This recording represents a tour de force on the part of all concerned, so much so that the entire text of the booklet is devoted to explaining how it was accomplished. There is one concerto for solo trumpet (Michael Haydn), one for two (Vivaldi RV537), two (Telemann, in B flat and D) and an arrangement of the ubiquitous Canon of Pachelbel for three, and Biber's Sonata in A major for no less than eight trumpets, but Marsalis is the only trumpeter present. There is nothing new in over-dubbing—the jazz guitarist Les Paul did spectacular things with it in the 1950s, but in the realm of art-music Marsalis must have earned a place in the Guinness Book of Music, aptly aided by Telemann, who is already in there. I leave you to read about it and to marvel at the sheer skill of it all. If any living trumpet player is in more awesome command of his instrument than Marsalis I do not know who it might be; all things seem possible to him, and easily at that. Ivan March noted (1/86) a certain lack of lyrical warmth in his playing and I must agree with him; jazz musicians often feel constrained to be on their best behaviour when 'crossing the tracks' but I find even his jazz playing cerebral rather than emotionally stirring, so that is probably just the way he is—and it shows just a little in the slow movement of the Haydn. However, the programme has much to do with ceremonial magnificence (coupled in the Biber with stunning spatial antiphony) and sheer virtuosity, both present in abundance and delivered with wonderful roundness of tone, free from aggressive brassiness and any sense of strain, as an ex-trumpet player it frightens me to death! The recording is superb in its quality, balance and sense of space, making this a 'must' for anyone who does not actually hate the trumpet.

-- John Duarte, Gramophone [6/1988]

SYMPHONY NO.9

This is the recording that introduced most of us "over 40s" to Messiaen's masterpiece, and its domestic appearance on CD is long overdue. Seiji Ozawa was young, his Toronto orchestra willing, and he had the two Loriod sisters at their best wailing away at the piano and Ondes Martenot. Indeed, the balance between orchestra and soloists in this performance remains exemplary, the playing of the band astonishingly fine, and the recorded sound outstandingly clear, if a little lacking in dynamic range and depth by modern standards. The orgiastic fifth and 10th movements still pack quite a punch, and in a very real sense, while many more modern versions have come and gone this one still holds its own with the best of them. You simply can't go wrong with this classic account of one of the seminal scores of the first half of the 20th century. I can only suggest that you reward RCA for its inspired choice of repertoire by voting with your wallet. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem

Christian Gerhaher has a strong baritone voice, even throughout its range, with a ringing top that lends a welcome sense of excitement to his singing. He also has the technique and breath control to take long phrases in a single span, and to color his voice to fit the text, sometimes honing it down to a bare whisper, caressing it with a velvety texture, or expressing forte exclamations without a hint of harshness. Perhaps more important, he has a masterful understanding of the style of the Romantic lied, magnificently exemplified in this recording of Schumann songs. And of special importance to those like myself who cringe at the vogue for overemphasis and preciousness that's infected so many lieder singers since the 1960s, the man doesn't declaim, doesn't distort, doesn't pull phrases about, and doesn't put every innocent line or syllable into 48-point boldface. He sings!


All of these qualities make his Dichterliebe a marvelous performance. He demonstrates that a fine singer can capture the anger innate to "Ich grolle nicht" while also conveying regret at the necessity of his defiance. That ability to capture nuance without violating a song's nature is the essence of the art of lieder singing. There's a lot of regret and sadness in Dichterliebe, as in virtually all of the songs on this disc, which might have been titled "Love Means Suffering". In the three songs of Der Arme Peter, the poor sap attends his beloved's wedding, climbs to a mountain-top to cry, and ghostlike, marches to his grave. All this grim stuff begins with an ironic wedding dance and never fully loses the suspicion that Schumann is parodying his own Dichterliebe cycle. Only the finale of the disc, an encore as it were, is free from this theme of unrequited love--the narrative ballad "Belsatzar", which Gerhaher sings with power. He paints the arrogant king of Babylon through the music, and then in a dazed voice depicts the stricken king trembling with fear at the "handwriting on the wall".


Throughout this superb recital Gerhaher is well accompanied by pianist Gerold Huber, whose postludes and frequent small but expressive solos within songs are as accomplished as is his support for the singer. Engineering is well-balanced, warm, and detailed. Text and translations are provided along with knowledgable commentary on the songs. Just in case you're in doubt, I loved this disc. [2/3/2005]
--Dan Davis, ClassicsToday.com

Composer/Lyricist: Frank Loesser.
Original Broadway Cast: Robert Morse, Rudy Vallee, Virginia Martin, Bonnie Scott, Charles Nelson Reilly.
Recording information: Webster Hall, New York, New York (10/22/1961).

