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Dear Mademoiselle - A Tribute To Nadia Boulanger / Gouin, Siranossian, Barenboim
Alpha · Nov 2020CD$20.99 -
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Maskats: Music for Orchestra / Sidorova, Poga, Latvian National Symphony
Ondine · Jan 2023CD$18.99 -
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Silverman: Elephant Steps - A Fearful Radio Show / Michael Tilson Thomas
Sony Masterworks · Apr 2013CD$11.98 -
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Dear Mademoiselle - A Tribute To Nadia Boulanger / Gouin, Siranossian, Barenboim
An emblematic figure of her time, Nadia Boulanger taught and inspired several generations of musicians, from Igor Stravinsky to Quincy Jones. Her musical and pedagogical philosophy, demanding yet highly stimulating, influenced the entire twentieth century. Astrig Siranossian, a rising star of the cello who now joins Alpha for several recordings, is fascinated by this musical personality whom everyone respectfully called ‘Mademoiselle.’ She met some of her most illustrious students, including the late Michel Legrand, and Daniel Barenboim who has agreed to accompany her in a piece on the album. With the pianist Nathanael Gouin, she has devised a very eclectic programme, including the three pieces for cello and piano written by Nadia Boulanger in 1915, three years before the death of her sister Lili. A wide-ranging album, featuring Igor Stravinsky’s Suite italienne, Elliott Carter’s Cello Sonata, Astor Piazzolla’s Le Grand Tango, Tissue No. 7 by Philip Glass, Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones, and music by Michel Legrand and others. Merci, Dear Mademoiselle!
The Jazz Age for Piano Duo
Piazzolla: Time of Life
Maskats: Music for Orchestra / Sidorova, Poga, Latvian National Symphony
Arturs Maskats (b. 1957) is an award-winning Latvian composer who has been at the center of Latvian cultural life for decades, especially in the field of theater and opera. Besides operas, incidental music and film music, his catalogue of works includes several orchestral works and concertos, songs and choral works. Maskats’ compositions are tonal, often romantic and cinematic, and marked by deep atmosphere. One of Maskats’ latest creations in the field orchestral music is his Accordion Concerto (2021) here performed by his fellow Latvian, star-accordionist Ksenija Sidorova, one of the brightest names in classical music today. His Tango (2002) for symphony orchestra is Maskats’ internationally most well-known and one of the most often performed orchestral pieces of Latvian music.
REVIEW:
A wonderfully diverse collection of music from this contemporary Latvian composer whose work spans a number of different musical fields. The spirited Tango (2002) pairs well with the very recent Accordion Concerto “What the wind told the sea” and is followed by a further two pieces, Cantus Diatonicus (1982) and the extended My river runs to thee from 2019. All of this music was new to me and very enjoyable.
-- Lark Reviews (Stephen Page)
Walter: Piano Quintet & Violin Sonata
His work as a composer came to an end when exposed at close quarters - conducting premieres in many cases - to the full glory to the music of his friend Mahler. Before that withering blast had taken its toll he wrote two symphonies, Das Siegesfest for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, various songs and one each string quartet, piano quintet, piano trio and violin sonata. The violin sonata has had quite a few recordings - Graffin (Hyperion), Wallace (VAIA) & Shahan (Talent) - but it was CPO's contribution of the red-blooded hour-long Symphony No. 1 in D Minor with Leon Botstein that knocked me sideways. Mahler had dismissed the work out of hand, it seems. I have been waiting with enforced patience for CPO to follow up with Walter's Second Symphony. Incidentally I should also mention, curiosity value or not, Walter's two-piano arrangement of Mahler's Resurrection (Naxos).
The Violin Sonata is very much a sonata for violin and piano with neither player ancillary to the other. It's in a romantically high flown yet not over-boiled style with some indebtedness to Brahms. Earnest it may be but this is no obstacle to Walter prefacing the middle movement's dolce-dolce writing with what amounts to a gawky troll tango. It's a clever touch and carried off in a very seemly way. While there is ardor in spades in the first movement, the 'Moderato' finale flirts with some florally static salon-style pages before, in its last few moments, asserting itself. Interesting but not transfixing. The other three recordings of the Sonata come with works by other composers. This Naxos disc introduces listeners to Walter's four-movement Piano Quintet; a first recording as far as I can see. This is an exultant work with plenty of joyous activity for each of the five musicians. It is demonstrative, tense and brimming with intense cantabile. Here the finale makes for a convincing conclusion; more so than the equivalent movement in the Sonata. It should appeal to those who are already captivated by the quintets by Vierne and Medtner. Both performances are more than capable with the listener gaining the feeling that the players know the music well enough to enjoy putting it across rather than having to concentrate on forming the notes.
