Emanuel Ax has made the Haydn sonatas his own in recent years; certainly few "major label" pianists have bothered to explore these delightful works systematically, and Sony deserves credit for supporting him in his efforts. The results certainly make a powerful case for following where the artist leads (when, as here, the artist knows where he is going), for both this and Ax's previous Haydn discs have been excellent in all respects, and he has been very enterprising in his mixture of familiar and unfamiliar works.
The sonatas included here offer a typically broad representation of Haydn's range as a keyboard composer. The most famous of them is No. 49 in C-sharp minor, with its tragic minuet finale (here played with a powerful sense of barely muted grief). No other composer lavished so much attention on this simple dance form and discovered in it so much variety of expression. Note how appropriately Ax varies the pace of this dark piece as compared to the jaunty minuet finale of Sonata No. 34 in D.
Two sonatas in A-flat major, Nos. 31 and 35, open and close the program. No. 31 is a big work (nearly 20 minutes) and Ax plays it as such, with the bold contrasts of the broadly paced first movement and brilliant finale enfolding a poetic central Adagio. The concluding A-flat sonata brings the program to a very satisfying conclusion, its Moderato-Minuet-Presto sequence of movements providing a steady acceleration of excitement that Ax takes particular care to project effectively.
As a centerpiece, there's the big E-flat major Sonata No. 29, and here Ax avoids possible monotony between the opening Moderato and the ensuing Andante of nearly equal length. It's a beautifully paced performance, with a particularly jubilant account of the concluding Allegro di molto, one of Haydn's biggest sonata finales. The high-level recording sounds a touch bright in the loudest passages, but otherwise richly supports a program that will give listeners unalloyed pleasure.
Prokofiev: Piano Concertos 1, 3; Sonatas 2, 3 / Graffman
Sony Masterworks
Available as
CD
$11.99
Jun 06, 2006
The Graffman/Szell recordings of Prokofiev's First and Third Piano Concertos gained "classic" status almost from their original release, and they still hold up very well. While the First Concerto may not have quite the glittering edge that Martha Argerich brings to it, there is certainly no want of virtuosity on Graffman's part, and it practically goes without saying that Szell and Cleveland are terrific. They are particularly wonderful in the Third Concerto's central variations, whose dry wit seems tailor-made for these performers. The two sonatas are equally impressive, with Graffman's unfailingly intelligent shaping of the Second Sonata's big opening movement and his romp through the single-movement Third Sonata obstinately memorable. The sonics have dated a bit in the four decades since original release, but hardly so as to distract from the interpretive excellence on hand, with the DSD remastering very sensitively accomplished.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Prokofiev: Piano Concertos 1, 3; Sonatas 2, 3 / Graffman
$11.99
CD
Sony Masterworks
Jun 06, 2006
82876787432
CODEBREAKER
TAO FORMS
Available as
CD
$14.49
Nov 05, 2021
Matthew Shipp takes an introspective turn on his latest solo piano album, continuing to discover new territory for his singular cosmic pianism. Codebreaker encrypts rich harmonies, cloud-like clusters, and the unlikely confluence of Bill Evans and Bud Powell
CODEBREAKER
$14.49
CD
TAO FORMS
Nov 05, 2021
TAOF7.2
KEEP ON COMIN
WOUNDED BIRD RECORDS
Available as
CD
$12.49
Jul 25, 2006
Jimmy Smith is widely regarded as one of the premier Jazz keyboardists of all time, specializing on the organ. He has had loads of charting albums, a rare thing for a Jazz artist. This reissue of his 1983 album features seven tracks including 'Be Yourself', 'Summertime' and more.. Featured players on this CD are Kenny Burrell & Johnny Griffin. Wounded Bird. 2006.
Pursuing a musical career was no easy matter for women in the nineteenth century, but Louise Farrenc’s character and determination resulted in her becoming a respected part of the European scene, and the first ever female senior professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire. Farrenc’s Second Symphony owes something to Mozartian models, with imaginative writing for winds and hints of Beethoven. The Third Symphony is notable for a richness of harmonic writing which, in its color and lyricism, is reminiscent of Mendelssohn and Schumann.
