NEW PICKS: Choices of New Classical CDs, DVDs, Books

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:40:16 -0500

NBC Television Series
Donald Voorhees, conductor [photo]
The Bell Telephone Hour was a musical show which aired on NBC TV from 1959 to 1968. Adapted from the radio series of the same name which ran on the NBC radio network from 1940 to 1958, The Bell Telephone Hour showcased the best in Classical and Broadway music.

Videos of The Bell Telephone Hour

Tue, 9 Jan 2007 23:11:44 -0500

http://musiclassical.blogspot.com/

CLICK ON ABOVE LINK FOR THE NEWEST MUSIClassical LIBRARY CHOICES

DECEMBER BRIDGE RELEASES

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 20:51:21 -0500

December releases from Bridge Records

Music of John Harbison, Vol. 1; Due Libri dei Mottetti di Montale (1980-1989), Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano; Greenleaf Chamber Players; Concerto for Oboe, Clarinet and Strings (1984); Peggy Pearson, oboe, Jo-Ann Sternberg, clarinet, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Scott Yoo, conductor; Piano Sonata No. 1 “Roger Sessions In Memoriam”(1985), Robert Shannon, piano; Mirabai Songs (1982) (trans. Robert Bly), Georgine Resick, soprano, Warren Jones, piano

BRIDGE 9200 DDD Total Time: 71:48

Bridge is pleased to be re-releasing the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson’s spectacular recording of John Harbison’s poignant setting of Eugenio Montale poems of memory and loss, Due Libri dei Mottetti di Montale. Originally released on the Archetype label, this work and Harbison’s virtuosic Concerto for Oboe, Clarinet and Strings, will now be restored to the active catalog. One astute critic referred to the Concerto as "scenes from a marriage." This metaphorical marriage between solo winds and strings contains quarrels, precarious balances, comic relief, misunderstandings and eventual unanimity. Combined with Harbison’s Sonata No. 1 and his masterful and popular Mirabai Songs, as sung by Georgine Resick in the version with piano, this disc presents the first in an ongoing series of recordings dedicated to John Harbison’s music. The Piano Sonata No. 1 was written for Robert Shannon, Ursula Oppens, and Alan Feinberg on a consortium commission from the National Endowment for the Arts. It bears the inscription “Roger Sessions In Memoriam.” Dedicatee Robert Shannon gives the score a brilliant and transparent reading.

Clara Rockmore: The Lost Theremin Album; Fritz Kreisler: Liebesleid; Johann Mattheson: Air; Antonin Dvorák: Humoreske; Anis Fuliehan: Pastorale from the Concerto for Theremin*; Franz Schubert: Ave Maria; Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in C sharp minor (Op. Post.); Gaspar Cassadó: Requiebros; J.S. Bach: Adagio; Heitor Villa-Lobos: Aria from Bachianas Brasileiras, No. 5*; J.S. Bach: Celebrated Air; Richard Heuberger: Midnight Bells (arr. Kreisler); Maurice Ravel: Kaddish; George Gershwin: Summertime; Avery Robinson: Water Boy; Manuel Ponce: Estrellita**; Louis Louiguy: La vie en rose; Clara Rockmore, Theremin; Nadia Reisenberg, piano; * with cello ensemble; **accompaniment arranged and performed by Jorge Morel, guitar

BRIDGE 9208 ADD Total Time: 61:03

Long regarded as “The Queen of the Theremin,” Clara Rockmore’s virtuosity as the world’s leading exponent of the theremin, was commonly acknowledged during her long and successful career. Intimately involved with Leon Theremin in the development of the instrument, Clara Rockmore’s career as a thereminist had her performing with major orchestras and with her sister, the legendary pianist, Nadia Reisenberg. The Rockmore/Reisenberg duo is heard on this CD in 13 never-before released tracks, recorded in 1975. Also heard here are three tracks with the accompaniment of a cello ensemble, and one with the accompaniment of the much admired Argentine composer/guitarist, Jorge Morel. This recording comes with a booklet which includes numerous historic photographs of the performers, as well as excerpts from an interview conducted by Robert Sherman, in which his mother, Nadia Reisenberg; his aunt, Clara Rockmore; and the electronic pioneer Robert Moog discuss their lives and the background of their involvement with the theremin and its creator, Leon Theremin.

