ELENI KARAINDROU : Ulysses' Gaze (1995) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Eleni Karaindrou's long, fruitful partnership with Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos has given birth to several scores for his award-winning films. However, perhaps no previous Karaindrou score contains the evocative power of her compositions for Ulysses' Gaze, the film about memory, artistic quests, and war that won the Grand Prix du Jury at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. An extended suite for viola, oboe, accordion, trumpet, horn, cello, voice, and string orchestra, Ulysses' Gaze embodies the themes of longing, nostalgia, loss, memory, and obsession that are the film's subjects. The string orchestra is employed to provide a wavering dark current beneath the bright notes of Kim Kashkashian's viola and the wind players, which bloom above like the icons of memory. The theme associated with "A," the central character who serves as the Ulysses of the film's title, is a constant repetitive framework upon which small vignettes of European folk music and elegiac song are built. The effect mirrors the film's journey across a portion of Europe torn apart by political divides and war, but more importantly provides small fragments of the pure images of peace and beauty that are so essential for Ulysses to find. by Stacia Proefrock
Tracklist :
1    Ulysses' Theme    1:25
2    Litany - Variation I    3:12
3    Ulysses' Theme - Variation I    1:27
4    Woman's Theme    1:09
5    Ulysses' Theme - Variation II    1:11
6    Ulysses' Theme - Variation III    1:33
7    The River    4:57
8    Ulysses' Theme    2:11
9    Ulysses' Theme, Litany    6:54
Ulysses' Gaze    (17:02)
10.1    Woman's Theme    
10.2    Ulysses' Theme    
10.3    Lento    
10.4    Largo    
10.5    Dance    
11    Byzantine Psalm 1:12
Traditional
12    Ulysses' Theme - Variation IV    1:32
13    Ulysses' Theme - Variation V    1:30
14    Ulysses' Theme - Variation VI    3:33
15    Ulysses' Theme, Lento, Largo    5:29
16    Litany - Variation II    3:29
17    Ulysses' Theme - Variation VII    1:31
Credits :
Accordion – Andreas Tsekouras
Cello – Christos Sfetsas
Conductor – Lefteris Chalkiadakis
Producer, Directed By [Musical Direction] – Manfred Eicher
French Horn – Vangelis Skouras
Music By – Eleni Karaindrou
Oboe – Vangelis Christopoulos
Orchestra [String Orchestra] – Unknown Artist
Trumpet – Socratis Anthis
Viola – Kim Kashkashian
Voice – Georgia Voulvi

ELENI KARAINDROU : Concert in Athens (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The music of Greek film and theater score composer Eleni Karaindrou draws on elements of classical music and jazz, and sometimes on traditional Greek music, but it's not easy to classify as any of these. Karaindrou relies on small ensembles, with or without a small orchestra, creating a distinctive timbre for each piece. The music is low-key, but it's a remarkably flexible language. With Karaindrou herself on piano, top-flight chamber players Kim Kashkashian on viola and Vangelis Christopoulos on oboe, and Jan Garbarek's saxophone providing subtle jazz accents, the music has a remarkable fluid quality. ECM's sound in this live recording is strikingly clear (you can hardly tell it's live, and there's no applause or audience noise), but the label's usual minimalist graphics are a bit annoying here; it would have been helpful to know exactly what scenes the pieces were intended for: although some of the material (like Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie) is well known, titles like Laura's Waltz are very general. Still, the music grows on you as its colors emerge on repeated hearings, and the musicians of the Camerata Orchestra under Alexandros Myrat play with both sheen and obvious enjoyment. This is apparently something of a retrospective of Karaindrou's work, and it makes you want to hear more of it. by James Manheim  
Tracklist :
1    Requiem For Willy Loman    3:58
2    Eternity Theme    1:58
3    Closed Roads    5:36
4    Waiting    2:07
5    Voyage    2:10
6    Invocation    2:26
7    Tango Of Love    1:41
8    Tom's Theme    1:35
9    Laura's Waltz    3:22
10    Adagio    3:49
11    After Memory    2:45
12    Farewell Theme    4:27
13    Seeking Theme    2:18
14    Nostalgia Song    2:26
15    Waltz Of The Rain    2:44
16    Adagio For Saxophone    2:48
17    Dance    3:54
18    Requiem For Willy Loman, Var.    4:14

