PUENTE GOES JAZZ TITO PUENTE

...However, for me the real treasure on these discs is the Rachmaninov Second Sonata, a live performance of the complete original version, with a few nods to the revision. Here is a master pianist in full flight. The finale in particular captures the exaltation of the piece in a way rarely heard, and it ends in a burst of clamorous virtuosity. This has to be one of the finest recorded performances of the sonata, and there's certainly nothing to compare with it in the refined but comparatively unremarkable solo performances on the second disc. Recording quality is generally somewhat dry and constricted but not difficult to adapt to.

-- Gramophone [1/1999]
reviewing the Rachmaninov Sonata no 2 previously reissued as part of Great Pianists of the 20th Century, Philips 456748

Personnel: Count Basie (piano); Gus Johnson (vocals, drums); Jimmy Rushing, Taps Miller, Billy Valentine (vocals); Freddie Green (guitar); Earle Warren, C.Q. Price (alto saxophone); Gene Ammons (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Jimmy Tyler, Weasel Parker, Georgie Auld, Paul Gonsalves (tenor saxophone); Jack Washington (baritone saxophone); Clark Terry, Emmett Berry, Gerald Wilson, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Jimmy Nottingham (trumpet); Dicky Wells, Ted Donnelly, Melba Liston, George Matthews (trombone); Butch Ballard (drums).

Liner Note Author: Dick Katz.

Recording information: Los Angeles, CA (04/11/1949-02/06/1950); New York, NY (04/11/1949-02/06/1950).

Illustrator: Joel Spector.

The cuts on this anthology were recorded with Count Basie's legendary 1940s band nearing the end. These cuts were mostly unissued and show a band still capable of playing joyous blues and vigorous swing, but also close to exhausting its creative juices. Most cuts are entertaining; some, like "Hit That Ball," and are enjoyable period pieces, but none of them equal the vitality or drive in the great music Basie made earlier in the decade. The really intriguing numbers are the three tunes by Basie with a sextet, but J. August's forgettable vocals mar "If You See My Baby," and "Sweets" offers crackling trumpet solos from Harry Edison contrasted by highly derivative tenor solos from George Auld. This disc isn't great or classic Basie, but it provides insight into a critical and seldom-evaluated period in his legacy.

Track Listing
1. Begin the Beguine
2. Back Bay Shuffle
3. Nightmare
4. Traffic Jam
5. Oh! Lady Be Good
6. Frenesi
7. Star Dust
8. Any Old Time
9. Blues (Parts I and II)
10. Moonglow

An anthology that's part of a series devoted to big band masters, and a good way to get a decent sampling of clarinetist Artie Shaw's music. It includes such huge hits as "Begin The Beguine" and has been designed and organized to provide a decent overview of his music, while still concentrating on the most recognizable songs.

Personnel: Pete Fountain (clarinet); Lester Bouchen (tenor saxophone); George Girard, Tony Almerico (trumpet); Santo Pecora, Jack Delaney (trombone); Harry Shields (clarinet); Roy Zimmerman (piano); Frank Frederico, Wes Buchanan (guitar); Phil Darice (bass); Roger Johnston, Paul Edwards (drums).

Producer: Pete Fountain.

Reissue producer: John Snyder.

Recorded in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 10 & 12, 1956.

Digitally remastered by Glen Kolotkin & James Nichols (1992, BMG Recording Studios, New York, New York).

THE VOICES OF LIVING STEREO VO

I began by re-programming this excellent recital into a proper order rather than the nonsensical one chosen by RCA. How could they place Wagner (his items themselves out of chronology) before Beethoven and Weber and then suddenly follow Weber with Korngold? All of which cannot detract from the beauty, reliability and musicality of every item in this pot-pourri of German opera. Heppner must now be counted among the most consistent of tenors in this kind of repertory this century. Particularly welcome is his singing of Tristan's, Siegfried's and Parsifal's music: with his secure technique and sturdy frame these roles have surely found their ideal interpreter for the first decade of the coming century. Much as I dislike bleeding chunks and the way they end in mid-air, such firmly sung and intelligently phrased readings justify the practice on this occasion.

Heppner would also be an ideal interpreter, on this evidence, of Max and Adolar in the Weber operas, the lyrical and dramatic nicely held in balance. Florestan's scena is taken from the complete recording under Sir Colin Davis. Here and in one or two places, you may find the Achilles' heel in Heppner's approach: just occasionally one would like that extra frisson less well-behaved singers such as, say, Ludwig Suthaus and Jon Vickers used to bring to their singing of this kind of music, the feeling that they were living the emotions - and which Heppner himself provides in the rapturous opulence of the Korngold, a substantial bonne houche. In the items, other than the Beethoven. Heppner is admirably partnered by Runnicles, who always makes us aware of the context and, by dint of forward movement and the maintenance of line, avoids the pseudo-profundity of much Wagner conducting these days. The recording is in all respects exemplary. Highly recommended.

