Tad James

James Levine's is a more recent entry in the realm of Dutchman recordings, and sonically the recording is absolutely stunning, with great attention having been paid to the recording process. The casting for this Metropolitan Opera effort is also uniformly first rate, even in the less grateful roles of the hapless Erik, sung by the impressive Ben Heppner, and the scolding nurse, Mary, sung by Birgitta Svendén. Morris's brooding Dutchman is hard to match on any other available recording, and Deborah Voigt is a ravishing Senta. The chorus work is quite good, though not quite as rich as that heard in the Solti/Chicago recording. Overall, Levine does a workmanlike job of conducting these impressive forces, though there are passages in which his tempi seem to drag. This recording is a must for anyone who needs a completely up to date version of Wagner's first major opera.

Tad’s new album, Real Street , (2019) on Severn Records, continues his high-level artistry. On the ten tracks on Real Street, Robinson is backed by the architects of the southern soul sound, the Hi Rhythm Section.

There are two reasons to check out this disc of Bach's sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord. The first reason is that it features recordings of all three versions of the G major Sonata – the first five-movement version with three slow movements surrounded by the same Presto, the second six-movement version with two new movements that didn't appear in the first version, and the third and final five-movement version with three new movements that didn't appear in the two preceding versions.