HOWARD HANSON – Conducts : Barber · Piston · Griffes · Kennan · McCauley · Bergsma (Eastman-Rochester Orchestra) (1992) APE (image+.cue) lossless

Tracklist & Credits :

MIKHAIL SIMONYAN - Two Soul (London Symphony Orchestra, Kristjan Järvi) (2011) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Two Souls. An ideal title for the debut recording album of a young violinist whose heritage draws from Armenian and American backgrounds. To highlight these two divergent cultural influences, violinist Mikhail Simonyan has chosen the violin concertos of Aram Khachaturian and Samuel Barber. The flamboyantly virtuosic Khachaturian concerto is punched out with authoritative bravura, gripping power of tone, and a musical excitement that keeps listeners rapt from start to finish. Making this particular recording even noteworthy is the new cadenza that Simonyan commissioned in an effort to highlight the distinctively Armenian musical idiom. Simonyan's heritage truly emerges throughout the hauntingly beautiful cadenza, contrasting marvelously with the concerto's many aggressive moments. Deutshe Grammophon's sound in this concerto appropriately highlights the edgy, gritty tone that Simonyan produces and is nicely balanced with the superb playing by the London Symphony Orchestra under Kristjan Järvi. This same close sound does not serve the Barber concerto quite as well. A bit more warmth and softness would have greatly helped the first and second movements. Simonyan makes the curious choice to tone down the frenetic nature of the Presto Finale, opting for a slower, more deliberate tempo that doesn't make for quite as exciting a finish as this talented young violinist is capable of. by Mike D. Brownell  

Aram Khatchaturian (1859-1935)

1-3    Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

4-6     Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14
7    Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
 
Violin – Mikhail Simonyan
Conductor – Kristjan Järvi
Orchestra – London Symphony Orchestra

BARBER · KORNGOLD · WALTON : Violin Concertos (James Ehnes · Vancouver Symphony Orchestra · Bramwell Tovey) (2006) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Violinist James Ehnes unites with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey for this noteworthy collection of concertos by Korngold, Barber, and Walton. Ehnes' sound seems to be especially well suited for these three works, each demanding rich, fluid tone; stellar technique; and exceptional sensitivity and musicality.
Aficionados of classic movies may recognize portions of the Korngold concerto as the composer lifted several of the melodies from his favorite film scores. There are parts of the concerto that still sound as if it was created for the screen instead of the concert hall, especially the orchestral tuttis. It is nonetheless an entertaining work and Ehnes' interpretation is both engaging and solicitous. The Barber concerto is filled with lush, lugubrious playing. The second movement especially, with its extensive passages on the G and D strings, puts the listener awash in the violin's sound. The third movement, while well executed, is a bit on the slow side until the final push to the end. Like Korngold, Walton is another composer leading somewhat of a double life between film composition and music specifically for the concert hall, but Walton does not reuse materials from his film scores. Unlike the Barber, Walton's Presto movement is quite energetic and almost diabolical -- a very satisfying performance. The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra also deserves kudos for this recording. The accompanying sound is quite sensitive to the needs of the soloist; orchestral tuttis are rich, powerful, and consummate. Mike D. Brownell 

IAIN QEEN - Variations on America (American Organ Works) (2009) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

These Variations on America consist not just of Charles Ives' famous piece of that title ("My Country, 'Tis of Thee" -- the same melody as the British and other national hymns, as well as "Heil dir im Siegenkranz," the German liner notes helpfully explain) but also of varieties of American organ music in general. British organist Iain Quinn even programs some pieces that have never been recorded in the U.S., to say nothing of Britain, and they include some very nice finds. Chief among these is the pair of fugues by Ives, written while he was a student at Yale University. They're basically academic exercises, but there are hints of a tweaking spirit in both of them. Another student exercise is the ambitious, uncharacteristically chromatic Prelude and Fugue of Samuel Barber, composed in 1927. Barber's nifty setting of The Sacred Harp tune Wondrous Love, Op. 34, alluding to the parallel harmonies of the American folk hymn style from which the melody comes, has been recorded before but not often, and the same is true of William Grant Still's Reverie (1962). Other premieres include works by Henry Cowell and Stephen Paulus, who are often-programmed composers, but not well known for their organ music. The more famous pieces on the program are given a fresh twist due partly to the environs of Coventry Cathedral, a space whose acoustic subtleties are matched by few in the U.S. This is, as Quinn points out in his concise and helpful notes (in English, French, and German), especially impressive in the case of Copland's Preamble (For a Solemn Occasion), written in 1949 to honor the first anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The Ives Variations on America themselves, first improvised by the composer as an obstreperous teenager, are presented here in their final version; Ives added ad libitum interludes in 1910, with bitonal elements, and continued to revise the piece even after he had given up composing. Quinn is not prevented by any British propriety from appreciating the piece's humorous aspects. More characteristic of Ives' mature idiom is the 1898 setting of Adeste Fidelis, S. 131, which Ives also later revised. The opening strains piece contains an early example of the cosmic, transcendental elements in his musical language, and they, too, come alive in mysterious, muted colors here, as if they came from Messiaen. An enjoyable program that fans of organ music and American composition will equally enjoy. by James Manheim  

