Sensible Sound articles from April 2001

Sensible Sound archives from April 2001

RAMBLINGS.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Welcome to Issue #85, an issue with a focus on loudspeakers. Our staff looks at several models to find the strengths and weaknesses of each design; as a bonus, we have included a $ensible Choice list that offers recommendations on speakers...

FORUM.(letters)
April 1, 2001... This and That This letter contains a number of different topics. 1. Thank you for Issue #84. I found the Staff Picks in CDs very informative. Being a classical music lover, I appreciated in particular the contributions of Karl Nehring,...

SURVEYING THE SOUNDSCAPE.
April 1, 2001... Acting Recordingly: I promised myself that I'd lay off the topic of audio CD recorders for a while. But things keep happening that remind me what an excellent addition a CD recorder can be to any person's system, particularly the dual-tray...

Equipment, Rooms, and Accuracy.
April 1, 2001... While the system occupying my main audio-visual room remains finely tuned and relatively consistent in terms of permanently installed hardware (my most recent upgrades involved surround-speaker changes that I discussed in a previous column, and...

Athena Technologies S1/P1.(Evaluation)
April 1, 2001... Manufacturer: Audio Products International, 3641 McNicoll Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada MIX 1G5; 416/321-1800; www.athenaspeakers.com Price: S1 satellites, $275/pr.; P1 woofer, $275 ea. Source: Manufacturer loan Reviewer:...

Atlantic Technology System T70.
April 1, 2001... Manufacturer: Atlantic Technology, 343 Vanderbilt Avenue, Norwood, MA 02062; 781/762-6300 Price: Full package, $999; Five satellite speakers alone, $675; Subwoofer alone, $375 Source: Manufacturer loan Reviewer: Howard Ferstler...

EgglestonWorks Fontaine.
April 1, 2001... Manufacturer: EgglestonWorks, 435 South Front Street, Memphis, TN 38103; 901/525-1100; website: www.egglestonworks.com Price: $5,400/pair Source: Manufacturer loan Reviewer: David R. Moran I don't know when it was I last...

Phase Technology Teatro 7.5.
April 1, 2001... Manufacturer: Phase Technology Corporation, 6400 Youngerman Circle, Jacksonville, FL 32244; 888-PHASE-TK; www.phasetech.com Price: $650/pair Source: Manufacturer loan Reviewer: James T. Frane I've had the pleasant experience...

Velodyne CT Series Classic Home Theater Speaker System.
April 1, 2001... Manufacturer: Velodyne Acoustics, 1070 Commercial Street, Suite #101, San Jose, CA 95112; 408/436-7270; Price: Full package w/CT-80 subwoofer, $978, w/CT-120 subwoofer, $1,198; five-satellite speaker package, $599; (satellite pair, $239;...

The $ensible Choice List: Speakers and Subwoofers.
April 1, 2001... Speakers are where it's at when it comes to audio, recordings are where it's at when it comes to music, and we just hope the rest of the stuff pretty much stays out of the way, which it pretty well does. Amplifiers sound largely the same. CD...

Cannonball Adderley with Bill Evans: Know What I Mean? (JVC VICJ-60243).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Cannonball Adderley with Bill Evans: Know What I Mean? (JVC VICJ-60243) Jazz fans who really love Miles's Kind of Blue probably know that this album is something of a follow-up to that session, featuring as it does two of the players from...

Balfa Toujours: Live at Whiskey River Landing (Rounder 11661-6096-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Balfa Toujours: Live at Whiskey River Landing (Rounder 11661-6096-2) Don't listen to this if you don't like to dance; it will force you to your feet. Fiddle, accordion, guitar, bass, and drums form the basis of this music, Cajun in origin...

Boulez: The Artist's Album (Deutsche Grammophon 457 693-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Boulez: The Artist's Album (Deutsche Grammophon 457 693-2) This release offers a highly entertaining sampler of Boulez's work both as a conductor and a composer. For music lovers who have been hesitant to try music outside the traditional...

