This third installment in a series documenting the works of Maurice Ravel includes his longest work, Daphnis et Chloe, as well as Valses nobles et sentimentales. The works are performed here by the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR). Founded in 1945, the ensemble is one of the most significant musical ambassadors for Germany. The SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart are also counted among the top ensembles in Germany. They frequently perform concerts on their home stages, and are often invited abroad.

An album of soulful compositions with heartfelt melodies, each piece highlighting a particular Egyptian instrument. Following Hossam Ramzy's high standard in dance pieces it washes onto the shores of world music with a hypnotic and exotic flavor. Includes four bonus practice tracks for dancers, and explanations to each of the songs.

Tanja Becker-Bender, one of Germany's most distinguished violinists, already has a number of critically acclaimed CDs of absorbing repertoire to her credit. Her collaboration with the Hungarian pianist Peter Nagy over many years has borne musical fruits of remarkable quality, as this Bartok recording so impressively demonstrates.

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REVIEW:

These players don’t seem to be among those who conceive Bartók’s music primarily as a rigorous exploration of dissonance; and their moving it from center stage, though hardly underplaying its jagged power (as in the Solo Violin Sonata), allows it to speak naturally and, in general, cogently. Highly recommended to admirers of the composer’s paradigm-shattering synthesis.

– Fanfare

Originally conceived by the maker Adriana Breukink in 2008, the "Eagle" recorder has rapidly developed into an instrument which combines a large sound with a wide range, making it ideal for playing with modern instruments. When the Swedish recorder virtuoso Dan Laurin first encountered it, he was fascinated but also puzzled. What kind of music could he play on this instrument? Coming into contact with the Dutch composer Chiel Meijering he soon found out. Meijering, who had started to write for the recorder as early as 1979 – had developed a passion for the new model and was composing Eagle concertos with string accompaniment at a rapid pace. In fact, if there was a problem with repertoire for the Eagle, it was what to choose. As their correspondence developed, Laurin was struck by the very personal language in the compositions that he kept receiving from the composer. Dividing his own music into four cate­gories dreamy, nostalgic, rocking and heavy metal. Meijering told him that the roots he had always had in pop music had gradually become more and more important. Soon thoughts of making a recording emerged, and took definite shape when the third, vital piece of the puzzle was found: the fresh, young string ensemble 1B1 from Stavanger in Norway, and its founder, the dynamic violinist Jan Bjøranger. Their collaboration has borne fruit in this disc with fifteen individual movements, selected by the performers and the composer during the recording sessions.

Twenty five years after their last recording of piano duets on Chandos, the Canadien pianists Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier return in a watershed collection of magnificently played duets by Rachmaninoff including the two suites and an arrangement for his Symphonic Dances. The Lortie/Mercier piano duo have known one another since their early teens, and have a considerable collaborative discography that showcases their affinity for the art of 4 hands and 2 pianos performances and repertoire.

The newest release from Altissimo! Celebrates the music of Percy Grainger, both familiar and unknown, recorded live in 2011 at a concert given in observation of the 50th anniversary of composer death, performed by the "President's Own" US Marine Band under Colonel Michael J. Colburn in collaboration with the Choral Arts Society of Washington. The title The Music Lover's Grainger was borrowed from one of Grainger's many unfinished publishing projects, reflecting the world premiere recordings featured on the program. These include a version of "The Lost Lady Found", the final number of Lincolnshire Posy, transcribed for band and chorus, based on Grainger's original setting for chorus and orchestra; the original, unpublished band version of "Spoon River", reconstructed from the recently discovered manuscript parts; and a rarely heard, otherworldly harmonization of the "Londonderry Air", the tune of "Danny Boy", scored for band, chorus, and organ. A significant amateur ethnomusicologist, Grainger drew extensively from folksong, collecting several hundred tunes from the English countryside himself. The repertoire recorded here includes English, Irish, Scottish, American, and Danish influences.

On this ninth installment in Ronald Brautigam’s series of the complete piano concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the program consists of three works composed in 1776 and 1782-83. As on previous discs, Brautigam – whose ‘muscular yet sensitively nuanced command of Mozartian discourse’ has been described by BBC Music Magazine as central to the series – is supported by Die Kölner Akademie under Michael Alexander Willens, in a partnership that for each new recording becomes ever more intuitive and close-knit.

Review:

Ronald Brautigam and the Cologne Academy under Michael Alexander Willens offer stylish and enjoyable performances.

