Berio: Sequenzas III & VII - Differences, Due pezzi, Chamber Music
Cathy Berberian, Heinz Hollinger
Member of the Julliard Ensemble, Luciano Berio
Newt On Classics
1969/2011
The immediate attraction of is pairing of Luciano Berio Sequenzas and Chamber Music lay in the composer conducting Members of the Juilliard Ensemble, this during his tenure at Juilliard between 1965 and 1971. To describe this music as Postmodern either says too much or too little regarding the music's overall impact. This is precise chaos in musical composition. "Differences" is scored for 5 instruments and magnetic tape, foreshadowing the use of loops and samples in recording. Soprano Cathy Berberian obviously enjoyed her performance of "Sequenza III for Female Voice," modulating her voice through the sonic steeplechase the composer write for it. Oboe-ist Heinz Hollinger is both lyrical and direct in his reading of "Sequenza VII for Oboe." "Due pezzi" is a violin-piano duet which hangs strangely together despite its Postmodern origins. Berio's three-part "Chamber Music" reprises the precise chaos of "Differences" while extending the anxious and disjointed language of Berio's vision.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner: Faust Pieces - Chaeur et Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Yutaka Sado (2000/2011)
Chaeur et Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Yutaka Sado, Soloists
Apex
2000/2011
The Faust Archetype existed well before Robert Johnson went to the intersection of Mississippi 49 and 61 to sell hi soul to the Devil one midnight in exchange for fully formed guitar playing ability. During the early 19th Century, the Faustian legend was set to dramatic verse by Germany's Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Faust. Der Tragödie erster Teil. Goethe was the intellectual darling of the Romantics and it is no surprise that three of the greatest set scenes from his legend to Music. Franz Liszt's Episoden aus Lenaus "Faust" is dark and brooding, sumptuous in "The Mephisto Waltz." Richard Wagner's Eine Faust Ouverature is ponderous in low brass, a Wagner specialty. It is Hector Berlioz who bring the piece to dramatic life in Huit Scenes de "Faust," where the doomed scholar comes alive in operatic splendor. Yutaka Sado directs Chaeur et Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France with a firm and stead hand, divining the wicked pleasure of the story, casting it musically with the greatest grace and drama. This is an Apex imprint re-release of the original 2000 Erato release.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Steve Lacy Live at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz (1981/2011)
Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy Live at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz
Jazzwerkstatt
1981/2011
The late soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy was never one to shy away from musical exploration. His favorite vehicle were the grandly explorable compositions of Thelonious Monk, who is represented here with four pieces. Lacy performs solo in the old East Germany town of Peitz. His performances are at once extroverted and probing. His Monk is as expected, angry and angular. His original compositions provide him the sonic opportunity to explore the squeaks and squeals of his horn as he patterns through some complex arpeggios and scales in his wondering. Sweetly harsh describes best Lacy's approach, an approach with more success that the late Coltrane or Coleman.
Steve Lacy Live at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz
Jazzwerkstatt
1981/2011
The late soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy was never one to shy away from musical exploration. His favorite vehicle were the grandly explorable compositions of Thelonious Monk, who is represented here with four pieces. Lacy performs solo in the old East Germany town of Peitz. His performances are at once extroverted and probing. His Monk is as expected, angry and angular. His original compositions provide him the sonic opportunity to explore the squeaks and squeals of his horn as he patterns through some complex arpeggios and scales in his wondering. Sweetly harsh describes best Lacy's approach, an approach with more success that the late Coltrane or Coleman.
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