Described by Saint-Saëns as "the most remarkable of the young British composers," York Bowen was widely known as a pianist and as a composer, his fame reaching its zenith in the years immediately preceding the First World War. The writer and composer Thomas Dunhill described Bowen’s chamber music as "an essentially healthy and breezy phase in modern art." This is especially true of the 1922 Carnegie Trust Award-winning Second Quartet, and while both quartets are based on clear-cut classical models the Third is more elusive and intimate in feeling, revealing the composer’s rarely displayed private side. The atmospheric Phantasy-Quintet provides a rare opportunity to hear the beauty of the bass clarinet in a truly eloquent and expressive soloist capacity.

This CD brings to light a completely forgotten composer, the priest Pietro Porfiri from Marche. Of him little is known; the works on this album are taken from a 1692 self-published collection of secular cantatas, just at the time when this kind of music was widespread by publishers all over Europe, particularly Italy. The soprano Pamela Lucciarini and countertenor Alessandro Carmignani bring to light an unexpected musical writing in search of innovative solutions extremely audacious for its time. Laboratorio Armonico, providing basso continuo, features highly skilled early music artists.

Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, one of his greatest works, was written in the United States after the composer was forced to flee Hungary during World War II. It is not only a brilliant display vehicle for each instrumental section but a work of considerable structural ingenuity that unites classical forms and sonorities with the pungency of folk rhythms and harmonies. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta explores darker moods through a score of marvellously poised symmetry. This release follows Marin Alsop’s ‘riveting’ (Gramophone) Baltimore Symphony recordings of Dvorák’s symphonies.

REVIEW:

Marin Alsop leads a splendid performance of the oft-recorded Concerto for Orchestra, full of character, whether in the jocular “games of pairs” second movement, the ensuing spooky elegy, or the finale that begins (seemingly) a touch reserved but takes off like a shot in the coda. It’s a memorable and wholly successful effort, excellently engineered to boot.

– ClassicsToday.com (D. Hurwitz)

Modern Bellydance: Lebanese Nights

Beethoven lived in a time when the popularity of the guitar was vastly growing, especially in Vienna. Guitar teachers like the Bohemian Wenzel Matiegka were highly paid for their services to the Austrian nobility, while the internationally renowned masters of the instrument flooded the Viennese market with ver-new editions of their own works and arrangements. The Neapolitan Ferdinando Carulli, living in Paris, and Mauro Giuliani from Apulia, living in Beethoven's Viennese neighborhood, were the most prominent figures in that scene. For the present recording Volker Hoh Volker H�h combined two Beethoven arrangements by Carulli and Matiegka with Beethoven's own mandolin pieces, played on historical Viennese guitars. Parts of the repertoire are world premi�re recordings.

This album is a retrospective that is a must-have for all lovers of musical theater. Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt first won fame as the creators of The Fantasticks- the longest-running musical in the history of the world, with more than 21,000 performances given in New York over a period of 58 years. But the Jones & Schmidt musicals also include Broadway classics such as "I Do! I Do!," "110 in the Shade," and "Celebration." Selections from these and 12 other shows are included in this deluxe release, which features many previously unreleased "demos" by the songwriters themselves. Jones & Schmidt worked closely with Producer Bill Rudman for over two years to ensure that this album would best represent their legacy. "The purpose of theater is always to reveal us to ourselves. To help us perceive the 'poetry' beneath the prose and the minutiae of our lives. To make us exalt. To make us feel. And not least of all, to make us laugh." (Tom Jones)

This recording is the third of Lully's Armide; the other two, from 1983 (Erato) and 1992 (Harmonia Mundi), were led by Philippe Herreweghe. The first, which I've not heard, eliminated the opera's fourth act, in which minor characters are tempted by Armide and the plot is otherwise not advanced. The second recording, starring Guillaumette Laurens and Howard Crook as Armide and Renaud, is complete and is an elegant reading, with some fire from Laurens.

The Washington, DC-based Opera Lafayette's recording under consideration here is trimmed. Gone is the Prologue, which is the usual love poem to Louis XIV that these operas called for, this one with the allegorical figures of Wisdom and Glory praising him to the skies. It contains some lovely music, but is superfluous to the plot; it was cut as early as 1761 (probably a political rather than musical decision; in any event Louis never saw the work). Conductor Ryan Brown also chops a few repeats in the dances, one of the Shepherd's arias, and a few minutes of the fourth act. I didn't miss any of it, dramatically, but it's nice to know it can be heard on Herreweghe's second recording. Brown gives us two hours of cohesive music-drama.

