The Soldier's Tale is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" by three actors (the soldier, the devil, and a narrator) and dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. The libretto relates the parable of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil in return for unlimited economic gain. The music is scored for a septet of violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet or trumpet), trombone, and percussion. The libretto is adapted by Roger Waters from the translation by Michael Flanders and Kitty Black, based on the original text by Charles-Ferdinand Ramus. Roger Waters recorded the album because of a personal background as Mr. Waters’ father went missing in World War II and his grandfather died in battle in World War I. The loss of his father has been a central theme throughout his live and topic for other releases. Telegraph UK: “I think I am still preoccupied by the same things that I was 30 years ago. Losing my father, and that attachment that I have to his humanity, is still central to everything that I do” Roger Waters adapted the English translation of “L’histoire du Soldat” (original title of the piece) and recorded all 3 characters himself with different accents and speaking voices.

The soundtrack for Overboard is a compilation of tracks by numerous musicians, and features original music by Los Hanky Pankys, Rue Melo x ESCQ, Gente de Zona and Break Out The Crazy. Overboard is a fresh take on the iconic romantic comedy. In a splashy new twist, Overboard focuses on "Leonardo" (Eugenio Derbez), a selfish, spoiled, rich playboy from Mexico's richest family and "Kate" (Anna Faris), a working class single mom of three hired to clean Leonardo's luxury yacht. After unjustly firing Kate and refusing to pay her, Leonardo falls overboard when partying too hard and wakes up on the Oregon coast with amnesia. Kate shows up at the hospital and, to get payback, convinces Leonardo he is her husband and puts him to work - for the first time in his life. At first miserable and inept, Leonardo slowly settles in. Eventually he earns the respect of his new "family" and co-workers. But, with Leonardo's billionaire family hot on their trail and the possibility of his memory returning at any moment, will their new family last or will Leonardo finally put the clues together and leave them for good? The film stars beloved Mexican film and television icon Eugenio Derbez (Instructions Not Included, How to Be A Latin Lover) as Leo, Anna Faris ("Mom," The House Bunny) as Kate and Eva Longoria ("Desperate Housewives") as Theresa Filmmakers Rob Greenberg ("How I Met Your Mother") and Bob Fisher (Wedding Crashers) teamed up to write and direct based on the 1987 motion picture written by Leslie Dixon. Ben Odell (How to be a Latin Lover) and Derbez produced via their 3Pas Studios.

ESCAPE ROOM (ORIGINAL MOTION P

BRAHMS GREATEST HITS (ECO-FRIE

Masterworks proudly continues it's release of the newly remastered Yo-Yo Ma catalog with SILK ROAD JOURNEYS.

Selection includes Introduction by Paul Herriot.

SYMPHONY NO.7 SACD

PAGANINI 24 Caprices • Mayuko Kamio (vn) • SONY 88697449442 (78:56)


Mayuki Kamio’s recording of Paganini’s 24 Caprices, one of the many in the catalog, shows that violinists now consider this kind of integral recording almost pro forma , while, as Julian Haylock points out in the notes, older violinists like Milstein and Heifetz, supreme technicians though they may have been, played in public and recorded only a handful.


