Feed Your Babies Onions

This collection of piano works is a journey through the music that represents the years spanning the end of the 1800s and the first half of the 1900s. It is a varied itinerary, marked by that typically Parisian ésprit nouveau that captured the most diverse influences: popular music, jazz, exoticism, quotes from popular tradition, songs, circus exhibitions. At that time in fact the divide between cultured and light music came down as new forms of entertainment blossomed, different from those proposed by the great institutions. Cradles of this change were the artistic cabarets, the cafés-concerts, the music halls, the tabarins, but also bistrots, taverns, bookshops, and all the places where intellectuals and artists met. This release offers an historical playlist imbued with the mood of that time, alternating the energy and joie de vivre with more melancholic moods. For the centrality of his figure and the originality of his works, the fruit of a constant process of renewal, Erik Satie is present here with six works which represent several stages in his amazing creative parabola. Dario Müller has performed in concert for important institutions and has collaborated with Dynamic since 1984.

This new release features studio and live broadcast recordings, never previously issued and newly remastered from the original tapes, of Romantic and 20th-century Danish music. Highlights include an atmospheric tone-poem by Gade, ballet and concert scores based on fairy-tales of Hans Christian Andersen, an overture to celebrate the end of the Nazi occupation of Denmark and a colorful set of orchestral variations based on Danish radio ?s theme tune. The performances bear witness to the high technical standard of the DRSO ?s playing, nearly 70 years ago, as well as to the tireless advocacy of Launy Grøndahl for the music of his own country.

The TANGOSTORIA album is a continuation of one of BANDONEGRO’s projects, in which the musicians focus on the traditional tango. The album refers to the greatest creators of this genre and is a response to the constantly growing interest in Argentine culture. We can find here the greatest hits of sung tango such as: ‘Sur,’ ‘Remembranza’ or ‘Ballada Para un Loco,’ but also the most interesting traditional tangos, selected by the ensemble, by such composers as Juan D’Arienzo, Alfredo Gobbi, Anibal Troilo, Horacio Salgan or Astor Piazzolla. Despite the considerable variety of styles presented by the aforementioned composers, the album is a closed, coherent whole, and it is listened to as a story with its necessary elements of introduction, development and ending. The musicians from Bandonegro invited Uruguayan vocalist Andres Martorell to cooperate. By adding new, fresh arrangements of existing pieces, they created a project with no expiry date. Undoubtedly, Bandonegro’s trip to Buenos Aires in 2019 had an impact on the interpretations of the works present on the album. The experience gained during that tour resulted in new ideas, one of which was recording this album. ‘Traditional tango is an inseparable element of Argentine culture, based on a strong relationship between music and dance. As musicians dealing with this genre, we want to cultivate these traditions, as evidenced by the album Tangostoria.’ The album was recorded six months after Bandonegro’s trip to Buenos Aires.

Audiences from the far east have always enjoyed opera. After the Japanese and the Koreans, who exported their musical glories since the 80s to Europe, now it is the turn of the Chinese, with a huge number of aspiring singers from that country studying at foreign Colleges of Music. Some twenty years ago, the name to conjure with was Warren Mok, a Hong Kong tenor tipped as Asia's answer to Pavarotti. Today, that moniker belongs to Chuanyue Wang an excellent tenor featured on this release, his very first. A grand slam in Chinese domestic vocal music competitions, Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Opera signed singer, Chuanyue Wang has won first prizes in The International Vocal Competition of Seoul in Korea, the vocal competition Martini City of Mantova al Bibiena, the Chinese Culture Ministry's Wen Hua Competition, the 15th Young Singer CCTV Competition for Bel Canto, the Chinese Music Golden Bell Award, the 5th China International Voice Competition. Hewas also a participant in the Carlo Bergonzi Master Class, the Okazaki International Voice Master Class, the Brasov Opera House Training Program in Romania and the Schonberg Institute in Vienna.

