Urlicht Audiovisual

05/12/2023

Courtesy Musical Concepts:
"Fun photos from new Urlicht Audiovisual sessions with trombonist Mike Lormand, violinist Miranda Cuckson , and trumpeter Tim Leopold! We can't wait to hear the results — look for more info on the musicalconcepts.net website soon!"
Six new sonatas by Ethan Iverson are in the virtual can, to be issued in early 2024. Many thanks to Oktaven Audio and superengineer Ryan Streber!

03/12/2023

from Gene Gaudette:
Just back from day one of a terrific recording project: three of six new sonatas composed by jazz pianist Ethan Iverson. Today marimbist Makoto Nakura, clarinetist Carol McGonnell, and saxophonist Taimur Sullivan joined Ethan at Oktaven Audio with Ryan Streber at the controls. Many thanks to Piers Playfair for making this entire project possible. In absolute awe of today's music-making!

07/11/2023

Coming in January 2024 from our sister label, Toblach Ausgabe…

07/07/2023

𝔸𝕍𝔸𝕀𝕃𝔸𝔹𝕃𝔼 ℕ𝕆𝕎 𝕆ℕ ℂ𝔻!
Kodály: Duo for Violin and Cello, Sonata for Solo Cello – Elmira Darvarova, János Starker (UAV 5983)

“𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘰𝘥á𝘭𝘺 𝘋𝘶𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘝𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘢, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘐 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘧 𝘎𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥’𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴.”
— 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢

Urlicht AudioVisual celebrates the countdown to the centenary of legendary cellist János Starker with the first in a series of releases, making available for the first time a live recording of Zoltán Kodály‘s formidable Duo for Violin and Cello featuring Starker with Bulgarian violinist Elmira Darvarova – a performance that took place days before her daring escape from behind the Iron Curtain in 1986.

This recording is coupled with a new remastering of Starker’s landmark 1950 recording of Kodály’s Sonata for Solo Cello, restored especially for this release.

The CD is now available directly from the Urlicht AudioVisual web site in advance of its international release through Musical Concepts.

AVAILABLE NOW!Kodály: Duo for Violin and Cello, Sonata for Solo Cello – Darvarova, Starker (UAV 5983)  Products Jul 072023   Shortly after our joint performances of the Kodály Duo in Sofia and in Varna, I was able to leave Bulgaria in a daring escape, made possible by an administrative mistake...

05/07/2023

Today is the 99th birthday of legendary cellist János Starker. Watch this space for news on Friday as we unveil a previously unreleased recording featuring Starker and Elmira Darvarova - and the amazing story behind it! The release is the first in a series leading up to the Starker centenary by Urlicht and partner labels, featuring both historic and previously unissued material!

16/06/2023

Urlicht Audiovisual restored the "Madrigals and Keyboard Music" and the Weinberg Serenade from archival sources, and did the final mastering on "Inez Matthews Sings Schubert" using Steve Smolian's superb transfers from rare early LPs.

10/06/2023

From the Musical Heritage Society vaults - remastered by Urlicht AudioVisual!

31/05/2023

Remastered by Urlicht AudioVisual!

On 16 June, releases newly remastered audio from the Musical Heritage Society's vaults of music from the English Renaissance - madrigals of Orlando Gibbons, William Byrd, and other luminaries of the era sung by London's renowned Ambrosian Singers conducted by John McCarthy, along with selected masterpieces from The Mulliner Organ Book played by Hans Kann. You don't want to miss hearing these performances brought back to life in vivid HD audio!

31/05/2023

Ethan on Miranda Cuckson's new double CD/download "Világ":
"Miranda Cuckson has always impressed with an effortless command of the hardest modern music. I first heard her on the 2014 album Melting the Darkness, which opens with the dumbfounding “Mikka S” by Iannis Xenakis. It’s an incredibly difficult piece, but Cuckson sounds like she’s crooning a blues lullaby. … Is [Franco Donatoni's 'Argot'} really folk music, you ask? Yes it is, at least in the hands of Miranda Cuckson, who plays the Donatoni as if it was written for her. As Louis Armstrong said, all music is folk music. … Less expected is Goodyear’s contribution. “Solo” from 2022 is downright down-home, a fiddler in a pub offering tales of a bygone age. I am utterly taken with Goodyear’s harmonic conception. (I had heard Goodyear’s name as a concert pianist, but had no idea he was this kind of composer.)"
- Ethan Iverson, Transitional Technology

Especially: Stewart Goodyear's SOLO

23/05/2023

Here is another release on Orpheus, drawn from the Musical Heritage Society vaults, remastered by Urlicht AudioVisual's Gene Gaudette, featuring longtime New York Philharmonic principal cellist Carter Brey.

