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Traditions And Transformations / Yo-Yo Ma, Wu Man

CSO Resound

$20.99 Feb 01, 2008

Intriguing; the Harrison and the Bloch are outstanding.

This is a very miscellaneous collection, but then followers of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road project will have come to expect nothing less. This particular CD was recorded as the climax of the Project’s year-long association with the city of Chicago. During that year Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road ensemble interacted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This involved a series of events which celebrated and explored many kinds of intercultural musical exchange, going beyond the specific cultural meetings and transferences which the Silk Road itself facilitated.

Here we have a sampling of such interactions, some rather more familiar and ‘mainstream’ than others. Of Jewish background, born in Switzerland, and a student in Belgium, Germany and France and resident in the USA from 1916 until his death - bar a return to Europe in the 1930s - Ernest Bloch was something of a one-man intercultural ‘event’ in himself and his music was always open to a variety of influences. Subtitled a ‘Hebraic Rhapsody for cello and orchestra’, Schelomo (Solomon) was written between December 1915 and February 1916. Bloch’s own programme notes for the piece spoke of the cello as “the reincarnated voice of King Solomon” and suggested that the orchestra was “the voice of his age … his world … his experience”. The languorous dances and slow, meditative music of much of the work’s first section are well and expressively played by Ma and the CSO under Harth-Bedova, the note of despair, of the all-embracing sentiments of Ecclesiastes (of which Solomon was, traditionally, the author) – “Vanity of vanities, all is Vanity” – never far from the surface. But perhaps this performance doesn’t quite do justice to what Bloch called the “complete negation” which characteries the work’s conclusion, where the playing seems a bit too ready to settle for rhetorical effect rather than substance. But, overall, this is a performance which puts a good case for the work and is well worth hearing.

The other familiar work is Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite - in which the CSO is conducted by Alan Gilbert - which grew from the young composer’s fascination with the nomads of the steppes, without too much in the way of direct borrowings from the music of such tribes. The modern listener is most likely to find in it a slightly politer, more westernied version of The Rite of Spring and indeed this work, like Stravinsky’s, was grounded in the composer’s collaboration with Diaghilev. Prokofiev’s rhythms are less complex and fierce than Stravinsky’s, the sense of ritualistic violence less intense, though the orchestration is brilliant and striking. The reeds of the CSO are particularly impressive in ‘The Adoration of Veles and Ala’, the first movement, while there is disciplined orchestral power galore in the opening of the second movement, ‘The Enemy God and the Dance of the Black Spirits’. Somehow, though, the performance doesn’t quite do full justice to the ominous, distinctly ‘Russian’ music of this movement, lacking the ultimate in intensity and drive. The dark evocativeness of the first part of ‘Night’ is more convincing and the final movement, ‘’Lolly’s Glorious Departure and the Ceremonial Procession of the Sun’ catches fire in the closing imagery of the rising sun. For all the efforts of orchestra and conductor, it is hard to see Prokofiev’s ballet music - striking as much of it is - as more than superficially involving any real cultural interaction.

From that point of view, Lou Harrison’s Pipa Concerto is more richly suggestive. The pipa is, to put it crudely but briefly, a kind of Chinese lute, with a pear-shaped wooden body. Harrison’s ‘concerto’ is very obviously the work of a man who, by the date of its composition, was steeped in oriental musical traditions and had given real thought to how they might exist creatively alongside western instruments and conventions. For Harrison the interface between oriental and occidental musics is familiar territory, a territory in which he can be unaffectedly and unpretentiously creative. As a result there is an ease and certainty of purpose to this concerto, which is beautifully played by Wu Man – some will have heard some of her other collaborations with, inter alia, Kronos Quartet and Yuri Bashmet. The concerto – which is perhaps better described as a suite than as a concerto if one insists on using western terminology – is various in mood and a thing of considerable beauty. In four movements - though one of them consists of four more or less distinct sections - the opening allegro balances eastern and western formality in a dialogue that has dignity and substance, while the fertility of Harrison’s eclectic imagination is evident in much of what follows. In ‘Troika’ the pipa sounds almost like a balalaika and in the brief ‘Neapolitan’ there are, perhaps unsurprisingly, but quite delightfully, echoes of the Italian mandolin tradition. In ‘Three Sharing’ the orchestra drops out and we are treated to a percussive conversation between the pipa of Wu Man, the cello of John Sharp and the double bass of Joseph Guastafeste. The most conventionally oriental episode comes in ‘Wind and Plum’, where the pipa’s cadences, against a lush orchestral background, are incisive and evocative. The penultimate movement is a lament, a ‘Threnody for Richard Locke’, a five minute elegy, powerfully melodic and exquisitely grave. By contrast the ‘concerto ends with an ‘Estampie’, in which medieval and renaissance dance rhythms meet (very fruitfully) the sounds of one of the lute’s ancestors. This whole concerto – the last of Harrison’s large-scale works – is the high spot of this disc.

In ‘Legend of Herlen’ the Mongolian composer Byambasuren Sharav draws on both native Mongolian traditions and instruments and on Western music. Western brass, in the shape of three trombones, and percussion - along with a piano - sit alongside the morin khuur, a two stringed fiddle and the sound of Khongorzul Ganbaatar, an exponent of the Mongolian tradition of ‘long song’, full of sustained and richly ornamented phrases. The results are intriguing and at times very beautiful, but perhaps most satisfying when Ganbaatar’s voice is accompanied solely by the morin khuur; the writing for western instruments is relatively pedestrian and predictable and actually seems to add very little to the Mongolian essence of the piece.

How far the Silk Road project has really succeeded – with anything like consistency – in uniting disparate musical traditions is a matter for debate. What is surely undeniable is that all their recordings have, at the very least, been stimulating, engaging and challenging. This new recording is no exception.

-- Glyn Pursglove, MusicWeb International

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Traditions And Transformations / Yo-Yo Ma, Wu Man
CSO Resound Feb 2008
CD
$20.99

D. Scarlatti: Sonatas

Brilliant Classics

$13.99 Jun 07, 2019

Played by the right hands, the astonishing freshness of invention of Scarlatti’s sonatas emerges with no less brilliance on the piano than his intended harpsichord. So why not the organ, too? In fact, Scarlatti probably intended only three of his 555 surviving keyboard sonatas specifically for an organ. Yet even on the instruments of his own time, in churches and chapels across Europe and especially his native Italy and adopted home of Spain, the palette of colors offered by a well-appointed organ brings these vibrantly colored works to life without any fear of them being obscured by clouds of bass pedal or resonance. Organist Nicola Reniero explains that his selection of 19 sonatas concentrates on particularly intricate or individual examples of polyphony and fugue where the organ’s diversity of register and color may be thought to excel. He does so, however, without neglecting the principle that in Scarlatti’s music almost everything is vocal and theatrical: the introduction is like the curtain that rises; the themes are the characters, and the various sections of the piece are like scenes of a wordless drama. Reniero has chosen to avoid the kind of echo effects which would be a conventional way to introduce contrast between phrases: “I have tried instead to emphasize the originality of the harmonies or the characters of famous themes.” The album closes with the most spectacular of all Scarlatti’s fugues, K417 in D minor. It is a stunning piece not only on account of the frenzied finale and the unexpected change of scene that comes about halfway through the piece, but above all for the boundless energy that pervades it throughout. For this new recording, Reniero plays the organ of the Duomo di Desenzano in the town of Garda, a two-manual instrument first reconstructed by the Serassi Brothers and then restored and partially rebuilt by Marco Fratti in 2014.