Between 1674 and 1694 the duchy of Modena was ruled by the music-loving Francesco II d’Este: a period of rule that attracted musicians and singers from across northern Italy and farther afield. The music of the chapel was supervised by the duke himself and he established a network of contact with the finest native musicians such as Corelli. Vitali and Domenico Gabrielli both moved to Modena permanently, while the best-known Giovanni Bononcini, member of a formidable musical clan, began his career there and then performed for the grandest courts across Europe. Countless volumes of chamber, instrumental and vocal music were dedicated to the duke thanks to his generous patronage. This recording project has drawn on the remarkably rich resources of the duke’s own music library, and its unique collection of manuscripts affording the opportunity to make several world-premiere recordings of music that has probably lain unheard since the late 17th-century. A case in point is the cantata composed by Vitali to mark the duke’s birthday, Sopra la nascita. Now much less familiar a name, Giuseppe Colombi wrote with an audaciously personal style, as the cantata Di Lidia al sen vezzoso reveals. Even more expressively striking is the cantata composed by Bononcini on the subject of the death of Cleopatra, and Gabrielli’s cantata Amore m’hai così avinto is an absorbing exploration of sexual jealousy. Interspersed with these cantatas are sonatas and dances by Vitali and Bononcini which radiate brio and rhythmic verve, and the album concludes with another jealousy-themed duet by an unfamiliar name, Pietro Nicolò Sorosina (c. 1645-1732). The project came to life from an invitation on the part of the Grandezze e Meraviglie festival in Modena, and it is performed according to the highest standards of modern period-instrument practice by the festival’s house ensemble and led by the local early-music maestro Giovanni Paganelli, born in Modena in 1992.

In her first solo album Annette John takes the listener on a journey across the flute music of the last 1100 years.

The CD starts with the “Da pacem Domine”, one of the earliest sacred melodies of the 9th century and draws the line further to Jacob van Eyck, Bach and Telemann (and others) to finally reach Violeta Dinescu. With all this Annette John shows an impressive versatility and a great security of interpretation. All works are played with the most suitable instrument for each work - a fascinating variety of recorder sounds.

Classical hits from one of the world’s great orchestras: a fabulous introduction to the world of music at a super-budget price. Zadok the Priest was written in 1727 for the Coronation of King George II, but it’s now more familiar to millions of football fans as the anthem for the Champions League. You may never have listened to a Wagner opera, but if you’ve seen Apocalypse Now, you’ll know The Ride of the Valkyries. Composing a slow movement for a string quartet, Samuel Barber could hardly have imagined that his Adagio would tap so deeply into universal feelings of grief and reflection once it had become known as his Adagio for strings and used in countless TV programmes and film soundtracks. Classical music is everywhere, and on this 4-album set you can enjoy more than 40 of the most thrilling and powerful pieces ever written. The music in this collection is full of stories. A misty sea voyage off the coast of Scotland (The Hebrides, by Mendelssohn); a dazzling Russian coronation scene (The Great Gate of Kiev, by Mussorgsky); a young woman comforting her old father (O mio babbino caro, by Puccini); a dawn over Egypt (Morning Mood, by Grieg) as well as a display of the Egyptian empire in all its glory (Triumphal March, by Verdi) and all its brutality (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, also by Verdi). Great music transcends place and time.

Klangspuren - the debut CD of brass band Blechklang captivates with groovy beats and hot sounds. BlechKLANG is a brass band oriented to the English original setup.

The Brass Band formation enjoys a growing popularity in German-speaking countries. With this production the winners of the first German Brass Band Championship show the impressive range from the most tender pianissimo to the radiant, powerful brass band sound. The conductor Alexander Richter excels with a perfect intuition for musical nuances and subtleties of this exciting publication. Apart from classics of brass band music like “Legend in Brass”, “St l Himmel”, “Oregon”, the album includes the new Jena interpretation of the secret hymn of the brass band scene: “The Floral Dance”.

And the “African Odyssey” by Richard Grantham is an impressive world premiere recording.

