Blogger Musical (Beautiful Classical Music): octubre 2011

Rosetti · Concertos for Two Horns · Notturno for 2 flutes, 2 horns & Strings

Klaus Wallendorf and Sarah Willis are members of the Berlin Philharmonic, and they play this technically difficult music with aplomb, teamwork, and sympathy. These are not "authentic" performances – modern valved horns are used by Wallendorf and Willis - but this hardly takes away from their achievement. The accompaniments by Moesus and the Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic are lively and well-nourished. Nice sound too, thanks to Bavarian Radio. --classical.net

Fluid, elegant, and lyric, violinist Kyung Wha Chung was the first Western-style classical virtuoso to emerge from Korea. Her musical career began at the age of three. Her fame in the seventies and eighties was at the top level. Chung later extended her repertoire in her interpretations of Romantic, Modern music, Baroque and Mozart.

A celebrated bassoonist and flutist in late seventeenth century France, François Devienne is remembered now for the several concertos he wrote for his own performance, although he also wrote a dozen operas and many chamber works.

Alessandro Scarlatti was among the most important Italian composers of opera from the late Baroque period. He is credited with establishing the Neapolitan school of opera in the eighteenth century, rapidly improving the predominantly provincial state of music in Naples into a sophisticated and enduring tradition. He composed over 600 cantatas, more than 100 operas, many oratorios, serenatas, sonatas, and other instrumental pieces.

"The style is international pastel: quiet, tonal, cool. Yoshimatsu’s concerto is delicately melodic and playful. Strongest are the elegiac And Birds Are Still, and While an Angel Falls into a Doze..., with Pärt-like textures..." --BBC Music Magazine

"It makes one happy to know that the musical tradition of the bohemian Benda family continues without interruption until nowadays. A quality of execution more than excellent. The orchestra's vivacity in the first and last movements and its perfect soloists are exalting in the best way these symphonies." --CD Classica

Find Vol.1

All three works here date from the early 1780s and clearly demonstrate that there is more to this period than Mozart. The highlight of the disc is the double horn concerto, which is performed superbly. Dieter Klocker’s playing is brilliantly efficient but rather charmless. --BBC Music Magazine

This is a perfect example of "opposites attract," with the coolly elegant Pierre Entremont paired with the passionate Leonard Bernstein, but instead of clashing, these two complement and play off one another rather well. In terms of sheer sex appeal, this performance threatens to go off the charts, with Entremont's crystalline passagework in the first movement glimmering against Lenny's darkly smoldering New York strings.

“Tureck's artistry is without question extremely compelling...she makes a strong case for Bach played on the piano” --Fanfare

“Consummate artistry...She makes us feel that Bach's keyboard music could be played in no other way than this--the hallmark of a great artist” --Penguin Guide

The revamped digital transfers enable Karajan’s irresistibly virtuosic performances of these Liszt tone poems (some, like Mazeppa . . . are by no means as familiar as they deserve to be) and other orchestral works . . . to register with an impact and brilliance unimaginable on the basis of the original LP releases. Les préludes, of course, was a longstanding Karajan staple; this stunning 1968 account is almost certainly definitive, and nor will you hear any finer versions of the [Rhapsody] included here. These are vintage Karajan offerings, and brightly lit, richly detailed remasterings . . . -- Michael Jameson, BBC Music Magazine [reviewing the Liszt recordings]

"The St James's players respond well; articulation is crisp and accurate, the sound well balanced, and vibrato all but eliminated. Above all there is some spectacular trumpet playing, and the skeletal continuo indications have been realized with imagination and restraint. The result is an enjoyable and undemanding sequence of pieces." --IF. Gramophone

Volume 3 of Telemann’s Complete Violin Concertos is performed by The Wallfisch Band; a band which consists of Elisabeth’s friends and students.

“...this is the third instalment of a very fine series. The best work is the Concerto in D, which has movement titles like Badinage and is wonderfully inventive...Wallfisch is joined by Susan Carpenter-Jacobs for some very elegant duetting.” --The Guardian ****

"A superb interpretation full of dignity and an exemplary level of execution. Christian Benda imposes a perfect metrical elocution, a wonderfully realized counterpoint of timbres and a crystal clear profile of phrases as well as of every musical element of the composition. He leads his orchestra without compromising its freshness, spontaneity and vivacity. A recording bringing out the luminous and concrete intelligence of this interpretation with a sonority as brilliant as diamonds." --CD Classica

The lyric charm of these two lamenting trios is all-encompassing of Romantic Russian chamber music, and is reflected in the empathy of the performances by this outstanding Russian trio. Glinka's Trio was originally scored for clarinet, bassoon and piano, but--especially in Russia--the music is more often heard in this version.

