Select a month

Back to The Archives

Messiaen Archive

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8; MESSIAEN: Couleurs de la Cité Céleste – London Symphony Orchestra / Simon Rattle (cond) / Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) – LSO Live 

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8; MESSIAEN: Couleurs de la Cité Céleste – London Symphony Orchestra / Simon Rattle (cond) / Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) – LSO Live 

by | May 16, 2018 | Classical CD Reviews, DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

Two very different composers in one concert by the LSO. BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8; MESSIAEN: Couleurs de la Cité Céleste – London Symphony Orchestra cond. by Simon Rattle – pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard – LSO Live Blu-ray and DVD LSO 3042 TT: 104 minutes (5/11/18)  ***: Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra are joined by French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard in a concert that brings together music by Anton Bruckner and Olivier Messiaen: two composers as united in their devotion to the Catholic faith as they are different in their style of music. The disc begins with Bruckner’s Symphony No.8, with Rattle leading the LSO through its 1939 edition. The eighth was Bruckner’s last complete symphony, it has since become characterized by its explosive, dramatic nature and immense scale. Taking Bruckner over five years to compose and revise, it would only be performed three times whilst he was alive. In rather stark contrast to the magnitude of Bruckner’s eighth, Messiaen’s Couleurs de la Cité Céleste lasts just over quarter of an hour. The 20th century work comprises sequences of short episodes and serves as a microcosm of the composer’s various preoccupations, from birdsong to the book of Revelations. Centered on […]

Best Classical of 2017 – I

Best Classical of 2017 – I

by | Jan 6, 2018 | Best of the Year

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 […]

BRATLIE: Vers la Lumière – Bratlie, piano; David Bratlie – electro-acoustic transitions – 2L

BRATLIE: Vers la Lumière – Bratlie, piano; David Bratlie – electro-acoustic transitions – 2L

by | Feb 7, 2017 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

JENS HARALD BRATLIE: Vers la Lumière – Bratlie, piano; David Bratlie – electro-acoustic transitions [track list fellows] 2L 2L-132-SACD Pure Audio Blu-ray + multichannel SACD, DTS-HD MA 192kHz/24 bit 5.1, DTS-HD MA 96kHz/24 bit, PCM 192kHz/24-bit stereo, Dolby Atmos, 9.1 Auro 3D, mShuttle: stereo MQA 96kHz + MP3 TT: 57:00 (Blu-ray is region free) (12/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: A piano/electronic combination that largely succeeds.  Vers la LUMIÈRE is an interesting disc from the folks at 2L. It’s a collection of classical piano music, with each work featuring a ‘transitional work’ by pianist Jens Harald Bratlie’s son David. What we get is piano music interspersed with electro-acoustic music. On paper, such a hybrid program should not work, but actually, to my ear, it works quite well and it makes for an interesting musical journey. The classical pieces were chosen for their moodiness and introspection, including works by Liszt, Messiaen, and Bibalo. Between them are three short pieces by the younger Bratlie.  The standard repertoire is played in lovely fashion. Each work follows nicely from the previous one. The more contemporary transitions don’t interrupt the program, but in fact enhance it, as was the original intent. The disc itself is a […]

Nick Sanders & Logan Strosahl – Janus – Sunnyside Communications

Nick Sanders & Logan Strosahl – Janus – Sunnyside Communications

by | Nov 10, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Nick Sanders & Logan Strosahl – Janus – Sunnyside Communications SSC1469, 41:40 ***: An intriguing release.  (Nick Sanders – piano; Logan Strosahl – alto & tenor saxophone) You have to give credit to Nick Sanders and Logan Strosahl for getting this album entitled Janus released. Imagine, if you will, the pitch meeting with Sunnyside Communications wherein the duo wanted to record a disc that would feature their interpretations of music from medieval, Baroque and contemporary classics, as well as bebop and modern jazz. Clearly the individuals in charge of the label thought it was worth the risk. Was it ? Both Sanders and Strosahl are first class musicians having graduated from Boston’s New England Conservatory. This is where they first encountered each other and started playing together. Clearly, they are like-minded and highly accomplished collaborators as evidenced by the first track entitled “Sigma”. This original composition by Nick Sanders flits along the jagged edges of classical/free jazz at a confident pace. Diving into jazz’s oblique territory with Thelonious Monk’s “Thelonious,” the duo demonstrates their comfort with the number as they tackle Monk’s stylistic intricacies. Another number that falls into this category is the composition “Be-Bop Tune” by the two principals, […]

Gilles Vonsattel, piano – Shadowlines = Works of D. SCARLATTI, WEBERN, MESSIAEN, BENJAMIN & DEBUSSY – Honens

Gilles Vonsattel, piano – Shadowlines = Works of D. SCARLATTI, WEBERN, MESSIAEN, BENJAMIN & DEBUSSY – Honens

by | Dec 1, 2015 | Classical CD Reviews

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 […]