Paul Lansky: Music Box; Wordless; Chatter of Pins; Pavane Noir; On F; Two by Two; Composition Project for Seniors; B-O-B-O; The Joy of F# Minor; PassaKaglia; Music Box

BRIDGE 9210 DDD Total Duration: 59:20

Bridge is pleased to present Paul Lansky’s latest collection of new electronic compositions. This spectacular collection contains Lansky’s most expressive work to date- from the exhilarating virtuosity of his latest hiphop-inspired ‘chatter’ piece, to the introverted lyricism of his Pavane Noir. Lansky writes that “For the past several years I’ve been in a reactive phase when it comes to making electronic music. Rather than exploring ‘new sonic realms’ or looking for ‘new ways of hearing the world’ I’ve been turning to the computer for more old-fashioned tasks. On five of the tracks (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) I sing, for want of a better term. My efforts range from the serious, Pavane Noir, and Two by Two, to the oddball, B-O-B-O, PassaKaglia, to the celebratory, Wordless. Chatter of Pins, is a response to an invitation by Keith and Mende Obadike to contribute a track of music inspired by hiphop. The text, spoken by me and by my wife, Hannah MacKay, is from an old English folksong, A Paper of Pins, in which a suitor woos a maid with different proposals, only to meet rejection until he offers her the key to his desk and, consequently, his money. She accepts but he then declines when he realizes she loves his money more than him.”

These Paul Lansky CDs and DVD are available from Bridge:

Alphabet Book: BRIDGE 9126; My Cinema for the Ears (DVD): BRIDGE 9117; Ride: BRIDGE 9103; Conversation Pieces: BRIDGE 9083; Things She Carried: BRIDGE 9076; Folk Images: BRIDGE 9060; More Than Idle Chatter: BRIDGE 9050; Homebrew: BRIDGE 9035

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber: Harmonia artificioso-ariosa: diversi mode accordata (1696); Partias I-VI; Rebel, Jorg-Michael Schwarz, director

BRIDGE 9213 DDD Total Time: 72:21

The music of Biber is widely assumed to have gone out of vogue with violinists before the middle of the eighteenth century. Biber's reputation, however, lived. In 1789 Charles Burney wrote in his "General History of Music", "of all the violin players of the last century, Biber seems to have been the best, and his solos are the most difficult and most fanciful of any music I have seen of the same period." Biber's Harmonia artificioso-ariosa (1696) is a collection in seven parts (partias), each employing a different tuning. Of the six partias heard on this recording (Nos. 1-6), five are for two violins and bass; and one is for violin, viola and bass. The “artifice” Biber refers to is a procedure now known as scordatura (mistuning). Each of the pieces uses a different tuning in the upper parts. Only the Partia VI is written for violins in normal tuning. The performances on this disc are by the superb baroque ensemble, REBEL. Hailed by the New York Times as "sophisticated and beguiling" and praised by the Los Angeles Times for their " astonishingly vital music-making", the virtuosic New York based ensemble (pronounced re-BEL) has earned an impressive international reputation through their tours and recordings. Rebel can also be heard performing recorder concertos and sonatas of Vivaldi on their highly praised CD, "Shades of Red", BRIDGE 9173.

New Releases from BRIDGE RECORDS

Sun, 5 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0500

George Perle: Retrospective; Disc A: Nine Bagatelles (1999)*, Horacio Guttiérrez, piano; Three Inventions for Solo Bassoon (1962), Steven Dibner, bassoon; Adagietto con affetto from Chansons Cachées (1997), Shirley Perle, piano; Two French Christmas Carols (arr. 1958) The New York Virtuoso Singers, Harold Rosenbaum, conductor; Triptych for Solo Violin and Piano (2002), Curtis Macomber, violin, Chistopher Oldfather, piano; Brief Encounters (String Quartet No. 9) (1998); DePaul String Quartet; Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra (1992), Michael Boriskin, piano, Utah Symphony, Joseph Silverstein, conductor; Disc B: Serenade No. 3 for Piano and Chamber Orchestra (1983), Richard Goode, piano, Music Today Ensemble, Gerard Schwarz, conductor; Solo Partita for Violin and Viola (1965), Curtis Macomber, violin and viola; Six Celebratory Inventions (1981-95), Molly Morkoski, piano; Bassoonmusic (2004), Steven Dibner, bassoon; Quintet for Strings (1957-58), Chicago String Quartet

