LEVITCH, L.: String Quartet No. 1 / Quartet, Op. 3 / Quintet

In their fourth release with the African American Composer Initiative (AACI), Cambria is excited to announce a new recording featuring amazing works from a variety of inspiring African American musicians and composers. The AACI is dedicated to sharing the art of living and historical African American composers to the ever-expanding musical world. The spirituals and art songs in this presentation remind us of the importance of the African American contribution to the tapestry of artistic expression that exists in the United States. With an indelible connection to and inspiration from the continent of Africa, spirituals like the ones represented here are just as relevant today as they were when they were created long ago. All the art songs in this album show the beauty and sensitivity that American composers of African descent can access, interpret, and share with the world.

DERBY, R.: Quintet for Flute, Strings and Piano / Duo for Ho

Vazzana, A.: Whispers and Chants / Buccina / Lamentazione

Cello Recital: Munguia, Gilberto – VILLA-LOBOS, H. / CASSADO

Arni Egilsson has earned an international reputation as a double bass soloist, having performed in his native Iceland, all of Europe and throughout the United States. He was brought to the United States by the late Sir John Barbirolli to play with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. While there, he established an enduring relationship with Andre Previn. A versatile instrumentalist, equally comfortable in jazz and classical venues he has recorded a classical solo album with Vladimir Ashkenazy and a jazz classical album with Ray Brown. Egilsson is highly regarded as a leading session player in the orchestras of the Los Angeles recording studios serving as Principal bass player for most of Hollywood's top composers. He has been a Professor of Double Bass at California State University, Northridge and in recent years has become well-known as a composer of works for double bass, chamber ensemble and symphony orchestra as well as for solo voice and chorus.

Includes work(s) by Domenico Scarlatti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frédéric Chopin. Soloist: William Wellborn.

Distinguished star of stage and screen, Lionel Barrymore recorded the narration in Eugene Zador's "Christopher Columbus" and the piece itself was recorded in stereo in 1975 with Barrymore's narration and a cast of singers.

This CD consists of the albums THE JANET LAWSON QUINTET and DREAMS CAN BE, originally released in 1981 & 1983 respectively.
Janet Lawson Quintet: Janet Lawson (vocals, percussion); Roger Rosenberg (saxophone, flute); Bill O'Connell (piano); Ratzo B. Harris (bass); Jimmy Madison (drums).
Producers: Jack Perricone, Bill Goodwin, Chris Fichera.
Compilation producer: Jeannie Pool.

The Compinsky Trio was one of the finest chamber ensembles of the 20th century. Born and educated in England, the two brothers (Manuel, violin; Alec, cello) and a sister (Sara, piano) were brought up together in an atmosphere of broad and intense musical culture and were taught from early childhood the traditions of ensemble playing which they developed to new heights of excellence; their musicianship set standards that have not since been surpassed. After arriving in the United States around 1925, the Compinsky Trio began touring the East coast and Canada. In 1928, they were engaged for a series of radio broadcasts over the newly organized Columbia Broadcasting System, one of America's first nationwide radio networks. The trio was featured every Sunday for a period of eight years, broadcasting live nationwide. The pioneering Compinsky Trio broadcasts had a profound influence during the late 1920s and early 1930s. They elevated performance standards for chamber music to new artistic heights, increased public awareness of the chamber music medium, and introduced to amateur performers throughout the country superb performances of the standard repertoire as well as first hearings of many contemporary works. For the next thirty years, the microphone became a faithful friend to the Compinsky Trio as they continued to win new audiences for chamber music. "They were all devoted teachers. I am grateful especially for Manuel's guidance and support. He coached me as a lad in many of my first chamber music concerts and greatly encouraged my interest in conducting. I am happy that these vintage performances which meant so much to many generations of Los Angeles' music lovers will be available again." Michael Tilson Thomas, Musical Director, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. "I consider myself extremely fortunate to have studied with Manuel Compinsky. I know that he deserves much of the credit for what I have become in my musical life. He was certainly one of the most inspirational and extraordinary musicians I have ever known. A superb violinist as well as a magnificent teacher, he was also a great chamber musician and a composer and arranger that commanded much respect." Glenn Dicterow, Concertmaster, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Cambria's new release further explores the chamber music of Arni Egilsson and features as its signature work a powerful testament to the memory of the children that have fallen victim to violence; an issue that is sadly ever-present in our society. From the Rainbow with a text by the composer's wife, poet Dorette Egilsson, is scored for two child narrators and string ensemble. "The work is a powerful kaleidoscope of emotions that takes the listener into the souls of parents who have lost a child. The music lets one experience the initial shock and the turbulent screams of denial with its mind loosing madness of "Why???! - of innocent memories of playful times always overshadowed by sad anguish - a melodic children's tune adding to the finality of what will never be again - the voices of the children coming from the rainbow and talking about nature's wonders, that they will never experience." Additional works on the disc include A Tale of Yore for piano quintet; Sextet; and Impressions for string quintet. Egilsson has earned an international reputation as a double bass player and is equally comfortable in jazz and classical venues. In recent years he has also become well known as a composer. This is the third CD of his music on Cambria. CB1033 is of more chamber music and CB1102 is a jazz title.

