Umberto Giordano’s four-act opera La cena delle beffe is adapted from a 1909 play of the same title by Sem Benelli, who also wrote the libretto for the opera. Set in Florence, the opera follows the rivalry between Giannetto Malespini and Neri Chiaramantesi, and ends with Neri’s descent into insanity. Featuring the Orchestra Sinfonica di Piacenza conducted by Gian Paolo Sanzogno, this recording was taken live at the Teatro Giordano, Foggia, December 1988.

Winner of the coveted 2002 Grawemeyer Award and one of the youngest composers ever to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize, Aaron Jay Kernis is among the most distinguished musical figures of his generation. Conceived as a concerto for toy piano and orchestra, and with touches of Indonesian gamelan, French lyricism and jazz, Three Flavors appears here in it's final version, adapted by soloist and long- term collaborator Andrew Russo. Commissioned for renowned violinist James Ehnes, the introspective Two Movements (with Bells) is a memorial to the composer's father with echoes of blues singing and improvisatory impetuousness, while the virtuoso Superstar Etude No. 3 is his homage to Gershwin and the blues. The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960) studied composition with American heavyweights John Adams, Jacob Druckman, Morton Subotnik and Charles Wuorinen. He has developed a truly eclectic musical language over time, initially rigorous but evolving toward a new transparency and emotional eloquence. He incorporates influences of Latin rhythms, jazz and rap into his work as willingly as the harmonic worlds of the Romantic masters, the Renaissance and Hildegard von Bingen.

In 2013, The Church of Norway adopted their new Hymnal. The goal of this new hymnal was to hold firmly to the traditions of earlier hymn books, and two bring a modern spin to them with new harmonic ideas. This Nordic hymns are an irreplaceable part of Scandinavian heritage. The texts deal with joy and sorrow, faith and doubt, and put into words some of life’s most joyful and painful vents. The hymn tradition is a constantly moving, living, breathing part of this culture. Formed in 2002, Uranienborg Vocal Ensemble consists of 20-24 singers and is conducted by its founder, Elisabeth Holte. The choir frequently performs in church services at Uranienborg church in Oslo. The group has also toured across Europe and the United States.

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Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Avner Dorman is a major compositional talent. Sure, we've heard plenty of Baroque-inspired pieces before, from the opening of Tippett's Second Symphony, tons of Martinu and Stravinsky, to Karl Jenkins' "Diamond Music" commercials. As this list suggests, the quality of such music ranges from superb (Tippett, Stravinsky, and Martinu) to junk (Jenkins). Happily, Dorman's pieces clearly stand closer to the former category rather than to the latter. He describes his style as a combination of Baroque, jazz, rock, and ethnic (Middle Eastern) influences, and that's exactly what it is, but happily his own personality is strong enough to absorb and synthesize these various elements into a convincing personal idiom.

As CT.com readers probably already know, I'm not generally a fan of concertos for silly solo instruments, whether these be percussion (Dorman has two of those), tuba (except for Vaughan Williams), contrabassoon (Aho-yecch!), double bass, or what have you. That said, I have to confess that Dorman's Mandolin and Piccolo concertos are terrific. The former finds more timbral variety in this recalcitrant instrument than you would ever believe possible, and it seems to have been conceived with its potential in mind so as to turn any limitations to maximum expressive advantage. Soloist Avi Avital wails away at his mandolin as if his life depended on it. The same observations apply to the Piccolo Concerto; sure, it's sprightly (it has to be), but soloist Mindy Kaufman has a wonderful tone, an amazing facility with flutter-tonguing, and Dorman's sensitive use of such modernistic devices (or "ethnic," depending on your frame reference) as pitch-bending imbues the piece with real poetry.

The Concerto Grosse takes Handel and Vivaldi as inspirations, but the slow-fast-slow form is quite unconventional, and the mixture of minimalist techniques, modernist tone clusters, and frankly melodic passages is exquisitely balanced for maximum variety and color. Dorman was only 19 when he wrote his Piano Concerto; it's the most conventional work on the disc, clearly neo-Baroque, but no less charming for that in soloist Eliran Avni's capable hands. The pianissimo conclusion reveals a composer of real sensitivity and wit. None of these pieces lasts longer than seventeen minutes, all bear repetition, and the Metropolitan Ensemble under Andrew Cyr sounds absolutely terrific no matter what Dorman asks them to do. This is really good stuff, a genuine discovery, beautifully played and excellently engineered. It will make you feel good about the future of contemporary Classical music.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

ENGLUND, HEININEN: VIOLIN SONA

Each of Steven Gerber' works is 'an important addition to music... it's sense of evolution from previous generations welcome at a time when change seems to have become a virtue in itself'. Whether meditating on Gershwin' music or classic folk.

