CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries (2024)

01/04/2024

CLASSICAL Franz SchubertExtemporizeShuann ChaiCobra0091 I'm always excited to hear a new performance of Schubert on the fortepiano, because Schubert's music is such a great test case for the arguments in favor of historical-instrument recordings. It's always seemed to me that if you hear a modern piano being pushed to its expressive limits in a performance of Schubert, chances are good that the performer is playing in a mannered or exaggerated way....

CLASSICAL Franz SchubertExtemporizeShuann ChaiCobra0091 I’m always excited to hear a new performance of Schubert on the fortepiano, because Schubert’s music is such a great test case fo…

04/03/2024

CLASSICAL Franz SchubertSchubertAnja Linder; Laurent Korea; Julie Sévilla-FraysseNaïve (dist. Naxos)V 8208 The backstory behind this album is so interesting it's tempting to lose sight of the music itself: shortly after winning a prestigious international chamber music competition, harpist Anja Linder was involved in a serious accident that left her partially paralyzed and unable to to use harp pedals in a conventional way....

CLASSICAL Franz SchubertSchubertAnja Linder; Laurent Korea; Julie Sévilla-FraysseNaïve (dist. Naxos)V 8208 The backstory behind this album is so interesting it’s tempting to lose sight of the…

05/02/2024

CLASSICAL Julius EastmanFemenineTalea Ensemble; Harlem Chamber PlayersKairos (dist. MVD)0015116KAI Written in 1974, when he was on the music faculty of SUNY Buffalo and performing as a founding member of the S.E.M. Ensemble, Femenine is a fascinating long-form work that blends strict composition with improvisation, and draws heavily on first-generation minimalist technique while also defining a unique style of its own....

CLASSICAL Julius EastmanFemenineTalea Ensemble; Harlem Chamber PlayersKairos (dist. MVD)0015116KAI Written in 1974, when he was on the music faculty of SUNY Buffalo and performing as a founding mem…

01/01/2024

CLASSICAL Sebastian ClarenGagokbounce: One by OneKairos (dist. MVD)022015KAI Drawing on musical material from the Korean gagok tradition, and setting texts written by Korean-American novelist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, German composer Sebastian Claren has created something quite unique here: a song cycle that functions as a single, 76-minute work and that fully synthesizes European and traditional Korean musical techniques....

CLASSICAL Sebastian ClarenGagokbounce: One by OneKairos (dist. MVD)022015KAI Drawing on musical material from the Korean gagok tradition, and setting texts written by Korean-American novelist There…

04/12/2023

CLASSICAL Various ComposersPhilharmonicaLe ConsortAlpha (dist. Naxos)1011 The three composers featured on this delightful program reflect the sound of chamber music in London in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Interestingly, the three composers represent three separate tiers of fame, from the very well known (Henry Purcell) to the relatively unknown (Neapolitan transplant Nicola Matteis) to the downright obscure ("Mrs Philharmonica," whose identity is a mystery and whose works are presented here in world-premiere recordings)....

CLASSICAL Various ComposersPhilharmonicaLe ConsortAlpha (dist. Naxos)1011 The three composers featured on this delightful program reflect the sound of chamber music in London in the late 17th and e…

06/11/2023

CLASSICAL Ferdinand RiesClarinet Trio & SonatasVlad Weverbergh; Jadranka Gasparovic; Vasily IlisavskyBrilliant Classics (dist. Naxos)BRI 96903 Ferdinand RiesFlute Quartets Vol. 3Ardinghello EnsembleCPO (dist. Naxos)555378-2 Famously associated with Beethoven (as both student and secretary), Ferdinand Ries spent a rather tumultuous career shuttling unwillingly between Bonn, Vienna, Frankfurt, and London, tossed back and forth by the vicissitudes of war and politics....

