Peter Van Willenswaard
A preliminary remark. Within the realm of this "Recommended Recordings" series I cannot recommend any of the recordings discussed below in the CD format. Although my writings in "Industry Update" quite regularly deal with digital audio, and quite enthusiastically so because of the interesting and often promising developments in that area, no CD that I know of, played through any D/A equipment that I know of, even comes near to what many LPs do to me. I like good CDs, but I love good records. On the occasional evening that I am free of my reviewer's duties and find…
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Denis Stevens
ENSEMBLE HUELGAS: O cieco mondo
The Italian Lauda, c.1400-1700
Ensemble Huelgas, Paul van Nevel, dir. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 7865-2-RC (CD only). Wolf Erichson, prod.; Andreas Neubronner, eng. DDD. TT: 60:53 I began producing broadcasts of early medieval music in 1949 on the UK's BBC Third Programme, and my standards, like its, became almost impossibly high. Because of this background I judge more recent attempts with severity, for beyond the expected excellence of sound quality, I await a superlative performance allied to program-building of impeccable taste. In…
ENSEMBLE HUELGAS: O cieco mondo
The Italian Lauda, c.1400-1700
Ensemble Huelgas, Paul van Nevel, dir. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 7865-2-RC (CD only). Wolf Erichson, prod.; Andreas Neubronner, eng. DDD. TT: 60:53 I began producing broadcasts of early medieval music in 1949 on the UK's BBC Third Programme, and my standards, like its, became almost impossibly high. Because of this background I judge more recent attempts with severity, for beyond the expected excellence of sound quality, I await a superlative performance allied to program-building of impeccable taste. In…
Markus Sauer
When I got Richard Lehnert's fax telling me I was invited to contribute to this year's edition of Stereophile's "Recommended Recordings" feature, the first thing I did was to dig out the first installment in the January 1991 issue. I wanted to see what my fellow contributors recommended last year in order to avoid duplicating their choices.
When I got Richard Lehnert's fax telling me I was invited to contribute to this year's edition of Stereophile's "Recommended Recordings" feature, the first thing I did was to dig out the first installment in the January 1991 issue. I wanted to see what my fellow contributors recommended last year in order to avoid duplicating their choices.
Damn. Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and Weather Report's Heavy Weather were mentioned, as were Andreas Vollenweider's Caverna Magica, Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, Italian Violin Music on Edition Open Window, Respighi's Pines and…
Thomas J. Norton
As I stated last time around, my selections follow a self-imposed criterion: they must be easily obtainable, which largely limits me to CDs. A rather looser requirement on performance might enable me to recommend a number of audiophile recordings; a looser one on sound might, more importantly, enable me to sneak in a recommendation of the 1962 von Karajan Tosca on London LP or CD, the original London cast recording of Miss Saigon, or the astonishing Kleiber Beethoven Fourth (with the Seventh) on, of all things, a Philips video laserdisc, any of which knock me out…
As I stated last time around, my selections follow a self-imposed criterion: they must be easily obtainable, which largely limits me to CDs. A rather looser requirement on performance might enable me to recommend a number of audiophile recordings; a looser one on sound might, more importantly, enable me to sneak in a recommendation of the 1962 von Karajan Tosca on London LP or CD, the original London cast recording of Miss Saigon, or the astonishing Kleiber Beethoven Fourth (with the Seventh) on, of all things, a Philips video laserdisc, any of which knock me out…
Lewis Lipnick
GEORGE LLOYD: Symphony 5
George Lloyd, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Albany Records Troy 022-2 (CD only). Tony Faulkner, eng.; Martin Compton, prod. DDD. TT: 56:28 One of my colleagues in the National Symphony, Edward Skidmore, discovered this recording, for which I shall remain forever grateful. This five-movement symphonic masterpiece (completed in 1947) comes from the pen of a seriously underrated 20th-century composer. Faintly reminiscent of Vaughan-Williams's pastoral style, with a hint of Richard Strauss's rich orchestral scoring, the Fifth stands as one of the…
GEORGE LLOYD: Symphony 5
George Lloyd, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Albany Records Troy 022-2 (CD only). Tony Faulkner, eng.; Martin Compton, prod. DDD. TT: 56:28 One of my colleagues in the National Symphony, Edward Skidmore, discovered this recording, for which I shall remain forever grateful. This five-movement symphonic masterpiece (completed in 1947) comes from the pen of a seriously underrated 20th-century composer. Faintly reminiscent of Vaughan-Williams's pastoral style, with a hint of Richard Strauss's rich orchestral scoring, the Fifth stands as one of the…
Richard Lehnert
SHIRLEY HORN: You Won't Forget Me
Shirley Horn, voice, piano; Charles Ables, bass; Steve Williams, drums. With: Miles Davis, trumpet; Buck Hill, trumpet; Branford Marsalis, tenor saxophone; Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Toots Thielmans, harmonica, guitar; Buster Williams, bass; Billy Hart, drums
Verve Digital 847 482-2 (CD only). Richard Seidel, Joel Siegel, prods.; David Baker, eng. DDD. TT: 71:13 Amazing singing---guts, heart, and brains all the way down---quintessential jazz conversation that feels like someone crawled upside your heart to deliver intimate…
SHIRLEY HORN: You Won't Forget Me
Shirley Horn, voice, piano; Charles Ables, bass; Steve Williams, drums. With: Miles Davis, trumpet; Buck Hill, trumpet; Branford Marsalis, tenor saxophone; Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Toots Thielmans, harmonica, guitar; Buster Williams, bass; Billy Hart, drums
Verve Digital 847 482-2 (CD only). Richard Seidel, Joel Siegel, prods.; David Baker, eng. DDD. TT: 71:13 Amazing singing---guts, heart, and brains all the way down---quintessential jazz conversation that feels like someone crawled upside your heart to deliver intimate…
Barbara Jahn
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony 11, "The Year 1905"
James DePreist, Helsinki Philharmonic
Delos D/CD 3080 (CD only). John Eargle, eng.; Adam Stern, prod. DDD. TT: 68:17 This performance was my "Building a Library" choice when considering the available recordings of this poignant work (Vol.13 No.4). But rarely, in writing these articles, have I found a recording to be as superlative as a performance (or vice versa) as is this one. Both parameters heighten the forbidding and obsessive story it tells, demanding of its audience the same intense concentration it requires of its…
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony 11, "The Year 1905"
James DePreist, Helsinki Philharmonic
Delos D/CD 3080 (CD only). John Eargle, eng.; Adam Stern, prod. DDD. TT: 68:17 This performance was my "Building a Library" choice when considering the available recordings of this poignant work (Vol.13 No.4). But rarely, in writing these articles, have I found a recording to be as superlative as a performance (or vice versa) as is this one. Both parameters heighten the forbidding and obsessive story it tells, demanding of its audience the same intense concentration it requires of its…
Robert Hesson
CHOPIN: 4 Ballades, 4 Scherzi
Earl Wild, piano
Chesky CD 44 (CD only). Ed Thompson, eng.; Michael Rolland Davis, prod. DDD. TT: 69:19 As a Chopin interpreter, Earl Wild has only one peer that I know of, and that is the late, magnificent Josef Hofmann. If I went on for another thousand words, I could not devise higher praise than that. It seems almost incredible that we could have a pianist of this stature and tradition captured in the finest recorded sound I have ever heard. The task of choosing recordings that meet the highest standards of both performance and…
CHOPIN: 4 Ballades, 4 Scherzi
Earl Wild, piano
Chesky CD 44 (CD only). Ed Thompson, eng.; Michael Rolland Davis, prod. DDD. TT: 69:19 As a Chopin interpreter, Earl Wild has only one peer that I know of, and that is the late, magnificent Josef Hofmann. If I went on for another thousand words, I could not devise higher praise than that. It seems almost incredible that we could have a pianist of this stature and tradition captured in the finest recorded sound I have ever heard. The task of choosing recordings that meet the highest standards of both performance and…
Corey Greenberg
I could see Richard sitting there at the keyboard with his herbal tea and Tipparillos, giggling and stabbing the air with his fingers as he finally figured a way to thwart my using The Sun Sessions in this year's "Records To Die For." WHY WHY WHY? Why did they have to be stereo? Given that "Sound Quality" is merely a tool for the optimal transmission of the musical event, does the mere fact that a recording is monaural render it handicapped in its ability to deliver the goods? Is our esteemed Music Editor, a man I would proudly take a bullet in the ear for, ACTUALLY…
I could see Richard sitting there at the keyboard with his herbal tea and Tipparillos, giggling and stabbing the air with his fingers as he finally figured a way to thwart my using The Sun Sessions in this year's "Records To Die For." WHY WHY WHY? Why did they have to be stereo? Given that "Sound Quality" is merely a tool for the optimal transmission of the musical event, does the mere fact that a recording is monaural render it handicapped in its ability to deliver the goods? Is our esteemed Music Editor, a man I would proudly take a bullet in the ear for, ACTUALLY…
Robert Deutsch
BERNSTEIN: Candide
Jerry Hadley, Candide; June Anderson, Cunegonde; Adolph Green, Dr. Pangloss/Martin; Christa Ludwig, Old Lady; Nicolai Gedda, Governor/Vanderdendur; Della Jones, Paquette; Kurt Ollman, Maximilian/Captain; others. London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein
Deutsche Grammophon 429 734-2 (2 CDs only). Gregor Zielinsky, eng.; Hans Weber, prod. DDD. TT: 1:51:32. As fate (aka the God of Record Reviewers) would have it, I received the new Candide just a couple of days after the missive from RL requesting the "Recommended…
BERNSTEIN: Candide
Jerry Hadley, Candide; June Anderson, Cunegonde; Adolph Green, Dr. Pangloss/Martin; Christa Ludwig, Old Lady; Nicolai Gedda, Governor/Vanderdendur; Della Jones, Paquette; Kurt Ollman, Maximilian/Captain; others. London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein
Deutsche Grammophon 429 734-2 (2 CDs only). Gregor Zielinsky, eng.; Hans Weber, prod. DDD. TT: 1:51:32. As fate (aka the God of Record Reviewers) would have it, I received the new Candide just a couple of days after the missive from RL requesting the "Recommended…