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SAINT-SAENS: Piano Concerto No. 2; RAVEL: Piano Concerto; GERSHWIN: Second Rhapsody; MASSENET: Meditation – Andrew von Oeyen, p./ Prague Philharmonia/ Emmanuel Villaume – Warner Classics

SAINT-SAENS: Piano Concerto No. 2; RAVEL: Piano Concerto; GERSHWIN: Second Rhapsody; MASSENET: Meditation – Andrew von Oeyen, p./ Prague Philharmonia/ Emmanuel Villaume – Warner Classics

by | Feb 13, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

Pianist Andrew von Oeyen embraces his twin cultural loyalties with brilliant elan. SAINT-SAENS: Piano Concerto No. 2 in g minor, Op. 22; RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G Major; GERSHWIN: Second Rhapsody; MASSENET: Meditation from Thais (trans. Oeyen) – Andrew von Oeyen, p./ Prague Philharmonia/ Emmanuel Villaume – Warner Classics 019029508485, 66:05 (1/13/17) ****: Pianist Andrew von Oeyen (b. 1979) considers himself a Parisian-American, so little wonder that his debut album for Warner Classics (rec. 21-25 August 2015) embraces compositions – rather flashy and jazzy in their own respect – from both musical cultures. That Oeyen finds a natural, virtuoso vehicle in the 1868 Concerto No. 2 by Saint-Saens comes as little surprise – Andre Watts did much the same in early days when I heard him at Lewisohn Stadium in New York.  Oeyen plays with requisite strength and optimism, dashing through the Bach prelude evolves into a lovely theme attributed to Gabriel Faure. The breadth of musical line and the plastic contours from the orchestra suggest that the several Artur Rubinstein renditions of the work served as models for the present reading. The second movement Allegro scherzando relies much on Saint-Saens’ great fondness for the fourth of the Chopin scherzos. […]

Tim GARLAND – One – Edition Tim GARLAND – One – Edition

Tim GARLAND – One – Edition Tim GARLAND – One – Edition

by | Jan 27, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews

Tim GARLAND – One – Edition EDN1072, 56:11 (6/6/16) ***: (TIm Garland; soprano and tenor saxophone/ Asaf Sirkis; drums & percussion/ Jason Rebello; piano, keyboards/ Ant Law; nylon string guitar and 12 & 8-string guitar) Energetic tenor playing on a muddled, fusion-flavored  session. I first encountered Tim Garland as part of an unusual but fine trio which consisted of Geoff Keezer on piano, Joe Locke on vibraphone, and Mr. Garland on tenor and soprano saxophones. Playing in a chastened, post-bop idiom, these musicians employed both brains and brawn.  The tenor playing made a most agreeable impression. Thus, I was happy to see Garland surface on the reputable Edition label out of England with the euphonious trio of Jason Rebello, Asaf Sirkus, and Ant Law. The first track, Sama’i For Peace, opens up with a funky 10-beat groove with added middle-eastern percussion. The soprano makes the first solo statement with the vehemence and self-assurance of a master. The bustling rhythm section are mobilized into action by the performance, and the piece ends with a great swirl of percussive energy.  Midway through, however, I discerned some extra keyboard voicings which provoked the skeptical raising of an eyebrow. The second track, Bright New […]

RACHMANINOV: Variations on a Theme of Chopin; Variations on Theme of Corelli – Marianna Prjevalskaya, p. – Fanfare Cincinnati

RACHMANINOV: Variations on a Theme of Chopin; Variations on Theme of Corelli – Marianna Prjevalskaya, p. – Fanfare Cincinnati