CLASSICAL Ferdinand RiesClarinet Trio & SonatasVlad Weverbergh; Jadranka Gasparovic; Vasily IlisavskyBrilliant Classics (dist. Naxos)BRI 96903 Ferdinand RiesFlute Quartets Vol. 3Ardinghello Ens…

02/10/2023

CLASSICAL Johann Sebastian BachPartitasRoyal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble / Trevor PinnockLinn (dist. Naxos)CKD 730 Trevor Pinnock has recorded Bach's keyboard partitas before, but this album represents something very different: a "re-imagining" of the pieces for chamber orchestra. (Pinnock has previously led a similar project that addressed Bach's Goldberg Variations in the same way, though with a different arranger.) Composer Thomas Oehler was approached to create orchestral realizations of Partitas nos....

CLASSICAL Johann Sebastian BachPartitasRoyal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble / Trevor PinnockLinn (dist. Naxos)CKD 730 Trevor Pinnock has recorded Bach’s keyboard partitas before, but this…

04/09/2023

CLASSICAL John CageSonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano (1946-'48)Agnese ToniuttiNeuma 172 For those who find John Cage's work too conceptual (e.g. 4'33") or too aleatory (e.g. Freeman Etudes, Etudes Australes, etc.), the Sonatas and Interludes offer a window into the mind of Cage as a conventional composer. Of course, we use the word "conventional" in a fairly broad sense here: what it means in this case is that the music is notated and is based on a consistent musical conception (in this case, elements of classical Indian structures)....

CLASSICAL John CageSonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano (1946-’48)Agnese ToniuttiNeuma 172 For those who find John Cage’s work too conceptual (e.g. 4’33”) or too alea…

07/08/2023

CLASSICAL Michel Pignolet de MonteclairConcerts pour la flûte traversière avec la basse chiffrée (2 discs)The Opus ProjectNavona (dist. Naxos)NV 6533 After there was Lully but before there was Rameau, there was Montéclair -- a musician best known in his day as a pedagogue but today celebrated as both a pioneer of composition for the transverse flute as a solo instruments and one of the finest French composers of the early 18th century....

CLASSICAL Michel Pignolet de MonteclairConcerts pour la flûte traversière avec la basse chiffrée (2 discs)The Opus ProjectNavona (dist. Naxos)NV 6533 After there was Lully but before there was Rame…

03/07/2023

CLASSICAL Henrik ØdegaardMusic by Henrik ØdegaardVox ClamantisECM2767 Eric WhitacreHomeVoces8Decca485 3970 Here are two outstanding -- but very different -- examples of contemporary choral music. Henrik Ødegaard's sacred compositions are a dreamy blend of modernist and ancient sounds; on this collection performed by Vox Clamantis, the featured pieces are sometimes indistinguishable from Gregorian chant, and at other times are characterized by complex harmony....

http://cdhotlist.com/2023/07/03/july-2023/

CLASSICAL Henrik ØdegaardMusic by Henrik ØdegaardVox ClamantisECM2767 Eric WhitacreHomeVoces8Decca485 3970 Here are two outstanding — but very different — examples of contemporary chora…

29/05/2023

CLASSICAL Brian BaumbuschChemistry for Gamelan and String QuartetNata Swara; JACK QuartetNew World80833 American composers' interest in Javanese gamelan music goes back decades -- the early pulse music of Steve Reich and, before that, the more explicitly gamelan-derived music of composers and instrument builders Lou Harrison and Harry Partch are both examples. Brian Baumbusch has himself designed and built two sets of what he calls "American gamelan" instruments, for which he has written two compositions that are featured on this recording: …...

http://cdhotlist.com/2023/05/29/june-2023/

CLASSICAL Brian BaumbuschChemistry for Gamelan and String QuartetNata Swara; JACK QuartetNew World80833 American composers’ interest in Javanese gamelan music goes back decades — the ea…

01/05/2023

CLASSICAL Steve ReichThe String QuartetsMivos QuartetDeutsche Grammophon486 3385 Over the course of his roughly 60-year career, Steve Reich has only written three pieces for string quartet, and none of them can be called conventional. Two of them, Different Trains and WTC 9/11, were composed for string quartet with accompanying tape, and the third was actually written for…...

http://cdhotlist.com/2023/05/01/may-2023/

CLASSICAL Steve ReichThe String QuartetsMivos QuartetDeutsche Grammophon486 3385 Over the course of his roughly 60-year career, Steve Reich has only written three pieces for string quartet, and non…

