Unclassified Affections is the entrancing new release from drummer and composer Dan Weiss that features the convergence of some of the most intriguing musicians on the scene: Peter Evans on trumpet, Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, and Miles Okazaki on guitar. The new compositions, which were written by Weiss specifically for these musicians, range from deep, meditative moments to intense, high-energy peaks, while every track unveils a new layer of exploration. Brennan's sonorous mallet work contrasts with Evans' sharp, inventive trumpet lines, while Okazaki's guitar weaves intricate webs of harmony and dissonance, all underpinned by Weiss' hypnotic rhythms. The Layers of rhythmic and contrapuntal interaction flow effortlessly, framed by a ghostly silence, with plenty of room given to improvisation. Together, they weave a profound, mysterious spell that is shrouded with concealed meaning. It's another transcendent project from a truly unclassifiable artist. MUSICIANS Peter Evans - Trumpet Patricia Brennan - Vibraphone Miles Okazaki - Guitar Dan Weiss - Drums

Unclassified Affections is the entrancing new release from drummer and composer Dan Weiss that features the convergence of some of the most intriguing musicians on the scene: Peter Evans on trumpet, Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, and Miles Okazaki on guitar. The new compositions, which were written by Weiss specifically for these musicians, range from deep, meditative moments to intense, high-energy peaks, while every track unveils a new layer of exploration. Brennan's sonorous mallet work contrasts with Evans' sharp, inventive trumpet lines, while Okazaki's guitar weaves intricate webs of harmony and dissonance, all underpinned by Weiss' hypnotic rhythms. The Layers of rhythmic and contrapuntal interaction flow effortlessly, framed by a ghostly silence, with plenty of room given to improvisation. Together, they weave a profound, mysterious spell that is shrouded with concealed meaning. It's another transcendent project from a truly unclassifiable artist. Peter Evans - Trumpet Patricia Brennan - Vibraphone Miles Okazaki - Guitar Dan Weiss - Drums

WILD NIGHTS! • Scott Weiss, cond; Vince Gnojek (s sax); Univ of Kansas Wind Ens • NAXOS 8.572129 (60:23)


TICHELI Wild Nights! DZUBAY Shadow Dance. Bryant Dusk. ETEZADY Anahita. MACKEY Soprano Saxophone Concerto


A wild night, indeed! This isn’t exactly warm-breezy-night-on-the-square band fare, though it would certainly make an exciting concert if the municipal ensemble were up to the considerable virtuosic demands. As we know from their earlier Naxos release, “Redline Tango” (8.570074), the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble has virtuosity to burn. As in that inaugural release of the Naxos Winds Band Classics series, they produce a superb blend and sonority; brilliant and thrillingly massive in full flight and—thanks in large part to a collection of outstanding section soloists—beautifully refined in quieter passages. “Redline Tango” was conducted by long-time Director of Bands John Lynch, who left a fine legacy of technical excellence, musical sensitivity, and dedication to new music. Scott Weiss, holder of the director’s position since Lynch’s retirement in 2007, has plainly maintained the high standards.


The title work of the album starts the proceedings with a swagger. With high energy and high spirited, it lies stylistically somewhere between Copland’s An Outdoor Overture and Bernstein’s more manic moments. Inspired by the Emily Dickenson poem of the same name, it is more about the joy and ecstasy in that work than anything of the poet’s repressed sexual desires. In any case, jazzy and full of surprises, it is the perfect program opener.


Equally effective are David Dzubay’s magical Shadow Dance , a revisitation of Pérotin’s Viderunt omnes and John Mackey’s hyperactive Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble. Dzubay takes the concept of organum to remarkable extremes, creating a frenzied, irreverent modern equivalent of the 13th-century composer’s primitive polyphony. It has little to do with the medieval—excepting, of course, the concluding monk-like chanting of the cantus firmus —but everything to do with joyful celebration of the past. The Mackey Concerto, homage to his teacher John Corigliano, is five movements of nonstop technical demands on the soloist. Flanked by a Prelude and Finale that in themselves would provide a challenging work, the three inner movements celebrate the three materials in the saxophone. “Felt” shows off key work, with wild note bending and alternate fingerings. “Metal” exploits the beauty of the brass, with the sax playing high and sweetly, attended by bells and chimes. “Wood” displays the instrument’s warmth in a sensuous tango. Vince Gnojek, professor of saxophone at the University of Kansas, may not have the sweetest tone—more a reedy American jazz sound than a French quality—but his technical skill is staggering and he is matched by the band members who get an amazing workout.


