Swamp Pop is indigenous to the Acadiana region of South Louisiana as well as from the Beaumont/ Port Arthur area of neighboring East Texas. It is marked by highly emotional, ultra-romantic, plaintive style vocals. The simple, unaffected and often bilingual lyrics are backed by a honky-tonk piano, bellowing sax sections and a strong R&B backbeat. Upbeat pieces often possess the bouncy rhythms of Cajun and black Creole two-steps, and their lyrics frequently convey the local color and joie de vivre spirit pervading South Louisiana. Slow melancholic ballads with their undulating bass line and dramatic breaks exhibit the heart-broken ‘what’s-the-use-of-living’ laments common to many Cajun and black Creole compositions. The genre appeared during the mid-to late 1950s, its heyday lasting until the early 1980s.
With this new release, enjoy over an hour of party music, including salsa, cumbia, merengue, lambada, calypso, and more. Some of the featured artists include Pablo Carcamo, who hails from Chile and is known for the variety of instruments that he can expertly play, Hossam Ramzy, an internationally renowned percussionist composer and arranger who has twenty-plus albums to his name, and groups such as the Latin Sextet, which was founded in 1993 by musicians from Brazil, Chile, and Germany, combining Latin American tradition with European and American styles. All of these artists bring the tropics right into your home.
A superb selection of Irish ballads delivered by some of the greatest representatives of Irish folk, e.g. The Dubliners, Declan Hunt, Terry O'Neill, Brier, Corrib Folk, Blackthorn and many more. The songs include such classics as The Boys of Killibegs, All for me Grog, Cuanla, Sing Irishmen Sing, Carnlough Bay, Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore and many others.
Cellist Inbal Segev’s inspirational commissioning project, 20 for 2020, originally released as four digital EPs, brings all 20 compositions together in a 2-album deluxe digipack, capped by the premiere of Inbal’s own work, Behold for cello quartet. The convergence of cataclysmic events of 2020 spurred cellist Inbal Segev to conceive an ambitious and inspirational commissioning project, 20 for 2020, for which she asked 20 composers to document in music their responses to the challenges posed by the pandemic and social unrest. The result is an utterly moving and immensely varied palette of strong and distinctive compositional voices spanning a range of ages, genders and cultures. Originally released over time as four digital EPs, all 20 compositions come together for the first time in a 2-album deluxe digipack, and are capped by the premiere of Inbal’s own work, Behold for cello quartet. When Inbal conceived 20 for 2020, she could not have foreseen the scope of musical imagination from the 20 composers she asked to write works for her. Further pronouncing her passion for promoting new works for her instrument: “Art needs to move forward, otherwise it will die.” Collectively these compositions celebrate a stunning array of music for the soulful sound of the cello in the 21st century.
Capella de la Torre, one of Europe's most renowned early music ensembles, is starting a new chapter: future projects will be released on the Prospero Classical label. This exciting collaboration kicks off with the anniversary album 20 Years of Capella de la Torre, which will be released in the form of a high-quality digipack. With this recording, the ensemble celebrates two decades of intensive artistic work, numerous award-winning projects, and tireless curiosity about the sound worlds of the Renaissance and early Baroque, licensed by Sony Classical.
The special vibrations that the Hohenstaufen Chamber Music Festival generates are directly audible in the contents of this anniversary CD box, which consists solely of live performances. The choice of music ranges far and wide through all periods and genres: from Johann Sebastian Bach through key works of the Viennese Classical school and the German Romantics to French Impressionist compositions and classics of the Modern era. There are jazz numbers and contemporary works too, a further pointer to the ethos of the Hohenstaufen Chamber Music Festival, which does not call for tradition to be upheld on principle but aims at a constant rediscovery of the world and it's inhabitants through their sounds and timbres, no matter whether they come from "old" or "new", "serious" or "light" music. Hohenstaufen doesn't pigeonhole things like that; it believes in taking your partners to make "good" music. Music is good, quite simply, when it moves us, uplifts us, challenges us. "Music must never be comfy," to quote the pithy conclusion that Helmuth Rilling, to whom the Festival is greatly indebted, once drew. "It must stir people, touch them personally, give them food for thought." If the pieces brought together here can achieve this, the Hohenstaufen Chamber Music Festival will have received the biggest twentieth birthday present it could have.