-- Gramophone [1/1999]

Cage's Sixteen Dances (1951), for Merce Cunningham's choreography, are a missing link in his still-growing representation on CD. The Ensemble Modern, whose Ives and Nancarrow performances I have so much admired, bring them to the British catalogue for the first time. There was an American LP (never issued in the UK) with a chamber group including the Nexus Percussion Ensemble under Paul Zukovsky, which was well worth having at the time but the recorded quality on RCA is much better, even though the periodic loud attacks on the bass drum (track 3, for example) often seem to distort.

In 1951 Cage was at a turning point following major achievements such as the Sonatas and Interlucks for prepared piano (Tall Poppies, 10/94), the Cunningham ballet The Seasons (not yet on CD), the String Quartet (Mode Records, 12/93) and the Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra (on CD only in the USA—Wergo).

Whereas Cage had carefully chosen the sounds in Sonatas and Interludes, in the Sixteen Dances he began to accept moves on his charts as a basis for 78 Gramophone April 1995 composing decisions. You can't really tell this in the Sixteen Dances, which have the authentic atmosphere of Cage of this period and are linked to the Sonatas and Interludes since eight of them represent specific Hindu emotions such as anger, humour and sorrow.

At times the moods of the String Quartet recur, but with much more activity and colour thanks to a palette of flute, violin, cello, trumpet, piano and percussion. Cage's philosophy was by now Zeninfluenced and even the sound is oriental at times—the interlude at track 12 is enchanting and the one at track 14 particularly witty. The final dance, representing tranquillity, accumulates real depth and grandeur with its tolling tam-tam. There is a ceremonial sense of progression in the work as a whole which is almost nostalgic at this point, since Cage was about to give all that up. Part of a 1988 watercolour by Cage is reproduced in the booklet and the notes are by James Pritchett, whose book on Cage was published in 1993.

-- Gramophone [4/1995]

Selections recorded June 29-30, 1991 and February 1, 1993.

RICHARD STOLTZMAN - SPIRITS

The gender-bending beauty of THE DARK IS MY DELIGHT is due to the amazing instrument of countertenor Brian Asawa. As countertenors return to the fore, often replacing mezzos in roles that were originated by castrati, recording and performance opportunities abound. Asawa, along with colleagues David Daniels, Jochen Kowalski, and Michael Chance stand alone as the preeminent interpreters of the countertenor repertoire.
Asawa's voice is indisputably precise and a delight to the ear. The songs of Dowland are darker in tone, and the anonymous popular songs and those by Campion are filled with mixed emotions, but all give Asawa the opportunity to show the listener that this was the music of the people, of everyday life and all of its ups and downs.
This collection of Elizabethan songs for lute and voice is perfectly suited for Asawa and lutenist David Tayler. Instead of potential monotony, we hear continuous spontaneity and freshness. Tayler, who transcribed the lute parts from original sources, uses numerous instruments tuned to different pitches to keep in accordance with performance practices of the time. His playing matches the flowing lyricism of Asawa and together they have created a unique and compelling recording.

Includes minuetto(s) by Giovanni Bolzoni. Ensemble: Boston Pops. Conductor: Arthur Fiedler.

TAKE THE A TRAIN: BEST OF DUKE

An excellent, enterprising disc full of crisp performances that are sparkling without glare.

Hard on the heels of a valuable disc with the Ravel and Debussy trios which I reviewed only a short time ago, Andre Previn and RCA Victor now bring us this one which I enjoy no less. Predictably, one feels that Previn is the moving spirit behind these performances of three vivid French pieces for biggish chamber ensembles, and that it is especially his joie de vivre that informs Poulenc's sextet, where his charming solo at 213" in the first movement is just the first or many delights that help us to forget that its construction is not of the tightest. His colleagues also deserve every credit, and this crisply recorded account of the work is admirable, sparkling without glare.

This version of Milhaud's ballet score, La creation du monde, is a five-movement suite for piano plus string quartet that the composer made at his publisher's request. This is hard on its primitive elements, and indeed is no substitute for the original, but the performers offer all the vigour and sexiness that they can and it comes across well enough. After the uninhibited Poulenc and Milhaud, the programming of Saint-Saens makes one fear a let-down in musical temperature, but the composer of the Carnival of the Animals had five years before already penned a jolly, witty and busy score in his Septet of 1881, whose scoring includes a trumpet and double-bass. This is another sparkling performance and rounds out an excellent, enterprising disc.

-- Gramophone [11/1995]

"Leontyne Price’s New York recitals were always big events. . . . The opera arias at the beginning are impressive for the weight of tone and drama, but it’s the encores, especially the Butterfly extracts, that catch her at her most expressive. Even “Summertime”, which she sang at almost every concert she ever gave, is given a new interpretation here. The most valuable aspect of this CD, though, is the glimpse it affords of Price the Lieder singer and advocate for American song. Lee Hoiby composed songs specially for her, and it is good to have at least a souvenir of their collaboration in these three beautiful songs. . . . My favourite track of all is the penultimate encore, the spiritual Witness, with a sly characterization of Delilah as she asks Samson where his strength comes from. We might ask the same question of Price herself, and her answer in part comes in the final item, America the Beautiful, sung unaccompanied. I would defy anybody to listen to this and remain unmoved." -- Gramophone