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D. Scarlatti: Sonatas
Brilliant Classics Jun 2019
CD
$13.99

Sweelinck Collection - Complete Keyboard Music & Psalms

Brilliant Classics

$51.99 Sep 04, 2026

A comprehensive, budget-priced introduction to the world of a Dutch master of the early Baroque, in modern and critically acclaimed recordings. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) stands at the head of the North German school of composers which produced Dieterich Buxtehude and the Bach family. We know next to nothing about the specific circumstances for which he wrote most of his music, as organist at Amsterdam's Oude Kerk from the late 1570s until his death over 40 years later. Amsterdam during this time was a colourful, cosmopolitan port, full of international influences and religious diversity, and Sweelinck's keyboard music mirrors this culture. Even more than a contemporary such as William Byrd, Sweelinck delights in dividing and subdividing his melodic material such as chorale hymns, accumulating intensity through rapidly moving variants on a given theme. Faster music sometimes passes by in a virtuoso flourish, and sometimes stretches the musical arc in search of greater expression. In his complete recording, first released in 2020, Daniele Boccaccio pays careful attention to the details of old fingering techniques; the resultant variety in phrasing and articulation gives new life to figurations that with a more modern legato approach can seem plain. At times, he applies discreet ornamentation to enhance the music's impact and elsewhere let's Sweelinck's notes speak for themselves. Particularly in the fantasias, he captures some of the freshness with which Sweelinck's music must have struck it's first listeners. Sweelinck's psalm settings were likely written with professional singers in mind, such as the voices of the Netherlands Chamber Choir. The sense of bejewelled light and brilliance is nearly unrivalled in music of the time save in the Venetian school exemplified by the Gabrieli family. When the NCC undertook the major project of recording Sweelinck's complete psalm settings, they engaged an array of early-music luminaries, each of whom contributes their own refined musical intelligence to the colour and articulation of these pieces. According to Fanfare's original review, 'Less expert ensembles need not apply. Let the Netherlands Chamber Choir do it. Very highly recommended.'

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Sweelinck Collection - Complete Keyboard Music & Psalms
Brilliant Classics Sep 2026
CD
$51.99

Borenstein: Piano Works / Tra Nguyen

Grand Piano

$19.99 Sep 08, 2023

The music of Nimrod Borenstein (b. 1969) is becoming increasingly popular on concert stages worldwide and on record, with a series of high-profile commissions and performances in recent years. The two sets of Études featured on this album are inspired by the model of Chopin. Tra Nguyen is a British-Vietnamese pianist whose career has taken her to prestigious venues worldwide. Her six-volume edition of Raff’s piano music is available on Grand Piano (GP728X).

REVIEW:

Judging from this disc’s contents, Borenstein certainly knows how to write idiomatically and effectively for piano. His two books of Etudes address specific techniques, textures, styles, and moods.

I was especially taken with The Melancholic Mobile, the third piece from Reminiscences of Childhood. Here repeated phrases in the piano’s high register give way to rhythmic displacements that resemble phase shifting. Once the lower registers kick in, the music goes into scrambled Schumann mode, but eventually returns to the opening section’s simplicity. Likewise, high-register rhythmic juggling characterizes the disc’s closing Lullaby. My only quibble is that these piano works operate on similar and not very wide-ranging emotional levels, despite the composer’s unquestionable cleverness and facility.

Pianist Tra Nguyen seems to be an ideal advocate for this repertoire. She brings the three-dimensional textures to life through her masterful scaling of dynamics, astute ear for textural differentiation, and colorful pedaling. Pianists seeking technically challenging yet musically accessible contemporary repertoire that is both virtuosic and lyrical at the same time will want to check out Nimrod Borenstein, who enhances this excellently engineered disc with his own articulate and unpretentious annotations.

-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

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Borenstein: Piano Works / Tra Nguyen
Grand Piano Sep 2023
CD
$19.99

Bach, Couperin, Purcell et al: Kagami - Mirror / Uemara, Miranda, Zylberajch

Ramee

$20.99 Sep 08, 2023

The yamato word for mirror, kagami, can be read as “kami (divinity) surrounding ga (self)”: if you look in a mirror, what you see is your own self surrounded by divinity. Kaori Uemura has called her tale Kagami, because she believes that music reflects the inner depths of the self in the same way as a mirror. Mirrors were used in art as a reflection of what is, and as an allegory of truth and wisdom, a means of knowing yourself as you are. This recording is also a tribute to the Baroque composers who saw music not only as a mirror of divine creation, but equally as a means of expressing human emotions through musical figures which could produce specific affects.

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Bach, Couperin, Purcell et al: Kagami - Mirror / Uemara, Miranda, Zylberajch
Ramee Sep 2023
CD
$20.99

An Introduction To Edward Elgar
AIX Records Jan 2013
DVD
$26.99

Verdi: Don Carlo / Chailly, Lloyd, Villazon, Roocroft, Et Al

Opus Arte

DVD

$39.99 Oct 18, 2005

PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
APPROX RUN TIME: 199 Mins
SOUND: DTS SURROUND / LPCM STEREO
SUBTITLES: English/French/German/Spanish/Italian/Dutch
NO OF DISCS: 2

Robert Lloyd, Rolando Villazón, Amanda Roocroft, Dwayne Croft, Jaakko Ryhänen, Giorgio Giuseppini, Violeta Urmana
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / De Nederlandse Opera Chorus
Riccardo Chailly / Stage Director Willy Decker

Includes:
*Illustrated Synopsis and Cast Gallery. *Introduction to the opera including interviews with Robert Lloyd, Rolando Villazón, Amanda Roocroft, Violeta Urmana, Riccardo Chailly and Willy Decker.

In this majestic production of Verdi’s Don Carlo, Riccardo Chailly’s qualities as a Verdi conductor are brilliantly displayed in the dramatic precision and transparent instrumental detail he draws from both orchestra and cast. Willy Decker directs a wonderful piece of stagecraft, letting the tragedy unwind with minimal, yet telling, interventions.

The drama takes place in the mausoleum of Filippo II’s Escorial, where the tombs of countless generations of Spanish royalty line the walls. Filippo’s confrontation with Il grande inquisitore – which takes place over his own coffin, its resting place in the wall ready and waiting – is chillingly symbolic, as are the feet of the giant crucifix that hangs over Don Carlo as he sees his life sacrificed by his father.

R E V I E W S

This Don Carlo uses the four-act version of 1884, which is described in an interview extra on the first DVD as intended by Verdi to be more comprehensible than the original five-act version. That is debatable, to say the least, since the composer’s stated reasons for producing that revision (the third of four) were to make its length more manageable on stage and to improve the relation of music and text. Like many another fan of Don Carlo , I admit to a strong affection for both of the two longer editions: the 1867 French version and the 1886 Modena one (or “1884 with many of the great French bits stuck back in”). But that’s for listening, when the more late Verdi you’ve got, the better matters get, and you can take breaks at will for as long as you wish. If it comes to viewing a performance of Don Carlo , the wear-and-tear on the soloists has to be taken into account; and I’m more than willing to watch the 1884 edition.

So this Don Carlo lacks the monumental length that some critics (ignoring developments north of the Alps) complained about when the original French version of the opera appeared. But what is not done musically and temporally, stage designer Willy Decker accomplished here visually and vertically. His re-envisioned Crypt of the Kings in El Escorial features a huge, circular stone vault, with square, identical slate-colored wall plates piled seven high and 12 long to mark the burial slots of previous rulers. Towards the back of the stage is the lower shaft of an enormous cross: Christ’s down-turned toe is 12 feet above the singers, while the knee of the carved figure, at the top of the stage, is perhaps another 12 feet above. This unholy alliance of the Bauhaus and Symbolism is intended to convey the harsh, impersonal nature of religion at the royal court and the way in which it dwarfs the personality and reforming ambitions of Don Carlo. It succeeds beautifully, and remains the centerpiece of the production with the addition of minimal props.