Aaron Copland
Preamble (For A Solemn Occasion) (5:31)

Charles Ives
With Bold And Noble Expressivity Throughout - Allargando    
Variations On 'America', S 140 (8:51)
Adeste Fidelis, S 131 (4:11)
Fugue, S 136 - 5:04
Fugue, S 135 - 3:31
Score Editor – Charles Krigbaum, John Kirkpatrick

Henry Cowell
Hymn And Fuguing Tune No. 14 - 7:16

William Grant Still
Reverie (4:38)

Samuel Barber
Slow
Prelude And Fugue (8:23)
Wondrous Love, Op. 34 (8:23)

Stephen Paulus
In Moderate Tempo - Slightly Faster - Same Tempo - With Grace - Very Much Slower    
Triptych (14:40)

Organ – Iain Quinn

IVES : Concord Sonata; BARBER : Piano Sonata (Marc-André Hamelin) (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

America’s two greatest twentieth-century piano sonatas are here given predictably stunning performances by Marc-André Hamelin. This is the pianist’s second recording of the Ives ‘Concord Sonata’, a piece he has played for over twenty years in performances that have often been regarded as definitive. As his thoughts on this landmark work matured, Marc became very keen to revisit the work in the studio in this 50th anniversary year of Ives’s death.
The Barber is an apt if unusual coupling. Premiered by Horowitz, with a blisteringly virtuosic final fugue written specially at his suggestion, this is one of only a few modern piano works to have become a genuine audience favourite. Hyperion

IVES : Piano Sonata No.1; BARBER : Piano Sonata; Excursions (Joanna MacGregor) (1991) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

COPLAND • IVES • CARTER • BARBER • GRIFFES • SESSIONS : American Piano Sonatas (Peter Lawson) 2xCD (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pianist Peter Lawson cultivates a full and resonant sonority and wide dynamic range that suits the rugged registral valleys mapped by Carter and Copland in their respective sonatas. He lavishes similar care over the delicate harmonic twists throughout Griffes' Sonata and lovingly tends the spacious, transcendent lyricism Charles Ives spins when he's not bashing out good dissonances like a man. Listen, for instance, to Lawson's sustained calm and delicately placed "celesta" notes midway through Ives' Three Page Sonata, or to his twinkling dispatch of the Copland Sonata's zesty middle movement. Lawson sustains the slow movement of Roger Sessions' gnarly Second Sonata as eloquently as Robert Helps' more texturally differentiated live recording (CRI), and offers a cogent, somewhat reserved foil to Charles Rosen's more amply engineered and dramatically colored Elliott Carter Sonata (Bridge).  by Jed Distler
1.  Sonata for Piano in E flat minor, Op. 26 by Samuel Barber 
 Length: 19 Minutes 46 Secs. 
Performer:  Peter Lawson (Piano) 
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1949; USA 
  Date of Recording: 1989 
Venue:  EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK 

2.  Sonata for Piano "Three Page" by Charles Ives 
Performer:  Peter Lawson (Piano) 
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1905; USA 
Date of Recording: 1989 
Venue:  EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK 
Length: 7 Minutes 16 Secs. 

3.  Sonata for Piano no 2 by Roger Sessions 
Performer:  Peter Lawson (Piano) 
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1946; USA 
 Date of Recording: 1991 
Venue:  EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK 
Length: 15 Minutes 15 Secs. 

4.  Sonata for Piano no 1 by Charles Ives 
Performer:  Peter Lawson (Piano) 
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1901-1909; USA 
  Date of Recording: 1991 
Venue:  EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK 
Length: 39 Minutes 18 Secs. 

5.  Sonata for Piano in G major by Aaron Copland 
Performer:  Peter Lawson (Piano) 
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1920-1921; USA 
  Date of Recording: 1989 
Venue:  EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK 
Length: 23 Minutes 43 Secs. 

 6.  Sonata for Piano by Elliott Carter 
Performer:  Peter Lawson (Piano) 
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1945-1946; USA 
  Date of Recording: 1989 
Venue:  EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK 
Length: 24 Minutes 11 Secs. 

