As has become custom, here is my 13 for
13, the baker's dozen best CDs for the year. When compiling this
list, I realized I did not do one for 2012, don't have a clue why.
This is a quite subjective list and often includes recordings that
may have been released earlier but just got around to hearing (or
listing in this case) this year. If you note an abundance of Cedille
and Naxos recordings listed, it is not because I am paid by them or
have any connection. Those two labels just happen to be releasing
some fine recordings of interesting repertoire as opposed to the junk
(sorry... my opinion) that the “majors” are offering. And since
it my list and my rules, there are two Havergal Brian recordings on
the list, as usual.
So here are the chosen ones, not in
any order whatsoever:
Kubelik Complete Masterpieces.
Mahler, Bartok, Brahms, Mendelssohn,
Martinu, Janacek, Bruch, Mussorgsky, Smetana, Hindemith, Schoenberg,
Mozart
Rafael Kubelik, various orchestras
Membran Documents 600038 10 CDs
Far from complete and mostly pre 1959
recordings from various places. Inexpensive, with good period sound
and pressings. Worth the bargain price alone for the 1950's Chicago
Symphony recordings which were wonderfully recorded but often
manhandled when released on CD.
Havergal Brian
Symphony #10, Symphony # 30,
Concerto for Orchestra, English Suite # 3
Martyn Brabbins Royal Scottish
National SO
Dutton Epoch CDLX 7267
Long overdue new recording of the 10th
and first recordings of the other works. Fine conducting and sound. A
new Symphony cycle? We can only hope.
Havergal Brian
Symphonies 22, 23 and 24, English
Suite # 1
Alexander Walker New Russia State SO
Naxos 8572833
A revival of the Naxos cycle? The
earlier Penny/Leaper cycle seems to have stalled and there is
precedence for Naxos not finishing a cycle for various reasons.
Symphonies 23 and 24 are first recordings and thus invaluable for us
Brian fanatics.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphony # 3, Symphonic Dances
Detroit SO, Leonard Slatkin
Naxos 8573051
Slatkin is back in the recording studio
and so is the Detroit Symphony in brilliant sound and fine
performances. Slatkin is a first rate Rachmaninoff interpreter; he
takes the dramatic end of the Symphonic Dances just right and lets
the gong “LV” and decay just as it should be. Top of my list for
one of my favorite pieces.
Delights & Dances
Lees: Concerto for String Quartet
and Orchestra, Abel: Delights and Dances for String Quartet and
Orchestra, An-Lun Huang: Saibei Suite No. 2: Saibei Dance ,
Fleischer: “West Side Story” Concerto for String Quartet and
Orchesta (after Bernstein)
Mei-Ann Chen, Chicago Sinfonietta,
Harlem Quartet
Cedille 141
YAY! A new recording of the fascinating
(and Kansas City premiered) Benjamin Lees String Quartet Concerto.
Performed by Szell, Slatkin and others over the years but only a long
out of print Igor Buketoff, Royal Philharmonic RCA LP to show for it.
Fine performance in an excellent modern recording. The other works
may appeal to some, but for me the Lees is worth the whole disc.
The Rascal and the Sparrow - Poulenc
Meets Piaf
Francis Poulenc, et al
Antonio Pompa-Baldi Piano
Steinway and Sons 30015
A brilliantly conceived program mixing
piano transcriptions of songs by the “rascal” Poulenc with
transcriptions of songs by various composers made popular by the
“sparrow” Edith Piaf. Not parlor music at all but tastefully well
done. Of course included are “Non, je ne regrette rien” and “La
vie en rose”.
“Drama Queens”:
Arias by Orlandini, Porta, Handel,
Hasse, Cesti, Keiser, Monteverdi, Giacomelli, and Haydn; Joyce
DiDonato, Alan Curtis, Il Complesso Barocco
Virgin Classics/Erato 2654
This is a 2012 recording that would
have been on the list if I did one. Home town girl (I have a picture
of me with Joyce to prove it) makes good in this wonderful collection
of Royalty having a true operatic hissy fit.
Sean Hickey
Concerto for Cello, Concerto for
Clarinet
Dmitry Kouzov, Cello Alexander
Fiterstein, Clarinet. Vladimir Lande, St Petersburg State SO
Delos 3448
Sir Edward Elgar
Enigma Variations, Vaughan: Williams
Fantasia on Greensleeves, Vaughan Williams: The Wasps Suite
Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern
Reference Recordings RR 129
Again the Kansas City Symphony and
Reference Recordings dazzle with a superbly recorded disc of British
repertoire. Even the Brits liked it, so you know it has to be good.
The end of the Elgar with the subtle but present organ is the best on
record.
The Soviet
Experience Vol. 4: String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich and his
Contemporaries.
Shostakovich String Quartet # 13,
#14 and # 15, Schnittke String Quartet # 6
Pacifica String Quartet
Cedille
115
Great concept of
pairing the Shostakovich String Quartets with an example of one of
his contemporaries. Incredible performances and great sound in all 4
volumes. Replaces the classic Fitzwilliam cycle in my book.
John Cage: Works For Two Keyboards,
Vol. 1
Suite for Toy Piano, Music for
Amplified Toy Pianos, A Book of Music for 2 Prepared Pianos
Xenia Pestova, Pascal Meyer pianos
Naxos 8559726
Some of Cage's
most colorful and listenable music. Excellent performances that
transcend the gimmicks to make a revelatory listening experience.
Carlos Chavez, José P. Moncayo
García, Samuel Zyman
Chavez: Concerto for Piano,
“Meditación” for solo piano; Moncayo Garcia: “Muros Verdes”;
Zyman: “Variations on an Original Theme”
Jorge Federico
Osorio, piano, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional De
Mexico
Cedille 140
Morton Feldman
Early Piano Pieces
Sabine Leibner Piano
Wergo 6747
18 short solo
piano works from 1950-1964 plus the later (1977), half hour long
“Piano, for Piano”. Interesting contrasts between the atmospheric
shorter works and the more characteristic long and meditative
“Piano”. Leibner is simply the reference for Feldman's piano
works. Check out her earlier recordings of Feldman's bigger piano
works such as “For Bunita Marcus”. A disc for those who enjoy and
appreciate Feldman's unique sound but do not have the hours to listen
to his major works.