Fanfare (1958)

In the last 20 years of his life, Bach focused on publishing works for posterity. This period brings us the Mass in B Minor, the Great Eighteen and the Schubler chorales, the Musical Offering, and the Art of Fugue. Bach also published four sets called Clavier-Ubung, or "keyboard interpretation," including the 6 partitas (Part I), Italian Concerto and French Overture (Part II), and Goldberg Variations (Part IV). Part III of the Clavier-Ubung, recorded here, comprises 21 chorale preludes based on the Lutheran mass and catechism (BWV 669-689) and 4 duets (BWV 802-805). These are flanked by the "St. Anne" prelude and fugue in E-flat major (BWV 552a & b), making 27 pieces in all.

This Alba release includes Symphony No. 2 & Ekho for soprano and orchestra by Aarre Merikanto, one of the greatest ever Finnish composers, finely performed by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and soprano Anu Komsi. Symphony No. 2 is a World Premiere Recording! Ekho is a setting of a poem by the Finnish poet V.A. Koskenniemi for soprano and large orchestra. On this new release the work is performed by the internationally praised Finnish soprano Anu Komsi with her dynamic coloratura voice.

John Cage - Indeterminacy & Solo For Piano [Fontana Mix] (Deutsche Übersetzung)
Joachim Król, Rezitation / Susanne Kessel, Klavier / Martin Erdmann, Übersetzung
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 169 MB | Full Artwork: 82 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Oehms # OC 855 | Country/Year: Germany 2012
Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary, Recital

"…Joachim Król’s reading is suitably undemonstrative, but the novel aspect of his role is that the text has been translated into German. As one might expect, this alters the experience in a fundamental—but not necessarily frustrating—way. Yes, listeners who don’t speak German will lose the sense of the stories, but, in an ironic Cagean twist, this in turn may allow them to focus greater attention upon the music, and perhaps notice the musicality, rather than just the meaning, of the language…" ~Fanfare

This is not strictly a compilation of what the British would term "light music," for there is music of substantial weight on these two discs: e.g., Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending, Butterworth's A Shropshire Lad, and Elgar's Introduction and Allegro, but for the most part, Marriner and his charges offer less weighty fare that is familiar to many classical music-lovers and certainly dear to the heart of Anglophiles like this writer. From Vaughan Williams's perennial favorites, Fantasia on Greensleeves and the English Folk Song Suite, and George Butterworth's nigh-ubiquitous The Banks of Green Willow to less familiar fare like Delius's Serenade (composed to honor the 70th birthday of Frederick Delius) and the suite from Elgar's incomplete opera The Spanish Lady, this compilation of recordings–originally made in 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1979–embodies the spirit of England and does so faultlessly. This is a well chosen and exemplarily executed collection of English orchestral miniatures proffered by a conductor and orchestra whose names have become synonymous with the repertoire.

On their latest recording, the acclaimed Molinari Quartet delves into the complete string quartet cycle of iconoclast Italian composer, Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988).

Hallé announces their latest release, of Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece in a live recording from the stunning 2014 Bridgewater Hall performance. “This matchless concert of British music closed with an outstanding performance, among the finest ever, of A Sea Symphony …. This was the first time Sir Mark Elder had conducted the work, which made the completeness of his interpretation, at once controlled and ecstatic, all the more startling. I can't imagine the work being better played..”