Various Artists – Hommage a Eberhard Weber (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:18:45 minutes | 886 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: Q0buz | @ ECM Records GmbH
Recorded by SWR, January 2015, at Theaterhaus Stuttgart

In January 2015 musicians and listeners converged upon Stuttgart’s Theaterhaus for two consecutive nights to celebrate the 75th birthday of Eberhard Weber. The concerts centered around a specially commissioned 35-minute suite by Pat Metheny, with whom Weber had played and recorded back in the 1970s. Featuring Metheny, the SWR Big Band conducted by Helge Sunde, Gary Burton, bassist Scott Colley and Danny Gottlieb on drums, the composition was arranged around recordings of solos by Weber. Other performers during the two nights playing selections from Weber’s vast body of work were Weber’s longtime companions Jan Garbarek, Paul McCandless and arranger Michael Gibbs, all drawing ovations from the packed house. “A truly special event, this.” Michael Tucker, Jazz Journal.

(more…)

Richard Strauss – Vier Letzte Lieder – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, George Szell (1969/2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:56 minutes |1,21 GB  | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download  | Source: HDTracks| @ EMI Classics
Recorded: 09/1965, Grünewald Church, Berlin, Germany; 09/1968, Kingsway Hall, London, England

Esteemed interpreter Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor George Szell deliver a landmark reading of this Strauss’ masterpiece. Schwarzkopf’s gorgeous vocal gifts add a new dimension to the pieces, while the warm maestro brings forth a technically flawless performance by the ensemble. The extraordinary attention to detail is lush and passionate. There is no finer rendition of these beloved works.

“A heavenly record, so beautiful that I find it goes against the grain to attempt to analyze it.” – Gramophone

(more…)

Sokratis Sinopoulos Quartet – Eight Winds (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 00:57:02 minutes | 1,01 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: Q0buz| @ ECM Records GmbH
Recorded: Sierra Studios in Athens in April 2014

The distinctive cry of Sokratis Sinopoulos’ lyra has previously been heard on ECM recordings of Charles Lloyd/Maria Farantouri (Athens Concert) and Eleni Karaindrou (Trojan Women, The Weeping Meadow, Elegy of the Uprooting, Medea). Sokratis has played a key role in the revival of interest in the lyra in Greece, both in traditional music contexts and in the shaping of new music. To see him in concert for the first time is to marvel at the range of emotion and expression conveyed through the lyra and the power of the sound projected from this small, bowed instrument.

Eight Winds, the debut album of the quartet and Sokratis’s leader debut for ECM, was produced by Manfred Eicher at Sierra Studios in Athens in April 2014. The reflective compositions and yearning ballads on the album cede the central melodic role to the lyra, sensitively supported by the piano of Yann Keerim and the subtle bass and drums of Dimitris Tsekouras and Dimitris Emmanuel. But there is more happening here than a cross-referencing of folk instrument and jazz trio.

(more…)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Trios – Anne-Sophie Mutter, Daniel Muller-Schott, Andre Previn (2006/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:01:17 minutes | 1,1 GB  | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download  | Source: Q0buz | @ Deutsche Grammophon
Recorded: Baden-Baden, Festspielhaus, 05/2005

In 2006, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birth plus the 30th anniversary of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s public debut, Deutsche Grammophon released new recordings of the German violinist in all the Austrian composer’s major works featuring her instrument. To celebrate Mutter’s undeniable beauty, each body of works was released with a different photograph of Mutter on the cover: the set of concertos had Mutter poured into a stunning bottle green mermaid gown, the set of sonatas had Mutter wrapped in a shimmering golden yellow strapless gown, and this set of the piano trios has Mutter’s wonderfully made-up face and marvelously coifed hair in close-up. And just as no one but a blind man would deny Mutter’s beauty, no one but a deaf man would deny Mutter’s standing as one of the great violinists of her age with flawless intonation, faultless technique, a sensual tone, and a warmly romantic interpretive style. Of course, some might say that a warmly romantic interpretive style is out of place in the transcendently elegant works of Mozart. Others might point out that Mutter plays with impeccable taste and consummate control in these three late piano trios, but even they might concede that her performances are perhaps too sweet and possibly too ardent for the sublimely graceful Mozart. Cellist Daniel Müller-Schott and pianist André Previn are united behind Mutter and their performance is as one with Mutter in style and approach. For some, this disc will be a lovely addition to their Mutter collection. For others, the classic recording by the Beaux Arts Trio may seem closer to the classical style of the music. DG’s sound is very flattering to Mutter, but puts Müller-Schott and Previn a bit too far in the background. –AllMusic Review by James Leonard

