WEBER, KURPINSKI, CRUSELL : Works for Clarinet & Orchestra (Sharon Kam-Gregor Bühl) (2020) FLAC 24-96

DUTILLEUX, LUTOSLAWSKI : Works for Cello & Orchestra (Poltéra-Van Steen) (2008) SACD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

 
On this CD, Swiss cellist Christian Poltéra tackles the complete cello works by two of the leading independent-minded European modernists of the mid- to late-twentieth century, Henri Dutilleux and Witold Lutoslawski. Each of the works was written at the instigation of Mstislav Rostropovich, a concerto from each composer, both of which he premiered in 1970, and a solo cello tribute from each, written in 1975 in honor of the Swiss conductor and new music advocate, Paul Sacher. Dutilleux took the title of his concerto, Toute un monde lointain… (A Whole Distant World…), as well as the names of the movements, from the poetry of Baudelaire, the mystery and sensuality of whose writing is reflected in the music. While it has the harmonic sophistication characteristic of postwar European music, Dutilleux's five-movement concerto clearly falls in the lineage of Debussy in its evocative delicacy, essentially lyrical character, and gossamer but colorful orchestration. Lutoslawski's concerto, while idiomatically not too far from Dutilleux's, is more aggressive and emphatic, with a more traditionally competitive relationship between the soloist and the orchestra. These concertos are canonical cello works of the late twentieth century, but the solo pieces are also attractive and idiomatically written, and deserve to be better known. Poltéra delivers committed, virtuosic performances, but he doesn't quite have the radiant tone to make the Dutilleux shimmer and glisten as it can. The ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, led by Jac van Steen, is likewise more persuasive in the more formally and timbrally straightforward Lutoslawski concerto. The sound of BIS' SACD is clean, detailed, and vivid, but particularly in the Dutilleux, it could benefit from more warmth. by Stephen Eddins 
Tracklist:
Toute un monde lointain, for cello and orchestra  
Henri Dutilleux
Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher, for cello solo  
Henri Dutilleux
Concerto for cello and orchestra
Witold Lutosławski
Credits:
Maighread McCrann - Orchestra Leader
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Christian Poltéra - Cello
Jac van Steen - Conductor

HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS : The 5 Piano Concertos (1997) 2CD / APE (image+.cue), lossless

NINO ROTA : L'Oeuvre pour piano; Concerto soirée; Fantasia "Don Giovanni" (2002) 2CD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

JOHN CAGE : Complete Piano Music Vol. 4 (1999) 2CD / Mp3

RICHARD GALLIANO - Vivaldi (2013) Mp3

At first blush, Richard Galliano's performance of Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons may seem to be a novelty recording, but to describe it that way would be a disservice to his extraordinary virtuosity and impressive comprehension of the music. The accordion may not be to everyone's liking, as its status in both popular and classical music has always been subject to taste, but no one could seriously question this French accordionist's prodigious abilities with the instrument, which he treats as nimbly and as expressively as a violin. Of course, choosing Vivaldi's greatest hit as a vehicle is a pretty safe bet to attract a new audience, and Galliano seems to relish the opportunity to make this perennial favorite a part of the accordion's repertoire. This is Galliano's second album of classical music on Deutsche Grammophon, following his 2010 Bach album, and while he is perhaps better known for his recordings of jazz standards and film themes, most notably on his 2011 CD of the music of Nino Rota, his affection for Baroque masterpieces is sincere and it shows in his meticulous playing. For filler Galliano also performs arias from Vivaldi operas Il Giustino and Arsilda, regina di Ponto, backed by continuo. But as attractive as these pieces are, most listeners will return again and again to hear the Four Seasons, which is a tour de force for the instrument. by Blair Sanderson  