BRIDGE 9214A/B (two discs) DDD Total Time: 2:33:43

Bridge’s “George Perle: Retrospective” celebrates the music of one of America’s greatest compositional voices with a two-disc set of pieces written between 1957 and 2004. Encompassing solo, chamber, choral and orchestral music, the album presents twelve compositions, including the premiere recordings of six of George Perle’s pieces, and re-issues two major Perle recordings: the Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra; and the Serenade No. 3 for Piano and Chamber Orchestra. In addition to these major Perle masterpieces, the set includes rarities such as Perle’s lovely arrangement of Two French Christmas Carols from 1958, and his last completed composition, Bassoonmusic of 2004. The recordings are performed by many of Perle’s greatest champions, including Horacio Guttiérrez, Curtis Macomber, Michael Boriskin, Joseph Silverstein, Richard Goode, and Gerard Schwarz, and also includes a short work performed by the composer’s wife, pianist Shirley Perle. Along with more than two-and-a-half hours of music, Bridge’s “George Perle: Retrospective” includes a booklet with historic photographs of George Perle with many of the 20th century’s leading musicians.

Songs and Encores: A Recital of American Song; Judith Bettina, soprano; James Goldsworthy, piano; Milton Babbitt: Phonemena (1969-70) (voice and piano version); Now Evening, After Evening (2002); Pantun (2001); The Waltzer in the House (2003) (voice and vibraphone), with Tom Kolor, vibraphone; Christopher Berg: Ode to a Grecian Urn (2000); Chester Biscardi: Baby Song of the Four Winds (1994); Guru (1995); Recovering (2000); Tobias Picker: Native Trees (1992); To the Insects (1992); Half a Year Together (1987); When we meet Again (1985); not even the rain (1996); Mel Powell: Levertov Breviary (1997); David Rakowski: Georgic (2000); Musician (1990) with Curtis Macomber, violin; Sara (2002) (piano solo); Three Encores (1991)

BRIDGE 9199 DDD Total Time: 72:34

The beloved American soprano, Judith Bettina is heard on this disc in a highly varied recital of recent American song. Accompanied by her husband, the distinguished pianist James Goldsworthy, the pair present numerous first recordings of songs composed for and dedicated to them. Indeed this disc is a tribute to Ms. Bettina’s long relationships with a stylistically broad range of American composers. Referring to this stylistic breadth, annotator Hayes Biggs writes that “it is possible to view the individual songs as points along a continuum, from those exhibiting a relatively diatonic harmonic language (Christopher Berg, Tobias Picker) to an idiom that at times refers more or less obliquely to tonality but is considerably more chromatic (Chester Biscardi, David Rakowski) to one that is completely chromatic and untethered from tonality (Milton Babbitt, Mel Powell). Despite their differences, however, all of these composers in their unique ways are at root emblematic of a great and continuing lyric tradition in American music.” New York Magazine called Judith Bettina “a sensationally accomplished soprano”, and this disc offer ample evidence of her great gift.

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 14:53:43 -0500

Music of Ferde Grofé and George Gershwin; Ferde Grofé: Mississippi Suite (1925), Harmonie Ensemble/New York, Steven Richman, conductor; George Gershwin: Second Rhapsody for Orchestra with Piano (orchestrated by Ferdé Grofe) (1931); Lincoln Mayorga, piano, Harmonie Ensemble/New York, Steven Richman, conductor; Ferde Grofé: Gallodoro’s Serenade for Saxophone and Piano (1958), Al Gallodoro, alto saxophone, Lincoln Mayorga, piano; Ferde Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite (1929-31), Harmonie Ensemble/New York, Steven Richman, conductor

