I almost consider this an EP rather than an album. The total playing time is around 30 minutes. But I’m interested in quality over quantity, so the album’s length isn’t an issue. Reuben Blundell and the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra present three works culled from the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music at the Free […]
contemporary classical music
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John Robertson Symphonies Underserved by Performances
John Robertson is a mostly self-taught composer who has really come into his own in recent years. This is the fourth release of his music from Navona. To me, it’s something of a mixed bag. The major works included here are his last two symphonies. Symphony No. 4 was written in 2017, and Symphony No. […]
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Selim Palmgren piano cycle begins
I’m not sure how many volumes a traversal of Selim Palmgren piano music would run. But it should be a lot. Palmgren was a virtuoso pianist and composer. Naturally, a great deal of his catalog is piano music. And he was quite prolific. Palmgren was one of Finland’s greatest composers, pre-Sibelius. Many of the works […]
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New release celebrates individual voice of Elisabetta Brusa
This installment in Naxos’ series features two works by Elisabetta Brusa: her second symphony, and “Simply Largo.” These are the same performers that recorded her first symphony in Volume Three, and the quality remains high. The Ulster Orchestra has a full yet open ensemble sound. The soloists (if not great) are very good, and Daniele […]
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Pancho Vladigerov String Concertos true masterworks
Capriccio continues their reissue of Pancho Vladigerov recordings with his collected string concertos. Though these recordings were originally done in the 1970s, they all sound quite good in this release. The sound, though a little soft, still has plenty of detail. And that’s especially important for this volume. Pancho Vladigerov defined Bulgarian classical music. His […]
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Eleanor Alberga – Wild Blue Yonder is exceptional
This Navonna release is the follow-up to Alberga’s String Quartet album. And it solidifies her reputation in the realm of chamber music. The four compositions in the program span about twenty-two years, and an equally wide range of subjects. The disc opens and closes with works for violin and piano. The performers are Eleanor Alberger, […]
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Nightingale Quartet starts Vagn Holmboe series
Danish composer Vagn Holmboe completed 20 string quartets, each a deeply personal statement. I applaud the Nightingale String Quartet for undertaking a traversal of these works. Holmboe was a 20th Century composer, but he didn’t necessarily follow its trends. Holmboe wrote in a mostly neo-classical style. In his mature period (which he began writing quartets), […]
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Leo Weiner Divertimentos more than diverting
Hungarian composer and teacher Leo Weiner was a contemporary of Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly. Like his colleagues, he used elements of Hungarian folk music in his work. Where he differed was in his style. Weiner’s music is more conservative, and solidly in the Post-Romantic tradition. This volume includes an assortment of orchestral works by […]
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Pancho Vladigerov Orchestral Works Bulgarian Masterpieces
It’s hard to describe the role Pancho Vladigerov plays in Bulgarian classical music. Like Antonin Dvorak, Vladigerov took the music of his native land and brought it into the realm of classical music. Vladigerov’s works tend to superficially follow standard classical forms, but the cadences, rhythms, and harmonies are all formed from Bulgarian folk elements. […]