This is a magnificent, major work for organ by Max Reger (1873-1916), beautifully performed by Christopher Anderson. Christopher Anderson is Associate Professor of Sacred Music at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, where he teaches graduate courses in history and theory in the Perkins School of Theology and the Meadows School of the Arts. He joined the SMU faculty in fall 2006, having taught previously in the Music Department of the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. Anderson is a scholar and organist whose work has centered on early musical modernism, modern German history and philosophy, the organ’s position in Western culture, and the composer Max Reger. He has written extensively on Reger and his music in two books, Max Reger and Karl Straube: Perspectives on an Organ Performing Tradition (Ashgate 2003) and Selected Writings of Max Reger (Routledge 2006).

Pianist Xiaoya Liu has captured the imagination of worldwide audiences through her profound artistry and charismatic performances as concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across Asia, Europe, and the United States with orchestras such as the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Marquette Symphony Orchestra, Round Rock Symphony, University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, U-M Life Sciences Orchestra, GSIM Festival Orchestra, and in venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Hill Auditorium, Palazzo Biscari, and Shanghai Concert Hall. On this release she plays a program of works by Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, and Griffes.

REVIEW:

Having reviewed Xiaoya Liu’s brilliant edition of Carl Vine’s four piano sonatas elsewhere, I was not at all surprised by the superb technique, sensitivity, and individuality that this gifted pianist brings to each and every selection throughout this release.

Her Mozart C minor Fantasy is a model of perfect pacing, where elegance and drama merge as one. Liu transforms Chopin’s early and flashy Rondo Op. 1 into something more substantial, pointedly shaping the decorative right-hand flourishes and creating shimmering sonorities with impressively discreet pedaling.

I’ve rarely heard such a feathery and scintillating Liszt Bagatelle Without Tonality, so different from Alfred Brendel’s harder-edged traversal. It assiduously leads into a comparably imaginative and convincingly capricious Valse oubliée No. 1. She plays the lyrical Romance oubliée beautifully, although I find the late Joel Hasting’s Naxos recording slightly warmer and fuller in body.

Why Charles Tomlinson Griffes’ compact and substantial 1918 Piano Sonata remains on the recital repertoire’s fringes is an utter mystery. Its sensuous melodies, potent expressivity, and idiomatic yet orchestrally-inspired keyboard textures easily warrant a “Great American Piano Sonata” ranking alongside Ives, Barber, Carter, and Copland. It’s also interesting how certain of the tumultuous finale’s figurations presage Prokofiev’s Seventh sonata, composed a quarter century later. Liu may not quite match Garrick Ohlsson, Stephen Beus, or Reed Tetzloff for high-voltage profile in the outer movements (they also benefit from stronger sonic presence), yet one cannot deny her narrative grasp and intelligently scaled dynamics. How ironic that a release entitled “The Forgotten” turns out to be unforgettable, and, more importantly, recommendable.

-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

This beautifully recorded collection of Wind Symphony works features pieces by Ida Gotkovsky, JoAnne Harris, Benjamin Taylor, and more, performed by the renowned NAU Wind Symphony conducted by Stephen Meyer. The Wind Symphony is Northern Arizona University’s premiere wind ensemble. It is recognized nationally for high performance standards of outstanding musical literature. The ensemble’s selects a diverse and contemporary repertoire to challenge students and bring out their highest level of performance. This ensemble has commissioned and premiered many pieces by composers of international fame. Stephen Meyer is currently the director of bands and assistant professor of music at Northern Arizona University. He previously served as interim director of bands at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and interim assistant director of bands at the University of South Carolina. As director of bands at Clear Creek High School, the Clear Creek Wind Ensemble was a featured performer at the 2013 Midwest Clinic, was a three-time National Winner in the National Wind Band Honors project, a two-time national finalist for American Prize in Wind Ensemble Performance, and the Grand Champion of the 2013 Dallas Wind Symphony Invitational.