Zoot Sims had an extraordinary recording career which began in the late 1940s and which continued until the mid-1980s, shortly before his death. This 4 CD collection features eight albums from his heyday, on which he performed as leader or co-leader, and which best illustrate Zoot's majestic approach to music and his quite stunning musicianship. Coming from the period 1953 - 1960, among it's features are the finest albums Sims made with Al Cohn, the quite stunning Tenor Conclave, made with John Coltrane, Hank Mobley and Al Cohn, and - among several other masterpieces - A Gasser, made with vocalist Ann Ross. Certain to delight both newcomers to the great man's work, and those already smitten by this celebrated Jazz-man, this compilation works on just about every level and is certain to become one of the most popular compilations of Zoot Sims' finest music.
Pezel’s Opus Musicum Sonatarum Praestantissimarum Senis Instrumentis Instructum, or “Musical Publication of the Finest Sonatas for Old/Revered Instruments,” was published in Frankfurt in 1686. It may well have been a joint commission from all of the members of the ancient Six Cities’ Alliance, for a handsome sum was paid for it by each: Bautzen, Görlitz, Lauban, Kamenz, Löbau, and Zittau. (Pezel himself was then employed as Stadtmusikant, or director of instrumental music, in Bautzen, a prestigious post in what was at the time a decent-sized metropolis.) The work consists of 24 sonatas given alphabetical names, such as Sonata Abella in G Major, and Sonata Bacca in D Minor. In addition, there is a final Sonata Ciacona that features an eight-chord bass ostinato in its ripieno sections, which is doubled and extended again by a further four chords for concertato statements. It’s a fairly massive single movement of its variational type for its time and place, though such things were more common in Elizabethan keyboard music.
The Alphabet Sonatas themselves are actually proto-sonatas, meaning that they’re a grab bag of movements strung together, often in the same key. They descend from the first wave of violinist-composers who emerged from the late 16th century courts of the Sforza who ruled Milan, and the Este who ruled Ferrara. But where those Italian sonatas mixed dances, highly imitative contrapuntal movements, and dramatic recitative, often with highly chromatic harmonic progressions, Pezel’s sonatas include homophonic dances, less complex examples of counterpoint, and the occasional voluntary, all of it less venturesome harmonically. The composer’s previous experience as a Kunstgeiger (city-employed fiddler) and later Stadtpfeifer (member of a typical loud ensemble, with cornetts and sackbuts) in Leipzig can be heard in the distinctively instrumental character of wind, brass, or strings in various movements; though the work was published in seven string parts, with continuo furnished by bassoon and an unspecified additional instrument.
As to why Pezel would give his sonatas feminine names drawn from Greco-Roman history and mythology: Like many academics since the late Middle Ages, he relished showing off knowledge garnered from the Attic Greeks and Romans. So the Sonata Dejanira refers to the tragically unconfident woman who was married to Heracles, while the Sonata Quinquatria highlights the Roman festival held in honor of the goddess Minerva. None of this has any bearing on the music itself.
Acronym is a string ensemble formed in 2012 specifically for this CD project. But as only nine of its 12 members perform here, and other projects including tours are underway, we can safely assume the group has taken on a life separate from Pezel’s work. It was still common enough during Pezel’s lifetime for music to be performed in any variety of arrangements, reduced or augmented, as circumstances warranted. Here, the continuo is provided by either of two performers who handle the honors for theorbo and guitar, and harpsichord and organ, while there’s some trading off among viols and violas—as Pezel didn’t specify da bracchia or da gamba.
The performances of the livelier dance movements have a fine rhythmic bounce, especially the start of the Sonata Nabathea. Any unison playing on this release has a rich, full sound. Individual instrumentalists can at times display an unattractive tone, however, made more evident because none of the performers use vibrato. (As Sergiu Luca once told me, just because you don’t use vibrato doesn’t mean you have to display an ugly tone. Quite the opposite. You don’t have vibrato to cover for you, and have to work to improve your sound.) The Sonata Ciacona exposes this mercilessly, with a very occasional note tonally off-center. Most of the playing aside from this is first-rate, while tempos are varied and well-sustained. There’s an attractive legato in slower movements, and a judicious amount of accenting on both the beat and at cadences.
