strings Archive
Ross Hammond & Sameer Gupta – Upward – Prescott
Improvised music which pushes boundaries. Ross Hammond & Sameer Gupta – Upward [TrackList follows] Prescott, 63:28 [3/15/16] ****: (Ross Hammond – 12-string guitar; Sameer Gupta – tabla) Jazz or improvisational duo albums offer something distinct. The reliance on just two instruments means both musicians have to have complete communication. Each artist is always doing something […]
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 in d; Four Ballades – Paul Lewis, p./ Swedish Radio Sym. Orch./ Daniel Harding – Harmonia mundi
Power and poetry infuse every measure of the Brahms works including a gripping version of the Concerto. BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 in d, Op. 15; Four Ballades, Op. 10 – Paul Lewis, p./ Swedish Radio Sym. Orch./ Daniel Harding – Harmonia mundi HMC 902191, 72:12 (4/15/16) ****: “A concerto that has quite enraptured me […]
*********** MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH ********** MAHLER: Sym. No. 1 / Blumine – Finnish Radio Sym. Orch. / Hannu Lintu – Ondine
* MAHLER: Symphony No. 1 / Blumine – Finnish Radio Sym. Orch. / Hannu Lintu – Ondine ODE 1264-5 multichannel 5.0 SACD, 62:33 [Distr. by Naxos] (10/30/15) *****: A first class performance and recording of this symphony. Do we need yet another Mahler Symphony No. 1? We do need this one, which is an exceptionally […]
NIGEL CLARKE, “Music for Thirteen Solo Strings” – Soloists/Longbow Ens. – Toccata Classics
NIGEL CLARKE, “Music for Thirteen Solo Strings” = Parnassus; The Scarlet Flower; Dogger, Fisher, German, Bight, Huber, Thames, Dover, Wight; Pulp and Rags; Epitaph for Edith Carvell – Sebastien Rousseau, Flugelhorn/ Malene Sheppard Skaerved, speaker/ Peter Sheppard Skaerved, violin/ Longbow ensemble – Toccata Classics TOCC 0325, 72:10, [Distr. By Naxos] (9/28/15) ***: A little bit […]
********* MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH ********* Under the Wing of the Rock – Music by BRITTEN, BEAMISH, KRAGGERUD, NORDHEIM AND THOMMESSEN – 2L
Infrequently heard music beautifully recorded.
IPPOLITOV-IVANOV: Symphony No. 1 in e minor Turkish Fragments; Turkish March – Singapore Sym. Orch./ Choo Hoey – Naxos
Naxos restores some colorful scores by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, charming and effective, if not particularly colossal.
Clarence Carter – Patches – Atlantic/ Pure Pleasure – vinyl
Pure Pleasure re-mastered vinyl is a soul classic!
Lucien Caillet – Studio Recordings, 1936-1946 = Works of BACH, PURCELL, TURINA, CAILLET, MUSSORGSKY – Ormandy/ Reiner/ Stokowski/ Fiedler – Pristine Audio
Pristine’s Mark Obert-Thorn assembles a generous tribute to Lucien Caillet’s gifts as orchestrator and arranger of classical scores.
![HENRIK SCHWARTZ: “Instruments” [TrackList follows] – Sunday Music Records/ Sony Classical](https://www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/henrikSony.jpg)
HENRIK SCHWARTZ: “Instruments” [TrackList follows] – Sunday Music Records/ Sony Classical
Dance/electronic music gets a compelling re-boot on this interesting recording.
BERG BY ARRANGEMENT – Music for Strings: Lyric Suite, Piano Sonata, Kanon, Early Pieces—NFM Leopoldinum Ch. Orch./ Ernst Kovacic—Toccata Classics
String orchestra arrangements of Berg’s Music emphasize the romanticism of the Second Viennese School.
GRIEG: Piano Concerto; 12 Lyric Pieces – Javier Perianes, p./ BBC Sym. Orch./ Sakari Oramo – Harmonia mundi
The Perianes collection of Grieg, his Concerto and selected Lyric Pieces, assembles a magical color ensemble.
Melody Gardot – My One And Only Thrill – Verve Records /ORG (45 rpm vinyl)
Jazz singer/songwriter glows on this vinyl 45 rpm reissue.
JOHN LUTHER ADAMS: Become Ocean – Seattle Sym./ Ludovic Morlot – Cantaloupe (CD+DVD)
Immensely satisfying portrait of the sea.
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor & No. 4 in G Major – Mario Joao Pires, p./ Swedish Radio Sym. Orch./ Daniel Harding – Onyx
The lovely, often grandly lit performances of these two Beethoven concertos celebrate the memory of Claudio Abbado.
SCHUMANN: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. II = Symphony No. 2 in C Major; Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major “Rhenish” – WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne/ Heinz Holliger – Audite
Tasteful and enthusiastic, these readings of Schumann by Heinz Holliger capture an esprit entirely appropriate to the occasion.
Milt Jackson – Sunflower – CTI/ PurePleasure vinyl
Sunflower – great line-up but a little heavy on strings…
BACH: Concertos for Two Harpsichords = Con. in c BWV 1062; Con. in C BWV 1061; Orch. Suite No. 1, arr. for 2 solo harpsichords; Con. in c BWV 1060 – Masaaki & Masato Suzuki, harpsichords/ Bach Collegium Japan – BIS
A superb multichannel performance of four two-harpsichord concertos.
![Charlie Byrd – Brazilian Byrd (Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim) [TrackList follows] – Columbia/ Pure Pleasure vinyl](https://www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ByrdBrazilianLP.jpg)
Charlie Byrd – Brazilian Byrd (Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim) [TrackList follows] – Columbia/ Pure Pleasure vinyl
Guitarist Byrd and the music of Jobim, with chamber orchestra on audiophile vinyl.
BRAHMS: The Four Symphonies; Overtures – Gewandhausorchester/ Riccardo Chailly – Decca (3-CDs)
Riccardo Chailly grants us a “revisionist” Brahms that departs from his 2005 cycle and reverts to the Classic detail and architecture of his model, Felix Weingartner.
PIERNE: Piano Quintet in E Minor; VIERNE: String Quartet in D Minor – Piers Lane, piano/ Goldner String Q. – Hyperion
Late French Romantics Pierne and Vierne in their chamber music idiom; only the Pierne compels our sustained interest despite exemplary performances.
A Tribute to Erling Bloendal Bengtsson, Vol. 3 = KABALEVSKY: Cello Concerto No. 1; MENDELSSOHN: Cello Sonata No. 2; JOLIVET: Suite en concert pour violoncello – Erling Bloendal Bengtsson, cello/ Anker Blyme, piano/ Iceland Sym. Orch. / Jean-Pierre Jacquillat – Danacord
From Icelandic Radio tapes issued for the first time, we have more evidence of the broad range and sterling musicianship of cello wizard Erling Bloendal Bengtsson.
JAMES GRANT: “High Autumn” = Sultry and Eccentric; Waltz for Betz; High Autumn; Sextet for Bass Clarinet and Strings; Just a Thought; Ragamuffins; Chocolates – William Helmers, clarinet/Wayne Wildman, piano/Philomusica Quartet/ Jerry DiMuzio, baritone sax – Potenza Music PM1028, 62:28 ***:
Some fairly nice clarinet works; a little bit of a mixed bag.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