While Decker’s visuals are impressive and his blocking effective, I’m less thrilled with his attempts at dramatic reinterpretation. For example, there’s an elaborate dumb show in the opening orchestral prelude of Philip II’s abusing Don Carlo to enforce religious conformity. When the latter attempts to kiss his father’s ring, Philip grabs Don Carlo’s hand in a painful, pincerlike grip, forcing the boy instead to slowly cross himself. Shortly afterwards, Don Carlo is grasped by the back of the neck and pushed down to the ground before the huge cross already discussed. This muddles matters right at the start by placing one of the opera’s victims, Philip, in the role of its only victor, the Grand Inquisitor. Who is the enforcer of dogma at the court and who bows his will to that dogma in the end?

The cast is variable, but generally very fine. Roberto Villazón is exceptional as Don Carlo, with just the right mix of lustrous metal in his attractively light tenor. His is also one of the most detailed assumptions of the title role, attentive to score markings and giving us the half-mad prince with poor impulse control in all his glory. Dwayne Croft is his match, using his lyrical baritone and fine phrasing to great effect (for example) at the start of the act III quartet. Robert Lloyd’s Philip II suffers at this stage of his career from a slight beat whenever he puts significant pressure on the voice, though he manages this by discreetly shortening some phrases. His Philip remains a shrewdly judged assumption of the role, more impressive for the sum of its parts than specific moments.

Amanda Roocroft may have been under the weather when they filmed this live performance (or series of performances—we are never told whether the recording was a one-shot or compiled over several nights), for her attractive soprano is marred by a wobble that regularly disturbs the musical line during the first act. Later, this problem retreats only to loudly sung high notes. Violeta Urmana similarly improves as the production continues. She has difficulty moving her large, dark voice in her act I song, slurring the repeated minor seconds, but does a fine job in act III’s “O don fatale.” Marisca Mulder is a vocally pert and attractive Tebaldo; and if Jaakko Ryhänen lacks the tonal blackness to make the most of his part as the Grand Inquisitor, he makes up for it by accuracy, strong breath support, and excellent acting. Chailly conducts his soloists sympathetically, if with only moderate energy.

Though recorded in 2004, the only audio format supplied here is LPCM Stereo. Visuals are 16:9 anamorphic, and subtitles are available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch. The extras alluded to above include a plot synopsis and single pictures for each member of the cast, both of these features being as dull as they sound. The filmed interview is less interesting for its verbal content, which is often trivial, than for its succession of images showing the cast rehearsing and the stage under construction.

In sum, this is an intense, monochromatic, successful production of Don Carlo , sporting interesting ideas about stage design, and possessing performances by Villazón and Croft that are among the finest I’ve seen and heard. Don’t let the price hike for two DVDs throw you off its purchase.

FANFARE: Barry Brenesal

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Verdi: Don Carlo / Chailly, Lloyd, Villazon, Roocroft, Et Al
Opus Arte Oct 2005
DVD
$39.99

Piano Pieces From Mozart, Schubert, Elgar & Pezzone / Pezzone (Blu-ray 3D)

AIX Records

Blu-Ray

$37.99 Jul 31, 2012

This is the world's first full length Blu-ray 3D disc of solo piano music shot specifically for release on Blu-ray 3D and was recorded in REAL HD-Audio at 96 kHz, 24-bit PCM presented in DOLBY TrueHD shot. The disc is completely compatible with both 2D and This is the world's first full length Blu-ray 3D disc of solo piano music shot specifically for release on Blu-ray 3D and was recorded in REAL HD-Audio at 96 kHz, 24-bit PCM presented in DOLBY TrueHD shot. The disc is completely copatible with both 2D and 3D Blu-ray players and TVs.

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Piano Pieces From Mozart, Schubert, Elgar & Pezzone / Pezzone (Blu-ray 3D)
AIX Records Jul 2012
Blu-Ray
$37.99

Monteverdi Edition

Brilliant Classics

$43.97 ~~$87.99~~ Save 50% Nov 17, 2023

This substantial set dedicated to the vocal music of Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) features the great cycle undertaken (to date) by Krijn Koetsveld and the singers of Le Nuove Musiche: all nine books of madrigals, the music in Monteverdi collections such as the Selva Morale e Spirituale (1641), the posthumous Messa a quattro voci ed salmi (1650), and the individual works by Monteverdi compiled in the collections of others, the so-called Fragments. To this is joined the cycle of operas directed by Sergio Vartolo and sung by casts of Italian early music specialists, including the first recording of the five-act version of Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria.

These thoroughly researched, historically informed interpretations demonstrate Monteverdi’s pioneering and transformative role in the emergence and development of staged, dramatic vocal music. Also featured are the grand Vespers – sacred music in the Gregorian plainchant tradition but on an operatic scale – in a fantastic recording with fine Italian soloists and authentic period instruments including the early brass of La Pifarescha. Federico Bardazzi and Ensemble Felice make scrupulous interpretative decisions about the order of movements, interpolating the choral motets within the prescribed sequence of psalms to great effect. Finally, there are Monteverdi’s youthful three-part canzonettas, written when the composer was 17. They are rather simpler than the madrigals, both to sing and to appreciate, but their musical worth is amply demonstrated by the largely female voices of Armoniosoincanto joined by a mixed period-instrument ensemble of flutes, violas, theorbo and harpsichord. They impart just the right light-hearted mood and dramatic impact to the playful, folkloric secular strophic poetry.

CONTENTS:

