Editorial Product Review: :This two-CD set, offering Schumann's groundbreaking Piano Quintet, the Piano Quartet, and the three piano trios, is an exceptional bargain. The approach of the Beaux Arts players and their associates is essentially reflective: they let the music speak for itself and avoid the rhetorical excesses other interpreters often fall victim to. In their hands the quintet, one of Schumann's most inspired creations, receives an especially polished and poised performance, with a lovely dovetailing of voices. The analog recordings are warm and detailed, and they have ...
Editorial Product Review: :This has to be Steve Reich's most difficult work to perform; but he's done it. Several times. Music for 18 Musicians is for violin, cello, two clarinets doubling bass clarinet, four women's voices, four pianos, three marimbas, two xylophones, and a metallophone (vibraphone with no motor). It's a 1974 composition that focuses entirely on the rich staccato that gives minimalism its unique sound. However, Reich turns all of this into actual music by adding the richness of the metallophone and the women's voices. Whatever else ...
Editorial Product Review: :This has to be Steve Reich's most difficult work to perform; but he's done it. Several times. Music for 18 Musicians is for violin, cello, two clarinets doubling bass clarinet, four women's voices, four pianos, three marimbas, two xylophones, and a metallophone (vibraphone with no motor). It's a 1974 composition that focuses entirely on the rich staccato that gives minimalism its unique sound. However, Reich turns all of this into actual music by adding the richness of the metallophone and the women's voices. Whatever else ...
Editorial Product Review: :Chanticleer's repertoire ranges through many centuries. On this recording, the group again proves its infinite versatility in a program of gospel music and spirituals. The singing is so authentic that one feels like a participant in a gospel meeting, swaying to the rhythm with the crowd. Contributing greatly to the impact is Chanticleer's guest, Yvette A. Funder. Possessor of a voice remarkable for its range, power, and flexibility, she brings to the music the empathy and authority of one born and raised in the tradition, ...
Editorial Product Review: :Chanticleer's repertoire ranges through many centuries. On this recording, the group again proves its infinite versatility in a program of gospel music and spirituals. The singing is so authentic that one feels like a participant in a gospel meeting, swaying to the rhythm with the crowd. Contributing greatly to the impact is Chanticleer's guest, Yvette A. Funder. Possessor of a voice remarkable for its range, power, and flexibility, she brings to the music the empathy and authority of one born and raised in the tradition, ...
Editorial Product Review: :Pollini's traversal of Chopin's 19 Nocturnes (he leaves out the pair of posthumous ones) is one of his finest recordings in years. His long-lined yet detailed performances are comparable to the very different ones that have long stood at the pinnacle of recorded sets. Not as serene as Artur Rubinstein's, not as philosophical as Claudio Arrau's, nor as warm as Ivan Moravec's, Pollini's interpretations have their own allure. One is the way he shapes the melodies with a natural flow enhanced by his tonal beauty, ...
Small and light enough for a shirt pocket, Samsung's Helix YX-M1 is a one-stop audio entertainment center with an XM radio, a digital music player, and room for 50 hours of tunes, but it comes up short on battery life.
