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VINCENT D’INDY: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 = Symphony No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 57; Tableaux de voyage, Op. 36; Karadec, Op. 34 - Iceland Symphony Orchestra/Rumon Gamba - Chandos Published on June 29, 2009 I had not heard Mr. Gamba in the first volume of D’Indy from Chandos, but this disc convinced me he knows what he is doing.
BACH: Toccata and Fugue in D minor; Prelude and Fugue in D; Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor; Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C; Fantasia and Fugue in G minor – Florence Mustric, organ – MSR Published on June 27, 2009 A snapshot of the pre-restoration sound of this 1956 German instrument—and Bach, for the most part, benefits.
ARENSKY: Violin Concerto in A minor; TANEYEV: Suite de concert - Ilya Gringolts, violin/ BBC Scottish Sym. Orch./ Ilan Volkov, conductor - Hyperion Published on June 27, 2009 Another strong entry in Hyperion's Romantic Violin Concerto series.
PURCELL: Complete Fantazias – Fretwork – Harmonia mundi PURCELL: Fantasias – Les Voix humaines – ATMA Published on June 24, 2009 Two outstanding and competitive releases of essential early baroque music.
Fuzjko Hemming, piano - Works of BEETHOVEN, CHOPIN, LISZT, SCARLATTI, DEBUSSY - Domo Published on June 24, 2009 I discern Fuzjko to be a more natural Liszt acolyte than a Chopin interpreter, since the rhythmic freedom in Liszt seems more suited to her idiosyncrasies.
SCHUBERT: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 2 = Sonata in B Major, D. 575; Sonata in A Major, D. 664; Sonata in A Minor, D. 784; Sonata in A Minor, D. 845; Sonata in D Major, D. 850 - Seymour Lipkin - Newport Classics (2) Published on June 23, 2009 Seymour Lipkin, who won the 1948 Rachmaninov Competition and possesses credentials in conducting--having studied with Koussevitzky and Szell--as well as keyboard expertise, offers us a survey of the Schubert sonatas in three volumes.
BACH: Goldberg Variations BWV 988 - Arr. & edited for harp by Catrin Finch - DGG Published on June 23, 2009 I believe this is the most enjoyable version of the Goldberg Variations I have ever heard.
CLEMENTI: 3 Sonatas, Op. 13; 3 Sonatas, Op. 23; 2 Sonatas, Op. 24; Sonata in C, Op.20; Sonata in F, WO3 – Howard Shelly, piano – Hyperion Published on June 23, 2009 The excellence continues in Volume 3 of the Clementi series.
OTTORINO RESPIGHI: La Primavera cantata; Quattro liriche; The Magic Pot - Adriano cond. - Naxos RESPIGHI: Works for Violin and Orchestra - Ingolf Turban, v./Eng. Ch. Orch./Marello Viotti - Claves Published on June 21, 2009 Rare Respighi on two fully-packed CDs.
ROBERT SCHUMANN: Liederkreis, Op. 39; Frauenliebe und –leben,Op. 42; Die Lowenbraut, Op. 31:1; Der Nussbaum, op. 25:3; Er ist’s, Op. 79:23; Widmung, Op. 25:1 – Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto/ Daniel Blumenthal, piano – Naïve Published on June 21, 2009 Highly accomplished renditions of two masterly song cycles, plus a few extras.
SCHUBERT: Die Schone Mullerin – Matthias Goerne, baritone/ Christoph Eschenbach, piano – Harmonia mundi Published on June 20, 2009 An illuminating new rendition of a very old favorite.
CHARLES STANFORD: String Quintet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 85; Piano Quintet in D Minor, Op. 25 - Piers Lane, piano/RTE Vanbrugh Quartet - Hyperion Published on June 18, 2009 A pair of superior chamber works from Stanford, whose musical quality demands we lend an ear.
GOTTLIEB MUFFAT: Componimenti Musicali per Il Cembalo (Musical Components) (complete) - Mitzi Meyerson, harpsichord - Glossa Published on June 18, 2009 Altogether a gem of a collection for all early keyboard music fans.
FRANZ SCHMIDT: Symphony No. 1 in E Major; Orchestral Excerpts from Notre Dame, Op. 2 - Malmö Symphony Orchestra/ Vassily Sinaisky - Naxos Published on June 17, 2009 The first of Schmidt’s four symphonies is on a grand scale and influenced by Bruckner, Brahms and Reger.