03/04/2023

CLASSICAL Johann Sebastian BachClavichord (2 discs)András SchiffECMECM 2635/36 You say you don't like the harpsichord? Too clattery and trebly and thin-sounding to your ears? Well, wait 'til you hear the clavichord -- a precursor of the harpsichord with a very different action, and with a sound that is both quieter and less sustained than that of the harpsichord....

http://cdhotlist.com/2023/04/03/april-2023/

CLASSICAL Johann Sebastian BachClavichord (2 discs)András SchiffECMECM 2635/36 You say you don’t like the harpsichord? Too clattery and trebly and thin-sounding to your ears? Well, wait & #821…

06/03/2023

CLASSICAL Various (Anonymous) ComposersA Byzantine Emperor at King Henry's Court: Christmas 1400, LondonCappella Romana / Alexander LingasCappella (dist. Naxos)CR427 If, as I do, you have a spouse who enforces very strict rules about when Christmas music may and may not be played around the house, here's your chance to sneak some in on the off-season. Of course, the reason you'll be able to do that is that this album doesn't sound at all like any Christmas music you've ever heard....

http://cdhotlist.com/2023/03/06/march-2023/

CLASSICAL Various (Anonymous) ComposersA Byzantine Emperor at King Henry’s Court: Christmas 1400, LondonCappella Romana / Alexander LingasCappella (dist. Naxos)CR427 If, as I do, you have a s…

06/02/2023

CLASSICAL Adalbert GyrowetzFlute Quartets op. 37Ardinghello EnsembleCPO (dist. Naxos)555 435-2 Like many musicians of his generation, Adalbert Gyrowetz was educated in his home city of Prague but then went elsewhere to pursue his career. After stays in Vienna, Italy, and Paris he settled for a time in London (where he served as an interpreter for Franz Joseph Haydn) before returning to Vienna....

http://cdhotlist.com/2023/02/06/february-2023/

CLASSICAL Adalbert GyrowetzFlute Quartets op. 37Ardinghello EnsembleCPO (dist. Naxos)555 435-2 Like many musicians of his generation, Adalbert Gyrowetz was educated in his home city of Prague but t…

02/01/2023

CLASSICAL František Ignác Antonín TumaTe DeumCzech Ensemble Baroque Orchestra & Choir / Tereza Válková; Roman VálekSupraphon (dist. Naxos)SU 4315-2 This is the kind of release I live for: a world-premiere recording of glorious music by a great composer who doesn't get enough love in the current marketplace. František Ignác Antonín Tuma was a Czech composer of the late baroque period who spent most of his career in Vienna; he studied under Johann F*x and made a name for himself as a viola da gamba and theorbed lute player as well as a composer....

http://cdhotlist.com/2023/01/02/january-2023/

CLASSICAL František Ignác Antonín TumaTe DeumCzech Ensemble Baroque Orchestra & Choir / Tereza Válková; Roman VálekSupraphon (dist. Naxos)SU 4315-2 This is the kind of release I live for: a wor…

05/12/2022

CLASSICAL Various ComposersLakota Music ProjectSouth Dakota Symphony Orchestra / Delta David GrierInnova (dist. Naxos)INN081 This project by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra is very clear and direct about its goals, which are more than musical: it seeks to "(address) racial tension by creating an environment of openness through music," and to "lay a path for reconciliation by using music to break down barriers between cultures." This recording represents one way in which the orchestra approaches that goal....

http://cdhotlist.com/2022/12/05/december-2022/

CLASSICAL Various ComposersLakota Music ProjectSouth Dakota Symphony Orchestra / Delta David GrierInnova (dist. Naxos)INN081 This project by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra is very clear and di…

07/11/2022

CLASSICAL Wolfgang Amadeus MozartConcertos for Flute and OrchestraAlexis Kossenko; Valeria Kafelnikov; Gli Angeli Genève / MacLeodClaves50-3050 Mozart's concertos for flute and for flute and harp are among the most beloved and most frequently recorded works of his orchestral repertoire. So what makes this new recording noteworthy among a field of hundreds of others? Simple: the sound. Not so much the production (though the production is impeccable) as the orchestral sound itself....

