Shostakovich Jazz

I read a rave review of Vadim Gluzman in concert, and since I hd never heard of the Ukraine-born, naturalized Israeli violinist, I sought out this CD. The 45-year-old virtuoso is from the Oistrakh-Vengerov mold: intense, large-scaled, and powerful. All his talents are needed in the late, bleak Shostakovich Violin Sonata. The cover art, showing Gluzman dressed in black gazing out over a flat gray landscape typifies the music.

I read a rave review of Vadim Gluzman in concert, and since I hd never heard of the Ukraine-born, naturalized Israeli violinist, I sought out this CD. The 45-year-old virtuoso is from the Oistrakh-Vengerov mold: intense, large-scaled, and powerful. All his talents are needed in the late, bleak Shostakovich Violin Sonata. The cover art, showing Gluzman dressed in black gazing out over a flat gray landscape typifies the music.

This is one of the best recordings I have ever heard. Jansons' phrasing is marvelous. The music emerges from a mist, taking shape slowly. In the finale, at around 7:30, the brass have a phrasing about it that casts a hollow, sanguinary shadow to events. The sudden 'end' to the massacre is greeted by the most haunting aural image I've ever heard. The chimes (?) at the close of the second movement is arresting. Then there is the bassoon in the third movement…how does Jansons get the player to produce that sound?? There is a seamless quality to the stings, as if Jansons was having them play 'bogen frie' (as Stokowski called it) or use free bowing. These are just some of the wonderful moments in this symphony.

It tends to be Russian performers who capture the dark, emotional undercurrents of Shostakovich's music, but few chamber groups have ever done it as well as the Belcea Quartet, a London-based group of central and eastern European players. Neither the Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57, nor the String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73, is a commonly played work, but taken together, in the Belcea's more-than-capable hands, they have a powerful impact.

The two piano concertos of Shostakovich, though strikingly different from each other, have both become twentieth century classics. The first has long been one of Marc-André Hamelin's 'party pieces.' Hyperion was pleased to have the opportunity to pair him with Andrew Litton, a conductor who knows these works backwards and forwards (he has even recorded the second concerto as pianist). The resulting performances have a vitality and flair which places them amongst the greatest ever put to disc. The Shchedrin concerto, though less well-known, is no less enjoyable. There is brilliance in both the piano writing and the orchestration and the surprise addition of a jazz trio in the finale - including vibraphone and drum kit - is sure to bring the house down.

The Waldbühne in Berlin, one of the most appealing outdoor amphitheatres on the European continent, is the home of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s summer concerts. With audiences of more than 20,000, these are some of the most popular classical music concerts in the world. Riccardo Chailly is famous for having one of the broadest and most eclectic repertoires. Here, under his baton, the orchestra presents perennial favourites by Shostakovich, Rota and Respighi.

Recorded during three different stays at New York's Basin Street, Jazz: Red, Hot and Cool is making its first appearance in the U.S. on CD. It documents - with the addition of two additional performances that were previously unissued - the original Brubeck quartet in its final years. In 1956 Joe Morello would replace Joe Dodge, and in 1958 Eugene Wright would take over the bass chair from Bob Bates. What strikes the listener about this band, is a having been seasoned for five years when the first of these performances were recorded, the Brubeck quartet was far more immersed in the blues than anyone - at least the critics of the time - had given them credit for…

This CD reflects the finest of the fifties and remains timeless. You will hear early Brubeck when life was new and everything fresh. His early sidemen were really into it. This group had its own passport to inner space. You get fun and serenity both on this CD.