Picks of the Year: 2011

wswebmaster on December 1, 2018

Of the new releases that came my way this past year there were two that met my criteria of rare but extraordinarily fine repertoire in excellent performances. One was the long-awaited first recording of the late (1926-2011) Lee Hoiby’s deeply …

HOIBY Summer and Smoke

wswebmaster on November 29, 2018

HOIBY Summer and Smoke ● Steven Osgood, cond; Anne Viemeister (Alma Winemiller); Nickoli Strommer (John Buchanan) et al.; Manhattan School of Music Opera Theatre ● ALBANY TROY1272/73 (2 CDs: 2:02) Lee Hoiby died on March 28, 2011, shortly after celebrating his 85th birthday. …

Picks of the Year: 2009

wswebmaster on November 26, 2018

This year, with only a bit of stretching, I was able to find four CDs that met my criteria of “neglected masterpieces,” rendered in brilliant performances. John Corigliano is not a particular favorite of mine, but he is unquestionably a …

TOUCH: The Toccata Project: Works by PERSICHETTI. MENOTTI . HOIBY. DIEMER. HARRIS. ANTHEIL. ROREM. I. FINE. SOWERBY. L. LIEBERMANN. LEES. M. L. LEHMAN. MUCZYNSKI. R. LEWENTHAL. RIEGGER. BASTIEN.

wswebmaster on November 26, 2018

TOUCH: The Toccata Project PERSICHETTI Three Toccatinas. MENOTTI Ricercare and Toccata. HOIBY Toccata. DIEMER Serenade/Toccata. HARRIS Toccata. ANTHEIL Toccatas Nos. 1 and 2. ROREM Toccata. I. FINE Little Toccata. SOWERBY Toccata. L. LIEBERMANN Toccata. LEES Toccata. M. L. LEHMAN Toccatina. MUCZYNSKI Toccata. R. LEWENTHAL Toccata alla Scarlatti. RIEGGER Toccata. BASTIEN Toccata. Philip Amalong (pn) •ALBANY TROY1142 (57:00) An hour of …

HOIBY A Month in the Country

wswebmaster on November 25, 2018

HOIBY A Month in the Country • Steven Osgood (cond); JennyRebecca Winans (Natalia Petrovna); Charles Temkey (Rakitin); Liam Bonner (Belaev); Yooson Park (Vera); Alex Boyer (Arkady); Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater • ALBANY TROY-747/748 (2 CDs: 120:52) In the informative and …

HOIBY Dark Rosaleen. WILLIS Variants. BOLCOM Piano Quartet

wswebmaster on November 25, 2018

HOIBY Dark Rosaleen. WILLIS Variants. BOLCOM Piano Quartet Ames Piano Quartet – ALBANY TROY-730 (58:57) Having just turned 80 this year, Lee Hoiby is one of our oldest living traditionalist composers—and one of our finest, still composing quite actively, in his unrepentantly tonal …

HOIBY: Songs (18); O Florida (5 songs). I Was There (5 songs). Two Songs of Innocence. An Immorality. Night. Where the Music Comes From. Why Don’t You? What If. Investiture at Cecconi’s

wswebmaster on November 15, 2018

HOIBY: Songs (18). Peter Stewart, baritone; Lee Hoiby, piano. CRI CD-685 [DDD]; 56:51. Produced by Marc Aubort, Joanna Nickrenz.O Florida (5 songs). I Was There (5 songs). Two Songs of Innocence. An Immorality. Night. Where the Music Comes From. Why Don’t You? What If . . . …