harmonia mundi usa NEW RELEASES
STREET DATE December 9, 2008
CAPPELLA AMSTERDAM LIGETI Lux aeterna | p.5
Table of contents CLASSICAL harmonia mundi Channel Classics LSO Live Mirare Onyx Wergo
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CONCERT CALENDAR
Page 22
POPULAR World
Page 14
CONCERT CALENDAR
Page 23
Jazz Nostalgia
Page 19 Page 20
Our Label Family Accords-Croisés aeon Alia Vox Ambronay APO APR Armide Asphalt Tango Bel Air Classiques Calliope Cantaloupe Channel Classics Chant du Monde Contre-Jour CSO Resound Daqui Diquela Dorian Dutton Eloquentia Futur-Acoustic Gimell harmonia mundi Hyperion Indigo Institut du Monde Arabe Iris K617 Keltia III KML Records Long Distance
LSO Live Marabi Marsyas Mirare Mondomix Network Ocora Onyx Classics Opera Rara O Plus Orange Mountain Otá Piranha Ponderosa Praga RCO Live Russian Season San Francisco Symphony SDG Shefa Signature Sound Grammar Sound of World Tahra Testament Van Cliburn Wergo Wisdom Mountain World Village Ysaÿe / Nascor
news & highlights Street Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2008 PROMOTIONAL COPIES AVAILABLE FOR PRIORITY TITLES ONLY
New Release Highlights
The top release on harmonia mundi this month is a new recording of post-war avant-garde composer Györy Ligeti’s Lux Aeterna (p.5) – famous for its use by Stanley Kubrick in his film 2001: A Space Odyssey – performed by Daniel Reuss and Cappella Amsterdam. Also on harmonia mundi, fortepianist Andreas Staier plays Schumann on Hommage à Bach (p.7). From our label partners, December’s highlights also feature the final volume of Sir Colin Davis’ award-winning Sibelius cycle for LSO Live (p.10). And worthy of special note are an Onyx disc featuring violinist Philippe Graffin playing gypsy-inspired selections (p.12) and Mirare’s first release in Jean-Claude Pennetier’s new cycle of piano music by Fauré (p.11). In world music this month, the great Omara Portuondo, Cuban diva and star of the Buena Vista Social Club, celebrates her 60-year musical career with Gracias – a new album on World Village that revisits her favorite songs and features an impressive list of guest artists (p.15).
GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNERS Record of the Year & Best Instrumental Award
Paul Lewis
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas Vol. 4 Paul Lewis harmonia mundi • HMC 901909
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol.4 “ Acclaim for this set was unanimous…
nobody can claim to outshine Paul Lewis in this repertoire.”
Concerto Award
James Ehnes
Elgar: Violin Concerto “ Thrillingly combustible, imaginative and involving.”
James Ehnes Philharmonia Orchestra, Andrew Davis ELGAR: Violin Concerto & Serenade Onyx • ONYX 4025
Solo Vocal
Gerald Finley Barber: Songs
Contact Info
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December 2008
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Label of the Year
Press & Radio Tel: Fax: E–mail:
Hyperion Records
(818) 333–1500 Ext 209 (818) 333–1501 media–usa@harmoniamundi.com
At this year’s Gramophone Awards, Hyperion was named Label of the Year. Also of note, Hyperion won the the Golden Disc Award (for the best of the thirty discs ever named ‘Record of the Year’).
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PLATTI Concerti grossi after Corelli Oboe Concerto, Cello Concerto
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin harmonia mundi • HMC 901996
Hk948 1c*(@(@VL
harmonia mundi
Italian Baroque Concertos
Price Code: A19 (Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)
It was as a virtuoso oboist that the Italian Giovanni Benedetto Platti entered the service of the PrinceBishop of Würzburg, who had a pronounced taste for musical exoticism. But he soon revealed his gifts as a composer, notably in the works he wrote for his patron’s brother Rudolf Franz Erwein, an enthusiastic amateur cellist. His Concerti grossi, derived from chamber works by Corelli, show him to be a worthy heir to the great Italian master of the genre. Performed here by the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, these rarely heard gems of the Baroque sparkle as never before.
“The ensemble is superb. It’s as much fun to watch these performers listen to one another as it is to hear them play.” — The Boston Globe
Also available Bach: Concerti
“ These are dynamic performances in every sense of the word... undeniably invigorating.”
“ This is a potent and brilliantly conceived recording, presenting Bach in bright new lights.”
harmonia mundi • HMC 901975 (794881848225)
— International Record Review
harmonia mundi • HMC 901876 (794881785223)
December 2008
Vivaldi: Double Concertos
— Gramophone 3
harmonia mundi
Daniel Reuss & Cappella Amsterdam “ I’ve yet to hear a recording by conductor Daniel Reuss that was less than first-rate.” — The Absolute Sound Daniel Reuss studied choral conducting at the Arnhem Conservatory and with Barend Schuurman at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Reuss has been the principal conductor and leader of the Cappella Amsterdam since 1990. This full-time professional ensemble is now one of the most soughtafter in the Netherlands. In parallel with this activity, Reuss, whose repertory extends from the Medieval period to the present, has been invited to conduct chamber orchestras and vocal ensembles throughout Europe. He has also worked as chorus master with Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Frans Brüggen and Philippe Herreweghe. In addition to his work with Cappella Amsterdam, from 2003-2007, Reuss was chief conductor of the RIAS-Kammerchor in Berlin. Cappella Amsterdam is a professional chamber choir that was founded in 1970. Over the past few years the ensemble, under the direction of Daniel Reuss, has occupied a prominent position in the fields of both early music and the modern and contemporary repertoires. The group aims to involve a wide audience in choral music, in particular works by old and new composers from the Netherlands. To this end, Cappella Amsterdam has realized numerous projects with works by Sweelinck and Lassus as well as modern compositions, often written expressly for the choir, by Ton de Leeuw, Hans Koolmees, Robert Heppener, Peter Schat and Klaas de Vries.