The other two works, Steven Bryant’s Dusk , a chorale work that shows off the band’s beautiful control and Roshanne Etezady’s three-movement Anahita , inspired by a mural of the Zoroastrian goddess of the night, are attractive, but less-distinctive works. The locally produced recording has great dynamics but not a lot of air around the ensemble, and loud climaxes become congested. It is hard to tell if it is the hall or the miking, but it is not enough to detract significantly from the overall excellent impression. Enough said: those looking for Sousa and Broadway medleys, head for the ol’ band shell. Lovers of top-drawer wind bands and high octane, listener-friendly contemporary charts should apply within. And pick up that earlier Naxos release as well. Great stuff.


FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

The first recording of the complete consort music of little known 17th century composer David Funck. The 1677 publication Strictuae Viola-di Gambicae is the only surviving music by David Funck (1648-1699), of whom very little else is known. Stricturae Viola-di Gambice is a collection of dance suites for four viols. This recording features performances by influential performers in the early music scene, hailing from Oberlin, Julliard, Yale, McGill and Boston University.

Finnish composer Jaakko Mantyjarvi (b. 1963) has written some of the finest choral music of the past 50 years. To date, this semi-professional musician, whose output consists mostly of choral works, has had over one hundred of them published. Founded in 2009, the chamber choir Cor Cantiamo’s mission objective is to perform and promote contemporary choral music and foster new composers for the art form. Eric A. Johnson D.M.A. is Cor Cantiamo’s Founding Artistic Director.

This is the Morton Gould album to get, especially for the Symphony No. 4, subtitled "West Point." The piece is interesting, convincing, and accomplished. The performance is superb, and the sound quality is simply stunning.

The most popular of Morton Gould's clear-cut, distinctive compositions have become less often heard in the recent years since his passing. He composed many more pieces than most people have heard and he achieved numerous commissions, hence there are many occasional pieces marking special events as well as pieces for specific ensembles. Gould's bright orchestration combined melodic turns from American folksong, jazz, gospel and blues peppered with colorful splashes of deftly applied 20th century dissonance and snappy dance rhythms, makes his music distinctively recognizable. One can however grow weary from overexposure to his bag of tricks so unless you absolutely love the Gould sound, acquiring albums that have good performances of his most popular works points to where to start if Gould is new to you. This distinctiveness is particularly noteworthy in his writing for wind instruments found on this album. He had a good ear for combining instruments to produce new colors.

The Naxos CD offers several big pluses. Anyone who played in a high school, college or university symphonic band probably played a Gould piece at one time or another and will want this album but whether you did or not, this is the Morton Gould album to get, especially for the Symphony No. 4 subtitled "West Point". The piece really is interesting, convincing and accomplished yet without the slick, facile quality found in some of Gould's lighter, entertaining works. The performance is superb and the sound quality is simply stunning. The other pieces on the album are also of interest. All of this, plus the price, places this release by the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble under Scott Weiss above the much older but otherwise excellent, classic Eastman Wind Ensemble recording conducted by Frederick Fennell. The piece was commissioned by the United States Military Band in 1952 and is not just a ceremonial work but instead, a serious, true symphony with a sustained melodic and contrapuntal development, particularly in the second movement, that draws you in and leads you through many fascinating moments.

The other works, though not on the level of the symphony, are worth hearing. With its musical depiction the trumpeting that brings down the walls in a straight-forward and obvious way, Jericho will thrill some listeners and bore the jaded. There doesn't seem to be a deeper meaning to this piece, just a well-written musical depiction of the fall of Jericho. The trumpet calls might remind you of Jerry Goldsmith's film score for Patton.

The Saint Lawrence Suite, composed for the Saint Lawrence Power Project is also of immediate melodic appeal. Cast in four dance-like movements, it is the kind of piece that if programed on a classical radio station will hit listeners just right prompting calls requesting to know what it is. This music is greatly aided by the fine musicianship of the University of Kansas players.

There is also the suite titled Derivations, written for clarinetist Benny Goodman and the rarely heard Fanfare for Freedom which was commissioned, along with Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, for wartime concerts. Even in the lesser works, the great sound quality and musicianship carry the day and it is the 4th Symphony that is the masterpiece in its best performance on record.