– BBC Music Magazine

Johann Baptist Cramer made his name in London and Europe as one of the leading pianists of the day. His virtuoso skills at the keyboard can be heard in the florid and playful Variations on an Anglo-Caledonian Air and the ebullient Sonata, Op. 25, No. 2. Matteo Napoli is an honors graduate of the Giordano Conservatory (Foggia). Early in his career he captured worldwide attention winning many competitions, including First Prize in the International Liszt Competition at Lucca in 1986.

After four volumes exploring 20th century British works for cello and piano, the Watkins brothers come together again turning their attention across the Atlantic ocean and the American contribution to this repertoire spanning four decades of seminal compositional activity in the United States. The inspired performances of the Welsh sibling duo, both highly acclaimed in their musical endeavors further illustrate the confluence of the unique American influences with the development of early 20th century classical repertoire.

Grammy Award-nominated cellist Antonio Meneses’ dazzling virtuosity in on display in the Suite for Solo Cello by Gaspar Cassadó, and two works by Zoltán Kodály - the Duo for Violin and Cello with violinist Claudio Cruz, and the Sonata for Solo Cello that was written in 1915. It is released in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the work.

Following the success of Capriccioso, a solo spectacular of works written by cellists for cellists, Antonio Meneses' brilliance is demonstrated again, with the rarely recorded Suite for Solo Cello by the Spanish cellist-composer Gaspar Cassadó. Alongside two early works by his Hungarian contemporary Zoltán Kodály - the Duo for Violin and Cello, with violinist Claudio Cruz, who was the conductor on Antonio's Grammy-nominated recording of the Concertos by Elgar and Gál; and the Sonata for Solo Cello, which was written in 1915 and is released in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the work.

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REVIEWS:

In Cassado's dark, sensuous Suite, inspired by Kodaly but infused with Spanish undertones, he exudes a mesmerising, Zen-like calm: tenderly shaped curlicues, ornate arabesques, and complex harmonic accompanying figurations never disturb his long, arching lines or the sense of easy, improvisational charm. You can almost forget you're listening to a virtuoso display; in his refreshingly self-effacing, idiomatic approach musical substance is always to the fore.

– BBC Music Magazine

Meneses gives a performance that has been crafted down to the tiniest detail, the swirling finale in particular confident and polished, with every technical trick in the cellist's book pulled off with panache.

– Gramophone

The ensemble London Winds, praised by BBC Music for its ‘technical accomplishment, expressive commitment and warmth of timbre’, presents in this recording great twentieth-century works for winds.

It features music by Hindemith, Nielsen, and Janácek, and, from the next generation, Barber and Ligeti. Although not equally prolific (Kleine Kammermusik is Hindemith’s single contribution to that genre while winds are generally more prominent in Nielsen’s music), all these composers brought the wind repertoire back to prominence, after a quiet period of more than a century. The music is full of playfulness and European folk colours.

A stunning combination of virtuoso players who also enjoy active solo careers, the ensemble London Winds is renowned for its technical brilliance, interpretative vision, and joie de vivre. Founded in 1988 by the British clarinettist Michael Collins, the group rapidly became one of the world’s most prominent chamber ensembles.

Review:

There's plenty of personality in the playing here, with much wit in the Allegro ben moderato and the charming minuet. London Winds deliver an exuberant account, surpassing my previous favorite, the Michael Thompson Wind Quintet.

– Gramophone

This is the penultimate release in the Chandos series of Brahms works for solo piano, performed by Barry Douglas. | Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator with his music being rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of Baroque and Classical eras. | These recordings are being performed in the finest international venues including the Wigmore Hall and Concertgebouw. | This fifth volume is the most virtuosic of the series, including the Scherzo in E flat minor, technically demanding variations, several intermezzi, and three Hungarian Dances. | Barry Douglas is gainging a reputation of one the few world-class piano virtuosi of the romantic repertoire. | Barry Douglas won the 1986 Tchaikovksy Competition in Russia.

Written during the summer of 1875, Anton�n Dvor�k's Symphony No. 5 in F Major, Op. 76 is considered the first work in which Dvor�k found his way to a new symphonic idiom. It's noticeable inflections of Bohemian folklore, accompanied by almost Schubertian phrases, infuse the symphony with light and give it buoyancy. Two of Dvor�k's many one-movement orchestral pieces, In Nature�s Realm Op. 91 and the Scherzo capriccioso Op. 66, serve as considerable, substantial encores. Karel Mark Chichon (OBE) is Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbru�cken Kaiserslautern.