PIETRO DOMENICO PARADIES: 7 Sonatas for Harpsichord, 1754 - Filippo Emanuele Ravizza, harpsichord - Music Media Concerto Published on June 17, 2009 Delightful Neopolitan harpsichord sonatas influed by Domenico Scarlatti
CHOPIN: 21 Mazurkas - Vassily Primakov, piano - Bridge Published on June 17, 2009 Primakov performs them with a sensitivity that pays tribute to these heartfelt dances that sprang from Chopin’s Polish heritage, while capturing the elements that point toward the twentieth century.
Sharon Isbin, guitar - Journey to the New World - (with Joan Baez and Mark O’Connor) Sony Classical Published on June 16, 2009 The sounds of both instruments are beautifully captured on the recording, and the cardboard jewel-box alternative packaging is well-designed.
Emerson String Quartet: Intimate Letters = JANACEK: String Quartet No. 1 “The Kreutzer Sonata”; MARTINU: Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola; JANACEK: String Quartet No. 2 “Intimate Letters” - Emerson String Quartet -- DGG Published on June 15, 2009 The two Janacek Quartets bring to posterity music the Emerson ensemble has championed for twenty-five years.
DAVID MATTHEWS: Symphony No. 1, Op. 9; No. 3, Op.37; No. 5, Op. 78A – BBC National Orchestra of Wales/ Martyn Brabbins, conductor – Dutton Published on June 14, 2009 Music that challenges and satisfies at the same time.
JAMES MACMILLAN: Seven Last Words from the Cross; Christus Vincit; Nemo te condemnavit; ...here in hiding – The Dmitri Ensemble/ Graham Ross, conductor – Naxos Published on June 14, 2009 The third recording of a superb piece of music.
LISZT Symphonic Poems Vol. 5: Eine Symphonie zu Dantes Divina Commedia, S. 109; Deux Legendes, S. 354 - Gillian Keith, sop./Ladies’ Voices of City of Birmingham/ Sym. Chorus/BBC Philharmonic/ Gianandrea Noseda - Chandos Published on June 13, 2009 At once splashy and devotional, the music certifies, if not Liszt’s declaration of true faith, his conviction that Art itself provides a gateway to Salvation.
HAYDN: The Seasons (complete oratorio) – Genia Kuhmeier, soprano/ Werner Gura, tenor/ Christian Gerhaher, baritone/ Arnold Schoenberg Choir/ Concentus Musicus Wien/ Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor – Deutsche Harmonia mundi - 2 CDs Published on June 13, 2009 Not so much a secular sequel to the Creation, but instead a continuation of the religious themes first postulated there.
HAYDN: Piano Trios Vol.1 (4) - The Florestan Trio - Hyperion Published on June 11, 2009 The Florestan Trio plays these four joyful Haydn works with grace and deep intelligence.
BACH: Flute Concertos - Marcello Gatti, transverse flute/ Ensemble Aurora/ Enrico Gatti, first violin/ conductor - Glossa Published on June 10, 2009 Beautifully expressive playing highlights a superb collection of newly-realized Bach concertos.
CHOPIN: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3; 2 Nocturnes; Berceuse; Barcarolle - Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano - Hyperion Published on June 09, 2009 Hamelin's admirers will adore these world-class Chopin performances.
RAUTAVAARA.:The Eight Symphonies - National Orchestra of Belgium/ Leipzig RSO/ Helsinki PO/ Conductors (respectively): Mikko Franck, Max Pommer, Leif Segerstam - Ondine Published on June 07, 2009 This is the only collection of his collected symphonies, and it’s a good one.
SZYMANOWSKI: Nocturne and Tarantella, op. 28; Mythes, op. 30; Romance in D, op. 23; Sonata in D minor, op. 9; 3 Paganini Caprices, op. 40; La Berceuse d’Aitacho Enia, op. 52 – Alina Ibragimova, violin/ Cedric Tiberghien, piano – Hyperion Published on June 02, 2009 The third complete set to emerge on CD, and worth the wait.
KILE SMITH: Vespers – Piffaro/ The Crossing/ Joan Kimball, Robert Wiemken, directors – Navona Records Published on June 02, 2009 Easily one of the best releases of the year of any type.
KHACHATURIAN: Concerto-Rhapsody in B-flat Minor for Violin and Orchestra; Violin Concerto in D Minor - Nicolas Koeckert, violin/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/ Jose Serebrier - Naxos Published on June 02, 2009 Typical of Serebrier’s color-vision, that innate gift augmented by studies with Stokowski, this music overflows with erotic motion.