This album is an exciting journey to the world of Spanish and Italian baroque music. Los Temperamentos, founded in 2009, embraces the music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Under the direction of Colombian cellist and arranger Néstor Fabián Cortés Garzón, the ensemble specializes in rediscovering and resonating the relationships between the seemingly opposing worlds of baroque music in Latin America and Europe. In their thematically diverse programs, the artists blend different styles, composers and cultures, thus repeatedly demonstrating the liveliness and immense richness of colors of what is now simply called "early music".

When Brooklyn-born, NYC native Kenny Werner came on stage for his concert in Stuttgart in 1992, he had just begun experimenting with the possibilities of solo piano programs. Over time he grew into the role of a high-quality craftsman who drew his strength not from the struggle for innovation, but from the elegance and finesse with which he incorporated the pianistic possibilities of the keyboard tradition into his music. In artistic self-understanding he was one step ahead of his era.

Werner’s advanced position was also evident in the repertoire that he brought with him to the studio room of the SDR (Süddeutscher Rundfunk) in Stuttgart on 10 June 1992. Most of the compositions were standards associated with the “Great American Songbook”, which he took as a starting point for letting his own creativity play on familiar melodies and forms. It didn’t interest Werner to have the material fall apart in the postmodern fashion typical of the time. On the contrary, for him it was about the perfection of an interior design of the songs, which allowed him to savor the freedom within the set frame of classical jazz patterns. The evening in Stuttgart thus becomes a link in the canon of Werner’s style.

Born in Brooklyn, NY on November 19, 1951 and then growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, Kenny Werner began playing and performing at a young age, first recording on television at the age of 11. Although he studied classical piano as a child, he enjoyed playing anything he heard on the radio. In high school and his first years of college he attended the Manhattan School of Music as a classical piano major. His natural instinct for improvisation led Kenny to the Berklee School of Music in 1970. There he sought tutelage of the renowned piano teacher Madame Chaloff. Her gracious wisdom and inspiration became a driving force in Kenny’s conception: A music conscious of its spiritual intent and essence. From Boston, Kenny traveled to Brazil with the saxophonist Victor Assis Brasil. There he met Victor’s twin brother, Brazilian pianist Joao Assis Brasil. He studied with Joao, who provided another piece of the puzzle for Kenny’s conception that would lead to Effortless Mastery, his landmark opus on how to allow the master musician from within to manifest. Kenny Werner has been a world-class pianist and composer for over forty years. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications continue to impact audiences around the world.

Classical Music

Acclaimed pianist Inna Faliks breaks new ground with REIMAGINED on Navona Records, an homage to Beethoven and Ravel which manages to do the impossible: be breathtakingly innovative while remaining respectful to the source material. Nine contemporary composers, including Richard Danielpour, Paola Prestini, Billy Childs, and Timo Andres, were commissioned to craft responses to Ludwig van Beethoven's Bagatelles, op. 126 (incidentally, the master's favorite) as well as Maurice Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit. The results are exhilarating, not least owing to Faliks's stunningly precise and sensitive pianistic interpretation: the Ukrainian-born American pianist ties together Classical, Romantic and modern pieces with disarming nonchalance and rock-solid technical skill. Defying the challenge of uniting three centuries of musical styles and social commentary, as well as producing an album during a global pandemic with the help of Yamaha's Disklavier technology, REIMAGINED proudly raises a monument not only to the genius of Beethoven and Ravel, but also to the perseverance and verve of some of today's most exciting and important composers.

Familiar Christmas melodies from German-speaking countries as well as a selection of the most beautiful Christmas carols from all over the world have been put together by the renowned Calmus Ensemble from Leipzig on their new Christmas album. The arrangements of Es kommt ein Schiff geladen, Barn Jesus i en krybbe lå, Stille Nacht and, of course, White Christmas for the vocal quintet give the traditional songs a fresh, sonorous and sometimes surprising guise. Always touching, but never kitschy, White Christmas by Calmus is a real "must have" for the Advent and Christmas season!