BRIDGE 9212 DDD Total Time: 63:48

Bridge Records is very pleased to be releasing a recording focusing on the music and musical relationships of three key American musical figures of the 1920s and 30s– Ferde Grofé, George Gershwin and Paul Whiteman. During his tenure as chief-arranger with the Whiteman Band (1920-1932), Ferde Grofé composed two of his finest works– The Mississippi Suite, and The Grand Canyon Suite, both recorded here in superb performances by the Harmonie Ensemble/New York. In addition to his own compositions, Grofé arranged hundreds of works for the Whiteman Band, and his orchestration of Gershwin’s Second Rhapsody, premiered the same year (1932) as the symphonic version, is performed here by pianist Lincoln Mayorga and the Harmonie Ensemble/New York. The Second Rhapsody is George Gershwin’s portrait of Manhattan. This new recording of Grofé’s orchestration is given its premiere recording on this Bridge CD. Al Gallodoro was the phenomenally gifted solo reed player of the Whiteman Band, and this disc includes a new recording of Grofé’s tribute to Gallodoro’s art. This recording was made by the great Gallodoro just weeks before his 91st birthday. Steven Richman and the Harmonie Ensemble/New York have issued some of the day’s most exciting and historically informed recordings of older American music. Their brilliant Copland CD (BRIDGE 9145), which included notable Copland premiere recordings, was preceded by their Grammy-nominated “Stravinsky: Premieres and Rarities” (KOCH 7438)

Beethoven Sonatas, Volume 3; Garrick Ohlsson, piano; Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2, No. 3; Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1; Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2; Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79

BRIDGE 9207 DDD Total Time:
Bridge Records is pleased to be releasing Volume 3 of Garrick Ohlsson's Beethoven Sonata cycle, as part of its new Garrick Ohlsson Edition. Beethoven Sonatas, Vol. 3 includes Ohlsson’s readings of four sonatas. Beethoven astonished the music world with his early set of three piano sonatas, Op. 2. Though clearly ‘early Beethoven,’ the C major sonata is a thoroughly mature masterpiece. The relatively short, and highly lyrical Op. 14, No. 1 sonata is an adventurous piece, a work with more than a touch of latent Romanticism. And its companion, Op. 14, No. 2 explores many new avenues of rhythmic development. The Op. 79 Sonata belongs to the group of sonatas where Beethoven was composing with extreme concision. Garrick Ohlsson’s readings of these four sonatas are full of the virtuosity and passion that have marked his recent live performances of these works. This release follows the pianist's Complete Beethoven Sonata cycles at the Tanglewood and Ravinia Festivals this summer, and will precede his Beethoven performances throughout the USA during the 2006-2007 season. Garrick Ohlsson is widely regarded as one of the great virtuosi currently performing on the international concert stage. With an active repertoire of more than 80 concertos, a full schedule of solo recitals and chamber music engagements, Mr. Ohlsson's brilliant music making has graced the world's concert halls ever since he won the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition.

These Garrick Ohlsson CDs are also available on Bridge:
Music of Charles Wuorinen; BRIDGE 9008
Bach: Goldberg Variations; Handel: Suite No. 2; BRIDGE 9193
Beethoven Sonatas, Vol. 1: Op. 7, Op. 78, Op. 101; BRIDGE 9198
Beethoven Sonatas, Vol. 2: Op. 111, Op. 81A, Op. 2, No. 2

Louis Moreau Gottschalk: Deuxième Banjo, Op. 82; Solitude, Op. 65; Solitude, Op. 65; La Brise (Valse de Concert); Souvenir de la Havane (Grande Caprice de Concert); Le Chant du Martyr (Etude de Concert); Manchega (Etude de Concert); La Savane (Ballade Creole); Union (Paraphrase de Concert on the National Airs “Star Spangled Banner,” Yankee Doodle,” and “Hail Columbia). Lambert Orkis, piano

BRIDGE 9206 ADD Total Time: 43:56

Recorded in 1982, this re-issue of Lambert Orkis’s program of Gottschalk piano works brings back to the catalog one of the landmark recordings of the revival of interest in the great 19th century American composer/virtuoso. Orkis performs on an 1865 Chickering concert grand piano, an instrument similar to the Chickerings that Gottschalk employed on his American concert tours. Gottschalk was born in New Orleans in 1829, the first child of a large, well-to-do Jewish family. His family lived not far from Congo Square (now Louis Armstrong Park), where the music of Afro-Americans–music that would eventually evolve into jazz-- was played. Gottschalk’s virtuoso compositions for piano made significant use of this music, combining it with forms developed in his studies and travels in Europe. Lambert Orkis has received international recognition as chamber musician, interpreter of contemporary music, and performer on period instruments. He has appeared world-wide in recital in North America, Europe, and Asia with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter since 1988 and with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich since 1983, and continues to perform with The Castle Trio, a period instrument ensemble in residence at Washington’s Smithsonian Institution.