Schuller, G.: Suite for Wind Quintet / Piston, W.: Wind Quin

STILL, W.G.: Lenox Avenue / Pastorela / Here's One / Song Fo

Nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for "Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra)."

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Of Basque ancestry, the young Carlos Salzedo – whose mother was a pianist and his father a singer – very early demonstrated precocious musical abilities. He studied piano and by the age of nine his teachers in Bordeaux recommended that he be taken to Paris, where he might receive more advanced tuition than they could give him. He was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire, making rapid progress as a pianist; he also took up the harp and made astonishingly quick progress on his new instrument. Indeed he was later awarded – on the same day! – the Conservatoire’s first prizes for both piano and harp. In 1909 he became harpist in the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, under the direction of Toscanini. He quickly became both a musical and social success in New York. On honeymoon in Europe the newly married Salzedo found himself drafted into the French army at the outbreak of war; he was discharged because of illness and was able to make his way back to the U.S.A. As a performer, a composer and a teacher he was an important presence on the American musical scene for the rest of his life.

Salzedo was a fine interpreter of the traditional repertoire of the harp; but he was also an innovator, with interests in the avant-garde. He and Edgar Varèse became good friends and worked together in the establishment of the International Composer’s Guild in 1921, which did so much to introduce new music to American audiences. Indeed in 1923 he played in the premiere of Varèse’s Ionisation, playing Chinese blocks rather than harp.

Salzedo’s own compositions colourfully exploit the instrumental resources of the harp, resources which he knew so well and which he did much to extend. Some of his work is reminiscent of that other Basque (well, half Basque) Ravel; some stretches the boundaries of his impressionist inheritance.

Almost all the work to be heard on this CD consists of miniatures with programmatic titles. The two volumes of Short Stories in Music contain some fifteen short pieces, one some two and half minutes long, several less than a minute, with titles such as ‘The Dwarf and the Giant’, ‘Madonna and Child’, ‘At Church’ and ‘The Mermaid’s Chimes’. A number of these – including the last two just named – contain some exquisite writing, beautifully conceived in terms of the instrument. The Suite of Eight Dances was published only in 1943 but contains a Polka said to have been first written when Salzedo was five! The Gavotte which opens the suite is particularly attractive and the brief (barely more than thirty seconds) Seguidilla is richly evocative of Andalusian rhythms. The Tango is a gorgeously seductive piece – indeed, this Suite as a whole is a minor masterpiece. So too is the Prelude for a Drama – at four and half minutes the longest single composition on the CD. This Prelude is by turns meditative and ominous, delicate single notes leading to some rich chordal writing.

Of the two early works which close the programme, the Variations is the more familiar, its technical tests considerable – Sarah Schuster Ericsson describes it as "one of the most physically demanding compositions for the harp" – and its musical rewards similarly considerable. Perhaps one or two of the variations on Salzedo’s dignified theme come close to being technical demonstrations or test-pieces, but most of the variations – such as ‘Trills’ or ‘Barcarolle’ – have genuine beauties to offer, and reveal themselves as the work of, not just a virtuoso performer, but of a musical mind of impressive intelligence, a mind with a real interest in compositional possibilities and challenges. Much the same goes for the Préludes intimes, though perhaps there is less musical substance here and a bit more readiness to settle for some relatively familiar harp routines.

Salzedo’s music rewards attentive listening – most of what is recorded here is not at all the rather wishy-washy mood music which sometimes passes for music for solo harp. And at the hands (and feet) of Sarah Schuster Ericsson it gets the kind of performance it deserves, committed and serious, with enough panache to do justice to the flair and colour of the music but never giving way to mere flashiness. Ericsson’s control of dynamic contrast is particularly impressive; her instruments – she plays two Lyon and Healey harps, a Concert Grand 23 and a ‘Salzedo’ model – are well recorded in a spacious, but not over resonant, acoustic.

-- Glyn Pursglove, MusicWeb International

Mediterranean Impressions