“ Choirs such as this top ensemble, with such subtle colouring and impeccable precision, are a rare commodity indeed.” — De Telegraaf (NL)
December 2008
Also available with Daniel Reuss
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Martin: Le Vin herbe
harmonia mundi • HMC 901935 (794881834525)
“ This is an intense and deeply moving performance.” — Gramophone
Poulenc: Figure Humaine
harmonia mundi • HMC 901872 (794881767625)
“What a beautiful disc! ...idiomatic, sensitively balanced, vibrant performances.” — ClassicsToday.com
LIGETI Lux Aeterna 3 Fantasies, Viola Sonata HEPPENER Im Gestein
Susanne van Els (viola) Cappella Amsterdam Daniel Reuss harmonia mundi • HMC 901985
harmonia mundi
Ligeti’s timeless Lux Aeterna
Hk948 1c*(@&@XN Price Code: A19 (Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)
Both György Ligeti and Dutch composer Robert Heppener belong to the generation born in the 1920s that formed the basis for the post-war avant-garde. The 1966 premiere of Ligeti’s Lux Aeterna (now best known from its use by Stanley Kubrick in his film 2001: A Space Odyssey) marked nothing short of the birth of a new musical language. His later Sonata for solo viola simultaneously evokes the polyphony of the fourteenth century and certain varieties of ethnic music. Written in the 1990s, it continues to emphasize complex mechanical rhythms, but in a less densely chromatic idiom. Heppener’s Im Gestein, a cycle of lieder to poems by Paul Celan that won Heppener the Matthijs Vermeulen Prize in1993, is here recorded for the first time.
— De Telegraaf (NL)
December 2008
“Cappella Amsterdam can vie with the best English choirs.”
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harmonia mundi December 2008
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Poetic works of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo in Music Songs by Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Liszt, Hahn & Lalo
Konstantin Wolff (bass-baritone), Trung Sam (piano) harmonia mundi • HMC 901997
Hk948 1c*(!^@\R Price Code: A19 (Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)
When the composers featured on this disc dared to set the poetic works of Victor Hugo to music, they knew they had a challenge on their hands. Yet somehow, they managed to extract from this monument of literature the very texts that would most benefit from their music and between them created a rich and compelling portrait of the author. In this music is contained every facet of the poet — from the ethereal or sensual lover to the committed political figure, contemplating the world in verse of biting irony or Romantic lyricism. The up-and-coming young bass-baritone Konstantin Wolff has taken great pleasure in tackling these subtly nuanced evocations. In 2004, Wolff won first prize in the Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin and was chosen as an Elite Scholar of the German People (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes). In 2005, he made his opera debut at L’Opéra de Lyon in L’Incoronazione di Poppea under William Christie’s baton. Wolff has already appeared in many prestigious concert halls and theatres, including Lincoln Center in New York and the Barbican in London. Pianist Trung Sam graduated with honors from conservatories in Karlsruhe and Vienna. In 2007, he was awarded first prize for accompanists at the German National Music Competition in Berlin and Song Accompanist of the Year by the Kulturfonds Baden. In addition to his performing career, Sam teaches song interpretation for singers and pianists and vocal accompaniment and coaching at the Musikhochschulen in Trossingen and Würzburg.
SCHUMANN Hommage à Bach Kinderszenen Album für die Jugend, Waldszenen
Andreas Staier (fortepiano) harmonia mundi • HMC 901989
Hk948 1c*(!$@+U
harmonia mundi
Schumann & Staier salute Bach
Price Code: A19 (Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)
For Schumann, Bach was the supreme benchmark. He saw in his great predecessor not merely a genius of the past, but a vital source for his art and sought both inspiration and psychological stability in Bach’s music. Schumann paid tribute to his mentor in many different ways. He wrote chorales and fugues like Bach, borrowing his themes, or playing on the four notes that form his name, B-A-C-H. Schumann was also a driving force in the creation of the Bach-Gesellschaft (BG), which was founded in the centenary year 1850 with the purpose of publishing the complete works. By 1900, all the known works had been printed and the BG was succeeded by the Neue BachGesellschaft (NBG), which exists still, organizing festivals and publishing popular editions. On this disc of Bach-inspired works, acclaimed keyboard artist Andreas Staier plays an Érard fortepiano — an instrument which possesses a timbre that would have been familiar to those living in Schumann’s time.