On 9 June, brings back one of the most requested titles in the Musical Heritage Society's catalogue in a new high-resolution transfer: American cello virtuoso Carter Brey's recordings of the cello sonatas of Chopin and Rachmaninoff with his longtime artistic collaborator Barbara Weintraub!

19/05/2023

Memo from Gene Gaudette: "Bert Lucarelli is one of the all-time greatest American classical performer-pedagogues. His elusive Telemann sessions for MHS are returning to international availability on all the major download/streaming platforms in new HD transfers from Urlicht Audiovisual."

Coming to on 9 June from the Musical Heritage Society vault — American oboe virtuoso Humbert Lucarelli performs the six partitas from Georg Philipp Telemann's Kleine Kammermusik and selections from Die getreue Musik-Meister with harpsichordist Gerald Ranck and bassoonist Alan Brown, newly restored in HD sound and available in digital format for the first time.

16/05/2023

“It’s also illuminating, not only for its compositional diversity but for Miranda Cuckson’s extraordinary playing. In featuring violin alone, her virtuosity, dexterity, and command of intonation and phrasing are on full display, and the performances mesmerize. … Cuckson’s playing is always compelling and never less than transfixing. Anyone who might think nearly 100 minutes of unaccompanied violin might be less than engaging will be otherwise enlightened by Világ. If anything, hearing her performing alone allows for an enhanced appreciation of her singular artistry.”
– Textura

Világ, a Hungarian word meaning “world” or “illumination,” is an apt title choice for Miranda Cuckson's double-CD collection of unaccompanied violin performances. In featuring pieces by composers from Hungary, Iran, Canada, Germany, and Italy, the release is global in span. It's also illuminati...

20/04/2023

Urlicht AudioVisual’s remastering for Parnassus Records of recordings by Josef Hassid (his entire recorded legacy) and Ida Haendel (in some of her first recordings) receives strong praise in the June issue of Gramophone:

“Finally, a disc of encores recorded by then-young Polish-Jewish violinists Josef Hassid and Ida Haendel, in 1940 and 1948-53, sympathetically accompanied by Gerald Moore. Hassid, described by Moore as ‘the greatest instrumental genius I’ve ever partnered‘, plays with a sure technique and gleaming tone a range of pieces including by Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Kreisler and Achron. Sadly his career abruptly collapsed the following year, as he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Handel, almost as impressive a player, offers a more adventurous mix, including a : piece by Tartini and contemporary works by Bartók and Copland.
“The transfers are smooth and one quickly adjusts to the mono sound.”
Parnassus PACL 95011 ****
– Daniel Jaffé, Gramophone

15/04/2023

Leslie Gerber’s enterprising Parnassus Records already was among my favorite historic reissue labels well before Leslie teamed up with my friends at Alto Distribution to make his recordings more easily obtainable. When they approached us about the possibility of doing some audio restoration work involving recording of the great Toscha Seidel, we immediately agreed to undertake the work.

We were fortunate to collaborate with veteran collector Raymond Glaspole, who transferred a number of Seidel 78s (from his own collection, in excellent condition) to digital format; the remaining sources were transferred at Urlicht AudioVisual, on loan from other collectors. The electrical studio recordings needed little work, but some of the acoustic 78s presented challenges, yet yielded better results than we had anticipated, with a much lower noise level that sacrifices none of Seidel’s signature tone. Though Chausson’s Poème derives from a broadcast transcription with somewhat limited frequency response and distant orchestral miking, the result of restoration reveals a passionate performance with two artists at their expressive finest.

“It is simply amazing that someone with Tosha Seidel’s enormous talent should have died at the age of sixty-three in complete obscurity after a career that took him all over the world startin…

16/02/2023

It's official! Coming March 3 via streaming/download and in the USA on CD, April worldwide.

On March 3, Urlicht Audiovisual releases from Miranda Cuckson! VILÁG, juxtaposes four recent works for unaccompanied violin with Béla Bartók's iconic Sonata for Solo Violin. Three works receive their recording premieres: Aida Shiraz's Sāniyā, Stewart Goodyear's Solo, and Manfred Stahnke's Capra 4. Franco Donatoni's Argot rounds out a program that showcases a wide variety of traditional and "classical" styles along with extended sonorities. Pre-order links coming soon!