Kamio sharply etches off-the-string bowings in No. 1; her attack remains aggressively crisp throughout. In No. 2, she makes the moving lines prominent and preserves fine distinctions between a wide variety of dynamic levels throughout. Her attacks on the octaves that open No. 3 sound like so many saber slashes, while she plays the running notes in the central section with a clarity that allows every note to speak individually. While some violinists begin the slow opening of No. 4 with the force of a gale wind, Kamio holds back slightly, building intensity until the beginning of the fast middle section, which she conducts like a swordfight. Similarly, No. 5 sounds dashing, as she sweeps up and down the fingerboard in the outer section; though her off-the-string bowings make for an adrenaline-laced middle section at breakneck speed, at moments near the beginning the passagework sounds just slightly uneven. The octaves of No. 7, like those at the opening of No. 3, sound preternaturally clean, and her staccatos in the middle section hiss and spit (as do those of No. 23). In No. 9, she makes even less of the contrasts between the upper and lower registers than did Michael Rabin, and she doesn’t adopt a fast tempo just to create excitement (it’s hard to attribute all the excitement of Rabin’s performance of that caprice to the tempo alone; his razor-sharp technique plays a dominant role in creating that effect); she achieves that by her greased-lightening runs and sharply accentuated higher notes and trills in the middle section (at the same time speaking musically through the technical passages). No. 10 and the Presto of No. 11 become knife-throwing tours de force in her performance. In No. 12, Kamio makes the moving line mesmerizingly clear, as she did in No. 2. No. 13, the “Devil’s Laugh,” has little of mirth about it in this reading, but lots of the Devil. No. 15 may not be a popular encore piece, but Kamio plays it in such a manner as to make it seem like a likely candidate for that role. The 16th notes on the G string in No. 19 sound powerful enough to wake the dead, and the middle section of No. 20 seems downright menacing. No. 24 may not be the most difficult of the caprices, but it’s a concise summary, in Kamio’s performance, of all that’s gone before: all the stiletto thrusts and deadly fencing.


Kamio seems to have unleashed the same sort of aggressive instincts as those in readings by Ricci and Rabin. When Ricci played some of the most hair-raising passages, he seemed barely in control; Kamio is chillingly in control, and she never seems to be taking chances. She’s The Bride in Kill Bill . Here’s playing, as it’s been said in other contexts, to make “babies cry out in the night” (listen to the fingered octaves in No. 17). At the same time, she doesn’t improvise, as did Alexander Markov (originally on Erato 2292-45502-2, reviewed by David K. Nelson in Fanfare 14:2, and rereleased on Apex 2564 69987, 32:1) or Thomas Zehetmair (ECM B00013264, 22:3), nor does she emphasize the Italianate operatic elements in Paganini’s musical manner. Kamio plays a 1727 Stradivari, and the engineers have miked her fairly close up. But the effect of the performances seems to result more from her technical—and musical—acuity than from the tonal resources of the instrument she plays (except perhaps in moments like No. 18’s Corrente on a particularly stentorian G string). The readings have a similar effect to that of observing a delicately carved scrimshaw under a microscope, with every cut clearly revealed. Or maybe that of receiving several dozen deep paper cuts. That manner might not serve performances of Bach sonatas or Mozart concertos, but in Paganini’s caprices, it’s supreme. So is Kamio: She communicates in a way similar to Quentin Tarantino’s. Not for the faint of heart, but to everyone else, very strongly recommended.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham

DEFIANCE SOUNDTRACK

This is the third disc of concerts recorded live from the year-long Silk Road Festival that took place in Chicago in 2007. Following on the heels of When Strangers Meet and Beyond the Horizons, this disc records some of the highlights of concerts that took place in April of that year. The celebrations were instigated and master-minded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and involved more than seventy organisations and groups in two hundred and fifty odd performances and events - including lectures, workshops and educational activities. The idea was to explore the Silk Road musical traditions in one great fusion of East and West. The whole project was a phenomenal success, leading to greater understanding between musicians of many different cultures, and increased learning and skills on all sides.

The disc includes some exciting music, and is well worth a listen. It opens with an Arabian Waltz by Lebanese composer Rabih Abou-Khalil - a spirited work with tremendous rhythmic drive and verve. This is followed by Argentinean-American composer Osvaldo Golijov’s Night of the Flying Horses. This is a splendid work, with an air of mystery that lends an exotic and intriguing sense until, just before its conclusion, the work goes into manic hyperactivity - wonderfully wild and exhilarating. Galloping Horses ensues, based on the eponymous traditional Chinese melody - said horses are graphically portrayed in the music, composed by Yang Wei on the pipa (a type of Chinese lute) and DaXun Zhang, bass, who met through the Project. The Song of the Eight Unruly Tipsy Poets by Chinese-born Zhou Long is suitably chaotic music, and is followed by Indian Sandeep Das’s Shristi, inspired by a statue of a dancing Shiva, with its vocal effects and virtuosic part for percussion. The Silent City, a lament for a destroyed valley in Kurdistan, is the longest work on the disc at over 20 minutes - a slow, quiet, reflective piece by the wandering Iranian composer Kayhan Kalhor. Ambush from Ten Sides, a traditional Chinese melody arranged for the Project, is almost apocalyptic - a highly dramatic and pictorial piece of music. Gripping and quite terrifying, it must surely be overwhelmingly exciting heard live. The disc concludes with Vocussion, which, as its title might imply, is vocal percussion. It is a highly impressive and unusual work, and appears to have been well appreciated by the audience - an excellent conclusion to a fascinating disc!

