Violinist David Bowlin releases a program of works for solo violin, with and without electronics, alongside select chamber works. Featuring works by close colleagues Du Yun, Alexandra Karastoyanova-Hermentin as well as music by luminaries Mario Davidovsky, George Walker, and Martin Bresnick, Bird as Prophet is a poignant snapshot of a performer who at once embodies the virtuoso tradition and brings those prodigious talents to the music of our time. Violinist David Bowlin has won critical acclaim for his performances of a wide range of repertoire from The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and many others. First-prize winner of the 2003 Washington International Competition, Bowlin has performed with such leading artists as Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Jonathan Biss, Jeremy Denk, Robert McDonald, and members of the Juilliard, Emerson, and Brentano string quartets. His solo performances include premieres of violin concerti written for him at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and in recent seasons he has performed concerti at Miller Theatre in New York, the Aspen Music Festival, and with the La Jolla Symphony. On air he has performed in broadcasts for WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, Vermont Public Radio, and nationwide on NPR’s Performance Today.

When the ORFEO label was established in Munich forty years ago, surely no one with the music scene back then would have predicted that the record company would develop into a firmly established player on the classical music market. One of the label’s main priorities in the early years was vocal music, with opera rarities top of the list and since the mid 1980s the re-use of historic tape recordings. Big names featured on the label’s own productions, while ORFEO also developed into a talent factory by discovering and nurturing young artist. This “Legendary Voices” 10 album set for the anniversary of 40 years of ORFEO label history features eleven singers, who at their times upheld the art of opera singing and still uphold it in the best interpretation of nostalgia.

Chicago's Civitas Ensemble presents a spectrum of new instrumental works by living Chinese composers, each with a unique perspective on Western and Far Eastern musical sensibilities. Spearheaded by Shanghai-born violinist Yuan-Qing Yu, a Civitas founding member and assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jin Yin (“Golden Tone”) comprises world-premiere recordings of works by Yao Chen, Vivian Fung, and Lu Pei, plus specially made new arrangements of pieces from Zhou Long and Chen Yi. First recordings include Yao Chen’s mystical, rhapsodic Emanations of Tara, named for a revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism and written expressly for the Civitas Ensemble; Vivian Fung’s Birdsong, a virtuosic piece for violin and piano that opens and closes with evocations of bird calls; and Lu Pei’s alternatively vigorous and lyrical Scenes Through Window, imbued with both American minimalist rhythms and South China folk traditions. Leading off the program, Zhou Long’s engaging Five Elements evokes metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, while Chen Yi’s serene, ethereal Night Thoughts was inspired by a Tang Dynasty poem. Both receive their first recordings in the composers’ own arrangements made specifically for the Civitas Ensemble. The Civitas Ensemble named their album for the Chinese phrase meaning “Golden Tone” because they treasure these works for their clarity of musical expression.

Gothic Voices’ reputation for the originality of its programming is cemented with its first recording of medieval Christmas music, in which Julian Podger reimagines a fifteenth-century carol evening. Mirroring the modern practice of performing mostly music from the preceding centuries alongside some contemporary repertoire, the programme includes late medieval English carols, chant, mono-and polyphonic songs and motets for the Advent and Christmas season, focusing on Mary, her Annunciation and the birth of Jesus. Larger-scale festive motets and mass movements by English late medieval celebrities John Dunstaple and Leonel Power also feature. The ‘evening’ concludes with a summons to wake up to the significance of Christmas, with the conductus callResonet, intonetintroducing the carols Nowell synge we bothe al and som and Nowell: Owt of your slepe and the great Christmas chant Puer natus est nobis, arranged here into a joyful finale. This recording has been widely anticipated since a performance of this repertoire in December 2016 was chosen by BBC Music Magazine as its number one unmissable Christmas event.

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REVIEW:

It seems extraordinary that this should be Gothic Voices’ first Christmas-themed album; nevertheless, it has been worth the wait to hear these wellknown works performed by this ensemble. Their textures are always buoyant: listen for the fourth verse, which describes the Virgin’s swollen womb, where they use an atmospheric vocalised drone.