To celebrate it's 20th anniversary, Canada's largest classical music label, Analekta, is releasing a box set of six CDs and hours of music magnificently interpreted by it's major artists. Angèle Dubeau, Alain Lefèvre, Luc Beauséjour, Anton Kuerti, the Gryphon Trio, Tafelmusik, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and many other artists have each selected their favorite works just for you. 77 tracks. Analekta. 2008.
Now celebrating his twentieth year of distinguished operatic achievements, this collection of arias from mostly “Verismo” operas features tenor Marcelo Alvarez delivering high-impact accounts of both popular and lesser-known selections by masters such as Puccini, Leoncavallo, Giordano, Mascagni and Massenet. + You will also hear – possibly for the first time – a fascinating array of choice rarities by Verismo-era composers (Gomes, Cilea, Zandonai, and Halévy) who were prominent in their day, but whose music has since fallen into comparative neglect. + Maestro Constantine Orbelian – leading the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra – provides the necessary and important support. + “Marcelo Alvarez gave his usual passionate and thrilling performance ... taking advantage of his beautiful voice by phrasing the musical lines with elegance.” - Ingrid Haas
Take time in the summer to think about the winter, country folk would say. That is just as true of CD albums compiled to celebrate the happiest days of the year. In this record-breaking sultry summer, Ludwig Guttler has been giving some thought to how to celebrate the 200th anniversary in 2018 of this global song appropriately. "It is one of the first carols I learned to play on the accordion, a present I was given for Christmas after my fifth birthday," recalls Ludwig Guttler, who remembers that when he was a child, everybody sang along. In fact it took him a long time to understand how anybody sitting in church could stay still to the sound of "Stille Nacht". In addition to the best recordings from his gigantic catalogue, there are also recordings that have not yet been publihed: Guttler has arranged "Silent Night, Holy Night!" for his brass ensemble, clad each of the six verses in an instrumental garb of it's own and recorded it in the summer in Zwettl in Austria.
Celebrating 200 Years of the Diabelli Project To commemorate the bicentennial of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, the Divine Art label proudly presents " 200 Years: Diabelli Variations". Originally introduced by Anton Diabelli with words of admiration for it's innovation and artistic brilliance, the Diabelli Variations have since transcended time, becoming a cornerstone of the piano repertoire, rivalling even the esteemed works of J.S. Bach. The story behind the Diabelli Variations adds to their mystique. Legend has it that Beethoven initially dismissed Diabelli's theme as a mere "cobbler's patch." Yet, he later transformed this simple waltz into a complex, kaleidoscopic masterpiece, showcasing a wide range of characters, styles, and textures. From playful parodies to profound meditations, Beethoven's variations span over 60 minutes of inventive musical exploration. Renowned pianist Dina Parakhina, who first performed the Diabelli Variations during her final recital at the Moscow Conservatory, brings her deep understanding and lifelong study of this monumental work to her latest recording. Parakhina's interpretation captures the intricate structural unity and the emotional depth of Beethoven's composition, reflecting her illustrious career and devotion to classical music. About Dina Parakhina Dina Parakhina, a distinguished Russian pianist and educator, has been a Piano Professor at the Royal College of Music since 2009 and a College Fellow since 2019. She has taught at prestigious institutions such as the Central Music School in Moscow and Chetham's School of Music, and currently holds a position at the Royal Northern College of Music. Parakhina has performed globally as a soloist, made numerous recordings, and given master-classes around the world. Her expertise and passion for music have also seen her serve on juries for international piano competitions. Parakhina's illustrious career began in Sochi and led her to study under notable mentors in Moscow. She toured extensively with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and later organized significant projects like the Medtner Marathon, which celebrated the works of Nikolai Medtner. Her recording of Medtner's Piano Sonatas and Fairy Tales was critically acclaimed, highlighting her dedication to bringing classical masterpieces to contemporary audiences. Join us in celebrating 200 years of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations with Dina Parakhina's remarkable new recording, a tribute to the timeless genius of Beethoven and the enduring beauty of his music.