“Staier’s playing is compelling, at once virtuosic and highly expressive.” — Early Music America
Also available harmonia mundi • HMC 901854 (794881753727)
“ The sounds of the Freiburg orchestra are thrilling in their raw energy and bite.“ — Gramophone
Mozart: Piano Sonatas K330, 331 & 332
harmonia mundi • HMC 901856 (794881766826)
“In few hands can the fortepiano sound so expressive.” — The Observer
December 2008
Haydn: Piano Concerti
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channel classics
Solomon’s timeless song of love Beloved & Beautiful
Netherlands Bach Society, Jos van Veldhoven Channel Classics • CCS SA 27308
Hk23 85c@&#)*?K Price Code: A24 (Suggested Retail Price: $24.98)
SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSD Beloved & Beautiful is the fourth in a series of recordings by The Netherlands Bach Society, led by Jos van Veldhoven. Each set represents a specific theme (Saints & Sinners, Angels & Shepherds, Death & Devotion). This disc focuses on the pastoral poem The Song of Songs, one of three books of Solomon and part of both the Jewish and Christian scriptures. The poem is thought by some to be an allegorical representation of the relationship of God and Israel as husband and wife. Literally, however, the main characters are simply a woman and a man and the poem follows their progress from courtship to consummation. The works on this disc range from Bach’s sublime Wedding Cantata to motets and cantatas by JC Bach, Schütz and Böhm.
The magic of the harp Divertissements
Lavinia Meijer (harp) Channel Classics • CCS SA 28908
Hk23 85c@*()*VL
December 2008
Price Code: A24 (Suggested Retail Price: $24.98)
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SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSD “My goal is to make the harp better known as a solo instrument, with all its possibilities, which are often still unknown to the wider audience,” says Lavinia Meijer, a new artist at Channel Classics. Her debut CD combines three 20th century French masters — Salzedo, Caplet and Ibert. At the age of eight, Meijer was captivated by the magical sounds of the harp. Her hope is that this disc will help listeners to experience some of the magic she felt then and still feels today. Meijer is recognized worldwide as a rising star of her instrument. Born in Korea and adopted into a Dutch family, she is now based in the Netherlands. Meijer has toured as a solo-harpist across Europe, America and Asia and has won several important music prizes and special awards.
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.2, Moments Musicaux, Op.16
Dejan Lazic (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Petrenko Channel Classics • CCS SA 26308
Hk23 85c@^#)*VL
channel classics
Dazzling Rachmaninov
Price Code: A24 (Suggested Retail Price: $24.98)
SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSD Although they were separated due to a period of creative despair that interrupted his work, both the second Piano Concerto and the Moments Musicaux date from Rachmaninov’s early period, during which he was active primarily as a composer rather than a pianist. This explains the character of the second concerto, which partakes of both chamber music and symphony, despite the dazzling virtuosity of the solo piano part. The Moments Musicaux were written in 1896, before Rachmaninov’s creative crisis. To some degree, their form and style were strongly influenced by the songs he composed in his early years. Pianist Dejan Lazic is quickly establishing a stellar reputation worldwide. As recitalist and soloist with orchestra, he has appeared at major venues and at numerous international festivals across Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Australia. Alongside his solo career, Lazic is also a passionate chamber musician and active as a composer.
“A brilliant pianist and a gifted musician full of ideas and able to project them persuasively.” — Gramophone
Also available Channel Classics • CCS SA 23407 (723385234074)
“Assured, inventive playing. This is a disc well worth acquiring.” — International Record Review
December 2008
Liaisons Vol.1
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lso live
Sibelius cycle now complete SIBELIUS Symphonies Nos.1 & 4
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis LSO Live • LSO 0601
Il2 231c!^)!@?K Price Code: A19 (Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)
Also available Sibelius: Symphony No.2 LSO Live • LSO 0605 (822231160526)
“ Listening to a Sibelius performance of this calibre, there’s no other composer one would rather hear.” — Gramophone
December 2008
SACD Hybrid/ Stereo & Multi-channel/ DSD Sir Colin Davis’ award-winning cycle of Sibelius’s symphonies reaches its conclusion with this SACD release of the first and fourth symphonies. Although Sibelius was still heavily influenced by Tchaikovsky when he composed his first symphony, there are already clear signs of him developing his own highly individual style. The fourth, completed eleven years later and shortly after he underwent treatment for cancer, constitutes a dark heart at the center of his symphonic output.
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“I doubt whether I shall ever hear an orchestra and conductor achieve a closer rapport in Sibelius.” — The Times (UK)
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos.3 & 7 LSO Live • LSO 0552 (822231105220)
“ An absolutely masterful characterization.” — ClassicsToday.com Sibelius: Symphonies Nos.5 & 6 LSO Live • LSO 0037 (822231103721)
“ It courses with life from start to finish.” — The New York Times
Last printed edition — see page 41 for details
D76pqw7c@ )%(^s Price Code: A21 (Suggested Retail Price: $21.98)
MEDTNER Contes & Poemes
Yana Ivanilova (soprano), Vassily Savenko (bass-baritone), Boris Berezovsky (piano) Mirare • MIR 059
mirare
Medtner songs: with & without words
As gifted a pianist as Prokofiev, and a composer whom Rachmaninoff rated more highly than himself, Nicolai Medtner has long been neglected. This CD gives us a chance to rediscover the last of the great Romantics, a worthy heir to Chopin and Brahms who celebrated the great poets, both Russian and German, faithful to the double culture of his origins. Seventeen of his finest songs are accompanied here by eight Skazki, literally ‘tales’ for piano — songs without words. The immensely popular pianist Boris Berezovsky is joined by soprano Yana Ivanilova and bassbaritone Vassily Savenko on this lovely disc, which is one to treasure.