Monteverdi: Il primo libro de madrigali, 1587
Monteverdi: Il secondo libro de madrigali, 1590
Monteverdi: Il terzo libro de madrigali, 1592
Monteverdi: Il quarto libro de madrigali, 1603
Monteverdi: Il quinto libro de madrigali, 1605
Monteverdi: Il sesto libro de madrigali, 1614
Monteverdi: Il settimo libro de madrigali, 1619 'Concerto'
Monteverdi: Il ottavo libro de madrigali, 1638 'Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi'
Monteverdi: Il nono libro de madrigali, 1651
Monteverdi: O ciechi il tanto affaticar, SV 252
Monteverdi: Voi ch'ascoltate
Monteverdi: È questa vita un lampo
Monteverdi: Spuntava il dì, SV 255
Monteverdi: Chi vol che m’innamori
Monteverdi: Confitebor tibi III alla francese, SV267
Monteverdi: Gloria a 7, SV 258
Monteverdi: Crucifixus, SV 259
Monteverdi: Pianto della Madonna 'Iam moriar, mi fili' (sopra il Lamento dell'Arianna), SV 288
Monteverdi: Et resurrexit, a quattro
Monteverdi: Et iterum
Monteverdi: Laudate Dominum in sancta Eius
Monteverdi: Salve Regina, SV 285
Monteverdi: Laudate Dominum
Monteverdi: Beatus vir (from Selva Morale e Spirituali)
Monteverdi: Sanctorum meritis (Primo)
Monteverdi: Dixit [Dominus] Primo
Monteverdi: Ab aeternum, SV 262
Monteverdi: Confitebor tibi Domine, SV266
Monteverdi: Memento Domine David
Monteverdi: Laudate pueri Primo
Monteverdi: Salve Regina, SV 284
Monteverdi: Laudate Dominum omnes gentes II
Monteverdi: Magnificat Primo
Monteverdi: Gloria (1641)
Monteverdi: Dixit Dominus secondo a8 SV 192
Monteverdi: Deus tuorum militum sors et corona
Monteverdi: Confitebor tibi, Domine
Monteverdi: Iste confessor
Monteverdi: Beatus vir (second setting)
Monteverdi: Ut queant laxis, hymnus sancti Joannis
Monteverdi: Laudate pueri (Secondo)
Monteverdi: Deus tuorum militum sors et corona
Monteverdi: Credidi propter quod locutus sum, SV 275
Monteverdi: Jubilet a voce sola in dialogo
Monteverdi: Magnificat (Secondo)
Monteverdi: Salve Regina
Monteverdi: Laudate Dominum
Monteverdi: Canzonette
Monteverdi: Vespro della beata Vergine (1610)
Monteverdi: Cantate Domino
Monteverdi: O beatae viae
Monteverdi: Currite populi
Monteverdi: Ego flos campi
Monteverdi: Venite, venite
Monteverdi: Christe, adoramus te
Monteverdi: O quam pulchra es
Monteverdi: Salve Regina
Monteverdi: Fuge, anima mea
Monteverdi: Sancta Maria
Monteverdi: Domine, ne il furore
Monteverdi: Ego dormio
Monteverdi: Ecce sacrum paratum
Monteverdi: Salve Regina
Monteverdi: O bone Jesu, o piissime Jesu
Monteverdi: En gratulemur hodie, SV 302
Monteverdi: Laudate Dominum omnes gentes
Monteverdi: Adoramus te, Christe
Monteverdi: Messa a 4 voci da Cappella (1650)
Monteverdi: Dixit [Dominus] Primo
Monteverdi: Confitebor tibi, Domine
Monteverdi: Nisi Dominus a 6, SV201
Monteverdi: Laudate pueri
Monteverdi: Laetatus sum
Monteverdi: Lauda Jerusalem a 3, SV202
Monteverdi: Beatus vir (from Selva Morale e Spirituali)
Monteverdi: Magnificat Primo
Monteverdi: Missa 'In illo tempore' (1610)
Monteverdi: Dixit Dominus II
Monteverdi: Confitebor tibi Domine II, SV194
Monteverdi: Nisi Dominus a 6, SV201
Monteverdi: Laudate Dominum, SV197a
Monteverdi: Laetatus sum
Monteverdi: Laetaniae della Beata Vergine a 6 voci
Monteverdi: Lauda Jerusalem a 5, SV203
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo
Monteverdi: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea

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Monteverdi Edition
Brilliant Classics Nov 2023
CD
~~$87.99~~ $43.97

UNCLASSIFIED AFFECTIONS

PI RECORDINGS

Vinyl

$36.99 Jul 25, 2025

Unclassified Affections is the entrancing new release from drummer and composer Dan Weiss that features the convergence of some of the most intriguing musicians on the scene: Peter Evans on trumpet, Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, and Miles Okazaki on guitar. The new compositions, which were written by Weiss specifically for these musicians, range from deep, meditative moments to intense, high-energy peaks, while every track unveils a new layer of exploration. Brennan's sonorous mallet work contrasts with Evans' sharp, inventive trumpet lines, while Okazaki's guitar weaves intricate webs of harmony and dissonance, all underpinned by Weiss' hypnotic rhythms. The Layers of rhythmic and contrapuntal interaction flow effortlessly, framed by a ghostly silence, with plenty of room given to improvisation. Together, they weave a profound, mysterious spell that is shrouded with concealed meaning. It's another transcendent project from a truly unclassifiable artist. MUSICIANS Peter Evans - Trumpet Patricia Brennan - Vibraphone Miles Okazaki - Guitar Dan Weiss - Drums

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UNCLASSIFIED AFFECTIONS
PI RECORDINGS Jul 2025
Vinyl
$36.99

Paul Ben-Haim: Music for violoncello

Capriccio

$21.99 Oct 03, 2025

Paul Ben-Haim ranks among those leading Israeli composers from his generation. Born Paul Frankenburger in Munich he studied composition with Friedrich Klose and served as an assistant conductor to both Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch. His extensive catalogue comprises works in all the primary genres apart from opera. Music for or with cello features prominently throughout Ben-Haim's output. Following emigration, he increasingly advocated a specifically Jewish national expression while his own compositions favoured a late-Romantic vein redolent of - though by no means indebted (unlike other contemporaries) to - Ernest Bloch and frequently informed by Middle-Eastern overtones.

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Paul Ben-Haim: Music for violoncello
Capriccio Oct 2025
CD
$21.99

Mix & Match

Bach: Organ Works / Guillou

Sono Luminus

$37.99 Feb 23, 2010

This is a reissue of six separate discs Jean Guillou recorded for Dorian in 1987 (1 and 6) and 1990 (2–5), issued separately in 1990 and 1993. I couldn’t find reviews of them in the Fanfare Archive, which doesn’t go back that far. Elsewhere on the Internet, however, one finds both lavish praise and caveats, the latter because these are not strict readings of Bach’s music but contain moments in which Guillou, himself a composer, dares to improvise certain notes or passages, which brings the listener to decide whether or not such an approach is valid.

One online review said that Guillou plays these works much like Glenn Gould played Bach on piano, but where Gould’s reinterpretations extended only to tempo and phrasing, Guillou also adds or changes the music. As you can expect, reactions to this vary widely, from one Amazon reviewer who said (as I would) that “he improvises in such a way that casual listeners never suspect … that what they are hearing is not part of the piece they think they are hearing,” to Joel Warren Lidz, Ph.D., who flatly states that “his Dorian recordings are a joke in my opinion.” Both reactions are possible depending on your perspective. On the one hand, improvisation was accepted Baroque practice in solo instrumental music. Yehuda Hanani recorded Bach’s cello suites in a similar manner. But on the other hand, Bach’s music is considered sacrosanct; what one is permitted to do in Couperin, Scarlatti, or Vivaldi is simply not done in Bach. His works are considered complete and immutable.

In the final analysis, however, the most important question is, does it work, or is it really obtrusive? That must be left to the decision of each auditor. I say that it works. Should, or could, this approach be applied to other works by Bach? I think so, particularly in A Musical Offering and Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2. But, again, this is purely subjective and speculative.

As for Guillou’s playing there can be no argument. He is not only a virtuoso of the first rank, but shows a remarkable grasp of line and structure, rhythm and color. His feet and fingers fly so swiftly over the instrument that one is left in awe that he is also able to change registration, sometimes in the very middle of a passage. His playing is indeed relative to Gould’s in the sense that quick tempos and rhythmic acuity (almost a little clipped at times, like Gould) are hallmarks of his style. But also like Gould at various stages of his career, Guillou does not slough off or rush legato passages, but lingers a bit over them (as in the Trio Sonata BWV 525) with loving affection. He is, above all, French, and therefore brings a very Gallic sensibility to this music. Indeed, going through this set, one may be struck, as I was, by the sheer variety of moods he is able to evoke. Guillot clearly views Bach’s organ music as both evocative and structural, and so does not ignore either aspect of the music.

Of course, this set only includes about half of Bach’s organ music, not counting the concertos or spurious works given BWV numbers. Guillot made a second, complete, set issued by Philips on 12 CDs in 1999. You can find reference to it, and a photo of the box, at bach-cantatas.com/NVP/Guillou.htm#Organ2, but neither a catalog number nor an outlet where you can buy it outside of Amazon. The fact that it appears to be available only in Bach’s home country tells me that the Germans love his playing a lot more than American or British musicological pedants do.

