Things will be jolly good at the Morbisch Lake Festival in 2017! With Christel the post mistress and Adam the bird seller, two of the best-known operetta characters will be returning to the lake stage after an absence of nearly twenty years. Petty corruption in positions of authority, comedy of errors and something for the heart – all the classic operetta ingredients come together masterfully in the Vogelhandler. The arias “Grus’ enk Gott, alle miteinander”, “Ich bin die Christel von der Post” and “Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol” are very well known to lovers of operetta throughout the world.

Contemporary music is alive and well in innumerable forms and genres, and the flexibility and colorful sonorities of the flute have attracted composers of every style. This collection of beautiful chamber music with flute is performed by award-winning soloist Alice K. Dade and includes four premiere recordings. These take us from Aaron Jay Kernis’s Air, the composer’s ‘love letter in music,’ via the youthful memories of Michael Fine’s Skipping Stones, the Baroque and jazz elements in Noam Elkies’ E Sonata and the breathtaking mountain scenery of Jennifer Margaret Barker’s Na Tri Peathraichan, to the novel and mysterious musical mirroring of Dan Coleman’s Pavanes and Symmetries, This is a program to tease the imagination and stimulate the senses.

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONIES NOS. 5 &

Classical Music

Jennifer Koh and Jamie Laredo feature in this recital of works written for two violins. Includes two world-premiere recordings in addition to works by J.S. Bach and Philip Glass. Vinay Parameswaran leads the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble, to which composer David Ludwig (b. 1974) serves as Director. Anna Clyne's (b. 1980) dramatic and inventive works have been championed by musicians from around the world.

REVIEW:

Jennifer Koh’s collaboration with her erstwhile mentor at the Curtis Institute, Jaime Laredo, has resulted in a program of works for two violins played by both of them: Bach’s Double Violin Concerto and three new pieces, all accompanied by Vinay Parameswaran conducting the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble. In Bach’s and David Ludwig’s works, Laredo plays first violin, while in Anna Clyne’s and Philip Glass’s, Koh does. The recordings of Clyne’s and Ludwig’s works purport to be the first. 

The duo adopts quick but not precipitous tempos in the first movement of Bach’s Concerto. Both soloists produce a modern sound that blends well their soloistic counterpart and with the ensemble. They engage in no mannerisms, presenting the music straightforwardly, as they do in the slow movement, though their beauty of tone there provides a focus of interest, rendering their interweaving tonally ingratiating, quite aside from the musical compatibility it evinces. Should their individualities be expressed more obviously? Would the soloists in Bach’s time be clearly distinguishable in such a chamber setting? Quite aside from these more philosophical quibbles, their playing sounds equally homogeneous, as well as highly energetic, in the finale.

Clyne’s 2012 piece, Prince of Clouds, shimmeringly atmospheric and harmonically accessible in its opening, grows texturally chunkier as it progresses, recalling stylistically Benjamin Britten’s keen ear for string textures and resonances—and not only between the soloists but within the ensemble, too. Glass’s Echorus, perhaps even more atmospheric and just as firmly tonal in its harmonic underpinnings, trades on shifting melodic patterns, as do so many of his other works (recalling clouds subtly shifting shapes as they roll, although the two soloists emerge only tentatively from the textures), and rivets listeners’ attention to its hypnotic musical argument. The four movements of Ludwig’s 2012 Seasons Lost represent the four seasons in order but beginning (rather than ending) with “Winter.” The composer suggests that these recall a time before climate change merged the seasons. As do the other two recent works on the program, this one creates atmospheres; and, as does Clyne’s work, it also shows how sharply the composer’s ear discriminates among string sonorities. The composer likens the interweaving violin parts of “Spring” with that of the season’s luxuriantly sprouting greenery, while Summer suggests to him warm nights and bonfires: dark and mysterious and allusive, like the performances. “Fall” brings blowing winds in perhaps the most graphic of the movements, with shriller, almost Stravinskian sonorities and harmonies.

The program evinces a sort of continuity more integral even than the close interaction of the two soloists and the unifying string sonorities: A sort of downy blanket covers all of it, generating lots of warmth without inducing somnolence. Can this, rather than deterministic or aleatory blips and bangs, be the future of music? Has the tonal system really been played out, and did the experiments now almost a century old really come about as a result of historic inevitability? Many listeners could perhaps accept this program as a sort of gentle answer. In any case, the recital should appeal broadly for its performances and for its program (to say nothing of its clear recorded sound). It doesn’t jettison the past so much as it establishes a sort of healing continuity. Strongly recommended.

