SACD

Erroll Garner – Supreme Jazz (2006) [SACD / Supreme Jazz – 223545-207]

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Erroll Garner - Supreme Jazz (2006)

Title: Erroll Garner – Supreme Jazz (2006)
Genre: Jazz
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Erroll Louis Garner was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His best-known composition, the ballad “Misty”, has become a jazz standard. Scott Yanow of Allmusic calls him “one of the most distinctive of all pianists” and a “brilliant virtuoso”. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6363 Hollywood Blvd.

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SACD

Ernest Ansermet, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande – Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition [Japan] (2013) [SACD / Esoteric Company – ESSD-90086]

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Ernest Ansermet, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande - Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition [Japan] (2013)

Title: Ernest Ansermet, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande – Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition [Japan] (2013)
Genre: Classical
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Experience the legendary performance in Japanese remastered SACD release. The reissue of classical music masterpieces by ESOTERIC has attracted a lot of attention, both for its uncompromising commitment to recreating the original master sound. This series marks the historical recording selections that have been mainstays of the catalog since their initial release. At the time of its release – 1960 – Ansermet’s stereo recording of the Mussorgsky-Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition was demonstration worthy, and it still, today, retains its sense of space and impact. Much of the remainder of the program makes its first international appearance on SACD and will be especially sought after by collectors.

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SACD

Erling Sunnarvik – Excursion (2013) [SACD / Lawo Classics – LWC1052]

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Erling Sunnarvik - Excursion (2013)

Title: Erling Sunnarvik – Excursion (2013)
Genre: Classical
Format: SACD ISO

This inventive programme results from a chamber recital of players of the Oslo Philharmonic, led in this case by bassist Erling Sunnarvik. The double bass has a relative dearth of original pieces, so we must expect some arrangements, done skilfully in this case by pianist Nils Lundstrцm. Add a string quintet & the guest mezzo of world renowned Annika Skoglund, & we have the makings of a sort of Philharmonic “Schubertiad” chamber concert. Ever since the landmark recordings of the Eccles Sonata by Gary Karr (a former teacher of Sunnarvik), this work stirred audiences who liked the similarly false Adagio in G minor for strings (not!) by Albinoni. Henry Eccles (c.1670-c.1742) was an English Baroque composer & violinist, 1 of a family of musicians from the generation following Henry Purcell. He was a Musician to William & Queen Mary, then Musician to Queen Anne (1701-1714), after which he moved to Paris & became a member of the band of Louis XIV. Eccles was a bold plagiarist, a not uncommon artistic habit in the Baroque – Handel frequently borrowed material from other composers. In 1720 Eccles published 12 Solos for the Violin in 2 books of which 18 movements are actually from Giuseppe Valentini’s Allettamenti per camera Op. 8 & 1 movement is from F.A. Bonporti’s Invenzioni Op. 10; the rest are composed by Eccles. In the case of the G minor sonata, only the fast movements are by Eccles. It is now frequently transcribed for other strings, but mostly the bass as here. Erling Sunnarvik largely dispenses with Baroque playing practice & invests the Sonata with full-blooded Romanticism of the “noblemente” style, particularly in the 2 slow movements where we find ample vibrato, discreet rubato & slowing before cadences. The Allegro & Vivace, however, are crisply articulated; the former is amusingly gruff & the latter scurries along with bravura. Singing Russian art songs accompanied by a double bass might seem to be an oddity, but the pairs of Glinka’s & Tchaikovsky’s songs are delightfully rendered by international mezzo-soprano Annika ‘Skogland. Most listeners will be familiar with Tchaikovsky’s ‘None but the lonely heart’, delivered sympathetically with a nicely-paired mellow mezzo voice & the rich resonance of the double bass. Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754-1812) is hardly a household name these days. In 1785, he established 1 of Vienna’s 1st music publishing businesses, where he, for a number of years, would publish music by the most prominent Viennese composers. His own copious list of compositions includes at least 8 operas (composed during the 1790s), over 60 symphonies, numerous concertos (many for the flute, probably due to his friendship with the Flautist Franz Thurner), more than 40 flute quartets, a large amount of string chamber music, piano music, & several collections of songs. Hoffmeister’s Solo Quartet #2 stretches the classical sonata form by granting leadership to the double bass, accompanied by violin, viola & cello. The Oslo players give a very stylish Viennese sound to this inventive piece, despite their notably slower pace in each movement, compared to Gerhard Dzwiza & friend’s recording for Christophorus (RBCD). Returning to the Romantic era, Lundstrцm’s adroit arrangement of Ernst Bloch’s ‘Prayer’ from his Suite ‘From Jewish Life’ for 5 strings & double bass is presented. This intense & passionate movement could well be considered as the apex of the Oslo “Schubertiad”. The recital’s finale is clearly of significance to Sunnarvik. Arne Hellan (1963-2002) began his career as a bassoonist, then a full-time composer. ‘Excursion for double bass & piano’ was commissioned from him by Sunnarvik & is a significant modern addition to the repertoire of the double bass. There are 3 movements, called ‘Promenade’ 1,2 & 3. The music is discursive, & suggests (to me) 2 companions talking to one another about journeys they have had. There are subtle changes in mood & interactive energy, with plenty of Webern-like dissonance. One feels like one is eves-dropping on quite intimate conversations, such is the rapport between Sunnarvik & Lundstrцm. It’s a pity that the recording doesn’t stretch to a Mch format, where the different acoustics of the Sofienburg & Ris Churches in Oslo would be more obvious. The 2ch sound stage is more or less 2-dimensional, but the instrumental & vocal timbres are very well captured in a recording which carefully takes consideration of the number of instruments. Arrayed in its attractively-produced Digipak (confusingly without any visible mention of SA-CD, Hybrid or Stereo), the slip-booklet is in Norwegian & English in parallel columns. The programme brings some unusual instrumental/vocal mixes, & little-known music mixed with devoted favourites. There is no doubt that Sunnarvik & his double bass are the stars. Orchestral bassists are well used to making jokes referring to the perennial problems of tuning (suggesting that a few cm each way doesn’t matter). However, be assured that Sunnarvik is, for a bassist, very good at tuning his notes – apart from the inevitable slight bending into or out of a note from time to time.
Composers: Henry Eccles: Sonata for double bass & piano Glinka: “Doubt”; Elegy “Do not tempt me needlessly” Tchaikovsky: “O verweil”, Op. 16 No. 2; “Nur wer die sehnsucht kennt”, Op. 6 No. 6 Hoffmeister: Quartet for double bass, violin, viola & cello Bloch: From Jewish Life (Prayer) Arne Hellan: Excursion

