CD and Book Reviews - my/maSCENA

Bruce Liu: Chopin (Deutsche Grammophon, 2021)

By Justin Bernard on 14 December 2021 CD and Book Reviews, Classical Music, Music Competition, Piano, Romantic

Bruce Liu: Chopin Bruce Liu, piano Deutsche Grammophon, 2021 Following his resounding victory at the 18th Chopin Competition last October, Montreal pianist Bruce Liu received honors from the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. It has released a live recording of some of its performances from the Philharmonic Concert Hall in Warsaw (Poland). The opportunity to live or relive this event that marked musical life on a planetary scale, in a world still struggling with the pandemic. It all begins with the Andante Spianato in G major in an interpretation full of grace and elegance. Bruce Liu creates a feeling of comfort…

George Frideric Handel: Messiah (Leaf Music, 2021)

By Justin Bernard on 13 December 2021 Baroque and Early, CD and Book Reviews, Chamber Music, Choral

George Frideric Handel: MessiahEnsemble Caprice, Ensemble Vocal Arts-Québec; Matthias Maute, conductor; Karina Gauvin, sopranoLeaf Music, 2021 The new recording by Ensemble Caprice jointly with the Ensemble vocal Arts-Québec, under the direction of Matthias Maute, was released on the Leaf Music label. A work by Jaap Nico Hamburger to start, one by Matthias Maute himself to conclude and, as a main course, several excerpts from Handel’s Messiah. The voice and voluptuous timbre of Karina Gauvin are first highlighted in Rejoice greatly, a piece full of lyricism and virtuosity. It is with these same assets that the singer then approaches I know…

CD Review: Reconnaissance: Robert & Clara Schumann

By Justin Bernard on 12 November 2021 CD and Book Reviews

Reconnaissance: Robert & Clara Schumann Jeanne Amièle, piano – 2021 (self-produced disc) ★★★★★ The pianist and teacher Jeanne Amièle is still at the beginning of her career. She has just released her first self-produced album. For a first try, what could be better than performing youthful works? Amièle chooses to draw on the repertoire of Robert and Clara Schumann. The title of the album, Reconnaissance, refers to the 14th movement of Carnival Op. 9, which, in the words of the pianist in her booklet notes, evokes two characters who discover their true identity behind their masks and see each other as…

CD Reviews: Bach: Goldberg Variations

By Wah Keung Chan on 12 November 2021 CD and Book Reviews

Bach: Goldberg Variations Sarah Hagen, piano ★★★★☆ The first thing one notices about Sarah Hagen’s self-produced recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations is the length of 1:41:42, which requires two CDs and is longer than Angela Hewitt’s 78-minute recording (Hyperion) from 2018, and much longer than Glenn Gould’s landmark 1955 recording or his final 1981 recording. Hewitt’s was played with repeats, while Gould’s 1955 was notoriously played without repeats and was considered too fast by Gould himself, whose last recording was more introspective. As a fan of Gould’s 1981 version, with his underlying humming, I was reminded of the breadth of…

CD Reviews: Retro Americana/Vintage Americana

By Justin Bernard on 12 November 2021 CD and Book Reviews

Retro Americana/Vintage Americana Christina Petrowska Quilico, piano – Navona Records NV6384 ★★★☆☆ The Canadian pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico has released two new albums dedicated to music in America in various genres. Hence their titles: Retro Americana and Vintage Americana. The first begins with a troubling atmosphere where the music moves like a disjointed puppet. It’s not square and fixed in form. The second track plunges us into a race that nothing can stop, the piano spinning as if toward infinity. Then comes a return to a quieter atmosphere, but also more frightening, with certain melodic features more assertive than in the previous…

CD Reviews: Oleg Kagan and Natalia Gutman Live

By Paul E. Robinson on 12 November 2021 CD and Book Reviews

Brahms: Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in A Minor Op. 102.* Shostakovich: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra No. 1 in E Flat Major Op. 107** Oleg Kagan, violin, Natalia Gutman, cello. State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR/Yevgeny Svetlanov.* Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra/Alexander Lazarev** DOREMI 2022 – ★★★★★ Natalia Gutman (1942-) and her husband, Oleg Kagan, (1946-1990) were among the foremost Soviet artists of their generation. Kagan was an Oistrakh student with an important career ahead of him when he died of cancer at age 43. Gutman made her U.S. debut in 1969 with Stokowski conducting. She rivalled Rostropovich for the…

