CD Reviews

Recording round up

June 25, 2010

Two innovative new releases highlight the course of classical music in the 21st Century: Cortical Songs (Nonclassical) by the duo John Matthias and Nick Ryan and Provenance (Innova) cellist, Maya Beiser’s new album. Both albums underscore a growing desire by musicians and composers to avoid confining forms, formats, and labels. Both releases come right up [...]

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Recording round up: Seattle Symphony, Ehnes, and the Prism Quartet

April 10, 2010

A number of notable albums have landed on shelves over the past few months. A number of them with local connections. Leading the bunch are two William Schuman releases from Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony. Schwarz and the local orchestra have been slowly recording all of William Schuman’s published symphonies and assorted orchestral pieces [...]

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Recording round up

November 27, 2009

It has been a busy fall for live performances and equally busy for new, recommendable album releases.  A survey of some of the best, new recordings is overdue. One of the most notable releases, is the San Francisco Symphony’s recording of Gustav Mahler’s 8th Symphony. It is hard to get this piece to sound right [...]

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Recording round up

September 21, 2009

Peter Breiner, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; Janacek Orchestral Suites from the Operas Vol. 3 (Naxos) **** I am a fan of volume I and II in this series of orchestral suites drawn from Janacek’s various operas. Peter Breiner is both an able composer and conductor. He has produced a number of successful orchestrations and arrangements [...]

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The Rachmaninov piano (and Zenph Studios) plays Rachmaninov

September 16, 2009

Sony is set to release a Sergei Rachmaninov re-performance recording. This is the third re-performance album made possible because of the partnership Zenph Studios and Sony. Zenph Studios’s technology examines historic performances, reproduces them, and turns them into digital files that are then sent to a player piano. In the case of the upcoming Rachmaninov [...]

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Jennifer Larmore plumbs the depths of royal tragedies in brilliant recording

August 4, 2009

Jennifer Larmore has a gorgeous voice that she displays to wonderful effect in “Royal Mezzo,” an album released last year by Cedille Records. Containing secular cantatas by Barber, Berlioz, Ravel, and Britten, this recording is a treasure trove for Larmore, who soars to highest peaks and dives to the uttermost depths in each piece. In [...]

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Recording round up

August 4, 2009

Neeme Jarvi, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Boris Berman and Horacio Gutierrez (piano); Sergey Prokofiev Piano Concertos 1-5 *** Neeme Jarvi and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra recorded Prokofiev’s five piano concertos between 1989 and 1990. For the recording, Jarvi and the orchestra are joined by Boris Berman in Nr. 1, 4, and 5 and Horacio Gutierrez in [...]

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Recording round up

June 14, 2009

Gerard Schwarz, Seattle Symphony; Mahler: Symphony Nr. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand” (Self Release) *** Mahler’s Symphony Nr. 8 is an oversized piece of music.  This is apparent to anyone who hears a recording of this symphony.  Even more so when you see the piece performed live.  Hundreds (not thousands) of musicians, soloists, and singers [...]

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Recording round up

May 6, 2009

David Zinman, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra; Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 5 (RCA) *** The current release in the Tonhalle’s Mahler cycle is curious.  On the one hand, it is a no-nonsense performance of perhaps Mahler’s most popular symphony.  There is tension and drama but its not overdone.  The SACD recording quality is splendid.  But, on the [...]

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