Pennetier begins Fauré cycle
D76pqw7c@ )&@%s Price Code: A21 (Suggested Retail Price: $21.98)
FAURÉ Piano Music Vol.1
Jean-Claude Pennetier (piano) Mirare • MIR 072
December 2008
Saint Saëns was once quoted as saying, “Fauré has no ages and never will he.” At the time Debussy and Ravel were signing off on their own piano music, Fauré was creating timeless piano works in his own resolutely personal language. Perfectly at ease harnessing unexpected tonalities and liquid rhythms, he resurrected the world’s taste for absolute music. This release marks the first in a series of discs devoted to the piano music of Fauré. A child prodigy, Jean-Claude Pennetier was only ten years old when he won first prizes in piano, chamber music and theory from the Conservatoire. He has collected many more honors over the course of his long career, including First Prizes at the Gabriel Fauré, Montréal International and Geneva International competitions. In 2002, Pennetier was named a Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur.
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onyx
Gypsy violin: in literature & on disc Hungarian Dances
Philippe Graffin (violin), Claire Désert (piano) Onyx Classics • ONYX 4039
Il80 40c$)#(@?K Price Code: A21 (Suggested Retail Price: $21.98)
Philippe Graffin is the latest violinist to join Onyx, after several outstanding discs of rare French and English repertoire for labels such as Hyperion and Avie. This new recital brings together the mesmerizing intensity of Gypsy violin playing with classical composers’ response to it. The disc has been released to coincide with a novel called Hungarian Dances by writer and journalist Jessica Duchen. She explains, “When I asked Philippe Graffin, a treasured friend and colleague, to check the manuscript for violinistic errors, I little dreamed he’d respond by making this recording: a CD inspired by the novel. Yet the novel was partly inspired by a CD — Philippe and Claire’s beautiful recital In the Shade of Forests — evoking the spirit of the archetypal wandering Gypsy violinist.” Graffin’s recital is loosely based around the book but is also designed to work as a program in its own right. It includes several pieces chosen only for the recording including rarities by such composers as Von Vecsey, Hubay, Scarlatescu and Arthur Hartmann. Pianist Claire Désert, is well-known in France for several solo CDs for FNAC and other labels and here plays both traditional piano and piano luthéal — the ‘prepared piano’ that Ravel had made for Tzigane in 1919 — which imitates the sound of a Hungarian cimbalom to striking effect.
December 2008
Also available at your local bookseller
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Jessica Duchen: Hungarian Dances
Published by Hodder & Stoughton (ISBN 978-0340933589)
“A saga whose passion for music, Hungary and history sings out on every page.” — The Independent (UK)
E0q02wic^&!@ #s Price Code: A23 (Suggested Retail Price: $23.98)
VASKS Cantus ad Pacem
wergo
Contemporary organ music from Latvia Talivaldis Deksnis (organ) Wergo • WER 6712
This CD is the first to be devoted exclusively to the organ music of the Latvian composer Peteris Vasks. With the exception of the Te Deum (recorded in St. Gertrude in Riga), all of the works were recorded on the magnificent organ of the cathedral in Riga. Here, over the course of the past twenty years, Talivaldis Deksnis, since 1984 one of the principal organists of this venerable house of worship, has performed all of Vasks’ works for organ, many of them for the first time. Besides original compositions for organ, this CD also includes two adaptations of works for string orchestra, Viatore and Canto di forza, both dedicated to Talivaldis Deksnis, with whom Vasks has maintained a lifelong friendship.
Henze: Champion of the modern symphony HENZE Symphonies Nos.7 & 8
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marek Janowski Wergo • WER 6721
E0q02wic^&@!@!s Price Code: A23 (Suggested Retail Price: $23.98)
December 2008
The symphony has been declared dead countless times over the past century. Nevertheless, Hans Werner Henze has sought all his life to come to terms with symphonic form. On the occasion of the premiere of his Symphony No. 8 Henze said, “I do not allow myself to be deterred from writing symphonies. I lay claim to this venue for addressing a large public in music, created especially for messages that go beyond the private. I won’t let anyone steal it from me, even if modern cultural philosophy has declared this form dead — and perhaps precisely because it has.” Whereas his Symphony No. 7 — which Henze says, “is the one that comes closest to the model of the classical symphony” — has a strong relation to Friedrich Hölderlin’s life and torment, his eighth is a symphony based on Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Henze describes the work as, “very light on its feet and rich in melody.”