Few musicians have attained the popularity and fame that the flutist James Galway has achieved during his extraordinary career. With frequent appearances on television, Galway popularized the flute beyond all expectations. But beneath the surface of James Galway the charming, glib man with the Golden Flute, lies a musician of extraordinary talent and intensity.

The disc is Galway's tribute to his predecessor, the great Jean-Pierre Rampal

A collection of beautiful melodies arranged for cello and guitar

“…the chemistry between Wang and Söllscher producing performances that are extremely polished but spontaneous in this intimately recorded programme.” --BBC Music Magazine ****

“The works are well chosen, sensitively arranged and tastefully ordered. More importantly, though, the playing is exquisite. Rarely have I heard Wang so beautifully restrained; rarely have I heard Söllscher so naturally expressive.” --Gramophone

“[Elizabeth Wallfisch] fills Telemann’s music with life and breath, supported by the L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra with brilliance and temperament. Michi Gaigg has yet again taken up the position of concert master, having left the direction to Wallfisch Together with her musicians she sweeps through the fast movements like a storm and performs the slow movements with incomparable expression, now and again in deep contemplation with Wallfisch’s violin a breath soaring high.” --Concerto - Das Magazin für Alte Musik

This CD presents an enjoyable selection of music by Fasch and Pachelbel.

Featuring Maurice André, Pierre Pierlot, Jacques Chambon, Jean-François Paillard & Orchestre de Chambre Jean-François Paillard

'These are delightful works played with a persuasively affectionate period-instrument style, with a felicitous lead from the nimble and gently expressive flautist, Carlo Ipata. Hyperion do the players proud in their debut recording; we shall surely hear more of them' --Gramophone

'I was pleasantly surprised with this disc. The music is typical Boccherini, charming and with a certain amount of energy…but the performances by Auser Musici flow beautifully. They have both inner energy and a smile' --Fanfare, USA

This Naxos recording is well played by excellent forces. In fact, each of the concertantes is a good three minutes shorter, which makes for a livelier performance. The young Norwegian soloists and orchestra are quite competent.

The Naxos has the lower price and the better performances. --American Record Guide

"Geoffrey Tozer plays well in the delightful short, one movement, Piano Concerto and achieves a good partnership with the Bergen orchestra... The third symphony, although a mature work, is rather academic in feeling and lacks rhythmic excitement... Chandos have achieved a good clear sound on these recordings." --musicweb-international.com

'Both composers are served extremely well on this beautifully recorded disc, Hagai Shaham and Arnon Erez in particular giving a totally convincing performance of Bloch's well-known Baal Shem … The overall impact is all the more powerful for the sure sense of pacing both artists demonstrate through the recital' --BBC Music Magazine

A tireless seeker of unfairly neglected works, Katsaris here offers an original programme on disc. This brings together for the first time five of the most beautiful concertos of the Bach family: Johann Sebastian, the famous father, and his sons: Wilhelm Friedemann, Johann Christian, Johann Christoph Friedrich and Carl Philipp Emanuel. Cyprien is here accompanied by the Echternach Festival Chamber Orchestra under the baton of the Korean Conductor Yoon K. Lee. The pianist’s personal, disciplined approach carries the hallmark of a meticulous, inquisitive musical interpreter whose familiarity with this repertoire renders any philological squabbling irrelevant. He allows his inspiration free rein in these works, whence emerges their entire evolution, from Johann Sebastian’s rigorous polyphony to Wilhelm Friedemann’s pre-romantic development to Carl Philipp Emanuel’s robust theatricality.

'Each of the four movements is firmly and satisfyingly shaped, detail and phrasing always nicely judged. Haitink finds more light and shade than many interpreters do, effectively pointing the expressive and textural extremes ... the orchestra plays superbly for him throughout. Though it's best to hear the disc on an SACD system, the sound is also excellent on a standard two-channel CD player.' -- BBC Music Magazine

"In this, the first disc in a series covering the violin concertos of Telemann (of which there are twenty), we have cause for rejoicing. These performances are so fine, and this music so appealing and elegant, that I immediately listened to the entire disc through a second time…. rare praise indeed" --MusicWeb International

“…superb performances of lesser-known Prokofiev works. Neeme Järvi understands the drama of Prokofiev's music, as is evident in his celebrated cycle of the symphonies, and here he conducts by some margin the most convincing account of Prokofiev's final choral work, On Guard for Peace.” --BBC Music Magazine

Robert Fuchs (1847–1927) is best known today as the composition teacher of Mahler, Sibelius, Enesco, Korngold, Schreker, Zemlinsky, and just about everyone else who happened to be at the Vienna Conservatory from the late 19th century onward. As a composer he earned the respect of Brahms, probably because Brahms didn’t feel threatened by him, and was totally forgotten after his death. During his lifetime he was best known for his string serenades, two of which feature on this recording, along with the late (and quite substantial) Andante and Capriccio Op. 63.