Schubert: Forellenquintett (Trout Quintet)

It's entirely possible that Cathy Basrak's name is unfamiliar; after all, there are very few violists from any age who have reached any plausible level of stardom (and I'm not even going to begin repeating any one of the vast number of viola jokes that make the rounds). In this instance, the ignominy of Basrak's fine instrument is completely baseless. She possesses a luminous, rounded tone and she is nimble and responsive in even the most technically trying passages. We're told that, having won numerous competitions and having performed as a soloist with Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia, among other orchestras, the 24-year-old Basrak currently holds the assistant principal chair in the BSO. I'm positive that a bright future awaits her, judging solely by the merits of this recording.

Aside from her considerable technical prowess, Basrak has thoughtfully assembled an intriguing and decidedly eclectic program. There is a trio of works from the 1940s to consider: Frederick Jacobi's muscular Fantasy for Viola and Piano; Alan Shulman's Theme and Variations, something of a standard in the scanty viola repertoire; and Quincy Porter's Speed Etude, an exhilarating ride for the soloist, dappled by radiant piano accompaniment. Two works from much later dates round out the disc. George Rochberg's 1979 sonata features a strikingly dark and moody Adagio lamentoso, and Lowell Liebermann's vividly colored sonata from 1984 is a recording premiere. The sound is rich and full, with excellent balance between Basrak and her two pianists, William Koehler (who appears on the Jacobi and Liebermann) and Robert Koenig (featured on every other work). [12/26/2001]
--Anastasia Tsioulcas, ClassicsToday.com

The Doppler brothers played a dominant role in the K & K Monarchy’s musical life as composers, conductors, musicians, and as orchestral soloists. They were on good terms with acknowledged artists of the era, such as Ferenc Liszt, Ferenc Erkel, of Jozsef Bajza. Capriccio starts with this first album in the release of ten total of the complete flute music composed by Franz and Carl Doppler, including many world premiere recordings and interesting autobiographical notes. Flutist Claudi Arimany has done all of the research for this project over the past two decades, and has invited some of the best musicians in the world to participate in this project, including Janos Balint and Shigenori Kudo, who are the flutists chosen for this album.

Violinist Giuliano Carmignola and conductor Andrea Marcon have served up another reminder that Vivaldi, in the right hands, is so much more than sonic wallpaper. These late Vivaldi concertos, given their premiere recordings here, are, for sure, more of the same musical illustrations, birdsongs, and harmonic sequences; what stands out is the aural handling they are given by Carmignola and the Venice Baroque Orchestra under Marcon.

Much attention is given to Giuliano Carmignola's violinistic tone, and with good reason. The sound he elicits from his extant 18th Century violin is rich and meaty, dosed with a subtle romantic vibrato, but colored throughout with a wide-ranging command of tone. Carmignola's virtuosity is nothing to be sneezed at either: blazing velocity, eternal line, and immaculate articulation and tuning all glow through an oh-so-italian musical nonchalance. The capper, though, is the zaftig sound of the orchestra. The bowing is self-assured, the tone warm and rounded, lacquered with the slight reverberance of the recording hall. The addition of an archlute, theorbo, and baroque guitar to the continuo (the baroque equivalent of jazz's "rhythm section") give the entire album a tremendous swing. I bet Vivaldi, were he still around, would be clamoring for Carmignola et al. to record his 500 or so other concerti.


David Simmons, WQXR

Michael Haydn spent much of his career in Salzburg and won a considerable contemporary reputation as a composer, since overshadowed by the achievement of his elder brother, Joseph Haydn.

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Classical Music

Reviews from the original recordings which make up this set:

The Sun's King's Paradise
The music on this charming CD comes from the time of Louis XIV (1643-1715), often referred to as the Sun King. It is music of dalliance, yet contains great subtlety; and it is music meant to entertain the upper classes while making no particular social statement. Of particular interest is the suite by Jean-Féry Rebel, which is a synthesis of popular dances of the time. This concise nine-and-one-half-minute work presents a time capsule revue of more than a dozen dance forms, including corrente, menuet, sarabande, and gigue, all played without interruption by recorder, violin, bass viol, and theorbo. By contrast, a more melancholy side of the era emerges in Etienne Le Moine's Chaconne, a theorbo solo played with exceptional sensitivity by William Carter. The performances throughout are stylish and sensitive and the recorded sound close up and clear. Those listeners looking for a representative collection of music from this era will find that this CD fills the bill handsomely.

