Jazz
Art Davis
126 products
The Birth of 'Rhapsody in Blue' [2 CDs]
The selections Whiteman included in the 1924 Aeolian Hall Concert, which had that curious title An Experiment in Modern Music, were divided into various sections, such as The True Form of Jazz and Recent Compositions with Modern Score. The intention was that together they would be audible proof that jazz-inspired music had come of age. These performances of Gershwin classics and hard-to-find rarities capture the 1920's and 30's jazz age style and offers a gamut of lesser known keyboard works, as well as Gershwin's only known works for violin and piano and for string quartet. The three orchestral works include Mr. Peress' theater orchestration of Gershwin's Strike Up the Band Overture, and the I've Got Rhythm Variations recorded in its original orchestration for the first time.
Berlioz: Harold en Italie... / Ehnes, Davis
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The nine-time Juno-winning Canadian James Ehnes is centre stage in a new recording of orchestral works by Berlioz, with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. This recording was made following an extraordinary concert in November 2014 with the same forces, in which James Ehnes played two instruments made by Stradivarius, respectively a viola in the solo part of Harold en Italie – ‘symphony with a principal viola part’, in Berlioz’s words – and a violin in the solo of Rêverie et Caprice, both of which works feature here.
Berlioz was never ashamed to recycle his music from one work to another, especially when the earlier work had been rejected by the public or by the composer himself. In 1834, Paganini asked Berlioz for a work in which he could display his prowess on a fine Stradivarius viola. Berlioz then composed the four-movement symphony Harold en Italie, incorporating passages from the Rob-Roy overture which he had recently rejected.
Similarly, Rêverie et Caprice was the form eventually given to an aria from the opera Benvenuto Cellini, unceremoniously booed in Paris in 1838. Berlioz transformed the aria into a piece with solo violin three years later. It is the only piece Berlioz ever wrote for solo violin. - Chandos
Digital CD 16Bit 44.1Khz and originally recorded in: 24Bit 96Khz.
Brahms, J.: Piano Concerto No. 2
BEETHOVEN ODYSSEY
BEFORE THE COOL: THE MILES DAVIS COLLECTION
Simpson: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6 / Davis, London Symphony; Groves, London Philharmonic
Robert Simpson wrote his Fifth Symphony in 1972 in response to a commission by the London Symphony Orchestra. The first performance of the symphony took place on 3 May 1973 at the Royal Festival Hall, under the direction of Andrew Davis. Another London performance took place on 29 March 1984, again in the Royal Festival Hall, with the Philharmonia, the conductor again being Andrew Davis. In both cases audience and press reception was unanimously enthusiastic. Desmond Shawe-Taylor, in a review in the Sunday Times headed “Power of Robert Simpson”, detected “some shattering personal crisis” and observed that the 4th and 5th Symphonies “compel all but the most rigidly advanced of listeners to take a closer look at this remarkable composer.” He found the Fifth “bolder, tougher and more mysterious in substance.” Simpson’s Sixth Symphony, of 1977, was commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with funds provided by the Arts Council, who later sponsored the recording of the Sixth and Seventh, and also contributed to a number of later Commissions. It received its premiere performance on 8 April 1980 at the Royal Festival Hall with The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Charles Groves. Edward Greenfield wrote in his Guardian review: “Happily Dr Simpson’s metaphors are incidental to his genuinely musical imagination. So after the fragmentary germinal motives at the start, he turns very quickly to a bold tonal melody such as Nielsen might have written. One might even say that another of Dr Simpson’s great influences is represented too; he has often acknowledged his debt to Beethoven and here he has in effect written a Pastoral symphony for the 20th century, a view of nature observed not through the eye of the individual but through the microscope.”