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world village
WORLD Omara Portuondo “Omara Portuondo is still Cuba’s great diva.” — The Guardian Omara Portuondo’s family history is a romantic New World saga. Her mother was born into a rich Spanish family and was expected to marry within her social caste, but instead eloped with a Cuban baseball player — a black man. Although she came to global prominence as the female singer on the Buena Vista Social Club album and film, Portuondo’s musical career spans sixty glorious years. She began her show business career as a dancer at the fabled Tropicana in Havana. In the early 1950s, along with her sister Haydeé and others, she formed a female vocal quartet, Cuarteto Las D’Aida. The group achieved widespread acclaim and remained together for fifteen years. As a result, Portuondo became one of the most highly esteemed solo singers of her country during the 1970s and 1980s. After her sister went into exile in the US, Portuondo remained in Cuba, lending her vocal talents to numerous bands, as well as cutting several albums. Ry Cooder met her in Havana before the sessions for the Buena Vista Social Club album. The following year, during the legendary sessions, Omara happened to be recording in the same studio. Cooder immediately enlisted her for the project, setting up her memorable collaborations with Ibrahim Ferrer and Compay Segundo. Thanks to the incredible success of the Buena Vista projects, Portuondo now has had a hectic, international touring schedule, but she also continues to perform at her favorite spots in Havana.
“The melancholy beauty of Omara Portuondo’s voice echoes fate.”
December 2008
— Seattle Weekly
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WORLD Gracias
Omara Portuondo World Village • 479021
Hk948 1c*(*$@]T Price Code: A18 (Suggested Retail Price: $18.98)
world village
Celebrating 60 glorious years
File in: World / Caribbean / Cuba Omara Portuondo, the Cuban diva and star of the Buena Vista Social Club among others, celebrates her 60-year musical career with a brand new album. With Gracias, Portuondo’s aim is to revisit the songs that she has found most moving and to work with the songwriters she most admires, such as Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés and Jorge Drexler, the latter being the composer of the album’s title-song, specially dedicated to Portuondo. These are not, however, the only star guests on this recording. If the list were not already impressive enough, other great names include Chucho Valdés (who performs a song composed by Portuondo’s son), the brilliant African musician Richard Bona and the Brazilian maestro Chico Buarque. And what better way to celebrate such an auspicious occasion than to recruit a first-class quintet? The group consists of three musicians that Portuondo has worked with in the past — pianist Roberto Fonseca, guitarist and musical director Swami Jr. and percussionist Andrés Coayo — along with the Israeli double bassist Avishai Cohen and Hindu percussionist Trilok Gurtu.
Advance CD Review — The Observer (UK)
“Omara Portuondo has been called both the Billie Holiday and the Edith Piaf of Cuba.” — National Public Radio
December 2008
“This very personal collection goes some way to dismiss the idea that Omara Portuondo is merely a cabaret singer who got lucky with the Buena Vista Social Club... Portuondo packs a good deal of emotion into this tender nostalgia-fest.”
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daqui
chant du monde
WORLD
Worldly flamenco nuevo Quimeras
Juan De Lerida Chant du Monde • 2741690
Hk948 1c()@!@ZP Price Code: A18 (Suggested Retail Price: $18.98)
File in: World / Europe / Spain Juan De Lerida and his family left Spain during Franco’s regime, but he never lost touch with his Gypsy roots. He taught himself guitar at the age of four by copying what he heard on flamenco recordings. By his tenth birthday, he was playing at weddings and his career had begun in earnest. Surprisingly, this is his first album (made at the age of 40!). He had been a kind of local legend, well known in his own community. But word eventually got out, and now the world can appreciate De Lerida’s unique blend of flamenco, tinged with jazz, world music and even classical flavors.
A tribute to Violeta Parra Chante Violeta Parra Angel Parra Daqui • 332036
Hk948 1c() %@\R
December 2008
Price Code: A19 (Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)
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File in: World / South America / Chile Violeta Parra was a notable Chilean folk musician and visual artist. She set the basis for the Nueva Canción Chilena — a renewal and a reinvention of Chilean folk music that had a strong influence on folk music far beyond Chile. Her most renowned song was “Gracias a la Vida,” which was dedicated to the love of her life, Gilbert Favre (of the Bolivian folk group Los Jairas). It was popularized throughout Latin America by Mercedes Sosa and later in the US by Joan Baez and remains one of the most covered Latin American songs in history. On this album, her son Angel Parra pays tribute to the great artist by re-interpreting fifteen of her finest songs. Choosing Matias Pizarro’s piano as sole partner to his profound voice, Angel Parra breathes new life into Violeta Parra’s wonderful songs.
WORLD
Between the Desert and the Sea
El Tanbura World Village • 450002
Hk948 1c*#)%@\R Price Code: A18 (Suggested Retail Price: $18.98)
world village
Mesmerizing Egyptian grooves
File in: World / Middle East / Egypt El Tanbura is a collective of veteran Egyptian master musicians, singers, fishermen and philosophers. They hail from Port Said, the gateway to the Suez Canal and the world beyond. Like their hometown, El Tanbura boast influences from east and west (and north and south): Gallibiya, Levis and Gucci sunglasses, Fez and Nike caps jostle for prominence. Their music is driven by the seductive call of the simsimiyya — an ancient lyre dating back to the Pharaohs, revered both for its mesmerizing properties and occult origins in ancient exorcism rituals. Founded in 1989, El Tanbura perform to enthusiastic audiences across Egypt and have made numerous international festival appearances in Jordan, Tanzania, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Canada and the UK. Their first album was released with the Paris-based Institute du Monde Arabe, and they have also collaborated with One Giant Leap on the forthcoming film 2sides2everything.