Brian Blade Fellowship: Perceptual (Blue Note 2435-23571-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Brian Blade Fellowship: Perceptual (Blue Note 2435-23571-2) This music takes time to grow on you. Even though it has plenty of energy, it is subtle; you start off expecting something hard and driving, with something of a rock and roll...

The Byrds: Live at The Fillmore-February 1969 (Columbia/Legacy CK 65910).(Review)
April 1, 2001... The Byrds: Live at The Fillmore-February 1969 (Columbia/Legacy CK 65910) Columbia has found an interesting item in its vaults, a live set by the Byrds aggregation that recorded Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde back in 1969. This is mostly the...

Dvorak: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8 Wiener Philharmoniker/Myung-Whun Chung (Deutsche Grammophon 469 046-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Dvorak: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8 Wiener Philharmoniker/Myung-Whun Chung (Deutsche Grammophon 469 046-2) This blisteringly good new release crackles with musical excitement. Sometimes we get so familiar with the music of Dvorak that we tend to...

Bill Frisell: Blues Dream (Nonesuch 79615-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Bill Frisell: Blues Dream (Nonesuch 79615-2) Guitarist Frisell's last couple of recordings have found him in something of a mellow, acoustic-oriented vein. Although these were nice recordings, it is nice to be able to report that Frisell...

The Grateful Dead: Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead (Arista GDCD 4075).(Review)
April 1, 2001... The Grateful Dead: Ladies and Gentlemen... The Grateful Dead (Arista GDCD 4075) Just when you thought that everything the Grateful Dead ever recorded must be out on some or another CD, here comes an HDCD-encoded 4-CD set of music recorded...

Ives: Symphony No. 2; Robert Browning Overture Nashville Symphony Orchestra/Kenneth Schermerhorn (Naxos 8.559076).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Ives: Symphony No. 2; Robert Browning Overture Nashville Symphony Orchestra/Kenneth Schermerhorn (Naxos 8.559076) Most of Ives's orchestral music sounds like a great big sloppy mess, but it can be fun to wallow in from time to time. It is...

Jason Marsalis: Music in Motion (Basin Street Records BSR 0302-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Jason Marsalis: Music in Motion (Basin Street Records BSR 0302-2) Drummer Jason Marsalis composed all the tunes on this CD, which comes with liner notes that offer brief but insightful explanations of the music. Besides Marsalis on drums...

Nils Petter Molvaer: Solid Ether (ECM 1722 314 543 365-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Nils Petter Molvaer: Solid Ether (ECM 1722 314 543 365-2) Trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer's previous ECM CD, Khmer, was something of a departure for ECM, sounding for all the world like Miles Davis Meets Techno. Not only was the music...

Part/Tavener: Out of the Night (contains Part, Magnificat; Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen; Fratres; Tavener, Out of the Night [Alleluia]; Canticle of the Mother of God; Threnos; Ikon of the Nativity) Taverner Choir/Andrew Parrott (Sony Classical SK 61753).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Part/Tavener: Out of the Night (contains Part, Magnificat; Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen; Fratres; Tavener, Out of the Night [Alleluia]; Canticle of the Mother of God; Threnos; Ikon of the Nativity) Taverner Choir/Andrew Parrott (Sony Classical...

Art Pepper: Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (JVC VICJ-60087).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Art Pepper: Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (JVC VICJ-60087) This is a jazz classic that I recommended many years ago when it first appeared on CD. Now JVC has given it the XRCD treatment and it is well worth recommending again, even at...

Johann Heinrich Schmelzer: Unarum Fidium (contains Schmelzer, Sonatae Unarum Fidium; Bertali, Chiacona a violino solo; Anonymous, Sonata for scordatura violin and basso continuo) John Holloway, violin/Aloysia Asenbaum, organ/Lars Ulrik Mortensen, harpsichord and organ (ECM New Series 1668 289 465 066-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Johann Heinrich Schmelzer: Unarum Fidium (contains Schmelzer, Sonatae Unarum Fidium; Bertali, Chiacona a violino solo; Anonymous, Sonata for scordatura violin and basso continuo) John Holloway, violin/Aloysia Asenbaum, organ/Lars Ulrik...