– Gramophone

No artist has penetrated the human soul more deeply than Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669). Renowned as a young man for his portrayal of individual character and expression, as he withdrew more from the world he made his art a revelation of the inner life of his subjects. On this CD, the world of Rembrandt is given a musical perspective with a carefully chosen selection of pieces by the finest composers of his time. Inside, Hugh Griffith provides explanatory notes on his life and musical environment. 1 CD with full color, illustrated, explanatory booklet.

On the present release Duo Wolanska/Gajda presents transcriptions for Piano and Accordion. DUO WOLAŃSKA/GAJDA is an unusual chamber music ensemble. The combination of piano and accordion opens unlimited performance possibilities. Two solo, independent instruments collide with each other on a sonoristic level, thus creating a new quality of instrumental dialogue. Established in 2014, the ensemble is formed by pianist Julia Wolańska-Gajda and accordionist Michał Gajda. On a regular basis, the artists give concerts in Poland and abroad (New York, Virginia, Arkansas, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Austria, Germany, or the Netherlands). They have already performed in the most prestigious concert halls in the world: New York’s Carnegie Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Mozarteum Saal in Salzburg, Musikverein in Vienna, Kioi Hall in Tokyo, or Guri Art Hall in Seoul. Duo Wolańska/Gajda has won a number of coveted awards and accolades. They are prizewinners of, among others, the Gold Medal in the 4th Manhattan International Music Competition (2019), 1st prize in the 1st Vienna International Music Competition (2019), 1st prize in the Salzburg Grand Prize Virtuoso Inter-national Music Competition (2018), 1st prize in the 54th Internationaler Akkordeonwettbewerb Klingenthal (2017), ‘Top Winner’ 1st prize in the 25th Ibla Grand Prize World Music Competition in Ragusa (2016), or 1st prize in the Val Tidone International Music Competitions (2015).

"Mr. Jenness, who passed away in 2017 at age 80, had a straightforward, unpretentious approach, which fondly put the spotlight on craft and moods of the songs, not on him as a performer. While singing was not his main occupation, and he doesn't have the most dazzlingly distinctive or resonant sound, there are some appealing and endearing qualities that make the listening rewarding beyond the satisfaction of hearing so many rare and rarified pieces. There's infectious joie de vivre in numbers like "Have Feet, Will Dance" (Burton Lane/ Dorothy Fields, from the TV musical Junior Miss) and the gleefully goofy "Gus the Gopher," an independent song with music and lyric by Sheldon Harnick. Serious and sad subject matter like the lamenting "Paris Is a Lonely Town" (Harold Arlen/ E.Y. Harburg, from the feline-focused animated Gay Purr-ee) doesn't hesitate to cue earnest, melancholy approaches, but doesn't sink into mopey morass … Accompaniment is uncluttered: the sturdy (but subtle when needed) piano work of Bert Dalton, sometimes joined by bass and percussion, never pulling focus or adding swaths of instrumental time … If you're looking for a big portion of high-quality theatrical treats from the 1930s to the 1960s to drink in and savor, with 26 samples provided by David Jenness, your cup will runneth over." -Rob Lester (Talkin' Broadway)

David Jenness (1937–2017) is best known as the co-author of the widely read and influential book "Classic American Song: The Second Half-Century, 1950–2000.” In it he explores the final work of the Masters and introduces us to songs written by the next generations of composers and lyricists who upheld the demanding criteria established by their forebears. But Jenness was also a cabaret singer held in the highest regard in Santa Fe clubs. Between 1993 and 1998 he made frequent visits to recording studios, preserving his performances of songs he held dear. He said, “I’ve always loved good songs from the theater and film. In my life I’ve been lucky enough to get to know some of the forgotten songs of songwriters and performers—the kind of songs that singers like to sing late at night during the last set or at a party, or the songs that songwriters have a sneaky love for. “There’s kind of a revival going on of cabaret and theater tunes from earlier eras. I wanted to get the ones I know and love down on tape, hoping you’ll like them, too.” Jenness, who passed away three years ago, only shared his recordings on cassettes with friends. This release marks the first chance all of us have to appreciate a warm, understated vocal style that always honored the songwriters’ intent. He’s accompanied by piano or a tasty jazz trio. And the hall-of-fame songwriters include Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Arlen & Koehler, Kern & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Lane & Loesser, Ellington & Latouche, Hugh Martin and Stephen Sondheim. This album is nirvana for all lovers of vintage American popular song—especially those who want to be introduced to rarely heard (or completely unknown) material courtesy of Jenness’s marvelous interpretations.