These other Lambert Orkis recordings are available from BRIDGE:

Beethoven: Sonata, Op. 57 “Appassionata” (3 performances on different pianos) BRIDGE 9169
Wernick: Sonata No. 2; Primosch: Sonata-Fantasia; BRIDGE 9131
Wernick: Piano Concerto and Violin Concerto; BRIDGE 9082
Crumb: A Little Suite for Christmas Wernick: Sonata No. 1; BRIDGE 9003

Claude Debussy: The Complete Piano Music, Vol. II; Bennett Lerner, piano; Disc A: Douze Études (Books 1 and 2); Disc B: Suite bergamasque; Étude Retrouvée; Suite bergamasque No. 2

BRIDGE 9211A/B (Two Discs for the price of one) DDD Total time: 83:08

Volume 2 of Bennett Lerner’s ‘Complete Debussy’ presents compositions from the composer’s three periods: early Romantic salon pieces; coloristic and pictorial works from his middle period; and late compositions, in which Debussy headed into abstraction and neo-classicism. In the Douze Études of 1915, Debussy displays his masterful ability to derive an astonishing range of colors, textures and moods from a limited amount of material. Suite bergamasque was written in 1890 while the 22 year old composer was still under the influence of composers including Wagner and Massenet. In the form of a Baroque suite, the Suite bergamasque is Debussy’s tribute to the elegance and charm of the commedia dell’arte. Étude Retrouvée (1915) is an unfinished work. The page numbering indicates that this work was worked on and planned as a part of the Douze Études. The three pieces grouped here as Suite bergamasque No. 2 are from 1905, and were originally intended to be published together as Suite bergamasque. However, the publisher Fromont, in spite of Debussy’s objections, went ahead with the publication of the earlier works grouped under that title, works that Debussy felt were no longer representative of his style. The performances and annotation of Volume I of this CD series were received with glowing reviews. Writing in Audiophile Audition, critic Gary Lemco writes that Vol. One’s “annotation, besides the virtuosity of his playing, testifies to the erudition that illumines every note of Lerner’s execution.”

Also available: Complete Debussy Piano Music, Vol. I, Bennet Lerner, piano (BRIDGE 9186)

I LET THE MUSIC SPEAK

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 08:23:53 -0500

ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER
I LET THE MUSIC SPEAK: A TRIBUTE TO BENNY ANDERSSON AND BJORN ULVAEUS
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000G6BJMG/ncdn
Fulfilling her wishes, Anne Sofie von Otter celebrates the songs of
ABBA, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus in her own way.

(October 3, 2006- New York, NY) This October 10th, Deutsche Grammophon presents Anne Sofie von Otter I Let the Music Speak celebrating the music of ABBA and other songs by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus.

I Let the Music Speak was born from Anne Sofie von Otter's passion for the music of Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus - a long-standing admiration that dates back more than two decades. Von Otter had just been engaged by the Basle Opera in the early 1980s when she bought ABBA's album The Visitors, and her devotion to Andersson's music took full hold with Kristina från Duvemåla, a musical she went to see again and again (scheduled to premiere in the United States in 2007).

When it comes to paying tribute to a composer as prolific and as multi-talented as Andersson, however, it takes more than just passion; it also takes a careful selection process. For more than 40 years, Benny Andersson has been composing music in a wide variety of genres: film, folk music, musicals, and of course ABBA's unbeatable pop hits. We find six of those here, from the up-beat "I Am Just a Girl" (originally written for Jarl Kulle, before the group had taken the name ABBA), the title track "I Let the Music Speak" and "The Winner Takes It All" to the last tune before the group split, "The Day Before You Came." She has also chosen to perform emotional ballads from the Andersson/Ulvaeus musicals Chess (1984) and Kristina från Duvemåla (1995), including "Ut Mot" and "Heaven Help My Heart."

Anne Sofie von Otter's motivation behind this project is rooted in her admiration for Andersson's music and in her emotional response to his compositions. "I sing things that I like and that touch me in some way - be it Mozart or Bach or Handel or Monteverdi or Benny Andersson - as long as it means something to me. But the main reason is because I think this music is fantastic. I love it."