A final word or 111 about the liner notes. Written by one of Acronym’s musicians, they evidently draw upon some historians of Leipzig who are very much of the Annales School, emphasizing cultural matters by way of source studies in surviving town hall records, legal documents, etc. It’s a pleasure to read someone take such joy in relating more than the usual born/educated/married/died information, right down to the social distinctions between the various music guilds: the Kunstgeigeren, Stadtpfeiferen, lowly Bierfiedlers, and the haughty trumpet players, the top-of-the-heap Kammeradschaft—even to mentioning the brawls on record that resulted when some Stadtpfeiferen employed trombones provocatively shaped and played like trumpets, but with alternative names.
All in all, these are successful readings of attractive music. Recommended.
FANFARE: Barry Brenesal
Pezel: The Alphabet Sonatas
$18.99
CD
Olde Focus Recordings
Feb 25, 2014
FCR903
Jazz Violin Session
WOUNDED BIRD RECORDS
Available as
CD
$11.99
Sep 03, 2021
Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin Session is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1963 but not released on the Atlantic label until 1976.
Jazz Violin Session
$11.99
CD
WOUNDED BIRD RECORDS
Sep 03, 2021
WUND1688.2
EARLY ALBUMS & RARE GROOVES
ENLIGHTENMENT
Available as
CD
$14.99
$12.99
Jul 12, 2019
Among the most celebrated and respected saxophonists of the post-bop age, Wayne Shorter's influence on the entire jazz spectrum remains as potent and relevant today as ever it did. Having come to prominence with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the late 1950s, and played in Miles Davis' 'second great quintet' from the mid-60s, Shorter is remembered best as one of the founding members of the legendary Weather Report. However, the albums on which he served as leader, released between 1959 and 1964, best represent the output of this iconic musician, bandleader and composer. This 4CD boxset highlights the early, albeit crucial, years of Wayne Shorter's solo career, both as bandleader and as contributor. A true pioneer in jazz, this collection serves as both the ideal starting place for those new to the great man's work, and as a delightful reminder of it's depth and colour, for those already familiar.
On Sale
EARLY ALBUMS & RARE GROOVES
$14.99
$12.99
CD
ENLIGHTENMENT
Jul 12, 2019
ENLT9166.2
Giovanni Sammartini: Symphonies / Mallon, Aradia Ensemble
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
Nov 15, 2005
Giovanni Battista Sammartini (St. Martini, San Martini, etc.) is another of those almost countless composers whose names have more or less fallen into the cracks in the floor of music history. Born in late 1700 or early 1701 in Milan, Sammartini?an oboist?spent all his life in the city. He was the seventh of eight children born to a French father, Alexis St. Martin, an oboist who emigrated to Italy, and an Italian mother.
Sammartini was well established in his hometown by the time he was 25. His Christmas oratorio, Gesu bambino adorato dall? pastori, was composed in 1726 and performed to unanimous critical and public acclaim, although the German flutist and composer J. J. Quantz wrote in less than complimentary terms of Sammartini?s musical gifts; apparently Quantz had been possessed by the proverbial Green-Eyed Monster.
The 1730s saw a steady stream of well-written symphonies, concertos, sonatas, and dramatic works from Sammartini?s pen. His music also began to receive recognition outside of Italy; his initial foray into the genre of opera, Memet, was performed in Lodi in 1732 and possibly in Vienna the same year. It wasn?t long before Sammartini had become the leading figure in the earliest symphonic school in Europe. It included such now-obscure names as Brioschi, Galimberti, Giulini, Lampugnani, and Chiesa.
In spite of his reputation in Italy, Sammartini?s music was better known beyond its borders. Publishers such as Leclerc (Paris) and Walsh (London) engraved Sammartini?s music, and one of his symphonies was performed in Amsterdam in 1738. In Paris, the Concert Spirituel performed a Sammartini symphony in 1751; his music was equally popular in England, being admired and praised by the Duke of Cumberland, brother of George III.
Sammartini?s 67 surviving symphonies exhibit the gradual but dramatic stylistic shift from the Baroque to the Classical idiom; the six recorded here stem from his early period (1724?39) to around 1750. In addition to the obvious and expected stylistic progression, Sammartini also increased and strengthened the orchestra in his later symphonies by adding parts for oboes, horns, and trumpets. Most of the early symphonies omit violas; the middle symphonies employ trumpets and horns, and the late symphonies?none of which are offered here?include independent parts for oboes.
