Selections recorded 1984 and 1985.

Classical Music

Volume 18 of Bridge's Complete Crumb Edition features premiere recordings of two recent works ("The Yellow Moon of Andalusia" and "Yesteryear") as well the premiere recording of the recently revised version of a Crumb classic, "Celestial Mechanics". Crumb returns to his favorite poet, Federico Garcia Lorca, for "The Yellow Moon of Andalusia", six settings of English translations of Lorca's work. The performance features the work's dedicatees, the brilliant American soprano Tony Arnold, and the superb pianist, Marcantonio Barone. Mr. Barone follows with Crumb's 'Thelonious Monk variations' for solo piano, "Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik". Crumb was never satisfied with the ending of "Celestial Mechanics" and re-wrote it in 2012, recorded here for the first time. "Yesteryear" is a vocalise for soprano and three players, dedicated to Ms. Arnold. Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning composer George Crumb, now in his 88th year, continues to compose highly expressive, colorful and dramatic music. This new recording is a must-hear for all fans of a unique voice in contemporary music.

Classical Music

Premonitions American Chamber Works

On the occasion of the 400th birthday of Johann Rosenmüller, the soloist ensemble Gli Scarlattisti under the direction of Jochen Arnold presents a selection from the collection of the so-called "Kernsprüche". These Sacred Concertos, most of which are unknown today, are characterized by a particularly charming versatility in the interplay of the various vocal and instrumental parts. At their time, they were considered to be similarly stylistically influential as the Kleine Geistliche Konzerte by Schütz. The musicians deserve praise for snatching this collection from oblivion with numerous first recordings.

REVIEW:

In its exciting discography, the Ensemble Gli Scarlattisti – selected vocalists in a homogeneous chamber choir – has already dedicated itself exclusively to the œuvre of Johann Rosenmüller. Now conductor Jochen Arnold presents another CD with works by this composer, Kernsprüche – polyphonic German Bible verse settings with instrumental accompaniment. Together with the Capella Principale, the music is played in a highly elegant manner. The selection of works in various solo and tutti formations documents Rosenmüller's multi-faceted art of composition in an exemplary manner, with all voices responding to the strong text orientation of the music. Eight of the 15 pieces are first recordings. The context of the works composed at the end of the Thirty Years' War vividly documents Rosenmüller's idea of a « world with musical proportions », which also corresponds to the balanced audibility. Rosenmüller was the link between Germany and Italy, Schütz and Bach, early and late baroque. You can read about this in the informative booklet as well as about the fact that the composer, who later made his career in Venice, was accused of the sexual abuse of choirboys when he was an assistant teacher at the Thomasschule in Leipzig in 1655. The essay, written by the conductor Jochen Arnold, explains the theological conception of this recording in a plausible way, in which the performance of the interpreters is reflected with perfect intonation, diction, vitality and accentuation.

— Pizzicato

Alexander Mosolov was one of the foremost composers of the Russian avant-garde during the1920s. His music was considered ‘a testament to the revolutionary spirit of his time’, but the legacy of his fame from that period now rests solely on The Iron Foundry. Soviet-era politics brought persecution and imprisonment, and these two recently rediscovered works were both composed after his ‘rehabilitation’. The Harp Concerto– a piece worthy of a place in the mainstream repertoire – is Mosolov’s ‘response’ to the concerto by his teacher Glière, and is heard here in its first complete performance. Coupled with the first recording of his final colorful Fifth Symphony, these are fascinating additions to the corpus of neglected Soviet-era works.

With Mantra Revealed, the Marc Rossi group continues the work he began on Hidden Mandala: bearing the standard for pan-Indian jazz fusion into the present tense and beyond. The album’s rich panoply of colors and textures comes from the interplay of Rossi’s own distinctive compositions and the players’ absorbing improvisational skills. It’s become commonplace to refer to an album as a “journey” these days, but few navigate a path as wide-ranging, engaging and multi-hued as Mantra Revealed.

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.

WEBERN Ricercata from Bach’s “Musical Offering.” 5 2 Songs, op. 19. 4,6 5 Movements for String Orchestra. 6 2 Songs, op. 8. 1,5 5 Pieces for Orchestra, op. 10. 6 4 Songs, op. 13. 1,5 6 Songs, op. 14. 1,5 5 Sacred Songs, op. 15. 1,5 Das Augenlicht. 4,6 Variations for Orchestra. 5 Second Cantata 2,3,4,6 • Robert Craft, cond; Tony Arnold (sop); 1 Claire Booth (sop); 2 David Wilson-Johnson (bs); 3 Simon Joly Ch; 4 20th Century Classics Ens; 5 Philharmonia O 6 • NAXOS 8.557531 (79:32)


