Monthly Archive: April 2010
Grant Green, guitar – Idle Moments – Blue Note/Analogue Productions
Green’s style is quite distinctive – a swinging, loose, bluesy groove.
Armageddon, Blu-ray (1998/2010)
Bruckheimer and Bay love to blow things up in the movies, and they get to do it in spades in this one.
The Fugitive Kind (1960/2010) – 2 DVD Special Edition
Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, and Joanne Woodward in a Tennesse Williams’ drama!
Avatar, Blu-ray + DVD (2009/2010)
A super-spectacle from the super movie megalomaniac.
SCRIABIN: Piano Music: Poems, Waltzes, Dances – Xiayin Wang, piano – Naxos
Ms. Wang, who made both her recording and her Carnegie Hall debut in 2007, succeeds in giving us a fascinating portrait of a composer’s remarkable growth.
KARL KEMPTER: Pastoral Mass in G, Op. 24; DIABELLI: Pastoral Mass in F, Op. 147 – Soloists and Chorus of the Augsburger Domsingknaben/ Residenz-Kammerorchester Munchen/ Reinhard Kammler, conductor – Ars Musici
The most popular work of Karl Kempter and one from the publisher Diabelli.
MARC-ANDRE DALBAVIE: Orchestral Variations on a Theme by Janacek; Sinfonietta; Rocks Under the Water – The Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra/Dalbavie – AmeSon
Orchestral color and timbre take precedent over melody in Dalbavie’s cutting-edge French music.
Frank Foster and The Loud Minority Big Band- Manhattan Fever +2 – Denon
A bit of a pleasant mystery.
HAYDN: "Prussian Quartets" Op. 50 – Prazak Quartet – Praga Digitals
The Prazak Quartet performs three of Haydn’s glorious Op. 50 string quartets with earthy charm and grace on a sonically vibrant SACD.
Frank Foster and The Loud Minority (big band) – Shiny Stockings – Denon
A rollicking good time.Frank Foster and The Loud Minority (big band) – Shiny Stockings – Denon
Audio News for April 27, 2010
Economists Report “The Consumer Is Back”; LG Joins Linux Foundation; Apple Scores Major Profits; New Audio Enhancement Plug-In for Mac Users; Secret Meeting On Copyright Theft; New Mobile AV Interface for HDTVs
"Mandorla" = MARTIN: Mass for Double Choir; GRIEG: 4 Psalms; HANSON: The Cherubic Hymn – Gloriæ Dei Cantores/ Elizabeth Patterson, director – Gloriæ Dei Cantores
Elizabeth Patterson and GDC do it again—are we getting spoiled?
Conductor Carlo Maria Giulini = ROSSINI: Overture to Semiramide; SCHUBERT: Symphony no. 4 in C Minor, D. 417 “Tragic”; FRANCK: Psyche et Eros; DEBUSSY: La Mer – Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Carlo Maria Giulini – Testament
Giulini is know for his sensual intelligence of expression and innate colorful lyricism.
HAYDN: The Complete String Quartets Vol. 12 of 14 – String Quartets Op. 74 Nos. 1 – 3 – Auryn String Quartet – Tacet DVD-A
The Auryn Quartet continues their fine traversal of the complete Haydn string quartets on a DVD-A which features beautifully life-like surround sound.
THOMAS ADES: Tevot; Violin Concerto; Three Studies from Couperin; Dances from Powder Her Face – Anthony Marwood, violin/ Berlin Philharmonic/Rattle /Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Ades – National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain/Daniel – EMI
Thomas Ades writes music that is dramatic, approachable and brilliantly orchestrated.
THIERRY PECOU: Symphonie du Jaguar; Vague de pierre – Ensemble Zellig/ Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra/ Francois-Xavier Roth, Jonathan Stockhammer, conductors – Harmonia mundi
Pecou demonstrates considerable imagination in his Jaguar Symphony.
FRANK MARTIN: Golgotha – Soloists/ Cappella Amsterdam/ Estonian Philharmonic Ch. Choir/ Estonian Nat. Symphony Orch./Daniel Reuss – Harmonia mundi (2 CDs)
This will be a great surprise for many – a superb oratorio presented beautifully.
"Heaven’s Music" = Choral and Vocal Music of VIRGIL THOMSON – soloists/ Gregg Smith Singers – Albany
An underrated composer meets a choral phenom and the results are perfection.
Russian Piano Music Series = VLADIMIR REBIKOV: Piano works – Anthony Goldstone, piano – Divine Art
British pianist Anthony Goldstone performs these engrossing miniatures with verve and spirit.
Marian Petrescu Quartet With Andreas Oberg… Thrivin’ Live At The Jazz Standard – Resonance Records
Piano virtuoso releases a powerful debut.
THOMAS ADES: Tevot; Violin Concerto; Three Studies from Couperin; Dances from Powder Her Face – Anthony Marwood, violin/ Berlin Philharmonic/Rattle /Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Ades – National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain/Daniel – EMI
These are original showpieces from one of the world’s greatest Twenty-First Century composers.
SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto in A minor; DVORAK: Piano Concerto in G minor – Martin Helmchen, piano/ Strasbourg Philharmonic/ Mark Albrecht, conductor – PentaTone Classics
Pianist Martin Helmchen makes a strong case for the rarely heard Dvorak Piano Concerto in a multichannel recording of exemplary clarity.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