--Rad Bennett, ClassicsToday.com

Les Elemens
This disc is "authentic" in two senses: in the selection of instruments as well as in the arrangement of the works for domestic performance. Actually, as the notes correctly point out, Rebel's full score doesn't really exist, so all versions are arrangements even though we know that he wrote the original for orchestra. Any suspicion that "Le Cahos" (Chaos) is going to lose some of its bite when played by recorder, violin, bass viol, and theorbo will be instantly dispelled on hearing the first chord, which nearly sent me through the ceiling. Still, I miss the tang of brass and percussion in the Tambourins and the silky tone of massed violins in the Air pour les Violins, however expert the playing on offer. This is simply a question of individual taste.

On the other hand, in the Marais Suite in A minor, drawn from a variety of pieces for one or two viols, the presence of the recorder enhances the music's color and charm, and the program rises to a truly triumphant conclusion with a brilliantly sustained romp through the composer's Folies d'Espagne. Best of all, Linn's sonics perfectly capture both the vivacity and intimacy of the performances, especially in multichannel format, where the players really do seem to be right in the room with you. You really can imagine yourself taking part in a convivial evening of Baroque music making, featuring the greatest hits of the day--and getting a naughty thrill at Rebel's startlingly dissonant representation of chaos. This is music for fun, and the performances fully convey its pleasures and delights.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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This recording brings together Florian Boesch, one of today’s foremost Lieder interpreters, and Malcolm Martineau, who is widely recognized as one of the leading accompanists of his generation. With a partnership honed over many concerts and several recordings together, including a Grammy-nominated Die schöne Mullerin, the pair turn their attention to two of the greatest song cycles of the nineteenth century. The recording opens with Schumann’s Op. 39, Liederkreis, settings of Joseph von Eichendorff’s poems, and finishes with Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, written around forty years later. The songs selected all tell, in varying hues, of the Romantic individual’s sense of alienation from others and of transcendence, or the longing for it. An expressive and accomplished storyteller Boesch’s perceptive phrasing and exquisite range of colours is well matched by Martineau’s virtuosic and perfectly synchronized accompaniment.

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Classical Music

The past year has seen an embarrassment of riches regarding recordings of Bach's Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord. Who knows why--and who cares? The fact is, as a consumer, you have the rare yet pleasurable dilemma of a wealth of choices: Lucy van Dael/Bob Asperen on Naxos, an excellent budget-priced set that musically and sonically stands up to any other version; Fabio Biondi/Rinaldo Alessandrini's first-class renditions for Opus 111 that literally define baroque performance and style; Emlyn Ngai/Peter Watchorn on Musica Omnia; or Andrew Manze/Richard Egarr/Jaap ter Linden on Harmonia Mundi, which "fill out" the first two sonatas with a supporting viola da gamba bass line.


The current recording stands with remarkable similarity to Biondi's renditions, from the bright, brilliant sonics to the uncanny resemblance of violin timbres. Yes, Biondi ornaments where Carmignola goes for a straighter approach, and Sony's perspective gives the violin prominence where Opus 111's makes a much more even balance between the two unquestionably equal partners. But, if you're seriously in the market for a fine set of these sonatas, the question becomes merely a matter of price (go for the van Dael on Naxos) or versatility. If you're interested in the different versions of Sonata No. 6--Bach provides three alternatives--then you'll want Manze's set that not only contains all the existing versions (complete with programming instructions for each) but also adds the "continuo" sonatas to complete the program. If you're just looking for a solid, standard set of the six sonatas, this one--or Biondi's--will prove satisfying enough for a lifetime of listening. No frills, no excess, no ego--just Bach, the whole Bach, and nothing but the Bach.
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

LeStrange Viols presents the modern premier recording of nearly all of William Cranford's surviving works for consort, including the complete fantasias for 4, 5, and 6 viols, the substantial and virtuosic 6-part pavans ("Passamezzo" and "Quadran"), and his distinctive 5-part setting of the In nomine and playful variations on the well-known tune "Go from my window." This is also the first major single-composer release by an American viol consort in more than two decades. Little is known about the life of composer William Cranford (fl. 1630s) beyond his remarkable surviving chamber music for viol consort, a Renaissance string ensemble that attracted the best English composers from William Byrd to Henry Purcell. Cranford's music-by turns sonorous, expressive, quirky, and forward looking-represents some of finest surviving writing for the ensemble.