FANFARE: Robert Maxham

Multi-award winning guitarist Denis Azabagic invites listeners into a realm where world, folk, and classical music intersect on Out of Africa...and Around the Word, the Bosnia-born, Chicago-based virtuoso’s first solo album on Cedille Records. Thomas weaves together strands of African singing styles, scales and rhythms, while paying homage to African string instruments, such as the kora and the oud.

REVIEW:

Acclaimed guitarist Denis Azabagic’s newest CD,  Out of Africa , features attractive works by some of today’s leading guitarist/composers. Bulgarian Atanas Ourkouzounov’s contribution is a captivating series of Variations on Pozaspa li iagodo? (Are you sleeping, Strawberry?). The rhythmically driven, harmonically inventive first variation comes as a startling surprise after the gentle simplicity of the opening statement. A slow, minor-tinged variation follows, with interspersed harmonics dotting the sustained soundscape. Variation three combines flowing figures with a recap of the first variation’s hectic pace, helped along by sharp accents and forceful dynamics. Next, a partly muted, subtly dissonant episode gives way to an invigorating half-Bulgarian, half-Greek Finale.

As revealed in the booklet notes, Vojislav Ivanovic’s Café Pieces were undertaken as a lark but, be that as it may, the results far surpass their frivolous beginnings: heard as a group they comprise a beautiful suite of music in the South American style, filled with lovely melodies, exciting rhythms, and humor. At one point, Tango Café (the third of the set) seems to quote the Russian/Gypsy song Ochi chyornye (Dark Eyes), but that may be coincidental: in all other respects, it’s a pitch perfect homage to Astor Piazzolla. The mildly melancholy Nostalgia , a tremolo study, offers guitarists an appealing alternative to Tarrega’s ubiquitous Recuerdos de la Alhambra.

Azabagic plays Carlos Rafael Rivera’s Canción more than a minute faster than various YouTube performances, but with no diminution in sentiment or liquidity of phrasing. For such a short piece—1:35 as played here—that’s a significant difference, almost twice as fast as the others.
REVIEW:

In his synopsis of his  Blues and 7 Variations , Dusan Bogdanovi? explains that “The seeming incongruity of idioms and compositional styles” reflects his interest “in developing a widely based musical world.” That global perspective is immediately apparent in the 13-bar (instead of the traditional 12) Blues at the heart of the piece, cast in 9/8, a meter more common to the Balkans than the American South. Bogdanovi?’s self-described “virtuoso set of variations” calls for great speed, fluency, and panache, attributes Azabagic has in spades; I’m guessing that this stunning performance will prove a benchmark for years to come.

Alan Thomas conceived his suite Out of Africa as a series of impressions inspired by African “styles of singing … additive rhythms, irregular metric groupings, and pentatonic or pandiatonic scales.” Besides being subliminally linked in this way, the various movements together paint a musical portrait of idealized daily life. Call at Sunrise welcomes the dawn with a catchy tune “presented in canon that gradually develops into a vibrant ostinato and vocalic melody” (Thomas). A joyous Morning Dance follows, and as the sun attains its Zenith, the sound of the oud is heard in the land: Azabagic convincingly imitates the characteristic microtonal sound by playing on a detuned string. I don’t know if Thomas consulted the Arabic maqam system of modes as he composed the music, but either way it’s a compelling bit of orientalism. After a last festive Evening Dance , the tender (and tenderly played) Cradle Song brings the suite to a quiet close. All told, Azabagic’s idiomatic, technically flawless performances of this colorful repertoire should be required listening for guitar lovers everywhere.

