MCCARTNEY: Standing Stone

wswebmaster on November 18, 2018

MCCARTNEY  Standing Stone – Lawrence Foster, cond; London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra – EMI CLASSICS 7243 5 56484 2 6 (76:45) Here it is–the “classical” music mega-event of Winter, 1997-98: Paul McCartney’s four-movement “symphonic poem,” Standing Stone. Four years (1993-97) in composition, with the …

LEES: Piano Sonata No. 4. Fantasy Variations. Mirrors

wswebmaster on November 18, 2018

LEES  Piano Sonata No. 4.  Fantasy Variations.  Mirrors · Ian Hobson (pn) ·ALBANY TROY-227 (65:15) I recently (Fanfare 20:5, pp. 179-80)reviewed a disc (Albany TROY-138) featuring Benjamin Lees’s three violin sonatas.  There I expressed a certain ambivalence about the composer, asserting that he “has written some truly fine, …

LEES: Symphony No. 4, “Memorial Candles”

wswebmaster on November 17, 2018

LEES Symphony No. 4, “Memorial Candles” – Theodor Kuchar, cond; National SO of the Ukraine; Kimball Wheeler (mez); James Buswell (vn) – NAXOS 8.559002 (61:42) Naxos continues its ambitious and promising “American Classics” series with a new release devoted entirely to Benjamin …

KHRENNIKOV: Napoleon Bonaparte (Ballet)

wswebmaster on November 17, 2018

KHRENNIKOV Napoleon Bonaparte (Ballet) – Pavel Ovsyannikov, cond; Presidential Orchestra of the Russian Federation – RUSSIAN DISC  10 070 (69:08) For many years Tikhon Khrennikov was known in the West only as First Secretary of the Composers Union under Joseph Stalin, a position for which he …

KABELÁC: Fated Dramas of Man. Eight Inventions. Eight Ricercari

wswebmaster on November 17, 2018

KABELÁC  Fated Dramas of Man. Eight Inventions.  Eight Ricercari – Alfréd Strejcek (spkr); Miroslav Kejmar (tpt); Frantisek Maxián (pn); Vladimir Vlasák (perc); Prague Percussion Ensemble; Vladimir Vlasák (cond) Ÿ PANTON 81 1146-2931 (64:00) I  have been fascinated with the music of Miloslav Kabelác since the early …

IVANOVS: Symphonies: No. 5; No. 12, “Sinfonia Energica.”

wswebmaster on November 17, 2018

IVANOVS:  Symphonies:  No. 5; No. 12, “Sinfonia Energica.”  Dmitry Yablonsky conducting the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.  MARCO POLO 8.223332 [DDD]; 66:13.  Produced by Victor and Marina A. Ledin. It seems to me that the “CD revolution” and Fanfare were made for each other.  While the past twelve years …