Advance CD reviews
“Quite magical... it is easy to imagine why Simsimiyya players were employed on Red Sea ships to charm the winds.” — Songlines
“They croon the region’s old songs of love, pain, exile and resistance... Between the Desert and the Sea is a good calling card to the World.”
“An Egyptian Buena Vista Social Club.” — ArtEast, NY
December 2008
— fRoots
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wergo
WORLD Exploring Klezmer traditions Aneinu! Hasidic-Orthodox Music from the Festival of the Torah in Jerusalem Moshe Berlin & Ensemble Wergo • SM 1628
E0q02wic!^@*@)s Price Code: A23 (Suggested Retail Price: $23.98)
ocara
File in: World / Jewish Aneinu! contains repertoire from the Israeli hasidic-orthodox klezmer tradition. The field recordings of Israel’s foremost klezmer clarinetist, Moshe Berlin, were made by ethnomusicologist Joel Rubin in a yeshiva during the ceremony celebrating the end of the holiday Simchat Torah. They show the vital role that the music of the klezmorim and the ecstatic singing of nigunim (melodies of spiritual elevation) play among orthodox Jews, displaying at the same time a microcosm of the variety of ethnic and cultural influences to be found in the musical traditions of Israel today.
Classical music of Central Asia Monâjât Yultchieva Monâjât Yultchieva Ocora • C 561060
Hk948 1c() (@XN
December 2008
Price Code: A18 (Suggested Retail Price: $18.98)
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File in: World / Asia / Uzbekistan For thousands of years, Central Asia has been a cradle of civilization in which various nations — Persians, Greeks, Turks and Huns, among others— gave rise to prestigious cultures. Monâjât Yultchieva is unquestionably one of the great voices of Central Asia today. Following on her recent and highly acclaimed performance at the WOMAD festival, this is a timely re-release of recordings made in her homeland 1994 (originally released as Ocora C560060). On this CD, Yultchieva sings classical pieces in the Ferghâna-Tashkent vocal style, which is very ornate and highly refined.
Hk948 1c() $@]T
Trio Tout à Cordes
Angelo Debarre Chant du Monde • 2741622
Price Code: A18 (Suggested Retail Price: $18.98)
File in: Jazz Angelo Debarre, born in St-Denis, France, started playing guitar at the age of eight. In the Gypsy community, tradition is transmitted orally in family parties and gatherings, where music always occupies a prominent place. Angelo said, “In any gathering of three to four hundred caravans, there is no shortage of music.” The Gypsy jazz musical tradition launched by Django Reinhardt is the heart of this culture and Angelo Debarre quickly became one of its jazz masters. He founded his first group, The Angelo Debarre Quintet, in 1984, and the following year, he began touring the world. This is music that he knows inside and out, and at concerts and festivals his enthusiasm and passion prove it. For Angelo Debarre, Django Reinhardt’s music never loses the dynamism and richness of the past: it is everlasting, a living music.
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chant du monde
Stars of Manouche Jazz
JAZZ
Andalucía
Raphaël Faÿs Chant du Monde • 2741692
Price Code: 2A18 (2 CD Set, Suggested Retail Price: $37.98)
November 2008
File in: Jazz With a string of successful albums and a hectic touring schedule, Raphaël Faÿs has become one of today’s acknowledged Manouche jazz masters. However, listening to this album one might be tempted to think Faÿs has turned his back on the swing tradition he has lived and breathed since childhood. His style seems to have evolved towards more classical forms of guitar and Flamenco in particular. But listen again carefully and you will realize that the spirit of Django Reinhardt and his orthodoxy are still firmly in evidence in the way the rhythms and melodies are developed. For example, the adaptation / tribute paid to Django (“Sweet mood”) may hint at Flamenco, but never loses the basic swing that is the backbone of this fascinating jazz style.
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dutton
NOSTALGIA
Nostalgia titles from Dutton The Best of Herbert & Romberg Frank Chacksfield Dutton Vocalion • CDLF 8134
Hk65387c*!#$@?K Price Code: A19 (Suggested Retail Price: $19.98)
File in: Nostalgia Decca stalwart Frank Chacksfield puts in another appearance on Vocalion with this, his beautiful 1968 Decca album concentrating on the music of Victor Herbert and Sigmund Romberg, both of whom found lasting fame with their music for light operas and operetta. Chacksfield’s finesse and arranging skills are given the perfect opportunity to shine in this kind of material, with the graceful melodic lines of “A Kiss in the Dark”, “I’m Falling in Love with Someone”, “Kiss Me Again”, “Lover Come Back to Me” and “One Alone” sounding more enchanting than ever when performed in Chacksfield’s orchestral settings. As an added bonus, this release features four more evergreens from the pens of composers such as Ray Noble (“The Touch of Your Lips”) and Lerner & Loewe (“Wouldn’t it Be Loverly?”), all dressed up in beautiful Chacksfield orchestral arrangements.