Considering that the set is incomplete, I wondered why one whole disc was devoted to the Goldberg Variations rather than more of the bona-fide organ music. Listening explained why. Not only does Guillou view this music as an opportunity to (literally) pull out all the stops, but the score also gives him license to improvise beyond one’s expectations or belief. He turns the very first variation, for instance, into a two-part contrapuntal dialogue, taken at a rapid clip, but nothing in the entire boxed set prepared me for his playing of Variation 14. This will absolutely blow you away—I haven’t heard its like in 40 years of listening to organ playing, Bach, the Goldberg Variations , or any combination thereof. When it started, I thought for sure this was speeded up from the original tape for release. It seemed to me impossible that any human being, particularly one in his 70s at the time of recording, could play this fast. But there it is.

Two organs are used, discs 2–5 being recorded at the Tonhalle, Zurich, while discs 1 and 6 (the Goldberg Variations ) were recorded on the special Klueker organ that Guillou himself designed at the Church of Our Lady of the Snows in Alpe d’Huez, France. Both are modern in sound, with a wide variety of stops and registrations that add considerable color. The sound quality is spectacular, combining both a close perspective for brilliant passages and atmospheric roominess for quieter and more muted ones. If you insist on authentic-organ performances, there are not one but two series by Helmut Walcha, in a 10-CD set (mono) on Deutsche Grammophon 000185602 and a 12-disc set (stereo) on Archiv 463712; or the much better-recorded (and less dryly performed) 11-CD set by George Ritchie on Raven 875, possibly your best buy at around $60. Yet my personal recommendation for a “straight” set played by a master on older organs goes to the great Marie-Claire Alain (her third and last set, 14 CDs on Erato 96358, by all accounts her finest).

Your decision to acquire this Guillou set will, of course, depend on the issues described above, but I really think you owe it to yourself to hear it. Besides, it is a bargain, selling for a little more than the price of two of the single discs, if you can find them (not all are still in print). I recommend it, even as the only set you may want of Bach’s organ works, unless you are a purist or a completist.

FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

This six-CD set presents J. S. Bach’s great works for organ performed by Jean Guillou, a leading exponent of his instrument. The discs were recorded in 1987 and 1990 on the Kleuer organ of the Eglise Notre-Dame des Neiges at l’Alpe d’Huez and on the Kleuker-Steinmeyer organ of the Tonhalle in Zurich. These are both exceptionally fine instruments, with focused, clear tone throughout the range and well-differentiated voicing. Guillou’s performances are extremely intelligent, with well-thought-out registration and an excellent resultant layering of sound. Individual voices are brought appropriately to the foreground and the climaxes are solid, though never clogged with redundant sound. The use of registration is particularly refreshing in the context of the better-known works - Guillou’s sense of dialogue in the closing paragraph of the Toccata of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 is palpable, lending a new perspective to a work that is so often characterised by an indulgent wash of sound. The delineation of voices can be heard to good advantage, too, in the Chorale Preludes - the chorale melody occupies the foreground to a sufficient extent to be evident, but still at a level of translucency that allows Bach’s often startlingly innovative harmonic interpretation to shine through. Listen to In dulci jubilo, BWV 608 and An Wasserflüssen Babylon, BWV 653, for particularly interesting examples of this. Striking harmonic piquancy is imparted through judicious use of the Sesquialtera on the Positif, which some listeners may find disturbing at first; but once the ear has accustomed itself to this slightly unusual colour, it will be perceived as an enhancement to the harmonic color and as an excitingly innovative dimension to the sound-landscape.

Guillou’s employment of rhythm as an expressive medium is also impressive, and results in a momentum that is essentially horizontal: he allows the music’s harmonic characteristic to inform the vertical element and thus brings the melodic element to the fore. Such an interpretation becomes at once a celebration of Bach’s contrapuntal art and a realisation of its basis in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century vocal polyphony.

The booklet notes are clear and well-written, with the works appropriately grouped according to type; although those unfamiliar with musicological research connected with this music might appreciate a brief explanation of the credentials of the ubiquitously mentioned Peter Williams. There is enough technical detail to provide ‘signposts’ to guide a listener through the works; and informative historical data, too; as well as some enjoyable anecdotes (such as Hubert Parry’s word-setting of the subject of the G minor Fugue). Fascinating notes on the organs and full specifications of both are given, pleasingly enough. An authoritative and fascinating set of discs.

-- Em Marshall, MusicWeb International

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Bach: Organ Works / Guillou
Sono Luminus Feb 2010
CD
$37.99

Cerdanyenca / Prihodko, Korolionok

IBS Classical

$17.99 Jan 19, 2024

The hour-long emotional tour-de-force with cellist Mark Prihodko and pianist Viktoria Korolionok evokes a soul-searching journey that spans a century of romantic repertoire following the music-making traditions of Ysaye, Gershwin, and Rachmaninov. Cerdanyenca takes its title from the eponymous sonata, written by Catalan composer Marc Migo Cortes, who dedicated this masterwork to Prihodko, his great friend. Conceived at the Juilliard School in New York, where Prihodko held the prestigious Kovner Fellowship while completing his Bachelor’s Degree in the studio of Richard Aaron, and Migo Cortes was completing his Ph.D. in the studio of John Corigliano, Sonata Cerdanyenca continues the tradition of the grandiose twentieth-century masterworks for cello and piano. Cultivating the lifetime synergy between composer and cellist, Prihodko and Migo specifically drew inspiration from the artistic collaborations between Rostropovich and Britten, and Piatigorsky and Strauss. The newly commissioned and internationally premiered Sonata has won the prestigious Pau Casals Festival International Award in 2019. In this extremely demanding monumental piece, the composer portrays the legends of his home region of La Cerdanya, from the tales of La dona d’aigua (the seducing water-woman) to the echoing Sardana Dances of Catalonia. His use of folkloric elements contextualizes hundreds of years of storytelling in an engaging acoustical play, expertly guided by Korolionok and Prihodko.

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Cerdanyenca / Prihodko, Korolionok
IBS Classical Jan 2024
CD
$17.99

La messagère: XVII-XXIe siècles, un portrait de la viole de gambe / Boulanger

Alpha

$20.99 Sep 20, 2024

After the immense success of her Bach-Abel album (ALPHA783), Lucile Boulanger celebrates the French viol through the centuries: 'This transchronological dialogue traces the history of a dynasty of composers in a subjective, even emotional way', from the seventeenth century (Marin Marais, Sainte-Colombe, Nicolas Hotman) to the twenty-first, with contemporary works by Philippe Hersant, Claire-Melanie Sinnhuber and Gerard Pesson, some of which were specifically written for Lucile Boulanger: 'There is no longer any need to prove that my instrument is an integral part of our musical landscape. The viol is alive and well. For several decades now, it has inspired new compositions; it's vocabulary is constantly expanding', concludes the violist.

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La messagère: XVII-XXIe siècles, un portrait de la viole de gambe / Boulanger
Alpha Sep 2024
CD
$20.99

Troika / Haimovitz, O'Riley

PENTATONE

SACD

$32.99 Oct 20, 2017

Acclaimed for their adventurous and wide-ranging recording projects – from Beethoven Sonatas on period instruments to genre-bending arrangements of Radiohead and Arcade Fire – the endlessly inventive duo of cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O’Riley returns to explore music of the Slavic soul. Anchored by the cello sonatas of the iconic triumvirate of Russian composers –Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich – and inspired by the subversive irony of Shostakovich’s Sonata, TROIKA also delves into more recently-written, unexpected, and popular works. Whether subtle or blatantly rebellious, each work potently reveals the strength of the artistic voice in the face of political repression in mother Russia.

