New and Notable CD/DVD Acquisitions,
April 2006

Early music/Historical performances

Marta Almajano (soprano) (CD 14428). Almajano performs 17th century vocal works with Luca Pianca, archlute and Vittorio Ghielmi, viola da gamba. Almajano has a slightly broad vibrato (only a problem for listeners accustomed to the Kirkby sound) and possesses technical virtuosity enough to perform this music with seeming ease; she is able to move between passionate, playful and ruminative affects at the lightning pace this repertory demands. Pianca and Ghielmi provide a wonderfully transparent continuo sound, setting off Almajano’s characterful voice to consistently excellent effect.

D’Anglebert, Jean-Henry. Pieces de clavecin & airs d’apres M. de Lully (CD 14451). Original works by d’Anglebert for harpsichord and organ and arrangements of opera excerpts by Lully for harpsichord, along with original works by Lully. Celine Frisch, keyboards, with the baroque orchestra Café Zimmermann.

J.S. Bach. Concertos BWV 1052, 1062, 1057 and 1060 (CD 14431). This unusual recording combines two double concertos (BWV 1067 and 1062) known to be transcriptions by Bach with two reconstructions of theoretical original works that have been transmitted only as works for harpsichord (BWV 1052) or 2 harpsichords (BWV 1060) and orchestra. Experts could argue the musical results of the “theoretical” transcriptions at length. Midori Seiler’s transcription and excellent performance of BWV 1052 poses a case in point. Seiler’s performance of this musically and technically difficult work is excellent, and the work’s knotty contrapuntal complexity takes on a new form in the close interplay between the solo and orchestral violins. However, at some points the great virtuosity, including rapid sequences of double and triple stops, frequent use of barriolage, and registral extremes, required by Seiler’s violin transcription seem somewhat anachronous with respect to Bach’s original violin writing.

J.S. Bach. Goldberg variations ; 14 canons (CD 14432). Richard Egarr performs a very personal, “cantabile” version of the Goldbergs on a carefully restored harpsichord with an unusual timbral range and resonance. While his performance may not be quite as cerebral (or nearly as fast) as Gould’s pathbreaking 1955 rendition, Egarr makes a powerful argument for this work as an apex of idiomatic harpsichord music, and draws ravishing sounds from his Ruckers-inspired instrument.

We now have several new volumes, including 8, 10, 14 and 24 of John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach cantata cycle (CDs 13556, 14457, 14458, 14459, 14456). These CDs document Gardiner’s “Bach Cantata Pilgrimage,” an ambitious and risky project of performing all of the surviving Bach cantatas on their appointed feast day within a single year. While the unusual circumstances of the recordings sometimes tell (the unreliable church acoustics being a special problem) these are performances of undeniable vibrancy and immediacy, performed “live” (although without audiences). The varying roster of vocalists performs well under what must have been difficult circumstances, and the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir are reliable as always.

Balletto Terzo. Le nuove musiche (CD 14464). This unusual German ensemble (mezzo-soprano, lute and harpsichord) performs a varied program of works by Frescobaldi, Peri, Monteverdi, Caccini, and others.

Mendelssohn. String quartets vol. 3 (CD 14422). The Eroica Quartet in a historically-informed performance of Mendelssohn’s Quartets op. 44 1n3 80, and the Pieces for string quartet, op. 81.

Mozart. Concerto for flute and harp, Symphony no. 31, Symphonie Concertante (CD 14425). Despite the lightweight (but enjoyable) repertory, this CD provides an excellent document of historical wind-playing. The soloists are consistently excellent, the intonation spot-on, and the blend of soloists in the Symphonie Concertante well balanced. The historical-instrument performance of the Concerto K. 299, with its slightly reedy flute and small-sounding, harpsichord-like harp may surprise listeners familiar with the frequent modern-instrument performances of this piece, but Suzanne Kaiser (flute) and Maria Galassi (harp) make an excellent argument for their more intimate, less overtly brilliant reading of the piece. The Freiburger Barockorchester, directed by Gottfried van der Goltz, provides sympathetic accompaniments throughout.

Although these can’t be considered historical performances, we now have both of Glenn Gould’s recordings of the Goldberg Variations (1955 and 1981) along with extensive interviews with Gould on the 3-disc set Glenn Gould: A State of Wonder (CD 14470). This set offers a fascinating opportunity for side-by-side comparisons between the young prodigy and middle-aged virtuoso in his interpretation of one of Bach’s most enigmatic and intellectually challenging works.

Contemporary Art Music

Dance like the Wind: Music of Today’s Black Composers (CD 14444). Music by Undine Smith Moore, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Joseph Jennings, W. Banfield, David Baker, and others. Performed by the VocalEssence Ensemble with orchestra.

Got the Saint Louis Blues: Classical music in the Jazz Age (CD 14443). Music composed by African-Americans between 1914 and 1930. Composers include Handy, Burleigh, Florence B. Price, R. Nathaniel Dett, and others. Performed by the VocalEssence Ensemble with orchestra.

World music/Jazz

We received three interesting CD/DVD combinations from Smithsonian Folkways this month as part of the “Music of Central Asia” series: Invisible Face of the Beloved: Classical music of the Tajiks and Uzbeks (CD 14420), Mountain Music of Kyrgyzstan (CD 14419), and Homayun Sakhi: The art of the Afghan Rubab (CD 14421). Sakhi’s CD, for rebab and tabla, will sound somewhat familiar to anyone familiar with Hindustani classical music; its closest cousin is the Indian sarod. However, Sakhi is a startling virtuoso, going from powerfully expressive shakls (the Pakistani version of the slow, improvisatory alap) to driving, virtuosic naghma characterized by one of Sakhi’s trademark touches: parandkari, in which a high, piercing drone string is struck rapidly in alteration with melody notes as an added touch to the rhythm.

“Mountain Music of the Uzbeks” is performed by Tengir-Too, a post-Soviet traditional instrumental ensemble led by Nurlanbek Nyshanov. The music is performed on traditional komuz (three stringed lute), flutes, stick fiddles, and various types of Jew’s harps. Nyshanov uses new instrumental combinations and vocal/instrumental arrangements to create neo-traditional Uzbek music, based on folk roots but also making the music accessible to modern listeners, without the ugly ideological trappings of the Soviet-era “folk orchestra.”

On “Invisible Face of the Beloved,” the well-known ensemble Academy of Maqam performs Sufi devotional music of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The music is primarily vocal, although percussion instruments and bowed and plucked lutes are also played. As with “Mountain Music of the Uzbeks,” this project is partly an attempt to resurrect a partially-derelict tradition, in this case that of the shashmaqam, the ancient courtly music of Muslim Central Asia.

While earlier Cornell librarians certainly didn’t neglect jazz, we do suffer from a lack of certain important works on CD. Chipping away at this gap, we now have Coltrane’s acerbic-but-masterful “Ascension” (CD 14440, originally released 1965) and the more accessible “A Love Supreme” (CD 14442, originally released 1964), in “deluxe edition” 2-CD sets. These CD reissues provide never-before-available material and remastering, giving unique insight into two albums now considered monuments of jazz. New additions also include Coltrane’s “Complete Africa/Brass Sessions” (CD 14441) a two-CD document of the many alternate takes that eventually became Coltrane's first album for Impulse. This album features Coltrane’s quartet backed by an unusual combination, mainly brass instruments with some woodwinds, largely arranged by McCoy Tyner and Eric Dolphy.

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Updated: 13 Dec. 2005