John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London release their second album, following widespread and universal critical acclaim for their first recording, of Korngold’s Symphony in F sharp. This new recording explores the unique sound world of French orchestral music of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The programme juxtaposes well-known favorites, such as Debussy’s Prélude àl’après-midi d’un faune, Massenet’s ‘Méditation’ from Thaïs, with pieces far more rarely heard, for example Duruflé’s Trois Danses and Saint-Saëns’s Le Rouet d’Omphale). Whether specifically evoking the ‘exoticism’ of Spain or North Africa (as was the fashion in French music of this era), or creating a less defined, impressionistic atmosphere, John Wilson and Sinfonia of London capture the mood and spirit of these pieces with consummate skill and outstanding musicianship. Originally formed in 1955, Sinfonia of London was re-established in 2018 by the British conductor John Wilson to devote itself, at least initially, to recording projects, of which this is the second album.

REVIEW:

Wilson has the ability to make familiar music sound wonderfully fresh and new-minted, all the while carefully judging and calibrating the sound world of each piece. The enthusiasm that he elicits from his orchestra is very much apparent on every track, though what really impresses is the finesse as well as the virtuosity of the playing, the refinement of detail, the subtlety of texture and color.

– Gramophone

Diminutions, the art of extemporary embellishment or melodic variation, were an essential part of performance practice of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. The basis of diminutions is the fragmentation of a long note or series of long notes into many shorter and faster ones that move around the original melody. In the 16th and early 17th centuries, a composition as written by the composer was often regarded as raw material and it was normal and even required of musicians to embellish the works performed. The number of treatises that were devoted to the teaching of this subject is a clear indication of the importance of diminutions at that time. Most of these manuals included a collection of decorated melodies taken from renowned madrigals, motets and chansons by well-known composers of the time. These pieces give us clear examples of how music was performed during that time and what was considered the proper way to embellish a piece of music. Often technically demanding, these pieces gave scope for virtuoso display as they required great dexterity from the performer. In conclusion, diminutions were added to make a piece of music more 'beautiful'. This album explores the widespread practice of diminutions by presenting published examples of diminutions on well-known motets, by master composers; diminutions on popular melodies or dance forms and finally, diminutions composed by the performer as artist.

After shaking cocktail music (and Fifties exotica) wide awake in his impossibly "cult" first album - Songs for Cabriolets, FA8565, released in year 2000 - Karl Zero made his musical comeback in 2005 when he hatched this "HiFi Calypso" after rising to meet a sizeable challenge: to lure Bob Marley's legendary Wailers away from Jamaica, and then have them play mento and calypso, the genres that gave reggae it's sources. Relying on his phony "frog" accent, singsong chat and debonair tenderness, Karl came up with 15 tracks that brimmed with sunshine. Every one of these is a sugarcane delight, with tasty flavours delicately aged in barrels of rum to produce this vintage postcard in sound.

The début album of duo Antongirolami-Galosi features a collection of works for cello and piano by and about Rossini as homage to the great heritage of the Maestro – who was also a skilled cellist – with whom they share the native region. The programme of this release includes themes, variations and fantasias on music composed by Rossini himself, including some less known chamber pieces, as well as music composed in the Rossinian style by 19th and 20th century composers. Antongirolami and Galosi have played in duo since 2013 and perform at various festivals in Italy.

