Best Duets
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Norbert Kraft!!"
"I love this CD."
"Norbert Kraft has mastered the spanish guitar."
"You will love the selections on this CD."
"t service and music!"
"Norbert gives us a fine selection of favorites performed with consummate mastery of the instrument recorded here, in what must be close to acoustic heaven, the St. John Chrysostom Church, Newmarket, Canada."
"Let's face it: There are far more classical piano recordings available than guitar recordings."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The original PoS recording is a wonderfully primal black hole vortex, coming off like an ancient ritual, as intended (here, the Mode is just transcendent). The primal power of this piece is really just lost, and in some places I feel like he's just banging away at different kitchen things. Forever we have only had Glaetzer's pioneering recording... from the '70s LP era I believe, and it has certainly served well, and revealed one of Xenakis's most charming works. But here we really have some awesomeness: the percussion is sumptuously recorded, and the oboe sounds like it's playing walls of chords. The opening sixxen has never sounded as good (though the Denon is the other best), and overall it's just a great compliment to the other three European performances. CD3. 'Kassandra'. Sakkas/Gualda (Salabert Actuels). Larson/Schick (Mode). Someone pointed out how much more creepy this version is from the original, and I heartily concur. The original was just a wild crazy good fun time, but here it is taken deadly serious, and the drama carries over- this piece takes on an almost orchestral texture and made more of a convert of me. I don't know, I found it powerful stuff, and it goes to show that there are hidden things in Xenakis that great players can bring out (no offence to Sakkas/Gualda). Here that is achieved by a really nice recording position, but the players still sound to me to be coming from the same basic direction. The original Trio le Circle (Montaigne) was a somewhat muddy or indistinct recording, and I haven't heard the Hague group on Globe (though the sample sounded somewhat blank). But the previous Mode offering ('Ensemble Music 2') was a pretty good effort, with the acoustic supplying that fourth partner that made that recording so nice. I made a judgement call on the Pedro Carnieo (ZigZag Territories) and sold- nothing good or bad, but I chose the Mode and Talujon over Carniero, so, he got the boot. Yes, this is a very greatly recorded Okho, and it is played as well as one would want, but there is a 'fluttering effect' missing here because there is no real spatial/acoustic interplay- which, frankly, in such a vanilla sounding piece- it would seem a no brainer (still, only one other version has really taken advantage). We've had the original for a long while, and the piece is very soft sounding there and mild and was a favourite of mine for its pacific character. it not as bad as the Robert McEwan (Mode 'Ensemble Music 2') or Johan Faber (Bvhaast), but I am absolutely shocked that Schick let this go. His much much earlier versions ("Born to be Wild" and "Drumming in the Dark") were both quite formidable contenders, and one still hears Schick's personal style here, but here there are moments when he almost sounds human, which, at this point, one just isn't allowed to do with Rebonds. is Marcus Leoson on Caprice, and absolutely epic reading that will take you right up Mount Olympus. Still, the sonics are really sweet, certainly it may the the most deliciously clear and professionally well lit recording of Rebonds, but, of course, it highlights every micro-moment... oh, there is the part... maybe the second or third entry of the woodblocks- and Schick actually plays it as a gallop!?!?! But still, it does add a certain charm of 'weakness', as if we need to be remind of the impossibility of Xenakis (as the liner notes tell us- I guess Schick is demonstrating?). ... though, I head the Peabody group who played this on regular drums got quite a bit of flak (it did sound pretty cool though- but, I do see the point of keeping the instrumentation here- it's quite one of the most unique pieces out there by an avant composer). The two big pieces are both unique, in different ways, but Persephassa in particular is an astounding achievement, with a truly spectacular ending that opens up vistas no one could see coming. Rebonds and Okho are being played by every aspiring percussionist,as is Psappha, and now the youngsters are getting hip on Persephassa and Pleiades."
"On the positive side the recording quality is crisp, and the performances are generally excellent, with spirit. On the negative side, it's a bit pricey for the CD set (but a bargain for the download). Yes, there are other equally excellent and impressive recordings of many of these pieces (Mortensen, Caneiro, Ueno, Kroumata, etc.--and people will prefer some versions over others), but where else are you going to find all of them in one set???"
"Such is the case with this Mode 3-disc set of Iannis Xenakis' percussion works, all he produced except his disappointing last piece "O-Mega" written while he was succumbing to Alzheimer's. It begins with a section of rhythmic noodling, followed by an exceedingly slow portion where plenty of silence is left after each drumbeat for maximum impact. The material is developed from "pitch sieves" (the piece is closely related to "Mists" for solo piano), but the range of sounds is vast, from a flurry of random-seeming notes to hyper-elegant gamelan rhythms. They are akin to Xenakis' orchestral works with their large clouds of sound, and feature an enormous diversity of timbres (with whistles even). "Unfortunately, as the effect of these two pieces depends to a large extent on the spatial arrangement of the performers around the audience, this merely stereo recording isn't very impressive."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Both of them are considered to be the result of Bax's shock at the disaster of the 1916 Easter Uprising in Ireland, the Trio directly, the quintet assumedly. The central section where the harp is strummed as if an old bard were telling a tale, seems to be a reference to Irish legend. The Elegiac Trio is perhaps Bax's most popular chamber work and was one of a handful of compositions including In Memoriam (An Irish Elegy) composed almost directly after the failure of the Easter Rising. Because of its scoring for harp, flute and viola and its generally Impressionist style, it bears a similarity to Debussy's Trio. However it's been conclusively shown that Bax could not have heard the Debussy work, which was first performed in London six weeks after he wrote the Elegaic Trio. The Sonata for Flute and Harp was written for Korshinska to play with her husband, the czar's last ambassador to Britain and thus it was never published as such and they considered it their personal property."