-- Em Marshall, MusicWeb International

I know of no more dramatic and beautifully played account of the Concerto.

Sol Gabetta is a cellist in great demand as a concert performer. If the high-end German record shops such as Ludwig Beck, Munich and Dussmann, Berlin are anything to go by Gabetta is being strongly marketed by her record label. The programme chosen this time for the young Argentine cellist is all-Shostakovich with wonderful accounts of both the Concerto and the Sonata. The Concerto recording was made at live concerts in January 2008 in the admirable acoustic of the Philharmonie at Munich’s Gasteig. The applause has been elided. On the other hand the Sonata in which Gabetta teams up with Romanian-born pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa is a studio recording made in Zurich. My disc was sent from Germany with German-only text.

The Cello Concerto No.2, written in the last decade of his life, was dedicated to Rostropovich who premièred the score at Shostakovich’s 60th birthday concert in Moscow. Compared to the first Cello Concerto, Op. 107 from 1959 this relatively underrated score is only now beginning to establish its rightful place in the repertoire. The harsh constraints of living and working under the Soviet regime must surely have helped shape its character.

In the opening Largo the cello plays virtually continuously. Right from the first bars the darkly brooding intensity of the cello is spine-tingling. Gabetta’s rich mocha-toned instrument is caught splendidly by the sound engineers. Taking the listener by surprise the cannon salvos and pounding martial beat at 3:58-4:03 is highly dramatic. From 4:31 the anguished wails of the cello are remarkably affecting. A reflective passage on the cello at 5:34 and 6:55 is developed by the orchestra into a thickly textured and deeply depressing episode. A concentrated section from 7:28 feels almost overwhelming. Coming as a welcome relief from 8:35 is a more upbeat passage. It is not long before the playful figures become restless and demanding and the overwhelming weight of torment returns. At 10:32-10:59 the percussion blows are quite ferocious and serve as an ominous warning. The pounding continues but fades and disappears into the distance. Over a rumbling and restless orchestra the cello from 12:54 with its plaintive theme tries to calm the agitation.

Serving as a Scherzo the central movement marked Allegretto is terse and highly rhythmic. A waltz-like street theme on the cello with a sardonic twist opens the movement. Horn-calls punctuate the scene together with a colourful array of percussive effects. Gabetta’s energetic playing cuts through the macabre orchestral writing seemingly intent on holding the cello back. Played continuously, the closing movement also an Allegretto, is heralded by a horn fanfare and drum-roll. Gabetta plays a languorous melody of a certain nobility that has been described as “ barcarolle-like”. Especially interesting are the unusual orchestral textures with notable percussive effects. From 4:41 the tempi shift quickly several times and take on a curious galloping quality. At 6:35 the cello theme becomes one of sadness and tender introspection - a mood that underpins the remainder of the movement. Percussion lashes against a frenetic cello line from 9:41 create a disconcerting effect and this builds to a terrifying climax at 10:52. The breathless cello writing then recovers its poise to repeat the melancholic but introspectively steely theme. If that was possible the mood becomes even more mournful with Gabetta’s cello sounding as if it was weeping. Snare drums and other light percussion effects close the score. The orchestra provide warm and positive support .

For alternative versions of the Cello Concerto No.2 I have long been satisfied with that from cellist Heinrich Schiff with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich. With playing of impressive assurance the performance was recorded in 1984 at the Hercules Hall, Residenz, Munich on Philips 475 7575. (c/w Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1). Another beautifully played account is from cellist Mischa Maisky with the London Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas. It was recorded in 1993 at the Abbey Road Studios in London on Deutsche Grammophon 445 821-2. (c/w Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1).