The notes, in German and English, are accompanied by a well selected photograph of the young, confident, and pursed-lipped Walter adorning the booklet cover.
– MusicWeb International (Rob Barnett)
STELLA NOVA
On Wings Of Lightning Vol. 3
Tansman: Piano Works / Fingerhut
Chandos has been attentive in promoting the orchestral works of Alexandre Tansman, who due to the vagaries of fashion has to a great extent been ignored. We now embark on the piano music and a deeply personal project for soloist Margaret Fingerhut. 'My curiosity about the piano music of Tansman began over 20 years ago when I encountered the delightfully languid Berceuse he wrote for the album of Hommages to Roussel, and which I recorded for Chandos. The fact that he was born in Lodz, Poland, where my great-grandparents also came from, spurred me on to find out more about him, and since then I have been assiduously collecting his piano works - quite a task as it turns out that in the course of his long composing career Tansman was nothing if not prolific!' 'I feel his music deserves to be revalued and heard by a new generation of listeners, and so I wanted to create a CD to present an overview of his unique style and musical language. While the influences of Ravel, Poulenc, Milhaud and Stravinsky are apparent, along with jazz-inspired techniques, he himself professed his music to be rooted in his native Polish culture. So the starting point for this disc had to be his Mazurkas - after all, he wrote more of them than almost any other composer except for that other famous Polish exile-in-Paris, Chopin! Listen to his 2nd Mazurka to be transported to a world filled with gentle sweet melancholy. For me his piano music abounds in lyrical expression, tenderness, elegance, grace, good humour and exuberant virtuosity (he loved writing on three staves with huge leaps at great speed!). It seems such a shame that the forces of dogma and experimentalism which ruled Paris since the Second World War left so many casualties in their wake, composers like Tansman who determinedly stuck with neoclassicism and who were not afraid of melody. It is my hope that his individual voice can speak to us afresh'. Margaret Fingerhut displays her special artistry and élan to Tansman's music. Also Available: CHAN9887 Bloch Piano Sonata CHAN9818 Bainton Piano Works CHSA5041 Tansman Orchestral Works, Vol.1
Schulhoff: Music For String Quartet / Aviv Quartet
This music, rhythmically charged and alternately folk-inflected and harmonically contemporary, is absolutely wonderful, and it’s very well played here by the Aviv Quartet. The group isn’t quite as edgy and hard-driving as the benchmark Petersen Quartett on Capriccio, but their more rounded tone never comes at the expense of Schulhoff’s madcap energy, and they arguably make more out of the First Quartet’s concluding Andante, never mind the Second Quartet’s highly contrasted second movement variations. The group is also quite sensitive to Schulhoff’s use of tone-color–everything from col legno strokes with the back of the bow to the senza vibrato conclusion of the First Quartet’s finale.
Naxos’ engineering is also warm, well-balanced, and natural. If you don’t know this music, you should, and I can recommend this reasonably priced disc with enthusiasm.
-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
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An overlooked modernist thrills, chills and dances.
"Erwin Schulhoff’s music for string quartet is built on forceful rhythms and startling juxtapositions of material; it dances, yes, but with fiery intensity and rough humor. His style is the polar opposite of works like Tchaikovsky’s First Quartet or Borodin’s Second; in the most famous moments of those quartets, the four players sing together with one voice, melodies flowing naturally along in seamless harmony. Schulhoff’s model is a radically different one: here the interplay between instruments sounds not like a romance but like a brilliantly choreographed action-film fight scene, the players darting and weaving about each other, poised and ready to strike.
The First String Quartet comprises three studies in rhythm followed by an agonized slow movement. The first movement is jaunty and refreshingly melodic, with echoes of Stravinsky in an ebullient mood. The second movement is more menacing, the central section’s thematic material given slithering accompaniment, but it is the slow movement, which serves as the quartet’s finale, that acts as this work’s emotional core.
Of the three works on the disc, the First Quartet was most successful during Schulhoff’s lifetime, and its appeal is immediate. This is an engaging and rewarding piece waiting for a concert-hall revival, and, since it is a scant seventeen minutes, the quartet could safely be squeezed onto many a recital program.
