Benjamin Archive
“Double Triple Koppel” = Michala Petri on recorder & others – Decapo / BEAMISH: The Singing – Works of that composer cond. by Martyn Brabbins – BIS
“Double Triple Koppel” = ANDERS KOPPEL: Concerto for Recorder, Saxophone, and Orchestra; Triple Concerto for Mezzo Saxophone, Cello, Harp, and Orchestra ‒ Michala Petri, recorder / Benjamin Koppel, saxophones / Tine Rehling, harp / Eugene Hye-Knudsen, cello / Odense Sym. Orch. / Henrik Vagn Christensen ‒ Dacapo multichannel SACD 6220633 [Distr. by Naxos]; 67:25 (8/14/15) ***1/2:</br> “SALLY BEAMISH: The Singing” = The Singing: Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra; A Cage of Doves; Under the Wing of the Rock; Reckless; Trumpet Concerto ‒ James Crabb, accordion / Branford Marsalis, sax / Håkan Hardenberger, trumpet / Royal Scottish National Orch. / Nat. Youth Orch. of Scotland (Trumpet Concerto) / Martyn Brabbins ‒ BIS multichannel SACD BIS-2156 [Distr. by Naxos]; 73:56 (10/9/15) ****: Two contemporary composers who manage to do up the old wine of the classical concerto in surprising new skins. Here we have two very different approaches to the concerto from two very different contemporary composers. Anders Koppel (b. 1947) is the son of the distinguished Danish composer Herman D. Koppel. In fact, Anders is now better known than his father, thanks to a loyal following among enthusiasts of crossover music, and specifically those who appreciate the melding of classical music […]
“Horizon 7” – Royal Concertgebouw Orch. with multiple composers and conductors “Horizon 7” – Royal Concertgebouw Orch. with multiple composers and conductors – RCO Live – RCO Live
“Horizon 7” – Royal Concertgebouw Orch. with multiple composers and conductors. (See TrackList below) RCO Live multichannel SACD RCO 16003 TT: 74:00 (5/6/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: Contemporary music superbly played and well-recorded. The seventh release in RCO Live’s Horizon series features world premieres recorded during three concert seasons. Magnus Lindberg’s Era – a birthday present from the Concertgebouw to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – dates from the 2012-2013 season. Both Tan Dun’s double bass concerto The Wolf and Richard Rijnvos’s fuoco e fumo about the 1996 destruction by fire of the Venetian opera house La Fenice, are from 2015. The program opens with a recording made in September 2015, when composer George Benjamin himself conducted his song cycle Dream of the Song. All these contemporary works are densely composed and all will demand attention from the listener. The Benjamin work, Dream of the Song is a nice mix of vocal and orchestral. It deals with themes both mundane and cosmic. As a whole, it’s a satisfying and emotional piece. Era, by Magnus Lindberg has some elements of Sibelius, but it’s an original, emotional, and at times a thrilling work. Finally, we have two shorter works, the first by Richard […]
Gilles Vonsattel, piano – Shadowlines = Works of D. SCARLATTI, WEBERN, MESSIAEN, BENJAMIN & DEBUSSY – Honens
Swiss pianist Vonsattel explores the roots and applications of modernism with often explosive effects. Gilles Vonsattel – Shadowlines = SCARLATTI: 3 Sonatas; MESSIAEN: Etude No. 4 “Ile de feu II”; 2 Preludes; WEBERN: Variations, Op. 27; BENJAMIN: Shadowlines: Six Canonic Preludes for Piano; DEBUSSY: Feux d’artifice; Masques; D’un cahier d’esquisses; L’Isle joyeuse – Gilles Vonsattel, piano – Honens 201510CD, 67:51 (10/2/15) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: This second album from Swiss pianist Gilles Vonsattel – Laureate of the 2009 Honens Piano Competition in Canada – testifies (rec. March 2015) to his interest in modern composition, especially that influenced by classical forms. As such, the recital may prove attractive to a musical few who embrace the intellectual over the emotional aspects of artistic expression. Well I recall my courses in the Second Viennese School with Prof. Friedheim at SUNY, in which we would trace out the geometries of Webern’s tone rows and their multiple permutations, as if a huge grid or anagram had emerged from the harmonic labyrinth! But did the music compel as to hear it with the same affection we bring to Mozart? From the opening, jumping figures in Scarlatti’s Sonata in a minor, K. 3, we hear the rush […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
