George Michael Songs From The Last Century

Say you start a group called the Society for New Music, commission composer-stars-in-the-making and do it for thirty years straight, you might expect your scrapbooks to be quite interesting. What you might not realize is that your efforts now constitute a major segment of the backbone of contemporary American concert music and you have premiered a boatload of chamber works by composers who have gone on to distinguished careers. Such is the case with Syracuse’s Society for New Music founded by Neva Pilgrim, who opened their treasure chest of commissioned works from 1972 – 2002 and has put them together as the 5-CD set entitled “American Masters for the 21st Century.”

This album represents the culmination of what leading British baritone Roderick Williams described as ‘a dream come true’. It features premiere recordings of his orchestrations of songs by Vaughan Williams and other composers associated with him and is released to commemorate those who perished in WWI.

Solti's interpretations held more than surface excitement. In conducting Beethoven, for example, he long held that the symphonies should be played with all their repeats to maintain their structural integrity, and he carefully rethought his approach to tempo, rhythm, and balance in those works toward the end of his life.

The figure of George Frideric Handel cast a long shadow over musical London in the first half of the eighteenth century, condemning many of his contemporaries – fine composers themselves – to long years of obscurity. This recording throws light into forgotten corners and discovers some glittering gems, some of them demanding dazzling vocal fireworks from their performers. Several of these composers set scenes from Classical mythology or Old Testament narratives – but they also explore the underside of the Baroque psyche in one of David’s darkest psalms and in a representation of Arcadian madness.

Johannes Ockeghem - Complete Secular Music - The Medieval Ensemble Of London (1993) {L'Oiseau-Lyre 436 194-2OH2 rec 1981}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 611 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 313 Mb
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© 1981, 1993 Decca / L'Oiseau-Lyre | 436 194-2OH2
Classical / Renaissance / 15th Century / Early Music

This was the last of the wonderful series of fifteenth-century song sets issued by L'Oiseau-Lyre Florilegium under the initiative of the late Peter Wadland. Like the others—the complete Dufay songs and the complete Chansonnier Cordiforme—it was hardly intended for continuous listening throughout and therefore sits far better in CD format, where songs can be selected individually and repeated for more concentrated listening. Also like the others, it is a touch uneven in quality: perhaps two-thirds of the pieces here receive magnificent performances that go straight to the centre of the music, while a few merely skim the surface.