Accordion – Dinos Hadjiiordanou (pistas: 4, 7, 9, 14, 15, 17)
Bassoon – Sonia Pisk (pistas: 13)
Clarinet – Marie-Cécile Boulard (pistas: 13)
Composed By [All Compositions By] – Eleni Karaindrou
Conductor [Camerata Orchestra] – Alexandros Myrat (pistas: 1, 3, 5 to 10, 12 to 18)
Flute – Stella Gadedi (pistas: 13 to 15)
French Horn – Vangelis Skouras (pistas: 13, 17)
Harp – Maria Bildea (pistas: 4, 14, 15)
Mandolin – Aris Dimitriadis (pistas: 9, 14, 15)
Music Director [Artistic Direction] – Manfred Eicher
Oboe – Vangelis Christopoulos (pistas: 5, 10, 11, 13, 17)
Orchestra [String Orchestra] – Camerata Orchestra (pistas: 1, 3, 5 to 10, 12 to 18)
Piano – Eleni Karaindrou (pistas: 1, 2, 4, 12, 14, 18)
Producer [Concert Production] – The Athens Concert Hall
Producer [Produced By] – Manfred Eicher
Tenor Saxophone – Jan Garbarek (pistas: 1, 6, 8 to 12, 16, 18)
Trumpet – Socratis Anthis (pistas: 13)
Viola – Kim Kashkashian (pistas: 3, 9 to 11, 17)
Violin – Sergiu Nastasa (pistas: 5, 15)
Violoncello – Renato Ripo (pistas: 1, 3, 5 to 10, 12 to 18)

ELENI KARAINDROU : David (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Stage cantata for soloist, choir and orchestra, based on a text by an unknown 18th century poet from the island of Chios
Tracklist :
1    Overture 4'13
Flute – Stella Gadedi
Harp – Maria Bildea
Harpsichord – Katerina Ktona
Oboe – Vangelis Christopoulos
Orchestra [String Orchestra] – Camerata Orchestra
Viola – Kim Kashkashian
2    Repentance 1'22
Flute – Stella Gadedi
Harp – Maria Bildea
Oboe – Vangelis Christopoulos
Violoncello – Renato Ripo
3    Compassion 1'05
Orchestra – Camerata Orchestra
Viola – Kim Kashkashian
4    Devils 4'41
Baritone Vocals [Baritone] – Tassis Christoyannopoulos
Choir – ERT Choir
Harpsichord – Katerina Ktona
Orchestra – Camerata Orchestra
5    David's Entrance 1'52
Flute – Stella Gadedi
Harpsichord – Katerina Ktona
Orchestra [String Orchestra] – Camerata Orchestra
Viola – Kim Kashkashian
6    The Good Things In Life 3'54
Choir – ERT Choir
Flute – Stella Gadedi
Harpsichord – Katerina Ktona
Mezzo-soprano Vocals [Mezzo-soprano] – Irini Karagianni
Oboe – Vangelis Christopoulos
Orchestra [String Orchestra] – Camerata Orchestra
Viola – Kim Kashkashian
7    When I See 5'45
Choir – ERT Choir
Flute – Stella Gadedi
Harp – Maria Bildea
Mezzo-soprano Vocals [Mezzo-soprano] – Irini Karagianni
Oboe – Vangelis Christopoulos
Orchestra – Camerata Orchestra
Viola – Kim Kashkashian
8    David's Lament 7'43
Baritone Vocals [Baritone] – Tassis Christoyannopoulos
Choir – ERT Choir
Harpsichord – Katerina Ktona
Orchestra – Camerata Orchestra
Viola – Kim Kashkashian
9    Repentance, Var. 1'22
Flute – Stella Gadedi
Harp – Maria Bildea
Oboe – Vangelis Christopoulos
Violoncello – Renato Ripo
10    Psaltes 2'41
Choir [Male Choir] – ERT Choir
11    Procession 2'42
Bassoon – Sonia Pisk
Flute – Maria Bildea
Harpsichord – Katerina Ktona
Orchestra [String Orchestra] – Camerata Orchestra
Trumpet – Sokratis Anthis
12    Angel 2'07
Flute – Stella Gadedi
Harp – Maria Bildea
Mezzo-soprano Vocals [Mezzo-soprano] – Irini Karagianni
Orchestra [String Orchestra] – Camerata Orchestra
13    Finale 4'55
Baritone Vocals [Baritone] – Tassis Christoyannopoulos
Choir – ERT Choir
Mezzo-soprano Vocals [Mezzo-soprano] – Irini Karagianni
Orchestra – Camerata Orchestra
Trumpet – Sokratis Anthis

Chorus Master [Choirmaster (ERT Choir)] – Antonis Kontogeorgiou (pistas: 4, 6 to 8, 10, 13)
Clarinet – Marie-Cécile Boulard
Composed By – Eleni Karaindrou
Conductor [Camerata Orchestra] – Alexandros Myrat (pistas: 1, 3 to 8, 11 to 13)
French Horn – Vangelis Skouras
Producer [Concert Production] – The Athens Concert Hall
Producer [Produced By] – Manfred Eicher