http://cdhotlist.com/2022/11/07/november-2022/

CLASSICAL Wolfgang Amadeus MozartConcertos for Flute and OrchestraAlexis Kossenko; Valeria Kafelnikov; Gli Angeli Genève / MacLeodClaves50-3050 Mozart’s concertos for flute and for flute and …

03/10/2022

CLASSICAL Erik SatieFragmentsVarious Performers/InterpretersDeutsche Grammophone Philip GolubFilters (vinyl & digital only)Greyfade005 We have a couple of very interesting modern classical releases to consider this month: one consists of pieces by Erik Satie, rearranged as contemporary dance music; the other is contemporary music that sounds a lot like Erik Satie. Let's start with Fragments, a collection of reinterpretations of Satie's notoriously willful keyboard music as reenvisioned by electronic artists like Kid Francescoli, Christian Löffler, and Pantha du Prince....

http://cdhotlist.com/2022/10/03/october-2022/

CLASSICAL Erik SatieFragmentsVarious Performers/InterpretersDeutsche Grammophone Philip GolubFilters (vinyl & digital only)Greyfade005 We have a couple of very interesting modern classical rele…

01/08/2022

CLASSICAL Ferdinand RiesPiano Trio & SextetsNash EnsembleHyperion (dist. Integral)CDA68380 Ferdinand Ries is better known as a student of (and administrative assistant to) Beethoven than as a composer in his own right, but this recording should help to bring him out of his undeserved obscurity. Opening powerfully with Ries's Grand Sextet in C Major, in which brilliantly cascading piano lines are supported by a Romantic-inflected but classically structured scaffolding of string parts to create an effect quite close to that of a piano concerto, the program then proceeds to a charming piece for cello and piano based on a Russian folk tune, an aching minor-key trio for piano, violin, and cello, and then another sextet -- this one for piano, harp, winds, and double bass....

http://cdhotlist.com/2022/08/01/august-2022/

CLASSICAL Ferdinand RiesPiano Trio & SextetsNash EnsembleHyperion (dist. Integral)CDA68380 Ferdinand Ries is better known as a student of (and administrative assistant to) Beethoven than as a c…

04/07/2022

CLASSICAL Jean MoutonMissa faulte d'argent & MotetsThe Brabant Ensemble / Stephen RiceHyperion (dist. Integral)CDA68385 I confess that I'm a sucker for the thrill of a world-premiere recording. And since I'm also a sucker for the music of the Franco-Flemish masters and for the rich, creamy sound of the Brabant Ensemble, it should come as no surprise that I'm going to sing the praises of the group's latest album....

http://cdhotlist.com/2022/07/04/july-2022/

CLASSICAL Jean MoutonMissa faulte d’argent & MotetsThe Brabant Ensemble / Stephen RiceHyperion (dist. Integral)CDA68385 I confess that I’m a sucker for the thrill of a world-premier…

06/06/2022

CLASSICAL Wolfgang Amadeus MozartComplete Sonatas for Violin and Piano (reissue; 6 discs)Andrew Smith; Joshua PierceMSR ClassicsMS 1800 Wolfgang Amadeus MozartThe "Palatine" Sonatas, K. 301-306Daniel-Ben Pienaar; Peter Sheppard SkærvedAthene (dist. Naxos)ATH23212 Mozart's chamber music for violin and piano has always been interesting not only for the melodic and harmonic invention that always characterizes Mozart's music, but also for its somewhat odd tendency to relegate the violin to an accompanying role for the keyboard (not a hard-and-fast rule, but a marked tendency)....

http://cdhotlist.com/2022/06/06/june-2022/

CLASSICAL Wolfgang Amadeus MozartComplete Sonatas for Violin and Piano (reissue; 6 discs)Andrew Smith; Joshua PierceMSR ClassicsMS 1800 Wolfgang Amadeus MozartThe “Palatine” Sonatas, K.…

02/05/2022

CLASSICAL Luís de Freitas Branco; Maurice Ravel; Heitor Villa-LobosViolin SonatasBruno Monteiro; João Paulo SantosEtceteraKTC 1750 This program by violinist Bruno Monteiro and pianist João Paulo Santos brings together two little-known works by a Portuguese and a Brazilian composer of turn-of-the-century Romanticism, along with a more familiar work from the same period by Ravel. The Branco sonata created some controversy when it was published in 1908; the composer was only 17 at the time, but the piece won first prize in a national competition despite discomfiting many in the Portuguese musical establishment with its forward-thinking harmonic vision and odd structure....