Massenet: Thaïs / Hopkins, Staples, Wall, Davis, Toronto Symphony
Following acclaimed performances at the Edinburgh Festival and then in Melbourne, Sir Andrew Davis’s recording of Massenet’s opera Thaïs features an outstanding cast, and exceptional performances from his Toronto forces. Written shortly after the premiere of his masterpiece Werther, Thaïs was composed for the Californian soprano Sybil Sanderson who gave the premiere at the Paris Opéra in 1894. Sanderson's performance was a triumph, but the opera itself had a mixed reception. After Massenet revised it in 1898 it went on to worldwide success in the years leading up to World War I and has enjoyed continuous and growing success in our own time. The role of Thaïs has drawn many great artists, including Mary Garden, Geraldine Farrar, Maria Jeritza, Leontyne Price, Beverley Sills, and Renée Fleming. According to the Financial Times, ‘Erin Wall is the Thaïs of one’s dreams, wielding a soprano of radiance, pristine beauty and tingling top notes”, and she is joined on the recording by Joshua Hopkins in the role of Athanaël, while Nicias is sung by Andrew Staples.
REVIEWS:
To Thais herself Erin Wall brings a clean, pliant soprano used with discretion and judgement. Dark of presence, Joshua Hopkins makes a vehement Athanaël. Davis presents a perceptive account of one of Massenet’s best creations, the Canadian orchestra offering fine-textured playing as they respond with assurance to the composer’s unerring gift for scene painting. It surpasses many earlier efforts not only in terms of casting and conducting, but also in taking one of Massenet’s finest scores seriously.
– BBC Music Magazine
Davis's understanding of Massenet’s often deliberate blurring of the dividing line between sensual and spiritual experience is unquestionably acute. The playing is excellent, with a refined sensuousness of texture throughout. Hopkins's is a remarkable, unforgettable performance, sung with consistently expressive beauty, and quite superbly characterised.
– Gramophone
COOKIN WITH JAWS ANS THE QUEEN: THE LEGENDARY
Alicia de Larrocha plays Mozart
Alicia de Larrocha will always be remembered as one of the most idiomatic and poetic interpreters of Spanish piano music, but this beloved artist – born in Barcelona in 1923 to two pianists – was hardly less devoted to Mozart. In the 1990s, towards the end of her career, she undertook a series of concerto recordings for RCA with Sir Colin Davis – one of the great Mozartians of his time – conducting the English Chamber Orchestra, formidable Mozart veterans themselves. Now collected for the first time in a 6-album set, these performances were widely admired by music lovers and critics. Gramophone wrote: “In their transparency and vitality these performances are outstanding. Sir Colin’s partnership is affectionate and exemplary [Nos. 25 and 27].” And of their collaboration in Nos. 19 and 27: “Sir Colin’s unforced way with the opening tutti of K 595, his awareness of ‘all passion spent’ is haunting but unobtrusive. Such sensitivity is effortlessly mirrored by Larrocha with her enviable ease, her avoidance of all artifice or attention-seeking dalliance. Few other pianists are more attuned to Mozart’s mix of pain and radiance.”
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte / Davis, Keenlyside, Damrau [Blu-ray]
Love's Labour's Lost / Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
King of Navarre: Philip Cumbus
Berowne: Trystan Gravelle
Longaville: William Mannering
Dumaine: Jack Farthing
Princess of France: Michelle Terry
Rosaline: Thomasin Rand
Maria: Jade Anouka
Katharine: Siân Robins-Grace
Boyet: Tom Stuart
Don Armado: Paul Ready
Moth: Seroca Davis
Holofernes: Christopher Godwin
Sir Nathanial: Patrick Godfrey
Dull: Andrew Vincent
Costard: Fergal McElherron
Jaquenetta: Rhiannon Oliver
Mercadé: James Lailey
Directed by Dominic Dromgoole
Designed by Jonathan Fensom
Composed by Claire van Kampen
Recorded live at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London, in October 2009.
Extra features:
Cast gallery
Famous Speeches
Format: dvd
Duration: 167 mins
Catalog Number: OA 1035 D
Regions: All regions
Picture Format: 16:9 Anamorphic
Sound Type: 2.0 LPCM & 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: EN (in Shakespearean English)
"Dominic Dromgoole’s zestful production succeeds in captivating the audience to a degree that I would not have thought possible… It’s a treat." -- The Independent
"With a delightful design and jaunty music it has abundant charm… Entirely enchanting." -- The Times
WORKIN WITH THE MILES DAVIS QUINTET (ORIGINAL JAZZ
Langston Hughes: The Dream Keeper
Strauss: Don Quixote, Cello Sonata / Müller-Schott, Davis, Melbourne Symphony
During his long and exceptionally fruitful creative life, Richard Strauss (1864–1949) composed only a few works for the cello. Only three have survived and small as that number may seem, those cello works are critical to the composer’s development. Daniel Muller-Schott sees the early Sonata for cello and piano op. 6 and the late tone poem “Don Quixote” op. 35 as marking the path that was to lead Strauss within the space of a few years from Romanticism to the Modern era in music. The cellist highlights this watershed in Strauss’s artistic development with his own transcriptions, expressly made for this album, of the Lieder “Zueignung” op. 10/1 and “Ich trage meine Minne” op. 32/1.