The four movement Cello Sonata was written when Shostakovich still had artistic freedom. This was prior to the denunciation in 1936 by the Soviet authorities and before his fall from favour owing to the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Essentially a lyrical score rather than experimental the Sonata was premièred in 1934 in Moscow by cellist Viktor Kubatsky, its dedicatee. Interestingly there have been several arrangements for viola and piano.

The two main themes of the opening movement could not be more different in character. The first is an upright elegant melody that Gabetta and Ursuleasa. It is intensified in tension and made more weighty until it becomes unruly bordering on stormy. By contrast the second theme is cloaked in lush yearning Romanticism. Gabetta’s glorious tone is outstanding and Ursuleasa revels in the long warm lines. An Allegro the second movement is a countryside romp that Gabetta and Ursuleasa develop into the manner of an excitable folk dance. Sombre and mournful in the third movement Largo Gabetta’s cello sounds as if it is sobbing. The intensity becomes heavier with the cello reaching down to its deepest register. In the skittish and scampering Rondo: Finale the piano has abundant opportunity to shine with Ursuleasa demonstrating her assurance in a number of dazzling runs. It is Gabetta’s relatively restrained cello part that keeps the merriment in check.

For both the splendid playing as well being an important music document I admire the version of the Sonata played by cellist Daniil Shafran and the composer on piano. Recorded in 1956 I have the performance on Revelation RV10017. (c/w Rachmaninov Cello Sonata). I also play often the account from cellist Leonid Gorokhov and pianist Nikolai Demidenko. This satisfying version was recorded at Champs Hill, Pulborough, Sussex in 2004 on ASV Gold GLD4006.

I was perfectly happy with this RCA Victor Red Seal recording in both the concerto and sonata. Gabetta’s cello is placed well forward and is vividly clear. I know of no more dramatic and beautifully played account of the Concerto.

-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International

Drawn from the worldwide catalog holdings of Sony Classical, which includes both the Columbia/CBS and RCA Victor label imprints, the SONY Classical Originals, SONY Classical Masters Singles and Box Sets, SONY Opera and Opera House series offer an extensive selection of highly desirable and collectible pressed import editions, smartly-designed and graphically-pleasing, featuring the most sought after recordings by the world's preeminent, legendary artists both past and present, with many titles newly re-mastered in 24bit High Resolution Audio.

MENDELSSOHN GREAT HITS

The Broadway/West End star who stole the stages of Cats, Sunset Boulevard and many other musicals recorded this album when she was just 19. It was produced by a young T-Bone Burnett and has never been released: her enchanting renditions of C'est Magnifique; My Funny Valentine; Where Is Love?; I Wanna Be Free, and more!

From the multi-award-winning stage and film composer of Alien 3 and Batman Forever comes a new oratorio. War, terrifying silence, and violent death invite simple statements as well as, hopefully, more complex ones. This work, despite a plethora of interwoven texts, is a direct utterance: a lament, a conjuring of brief images, which rub against each other to evoke not just a surge of emotion but a sense of purgation. The instrumentation and word-setting is not without beauty (especially the Vietnamese flute and snatches of children’s songs); choirs will enjoy performing it. The work is gestural in concept: a cello elegy in the first movement from the splendid Yo-Yo Ma; an unnerving helicopter simulation, a pithy extended scherzo, a diabolic chorus listing Vietnam combat operations, a dose of Mahlerian threnody. Perhaps most effective are two extended solos, setting Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, which freshen up the prevailing monodic feel: that for Maddalena in the first part, where a genuine feel for angular chromatic line surfaces; and that for Panagulias merging into duet in the final movement. Here, and at the close, Goldenthal achieves a dramatic cogency not wholly evident elsewhere. If not Psalmus hungaricus or A Child of Our Time, it’s at least related in spirit. A fine choir, and top-notch wind phrasing.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Roderic Dunnett, BBC Music Magazine