Rhapsody Archive
Bobby Previte – Rhapsody – RareNoise
The journey is as important as the leaving or the arrival. Bobby Previte – Rhapsody [TrackList follows] – RareNoise RNR090, 64:01 [2/23/18] ****: (Nels Cline – acoustic guitar, slide guitar, 12-string guitar; John Medeski – piano; Zeena Parkins – harp; Jen Shyu – voice, erhu, piano; Fabian Rucker – alto saxophone, mixer; Bobby Previte – trap drums, percussion, autoharp, guitar, harmonica, arranger, conductor, producer) There are three components to each journey. There’s getting ready for the journey—finding the desired destination, packing, and then booking transportation; there’s the journey itself—the transit; and finally, there is the arrival. Percussionist/composer Bobby Previte is familiar with all aspects of a journey and has turned his ideas into a musical trilogy. The first constituent of his tri-part series is Terminals Part I: Departures, which premiered as a live 2011 performance with the SO Percussion group plus five soloists. A subsequent recording was issued via Cantaloupe Music in 2014. Previte’s second installment is Rhapsody—subtitled Terminals Part II: In Transit—which debuted April 2017 at New College in Sarasota, Florida. Rhapsody is out now on the RareNoise imprint. Previte is already mapping out Terminals Part III: Arrivals, a work in progress. Rhapsody was released as CD, double LP […]
BRAHMS: Rhapsodies in g minor and in b minor; Chorales Op. 122; 16 Waltzes; Variations on an Original Theme – Nada Loufti (p.) – MEII
A different sort of Brahms recital from Nada Loufti reveals the textural variety of the composer. Vienna: BRAHMS & Nada = Rhapsody in g minor, Op. 79, No. 2; Chorales, Op. 122: No. 1 in e minor “Mein Jesu, der du mich”; Rhapsody No. 1 in b minor, Op. 79, No. 1; 16 Waltzes, Op. 39; Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21, No. 1 – Nada Loufti, piano – MEII, 68:12 (4/13/17) [meiienterprises@aol.com] Nada recorded this all-Brahms recital 14 January 2017 at Heeren Auditorium, Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. She opens with the second of the two Rhapsodies Brahms composed in 1880 with a dedication to Elisabeth von Herzogenberg. Psychologically speaking, consider that for Brahms even a ‘rhapsody’ must evolve in sonata-form. After a thrusting arpeggiated triad that exploits D and E-flat, the piece assumes a martial stringency of mood, moving to d minor. Nada negotiates the persistent rising and falling seconds with a pungent sense of concentrated drama. Happily, her tempo remains solemnly slow and her sonority resonant, courtesy of Recording Engineer Adam Copelin. Nada’s bass tones enjoy a distinctly ominous aura, making Brahms sound much like Mussorgsky. The b minor Rhapsody seems beset by strife and agitation, […]
SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto in a; Sym. No. 2 in C Major – Jan Vogler, cello/ Dresden Festival Orch./ Ivor Bolton – Sony
Suave and elegant Schumann played in natural, heroic manner by all principals. SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto in a, Op. 129; Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61 – Jan Vogler, cello/ Dresden Festival Orch./ Ivor Bolton – Sony 88985372122, 59:06 (12/2/16) ****: Clara Schumann once referred to the people of Dresden as “Philistines,” convinced that, after six years’ habitation in the city, “no musician could be found.” With a prospective move to Duesseldorf, the entire Schumann family felt a renewed vigor, and Robert conceived his Cello Concerto in fifteen days of October 1850. Curiously, despite extensive correspondence with cellist Emil Bockmuehl about the virtuosic capacities of the piece, Schumann opted for relative restraint and economic compression of the musical materials. Still, Clara Schumann lauded the work’s Romantic fervor, its “vivacity, freshness and humor, its euphony and deep feeling.” Schumann had already demonstrated his penchant for through-composed cyclic form, connecting each of the movements thematically, with the middle movement’s serving as a kind of intermezzo-recitative before the 6/8 finale recycles motifs heard earlier in the form of jittery dance. In the Violin Concerto in d minor, Schumann presses even further into this experiment in form, though one could argue that the […]
“Overland Dream” = Works of PETER LIEUWEN – SOLI Ch. Ens. & soloists – MSR
Wonderful contemporary music of svelte attraction and lyrical propensity.
