Gershwin: Preludes (3) - download (MP3 & FLAC)

Renowned as a virtuoso jazz clarinetist and legendary bandleader, Benny Goodman is also remembered for the works he commissioned from leading composers of his day. Poulenc’s strikingly beautiful Clarinet Sonata was his last composition, while Bernstein’s was his first published piece. Both Gershwin and Stravinsky added their distinctive stamp to the swing vibe which was all the rage in the early 20th century. The jazz flavour of Morton Gould’s Benny’s Gig is heightened by the unusual coupling of clarinet and double bass, while pungent folk rhythms define Bartók’s virtuoso Contrasts.

Sono Luminus presents this uniquely engaging collection of music that embodies the American spirit in Americana, the latest release by Modern Mandolin Quartet. The package will be a 2-disc set, containing a Blu-ray™ Surround Sound disc as well as a standard CD.

Expressing their opinion on their choices of musical selections for this album, the quartet writes, “This music attracted us because of the wonderful way it sounds on our instruments, particularly the Dvorák. Since the musical character of the pieces is based on various forms of American music, it lends itself extremely well to the mandolin. While many selections for piano and string music rely on idioms and techniques that may not transpose well to the mandolin, the pieces included on this disc were chosen for their vitality and the way they jumped right off the page.”

Fanfare Magazine exclaims, “MMQ play dead-straight, spot-on, and packed with freshness and vitality of a kind that is rare in material of this type. These are not down-scaled, make-em-easy, just-for-kicks charts either - they are a Major Thing. TRIPLE MUST!”

The Modern Mandolin Quartet was formed in 1985 to give a new voice to that most American of musical instruments, the mandolin. Following the tradition of the mandolin orchestras and chamber groups from the early twentieth century, the MMQ uses the instruments of the mandolin family which correspond to the conventional string quartet (two mandolins, mandola, and mandocello). To date the Quartet has arranged and performed over 90 works originally written for orchestra, chamber ensemble, piano, guitar, and string quartet.

“Feldman’s big sound flowed authoritatively, communicating startling expressive power and control. With ardor and elegance, Feldman’s warm, handsome tone was flavored with the delectable ingredients of conviction and passion.” The Wellesley Townsman

The foregoing is typical of the effusive critical response to Emmanuel Feldman’s marvelous cello artistry, wherever he unleashes it. In Our American Roots – his first recording for Delos – Feldman applies his prodigious talent and skill to an all-American program of music for cello and piano – to include a pair of rarely heard (and recorded) cello sonatas by Samuel Barber and George Walker. The remainder of the program consists of winning arrangements of beloved musical Americana: arias from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and his Preludes, as well as two movements from Aaron Copland’s ballet score Billy the Kid.

Feldman, a Curtis graduate, went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire Supérieur on scholarship before embarking on a singularly successful career encompassing solo recitals, chamber performances and concerto appearances with leading orchestras. He also teaches with distinction at Tufts University, Brown University and the New England Conservatory. Emmanuel, with the inspired and vibrant collaboration of piano sorceress Joy Cline Phinney, delivers his program with silky-smooth, yet robust tone and vivid musical colors, while alternating between spunky spirit and supremely soulful interpretive depth.

Gershwin arranged many of his popular songs for piano.

This collection includes 18 pieces from his Songbook.

They are wonderfully interpreted by Michael Endres.

With ‘Reflets’ (reflections), Roger Muraro proposes a new look at the Concerto in G through the prism of composers who influenced Ravel, from Gershwin, Stravinsky to Faure. Recorded with Roger Muraro’s long standing accomplices, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under the baton of Myung-Whun Chung, the Concerto in G takes on a new dynamic dimension in the company of Ravel’s contemporaries. Astonishing and irresistible.

Violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti is recognized for her musical elegance and grace. Her playing has been described as “breathtakingly rich in tone and color” (St. Petersburg Times).

Praised by The American Record Guide as a “brilliant soloist” and The Oregonian for “a performance that glowed with inner warmth...” she has received numerous accolades for her musical artistry and technique. Many of her performances have been streamed online and broadcast on FM radio, including Performance Today. Her extensive solo and chamber music appearances have taken her across the United States and abroad, performing in such venues as New York’s Weill Recital Hall, Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, Tampa’s Morsani Hall, Gonfalone Oratory in Rome, Italy, and Edinburgh Castle.

Praised for her “big piano presence” (American Record Guide), Elizabeth Pridgen has distiguished herself as a soloist and avid chamber musician. Ms. Pridgen has recently joined the Georgian Chamber Players and is a member of Trio RPM with violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti and cellist Christopher Rex. A graduate of the Juilliard School and Peabody Conservatory of Music, Ms. Pridgen is currently a Distinguished Artist and Piano Chair at the McDuffie Center for Strings and holds the G. Leslie Fabian Chair of Music at the Townsend School of Music at Mercer University.

Robert McDuffie has appeared as soloist with most of the major orchestras of the world. He gave the World Premiere, with the Toronto Symphony, of Violin Concerto No. 2, “The American Four Seasons” - a work written by Philip Glass for Robert McDuffie. McDuffie is a GRAMMY® nominated artist, whose acclaimed recordings include the violin concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Adams, Glass, Barber, Rozsa, Bernstein, William Schuman, and Viennese favorites. Robert McDuffie holds the Genelle and Mansfield Jennings Distinguished University Professor Chair at Mercer University in his hometown of Macon, Georgia. He is also the founder of The Rome Chamber Music Festival.

Recorded by Multi-GRAMMY award winning engineer Leslie Anne Jones, this album is truly a sonic feast for lovers of the violin and chamber music.

Michael Collins is one of our most versatile clarinettists, possessing a dazzling virtuosity and sensitive musicianship that have made him the favourite of conductors, composers, and audiences throughout the world. Now an exclusive Chandos artist, Collins is embarking on a series of recordings designed to display the extraordinarily wide range of music written for his instrument. The present programme comprises a varied repertoire, concentrating generally (though not exclusively) on its more extrovert virtuoso aspects and offering some breathtaking show-stoppers. Well-known works such as Rachmaninoff’s haunting Vocalise contrast with the sunny brilliance of Giampieri’s Il carnevale di Venezia, and the playful, inventive French items by Milhaud and Messager provide a further contrast in mood and colour.

Weber’s bubbly Grand Duo concertant is also among the many highlights on this disc. Unlike other works of his, in which the main purpose of the accompanying instruments is to support the virtuoso solo part, the Grand Duo presents an equal juxtaposition of two virtuoso solo parts, one being the clarinet, the other the piano. The piece is a Duo in the true sense of the word. Another key piece is Milhaud’s famous Scaramouche. This was initially composed as a work for two pianos, but due to its immediate and immense popularity, the composer was soon called on to make several arrangements of it, starting with the one for clarinet and piano which we hear on this CD. The first movement, Vif, has a sense of breezy excitement that is intensified by the bravura cartwheels of the clarinet part. The gentle Modéré that follows has a lovely dreamy feel to it, which is in stark contrast to the vigorous rhythmic energy of the exuberant finale, Brazileira.

Moving to the present day, the disc also presents Simon Milton’s Carmen Fantasy which was premiered at the Harrogate Festival in 2009. Milton stays closely to Bizet’s harmony and keeps the tunes highly recognisable despite all the elaborations and mini-cadenzas with which he intersperses them. It is a thoroughly engaging work, well worth a separate mention.

Future discs will include one dedicated to showing the instrument’s lyrical qualities, and several devoted to clarinet concertos, including Weber’s and a group of British works.

All tracks arranged for clarinet and strings