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Villa-Lobos, H.: Choros, Vol. 2 - Choros Nos. 1, 4, 6, 8, 9
Life And Works - Johann Sebastian Bach
Siepmann, John Shrapnel and others. It contains a 106 page companion booklet with the complete spoken text, a detailed historical background and graded listening plan.
Stanford: Mass "Via Victrix" & At The Abbey Gate / Partington, BBC National Orchestra of Wales
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REVIEWS:
Rescued from obscurity nearly a century after its composition, Stanford’s large-scale post-war mass is definitely worth checking out. Impassioned performances here.
– BBC Music Magazine
Symphonically paced and nuanced in its construction, Stanford’s Mass receives an impressive reading from Adrian Partington, his four soloists, and the wonderful voices of the BBC National Chorus of Wales with BBC NOW. Thanks to the editorial work and tireless advocacy of Stanford scholar Jeremy Dibble, this CD again makes available an important British choral work that has lain largely forgotten for over a century.
– Choir & Organ
BRAIN FREEZE
Tippett: Child Of Our Time / Robinson, Walker, Et Al
The oratorio, written at the dawn of World War II, is (in Tippett's words) "a Passion, not of god-man, but of man whose god has left the light of the heavens for the dark of the collective unconscious." Its text, written by the composer, begins: "The world turns on its dark side. It is winter." And from there we are confronted with questions, emotions, and often perplexing aspects of our humanity, specifically the nature of good and evil and the individual's responsibility, expressed in words near the work's end: "I would know my shadow and my light, so shall I at last be whole." Amid the rousing, powerful choruses, poignant solo sections, and vibrant orchestral scoring, Tippett injects several Spirituals, which serve as commentary and help expand the work's reach and message, from "a Europe...stretching out through its torments toward Russia in the East, and even America in the West." It's a brilliant creation (its three-part structure loosely modeled after Handel's Messiah) whose sentiments and questions certainly haven't lost their relevance--and the music sounds with an originality and spiritual force that's as fresh as ever, from the stirring, ominous orchestral opening to the closing strains of the choir and soloists singing "Deep River".
There hasn't been much interest in Tippett's music for quite a while, but as things tend to go with great but neglected composers, it's only a matter of time before performers and record companies "rediscover" his orchestral and chamber music, his choral works and songs, and his five operas. If you don't know Tippett, here is an ideal place to begin; if you're a choral music fan and somehow missed this the first time around, don't hesitate.
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com
Donizetti: Olivo e Pasquale
Liszt: Totentanz, Piano Concertos No 1 & 2 / Cohen, Neschling, São Paulo State SO
On the present disc it is the all-Brazilian team of eminent pianist Arnaldo Cohen and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Neschling who join forces. Arnaldo Cohen is a highly respected Liszt interpreter, as he has shown on a previous BIS release (CD1253), which earned him an Editor's Choice in Gramophone as well as glowing reviews, such as the following in the Chicago Tribune: 'These performances pack a tremendous visceral punch...among the most musically intelligent recordings of these celebrated pieces to grace the catalogue.' The São Paulo SO and Neschling have recently been earning international recognition both after highly successful tours and a number of BIS recordings that among other things have been desribed as 'the most vibrant, colourful, rhythmically vital and virtuosic performances imaginable' (Classics Today.com)
Villa-Lobos: Floresta do Amazonas / Korondi, Neschling, Sao Paulo State SO

Villa-Lobos' late masterpiece, Forest of the Amazon, began life as a Hollywood film score, the majority of which was never used. So he developed the music into a huge, 80-minute-long, multi-movement suite that serves both as a tribute to his homeland and a fitting culmination of his personal musical voice. The work has everything: luscious orchestration, great tunes, a "primitive" male choir chanting in a primordial language, some lovely songs for soprano, and passages of wordless vocalise for the same singer evocative of exotic birdsong. Does it sound "Hollywood-esque"? Yes, but only to the extent that Villa-Lobos often works in a similar idiom anyway. More significantly, the piece is chock-full of contrast--but there are also recurring elements (the War Dance, for example) that help to bind it together and give it shape. It's not just 80 minutes of "atmosphere".
The only competition for this recording, for which a new edition of the score was specially prepared, comes from Alfred Heller's very good Moscow recording, which contains a touch less music. Certainly in terms of sheer sonic opulence, the performers' ability to project the style with total confidence and commitment, and the excellence of the singing (soprano Anna Korondi is superb), this vividly engineered SACD sets a new standard. If you've been collecting this Brazilian music series (and you certainly should be), then this new release will be self-recommending. It's simply magnificent.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Violin Recital: Little, Tasmin - Kreisler, F. / Bach, J.S. /
The Beginning of a Legend, Vol. 2 (1958)
Hindemith: Nobilissima Visione, Mathis Der Maler, Symphonic Metamorphosen / Neschling
Hindemith Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, John Neschling Orchestral Works
WAGNER, R.: Scenes from Tristan und Isolde and Gotterdammeru
The Beginning of a Legend (1958)
Sir John Barbirolli conducts Elgar
Bach: St. John's Passion / Higginbottom, Et Al
English Song Series 3 - Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge, Five Mystical Songs
Includes song(s) by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Gaubert: Complete Works For Flute Vol 1 / Fenwick Smith
Boston Symphony Orchestra flutist Fenwick Smith plays these pieces with a big, full tone and complete absence of irritating breathiness. In the Divertissement, he and his BSO colleague Jacques Zoon play wooden flutes, and his fellow musicians support him admirably. Pianist Sally Pinkas makes a particularly considerate partner, managing to characterize her playing quite well without overwhelming the flute in climactic passages. The sonics also do full justice to Smith's limpid tone and offer excellent balances between the various performers. Only a few captured breaths here and there point to microphones positioned perhaps a touch too closely, a seemingly ubiquitous failing these days. Still, this is a delightful disc by any standard, and one that works equally well as a light background or as an engaging foreground.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
The Best Of Fauré
Rubbra: The Four String Quartets / Sterling String Quartet
This set is offered at a special price: 2 CDs for the price of 1.
Albinoni: Oboe Concertos Vol. 2
ALL OF MY MEMORIES
Guarnieri: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 - Abertura Concertante