The All-Time Big Band Hits; Top Pop Instrumental Hits
December 2008
Cyril Stapleton Dutton Vocalion • CDLK 4375
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Hk65387c$#&%@\R Price Code: A22 (Suggested Retail Price: $22.98)
File in: Nostalgia The big band of Cyril Stapleton is heard to superb effect in this Vocalion release, which compiles two of his Decca albums from the late 1950s and early ‘60s. Both were originally recorded for the American market and issued in the UK on Decca’s Ace of Clubs subsidiary. On The All-Time Big Band Hits, Stapleton leads his band through exciting treatments of several staples of the swing era including Erskine Hawkins’s “Tuxedo Junction”, Charlie Barnet’s “Skyliner”, Sy Oliver’s “Opus 1”, Basie’s “One O’Clock Jump” and the Goodman classic “Stompin’ at the Savoy.” Top Pop Instrumental Hits features a varied selection of British and American chart hits from the 1950s, all arranged and performed in the inimitable Stapleton manner. They include “Swingin’ Shepherd Blues,” “Mack the Knife,” “Moonglow,” “Canadian Sunset” and many more.
NOSTALGIA
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Swing is King — Volumes 1 & 2
Ted Heath Dutton Vocalion • CDLK 4377
Price Code: A22 (Suggested Retail Price: $22.98)
dutton
Nostalgia titles from Dutton File in: Nostalgia
Ted Heath is back again, and this time Dutton presents two of his best, not to mention most popular, albums from his Decca ‘Phase 4’ discography. Heath’s legendary band is on top form in both volumes of Swing is King, and they indeed swing with all the precision, firepower and grace that made the Ted Heath sound world-famous. This is apparent in all of the twenty-four tracks on this release, but particularly so in numbers such as “Flying Home”, “Cherokee”, “Take the ‘A’ Train”, “Intermission Riff ”, “Jersey Bounce”, “Opus 1”, “South Rampart Street Parade” and “Skyliner.” If these albums are anything to go by, Ted Heath and his band really were the Kings of the Swing! This is the first time both of these albums have been reissued together in complete form.
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Dreamtime — Light Music Classics Vol.3
Various Artists Dutton Vocalion • CDVS 1957
Price Code: A11 (Suggested Retail Price: $11.98) File in: Nostalgia
December 2008
The third installment in Vocalion’s series of vintage light music recordings presents another charming selection by some of the biggest names in the genre. This time the focus is on American light music exclusively. Among the treats in store are the Percy Faith Orchestra’s versions of “The Girl with the Spanish Drawl” and “Caribbean Night” (the latter an original composition by Percy Faith), while the Tutti Camarata Orchestra glide through “Fiddlesticks,” “Rendezvous” and the David Rose Orchestra offers a sumptuous reading of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes.” The disc concludes with Axel Stordahl’s enchanting 1953 album Dreamtime, in which he and his orchestra offer up richly arranged versions of standards including “As Time Goes By,” “Imagination,” “I’m Getting Sentimental over You,” “A Blues Serenade” and many more.
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Concert Calendar • CLASSICAL
Artist
Label
Anonymous 4
harmonia mundi
Brentano String Quartet Conspirare Cuarteto Casals Colin Currie James Ehnes Bernarda Fink Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra Fretwork Matthias Goerne Susan Graham
Marc-André Hamelin Angela Hewitt
Stephen Hough
Steven Isserlis Olga Kern
King's Singers Katia & Marielle Labèque Jon Manasse Andrew Manze Jon Nakamatsu
Paul O'Dette
December 2008
Orlando Consort San Francisco Symphony Jordi Savall Takács Quartet
Tokyo String Quartet
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Date
Dec 3 Dec 5 Dec 7 Dec 11 Dec 12 Dec 13 Dec 14 aeon Dec 13 Feb 17 harmonia mundi Dec 6 Dec 7, 9-10 Dec 8 harmonia mundi Feb 22 Onyx Classics Jan 8-10 Onyx Classics Jan 8 Jan 9-11 Feb 13-15 harmonia mundi Jan 11 Jan 18 Channel Classics Jan 24 harmonia mundi Jan 16 harmonia mundi Jan 10-11, 16-18, 21-22, 24-25 Onyx Classics Dec 4 Dec 13 Jan 16-17 Jan 18 Hyperion Jan 9 Jan 10-11 Feb 20 Hyperion Dec 12 Dec 15 Feb 17 Feb 22 Feb 27 Hyperion Dec 2 Dec 6-8 Jan 8 Jan 10-11 Jan 29-31 Feb 4-7 Feb 10 Feb 12 Hyperion Jan 4 harmonia mundi Jan 15-18 Feb 6-8 Feb 13 Feb 21 Feb 22-23 Feb 27-28 Hyperion Dec 19 KML Records Jan 16, 18 harmonia mundi Dec 31 Jan 2 harmonia mundi Feb 26 harmonia mundi Jan 15, 17-18 Feb 3 Feb 8-9 Feb 15 harmonia mundi Dec 9 Dec 19, 21 harmonia mundi Feb 8 Feb 10 San Francisco Symphony Jan 26-27 Alia Vox Feb 22 Feb 27-28 Hyperion Dec 4 Dec 6 Dec 7 Jan 11 Jan 12 Jan 13 Jan 14 harmonia mundi Jan 25 Jan 31
City
State
Venue