Paganini’s violin, the legendary ‘il Cannone’, made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù in 1743, is one of the most important musical instruments in the history of Western music. Paganini was the greatest virtuoso of his time, acclaimed throughout Europe and an inspiration to performers and composers alike. On his death, he bequeathed ‘il Cannone’ to his home city of Genoa, where it is permanently housed under high security in the Town Hall. It has been heard on record just a handful of times. Francesca Dego was given the honor of recording with it after the success of her first performance on the instrument, in October 2019, when she was invited to play Paganini’s First Violin Concerto at the Paganini Celebratory Concert at Teatro Carlo Felice, in Genoa. Francesca Dego comments: ‘Spending a few enchanted days recording with this priceless treasure was unforgettable. I was overwhelmed when I was first handed the instrument that had caressed the ears of Schumann, Schubert, Goethe, Rossini, Bellini, Berlioz, Chopin, Heine, and so many more. I remember standing in that very room as a young girl, hypnotized, staring at history behind glass, fingers tingling at the thought of touching it. And suddenly there I was, holding Paganini’s violin. I feel so privileged to be able to share the soul of ‘il Cannone’ in a new recording. I remember thinking long and hard about the ideal programme and carefully selecting a series of works paying homage to Paganini. The ‘Cannon’ has pretty much only ever been used to record music by Paganini, so the idea of its celebrated tone teaming up with composers who idolized the Italian virtuoso throughout history is really exciting to me!’

REVIEWS:

Dego has an expressive touch, skittering over the strings, yet finding plenty of attack in Szymanowski’s Trois Caprices. Corigliano’s Red Violin Caprices are at times spellbinding, descending into a guttural, harried chase. Leonardi accompanies sensitively throughout.

– BBC Music Magazine

If you’re keen to hear Paganini’s favourite plaything (or favourite fourstringed one, at any rate), performed with technical finesse and strong musicality while shown off by suitably polished engineering, then this amply does that job.

– Gramophone

The International Competition of Polish Music aims to popularize Polish music in the world and to consolidate the importance of the oeuvre of Polish composers - especially of those active in the 19th and 20th centuries - in the public's mind. The competition is to contribute to the presentation of newly discovered works to a wide audience and to ensure that this unjustly neglected legacy is duly elaborated and republished. No less important is the task of promoting talented musicians who decide to include in their repertoire lesser-known works by Polish composers. On July 3-9, 2023, at the headquarters of the Artur Malawski Subcarpathian Philharmonic in Rzeszow, the already third edition of the Festival took place. On the album, we present the most interesting competition performances.

Ray Anderson (born October 16, 1952) is a jazz trombonist. Trained by the Chicago Symphony trombonists, he is regarded as someone who pushes the limits of the instrument. He is a colleague of trombonist George Lewis. Anderson also plays sousaphone and sings. He was frequently chosen in Down Beat magazine's Critics Poll as best trombonist throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. After studying in California, he moved to New York in 1973 and freelanced. In 1977, he joined Anthony Braxton's Quartet (replacing George Lewis)and started working with Barry Altschul's group. In addition to leading his own groups since the late '70s (including the funk-oriented Slickaphonics), Anderson has worked with George Gruntz's Concert Jazz Band. In the '90s, he began taking an occasional good-humored vocal, during which he shows the ability to sing two notes at the same time (a minor third apart). Anderson has worked with David Murray, Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, Dr. John, Luther Allison, Bennie Wallace, Gerry Hemingway, Henry Threadgill, John Scofield, Roscoe Mitchell, Randy Sandke's Inside Out Band, Sam Rivers' Rivbea Orchestra, Bobby Previte, George Russelland others. Anderson is a member of Jim Pugh's Super Trombone with Dave Bargeron and Dave Taylor. He received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for a series of solo trombone concerts. Anderson has frequently returned to his early love of New Orleans music for inspiration. His Alligatory Band and Pocket Brass Band, featuring tuba player Bob Stewart or sousaphonist Matt Perrine and trumpeter Lew Soloff, are rooted in it's tradition. Since 2003 he has taught and conducted at Stony Brook University.