FRYDERYK CHOPIN : Complete Piano Music, Vol. 14 (1991) Mp3

FRYDERYK CHOPIN : Complete Piano Music, Vol. 15 (1999) Mp3

SHAROM KAM - The Romantic Clarinet (2007) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The clarinet made its bow in the eighteenth century and was the immediate beneficiary of Mozart's attention, but the instrument came into its own in the nineteenth century. Inasmuch as major clarinet literature from the nineteenth century is concerned, works of Carl Maria von Weber dominate the field, but there was more to it than that, and clarinet virtuoso Sharon Kam helps widen the perspective in her Berlin Classics effort The Romantic Clarinet. She starts out with a concerto -- and what a concerto -- by Julius Rietz, a close contemporary of Felix Mendelssohn. It is a superb work; stormy, intense, and involving and probably is to the clarinet what the E minor violin concerto of Mendelssohn is to the violin. On Max Bruch's Concerto for clarinet, viola, and orchestra in E minor, Op. 88 (1911), Kam is joined her brother, violist Ori Kam. To be fair, the work is perhaps friendlier to the viola than it is to the clarinet; much of the time the clarinet holds down the fort while the viola goes gallivanting about. With the Weber Quintet in B flat, Op. 34, we are entering more familiar territory, but it is heard in the arrangement for clarinet and string orchestra, recorded with some frequency, but not nearly as often as the chamber version. In this piece, the Sinfonia Varsovia plays a stronger and more assertive role than in the others, which is definitely a plus for the music.
Sharon Kam's tone is even, controlled, and cool, though it is appropriately explosive in the few passages where such effects are called for; she effortlessly leaps around registers, and her passagework is clean and light as a feather. The Sinfonia Varsovia is led by Gregor Bühl who, overall, contributes a sensitive and well-balanced accompaniment that never overpowers the soloist and provides support where it is needed. Berlin Classics' recording is clear and attractively resonant, though there is some transience in the signal during loud passages where the clarinet register is bright and silvery.  by Uncle Dave Lewis 

VERA DULOVA - Legends of the 20th Century : Vera Dulova (2011) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI - Orchestral Works • 2 (2012) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI - Orchestral Works • 3 (2012) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI - Orchestral Works • 4 (2013) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

SHARON KAM - American Classics : Music for Clarinet (2002) APE (image+.cue), lossless

SOFIA GUBAIDULINA - The Complete Piano Music (Béatrice Rauchs) (1997) FLAC (tracks), lossless

JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL & LILY LASKINE – Sakura : Japanese Melodies For Flute And Harp [1978]

Tracklist 
1 Haru No Umi 7:25
Written-By – Michio Miyagi
2 Chugoku Chiho No Komori Uta 2:03
Written-By – Kosaku Yamada
3 Aka Tombo 3:08
Written-By – Kosaku Yamada
4 Chin-Chin Chidori 3:11
Written-By – Hidemaro Konoe
5 Nambu Ushi Oi Uta 4:57
Written-By – Traditional
6 Defune 5:41
Written-By – Haseo Sugiyama
7 Kono Michi 3:43
Written-By – Kosaku Yamada
8 Hanayome Ningyo 1:52
Written-By – Haseo Sugiyama
9 Kojo No Tsuki 3:38
Written-By – Rentaro Taki
10 Jogashima No Ame 5:21
Written-By – Tadashi Yanada
11 Hana 3:39
Written-By – Rentaro Taki
12 Sakura 7:06
Written-By – Traditional
Credits
Artwork [Uncredited, "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa"] – Katsushika Hokusai
Flute – Jean-Pierre Rampal
Harp – Lily Laskine
Transcription By, Arranged By – Akio Yashiro

JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL & LILY  LASKINE 

 Sakura : Japanese Melodies For Flute And Harp

 [1978] CBS Masterworks /  CBR 320K / scans

O Púbis da Rosa

RAMPAL - Yamanakabushi [Japanese Melodies, Vol. III] 1983

Track Listing
1 Sakura Sakura (Cherry Blossom) 3:45
Traditional
 2    Akatombo  4:10
Kosaku Yamada
3 Imayô 6:37
Traditional
4 Shimabara No Komoriuta 3:08
Kazuaki Miyazaki
5 Neko No Yomeiri 2:08
Traditional
6 Yamanakabushi 4:32
Traditional
7 Haru No Umi 6:20
Michio Miyagi
8 Tôryanse 2:29
9 Hamabe No Uta 3:52
10 Natsu No Omoide 4:02
Shoko Ema
11 Oharabushi 2:57
Traditional
12 Jôgashima No Ame 6:12
Takashi Yamada
13 Hamachidori 2:52

Credits

Flute – Jean-Pierre Rampal
Koto [Bass] – Yasuko Nakashima
Koto [First Koto] – Shinichi Yuize
Koto [Second Koto] – Utae Uno

JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL 

 Yamanakabushi [Japanese Melodies, Vol. III] 

1983 CBS

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RÓZSA : Viola Concerto; SERLY : Rhapsody for Viola & Orchestra; BARTÓK : Viola Concerto

RÓZSA: Viola Concerto

 SERLY: Rhapsody for Viola & Orchestra

 BATÓK: Viola Concerto

 [Lawrence Power / Andrew Litton] 

