Picks of the Year: 2004

Another year has gone by, the mainstream classical music world continues to degenerate into terminal fluff, the number of retail stores selling classical recordings continues to dwindle, yet exciting repertoire continues to appear in superb recorded performances in sufficient quantity …

PASATIERI: Letter to Warsaw

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 …

CORIGLIANO: Symphony No. 2. The Mannheim Rocket

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

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

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 …

Program Notes: Psalm 130 By Vittorio Giannini

Program Notes Psalm 130By Vittorio Giannini Vittorio Giannini (1903-1966) was one of the many Italian-American composers who flourished during the 20th century, contributing to a distinguished repertoire shaped along traditional tonal, formal, and developmental lines. However, the extent of Giannini’s …