Kevin Mallon and his exceptional little band have a string of fine recordings on Naxos, including instrumental music by Boyce, Wassenaer, and Boismortier; there are also recordings of choral and vocal music by Caldara and Wanhal. Furthermore, they have begun a cycle of Vivaldi?s sacred music. Mallon?s musicians are well tuned to the repertoire they have recorded, and in each and every CD from Naxos they demonstrate an exceptional command of their period instruments. Stylistic idiosyncrasies are bypassed; instead, Mallon opts for sound musical judgment, resulting in a release that is leisurely paced, but never lacking in vitality, excitement, or commitment. The running time of the disc?just over an hour?is somewhat stingy and could have allowed for the inclusion of one of the later symphonies and a broader picture of Sammartini?s work in the genre, but I won?t complain in excess, for what is here has delighted this auditor repeatedly.
FANFARE: Michael Carter
Giovanni Sammartini: Symphonies / Mallon, Aradia Ensemble
$19.99
CD
Naxos
Nov 15, 2005
8557298
Crisis
SAVANT
Available as
CD
$16.49
Nov 12, 2021
Detroit-born jazz drummer Louis Hayes arrived in New York when he was 19 to join the Horace Silver ensemble, making his recording debut with the pianist on Six Pieces of Silver, the following year. Over the next 60 years Hayes amassed a staggeringly great body of work, playing and recording with Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Peterson, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, Cedar Walton, Sonny Rollins, Woody Shaw and many more of the giants of modern music. Continuing this legacy of excellence with his new Savant recording, Hayes pays tribute to some of his jazz colleagues past and present with a set-list featuring works by Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Farrell, vibraphonist Steve Nelson and bassist Dezron Douglas along with one of his own original compositions. With David Hazeltine at the piano rounding out the all-star rhythm section and the acclaimed saxophonist Abraham Burton leading the charge out in front, the band alternately caress and careen through their material with tasteful arrangements and memorable solos. Also on hand is the multi-instrumentalist and composer Camille Thurman displaying her vocal prowess on two tracks.
Crisis
$16.49
CD
SAVANT
Nov 12, 2021
SAVT2192.2
MOON STARS & SETTING SUN
SHANACHIE
Available as
CD
$17.49
Jan 20, 1998
The follow-up to this talented guitarist's #1 smooth jazz breakthrough album takes him a step further with both radio-friendly originals and sparkling covers of Boys II Men's "Water Runs Dry" and James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely." Special guests include Nelson Rangell, Andy Snitzer and Bob James.
MOON STARS & SETTING SUN
$17.49
CD
SHANACHIE
Jan 20, 1998
SHA5038.2
FANTASTIC 4 SOUNDTRACK
Sony Masterworks
Available as
CD
$11.98
Jun 19, 2007
Soundtrack composed by John Ottman, who also composed the score for the first Fantastic Four movie as well as the scores for Superman Returns, X2: X-Man United and the Usual Suspects.
FANTASTIC 4 SOUNDTRACK
$11.98
CD
Sony Masterworks
Jun 19, 2007
88697108882
I'M ALL SMILES
HIGHNOTE
Available as
CD
$16.49
May 24, 2019
George Cables has been the pianist of choice for saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper; Pepper called him his favorite pianist. Cables also recorded a lot with jazz stars Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson and Frank Morgan. On Cables' own new trio album, he is so fluent in the ways of the keyboard, song structure and harmony, so aware of his available options at every second, the compositions themselves seem as if they are being made up on the spot. But not all of the trio's decisions are made in the moment. As a structural feature, he loves yoking together his left hand and Essiet Essiet's bass, to give the music an extra-fortified low end. They play in tight unison so often, those doubled bass lines have become the trio's signature. Fused piano and bass have such a distinct color, when they merge it's almost like another instrument making an appearance. The trio polishes it's music to a high gloss, which is so unassumingly good, you could miss just how good it is. It gives good taste a good name.