2010 Hyperion /  CBR320 / scans

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JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL / LILY LASKINE - SAKURA [Japanese Melodies for Flute and Harp] LP / 1969

Tracklist  
A1 Haru No Umi 7:22
Written-By – Michio Miyagi
A2 Chugoku Chiho No Komori Uta 2:01
Written-By – Kosaku Yamada
A3 Aka Tombo 3:07
Written-By – Kosaku Yamada
A4 Chin-Chin Chidori 3:09
Written-By – Hidemaro Konoe
A5 Nambu Ushi Oi Uta 4:55
Written-By – Traditional
A6 Defune 5:38
Written-By – Haseo Sugiyama
B1 Kono Michi 3:40
Written-By – Kosaku Yamada
B2 Hanayome Ningyo 1:51
Written-By – Haseo Sugiyama
B3 Kojo No Tsuki 3:38
Written-By – Rentaro Taki
B4 Jogashima No Ame 5:19
Written-By – Tadashi Yanada
B5 Hana 3:38
Written-By – Rentaro Taki
B6 Sakura Sakura 7:02
Written-By – Traditional
Credits
Flute – Jean-Pierre Rampal
Harp – Lily Laskine
Artwork [Uncredited; "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa"] – Katsushika Hokusai

JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL / LILY LASKINE 

SAKURA [Japanese Melodies for Flute and Harp] 1969

CBS 1978 / LP / CBR320 / scan

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BOBBY McFERRIN & CHICK COREA - The Mozart Sessions [1996] FLAC

The informal title says a great deal about the contents of The Mozart Sessions, which could have been called Concerti for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 23 and 20, since that is, for the most part, what it is. But of course the conductors, vocalist Bobby McFerrin and jazz keyboard player Chick Corea, are not your average classical musicians. Nor is there any doubt about the non-traditional

nature of the recording, when it starts with McFerrin's patented improvisational vocals followed

by Corea's piano inventions under the title "Prelude." So, for a start, purists should be warned away. On the other hand, the more adventurous may be slightly disappointed, since after they get the preliminaries out of the way, McFerrin and Corea, aided and abetted by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, turn in pleasant but unexceptional readings of the concerti, with Corea especially eschewing any attempt at dazzle in what are usually showcase pieces. The piano work is fluid and the orchestral accompaniment delicate, but the principals seem sufficiently concerned about getting anything wrong not to really take off. At the end, as Corea once again improvises in tandem with McFerrin's voice, one longs for more of their interaction, perhaps in a less restrictive context. by William Ruhlmann 

Tracklist:

1. Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No 23 In A Major K 488-1-Prelude-Allegro

2. Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No 23 In A Major K 488-2-Adagio

3. Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No 23 In A Major K 488-3-Allegro Assai

4. Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No 2 In D Minor K 466-1-Prelude-Allegro

5. Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No 2 In D Minor K 466-2-Romance

6. Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No 2 In D Minor K 466-3-Rondo (Allegro Assai)

7. Song For Amadeus-Improvisation On Sonata No 2 In F Major K 28-189E-2 Adagio

1. Concerto for Piano no 23 in A major, K 488 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 

Performer: Chick Corea (Piano)

Conductor: Bobby McFerrin

Orchestra/Ensemble: St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

Written: 1786 

Date of Recording: 1996

Length: 29 Minutes 36 Secs.

Notes: This selection begins with an improvisation entitled "Prelude" (Bobby McFerrin, vocals; Chick Corea, piano).

2. Concerto for Piano no 20 in D minor, K 466 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 

Performer: Chick Corea (Piano)

Conductor: Bobby McFerrin

Orchestra/Ensemble: St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

Written: 1785 

Date of Recording: 1996

Length: 34 Minutes 0 Secs.

Notes: This selection begins with an improvisation entitled "Prelude" (BobbyMcFerrin, vocals; Chick Corea, piano).

3. Song for Amadeus by Chick Corea 

Performer: Bobby McFerrin (Voice), Chick Corea (Piano)

Period: 20th Century

Written: USA 

Date of Recording: 1996

Length: 2 Minutes 29 Secs.

Notes: This work is an improvisation on the Adagio (2nd) movement of W. A. Mozart's "Sonata for Piano no. 2 in F Major, K. 280 (189e)".

BOBBY McFERRIN & CHICK COREA 

 The Mozart Sessions 

[1996] Sony / FLAC / scans

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