New and Notable CD/DVD Acquisitions,
February 2006

Contemporary music

(Note: because of the volume of incoming materials this month, I've shortened or eliminated the usual commentary on many of these items)

Louis Andriessen. Gigantic dancing human machine (CD 14165). The Bang on a Can ensemble presents three works by Andriessen.

Daniel Asia. Trilogy : chamber music of Daniel Asia (CD 14178). The Woodwind Quintet (1998), String Quartet no. 2 (1985) and Brass Quintet (2001).

Bright Sheng. China dreams ; Nanking! Nanking! ; Two poems from the Sung Dynasty (CD 14197).

Herbert Brun. Sawdust (CD 14196), Wayfaring Sounds (CD 14194), Language, message, drummage (CD 14193), Mutatis mutandis (CD 14195). Electronic and acoustic chamber compositions; various perfomers.

John Cage. Works for piano, vol. 5 (CD 14236). Four Walls, Soliloquy, and 3 Easy Pieces, performed by Haydee Schvartz and Jack Bruce.

Qigang Chen. Iris devoilee ; Reflet d’un temps disparu ; Wu Xing (CD ). Yo-Yo Ma and other performers.

Rebecca Clarke. The complete choral music (CD 14237). Vocal works in various combinations performed by the choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, Geoffrey Weber, conducting.

Daniel S. Godfrey. String quartet no. 2 ; String quartet no. 3 ; Romanza (CD 14235). Quartet music by Syracuse University composer Godfrey, performed by the Cassatt String Quartet.

Alexander Goehr. Behold the Sun ; Metamorphosis/Dance ; Romanza (CD 14187). David Atherton conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra with cellist Moray Walsh.

Heinz Karl Gruber. Cello concerto ; Zeitfluren ; Manhattan broadcasts (CD 14183). Gruber conducts his own pop- and jazz-inflected works with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and cellist Robert Cohen.

Cristóbal Halffter. Siete cantes de Espana (CD 14188). The composer leads the Berlin Radio Symphony with Maria Oran and Simon Preece in this large-scale song cycle performed live in 1994.

Hans Werner Henze. Pollicino (CD 14182). Jobst Liebrecht leads an ensemble made up mostly of Berlin secondary school students in Henze’s opera for children.

Stefan Hussong, performer. “High way for one” (CD 14181). Accordionist Hussong performs works by Gubaidulina and Berio, among other contemporary composers.

Gyorg Ligeti. Piano works (CD 14164). Works for piano, piano 4 hands and two pianos performed by Lucille Chung and Alessio Bax.

Astor Piazzolla. Song of the Angel (CD 14234). James Crabb, accordion, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti conducting. Principally works by Piazzolla originally for quartet, arr. for accordion and orchestra.

Iannis Xenakis. Kraanerg (CD 14189). Alexander Winterson leads the Sinfonieorchester Basel in Xenakis’ ballet score.

Classical/Baroque/Renaissance Music

L. van Beethoven. Complete violin sonatas (CD 14223). Benjamin Hudson, violin, Mary Verney, fortepiano.

Cavalli. Statira: drama per musica in tre atti (CD 14155). The Capella de’ Turchini, Antonio Florio, conducting.

John Dowland. Semper Dowland, semper dolens (CD 14154). A double CD of Dowland performed by Jose Miguel Moreno (lute) and Eligio Quintero (theorbo, gittern).

Alfonso Ferrabosco. Consort music (CD 14217). The Rose Consort of Viols.

Andrea Gabrieli. The Madrigal in Venice: Politics, Dialogues and Pastorales (CD 14240). I Fagiolini, the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, Robert Hollingworth, director.

Orlando Gibbons. With a Merrie Noyse: Second Service and Consort Anthems (CD 14206). The choir of Magdalen College, Oxford join the incomparable Fretwork for an all-Gibbons program, including the perennial favorite “O clap your hands.”

Sergei Istomin. Solos virtuoses pour viole de gambe (CD 14209). Canadian gambist Istomin performs a risky program of unaccompanied viol music. He is able to wring poetry from two musically intractable (and technically difficult) suites by Schenck, and his interpretation of Telemann’s sonata in D is both sonically lush and technically nimble. Highly recommended.

