New Releases

The harpsichord music of Antonio Soler is to a great extent overshadowed by the keyboard works of his near contemporary Domenico Scarlatti, music master to Queen Maria Barbara of Spain. Soler though, rightly claims a prominent position amongst those few select composers who became beacons of the Classical Enlightenment and whose music possessed elements of genius. At the age of twenty-three Soler took Holy Orders, entering the Escorial as a Hieronymite monk in the Order of Saint Jerome where he remained in relative confinement for the rest of his life. His existence at the Escorial is well documented by a colleague who wrote an extremely detailed obituary notice, describing a man who loved his cell and was always there except for duty. Whilst at the Escorial, Soler studied with José de Nebra and Scarlatti. Soler’s output of around 200 harpsichord sonatas were written for the Infante don Gabriel, whom Soler taught from around 1765. The sonatas on this CD can be pigeonholed into three categories: the dance (sonatas R21, R118, R43 & R92d). Those which are slower and more vocal in nature (R4 & R110) with a hint of the melismatic expression found in cante hondo: a pure form of Andalucian folk music. And those which lean towards the new ‘galant’ style (R56 & M27). There are also frequent echoes of the guitar punteado and rasgueado styles, R86 & R43 which are also related to the dance.

Luigi Boccherini was born in Lucca, Italy in 1743 and was renowned as a composer and ‘cellist. In 1761, Boccherini went to live in Madrid where he was appointed music master to the Infante Luis Antonio, and he would certainly have met Soler. This version of Boccherini’s fandango, from the last movement of Quintet No 4 in D major, is Richard Lester’s own arrangement for two harpsichords.

"This album is a paean to the life-enhancing qualities of the dance. Eternal Dance, Elf Dance, Pan Dance and Force 11 are predominantly upbeat affairs, the juxtaposition of contrasting meters an important feature of each piece. Farewell Patagonia is unashamedly a tango from start to finish, the Latin flavor also pervading the slow burn of Lochria’s Rhumba and Ice Maiden. We enter into the world of the intimate waltz in Remembrance, In The Eyes Of A Child and The Last Kiss. By contrast, it is jazz syncopation and Irish dance rhythms that drive the music forward in In The Pocket. Song For My Mother is a tribute to my own mother and The Sad Little Geisha Girl was inspired by Arthur Golden’s novel, Memoirs Of A Geisha."

Geoff Eales Nov 2012

It is a remarkable coincidence that 2013 happens to be, along with Britten’s centenary, the 50th anniversary of Nocturnal, the 450th birthday of John Dowland and the 80th birthday of Julian Bream. In an attempt to mark all of these events, this recording presents, along with the Britten, three important works which span the fifty years which have followed it - Walton’s Five Bagatelles, Thomas Wilson’s Dreammusic, and John McLeod’s Fantasy on themes from Britten’s Gloriana, the latter composed specifically to mark Britten’s centenary, alongside short pieces by John Dowland.

Chamber music has played a significant part in the output of all four composers featured on this disc. The piano quartets by Bridge, Bax and Walton are sufficiently heterogeneous to illustrate the multiplicity of approaches the genre can accommodate as well as highlighting the stylistic diversity of British chamber music dating from what may be regarded as its Golden Age - the first decades of the twentieth century.

What is 'French' about French composers and players? In these recordings we can hear virtuosity, tangy tone colours, and a sheer joie de vivre that can be missing from some more careful modern performances.Tempos are breakneck, especially from pianist/composer Francis Poulenc and in the Trio by Georges Auric; but there is a Debussy like sensuousness in Albert Roussel's Divertissement. The oboist in that piece is Pierre Pierlot, who can also be heard in the solo oboe part of André Jolivet's Sérénade, and in a Sonata by Jacques Hotteterre.

Two lesser-known composers here are Marguerite Roesgen-Champion with a delightful Pastorale; and Pierre-Octave Ferroud, with an original and virtuosic Trio. Other oboists featured include Louis Bas, Louis Bleuzet, Roland Lamorlette and Myrtile Morel.

Original performances of Poulenc, Auric and other French composers. Includes a 24 page booklet, with oboist and scholar Geoffrey Burgess writing about the milieu that produced this fertile outpouring of French wind writing and playing.

Is it possible to represent faithfully the rich world of the oboe and oboe playing?

This double CD offers this and more, with 33 tracks of music from composers such as Mozart, Ravel, Tchaikovsky and Britten. Twenty oboists are featured,

including Elaine Douvas and Nicholas Daniel. The first CD is designed to be enjoyed as either foreground or background music, with instantly recognisable tunes, or music with a persuasive atmosphere, or both. The second covers an enormous range, from Beethoven's Fidelio to Berio's Sequenza VII.

Paul Roe is one of Ireland’s most creative and versatile musicians. For many years he was Associate Principal Clarinet of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and since leaving the orchestra he has concentrated on solo and chamber projects. He has been a member of Concorde Contemporary Music Ensemble since 1989 and is a keen advocate for the composition and performance of contemporary music.

This recording is a fine example of his musical interest and features works by the renowned modern composer Osvaldo Golijov, who has had his work released by numerous labels, including DG, Nonesuch, Naxos and Sony, and two young Irish composers – Jane O’leary and Nick Roth.

In terms of the record history of vocal groups, the 50s belong to The Four Freshmen. Described as “the most innovative and imitated jazz vocal quartet ever to grace vinyl”, they were voted as Down Beat’s Best Vocal Group of the Year for 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1958. This young Stan Kenton-inspired quartet created a sensation with their unusually free, almost improvisatory approach to modernistic vocal harmony. Retrospective’s It’s A Blue World presents their 30 finest tracks, covering their heyday from 1951 to 1960. Emphasis is given to their ground-breaking mid-50s albums, which blended their unique vocal sound with the different instrumental colourings of 5 trombones, 5 trumpets, 5 saxes and 5 guitars, each featuring a number of top jazz instrumentalists (Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, Bud Shank, Frank Rosolino etc.), and arrangers such as Pete Rugolo. Half a century or more on it all still sounds vibrant and new.

Bing Crosby’s younger brother Bob has earned himself a secure place in the pantheon of great jazz artists – without playing a note! He had a pleasant crooning voice (if no match for big brother) but that wouldn’t have set him above hundreds of others. The reason he is still revered in this his centenary year is because of the band he fronted during the late 30s and early 40s, which produced a unique brand of organized Dixieland that remains, quite simply, unsurpassed. Rarely has there been such a collection of brilliant front-line jazz musicians, among them Billy Butterfield, Yank Lawson, Irving Fazola and Eddie Miller, propelled by the wonderful rhythm section of Bob Zurke (later Joe Sullivan or Jess Stacy), Nappy Lamare, Bob Haggart and Ray Bauduc. Retrospective’s centenary tribute, South Rampart Street Parade (their most popular number) is the finest double-album Bob Crosby survey available, collecting together all the 52 finest recordings by the Crosby Orchestra and the superb band-within-a-band, The Bob Cats. Bing himself drops in for a No.1 hit (You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby), as do The Andrews Sisters, Connee Boswell, Helen Ward and a 14-year-old Judy Garland making her debut. This is white jazz of the Thirties at its hottest.