Georg Philipp Telemann wrote a huge body of music, with many great pieces. The 12 Fantasias for Violin Solo stand out among his greatest. Violinist Tomás Cotik, who has made other exceptionally well-received recordings for Centaur Records, turns in magnificent performances of these masterpieces. Hailed by Michael Tilson Thomas as “an excellent violinist,” Tomás Cotik is internationally recognized as a soloist, chamber musician, and professor. A much sought-after recording artist, Dr. Cotik has released fifteen recordings for Naxos and Centaur Records, which have received over three million streams and more than two hundred enthusiastic reviews from the international press. Committed to passing on his passion for music, Dr. Cotik is the violin professor at Portland State University.

On her newest release, soprano Amy Pfrimmer presents the songs of Louis Vierne. Pfrimmer is Associate Professor of Music and the Lillian Gerson Watsky Professor in Voice at Tulane University where she has been voice area coordinator and director of the vocal music concert series since 2007. Her repertoire and creative work encompasses a wide range of music, with particular focus on Romantic and 20th Century opera, oratorio, concert literature, and song. She is joined by pianist Peter Collins. Peter Collins holds the distinction of Professor Emeritus of Music at Missouri State University. He was a member of the Piano Faculty from 1993 to 2017 and served as Keyboard Area Coordinator from 1996 to 2016. He received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Peabody Conservatory under the instruction of Lillian Freundlich.

Dino Constantinides' love of Greek folk music permeates his works. His father Demetrios played the folk tunes from his village Marmara, in Epirus, Greece, on the violin by ear. The composer said, "Now, after so many years, I remember the way he was making music and I look to the sounds he used to make as the source of my inspiration. And they are used in abundance in my musical compositions." These influences are easily heard in the compositions featured on this release. Constantinides’ compositions are juxtaposed here with works by Niloufar Iravani and Christopher Lowry.

This is an album of classic works collected in the classic book, "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion," compiled by William Walker in 1835. This is a truly amazing compendium of these classic pieces, in beautiful arrangements. Curtis Leonard Raybon writes of this project: "The Sacred Nine Project presents problematic works from American music or poetic history and asks the audience to consider what we can learn from them today. It all started when I, trying to avoid copyright issues, sought out an original source for my HOLY MANNA arrangement. I found a facsimile of Southern Harmony, and was delighted to leaf through it's virtual pages. There I saw the usual and welcomed suspects like "Amazing Grace" and "Wondrous Love." However, I was alarmed to find many tunes that not-so-subtly advanced the shame-based theology of the time. In each Sacred Nine Project so far, I revive works that have fallen out of use. If these disturbing musical and poetic pieces did not survive the natural selection, then good! Why revive them now? Well, the takeaway is often thus: the initial audience reaction may be to be self-congratulatory: Look how far we've come! But when we really stop to think, we see that the more austere and primitive texts we sing are dead and buried, but the sentiments they represent are alive and well. Religion is still shaming people ("RRR" and the upcoming "Conversion"). Well-meaning white people from centuries past are complicit in today's insidious racial unrest ("Cora L, Imposter," and the upcoming "Saints Bound." The Sacred Nine Project opens old wounds to help heal fresh ones."

This is Volume 6 in Centaur's complete traversal of the organ works of Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937), performed on classic American organs by Joby Bell. Joby Bell brings to his performances a contagious affability and a keen sensitivity toward increasing an audience's appreciation for organ music. His recital programming demonstrates a varied and interesting repertoire, always enhanced by illuminating program notes designed to emrace all audiences. Bell is featured on several recordings. Born in 1968, Joby Bell attended high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied piano with Marian Hahn and Robert MacDonald. He earned the Bachelor of Music degree in organ and piano from Appalachian State University and the Master of Music and Doctor of musical Arts degrees in organ from Rice University.

It’s About Time! is a brilliant new release from hornists Bruce Bonnell and Andrew Pelletier, and pianist Peter Green. Works by David Gillingham, Samuel Adler, Alan Civil, Christopher Dietz, Jay Batzner, and Richard Bissill are featured. A chamber music specialist critically acclaimed for his “unfailing beauty of tone” and “utmost sensitivity”, Dr. Bruce Bonnell has enjoyed a successful career as orchestral performer, soloist, clinician and pedagogue on the horn and natural horn throughout North America and Southeast Asia. Born and raised in Newfoundland, Dr. Bonnell has been professor of horn at Central Michigan University since 2000. Internationally active horn soloist, Grammy Award winning chamber musician, and masterclass clinician, Andrew Pelletier enjoys an extremely busy life of solo playing, orchestral performance, and mentoring developing musicians. On his solo performing, John Henken of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “gleaming, handsome playing. Pelletier is a soloist who seems capable of anything on his instrument.” Dr. Peter Green was born in Newfoundland, Canada's most easterly province. He received his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees with full scholarship from the University of Southern California under the direction of Stewart Gordon, where he also served as Assistant Lecturer of Piano. Dr. Green currently serves as Chair of the Visual & Performing Arts Division at Glendale College.

