GODARD : Complete Piano Trios (Trio Parnassus) (2010) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Best-known (and for many, only known) for his opera Jocelyn, French composer Benjamin Godard produced an abundance of music in his short 45-year life that is rarely performed. Among his forgotten works are two piano trios, written in 1880 and 1884. Compared to other works in the genre from the same time period, Godard's trios are certainly lacking in the same level of sophistication, gravitas, or stand-alone ability on a concert program. Still, the two trios heard on this MDG Gold album are melodically pleasing, possessing rich, non-progressive Romantic harmonies. The finale of the F major sonata is among the more exciting moments, with its intense rhythmic drive and pizzicato strings. Chamber music aficionados will certainly find merit to these works. The Trio Parnassus, who has undertaken many projects to revitalize long-forgotten literature, comes to Godard's rescue here. Having successfully breathed new life into the trios of Lalo, Korngold, Vasks, and the like, Trio Parnassus has a track record of taking slightly less interesting works and imbuing them with a sense of commitment, attention to detail, forward momentum, broad-ranging dynamics, and measured sentimentality. The resulting performance here is one of respect for the score and the composer, polished technical skills, nice balance, and a sense of true chamber music collaboration. Listeners seeking to expand their repertoire will do well with this and other installments by the Trio Parnassus.  Mike D. Brownell

PAUL HINDEMITH : Complete Sonatas Vol. 1 (Ensemble Villa Musica) (1997) APE (image+.cue), lossless

 

PAUL HINDEMITH : Complete Sonatas Vol. 2 (Ensemble Villa Musica) (1997) APE (image+.cue), lossless

The MDG label prides itself on maintaining the "natural acoustics" of the concert halls in which recordings are made, and shy away from modifying the sound with added reverberation and the like. Listening to this disc makes you wish that more labels would follow suit, especially for small chamber works like these. The resulting sound is very much like attending a live performance -- balance and clarity are left to the performers rather than post hoc sound engineers.
The members of the Ensemble Villa Musica heard in this recording represent the rest of the ensemble well. Each of the solo instrumentalists gives energetic and lustrous performances of the sonatas. Superb technique and intonation meet pleasantly splendid musicianship and thoughtful interpretations. The common thread among all of these sonatas is pianist Kalle Randalu. His playing is always elegant, and he delivers each of the fiendishly difficult accompaniment parts with remarkable clarity and individual sensitivity to each of the different instruments with whom he is playing. Collectors of Hindemith's vast output for piano and solo instrument are well-advised to check out this series. by Mike D. Brownell 

PAUL HINDEMITH : Complete Sonatas Vol. 3 (Ensemble Villa Musica) (1998) APE (image+.cue), lossless

 

PAUL HINDEMITH : Complete Sonatas Vol. 4 (Ensemble Villa Musica) (1997) APE (image+.cue), lossless

 

PAUL HINDEMITH : Complete Sonatas Vol. 5 (Ensemble Villa Musica) (1996) APE (image+.cue), lossless

 

PAUL HINDEMITH : Complete Sonatas Vol. 6 (Ensemble Villa Musica) (1996) APE (image+.cue), lossless

 

PAUL HINDEMITH : Complete Sonatas Vol. 7 (Ensemble Villa Musica) (1997) APE (image+.cue), lossless

 

 

MAX REGER : Three Suites for Violoncello solo Op.131c (Hans Zentgraf) (1994) APE (image+.cue), lossless

MAX REGER : Works for Two Pianos (Piano Duo Trenkner-Speidel) (1998) APE (image+.cue), lossless

FRIEDRICH KIEL : Works for Violoncello and Piano, Vol. 1 (Christoph Ullrich, Hans Zentgraf) (1997) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

FRIEDRICH KIEL : Works for Violoncello and Piano, Vol. 2 (Christoph Ullrich, Hans Zentgraf) (2003) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

MORTON FELDMAN : The Late Piano Works, Vol. 1 – Triadic Memories (Steffen Schleiermacher) (2008) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Triadic Memories is one of Morton Feldman's most popular and frequently performed works for piano. Here, more than is usual in his music, Feldman uses the repetition of patterns and gestures. The repetitions are rarely exact -- they are characterized by very subtle rhythmic variations -- but almost every gesture, whether large or small, is repeated a few or many times. The repeated figures, while all being quiet and relatively simple and brief, vary in their length, structure, and texture. The unpredictability of the number of repetitions, the asymmetry of the repeated figures, the avoidance of a regular pulse, and the subtlety with which Feldman alters the repetitions keep the music continually intriguing for the attentive listener. Because of its use of discernible repeating patterns, Triadic Memories may be the Feldman work that's closest to the popular understanding of minimalism, although the music sounds absolutely nothing like that of Glass or Reich or Riley. While Triadic Memories is more eventful than much of Feldman's work, its quiet, isolated but related events occurring in a vast temporal landscape create an effect of unhurried serenity that's a trademark of the composer's.
The composer gives the pianist considerable leeway in determining the tempo, to the extent that the recorded performances have durations ranging from 74 minutes (Jean-Luc Fafchamps on Sub Rosa) to two hours and four minutes (Sabine Liebner on Oehms Classics). Clocking in at 80 minutes, Steffen Schleiermacher's interpretation is among the more expeditious. His reading is thoughtful and carefully considered, with each note placed with sensitivity in relation to its neighbors. Schleiermacher's reading is wonderfully fluid, and the speed at which he plays creates an organic sense of wave-like motion. It's intriguing to imagine how a very slow performance would come off, but Schleiermacher's is a fully persuasive version of a piece that could have a number of very different but valid interpretations. MGD's natural, unprocessed sound is, as is typical for the label, immaculate and vivid. Stephen Eddins       Tracklist + Credits :

MORTON FELDMAN : The Late Piano Works, Vol. 2 – For Bunita Marcus (Steffen Schleiermacher) (2009) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist + Credits :

MORTON FELDMAN : The Late Piano Works, Vol. 3 – Piano • Palais De Mari (Steffen Schleiermacher) (2009) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Along with slowly cycling gestures, haunting sonorities, and soft dynamics, the late piano works of Morton Feldman are usually noteworthy for their extreme length. The compositions on the first two volumes of Steffen Schleiermacher's series for MDG, Triadic Memories (timed at 80:44) and For Bunita Marcus (71:48), fall into this category of music on a vast scale. In contrast to them, the two pieces on the third volume, Piano (31:57), and Palais de Mari (22:49), are fairly short for Feldman, and listeners who want to explore his keyboard music in a somewhat more manageable timeframe may choose to start with them. The same spaciousness and quietude of the other works can be found here, and Schleiermacher's sensitivity and control assure that the rarefied moods and delicate sounds are evenly handled throughout both pieces. Thanks to the unprocessed and fully natural audio signal, all of the nuances of Schleiermacher's touch are captured, yet there is also a slight background sound that apparently comes from the performance space, not from any defect in the all-digital recording. Listeners may find that this is only a mild distraction and easy to get past once the music takes hold. This important series is recommended for all Feldman aficionados and anyone interested in the sublime expressions of his late period. Blair Sanderson                 Tracklist + Credits :