Latest Music Reviews
Diminution, Division: Distraction Or Artful Enrichment?
by David Vernier
For some period during what we now call the Renaissance and Baroque, it was popular practice for vocalists and instrumentalists to embellish or ornament a melodic line by dividing longer note values into many shorter, more elaborate figures as a means of variation. This was... Continue Reading
Persuasive Schubert From Shai Wosner
by Jed Distler
Shai Wosner continues working his way through Schubert’s sonatas on disc, with largely distinctive results. In the A minor sonata’s opening Moderato, the pianist brings a variety of touch and emphasis to each iteration of the martial repeated-note theme, and manages to convey both unity... Continue Reading
Big Boxes: A Final, Excellent Jochum Collection (Video Review)
by David Hurwitz
Please click on the link below for the video review, and please subscribe to our YouTube channel (it’s free). The bottom line: this beautifully assembled and reasonably priced box includes all of the Jochum Philips recordings not found in the two big DG boxes. You... Continue Reading
The Exquisite Piano Music of Jean Roger-Ducasse
by Jed Distler
The piano music of Jean Roger-Ducasse (1873-1954) is cut from the same subtle and refined cloth as that of his teacher and mentor Fauré, particularly in the latter’s elusive late works. Its difficulties lie not so much with virtuosic challenges as they do with issues... Continue Reading
Tony Chen Lin’s Digressions
by Jed Distler
Pianist Tony Chen Lin understandably tries to explain and justify why he’s brought these particular four compositions together for a recital disc. Yet he doesn’t need to, because they add up to a wonderfully contrasted program. Opening with Bartók’s Piano Sonata guarantees attention, especially considering... Continue Reading
Beautiful, Involving Recital From Ekaterina Siurina
by Robert Levine
When this came across my desk and I checked the playlist, my heart sank. Chestnuts galore. Did I really want to hear this selection of French and Italian arias (and duets) sung by a Russian soprano? I’d made a pact with myself that right or... Continue Reading
First Class Tcherepnin Narcisse et Echo
by David Hurwitz
Nikolai Tcherepnin (1873-1943) was the father of Alexander, who might be just a smidge better known. A pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov, he was a composer of some talent, and believe it or not this is the second complete recording of his ballet Narcisse et Echo. The... Continue Reading
Karl Weigl’s Last Two String Quartets
by Jed Distler
The chamber and orchestral works of Karl Weigl (1881-1949) have been gradually finding their way onto recordings, including the last two of his eight string quartets, recorded here for the first time, so far as I know. The harmonic content and polished workmanship of his... Continue Reading
A New Path And A Fresh Voice: Andreas Staier’s Beethoven
by Jed Distler
The sonority of the circa 1810 Mathias Müller Viennese fortepiano model featured on this recording crosses over into twangy harpsichord territory in loud moments, while making hauntingly muffled, almost disembodied sounds at the lowest volume. Because the sustain mechanism is nowhere near so prolonged as... Continue Reading
Wilson’s Faceless French Collection
by David Hurwitz
These are without question the most characterless performances of this music available. John Wilson leads what sounds like a reading rehearsal with a group of studio musicians who can play virtually anything with the same mechanical, faceless efficiency. Tempos are uniformly swift–indeed, too fast to... Continue Reading
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