This new release from Serafini Brillanti is a showcase of new works for soprano, trumpet, and piano. Serafini Brillanti (Rhonda Nus Tinnin, Erin Bennett, and Randy Tinnin) is a versatile ensemble performing works for voice, trumpet, and keyboards from Baroque masterworks to 21st century premieres. Serafini Brillanti's appearances include Merkin Hall, Juilliard, the The International Brass Symposium in Cornwall, U.K., and the Chicago Brass Festival. The ensemble appears regularly as guest artists for Riverside Fine Arts Project Listen and the EMMA Concert Guild, offering educational concerts to public school students in North Florida.

On this new release, cellist John Kneiling and pianist Mescal Wilson perform a selection of Music for Cello by Otto Luening. The compositions span several decades, and both performers have spent a number of years specializing in this composer’s work. German-American composer Otto Luening was an early pioneer of tape music and electronic music. He was also a passionate teacher with notable students including Joan Tower, Karl Korte, Sol Berkowitz, and others. His conducting premieres included Virgil Thomson’s ‘The Mother of Us All,’ Gian Carlo Menotti’s ‘The Medium,’ and his own ‘Evangeline.’

Organist and composer Phoon Yu is active both in Singapore and in the United States. He has played previously as a soloist in the 2015/2016, 2017/2018, and 2018/2019 Victoria Concert Hall Organ Series, as well as abroad, having played in multiple other venues in Singapore, the Netherlands, and the United States. Recent concerts include his performances at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and Marble Collegiate Church in New York City, St. David’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore, as well as at St. Andrew’s Cathedral and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. On the present release, he performs a program of works by Jonathan Shin, Huang Dingchao, Tan Yuting, and others.

Famous from an early age as a child prodigy, Philippa Duke Schuyler (1931-1967) had written numerous compositions and toured on five continents by the time she was twenty-three. She travelled extensively in Africa, often studying the local music traditions. Aspects of this potentially appear in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The work was influenced by T.E. Lawrence’s similarly-titled memoir. Dr. Masterson received a B.A. in physics and a Performer’s Certificate from DePauw University, and a M.M. and D.M.A. in piano performance from the University of Connecticut. Her recent research involves the work of twentieth-century American women composers, and her doctoral research focused on the use of sonata form in mid-twentieth-century American piano sonatas.

Winner of the “Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Mosel-Eifel” Prize in Germany, pianist Régulo Martínez-Antón has appeared in renowned venues throughout Europe and North and South America. A versatile and passionate performing artist, Mr. Martínez-Antón has proven himself to be one of the most intriguing Spanish pianists of his generation. He has presented solo recitals at the prestigious El Escorial Music Festival and a performance of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with Maestro Michael Francis and the Andres Segovia Chamber Orchestra. He received a special invitation from El Sistema and its founder Maestro José Abreu to perform a recital in Caracas, Venezuela, commemorating the life of famed Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha. Mr. Martínez-Antón also gave the Canadian premiere of the music drama Chopin and the Nightingale, performing the leading role of Chopin at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. On the present release he presents a program of works by Beethoven, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Monpou, and Schumann.

Pietro Castrucci (1679-1752) was a student of Arcangelo Corelli. Moving to London in 1715 he became concertmaster of the newly-founded Royal Academy of Music opera house. He went on to be one of the first beneficiaries of the Royal Society of Musicians, and became a trendsetting composer. The works featured on this release are among his finest. These are wonderful, historically informed performances. The works on this release are performed by Gerald Elias, violin; Pamela Palmer-Jones, harpsichord; and Noriko Kishi, cello, this is the first complete recording in history of Castrucci’s inexplicably neglected Opus 1 sonatas, composed in 1718.