Sunday, February 6th, 2011
I have just posted three new CDs on Klassic Haus Restorations. I had plenty of spare time to work on them this week – we were snowed in here in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma by the Blizzard of 2011. Quite a spectacle for South-Central folk; the snow hit late Monday night and stopped around 3 PM Tuesday. We received 14 inches. I didn’t leave my house until Thursday afternoon, after my son and I spent the morning shovelling the driveway. Our residential streets are just now becoming passable; Downtown Tulsa is just now digging out.
Below are comments on the CDs:
KHCD-2011-021 (STEREO) – Dvorák: Serenade in E for Strings, Op. 22 – Czech Chamber Orchestra/Joseph Vlach; Serenade in d minor for Winds, ‘cello, and Bass – Prague Chamber Harmony/Martin Turnovský – Nearly all of Dvorák’ artistic traits are evident in these wonderful Serenades. The features that he took from the Czech folk song and which gave his music its decided Slavonic flavor are mixed within each movement. And, as a melodist, Dvorák is unsurpassed. Both of these Serenades are played with the special stylistic flair and timbre that only Czech ensembles can produce. Transcribed from a domestic Crossroads LP, licensed to Epic/Columbia by Supraphon.
KHCD-2011-022 (STEREO) – Bach for Band – Toccata and Fugue in d minor; Wachet Auf; Three-Part Invention in D; Minuet in G; Badinerie; Fugue from Toccata in e minor; “Little” Fugue in g minor; Air on the G String; Chorales Nos. 5 & 8 from Cantata No. 80; Bist Du Bei Mir; Sinfonia to Cantata No. 29 – London Symphonic Band/Gerallt Leslie Williams – Bach transmogrified, in this instance by Gerallt Leslie Williams, with his highly skilled arrangements, and forty professional players making up the London Symphonic Band, gathered to put them into splendid effect. Transcribed from a mint Columbia LP recorded in 1971, this is indeed a “splendid noise”, with bombast as well as subtlety abounding.
KHCD-2011-023-2CD (STEREO) – J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerti BWV 1046-1051 – Collegium Aureum – Third in the continuing series of Bach Brandenburg Concerti releases by Klassic Haus. This performance is by Collegium Aureum, the early-music ensemble formed by the recording company Harmonia Mundi, and was released in 1965 on an RCA Victrola 2-LP set. Soloists include Gustav Leonhardt on harpsichord and Edward H. Tarr on clarin trumpet. Sonics on the discs were a bit bright, so I have tamed the high end a bit to render a more realistic soundstage. Recorded in one of the many Schlosses used as venues by Collegium Aureum, if you listen very carefully at the end of some of the movements’ reverb tails, it’s possible to hear bird chirping! Not in any way distracting, it actually brings the recording into a more personal state, rendering it more “live”, as it were. Very enjoyable performances, not at all ascetic as some other early-music groups.
February is going to be a busy travel month for me, so I may not be posting new titles until near the end of the month. Please keep in touch! – Cheers – Curt Timmons