– Greg La Traille, ArkivMusic.com

This new studio recording contains three works for piano and orchestra that virtuoso pianist Orion Weiss and conductor Leon Botstein first performed in concert at the Bard Music Festival. Together, the three works span almost a century of musical Romanticism and are as different from one another as the generations they represent. In each piece, the virtuoso genre becomes a means by which the composer responds to a specific source of inspiration—in the first case (Korngold), a performer and family friend who had suffered a horrendous tragedy, in the second (Rimsky Korsakov), a venerated old master, and in the third (Chopin) a melody from a beloved opera.

REVIEWS:

All the performances on this album, featuring the brilliant pianist Orion Weiss, are excellent.

– New York Times

Thoroughly entertaining.

– BBC Music Magazine

Purity of Sound and Perfect Craftsmanship Marked Anton Webern's Journey from His Intensely Expressive Early Songs Through to the New Perspectives Cultivated in His Opp. 23 and 25 Settings. Webern 'Rehabilitated the Power of Sound' and in So Doing Broke New Ground in the Bagatelles for String Quartet and in the String Quartet, Op. 28. This Recording, Completing Mr. Craft's Second Webern Cycle, Is Rounded Off with the Powerful Cantata, Op. 29 and Webern's 1923 Arrangement of Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, Op. 9. Throughout His Career, Robert Craft (B. 1923) Has Conducted Symphonic, Orchestral, Operatic and Large Ensemble Performances, Including World Premiere Works By Leading 20th C. Composers. His Many Recordings of Music By Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern Recordings for the Naxos Label Have Received Critical Acclaim, Up to and Including Grammy Award Nominations.

Zoltán Kodály’s later years were dominated by a series of choral works but his early reputation centered upon chamber music, notably two string quartets, a Cello Sonata (8.553160) and the two masterpieces heard on this recording. The Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 combines Classical form with folk influence, while the Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8, with its expanded harmonies and tone colours, is one of the greatest solo cello works since Bach’s Cello Suites. György Ligeti continued the Hungarian lineage with his Sonata for Solo Cello, a succinct but pivotal work in his compositional development. Gabriel Schwabe has established himself among the leading cellists of his generation. He is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions, including the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann and the Concours Rostropovich in Paris. In 2009, he won the prestigious Pierre Fournier Award in London. He is a regular guest at festivals such as the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, the Kronberg Academy Festival and the Amsterdam Biennale, and has performed with artists including Isabelle Faust, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt, Kirill Gerstein and Jonathan Gilad.

REVIEWS:

Schwabe’s magnificent interpretation of Kodaly’s Solo Sonata op. 8, another of the masterpieces of the cello repertoire, is declamatorily expressive and no less excellent for its polished sound. A perfect intonation and a lot of refinement as well as wonderful dynamic and colour nuances make up the richness of Schwabe’s playing.

With this CD, Schwabe has definitely given further proof of his mastery. Highly recommended!

-- Pizzicato

The tonal palette here is expanded by the inclusion of Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Cello, in which Schwabe’s musicianship is matched by that of Hellen Weiss…This is also important music and—in the hands of such players—essential listening.

-- BBC Music Magazine

"• Though hailing from different eras, postwar Italian experimentalist Luciano Berio and contemporary composer Huang Ruo are united here in their exploration of identical • pieces of violin music played solo and with ensemble accompaniment. Acclaimed violinist David Bowlin reveals how two seemingly identical paths can be marked by endless contrasts. • Features the Oberlin Conservatory's award-winning Contemporary Music Ensemble under the direction of Timothy Weiss."

Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy® Award, Christopher Rouse is one of America’s most prominent composers of orchestral music, creating a body of work perhaps unequaled in its emotional intensity. Conceived from the start as differing from a traditional piano concerto, Seeing brings together seemingly disparate elements to explore the notion of ‘sanity’ through the music of Robert Schumann and Skip Spence, swinging between extremes of consonance and dissonance, stability and instability, to create a disorientating and hallucinatory work seen through the lens of mental illness. Kabir Padavali or ‘Kabir Songbook’ presents a range of the great Indian poet’s religious concerns, from extraordinarily beautiful ecstasy to impishly humorous allegories.

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Review:

Trevigne is nothing less than sensational. She is assured in her presentation, and possesses a warm and, yes, voluptuous soprano that is perfectly matched to this material. Her performance shows a level of commitment to the composer’s intentions that only the best singers of contemporary music can command.

– Fanfare