Victor Young was one of Hollywood's busiest and most esteemed film composers, his upbeat and engaging style ensuring that viewers left the cinema with a catchy tune in their ears. His lively circus march captures the spirit of The Greatest Show on Earth, and his Broadway-cum-Rachmaninov and eerie score for The Uninvited with it's hit tune Stella by Starlight was pivotal to arguably the best Hollywood ghost story ever produced. The animated Gulliver's Travels relied heavily for it's charm and dramatic impact on Young's fabulous orchestrations, while the tobacco dynasty drama Bright Leaf inspired one of his most restrained and thoughtful film scores.

This highly dramatic album includes the most famous moments from Verdi' ever-popular operas, in which public splendour and private pathos, true love and tragedy, vie for supremacy at every turn.

This marvelous selection reveals Mozart' astonishing gift for laying bare the inner lives of the many beloved characters from his most famous operas, whether embroiled in farce or defying fate.

SPANISH GUITAR

Includes work(s) by various composers. Soloists: Ivan Paisov, Natalia Shcherbakova.

The music on this disc, which is unfailingly attractive, certainly communicates with the listener directly and strongly.

That communication with the listener is undoubtedly enhanced by the performances of Commotio. Their singing is technically excellent and they consistently demonstrate complete commitment to the music. I was very interested to see that the producer of this disc is Nigel Short, the conductor of Tenebrae and a former colleague of Bob Chilcott in The King’s Singers. If it was daunting for Matthew Berry and his choir to have two highly experienced singers and choral conductors… Short and his engineer Will Brown have ensured that the recorded sound is excellent: clear, atmospheric and beautifully balanced.

I think this delightful disc will enhance the musical side of Christmas for a lot of people.

– John Quinn, MusicWeb International

Judy Loman spent most of her career as principal harpist for the Toronto Symphony (retiring in 2002), while making frequent appearances as soloist and chamber musician. For at least four decades she has reigned as one of the world's premier harp virtuosos, and this new release shows that her enthusiasm and flair for performing and her impeccable technique and articulate, always stylish expression haven't diminished one bit. And on this fine outing, we find that the recording's title delivers exactly what it promises, offering not run-of-the-mill transcriptions often presented on such compilations but rather many original and rarely-heard works--and in a well-organized, varied, musically compatible program.


The only weak spot in terms of repertoire is the opening Fantasy on a Theme of Haydn by Marcel Grandjany, competently written and certainly attractive enough, but offering nothing really original in its quaint, rather predictable 19th-century style (a bit of a stretch for a work published in 1953). Of course Loman makes the most of it--very much, actually--and brings us along through its nearly eight minutes by virtue of her scintillating fingerwork, amazing fast legato runs, and, need we say it, shimmering arpeggios. And speaking of "scintillation", Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy (b. 1964) contributes a stunning piece of work by that title that's actually the solo cadenza from her Harp Concerto "And then at night I paint the stars", which she wrote for Loman's retirement from the Toronto Symphony.


Other highlights include the impressionistic Vers la source dans le bois by Marcel Tournier and a transcription of Prokofiev's piano Prelude in C Op. 12 No. 7, which Loman performs with such crystal clarity--you hear every single note and line--and such perfect balances between lower and upper registers that you can't imagine a more ideal rendition of the piece, no matter what the instrument. Finally, in the Ballade Op. 28 we hear why Carlos Salzédo, with his fascinating use of articulation effects and his grand-scale, all-over-the-harp gestures was such an important, commanding figure as a harpist and composer for the instrument. Loman conveys the work's varied moods and fulfills its formidable technical demands with a thoroughly engrossing performance that shows off both her impressive dynamic power and facility for more subtle, lyrical expression. The sound is impressive as well--big and bold yet clear and vibrant, with the harp appropriately positioned relative to the listener so that even an hour of plucking doesn't wear on the ear. If this is your kind of music, you should look for an earlier "companion" to this program (also on Naxos) titled Harp Showpieces (type Q3108 in Search Reviews), which contains another beautiful work by Tournier along with Salzédo's own Scintillation. [10/19/2005]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

This recording brings together some of the best-loved and most popular duets in the French and Italian operatic repertoire. The selection takes in music by some of the great Italian masters of opera, including Verdi, Puccini and Donizetti.