St�phane Den�ve, Chief Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) leads his orchestra on this recording in interpretations of the music of French composer Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), works that count among Honegger's best known, including his Second and Third (the 'Liturgique') Symphonies, Rugby and Pacific 231, the latter two works brief bursts of considerable energy and impact. Honegger's mingling at the outer edges of the "Les Six" group of composers and his admiration, in this sense contradictory, of German music, including Wagner, gives his works peculiar piquancy.

A lasting love affair with the clarinet amongst composers from the dawn until the dusk of the Romantic era (i.e. from Schubert to Strauss) is the key takeaway of this Signum release. In recognition, a trio of leading British soloists - clarinetist Julian Bliss, soprano Ailish Tynan and pianist Christopher Glynn - perform a sumptuous selection of the era's chamber music by Brahms, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann and Richard Strauss. The program is centered around Schubert's iconic The Shepherd on the Rock, virtually the final complete work that Schubert composed before his tragic death in 1828, age 31.

Bach a poet? In our age of performer's intensive efforts at keeping faithful to the original and the "correct" performing style, this statement sounds surreal today, seeming to reek of nostalgia. From this perspective, Bachiana, featuring the Duo d'Accord, must appear anachronistic, since it's music takes us back to an epoch - the era of the Romantics - in which Bach was played in a free, even occasionally downright carefree, style. "The artistry of Duo d'Accord lies in that their performance appears to develop completely freely and flows with all due desirable precision." - (FonoForum)

The choral pieces brought together on The Call range widely, from ceremonial works associated with affairs of state to intimate compositions addressing moments of great personal significance. The composers are similarly diverse. They include an English composer of Polish extraction (Panufnik), an Italian who spent most of his life in Paris (Rossini), an Irish and a German composer who became leading lights in English music (Stanford and Mendelssohn). However, all the works recorded here have one thing in common: all are considered quintessential to the Anglican choral tradition.

Anybody with deep affection for the more noble anthems of the Anglican tradition will need no excuse to grab a copy of this tasty selection, especially so when it features performances of such tasteful restraint. You only need sample Oliver Browne’s unaffected treble in ‘O for the wings of a dove’ or Xavier Hetherington’s ethereal tenor in the Ave Maria to know that Andrew Nethsingha has musical integrity at the heart of these performances.

- Gramophone

"Nicolas Horvath, with precise playing and imaginative interpretation has made Glassworlds 2 an indispensable reference for the serious enthusiast as well as marking an important milestone in the evolution of the music of Philip Glass." -- Sequenza 21

For his latest solo album in a growing catalog of increasingly critically praised recordings for Signum Classics, Alessio Bax returns with a program of rich and evocative works for piano by Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Scriabin. The Italian-born, NYC-based pianist Alessio Bax creates “a ravishing listening experience” with his lyrical playing, insightful interpretations, and dazzling facility. “His playing quivers with an almost hypnotic intensity,” says Gramophone magazine, leading to what Dallas Morning News calls “an out-of-body experience.” “…a pianist of refreshing depth.” (International Piano) Alessio Bax plays Beethoven, released in 2014, was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice: “'Even when compared to legendary performances of this sonata (Kempff, Richter, Gilels, Brendel, etc), this performance stands its ground in music to test the technique and intellect of even the greatest pianists.”

The sacred-music production of Augustinian friar Ippolito Ghezzi (1655-1725) is collected almost in full in this 4CD box set containing the complete edition of his Oratorios, Psalms and Lamentations for Holy Week. A fresh, inspired writing and a sober, but not austere style are the mainstays of the composer’s approach to the great Biblical episodes. The intention of this music is to reach the listeners’ understanding in a direct (and sometimes also dramatic) way, unfailingly guiding them towards a conversion to faith. Roberto Cascio leads the Cappella Musicale di San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna.

A highly fashionable instrument in the 18th c., C.P.E. Bach used the flute in his compositions throughout his life. His works for the instrument, including the complete sonatas for flute featured on this 2CD set, frequently betray the influence of Friedrich II (Frederick the Great), yet the distinctive traits – surprising twists, sensitivity, expressiveness and new compositional approaches – of a composer as great as C.P.E. Bach often surface. Dorothea Seel plays a copy of a late-Baroque Transverse flute; Keyboardist Christoph Hammer on period fortepiano provides the accompaniment.

