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• Carson Cooman (b. 1982) is one of America's most prolific and talented composers; his work appears on over twenty labels. music has been performed worldwide in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to a hot air balloon basket. This is the third CD of Coomans music to be made by Erik Simmons. Tfeatured instrument is the Main Organ of Laurenskerk, Rotterdam, Netherlands built by & Son in 1973,the largest entirely mechanical action instrument in Europe.

In the time of J.S. Bach, religion in general, and devotional music in particular, were a far more embedded and important aspect of people’s everyday lives, and the number of composers needed to meet the demands of the many church services was considerable. Heart & Soul: Devotional Music from the German Baroque, casts light on some of the more important but also more, varyingly obscure figures providing the music necessary, excluding Bach himself but inclusive of a great uncle, Johann Christoph, as well as Buxtehude, Scheidt and others than active. Founded in 1998 by harpsichordist and conductor Matthew Dirst, Ars Lyrica Houston is an ensemble dedicated to high caliber, historically-informed performances of 17th-18th c. music. Since 2000 Houston’s classical music scene has expanded significantly; the organization’s growing list of commercial recordings have earned a Grammy® nomination and have brought international attention to Houston as an early music center. The British counter-tenor Ryland Angel has built an international reputation on both the opera and concert stage, in repertoire ranging from the Baroque to new operatic commissions. “His voice … cradle one’s self in this delicious sound to imagine how the songs of the heavenly cherubs expressed similar enchantments.” (Opera Magazine)

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This is the first of two releases of Chamber Works for Strings by Kaija Saariaho, and also a tribute to the composer Kaija Saariaho who turned 60 on 14th of October 2012. Saariaho is renowned across the world for her vivid orchestration. Her chamber works highlight her ability to create unique sound worlds with only a few instruments. Here she also adds live electronics to create a unique colour.

REVIEW:

I specifically asked to review this release after receiving Mari Kodama’s previous album of Beethoven’s last three sonatas and giving it a warm welcome in 36:2. Prior to that, I’d not heard any of her earlier Beethoven releases but was sufficiently impressed by the last one to want to hear more of it. I freely acknowledge that not all my colleagues who have reviewed one or another entry in Kodama’s survey of the sonatas have been equally enthusiastic, but how dull would be if we all agreed?

Save for two sonatas, Nos. 28 and 29, the “Hammerklavier,” Kodama’s Beethoven sonata cycle is complete, and according to PentaTone’s official website, those two sonatas are scheduled for release in August, whereupon I’m sure the company will endear itself to everyone who has collected the individual discs by reissuing them in a boxed set. Here on two SACDs we have six sonatas in seemingly no particular order, either numerically or chronologically.

In general, I continue to like Kodama’s way with these works, but as suggested in my previous review, the pianist is not necessarily in touch with every sonata or every movement thereof equally. Who is? Technical mastery is never in question, but Kodama tends to be more responsive to the long line and the lyrical impulses in the music than she is to the high drama or moments of capricious quirkiness. Where, for example, Beethoven gives Kodama a menuetto instead of a scherzo and an easygoing rondo to play, as in the third and fourth movements of the B- flat Major Sonata, the pianist performs with limpid touch, fluent phrasing, and singing tone. But in a movement like the scherzo from the A-flat Major Sonata, I think she’s a bit too straight-laced, missing some of the humor of the off-beat accents.

On the other hand, Kodama hits the nail on the head in the all-but-name scherzo from the E-flat-Major Sonata. And Kodama delivers all the sonatas’ slow movements with graceful and eloquent expression.

Will Mari Kodama’s Beethoven cycle go down in history as one of the all-time greats? My guess would be probably not. But from what I’ve heard of it so far, I’d judge it to be very, very good, and I can’t imagine anyone who invests in these gorgeously recorded PentaTone SACDs being disappointed. Before snapping up this latest two-disc release, however, I’d counsel patience, for sooner or later, the complete cycle is bound to be made available as a boxed set. But whether you choose to buy now or later, Kodama’s Beethoven, with the minor reservations mentioned, is recommended.

- FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

On this double disc set, musicians from the (Western) European Baroque tradition (and from a Christian background), are joined by musicians from Jewish and Muslim backgrounds. (Capriccio)

The child prodigy Charles Harold Bernstein performed as piano soloist with orchestras by age nine. + A serious health problem put a halt to a promising career a decade later. + Following a business career, he began to compose in 1970, and remains an active composer at age 96. + He has produced an impressive range of music - from extended solos for violin, cello, oboe, clarinet and flute to quintets and eight works for orchestra. + Violinist Adam Korniszewski, the works’ dedicatee, performs Bernstein’s Introduction and 24 Variations, cellist Boris Andrianov the Outline and Drawings for solo cello.

Michael Byron’s music is one of contrasts, noted for its intertwining of minimalist and maximalist techniques and rigorous processes with freely composed music. It uniquely reconciles traditional notions of beauty with boisterous, almost-out-of-control instrumental writing. This CD features performances by some of today’s most-respected new-music champions, including pianists Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera, synthesizer player Kathleen Supové, and the FLUX Quartet. International Record Review, walking its readers through the album, track by track, wrote: “Continents of city and love is a moving and sensual piece—a sort of timeless, impersonal, chthonic lovesong.... Evaporated pleasure...is emphatic music, with a machine-like insistence; objective and impersonal, it is heir to the legacy of Conlon Nancarrow.... Even more arresting is Awakening at the inn of the birds...a glorious polyphonic cacophony.... As she sleeps...creates a still space enclosed by great tenderness and a wonderful meditative calm.... Tidal...is a many-layered sonority in which the near and the far gradually change places. The performances are as good as one would expect from so stellar a group of players.... another admirable release from Cold Blue.”

Performed by the talented Nigel North, this album is an outstanding collection of early lute music. The pieces chosen for this album contain a great deal of variety. The forty two pieces cover composers from France, England, Italy, and the Low Countries, showing how each region used the instrument differently. This album is being released as part of Linn’s ECHO series, and was originally released in 2000. Nigel North is one of the world’s most respected lutenists. He is also an active teacher, accompanist, director, and writer.

The spectacular sound of trumpet and organ playing in a generous acoustic is captured in this concert. The “infamous” is represented by the wickedly difficult Jericho: Battle Music, by William Albright, written as a virtuoso piece for both players. More famous tunes include the timeless Prince of Denmark’s March by Jeremiah Clarke and Trumpet Tune by Henry Purcell, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, and Cesar Franck’s Chorale in E Major. The concert ends with the encore Rondeau by Mouret, more famously known as the theme of Masterpiece Theatre. A soloist with an international career including Principal Trumpet positions with several major orchestras, Fred Sautter’s performance on this recording is both authentic and engaging. Roger Sherman is Associate Organist Emeritus of Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, and host of the popular radio program, The Organ Loft. He is also the president of The Gothic Catalog.

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Eclipse encompasses world-premiere recordings of inventive, virtuosic, and impassioned chamber works, written in a present-day musical language by the strikingly original American composer and pianist Mischa Zupko. Joining him are two close friends and accomplished colleagues, the sublime violinist Sang Mee Lee, who chairs the string department at the Music Institute of Chicago, and internationally renowned cellist Wendy Warner, a protégé of Mstislav Rostropovich. Eclipse explores themes of separation, contrast, and convergence on cosmic as well as intimate levels. In the album’s centerpiece and title track, Eclipse, violin and cello approach like two celestial bodies, their musical lines merging and becoming one luminous entity. Mischa Zupko is currently the composer-in-residence at the Music Institute of Chicago. He has received plaudits from The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, and he has been featured in the Chicago Reader and New Music USA’s New Music Box, which called him “a humble, energetic, and constantly searching artist.”

A recital of Edvard Grieg's lovely Lyric Pieces for piano, transcribed for solo guitar. Guitarist Peter Fletcher wrote the transcriptions for this recording. Mr. Fletcher is in demand as a performer in cultural venues throughout the United States. '... strong technique, a consistent tone, and a bold interpretive imagination... ' - American Record Guide.

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Wanchi Huang performs some of the greatest literature for unaccompanied violin with great sensitivity and depth.

"Bavouzet’s Haydn is unmatched in its zest and its wit. But it is also substantial, informed and deeply rewarding."

