ARNO BORNKAMP — The Classical Saxophone (1994) 2CD | APE (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1-1 -    Alexander Glazunov–    Saxophone Concerto In E Flat Major Op. 109    14:26
1-6 -    Charles Koechlin    Première Sonatine Pour Hautbois D'Amour Ou Saxophone, Op.194 No. 1    
1-7 - André Caplet–    Légende, For Alto Saxophone, String Quintet, Oboe, Clarinet & Bassoon    13:33
1-11 - Charles Koechlin    Deuxiéme Sonatine Pour Hautbois D'Amour Ou Saxophone Soprano, Op. 194 No. 2    
1-13 - Jacques Ibert    Concerto Da Camera, For Alto Saxophone & 11 Instruments    
2-1 - Jules Demersseman–    Fantaisie Sur Un Thème Original (1860)    6:21
2-2 - Georges Bizet–    Intermezzo From L'Arlésienne (1872)    4:52
2-3    Modest Mussorgsky–    Il Vecchio Castello (The Old Castle, From Pictures At An Exhibition) (1874)    4:55
2-4    Maurice Ravel–    Pièce En Forme D'Habanera (1926)    3:29
2-10 - Jean Françaix    Cinq Danses Exotiques (1962)    
2-10 - Eugène Bozza–    Aria (1936)    4:02
2-11 - André Jolivet–    Fantaisie-Impromptu (1953)    4:12
2-12 - Rudy Wiedoeft –    Valse Vanité (1923)    3:59
2-15 - George Gershwin    Three Preludes (1927)    
2-16. - Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff–    Vocalise Op. 34 No. 14    7:13
2-17 - Pedro Itturalde –    Pequena Czarda (1983)    4:18
2-18 - Jean Matitia –    Devil's Rag    4:20
Credits :
Conductor – Jeroen Weierink (tracks: 1 - 1 to 1 - 13)
Orchestra – Camerata Amsterdam (tracks: 1 - 1 to 1 - 13)
Piano – Ivo Janssen - (tracks: 2 - 1 to 2 - 18)
Saxophone – Arno Bornkamp

ALISON BALSOM · TOM POSTER — Légende : Works for Trumpet and Piano (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Alison Balsom has been successful since the early 2000s with a standard diet of Baroque trumpet works and the usual Classical-period concertos. In the mid-2010s she turned toward more contemporary repertory with a French conservatory flavor. The results on the trumpet-and-piano Légende, named for the effusive Enescu piece (track five), are impressive; Balsom deepens her art with a coherent program even as she plays mostly music that could be characterized as light. Sample one of the movements of the opening Sonatine of the mightily underrated Jean Françaix, whose understated style, not so much humorous as subtle and elegant, poses challenges for a trumpet confined mostly to its middle register. Balsom's bright, perfectly controlled lines and close ensemble with pianist Tom Poster pass all the tests. After that you get a mix of other neoclassic pieces, the heavier Hindemith Trumpet Sonata in the middle, and popular songs, small chunks all hanging together that stimulate the listener even without awareness of same. Brava. James Manheim
Tracklist :
1-4.    Sonatine Pour Trompette Et Piano (6:50)
Composed By – Jean Françaix
5. Légende For Trumpet And Piano 6:09
Composed By – George Enescu
6. Concert Etude, Op.49 (3:17)
Composed By – Alexander Goedicke
7-11. Farewell To Stromness 3:52
Composed By – Peter Maxwell Davies
Transcription By – A. Balsom, T. Poster
8-11.    Sonata For Trumpet And Piano (15:47)
Composed By – Paul Hindemith
12. Minuet From Sonatine (Piano Solo) 3:36
Composed By – Maurice Ravel
13.    The Thoughts Of Dr May 6:27
Composed By – Alison Balsom, Tom Poster
14.    Sonate For Trumpet And Piano 7:05
Composed By – Bohuslav Martinů
15.    Rondo For Lifey1:19
Composed By – Leonard Bernstein
16.    Someone To Watch Over Me 4:00
Arranged By – J. Turrin
Composed By – George Gershwin
17.    The Way You Look Tonight 2:52
Arranged By – A. Balsom, T. Poster
Composed By – Jerome Kern
Credits :
Piano – Tom Poster
Trumpet – Alison Balsom

GIDON KREMER · NAOKO YOSHINO — Insomnia (1999) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This is a handsome-looking compact disc release, with strikingly muted graphics in cool purple tones, featuring Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer and Japanese harpist Naoko Yoshina. Here the pretty graphics go a little too far: the buyer finds no listing of compositions on the outside of the package and has no way of knowing what is played aside from a bare mention of the names of the 11 composers featured. That's where the All Classical Guide comes in. The works were all written in the twentieth century. They are: Michio Miyagi's Haru no umi (Ocean in Spring, a calming, melodic piece); Kaija Saariaho's Nocturne for violin solo (a somewhat avant-garde coloristic piece); Toru Takemitsu's Stanza II for harp and tape (also pretty far out and very Japanese-sounding); Yuji Takahashi's Insomnia for violin, voices, and kugo (strange, but oddly soothing); a movement from Satie's Le fils des étoiles as arranged by Takahashi (austere); Jean Françaix's Five Little Duets (100 percent charming); the Étude for violin from Richard Strauss's Daphne (also charming); Six Melodies by John Cage (simple and pleasant); Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel (even simpler and not startling); Nino Rota's love theme from The Godfather (you know this one); and the final movement from Schnittke's Suite in the Old Style (gently Classical except for one deliberately horrendous dissonance). So there you have the emotional progression of this carefully planned album. Much of it could cure insomnia; three or four pieces could cause it. The mood is nocturnal throughout. The recording was made in 1996 in Kioi Hall, Tokyo, with Wilhelm Hellweg as producer and engineer. It completely succeeds in what was intended; the microphones are close enough to Kremer that bowing sounds are very evident, but apparently only when the producer wants them to be.  by Joseph Stevenson 

All Tracks

Harp – Naoko Yoshino
Violin – Gidon Kremer