The Five Pieces are a suite of dance movements which seem straightforward: a Viennese waltz, a serenade and a tango are among their number. But these works are not for the faint of heart; they are traditional dances viewed through the prism of Stravinsky or, perhaps, Schoenberg, and, like Ravel’s La Valse but with more of a bite, they are probably meant to some degree to be satirical. The waltz is almost unrecognizable as such in the opening bars, but soon becomes irresistible; the other dances are similarly magnetic. The tarantella is a good example: relatively straightforward in form, the harmonies nevertheless make us feel as if we are in the musical equivalent of a house of mirrors.
The Second String Quartet, composed just a year after the First in 1925, is arguably a masterpiece. The first movement finds Schulhoff’s tense style slightly matured, and the slow theme and variations begin with a beautiful viola solo. The highlight of the variations is an amiable folksy dance beginning at roughly the three-minute mark; another intriguing dance, with the unique marking “Allegro gajo,” follows in the third movement, but the finale is a fierce, very modern battle with some of the most thrilling unison playing on the album.
Fortunately for Schulhoff’s legacy, these are terrific performances. The Aviv Quartet have been playing together for a decade now, since they inaugurated their career amid a flurry of international competition victories in 1999, and they sound simply fantastic on this disc. The playing is electric; no position is a weak link. Schulhoff’s music for string quartet has been assembled on another disc, a 1994 Capriccio release, but this Naxos album is more widely available, and at half the price. Neither represents the complete quartet music (a Divertimento has gone unrecorded), but only completists will really be bothered by this quibble.
A terrific introduction to Schulhoff’s chamber music, then, although there are other works (like the surprising Concertino for Flute, Viola and Double Bass) which are more immediately appealing, and although other albums may simply have more music (this one is barely fifty minutes long). But this recording will be an eye-opener for those who prefer their string quartets to be perfume-soaked romantic treasures, and a treasure for admirers of modern chamber music. A good way to expand one’s horizons."
-- Brian Reinhart, MusicWeb International
Integrale Charles Trenet, Vol. 15 - "Kangourou" 1960-1962
Home / Les Arrivants
Les Arrivants is an ensemble composed of Amijai Ben Shalev (bandoneon), Abdul-Wahab Kayyali (oud) and Hamin Honari (tombak, daf, frame drums), three musicians who moved to Montreal during the COVID-19 pandemic. The repertoire developed by "Les Arrivants'' therefore reflects their experience of adaptation, which has had a lasting impact on their artistic and social lives. It is steeped in the traditional styles that the instrumentalists have mastered over the course of their careers: Argentinean tango, classical Arabic music, traditional Persian rhythms. This album is part of the Collection du Centre des musiciens du monde, a place where professional artists from an array of musical traditions, exchange ideas and share experiences.
Itzhak Perlman: Complete RCA & Columbia Album Collection
In celebration of the great Israeli-American violinist’s 75th birthday, Sony Classical is proud to present the first-ever collection of Itzhak Perlman’s complete recordings for RCA and CBS/Sony in a single box set: 18 CDs spanning the years 1965 to 2012.
Itzhak Perlman has dominated the world of violin virtuosos for half a century. His TV appearances had already made him a household name in the US by the time he was 13. A few years later came his Carnegie Hall debut, then the prestigious Leventritt Award, followed by triumphant tours of Israel, North America and Europe between 1965 and 1968. By then he was an international celebrity and recognized “not just as the finest violinist of his generation but as one of the greatest musical talents to emerge since World War II” (leading string authority Tully Potter writing in the NEW GROVE).
And it was then that Perlman began his illustrious, virtually unparalleled career as a recording artist. His first sessions for RCA, accompanied by pianist David Garvey – with works ranging from sonatas by Handel, Leclair and Hindemith to showpieces by Paganini, Bazzini, Sarasate and Falla – took place in New York in 1965 but were not issued for nearly 40 years because the label felt concertos would make a more suitable commercial debut for the rising star. When an album of these pieces was finally released – as “Perlman Rediscovered”, in 2004 – it was hailed “an outstanding tribute to one of the great names among violinists of any age, as well as a remarkably varied and interesting recital in its own right” (ClassicsToday). These tracks are, of course, included in the new collection.
