Select a month

Back to The Archives

Sono Luminus Archive

ANTHEIL: Specter – performed by  Duo Odeon – Music of George Antheil – Sono Luminus 

ANTHEIL: Specter – performed by  Duo Odeon – Music of George Antheil – Sono Luminus 

by | Jun 28, 2018 | Classical CD Reviews

A good collection of Antheil’s music, played with passion and precision Antheil: Specter – performed by  Duo Odeon – Music of George Antheil – Sono Luminus Audio CD DSL-92222 (6-22-18) TT: 61:59 George Antheil (1900-1959) was an American composer—born in Trenton, New Jersey—who began his professional career in Europe, where he was friends with, among many others, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway, Eric Satie, and Igor Stravinsky. Antheil wrote over 300 musical works – symphonies, chamber works, film music, and operas. This disc gives us a collection of Antheil’s chamber music, performed by two of Antheil’s greatest supporters, the Duo Odeon, violinist Hannah Leland and pianist Aimee Fincher. They formed Duo Odeon in 2014 during their doctoral studies at Arizona State University. They also champion other contemporary composers to give them a wider audience. Although all the pieces on the disc are quite interesting, I was absorbed by Valses from Specter of the Rose, an arrangement of music from Antheils 1947 film score for Specter of the Rose. The recording is an intimate one for all three works, with a hint of room ambiance. Most of the music is centered between the front […]

“Dreaming Awake” = Music by PHILIP GLASS – Bruce Levingston (piano)/ Ethan Hawke (narration) – Sono Luminus (2-CDs)

“Dreaming Awake” = Music by PHILIP GLASS – Bruce Levingston (piano)/ Ethan Hawke (narration) – Sono Luminus (2-CDs)

by | Feb 10, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

“Dreaming Awake” = Music by PHILIP GLASS –  Bruce Levingston (piano)/ Ethan Hawke (narration) – Sono Luminus 2-CD set DSL 92205 TT: 109:44 (9/30/16) ***1/2: A fine survey of Glass’s music for piano and narrator. This is a Sono Luminus release of Bruce Levingston’s new album Dreaming Awake. Levingston, an acclaimed concert pianist and recording artist whose last album, “Heavy Sleep“, was named one the “Best Recordings of the 2015” by The New York Times, pays tribute to Philip Glass with an exploration of his works that spans the length of the composer’s career. The recording includes the world premiere of The Illusionist Suite, ten of the composer’s dramatic and deeply moving etudes, as well as the richly-colored tone poems Dreaming Awake, Metamorphosis No. 2 and Wichita Vortex Sutra featuring actor Ethan Hawke as guest artist reading the Allen Ginsberg poem. Glass is a love/hate kind of composer. Derided by some as ‘silly and repetitive’, while others are fully on board with his musical explorations. On balance, Glass is revered for his film scores, classical compositions, and operas. This CD is a very fine tribute to the composer’s career with some familiar Glass, the aforementioned world premier, and the interesting […]

“The Return” = Preludes of RACHMANINOFF, Works of BABAJANIAN – Raffi Besalyan, p. – Sono Luminus CD & audio-only Blu-ray

“The Return” = Preludes of RACHMANINOFF, Works of BABAJANIAN – Raffi Besalyan, p. – Sono Luminus CD & audio-only Blu-ray

by | Feb 23, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Riveting sound and brilliant performances add up to a most desirable set. “The Return” = RACHMANINOFF: Prelude Op. 3, No. 2 in C sharp minor; Prelude Op. 23, No. 5 in G minor; Prelude Op. 23, No. 6 in E flat major; Prelude Op. 23, No. 7 in C minor; Prelude Op. 23, No. 5 in G minor; Prelude Op. 23, No. 10 in G flat major; Prelude Op. 23, No. 12 in G sharp minor; Étude-Tableau, Op. 33, No. 6 in E flat minor (published as No. 3); Étude-Tableau, Op. 39, No. 1 in C minor; Étude-Tableau, Op. 39, No. 5 in E flat minor; Étude-Tableau, Op. 39, No. 6 in A minor; Variations on a theme of Corelli, Op. 42; ARNO BABAJANIAN: Prelude; Melody and Humoresque; Elegy; Vagarshapat Dance – Raffi Besalyan, piano – Sono Luminus DSL-92187, 65:42 (CD + audio-only Blu-ray – 5.1 & 7.1 DTS, 2.0 PCM with FLAC and MP3 files downloadable) *****: I had no idea that such a powerhouse pianist as Raffi Besalyan worked so close to me. Just downtown from where I live, as Assistant Professor of Piano at Georgia State University, resides this technical wiz and bold Rachmaninoff master. On the […]

Spectral Quartet – “Serious Business” = Music of SKY MACKLAY; DAVID REMINICK; JOSEF HAYDN; CHRIS FISHER-LOCHEAD – Sono Luminus

Spectral Quartet – “Serious Business” = Music of SKY MACKLAY; DAVID REMINICK; JOSEF HAYDN; CHRIS FISHER-LOCHEAD – Sono Luminus

by | Feb 18, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Spectral Quartet – “Serious Business” = Music of SKY MACKLAY; DAVID REMINICK; JOSEF HAYDN; CHRIS FISHER-LOCHEAD – Sono Luminus DSL-92198, 65:26 (CD + audio-only Blu-ray – 5.1 DTS, 2.0 PCM and 9.1 Auro 3D with FLAC and MP3 files) (1/29/16) ****: Comedy and humor in music.  Reading the supplementary material that came with this disc I still wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s a tribute to humor, some in the music itself, some based on jokes by well known comedians rendered to music. It sounded strange, and vaguely dislikable, but the truth is this is an interesting ‘concept’ disc that hits its intended mark. It’s going to be hard to explain this in a review that is only text, but the Spectral Quartet said it well in their notes. Serious Business unpacks the theme of humor in classical music through the lenses of three works composed for Spektral by inventive young composers, and one entry from 1781. The quartet takes listeners on a wild ride through a bevy of colorful musical ideas, full of virtuosity and energy.” Agreed. It’s a wild ride. The music includes Sky Macklay’s Many Many Cadences, David Reminick’s The Ancestral Mousetrap, where the quartet sings some […]

Audio News for August 14, 2015

by | Aug 14, 2015 | Audio News

Another Home Automation Platform; Sono Luminus to Release Three Albums Using Auro-3D; Yamaha Expands Selections of Under-TV Speaker Bases; Melco Hi-Res Music Library Now Available in U.S.