Schoenberg: Pelleas & Melisande (w/ Wagner, Siegfried-Idyll) Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin/Christian Thielemann (Deutsche Grammophon 289 469 008-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Schoenberg: Pelleas & Melisande (w/ Wagner, Siegfried-Idyll) Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin/Christian Thielemann (Deutsche Grammophon 289 469 008-2) Maestro Thielemann has the dubious distinction of having conducted the worst...

Stravinsky: Shadow Dances Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon 289 453 458-2).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Stravinsky: Shadow Dances Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon 289 453 458-2) This is a delightful collection of Stravinsky miniatures. The performances are not quite as tart as you might expect. I'm not sure Stravinsky would...

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5; Valiant-for-Truth; The Pilgrim Pavement; Hymn-tune Prelude on Song 13 by Orlando Gibbons; The Twenty-third Psalm; Prelude and Fugue in C minor Ian Watson, organ/ Richard Hickox Singers/London Symphony Orchestra/Richard Hickox (Chandos CHAN 9666).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5; Valiant-for-Truth; The Pilgrim Pavement; Hymn-tune Prelude on Song 13 by Orlando Gibbons; The Twenty-third Psalm; Prelude and Fugue in C minor Ian Watson, organ/ Richard Hickox Singers/London Symphony...

Triple Double.
April 1, 2001... Long-time readers may be wondering why we have changed the title of this column for this issue. No, the answer has nothing to do with basketball, where a "triple double" (double-digit stats in points, rebounds, and assists in a single game, a...

Carousel Corner.(the aging of rock muscicians, as viewed through their lifestyles and music)
April 1, 2001... "A waist is a terrible thing to mind." (Anonymous) It is the privilege of the long of tooth to rant frothily over the excesses of the young just as it is the obligation of the young to rage against the self-congratulatory smugness of their...

Reissue Roundup.(Review)
April 1, 2001... "Can't get no fancy notes from my blue guitar, can't get no antidote for blues." The above quotation comes from Mark Knopfler's song, "One World," appearing on the Dire Straits smash hit album, Brothers in Arms. Judging from my initial...

American Dreams.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Having received quite a few transcriptions to review over the past few months, I am flush with recordings to report on. So, rather than deal with just a few of them in depth, I am offering brief reports on a larger number than usual. However,...

American Variations.(Review)
April 1, 2001... American Variations. Music by Gould, Ives, Bennet, and others. Cincinnati Wind Symphony, conducted by Eugene Corporon. Recorded in 1992; location not listed. Engineer not listed. 65+ minutes. Klavier 11060. I am not sure whether the recording...

Asia, Daniel: Symphonic Works (including Symphony Number 1 and Symphony Number 4).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Asia, Daniel: Symphonic Works (including Symphony Number 1 and Symphony Number 4). New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Sedares. Recorded in 1996, at Symphony House, Wellington. Engineer: Keith Warren. 61+ minutes. Summit 256....

Bernstein, Leonard: Suite & Overture from Candide; Three Meditations From Mass; Divertimento For Orchestra; Five Songs.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Bernstein, Leonard: Suite & Overture from Candide; Three Meditations From Mass; Divertimento For Orchestra; Five Songs. Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Eiji Oue, with Beth Clayton, mezzo soprano. Recorded in 1999, at Orchestra Hall,...

Boston Brass: Stealing the Show.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Boston Brass: Stealing the Show. Recorded in 1996, at Holy Trinity Chapel, Boston College, Newton, Massachusetts. Engineers: Bruce Humphrey and Tom Stephenson. 54+ minutes. Summit 272. This dramatic presentation of opera arias and operettas,...

Brava.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Brava. (Transcriptions for clarinet from works by Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Elgar, Bassi, and Lovreglio.) Seunghee Lee, clarinet; Arlene Shrut, piano. Recorded in 1999, at St. Peter's Church, New York City. Engineer: Mark Aubort. 60+ minutes....

