BRUCKNER : 9 Symphonies (Eugen Jochum · Berliner Philharmoniker · Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks) 9CD BOX-SET (2003) Serie Collectors Edition | APE (image+.cue), lossless

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
CD1.        Symphony No. 1 In C Minor 47:20
Orchestra – Berliner Philharmoniker
CD2.    Symphony No. 2 In C Minor 51:55
Orchestra – Symphonie-Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks
CD3.    Symphony No. 3 In D Minor 53:16
Orchestra – Symphonie-Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks
CD4.    Symphony No. 3 In D Minor 64:46
Orchestra – Berliner Philharmoniker
CD5.    Symphony No. 5 In B Flat Major 76:52
Orchestra – Symphonie-Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks
CD6.    Symphony No. 6 In A Major 55:07
Orchestra – Symphonie-Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks
CD7.    Symphony No. 6 In A Major 67:57
Orchestra – Berliner Philharmoniker
CD8.    Symphony No. 8 In C Minor 74:16
Orchestra – Berliner Philharmoniker
CD9.    Symphony No. 8 In C Minor 60:49
Orchestra – Berliner Philharmoniker
Credits :
Music Director – Eugen Jochum

GEORGE ANTHEIL : Piano Concerto No. 2 • Serenade No. 2 • Dreams (Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra · Daniel Spalding · Guy Livingston) (2006) APE (image+.cue), lossless

New World Records' George Antheil: Dreams, Piano Concerto No. 2, Serenade No. 2 takes the all-Antheil disc out of the realm of his symphonies and recitals of little, short piano pieces into other kinds of major literature that Antheil also produced. Dreams is one of Antheil's most infectious works, a ballet written for George Balanchine that co-mingles waltzes, marches, pop tunes, and even Schumann's The Happy Farmer in a lightly applied and certainly "dreamlike" tapestry as diaphanous as the music it was designed to replace, namely Darius Milhaud's Les Songes. One wonders why Balanchine would want to substitute for music that is as lovely as Les Songes, but there was a concern among émigré artists in the 1930s that their productions might be perceived as "too European" for American tastes. In any event, Antheil did Balanchine proud with Dreams, and it is equally mysterious that they did not work together again.

Just as light and precious is Antheil's Piano Concerto No. 2, though dating from his "futurist" period in the 1920s, is likewise light and colorful, although the harmonic palette in use is more daring. Although largely condemned as "pseudo-Stravinsky" when it was first heard, it is clear that the Piano Concerto No. 2 is a continuation of the ideas Antheil first pursued in Piano Concerto No. 1, except that it doesn't contain nearly as many violent contrasts. Antheil's score for Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman helped set the tone for the scoring of movie westerns, and some of that hickory-smoked flavor carries over into his American vernacular onSerenade No. 2, rubbing shoulders with cityscapes, skyscrapers, and lonely walks through dark, rainy alleyways. All three pieces dispense with familiar development schemes and even psychological form in favor of a sort of loose, stream-of-consciousness manner of folding one idea into another, or in making abrupt transitions like "jump cuts" in a movie.

Pianist Guy Livingston, who has done much on Antheil's behalf, is the featured soloist in the concerto, and the whole is performed by the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra under Daniel Spalding. The recording, made at the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, is good but a little distant, and at times the listener might wish to hear pianist David Hasbrig in Dreams a little better. None of these pieces had been recorded before when this disc was planned, and in the meantime, CPO managed to rush out an Antheil Piano Concerto No. 2 of its own a little ahead of this one. Given a choice between the two, any true Antheilian would want the one with Livingston, and indeed, it is worth the slight wait. Moreover, this is a nicely chosen combination of works that demonstrate that in his youth, Antheil viewed Europe through American eyes, but after his return in maturity, he was seeing America from the perspective of a European sensibility. Uncle Dave Lewis
George Antheil (1900-1959)
1-9.    Dreams    (28:18)
10-12.    Piano Concerto No. 2    (21:40)
13-15.    Serenade No. 2    (22:11)
Credits :
Conductor – Daniel Spalding
Orchestra – Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra
Piano – Guy Livingston

