New and Notable CD/DVD Acquisitions,
May-June 2006 (selective list)

Western art music

Leonard Bernstein. Peter Pan (CD 14520). Bernstein’s incidental music and songs reconstructed and edited by Alexander Frey.

Harrison Birtwistle. The Axe Manual (CD 14523). Piano music, sometimes including percussion, from the technically rebarbative British composer. Performed by Nicholas Hodges.

Gavin Bryars. Biped (CD 14524). A ballet score for Merce Cunningham.

John Corigliano. Phantasmagoria (CD 14521) performed by the Tampere Symphony and Symphony no. 2 and Suite from The Red Violin (Eleonora Turovsky, violin; I Musici de Montreal; Yuli Turovsky, cnd.) (CD 14522).

Bartok. Tulparton (CD 14526). Tamas Gombai and Istvan Sal, along with the Hungarian folk ensemble Fono Zenekar, perform Bartok’s well-known violin duets along with selections from the folk music that inspired Bartok. The violin duets are performed well, with an appropriate combination of lyrical pathos and rhythmic bumptiousness that clearly displays their roots in Hungarian folk tradition. Fono Zenekar plays with verve and rhythmic precision, and the vocalists make no effort to prettify their often raw source material.

Beethoven. Sonatas at the Library of Congress (CD 14534). Henryk Szeryng and Gary Graffman perform op. 12 no. 1, op. 12 no. 3, and op. 47. While this is about as far from “historically informed” performance as you can get, it’s an essential album for bringing together two of the century’s great virtuosi at the height of their powers. Also, Szeryng and Graffman were quite conscious of the equal roles enjoyed by the piano and violin in these sonatas, and their interplay, especially in the opening Allegro con brio of op. 12 no. 1, is ebullient and playful as well as strikingly precise and subtle in dynamic shading.

Lucian Berio. Rendering ; Stanze (CD 14519). Eschenbach, the Orchestre de Paris, and the French Army Chorus perform Rendering and the world premiere of Stanze, Berio’s last complete work.

Film music buffs will doubtless be interested in “The Essential Elmer Bernstein Film Music Collection” (CD 14518) which brings together music from many of Bernstein’s best known scores, including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Man with the Golden Arm, and many more.

Beat Furrer. Drei Klavierstucke/Voiclessness/Phasma (CD 14635). Piano works performed by Nicolas Hodges.

Kaikhosru Sorabji. Habermann plays Sorabji (CD 14448). Habermann, who has devoted much of his career to exploring Sorabji’s enormous and imposing output, performs three sets: Early Works, Nocturnes, and “Assertive Works.” While the last of these sets contains the type of music most listeners associate with Sorabji (densely contrapuntal, cerebral, and technically nigh-overwhelming) the earlier sets provide glimpses of Sorabji’s compositional development and debt to late romanticism.

Early music/Historical performances

“Bass”-ically French (CD 14495). Performed by the gifted gambist Mary Springfels and baroque bassoonist Michael McCraw, this recording makes up for its execrable title with interesting arrangements of French Baroque pieces, mainly for two gambas or two unspecified bass instruments with continuo, or for the appealing combination of gamba and bassoon.

In an unusual recording for Bridge (CD 14535), Lambert Orkis records Beethoven’s Sonata in F minor op. 57, the Appassionata, on three different pianos: an instrument after Nanette Streicher, a Bosendorfer concert grand, and a Regier fortepiano modeled on a Viennese fortepiano ca. 1830. The performances make for fascinating comparisons, especially between the light, transparent Streicher and the relatively dark, powerful Regier.

New recordings from Oxford-based Charivari Agreable are always welcome. In their latest CDs, they explore virtuoso instrumental music of seventeenth-century Italy, supplementing their usual lineup of viols, lutes, and harpsichord/organ with the unusual combination cornett and violin (Harmonia Caelestis, CD 14500). They also have a new CD of Spanish baroque music, “Esperar sentir morir” (CD 14501), employing vocal soloists, guitars and harp to supplement their basic ensemble. Vocalists Clara Sanabras and Rodrigo del Pozo join the ensemble for this selection of mainly-lightweight but impeccably performed Spanish selections.

John Dornenburg. Solo viola da gamba (CD 14494). With the number of unaccompanied viola da gamba CDs released since the late ‘90s, one begins to wonder how many recordings of the same few pieces by Karl Friedrich Abel the market can bear. In this outing, Bay Area freelancer Dornenburg brings a warm, ingratiating tone and flexible rhythmic feel to this repertory, playing the English selections with a welcome combination of nimble technique and well-spun lyrical lines. Dornenburg clearly has tremendous reserves of technique, but in fast passages his playing tends to take on a nasal, string-skimming quality. Nonetheless, Dornenburg’s performances of some very difficult pieces (including works by Kuhnel and Marais) give considerable satisfaction.

