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Moravian Philharmonic Archive

Tomorrow’s Air – Contemporary Works for Orchestra – The Moravian Philharmonic Wind Ensemble / Ovidiu Balan, Vít Micka, Pety Vronský, and John Page – Navona

Tomorrow’s Air – Contemporary Works for Orchestra – The Moravian Philharmonic Wind Ensemble / Ovidiu Balan, Vít Micka, Pety Vronský, and John Page – Navona

by | Sep 26, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

Tomorrow’s Air – Contemporary Works for Orchestra and Large Ensemble – The Moravian Philharmonic Wind and Percussion Ensemble conducted by Ovidiu Balan, Vít Micka, Pety Vronský, and John Page – Navona Catalog # NV6108 (9/8/17) ****: Lovely contemporary music well performed and recorded. Tomorrow’s Air is a most agreeable CD with a collection of contemporary music of varied moods and styles. I doubt the composers names will be familiar to our readers, but that is no reason to steer clear of this interesting disc. The album opens with Hilary Tann’s Anecdote for solo cello and orchestra. Inspired by Wallace Stevens’s nature musings in his poem “Anecdote of the Jar”. It’s a lovely piece, with shimmering strings and dynamic contrasts. Next is Hans Bakker’s Cantus, a darker and expressive work for string orchestra. Bakker has his own unique style, and the piece is a good listen. The third track is Daniel Perttu’s lyrical overture To Spring. It was written in honor of his daughters; To Spring was inspired by William Blakes poetic ode of the same name. Although not thematically related to the music of Alan Hovhaness, it evoked similar emotions as I listened, but Perttu uses more brass. It’s uplifting […]

DEEMS TAYLOR: Three Century Suite – Moravian Philharmonic Orch./ Petr Vronsky – Navona EP

DEEMS TAYLOR: Three Century Suite – Moravian Philharmonic Orch./ Petr Vronsky – Navona EP

by | Nov 18, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

A very short EP but very accessible music from Deems Taylor. DEEMS TAYLOR: Three Century Suite [TrackList Follows] – Moravian Philharmonic Orch./ Petr Vronsky – Navona NV6066. 15:39 [6/21/16] ••••: This is the 50th anniversary of the passing of Deems Taylor, who was the narrator in Disney’s original Fantasia, and composed the delightful Thru the Looking Glass on Alice in Wonderland (one of my personal favorite works…Ed.). The Three Century Suite had only one previous performance, at Interlochen in 1960, so it is more than welcome to have this recording at this time. You can see and hear each of the five movements on You Tube, because evidently the music went with historical video images on screen. The “Bartholomew Fair” closing movement is a celebration of sheer joy. It is in waltz time and has a lovely melody for strings and winds. The Moravian Philarharmonic does a fine job playing this short score. Sound is excellent – a recording made just this year. TrackList: 1. Pavan – Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra / Petr Vronsky 4:19 2. Saraband – Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra / Petr Vronsky 2:33. 3. Jig – Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra / Petr Vronsky 2:36 4. Ragadoon – Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra […]

NICOLAS KAVIANI: Te Deum; Tous Les Matins du Monde – Moravian Philharmonic Orch./Janacek Opera Choir/ Soloists/Petr Vronsky – Navona CD & DVD

NICOLAS KAVIANI: Te Deum; Tous Les Matins du Monde – Moravian Philharmonic Orch./Janacek Opera Choir/ Soloists/Petr Vronsky – Navona CD & DVD

by | Aug 27, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

Traditional religious text treated like a traditional setting of traditional religious text. NICOLAS KAVIANI: Te Deum; Tous Les Matins du Monde – Moravian Philharmonic Orch./Janacek Opera Choir/soloists/Petr Vronsky – Navona NV6021 + DVD documentary (2 discs)  [Distr. by Parma] (7/08/16) 48:20 **1/2: Nicolas Kavaiani, from the bio on a piano accompanist website, is a composer, pianist and accompanist and has over ten years of experience teaching piano, music theory and composition to students of all levels, styles and ages. He received his B.A. in Music Composition at UCSC and also studied at the Conservatoire de Musique in Avignon, France. Now, from some publicity materials for this new recording of his Te Deum: ”Nicolas Kaviani writes his modern day Te Deum (Navona CD plus documentary DVD) to praise the heavens in the fundamental manner that Western Civilization has done for many centuries past. In our modern age, however, the full creation is something we now know much more about than we previously believed. Yet it is still a mystery. The vastness and ineffable nature of boundless space as science has come to know it is the material entity Nicolas Kaviani sets out to praise in his half-hour work for orchestra.” Well, […]

MATTHEW FIELDS: Double Cluster; Space Sciences – Gloria Chuang, p./ Moravian Phil. Orch./ Jan Kučera – Centaur

MATTHEW FIELDS: Double Cluster; Space Sciences – Gloria Chuang, p./ Moravian Phil. Orch./ Jan Kučera – Centaur

by | Feb 14, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

MATTHEW FIELDS: Double Cluster; Space Sciences – Gloria Chuang, p./ Moravian Philharmonic Orch./ Jan Kučera – Centaur CRC 3433 [Distr. by Naxos], (8/14/15) ***1/2: Complex but fascinating works inspired by deep space. Matthew Fields was a very interesting composer and amateur astronomer. To be frank, that’s what drew me to this recording for I share his love of space beauty. Additionally, I just discovered that he just passed away on February 7, 2016; precisely one week ago of this writing. So, in some ways, this very fine CD also serves as a bit of a memorial. People like Fields amazing me, actually, because he was a multi-talented man who held degrees in music from Stanford and DMA from the University of Michigan; but also in mathematics. While classical music was his love, his full time occupation for many years was as a programmer and IT specialist for the Michigan hospital system. His love for space science and apparently a great depth of knowledge also inspired many works such as the two here. A look at his website reveals that he was also very selective and self-critical of his own music, making available only the pieces he was most fond of […]

“Dances of Eternity” = HANS BAKKER: Canzona L’altra Persona, Canzona II: Tribute to the Sun; ANTHONY IANNACCONE: Dancing on Vesuvius; MICHAEL J. EVANS: Into the Woods; MARGARET FAIRLIE-KENNEDY: Summer Solstice; MARK DAL PORTO: Song of Eternity – Moravian Philharmonic Orch./ Jan Kuĉera, & Petr Vronsky, conductors/Moravian Philharmonic Ch. Players/ St. Petersburg State Sym. Orch./Vladimir Lande – Navona

“Dances of Eternity” = HANS BAKKER: Canzona L’altra Persona, Canzona II: Tribute to the Sun; ANTHONY IANNACCONE: Dancing on Vesuvius; MICHAEL J. EVANS: Into the Woods; MARGARET FAIRLIE-KENNEDY: Summer Solstice; MARK DAL PORTO: Song of Eternity – Moravian Philharmonic Orch./ Jan Kuĉera, & Petr Vronsky, conductors/Moravian Philharmonic Ch. Players/ St. Petersburg State Sym. Orch./Vladimir Lande – Navona

by | Jun 11, 2013 | Classical CD Reviews

Emotional smorgasbord of music worth sampling.