Mon, 9 Oct 2006 11:38:11 -0500

ECM NEW SERIES

Eleni Karaindrou
"Elegy of the Uprooting"

CONSUMER INFORMATION:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000H1R0GE/ncdn

Release date: October 10, 2006

Elegy of the Uprooting, a two-disc set, is Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou's
first concert recording for ECM. A production marshalling powerful instrumental
and vocal forces - 110 musicians in total - orchestra, choir, traditional
instruments ensemble, soloists, the composer herself on piano, plus legendary
singer Maria Farantouri -, all performing to a capacity hometown audience at the
Megaron, Athens. An important chapter to Eleni's already distinguished
discography, Elegy of the Uprooting is more than a "live album". It is a
comprehensive resetting of Karaindrou's musical history, integrated into what
she has called "a scenic cantata."

The frame for the performance is supplied by music from The Weeping Meadow
(originally written for Theo Angelopoulos' film of 2003), and Trojan Women,
music for K.X. Myris' adaptation of the classic play by Euripides. These pieces
- all receiving Greek concert premieres - provide a shaping context within which
Eleni's compositions of the last three decades can be reintegrated and, at
times, transformed. Musical material, then, is drawn from pieces written for the
films The Weeping Meadow, Eternity and a Day, Ulysses' Gaze, The Suspended Step
of the Stork, The Beekeeper, Landscape in the Mist and Voyage to Cythera (all by
Angelopoulos), Happy Homecoming, Comrade (by Lefteris Xanthopoulos), and Rosa
(by Christoforos Christofis ), as well as music from The Price of Love by Tonia
Marketaki and from Jules Dassin's production of Chekhov's The Seagull. (Neither
the Marketaki nor the Chekhov pieces have previously been featured on ECM
discs).

Original program notes for the three evenings at the Athens Concert Hall in
March 2005 - an event that drew an audience of more than 6,000 - spoke of "a
journey in colours, sounds and rhythms, all shedding a penetrating light on
Eleni Karaindrou's relationship with uprooting in her work." The composer
herself describes the music as "a new entity" with "every composition taking its
place as if it had always been there, part of a larger work, the Elegy of the
Uprooting." It is remarkable how congruent and homogeneous the music as a whole
seems, and how effortless the transitions.

Sound is exceptionally full-blooded for a concert recording and musical
performances are all committed. Some of the players - including oboist Vangelis
Christopoulos, french horn player Vangelis Skouras, clarinettist Nikos Guinos,
trumpeter Socratis Anthis - have collaborated with Eleni for more than twenty
years now, and the Camerata Orchestra and the Traditional Instruments Ensemble
have become almost like an extended family. For the players, Karaindrou's themes
- like Angelopoulos' images - are part of a shared language now; Eleni has
spoken about "secret communication codes" between them.

Time Magazine has said that Karaindrou's music sings of "love and loss" and its
themes of exile, exodus, uprooting, and homecoming are perhaps quintessentially
"Greek". Her music for Trojan Women, as critic Giorgos Charonitis has noted,
adapts itself well to the music for The Weeping Meadow - not least because
Euripides and Angelopoulos are essentially addressing comparable human tragedy,
in the same geographical region. Eleni: "While I was doing the Trojan Women,
Theo (Angelopoulos) asked me to work on The Weeping Meadow, and I was shocked
because it's exactly the same story of expatriation - 2500 years later." The
title of the current project is in fact inspired by a line from Euripides: "I am
driven out of my homeland." "Partings, expatriation, these are themes I know
about in my own life..."

Eleni's Trojan Women score was composed for the Euripides adaptation by K. X.
Myris -who had written lyrics for Karaindrou's first major work "The Great
Vigilance", composed in Paris back in 1971. The singer on that early project was
Maria Farantouri, the great voice of resistance and hope in the era of the
military junta, and Theodorakis' important ally. Karaindrou and Farantouri had
known each other as students in Athens in the 1960s and even played very briefly
in a folk band together. They met again in France, Farantouri staying at
Karaindrou's apartment: "Maria really encouraged me to work on composing songs,"
Eleni recalls.

