dynamics Archive

Oded TZUR – Like a Great River – Enja

Oded TZUR – Like a Great River – Enja

Oded TZUR – Like a Great River – Enja 7754,  39:37 (9/4/16) ****: (Oded Tzur; alto saxophone/ Petros Klampanis; bass/ Shai Maestro; piano/ Ziv Ravitz; drums) An innovative Israeli saxophonist working on a concept inspired by the Indian Classical bansuri master Hariprasad Chaurasia. Israel has been profligate in its production and export of jazz musicians. The new generation tends to fall into two categories; either they have stupendous technical gifts (Gilad Hekselman, Avishai Cohen), or they have an original concept/stylistic affiliation (Oran Etkin with his Malian collaborators, Anat Cohen with her chorinho trio). Yet another Tel Aviv expat, alto saxophonist Oded Tzur, falls into the second category. In his liner notes, he cites just one influence, the supreme master of the classical Indian bansuri, Hariprasad Chaurasia. This is quite a name to conjure with, as it represents the acme of an improvisational art form, older and deeper than jazz. One wonders what kind of connection could be made, given that the Indian system of raga is based on melodic and rhythmic organization rather than harmony. As it turns out, Tzur has found a grand inspiration in this music and translated it persuasively into a fresh jazz style. First, what he […]

SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 14 in d, “Death and the Maiden”; SIBELIUS: String Quartet in d “Intimate Voice” – Ehnes Quartet – Onyx

SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 14 in d, “Death and the Maiden”; SIBELIUS: String Quartet in d “Intimate Voice” – Ehnes Quartet – Onyx

James Ehnes and his quartet members deliver passionate accounts of dark Schubert and Sibelius. SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 14 in d minor, D. 810 “Death and the Maiden”; SIBELIUS: String Quartet in d, Op. 56 “Intimate Voice” – Ehnes Quartet – Onyx 4163, [Distr. by HM/PIAS], 74:03, (11/18/16) ****: Canadian violinist James Ehnes (b. 1976) extends his multi-faceted career in these two dark quartets (rec. 27-29 October 2015), each of which confronts the composer’s sense of mortality. Schubert conceived his 1824 Quartet while seriously ill, having turned to his own lied Der Tod und das Maedchen, D. 531 (1817) as the basis of his powerful theme-and-variations second movement. Often, in the course of the first, powerful Allegro movement, Ehnes’ part becomes a concertante medium, asking him to display brilliant solo writing against the ensemble.  The Italianate second subject achieves some lyrical outpouring, but Schubert transforms this otherwise liberated affect to strict contrapuntal treatment. Triplet figures abound, and Schubert assigns them to bass lines consistently, even concluding by combining the countersubject with the triplets that had underpinned the first motif. Ehnes’ own instrument offers triplet figures that mumble and then dissolve. The famous Andante con moto, based on the dark lied, […]

Grigory Sokolov, piano – SCHUBERT/ BEETHOVEN – DGG (2 discs) 
DGG

Grigory Sokolov, piano – SCHUBERT/ BEETHOVEN – DGG (2 discs) 
DGG

DGG combines two live Sokolov recitals to produce a towering program, intellectual and exciting at once. Sokolov – SCHUBERT/ BEETHOVEN – SCHUBERT: Four Impromptus, D. 899; Drei Klavierstuecke, D. 946; BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”; RAMEAU: Les Tendres Plaintes; Les Tourbillons; Les Cyclopes; La Follette; Les Sauvages; BRAHMS: Intermezzo in b-flat minor, Op. 117, No. 2 – Grigory Sokolov, piano – DGG 479 5426 (2 CDs) 65:06, 73:20 (1/29/16) [Distr. by Universal] ****: Russian piano virtuoso Grigory Sokolov (b. 1950) provides ample evidence of his musical prowess and acuity in excerpts from two live concert appearances, from Warsaw (12 May 2013) and from the Salzburg Festival (23 August 2013). Given the proximity to Schubert’s birthday of January 31 (1797), the dedicated intensity Sokolov demonstrates in the Four Impromptus of 1827 warrants our audition of the Sokolov’s Warsaw performance. The program annotator for the DGG set, Oswald Beaujean, ascribes various metaphysical implications to Sokolov’s playing, while we might detect romantic indulgence in the long-breathed phrasing and poignant alternations of dynamics. The opening c minor Impromptu, a staid march with tragic and lyrical episodes, receives a broad canvas whose bass sonorities prove as compelling as the […]

Audio News for December 9, 2014

RadioShack Lenders Claim Default; Zero Edge FLEX Projection Screens from Screen Innovations; Audio-Technica Readies “Hi-Res” Headphones; Our Own Harper’s Index; AV Enthusiasts Should be Mad at Fireplaces