Perlman’s first concerto efforts for RCA – the Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Prokofiev Second, with Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony – were set down in 1966/1967 and released the following years as his recording debut. ClassicsToday acclaimed them in a recent reissue as “offering playing that is gutsy and shamelessly virtuosic, and with a sharper rhythmic focus than Perlman often achieved subsequently. The finale of the Sibelius remains a potent example of the playing’s youthful fire.” In 1969, Perlman recorded what was arguably one of the finest albums of his career, the two Prokofiev Sonatas (which he never remade), partnered by pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy at the beginning of their long and distinguished collaboration: “Delicate where needs be … and yet with a Heifetzian resilience that both sonatas willingly respond to … Perlman and Ashkenazy play with astonishing virtuosity” (Gramophone).
Itzhak Perlman’s work for American Columbia began in the mid-1970s and – apart from Bach and Vivaldi multi-violin concertos with Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman and the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta – cover a wide swath of chamber music with special partners: pianists Daniel Barenboim and Emanuel Ax, cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Lynn Harrell and guitarist John Williams. The Mendelssohn Piano Trios with Ax and Ma, first released in 2010, appear here for the first time in a Perlman collection (“…ensemble balance, clarity of inner part-writing, drama, lyricism, and phrase shaping of the highest order … I find these performances not just outstanding; I find them astounding” (Fanfare).
That other John Williams, the legendary composer for the silver screen, was Perlman’s collaborator in another medium, the movies: his two best-selling “Cinema Serenade” albums arranged and conducted by Williams, with Perlman featured in selections from such classic films as Modern Times, Gone with the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Out of Africa, Cinema Paradiso, The Color Purple and, of course, the theme that Perlman memorably performed on the soundtrack of Williams’s Oscar-winning score for the Spielberg masterpiece Schindler’s List.
New to Perlman CD editions are two complete soundtrack albums: John Williams’s “elegant and thoughtful score” for Memoirs of a Geisha in which the violinist is joined by Yo-Yo Ma and to which Perlman “brings a magical and peculiarly oriental sound to his violin-playing” (Gramophone), and the music for Yimou Zhang’s Hero by Tan Dun: “Few composers today write more effective melodies for bowed strings” (Gramophone). And to round off this uniquely wide-ranging survey of the violinist’s musical passions and triumphs, in its first appearance in a Perlman collection, the artist is joined by golden-voiced cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot in Eternal Echoes, a highly praised album of liturgical and traditional selections which the violinist has affectionately described as “Jewish comfort music – everything that I recognize from my childhood is in this program.”
SET CONTENTS
DISC 1:
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
DISC 2:
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, TH 59
Dvořák: Romance in F Minor, Op. 11, B. 39
DISC 3:
Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 80
Prokofiev: Violin Sonata in D Major No. 2, Op. 94bis
DISC 4:
Lalo: Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21
Ravel: Tzigane, M. 76 (Version for Violin & Orchestra)
DISC 5:
Paganini: Centone di sonate, Op. 64, MS 112 (Sonata No. 1 in A Minor)
Paganini: Sonata for Violin and Guitar in E Minor, Op. 3, No. 6, MS 27
Paganini: Sonata concertata in A Major, Op. 61, MS 2
Giuliani: Duo concertante in E Minor, Op. 25 "Grand Sonata"
Giuliani: Cantabile in D Major, Op. 17, MS 109
DISC 6:
Dohnányi: Serenade in C Major, Op. 10
Beethoven: Serenade in D Major, Op. 8
DISC 7:
Bach, J.S.: Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043
Vivaldi: Concerto for 3 Violins in F Major, RV 551
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 364
DISC 8:
Chausson: Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet in D Major, Op. 21
DISC 9:
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108
DISC 10:
Mozart: Duo for Violin & Viola in G Major, K. 423
Mozart: Duo for Violin and Viola, K. 424
Leclair: 6 Sonatas for 2 Violins, Op. 3, No. 4
DISC 11:
Lubbock/Rosenbaum/Jones/Temperton: The Color Purple: Main Title
Gardel: Scent of a Woman: Tango (Por Una Cabeza)
Legrand: Yentl: Papa, Can You Hear Me?
