An assured and impressive performance, with expressive dynamic shadings, pure intonation, and intelligent phrasing.

...John Rutter and Richard Marlow with their Cambridge choirs here cover all Poulenc's sacred choral music except the Stabat mater... Both sets of performances are very good, with fine balance, expressive dynamic shadings, pure intonation, intelligent phrasing and excellent enunciation—so good that it seems a pity their programmes should overlap for the Penitential and Christmas motets and the three others. The main difference between them is that the acoustics of Trinity College chapel are more resonant than that of University College School hall, used by Rutter (though this has certainly no lack of warmth): as a result, the College choir, already splendidly firm of voice, produces a notably rich sonority... The Regent Chamber Choir...snatches off ends of phrases too abruptly. This habit is very marked in Poulenc's angular and Stravinskyan Mass, in which weight and fullness of tone are lacking in the men (e.g. at the start of the "Gloria"), as becomes very obvious when compared with Marlow's assured and impressive performance (with a very sweet-toned soprano in the "Agnus Dei").

-- Gramophone [10/1988, comparing this CD with Collegium 506 and Regent/Target 101]

If you're very comfortable with your favorite Christmas carol choral arrangements, be prepared to adjust your ears and your sensibility as you listen to these newly commissioned--and sometimes very different--settings by Antony Pitts (who also happens to be a composer, radio producer, and the conductor of the vocal ensemble Tonus Peregrinus). Although Pitts strove to honor the original tunes and to preserve certain familiar aspects of carol singing forms and customs, he wasn't afraid to shake tradition with new harmonies and a few unusual melodies. Of course, how many ways can you harmonize "Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming" and still have it recognizable and singable? Pitts chooses not to tinker very much with this beloved hymn, instead substituting a completely different translation ("Lo, there a Rose is blooming") set to very familiar harmony, gradually introducing dissonances and changing the texture, carefully ornamenting the non-melodic lines. Other pieces are more daring--the melismatic inner parts and flatted sevenths in "While shepherds watched", for example, or the stark, open, fourth- and fifth-oriented harmonies in "O come, o come, Emmanuel".


While Pitts shows fertile imagination and often impressive resourcefulness in rethinking these 24 mostly well-known carols and hymns, some of his ideas are better than others, and occasionally we're left thinking that, well, maybe the traditional version really is the best after all. Among the offerings, which are presented in four thematically organized sections: a "Silent Night" that's just too schmaltzy for its own good; a plodding, tedious "O little town of Bethlehem" (to a tune many won't recognize, complete with theatre-organ tremolo!); a wonderfully dancing "Good King Wenceslas" that enlivens this usually routine song; a weirdly chaotic "Hark the herald angels sing"; a beautiful realization of the 15th-century "Alleluya--a new work"; and an unusual "Away in a manger" that features some delicious harmonies that cleverly illustrate the sound of the "lowing" cattle and the baby awaking. However, rather than describe these as I hear them, you should get this and judge for yourself. You may find some of these arrangements will become your new favorites--or at least welcome alternatives to the ubiquitous Willcocks/Rutter/Oxford Carol Book "standards". At the Naxos budget price, it's a great buy and, if you're interested, the arrangements are available online. [11/30/2004]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

R E V I E W S

As the important, influential Viennese operetta Die Csárdásfürstin has not been captured on many complete recorded versions, it’s particularly nice to welcome this beguiling new one...The music very craftily fuses Vienna with Budapest in a way that hadn’t been heard since Johann Strauss’s 1885 Zigeunerbaron, and was not heard again until Kálmán’s own Gräfin Mariza in 1924...Operetta maven Richard Bonynge has a close connection with Kálmán, having conducted this score in Australia and elsewhere. His enthusiasm for its riches is manifest in this robust yet finely-detailed recording, in which the vaguely klezmer-like Gypsy string and wind underpinnings come through clearly, as played by the Slovak Radio orchestra, which gets the hot-pepper and tokay accentuation stylishly right...Yvonne Kenny sings prettily as Sylva Varescu...Mojca Erdmann is a delightful Countess Stasi...Naxos adds some Kálmán extras at the end and includes a brief speaking cameo by the composer’s daughter, Yvonne." -- Opera News, April 2005

This is by no means the first good recording of Emmerich Kálmán’s operetta masterpiece The Gypsy Princess. That honor probably goes to the classic EMI, with Anneliese Rothenberger and Nicolai Gedda...But if you are fond of the Viennese operetta idiom and you don’t know this work or lack a recording of it, this new set is a must.

One of its attributes is the sound quality—and while I don’t have four-channel sound, I do have both two and three-channel setups, and in both of those incarnations this hybrid SACD was a stunning audio achievement. Even played as a standard two-channel CD the sound is warm, richly colored, highly detailed without ever seeming clinical. Naxos indicates that this disc contains three versions of the same music: a 5.1 multichannel DSD surround-sound version, a two-channel DSD version, and a standard two-channel stereo version.