Ensemble La Dauphine. Doux rossignols (CD 14497). Chamber music by Boismortier, Philidor, Couperin, Leclair and others performed by a mixed ensemble of recorders, harpsichord/organ, and viols.

Froberger. Memento mori Froberger (CD 14570). Finnish harpsichordist Assi Karttunen performs some of Froberger’s darker repertory.

Gesualdo. Quinto libro di madrigali (CD 14597). Gesualdo’s challenging music performed by the acclaimed Italian ensemble La Venexiana.

Jose Marin. Tonos humanos (CD 14606). Montserrat Figueras performs songs of Marin, accompanied by Arianna Savall (arpa doppia) and the ever-dependable Rolf Lislevand (baroque guitars).

Luca Pianca and Vittorio Ghielmi. Duo (CD 14487). Despite the title, this CD consists mainly of works for lute or viol, not both. However, Pianca and Ghielmi perform well on the duets, with Ghielmi’s rather rough-and-ready technique playing off of Pianca’s somewhat more introverted style. Both artists display excellent technique, although Ghielmi’s tone and attack, especially in the low register, may not be to everyone’s taste. One pleasure of this album is the opportunity to hear some of the handful of unaccompanied Abel works that have not been recorded by numerous viol players before (cf. John Dornenburg’s CD above).

Musicke & Mirth. Die Spinne im Netz (CD 14487). Music from 16 th century Nuremburg prints for viols, lute and voice.

Weihnachten am Dresdner Hof (CD 14496). 18 th century Christmas music from Dresden, performed by the Kornerscher Sing-Verein Dresden and Dresdner Instrumental-Concert.

World/pop music

Daby Balde. Introducing Daby Balde (CD 14532). Balde performs Senegalese traditional music with contemporary influences, featuring fiddle, accordion and flute along with the expected acoustic guitars, kora and West African percussion.

Ensemble Renaissance. Roots of the Balkan: Music & Songs from Old Serbia (CD 14780). A selection of folk music performed on traditional early Serbian instruments, including saz, zurna, vielle, gemshorn, and traditional bagpipes.

Gangbe Brass Band. Whendo (CD 14571). Brass instruments combined with tight African percussion.

Kabiye orchestras and lithophones (CD 14508). From the acclaimed Ocora series, this CD features the percussion/wind ensemble of northern Togo, along with rarely-heard recordings of pichanchlassi (tuned stones).

Matisyahu. Youth (CD 14573). Produced by Bill Laswell, Matisyahu performs in a style that recalls dancehall and dub, with considerable vocal dexterity and a surprising depth and range of lyrical concerns, reflecting his orthodox Judaism (which resonates well with the Rastafarian imagery we tend to associate with this repertory). Laswell’s production ensures consistently thumping beats and engaging, surprising soundscapes.

Motown Box (CD 14529 box). This handsomely produced 4 disc set contains copious program notes and portraits of the artists. All of the better-known Motown names are present, including The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Martha & The Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, and many more.

Bobby Osborne. Try a little kindness (CD 14652). With a very talented backing outfit, Rocky Top X-Press, veteran singer/mandolinist and bluegrass pioneer Osborne makes convincing music out of some unlikely tunes, including covers of the Stanley Brothers’ standard “The Fields have Turned Brown” and the Johnny Cash hit “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (both in surprisingly hard-driving arrangements). Osborne’s voice and musical instincts are clearly intact, and he knows to surround himself with talented young musicians, making for a very satisfying traditional bluegrass album.

Regional Barnabe. Barnabe (CD 14517). Regional Barnabe performs choros inspired by the tradition of the “regional,” or informal “kitchen table” recreational choro performance that remains popular in parts of Brazil.

We now have a representative collection of the works of the late Malian guitar virtuoso, singer and multi-instrumentalist Ali Farka Toure. “Radio Mali” (CD 14609) is a remasterered selection of recordings made by Toure in the 1970s for Mali’s national radio, mainly featuring his voice and hypnotic acoustic guitar. In a less traditional vein, “Talking Timbuktu” (CD 14610) presents Toure jamming with Ry Cooder and other American blues musicians. “In the heart of the moon” (CD 14608), a somewhat experimental session combining Toure on guitar with kora master Toumani Diabate, also features Ry Cooder on some tracks. “The Source” (CD 14669), like “Talking Timbuktu,” presents Toure in a contemporary context, with his electric band, Groupe Asko.

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Updated: 13 Dec. 2005