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SACD

Erick Friedman – Violin Showpieces (1992) [Reissue 2015] [SACD / Sony Music (Hong Kong) – 888430848528]

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Erick Friedman - Violin Showpieces (1992) [Reissue 2015]

Title: Erick Friedman – Violin Showpieces (1992) [Reissue 2015]
Genre: Classical
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

By 1957 Erick Friedman was regarded as one of the most promising and talented young American violinists, the artist who just might become the next Heifetz. Instead, he became a student of Heifetz and put his burgeoning career on hold for three years. While he enjoyed great success in the early ’60s, his star quickly dimmed and he eventually branched out into teaching and conducting. This RCA “Red Seal” 1962-63 recordings featuring Erick Friedman and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcom Sargent & the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Hendl, perform violin showpieces by Saint-Saëns, Paganini, Ravel and more.

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SACD

Eric Plutz – Musique Heroique (2006) [SACD / Pro Organo – SACD 7203]

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Eric Plutz - Musique Heroique (2006)

Title: Eric Plutz – Musique Heroique (2006)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO

This program comprises six organ works with the word “heroique” or “eroica” in their title. (Amazon garbles the accented French title of the disc.) They are performed on the Princeton University Chapel organ: built by Skinner in 1928, modified by Aeolian-Skinner in the 1950s, and renovated by Mander in 1991. The SACD sound is glorious, and the performances by Princeton University organist Eric Plutz are first rate. The longest piece on the disc, Stanford’s three-movement Sonata Eroica, is a brilliant tribute to Charles Marie Widor and the French, composed during World War I.

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SACD

Erich Kunzel & The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra – Round-Up (features Frankie Laine) (1986) [Reissue 2006] [SACD / Telarc Surround – SACD-60141]

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Erich Kunzel & The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra - Round-Up (features Frankie Laine) (1986) [Reissue 2006]

Title: Erich Kunzel & The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra – Round-Up (features Frankie Laine) (1986) [Reissue 2006]
Genre: Soundtrack
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