Rolf Lislevand. La belle homicide (CD 14169). Lislevand performs a selection of works from the Manscrit Barbe. Some production choices are a bit puzzling (the sound of wind and birds (?) that precedes the opening Prelude in d minor might make the listener initially unsure if they had the right CD). Lislevand’s lute is miked very closely, which makes for tremendous articulation of all the lines, although some might find the sound a bit sharp and wirey. Lislevand’s performance is technically assured, as is his command of the complex vocabulary of embellishments in this repertoire.

London Baroque. The Trio Sonata in 17 th-Century England (CD 14210). Works by Gibbons, Coprario, Lawes, Jenkins and others. Ingrid Seifert and Richard Gwilt (violins) and Charles Medlam (bass viol) play very well, if somewhat cautiously. The recording quality is execellent.

Jacob Obrecht. Missa Sub tuum presidium (CD 14241). The Clerks’ Group, Edward Wickham, director.

Villancicos y danzas criollas de la Iberia antigua al nuevo mundo, 1550-1750 (CD 14208). Jordi Savall, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, and Hesperion XXI.

Yates, Sophie. Elizabethan virginals music (CD 14242). Sophie Yates, virginals. Featuring Holborne, Gibbons, Byrd, Farnaby, and others.

World/Pop music

Amadou & Miriam. Dimanche a Bamako (CD 14252). This album abounds with references to Malian traditional music, Afropop, and Western pop; witness the folksy acoustic guitars of the opening track, “M’bife,” segueing into a balafon-driven coda. The lyrics, in French, English, and Bamako, address issues as diverse as love, local festivals, and pan-African unity, with a strong dose of anti-globalisation politics thrown in. The production is excellent and innovative, blending the duo’s sweet signature vocals with powerful acoustic and electric guitars, layered backing vocals and tight percussion. Even Malian street sounds mix in, as in the seamless integration of siren sounds into “La realite.”

Festival in the Desert (CD 14185). This 2003 live concert recording (made at Essakane, Mali) brings together established acts (Tinariwen) with legendary performers (such as Malian singer and guitar virtuoso Ali Farka Toure) with younger African and Afro-European performers and some surprise guests.

Mahmoud Fadl. Drummers of the Nile (CD 14186). Fadl and his ensemble use traditional rhythms and dances of Sudan and Egypt, combining and modifying them into a modern style.

Femmes de Tetouan. Chants d’allegresse (Songs of rejoicing) (CD 14180). Traditional Algerian womens’ music, initially performed for entertainment in private, now resurrected as a national art form.

Impulsive! Revolutionary jazz reworked (CD 14248). Tracks from the vaults of Impulse records, remixed by contemporary creative producers. Original performers include Coltrane, Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry and many more. Remixers include Gerardo Frisina, Mark Clive-Lowe, Telefon Tel-Aviv, and others. Standouts include RZA’s remix of Mingus’ “II B.S.,” which not only mixes Mingus’ original funky bass lines and infectious riffs with shimmering electronica but transforms Mingus’ original lines with results that are sometimes startling but remain sympathetic to Mingus’ original vision.

Konono no. 1 : Congotronics (CD 14251). Based on the traditional trance music of the Congo and Angola, this band performs on heavily amplified versions of the likembe (a cousin of the kalimba) and improvised percussion instruments. The heavy amplification of the instruments (which leads to distortion and feedback) and insistent, layered beats give the music a sound strikingly like Western house/electronica, but with a distinctly African feel.

Latin jazz (the rough guide) (CD 14249). An overview of Latin jazz, with music by Eddie Palmieri, Poncho Sanchez, and many other lesser-known performers.

Mahotella Queens. The very best of the Mahotella Queens (CD 14253). Best known for their work with the late, legendary singer and showman Malathini, the Queens have produced several albums on their own. This album showcases their vocal talents with sample tracks from the early 70s to the present.

M.M. Naji and K.M. Khalil. La chanson d’Aden (CD 14184). This collection celebrates the “Aden song,” a genre that developed in the port city in the mid-twentieth century and is characterized by the mixing of Yemeni folk roots and instrumentation with some elements of Western pop music.

Tresors de la musique algerienne (CD 14173). A collection of early-to-mid-twentieth century Algerian pop music, culled from the archives of Algerian Radio.

The Three Pickers (CD 14177). Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, and Ricky Skaggs in a one-time live show (recorded in 2002) with backing ensembles including Kentucky Thunder. This CD records a one-time, historical collaboration between two generations of American bluegrass.

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Updated: 13 Dec. 2005