The plot is well-known, and in fact the same libretto (by Phillippe Quinault) was set by Gluck in 1776 (the Lully dates from 1686). Opera lovers also will be familiar with the Rossini and Handel operas that treat the story of the sorceress Armida's infatuation with the knight, Rinaldo; there are variations, but the outlines are the same.

Lully's opera, his last, was a great and lasting success, what with demons destroying enchanted palaces and all, and with music that never ceases to please. Both leads are well drawn, with Armide's wickedness on a grand scale (her love for Renaud almost enough for us to feel for her) and Renaud's valor and sweetness displayed in equal proportion. The dance intervals are colorfully scored and utterly delightful.

The stars of this set, the mezzo Stephanie Houtzeel and tenor Robert Getchell, are excellent. She has plenty of character to her tone, sings with nice ferocity in her second-act "Enfin il est en ma puissance", charm in the fifth-act love duet, and both resignation and fury in her final number. The voice is substantial, and while she never resorts to chest voice, a good snarl occasionally slips out. Laurens has only a slight edge over Houtzeel; the former is more comfortable with ornamentation and dramatic stresses.

No apologies need be made for Robert Getchell, a "French" tenor of the best kind, heroically "bright" enough and gently loving enough, singing with fine French diction. And his tone is beautiful. (A note: He studied with Howard Crook.) The cast's other standout, tenor Tony Boutté, sings a Danish Knight (some of his music is omitted in Act 4) and a Lucky Lover and I'm sure he will soon be graduating to the role of Renaud. His voice sits high and is clear enough for Gluck's Orphée as well.

William Sharp uses his not-very-weighty baritone voice to enliven La Haine, and he means every word. As Armide's confidantes, Ann Monoyios and Miram Dubrow are effective, though the latter strays from pitch early on as Sidonie. François Loup, doing double duty as Hidraot, Armide's wicked uncle, and Ubalde, Renaud's good friend, oversings as the former to compensate for a tone not quite large enough. The others are all excellent.

I wish that Ryan Brown's orchestra were bigger; there are some moments in this work that require more sheer noise than 27 players can make (and they don't always play at once). Herreweghe gets it just right and the drama seems properly dark despite the inherent frills. To sum up, not only is this set the only one currently available, it's a bargain and very good all around. You'll miss about 30 minutes of music, but the two hours you do get are splendid.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

• Il Trionfo di Dori was printed in 1592. A Venetian nobleman, Leonardo Sanudo asked 29 authors to compose a poem, then asked 29 musicians to compose a madrigal to each text.
• Il Trionfo di Dori describes idyllic scenes of a mythical past merged with a peaceful pastoral world. Each piece closes with the words “Viva la bella Dori!”,the collection's unifyng element. Dori, the lovely sea nymph, is the name that hints at the woman to whom the work was dedicated, Elisabetta Giustinian."

Vivaldi’s instrumental output is immense: at present, research has identified no fewer than 478 works bearing the title ‘Concerto’, of which 329 are concertos for solo instrument accompanied by string orchestra and continuo, the violin concertos alone numbering 220. Incomplete as they are, these figures give some idea of the difficulty of attempting even a superficial analysis of the, ‘concerto’ form in Vivaldi’s oeuvre. The variety of structures employed in these works is in proportion to their numbers; and though certain progress has been made in recognising and classifying the compositional styles of the Venetian master, we often find that these ‘rules’ have in fact been laid aside in this or that composition. It must also be remembered that the development of Vivaldi’s style is closely related to the definition and consolidation of a form that finds its roots in works by a slightly earlier generation of composers such as Torelli and Albinoni. As Vivaldi’s career as a composer went on, in fact, we see considerable changes in both form (structure) and in musical invention. Vivaldi’s music was greatly admired by his contemporaries; the large number of imitators of his style who flourished while he was still alive bears witness to his popularity, as does the esteem in which a musician such as Quantz held the Venetian master, indicating his concertos as supreme examples of the form.

Hannibal Lokumbe
CAN YOU HEAR GOD CRYING?
A Spiritatorio

Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano
Rodrick Dixon, tenor
Paula Holloway, vocals
Homayun Sakhi, rubâb
Alyn E. Waller, readings

The Celebration Choir
(chorus master: J. Donald Dumpson)
The Music Liberation Orchestra
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
Dirk Brossé, conductor

Recorded at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, United States, 21 September 2012
Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereobr
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Englishbr
Running time: 71 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 5)

This two-disc colllection features a selection of Nat King Cole songs, recorded by vocalist Hugh Coltman in live & studio settings. Disc one includes studio tracks, while disc two features many of the same tracks in a live setting, recorded at the Jazz à Vienne Festival. Tracks include "What'll I Do," Nature Boy," "Mona Lisa," "Are You Disenchanted," "Pretend," "Smile," "I Never Had a Chance," and more.