Portland Salem Los Angeles Northampton Philadelphia Detroit Petoskey New York Houston Victoria Austin Austin New York Phoenix Brandenton Sarasota San Diego Cleveland New York New York Los Angeles Los Angeles New York New York St. Louis New York Newark New Brunswick Chicago New York Washington Seattle Boston San Jose Rochester Portland Chicago Chicago Baltimore San Francisco Oberlin New York New York Detroit Madison La Jolla Eugene Portland Salt Lake City New York Los Angeles Naples Naples New York San Jose Greensboro Roanoke Winchester Rochester New York Birmingham New York Los Angeles New York Berkeley Fort Worth La Jolla Santa Monica Mill Valley Portland Portland Seattle Pasadena New York
OR OR CA MA PA MI MI NY TX TX TX TX NY AZ FL FL CA OH NY NY CA CA NY NY MO NY NJ NJ IL NY DC WA MA CA NY OR IL IL MD CA OH NY NY MI WI CA OR OR UT NY CA FL FL NY CA NC VA VA NY NY AL NY CA NY CA TX CA CA CA OR OR WA CA NY
Kaul Auditorium Willamette University: Hudson Hall St. James Episcopal Church St. Mary's Church St. Mark's Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament Crooked Tree Arts Center Tisch Center for the Arts: Kaufmann Concert Hall The Menil Collection Our Lady of Victory Cathedral The Carillon The Long Center: Kodosky Donor Lounge Walter Reade Theater Symphony Hall Neel Performing Arts Center Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Mainly Mozart Severance Hall: Reinberger Chamber Hall Town Hall Stern Auditorium: Perelman Stage City Hall: Council Chambers L.A. Opera: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Lincoln Center Zankel Hall Powell Symphony Hall Stern Auditorium: Perelman Stage New Jersey Performing Arts Center State Theater University of Chicago: Mandel Hall New York Society for Ethical Culture Sidney Harman Hall Meany Hall Jordan Hall San Jose State University Concert Hall Eastman School of Music Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Symphony Center Symphony Center Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall Davies Symphony Hall Finney Chapel Stern Auditorium: Perelman Stage Tisch Center for the Arts: Kaufmann Concert Hall Detroit Orchestra Hall Madison Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall Sherwood Auditorium Jacqua Concert Hall Portland Center for Performing Arts: Newmark Theatre Abravanel Hall Stern Auditorium: Perelman Stage Disney Hall Hayes Hall Hayes Hall Zankel Hall The California Theatre Univ. of North Carolina School of Music: Recital Hall Jefferson Center: Shaftman Performance Hall Shenandoah Conservatory: Armstrong Concert Hall Eastman School of Music: Kilbourn Hall Rose Theater Independent Presbyterian Church Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium Disney Hall Alice Tully Hall First Congregational Church Kimbell Art Museum Sherwood Auditorium Maestro Foundation Private Concert Maestro Foundation Private Concert First Methodist Church Kaul Auditorium Meany Hall Beckman Auditorium Tisch Center for the Arts: Kaufmann Concert Hall
Label
Date
City
State
Venue
C.J. Chenier
World Village
Mamadou Diabaté
World Village
Zakir Hussain
Network
Kayhan Kalhor Klezmatics
World Village Piranha
Habib Koité
World Village
Les Yeux Noirs
World Village
Ana Moura New Orleans Jazz Orchestra Catherine Russell
World Village World Village World Village
Chango Spasiuk
Piranha
Feb 21 Feb 14 Feb 27 Jan 12 Apr 4 Apr 16 Apr 26-28 Apr 29 Apr 4 Dec 4 Dec 7 Feb 22 Feb 25 Feb 26 Mar 1 Mar 5 Mar 7 Mar 8 Apr 2 Apr 24 Apr 25 Apr 3 Apr 23 Apr 25 Jan 20 Jan 22 Jan 23 Jan 24 Jan 25 Jan 12 Jan 22-25 Jan 24-31 Feb 21 Apr 4 Jun 25 Jun 26 Jun 27 Mar 27
Cranston Saratoga Springs Cedarburg New York Tamworth Chapel Hill New York New York Los Angeles Somerville Pittsfield San Luis Obispo Eastsound Tacoma Kirkland Los Angeles Tucson Houston New York Albuquerque Farmington Berkeley Berea Raleigh Marquette Columbus Arden Atlanta Mahwah New York Seattle Fort Lauderdale Morristown Suffolk Frederick Lewisburg Roanoke New York
RI NY WA NY NH NC NY NY CA MA MA CA WA WA WA CA AZ TX NY NM NM CA KY NC MI OH DE GA NJ NY WA FL NJ VA MD WV VA NY
Rhodes on the Pawtucket Dance Flurry Festival Cedarburg Performing Arts Center Highline Ballroom Arts Council of Tamworth University of North Carolina Zankel Hall Stern Auditorium: Perelman Stage Royce Hall Somerville Theatre Colonial Theatre Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center Orcas Center Broadway Center Kirkland Performance Center Royce Hall University of Arizona Congregation Beth Israel Stern Auditorium: Perelman Stage South Broadway Cultural Center San Juan College Zellerbach Hall Phelps Stokes Auditorium Steward Theatre Don H. Bottum University Center Fawcett Center Arden Guild Hall Rialto Center Sharp Theater Highline Ballroom Benaroya Hall Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise Mayo Center for the Performing Arts Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts Weinberg Center for the Arts Carnegie Hall (WV) Jefferson Center: Shaftman Performance Hall Zankel Hall
Concert Calendar • POPULAR
Artist
December 2008
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