I had not heard James Lee III’s music before I received this release. And shame on me. This gifted African-American composer has a rare talent for melody and orchestration. And he has a musical imagination that’s well-served by those talents. Lee writes, “I want to compose music to reach to the inner soul of the […]
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
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Hans Werner Henze: Nachtstücke und Arien worth exploring
Even when he was the darling of the Darmstadt avant-garde, Hans Werner Henze was his own man. In time he moved away from the aggressive modernism of that school — literally and musically. Werner settled on an island in the Gulf of Naples, where he became a neighbor of William Walton. At the same time, […]
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Michael Gielen’s Zemlinsky recording a welcome reissue
This is a rerelease of a 1989 recording. it’s the fourth in a series of reissues of Michael Gielen and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Gielen was an ardent champion of contemporary music. His attention to detail was legendary — and it’s an asset in this release. The featured work is Alexander Zemlinsky’s Lyric […]
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Early Music by Walter Braunfels Promising
For their ninth release of music by Walter Braunfels, Capriccio concentrates on some of his earlier music. Braunfels had the misfortune to fall between two stools. Before WWII, he was considered too modern (by the Nazis), and after the war, too conservative by everyone else. Listening to a century after the fact, I think his […]
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Willam Dawson and Ulysses Kay — two sides of Black classical music
This release features two African-American composers with two very different styles. William Levi Dawson was a respected composer, teacher, and musicologist. He’s best remembered for his work in collecting and arranging African-American spirituals. Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony celebrates that heritage. Dawson creates a flowing orchestral narrative using snippets from various spirituals (and not just well-known […]
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A Fine Collection of Opéra-Comique Overtures
Michael Halász and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra deliver an attractive selection of French Opéra-Comique overtures. The genre evolved over time, from light, frothy entertainment to more serious and realistic subjects. But the overture was always a curtain-raiser. And that’s just what we get. Maestro Halász keeps things moving. Orchestral contrasts are suitably dramatic, […]