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Wilhelmina Smith, Cello. Britten, Schnittke, and Shostakovich. Thomas Sauer, piano. Arabesque 26801. I had known of Wilhelmina Smith since her career began in the 1990's, knew especially that she played on the wonderful Arabesque album of Copland's chamber music. But I did not know until recently that she had also made a recording as lead.... Read More »

This is Glyndebourne's first ever staging of an opera by Rameau. Though he was well known as an innovator/thinker in the music world, it was not until he was fifty years old before he composed this opera in 1773. It just might be his best opera. Based on a well-known story from long ago, there... Read More »

I was that close to falling asleep while waiting for the final results of  17. International Chopin Competition that were presented after midnight. The list of awarded musicians was also quite surprising, as my favorite was Kate Liu, and I also keep my fingers crossed for Aimi Kobayashi from Japan. A bronze medal for an... Read More »

Despite the virtual disappearance of EMI Classics as a separate label—having been swallowed into the Warner Music combine—Mariss Jansons's inconsistent but always interesting Shostakovich cycle remains worth examining. (Besides, with online and secondhand shops largely having replaced the big music chains as retail sources, the nominal "availability" of this or that item has become moot:... Read More »

The 20 songs I played a lot more than other songs this year, in alphabetical-artist-order, that were released in 2015 and that ended up on a list I made at the end of the year in 2015… Action Bronson – Mr. Wonderful "Baby Blue" Action Bronson takes himself, and his music, juuuusssttt seriously enough to... Read More »

Never in my wildest imagination did I ever foresee myself facing a mountain of reel-to-reel tapes to review in 2015. Sure, some of the backlog is directly traceable to summer AC problems that halted my reviewing for over two months. At the same time, however, it's also an indication of just how many new companies... Read More »

Schubert Quintet LIve!  A Live Recording of the Schubert's cello quintet by the Brentano Quartet with Michael Kammen. Azica Records. ACD 17304.  Whenever I forget what suavity is, I listen to the Brentano Quartet to remind myself. The Brentanos employ suavity to evoke the 'classic' quality of Mozart, Beethoven, and here, Schubert. They are not... Read More »

Spatial sound has developed mainly thanks to the cinema. The first stereophonic system was Fantasound, created by Walt Disney's engineers to be used in Fantasia—an animated film from the year 1940. At that time, the term "stereophonic" was not synonymous with "two-channel"—sound was recorded on three tracks, based on research carried out by Graham Bell... Read More »

New Seasons. Gidon Kremer. Glass, Pärt, Kanchelli, Unabeyashi. Kremerata Baltica. Deutsche Gramophone. DG 4794817. Violinist Gidon Kremer is a musical phenomenon most of us have come to admire and even love. His energetic and (at least to my ears) near vibrato-less sound brings a vigorous directness to everything he plays from Bach to Glass. In... Read More »

Some of the DSD Stereo Downloads at HDtracks Two years ago at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver, Acoustic Sounds and Native DSD announced their new music download sites that would feature Direct Stream Digital (DSD) downloads. At the same show, Sony Electronics introduced a family of Digital Music Servers and Converters that would... Read More »

Rosary Sonatas. Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. Rachel Podger, violin. David Miller, theorbo and arch lute; Marcin Swiatkiewicz, harpsichord, organ; Jonathan Manson, viola da gamba, cello. Channel Classics SACD. CCSSA 37315. Biber's (1644-1704) searching, expressly mystical meditations on the Christian story from the annunciation through the nativity to the crucifixion and resurrection and on to... Read More »

"The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,  Shorter of breath and one day closer to death." —From "Time" by Pink Floyd So, first, you might ask, where have I been and why I am not talking about digital music servers, instead reviewing a vinyl reissue you can't buy anymore—at least... Read More »

I think I made a mistake, one of those forest-for-the-trees kinds, in hunting for a radio-friendly single on the new Silversun Pickups album. I'd been spoiled with their previous offerings and came into this album, headphones swinging, lazily assuming I was going to be getting more of the same. It'd be really, really, amazingly good... Read More »

Prokofiev. Viktoria Mullova. [Violin Concerto No. 2; Sonata for Two Violins, Solo Violin Sonata]. Viktoria Mullova, violin. Frankfort Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi, conductor. Onyx 4142. (live recordings). I am predisposed to like any recording by violinists, Jennifer Koh, Vadim Guzman, Rachel Podger, Gidon Kremer, Alina Ibagimova, and Viktoria Mullova and am seldom disappointed. The... Read More »

Tannhauser – Richard Wagner. Music and Libretto: Wagner, Romantic Opera in Three Acts. Composer:  Richard Wagner. Conductor:  Axel Kaber. Director:  Seabastian Baumgarten. Stage Designer: Joep vanMechaow. Chorus Master: Eberhard Friedrich. Recording: OABD7171D, 2 Discs Blu-rays, Opus Arte. Orchestra: Bayreuth Festival and Chorus First performance Koniglich Sachsisches H of theater, Dresden, 19 October 1845. Premiere of... Read More »

The digital era's exploration of the repertoire's byways led to a new interest in the music of Josef Suk—not only the son-in-law of Antonín Dvořák, but once a noted composer in his own right. The Asrael Symphony stands as a major score in his output; yet, despite intermittent attempts to promote it, it never seems... Read More »

Pressed by QRP on 200 gram vinyl, 33.3, half-speed mastered, this recording from 2000 is receiving its LP release for the first time. The original release was on HDCD CD and has been a reference disk for my reviews since it was available. It features Eiji Oue conducting the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra. The Producer was... Read More »

Shostakovich, 'Under Stalin's Shadow.' Symphony No. 10. Andris Nelsons. Boston Symphony Orchestra. Deutsche Gramophone DG 479-5059. I bought this album out of loyalty to my 'local' orchestra under their new leader. Nothing was at stake as I had already married Petrenko's terrific Shostakovich cycle on Naxos, but I'll admit to some hopes. And then the... Read More »

Helen Callus [viola]. Luc Beauséour [harpsichord] Bach - Krebs - Abel. Analekta. AN2 9879. There are reasons not to buy this album of Bach (and Krebs and Abel) cello sonatas. If you don't like your Bach played direct and frontal—and on a viola, which cuts the music less slack than a viola de gamba or... Read More »