Jazz
Mary Barry
44 products
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GIANTS
CD$16.61$16.60ORIGIN RECORDS
Apr 17, 2026ORGI82948.2 -
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LIVE IN MUNICH
GIANTS
Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 / Barry Douglas, London So
American Classics - Boyer: Ellis Island "Dream of America"
Boyer fashioned the seven monologues of Ellis Island: Dream of America from interviews in the Ellis Island Oral History Project with actual immigrants who came to the United States between 1910-1940, weaving a dramatic orchestral tapestry around their true stories. The work concludes with a reading of the Emma Lazarus poem The New Colossus (“Give me your tired, your poor…”), an emotionally powerful ending to this celebration of our nation of immigrants.
Ellis Island: The Dream of America was premiered by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in April 2002 to great acclaim, and its many subsequent performances have also received enthusiastic responses. Gerald Moshell of the Hartford Courant described the first performance as “a searing emotional experience” while Harold McNeil of the Buffalo News described the piece as “at turns, horrifying, whimsical and heart-rending. But it’s always palpably engaging ...”
Peter Boyer is emerging as one of the most successful young American orchestral composers, with nearly 100 orchestral performances of his work to date. In addition to his work for the concert hall, Boyer is active in the film and television industry and is on the faculty of Claremont Graduate University.
The suite is made up of the following sections:
1. Prologue 06:09
2. Words of Helen Cohen, emigrated from Poland in 1920, read by Blair Brown 02:37
3. Interlude 1 01:24
4. Words of James Apanomith, emigrated from Greece in 1911, read by Louis Zorich 02:43
5. Interlude 2 02:07
6. Words of Lillian Galleta, emigrated from Italy in 1928, read by Olympia Dukakis 03:32
7. Interlude 3 01:33
8. Words of Lazarus Salamon, emigrated from Hungary in 1920, read by Eli Wallach 04:16
9. Interlude 4 01:56
10. Words of Helen Rosenthal, emigrated from Belgium in 1940, read by Bebe Neuwirth 04:27
11. Interlude 5 01:01
12. Words of Manny Steen, emigrated from Ireland in 1925, read by Barry Bostwick 04:42
13. Interlude 6 02:24
14. Words of Katherine Beychook, emigrated from Russia in 1910, read by Anne Jackson 02:53
15. Epilogue: "The New Colossus" (Emma Lazarus, 1883), read by all actors 01:50
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REVIEW:
Peter Boyer's Ellis Island: The Dream of America will not surprise or disappoint anyone looking for a straightforward presentation piece in the American populist vein, à la Copland's A Lincoln Portrait. Indeed, the music is so openly tonal, melodic, and richly orchestrated; the attitude so noble and patriotic; and the subject matter so emotionally compelling, it would be surprising and disappointing if Boyer had not followed Copland's example, and had set these authentic immigrant narratives from the Ellis Island Oral History Project in anything less than an accessible, American vernacular style. Yet it is the texts, not the music, which matter most in this work, and listeners will find the effective but expectedly epic score less absorbing than the absorbing performances by actors Blair Brown, Louis Zorich, Olympia Dukakis, Eli Wallach, Bebe Neuwirth, Barry Bostwick, and Anne Jackson, who deliver the historic accounts with believable characterizations and genuine emotions. Of course, any invocation of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty must include a recitation of Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus," which is passionately read at the work's conclusion by the cast against the stirring, anthemic accompaniment of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Naxos provides excellent sound, though it is fairly loud in places.
– All Music Guide
Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition / Barry Douglas
After Barry Douglas's recent RCA concerto debut in the Tchaikovsky, now a solo recital—with Pictures at an Exhibition, long a cornerstone of his repertory, the principal work. It's an impressive performance, spacious, full-bodied, and last but not least, never forgetful of the warm human feeling prompting Mussorgsky's tribute to a recently and prematurely deceased friend. In view of Ashkenazy's own orchestration of the work, it is perhaps not surprising that he himself draws a wider range of colour from the keyboard, particularly its upper register glints; his characterization is just a shade more vivid, underpinned by a stronger sense of direction (Decca). But Douglas's tone is warmer—and full marks to the RCA engineers for reproduction so faithful.