"This recording is Sir Arnold Bax at his best, the music says what it must with no extraneous materiel--mood color and light are all perfect."
"Had sold two copies so bought another for my own listening."
"Bax is an underperformed composed and these pieces are simply ethereal."
"That said, the works on this disc belongs to his absolutely best chamber works, realizing many of the finest qualities of his best orchestral music. This is intensely atmospheric, for the most part wistful and reflective and dream-like music - some would perhaps see the picturesque, pastoral music as placing the works squarely in the British cowpat school, but never mind that: This is music of shimmering summer (or autumn) landscapes, blue skies, green briars, solitude and lyricism - not necessarily untroubled or thoroughly pastoral, but generally softly nuanced and representing subtle moods and impressions."
Best Nonets
Best Octets
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The audio quality is excellent."
"Just as his work is recognisable, well written, entertaining and frequently quite catchy melodically, it is also fair to say that once it has finished it is hard to remember anything memorable about it, unlike Mozart or Beethoven for example. Whereas Mozart and Beethoven could be described as the best of the top rank composers of their time, Krommer could reasonably be described as writing excellent second rank music, hence his obvious popularity. Although none of these three partitas, (three of the thirteen written in this form and sometimes described as mini-symphonies), is in the same class as Mozart's various wind serenades and divertimentos, they nevertheless are very enjoyable and entertaining in their own way and as described above. If you like Mozart's wind music it is likely that you will be enjoyably entertained by these examples by Krommer, but don't expect to remember so many of the themes when they are finished."
"The playing is warm and clear, with incredible candor.It is a record that you can play several times in an afternoon and still find pleasure in each one."
"While the tempo that Berkes selects here allows the tremendous virtousity of his musicians to be clear to all listeners, I pause to wonder whether the tempo is faithful to the traditional polacca dance tempo, and again wonder if a slower tempo would not yield more of the true DNA of the composition in terms of musical shaping of the line and over-all accents."
"This cd proves that a great cd doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg."
"This is a charming and welcome disc in my collection but to the ears of one lucky enough to grow up with the live sounds of the (Szell/Dohnanyi) Cleveland and the Solti-era Chicago orchestra the winds, pardon me, sound rather hard edged and unrefined, especially the "sour cream and capers" European oboes."
"The original review I sent contains a typographical error in the word "conditions.""
Best Sextets
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This 2006 recording by the Ying Quartet, an American ensemble, features Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky's three quartets as well as the sextet "Souvenir de Florence," the last of the music to be written. The Ying and the Borodin take similar approaches but I found the Borodin's version marginally better because the Ying don't quite have the emotional intensity or the textural variety lent the music by the Borodin Quartet."
"It was Quartet 3 of Tchaikovsky played by the Ying Quartet."
"Maybe it's my system but the violins sounded very harsh on this recording."
"I bought this CD after reading the stellar review it got in the Gramophone or Penguin Guide."
"Having just read the Tchaikovsky life story again I realized that I didnt have a recording of the String Quartets."
Best Septets
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A great CD with some wonderful singers and great instrumentalists!"
"Despite being a big Stravisky fan I can't get too enthusiastic about this disc."
Best Quintets
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The piece is turgid, with a largely homogenous texture and, what I'm coming to conclude is Chausson's fatal flaw as a composer, a complete lack of creativity in rhythmic and metric terms. I downgraded to 4-stars because of the Chausson's mediocrity and this sound engineering, but the Franck interpretation is excellent and makes me happy to own the disc for that reason alone. The Chilingirian version has more differentiated textures, which heightens my understanding of the work's structure and avoids the homogeneity of the Ludwig rendition, and the sound engineering is much, much better."
"I love César Franck."
"The Franck piano quintet is one of the best examples of late-19th century chamber music, along with the works of Fauré and Brahms."
"The Franck Piano Quintet is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, piano quintet I've ever heard. There aren't a ton of great piano quintets, but composers of the Romantic era seemed to make the greatest contributions to this sub-genre. The only other piano quintets I would put at or near the same level as Franck's entry would be those composed by Brahms, Dvorak and Faure (I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but those are the three other greats that immediately come to mind). While Chausson is also very romantic, like Franck, the music is more chromantic and tonally adventurous, which is to be expected considering that he was much younger than Franck, who was one of his teachers, and it was composed after Franck's death."
Best Quartets
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Mozart For Your Mind. Very melodic and nice."
"Enjoy listening to this cd to help focus."
"I wasn't impressed with the quality of this CD."
"I put this on as background music as I'm working at my desk, baking, or puttering and I love it."
"Bought for my 2 month old for car rides and she loves it!"
"I can't honestly say it boosts my productivity or the quality of my output, but, unlike a lot of instrumental music, it doesn't put me to sleep either."
Best Trios
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A great pipe organ, brass, & percussion CD! This CD is a must have for pipe organ CD collectors and./or Michael Murray fans!"
"The problem lies in the arrangements and the lack of stereo separation. that I'd learned to expect hearing these classics."
"The quality of this CD work is only matched by a handful of other brass & organ projects."
"This was a gift for my husband and he loves it."
"It is okey for me, the music is nice and well played, it has a traditional focus."
"I have been in church of the advent,"