BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Music
for the Lion-Hearted King - Music to mark the 800th anniversary
of the Coronation of King Richard I of England in Westminster Abbey,
3 September 1189 
Gothic Voices rec. 1988
HYPERION HELIOS CDH55292 [60:13][BW]
Yet
another highly attractive reissue from Hyperion
– perhaps the best yet of these Gothic Voices
CDs ... see Full
Review
Music of France
Paul DUKAS
(1865-1935) The
Sorcerer's ApprenticeCésar
FRANCK (1822-1890) Symphony in
D minor, Maurice
RAVEL (1875-1937) Prélude,
Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn, Daphnis
et Chloë: Suite No. 2
Russian Federal Orchestra/Vakhtang Jordania
rec. 2000/2004
ANGELOK CD-7753 [67:07] [SV]
My
occasional strictures about ensemble notwithstanding,
the orchestra actually sounds rather good
... see Full Review
Heinrich
Neuhaus (piano) Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano
Sonata Op. 31 No. 2 Alexander
SCRIABIN (1872-1915) Preludes Op.11
Nos. 2, 5, 8, 11 & 12 Fryderyk
CHOPIN (1810-1849) Mazurkas Nos.
6 & 26; Piano Concerto No.1
Heinrich Neuhaus (piano); Moscow Radio Orchestra/Alexander
Gauk rec. 1938-51
APR 5660 [69:31][JW]
Refined
pianism, rapt pianissimi, feathery intimacy, delicate gradations of
touch and tone ... see Full Review
Phantasiestücke
André Moisan
(clarinet) Jean Saulnier (piano) rec. 2007
ATMA CLASSIQUE ACD2 2516 [MC]
A
combination of familiar and unknown bound together by sheer Romanticism.
A delightful disc ... see Full
Review
Polish Spirit
Mieczyslaw KARŁOWICZ
(1876–1909) Violin Concerto Emil MŁYNARSKI
(1870-1935) Violin Concerto No.2 Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Prelude from Partita BWV1006 Vittorio
MONTI (1868-1922) Csárdás arranged Nigel Kennedy TRADITIONAL
Danny Boy Nigel Kennedy
(violin); Polish Chamber Orchestra/Jacek Kaspszyk rec. 2006
EMI CLASSICS 3799349 
[110:00] or 3799349 (CD)[JW]
Want
the rare visual experience of the concertos?
Then get the DVD though the sound is palpably
inferior ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH
Premieres
and Encores Henry
Hugo PIERSON (1815-1873) Macbeth
Alan RAWSTHORNE
(1905-1971) Fantasy Overture. Cortèges
David MORGAN
(1933-1988) Contrasts Francis
CHAGRIN (1905-1972) Concert Overture:
Helter Skelter Peter
WARLOCK (1894-1930) Serenade
for Strings Malcolm
ARNOLD (1921-2006) Comedy Overture:
Beckus the Dandipratt rec. 1976-1978,
LYRITA SRCD.318 [79.22] [JF]
Attractive
and interesting … ‘must have’ CD ... see Full
Review
Primeval
Sounds Claude DEBUSSY
(1862–1917): Douze
Préludes: Livre 1 (1910) [47:13]
George CRUMB
(b. 1929): Makrokosmos I – Twelve
Fantasy Pieces after the Zodiac for Amplified
Piano (1972) [31:46]
Enrico Belli (piano) rec. La Fenice, Aamandola,
Italy, August 2005. DDD
WERGO WER 6804 2 [44:55 + 40:03] [BBr]
I
cannot bring myself to expect you to buy a
double CD set just for the Crumb ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Quijotes
Jacques IBERT (1890-1962) Quatre Chansons de
Don Quichotte Manuel
de FALLA (1876-1946) El
retablo de Maese Pedro
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937) Don
Quichotte ŕ Dulcinée Jesus
GURIDI (1886-1961)
Una aventura de Don Quijote
Carlos Alvarez (baritone); Orquesta de la Comunidad
de Madrid/Jose Ramon Encinar rec. 2005
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4763094 [55:38][IB]
A
distinguished and enjoyable disc. Enterprise,
imagination not restricted to the independents
... see Full
Review
The Russian Piano Tradition:
Emil Gilels
& Yakov Zak
Includes
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
(1756-1791) – Ferruccio
BUSONI (1866-1924)
Overture to The Magic Flute (arr.
two pianos) Wolfgang
Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Concerto
for two pianos and orchestra Camille
SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) Variations
on a theme of Beethoven
Emil Gilels, Yakov Zak (pianos) USSR State
O/Kirill Kondrashin rec. 1949/50
APR 5664 [JW]
Another
valuable example of The Russian Piano Tradition
series ... see Full
Review
Sargent’s
Beethoven Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Symphony
No.4 in B flat, op.60 (1806) [31:13] Symphony
No.5 in C minor, op.67 (1807) [31:33] Edvard
GRIEG Lyric Suite, op.94
(1891) [14:32]
National Symphony Orchestra/Sir Malcolm Sargent
rec. November 1945 (op.60 – from Decca AK
1384/7); 2 January 1945 (op.67 – from Decca
AK 1126/9); 9 January 1946 (Grieg – from Decca
AK 1412/3) – Kingsway Hall, London. ADD
BEULAH 3PD13 [77:18] [BBr]
Sargent’s
Beethoven? No. Our Beethoven, thanks to Sargent.