by | Oct 6, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

Strong virtuosity and intelligent virtuosity mark pianist Prjevalskaya’s sojourn into Rachmaninov variations. RACHMANINOV: Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22; Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 – Marianna Prjevalskaya, p. – Fanfare Cincinnati FC-008, 51:30 (6/10/16) [Distr. by Naxos] *****:  Marianna Prjevalskaya (b. 1982), gold medal winner of the 2013 Cincinnati World Piano Competition, performs (rec. 20-24 July 2015) two sets of Rachmaninov variations, each respectively a testament to the composer’s love for Chopin and Liszt.  Prjevalskaya recorded these Rachmaninov works in the Robert J. Werner Recital Hall at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. The more neglected of the sets, those composed in 1902-30 on Chopin’s c minor Prelude from Op. 28, presents a major challenge to composer, interpreter, and audience alike. What may appear as a relatively static piece – rather a study in gradations of tone – become via Rachmaninov’s sense of tone-color and harmonic exploration, increasingly complex, increasing their depth and vertical density. A large song-form in structure, the variations fall into three broad sections: 1-10, which share the c minor tonality; 11-18, which exploit lyrical and contrapuntal aspects of the music’s potential; and 19-22, which close the large arc of the […]

Gilels in Seattle = Works of BEETHOVEN, CHOPIN, PROKOFIEV, RAVEL, DEBUSSY, STRAVINSKY & BACH – DGG

Gilels in Seattle = Works of BEETHOVEN, CHOPIN, PROKOFIEV, RAVEL, DEBUSSY, STRAVINSKY & BACH – DGG

by | Aug 27, 2016 | Classical Reissue Reviews

DGG restores a colossal recital from the Russian legend Gilels. Gilels in Seattle = BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”; CHOPIN: Variations on “La ci darem la mano,” Op. 2; PROKOFIEV: Piano Sonata No. 3 in a minor, Op. 28; Visions fugitives, Op. 22 – excerpts; DEBUSSY: Images, Book I; RAVEL: Alborado del gracioso from Miroirs; STRAVINSKY: Danse russe from Petrouchka; J.S. BACH (arr. Siloti): Prelude in b minor, BWV 855a – Emil Gilels, p. – DGG 479 6288, 74:47 (9/2/16) [Distr. by Universal] ****:  Emil Gilels (1916-1985) appeared in Seattle’s Opera House 6 December 1964 as part of his fifth tour of the United States. The private tape of the recital, made with professional equipment, came under the aegis of Deutsche Grammophone via pianist Felix Gottlieb, a former pupil of Gilels who had established the Emil Gilels Foundation and who runs the Emil Gilels Festival in Freiburg im Breisgau. The surviving recital had to dispense with the Chopin Ballade No. 1, the recording of which had lost several moments.  Only the variations on Mozart by Chopin have ever appeared on records prior. Despite somewhat distant microphone placement, the opening 1803 Waldstein Sonata reveals a virtuoso […]

Cory Healey’s Beautiful Sunshine Band – Beautiful Sunshine – Shifting Paradigm

Cory Healey’s Beautiful Sunshine Band – Beautiful Sunshine – Shifting Paradigm

by | Jun 15, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Forecast calls for modern jazz which traverses many influences. Cory Healey’s Beautiful Sunshine Band – Beautiful Sunshine [TrackList follows] Shifting Paradigm SP-117, 58:06 [4/17/16] ****: (Cory Healey – drums, electronics, AM radio; Erik Fratzke – electric bass; Zacc Harris – guitar; Jake Baldwin – trumpet; Brandon Wozniak – tenor saxophone) With a band and an album title called Beautiful Sunshine, listeners might expect covers of Stevie Wonder’s “You Are My Sunshine” or the standard “Smile.” But drummer/composer Cory Healey is just having some fun. This isn’t overtly bright material, but rather modern, comprehensive instrumental jazz which melds bebop, free jazz, ambient moments, rock, indie pop and more. This is music which swerves like a car on an icy road, sometimes in a straight line and sometimes veering wildly. Healey explains, “The name Beautiful Sunshine is tongue in cheek, considering how dark some of the pieces get. The overall theme is that the music is approached with a sense of humor and playfulness.” The story goes that on a cold, April 2014 evening Healey and his new band were performing at a Minneapolis venue, and he decided his group should have a name like “Unique Beautiful Snowflake.” An audience member asked […]