-----

REVIEW:

Haimovitz and O’Riley really go to town—specifically, Moscow. The ‘Troika’ of their stylishly presented double-disc set comprises the three cello sonatas by Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev, as well as a dizzying transcription of the eponymous lollipop from Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé—one of a series of spectacular virtuoso transcriptions that range from Shostakovich’s now ubiquitous Waltz No 2 to explosive versions of songs by Pussy Riot and The Beatles (‘Back in the USSR’, naturally).

Apparently there’s a political thesis behind these choices, but what really speaks is Haimovitz and O’Riley’s playing in the three sonatas. These are emotionally charged readings on the grandest scale. Haimovitz in particular plays with an articulate, vibrato-rich tone that he can refine down to an almost viola-like mellowness in, say, the Andante of the Rachmaninov, or send soaring and swooping (no shortage of portamento here) round O’Riley’s mountains of piano sound.

– Gramophone

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Troika / Haimovitz, O'Riley
PENTATONE Oct 2017
SACD
$32.99

Beethoven, Haydn & Mozart: Confidenze

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Oct 25, 2024

After two albums devoted to Italian music from the 17th and 18th centuries (BIS-2585 and BIS-2645), male soprano Nicolo Balducci now offers us a recital devoted to the greatest representatives of Viennese Classicism - Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven - in the company of the fortepianist Anna Paradiso, whom we recently heard in a recording devoted to the work of Caroline Ridderstolpe together with mezzo-soprano Kristina Hammarstrom (BIS-2675). The vocal compositions gathered here, which include such rarities as two songs in French by Beethoven, are performed by a male soprano - in many cases the first time they have been recorded by this voice type. This original approach by the two performers makes it possible 'to explore unusual nuances, both in the interpretation and in the "soundscape" of this music, and to find new angles of inspiration in our interpretations' (Balducci). The combination of high voice and fortepiano emphasises the link between sound and words, with a dimension closer to chamber music, inspired by the specific timbre of the instruments. 'One of the fascinating aspects of the pieces on this recording is the power of their rhetorical expression', writes Paradiso. Balducci and Paradiso invite us here to be entertained and moved and to discover 'glimpses of intimate connections and shared secrets'.

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Beethoven, Haydn & Mozart: Confidenze
BIS Oct 2024
SACD
$21.99

Spohr: Sonatas For Harp & Violin

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Jun 01, 2018

In 1805, on the basis of his brilliant yet expressive playing, the 21-year-old Louis Spohr was appointed Konzertmeister at the ducal court in Gotha. By this time he had also begun to make his mark as a composer, and during his years at the court he would add several pieces for the harp to his list of works, inspired by the young harpist Dorette Scheidler. Spohr later recalled his reaction to her playing: ‘I was so deeply moved that I could scarce restrain my tears... I took my leave – but my heart remained behind!’ Only months later, the two were in fact married and Spohr began to compose works which would form the repertoire during future concert tours. Dorette Spohr played a so-called single-action pedal harp of a similar type to the instrument used on this album. Soon to be replaced by the double-action pedal system, the single-action pedal harp was best suited for playing in flat keys. As Spohr preferred writing his violin parts in sharp keys, which allowed the resonance of the open strings, he adopted the method of tuning the harp a semitone lower, which had the added benefit of reducing the tension on the strings. The Sonatas Opp 113-115, in D and G major, therefore have harp parts notated in E flat and A flat major respectively. Because of its delicate construction and stringing, the single-action harp has a distinct silvery bell-like sound and these sonatas are among the last important works specifically written for it. They are also the most demanding, but it is clear that Spohr intended them to display not only the technical skill of the two artists but also their musical expressiveness. The performers here are Masumi Nagasawa and Cecilia Bernardini, who have made a particular study of Spohr's writings on performance practice.

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Spohr: Sonatas For Harp & Violin
BIS Jun 2018
SACD
$21.99

PLAY SOMETHING SWEET (BLURAY)

AIX Records

Blu-Ray

$37.99 Oct 30, 2012

This performance of Coolidge with an 11 piece band was shot specifically for Blu-ray 3D. This disc is compatible with both 2D and 3D Blu-ray players and TVs. Music recorded in REAL HD-Audio at 96 kHz/24-bit PCM and presented in DOLBY TrueHD and 96/24 PCM. Users can select from 3 different audio mixes. Bonus features and material also included.

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PLAY SOMETHING SWEET (BLURAY)
AIX Records Oct 2012
Blu-Ray
$37.99

LOS ANGELES RHYTHM & BLUES 1944-1954 / VARIOUS

ACROBAT

$20.52 Feb 06, 2007

Although not a specific genre there was a style to the way Blues were recorded in Los Angeles in the immediate post-war years. Here are 50 examples spread over two CDs featuring many of the greatest names and as many obscure ones to have recorded in the City. Migrants came from all over America to work in the War plants and other industries that were springing up in the City and a musical style quite different from those of Chicago or New Orleans developed. It emphasized ballads crooned in the style of Nat King Cole and fluid electric guitar solos, much of which had it's roots in Texas, and storming horn sections. It's all included here and the track listing speaks for itself.

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LOS ANGELES RHYTHM & BLUES 1944-1954 / VARIOUS
ACROBAT Feb 2007
CD
$20.52

Fedele: Phasing / Orvieto, Bellocchio, Richelli, Beneventi, Savron

Stradivarius

$18.99 Jan 27, 2017

In Ivan Fedele’s long, rich artistic career of (this catalogue opens in 1980 and since then has added more than 160 titles) it is not possible to distinguish true phases. We do not know periods in which his creative interest has been concentrated predominantly, still less exclusively, on a linguistic context or a specific instrumental ensemble. We can perhaps consider as exceptions the extraordinary flowering of concertante pieces between 1996 and 1999, or that of orchestral works in the last few years, mostly concentrated in two series of pieces entitled Lexikon and Syntax. Otherwise, it has been a continuous intertwining of forms and formations, the physical substances that from time to time have best responded to the results of Fedele’s uninterrupted research. However, it is true that in the last four years (starting from 2012) he has developed a “feeling” (as the composer himself described it) for percussion, which is accompanied by a renewed interest in the piano (above all in the more complex two-piano structure) and a new, intense flowering of his never neglected “electronic” vein. This CD testifies to this absolutely contemporary vein of Ivan Fedele.

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Fedele: Phasing / Orvieto, Bellocchio, Richelli, Beneventi, Savron
Stradivarius Jan 2017
CD
$18.99

The Art of David Hallberg at the Bolshoi

BelAir Classiques

DVD

$31.99 Oct 20, 2017

This stunning release is a tribute to the art of David Hallberg, the first main American soloist ever to be hired by the Bolshoi Ballet. It features “The Sleeping Beauty,” wherein the choreographer Yuri Grigorovich presents a new version of one of his most famous choreography for a breathtaking new experience in splendid sets designed by Ezio Frigerio and more than 400 new costumes designed by Franca Squarciapino. David Hallberg performs alongside principal ballerina Svetlana Zakharova. Also included is “Marco Spada.” Recreated specifically for the Bolshoi by French choreographer Pierre Lacotte, “Marco Spada” is a grandiose and unique ballet both on a technical and dramatic level: complex choreography, five lead roles created for five principals, several changes in scenery, the participation of nearly all the Corps de ballet, and even the presence of animals on stage… With its scenes of pantomime, devilish intrigue, rejected suitors, kidnapping heroines, rebellion, and lovers misunderstandings, Marco Spada is a fresh and joful ballet to discover.

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The Art of David Hallberg at the Bolshoi
BelAir Classiques Oct 2017
DVD
$31.99

Neidhart: A Minnesinger And His Vale Of Tears / Ensemble Leones

Naxos

$19.99 Jan 31, 2012

Peerless musicianship.