RENÉE FLEMING — Distant Light (2017) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Nearly 58 years old when the recording was released in early 2017, Renée Fleming was obviously not content to retread familiar territory. True, she delivers a standard repertory (and quintessentially Fleming) performance in Samuel Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915, Op. 24, her just slightly smokier voice fitting Barber's lush setting of the James Agee text especially well. The Strand Settings of Anders Hillborg (in English) were commissioned from this Swedish composer by Fleming; they're in the grand tradition of Scandinavian nature evocations, and they fit Fleming's voice exceptionally well. But the big news here is the set of Björk songs. Fleming has always had a flair for material originating from the popular sphere, but her work here is exceptional. She alters her voice production to a startling degree, making much more use of the microphone than usual and offering a flat tone that does not imitate Björk, but plausibly suggests her. Yet she's still definitely recognizable as Renée Fleming. Sample Jóga, both for the flavor of the orchestral arrangements by Swedish composer Hans Ek and for Fleming's apparent affinity for such lines as "a state of emergency is where I want to be." The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under Sakari Oramo keeps up with Fleming's changing moods here, and the end result is an unusually strong Fleming release. James Manheim
Tracklist :
1 Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24  15:35
Composed By – Samuel Barber
Text By – James Agee
2-5    The Strand Settings 20:33
Composed By – Anders Hillborg
Text By – Mark Strand
6 Virus  4:24
Arranged By – Hans Ek
Composed By, Lyrics By – Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Lyrics By – Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson
7 Jóga  4:36
Arranged By – Hans Ek
Composed By, Lyrics By – Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Lyrics By – Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson
8 All Is Full of Love 3:12
Arranged By – Hans Ek
Composed By, Lyrics By – Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Credits :
Renée Fleming - Soprano
Conductor – Sakari Oramo
Orchestra – Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

