BOSTON (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTUR

Barbershop: The Next Cutpicks up ten years after where the first film left off. Calvin and all of the familiar faces are still in the shop, but it has gone under major changes. Namely, that the shop is now co-ed. Four time Grammy Award winner Stanley Clarke is responsible for scoring the tracks on this album. In addition to his compositional skills, he is one of the best acoustic and electric bass players in the world. “Film has given me the opportunity to write large orchestral scores and to compose music not normally associated with myself… It’s given me the chance to conduct orchestras and arrange music for various types of ensembles. It’s been a diverse experience for me musically, made me a more complete musician, and focused my skills completely.” ( Stanley Clarke)

Projects such as this can go so horribly wrong. Opera singers trying to perform “lighter” fare usually do no favors either to themselves or to the music. Only rarely does a classically trained singer working exclusively in that world show an ability to convincingly capture a popular style; usually the inflections and expressive nuances are just “off”, unnatural-sounding, and sometimes even humorous in their attempts at loosening or altering long-practiced, specialized technique. Fortunately, the music on this happily successful effort is many steps removed from the merely “popular”–and the singer, tenor Jonas Kaufmann, is likewise far from a typical opera singer.

The works on offer are characterized by Kaufmann as “tenor hits from the age of the talkies”, a special time in Germany’s cultural history when his grandfather, from whom he first heard many of these tunes, was studying in Berlin, a period that for this recording roughly spans the decade from 1925-35, the world of Sally Bowles and the Kit Kat Klub, as well as Franz Lehár, Emmerich Kálmán, Paul Abraham, and Erich Korngold. In a way, these songs are the “classical music” of a time and place during which many of the composers of the real thing were expelled, banned, exiled, or imprisoned. Yes, these songs are lighter fare than we associate with the most refined operatic repertoire, but, especially as Kaufmann sings them–or rather, performs them–their “lesser” musical/artistic credentials warrant absolutely no apologies. And there are many, many moments of music and singing as spectacular as you’ll hear in any opera.

I’ve praised Kaufmann’s “rich, baritonal tenor” and have cited his “uncommon lyricism and emotional depth” and “lovely high-register soft singing” (in his recording of Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin), and in his review of Wagner arias, colleague Robert Levine is equally impressed, describing the tenor’s “easy ascents above the staff”, “smooth legato”, “phrasing that confirms great musicianship”, and “beautiful, fully rounded, lustrous sound”. You get the idea: Kaufmann has established himself–at least in the opera world–as perhaps the pre-eminent tenor. All of the above traits and techniques and abilities are on display here, from the two versions of Lehár’s “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz!” (one in English, the other in French) and Kálmán’s “Grüss mir mein Wien”, to Eduard Künneke’s “Das Lied vom Leben des Schrenk” (complete with concluding high-C) and Korngold’s gorgeous, disc-highlight “Glück, das mir verblieb”. The latter is a duet–and here is another plus for this recital: the singer accompanying Kaufmann on this and two other numbers, soprano Julia Kleiter, is wonderful, a superb singer who matches the tenor perfectly, vocally and stylistically.

The accompaniments, including several arrangements by Andreas Tarkmann, are all finely played by the Berlin Radio Symphony and Jochen Rieder, and recorded in the broadcasting studio of the former East German Radio–noted for its excellent acoustics, and apparently retaining much of its ambience from that earlier time. You may not love absolutely all of the selections here (I could have done without the too-sappy “My little nest of heavenly blue”, another by Lehár), but I’m pretty certain that you will enjoy every single note. Highly recommended.

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

The term “modern music” no longer suffices to describe the latest expressions of recent avant-garde composers. Modern music still means the music that came after Debussy and Strauss. It is Stravinsky and Ravel, Hindemith and Falla; it is Bartok, Prokofiev, Britten and Malipiero. Modern music is the breakdown of tonality and traditional harmony and the development of the twelve-tone system by the masters of the Viennese school – Schoenberg, Berg and Webern – and the spreading of this method in every country since the war. Modern music is still Dallapiccola and Petrassi, and the ready listener has little by little grown accustomed to all these expressions – the more recent ones (those relating to the relinquishing of traditional tonality) with somewhat greater difficulty.