From the nature sounds of the opening to the edgy "heavy metal" of the conclusion: this GENUIN release by the Lake Brass Ensemble is a production full of good humor and meaty sounds! The young musicians under Norbert Stertz perform this richly orchestrated brass music with an impressive low brass group, with two tenor horns and a tuba providing a velvety, fleshy lining to the brilliance of their dazzling colleagues. In addition to two world premiere recordings - Kerry Turner's Lake Constance Fantasy and Alexander Reuber's Cerberus - the tracklist features known and unknown, but above all magically shimmering works: film music by Hans Zimmer and John Williams, symphonic selections by Gustav Mahler, and chamber music by Dmitri Shostakovich. Simply brilliant!

Vol. 3 in our successful series with Music for Strings by British Composers features works by four important women composers, some of whom initially were underappreciated and whose music only later was performed again and received proper recognition. However, the period from 1893 to 1934 was still an extremely favorable time for British women composers who wanted to present their works on their country’s concert stages inasmuch as they could count on support principally from Sir Henry Wood at the Proms and Dan Godfrey in Bournemouth. Ethel Smyth (familiar to our listening audience from cpo albums with works by her) and Susan Spain-Dunk in particular profited from this support. In addition, this release presents recording premieres of string compositions by Constance Warren and Ruth Gipps, in part in editions by the conductor Douglas Bostock himself. On Vol. 3 the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim once again “explores the works with a lot of understanding for the particular personal style and with a fine sense of sound. Douglas Bostock knows how to bring out manifold colors from the orchestra and also, when needed, how to sharpen the tone and to place the sonority of the whole in the foreground” (klassik.com 4/2021 of Vol. 2).

The Acrobat catalogue contains a wealth of blues collections by artists from across the spectrum of the genre, and this fantastic-value 100-track 4-CD set comprises recordings selected from just about every artist represented in the catalogue, and offering a rich cross-section of the finest blues of the 20th century. Inevitably it draws on every strand of the blues and just about every regional variation, from country blues from the Delta, to electric blues from Chicago, post-war California blues, New Orleans blues, Piedmont blues, New York Blues and more. The genre's most influential luminaries and it's biggest stars are all here - B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Bill Bill Broonzy, Charley Patton, Howlin' Wolf, Bessie Smith, Lightnin' Hopkins, Ma Rainey, and dozens more. Presented more or less in chronological order, it offers an extraordinary feast of music which provides not only a window on the development of the music of the African-American population of the USA, who provide the vast majority of the recordings here, but an anecdotal social commentary on their lives and observations which are the subject of many of the songs. It's a collection which anyone with the remotest interest in the blues will undoubtedly enjoy.

This is the first CD release of the complete film scores for both 'White Christmas' and 'Holiday Inn' derived from pre-recordings made during the film making process. Included is a previously unreleased 1942 recording of 'White Christmas' as sung by Bing Crosby, and Rosemary Clooney's thrilling 1953 soundtrack sessions recorded for Irving Berlin's White Christmas!

ARASH YAZDANI: PROPAGATION / VARIOUS

Elis Hallik: Born In Waves - "Born in Waves is Estonian composer Elis Hallik's first album, a gateway into the sounds and thoughts of an original artist. The album mainly features chamber compositions that represent important ideas from her oeuvre over the past decade. A versatile soundscape unravels before the listener through nine pieces, shaped by composition studies in Estonia and France, and in particular by her contact with the expressive means of spectral and electronic music. At the heart of her musical thought are sound and it's various characteristics, the comparison or fusion of pure and distorted sound through extended playing techniques, and timbre and harmony as a building material." (Kristina K�rver)

Julia Purgina's works tell musical stories. Abstract stories, which usually initiate her working process. It is her goal to write works that are clearly located in the present through their musical language and by speaking of the present, but which both touch people in their innermost being and force them to reflect. In a way that would be ultimately timeless, said the composer in an interview for the Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung. Through the musical description of mysterious characters, clouds of fog and smoke-filled air, she creates an atmosphere of pleasant discomfort, referring to aspects of film noir, especially in her series of works musique noire.

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Classical Music

Classical Music