In the liner notes Spanish composer Alfonso Romero Asenjo is described as “trans-avant-garde.” I think that’s a fair description. The music in this release struck me as a unique blend of pre- and post-atonal elements. The most recent work on the album, the String Symphony, is only six years old. Asenjo’s compositional materials are deceptively […]
Classical
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Hummel Piano Concertos on original instruments. Hmmm
Brilliant Records continues their traversal of Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s piano concertos. It’s a worthy project. Hummel was a major figure in the early 19th Century Vienna. He was friends of both Beethoven and Schubert. He was regarded as near-equal to the former, and more successful than the latter. Hummel was a virtuous pianist (at age […]
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Paulo Biordi Revives Lyra Viol Music by Ferrabasco
Alfonso Ferrabasco (the younger) was –despite his name — an English composer and viol virtuoso. He was active in the courts of both Elizabeth I and James I and well-known in the London music scene. His father emigrated to England in 1592 and achieved fame as a madrigalist. The lyra viol is a member of […]
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalDoubleDigits Week 5
The Classics a Day team noted that the new year is comprised of two twenties — double digits. So the theme for January 2020 is to post other examples of double digits found in classical music. Prolific composers are a good place to start. But I found a few surprises among composers with very small […]
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Soyeon Kate Lee plays Clementi with crystalline precision
Naxos has released a lot of Clementi piano sonatas, with a variety of performers. This latest release features Soyeon Kate Lee, who delivers some delightful performances. Clementi’s music pushed the limits of the then-developing fortepiano. But on a modern instrument, they can sound a little constrained and reserved. Lee has a feathery touch that makes […]
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Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and Hermann Baumer deliver with early Strauss
Both scores in this release were written in 1893. Richard Strauss was just nineteen, but already an experienced composer. Both also use Beethoven works as their models, and in some parts, their style. The concert piece uses the Coreolon overture. It’s considered the least successful of the two works. The structural flaws mentioned in the liner […]
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Dante Quartet finishes Stanford cycle with strong performances
This release completes the Dante Quartet’s traversal of Charles Villiers Stanford’s string quartets. Appropriately, it includes both his first and last quartet, the latter receiving its world recording premiere. Stanford’s music is sometimes characterized as “Brahms with an Irish accent.” That doesn’t seem to apply to the first two quartets. Stanford wrote the first quartet […]
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“Two Lutes with Grace” informative and entertaining
It’s a clever title. “Two Lutes with Grace” refers to Marc Lewen and Paul Kieffer (lutes), and Grace Newcombe (vocal). And it’s a valuable release. In the late 1400s, lute duos were one of the most common forms of professional ensembles. Lewen and Kieffer carefully reconstruct what these duos may have performed, using current musicological […]
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalDoubleDigits Week 4
The Classics a Day team noted that the new year is comprised of two twenties — double digits. So the theme for January 2020 is to post other examples of double digits found in classical music. Prolific composers are a good place to start. But I found a few surprises among composers with very small […]