VIVALDI: Concerto in D; Concerto in E Minor, RV 273; Sonata in D Minor Op.1 No.12; Concerto in E Flat Major; Aria “Sovvente il sole“; Concerto in D Minor – Daniel Hope, violin/ other soloists/Ch. Orch. of Europe - DGG Published on May 31, 2009 Daniel Hope’s latest album for the yellow label presents Vivaldi’s close affinity on the violin with an unusual combination of subtlety and variety.
JOSEPH C. PHILLIPS, JR.: Vipassana = 1. Of Climbing Heaven and Gazing On the Earth; 2. Stillness Flows Ever Changing; 3. Into all the Valleys Evening Journeys; 4. The Nothingness that is the Source of Everything - Numinous/Joseph C. Phillips Jr. - Innova Published on May 31, 2009 Meditational music of great beauty.
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D, Op.77; Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, Op.102 – Vadim Repin, violin/Truls Mørk, cello/ Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/ Riccardo Chailly – Deutsche Grammophon Published on May 30, 2009 Brahms’ music is musical nourishment for Repin, much as Beethoven was for Kreisler. Vadim Repin and Riccardo Chailly revisit the Brahms Concerto in this welcoming release from DGG.
VIVALDI: Gloria in D, RV 589; Motet in C minor, “In furore lustissimae irae”; Concerto in D minor; Motet in D, “Ostro picta”; Magnificat in G minor – Soloists/Ensemble Caprice/ Matthias Maute - Anakleta Published on May 29, 2009 A fine concept album of unusual provenance and given in great style.
BACH (arr. Schumann): The Six Violin Sonatas and Partitas – Haroutune Bedelian, violin/ Lorna Griffitt, piano – Centaur Published on May 29, 2009 Accompaniment to a masterpiece? You decide.
HAYDN: String Quartets Nos. 1-6, op. 17 – Auryn Quartet – Tacet (2 CDs) Published on May 29, 2009 The excellence continues with volume 4 of 14
HANDEL: 12 Solo Sonatas Op.1; Pavlo Beznosiuk (violin)/ Rachel Brown (flute & recorder)/ Frank de Brione (oboe)/ Richard Egarr (harpsichord & direction)/ Academy of Ancient Music - Harmonia mundi Published on May 27, 2009 All the work on authenticity by Egarr is coupled to performances brimful of life.
ALBERTO GINASTERA: Cello Concerto No. 1; Cello Concerto No. 2. Aurora Natola-Ginastera, cello /Orquesta sinfonica de Castilla y Leon /Max Bragado Darman - Pierian Published on May 26, 2009 For those who are familiar with the Ginastera oeuvre and want to explore his later works.
GEORGES DELERUE: Works for piano and various instruments = Chant 1; Farewell Concerto; Aria et Final for cello and piano; Movements for percussion instruments and piano; Stances; Sonata for violin and piano - DCM Classique Published on May 26, 2009 Delerue is known for his many film scores, but he never stopped writing for the classical concert hall.
Abraham Lincoln Portraits = Works by COPLAND, IVES, HARRIS, PERSICHETTI, BACON, GOULD, McKAY, TUROK - Naxos (2 CDs) Published on May 26, 2009 This two-disc issue contains a variety of tributes to Abraham Lincoln by American composers that celebrates the bi-centennial of the great statesman’s birth.
GILES VIGNEAULT and BRUNO FECTEAU: Grand Mass – Suzie Leblanc, soprano/ Daniel Taylor (counter-tenor)/ Antoine Belanger, tenor/ Olivier Laquerre, bass-baritone/ Quebec Chorus and Symphony Orchestra/ Richard Lee, conductor – CBC Published on May 23, 2009 Horrible production values mar what could have been a winning disc.
MAX BRUCH: Suite after Russian Folk Melodies, Op. 79b; Serenade in C Minor after Swedish Melodies for String Orchestra; Swedish Dances--Suites No. 1 and No. 2, Op. 63 - SWR Radio-Orchestra Kaiserslautern/Werner Andreas Albert - CPO Published on May 23, 2009 The music of Max Bruch consistently provides a safe haven for music conservatives who like their melodies lush and the orchestration resplendent.
MIECZYSLAW KARLOWICZ: Symphony in E Minor “Rebirth” Op. 7 - Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Jerzy Salwarowski - Dux Published on May 22, 2009 A beautiful little-known symphony expressing the beauty the composer found in nature.