But the works of those composers who have come to the fore since Hiroshima seems to cut away violently from this pattern, as difficult as its acceptance had proved to be. So, for them the term “new music” is most appropriate.

The evolution which has led to today’s baffling results is governed by an inner logic. Once the use of the twelve-tone “series” was firmly established, the desire quite naturally arose to extend this serialization process to the other “parameters” of music, that is, to subject its rhythmic, timbral and dynamic aspects to the same laws governing the disposition of the pitch of the notes.

“Structuring” (the organization of musical material) by means of total serialization of parameters was the first step the new music took beyond Webern. This extension of the serialization process to all parameters brought about a heightening of interest and investigation into the qualities and components of sound. The increased concern for this “tone color” and other hitherto unstructured aspects of sound and the diminishing interest in pitch as the primary structural element made it necessary to alter traditional listening habits. Where pitch distribution had been the primary expressive unit, now the other parameters took on equal or greater importance.

The new music, like all other forms of contemporary art, may or may not be liked, but its consistency cannot be questioned. There is an inner logic which has determined the various phases described above and which is already creating others in more and more rapid succession. They must not be taken as gratuitous and unrestrained expressions of individual extravagance.

-- from the liner notes by Massimo Mila

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLEOriginal Motion Picture SoundtrackMusic by Henry JackmanSony Music proudly announces the release of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the soundtrack to the new film by Jake Kasdan featuring music by Henry Jackman.Henry Jackman has established himself as one of today’s top composers by fusing his classical training and his experience as a successful record producer and creator of electronic music. His musical versatility ratcheted up the tension in Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips (earning him a BAFTA nomination), super-powered such comic book hits as X-Men: First Class and Captain America: Winter Soldier; kicked ass in Kingsman: The Secret Service and Kick-Ass; breathed life into legendary animated characters like Winnie the Pooh, Puss in Boots, Wreck-It Ralph, and Oscar-winner Big Hero 6. His most recent work can be heard in the sci-fi comedy Pixels, and the post-apocalyptic drama The Fifth Wave starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Marvels blockbuster hit Captain America: Civil War, Paramount Pictures action-packed sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back starring Tom Cruise and Cobie Smulders and the adventure sequel from Warner Bros. Kong: Skull Island starring Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston.His other diverse credits include the animated features Monsters vs. Aliens and Turbo, period drama Henri 4, family adventure Gulliver’s Travels (starring Jack Black), crime thriller Man on a Ledge, horror fantasy Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and the Seth Rogen / James Franco comedies This is the End and (the firestorm sensation) The Interview.Jackman grew up in the southeast of England, where he began composing his first symphony at the age of six. He studied classical music at Oxford and sang in the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir but simultaneously got involved in the underground rave scene and began producing popular electronica music and dance remixes, eventually working with artists such as Seal and The Art of Noise. In 2006 he caught the attention of film composers Hans Zimmer and John Powell, and began writing additional music for Zimmer and Powell on Kung Fu Panda and then for Zimmer on The Dark Knight, The Da Vinci Code, and The Pirates of the Caribbean films, which rapidly led to scoring blockbuster films on his own.Tracklisting1.       The Jumanji Overture   2.       Digging Up the Past   3.       Brantford High   4.       Into the Jungle   5.       Out of Character   6.       The Legend of the Jewel   7.       The Adventure Begins   8.       Special Abilities   9.       The Bikers   10.   Van Pelt   11.   A Test of Friendship   12.   The Bazaar   13.   Snake Charmer   14.   The Power of Bravestone   15.   Seaplane McDonough   16.   The Missing Piece   17.   Lost in Time   18.   Flirting With Danger   19.   Albino Rhinos   20.   Retrieving the Emerald   21.   Out of Lives   22.   First Kiss   23.   The Jaguars   24.   Ring of Fire   25.   Begin the Climb   26.   Call Out Its Name   27.   Leaving Jumanji   28.   An Older Friend   29.   Back To School

