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Born and raised in Foggia, Italy, Antonio Pompa-Baldi first came to the U.S. in 1999 to participate in the Cleveland International Piano Competition. He won the First Prize, and embarked on a career that continues to extend across five continents. A top prize winner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition of Paris, France, Antonio Pompa-Baldi also won a silver medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, as well as the Award for the Best Performance of a New Work. - Pompa-Baldi.com

Antonio Pompa-Baldi continues his series of recordings for Centaur devoted to the music of Edvard Grieg with the ever popular Piano Concerto.

J.S. BACH SYKES, HARPSICHORD PARTITAS FOR KEYBOARD

HUMMEL POMPA-BALDI (PIANO) PIANO SONATAS VOL. 1- SONATA OP. 2, NO. 3 IN C MAJOR; SONATA OP.13 IN E-FLAT MAJOR; SONATA OP. 20 IN F MINOR

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"This is an immensely enjoyable and rewarding release, and one that comes with the highest recommendation. " - Jerry Dubins, Fanfare

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PERSICHETTI String Quartets: Nos. 1–4 • Lydian Str Qrt • CENTAUR 2833 (76:44)


The creative legacy of Vincent Persichetti (1915–1987) comprises a large and extremely varied body of work, much of it still barely known to even the musically sophisticated public. Among his less frequently heard works are his four string quartets, which span the period 1939–1972. Fairly evenly spaced throughout his productive life, they represent most facets of his enormous compositional range. However, not represented by the string quartets is his most ingratiating vein: the lively, diatonic, largely consonant sub-style found in his most popular works, many of those composed during the 1950s for wind ensemble and for piano solo. The aspects of his style represented by these string quartets are found in their most austere manifestations. Therefore, though most are masterful works, not to be overlooked by anyone with a serious interest in this extremely important but currently under-rated composer, they are definitely not the music one would select as an enticement for the general listener.


The String Quartet No. 1 dates from 1939, when Persichetti was still seeking a distinctive creative voice of his own. Many of his works from this period, such as the Piano Sonata No. 2, Sonata for Violin Solo, and the Sonata for Two Pianos, are quite dissonant harmonically and attenuated tonally—especially as viewed within the context of American music at that time—but without a depth of expression commensurate with the severity of the language. For me this is not a winning combination, and I find these pieces, including the String Quartet No. 1, to be among the composer’s less successful efforts. Two of the quartet’s four relatively short movements—the two faster ones—display a mercurial energy that is somewhat engaging. But the other two movements—almost Schoenbergian in their willful angularity—offer little appeal.


The String Quartet No. 2 is probably the easiest to approach, as its materials are largely modal and diatonic, although it is not by any means a romp. Composed in 1944, it may be viewed in the context of such contemporaneous pieces as the Piano Sonata No. 3 and the Symphony No. 3. These compositions are overtly “American-sounding” in their materials, and strongly influenced by devices and principles found in the music of Roy Harris—self-directed (autogenetic) formal designs rather than classical models, and much use of parallelism (organum). In addition to its generally lighter tone, the quartet includes some curious reminiscences from Beethoven, most obviously the Grosse Fuga . (Quotations—from his own works as well as those of others—form one of many cryptic aspects of Persichetti’s creative personality.)


The 1950s were Persichetti’s most fertile decade, and the period when his own distinctive compositional voice emerged most clearly. The 40-odd pieces from this decade may be readily divided into two sub-categories: those that are highly accessible, often intended to appeal to younger musicians, and those that are quite challenging. String Quartet No. 3, composed in 1959, falls into this latter group, along with the Concerto for Piano Four Hands, Symphony No. 5, Piano Sonata No. 10, and Piano Quintet. (This Third Quartet even makes some explicit reference to the Fifth Symphony.) All five are multisectional works, each integrated into one movement based on a single theme usually introduced at the outset. These works—though often largely atonal and dense with significant substance—achieve a masterful fluidity and lucidity of contrapuntal motivic development that can capture a listener’s interest on first hearing, and sustain it through deeper study and analysis. In fact, these five works are arguably Persichetti’s greatest compositions, although among them, the Quartet No. 3 is probably the most austere and difficult to penetrate, owing to its 12-tone theme, its often-glassy sonorities, and the abstraction of the medium. But it is a brilliant work—one that rewards attentive and repeated listening; it is probably my own favorite among Persichetti’s string quartets.


The Quartet No. 4 dates from 1972, when Persichetti was seeking to embrace a number of the newer compositional devices appearing in the works of younger composers, and integrate them into his vast musical language. These pieces elevate such elements as gesture and texture to the status of musical ideas, subject to their own intensive development, while avoiding discernible tonality except in the most isolated—although often quite structurally significant—moments. This was also a time when Persichetti was preoccupied with his series of Parables , 25 pieces that he defined enigmatically as “non-programmatic musical essays about a single germinal idea. They convey a meaning indirectly by the use of comparison or analogies.” Most of the Parables are short studies written for monophonic instruments, but some are larger works for fuller forces. And some of these bear other designations, their inclusion among the Parables indicated by subtitle. For example, Persichetti’s sole opera, The Sibyl , is subtitled, “Parable XX.” Similarly, the String Quartet No. 4, completed the same year as the frequently played Parable IX for band, is subtitled, “Parable X.” In a sense, this work is a conceptual expansion of the previous quartet, relying less completely on linear contrapuntal development, while embracing texture and gesture as primary elements, as noted above, often exhibiting contrapuntal relationships of their own. Though its rarefied, ethereal sonorities, fragmentary textures, and lack of perceptible tonality may seem somewhat forbidding upon initial acquaintance, Persichetti usually maintains a discernible metrical pulse that functions as an internal anchor, while the ongoing developmental processes remain lucid and coherent.