It is, however, musical qualities that most strongly recommend this set, and chief among those is Richard Bonynge’s conducting. I should make clear that I have never been a Bonynge enthusiast, and find that in the classic bel canto operas he recorded with his wife Joan Sutherland his conducting lacked incisiveness, rhythmic spine, and momentum. For that very reason, this performance is astonishing—those are precisely the qualities he brings to Kálmán’s delightful score, along with an affectionate warmth that is in evidence from the first notes of the Prelude. It is hard to imagine a more engaging and involving performance of the score than Bonynge gives here. The two leads, Yvonne Kenny and Michael Roider, sound as if they were born to sing this music, even though one of them (Kenny) is Australian. Roider, born in Salzburg, has a lovely lyric tenor voice and the style in his blood. Kenny’s lyric soprano has long been known to us in Mozart and other “serious” repertoire, but she shows a lovely comedic flair and a natural feel for the line of Kálmán’s music. The rest of the cast is splendid, and the entire thing is a treat. It has the feel of a real performance, despite being a studio recording (made in 2002). The second disc is filled with orchestral excerpts from other Kálmán works, which are well worth hearing, and are conducted with the same skill.

Naxos should have gone to the expense of supplying a full libretto. Their detailed synopsis is very helpful, and probably enough for a work that doesn’t deal in dramatic complexity, but we still miss some of the wit and some of the charm of the piece without having a full text available. Nonetheless, this is a highly recommendable set.

Henry Fogel, FANFARE

When it comes to musical material, a nexus between quality and reception is never a sure thing. Some choice compositions and performances receive their flowers while others slide into relative obscurity. Off the Charts takes an inspired set list of lesser-known works by the likes of Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, Charles Lloyd, Chick Corea and others and brings them back into their well-deserved spotlight. Delving into the past calls for a cast attuned to the present, and Richard Baratta has assembled an incredible lineup. Pianist David Kikoski comes with his own brand of kinetic energy, bassist John Patitucci serves as the backbone of the band, tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi brings his signature sound to the fore, and percussionist Paul Rossman proves to be a vibrant colorist and rhythmic collaborator. Together, with Baratta spurring them on, this crew brings out the best in this superb selection of inspired music.

The one thing all but one of the works on this recording have in common is that they were used in a motion picture, though only six of the eleven songs were written for a specific movie. They cover a fairly long period of cinematic history with Charlie Chaplin's timeless classic, "Smile" being heard in the earliest and latest films on the list: Modern Times (1936) and Joker (2019). It is interesting to note that the album's leader and drummer, Richard Baratta, was an executive producer on Joker. With this Hollywood connection, Baratta's life has been somewhat cinema-centric, but he actually started out as a jazz drummer, working with Butch Morris, Billy Bang, Hal Galper and others. Today Baratta has returned to his jazz roots and his colorful, propulsive drumming is a real highlight of this recording, a follow up to his 2020 release, Music in Film: The Reel Deal. You won't find any lengthy, indulgent solos here but you will smile approvingly at his keenly executed flourishes and mini-breaks. Back in the studio with Baratta is Grammy-nominated arranger and pianist, Bill O'Connell, his years of Latin jazz experience influencing a number of tracks. Alto saxophonist Vincent Herring also returns providing an athletic lead on many selections and some coruscant solo work. With guitarist Paul Bollenback and bassist Michael Goetz rounding out the rhythm section and Paul Rossman providing some additional percussion colors, Richard Baratta takes you on another imaginative, jazz-filled trip to the movies. But you'll have to supply your own popcorn.

Smooth Jazz Icon Richard Elliot has performed and recorded with jazz and R&B superstars Rod Stewart, Smokey Robinson, The Yellow Jackets, Tower Of Power, Bonnie Raitt, just to name a few. With more than 20 top ten smooth jazz singles and number 1 contemporary jazz albums, he has delighted his dedicated fan base worldwide. Straight Up Down, produced by Richard and his long-time collaborator Paul Brown, overflows with Richard's ebullient spirit. Highlights include a deeply moving remake of the S.O.S Band classic "Tell Me (If You Still Care About Me)," Richard's tasty collaboration with Paul Brown, "High Tide," the joyous "Very Delicious," and much more!!

2021 release. Smooth Jazz Icon Richard Elliot has performed and recorded with jazz and R&B superstars Rod Stewart, Smokey Robinson, The Yellow Jackets, Tower Of Power, Bonnie Raitt, just to name a few. With more than 20 top ten smooth jazz singles and number 1 contemporary jazz albums, he has delighted his dedicated fan base from coast to coast. Authentic Life, produced by Richard and his long-time collaborator Rick Braun, overflows with Richard's ebullient spirit. Highlights include the funly Lorber/Elliot original "Snapshot", a deeply moving cover of the Gino Vanelli classic "Living Inside Myself", the uplifting "Boogie, " and Much more!!