Includes work(s) by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Scott Miller's Tipping Point chronicles a long collaborative relationship between him and Minneapolis based new music ensemble, Zeitgeist. The members of Zeitgeist have regularly acted as a musical proving ground for Miller's explorations, particularly those combining acoustic instruments with interactive-electronic effects. From the opening measures of the title track, Miller's approach to integrating acoustic instruments into an electroacoustic environment is apparent. The tipping point Miller refers to may well be the edge at which we can no longer identify where the acoustic instruments end and the electronics begin. Funhouse dives immediately into this ambiguity, as snarling bass clarinet multiphonics mimic and later become absorbed into the carefully crafted noise world of the electronics. Pure Pleasure's percussive rhythms are manipulated timbrally as well as sent swirling around the stereo field in passages of spatialized virtuosity. Featuring soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw, Forth and Back's haunting minimalism suggests the slow evolution of a mind at work as it gains understanding over a puzzling paradigm: none other than time itself and our ability to transcend it through union with another. Mr. Miller is currently the President of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS).

Volume 5 of Profil's Günter Wand Edition is devoted to Carl Orff's massive and enormously popular cantata, Carmina Burana, in a stirring radio performance presented with the NDR Sinfonieorchester in 1984. (Profil)

Reiko Füting’s features chamber works performed by members of NYC’s most celebrated contemporary ensembles, including the Int’l Contemporary Ensemble, Either/Or Ensemble, and the Mivos String Quartet. This collection of works illustrates Füting’s interest in the philosophical and artistic conception of memory, as well as the significant role past works of literature, music, and art play in shaping his compositional forms and musical material. Interspersed between the album’s longer works are vocal settings of haikus from Reiner Bonack. In addition to composing, Reiko Füting (b. 1970) is an avid performer who has appeared in Europe, Asia, and the US. Since 2000, Füting has been teaching composition and theory at Manhattan School of Music, where he serves as the chair of theory department.

Jacques Casterede's distinguished career was centered in Paris, but with musical roots in the early twentieth-century traditions of neo-Classicism and Les Six- the wide variety of scope and intent in his work was never meant to compete with the radical avant-garde. The balletic Flutes en vacances has become one of his most popular pieces, while Ciels ('Skies') was a competition piece for the Conservatoire. The colors in Trois moments musicaux d'apres Corot depict paintings in sound while the Sonatine de Mai is more neo-Classical in mood.

OH Canada: A Young 150!, is the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra’s (NBYO) celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday. The NBYO’s celebration pays tribute to Confederation and the accomplishments of a great history, but also to a future to be built from all the genius, optimism and hope of our youth. The centrepiece of the celebration is a song commissioned by the NBYO, for orchestra, soloist and choir, by Canadian composer Howard Shore, winner of three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and four Grammy Awards, and one of the most celebrated composers in the world. The song ‘Sea to Sea’ is performed by the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra with internationally renowned soprano Measha Brueggergosman and a special Canada 150 Choir.

***** (out of 5)
The first prerequisite of great Chopin playing is arguably beauty of tone, as well as refinement and variety… Lortie is a model Chopinist: eloquent but never sentimental, elegant without ever sounding effete, dramatic but never exaggerated, harmonically luminous, structurally immaculate – and surprising.

– BBC Music Magazine

"Lortie's Chopin playing has a wonderful, penetrating directness about it; there's not a trace of dreamy indulgence in any of the nocturnes, though all their decorative tracery shines out with a sharp-cut brilliance, and the impromptus dance and divert without a trace of self-consciousness” – The Guardian

Until the middle of the 1700s the bassoon suffered from a series of technical limitations that retarded it's appreciation until new improvements allowed the classical bassoon (to distinguish it, as we do today, from the baroque instrument) to emerge as a fundamental instrument of ever more complex orchestras. The Ensemble Devienne and bassoonist Massimo Martusciello's new Bongiovanni release features a program of bassoon chamber works by four composers, one from the Classical era (Devienne), an early-Romanti (Danzi) and two 20th c. modernists, Jean Fran�aix and Roberto Molinelli.