Craft was the first to record Webern’s “complete” works, back in the 1950s. His four- LP monaural Columbia album was a revelation—and a tribute to the commercial daring of Columbia’s Goddard Lieberson. Although there had been four or five earlier recordings of single Webern works, Craft’s set joined only one other Webern piece in the 1957 Schwann catalogs. It was to remain available for more than two decades, until succeeded by Boulez’s stereo remake in 1979, dubbed—at the last minute—Vol. 1 because a trove of previously unknown works had been discovered. While the stereo LPs were a great improvement, both for their sound quality and their performances, the latter were due to the singers and players more than to the conductor. Webern had gained respect—indeed, had become the guru of musical academia—and musicians were leaning how to perform his works. The learning curve continued well into the CD era; an appropriate punctuation being the 1992 appearance of a superb Webern disc by the Netherlands Ballet Orchestra (nla). Now everyone could play Webern (if not yet sing him), not just the avant-garde specialists. Listeners of my generation learned Webern from that first Craft set, and we are forever in his debt. If he could not then convince us of the music’s beauty, he drew our attention and piqued our interest.


The Twentieth Century Classics Ensemble is a group contracted for Craft’s recordings, its players handpicked by cellist Fred Sherry. Personnel listings for each piece show it to include the best of free-lance American musicians—I am almost afraid to name some, for fear of slighting equally superb colleagues: Charles Neidlich, William Purvis, Paul Neubauer, and Sherry are so well known that I don’t even need to list their instruments. Soprano Arnold, professor of voice at SUNY Buffalo, is a renowned new-music specialist; she sings Webern with glorious panache. These recordings were made during 2007 and 2008—the Philharmonia sessions at EMI’s Abbey Road Studio No. 1, the American ones at SUNY Purchase, New York, and at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City. The solo songs (at SUNY) are clean and clear, but the chorus (at Abbey Road) is set in a reverberant acoustic that denies us the exact words, even with libretto in hand. As usual with Naxos, librettos are posted on the Internet, but the texts of Das Augenlicht and of the Second Cantata are missing.


One of the pleasures of any Craft release is reading his feisty, superbly informed, damn-the-torpedoes program notes. As usual, he insists that these performances are the only correct ones: “[W]e can blame the failure to understand this piece [the op. 30 Variations] on the ignoring of Webern’s admonition to follow his metronomic markings. The present recording is the first attempt to play the work at metronomic speed. Thus, the DGG [Abbado? Boulez?] trudges along at about 116 for the fast pulsation, as against the required 160, and continues at nearly the same 116 for the slow beat.” In addition to his chutzpah, Craft is usually right. Despite that statement, Craft’s Webern performances are generally softer and more listener-friendly than either Abbado’s sophisticated, highly polished renditions or Boulez’s careful but often stolid performances. Although dubbed the BBC Singers, Boulez’s chorus is also directed by Simon Joly; with the Webern œuvre now doubled, Boulez’s DG recordings fill six CDs and are currently distributed only in a complete set. For the op. 30 Variations , however, I recommend the vibrant, superbly recorded performance by Jac van Steen on a surround-sound SACD, MDG 901 1425.


FANFARE: James H. North

James "Kokomo" Arnold was a blues singer, songwriter and left-handed slide guitarist from Georgia, who eventually landed up in Chicago where he ran a bootlegging business during the prohibition years of the 1920s. After making a record in Memphis in 1930 under the name of Gitfiddle Jim, he started playing professionally in Chicago when prohibition came to an end in 1933, and began recording for Decca after being introduced to producer Mayo Williams. He recorded regularly in Chicago from 1934 to 1937, sometimes working with pianist Peetie Wheatstraw, and wrote and recorded many songs which proved highly influential in later years. This great-value 49-track 2-CD collection comprises selected A and B sides of the 40 or so solo releases he had during his career, which we trust provides a substantial and representative cross-section of his career output, before he became disillusioned and simply gave up performing and recording when he realised how little he was making from his work. It features his most influential songs, including "Original Kokomo Blues", the song which gave him his name, and which Robert Johnson adapted as "Sweet Home Chicago", "Millk Cow Blues", which Johnson also adapted as "Milkcow Calf's Blues" and was later recorded by Elvis Presley, "Sagefield Woman Blues", which introduced the phrase "dust my broom" into blues parlance, and "Sissy Man Blues". It's a fascinating showcase for a performer who had a significant influence during his short career as a recording artist

Literature is a frequent source of inspiration for Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, whose extended song cycle Songtree is based on poetry by William Shakespeare and Mexican author Ra�l Aceves. Zohn-Muldoon's compositional voice is also shaped by a steady collaboration with the particular group of musicians for whom he writes, including soprano Tony Arnold, flutist Molly Barth, percussionists Stuart Gerber and Paul Vaillancourt, guitarist Dieter Hennings, violinist Hanna Hurwitz, pianist and composer Daniel Pesca, and conductor Timothy Weiss, among others. This artistic affinity brought many of these musicians together to co- found the Zohn Collective in 2017. On Songtree: Music of Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, members and friends of that collective join forces with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME), under the direction of Weiss.