Handel: Messiah / Davis, Toronto Symphony
Experience the transcendent glory of Messiah in Sir Andrew Davis’s majestic, must-hear edition of Handel’s beloved classic. Recorded live on SACD, this unique version makes use of all the colours available from the modern symphony orchestra to underline the mood and meaning of the individual movements. Without detracting from the innate power of the original, the conductor’s score calls for moments of drama, pathos, and even, sometimes, whimsicality. It is supported by substantial brass and woodwind forces, and several percussion instruments (including marimba!).
REVIEW:
The performance is lightly cut, mainly toward the ends of Parts II and III, and both da capo arias (‘He was despised’ and ‘The trumpet shall sound’) have only the A section. Most of the ornamentation, including simple appoggiaturas, is omitted, as well as most occasions for what I call justified rhythms, where, say, upbeat eighth notes are taken as sixteenths to match other parts. Where choices are available, the common ones prevail, as in the 4/4 ‘Rejoice’ and the duet version of ‘He shall feed his flock’.
Tempos are crisp and modern, and the performers are all very good. The four soloists (with mezzo, not countertenor) are first rate; and the choir, which must number around 150, sings with the agility of much smaller groups. This is a “big” Messiah with none of the problems we normally associate with such endeavors. I guess we could call it “historically informed” because tempos are brisk and the spirit is not at all romantic. It also struck me as a gentle repudiation of Musicological Correctness—and that is no doubt a good thing. I dare say that if you had a contest lining up all the approaches to Messiah and had a review panel consisting of people with no musicological prejudices, this would be the winner.
-- American Record Guide
Tate: Tracing Mississippi, Iholba' / Outwater, Davis, Robertello, San Francisco So, Et Al
In 2006, Mr. Tate was the recipient of the Joyce Award which supported the commission of Nitoshi’ Imali, Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, which premiered in 2007 with soloist Jason Vieaux and the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis, conducted by Cary John Franklin. His new work for orchestra and children’s chorus, commissioned by the American Composers Forum Continental Harmony Project, celebrates the opening of the new Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma. Mr. Tate received his BM in Piano Performance from Northwestern University where he studied with Dr. Donald J. Isaak. He then completed his MM in Piano Performance and Composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Elizabeth Pastor and Dr. Donald Erb. Shortly after beginning his piano studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Jerod’s first composition, Winter Moons ballet score, was commissioned by Dr. Patricia Tate and premiered at the University of Wyoming in 1992. Colorado Ballet subsequently performed it in 1994 and 1996.
Since then, Tate has received numerous commissions and his works have been performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Colorado Ballet, The New Mexico Symphony, the Contemporary Music Forum, Dale Warland Singers, the New Jersey Chamber Music Society and the Oklahoma City University Wind Philharmonic, to name a few. Mr. Tate is Artistic Director for the Chickasaw Chamber Music Festival. He is Composer-in-Residence for the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy and was Composerin- Residence for the Grand Canyon Music Festival’s Corn CribNative American Composer Apprentice Project in 2004 and 2005. In 2007, he was Composer-in-Residence for The Joyce Foundation/American Composers Forum, teaching composition to American Indian high school students in Minneapolis. Mr. Tate received the 2006 Alumni Achievement Award from the Cleveland Institute of Music and has also received awards from Meet the Composer and the Percussive Arts Society. He is happily married to Ursula Running Bear, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota). Mr. Tate’s middle name, Impichchaachaaha’, means “high corncrib” and is his inherited traditional Chickasaw house name. A corncrib is a small hut used for the storage of corn and other vegetables. In traditional Chickasaw culture, the corncrib was built high off of the ground on stilts to keep its contents safe from foraging animals.