In 1827, when writing his Quartet in A minor, Op.13, the eighteen-year-old Mendelssohn was especially interested in Beethoven’s late quartets – at a time when these works were generally written off as ‘confused fantasies of a deaf musician’. In Mendelssohn's A minor quartet the debt to Beethoven is evident in the important role of polyphonic techniques, and particularly in the focus on cyclical connections between movements.

Ten years after the Op. 13 quartet, Mendelssohn composed the three quartets that make up his Op. 44. The D major quartet that closes the present disc was the last of these to be completed, but on publication, Mendelssohn placed it as the first in the set.

Mendelssohn also wrote four individual movements for string quartet. These were gathered together and published posthumously with the opus number 81, and on this second volume of their complete Mendelssohn cycle the Escher Quartet perform two of these pieces, both conceived in August 1847, only a couple of months before the composer’s death.

The first volume in the Eschers' series, released in April 2015, has been warmly received by the critics, with the internet site Pizzicato describing it as 'a noteworthy addition to the Mendelssohn discography'.

Reviewds:

The Eschers offer eloquent, full-blooded playing, with spacious tempos, earthy rhythms and rich, dug-in sound. Nothing is rushed or skittered over - and this is notably rewarding in music where an over-precious surface can risk missing the point…the four players offer a beautiful blend of individuality and accord, and BIS's famous SACD sound quality lets them gleam and glow.

– BBC Music Magazine

This young American group respond particularly vividly to the ebullience of the D major Quartet. Digging into the upward arpeggio with which it launches with infectious glee, while the first movement's coda is uproariously dispatched. Also impressive is their combination of finely honed interaction and a sense of playfulness.

– Gramophone

Classical Music

This DVD is accompanied by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen's  audio recording of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 (COR16126). In the BBC documentary, actor and former chorister Simon Russell Beale invites us into the heart of the Vespers and the world of their creator. It is the story of a Renaissance Duke and the composer who worked for him - and how their volatile relationship would create one of the most revolutionary and beautiful collections of music ever published: The Monteverdi Vespers of 1610.

The Avalon String Quartet, “a remarkably fine ensemble” (The Strad), makes its Cedille Records debut with an irresistible and richly varied program of captivating works by Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britten, Osvaldo Golijov, and rising American composer Stacy Garrop. The ensemble presents the world-premiere recording of Garrop’s String Quartet No. 4: Illuminations, a tantalizing, Pictures at an Exhibition-style tour of spectacular illustrations from an ornate medieval manuscript. Debussy’s lush, exotic String Quartet in G minor unfolds through iridescent quasi-orchestral textures. Golijov’s lyrical, deeply moving Tenebrae (Latin for “shadows”), written for the Kronos Quartet, pays tender tribute to the earth, depicted in its remote celestial beauty, haunted by undertones of human discord. Britten’s youthful, energetic Three Divertimenti and Alla Marcia are alluring, rarely recorded studies in inventiveness and perpetual motion.

The Avalon is quartet-in-residence at the Northern Illinois University School of Music. “…an ensemble that invites you — ears, mind, and spirit — into its music.” (Chicago Tribune)

REVIEW:

The folks at Cedille seem to have mastered the art of putting together classical music collections that make good musical sense. Debussy’s String Quartet is, of course, standard fare, and it usually appears in tandem with the Ravel and something else French. Not here. Instead, we have two Britten rarities, the entertaining Three Divertimenti and the lone Alla Marcia (the first of the Divertimenti is also a march, so you can see the logic), a self-described “Pictures at an Exhibition” type piece by Stacy Garrop, and a moving conclusion in the form of Osvaldo Golijov’s single-movement Tenebrae. The entire program provides consistently interesting and entertaining continuous listening, and the sonics are drop-dead gorgeous.

So, for that matter, is the playing of the Avalon String Quartet. The group’s corporate sonority is warm and mellow, but with just a touch of “rosin” in the tone. They attack rhythmic moments such as the scherzo of the Debussy, the Burlesque and the marches in the Britten pieces, and Garrop’s musically impossibly named “Mouth of Hell” with plenty of guts and precision, but no unpleasant hardness in the tone. The slow music is simply luminous. I am not generally a fan of pseudo-religious programmatic stuff such as Garrop offers here, but it’s awfully well done, and the booklet provides well-produced, full-color reproductions of the illustrations from the late medieval Book of Hours that Garrop took as her inspiration. They are exquisite, as is much of Garrop’s writing more generally.

Here, in short, is another excellent program that chamber music fans looking to venture off the beaten path will surely relish.

- ClassicsToday.com (10/10)