In 2019 the Classics a Day team has been making its way through the seasons. We’ve had Classical Winter (January), Classical Spring (April), and Classical Summer (August). For October, we complete the cycle with Classical Autumn. I tried to steer clear of the really obvious choices (like Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”). In the process, I managed […]
Classical
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Victor Rosenbaum gives mature insights into Beethoven
Victor Rosenbaum performs an engaging program of Beethoven piano music for Bridge Records. This is his third release with the label, and it’s a great partnership. Bridge knows how to record the piano to capture its natural warmth. The recordings are clean, with just enough room ambiance to make the recording sound natural, as if […]
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Mexican composer Alexi Aranda delivers satisfying concertos
Alexis Aranda is a composer whose star is rising — and not just in his native Mexico. Aranda’s style incorporates native folk traditions into a post-tonal classical language. The blend is exciting, accessible, and yields music of real substance. This release features three concertos by Aranda; a concerto for flute, another for piano, and a […]
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BBC Philharmonic give George Antheil its best
Chandos’ third installment in their George Antheil series features works from a variety of sources. It includes his Symphony No. 1 and several shorter works. To my ears, Antheil’s first symphony, “Zingareska,” is the least successful of his six. John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic give it their best. Their performance is first-rate. The underlying […]
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalAutumn Week 4
In 2019 the Classics a Day team has been making its way through the seasons. We’ve had Classical Winter (January), Classical Spring (April), and Classical Summer (August). For October, we complete the cycle with Classical Autumn. I tried to steer clear of the really obvious choices (like Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”). In the process, I managed […]
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Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer and the Recorder in the Low Countries
Baroque recorder albums are something of a crapshoot for me. Sometimes they sound harshly shrill. And sometimes they sound like this release. Erik Bosgraaf uses a variety of recorders, all of which have a warm, woody sound — even the soprano recorder. Equally exceptional is the recorded sound of the keyboard. on some tracks, Francesco […]
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Beethoven: The Relentless Revolutionary
Ludwig van Beethoven, for some listeners perhaps the greatest of all composers, is an enduringly fascinating subject for biographers. A new biography of the composer, Beethoven: The Relentless Revolutionary by 19th Century cultural historian John Clubbe adds to the pile. His study departs from the musicological approach of Maynard Solomon, whose Beethoven (Schirmer 1977) remains a […]
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalAutumn Week 3
In 2019 the Classics a Day team has been making its way through the seasons. We’ve had Classical Winter (January), Classical Spring (April), and Classical Summer (August). For October, we complete the cycle with Classical Autumn. I tried to steer clear of the really obvious choices (like Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”). In the process, I managed […]
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Telemann Inauguration Cantatas interesting sidelights
This release features three cantatas, Georg Philipp Telemann. All were written to mark special occasions. Two were in Hamburg, where Telemann served from 1721 to 1767. One was for the neighboring town of Altona, which didn’t have a resident composer. Altona’s 1744 cantata Geschlagene Pauken, auf was inauguration music for a new school. The music is somewhat […]