FANFARE: Robert Schulslaper

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

BEST OF VERDI ARIAS

Giuseppe Verdi:
La traviata: E strano! … Ah, fors e lui … Sempre libera / De’ miei bollenti spiriti / Di Provenza il mar, il suol
Rigoletto: Questa o quella / Caro nome che il mio cor / La donna e mobile
Don Carlo: Io la vidi e al suo sorriso / O don fatale
Aida: Celeste Aida / Numi, pietà del mio soffrir!
Il trovatore: Stride la vampa! / Ah! sì, ben mio … Di quella pira I vespri siciliani: Mercé, dilette amiche
Un ballo in maschera: Ma se m’è forza perderti
La forza del destino: Pace, pace mio Dio! / O tu che in seno agli angeli
Otello: Piangea cantando nell’erma landa / Ave Maria, piena di grazia / Niun mi tema

featuring
Nino Machaidze, soprano
Daniela Dessì, soprano
Dimitra Theodossiou, soprano
Marcelo Álvarez, tenor
Francesco Meli, tenor
Leo Nucci, baritone

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English
Running time: 110 mins
No. of Discs: 1

"A simply outstanding CD." - The Whole Note

Superstar violinist Anne Akiko Meyers is one of today’s most in-demand classical performers. Beloved by audiences around the world, with a reputation for groundbreaking recital programs and important commissions, Fantasia marks her 35th studio album and is one of her most important projects to date. Meyers has been Billboard’s Top Selling Classical Instrumentalist of the year and has had numerous albums reach the Number 1 spot on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart. Her latest album captures the rare combination of incredible virtuosity and poetic color with iconic works by Ravel, Einojuhani Rautavaara’s last major work, written for Meyers, and Karol Szymanowski’s sensuous Violin Concerto No. 1. The title track, Fantasia is legendary Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s premiere posthumous recording and last major work for violin and orchestra. Ms. Meyers traveled to Finland and worked with the composer on it shortly before he died. Karol Szymanowski’s sensuous Violin Concerto No. 1, dedicated to Polish virtuoso violinist, Paul Kochanski, is a dazzling display of exotic melodies, and Ravel’s iconic Tzigane is a virtuoso showpiece that conjures Hungarian gypsy music, and premiered almost a century ago.



REVIEW:

Meyers also seduces the senses in Ravel’s Tzigane, emphasising the magical essence of its blazing inspiration without the slightest whiff of empty, showpiece bravado. Yet the star item here is Rautavaara’s Fantasia (2015), one of his last works and composed especially for Meyers, who soars aloft with its tender cantabile, shaping its shimmering melodic lines with a profound sensitivity that exerts irresistible pressure on the tear ducts.

– The Strad

The flourishing culture of the classical guitar in Japan is further revealed in the third volume of this admired series. The expressive nature of music for guitar and for the harmonica often represents the principles of Ma – the idea of space and time. Takemitsu’s contemporary arrangements of popular songs, where virtuosity fuses with flexible spirituality, are of extraordinary originality whilst melodic inventiveness is the hallmark of Hikaru Hayashi’s varied pieces. There are also examples from film scores and explorations of sound qualities, such as Yoshimatsu’s intensely evocative and masterful Forgetful Angel II.

• A compilation of Mendelssohn's most important piano pieces

Recorded over the course of two and a half years, this four disc set showcases a comprehensive body of esteemed countertenor Valer Sabadus's repertoire. Valer Sabadus, despite his young age, has already joined the ranks of the world's best vocalists. Sabadus's wide-ranging repertoire extends from early Baroque works by the great masters, to contemporary pieces riddled with unique harmonies and vocal techniques. The breadth of his abilities is shown through his versatility and adaptability. This CD set includes works from Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Henry Purcell, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, among others.

A spectacular album by a superb brass quintet. -- American Record Guide

Baroque masters were already playing to the gallery with brass players’ fanfares; Mozart and Haydn com-posed wonderful concertos for trumpet or horn; then the Romantics Brahms and Dvorak did their bit, followed by orchestral wizards Berlioz and Richard Strauss who triumphantly ushered trumpet, horn and trombone into the symphony orchestra. Jazz brought the great liberation, and light entertainment contributed to the overdue recognition of their possibilities. The wide spectrum of the present album illustrates the boundless popularity of this musical genre. The composers of these works enjoy life, and are proof positive that brass ensembles are to be taken seriously – whether performed in venerable concert halls, the Music Hall or the circus. The Wien-Berlin Brass Quintett radiates a cheerful, vibrant atmosphere, offering musical fireworks, sparkling wit and humor along with quite unique and breathtaking virtuosity.

REVIEWS:

This disc is simply good, clean fun and a sheer delight. The Wien-Berlin Brass Quintett—Gábor Tarkővi and Guillaume Jehl, trumpets; Thomas Jöbstl, horn; Mark Gaal, trombone; Alexander von Puttkamer, tuba; Jöbstl and Gall are members of the Vienna Philharmonic, the other three men present or former members of the Berlin Philharmonic—here kicks back its collective heels to present five entertaining divertissements. All the music is unabashedly tonal and listener-friendly.

