Latest Music Reviews
Schaller’s First Rate Bruckner 6th
by David Hurwitz
The success or failure of Gerd Schaller’s Bruckner recordings seems to stem less from the conducting, which is invariably sympathetic and idiomatic, as from the variable sonics and the sound of the Philharmonie Festiva, a pick-up band that has its good days and its less... Continue Reading
Schaller’s Hollow Bruckner First, Vienna Version
by David Hurwitz
The Vienna version of Bruckner’s First Symphony, although the first one published, lost ground to the (to some ears) brighter, fresher Linz edition, but some conductors, notably Günter Wand, prefer it and in a great performance it can make just as fine an impression. This... Continue Reading
The Miró Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle: A Major Accomplishment
by Jed Distler
The Miró Quartet recorded Beethoven’s six Op. 18 string quartets in 2004. They resumed the cycle in 2012 with the three Op. 59 works, and with a new second violinist in tow, William Fedkenheuer replacing Sandy Yamamoto. Op. 74, Op. 95, and the late quartets... Continue Reading
Grand Romanticism From Provincial Eastern Sweden
by Jens F. Laurson
The world of classical music is divided into those who find Arnold Schoenberg’s liberally late-romantic orchestration of the Brahms Piano Quartet an ingenious work of alluring beauty–and those who are wrong. The Romans were talking through their hat when they suggested “de gustibus non disputandum... Continue Reading
Les Vents Français: Marvelously “Moderniste”
by Jed Distler
Writing chamber music for mixed winds with or without piano always seems to bring out the best in composers. Darius Milhaud’s busy bitonal style operates at full capacity in his four-movement Sonata; André Jolivet’s Serenade features an austere first movement followed by a second movement... Continue Reading
Forgotten Romantics, Outstanding Performances
by Jed Distler
Notwithstanding this CD’s “Forgotten Romantics” title, these three clarinet sonatas have appeared before on CD, yet it’s good to bring them together, especially with such fine and terrifically engineered performances as we have here. Not only are clarinetist Guy Yehuda and veteran pianist Ralph Votapek... Continue Reading
The Melancholic Bach
by Jens F. Laurson
“The Melancholic Bach” brings together bits and pieces from Johann Sebastian’s output–excerpted, newly combined, and arranged for viola da braccio and harpsichord–which exude, more or less, the wistful aspect in Bach’s music. In doing so, Emilio Moreno and Aarón Zapico have created an album of... Continue Reading
Great Grieg Pianism At Bargain Price
by Jed Distler
Håkon Austbo’s wonderful and well-engineered Grieg recordings have floated around Brilliant Classics’ catalog for years. They now appear in the label’s new Quintessence series on five CDs that sell for the price of one. Austbo’s performances are consistently direct, idiomatic, and as natural as breathing.... Continue Reading
A Stunning Sorabji Premiere From Jonathan Powell
by Jed Distler
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s Sequentia Cyclica super Dies Irae (hereafter SC) is by far the longest of this composer’s multi-hour-long behemoths for solo piano to have been performed publicly, totaling nearly eight and a half hours on seven CDs via Jonathan Powell’s world-premiere recording. Composed between... Continue Reading
Steinway & Sons Launches A Beethoven Cycle
by Jed Distler
The Steinway & Sons label weighs in for Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year, launching a sonata cycle featuring pianist Konstantin Scherbakov. Each volume will be released via download and streaming platforms only. Once the cycle reaches completion, it will be released as a physical CD boxed... Continue Reading
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