http://www.audaud.com DVD Reviews, CD Reviews, SACD Reviews - Audiophile Audition en-us http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7110 Tomasz Stanko Quintet -  Dark Eyes - ECM B0013957-02, 61:42 *****: (Tomasz Stanko, trumpet; Alexi Tuomarila, piano; Jakob Bro, guitar; Anders Christensen, bass; Olavi Louhivuori, drums) The opening seconds of ECM’s latest release from Tomasz Stanko command attention. It is clearly a moment that demands you sit up and listen closely, because a feeling so intense and profound could easily be broken by the slightest distraction. Dark Eyes is a special kind of album and emotional experience. ... 03/13/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7109 "Hendrix" - Valleys of Neptune - Jimi Hendrix, guitar; Noel Redding, bass; Billy Cox, bass; Mitch Mitchell, drums; Rocky Isaac, drums - Sony Legacy, 62 minutes ****1/2: The new Jimi Hendrix album—I’ve never written those words before—is probably the best of his posthumous releases. It contains twelve tracks of never-before-released tunes and alternate takes on previously-released material. The music has the feel of completion, far more so than his other posthumous albums like Cry of L... 03/13/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7108 “Voyage à Paris” - POULENC: Improvisations Nos. 13 & 15; DEBUSSY: Minstrels; The Sunken Cathedral, Fireworks; FRANCK: Prélude, Choral et Fugue; RAVEL: Gaspard de la Nuit suite; MESSIAEN: Regard de l’Esprit de joie - Greg McCallum piano - MSR Classics MS 1233, 72:01 [Distr. by Albany] ****: A very nice idea for turning a recital of 19th and 20th century piano music into a concept album. The two little Poulenc pieces are seldom heard and epitomize a sort of Parisian mood. The three Debussy se... 03/13/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7107 SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47; 3 Humoresques from Op. 87 and Op. 89; PROKOFIEV: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 19 - Vilde Frang, violin/WDR Sinfonieorchester Koeln/Thomas Sondergard - EMI  6 84413 2, 63:56 ****: A phone call from Jacob Harnoy of Doremi records alerted me to attend to Norwegian violin sensation Vilde Frang (b. 1986), a recipient of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation scholarship and winner of the Norwegian State Prize. This collaboration with conductor T... 03/13/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7106 Air Force One, Blu-ray (1997) Starring: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, William H. Macy, Glenn Close, Dean Stockwell   Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen Studio: Columbia Pictures Video: 2.40:1 anamorphic/enhanced 1080p HD Audio: English or French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Subtitles: English SDH, English, French Special Features: Director’s commentary; preview trailers; BD-Live Running Time: 124 minutes Movie Rating: ****          Video Rating: **** ... 03/13/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7105 Ralph Bowen - Due Reverence - Posi-Tone PR8061, 42:18 ****: (Ralph Bowen, tenor sax; Sean Jones, trumpet; Adam Rogers, guitar; John Patitucci, bass; Antonio Sanchez, drums) Following on the heels of last summer's Dedicated, Ralph Bowen is back with another CD honoring more of his musical influences. Bowen was a member, along with Kenny Garrett and Ralph Peterson, of the young lion Blue Note 1980s group, Out of the Blue. Bowen has gone on to record four Criss Cross label CDs and this is his sec... 03/13/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7104 3D Movies Showing Up Some Viewers’ Problems - People across the country are packing movie theaters to see Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and other new 3D movies, but some with less-than-perfect vision in both eyes are leaving with headaches, nausea, blurred vision or dizziness. Even a small misalignment of clear vision in both eyes can cause discomfort, according to opthalmologists. If you cannot see with both eyes simultaneously, the 3D movie can fall flat. Many people are unaware they have anythi... 03/12/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7103 Postwar Sounds, Switzerland – ROLF LIEBERMANN: Furioso; RICHARD STRAUSS: Metamorphosen; ARTHUR HONEGGER: Symphony No. 3 (Symphonie liturgique) – Philharmonisches Orchester Lübeck/ Roman Brogli-Sacher – Musicaphon multichannel SACD [Distr. by Qualiton] 69:02 **1/2: This is a pretty intriguing program as long as you don’t require musical feng shui, because the late-Romantic outpourings of Metamorphosen clash with the resolutely modernist bookends by Liebermann and Honegger. Inclusion of another S... 03/11/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7102 Gary Peacock, bass & Marc Copland, piano – Insight – Pirouet PIT3041, 58:26 ***1/2: On their second duet release, Insight, bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marc Copland consistently and confidently support each other like the old friends they are: they have worked together for nearly 20 years, although most often in a trio setting. In fact this material was put on tape in 2005 and 2007 when Peacock was involved in Copland’s trio. Peacock is no stranger to acoustic pianists: he has recorded ... 