A Musical Zoo with Ashley Riches and Joseph Middleton is a veritable tour de force, featuring compositions spanning nearly 160 years, from Schubert’s ‘The Trout’ to Shostakovich’s ‘Once there lived a cockroach’ and four languages (German, French, Russian and English). A strong representation of the German Lieder tradition (Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, Brahms and Richard Strauss) is balanced by the French mélodie (Fauré, Ravel) and English lyricism (Ireland, Howells). We humans seem to have an endless fascination with the animal kingdom, and animals have proved an inspiration for artists, composers, and writers alike. This recital demonstrates what a rich seam this has proved for a diverse range of composers. Ashley Riches comments: ‘The text [of a song] may outline to us what we see. But the flutterings of Schubert’s Birds, the flicking antennae of Shostakovich’s Cockroach, the rush of notes with which Ravel’s Peacock spreads its tail – these are movements and energies accessible to music alone.’

The Te Deum is a Latin Christian hymn that dates to the third centuries A.D. Its name is derived from its incipit, Te Deum laudamus, Latin for “Thee, O God, we praise.” Originally ascribed to Saint Ambrose or Saint Augustine, the hymn has been transcribed hundreds of times over by composers throughout history. The present release is a collection of some of the most popular Te Deum compositions from the last several hundred years, from Baroque to Contemporary, with works by Braunfels, Berlioz, Dvorák, Bruckner, Naumann, Händel and Bizet in reference recordings of leading orchestras and soloists, including the Staatskapelle Dresden, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, and Gächinger Kantorei.

Japanese-Canadian pianist Yoko Hirota stuns with impeccable pianism on SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL: MINIATURE PIANO PIECES. Originally recorded in 2009, this remastered edition brings out the intricacies of 20th- and 21st-century piano composition with a clarity that was previously unheard of. The first half of the album's track list reads like an exhaustive compendium of 1900's compositional celebrities: Schoenberg, Krenek, Ligeti, Berio. It's a brainy choice: the tracks on SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL aren't ordered by length, as one might intuit, but instead in geographical and roughly chronological order. Vienna's modernists may have laid the foundation, but North America's modernists took serial and atonal composition to the next level. And so, to do the matter justice, there is a splendidly representative selection of Elliott Carter’s oeuvre, along with pieces by Canadian composers - John Beckwith. Despite the immense differences in cultural background and era – the selection spans almost a century, after all – they are all united by one distinguishing feature: They are short pieces, with lengths between 31 seconds and six-and-a-half minutes. Yoko Hirota, who holds a doctoral degree in piano performance and currently teaches the piano at the Music Department of Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada, plays all of these pieces with academic precision, regardless of their respective geographical or temporal provenance. A recording veteran with six previous contemporary albums under her belt, her grasp of the modernist zeitgeist is not only palpable, but extraordinary. And it shows: there is a subtle lyricism even where traditional harmonies clash, a sensitivity not just for the musical language of the era, but for the greater principles that underpin them. SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL doesn't just serve as an index of contemporary piano composition and its roots, it's a worthwhile addition to a modernist record collection on merit of Hirota's powerful interpretation alone.

... A magic floats above everything [encompassing the whole work]... (Paris, 1877, Journal de Musique) The second album by Franziska Pietsch and her Spanish piano partner Josu de Solaun is dedicated to the multifaceted world of French violin sonatas. With their usual aplomb and artistic intensity, the duo explore emotional landscapes complementing those of their previous album. Moving on from the exuberant revelry, serious tragedy and brutal reality of the sonatas by Strauss and Shostakovich, the musicians are now roving between the poles of dream and reality. Real experiences and emotions are reflected in a visionary dream world, external reality is mirrored internally. Inner emotions and images become reality via the music, triggering new emotions: dream and reality mirror each other. Faure, Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc create this "mirror world" in diverse ways. The common theme is the fantastical, the magic of imagination, the poetic distance to reality and the intensive engagement with inner emotions. Thus the dream world becomes a retreat - for listeners and artists alike.