I'M ALL SMILES
$16.49
CD
HIGHNOTE
May 24, 2019
HNR7322.2
Schmitt: Complete Piano Duet and Duo Works
Grand Piano
Available as
CD
$42.99
Jan 13, 2017
Florent Schmitt stands alongside Debussy and Ravel as one of the most original and influential French composers of his time. Winner of the Prix de Rome in 1900, Schmitt wrote successfully in many forms but he was a formidable pianist who described his often rich and multi-staved scores as “fistfuls of piano”. His music for the instrument is colourful, filled with adventurous harmonic innovation, stylistic bravura and good humoured wit. This complete collection for piano duo and duet includes unpublished works and rarities.
Schmitt: Complete Piano Duet and Duo Works
$42.99
CD
Grand Piano
Jan 13, 2017
GP730X
Strings
SAVANT
Available as
CD
$16.49
Sep 24, 2021
This reissue of Jim Snidero's Strings on Savant Records marks 20 years since the album was to be recorded in New York on 9/11/01, the day of the terrifying attacks on the World Trade Center. Recorded a few months later and released on Milestone, the session ultimately resulted in "a stone masterpiece" (Philadelphia Weekly), "breathtaking achievement" (East Bay Times), 4 stars (Downbeat). Out of print for nearly a decade, Strings has been beautifully remastered and now includes enhanced bass arco parts, adding richness and depth to an all-star string section. Released to wide acclaim, Strings captures some of Snidero's finest writing and playing - not a standards date with a hired gun arranger, but rather a deep dive by Snidero himself into the art of strings arranging, with predominantly his music as the vehicle. In the process, Snidero not only broadened his skill set, but the expressive capacity of his art. Snidero's vibrant compositions, including the three-movement Hudson River homage "River Suite", are brought to life by pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Paul Gill, drummer Billy Drummond and a supremely qualified cast of string players including Mark Feldman, Laura Seaton, Joyce Hamman, Tomas Ulrich, Mary Wooten, Ralph Farris, Kenji Bunch and others.
Strings
$16.49
CD
SAVANT
Sep 24, 2021
SAVT2199.2
THOMSON, V.: Plow that Broke the Plains (The) / The River (N
Naxos AudioVisual
Available as
DVD
$30.99
Jan 30, 2007
Pare Lorentz's "The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936)," and "The River (1937)" are landmark American documentary films. Aesthetically, they break new ground in seamlessly marrying pictoral imagery, symphonic music, and poetic free verse. Ideologically, they encapsulate the strivings of FDR's "New Deal." Virgil Thompson's scores for both films are among the most famous ever composed for the movies. These classic films make their DVD debut with newly recreated & recorded scores.
THOMSON, V.: Plow that Broke the Plains (The) / The River (N
$30.99
DVD
Naxos AudioVisual
Jan 30, 2007
2110521
Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff
Sony Masterworks
Available as
CD
$11.99
Sep 22, 2009
Zenph Studios applies its "re-performance" technology to a selection of Sergei Rachmaninov's flat discs for RCA Victor, recorded between 1921 and 1942. I described the company's process in an earlier review, and it bears reiterating. Zenph employs a software application that analyzes a recorded piano performance by separating its pianistic attributes from mechanical and environmental factors to an unprecedented degree of specificity and refinement. The information then is encoded to high-definition MIDI files that are played through a piano equipped to do so--in this case, a 1909 Steinway, painstakingly rebuilt by Faust Harrison Pianos.
How well do the Zenph re-performances replicate the originals? In one instance, perhaps a little too well: the split note near the beginning of Rachmaninov's 1942 Kreisler Liebesfreud here emerges clean as a whistle. Elsewhere, the phrasings, pedalings, dynamic relationships, and tempos appear accurate to an impressively high degree. However, certain rapid passages that project extraordinary lightness and point on disc sound slightly heavier via Zenph, such as The Flight of the Bumblebee's buzzing runs. Crescendos yield more pronounced sustain pedal and darker colorations on the disc version of the Tchaikovsky/Rachmaninov Lullaby Op. 16 No. 1. Certain detaché articulations in the Mendelssohn Midsummer Night's Dream Scherzo seem softer, less hard-hitting under Zenph's watch.
The re-performances are programmed twice: first in surround-sound, then again in two-channel stereo from the perspective of the pianist at the keyboard. Given Rachmaninov's perfectionist attitude in the recording studio, one wonders what he would have made of this fascinating and potentially controversial project.
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