Violinist Krzysztof Jakowicz alongside the Witold Lutoslawski Chamber Philharmonic in Lomiza bring us this album filled with beautiful violin works from composers Jarzebski, Vivaldi, Bach, Pachelbel, Haydn, and Lutoslawski. Krzysztof Jakowicz (b. 1939) is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Warsaw, where he studied under Professor Tadeusz Wronski. He is known as one of the most exceptional violinists of our day, and has made numerous recordings for various labels. The Lomza Chamber Philharmonic was founded in 1977 as the Lomza Chamber Orchestra. The ensemble has given more than one thousand concerts across Poland and overseas, and has received countless awards for their achievements and contribution to the musical culture of Poland. They were renamed Chamber Philharmonic in 2008.

Widely regarded as one of America’s pre-eminent living composers, Joan Tower, who is also a pianist, is particularly devoted to chamber music. Organic structures underpin her string quartets; there is ‘heat from within’ and radiance of texture in "Incandescent", her third quartet, virtuosic interplay in No. 4, "Angels", and fluid connections in "White Water", her fifth string quartet. Only the third composer – after Stravinsky and Copland – to be commissioned by the Dumbarton Oaks Foundation, Dumbarton Quintet pursues extremes of moods both romantically consonant and dissonant.

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REVIEW:

Premiere recordings of three quartets and a piano quintet, composed over a 10-year span and performed by two outstanding American quartets. The Fifth Quartet has an aquatic feel and flow, the music leading towards an exquisite, radiant end. The Piano Quintet is a characteristically dynamic and angular score, tempered by the piano's warmth and and an intriguing range of combined sounds.

– Gramophone

These live recordings were performed on traditional Indian instruments, capturing local field recordings of ceremonies, praying recitals and other unique sounds of the holy city of Varanasi in India. + The character of the city is reflected in the authentic, colorful sonic combination of Sanskrit recitals, sounds of streets and animals, ceremonial bells and drums, composed and improvised music, as well as traditional and classical Indian music. + ‘The Sounds of Varanasi’ is a unique story about the intimate atmosphere of Varanasi, about the sounds and the music that is born and lives there.

Robert Still’s four string quartets vividly encapsulate his compositional career. The first two, of which No. 1 was first performed in 1948, display an early inclination towards folk-song and pre- classical models, while Nos. 3 and 4, written during the 1960s “without key”, reflect his later change towards a continental European-influenced method of composition that can be summed up by the abandonment of writing in a tonal style. These world première recordings owe a considerable debt to the editorial expertise of James Dickenson, leader of the Villiers Quartet, who prepared the performance material from the original scores.

MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde • Hans Graf, cond; Jane Henschel (mez); Gregory Kunde (tenor); Houston SO • NAXOS 8.572498 (62:46) Live: Houston 11/19–22/2009


Just as I noted with some dismay the relative dearth of recordings of the original version of Das Lied for full orchestra ( Fanfare 35:4), this new CD arrives from Naxos. It’s also encouraging to see an American orchestra and its music director featured on a major label, since new recordings of orchestras in the U.S. increasingly originate from in-house labels like SFS Media and CSO Resound (though the lack of the former necessitated the latter).


Any performance of Das Lied lives or dies by its soloists, and taste in voices is a particularly individual foible. I’ve found that I have no tolerance for the type of ripe, chocolate-thick mezzo or contralto common to many recordings (and that, alas, includes such greats as Maureen Forrester and Kathleen Ferrier). Given those constraints, I find this performance to be one of the best I’ve heard.


Gregory Kunde is described in the bio included in the notes as a bel canto singer, but he proves more than adequate in the Heldentenor demands of “Der Trinklied” (hard to fake in a live concert recording). His sensitivity to the text, however, may be his strongest quality; the reiterations of “dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod” are each sung with a slight diminuendo and a touch of melancholy that are truly heartfelt. His lyrical side is heard to salubrious effect in “Von der Jugend,” while the two styles combine to make “Der Trunkene” a rousing, tipsy delight.


Jane Henschel, the voice of Maria Aegyptiaca for Eliahu Inbal, Simon Rattle, and Bertrand DeBilly in their respective recordings of Mahler’s Eighth, is a fine Mahler interpreter. Her performance of “Der Abschied” will stand up to most of the competition, but I am also taken with her handling of the fast section describing the handsome youths in “Von der Schönheit”: In a manner approaching Sprechstimme , she navigates the treacherous waters with aplomb, then immediately regains the more stately composure of the rest of the narrative. In “Der Einsame” she combines melancholy and resignation with quiet effectiveness.