LUDOVICO EINAUDI — In A Time Lapse (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi, grandson of an early president of postwar Italy and student of Luciano Berio, has at times used either his first or his last name solo. His music is a bit difficult to pin down, for it treads up to the lines of minimalism, new age, and pop piano without quite going over any of them. It depends on repeated, slowly shifting piano figures but is too grand to be really minimalist. Stress reduction and contemplativeness are the chief virtues ascribed to it by its admirers, but it doesn't have the improvisatory jazz basis of American new age music. And though individual junctures might sound like passages from Elton John, the music tends to stop short of pop emotional payoffs and go off in a new direction. This generic slipperiness is the key to Einaudi's appeal, which seems set to expand to the U.S.: as in the days of old, where recorded music was conceived of primarily as an aid to selling live concert tickets, In a Time Lapse comes stickered with an American tour schedule. Should you try it out? Einaudi has the odd combination of being original without being especially challenging; his music sort of lies there. But this release may well be a good place to start. Its most noticeable new feature is a light overlay of pop electronics not present on Einaudi's solo piano and piano-and-orchestra music. It actually works well, lending rhythmic and textural variety to the beginnings of each piece. The music soon enough progresses into chord arpeggios on Einaudi's piano, but he has the opportunity to apply his simple musical logic to a variety of moods. This, too, sets the music apart from new age models. In short, who knows? Even if crossover is not your bag, you may find yourself drawn by this. Or maybe you just want something that will relax you in freeway traffic. Einaudi could work either way. James Manheim
Tracklist :
1    Corale 2:05
Cello – Marco Decimo
Electronics – Ludovico
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi, Svetlana Fomina
Violin – Alice Costamagna
2    Time Lapse 5:31
Cello – Marco Decimo
Kalimba – Francesco Arcuri
Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Bass [Electronic Bass] – Ludovico
Rhythm Guitar [Rhythm Guitars, Effects [Reverb] – Alberto Fabris
Sound Designer – Paolo Giudici
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi
Violin – Federico Mecozzi
3    Life 4:23
Cello [Solo Cello], Glockenspiel – Marco Decimo
Orchestra – I Virtuosi Italiani
Piano, Celesta – Ludovico
Violin [Solo Violin] – Daniel Hope, Mauro Durante
4    Walk 3:28
Cello – Marco Decimo
Kalimba – Francesco Arcuri
Piano, Celesta – Ludovico
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi
5    Discovery At Night 4:26
Piano – Ludovico
6    Run 5:32
Orchestra – I Virtuosi Italiani
Piano – Ludovico
7    Brothers 4:51
Cello – Marco Decimo, Redi Hasa
Loops [Loop] – Leo Einaudi
Piano, Synthesizer [Moog] – Ludovico
Rhythm Guitar [Rhythm Guitars], Bass – Alberto Fabris
Sound Designer – Paolo Giudici
Violin – Mauro Durante
8    Orbits 2:57
Cello – Marco Decimo
Effects [Reverb] – Alberto Fabris
Piano, Glockenspiel, Electronics – Ludovico
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi, Svetlana Fomina
Violin – Alice Costamagna, Federico Mecozzi
Violin [Solo Violin] – Daniel Hope
9    Two Trees 6:26
Effects [Reverb] – Alberto Fabris
Piano – Ludovico
10    Newton's Cradle 7:53
Cello – Marco Decimo, Redi Hasa
Double Bass – Franco Feruglio
Effects [Reverb] – Alberto Fabris
Electronics [Live Electronics] – Robert Lippok
Ensemble [Additional Live Recording: Ensemble] – PMCE Parco Della Musica Contemporanea Ensemble
Kalimba – Francesco Arcuri
Percussion [Additional Live Recording: Percussions] – Antonino Errera, Antonio Caggiano, Fulvia Ricevuto, Gianluca Ruggeri
Piano, Celesta, Loops – Ludovico
Recorded By [Partially Recorded By] – Gianluca Mancini
Sound Designer – Paolo Giudici
Tambourine – Mauro Durante
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi, Svetlana Fomina
Violin – Alice Costamagna, Federico Mecozzi
11    Waterways 4:18
Cello – Marco Decimo
Double Bass – Franco Feruglio
Harp – Francesca Tirale
Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Bass – Ludovico
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi, Svetlana Fomina
Violin – Alice Costamagna
12    Experience 5:15
Harp – Francesca Tirale
Orchestra – I Virtuosi Italiani
Piano – Ludovico
Violin [Solo Violin] – Alberto Martini, Daniel Hope
Violin [Solo Violin], Tambourine – Mauro Durante
13    Underwood 4:13
Piano – Ludovico
Violin – Daniel Hope
14    Burning 5:09
Orchestra – I Virtuosi Italiani
Piano – Ludovico

BENNIE GREEN — Blows His Horn (1955-1989) RM | Original Jazz Classics Limited Edition Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Bennie Green, one of the few trombonists of the 1950s not to sound somewhat like a J.J. Johnson clone, always had a likable and humorous style. He blends in well with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse on these standards, blues, and jump tunes, two of which have group vocals. With a fine rhythm section (pianist Cliff Smalls, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Osie Johnson, and Candido on congas), Green and his band show that there is no reason that swinging jazz has to be viewed as overly intellectual and esoteric. This CD (a reissue of the original LP) is a fine example of Bennie Green's talents and winning musical personality. Scott Yanow

Tracklist :
1. Sometimes I'm Happy 3:53
 Irving Caesar / Clifford Grey / Vincent Youmans
2. Laura 6:13
 Johnny Mercer / David Raksin
3. Body And Soul 6:58
 Frank Eyton / Johnny Green / Edward Heyman / Robert Sour
4. Say Jack 3:36
 Bennie Green / Osie Johnson
5. One Track 3:15
Bennie Green / Osie Johnson
6. Groovin' The Blues (Take 1) 5:31
 Bennie Green
7. Groovin' The Blues (Take 2)
Bennie Green
8. Travelin' Light 3:07
 Harry Akst / Sidney Clare
9. Hi Yo Silver 3:21
 Bennie Green / Osie Johnson
Credits:

Bennie Green - Trombone

Paul Chambers - Bass

Candido - Congas

Osie Johnson - Drums

Cliff Smalls - Piano

Charlie Rouse - Tenor Saxophone