 7.  Sonata for Piano by Charles T. Griffes 
Length: 17 Minutes 25 Secs. 
Performer:  Peter Lawson (Piano) 
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1917-1918; USA 
  Date of Recording: 1991 
Venue:  EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK 

HOWARD HANSON - Howard Hanson Conducts American Masterworks (2004) 5CD SET / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

All of the material on the five-CD Mercury set, Howard Hanson Conducts American Masterworks, has been previously released as single discs in exactly the same configuration. Most of the older issues, however, are out of print and are unlikely to return, given the availability of this box set. This is no reason to mourn, for this set is retailing at a bargain basement price, working out to roughly a "five for the price of four" ratio. Some collectors may welcome the added shelf space.

As to the performances themselves, they are all outstanding, with several performances being definitive, such as the Ives Three Places in New England, Barber's Capricorn Concerto, Douglas Moore's Pageant of P.T. Barnum, and many others heard here. Howard Hanson with the Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra was just simply a hard act to follow. Hanson's performances have hardly dated at all sonically, thanks to Mercury Living Presence's pioneering attitude toward sound quality and the careful maintenance accorded the master tapes of these early stereo recordings, which date from 1957 to 1966.

Not all of the pieces heard here are "masterworks" -- one would be hard pressed to apply such an adjective to such pieces as William McCauley's Five Miniatures for Flute and Strings or the greatly enlarged orchestral arrangement of one of Moravian composer Johann Friedrich Peter's six chamber sonatas as a "Sinfonia in G." There are still some excellent Hanson recordings for Mercury Living Presence that have never appeared on CD, presumably because they were made in mono; this would include his superb renderings of Griffes' The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan and Sessions' Suite from The Black Maskers. It is unfair, nevertheless, to complain about that which is not present; besides, the new disc does include greatly improved notes, detailing recording dates and locations, microphone setups and includes a well-written, conversational liner by Bill Newman, a producer and engineer who worked on a lot of these sessions. Unless one has already acquired all five of these single discs, the American concert music fancier can hardly afford to pass up Howard Hanson Conducts American Masterworks. by Uncle Dave Lewis  
CD.1
Samuel Barber :    Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21
Flute – Joseph Mariano
Oboe – Robert Sprenkle
Trumpet – Sidney Mear
Walter Piston :    The Incredible Flutist (Ballet Suite)
Flute – Joseph Mariano
Charles Tomlinson Griffes : Poem For Flute And Orchestra
Flute – Joseph Mariano
Kent Kennan : Three Pieces For Orchestra
Trumpet – James Austin
Viola – Francis Tursi
William McCauley : Five Miniatures For Flute And Strings
Flute – Joseph Mariano
William Bergsma    : Gold And the Señor Commandante (Ballet Suite)    
CD.2
Charles Ives : Three Places In New England
Charles Ives : Symphony No. 3 "The Camp Meeting"
William Schuman : New England Triptych (Three Pieces For Orchestrs After William Billings)
Peter Mennin : Symphony No. 5

CD.3
Morton Gould : Spirituals
Morton Gould : Fall River Legend (Ballet Suite)
Samuel Barber : Medea (Ballet Suite)
CD.4
George Whitefield Chadwick : Symphonic Sketches
Edward MacDowell : Suite For Large Orchestra, Op. 42
Johann Friedrich Peter : Sinfonia In G

CD.5
Douglas Moore : Pageant Of P.T. Barnum
John Alden Carpenter : Adventures In A Perambulator    
Bernard Rogers : Once Upon A Time (Five Fairy Tales)
Burrill Phillips : Selections From McGuffey's Reader

Orchestra – Eastman-Rochester Orchestra
Conductor – Howard Hanson

THE LONDON GABRIELI BRASS ENSEMBLE - From the Steeples and the Mountains (1992) FLAC (tracks), lossless

‘Fascinating … the most interesting and enterprising brass collection I have yet encountered … first rate, and very realistic recording … the brass playing throughout is vividly expert and the recording is splendidly real’ (Gramophone)

‘From the very opening track the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble demands close attention. All say something that makes you want to listen’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘A real gem of a disc. The performances are excellent … This was both an education and an entertainment’ (Classic CD)

‘Performances are ideal. The British have given us a thoroughly American disc of extraordinary beauty; for which, many thanks!’ (Fanfare, USA)
Reviews

Charles Ives–    From The Steeples And The Mountains 4:24
Samuel Barber–    Mutations From Bach (For Brass Choir And Timpani) 5:41
Roy Harris–    Chorale For Organ And Brass 12:49
Virgil Thomson    Family Portrait (For Brass Quintet)(11:29)
Henry Cowell–    Grinnell Fanfare 3:05
Henry Cowell–    Tall Tale 4:19
Henry Cowell    Hymn And Fuguing Tune No 12 (For Three Horns) (4:27)
Henry Cowell–    Rondo 4:45
Philip Glass    Brass Sextet (7:27)
Carl Ruggles–    Angels (For Muted Brass)3:06
Elliott Carter–    A Fantasy About Purcell's Fantasia Upon One Note 3:15
Charles Ives–    Processional: Let There Be Light 2:42