BARTÓK: Rhapsody No. 1; Rhapsody No. 2; Violin Concerto No. 2 – Barnabás Kelemen, v. /Hungarian Nat. Philharmonic Orch./Zoltán Kocsis – Hungaraton
BÉLA BARTÓK: Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra; Rhapsody No. 2 for Violin and Orch.; Violin Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orch. – Barnabás Kelemen, violin/Hungarian Nat. Philharmonic Orch./Zoltán Kocsis – Hungaraton HSACD 32509 multichannel SACD [Distr. by Naxos] (9/11/15) 77:39 ****: Fresh new readings of important Bartok classics. Bartok was not just one of the most important twentieth century composers but his is a signature sound. His music always sounds like no other and in many ways he defined Hungarian classical music like no other. Gypsy blood runs through much of his music and helps to create that sound and is most easily heard in his violin music. Here we have three of his most important violin works performed superbly by a Hungarian soloist and one of the country’s most impressive orchestras. The two Rhapsodies, in particular, are wonderful works that do not get programmed as often as the two Concertos for violin and orchestra. They are both lush and melodic works that owe something to the Marosszék Dances by Bartók’s friend, composer Zoltán Kodály. What is interesting about both of these pieces is that they are both among his longest and largest scale works to be […]
Sir Malcolm Sargent = RACHMANINOFF: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43; DOHNANYI: Variations on a Nursery Song, Op. 25; DVORAK: Symphonic Variations, Op. 78 – Cyril Smith, p./ Philharmonia Orch. – Guild
Guild continues to celebrate Sir Malcolm Sargent’s legacy, here in collaboration in vital color music with pianist Cyril Smith.
BRAHMS: Seven Fantasias; Three Intermezzi; Six Pieces; Four Pieces – Ariel Halevy, piano – Romeo
Potent, if unsubtle, performances of late Brahms, but resonant and filled with a conviction that wins us over.
Leopold Stokowski = BRITTEN: Piano Concerto, Op. 13; ENESCU: Rumanian Rhapsody in A Major, Op. 11; DEBUSSY (Orch. Stokowski): The Engulfed Cathedral; BAUER: Sun Splendor; BORODIN: Dances of the Polovetzki Maidens – Jacques Abram, piano/ Philharmonic-Sym. Society of NY /Leopold Stokowski – Guild
The inimitable Stokowski leads the New York ensemble in concert performances that include thrilling readings of works new to his recorded legacy.
Audio News for October 28, 2014
Deezer and TidalHi-Fi Streaming Coming to U.S.; Classical News; Classical Mystery Tour Band
BRITTEN: Simple Symphony; Quartettino; Rhapsody for String Quartet; Phantasy in F minor; String Quartet in F Major – Emperor Quartet – BIS
Britten quartets lovingly played and striking recorded.
WEINBERG: Complete Sonatas and Works = 5 Sonatas for Violin and Piano; Sonatina in D Major; Rhapsody on Moldavian; Sonata No. 6; 3 Pieces – Linus Roth, violin/ Jose Gallardo, p. – Challenge Classics (3 CDs)
Linus Roth and Jose Gallardo assemble a comprehensive survey of the Weinberg chamber works for violin.
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77; 4 Hungarian Dances; BARTOK: Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano; Rhapsody No. 2 for Violin and Piano – Leonidas Kavakos, violin/ Peter Nagy, p./ Gewandhausorchester/Riccardo Chailly – Decca
Kavakos’ first Decca release features a potent, loftily mounted Brahms Concerto and a selection of “gypsy” salon works.
BERG: Violin Concerto; BARTOK: Rhapsody No. 2; Violin Concerto (No. 2) – Isaac Stern, v./ New York Philharmonic/ Leonard Bernstein – Praga
Mysterious origins for this release, but in the end I don’t really care. It’s great to have it in this format.
Audio News for August 23, 2013
The Two “Fix Everything in 2013” Hi-Res Music Service Projects
Audio News for February 1, 2013
3D Is Not Dead; Carnegie Hall Concert with Ives, Beethoven & Wayne Shorter; New B & O Speaker for Wireless Music; Harman to Market OEM Upgrades and Services Thru Car Makers, Car Dealers and Aftermarket Retailers
Audio News for October 6, 2011
Apple’s Steve Jobs Dies; Monterey Jazz Festival Receives $300,000 Grant; Rhapsody Acquires Napster; Yamaha Expands to Soundbars, Headphones, Tabletop Audio;New Color Kindle for $199; New Nikon Mirrorless Cameras
Audio News for June 28, 2011
New Social Music Service Gives Control to Listener; Benchmark Tests Digital Audio Connection Between iPad and DAC1; Philips Previews HD Net Connect
Al Di Meola/World Sinfonia – Pursuit Of Radical Rhapsody – Concord Music Group/Telarc
The musical intensity fluctuates as the ensemble attempts to generate many different world music cultures.
RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No. 2; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – Yuja Wang, piano/Mahler Ch. Orch. /Claudio Abbado – DGG
A delightful surprise to find such thoroughly familiar Rachmaninov works played with freshness and flair and virtually no hyperbolic clichés.
DOHNANYI: Variations on a Nursery Tune, Op. 25; RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 – Julius Katchen, piano/London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult – Pristine Audio
Pungent remastering of 1959 Decca originals from American virtuoso Julius Katchen, here perfectly in harmony with conductor Boult in two Romantic staples.
VORISEK: 8 Rhapsodies from Op. 1; SCHUBERT: 4 Impromptus, D. 899 – Gerlint Boettcher, piano – Ars Musici
Musical connection between the Czech and Austrian schools of thought, poetically realized by a young enthusiast.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
