Main
gauche 
Jean Dubé (piano) rec. 2011
BNL 112969 [75:38] [BR]
Great
transcriptions, great programme; I just wish someone else had played
it.
La
Musique de la Chasse Royale: Muzyka Królewskich
Lowów
Jean Joseph MOURET (1682-1738)
Luigi CHERUBINI (1760-1842)
Henry PURCELL (1659-1695)
Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826)
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767)
Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
Jacek
Smoczynski (hunting horn) Quartetto da caccia rec. 2010 Booklet in Polish,
English, French and German
ACTE PRÉALABLE AP0218 [35:11] [BW]
Very
short playing time and too little information about the music, but a
magic and haunting experience.
PAR.TI.TA
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1760)
Partitas 2 & 3 Lera AUERBACH (b.
1973) par.ti.ta Eugène YSAŸE
(1858-1931) Sonata
Vadim Gluzman (violin) rec. 2011
BIS BIS-SACD-1972 
[78:24]
[DC]
A
recital to relish.
The
Era of Adelina Patti -
artists
born 1834–1865
Maurel, Plançon, Eames, Fugère, Patti, Viñas, Calvé , Renaud, De
Lucia, Tamagno, Melba, Litvinne, Hesch, Nordica , Ancona, De Reszke,
Sembrich, Marconi, Huguet, Pini-Corsi, Battistini, Lehmann, Santley
. rec. 1902 – 1928. AAD
NIMBUS PRIMA VOCE NI 7840/1 [62:16 + 58:01] [RMo]
A
wonderful survey of a vanished age, happily preserved, however, crudely,
for our delight.
Elisabeth
Rethberg
Acoustic and Electric Recordings
Elisabeth Rethberg (soprano) rec. 1924 – 1930.
NIMBUS PRIMA VOCE NI7903 [72:40] [RMo]
This
well-filled disc belongs in the collection of every lover of the soprano
voice.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Romantique
Arias by Donizetti, Gounod & Berlioz
Elina Garanča (mezzo) Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna/Yves
Abel rec. 2012
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 479 0071 [60:42] [GF]
Without
doubt a candidate for my Recording of the Year.
Russian
Composers around 1900 Alexander SCRIABIN
(1872-1915) Le Poème de l’Extase Nikolai
MIASKOVSKY (1881-1950) Symphony 21
Beethoven O Bonn/Stefan Blunier rec. 2011
MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM 9371761-6
[57:44] [SA]
Enjoyable
disc and if it is the first of a series then subsequent releases will
also be of interest.
Ernestine
Schumann-Heink
Acoustic and electric recordings
Ernestine Schumann-Heink (contralto) rec. 1906 – 1929
NIMBUS PRIMA VOCE NI7811 [73:02] [RMo]
Spectacularly
entertaining.
Di
Sheyne Milnerin -
Schubert’s cycle of love forlorn retold in Yiddish song
Mark Glanville (bass-baritone), Alexander Knapp (piano) rec. 2011. Sung
texts with English translations enclosed
NIMBUS ALLIANCE NI 6191 [61:35] [GF]
Fascinating.
Give it a try. Off the beaten track, but that’s where one often makes
the real discoveries.
Shine
and Shade:
English Twentieth Century Recorder Music Norman
FULTON (1909-1980), Edmund
RUBBRA (1901-1986), York
BOWEN (1884-1961), Lennox
BERKELEY (1903-1989), Edward
GREGSON (b.1945), Stephen
DODGSON (b.1924), Donald
SWANN (1923-1994)
Piers Adams (recorders); Julian Rhodes (piano) rec. 1993
RED PRIEST RP010 [69:47] [JF]
A pleasure and an honour to review this disc.
Spring
Sounds, Spring Seas James Nyoraku
SCHLEFER (b.1956) Haru No Umi Redux, Shakuhachi Concerto
Daron HAGEN (b.1961) Genji
James
Nyoraku Schlefer (shakuhachi) Yumi Kurosawa (koto) Orch of the Swan/Kenneth
Woods, David Curtis rec. 2011
MSR CLASSICS MS 1429 [64:24] [Byz]
Colourful
and lively … skilfully and tunefully blending Japanese and American
styles.