SOMM RECORDINGS’ acclaimed series of re-mastered recitals by the much loved, fondly remembered contralto Kathleen Ferrier continues with Kathleen Ferrier: 20th Century British Treasures. Featuring recordings made for Decca and the BBC between 1946 and 1953, it includes a previously unpublished recording of Ferrier’s passionate performance of Lennox Berkeley’s Four Poems of St Teresa of Ávila. Sir Thomas Allen, the distinguished interpreter of British song and Trustee of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, contributes an extensive booklet commentary that brings a lifetime’s experience to bear in an insightful analysis of Ferrier’s dexterous and treasured talent, accented by the distinctive tones of her native Lancashire. The earliest recording, from 1947, is of Benjamin Britten’s ‘The Flower Song’ from The Rape of Lucretia, the latest, from 1953 (both BBC recitals), includes Howard Ferguson’s lovely five-part Discovery, three songs by William Wordsworth and Edmund Rubbra’s Three Psalms, specially written for Ferrier. Pieces by defining proponents of British song including Parry, Stanford, Vaughan Williams, Roger Quilter, Frank Bridge and Peter Warlock complete a crucial celebration of Ferrier’s inimitable contribution to the genre. Pianist Julian Jacobson, son of composer Maurice Jacobson, whose melancholy but sensuous The Song of Songs is heard in a 1947 BBC broadcast, also provides a personal poignant note on Ferrier’s championing of his father’s music.
Recording an album is always an amazing adventure, this time even more so, and we are very grateful to everyone who made this album possible. But why was it so special? Firstly, because of the choice of program, of little known, exciting works, and secondly due to the fact that this project was overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, there is the special significance that each of these works has attained precisely under the current circumstances. There is no doubt that the chronological sequence of the pieces tells a story documenting the development of musical styles over the course of the century in witness to contemporary events. But today, having experienced this music from the first lockdown through to the present day, the music itself and the sequencing have taken on a very significant relevance for us. From the melancholic, naïve and yet somewhat dreamy sounds of Lili Boulanger through the courage, tenderness and complexity of Grazyna Bacewicz, to Galina Ustvolskaya’s no-man’s land, where the absence of structured time reminds us of aimless days and hours without knowing what might happen the next day. And finally, Jennifer Higdon and her organized chaos that is nevertheless not hopeless, but a little rebellious, emotional, with deep insight into nature that seems to be a light and source of energy for humankind. Louise Chisson and Tamara Atschba.
Written over the course of a quarter-century, these four flute works reflect the individual approaches to the flute sonata taken by their composers. Hindemith’s aim was to offer new music of buoyancy and brio, tempered by elegiac moments. Prokofiev’s famous sonata has Classical formal elegance, while the sonatas of Denisov and Nagovitsyn are single movement works that explore the flute’s extreme registers, as well as its dynamic contrasts and virtuosic capacities. Denis Lupachev won First Prize at the International Festival ‘Virtuosi2000’ (Russia) in 1993, and in 1997 received the jury’s Special Prize at the Kobe International Flute Competition (Japan). In 1999, he was awarded First Prize at the ‘Leonardo de Lorenzo’ International Flute Competition(Italy). Lupachev gives many recitals and chamber music concerts in Russia as well as throughout Europe. Since 2016, he has organized the International Festival ‘Virtuosi of the Flute’ in the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. Peter Laul was awarded First Prize in both the Bremen International Piano Competition (1997) and the Scriabin International Piano Competition in Moscow (2000). Laul has given recitals at prestigious international venues such as the halls of the St Petersburg Philharmonic and the Moscow Conservatory, the Auditorium du Louvre, Lincoln Center in New York, the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and Suntory Hall and Opera City Concert Hall in Tokyo. He is a consummate chamber musician, who regularly partners with Maxim Vengerov, Ilya Gringolts, Valery Sokolov, Alexander Ghindin and the Borodin Quartet.
A list Hollywood stars perform songs from the Fox musicals between 1936-1938 remastered from studio playback discs sans dialogue etc. First time available and on 2 CDs listen to Judy Garland, Tony Martin, Shirley Temple, Dolores Del Rio, Barbara Stanwyck, Eddie Cantor, Ethel Merman, Betty Grable, Jane Withers etc.
During the inter-war period, in the cities of the West, a younger generation found ways to enjoy life in the form of dances such as shimmies, foxtrots, tangos and Charlestons: strong rhythms that became a symbol of a carefree and decadent era. The new jazz craze took hold everywhere, and Krenek’s opera Jonny spielt auf became an overnight sensation. The inter-war Zeitgeist in Vienna and the Czech lands is reflected in a programme full of première recordings – many of which were hits in their day – rich with fashionable dynamism, syncopation and joie de vivre. Born in Vienna, Gottlieb Wallisch first appeared on the concert platform when he was seven years old, and at the age of twelve made his debut in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. A concert directed by Yehudi Menuhin in 1996 launched Wallisch’s international career: accompanied by the Sinfonia Varsovia, the seventeen-year-old pianist performed Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto. Since then Wallisch has received invitations to the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals including Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zurich, and the NCPA in Beijing, also the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Festivals of Lucerne and Salzburg, December Nights in Moscow, and the Singapore Arts Festival.