Following up its widely acclaimed reissues of the Juilliard Quartet’s complete Epic and RCA Victor albums – originally issued between 1956 and 1960 – Sony Classical is excited to present a new box set collecting the earliest albums of this august American ensemble. Made between 1949 and 1956 in Columbia’s studio on Manhattan’s 30th St., these landmark recordings are mostly new to CD.

From its first appearances in New York, the Juilliard Quartet was identified as a champion of modern music. Its first recordings for American Columbia, all included here, were dedicated to the works of Alban Berg and Béla Bartók (then only recently deceased), as well as to Arnold Schoenberg (still very much alive), and to active American composers including William Schuman. But the heart of this release comprising 16 newly mastered CDs and also featuring works by Mozart, Ravel, Webern, Milhaud, Copland, Peter Mennin, Alexei Haieff and Andrew Imbrie, are three discs containing the premiere of Béla Bartók’s six quartets on records, which were set down in 1949. They appeared on LP and 78s the following year, bringing the Juilliard Quartet its first real celebrity. Recorded on 78-rpm shellacs rather than on tape, this path-breaking set thus consists of live, unedited performances. When reissued some years ago on CD – the only portion of the new Sony Classical box set ever to have appeared before on silver discs – it was rapturously praised in Fanfare magazine for “its joy of discovery, which remains completely fresh and vivid” even though numerous other traversals of the Bartók cycle had appeared in the meantime.

Another Juilliard milestone was the premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s four quartets on records, set down in 1951–52. At last, all these historic Juilliard String Quartet recordings are available to today’s music lovers.

REVIEWS:

[An] engrossing 16-disc box set of [the Juilliard Quartet's] earliest recordings for the Columbia label, many appearing on disc for the first time.

What other quartet of that era would have made its recorded debut not with standard repertoire but with a cantata by Darius Milhaud, written just a few years before? There are works here by composers both renowned (Berg, Webern, Copland) and virtually forgotten (Peter Mennin, Alexei Haieff), all rendered in the Juilliard’s trademark sound: X-ray clear and devoid of schmaltz.

Two complete cycles anchor the set: Bartok (the first recording of his six quartets) and Schoenberg. Given how unfamiliar these works were at the time, the Juilliard’s confidence and authority is stunning. Subsequent recordings may have disclosed other aspects of this repertory, but that does not dampen the freshness and sense of discovery audible here.

-- The New York Times

If patience is a virtue, then fans of the Juilliard String Quartet’s earliest records must be saints. For only now have these much-cherished monaural recordings returned to circulation, some 70 years after their debuts, in a new 16-CD set from Sony Classical titled “Juilliard String Quartet: The Early Columbia Recordings, 1949-56.” The quartet, currently observing its 75th anniversary, is still going strong, though the present ensemble naturally comprises personnel entirely different from those selected for the group at its founding in 1946 by the composer William Schuman, then president of the famed Juilliard School in New York.

Sony has been good to the Juilliard, having previously released important sets of recordings from a bit later in the group’s life, specifically the 1950s and ’60s, when the quartet made what quickly became fabled discs for Epic and RCA Victor. The addition of this box means the quartet’s early prime is now thoroughly documented. (That said, good luck acquiring those Epic and RCA reissues, which were quicky snatched up—something worth keeping in mind while pondering this latest one.)

String quartets, with their changing personnel and specialized repertory, have rarely achieved lasting fame, at least among the larger population. They have never in modern times commanded the attention that celebrated instrumental soloists garner, and they haven’t the institutional resources that orchestras command. So releases like this one serve a special purpose. They make us aware of great musicians who might otherwise be, at best, dimly recalled. And, certainly in this case, they return to public attention extraordinary performances that should never have been out of the limelight.

-- The Wall Street Journal

Shortlisted for the Gramophone Awards!