Street
Song
D. Ray McClellen (clarinet) Ellen Ritchey (soprano) Anatoly Sheludyakov
(piano) U Georgia Wind Ens/John P. Lynch rec. 2011
NAXOS 8.572917 [71:12] [WH]
An
interesting and varied programme expertly played by an ensemble of young
musicians.
Viola
Sonatas, Idylls and Bacchanals
CD 1 Sir John Blackwood McEWEN (1868–1948)
Sonata for viola and piano in A minor (1941) [19:45] Sir
Arnold BAX (1883–1953) Sonata for viola and piano
(1922) [22:29] Sir John Blackwood McEWEN
(1868–1948) Improvisations Provençales for violin and piano (1937)
[23:58] Breath o’ June for viola and piano (1913) [3:24] CD 2 Dame
Elizabeth MACONCHY (1907–1994) Sonata for viola and
piano (1938) [13:45] Gordon JACOB
(1895–1984) Sonatina for viola and piano (1949) [12:33] Alan
RAWSTHORNE (1905–1971) Sonata for viola and piano
(1937, revised 1953) [15:14] Robin MILFORD
(1903–1959) Four Pieces for viola and piano (1935) [8:17] Kenneth
LEIGHTON (1929–1988) Fantasia on the name of BACH
for viola and piano, Op. 29 (1955) [14:23]
Louise Williams (viola, violin) David Owen Norris (piano) rec. 2011/
12
EM RECORDS EMR CD007-008 [69:37 + 63:13] [MC]
English
music is again well served by this disc of music for viola and piano
from EM Records.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH The
Word Unspoken
Works by Byrd & De Monte
Gallicantus/Gabriel Crouch (baritone) rec. 2008-2011
SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD295 [69:17] [MG]
The
sheer beauty of Gallicantus’s singing is totally captivating.
OTHER
REVIEWS
Published
on the second Monday of the month.
Lennox
Berkeley and Friends: Writings, Letters and Interviews Edited
by Peter Dickinson, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge ISBN 978-1-84383-785-5
[JF]
This
book is essential reading for all enthusiasts of 20th century
music
Fiddler
on the Roof
Zero Mostel, Julia Migenes, Beatrice Arthur rec. 1964
SONY MASTERWORKS BROADWAY 88697499202 [49:54] [JW]
You
can hardly go wrong.
The
Golden Age of Light Music: Melody
Mixture rec. 1947-61
GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5197 [70:20] [JF]
Another
excellent light music CD from Guild.
The
Golden Age of Light Music: Light Music While You Work - Volume 4
rec. 1943-46
GUILD
LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5198 [78:25] [JF]
Guild,
please keep them coming!
An
Imperishable Heritage:
British Choral Music from Parry to Dyson A Study of selected works
Author: Stephen Town Publisher: Ashgate Press 327 pages hard bound ISBN:
9780754605362 (hardback) ISBN: 9781409448792 (e-book) [NB]
My
appreciation of the music discussed is increased and transformed and
for that I am forever in the debt of Stephen Town.
Lawrence
of Arabia
Peter
O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, David Lean (director) Maurice
Jarre (soundtrack) London PO/Sir Adrian Boult
SONY SBR12058UV 
[227:00] [IL]
The
new Blu-ray version of this classic film is well worth the outlay.
Mississippi
Belle:
Cole Porter in the Quarter
Daryl Sherman (vocals, piano) Jesse Boyd (bass) Tom Fischer (clarinet,
tenor sax) rec. 2011
AUDIOPHILE ACD-342 [49:30] [OL]
Affectionate
singing … Sherman clearly loves these songs.
Touched
Vocal arrangements of modern songs and madrigals
Calmus Ensemble rec. 2012
CARUS 83.379 [55:05] [JW]
I’m
afraid this just didn’t work for me.
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for alphabetical listings by composer:
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