http://cdhotlist.com/2022/05/02/may-2022/

CLASSICAL Luís de Freitas Branco; Maurice Ravel; Heitor Villa-LobosViolin SonatasBruno Monteiro; João Paulo SantosEtceteraKTC 1750 This program by violinist Bruno Monteiro and pianist João Paulo Sa…

04/04/2022

CLASSICAL Various ComposersNow the Green Blade Riseth: Choral Music for EasterThe Choir of King's College / Daniel HydeKing's College Recordings (dist. Integral)KGS0065 I normally avoid reviewing holiday-specific recordings, but this one is just too good. The men and boys of the King's College Choir have a uniquely luscious sound -- the trebles are never shrill, the blend is always luxurious....

http://cdhotlist.com/2022/04/04/april-2022/

CLASSICAL Various ComposersNow the Green Blade Riseth: Choral Music for EasterThe Choir of King’s College / Daniel HydeKing’s College Recordings (dist. Integral)KGS0065 I normally avoid…

07/03/2022

CLASSICAL Felix MendelssohnViolin SonatasAlina Ibragimova; Cédric TiberghienHyperion (dist. Integral)CDA68322 Although in musical terms he was a titan of the German Romantic tradition, in another very real sense we could consider Mendelssohn a Rennaissance man -- an accomplished artist, poet, and polyglot as well as a once-in-generation composer, keyboardist, and conductor. And also, as it turns out, an excellent violinist and violist....

http://cdhotlist.com/2022/03/07/march-2022/

CLASSICAL Felix MendelssohnViolin SonatasAlina Ibragimova; Cédric TiberghienHyperion (dist. Integral)CDA68322 Although in musical terms he was a titan of the German Romantic tradition, in another v…

07/06/2021

The June issue of CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries has been posted at http://cdhotlist.com. This month’s recommendations include a collection of Antonio Soler piano sonatas performed on the accordion; pre-Reformation Bohemian choral music; a gorgeous duo album by bassist Skúli Sverrisson and guitarist Bill Frisell; the final recording of jazz pianist Masabumi Kikuchi; a compilation of love songs by Paul Carrack; and the Return of the All-Reggae World/Ethnic Section (haven’t done one of those in a while). Enjoy!

New Releases for Libraries

05/04/2021

The April issue of CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries has been posted at http://cdhotlist.com. This month’s recommendations include experimental saxophone music by Ken Field; a world-premiere recording of cello sonatas by Johann Carl Bischoff; a brilliant third album by jazz saxophonist/composer Alexa Tarantino; a great collection of post-punk funk and dance music; and much more. Enjoy!

New Releases for Libraries

08/02/2021

The February issue of CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries has been posted at http://cdhotlist.com. This month’s recommendations include period-instrument performances of chamber music by Schubert; new jazz releases by Henry Robinett and the always-wonderful Yoko Miwa; bluegrass from Phil Leadbetter and his band; grumpy electronica from The Bug and Chrizpy Chriz; Lebanese art song from Fadia Tomb al-Hage, and more. Enjoy!

New Releases for Libraries

05/01/2021

The January issue of CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries (http://cdhotlist.com) has been posted. This month’s recommendations include trad jazz from Guillaume Nouaux and the Stride Piano Kings and Chris Hopkins and the Jazz Kangaroos; the debut recording by a wonderful girls’ choir from the Bay Area; some forward-looking banjo instrumentals from Wes Corbett; reggae and bass music from Glasgow; and much more. Enjoy!

New Releases for Libraries

02/11/2020

The November issue of CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries has been posted and is freely available at http://cdhotlist.com. This month’s recommendations include an orchestra arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations with a tragic history; a magnificent solo piano recording from Fred Hersch; reggae from Italy and France; aggro-punk-jungle-dub from Asian Dub Foundation; and much more.

Enjoy!

New Releases for Libraries

CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries

01/04/2024

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