CD Reviews – Page 16 – Walter Simmons

BARBER Vanessa

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

BARBER Vanessa • Leonard Slatkin, cond; Christine Brewer (Vanessa); Susan Graham (Erika); William Burden (Anatol) et al; BBC Singers and SO • CHANDOS CHSA 5032(2) (2 CDs: 122:09) Since it is less than a year since my review of the Naxos recording …

PASATIERI: Letter to Warsaw

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

PASATIERI Letter to Warsaw • Jane Eaglen (sop); Gerard Schwarz, cond; Music of Remembrance • NAXOS 8.559219 (70:34) For those readers to whom the name of Pasatieri is unfamiliar, let me offer a brief summary: Now in his late 50s, Thomas Pasatieri …

ORBÓN: Three Symphonic Versions. Symphonic Dances. Concerto Grosso

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

ORBÓN Three Symphonic Versions. Symphonic Dances. Concerto Grosso • Maximiano Valdés, cond; Asturias SO • NAXOS 8.557368 (66:17) Julián Orbón was born in Asturias, Spain, in 1925. His mother died while he was a boy, so Julián and his father—also a …

KURKA: Symphony No. 2. Serenade. Music for Orchestra. Julius Caesar

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

KURKA Symphony No. 2. Serenade. Music for Orchestra. Julius Caesar • Carlos Kalmar, cond; Grant Park O • CEDILLE CDR-90000 077 (64:00) Well, here we go again: Just a few issues back (Fanfare 27:6) I was reviewing an Albany Symphony miscellany in which …

CORIGLIANO: Symphony No. 2. The Mannheim Rocket

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

CORIGLIANO Symphony No. 2. The Mannheim Rocket • John Storgårds, cond; Helsinki PO • ONDINE ODE-1039-2 (56:02) John Corigliano has enjoyed one of the most successful careers of any American composer of his generation. Now in his mid 60s, he began more …

BERNSTEIN A Jewish Legacy

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

BERNSTEIN A JEWISH LEGACY • Various performers • NAXOS 8.559407 (55:47) PSALM 148 (1935). HASHKIVEINU (1945). REENAH (arr. 1947). SIMCHU NA (arr. 1947). YIGDAL (arr. 1949). FOUR SABRAS (c. 1950). SILHOUETTE/GALILEE (1951). ISRAELITE CHORUS (1958). THREE WEDDING DANCES (1960). THE DYBBUK (1974): Invocation and Trance. HALIL (1981). YEVARECHECHA (1986). ARIAS AND BARCAROLLES (1988): Oif Mayn Khas’ne. VAYOMER ELOHIM (c. 1989) This release belongs to Naxos’s American …

BARBER Vanessa

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

BARBER Vanessa • Gil Rose, cond; Ellen Chickering (Vanessa); Andrea Matthews (Erika); Ray Bauwens (Anatol) et al; National SO of Ukraine • NAXOS 8.669140-41 (2 CDs: 120:59) Samuel Barber’s Vanessa is one of the greatest American operas, and a masterpiece of the …

PANUFNIK Symphony No. 2, “Sinfonia Elegiaca.” Nocturne. Rhapsody

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

PANUFNIK Symphony No. 2, “Sinfonia Elegiaca.” Nocturne. Rhapsody • Robert Whitney, cond; Louisville O • FIRST EDITION FECD-0017 (51:40) Aficionados of 20th-century music in the United States owe a considerable debt to Robert Whitney and the Louisville Orchestra for their role in …

LEES Symphonies: Nos. 2, 3, 5. Etudes for Piano and Orchestra

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

LEES: Symphonies: Nos. 2, 3, 5. Etudes for Piano and Orchestra • Stephen Gunzenhauser, cond; Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz; James Dick (pn); Robert Spano, cond; Texas Festival O• ALBANY TROY-564/65 (2CDs: 54:41; 47:58) An approximate contemporary of such figures as Ned Rorem and Peter Mennin, …

KURKA: Symphony No. 2. V. THOMSON: Filling Station. HELPS: Piano Concerto No. 2. LOPATNIKOFF: Festival Overture

wswebmaster on November 24, 2018

KURKA: Symphony No. 2. V. THOMSON: Filling Station. HELPS: Piano Concerto No. 2. LOPATNIKOFF: Festival Overture • David Alan Miller, cond; Albany SO; Alan Feinberg (pn)• ALBANY TROY591 (64:33) This is one of those 20th-century miscellanies that harkens back to the heyday of …