Brahm

Inspired by the Romantic storyteller E. T. A. Hoffmann’s eccentric alter ego, Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana is a work Hélène Grimaud has known since she was a teenager and has recorded once before – yet, as she says, “you can spend a lifetime with a piece like this and always find something new”. In revisiting it here, she’s paired it with two pieces by Schumann’s protégé, Johannes Brahms, including a set of songs in which Brahms distilled his unrequited love for Schumann’s widow Clara, and for which Grimaud is partnered by sensational young baritone Konstantin Krimmel. The Extended Edition of her album For Clara complements pianist Hélène Grimaud’s recording of Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Brahm’s Op. 117 Intermezzi and Op. 32 songs with a recording of her 2022 performance of the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Camerata Salzburg at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. The second movement, which is now available, gives a first impression of Hélène Grimaud performing one of the most widely recorded piano concertos from the Romantic period.

Dave McKenna - Blues Up - Piano Solo (1955, 1963) {Fresh Sound Records FSR-CD-463 rel 2007}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 162 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 145 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 14 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1955, 1963, 2007 Fresh Sound Records | FSR-CD-463
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Standards / Stride / Piano

Dave McKenna made a remarkably piano solo debut in 1955 with the fifteen tunes he recorded for ABC Paramount (1-15). The remaining tracks on this compilation also come from a solo album, one he cut almost eight years later for the label Realm. Playing without a rhythm section, a key challenge for a jazz pianist, McKenna accomplished a recital of lasting value and pleasure. He plays with strength, individuality, fine beat and technique, and constant taste in all tempos. He is a wonderfully co-ordinated two-handed pianist.

Brahms: Cycle Bernstein: Violin COncerto-Double Concerto - BoxSet 5DVD - DVD 4/5[DVD9]
Classical | DVD | with complete scans (covers and booklet) | 6,87 Gb (DVD9) | DVD´s FULL No compression
Audio: PCM Stereo - DTS 5.1 | Relesase: October 9, 2007 | Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon

Gidon Kremer in the Violin Concerto and Double Concerto (with Mischa Maisky) subsumes his usual analytical style and partakes of Bernstein's Romantic persona, producing splendidly expressive performances with long legato lines emphasizing the vocal, song-like Brahms. The video is digitally clear and free from artifacts, well filmed by Humphrey Burton. Sound in both PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 is clear, just slightly thinner than today's sound.
Bernstein's romantic vision and Kremer/Maisky's softer, more lyrical performance style are strongly recommended.