Copland, Aaron: Third Symphony, Appalachian Spring, Fanfare For the Common Man.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Copland, Aaron: Third Symphony, Appalachian Spring, Fanfare For the Common Man. Minnesota Orchestra, conduced by Eiji Oue. Recorded in 2000, at Orchestral Hall, Minneapolis. Engineer: Keith Johnson. 72+ minutes. Reference Recordings RR-93. This...

Orff, Carl: Carmina Burana.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Orff, Carl: Carmina Burana. Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, conducted by Charles Dutoit. Recorded in 1996, at the Eglise Saint-Eustache, Montreal. Engineers: John Dunkerly and Jonathan Stokes. 59+ minutes. London 455 290. This is a very...

Paisible, Jacques: Six Setts of Aires.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Paisible, Jacques: Six Setts of Aires. Musica Barocca. Recorded in 1999, in Forde Abbey, Dorset, England. Engineer: John Taylor. 68+ minutes. Naxos 8.555045. This material requires a nice spacious environment to sound right, and this recording...

Part, Arvo: De Profundis.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Part, Arvo: De Profundis. The Theater of Voices, directed by Paul Hillier. Recorded in 1996, in the Chapel of St. Vincent's School For Boys, San Rafael, California. Engineer: Brad Michel. 76+ minutes. Harmonia Mundi 907182. This hauntingly...

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade and Russian Easter Overture.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade and Russian Easter Overture. London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jose Serebrier. Recorded in 1999, at Watford Coliseum, England. Engineer: Keith Johnson. 59+ minutes. Reference Recordings RR-89. This...

Sampson, David: Monument.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Sampson, David: Monument. Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Alan Balter. Recorded in 1998, at Czech Radio Studio One, Prague. Engineer: Ivan Pommer. 67+ minutes. Summit 237. This presentation of modern "serious" material (modern enough...

Turtle Creek Chorale: Psalms.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Turtle Creek Chorale: Psalms. Recorded in 1998, at the Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas. Engineer: Keith Johnson. 61+ minutes. Reference Recordings RR-86. This is another flawless two-channel effort by Johnson and the Chorale. The clarity is...

Vaughan Williams, Ralph: Hymns of Vaughan Williams.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Vaughan Williams, Ralph: Hymns of Vaughan Williams. Choir of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, directed by Thomas Somerville, with Frederick Swann, organ. Recorded ca. 2000, at the church. Engineer: Joe Bellamy. 69+ minutes....

Bellson, Louie: The Art of the Chart (Big Band Explosion).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Bellson, Louie: The Art of the Chart (Big Band Explosion). Recorded in 1997, at Capitol Studio A, Los Angeles. Engineers: Don Murray and Gregg Field. 64+ minutes. Concord 4800. This is a terrific recording with notable big-band dynamic...

Cattingub, Matt: Gershwin 100, with Louie Bellson, Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein, and John Pizzarelli. Recorded in 1997, at Audio/Studio D, Los Angeles. 64+ minutes. Concord 4797.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Cattingub, Matt: Gershwin 100, with Louie Bellson, Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein, and John Pizzarelli. Recorded in 1997, at Audio/Studio D, Los Angeles. 64+ minutes. Concord 4797. What we have highlighted here is a nice stage spread and...

Friesen, David: Three To Get Ready (with Clark Terry and Brad Shank).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Friesen, David: Three To Get Ready (with Clark Terry and Brad Shank). Recorded in 1994, at the Schauspielhaus, Berlin. Engineer: Lothar Kramer. 65+ minutes. Summit 262. A three-performer recording such as this needs a combination of integration...

Sai Ghose Trio: India Looking West (with Jerry Wilfong and Mike Connors).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Sai Ghose Trio: India Looking West (with Jerry Wilfong and Mike Connors). Recorded in 1999, at PBS Studios, Westwood, MA. Engineer Peter Kontrimas. 61+ minutes. Summit 277. Ghose plays the piano in this release (he may be of Indian descent, but...

