Amplifiers and CD Player – For listeners who appreciate the look and feel of retro high-quality separate components including serious loudspeakers, as long as they can still plug in, Rotel is targeting you with its new 14 Series amplifiers and – courageously so – a CD player. “Stereo playback is enjoying a renaissance, particularly among younger people,” Doug Henderson, president of Rotel’s distributor, the B&W Group, said. Connection options include Bluetooth with AptX, standard analog and phono inputs, two each of coaxial and optical inputs, USB for PC and iOS which supports high-resolution playback of 32-bit/384kHz PCM, as well as DSD and DSD 2X. The three new 14 Series models will debut in October. The A14 integrated amplifier (80 watts per channel and high resolution) will retail for $1,300, the A12 (60 watts) $900, and the CD14 CD $600. Grado’s New Deluxe Cartridges an Audiophile’s Dream – After two years of research, development and a lot of listening, Brooklyn-based Grado is releasing its new Statement Series2 [sic] line of deluxe audiophile phono cartridges. Housed in Australian Jarrah wood, a eucalyptus species renowned for its versatility, durability and strength, and featuring “a fixed coil design […]
Bruce Hungerford: The Last Recital = MOZART: Sonata in A Major; March in C Major; SCHUBERT: Waltzes and Laendler; Impromptu in A-flat Major; BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 5 in c minor; Piano Sonata No. 32 in c minor; BACH (arr. Hess): Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Bruce Hungerford, piano – KASP (2 CDs)
KASP issues a marvelous tribute to Bruce Hungerford: his last solo recital.
Jascha Spivakovsky, piano – BACH to BLOCH, Vol. I = Works of BACH, BEETHOVEN, BRAHMS, CHOPIN, DEBUSSY, KABALEVSKY – Pristine Audio
Let your “discovery” disc for 2015 be this selected group of Australian recordings from Jascha Spivakovsky.
“Concerto” = SALINAS: Danzas Peregrinas; EDWARDS: Arafura Dances; GOSS: Guitar Concerto – John Williams, guitar – SCW3“Reinventing Guitar II” = D. SCARLATTI: Five Sonatas; BACH: Prelude, Fugue & Allegro in E-flat Major; Toccata in e; HANDEL: “The Harmonious Blacksmith;” Chconne No. 2 in G Major – Smaro Gragoriadou, special guitars – Delos
Two unusual classical guitar CDs of interest.
“Concerto” = SALINAS: Danzas Peregrinas; EDWARDS: Arafura Dances; GOSS: Guitar Concerto – John Williams, guitar – SCW3“Reinventing Guitar II” = D. SCARLATTI: Five Sonatas; BACH: Prelude, Fugue & Allegro in E-flat Major; Toccata in e; HANDEL: “The Harmonious Blacksmith;” Chconne No. 2 in G Major – Smaro Gragoriadou, special guitars – Delos
Two unusual classical guitar CDs of interest.
BRETT DEAN: The Lost Art of Letter Writing; Testament for Twelve Violas; Vexations and Devotions – Frank Peter Zimmermann, violin/Sydney Sym./Jonathan Nott/BBC Sym. viola section/ Martyn Brabbins/ BBC Sym. and Chorus/Gondwana Voices/ David Robertson – BIS
Very interesting works with an element of message.
“Piers Lane Goes to Town” = Short piano pieces of DOHENY, IRELAND, BACH, DELIBES, RACHMANINOV, CONFREY, POULENC, TEMPLETON, BENJAMIN, MOORE, GRAINGER & Others – Hyperion
Piers Lane shares a collection of Twentieth Century encores that offer grace, wit, and exquisite charm, each played by a brilliant technician who has the poet’s touch.
“Chameleon” – Øystein Baadsvik, tuba/Fanfare Band of Royal Netherlands Army/ Tijmen Botma – BIS
A most unusual disc, with superb sound and performances.
HARTY: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2; Piano Quintet – Goldner String Quartet/ Piers Lane, p. – Hyperion
An ensemble of gifted Australian musicians collaborate beautifully to introduce us to the fertile imagination of Hamilton Harty’s chamber works.
LISZT: Annees de Pelerinage: Italy – Christine Stevenson, p. – RFZ
Australian virtuoso Christine Stevenson applies a finely honed palette to render Liszt’s Years of Pilgrimage in splendid colors.
Percy Grainger: The Complete 78-rpm Solo Recordings, 1908-1945 – APR (5 CDs)
Australia’s musical lion has ample representation in these five discs, a testament to a brilliant virtuoso and an audacious, iconoclastic thinker.
JC Stylles – Exhilaration and Other States – Motema
JC Stylles has got soulful jazz covered – from R. Kelly to Coltrane, and from Billie Holiday to Wayne Shorter.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Blu-ray (1994/2011)
One reviewer referred to it as “shockingly likable.”
Babe, Blu-ray (1995/2011)
The filmmakers had to use nearly 30 pigs to play Babe because they fatten up so fast.
Bamboo Organ of Las Piñas, Manila [TrackList below] – Douglas Lawrence, organist – Move (2 discs with video)
This double album from the innovative Australian label Move is currently the only recording available of the truly unique bamboo pipe organ in the Philippines.
Dead Can Dance – Into the Labyrinth – Gerald Perry & Lisa Gerrard – 4AD/Mobile Fidelity (2 LPs)
This Australian duo combine in their various albums world music, ambient, neoclassical, new wave, gothic rock and post-punk.
CARLOS SALZEDO Works for Solo Harp – Ballade; Scintillation; Five Poetical Studios; Suite of Eight Dances; Variations on a theme in the Ancient Style – Alice Giles, harp – Tall Poppies: “Bolmimerie” – Works for 7 harps – SHE – Tall Poppies:
Harps Galore from Australia.
Audio News for November 23, 2010
Zenph Studios Working on New Re-Performances; XPAND Announces Call Center for All 3D Questions; Australian Retailers Coming Under Attack from U.S. Online Companies; Android Tablet Market Wobbling; Holiday Consumer Electronics Sales
Moulin Rouge, Blu-ray (2001/2010)
Baz Luhrmann’s wild and woolly film musical using current pop tunes.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