There is absolutely nothing here to criticize. The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra is one of the premier ensembles of its type, and it performs this music on top form. Locatelli's Op. 1 is nicely varied as to content, particularly in this selection. Only one concerto (No. 7) follows Vivaldi's three-movement "Venetian" form; the remainder are modeled on Corelli's concerti grossi and have four or five movements apiece. Locatelli's "sarabandas" are particularly lovely, and they are enhanced by the characterfully varied treatment of the continuo throughout these performances.

After struggling to complete his first symphony, Brahms composed his Symphony No 2 with ease and the work overflows with a relaxed, pastoral beauty. His Double Concerto is laced with a fiery gypsy passion and pitches violin and cello against orchestra.

Editor's Choice --Gramophone

CD of the Week --Classic FM

Lovers of the classical guitar have a new hero in the young Montenegran Milos Karadaglic, whose artistry is so compelling that it should win many new admirers . . The playing is lithe, subtle of timbre and transcendentally beautiful.

. . . there are masterpieces here: classic arrangements of piano pieces from Albéniz's "Suite espagnola" and Granados's "Danzas espagnolas", dazzlingly played, and works by the contemporary composers Carlo Domeniconi and Mikis Theodorakis that emphasise the Islamic influence on this essentially Mediterranean music. --Record Review

Rogé and Juillet make a splendid duo, united in the refinement of their playing, producing all the subtle gradations of tone, volume and rhythm that allow Ravel, the fastidious musical colorist, to emerge with shining clarity.

Gramophone [Awards 1997]

"...Eduardo Fernandez successfully navigates the fine line between virtuosity and musicality, achieving a perfect blend of the two, bringing new life to this beautiful and captivating work, with all its intensity, energy, and light and shade, perhaps interpreting it as Albéniz originally intended... Enjoy!" M.A.de la Ossa

“This compilation of highlights from Anna Netrebko's Metropolitan Opera roles makes a distinctive introduction to her talents...it's her solo aria from Roméo & Juliette that proves one of the stand-out performances here, the other being a dazzling showstopper from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, "Il dolce suono", which has the audience justly bawling its acclaim.” --The Independent

“They show Netrebko’s chameleon-like ability to alter her timbre according to repertoire: the ethereal, Sutherland-like soprano in Donizetti and Bellini is unrecognisable as the singer who delivers a hard-edged, glinting Natasha in Prokofiev’s War and Peace.” --The Times

The famous Borodin Trio made many superb recordings for Chandos over the years, and is especially famous for its interpretation of Russian music. This disc of Rachmaninov's piano trios is a particularly fine example of the Trio's unique performance skills.

“Despite doing without any of his most popular pieces, this third instalment of Sarasate's music for violin and orchestra makes a most attractive programme...Yang is splendidly equipped as a Sarasate violinst, with her clear tone, pure intonation, impressive dexterity and light touch...[Her] playing is consistently lovely, capturing an essential part of the music's spirit” --Gramophone

“For its combination of unique orchestral size and recording quality, and overall Werktreu-ness, this new performance sits easily alongside, maybe even slightly ahead of, the other authentic contenders.” --Gramophone

“'Fantastique' indeed as the symphony has all its original colours via the stunning period instruments of Anima Eterna” -- Classic FM

'An hour of pure joy' --BBC Music Magazine

'Again and again while listening to Thierry Fischer's ebullient performances I smile and wish that I had met Jean Françaix' --Gramophone

'The Ulster Orchestra sound captivated by this music, as well they might … pure pleasure from beginning to end' --International Record Review