Wolfgang Rübsam, one of the finest, busiest, and most prolifically recorded organists on Planet Earth, launches the first volume of a cycle devoted to the complete organ works of Pachelbel. The first impression you'll get from placing this disc in your trusty CD changer will be the pungency of the bright, reedy stops characterizing the organ by Johann Nepomuk Holzhey at Wiessnau (built in the 1780s). Naxos' transparent, up-close engineering further underscores the instrument's timbral distinctions. Listen, for example, to the registral clarity in the three Christmas Chorale Preludes, the brooding G minor Fantasia (what heartbreakingly gorgeous low-register harmonies!), or the flowing, reflective Komm, Gott Schöpfer, heiliger Geist. The two Toccatas in C major boast snarling pedal-points from which vivid, trumpet-like lines proudly take wing. Rübsam's slight ritards and breath marks throughout the D minor Chaconne, together with his strikingly varied couplings, add welcome drama and color to the score. Some listeners might prefer the steadier rhythm and restrained registration of Joseph Payne's more conservative reading on Centaur, but I lean toward Rübsam.


Payne's Pachelbel cycle, nearly complete at 10 volumes, employs a different organ for each installment. Will Rübsam do the same? That is, if he's been designated to record the whole Naxos Pachelbel cycle himself (remember, the label's Dupré organ music cycle is given over to different players). Artistically speaking, Rübsam and Payne complement rather than compete with each other. Even if you've acquired all or many or some of the Payne volumes, give Rübsam's Pachelbel a fair shot. What can you lose at Naxos' rock bottom price? Stay tuned for Volume 2.
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

The flourishing of period instrument performance may have accustomed the world's ears to the sound of mean tuning, but institutional instruments such as the pipe organ have yet to catch up. There are very few organs in the world capable of playing in mean temperament, so period-style recordings are necessarily limited; thus the fortunate necessity of this CD of Georg Muffat's 'Apparatus musico-organisticus' being recorded on the Klosterneuberg Abbey organ in Austria. Beyond its authentic tuning, it has an amazing variety of tone colors, which Muffat's score takes full advantage of.
Muffat, a student of Jean-Baptiste Lully, lived and composed at the cusp of a new era in European history. He stepped beyond the limitations of national character, and sought to incorporate elements of Italian and German music in his own French compositions. He was also aware of the new tonality put forth in the 'Well-Tempered Clavier' by his contemporary, J. S. Bach. Though Part I of the 'Apparatus' uses mean tuning, he was eager to experiment with the newer even temperament, which he did in Part II, so it could not be recorded on this instrument. Given the choice, however, Part I is much more interesting listening.

MUFFAT: Organ Works, Vol. 2

If you're very comfortable with your favorite Christmas carol choral arrangements, be prepared to adjust your ears and your sensibility as you listen to these newly commissioned--and sometimes very different--settings by Antony Pitts (who also happens to be a composer, radio producer, and the conductor of the vocal ensemble Tonus Peregrinus). Although Pitts strove to honor the original tunes and to preserve certain familiar aspects of carol singing forms and customs, he wasn't afraid to shake tradition with new harmonies and a few unusual melodies. Of course, how many ways can you harmonize "Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming" and still have it recognizable and singable? Pitts chooses not to tinker very much with this beloved hymn, instead substituting a completely different translation ("Lo, there a Rose is blooming") set to very familiar harmony, gradually introducing dissonances and changing the texture, carefully ornamenting the non-melodic lines. Other pieces are more daring--the melismatic inner parts and flatted sevenths in "While shepherds watched", for example, or the stark, open, fourth- and fifth-oriented harmonies in "O come, o come, Emmanuel".


While Pitts shows fertile imagination and often impressive resourcefulness in rethinking these 24 mostly well-known carols and hymns, some of his ideas are better than others, and occasionally we're left thinking that, well, maybe the traditional version really is the best after all. Among the offerings, which are presented in four thematically organized sections: a "Silent Night" that's just too schmaltzy for its own good; a plodding, tedious "O little town of Bethlehem" (to a tune many won't recognize, complete with theatre-organ tremolo!); a wonderfully dancing "Good King Wenceslas" that enlivens this usually routine song; a weirdly chaotic "Hark the herald angels sing"; a beautiful realization of the 15th-century "Alleluya--a new work"; and an unusual "Away in a manger" that features some delicious harmonies that cleverly illustrate the sound of the "lowing" cattle and the baby awaking. However, rather than describe these as I hear them, you should get this and judge for yourself. You may find some of these arrangements will become your new favorites--or at least welcome alternatives to the ubiquitous Willcocks/Rutter/Oxford Carol Book "standards". At the Naxos budget price, it's a great buy and, if you're interested, the arrangements are available online. [11/30/2004]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Elora Festival Singers. Conductor: Noel Edison. Soloist: Michael Bloss.

The Maiden's Prayer: Leaves from Grandmother's Piano Album

The exceptional Chinese guitarist Junhong Kuang, who won first prize in the Thailand InternationalGuitar Competition in November 2011, has made a remarkable impact on the international stage,receiving standing ovations at venues in New York (Carnegie Hall), Shanghai and Beijing for hisflawless technique and youthful optimism. Aged just 14 at the time of this recording, he has sincegiven the opening concert at the 23rd International Guitar Symposium in Iserlohn, Germany.