To its credit, Centaur does not bill this new release as “First Recordings.” Presumably, it is aware that 30 years ago Persichetti’s four string quartets were issued on a two-LP set that featured the New Art String Quartet, then in residence at Arizona State University. This was a beautifully performed and handsomely packaged and annotated set, produced by composer David Cohen (who had been a student of Persichetti) and was available only from Arizona State directly. Unfortunately, that set probably found its way into only a handful of collections—I’ve never met anyone who even knew of it! I’ve often thought that those recordings ought to be reissued on CD, what with the broader means of dissemination available today via the Internet. Perhaps this new Centaur release preempts the need for such a reissue. There is no question but that the Lydian String Quartet plays with considerably more polish, precision, and confidence, and the quality of recording is significantly superior as well. However, in an ideal world, I’d still like to see the Arizona set reissued, simply as another—and quite respectable—take on the music. Perhaps of lesser importance to most listeners, Cohen’s program notes were more astute than are those by the Lydian’s first-violinist Daniel Stepner; and there is an excellent photo of the composer gracing the Arizona jacket, while Centaur offers no photo of Persichetti.


FANFARE: Walter Simmons

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FLUTES EN VACANCES SUITE POUR

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Apollo Ensemble: Hans-Martin Rux, trumpet; David Rabinovitch, violin; Igor Ruhadze, violin; Tamara Mkrtychyan, viola; Sergei Istomin, cello; Kate Clark, flute;nOfer Frenkel, oboe; Annelies Schraa, recorder; Reine-Marie Verhagen, recorder; Marion Boshuizen, harpsichord.

This recording presents alternative versions of three famous works by J.S.Bach, indeed the Brandenburg Concertos of Bach are among the best known and loved pieces of 18th century.

"These alternative settings are all attributed to Bach himself. In presenting the pieces in unfamiliar versions, it is not our purpose to contribute to any debate about authenticity or legitimacy. Although there seems to be evidence that at least some of these versions do predate their better-known transcriptions, it is not on the basis of proposed greater authority that we wish to bring them to the public, our goal is an artistic one, namely: to confront the listener with an alternative perspective to the familiar version [with] greater transparency and a more perfect balance achieved by means of a reduction in the number of tutti parts, revealing the essential structural integrity of each of the pieces. It can be argued that the structure is somewhat veiled in the fuller instrumental versions." - Apollo Ensemble.

This is an album of works of the 20th Century for Flute, Clarinet, and Voice, also featuring piano, harpsichord, and viola. All of the musical compositions are based upon first-rate works of poetry. The compositions by composers such as Aaron Copland, Marilyn Biery, Cornelius Boots, Jay Batzner, and David Biedenbender feature text by poems such as “As It Fell Upon a Day,” by Richard Barnefield, “Provincetown, August,” by Terry Blackhawk, and even classics in the literature canon such as Canterbury Tales and works by William Shakespeare. This programme was recorded in 2015 at the Staples Family Concert Hall at Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. The artists are Central Michigan University Music School faculty, and the project was funded by a Creative and Scholarly Support Grant from the university.

Arne True; Megyesi; Savaria Thomas A Arne: Overtures and Cantatas

This new release is the fifth volume in Centaur's set of the complete Beethoven Symphonies, transcribed for Piano by Paul Kim. Paul Kim maintains a career that aims to bridge the pathways of performance, musicology, and education. As a recitalist, piano soloist and chamber musician, he has collaborated with many of the world's leading artists, orchestras, and conductors. Critics have noted his "brightest flashes of virtuosity and clear transparent quality" (The New York Times) as well as "his musical honesty and integrity, his very recognisable strength of character and personality" (Gramophone). He has been featured in interviews, articles, and television and film documentaries in such media outlets as Newsweek, The New Yorker, International Herald Tribune, PBS, NPR, CNN, and the BBC. Dr. Kim's research and teaching areas include Beethoven, Messiaen, Wagner, symphonic literature, and twentieth-century music.

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Kosenko Shkoda Vikotr Sepanovytch Kosenko: Piano Music Volume 2: The CompletePiano Sonatas

This new release features favorite flute masterpieces which are staples in the flutist’s repertoire. New and old works are featured, including pieces from Hamilty Harty, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Franz Doppler, Carl Reinecke, and Cecile Chaminade. Margaret Cornils Luke began studying piano at five, then flute two years later. She was awarded multiple educational awards to study flute, and received her master’s degree in Flute Performance from Northern Illinois University. She is an active composer, and her recorded works are widely published. She continues to teach privately, perform master classes all over the country, and perform alongside the greatest ensembles and soloists in the nation.

Bruce Atwell is the horn professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and is currently Principal Horn with the Fox Valley Symphony, the Green Bay Symphony, and the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. He earned a B.M. at California State University, M.M. at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and D.M.A at the University of Cincinnati.

GARIBOLDI,KLOSE,CAVALLINI,ETC ADAMI CLARINET QUARTET RARE ITALIAN CLARINET CHAMBER MUSIC OF THE 19TH CENTURY

This album contains the last three sets of piano pieces composed by Brahms. Eduardo Fernandez has the measure of these works.

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