Bach: Keyboard Concertos (Expanded Edition)

The soundtrack includes multiple versions of one of the film's key dances, "My Funny Valentine," performed by Elvis Costello, Kronos Quartet and Chet Baker. Tracks from Julee Cruise (of "Twin Pea ks" Fame), Kronos Quartet and Yo-Yo Ma plus score music by Van Dyke Parks round out the album.

This selection is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording.

Track Listing
1. Dreamer, film score: Theme from Dreamer
2. Dreamer, film score: The Stand Off - 1st Ride
3. Dreamer, film score: First Race
4. Dreamer, film score: Ben Asks Pop For Help
5. Dreamer, film score: Soñador in Harness
6. Dreamer, film score: Popsicles
7. Dreamer, film score: Manny's Story
8. Dreamer, film score: Testing Soñador's Leg
9. Dreamer, film score: 2nd Ride - Thunderpants
10. Dreamer, film score: Runaway Horse
11. Dreamer, film score: Exercising Soñador
12. Dreamer, film score: The Noble King
13. Dreamer, film score: New Owner Montage
14. Dreamer, film score: Training Montage
15. Dreamer, film score: Smart and Beautiful
16. Dreamer, film score: Soñador Chosen
17. Dreamer, film score: Cale Won't Sell Soñador
18. Dreamer, film score: Leaving Sadir's
19. Dreamer, film score: She's Ready to Run
20. Dreamer, film score: She Wants to Race
21. Dreamer, film score: Last Race
22. Dreamer, film score: End Credit Medley
23. Dreamer, song (for the film Dreamer) - (Film Mix)
24. Dreamer, film score: Main Title (Film Version)
25. Dreamer, song (for the film Dreamer)

Composer: John Debney.

Personnel: John Debney (acoustic guitar); Weldon Dean Parks (guitar); George Doering (acoustic guitar, dulcimer); Dean Parks (acoustic guitar, mandola); Gayle Levant (harp); Eun Mee Ahn, Assa Drori, Al Hershberger, Ron Folsom, Irina Voloshina, Anatoly Rosinsky, Katia Popov, Tamara L. Hatwan, Robin Olson, Mark Sazer, Ana Landauer, Barbara Porter, Ken Yerke, Phillip Levy, Rene Mandel, Sungil Lee, Eric J. Hosler, Jay Rosen, Kevin Connolly, Lisa Sutton, Mark Robertson , Sid Page, Joshua Bell, Jacqueline Brand, Roberto Cani, Bruce Dukov, Julie Gigante, Peter Kent, Natalie Leggett, Sara Parkins, Roger Wilkie, Armen Garabedian, Darius Campo, Michael Markman, Liane Mautner, Dimitrie Leivici, Berj Garabedian, Endre Granat, Haim Shtrum (violin); Shawn Mann, Andrew Picken, Karie Prescott, Steven Gordon, Carrie Holzman-Little, Rick Gerding, Michael Nowak, Brian Dembow, Keith Greene, Jennie Hansen, Roland Kato, Janet Lakatos, Simon Oswell, Dave Walther, Piotr Jandula, Victoria Miskolszy, Darrin McCann, Denyse Buffum, Andrew Duckles, Shanti Randall (viola); Christina Soule, Trevor Handy, Timothy Landauer, George Kim Scholes, Dennis Karmazyn, Antony Cooke , Larry Corbett, Stephen Erdody, Armen Ksadjikian, Dane Little, David Low , Andrew Shulman, David Speltz, Sebastian Toettcher, Cecilia Tsan, Todd Hemmenway (cello); Steve Kujala, Geri Rotella, David Shostac (flute); Steve L. Roberts, Gary Bovyer (clarinet); Chris Bleth, Phil Ayling (oboe); Michael O'Donovan (bassoon); Jon Lewis , Warren Luening, Malcolm McNab (trumpet); Alvin Veeh, Alan Kaplan, Stephen Holtman (trombone); Jim Self (tuba); John A. Reynolds, David Duke, Phil Yao, Steve Becknell, Rick Todd, Brian O'Connor (horns); Richard Ruttenberg, Michael Lang , Mike Lang (piano); Alan Estes, Terrence Schonig, Tom Raney, Peter Limonick, Donald Williams (percussion).

Recording information: Todd AO Scoring Stage, Culver City, CA.