CD Reviews: El Nour (Warner Classics)

By Paul E. Robinson on 12 November 2021 CD and Book Reviews

El Nour. Works by Ravel, Falla, Berlioz, Bizet, Obradors and others Fatma Said, soprano. Malcolm Martineau, piano. Rafael Aguirre, guitar and others Warner Classics 190295233464 – ★★★★1/2 The young Egyptian soprano Fatma Said has captured a lot of attention recently both as an opera singer and a recitalist. On the evidence of this recording, she has a light, attractive voice and a winning personality. What makes this CD exceptional is the freshness of its programming. Every song has a Middle Eastern connection starting with Ravel’s well-known Shéhérazade. But it has a novel touch. It is sung with piano accompaniment but with…

CD Review: Chamber Works by Dmitri Klebanov

By Arthur Kaptainis on 12 November 2021 CD and Book Reviews

Dmitri Klebanov: String Quartets Nos. 4 and 5; Piano Trio No. 2 ARC Ensemble (Erika Raum and Marie Bérard, violins; Steven Dann, viola; Thomas Wiebe, cello; Kevin Ahfat, piano) Chandos 20231 – ★★★★★ Dmitri Klebanov (1907-1987) was born and died in Kharkiv, the second city of Ukraine, where he was employed steadily enough at the local conservatory. He might seem a questionable candidate for the ARC Ensemble’s “Music in Exile” series on Chandos. In his substantial booklet note, ARC artistic director Simon Wynberg argues that Klebanov’s was a case of “internal exile” in the face of Stalinist censorship. At any rate,…

CD Review: New Jewish Music Vol. 3 – Azrieli Music Prizes (Analekta)

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 12 November 2021 CD and Book Reviews

New Jewish Music Vol. 3 – Azrieli Music Prizes Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano. Nouvel Ensemble Moderne/Lorraine Vaillancourt Analekta AN 2 9263 ★★★★☆ The Azrieli Foundation and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM) are joining forces again to deliver the crème de la crème of creativity in new Jewish music. Released on Analekta, New Jewish Music, Vol. 3 – Azrieli Music Prizes presents the works of the 2020 Azrieli Music Prize winners. Familiar with Jewish music or not, anyone listening to these three premieres will be transported to a fascinating musical crossroads where tradition and modernity resonate. Masterfully conducted by Lorraine Vaillancourt, the…

CD Review: Die Tote Stadt (Bayerische Staatsoper  Recordings)

By Paul E. Robinson on 12 November 2021 CD and Book Reviews

Korngold: Die Tote Stadt Jonas Kaufmann, Marlis Petersen. Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus/Kirill Petrenko Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings BSOREC2001 (Blue-ray disc). – ★★★★1/2 Erich Wolfgang Korngold composed his three-act opera Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City) in 1919 when he was only 23. It is a remarkable achievement for a man so young and it was a huge success at its premiere and immediately afterwards. The work is based on the 1892 novel Bruges-la-Morte by Georges Rodenbach. The libretto was written by the composer and his father, Julius. Die Tote Stadt is about Paul, a man who has recently lost his wife,…

Browsing: CD and Book Reviews

Bruce Liu: Chopin (Deutsche Grammophon, 2021)

George Frideric Handel: Messiah (Leaf Music, 2021)

CD Review: Reconnaissance: Robert & Clara Schumann

CD Reviews: Bach: Goldberg Variations

CD Reviews: Retro Americana/Vintage Americana

CD Reviews: Oleg Kagan and Natalia Gutman Live

CD Reviews: El Nour (Warner Classics)

CD Review: Chamber Works by Dmitri Klebanov

CD Review: New Jewish Music Vol. 3 – Azrieli Music Prizes (Analekta)

CD Review: Die Tote Stadt (Bayerische Staatsoper  Recordings)

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