CD and Book Reviews - my/maSCENA

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,…

Emily D'Angelo

CD Review: Enargeia (Deutsche Grammophon)

By Arthur Kaptainis on 12 November 2021 CD and Book Reviews

Enargeia Works by Hildegard von Bingen (arr. Mazzoli, Kirkland Snider), Hildur Gudnadóttir, Missy Mazzoli, Sarah Kirkland Snider. Emily D’Angelo, mezzo-soprano. Kuss Quartet. Das Freie Orchester Berlin/Jarkko Riihimäki. DG 4860536 – ★★★★1/2 Opera-loving insiders know Emily D’Angelo as a Toronto mezzo-soprano of exceptional lustre and promise. Deutsche Grammophon views her in this initial release (adorned with an irrelevant Greek title) as a platform for “challenging conventions and pushing boundaries,” which is, in 2021, about the safest profile imaginable. All the works are by women – imagine! – and most conform to the resonant and slow-moving aesthetic protocols of New Age. Strings resonate, electronics hum…

Photo: Julien Mignot

Round midnight: Dutilleux, Merlin, Schoenberg (Erato)

By Norman Lebrecht on 8 October 2021 CD and Book Reviews, Lebrecht Weekly

With the fadeout of two landmark string quartets – Germany’s Artemis in disarray and America’s Emersons to retirement – France’s Quatuor Ebène probably head the current list of the world’s best. Four crack musicians who play standing up and are forever pushing out boundaries, their album releases are always an event and often a surprise. This new recording pairs two nocturnal masterpieces – Henri Dutilleux’s Ainsi la Nuit and Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht. Dutilleux goes down the Bartok path of things that go squeak in the night. Schoenberg listens in to illicit lovers in the woods. Both works arouse fear…

CD Review : Lost and Found (Sanctuary Concerts)

By Justin Bernard on 8 October 2021 CD and Book Reviews

Lost and Found Blackwood (Jeff Reilly, bass clarinet; Peter-Antony Togni, piano) Sanctuary Concerts SCCD 006 ★★★★✩ They have been collaborating as musicians for more than 20 years, but this is the first time that pianist Peter-Anthony Togni and clarinetist Jeff Reilly have released a recording under the rubric of their duo Blackwood. With one exception (Miles Davis), there are only original compositions here, written individually or jointly. By the sensual sound of the bass clarinet, it might be taken for a jazz recording, but we do not find the energy and improvisation usually associated with this musical genre. We are…

CD Review: High Voltage Chamber Music (Navona records)

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 8 October 2021 CD and Book Reviews

High Voltage Chamber Music Jan Järvlepp (composer) Sirius Quartet Arcadian Winds Jae Cosmos Lee Navona records NV6366 ★★★★✩ After two critically acclaimed albums in 2020, Ontario composer Jan Järvlepp returns with High Voltage Chamber Music, which presents four chamber works recorded between 2019 and 2020 and performed by the Sirius Quartet, Arcadian Winds and the formidable American violinist Jae Cosmos Lee. Järvlepp’s style is normally distinguished by the effective use of orchestral forces, a quality evident in his large-scale works. His writing for small ensemble bears witness to the same architectural thinking. Composing for quartets and quintets, Järvlepp remains just…

CD Review: English Songs à la française (Bridge)

By Arthur Kaptainis on 8 October 2021 CD and Book Reviews

English Songs à la française. Songs by Gounod, Hahn, Massenet, Milhaud, Poulenc, Roussel, Ravel, Saint-Saëns Tyler Duncan, baritone. Erika Swtizer, piano Bridge 9537 ★★★★✩ The catalogue of English settings by French composers is not vast, but neither is it inconsiderable, to judge by this intriguing recital by the New York State-based Canadian baritone Tyler Duncan. Most of the songs are in merry major mode. Saint-Saëns’s gloomy “‘Tis better so,” after the harmless “Cherry-Tree Farm,” is an exception. There are artful evocations of folksy British harmony or rhythm: Ravel is successful with minimal means in his Chanson écossaise (a setting of…

Browsing: CD and Book Reviews

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)

CD Review: Enargeia (Deutsche Grammophon)

Round midnight: Dutilleux, Merlin, Schoenberg (Erato)

CD Review : Lost and Found (Sanctuary Concerts)

CD Review: High Voltage Chamber Music (Navona records)

CD Review: English Songs à la française (Bridge)

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