Of the Elegy of the Uprooting, Eleni Karaindrou says: "I created a new musical
journey where new and old wayfarers join in. The highly distinctive oboe of
Vangelis Christopoulos (which has been one of the 'signature' voices of Eleni's
writing since Voyage to Cythera) now "merges with the Contantinople lyra in
Ulysses' Gaze, and Trojan Women bring the pain of exile back to life through
Maria's voice and the voices of the women's choir of the 'Ode of Tears'."
Farantouri, who joins the chorus at several points, also sings a very touching
"Rosa", reinterpreting the song Eleni wrote for Christofis' film about dreams
and revolution, as well as "Song of the Lake" from the aforementioned
Dassin/Chekhov production of 1985.

Eleni Karaindrou was born in the Greek mountain village of Teichio. She studied
piano and musical theory at the Athens Hellenic Conservatory, history and
archaeology at the University of Athens, and ethnomusicology and orchestration
at the Sorbonne and the Scuola Cantorum in Paris.

Since 1975 she has composed music for more than twenty feature films, and for
more than 40 theatre plays and numerous television productions. Collaborating
most often with Greek directors - above all Theo Angelopoulos, with whom she has
had an ongoing creative association since 1983 - she has also worked with Harold
Pinter, Chris Marker, Jules Dassin, Margarethe von Trotta and others.

Karaindrou has received numerous awards including the State Music Award (Greece)
for her music for Eternity and a Day, the Dmitris Mitropoulos Award for her
music for theatre (1994-96), and the Fellini Award from Europa Cinema, Italy. In
2002 she received the Golden Cross of the Order of Honor from the Greek
president, for her life's work. In 2004 she was nominated for the European Film
Award for her music for the Oscar nominated (Best Foreign Film), The Weeping
Meadow.

Eleni Karaindrou has been an ECM recording artist since 1991, working closely
with producer Manfred Eicher in rearranging and adapting compositions originally
written for stage and screen for album release. Her ECM discs are Music for
Films, The Suspended Step of the Stork, Ulysses' Gaze, Eternity and a Day,
Trojan Women, The Weeping Meadow and Elegy of the Uprooting.

Fri, 6 Oct 2006 04:49:55 -0500

I'm sure you're probably aware of this release in this group --

here is the official press release about "Ecce Cor Meum".  And please note the 26th was the release date for the standard version

in the U.S.  There is a deluxe version which will come out on 10/17 in the U.S.

  Paul McCartney To Release New Classical Work 'Ecce Cor Meum' Release

Date: 26th September 2006

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000HC2NL0/ncdn

Paul McCartney releases his new full-length work of classical music

Ecce Cor Meum through EMI Classics on 26th September 2006.

Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) is Paul's fourth classical album

since his first released in 1991, The Liverpool Oratorio.

Greenberg: Symphony 5, Quintet for Strings / Serebrier, LSO CD

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:39:40 -0500

At the age of 14, American composer Jay Greenberg already has built a substantial and ever-expanding catalogue of original works that explore and renew the traditional forms of classical music, from solo piano pieces and sonatas to full-scale symphonies.

Consumer Information: Jay Greenberg Symphony No 5 and Quintet For Strings

He came to the world's attention in part through the sponsorship of Juilliard instructor Samuel Zyman who lauded Greenberg's youthful talent during a CBS News 60 Minutes broadcast on November 28, 2004 "We are talking about a prodigy of the level of the greatest prodigies in history, when it comes to composition."

Sat, 5 Aug 2006 16:57:22 -0500

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, whose luminous soprano voice and searing musical intelligence set standards for postwar singers of lieder and opera, has died. She was 90.

Schwarzkopf died peacefully at her home in Schruns, Austria, near the Swiss border, late Wednesday or early Thursday, Austrian state television reported. No cause of death was given.

James Inverne, editor of Gramophone, the music magazine, said: “Elisabeth was the diva’s diva. She had the kind of glamour that was associated with stars of the silver screen, and a voice that most people interpreted as having that old- fashioned aristocratic touch.” Inverne pointed to her singing of the Marschallin, in Der Rosenkavalier, as a classic. “She had one of the most sheerly beautiful voices any soprano could be blessed with.”

"SONGS YOU LOVE" was released in July... Consumer Information:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000FTCLPI/ncdn