The winding down of the old year is a time for retrospection. We reconsider the great books we’ve read, the films we’ve seen and, for music lovers, our favorite concerts and recordings. Over the course of the year we receive hundreds of new albums, so we are delighted to report that the classical music recording industry is very much alive indeed.
It’s impossible to speak of all the great music we’ve heard over the course of the year, but since ten is a solid round number, here’s ten albums that are Ariama's Acclaimed.
All of us at Ariama wish you the very best for the holidays and continued great listening!
Joel Frederiksen and the Ensemble Phoenix Munich's exploration of America's early vocal music is smartly programmed and beautifully performed. The range of repertoire spans the early colonial period to the 19th century and features anthems of Billings, Shaker hymns, Stephen Foster songs and much more. There is no better introduction to the music of our nation's past then Rose of Sharon.
This is the Emerson String Quartet's first Mozart recording in 20 years and it is worth the wait. The Prussian Quartets are overlooked gems in the Mozart chamber music canon, but these performances make a very strong case for the works. The Emersons play with passion and finesse and their marvelous performances are captured in demonstration quality sound.
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations
2011 was an MVP year for pianist Paul Lewis. He finished his Schubert lieder cycle with Schwanengesang (featuring tenor Mark Padmore) and released a magnificent album of late Schubert piano music. Lewis completed his lauded Beethoven cycle with this dazzling performance of the Diabelli Variations. Lewis makes each variation a unique character piece and his performance is both technically thrilling and intellectually engaging. After hearing Lewis' performance, I finally "get" the Diabelli Variations.
Ho hum another Four Seasons. Wrong! Violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra conducted by Nicholas McGegan perform the work as technicolor Baroque program music. Blumenstock and company brilliantly bring all of Vivaldi's sonic special effects (bird song, thunder, bagpipes, dripping water, etc.) to life.
Schwantner: Percussion Concerto; Morning's Embrace; Chasing Light...
Joseph Schwantner is the finest living composer you might never have heard of. This recording of his vibrantly colorful orchestral music gets A+ performances from the Nashville Symphony Orchestra conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero. The Percussion Concerto is a thriller and the other works of equal quality. Schwantner really deserves to be better known and he has no better advocates than the Nashville band and their superb risk-taking conductor.
Sibelius: The Tempest; The Bard; Tapiola
Okko Kamu's first Sibelius recording with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra certainly gave me an appetite for his upcoming symphonies cycle on the BIS label. The hunger grew after I spent a week in Lahti hearing Kamu lead the orchestra in Sibelius' complete symphonies. This album featuring the complete incidental music to the Tempest and two tone poems showcased the gorgeous tonal quality this excellent orchestra possesses.
The Sixteen have always been great advocates of James MacMillan and this album, which includes the world premiere of his Miserere, makes a great case for the Scottish composer's music. The Sixteen sing the music with full-throated power while also paying heed to all its shifting shades of light and dark. Great performances of MacMillan's music should make a visceral emotional impact on the listener and the Sixteen succeed.
What a superb program this is. While the wartime conceit might be a little hard-pressed (what does Charles Ives' Unanswered Question have to do with war?) the performances by the Oregon Symphony conducted by Carlos Kalmar of music by John Adams, Benjamin Britten, and Ralph Vaughan Williams are brilliant. Take note, baritone Sanford Sylvan's performance of Adams' Wound Dresser is worth the price of the album on its own.
Chopin and Mendelssohn: Cello Sonatas
It's a pleasure to hear two musicians at the very top of their game. Cellist Pieter Wispelwey and pianist Paolo Giacometti give a rousing performance of the marvelous Mendelssohn sonata and then follow it up with a poetic reading of the rarely heard Chopin sonata. Wispelwey's gorgeous tone is perfectly complemented by Giacometti's tangy 1837 Erard piano. The duo have been making some remarkable albums for the Onyx label and this is their best yet.
You may not have heard of Polish-Russian composer Mieczylsaw Weinberg, but this stunning recording of his Symphony No. 6 and Sinfonietta No. 1 will make you want to hear more. The Symphony, a large-scale work for boys choir and orchestra, is a harrowing memorial to victims of the Holocaust. The Wiener Symphoniker play like their lives depend on it and conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev rises to the moment in a performance of searing intensity. The German NEOS label is releasing lots of Weinberg's music in a series of live recordings from the 2010 Bergenzer Festival and this is a thrilling start to the series.
by Craig Zeichner, Ariama Editor
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