The Crown returns for a second season to continue the telling of the inside story of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, as the fragile social order established after the Second World War breaks apart. The music in the first season conveyed a sense of awe and wonder. But Season Two hits a darker tone, reflected in a bigger and more menacing orchestral sound. Co-composer Lorne Balfe says that's because the characters have matured. "The queen is now a reigning monarch instead of a young girl given this position," Balfe says. "It's a different journey for them and that's why the music evolves."

The ever-more comprehensive Sony Classical Masters series is pleased to announce ten new releases. Ranging from symphony cycles to solo piano music, these budget-priced box sets celebrate some of the leading musicians of recent times. Pierre Boulez transformed the musical tastes of a generation with his groundbreaking, lucid interpretations of early 20th-century repertoire. Gramophone wrote that his death in 2016 marked “the end of a whole way of perceiving music”. This collection of three CDs brings together the key early ballet scores of Stravinsky with a number of other works by the Russian composer, all recorded with ensembles with whom Boulez maintained a close relationship. With the New York Philharmonic are recordings of the Firebird and the Pulcinella suite, Petrushka, the tone poem Chant du rossignol and the Symphonies of Wind Instruments. His famed Rite of Spring, recorded with the Cleveland Orchestra, is “meticulously contemplated” (BBC Music Magazine), and Gramophone described his Firebird suite with the BBC Symphony Orchestra as a “clear, sharp-edged” recording. True to surprising form, Boulez recorded not the commonly heard Firebird suites from 1919 or 1945, but Stravinsky’s original version of 1910.

In 1956, Columbia Records released a recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations that introduced the musical world to Glenn Gould. The young Canadian pianist's joyous, quicksilver interpretation not only influenced subsequent generations of musicians, it also entirely altered Bach's public image. Today, record ML 5060 is still considered one of the ten most significant and successful classical recordings of all time. This special release presents Gould’s legendary recording in the 2015 state-of-the-art “Direct Stream Digital” (DSD®) remastering from the original analogue tapes and for the first time with its cover artwork redesigned from the original negative films of the session photos.

VIVALDI GREAT HITS

The Vikings soundtrack features 37 score cues composed by Morris, recorded at Trevor Morris Studios in 2013.

The theme song "If I Had a Heart," written and performed by the Swedish female vocalist Fever Ray, is a perfect complement to the score thanks to its insistent, echoing rhythm and an opening of dark, whispered tones that lead to a high lament at the conclusion. The song was first released in 2008 as the lead single from her debut solo album Fever Ray. In combination with the compositions by Morris, it makes for a varied and imaginative soundtrack, which will be of interest to a wide (broad) audience.

Vikings follows the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel, The Beast, Baytown Outlaws), a curious, compelling man who is always looking to break through barriers and discover new worlds to conquer. Ragnar is deeply frustrated by the unadventurous policies of his local chieftain, Earl Haraldson (Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment, Usual Suspects, Millers Crossing), who continues to send his Vikings raiders east every summer, to the Baltic states and Russia, whose populations are as materially poor as themselves.

Joining Fimmel and Byrne are Katheryn Winnick (Bones, Love and Other Drugs, The Black Marks) as Lagertha, a fierce shield maiden and Ragnar's wife; Jessalyn Gilsig (Glee, Heroes, Nip/Tuck, Friday Night Lights) as Siggy, Earl Haraldson's beautiful wife; George Blagden (Les Miserables, Wrath of the Titans) as Athelstan, a young, innocent Christian monk captured by Ragnar on his first raid on England, Clive Standen (Camelot, Robin Hood) as Rollo, Ragnar's impulsive, wild, care-free brother and Gustaf Skarsgard (The Way Back) a ship builder who designs the new generation of Vikings ships.