Julian Bream, who passed away in August 2020, is the finest classical guitarist in the second half of the 20th century. DOREMi is proud to release this tribute to his wonderful artistry. The program of works for lute and guitar solo and in a variety of ensemble settings, never before released, offers a remarkable panorama of Bream's magnificent playing between 1956 and 1965, including performances from the 11th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Aldeburgh Festivals, the 18th Edinburgh International Festival, a 1956 Broadcast House recital, and two studio broadcasts. The repertoire ranges from Josquin des Pres to Dowland and other Elizabethans, to Baroque lutenists, and contemporary British composers. We hear a very early version of Britten's "Nocturnal", songs accompanying Peter Pears and Carmen Prietto, a Haydn string quartet, and the Concierto de Aranjuez.

This anthology presented by the organist Margherita Sciddurlo is performed on the precious historical instrument: the Petrus De’ Simone 1747 organ of the Church of San'Antonio in Mola di Bari, fully preserved and in excellent condition. The organ in question becomes the medium to reviving a cross-section of the Apulian organ tradition whose roots are deeply connected to the musical activity of the Kingdom of Naples since the 16th century, when thousands of young talents came to the capital to undertake musical studies that ensured them a secure career. Puglia turned out to be a privileged territory where one could later exercise the profession, sponsored by the numerous feudal lords or by churches, musical chapels and convents. From Rocco Rodio from Bari to Giovanni Paisiello from Taranto, through to Nicola Porpora and Niccolò Jommelli, famous allover Europe thanks to bright careers abroad. The collection presented by Margherita Sciddurlo represents a pleasant organ cameo which also includes some world premiere recordings.

The legendary Clarke-Boland Big Band, based on the American drummer Kenny Clarke and the Belgian pianist and arranger Francy Boland, was created in 1961 on the initiative of Pierluigi “Gigi” Campi, born in Italy but living in Cologne. He promoted and produced the Clarke-Boland Big Band who, as an independent and unmistakable voice of jazz, set standards in Europe and beyond. In 2018, the Campi family bequeathed the important legacy of Gigi Campi - consisting of several boxes of handwritten original sheet music from the Clarke-Boland Big Band - to the Bundesjazzorchester. This great honor allows the BuJazzO to preserve the legacy of the Clarke-Boland Big Band. In 2019, a first focus was dedicated to this treasure: Jiggs Whigham personally selected the titles for the program from the archive. Contemporary witnesses Manfred Schoof and Erik van Lier, former members of the Clarke-Boland Big Band, were invited to the rehearsal phase in March. Afterwards the BuJazzO 2019 played twelve concerts whose extraordinary moments, energy and passion are documented live on this album.

REVIEW:

The youthful musicians - all aged between 17 and 27 - swing as if they grew up with these sounds. Their impetuous enthusiasm for playing is infectious and makes the disc more than just a nostalgic project.

-- Rondo

This new release is a showcase of French masterworks by composers including Debussy, Ravel, and more. Kathleen Karr is the Principal Flutist of the Louisville Orchestra and Flute Professor at the University of Louisville. In 2012, she was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Professor Award for the University of Louisville. At the University of Louisville, Kathleen teaches all applied flute students , flute ensemble, flute studio class, flute literature, flute pedagogy, chamber music coaching and performs with the faculty woodwind quintet. A frequent soloist with the Louisville Orchestra, Kathleen has most recently performed the Mozart G Major Flute Concerto with the Louisville Orchestra during the 2014-15 season. Kathleen has taught flute and chamber music at the Interlochen Arts Camp (Interlochen, Michigan), Bellarmine University, Centre College (Danville, Kentucky) and Indiana University Southeast. Dr. Denine LeBlanc teaches music in the Jefferson County Public School system where she has taught for over twenty-five years. From 1978 until its closure in the spring of 2020, she taught piano in the Community Music Program at the University of Louisville School of Music.

Ellen Andersson has been described as two voices in one - the young, curious and the older, experienced - a performer with a rare artistic weight. Her second album in her own name is titled You Should Have Told Me. She has in recent years been seen and heard on stages and concert halls across the country, including with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. (Prophone)