Both artists use the Urtext edition, notably giving us an ff start to ''Bydlo''. Here I think douglas's slower tempo is a distinct advantage in evoking the ox-wagon's lumbering motion, just as his marginally brisker tempo for the finale is truer to the composer's allegro alla breve marking. But neither his quarrelling children in the Tuileries garden nor his gossiping market-women at Limoges have as much temperament as Ashkenazy's, nor is his witch as ferocious—or sinister in flight. Both players, in their different ways, rightly make the recurrent promenade episode very personal. But on its first reflective return I questioned Douglas's subdivision of each phrase into two, just as I wondered if the ensuing sad song of the troubador (here very much an unrequited lover at the castle gate) really needs his occasional yieldings of pulse. His exceptionally full, rich fortissimo, free of all edginess or clang, is of course a tremendous asset in the majestic finale—as it also is in the big climaxes of the Dante Sonata. Comparison with Brendel (Philips) in this work revealed Douglas less dramatically menacing, less intense. But in its less urgent way (and, incidentally, he allows himself all the time in the world for the middle section's bittersweet reflection), the reading is warmly romantic and expansive—with some ravishing softer sonority en route. You're certainly left in no doubt as to why Liszt included the word 'fantasia' in the title. If yielding phrasing in the Liebestod sometimes relaxes tension in pianissimo, textural strands are clearly defined and the climax itself is sumptuous.
-- Joan Chissell, Gramophone [5/1987]
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas Nos 2 & 7, Etc / Barry Douglas
Britten: Piano Concerto; Debussy: Fantaisie / Barry Douglas
-- Tim Parry, Gramophone [10/1997]
NOVELLO: Songs
A Song Of Naples / Jerry Hadley
Recording information: Clinton Recording Studios, Studio A, New York, NY (05/24/1995-09/27/1995); Soundtrack Recording Studios, Studio A, New York, NY (05/24/1995-09/27/1995).
Bizet: Djamileh, WD 27
The Rca Victor Jazz Workshop - The Arrangers
A lot of unusual music appears on this Bluebird CD. Altoist Hal McKusick (with arrangmeents contributed by George Russell and Gil Evans) performs five numbers (including a version of "Blues for Pablo" that was cut a year before Miles Davis's recording) with a variety of musicians including trumpeter Art Farmer and trombonist Jimmy Cleveland. Arranger John Carisi (heard here on trumpet) interprets seven previously unreleased numbers with an octet and trombonist Rod Levitt performs five of his arrangements with his own advanced octet. Although these performances would have little influence on future developments in jazz (the free jazz movement of the 1960s overshadowed the trend toward using elements of modern classical music in charts), the music still sound quite fresh and unpredictable today.
Prokofiev: Peter & The Wolf/Dame Edna
Paulus, S.: To Be Certain Of The Dawn [Oratorio]
BAX: Sinfonietta / Overture, Elegy and Rondo
Cabaret / Original 1968 London Cast
The original London production of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret, with Harold Prince reprising his Broadway role as director, opened in 1968 and ran for 336 performances. Cabaret starred Judi Dench (long before she was a "Dame") in her first musical role as the heroine, Sally Bowles. Lila Kedrova, known to movie-goers for her roles in Zorba the Greek and Torn Curtain, is Fraulein Schneider, her first musical role. Also featured is American actor Barry Dennen in his British stage debut as the Kit Kat Klub's gregarious and outrageous Master of Ceremonies. Dennen received the Evening Standard Award for his performance, which led to his role as Pontius Pilate on the original concept recording of Jesus Christ Superstar and its subsequent 1973 film version.
Vaughan Williams: Riders to the Sea, Op. 1 - Holst: At the B
A Classic Christmas / Michael Barry, et al
A Classic Christmas featuring Michael Barry and Friends, remixed and remastered, to be released on November 6, 2020. 12 tracks of Christmas favorites in classical arrangements for guitar, recorder, cello, violin and flute. Also a bonus track, Nat King Coles Christmas Song, performed by the Nat King Cole Generation Hope Summer Strings. 10% of proceeds to be donated to Nat King Cole Generation Hope to support its mission to provide music education to children with the greatest need and fewest resources. Michael Barry is a Grammy award-winning guitarist, composer and producer living, working and making music in New York City. He has performed extensively in the United States, as well as Canada, South America and Europe. A former music instructor and Executive Director of the American Institute of Guitar, he continues to explore music as a universal language and a means of bridging the gap between people of different cultures and backgrounds.
BARRY MARTYN'S DOWN HOME BOYS
BRAHMA
IN THE GROOVE
RUM & COCA COLA
COLLABORATION
DOUBLE TROUBLE TWO
HARMOS