Hans Graf accompanies with sensitivity and well-gauged tempos that neither drag nor rush; he allows Henschel the breathing room in “Von der Schönheit” while charging “Der Trinklied” with the kind of momentum needed to convey the angst of the narrator. The Houston Symphony plays as to the manner born. I haven’t heard too much Mahler from this source, but on the strength of this recording, I’d like to hear more. The sound production is another sterling effort by Michael Fine, placing the soloists front and center without undue spotlighting, and revealing plenty of inner voice detailing from the orchestra. Altogether, this is a real bargain at reduced price (texts and translation are available on the Naxos website). Highly recommended.


FANFARE: Christopher Abbot


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Time was when Naxos recordings of core repertoire would be considered cheap and cheerful, but hardly designed to compete with the best in the catalogue. That has long since changed, with a growing number of discs that, while still sold at the super-budget price point, are every bit as desirable as established or more expensive performances. Certainly, Antoni Wit’s Mahler Eight must be at or near the top of the list of recommendations for that work, proof that great Mahler recordings don’t all emanate from Vienna, Berlin or Lucerne.
 
The Houston Symphony Orchestra and their Linz-born music director Hans Graf are both unfamiliar to me, as are the soloists, but as I’ve already hinted that’s hardly an issue where this label is concerned. Indeed, listening to a number of more illustrious recordings in preparation for this review I was reminded of just how difficult it is to alight on an ideal – or near ideal – version of this elusive score. Either the mezzo isn’t up to the sustained demands of that long goodbye or the tenor is overstretched by Mahler’s taxing tessitura; and even if the soloists are up to snuff, the articulation and pacing of the music itself may be problematic. And then there’s the recording quality which, while not the key issue, plays an important part in one’s perception of – and response to - this multi-hued score.
 
Of my selected comparisons two – Raymond Leppard on BBC Radio Classics 9120 and Bernard Haitink on Philips 468 182-2 – feature the limpid tones of Dame Janet Baker. The clarity and directness of her vocal style is always pleasing, and while I don’t share Tony Duggan’s out-and-out enthusiasm for Baker/Leppard and the Alfreda Hodgson/Jascha Horenstein version on BBC Legends 4042-2, I like them rather more than my colleague Marc Bridle does. In particular, Baker’s Der Abschied with Leppard – recorded at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall in 1977 – has a high goose-bump count, and while she sings with characteristic commitment for Haitink she lacks the intensity of feeling that makes the Leppard disc so memorable.
 
Kathleen Ferrier for Bruno Walter (Decca 466 576-2) and Christa Ludwig for Otto Klemperer (EMI 5 66892 2) are her main rivals, although Ferrier’s artless, somewhat old-fashioned, delivery doesn’t appeal to me. Heresy, I know, but I’ve often wondered whether Walter’s link to Mahler and Ferrier’s early death have given this recording a lustre it doesn’t always deserve. And among more recent recordings Cornelia Kallisch sounds warm but all-too-often uninvolved on Michael Gielen’s otherwise admirable version (Hänssler 93.269). Of the men, John Mitchinson – for Horenstein and Leppard – struggles with Mahler’s near-falsetto writing, while Haitink’s James King – placed quite far back - is rather more secure, if a little too generalised for my tastes. Walter’s tenor, Julius Patzak, is full-bodied but a trifle staid, heldentenor Siegfried Jerusalem and the agile Fritz Wunderlich – for Gielen and Klemperer respectively – both fresh and virile.
 
How does the Houston recording fare in this mixed company? In Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde Gregory Kunde sounds pleasing enough, although his voice is less appealing under pressure; at first I felt the orchestra was rather backwardly balanced, but it suits the intimate scale of this performance. The real revelation, though, is Graf, whose reading of the score is very impressive indeed, becoming more insightful as the piece unfolds. He can’t quite match Klemperer for sheer amplitude and nuance, but he does find an astonishing lucidity that works especially well in the trembling loveliness of ‘Der Einsame im Herbst’.
 