“Vienna New Year’s Concert 2016”: Music by STOLZ, ZIEHRER, WALDTEUFEL, HELLMESBERGER and The STRAUSSES =- Vienna Philharmonic/ Jansons – Sony Classical

“Vienna New Year’s Concert 2016”: Music by STOLZ, ZIEHRER, WALDTEUFEL, HELLMESBERGER and The STRAUSSES =- Vienna Philharmonic/ Jansons – Sony Classical

by | Mar 13, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

“Vienna New Year’s Concert 2016”: Music by STOLZ, ZIEHRER, WALDTEUFEL, HELLMESBERGER and The STRAUSSES – Vienna Philharmonic/ Mariss Jansons – Sony Classical 88875174802, 112 mins (2 CDs) (1/22/16) *****: One of the best of the New Year’s Concert series. This is one of the best in the long history of Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concerts, combining Mariss Jansons’ charismatic conducting, the Vienna Philharmonic’s sublime playing and the explosively live sound of the Philharmonic’s Goldener Saal des Wiener Musikvereins home. Meanwhile, the usual enterprising but still conservative program is highlighted by a staggering audiophile performance of Joseph Hellmesberger Sr.’s obscure but highly addicting Ballszene (Scene at the Ball). The Hellmesbergers were members of another celebrated Viennese family – father Georg was the most popular Austrian violinist of his day and the first leader of the Vienna Philharmonic, and son Joseph Jr. conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. And while music by his son is regularly played, Hellmesberger Senior’s Ballszene (Ball Scene), based on a violin study by Joseph Mayseder and scored for strings, harps, timpani and triangle, has a whirling, deliriously chromatic main theme in the violins that’s like mainlining classical music, especially with Jansons and the VPO giving it a slightly […]

BACH: Goldberg Variations – Alexandre Tharaud, p. – Erato/Warner Classics + video DVD

BACH: Goldberg Variations – Alexandre Tharaud, p. – Erato/Warner Classics + video DVD

by | Mar 1, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

BACH: Goldberg Variations – Alexandre Tharaud, piano – Erato/Warner Classics 0825646051779, 75:13 + video DVD (16:9), PCM stereo (12/4/15) *****: After a slow, elegant, spaced-out Aria theme, relentlessly hip Alexandre Tharaud proceeds to give a freewheeling 21st century piano virtuoso’s bird’s eye view of the Goldberg Variations. Whatever the attitudes he adopts as he proceeds with the 31 variations – energetic, jaunty, bold, bright and always, forthright – the brilliant recorded sound is like the playing, almost in your face at times; the sound is so integral to the performance that you can buy it  on a vinyl and, most important, at whatever volume you play it is uniquely satisfying – although medium-loud enables you to hear more clearly just how much poetry Tharaud lavishes on what at first blush can be misconstrued as frontal attack. It is an eventful journey. Tharaud may soften with a hint of impressionists’ haze on track seven but soon returns to his semi-clattering, wandering, always fascinating ways. He also uses ornaments like earrings, to adorn the music at deliciously vulnerable places; in track 14, he goes to extraordinary lengths in the repeats with his ornaments and embellishments, as if Bach were a dandy at […]

Desire-Emile Inghelbrecht, Vol. 1 = RAVEL: Ma Mere l’Oye; DUKAS: L’Apprenti sorcier; RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Flight of the Bumblebee; BORODIN: In the Steppes of Central Asia; Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances and Chorus of the Peasants – Orch. des Concerts Pasdeloup/ Desire-Emile Ingelbrecht – Yves St.-Laurent

Desire-Emile Inghelbrecht, Vol. 1 = RAVEL: Ma Mere l’Oye; DUKAS: L’Apprenti sorcier; RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Flight of the Bumblebee; BORODIN: In the Steppes of Central Asia; Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances and Chorus of the Peasants – Orch. des Concerts Pasdeloup/ Desire-Emile Ingelbrecht – Yves St.-Laurent

by | Feb 26, 2015 | Classical Reissue Reviews

The acknowledged master of the Debussy idiom finds equal sympathy for Ravel, Dukas, and some basic Russian repertory, here in potent restorations.