03/11/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7101 ANTON REICHA: Woodwind Quintets, Volume 10 – Quintet in F Major, Op. 100, No. 1; Quintet in D Minor, Op. 100, No. 2 – Westwood Wind Quintet – Crystal Records CD 270, 73:06 ***:An exact contemporary and friend of Beethoven, Bohemian composer Anton Reicha lived and worked in a number of cities including Hamburg and Vienna before settling in Paris. He became a French citizen in 1829 and was honored as chevalier de la légion d’honneur. As a teacher at the Paris Conservatory, he taught counterpoint t... 03/11/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7100 THOMSON: The Mother of US ALL--Suite; BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73; CHABRIER: Joyeuse Marche - New York Philharmonic/Leopold Stokowski Pristine Audio PASC215, 57:29 [avail. as different download formats at www.pristine classical.com] ****: Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) leads a radio broadcast of the New York Philharmonic (2 April 1950), a Sunday concert that includes the debut of Virgil Thomson’s three-movement suite from his opera The Mother of Us All, after a libretto by Gertrud... 03/11/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7099 HAYDN: String Quartet in D Minor Op. 76 No. 2 (“Fifths”); String Quartet in C Major Op. 76 No. 3 (“Emperor”); String Quartet in B Major Op. 76 No. 4 (“Sunrise”) – Gewandhaus-Quartett – NCA multichannel SACD 60148-210, 70:45 [Distr. by Naxos] ***: Like the named symphonies of Haydn, the named string quartets get all the air time. And while it’s a very good idea to go off the beaten track and explore the treasures among all those mere “numbers,” there’s no denying that the three quartets on this ... 03/10/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7098 HANDEL: Trio Sonatas Op. 2 and 5 - Academy of Ancient Music/ Richard Egarr - Harmonia mundi HMU 907467.68 (2 CDs), TT 142:00 *****: Handel studied the music of Corelli quite carefully while he was in Rome, adopting the older composer's four-movement 'sonata da chiesa' structure as his model for most of his instrumental music. The Op. 2 trio sonatas were probably all composed prior to 1720 and almost all of them conform to the slow-fast-slow-fast Corellian model. The single exception is Op. 2 No... 03/10/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7097 CARL MARIA VON WEBER: Clarinet Quintet in B Major Op. 34; SIGISMUND NEUKOMM: Clarinet Quintet in B Major Op. 8 – Eric Hoeprich, clarinet/ Ensemble Les Adieux – NCA multichannel SACD 61070, 54:24 [Distr. by Naxos] ****1/2: An interesting program for sure: here we have two quintets, one at the heart of the clarinet repertoire, and one that is surely unknown even by many professional clarinetists. The Weber is high-spirited and filled with the kind of musical high jinks that makes clarinetists’ ... 03/10/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7096 BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral” - Christiane Oelze, soprano/Petra Lang, alto/Klaus Florian Vogt, tenor/Matthias Goerne, baritone/Deutsche Kammerchor/The Deutschephilharmonie Bremen/Paavo Jarvi RCA multichannel SACD 88697576062, 63:55 ****:Extending his Beethoven cycle to the Ninth Symphony (rec. 22-26 August 2008 and 20-22 December 2008), Paavo Jarvi embraces the original metronome marks for this inscription, placing him among those conductors--like David Zinman and Nikol... 03/10/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7095 MOZART: Four Preludes and Fugues from String Trio Arrangements (after Bach), K. 404a; Divertimento for String Trio in E-flat Major, K. 563 - The Pasquier Trio Music&Arts CD-1233, 66:20 [Distr. by Albany] ****: Recent scholarship calls into question the authorship of the six three-part fugues arranged for string trio, presumably by Mozart. Whether they must be attributed to Haydn or to Albrechtsberger may ultimately remain a pedant’s or a purist’s question. The Pasquier Trio (estab. 1927) t... 03/09/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7094 Sony Introduces 3D-Compatible AV Receivers - Sony has announced its first AV receivers capable of supporting 3D audio and video. They feature HDMI 1.4 3D pass-thru technology, hi-def connectivity, and compatibility with all the latest Blu-ray audio formats - offering a simple solution to control any hi-def or 3D-capable home theater.  