Boris Deart Galaxy Pink Elephant

This 10CD box covers the entire range of the repertoire with which Boris Christoff took the world by storm; from his first opera role in La Boheme over the important Verdi roles and his devilish portrayal of Mephisto to the major roles in Russian operas; Christoff took part in no less than 600 performances of Boris Godunov.

The place of Domenico Scarlatti in the history of 18th century music is certainly exceptional. This exquisite and imaginative group of works is included in the fourteenth volume of Scarlatti’s manuscript sonatas preserved in the Marciana Library in Venice. Although known as keyboard sonatas, research reveals that they were very likely to have been conceived for performance on the violin – multi-movement works, often showing the presence of figured bass accompaniment, rapid changes of register and numerous passages better suited to a violin than a keyboard instrument all support the theory. This is flashy and virtuosic writing for violin at its finest.

Boris Giltburg's 2016 release on Naxos consists of two sets of piano pieces by Sergey Rachmaninov, the Études-tableaux, Op. 39 (1916-1917), and the Moments musicaux, Op. 16 (1896). The Études-tableaux are a cross between technical studies and character pieces, reminiscent of the etudes of Frédéric Chopin, and they present considerable challenges, even to virtuoso pianists. Here, Giltburg displays his remarkable skills, as well as a range of expressions that run from the fiery and turbulent to the atmospheric and melancholy. In the Moments musicaux, Rachmaninov experimented with short forms, such as the nocturne, etude, funeral march, barcarolle, and theme with variations, and these pieces demonstrated his mastery of piano technique, if not yet his full maturity as a composer. Giltburg's playing brings out a variety of colors and textures, and his passionate interpretations accord with Rachmaninov's youthful, ardent style.

The topics of death, mourning and consolation move people more than ever. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this theme has come upon us in a cruel and numbing way. The music and lyrics of this new album from Elena Margolina and Boris Hait want to be a support for all those who are confronted with the often paralyzing reality of war in processing their grief. Music and literature have an effect on people as a contact with the beautiful, as a mediator of true values. They are thus a unique means of providing comfort, of overcoming powerlessness, of regaining hope.

Boris Begelman, the highly acclaimed leader of Concerto Italiano, frequently takes on the role of soloist in the many concerts that Rinaldo Alessandrini’s celebrated orchestra devotes to the music of Vivaldi and his contemporaries. High time then for Begelman to take centre stage in one of the Vivaldi Edition’s solo violin recordings. This ninth concerto volume sees the welcome return of Rinaldo Alessandrini’s ensemble, which already features in thirteen albums of the Vivaldi collection. In this purely instrumental repertoire they excel as much as they do in vocal music, deploying generously sweeping melodic lines, inspired dynamics, and a musical language already mastered to perfection yet always interpreted anew.

This program with works for baroque violin reveals Bach as the unique composer he was but also as an accomplished and fastidious craftsman, with an acute sense of effective color and an ability to blend stylistically divergent features into a fluent and satisfying whole. The performances by Boris Begelman are characteristically energetic and stylish. The works are played on a violin by Louis Moitessier from the 1790s. Boris Begelman is the concert master of the recently founded orchestra Amici Veneziani. This group was founded by soprano Simone Kermes and combines the best musicians she has worked with during the last five years.

After failing to secure a recording contract with Buddah Records, the Kasenetz-Katz production team-sponsored band Crazy Elephant found a home with Bell Records and released a self-titled album. This Repertoire release is a straight reissue of that lone album from the band originally released in 1969 and includes 14 bonus tracks. The album contains mainly original compositions by band members and Kasenetz and Katz together with an odd psychedelic R&B cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" and the very strange heavy version of the Leonard Bernstein song "Somewhere." While the music on this album does have a bubblegum feel to it, the entire album is more overtly psychedelic with swirling organ, fuzz guitars, and even horns, in the style of a less heavy Vanilla Fudge or Rare Earth. Crazy Elephant did manage to produce a hit single in 1969 with the song "Gimme, Gimme Good Lovin'" that featured vocals by Robert Spencer, former lead vocalist from the '50s band the Cadillacs.