Category Archives: CD Review

Melodies of Marco Polo Dance into Your Body: A CD review by Stanley Fefferman

The Musical Voyages of Marco Polo. Kyriakos Kalaitzidis: Harmonia Mundi/ World Village. Release: 2014-03-11 The title tells you about the historical Silk Route journey concept of this project, so let me tell you how it sounds. The music of composer Kyriakos Kalaitzidis, based … Continue reading

Posted in CD Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Plenipotentiaries of the Piano: Five CD Reviews by Stanley Fefferman

There has been a predominance of piano music coming for review in recent weeks. The players are among the best in the world: Angela Hewitt, Stephen Hough, Marc-André Hamelin, and Kristian Bezuidenhout. Their albums, in my opinion, are gifts to … Continue reading

Posted in CD Review | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sweet Nutcracker Suites by Ellington/Strayhorn and Tchaikovsky: a CD review by Stanley Fefferman

THE NUTCRACKER SUITES:Harmony Ensemble/New York. Steven Richman. Harmonia Mundi. This is an album that asks the question—”Does the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn ‘Americanized’ version of The Nutcracker Suite give the original ‘European’ Tchaikovsky a run for its money?” I think it … Continue reading

Posted in CD Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

THE PHOENIX RISING: Tudor sacred music takes off with STILE ANTICO reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Stile Antico: The Phoenix Rising (Harmonia Mundi) In a CD review I like to write about two things: what the music is and what it does for me. Let me begin by mixing both headings. Stile Antico is NOT music … Continue reading

Posted in CD Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Estonian Folk Hymns that Rock Like Olden Times reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Heinavanker: Songs of Olden Times: Estonian Folk Hymns and Runic Songs. Harmonia Mundi 907488. If you have an ear for rhymes in a language you are fortunate not to understand so your mind is freed from the burden of meaning and you … Continue reading

Posted in CD Review | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Isabel Bayrakdarian’s Luminous CD—Troubadour & the Nightingale—reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Isabel Bayrakdarian. Troubadour & the Nightingale. Ravel, Sayat-Nova, Kradjian. MCO records. Harmonia Mundi, Dist. 16 tracks. I puzzle over how to express the qualities that make Isabel Bayrakdarian’s voice like no other. After following her through many albums, live in operas … Continue reading

Posted in CD Review | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Angela Hewitt’s Marvelous Mozart Concerto Marathon–Part 2 reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 17 K 453, No. 27 K595. Angela Hewitt,piano; Hannu Lintu, conductor; Orchestra da Camera di Mantova. Hyperion. The long ensemble introduction to the G major, K. 453 has a plangent, leisurely, chamber-music quality that continues in … Continue reading

Posted in CD Review | Leave a comment

Brian Landrus Kaleidoscope MIRAGE reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Low reed specialist Brian Landrus made this chamber jazz album by bringing a string quartet into his quintet Kaleidoscope. He calls it, Mirage, and I say “quite rightly,” because the changes fade like coral over a sunken sub into “something … Continue reading

Posted in CD Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment