Recording of the Month

Mozart: Horn Concertos
Alec Frank-Gemmill, B-flat horn; Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan, cond.
BIS-2635 (reviewed in native 24/96). 2024. Thore Brinkmann, prod.; Brinkmann, Håkan Ekman, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½

When I recollect the soundtrack to my acid-tinged summer of 1967, several LPs stand out: The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's you-know-what, The Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties, Richie Havens's Mixed Bag, and Dennis Brain's equally famed recording of the Mozart Horn Concertos, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Though all of them sounded potent and execrable, in equal parts, through our starving–ex-student record players, neither the Mozart's monophonic provenance nor the too-distant sound of Brain's horn could diminish the joy it brought me...

How wonderful it is to revisit these tuneful, often jolly concertos played by a superb horn virtuoso, Alec Frank-Gemill, backed by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by one of the world's most distinguished period-practice authorities, Nicholas McGegan.

Mari Kodama: Bruckner Piano Works
Mari Kodama, piano
Pentatone PTC 5187 224 (reviewed as 24/192 WAV, also CD). 2024. Erdo Groot, prod., eng.; Shunsuke Yokoyama, piano technician.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½

Music history, like all human history, is filled with nooks and crannies—digressions from the main course of events. Take Anton Bruckner for example. The global concert hall calendars are filled with performances of his symphonies and some of his choral works. New recordings of these pieces are frequently released. How many of you have ever heard a performance, or recording, of any piece for solo piano by Bruckner?

Miguel Zenón: Golden City
Zenón, alto saxophone; eight others
Miel Music MZ10 (CD). 2024. Zenón, prod.; Ryan Streber, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

In the current, not-so-new millennium, there have been very few jazz musicians more decorated than Miguel Zenón. Among the many accolades he has received are Grammy awards and nominations, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a MacArthur Fellowship (known as the "Genius Grant"). He has lived at or near the top of the major jazz polls for years on his instrument, the alto saxophone.

Synthesis: The String Quartet Sessions
Various composers and musicians
ArtistShare CD. 2024. Ryan Truesdell, prod.; Ryan Streber, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****

Until now, Ryan Truesdell has been known for producing two of the most important jazz records of the second decade of the current millennium. Centennial, in 2012, and Lines of Color, in 2015, contained newly discovered works by the great composer/arranger Gil Evans. They were lavish productions with huge world-class New York orchestras. The many honors they received included a Grammy award and multiple Grammy nominations.

Now Truesdell has a new project. His ensemble size has shrunk, but his ambition has not. Synthesis is a three-CD set containing new original works for string quartet by 15 large-ensemble jazz composers including himself.

Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else
Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (alto saxophone), Miles Davis (trumpet), Hank Jones (piano), Sam Jones (bass), Art Blakey (drums)
Mobile Fidelity UD15 2-022 (2 45rpm "Ultradisc One-Step" LPs). 2024. Alfred Lion, prod.; Rudy Van Gelder, eng.; Krieg Wunderlich, Shawn R. Britton, mastering engs.
Performance *****
Sonics *****

For those who care about sonics, the current wave of expensive 45rpm vinyl reissues has made one question urgently relevant: Does convenience trump better sound? Put differently, does the ease of not getting up every 10 minutes to turn over or replace the record offset improved sound quality? It's settled science that a higher rotational speed can result in a better frequency range, better stereo imaging, less frequency fluctuation, and increased low-end response—if a record is well-pressed.

Benjamin Britten: Violin Concerto, Chamber Works
Isabelle Faust, violin; Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Jakub Hrůša, cond.; Boris Faust, viola; Alexander Melnikov, piano
Harmonia Mundi HMM902668 (CD, reviewed as 24/96). 2024. Sebastian Braun, Julian Schwenker, prods.; Schwenker, Klemens Kamp, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ****

I sat mesmerized when I first encountered a recording of Benjamin Britten's early Violin Concerto from 1939 (revised in 1958) at an audio show exhibit sponsored by High End by Oz. Ever since I heard those portions of Linus Roth's superbly recorded SACD for Channel Classics, I've longed for a version that would move beyond its strange harmonies and dissonances to reveal all facets of this communicative yet enigmatic work. Isabelle Faust rarely shies away from music conducive to deep thought and feeling; recently she has recorded works by Berg, Schoenberg, Bartók, and Stravinsky. Her hair-raising, emotionally wrought rendition of the Britten concerto, with Jakub Hrůša conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for Harmonia Mundi, reveals depths and nuances that competing versions only hint at.

Van Halen: Van Halen
Warner Bros./Mobile Fidelity UD1S 2-032 (2 45rpm LPs). 1978/2023. Ted Templeton, prod.; Donn Landee, Krieg Wunderlich, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

I remember the day I walked into radio station WTGP, "The Great 88," at Thiel College and saw the Van Halen jacket for the first time. Drummer Alex Van Halen was a stereotypical blur. Bassist Michael Anthony acted the part of the metal bro. But that guitarist holding a ramshackle Stratocaster crisscrossed with electrical tape? On the back cover was a hairy-chested dude in profile, athletic tape on his knuckles, bent over backward in high-heeled boots.