The Classics a Day team honors Robert Schumann’s birthday (June 8, 1810). The theme for June is Schumann and his circle. During the month, you’re encouraged to share works written by Schumann, his friends, his colleagues, his rivals — and of course, his wife. Here are my #ClassicsaDay selections for the third week of #SchumannsCircle. […]
Classical music
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Daniel Jones Symphonies 3 & 5 tied to BBC
The relationship between Welsh composer Daniel Jones and the BBC was a close one. In the third installment of Daniel Jones’s symphonic recordings, Lyrita presents two prime examples. Symphony No. 3 was completed in 1951 and premiered the following year in a BBC broadcast. David Jones conducted the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra. Jones’ fifth symphony […]
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Salvatore Di Vittorio release not up to par
To me, this release is something of a puzzle. We have a composer conducting the orchestra he founded in a program of his own works. I enjoyed Salvatore Di Vittorio and the Chamber Orchestra of New York before. Their Respighi release is a knockout. But not this. The compositions are fine. They’re well-constructed. Di Vittorio, […]
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Pál Hermann’s music revived, thanks to Toccata Classics
When I saw the title for this release, I thought I might want to review it. When I read the subtitle, I knew I had to review it. I’d never heard of Pál Hermann, and I’m always looking for new composers to discover. But “Complete Surviving Music?” What did that mean? What did it survive? […]
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Respighi Works for Flute and Orchestra work for me
Many people only know of Ottorino Respighi through his trilogy of tone poems celebrating Rome. This release helps fill out the composer’s profile with some very unusual works. With the exception of Gli Uccelli, these selections come from the early part of Respighi’s career. Those early works only exist in manuscript, and it’s not clear if […]
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Ian Hobson launches new Moritz Moszkowski series
And so Toccata Classics launches yet another series I’ll be following closely. Moritz Moszkowski was a household name at the turn of the 20th Century. Both as a pianist and a composer of piano music he was in demand. By 1910, ill-health had ended his concert career and he — and his music — was […]
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Roxanna Panufnik – Heartfelt chamber music
The past few Roxanna Panufnik releases from Signum Classics have focused on her choral works. And with good reason — Panufnik is one of the premier choral composers of the 21st Century. This new release presents a collection of her chamber music. And (no surprise), her talent extends into this genre as well. Members of […]
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#ClassicsaDay #APAHM Week 4
May is designated Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. The Classics a Day team adopted that theme as well. For the month of May, the challenge is to post examples of classical music composed or performed by artists who share that heritage. I limited myself to just posting Asian-American composers. And discovered a seemingly limitless number of […]
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Anton Bruckner Chamber Music Worth a Listen
For most audiences, the equation is simple. Anton Bruckner = symphonies. And while symphonies may have been the best form of expression for Bruckner, he did write in other genres. This release features two of his chamber works. Albeit these are early compositions, and it’s easy to hear Brucker’s influences in them. But still, these […]