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Retrospective Archive

Reger – Maximum Reger / Max Reger: The Last Giant

by Audiophile Audition | Sep 25, 2017 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

Reger – Maximum Reger / Max Reger: The Last Giant (2016) I’ve never seen a boxed DVD set of this scope and scholarship for any classical composer. Professor Susanne Popp, Bernhard Haas, Ira Levin, Jürgen Schaarwächter, Aris Quartett, Frauke May, Marcus Becker, Rudolf Meister, Andrew Brownell, Oliver Kern, et al. Director. Will Fraser; Studio: Fugue State Films 011. 6 DVDs. [2016]. Run Time: 900 minutes Video: Widescreen Audio: Dolby, NTSC, Stereo Subtitles: English, German Extras: None Rating: ****½ My friend Alex is a Facebook fiend. She loves devising word games to play with her followers. For one of them she issued this challenge: “Ask me what my ‘top five’ are for any subject and I’ll answer it!” Her friends went crazy issuing requests and she had a great time responding. I couldn’t resist so I typed: “Your top five compositions by Max Reger.” I should mention that Alex is a composer and a professor of music. Her work is dizzyingly eclectic and often nods respectfully to music of the past. What was her response? Nothing. Zilch. Ask any lover of classical music to name one composition by Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (1873–1916) and they too may not answer you. […]

Editorial for April 2017

by Audiophile Audition | Apr 1, 2017 | Editorial

For our April free drawing we have a fantastic 40 CDs and 3 DVDs Rostropovich Cello Retrospective. It includes all his Erato and EMI recordings as well as recordings made during his stay in the Soviet Union by a secret mic in the Moscow hall. Music aficionados erased the Rostropovich name from the tapes after the regime denied the citizenship of the Rostropovichs. There is a balance of studio and live performance recordings, and over 60 composers are represented. Over 120 new works are included, since Shostakovich, Britten and Prokofiev were close friends of the cellist. All you need to do to enter the drawing is simply click below on the Register To Win banner and fill out the few fields we request. The lucky winner of the set will be announced here next month. EDITORIAL AUDIOPHILE AUDITION began as a local program in San Francisco and then in 1985 as a weekly national radio series hosted by John Sunier, and aired for 13½ years on up to 200 public radio and commercial stations. In September 1998 its web site for program listings was expanded to this free Internet publication. April 2017 is our 217th issue! All disc reviews are added thru […]

Elvis Costello – Detour – Live At Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Blu-ray (2016)

by Audiophile Audition | Mar 1, 2016 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

Elvis Costello – Detour – Live At Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Blu-ray (2016) New wave auteur goes solo with forty years of worthwhile material. Cast: Elvis Costello with Larkin Poe (Rebecca and Megan Lovell) Studio: Eagle Vision EVB335309 Director: Joss Crowley Audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1; PCM 2.0 Stereo Video: 1.78:1 for 16:9, 1080i HD Color Length: 121 minutes TrackList: Red Shoes; Watch Your Step; Accidents Will Happen; Church Underground; As; Shipbuilding; I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down; Walkin’ My Baby Back Home; Ghost Train; When I Was Cruel No. 2; Watching The Detectives; If I Had A Hammer; Pads, Paws And Claws; That’s Not Part Of Him You’re Leaving; Down On The Bottom; Blame It On Cain; Alison; A Good Year For The Roses; Side By Side; Jimmie Standing In The Rain; Peace Love And Understanding; Golden Tom/Silver Judas Bonus Tracks: Love Field; Either Side Of The Same Town; Brilliant Mistake; Ascension Day Ratings: Audio: **** Video: **** Elvis Costello got his start in the pub musical scene in England. He rose to some prominence as part of the New Wave vanguard in the […]