Hans Henny Jahnns Neuer Lbecker Totentanz Hintergrnde Teilaspekte Bedeutungsebenen mp Schriftenreihe

The vast majority of Brazilian-born pianist Arnaldo Cohen's discography is devoted to the music of Franz Liszt. There is good reason for this; his technique and approach to the instrument seem especially suited for the demands Liszt makes of pianists, from extreme subtlety and introspection to the bravura, ostentatious displays of power and virtuosity. Cohen delivers all of this with remarkable clarity.

This is playing in the grand manner… Ozawa and the orchestra are behind the soloist in all this and the deciso element is fully realized. But don't let me imply a lack of finesse; not only do lyrical sections sing with subtlety, the big passages also are shapely… In the gorgeously grisly Totentanz, both music and playing should make your hair stand on end. - C.H.; Gramophone

Henny Vonk - Rerootin' (1982) {2016 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Series CDSOL-6438}
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© 1981-82, 2016 Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6438
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Vocal Jazz

Reissue with the latest remastering. Features original cover artwork. Comes with a descripton in Japanese. Maybe the only album we've ever seen from Henny Vonk – a jazz singer with a Dutch name, but a style here that's right up there with some of the hipper American singers of the period – especially those who know how to move on the hipper currents of the spectrum! At some level, Henny's got a way of stretching out her words while inflecting them, with a vibe that's reminiscent of Sheila Jordan – but overall, Vonk's maybe a straighter jazz singer, too – but one with a nicely sensitive vibe, as her vocals are balanced out with the introspective piano work of Rov Van Den Broeck. The rhythm duo adds a nice current of soul from time to time – with Clint Houston on bass and Billy Higgins on drums – and many cuts have new lyrics written for the album.

Maybe the only album we've ever seen from Henny Vonk - a jazz singer with a Dutch name, but a style here that's right up there with some of the hipper American singers of the period - especially those who know how to move on the hipper currents of the spectrum! At some level, Henny's got a way of stretching out her words while inflecting them, with a vibe that's reminiscent of Sheila Jordan - but overall, Vonk's maybe a straighter jazz singer, too - but one with a nicely sensitive vibe, as her vocals are balanced out with the introspective piano work of Rov Van Den Broeck. The rhythm duo adds a nice current of soul from time to time - with Clint Houston on bass and Billy Higgins on drums - and many cuts have new lyrics written for the album.

I have only praise. Each of the four works here is well characterized, and the typically Lisztian varying tempos are spot on.

This is the kind of disc that reminds us that CDs can offer pretty good value in terms of length compared with vinyl LPs which played for around 40-45 minutes, and of course having the Hungarian Fantasy and Totentanz along with the two concertos gives a collector a useful conspectus of Liszt's music for piano and orchestra. The Lyonnais pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet is not new to the catalogue, but this is the first concerto record of his that has come my way and on the evidence of this playing he is an artist of considerable temperament and technique who shows a real feeling for the panache, devilry and sheer seductive charm of the music. The skill and sensitivity of Charles Dutoit and his Montreal orchestra are already well proven, of course, as is the excellence of their recording venue of St Eustache's Church, and they, too, contribute greatly to the success of these performances. The piano sound seems faithful, and if here and there I would welcome a touch more glitter (whether gipsy or Gothic) that is perhaps asking illegitimately for it to be more sensational and less natural: at any rate, it is pleasing and the balance is of that right kind that allows the piano sound to blend into the orchestra's in places just as it would do in a concert performance. No less effective here are the many places where the music drops into a kind of chamber texture, with just one orchestral instrument featuring alongside the piano.

Indeed, I have only praise. Each of the four works here is well characterized, and the typically Lisztian varying tempos are spot on, unrushed but never deliberate and always leading naturally from one to the next. Climactic passages are powerful, but the sound remains pleasant and avoids the crudity that can emerge from these scores in less sensitive hands. In all, then, a fine issue. It joins a strong field, of course, but Richter's splendid 1961 Philips account of the two concertos with Kondrashin and the LSO has just those works and plays for a mere 39 minutes while remaining at full price. Zimerman's recent DG version is leonine yet sensitive, well recorded and arguably very special in its aristocratic quality, and for the concertos alone is probably still the best choice, but there again, his disc includes the Totentanz but not the Hungarian Fantasia and its 56 minutes are not as generous as the present well-played and well-recorded 69.

Christopher Headington, GRAMOPHONE (1/1992)

An zwei Abenden versammelten Milica und Hans Theessink eine illustre Schar an nationalen und internationalen Künstlern im Wiener Metropol, und zwar am 5. und 6. April 2008, um den 60. Geburtstag von Hans Theessink in gebührender Weise zu feiern. Fans hatten an diesen beiden Abenden die Gelegenheit, unvergessliche Konzerte zu erleben.All jene, die an diesen Abenden nicht selbst dabei sein konnten, aber natürlich auch die glücklichen, die diese Konzerte erleben durften, finden mit der CD „Birthday bash“ ein wahrlich einzigartiges Tondokument, das diese unvergesslichen Abende in perfekter Form festhält.Hans Theessinks Album „Birthday bash“ enthält zwei CDs….

Totentanz is a rock band from Poland