40 Tracks For 40 Years – Delos’ 40th Anniversary Celebration – [TrackList & performers follows] Delos (3 CDs)

by | May 24, 2013 | Classical Reissue Reviews

40 Tracks For 40 Years – Delos’ 40th Anniversary Celebration – [TrackList & performers follows] Delos DE3440, 03:36:01 (3 CDs) [Distr. by Naxos] ****:

This reissue collection would not have been possible without the pioneering goals and philosophy of Delos’ late found Amelia S. Haygood. She wanted to recognize deserving American performers, support classical music, champion unusual repertory, and use cutting-edge recording technology (the late John Eargle was her recording engineer). The audiophile quality of most of their recordings attracted many buyers, and this three-CD collection has been remastered from the original tapes drawn from their libary of over 500 orchestral, vocal and chamber/instrumental recordings over the years.

Concert pianist Carol Rosenberger was an important person in the operation of Delos, and she was the producer of this collection and writer of some of the notes. There are also more “encore” tracks at the label’s website, delosmusic.com/celebrate.  The label continues and is now based in Sonoma, CA.

The first CD of nine tracks had mostly orchestral selections, including the lovely and rather obscure Fantasy-Variations on a Theme of Youth by Howard Hanson. The second CD includes the label’s star baritone, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, two fine Villa-Lobos pieces, and an inimitable Joe Williams vocal on “Going to Chicago Blues.” The third of the discs is devoted to chamber music and solo recordings. There are selections by both the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and the Brazilian Guitar Quartet. The finale of the Debussy Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp with Ransom Wilson on flute is delightful, and there is also Piazzolla’s classic Oblivion performed by the Italian Saxophone Quartet.

All three discs are filled with close to the 80-minute maximum time, and the selections are all complete in themselves and available at a bargain price. A fine collection even if you already have a number of Delos titles in your library. Here are the details on the tracks:

TrackList:

Disc 1:
Shostakovich, Dmitry
Festive Overture, Op. 96 00:06:04
Dvorak, Antonin
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, “From the New World”: III. Molto vivace 00:07:28
Shostakovich, Dmitry
Atovmyan, Lev, arranger(s)
Ballet Suite No. 1: VI. Galop (The Limpid Stream) (arr. L. Atovmyan) 00:01:32
Khachaturian, Aram Il’yich
Spartacus, Act III: Adagio de Spartacus et Phrygie 00:08:46
Korngold, Erich Wolfgang
The Sea Hawk: Main Title – Reunion – Finale 00:07:59
Hanson, Howard
Fantasy – Variations on a Theme of Youth, Op. 40 00:11:42
Copland, Aaron
Lincoln Portrait 00:00:26
Hovhaness, Alan
Prayer of St. Gregory, Op. 62b 00:04:47
Hovhaness, Alan
Khayyam, Omar, lyricist(s)
 Rubaiyat, Op. 308 00:13:48
Disc 2:
Cilea, Francesco
Colautti, Arturo, lyricist(s)
Adriana Lecouvreur, Act II: Acerba volutta, dolce tortura 00:04:07
Leoncavallo, Ruggero, lyricist(s)
Pagliacci, Act I: Prologue: Si puo Si puo 00:05:38
Verdi, Giuseppe
Cammarano, Salvadore, lyricist(s)
   Il trovatore (excerpts)
Act I: Tacea la notte placida 00:05:41
Act IV: Confrontation Scene 00:07:50
Villa-Lobos, Heitor
Bandeira, Manoel / Correa, Ruth Valadares, lyricist(s)
Bachianas brasileiras No. 5: I. Aria: Cantilena 00:07:56
Villa-Lobos, Heitor
Vasconcellos, Dora, lyricist(s)
Floresta do Amazonas: Sentimental Melody 00:03:38
Handel, George Frideric
Rossi, Giacomo, lyricist(s)
Rinaldo, HWV 7, Act I: Aria: Venti, turbini, prestate le vostre ali a questo pie 00:04:01
Arensky, Anton Stepanovich
Kryukov, A., lyricist(s)
Raphael, Op. 37: Ma Fornarina ove sara L’attendo come il fior la luce! 00:10:43
Pakhmutova, Alexandra
Dobronravov, Nikolay / Grebennikov, Sergei, lyricist(s)
Stetsyuk, Evgeny, arranger(s)
Nezhnost’ (Tenderness) (arr. E. Stetsyuk) 00:02:54
Copland, Aaron
Mathers, Edward Powys, lyricist(s)
Pastorale 00:02:27
Stravinsky, Igor
Kallman, Chester / Auden, Wystan Hugh, lyricist(s)
The Rake’s Progress, Act: Recitative: Here I stand … 00:02:40
Abel, Mark, lyricist(s)
The Dream Gallery: 7 California Portraits: No. 7. Adam (Arcata) 00:11:39
Traditional, lyricist(s)
Hayes, Mark, arranger(s)
Feel the Spirit (arr. M. Hayes) 00:02:37
Basie, Count / Rushing, Jimmy, lyricist(s)
Going to Chicago Blues 00:04:51
Disc 3:
Prokofiev, Sergey
Mindeman, John, arranger(s)
March in B flat major, Op. 99 (arr. J. Mindeman) 00:04:28
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il’yich
York, Andrew, arranger(s)
The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: IV. Russian Dance (arr. A. York) 00:01:01
Bach, Johann Sebastian
Galbraith, Paul, arranger(s)
Violin Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: IV. Allegro assai (arr. P. Galbraith) 00:02:32
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622: II. Adagio 00:07:56
Griffes, Charles Tomlinson
Roman Sketches, Op. 7: No. 3. The Fountain of the Acqua Paola 00:03:41
Chen, Gang
Jiang, Yi-Wen, arranger(s) 
Miaoling de zaochen (Miao Mountain Morning) (arr. Yi – Wen Jiang for string quartet) 00:03:53
Albeniz, Isaac
Lopes, Edson / Gloeden, Everton / Mantovani, Luiz / Amaral, Tadeu do, arranger(s)
Iberia, Book 2: III. Triana (arr. L. Mantovani, E. Lopes, T. do Amaral and E. Gloeden) 00:04:50
Ravel, Maurice
Rapsodie espagnole: IV. Feria (version for piano 4 hands) 00:06:00
Debussy, Claude
Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp: III. Final 00:04:25
Durufle, Maurice
Mass Text, lyricist(s)
Requiem, Op. 9: Sanctus 00:03:21
Rachmaninov, Sergei
Bible – New Testament, lyricist(s)
All – night Vigil, Op. 37, “Vespers”: Hail, O Virgin Mother (Ave Maria) 00:02:53
Rachmaninov, Sergei
14 Songs, Op. 34: No. 14. Vocalise (arr. for theremin and piano) 00:03:47
Bunch, Kenji
String Circle: I. Lowdown 00:04:26
Kodaly, Zoltan
Cello Sonata, Op. 8: III. Allegro molto vivace 00:10:37
Shostakovich, Dmitry
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77: IV. Burlesca: Allegro con brio 00:04:50
Piazzolla, Astor
Mondelci, Federico, arranger(s)
Oblivion (arr. F. Mondelci) 00:03:51
Fernandez, Heraclio
El Diablo Suelto (The Loose Devil) 00:04:16

—John Sunier

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