The Cincinnati Pops is one of America’s favorite orchestras, playing classical hits, orchestral versions of pop and jazz, movie themes and show tunes… This rootin’-tootin’ salute to Westerns on TV and movie screens was the most popular demonstration disc at the 1987 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas — and it’s easy to hear why. Before you can say Hopalong Cassidy, the disc opens with the stunningly reproduced stereophonic hooting of horses on the range, followed of course by a leisurely trot through the “Hi-O-Silver” section of Rossini’s “William Tell” Overture. Excerpts from Elmer Bernstein’s score for The Magnificent Seven — which contains probably his most memorable theme, along with a Copland pastiche — are given a spectacular arrangement by Christopher Palmer. The usual big-time Hollywood composers of the past, Alfred Newman (How the West Was Won), Dimitri Tiomkin (Gunfight at the OK Corral, High Noon), Franz Waxman (The Furies), and Jerome Moross (Big Country) show up — and collectively they prove that Westerns invariably brought out the best in their craft. A Palmer/Boston Pops-style medley of TV themes with gunfire punctuation turns up, as does a taste of the genuine article, Richard Hayman’s “Pops Hoedown” — complete with whoops from some hired hands on the recording stage. Why, even Frankie Laine, then 73, was lassoed out of semi-retirement in order to authentically resurrect “OK Corral,” “Rawhide,” and his big hit “High Noon.” Laine sounds pretty good, hamming it up in “Rawhide” and delivering “High Noon” in clipped phrases. The weight of Kunzel’s Cincinnati Pops enhances the stature of this music to no end — and Telarc’s pickup of the sound is as broad as a big screen and deep as a desert canyon. This is one of the best of Kunzel’s many discs, and it sounds as if he and the Pops are having a ball recording it.

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SACD

Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra – Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra perform Music of The Beatles, feat. King’ Singers (2011) [SACD / Telarc Surround – SACD-60540]

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Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra - Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra perform Music of The Beatles, feat. King’ Singers (2011)

Title: Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra – Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra perform Music of The Beatles, feat. King’ Singers (2011)
Genre: Classical, Pop
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

From the moment Arthur Fiedler lifted his baton in 1964 to lead the Boston Pops in a wild, surprisingly effective arrangement of “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” symphony orchestras have tried to include Beatles music in their “pops” song bags. The trouble is, the Beatles’ brilliant original recordings are so indelibly embedded in our collective mental hard drives that they are a tough act to follow — despite the high quality of the songs on their own merits, despite the good intentions of those who pay them homage. So it is with Erich Kunzel, the Cincinnati Pops and the British early music/classical/pop vocal sextet The King’s Singers — an undoubtedly sincere labor that gets it all wrong. From this album, a visitor from Saturn would get the idea that the Beatles’ music was all about pretty tunes and satin-smooth harmonies. Yes, but … The orchestral arrangements — some of which are actually credited to Beatles producer and catalyst George Martin, others to in-house arranger Steven Reineke, Paul Hart and Andrew Pryce Jackman — may inflate the sound, yet they reduce the colossal impact and free-thinking guiding spirit of these songs to hum-along background music. The King’s Singers’ approach is, unfortunately, too prissy, too deliberately cute, too sentimental, or too impeccably smooth to do justice to any of them. There are two takes of “Eleanor Rigby that sum things up — an overweight one for orchestra that opens the album, the other an a cappella treatment by the King’s Singers — both of which miss the terse, emotional fervor of Martin’s string octet backing on the original Beatles record. Not even the sumptuous, deep, DSD-derived sound can save it.

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SACD

Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra – Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra perform Music of The Beatles, feat. King’ Singers (2011) [SACD / Telarc Surround – SACD-60540]

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Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra - Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra perform Music of The Beatles, feat. King’ Singers (2011)

Title: Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra – Erich Kunzel & Cincinnati Pops Orchestra perform Music of The Beatles, feat. King’ Singers (2011)
Genre: Classical, Pop
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

From the moment Arthur Fiedler lifted his baton in 1964 to lead the Boston Pops in a wild, surprisingly effective arrangement of “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” symphony orchestras have tried to include Beatles music in their “pops” song bags. The trouble is, the Beatles’ brilliant original recordings are so indelibly embedded in our collective mental hard drives that they are a tough act to follow — despite the high quality of the songs on their own merits, despite the good intentions of those who pay them homage. So it is with Erich Kunzel, the Cincinnati Pops and the British early music/classical/pop vocal sextet The King’s Singers — an undoubtedly sincere labor that gets it all wrong. From this album, a visitor from Saturn would get the idea that the Beatles’ music was all about pretty tunes and satin-smooth harmonies. Yes, but … The orchestral arrangements — some of which are actually credited to Beatles producer and catalyst George Martin, others to in-house arranger Steven Reineke, Paul Hart and Andrew Pryce Jackman — may inflate the sound, yet they reduce the colossal impact and free-thinking guiding spirit of these songs to hum-along background music. The King’s Singers’ approach is, unfortunately, too prissy, too deliberately cute, too sentimental, or too impeccably smooth to do justice to any of them. There are two takes of “Eleanor Rigby that sum things up — an overweight one for orchestra that opens the album, the other an a cappella treatment by the King’s Singers — both of which miss the terse, emotional fervor of Martin’s string octet backing on the original Beatles record. Not even the sumptuous, deep, DSD-derived sound can save it.

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