... see Full
Review
Andrés
Segovia – 1950s
American Recordings - Volume 2 see
review for details NAXOS
HISTORICAL 8.111090 [JW]
Diverting
and attractive listening ... see Full
Review
The Spirits of England and France:
Music for Court and Church from the later Middle
Ages Gothic Voices/Christopher
Page rec. 1994 HYPERION
HELIOS CDH55281 [BW]
First-class ‘sampler’ for
the English and French medieval music series … whets the appetite
for the rest … see Full Review
Strana
armonia d'amore –
Italian music of the 17th
century
Ensemble L'Albera (Jordi Domènech (alto),
Salvador Parron (tenor), Sara Parés
(recorder), Fahmi Alqhai (viola da gamba),
Enrike Solinis (theorbo, guitar), Carles Budó
(harpsichord) rec. December 2004, Auditorium
of the Centro Cultural la Mercè in
Girona, Spain. DDD
LA MÀ DE GUIDO LMG 2075 [50:02]
[JV]
This
overview of the different genres of early
17th-century vocal and instrumental music
in Italy has too many shortcomings to be recommendable...
see Full Review
Strings in the Earth and
Air Ernest
John MOERAN (1894-1950) Six Folksongs from Norfolk
Peter WARLOCK (1894-1930)
Candlelight; Three Songs; The Fox
Geoffrey STERN (1935-2005) Three Wordsworth Songs;
Four Songs of James Joyce; Legend
Paul Martyn-West (baritone); Nigel Foster (piano) rec. 2005
DUNELM RECORDS DRD0249 [68:37][EM]
A
good range, from dreamy and melancholic to
dynamic and lively… for lovers of English
solo song ... see Full
Review
RECORDING OF THE MONTH Symphonic
Brass
Black Dyke Band/Nicholas Childs rec. 2007
NAXOS 8.570726 [77:07][MC]
I
can see significant interest and many converts to brass band music being
generated by this disc from the Black Dyke Band ... see Full
Review
Twentieth
Century Works for Cello and Strings Witold
LUTOSŁAWSKI (1913-1994) Grave - Metamorphoses
for cello and string orchestra (1981) [6:21] Elizabeth
MACONCHY (1907-1994) Epyllion (1975) [17:21] Paul
HINDEMITH (1895-1963) Trauermusik (1936) [8:21] Paul
PATTERSON (b. 1947) Cello Concerto op. 90 (2002) [24:27]
Mark KOPYTMAN (b.1929) Kaddish
(1966, orch. 1982) [15:02]
Raphael Wallfisch (cello) Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim/William
Boughton rec. Evangelische Laurentiuskirche, Amthof, Oberderdingen,
Germany, 22-24 November 2006. DDD
NIMBUS NI 5815 [71:45] [RB]
A
miscellaneous anthology spanning styles and
formats united by the instrumental specification.
... see Full Review
Thomas Viloteau: Guitar
Recital Miguel LLOBET (1878-1938)
Variaciónes sobre un tema de Sor Alexandre
TANSMAN (1897-1986) Cavatina Leo
BROUWER (b. 1939) Rito de los Orishas Alberto
GINASTERA (1916-1983) Guitar Sonata Roland
DYENS (b. 1955) Triaela
Thomas Viloteau (guitar) rec. 2007
NAXOS LAUREATE SERIES 8.570510 [60:57][GPu]
Interesting
choice of repertoire, dazzling performance, beautiful recorded sound:
what more could one want from a guitar recital? … see Full
Review
Vinyl
Cello
Jimi HENDRIX/Haimovitz
Machine Gun Tod MACHOVER (b.1953)
Vinylcello Luna Pearl WOOLF (b.1973)
Aprčs moi, le déluge David SANFORD (b.1963)
Scherzo Grosso Matt Haimovitz
(cello) rec. 2007 OXINGALE
OX2011 [77:08][DC]
Like
an open window into what’s hot on the other
side of the Atlantic. ... see Full
Review
Violin
Romances
Arthur Grumiaux, New PO/Edo
de Waart rec. Wembley Town Hall, London, 1967/70
PHILIPS ELOQUENCE 442 8290 [JW]
Eloquence,
the series’ title, might have been chosen
expressly with Grumiaux in mind ... see Full
Review
Viva
el amor Spanish
Love Songs
by de Falla, Granados, Rodrigo and others
Sivan
Rotem (soprano) Jonathan Zak (piano) rec. 2006
ROMÉO RECORDS 7256 [GF]
May
not displace recordings by her elders but she has a distinct voice and
the repertoire is highly attractive ... see Full
Review
Voces
de Zarzuela
RTVE MUSICA
65280 [GPu]
Open
a bottle of good Cava and enjoy many of the best ‘voices of zarzuela’.
A fine programme of music still too little known outside Spain … see Full
Review
BOOK
REVIEWS
Dance And Its
Music In America, 1528-1789 by
Kate Van Winkle Keller ISBN: 9781576471272
Publication Year: 2007 in paperback format
Number of Pages: 697 PENDRAGON PRESS,
Hillsdale, NY £52.50 $84 [MMB]
A
very interesting, enriching historical study
… enjoyable, fascinating reading ... see
Full Review
The
Operas of Leoš Janáček by
Erik Chisholm Pergamon Press, first
published 1971, 390 pages, now only available in this online
version produced for the Erik
Chisholm Trust by MusicWeb International [RH]
This
volume remains a fine introduction to the music-drama of Janáček’s
operas, illuminated by Chisholm’s intelligence and graced by
his lucid prose ... see Full Review
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