--The New York Times on Bavouzet's Haydn Sonatas cycle, 2022

We have now reached Volume 5 in Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s project to record the complete piano sonatas of Haydn. This series has been going from strength to strength, every volume receiving consistently excellent reviews.

Haydn composed his solo keyboard sonatas between c. 1750 and 1795, during the period in which the piano was gradually taking the place of the harpsichord. The early sonatas are mostly short, light, and ‘easy’, tailored for amateur musicians and students. After 1765 Haydn composed several sonatas the scope and depth of which are completely new. Over a six- or seven-year period Haydn produced a sequence of ambitious sonatas of a difficulty that resulted in their being poorly circulated. In this latest volume of Haydn’s piano sonatas, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet again chooses a range of sonatas, planned to provide a balanced program characterised by different moods and temperaments.

He explains: ‘This is a long-term endeavour, in which, as the years go by, each album will be like a postcard sent from my journey. Although this journey does not greatly respect chronological considerations, it is being undertaken with the greatest passion so as to try and bring the limitless treasures of this sublime music to life as vividly as possible in our twenty-first-century ears.’ The previous volumes have elicited such comments as ‘A recording worth rushing to the shops for. Bavouzet plays these inventive masterpieces with real love’ (Classic FM on Volume 3) and ‘This series is turning into a real classic: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has an infectious sense of witty fun that underlies so many of Haydn’s inventions’ (The Observer on Volume 4).

REVIEWS

This is the fifth volume of Haydn Piano Sonatas by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. I’ve collected all the volumes so far, and with each successive one, Bavouzet goes from strength to strength. All the elements are present - elegance, wit, stylish phrasing and crisp and incisive playing. Formidable technique and musicianship enable him to realize his vision. Chandos’ sound quality is enhanced by a sympathetic acoustic, enabling the listener to discern every nuance and detail.

--MusicWeb International (Stephen Greenbank)

Bavouzet singles out the first movement of Sonata No. 12 for its purity and simplicity, and it is exquisite—and exquisitely played. He became so fascinated with the minor-key trio of the minuet that he included his own musings on it, at much slower tempo, as a bonus track. This isn’t a gimmick. It is fascinating to see an artist become so deeply engaged with the music, particularly music usually so taken for granted or ignored.

The first three sonatas here, Nos. 12, 15, and 37 have three movements, but not necessarily in the obvious fast-slow-fast form, as the opening Andante of No. 12 reveals. The remaining three, Nos. 54-56 (Hob. 41-43) have two movements each...The largest movement here is the opening Andante con espressione of the D major Sonata (No. 56), which lasts more than eight minutes and contains a world of feeling.

In short, these are lovely works, and Bavouzet’s thoughtfulness, dedication to the cause, and immaculate technique are everywhere in evidence, just as they have been on previous releases in this series. Try this disc. It will make you feel young, or keep you that way if you already are.

--ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)

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Johann Ludwig Krebs was a highly accomplished organist, harpsichordist and composer of the 1700s, and was highly respected by Bach. The Exercises sur le Clavecin make up the fourth and final part of Krebs' Clavier Ubung. Brad Benighted is a highly sought-after soloist, and he performs these works with great insight.

This album features some of finest works for solo Viola da Gamba of the 17th-18th centuries, including Georg Philipp Telemann's Suite in D. +San Francisco-based John Dornenburg teaches music history and literature at Cal State, Sacremento and is also a member of the music faculty at Stanford University. +As a viola da gamba soloist, he has performed widely in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and across the U.S. +His discography includes more than two-dozen recordings.

Iberia is probably the greatest masterpiece by Isaac Albniz. There are surprisingly few recordings of the complete Iberia. Paul Verona has devoted years of study to Iberia, and his performances show his abiding commitment for the work.

The Italian-born pianist and Leeds competition winner Alessio Bax returns with his third solo recital disc for Signum. His programme surveys a selection of highlights from Brahms' pianistic output, charting his development from the early lyrical collection '4 Ballades' (1854) through to the 'eight perfect gems' that are the 8 Klavierstücke Op.76 (1871-78). Bax also tackles Brahms' fiendish set of 'Variations on a Theme of Pagainini, Op.35', which Bax describes in the programme notes as one of 'the most fearsome works ever written for piano'.

Classical Music