Ensemble – The London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble
Conductor – Christopher Larkin

BERNSTEIN • SCHUMAN • IVES • RUGGERI • COPLAND • BARBER • COWELL : American Festival (Lukas Foss · Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra ) (1984) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Leonard Bernstein
Overture To "Candide" – 4:27

William Schuman
Newsreel    (7:06)

Charles Ives
The Unanswered Question – 5:39

Roger Ruggeri
If... Then – 3:30

Aaron Copland
Fanfare For The Common Man - 3:52
Variations On A Shaker Melody From The Ballet Appalachian Spring –  3:30

Samuel Barber
Adagio For Strings 9:44

Henry Cowell
Saturday Night At The Firehouse – 5:03

Charles Ives
The Circus Band March - 2:05

Orchestra – Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Conductor – Lukas Foss

JEANNE BAXTRESSER : Chamber Music for Flute by Devienne, Dring, Copland, Gaubert & Barber (2006) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

 

BARBER : Adagio for Strings, Violin Concerto, Orchestral & Chamber Works (2001) 2xCD / FLAC (tracks), lossless

While not the best single set of the music of Samuel Barber ever recorded -- Thomas Schippers' mid-'60s recording with the New York Philharmonic will hold that title from now unto perpetuity -- this two-disc set of recordings by Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony is still not to be missed by anyone who loves Barber's neo-Romantic music. Slatkin's approach to Barber is strongly emotional and powerfully dramatic. His stormy interpretations of Barber's three Essays for Orchestra make them sound like the American descendants of Brahms' Tragic Overture. His witty interpretation of the School for Scandal Overture makes it sound like latter-day Mendelssohn. His gaudy interpretation of the Medea's Dance of Vengeance sounds like latter-day Strauss. His singing, soaring, and swelling interpretation of the ever-popular Adagio for Strings makes it sound like latter-day Mahler. With the sweet-toned Elmar Oliveira, Slatkin's interpretation of Barber's Violin Concerto is achingly lyrical and eloquently affecting, making it sound like latter-day Tchaikovsky. While Schippers goes deeper and further into Barber's music, his recordings cannot be denied -- Schippers' Barber always sounded only like Barber -- Slatkin's recordings are still well worth hearing and, with the bonus recordings of chamber music and piano music by members of the New York Philharmonic, arguably more representative. EMI's early digital sound is a bit dry and recessed, but clean and clear. by James Leonard 

All tracks & credits

IVES • BARBER : String Quartets (1992) Emerson String Quartet / Mp3

PAUL BARNES - The American Virtuoso (2008) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The jury is still out on Philip Glass' transformation of minimalism into a radically populist language, but his later works continue to be widely performed, and, perhaps more important, to inspire innovative programming strategies. This disc by American pianist and Glass specialist Paul Barnes, released on the Glass-oriented Orange Mountain Music label, avoids the tendency to program Glass with his fellow minimalists. Instead he is juxtaposed with two very different composers, neither of whom has much to do with minimalism -- and it turns out that he fits quite well with both. The opening work, Glass' Piano Concerto No. 2 (After Lewis and Clark), has been transcribed for solo piano by Barnes himself. The transcription arguably improves the work, adding a layer of contrasts to the splashy, high-energy tonal color fields of its outer movements. But the real news is that the program places Glass more firmly within the American tradition. Barnes moves smoothly from Glass to the music of twentieth century American music's great conservative, Samuel Barber, with muscular performances of two short pieces and the Beethovenian Piano Sonata, Op. 26; he emphasizes the big blocks of sound in Barber's music and seems to suggest that Barber avoided atavism through an injection of the kind of pure kinetic force that would eventually fascinate Glass. The finale, consisting of a pair of short pieces by Joan Tower, goes in a different direction, focusing on the fact that Tower and Glass share a predilection for the use of small musical cells and a liking for organic metaphors, even if their attitudes toward simplicity and complexity are very different. More broadly, Barnes' disc is one of a group of recent releases that attempts to imagine programs of contemporary, and often specifically contemporary American, music that would please general classical audiences anywhere, something that is more likely to be achieved through imaginative retrospectives that make sense than by wholesale attempts to invent a new musical language. Barnes' big, Lisztian sound adds something to the proceedings on its own. Especially recommended not only to Glass fans, but also to those involved in any way with concert programming, and not only for the piano. by James Manheim