The virtuoso, spirited playing of this marvelous brass fivesome [is] captured in brilliant sound. A booklet provides basic notes. Cheerily recommended.

-- Fanfare

Commissioned in 2012 to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, Timothy Hamilton’s Requiem draws its inspiration from the Roman liturgy. In twelve movements, it conjures up a vivid sequence of images depicting both the horror of war and the calmness and eeriness of the aftermath of battle, interspersed with moments of somber and contemplative reflection most notably in the plangent setting of Isaac Watts’ ‘Give us the wings of faith’ and the orchestral interlude ‘Lest We Forget.’ The work builds to a powerful and moving conclusion with soprano and then chorus welcoming the souls of the fallen into paradise.

Boris Tchaikovsky is revered in Russian musical circles as one of the most original and innovative composers of the post-Shostakovich generation. A work of great depth and beauty, the Piano Quintet is considered his finest chamber work and a stylistic milestone which would influence aspects of the later Piano Concerto (8.557727). Based on a the score for the 1964 film While the Front is in Defence, The War Suite is an evocative portrayal of the horrors of battle, but also of heroism, friendship and lost love, at the Volkhov Front, south east of Leningrad, during the winter of 1942.

Christopher Roberts’s five intimate and virtuosic movements/pieces for a trio of double basses are here performed by the composer and two other virtuosos of the instrument, Mark Morton and James Bergman. This music, much of it inspired by the composer’s life in Papua New Guinea (where he ran off to after Juilliard to study music’s “natural prosody”), subtly extends the double bass’s standard playing techniques with such expressive elements as bowing patterns inspired by the sound of hornbills in flight. Famed bass virtuoso Bertram Turetzky called Trios “A magnificent piece! There’s nothing like it. Roberts has a truly original voice.” And composer Michael J. Schumacher declared that “Roberts has arrived at a new American music by traversing the heart of Papua New Guinea...and the result is something unique.” Writing in The Wire magazine, Julian Cowley called this recording of Trios “An elegantly reverberant, harmonically rich and gracefully delineated composition for resonant strings.” Writing in Seattle’s The Stranger, Christopher DeLaurenti proclaimed this CD “A remarkable disc.... Recommended.” And noted music critic and author Greg Sandow wrote, “Trios for Deep Voices is thoughtful music, beautifully worked out, and very absorbing to listen to. It’s wonderfully individual, both in its sound and its construction. Clear some space in your life, both literally and figuratively, and give it a listen.”

“Three” collects three shimmering new works by composer-performer-instrument builder Chas Smith, a musician who has created his own musical world--complete with its own unique instruments--a world of expansive musical tapestries and carefully sculpted textures. This beautifully ringing music, which displays his dualistic fascination with the scientific and the sensual, is both invitingly intimate and darkly brooding as explores the unique timbres of Smith’s sculptural metallophones and his steel guitars. “With Smith’s music, the sounds are as compelling as his concepts and instruments.” (The Wire) “Smith’s pieces are music of experiment and discovery: a way of enabling the physical world to ‘speak’ by investigating…its sonic properties.” (Int’l Record Review) As a performer, Smith has been heard playing both steel guitar and his unique metallophones on feature film scores by Thomas Newman, Christopher Young, Charlie Clouser, Mark Mothersbaugh, Jeff Danna, and John Williams and on recordings by composer Harold Budd.

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by Franz Joseph Haydn. Ensemble: Toronto Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Kevin Mallon.

The musical expression of German Romanticism is the theme of this disc. The trajectory of Schumann’s Konzertstück, Op 86, written for four horns and orchestra, goes from heroism to introspection. Two of his Symphonic Etudes, Op 13, were orchestrated by no less a figure than Tchaikovsky, while Albert Parlow orchestrated four of Brahms’ most exciting Hungarian Dances. Mendelsssohn’s Overture to his Ballad Opera Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde (Song and Stranger) embodies classical virtues. Anton Webern’s Langsamer Satz for string quartet has been vibrantly orchestrated by Gerard Schwarz. Hans Pfitzner, one of the last representatives of the movement, is represented by his concise, melodic Symphony in C major.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.