New and Notable CD/DVD Acquisitions,
July-August 2006 (selective list)

Baroque/Renaissance/Classical

Victoria. Officium Hebdomadæ Sanctæ (CD 14724). Victoria’s music for Holy Week consists of nine Lamentations, eighteen responsories, two Passions and various other pieces, much of it extremely austere. La Colombina and Schola Antiqua recorded this music over the course of three evenings at the 2004 Religious Music Festival in Cuenca. The performances are appropriately ascetic and precise, and the result is a stirring reminder of why Victoria was one of the greatest European composers of church music of his day. (AJ)

Rolf Lislevand. Nuove Musiche (CD 14782). Inspired by both the humanist movement that produced the first use of the term le nuove musiche and the historically informed performance practice movement, Lislevand and his colleagues improvise early seventeenth-century style dances off of arranged manuscript sources, and the result is outstanding. The ensemble, which includes guitar, triple harp, colascione, percussion, nyckelharpa, and chitarra battente, moves effortlessly through passacaglia and toccata, improvising transitions and extended jams which make complete sense to modern ears but are clearly rooted in early Baroque sources. Highly recommended. (AJ)

Mozart. Violin Concertos/Sonatas (CD 14783/14784). Fabio Biondi’s bravura, which admirably distinguishes his recordings of Corelli, Vivaldi, and Boccherini from other (safer) interpretations, adds some nice zest to Mozart’s canonical violin works. Unfortunately, sacrificing intonation and subtlety for excitement and panache sometimes detracts from his performance. (For a more accurate and still engaging performance of Mozart violin works, see Andrew Manze’s recordings (CD 14263 and 14264). Olga Tverskaya’s fortepiano work in the sonatas seems to agree with Biondi’s edginess, although it would be nice to hear more of her in the mix, especially since these are really violin-accompanied sonatas. (AJ)

Telemann. Markus-Passion 1755 (CD 14788). Telemann wrote one Passion for each year between 1722 and 1767; unfortunately, only half of these are extant. Cornell alumnus Steven Zohn explains: “Following contemporary practice, nearly all Telemann’s liturgical Passions mix biblical prose texts with chorales (given relatively straightforward harmonizations to facilitate singing by the congregation) and interpolated poetry sung by unnamed or allegorical personages.” This recording features strong soloists (with excellent diction) and the Telemann Consort Magdeburg on period instruments in a convincing performance of a welcome change from the Bachian Passion norm. (AJ)

Bach. Missæ Breves (CD 14835). The B-minor Mass, whose origins spanned more than two decades, was not devised as a unity. According to Christoph Wolff, “Bach’s aim seems originally to have been to bring together a collection of exemplary large-scale mass movements rather than to create a single, cyclical work on an unprecedented scale.” These movements comprise BWV 233-236, each containing a Kyrie, Gloria, and Cum Sancto Spiritu, rounded out by an assortment of other typical mass movements. Ex-Cornell faculty Thomas Folan and his Rochester, NY-based ensemble Publick Musick present a debut recording of these so-called Lutheran Masses. While their contribution is certainly a welcome one for historical purposes, the performances occasionally suffer from sluggish tempi (especially in the choral movements), murky textures owing to dark acoustics and clashing vibrati, and lack of clarity in ensemble-wide phrasing. (AJ)

Mozart. Quintets with Flute, Vol. 1 (CD 14841). This is the first of three recordings devoted to contemporary anonymous Viennese arrangements of Mozart’s string quintets for flute and strings. Recorded by Ensemble Campanile on the Hungaroton label, the performances are clean and interesting to compare with the originals, as the different ranges of violin and flute demand some surprising changes of register, and the difference in tone colors is immediately apparent. The original scores were edited for performance by Cornell alumnus Thomas Irvine, who is one of the group’s violists – further study can be found in the final chapter Irvine’s 2005 Ph.D. dissertation Echoes of Expression: Text, Performance, and History in Mozart’s Viennese Instrumental Music (Thesis ML30 2005 I785). Irvine and fellow Cornellian Wiebke Thormählen contribute liner notes that discuss some of the issues surrounding the arrangements. (AJ)

Vaet. Salve Regina, Motets (CD 14843). Jacobus Vaet, a contemporary of Lasso and Palestrina, was a Flemish composer in the employ of Maximilian II of Austria. He was apparently well known in his lifetime, and his style generally uses pervading imitation derived from Gombert. Although the diction could at times be clearer, the Dufay Ensemble interprets Vaet’s works admirably, excelling in balance, intonation, and expression, traits vital to effective performance of sixteenth-century vocal polyphony. (AJ)

Ockeghem. Caput (CD 14844). Ockeghem’s influence on the composition of mass settings is imposing, to say the least. The Missa Caput is one of his earliest cantus firmus masses, which he presumably modeled on the English mass. The Belgian ensemble Graindelavoix attempts to ‘give a new sound’ to Ockeghem’s work, by executing the mass a fourth lower than the original and implementing machicotage, the practice of embellishing certain sections of plainsong in order to add greater solemnity to the mass. Unfortunately, the group’s efforts are undermined by the space they recorded in, the Sint-Pauluskerk in Antwerp – the church’s resonance often works against the vocal textures, creating a murky blend of voice, text, and intonation that is often distracting and only becomes enjoyable at the end of each section. (AJ)

Popular music/Historical Novelties/New DVDs

The Who. My Generation (CD 14862) and Live at Leeds (CD 14863). The 2002 two-CD version of My Generation includes all the material from the English “My Generation” and the US “The Who Sings My Generation,” both from 1965, plus numerous alternate takes and uncut versions, including “I don’t mind” and “The good’s gone,” plus a mono version of “My generation.” The remastering is excellent and catches the primeval teenage yawp of this early material with all the grime of the original fully intact. (JMA)

The two CD version of “Live at Leeds” gives a great deal more material from this famous concert than was previously available on vinyl, including a fifteen-minute version of “My generation” that captures this more mature version of The Who in their full glory as a live band. The second CD, a live performance of Tommy, won’t be to everyone’s taste. The uneven quality of the music is somehow put into relief by the live performance, although that’s not to say there aren’t some wonderful moments, including the Overture, “Pinball Wizard,” and a brutal version of “Fiddle About.” Also, the packaging, although lavish, gives only a hint of the rather wacky original. Nonetheless, any quibbles aside, this CD stands as a fitting monument to the band many have called the best live act of the sixties. (JMA)

The New Columbian Brass Band. A Trip to Coney Island (CD 14861), The Teddy Bears Picnic (CD 14860) , Thatsum Rag (CD 14832). The New Columbian Brass Band is a professional ensemble dedicated to the historical performance of 19th and early-20th century brass band music, focusing on the American repertoire. This is something of a relief from the general drift of brass band performance, which tends to focus on the (admittedly vast) store of English compositions. “A Trip to Coney Island” is especially unusual in presenting “serious” (or semi-serious) American repertory from the turn of the century. The NCBB performs rags, marches, fantasias and animal-themed novelty numbers with aplomb and considerable virtuosity. (JMA)

Quadrophenia (DVD 276). A dark and sometimes funny film about growing up Mod in the early sixties, this unusual film remains famous for its soundtrack by The Who. (JMA)

Velvet Goldmine (DVD 275). Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Christian Bale star in a mystery set in the glam underworld of New York in the eighties. Produced by Michael Stipe. (Thanks to Judith Peraino for suggesting these acquisitions.) (JMA)

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Updated: 13 Dec. 2005