(more…)

Claudio Monteverdi – Vespro della Beata Vergine – L’Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar (2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:14:57 minutes | 693 MB  | Genre: Classical, Choral
Studio Master, Official Digital Download  | Source: Q0buz | @ EMI Records Ltd./Virgin Classics
Recorded: 15-22 April 2010 at the Metz Arsenal

It’s not easy to pinpoint precisely what makes Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata’s performances of Baroque music, particularly Monteverdi, so extraordinary and distinctive, even in a time — the early 21st century — when (pardon the oxymoron) exceptionally fine recordings of this repertoire are the rule rather than the exception. One element may be the inventiveness of her realizations of the continuo part. Composers of the early Baroque generally wrote only a bass line for the accompaniment, an indication of the harmony, and occasionally a specification as to what instruments should be used, leaving the choice of the actual notes to be played, and usually, which instruments to the discretion of the performer. On this recording, for example, Pluhar uses at various times Baroque harp, psaltery (a hammered dulcimer), two small organs, violas da gamba, archlutes, and theorbos to create fresh, richly textured, and varied accompaniments, and the figures they play are imaginative and nuanced. A second element may be her choice of vocalists. Pluhar tends to use singers who are not international stars but who have voices with great character and individuality but are also team players, able to blend with the group. Perhaps her distinctiveness is a result of her uncanny affinity for music of this era, of which this recording of Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata vergine is further evidence; the performance practically shimmers with energy and vitality. Although at 75 minutes, it is 15 minutes shorter than the usual performance of the piece, it unfolds not with any sense of hurry, but with a lively momentum that feels entirely natural. The purity, warmth, and fervor of the vocal performances is outstanding throughout. Each of the 12 singers is featured as a soloist or in a small ensemble, and the singing is so consistently gorgeous that it seems unfair to single out individuals, but tenors Emiliano Gonzalez-Toro, Markus Brutscher, and Jan van Elsacker in “Duo Seraphim,” and sopranos Núria Rial and Raquel Andueza in “Pulchra es” particularly stick in the memory. Virgin Classics’ sound is, as usual, immaculate, balanced, and the resonance is ideal: spacious, but still intimate. Highly recommended. –AllMusic Review by Stephen Eddins

(more…)

Gustav Holst – The Planets, Op. 32 – Buzz Ensemble, Melanie Barney (2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 55:18 minutes | 916 MB  | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download  | Source: ProStudioMasters | @ Fidelio Musique
Recorded at L’église Saintviateur, D’Outremont, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 22, 23, 25 & 26 March 2009

The Planets is such a durable work that it shouldn’t be a surprise that it can thrive in a variety of arrangements. This version for brass quintet and organ, by Montreal composer and arranger Enrico O. Dastous, is especially felicitous. The organ’s timbral variety makes it a natural for Holst’s colorful score (and there have been some fine arrangements for organ solo) and the addition of brass, which prominently figure in the original orchestration, makes this a terrific instrumentation for an arrangement of the piece. Dastous’ version is notable for its restraint; with a combination of instruments that could be potentially used for bombast, he judiciously deploys them with close attention to Holst’s original, so when he does pull out all the stops — both literally and figuratively — the effect is hugely impressive. A great deal of credit goes to the performers, organist Mélanie Barney and the wonderfully named brass quintet Buzz Ensemble, who play with finesse, but who can also cut loose in the big moments. The music was recorded in Montreal’s Saint-Viateur d’Outremont Church, whose organ is versatile and powerful, and whose acoustics are conducive to music of this grandeur. The engineers also deserve acknowledgment for the naturalness of the sound; all the instruments sound marvelous and full, and the balance is superb. True fans of The Planets are likely to be delighted with this fabulous version of the piece, and the disc should also appeal to fans of music for brass and organ. –AllMusic Review by Stephen Eddins

(more…)