The action, suspense and emotional range of the series give Morris a wealth of material to work with. Morris is a Canadian orchestral composer and creator of electronic music who has the finest credentials for writing TV soundtracks, above all historical dramas such as Vikings. He is best known for the soundtracks for the television shows The Borgias, The Tudors, and The Pillars of the Earth. His work on these projects earned him multiple Emmy and Gemini Nominations and Awards, including two Emmy Award wins for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for The Tudors and The Borgias. He was also nominated for 2 more Emmy Awards, one for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for The Borgias, and one for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special for The Pillars of the Earth. His recent feature film projects include the score for Olympus Has Fallen (2013) and Immortals (2011).

A vital element of the series is atmosphere, to which Morris's score makes a decisive contribution. Brooding and sombre themes evoke the darkness and mystery of the Viking world, pounding percussion and blaring brass its violence. However, the composition conveys much more than blood and thunder. Yearning passages for the string section underline romantic episodes and the mourning of victims of the plague. Shimmering, unearthly orchestral sounds accompany pagan rites and the drama of human sacrifice, while folk pipes are in evidence for the domestic and light-hearted scenes.

Back from the wilderness of Sony's Essential Classics series, and remastered in nice, clear stereo along with Bernstein's set of Paris Symphonies for this same label, Szell's recordings of the first six London Symphonies represent the ultimate in big-band Haydn. And late Haydn should always be played with a big band: his own ensemble in London numbered some 60 players in a room that held 800. In other words, for one of today's typical concert halls he would have expected a full-sized, modern symphony orchestra, and that's just what he gets here.

Of course this is Szell, so the size of the ensemble doesn't entail any sacrifice of clarity. Indeed, these performances are miracles of balance and precision, but never at the expense of Haydn's energy and humor. Consider the slow movement of Symphony No. 93, which features the most obscene bassoon belch in recorded history, or Szell's uplifting handling of the minuets. The famous "Surprise" movement sounds like it was composed yesterday, and the symphony's finale blazes with excitement. There are delights everywhere, from the amazingly detailed counterpoint in the finale of No. 95 to the Mozartean grace of No. 98's slow movement. Just buy this while you can--it's a true classic.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

After years of singing Giacomo Puccini's heroes on stage to vast critical and audience acclaim, "the world's greatest tenor"(The Daily Telegraph), Jonas Kaufmann, finally records an album entirely devoted to the world's most-loved opera composer. The 2015 album, Nessun dorma is a selection of Puccini's stupendous tenor arias drawn from his greatest opera's including Tosca, Manon Lescaut, La Boh�me, Madame Butterfly and La fanciulla del West. Spanning the breadth of Puccini's output from the early operas Le Villi and Edgar, the album culminates in the mighty aria "Nessun dorma" from his final opera Turandot. Jonas Kaufmann is joined on this album by Maestro Antonio Pappano, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and soprano Kristine Opolais. Munich-born singer, Jonas Kaufmann, is without a doubt at the absolute top echelon of the operatic world. He is in extreme demand with the world's most influential conductors, selling out opera houses and concert venues months in advance wherever he performs.

1. Only Trust Your Heart
2. Tangerine
3. The Very Thought Of You
4. Embraceable You
5. There Will Never Be Another You
6. Tenderly
7. No Moon At All
8. If I m Lucky
9. Agarradinhos
10. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
11. That's All
12. If I Had You

The vocal ensemble Quartonal earned high praise for its first album. “With the CD Another Way, Quartonal has produced an impressive debut with many poignant moments,” declared NDR. “The sound is wonderfully clean, meticulously balanced and round.” On its new CD, the group presents arrangements ranging from pop favourites like George Michael’s “Faith”, Chris Martin’s “Viva La Vida” and Mike Deighan’s “Les Champs-Elysées” to beautiful composed traditionals.

CHOPIN GREATEST HITS