The 7.1-channel STR-DN1010AV receiver has 110 watts power per channel @8 Ohms, full 1080/24p support, four HDMI inputs and three component inputs. It passes 3... 03/09/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7093 Michael Treni Big Band - Turnaround - The Bell Production Co. (2009) DualDisc set: DVD Video (16:9 color) + CD Audio [www.bellproductionco.com] ****: (Soloists incl. Jerry Bergonzi, tenor sax; Vinnie Cutro, trumpet; Frank Elmo, soprano sax; Dave Gibson, trombone; Gerry Niewood, alto sax; Charles Blenzig, piano) Big bands have had a big struggle the last few decades, and the current economic situation makes it even worse. Fans of big band should be thankful for the stream of good recordings tha... 03/08/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7092 Dan Dean – 251 – Origin 82552, 77:57 ****: (Dan Dean – bass, producer, mixer; George Duke – piano (tracks 4, 7); Larry Goldings – Hammond B3 organ (tracks 2, 6, 8, 10); Gil Goldstein – piano, accordion (tracks 3, 9); Kenny Werner – piano (tracks 1, 5, 11) Electric bassist Dan Dean might not be well known by general jazz fans but he has extensive credits as a sideman for Ernie Watts, Diane Schuur and others; has contributed to television and film music; and is a music educator and an author of ... 03/08/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7091 "Peiwoh" - Arianna Savall (vocal, triple harp, gothic harp, celtic harp)/ Petter Johansen (vocal)/ Ferran Savall (vocal and theorb)/ Javier Mas (12-string guitar and lute)/ Mario Mas (guitar)/ Bjørn Kjellemyr (double bass)/ Dimitri Psonis (santur, bouzuki)/ and Pedro Estevan and David Mayoral (percussions) - Alia Vox 9869 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] *****: In Los Angeles you know that someone’s fallen in love when they take you for a ride and gush over something they’ve just heard.... 03/07/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7090 SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60 “Leningrad” - NBC Symphony Orchestra/Arturo Toscanini
 Opus Kura OPK 7050, 72:15 [Distr. by Albany] ****: Opus Kura restores the 19 July 1942 radio premier broadcast of the Shostakovich Seventh Symphony by the NBC Symphony and Arturo Toscanini, a cause celebre in its own time.  Both a piece of political propaganda and a dark testament to Shostakovich’s ongoing personal turmoil with variations on totalitarianism from within and without,... 03/07/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7089 Beecham in Seattle =  WAGNER: Prelude, Act III Die Meistersinger; Prelude Act I; Overture to The Flying Dutchman; ELGAR: Enigma Variations, Op. 36; Serenade in E Minor for Strings, Op. 20: Largo; DELIUS: On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring - Seattle Symphony Orchestra/Sir Thomas Beecham Pristine Audio PASC212, 67:00 [avail. in various formats from www.pristineclassical.com] ****: "I was informed there was an emergency, so I emerged..." With his typical relish for the bon mot, ... 03/07/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7088 The Fourth Kind, Blu-ray (2010) Starring: Mila Jovovich, Will Patton, Corey Johnson Studio: Universal 61111406 [3/16/10] Video: 2:35 anamorphic/enhanced 1080p HD Audio: English & Sumarian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DD 2.0, French & Spanish DTS 5.1 Extras: Deleted scenes, Pocket BLU, BD Live interactive features, D-Box motion enabled Length: 1 hour 38 minutes Rating: ***½ One of the online user comments about this feature, which was in theaters in November, asked “Where is Fox Mulde... 03/07/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7087 CLAUDE BOLLING: Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio (1975/2004) Performers: Claude Bolling, composer & pianist/Jean-Pierre Rampal/Marcel Sabiani/ Max Hediquer Studio: Editions Bleu Marine/Frémeaux & Associés FA4003 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] Video: 4:3 color Audio: French DD stereo Subtitles: French, English Length: 40:30 Rating: ***½ This was the first collaboration of top classical flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and jazzman Claude Bolling, and its success led to a whole series of s... 03/07/2010 http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=7086 Baltic Exchange = UGIS PRAULINS: Missa Rigensis; Laudibus in sanctis; MAIJA EINFELDE: A Cycle of Fricis Barda Poems; URMAS SISASK: Benedictio; VYTAUTAS MISKINIS: Angelis suis Deus; Pater noster – Choir of Trinity College Cambridge/ Stephen Layton, conductor – Hyperion 67747, 67:43 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****: Hyperion continues to astound by coming up with unknown and eminently-listenable music from various parts of the world. On this disc the wonderful Stephen Layton presents us with mus... 03/05/2010