Composer John Debney (Sin City, Passion of the Christ) may seem an odd choice to score a film about a horse trainer, his precocious daughter, and their quest for the Breeder's Cup, but he rises to the occasion with a rousing piece of recycled Americana that's sure to bring a lump in the throat to even the grumpiest moviegoer. Like Mark Isham's similarly predictable score for the 2004 hockey drama Miracle, Debney represents the best of the genre, utilizing a not-so-subtle blend of soft pianos, warm strings (courtesy of Indiana-born violin wunderkind Joshua Bell), and patriotic brass motifs to paint a rural backdrop reminiscent of both Aaron Copeland's "Appalachian Spring" and The Natural-era Randy Newman. ~ James Christopher Monger

MOZART Violin Concerto No. 3. Rondo, K 373. SCHUBERT Rondo, D 438. M. HAYDN Violin Concerto in B? • Baiba Skride (vn); Harmut Haenchen, cond; C.P.E. Bach CO • SONY 97749 (66:55)


Baiba Skride, a winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, adds an individual touch or two to the first movement of Mozart’s Third Concerto (so does the orchestra, converting the occasional appoggiatura to an unfamiliar form). And while Mozart’s work surely allows some room for identifiable personality, it may not accommodate as much as she might have displayed in, say, Tchaikovsky’s Concerto, with which she won the competition. And, in fact, she doesn’t push the envelope unduly, although she does assert her individuality more fully in Franko’s cadenza, which she plays with winning warmth. The slow movement brings more unusually realized appoggiaturas, which, however, hardly distract attention from the fact that, overall, Skride and the orchestra play this Adagio with preternatural naturalness and radiance. Skride puts unusual touches on the Finale as well, substituting alternative figuration in the second half of the middle section, after taking the first half slower and less pertly than usual. Skride also makes the Rondo her own, while not taking it from Mozart. If Mozart wrote to his father that one of his performances went “like oil,” it might have sounded something like this. Anne-Sophie Mutter’s early Mozart recordings (including her début with Karajan in Mozart’s Third Concerto) displayed some of this bloom and freshness, but it’s rare—and most welcome.


Skride darkens her approach somewhat for Schubert’s Rondo, demonstrating the early Romantic sensibility that underlies the work, especially in the introduction; in fact, though, episodes in the Rondo interrupt the work’s cheery good nature with digressions in this more thoughtful manner, and Skride incorporates them without disturbing the work’s predominant affect. Gidon Kremer however, included a more dramatic performance of the Rondo in his “Schubert: Soirée” (Deutsche Grammophon 437 535, 17: 6—though Skride’s “digressions” sound plenty dramatic). By comparison, I suggested in 28:6 that Mela Tenenbaum’s reading, included in a collection she recorded with Richard Kapp (Ess.A.Y 1082), “eschewed chutzpah in favor of a more gemütlich Schubertian warmth”; there’s less angularity in Skride’s phrasing and even in Skride’s tone than there is in hers.


Michael Haydn’s Concerto in B? Major may offer the soloist singing passages, but it’s plenty plucky, and both the soloist and the ensemble explore both sides of this work, less suave than Mozart’s but nevertheless not deficient in charm. The slow movement offers Skride an opportunity to display the richness of her tone, especially in the middle registers and on the G string. She matches the orchestra’s exuberance in the finale with sparkling yet consistently sonorous passagework.


While the engineers have captured the orchestral sound’s richness, with bright woodwind highlights in Mozart and buoyant string bounce throughout, they have set Skride center stage (though not offensively so), representing well the sweet, pure quality of her tone and the sparkle of her articulation. For its individual yet unmannered performances, Skride’s collaboration with Haenchen deserves a strong commendation to all types of listeners.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham

Gunter Wand's NDR Beethoven cycle is one of the great ones, and these performances, while not quite the best in the set, will disappoint no one. Judicious tempos, lean and clean textures, and taut rhythms characterize this "Eroica", which never wears its Classical-period orientation like a hair-shirt, leaving plenty of room for Romantic angst in the funeral march. The Finale also has unusual cogency, and it's only in the first movement where I might have wished for a bit more impulsiveness. No such reservations apply to the Eighth, however. Wand's interpretation brims with humor and benefits from his careful attention to bass lines when they get the melody (as at the first-movement recapitulation). The recording also enjoys terrific sonics. If you don't have the complete set and don't want it, you can certainly get this disc with confidence. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

This selection is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording.

DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER (PARIS

Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2