This superb CD proves that time travel is possible. To listen to these outstanding performances by Ensemble Leones of Neidhart's beautiful music and witty, sophisticated, sometimes outrageous poetry is to be transported back eight hundred years to an incredible period in the history of music and civilisation in general. Everyone who cares about that heritage should hear this recording.

All the Neidhart songs in Leones' recital, both music and texts, are taken from the so-called Frankfurt Neidhart Fragment, dated to around 1300 and housed at Frankfurt-am-Main University. The eight surviving pages of a larger manuscript reveal - at least to the patient and trained eye of a scholar like Lewon - six songs by Neidhart, five with more or less complete melodies. This is the first complete recording and performance, made possible by Lewon's painstaking reconstruction of the surviving material, necessitating in one case the borrowing of appropriate melodies from elsewhere. The results may or may not be entirely authentic, but the songs are compellingly evocative and utterly convincing. The instruments employed by Leones are recent reproductions but they sound terrific, especially when played with the delicacy and intuition of Lewon and Romain.

Thanks to Lewon and his ensemble - whose ranks swell or shrink according to the current project, incidentally - 21st century audiences can enjoy Neidhart's peerless musicianship, specifically his maverick take on the generally more deferent Minnesang tradition. His Dörperlieder ('bumpkin songs') take the themes of the usual hohe Minne ('high love') - the courtly ideals of love from afar and chivalry - and transfer them to rough rustic settings. The real joke is on the gentry who laugh at the buffoonery and coarseness of the peasants in his songs - they are the implied object of Neidhart's insinuations and sarcasm.

It was a bold decision by Leones to perform the nearly ten-minute long song 'Ich claghe de blomen' without instrumental support - over 100 lines in nine stanzas - but such is the power of Neidhart's music and poetry that time flies past. In any case, the alternation of male and female voice, as well as the interpolation of purely instrumental items, makes listening to this recital as varied an experience as it is aesthetic.

The CD ends with a rather out-of-place song by Adam de la Halle, billed as a 'bonus track' and certainly sounding like an afterthought. The preceding song by the great Walther von der Vogelweide is at least no anachronism, but its inclusion is not really explained in the booklet.

As the notes explain, the German of Neidhart is not strictly Middle High German (MHG) but a Low version of the same, reflecting where the texts were written, and explaining why some of the sounds are reminiscent of modern Dutch. At any rate, Neidhart's language should prove at least as intelligible to modern Low German speakers as Geoffrey Chaucer's is to those familiar with today's English.

On the subject of pronunciation, both Marc Lowen and Els Janssens-Vanmunster sound entirely authentic, and their excellent diction only heightens the listener's joy. Their singing style is folk-like but not 'rustic', emotional without affectation, plaintive or humorous as appropriate without recourse to melodrama. Practically impeccable, in other words.

In his interesting notes Neidhart expert Marc Lewon points out that the 'von Reuental' still frequently attached to his name is erroneous, founded on "a nineteenth-century misapprehension". Curiously he, and Naxos in their title, set about perpetuating another of those with a mistranslation of 'Reuental' - 'riuwental' in MHG - as "vale of tears". In MHG tears is 'trene', 'Tränen' in modern German, whereas 'riuwe' equates with modern German 'Jammer' or 'Schmerz' - the minnesinger's 'lament' or 'pain'. The Nithart of these poems is a knight, not a cry-baby!

In his acknowledgements Lewon also thanks the proof-reader for checking his translations from German into English, but some of the phraseology is decidedly shaky for all that. For example, "in his Bavarian sphere" for "in seiner bairischen Heimat" ('in his Bavarian homeland'); "but from which the German Minnesang of Neidhart’s time was yet but far"; or "Neidhart only played the fool" for "Neidhart [...] spielte nur vordergründig den Narren" ('Neidhart only played the fool ostensibly'). Sometimes the language is so inapt as to misrepresent the original: "They show the distinctive trademarks of Neidhart’s oeuvre and touch on many aspects of his lyrical portfolio, featuring content, form, and musical modes typical to his work" is only tangentially equivalent to the German, quite apart from the linguistic horror that is "lyrical portfolio". Punctuation is also inconsistent and sometimes appears almost randomly applied.

Full sung texts, with translations into modern German and English, are downloadable for free from the Naxos website. The German translations are good, the English somewhat clumsier, with numerous misjudgements of term and register, as well as a few, sometimes meaning-changing typos - but perfectly serviceable nevertheless.

This CD was briefly reviewed here last year, when Naxos released it as a download only. Pace that review, no harp is used in this recording.

-- Byzantion, MusicWeb International

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Neidhart: A Minnesinger And His Vale Of Tears / Ensemble Leones
Naxos Jan 2012
CD
$19.99

American Classics - Copland: Works For Violin And Piano

Naxos

$19.99 Jul 01, 2002

from Daniel Felsenfeld's Liner Notes:

Copland seemed to have two separate sides, the populist and the aesthete. The Sonata for Violin and Piano seems to fall in between the two, being jaunty and full of good tunes, but also based on sophisticated harmonies and unorthodox musical schemes. The piece is dedicated to Lieutenant Harry H. Dunham, a close friend of Copland’s who died in battle, and the date of its première (17th January 1944, with violinist Ruth Posselt and the composer at the piano) shows that war was probably very much on the pacifist Copland’s mind. Cast in three movements with traditional titles (Andante, Lento and Allegretto giusto) this is truly a neo-classical work, but it is also pure Copland; as with everything, he took what he needed of the theoretical conceits, but ultimately composed to his instincts.

Two Pieces for violin and piano, which Copland wrote in the mid 1920s for himself and violinist Samuel Dushkin to play in a Boulanger-sponsored concert in Paris, is a chance to see Copland playing with new ideas, including a new fascination with jazz (this is also the period he was writing his heavily jazz-influenced Piano Concerto). Much of this music would be mined for later scores, but they do hold interest on their own. This is music that is bitonal (in more than one key at once), undoubtedly influenced by Darius Milhaud, whom Copland esteemed highly. In the Ukelele Serenade Copland is having a good time trying to make the fiddle sound like something it is not.

Copland’s piano trio Vitebsk, one of his few "Jewish" works, is here arranged for violin and piano. It is a startling piece, full of wailing dissonances, even using microtones, notes which fall in between the cracks of piano keys, not of the "Western" well-tempered system. It is based on The Dybuk, a Jewish folk-tale, which also fascinated George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein, about spirits and doomed love in a small Hasidic community, and Copland hoped the music would, in his own words, "...reflect the harshness and drama of Jewish life in White Russia." It is, therefore, a lean, almost angry work, with many moods contained in its taut single movement.

Dipping even further into the well of Copland’s juvenilia, Two Preludes for Violin and Piano are attempts to translate poetry into music, as Liszt had done in his tone poems. The poets in whom Copland found inspiration were Witter Bynner and Wallace Stevens, both contemporaneous and American. Here we see the seed of the Copland yet to come, the off-kilter rhythms, the stark harmonies, and the sparseness of texture. The titles offer their own explanations; these are musical moment pieces, composed to a single-focused and specific idea of mood.

Originally scored for flute and piano, Copland’s Duo was re-scored by the composer in 1977 at the request of Robert Mann, the violinist for the Juilliard Quartet and Copland enthusiast. The "all-but" sonata was therefore transcribed into this version, which took a good deal less time than the composition - Copland worked for three years on the Duo, commissioned by William Kinkcaid. The famous flautist wanted something that would work "...like a sonata," and Copland certainly delivered the goods, offering a tightly formed work in three movements. The second movement in particular, the composition of which took most of the three years, evokes, in the composer’s own words "a certain mood that I connect with myself - a rather sad and wistful one, I suppose."