ANDRE MATHIEU: Piano Concerto No. 4 in E minor; Ballet Scenes; Four Songs for Choir and Orchestra - Alain Lefevre, piano/Tucson Symphony Orchestra/George Hanson/Tucson Symphony Orch. Chorus/Bruce Chamberlain - Analekta Published on May 21, 2009 A surpassingly lovely piano concerto with a fascinating story of its origin.
A Company of Voices = Conspirare in Concert – Bion Tsang, cello/ Thomas Burritt, percussion/ Craig Hella Johnson, conductor – Harmonia mundi Published on May 20, 2009 One of the most uplifting concerts I have ever heard.
“Originis” Live From Brazil - SERGIO ASSAD: Concerto Originis; GINASTERA-ASSAD: Three Argentine Dances; PIAZZOLLA-ASSAD: Milonga per tre; Auscencias; CLARICE ASSAD: Three Sketches - Nadja Solerno-Sonnenberg and the Assad Brothers - NSS Music Published on May 19, 2009 A unique trio blending Italian and Brazilian influences.
MARK O’CONNOR: Americana Symphony “Variations on Appalachia Waltz;” Concerto No. 6 “Old Brass” - Mark O’Connor, violin/ Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/ Marin Alsop, conductor/ Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston/ Joel Smirnoff, conductor - Shore Fire Media Published on May 18, 2009 For Mark O’Connor, “Americana Symphony” is more than simply an album of musical notes coming out of his violin and pen. It is the voices tracing from the great Rocky Mountains landscapes to the Brass Ankles tribe.
J. S. BACH: Solo Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3 (transcribed Korhonen) – Timo Korhonen, guitar – Ondine Published on May 18, 2009 An interesting and well-conceived new reading of the masterpieces.
DEBUSSY: String Quartet; Syrinx; Cello Sonata; Violin Sonata; Flute, Viola, and Harp Sonata – Sigiswald Kuijken & Veronica Kuijken, v./ Sara Kuijken, viola/ Wieland Kuijken, cello/ Barthold Kuijken, flute/ Piet Kuijken, p./ Sophie Hallunck, harp - Arcana Published on May 18, 2009 Revelatory? Not quite, but definitely eye-opening.
BRAHMS: Six Lieder and Romances, Op. 93a; Three Quartets, Op. 64; Five Songs, Op. 104; Gypsy Songs, Op. 103; Dem Dunkel Schoss der Heil’gen Erde, WoO20 - Christopher Glynn, piano (Opp. 64, 103)/Consortium/Andrew-John Smith, conductor - Hyperion Published on May 14, 2009 Elegant, refined music-making of a kind that held a special place in the Brahms oeuvre.
RUDOLPH SIMONSEN: Symphony No. 1 “Zion”; Symphony No. 2 “Hellas”; Overture in G minor - Søonderjyllands Symphony Orchestra/Israel Yinon - CPO Published on May 12, 2009 A most unusual Danish composer of the generation following Nielsen
SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata in G Major, D. 894 “Fantasy”; Four Impromptus, D. 935 - Andreas Staier, fortepiano - Harmonia mundi Published on May 11, 2009 For the Schubert connoisseur, a rare treat in the highly stylized manner of the period.
PROKOFIEV: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 - Evgeny Kissin, piano/ Philharmonia Orchestra/Vladimir Ashkenazy - EMI Published on May 05, 2009 The variety in dynamic range, slowly built up and down, is spectacular, and the control breathtaking.
WALTON: Cello Concerto; Passacaglia; BLOCH: Suite No. 1; LIGETI: Sonata; BRITTEN: Ciaccona from Cello Suite no. 2 – Pieter Wispelwey, cello – Onyx Published on May 02, 2009 A fine reading of the Walton by a masterly cellist.
YEHUDI WYNER: Piano Concerto, “Chiavi in Mano”; Cello Concerto, “Prologue and Narrative”; Lyric Harmony; Epilogue: In memory of Jacob Druckman – R. Levin, piano/ M. Hornung, cello/ BSO/ Robert Spano/ Odense Sym./ Fest. Orch. Boston/Susan Wyner - Bridge Published on May 02, 2009 A wonderful disc of music by a composer that we need to hear.
ROBERT HELPS: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2; Gossamer Noons; Quintet – Soloists/ U. of South Florida Sym./ Wm. Wiedrich - Albany Published on May 01, 2009 A worthy though difficult composer honored by his last scholastic association.
J.S. BACH: The Well-Tempered Clavier (complete) – Angela Hewitt, piano – Hyperion Published on May 01, 2009 A repeat so soon, and well worth the effort.

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