50 Portraits

Alain Duhamel excelle, on le sait, dans les portraits politiques. Là, il nous livre d'une façon très personnelle les grandes rencontres de sa carrière. …

Portraits is a three-disc, 61-track box set covering Emmylou Harris' entire career for Reprise and Warner Records, which spans from 1974 to 1992. Not only does the box select highlights from classic albums like Luxury Liner, Roses in the Snow, and Blue Kentucky Girl, but it also features her early duets with Gram Parsons and selections from the Trio album she recorded with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. Portraits doesn't dwell too long on unreleased material – there are only five unearthed tracks on the entire set – preferring to sketch out a full overview of her career. While there might be a few favorite tracks missing, the box nevertheless fulfills its goals quite nicely – anyone looking for a comprehensive compilation of Emmylou's career will not be disappointed.

Andreas Ottensamer - Portraits - The Clarinet Album (2013) {Mercury-Deutsche Grammophon 00289 481 0131}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 220 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 133 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 38 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 Mercury Classics / Decca / Deutsche Grammophon | 00289 481 0131
Classical / Concerto / Chamber Music / Clarinet

Mercury Classics/Deutsche Grammophon has released the debut album of Austrian clarinettist Andreas Ottensamer, the first ever solo clarinettist to sign an exclusive agreement with the Yellow Label. Portraits – The Clarinet Album features concertos by Copland, Spohr and Cimarosa, plus arrangements of short pieces. Andreas Ottensamer is accompanied on the recording by the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Kent Nagano and the Hallé continue to commit to CD less celebrated portions of the Britten canon. Last year there was the four-act Billy Budd; before that the premiere recording of a concert version of the radio drama The Rescue. Now come two more firsts, recordings of the Double Concerto - prepared from Britten's almost complete sketches by Colin Matthews and presented by Nagano at Aldeburgh in 1997 - and the Two Portraits from 1930. The second of these is a portrait of Britten himself, a surprisingly plaintive and reflective meditation for viola and strings in E minor. The image is belied by the rest of the music on the disc, which is buoyant, energetic, young man's music all written before Britten was 26. Big guns Kremer and Bashmet are brought in for the Double Concerto and give of their impassioned best. Nagano and the Hallé are appropriately spirited and vigorous throughout the disc. It's not mature Britten, but clearly points the way forward and is worth getting to know.