In that song mezzo Jane Henschel sings most hauntingly of the loneliness and the transience of life, her delivery discreet but always subtly inflected. In many ways she is the antithesis of Baker, who sometimes strives a little too hard for effect, notably in her recording for Haitink. And while Henschel doesn’t efface memories of Ludwig here, I was captivated by her glowing, unforced response to Bethge’s texts, notably Von der Schönheit. I particularly liked her honeyed lower registers, but again it’s Graf’s lightness of touch and natural rhythms that beguile the mind and ear.
 
Kunde may be overstretched as the drunkard but his delivery has a youthful charm that’s entirely apt; that said, Jerusalem and Wunderlich negotiate those treacherous vocal lines with aplomb, their innig moments more finely calibrated. In terms of sonics the Naxos disc may not be as weighty or tactile as Gielen’s, or as atmospheric as Leppard’s, but at least it isn’t as rough and ready as Horenstein’s. As for the much-lauded Philips sound for Haitink, it isn’t nearly as refulgent as I remember it. The EMI recording for Klemperer is big and bold and, in its GROC version at least, hardly shows its age at all.
 
And despite initial caveats about the Naxos soundstage I have to say the convulsive gong shudder at the start of Der Abschied is just electrifying, ushering in half-an-hour of sublime music and even more sublime singing. For me, Ludwig is sans pareil here, a perfect match for Klemperer’s stoicism, but I can assure you Henschel is just as commanding of mood and line. This is an abendrot like no other, the trembling air suffused with the scents of loveliness and decay. The Houstonians really do capture the evanescence of this music very well indeed; as for Graf, he maintains a sensible and steady pulse throughout, achieving a rare blend of poise and penetration as well. Thankfully the audience is very quiet, and there’s no applause at the end to break this deep, deep spell.
 
Is there an ideal recording of Das Lied von der Erde? Probably not, but as the talents of this newcomer are so prodigious and its faults so minor I’d say this one comes pretty close.
 
-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International

Emerging around the beginning of the 19th century, Gypsy brass bands developed from Turkish military bands.; The performing ensemble on this release, Fanfara din Cozmesti, is one of the most well known Romanian Gypsy brass bands performing today.; This release includes an extensive booklet with information about the fifteen band members and each of the songs on the album.

Scored for as few as three marimbas or as many as a hundred percussion instruments plus celesta, harp and piano, these five striking works by contemporary American composers abound in fascinating rhythms, ingenious combinations and juxtapositions.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of their first stage appearance, Singer Pur presents it's first and only pop production release. Singer Pur has won various awards including the first prize in the 1994 Deutscher Musikwettbewerd and a year later, the Grand Prix for vocal ensembles at the international Tampere Music Festival. They have toured in over 40 countries and performed with orchestras such as the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra Berlin and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne.

‘Christmas In Ireland’, featuring guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and singer Noel McLoughlin & multi-instrumentalist, singer, teacher, composer and arranger Ger O’Donnell offers real traditional Christmas favorites from Ireland and ‘all over’, inviting listeners to sing along in the true spirit of Christmas. + Among its thirteen seasonal tracks are ‘The Holly and the Ivy’, ‘O’ Little Town of Bethlehem’, ‘Oh Christmas Tree’ (an English translation of the German carol ‘Oh Tannenbaum’), ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ and ‘Auld Lang Syne’.

Viguela have been dedicated to traditional music from the center of the Iberian Peninsula for thirty years. In 2014 Viguela began reviewing their own approach to the interpretation of traditional music, taking a step further in recovering their archaic musical language- focusing on the person's interpretation and musicality rather than techniques taught at academies. They perform not only at renowned festivals such as WOMAD in 2017 but also on the streets of Spain. As a 100% acoustic band, Viguela can bring their street "ronda" to any place and sing to your public face to face. "... one of the greatest folk groups from the heart of Spain... " (World Music Central) "... Filled with creativity, optimism and joy." (Folkways) "... Full of reality, human presence, intensity- musically and technically perfect." (Mazurkas of the World Festival)

Petr Eben is considered to be one of the Czech Republic's leading contemporary composers. His organ compositions explore new territory in regard to playing techniques, sound and subject matter. His goal is to convey a message to listeners, through commentaries or - as in his Second Organ Concerto - by prefixing his scores with a motto. Formal clarity and understandability are a requirement for him. His music is characterized by free tonality that always includes tonal sections. Gunther Rost was able to win two prominent guest musicians for this CD: Tine Ting Helseth (trumpet) and Babette Haag (percussion).