Showing posts with label contemporary classical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contemporary classical. Show all posts

Friday, August 17, 2018

Arvo Pärt ‎– The Symphonies (Tõnu Kaljuste, NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra) (ECM)



End-of-summer laziness and boredom and the exhaustion of a very difficult winter are too overwhelming for me to write anything of substance and to scan/upload covers, etc. so there you go. A new recording of all 4 Arvo Pärt symphonies conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste and performed by the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra, this is the first studio recording of the fourth "Los Angeles" symphony of 2010. People who have mostly come to Pärt through his beautiful choral work or his masterful solo pieces "Fur Alina," "Spiegel Im Spiegel" or Tabula Rasa might surprised by the sometimes aggression and darkness hovering over these symphonies, especially the first two, which have that ominous Shostakovich/"Soviet" style, while Symphony 4 is perhaps closer to the majestic choral work, and Symphony 3 has a more majestic and cinematic feel to it, more particularly in the third movement. 2018 cd on ECM.

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Saturday, May 26, 2018

Kit Downes - Obsidian (ECM 2018) cd



Take heed of this one. If cathedrals, knights and dungeons existed on spaceships, this is what music would be like there. Having recorded exclusively on church organs, up-and-coming pianist Kit Downes creates a hybrid of modern classical/jazz/improvisation/dirge/psychedelic with a variety of moods, from dark brooding funeral tones to playful dissonance (especially on the track "Modern Gods" where he inteplays with a sax), and with a droney, spacey, and sometimes bubbling style, like a mix between Arvo Part and Tangering Dream. Strong contender for album of the year. 2018 cd on ECM

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Monday, October 16, 2017

If, Bwana - The Ice Moons CD



For three decades now, Al Margolis has been creating drones based on contemporary avant-garde music. On this cd, the sound sources have been baritone sax, cello, violin, clarinet as well as vocals, assembled to create a minimalist sound which is almost Gyorgy Ligetti-ish at some points (third track), or Stockhausen-y in the wind instrument parts. Very highly recommended. 2014 cd on Nefryt.

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