J.S. BACH : Six Suites for Viola Solo (Kim Kashkashian) (2018) 2CD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The American violist Kim Kashkashian (if your autocomplete gives you her name, you may be a viola lover) has had a long association with the ECM label, often playing mainstream or contemporary repertory. But she has been playing Bach's Six Suites for solo cello on the viola for many years since coming on the scene in the late 1970s, and the cycle recorded here has the flavor of something deeply considered over many years. Transferring the music to the viola might have sounded a little odd to Bach, but it wouldn't have been beyond the boundaries of his universe, and in fact the human-range tone of the viola adds an indefinable fascination. But it's Kashkashian's daring readings that really compel attention. If you're a historical-performance absolutist you might give Kashkashian a miss, for some of her choices here go in the opposite direction from such influences. Consider the way she plays double- and triple-stopped chords: she does not glide through them as a historically oriented player might, but rather spreads them out and uses them to introduce a moment of rhythmic tension. In general, Kashkashian plays the suites with a good deal of rhythmic freedom. The dance pulse is there, but it's displaced elegantly or playfully. Sample the famous double Gavotte from the Suite No. 6 to find out how Kashkashian treats the lines and in general brings entirely new outlooks to some very familiar music. Some Bach solo recordings are mystical, some are virtuosic, some are gallant: remarkably, Kashkashian is all three. by James Manheim  
Tracklist 1 :
Suite II in D minor BWV 1008     
Suite I in G major BWV 1007     
Suite V in C minor BWV 1011     
Tracklist 2 :
Suite IV in E-flat major BWV 1010     
Suite III in C major BWV 1009     
Suite VI in D major BWV 1012     
Credits :
Composed By – J.S. Bach
Viola – Kim Kashkashian

HINDEMITH • BRITTEN • PENDERECKI : Lachrymae (1993) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

BARTÓK : Concerto for Viola & Orchestra; EÖTVÖS : Replica; KURTÁG : Movement for Viola & Orchestra (2000) FLAC (tracks), lossless

 

KURTÁG : Neun Stücke für Viola Solo; Jelek, Op. 5; Hommage à R. Sch.; SCHUMANN : Märchenbilder, Op. 113; Fantasiestücke, Op. 73 (1995) FLAC (tracks), lossless

JAN GARBAREK - In Praise of Dreams (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

It has been six years since saxophonist/composer Jan Garbarek issued a new recording under his own name. For In Praise of Dreams Garbarek enlisted violist Kim Kashkashian and frequent collaborator Manu Katché on drums. Garbarek, who composed the album's 11 selections, plays saxophones as well as a host of keyboards and percussion, while Katché plays acoustic and electronic drums along with Kashkashian's viola. In many ways this is the most radical recording that Garbarek has ever issued, but not because it's outside -- quite the opposite. This is easily the warmest, most accessible outing Garbarek has ever issued because though there are no vocals, Garbarek has clearly written "songs" on this set, with identifiable structures that are followed almost throughout. Though he is no stranger to the form, having employed it almost continually for the last 20 years, he has never engaged it so thoroughly and completely. Previously, he has engaged improvisation to get song to the breaking point and move it somewhere else. Here it is always present; surprise happens inside the formal frameworks of these compositions. Beautiful, soulful lines underscore and recontextualize the saxophonist's trademark Nordic iciness of tone on the opener, "As Seen from Above," with its spiraling soprano, lush keyboards, and hypnotic loops. In its warmth, it comes very close to a distinctly European kind of groove/soul-jazz. The interplay between Kashkashian and Garbarek on the title track offers rounded, multidimensional sonorities winding through the intro before spilling into a call-and-response melody. The repetitive keyboard line and Katché's mantra-like drumming under the loops draw the listener inside the song's heart and extend the edge for the front line. The restrained romanticism shown by Kashkashian on her nocturnal solo intro to "One Goes There Alone" is nearly breathtaking. As it gives way to the tune itself, it's slow, reflective, and rooted deeply in the tension created between percussion and Garbarek's minimal backing response lines. When he solos later in the tune, he's clearly blowing blues into her elegiac line. The blues notion continues in his phrasing on "Knot of Place and Time," slipping through the landscape of Kashkashian's elegant, near heartbreakingly poetic soundscape. And so it goes. Things get more speculative on "Scene from Afar" and "Cloud of Unknowing," but it hardly matters since these song forms are nonetheless immediately recognizable, presenting the nether side of the equation. It emerges again with "Conversation With a Stone" and whispers to a close with "A Tale Begun," a mantra-like duet that closes this strong set that will undoubtedly, if it gets the opportunity to be heard, garner Jan Garbarek some new fans. Poetic, moving, and marvelous, In Praise of Dreams is a welcome return.
(This comment is posted on allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog O Púbis da Rosa)

Tracklist:
1    As Seen From Above    4:42
2    In Praise Of Dreams    5:21
3    One Goes There Alone    5:06
4    Knot Of Place And Time    6:22
5    If You Go Far Enough    0:39
6    Scene From Afar    5:14
7    Cloud Of Unknowing    5:22
8    Without Visible Sign    4:59
9    Iceburn    4:59
10    Conversation With A Stone    4:18
11    A Tale Begun    4:39
Credits:
Drums, Electronic Drums [Sampled Or Looped Electronic Drums] – Manu Katché (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10)
Producer – Jan Garbarek, Manfred Eicher
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Synthesizer [Synthesizers], Sampler [Samplers], Percussion, Composed By – Jan Garbarek
Viola – Kim Kashkashian (tracks: 2 to 4, 6 to 10)