Bacalov: Il Postino: Theme
Bernstein: The Age of Innocence: Theme
Williams: Theme (From "Far and Away")
Legrand: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg: I Will Wait for You
Previn: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Theme
Williams: Sabrina: Theme
Barry: Out of Africa: Main Title
Bonfa: Black Orpheus: Manha de Carnaval
Williams: Main Theme (From "Schindler's List")
Morricone: Love Theme (From "Cinema Paradiso")
DISC 12:
Raksin: Theme from "Laura" (1944)
Steiner: Theme from Now, Voyager (1942)
Chaplin: Smile from "Modern Times" (1936)
Rózsa: Love Theme from Lost Weekend (1945)
Young: St. Patrick's Day from The Quiet Man (1952) (Traditional)
Korngold: Marian & Robin Love Theme from "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938)
Hupfeld: As Time Goes By from "Casablanca" (1942)
Walton: Touch Her Soft Lips and Part (From "Henry V")
Young: Stella by Starlight from The Uninvited (1944)
Young: Theme from My Foolish Heart (1949)
Steiner: Tara's Theme (From "Gone with the Wind" 1939)
Newman: Cathy's Theme from "Wuthering Heights" (1939)
DISC 13:
Tan Dun: Works
DISC 14:
Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1, MS 25
Ben-Haim: Berceuse Sfaradite
Sarasate: Navarra, Op. 33
Handel: Violin Sonata in E Major, Op. 1 No. 15, HWV 373
Hindemith: Violin Sonata, Op. 11 No. 1 in E-Flat
Leclair: Violin Sonata, Op. 9 No. 3 in D
Bloch: Baal Shem: II. Nigun (Version for Violin & Piano)
Falla: Spanish Dance No. 1 (from La vida breve)
Bazzini: La ronde des lutins, Op. 25
DISC 15: John Williams: Works
DISC 16:
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor Op. 66
Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Op. 19, No. 1 Sweet Remembrance" - Andante con moto"
Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Op. 38, No. 2 - Allegro non troppo
DISC 17:
Berditchever: A Dudele
Shenker: Mizmor L'Dovid
Goldfaden: Shoyfer Shel Moshiakh
Schwartz: Romanian Doyne
Rosenblatt: T'filas Tal
Traditional: Yism'chu
Schloßberg: R'tzay
Traditional: Dem Trisker Rebns Khosid
Schorr: Sheyibone Bays Hamikdosh
Traditional: Kol Nidrei
DISC 18:
Tchaikovsky: Sérénade mélancolique, Op. 26, TH 56
Tchaikovsky: Valse-Scherzo, Op. 34, TH 58
Dvořák: Romance in F Minor, Op. 11, B. 39
Dvořák: 8 Humoresques, Op. 101, B. 187: No. 7, Poco lento e grazioso (Transcribed by Oscar Morawetz for Violin, Cello & Orchestra)
Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 90, B. 166: "Dumky", V. Allegro
Dvořák: Slavonic Dances, Op. 72, B. 147: No. 2, Dumka. Allegretto grazioso
Halvorsen: Passacaglia and Sarabande for Violin and Viola (With Variations on a Theme by Handel)
Walton: Canzonetta from Henry V
Williams: Air and Simple Gifts
Guitar Recital: Alí Arango
1929 - Tempo, Tanz und Technik / Theis, Munich Radio Orchestra
October 29, 1923 was a date steeped in history. In the middle of a year of political and economic crises, the age of public radio in Germany was ushered in with the first broadcast of the "Berliner Funkstunde" (Berlin Radio Hour) from the attic of an office building on Potsdamer Platz. Radio offered entirely new possibilities for the production and reception of music. The two compositions on this CD not only benefited from these developments but also played an active role in shaping them.
Eduard Künneke's five-movement Concerto grosso "Tänzerische Suite" op. 26 for jazz band and large orchestra corresponded to modern dances: the Overture is a Foxtrot, the Andante a Blues, the Intermezzo a Tango, the valse mélancolique a Boston Waltz, and the Finale a Foxtrot again. The suite was celebrated as a milestone in contemporary radio music and soon became part of the regular concert program.
Hanns Eisler's cantata "Tempo der Zeit" (Tempo of the Times) op. 16 for soloists, narrator, choir, winds, and percussion was written in 1929. The libretto was written by the popular lyricist Robert Gilbert, under the pseudonym of David Weber. With its pure wind ensemble and percussion, "Tempo der Zeit" captures the typical Songspiel sound of the time. The fact that Eisler used the "modern" medium of radio, of all things, to get his fundamental criticism of blind enthusiasm for technology across to the people is an ironical aspect of the work’s composition and reception history. This CD is part of the special programme focus on the topic "The Wild Sound of the Twenties".