Bax: Symphony No. 5; The Tale the Pine-Trees Knew. David Lloyd-Jones, Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Naxos 8.554509.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Bax: Symphony No. 5; The Tale the Pine-Trees Knew. David Lloyd-Jones, Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Naxos 8.554509. I used to have a favorite recording of the Bax Fifth Symphony in the old LP days, by Raymond Leppard on Lyrita as I...

Britten: Rattle Conducts Britten. Sir Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. EMI CZS 5 73983 2 (2-disc set).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Britten: Rattle Conducts Britten. Sir Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. EMI CZS 5 73983 2 (2-disc set). When many of us think of 20th-century English composer Benjamin Britten, no doubt what first leaps to mind are his...

Classic Ellington.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Classic Ellington. Sir Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. EMI 7243 5 57014 2. If anyone's jazz would make appropriate vehicles for symphonic treatment, it would be Duke Ellington's. This new EMI disc features arrangements...

Dance of the Hours: Ballet Favourites from Opera. Decca 289 458 229-2.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Dance of the Hours: Ballet Favourites from Opera. Decca 289 458 229-2. I love compilations of older recordings. You never know what you're going to find, especially on this disc of ballet music from operas featuring some of Decca's...

Gilbert and Sullivan: Favorite Overtures. Sir Malcolm Sargent, the Pro Arte Orchestre. EMI Seraphim 243 5 74010 2 9.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Gilbert and Sullivan: Favorite Overtures. Sir Malcolm Sargent, the Pro Arte Orchestre. EMI Seraphim 243 5 74010 2 9. It's great to see that EMI has reinstituted its low-priced Seraphim line of recordings on CD. And they've stocked the...

The Best of Glazunov.(Review)
April 1, 2001... The Best of Glazunov. Igor Golovschin and Alexander Anissimov, Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Naxos 8.556687. This sampler disc is a steal for about five bucks. It contains over 75 minutes of bits and pieces by Russian composer Alexander...

Goldmark: Complete Works for Violin and Piano, Vol. 2. Ulf Wallin, violin; Bruno Canino, piano. CPO 999 524-2.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Goldmark: Complete Works for Violin and Piano, Vol. 2. Ulf Wallin, violin; Bruno Canino, piano. CPO 999 524-2. The late-19th-century Hungarian composer Karl Goldmark was quite popular in his time but doesn't get much recognition today...

Gould: American Ballads; Foster Gallery; American Salute. Theodore Kuchar, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Naxos 8.559005.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Gould: American Ballads; Foster Gallery; American Salute. Theodore Kuchar, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Naxos 8.559005. The surprise here, and a delightful one, is not that conductor and composer Morton Gould successfully...

The Great Waltz Composers.(Review)
April 1, 2001... The Great Waltz Composers. Anton Paulik, Vienna State Opera Orchestra. Vanguard Classics SVC-143. The only disadvantage of this collection is that contains but six waltzes, about 50 minutes worth of music. Recorded in 1965, it is a Super...

Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 88 and 89; Sinfonia concertante in B flat major. Frans Bruggen, Orchestra of the 18th Century. Philips 462 602-2.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 88 and 89; Sinfonia concertante in B flat major. Frans Bruggen, Orchestra of the 18th Century. Philips 462 602-2. Haydn's Symphonies 88 and 89 fall between his "Paris" symphonies, Nos. 82-87, and his final "London"...

Haydn & Hummel: Trumpet Concertos; Albinoni: Concerto "Saint Marc"; Torelli: Sonata a Cinque. Martin Berinbaum, trumpet; Johannes Somary, English Chamber Orchestra. Vanguard SVC-136.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Haydn & Hummel: Trumpet Concertos; Albinoni: Concerto "Saint Marc"; Torelli: Sonata a Cinque. Martin Berinbaum, trumpet; Johannes Somary, English Chamber Orchestra. Vanguard SVC-136. I've never met a Haydn Trumpet Concerto I didn't like....

Innovators.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Innovators. Live Concert with Sam Cardon and Kurt Bestor. Treble V Music DVD. With all the confusion about CDs, Super CDs, DVDs, DVD-Videos, and the like, most music companies are either ignoring everything but conventional CDs or...