Rootsongs / Davis, Jupiter String Quartet
The Jupiter String Quartet feels a strong connection to the core string quartet repertoire. they also frequently commission and premiere new works, including string quartets by Syd Hodkinson, Hanah Lash and Dan Vixconti, as well as a quintet with vocalist Thomas Hampson. This release has a well-known classic by Dvorak, an arrangement of African-American spirituals and a contemporary reflection on the music of Tin Pan Alley.
PORGY & BESS
British Classics / Davis, Atherton, BBC Symphony, BBC Wales National Orchestra
This release combines two much loved British classics: Elgar's seminal 'Enigma Variations' and Holst's orchestral masterpiece 'The Planets'. In an acclaimed BBC drama-documentary filmed in the rolling Malvern Hills, Sir Andrew Davis unravels the mystery of the famous musical puzzle contained in Elgar's work followed by a landmark performance of the complete score by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis given in the cathedral in Elgar's home town of Worcester. The lavish visualization of Gustav Holst's orchestral masterpiece 'The Planets' and Colin Matthews' additional movement 'Pluto', the Renewer features spectacular images which enhance the symbolic meaning attributed to each planet by the composer. Directed by Rhodri Huw, this memorable audiovisual experience blends images filmed in many locations around the world, computer graphics, animatronics and a splendidly atmospheric performance by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. "Sir Andrew Davis's fine performance of the Enigma Variations, with Nimrod hushed, slow and steady, was recorded in the atmospheric surroundings of Worcester Cathedral, where Elgar said everyone should hear his music. Davis introduces a highly enjoyable documentary about the work and 'the friends pictured within'. In the documentary he suggests that each variation, as well as reflecting the character of a particular friend, reveals much about Elgar himself, 'like an actor playing many roles'." (The Penguin Guide - Elgar) "As for the performance, this is not a run-of-the-mill Planets. Atherton recreates the score with both subtlety and aplomb, and with the necessary bravura when called for. It is difficult sometimes to pay too careful attention to the music given the sheer overwhelming beauty of the visual images, but the underpinning is very present, and one comes to a whole new appreciation of Holst’s masterpiece by having a visual element." (Musicweb International - Holst)
Beauty Surrounds Us
Goossens: Symphony No. 2 - Phantasy Concerto
Continuing their series of orchestral works by Sir Eugene Goossens, Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra turn to the Phantasy Concerto for Violin and the Second Symphony. Goossens was born in London in 1893, into a family of Belgian conductors and musicians. He trained in Brugesand at the Royal College of Music (studying composition under Stanford), played violin in the Queen’s Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood, and became Sir Thomas Beecham’s go-to stand-in because of his ability to conduct the most demanding programmes on little or no rehearsal. Goossens gave the first UK concert performance of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps, in 1921, and in 1923 became the first music director of the newly formed Rochester Philharmonic, before succeeding Fritz Reiner, in 1931, as chief conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He spent nine years in Australia, as chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and was instrumental in the planning of the Sydney Opera House. Both works recorded here were composed towards the end of his life. The Second Symphony, dating from 1942–45, is a vivid and personal response to WWII. The Phantasy Concerto for Violin and Orchestra was originally promised to Heifetz, who never performed it. Having returned to London, Goossens gave the work’s premiere in a BBC broadcast in July 1959, and this was followed by a Proms performance in 1960; on both occasions the soloist was Tessa Robbins. Sir Andrew Davis and his Melbourne forces perform these rarely heard works with care and finesse, and Tasmin Little shines as the soloist in the Phantasy Concerto. The album is recorded in Surround Sound.
Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite - Symphonic Ode - Creston:
Kapustin: Complete Chamber Works for Flute / Davis, Jarka, Lovelace, Kuenzel, Shin
LAUGH WITH CLASSICAL MUSIC
Buster Keaton [2 CDs]
Carl Davis writes: "Buster Keaton's subjects ranged from the Stone Age to the American Civil War of the 1860s, as well as the present day, meaning the 1920s. Part of the fun of the show has been to include as a curtain raiser, Buster's 1920-21 shorts, which reveal much about his development as a filmmaker. Some of these are considered to be masterpieces in their own right. This recording consists of highlights from the original soundtracks." (CDC)