Digital Sound Of The Future
Denon
90

“…perhaps the most notable feature of these performances is their refusal to undermine the characterful in pursuit of the sensational. The Marche slave, for instance, is resonant and resolute but what you really come away humming are the fife and drum effects and brilliant trumpetings of the orchestration. The 1812 catches one off-guard straight away with its unusually "vocal" phrasing of the old Russian prayer at the outset and throughout the performance the song quotations sound "sung". Tempo (blistering) rather than trenchancy defines the main Allegro with the Marseillaise sounding unusually corny (deliberate?) in the trumpets. Tchaikovsky, though, is most evidently (and gloriously) Tchaikovsky in the Moscow Cantata. A vintage melody turns the first page of Russian history, illuminating it in that inimitable Tchaikovskian way.” -- Gramophone

Ilya Gringolts goes his own way, turning in performances of swaggering individuality and abundant fantasy. ... each gesture appears as the product of deep reflection in an art that conceals art ... Gringolts comes out punching in the First Partita's Allemande, his jaunty swiftness producing an almost immediate knockout. His breathless Tempo di borea and jazzy ornamentation in its Double might establish him as a simple speed demon if it weren't for phrasing that reveals in cascades of notes profoundly moving and fascinatingly geometrical patterns. ... Obligatory for listeners, it imposes a corresponding obligation on him: He should finish the set while his muse still sings in his ear. --Fanfare, Record Review

16th century dances, tientos & chansons by Cabezón, Mudarra, Josquin, Narváez, Crequillon, et al., transcribed by Luis Venegas de Henestrosa (c.1510-70)

In this fascinating glimpse of the musical life at the court of Charles V, Andrew Lawrence-King and members of The Harp Consort recreate the intricate Spanish “art of improvisation” documented by Luis Venegas de Henestrosa (c. 1510–1570) in his Libro de cifra nueva (1557) — a sophisticated collection of Spanish romances, French chansons, popular dances and polyphonic fantasias, which Henestrosa transcribed for harp, keyboards, and vihuela.

To live and work artistically in most German states during the period when Louis XIV reigned in France meant being at least knowledgeable about all matters French. Many German courts assiduously copied the Sun King’s sense of style; and a visit to many Baroque museums throughout modern Germany is a small education in French culture of the period. So it’s not that surprising that Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (1656–1746) chose to publish a series of eight orchestral suites in the French manner, while working as Hopfkapellmeister to Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm of Baden-Baden. The Margrave’s court was artistically cosmopolitan and sophisticated, and the Margrave himself was a Francophile, despite spending much of his distinguished soldiering career ironically serving against France.

"David Plantier responds to the demands: multiple stoppings, breathless moto perpetuo, and some huge splashes of sound at cadences." -- BBC Music magazine

Johann Jakob Walther, not to be confused with organist Johann Gottfried Walther, was a violinist and composer of the late seventeenth century who worked in the city of Mainz in southwestern Germany. Both Walthers influenced Bach; the publication called Hortulus Chelicus (Garden of the Lyre) excerpted here exemplified the tradition of violin virtuosity on which Bach drew in his unaccompanied sonatas and partitas.

'polished playing and finely judged phrasing made everything fall into place' -- The Independent

Bernard Haitink follows his critically acclaimed recording of Brahms's Second Symphony, released on LSO Live in January 2004, with an extraordinary account of Brahms's Symphony No 1.

Lerner Süller
Audiophile Sample (MP3 320 kbps ABR)

Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, Stephane Grappellini & Others

Download here: Classic Jazz MP3

“Holmboe the concerto writer had a very different agenda from Holmboe the symphonist, and nowhere does that become more apparent than in Chamber Concerto No 8 (1945), subtitled Sinfoniaconcertante, a splendid work that's a direct precursor of the magnificent First Chamber Symphony (1953). Owain Arwel Hughes underscores the music's internal cohesion and plays down the Hindemithian overtones. No 10 (1945-6) is a bracing early example of Holmboe's metamorphosis technique, its nine sections acting like variations within a traditional concerto format: the sections in pairs respectively form an introduction and three 'movements', with the last acting as coda.

Except for one "previously unreleased" recording and two new ones, this is a compilation of segments taken from older Yo-Yo Ma CDs, perhaps to whet listeners' appetite to hear the entire records. The disc represents a triumph of performance over material. The program consists of short pieces and single movements of long ones and serves to display Yo-Yo Ma's extraordinary versatility, his spectacular instrumental and musical gifts, and his remarkable ability to invest everything he plays with the same commitment and emotional concentration.

Serene classical music for a peaceful mind

Includes music by J.S. Bach · Mozart · Beethoven · Grieg · Saint-Saëns · Mahler · Brahms · Chopin · Mussorgsky · Pachelbel · Tchaikovsky · Dvorak · Liszt · Albinoni

Páginas

ACTA es la guillotina de Internet