Liane: April in Paris. Liane Augustin with the Boheme Bar Trio. Vanguard Classics OVC 6043.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Liane: April in Paris. Liane Augustin with the Boheme Bar Trio. Vanguard Classics OVC 6043. My unabridged dictionary defines a "chanteuse" as a French word for a "female singer, esp. one who sings in nightclubs and cabarets." Nowhere does...

Liszt for Two: Hungarian Rhapsodies for Piano Four-Hands; Mephisto Waltz for Two Pianos. Georgia and Louise Mangos, piano. Cedille Records CDR 90000 052.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Liszt for Two: Hungarian Rhapsodies for Piano Four-Hands; Mephisto Waltz for Two Pianos. Georgia and Louise Mangos, piano. Cedille Records CDR 90000 052. We are all more or less familiar with the orchestral arrangements of a half-dozen of...

Mahler: Symphony No. 1. Sir Charles Mackerras, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. EMI Classics for Pleasure 7243 5 73510 2 7.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Mahler: Symphony No. 1. Sir Charles Mackerras, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. EMI Classics for Pleasure 7243 5 73510 2 7. I can't remember listening to a more wholly satisfying Mahler First in quite a while. Indeed, after comparing...

Mozart: The Four Horn Concerti. Albert Linder, horn; Hans Swarowsky, Vienna State Opera Orchestra. Amadeus AMD 7012.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Mozart: The Four Horn Concerti. Albert Linder, horn; Hans Swarowsky, Vienna State Opera Orchestra. Amadeus AMD 7012. Can we really have too many recordings of Mozart's Four Horn Concerti? Probably not, at least not when they are played so...

The Perfect Opera.(Review)
April 1, 2001... The Perfect Opera. Various artists. Angel 7243 5 67438 2 3. The gimmick Angel use here is one that should appeal to the crossover crowd. Angel have dug deep into EMI's archives and assembled a collection of famous opera arias and orchestral...

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Borodin: Polovtsian Dances. Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. EMI 7243 5 66998 2.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Borodin: Polovtsian Dances. Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. EMI 7243 5 66998 2. For nearly 30 years I have been living contentedly with Haitink's 1972 London Philharmonic version of...

Smetana: Ma Vlast. Paavo Berglund, Dresden State Orchestra. EMI Seraphim 7243 5 73736 2 3.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Smetana: Ma Vlast. Paavo Berglund, Dresden State Orchestra. EMI Seraphim 7243 5 73736 2 3. Bedrich Smetana's series of tone poems celebrating his native Bohemia (Czechoslovakia), Ma Vlast (My Homeland), written in 1874, has always been one...

Squonk Opera: Bigsmorgasbordwunderwerk. Angel 7243 5 266523 2 7.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Squonk Opera: Bigsmorgasbordwunderwerk. Angel 7243 5 266523 2 7. Maybe the idea was to confuse critics enough to admit that they didn't have a clue what was going on here, on the off chance that the critics might say something nice about...

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, complete. Maurice Abravanel, Utah Symphony Orchestra. Amadeus AMD 7005/6 (2-disc set).(Review)
April 1, 2001... Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, complete. Maurice Abravanel, Utah Symphony Orchestra. Amadeus AMD 7005/6 (2-disc set). Longtime producer and president of Vanguard Classics, Seymour Solomon, prefaces this edition of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake with the...

Tchaikovsky: "1812" Overture; Romeo and Juliet Overture; Slavonic March; The Tempest. Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. DG 289 453 496-2.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Tchaikovsky: "1812" Overture; Romeo and Juliet Overture; Slavonic March; The Tempest. Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. DG 289 453 496-2. Sooner or later all great conductors come to the "1812." It's like an obligation,...

Vivaldi: Concerti con Titoli. Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante. Virgin Veritas 7243-5-45424-2-8.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Vivaldi: Concerti con Titoli. Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante. Virgin Veritas 7243-5-45424-2-8. The diversity of these concertos for assorted instruments contradicts the popular notion that Vivaldi wrote only countless variations of The Four...