The ballet Rodeo was a divisive moment in Copland’s career, a complete smash hit, and yet the piece that managed to alienate him from much of his community. Copland, they thought, had sold out. Copland even incorporates some memorable American folk-tunes. It is a cowboy romance, full of wranglers and cowgirls, and culminating in a hoedown. The choreography and scenario were by Agnes de Mille, who, on the strength of her work on Rodeo, was hired to choreograph a new musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein called Oklahoma!, and Copland composed dutifully to her vision, though he preferred his idea for a ballet about Ellis Island. The 1942 première at the Metropolitan Opera was an enormous success, with a standing ovation. The suite from the work is one of Copland’s most recognizable achievements, with hundreds of performances and countless wonderful recordings.

Daniel Felsenfeld

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American Classics - Copland: Works For Violin And Piano
Naxos Jul 2002
CD
$19.99

Tippett: Complete String Quartets Vol 1 / Tippett String Quartet

Naxos

$19.99 Oct 28, 2008

Will appeal strongly to all interested in Tippett’s chamber music.

There are only two recordings of the complete Michael Tippett String Quartets currently available. The Lindsays concluded their cycle in 1992, with the first three having been recorded in 1975. For many years, apart from the odd chamber concert or private hearing, their cycle has been the only medium for exploring these seminal works. And excellent they are too. However, all Tippett enthusiasts will be delighted that the eponymous Quartet has been selected by Naxos to make a new reading of these superb pieces.

The Tippett Quartet, which was formed a decade ago, has rapidly become one of Britain’s leading string quartets. Their ‘mission statement’ is to combine so-called mainstream repertoire with contemporary works. They have recently made recordings for Dutton Epoch of music by Cecilia McDowall and Stephen Dodgson. These have been well received. Naturally, as their name implies, they have a ‘soft spot’ for Tippett’s music.

Since hearing the first three Quartets way back in 1975, I have agreed with commentators that these works are critical to an understanding of Tippett. The Fourth and Fifth Quartets chart the composer’s progress into a different soundscape, but remain essential to an appreciation of his career.

The first volume of this Naxos release contrasts the first two ‘lyrical’ Quartets with the much more dissonant Fourth, which was written in 1977-78.

The programme notes point out that Michael Tippett, as a student, was ‘invincibly’ drawn to the quartet medium after hearing performances in London by the Busch and the Lener ensembles. He is known to have written a number of unpublished quartets in the late 1920s. However it was the Quartet in A major that was the first work in the genre to be accepted as part of Tippett’s canon. It appeared in its original form in 1935. In 1943 it was revised, being reduced from four movements to three. The composer had felt that the first two were unsuccessful. He composed a new ‘allegro appassionato’, which clearly reflects the composer’s admiration of Beethoven. The slow movement is truly beautiful. It is ‘cast in the form of an Elizabethan Pavane’ and Tippett describes this music as being ‘almost unbroken lines of lyric song for all the instruments in harmony’. The final movement is an enthusiastic allegro which is really a fugue – although without the pedantic overtones that such a form may suggest. This fugue is perhaps more redolent of Beethoven than J.S. Bach.

The Second String Quartet builds on the success of the first and once again owes much of its ethos to Beethoven. It has been well described as being ‘lithe and dancing’. Certainly lyricism is one of the hallmarks of this work. One reviewer suggested that the key designation of F# major should not put off atonalists from enjoying this quartet. Contrariwise, those who enjoy traditional key relationships should not assume that Tippett will oblige them: certainly the work begins in F# minor and concludes in the tonic major, as does the second movement fugue. However, a better impression is gained if it is assumed that Tippett has designed a work that hovers around the ‘noted’ key rather than using it as a part of the work’s tonal structure. Yet the composer himself states that this quartet is the most classically balanced of the first three. At first glance it would appear to be written in standard four-movement form. However the composer insists that the “standard is juggled with and moved around.”

This work ought to rank as one of the finest examples of a twentieth century string quartet. It seems unbelievable that there are only two or three recordings of this currently available. The Second Quartet was first performed in 1943.

The first time I heard the Fourth Quartet, I admit that I was not impressed. Its style seemed a million miles away from the Tippett that I knew and loved. This included the Double Concerto, the first two Quartets, the A Midsummer Marriage and A Child of our Time. I realised that there was a more complex and dissonant side to Tippett’s art – having ploughed my way through a recording of the Vision of St Augustine. I remember hearing the first performance of the Fourth Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall and feeling it was just not what I imagined or hoped what it would be like. It was harder to come to terms with than the blues-influenced Third Symphony. That was all a very long time ago: music, like life, sorts itself out. What was difficult listening for me in 1978 now seems quite reasonable and even enjoyable. Moreover, the same can be said of the Fourth Quartet. Listening to this work for the first time in many years I was impressed by both the sound-world and its formal balance. Tippett has written many, to my mind, obscure and obtuse words about his compositional ethos. Sometimes this can be of help, but more often that not it is a hindrance to an appreciation of the music. The programme notes point out that in this present work Tippett was exploring “the compositional potential of one-movement form, using it a metaphor for the cycle of life.” Here, this life is a specifically human one, and that of a certain individual. Over and above this emotional programme, the composer was attempting to attain the ‘purity and tenderness’ of Beethoven.

The sleeve-notes gives quite a long analysis of this work – which deserves study. However the key thing to note is that there is much beauty in this work – in spite of the reputation this work has for dissonance. And finally, the work is really conceived as being in one movement – as opposed to the earlier works. The Quartet has a number of sections, which contrast tempi, and to a certain extent harmonic language, but is played without a break. Finally the listener will surely note that the third section is truly lyrical: the music here is beautiful and lacks the acerbic sound of earlier pages.

This CD will appeal strongly to all interested in the chamber music of Michael Tippett. The three works as performed with great technical skill, articulation and sheer understanding of the music. Naturally there is a hiatus in style between the first two Quartets and the last. Yet the Tippett Quartet are equally at home with the lyrical demands of the earlier works as they are with the more complex, dissonant and involved structures of the last. However, if the listener needs a sample of the sheer perfection of this recording, they only need to listen to the Lento cantabile of the A major Quartet. This is surely one of the most beautiful and moving pieces of music in Tippett’s catalogue in particular and in English music in general.

-- John France, MusicWeb International

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Tippett: Complete String Quartets Vol 1 / Tippett String Quartet
Naxos Oct 2008
CD
$19.99

The Perfect Storm

Sony Masterworks

$11.98 Jun 20, 2000

Original score composed by James Horner.
Producers: James Horner, Simon Rhodes, John Mellencamp, Michael Wanchic.
If composer James Horner's highest profile follow-up to his Oscar-winning music for TITANIC proves anything, it's that Horner is now the pre-eminent purveyor of scores for big budget films about ships in peril. The music itself is in Horner's usual accomplished but derivative vein, an eclectic mix of classical influences--echoes of Copland, Prokofiev, Mahler, and Rachmaninov--and film composers from Hollywood's Golden Age, in particular Ernest Gold.
The most interesting new wrinkle here is the occasional addition of rock instrumentation, which gives certain selections a vaguely world-beat feel (apparently in lieu of more specific New England sea shanties). John Cougar, however, seems an odd choice to sing the obligatory closing-title ballad; the song itself is pitched at the low end of his vocal register, and he sounds as vaguely uncomfortable with it as Bob Dylan did with his brief turn on "We Are the World."

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The Perfect Storm
Sony Masterworks Jun 2000
CD
$11.98