NAZARENO
Silverman: Elephant Steps - A Fearful Radio Show / Michael Tilson Thomas
Tracks:
1 Elephant Drone; Elephants 3:01
2 Elephant Heartbeats 2:03
3 Don’t You Believe; My Ears 2:21
4 All Shook Up 1:33
5 Read My Palms; My Hands Are Inside the Wall; Gavotte 3:52
6 Read My Palm; Watch Me Move; I’m No Closer; Look at My Hands 6:33
7 Stop Seeing Reinhardt 5:23
8 Entr’acte; Watch Me Put My Right Foot 5:27
9 I Am No Longer Beautiful; Beautiful As Is 4:43
10 We Sit in the Window 4:13
11 Gypsy Tango; Shoot Them 3:31
12 You’re on the Radio; Radio Waves 3:34
13 Dreaming of Reinhardt 1:04
14 Midnight Sun 4:05
15 Photograph Song 1:29
16 Madrigals 2:50
17 Vaudeville Chase; Stirring Soup; A Strange Thing 4:32
18 Finale 4:35
Scrubwoman – Karen Altman
Hannah – Susan Belling
Max – Luther Enstad
Doctor – Roland Gagnon
Otto – Larry Marshall
Rock Singer – Luther Rix
Ragtime Lady – Marilyn Sokol
Hartman – PhilipSteele
Archangel – Michael Tilson Thomas
Chorus: Patti Austin, Jane Gunter, Dianne Higginbotham, June Magruder, Patricia Price, Albertine Robinson, Maeretha Stewart, Rose Taylor
Electronic music realized by Pril Smiley at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Laboratory.
Music for Flute & Guitar / Mesirca, Ruggieri
Among the most extensive works here is the cycle of Cantos Desiertos (1996) composed for flute and guitar by Terry Riley. The cycle was later incorporated within The Book of Abbeyzoud, an album with a character suspended between the Biblical, the mystical and the exotic. Francesco en Paraiso is a tender memorial to the countertenor Frank Royon Le Mée (1952-1993). The cycle continues with an Indian melody, and a melancholy lament before ending with a sultry Tango Ladeado (Tango Off-Centre). Hardly less substantial is Muse of Fire (1990) by George Rochberg, written in the shadow of the Gulf War: hence the sudden stops and starts, the military evocations, the funeral marches, the moments of dream-like lyricism and the rhapsodic soliloquies. Ora pro nobis (1991) is based on the slow movement of Bach’s Italian Concerto: a plea for release at a deeply troubled time. Bateau is a song from the 2003 album Ceramic Dog by Marco Ribot, who works mostly with jazz and post-rock musicians: this is the work’s first performance on classical guitar, and Alberto Mesirca brings out the delicate textures that evoke light shimmering on water. Of similar aquatic origins, Fish Tale is a ‘watercolor for flute and guitar’ by Osvaldo Golijov: ‘I wanted everything to be beautiful,’ said the composer, ‘even at the expense of some sense.’ This unique compilation concludes with shorter solo pieces alternating between flute and guitar, taking in the satisfyingly intricate textures of Crawford Seeger and Wuorinen at each end of American modernism, as well as a touching elegy by Mark Delpriora in memory of a student of his, Basil Keiser. This is the third solo album on Brilliant Classics by the guitarist Alberto Mesirca after his collections of music by Regondi and Sanz.
The Lovers
PIANO SONATAS FIREBIRD TRANSC
Carlevaro: Guitar Music / Cappelli
This new release presents an absorbing portrait of Abel Carlevaro (1916-2001) through his music as performed by Cristiano Poli Cappelli, an Italian guitarist making his second album for Brilliant Classics. The first was of guitar music by another relatively forgotten figure, Alexander Tansman, and it was enthusiastically reviewed by Classical Guitar magazine: ‘Highly recommended!’ Like Tansman, Carlevaro studied with Andres Segovia, the father of the modern guitar, during the 1930s. However, he broke away from his master’s teachings in order to make his own experiments in both guitar manufacture and composition. His music caught the ear of Heitor Villa-Lobos, another South American innovator, and it embraces the widest stylistic range captured by Poli Cappelli on this album, from the delicate watercolours of the Preludios Americanos (1969-74) to the vivid brushstrokes and abstract form of Cronomias (1972). Carlevaro’s later music returned often to the milonga, a tango-related dance popularised in the classical sphere by Astor Piazzolla. Milonga para Ling (1999) is brief but saturated with melancholy, while to the Milonga Oriental (1994) belongs one of the composer’s happiest melodic inspirations. Later still, a pair of milonga suites describe a peaceful return to the composer’s heritage. An essential acquisition for guitar aficionados, but also a collection of beautiful South American melodies that deserve to travel more widely.