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REVIEWS:
This new recording is an utterly delightful collection of Austrian and Czech foxtrots and other dance music, performed with panache and great affection. Most of the music was written in the 1920s and 1930s when the composers were prompted by publishers to write popular (and commercial) dance music. You can imagine this inventive, rhythmic, and sensuous music being played in pre-WW II Vienna and Prague dance halls and cabarets.
– MusicWeb International
While jazz-inspired music by the likes of Stravinsky and Weill has never been forgotten, the similar efforts of dozens of other composers from the same period have fallen into obscurity. Now some of those experiments are enjoying a fresh hearing. The German pianist Gottlieb Wallisch’s revealing and entertaining new recording is mostly made up of world-premiere recordings of these dance-oriented works, in their piano arrangements.
By grouping these works geographically, he said, he anticipates creating “an encyclopedia of music from this time.” The second volume in the series — devoted to pieces by German composers — is scheduled for release in the fall.
If you’ve heard of the Czech composer Jaromir Weinberger, it’s likely for the Polka from his opera “Schwanda the Bagpiper.” (Herbert von Karajan was a devotee of that orchestral excerpt.) But he also composed an entry in the annals of the jazz-age dance known as the shimmy, garlanding his miniature with streaks of New World suavity.
In a 1925 lecture, the Austrian composer Ernst Krenek asked aloud what the listening public wanted. “The answer,” he continued, “will perhaps be somewhat frightening: none other than dance music.” The arrangement on Mr. Wallisch’s recording was created by the composer Jeno Takacs as part of a potpourri of selections from the opera.
Jaroslav Jezek’s “Bugatti Step” was, when it was written, a calling card for its composer — including with the “jazz orchestra” that he led at the time. Mr. Wallisch’s take on the solo piano arrangement of the piece is a cut above several other contemporary performances. He has plenty of forward motion, but his way of approaching Jezek’s propulsive writing results in a smooth ride. “It’s not a Charleston or a quick-fox,” he said. “I don’t think it needs the fast-as-possible tempo.”
The first volume in this series traced the inter-war craze for carefree dance music in Austria and the Czech Lands (see GP813). This latest album focuses on Germany where jazz-influenced music flourished from the mid-1920s onwards even in the face of some social, political and racial opposition. Cabarets and dancehalls rejected this nationalist resistance and the Weimar Republic rejoiced in a cross-pollination of symphonic jazz and Kunstjazz – a fusion of dance and classical elements. The many previously unrecorded pieces here chart the progress of this vigorous musical rejuvenation. GOTTLIEB WALLISCH has performed on stage at the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals: Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zurich, and the NCPA in Beijing, also the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, and the Festivals of Lucerne and Salzburg. Conductors with whom he has performed as a soloist include Sir Neville Marriner, Dennis Russell Davies, Kirill Petrenko, Martin Haselboeck and Bruno Weil. Orchestras he has performed with include the Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra Budapest and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. He has made numerous recordings for record labels, including Naxos. Gottlieb Wallisch is a Steinway Artist.
REVIEW:
One of the year’s most surprising and consistently charming recording projects continues to gather steam. The second volume of the pianist Gottlieb Wallisch’s “20th Century Foxtrots” compendium follows up on the sprightly success of the initial set.
In Wallisch’s latest batch of performances there are once again some discoveries from lesser-known artists. (Multi-movement works by Leopold Mittmann and Walter Niemann are a delight to encounter.) The new album kicks off with a spirited performance of a Paul Hindemith fox trot. And this edition also includes the world premiere recording of a piano arrangement of a “Tango” by Kurt Weill.
Gramophones and radios brought the voice of America, its fashion, its carelessness and joie de vivre into every corner of Europe during the Roaring Twenties, and no composer could remain immune to the hot jazz influences of the Foxtrot, Shimmy and Charleston. This third volume of jazzy piano dances features composers from nine Central and Eastern European countries, from Misha Spoliansky’s hypnotizing Valse Boston ‘Morphium’ to Leonid Polovinkin’s extremely entertaining and refreshingly futuristic approach to the genre. Gottlieb Wallisch continues his ‘most surprising and consistently charming recording project’ (The New York Times on Volume 2, GP814).
