The orchestration is
a glimmering web - as rich as that conjured by Szymanowski and yet not suffocating
the vocal line. A delightful disc. Good notes and technical aspects. Matchless
singing. This is a discovery I am very pleased to share and recommend. "
TALL POPPIES - TP121 (2 discs):
Kerll
- Eight Toccatas; Six canzonas; Suite in D; Passacaglia; Suite in F; Suite
in A; Suite in G; Capriccio sopra il Cucu; Battaglia; Ciaccona; Ricercata;
Modulatio Organica (magnificats)
John O'Donnell
(Egedacher organ at Stift Zwettl, Austria and harpsichord) with male
voices of Ensemble Gombert
Total time: 147.24 (2
CD set)
(2 discs - GB pounds 27.00)
More world premiere recordings
from Tall Poppies in Australia. The music of Johann Caspar Kerll (who was
a great influence on Bach) has largely been a secret of the organ fraternity
until now. On this 2 CD set, all the extant works for keyboard are now available.
The organ works were recorded in Stift Zwettl in Austria on the magnificent
1731 Egedacher organ. The harpsichord works and the choral interludes in the
Magnificat were recorded in Melbourne. The performer is John O'Donnell who
has also edited all the works for publication and who realised the Magnificat
for performance.
Christopher Price in
November 2000 International Record Review - "...welcome addition
to Kerll's sparce discography. His harpsichord playing, confident but more
muted than we generally expect for 17th C. German harpsichord music today,
emphasizes the music's dignity and grace. The rest of the works are played
on the wonderful 1731 Egedacher organ of Stift Zwettl, whose choice O'Donnell
explains was dictated by its well-tempered tuning. It is a stunningly beautiful
instrument..."
TALL POPPIES - TP122: SWEETER THAN ROSES
Purcell -
songs including: The Fatal Hour comes on apace; Round O; No, to what Purpose;
Sylvia, noe that your scorn give over; T'is Nature's voice; If Music be the
Food of Love; Sweeter than Roses; O Solitude 1; If Pray'rs and Tears; Fly
swift ye Hours; I lov'd fair Celia; Urge me no more, this aery Mirth;
Gerald English
(tenor) with John O'Donnell (harpsichord)
Total time: 75.00
(GB pounds 14.50)
Gerald English, once
the toast of the British vocal fraternity, is alive and well in Australia,
still singing magnificently in his 70s. With harpsichordist John O'Donnell
he performs a personal selection of Purcell art songs with characteristic
dramatic flair and flawless diction.
TALL POPPIES - TP132: VIVA SAX!
Gerard Brophy
- we bop; Margaret Sutherland - Sonata; Dulcie Holland - Sonata; Rae Marcellino
- Whispers of Fauvel; Roger Frampton - Double Dreaming; Paul Sarcich
- Matters Arising*.
Margery Smith
(saxophones) with Daniel Herscovitch and Roger Frampton (pianos), Daryl Pratt
(percussion), The Seymour Group, Mark Summerbell; B'Tutta Percussion*
Total time: 70.56
(GB pounds 14.50)
The saxophone is still
slow in establishing an identity as a 'classical' instrument, but Margery
Smith is a virtuoso with a passion for music of our time, and here she presents
a selection of works written in Australia for her instrument. Two classic
works are included - Sonatas by Sutherland and Holland, as well as recent
works by Brophy, Marcellino, Frampton and Sarcich. All are world premiere
recordings.
TALL POPPIES - TP140 (2 discs):
JS Bach
- Clavierubung III, BWV669 - 689; Schubler Chorales, BWV645 - 650; Canonic
Variations, BWV769.
John O'Donnell
(Jurgen Ahrend organ of Monash University, Melbourne)
Total time: 130.38 (2
CD set)
(2 discs - GB pounds 27.00)
Clavierubung III is regarded
by many as the pinnacle of Bach's oeuvre for organ. As part of Tall Poppies'
acknowledgement of this Bach year, this 2 CD set was recorded on the Jurgen
Ahrend organ at Monash University in Melbourne. A fine baroque-style organ,
it has all the colours and excitement to bring this music to life. The organist
John O'Donnell is a world-renowned Bach scholar who brings a lifetime of knowledge
to these distinguished performances.
Francis Knights in August
2000 International Record Review - "John O'Donnell is organist
of Monash University in Melbourne, which possesses a fine 45-stop Ahrend organ
of 1980; it is tuned in a modified Werckmeister II temperament...This is one
of the very best recordings of the Clavier-Ubung III set, and one that surpasses
the recordings by established masters such as Ton Koopman and Christopher
Herrick. I find myself prefering it to any other version I have heard."
Francis Knights in 'Best
of the Year', December 2000 International Record Review - "The
competition for a personal 'Disc of the Year' has been intense, and it is
with regret that I put aside two outsatanding recordings of Remaissance music
if favour of a new Australian set comprising the organ works Bach published
toward the end of his life. ..the merit of these discs is that every aspect
is spot-on. O'Donnell's performances are quite superb: powerful, energetic
and crisp, and the listener is carried along by his infectious rhythmic sense.
The recording is very fine indeed, setting the seal on an exceptional release."
CEDILLE - CDR90000051:
Ferko -
Stabat Mater
Nancy Gustafson (soprano)
His Majestie's Clerkes , director Anne Heider
Total time: 54.37
Frank Ferko's Stabat
Mater, an instantly communicative and poignant work for choir and soprano
solo, is a meditation on the grieving of mothers for their children. Similar
to Britten's War Requiem, Chicago composer Frank Ferko chose English poetic
texts to interpolate into the ancient Latin text: Andromache's lament from
Euripides' The Trojan Women (translated into English); Padraic Pearse's The
Mother; excerpts from Charlotte Meyerson's The Death Cycle Machine; and Sally
Gall's Elegy. Frank Ferko has built a national reputation in the USA as an
accomplished organist and composer, basing much of his work on the medieval
writings of Hildegard von Bingen, including his 1995 Hildegard Motets, also
written for His Majestie's Clerkes.
Lawrence A Johnson in
July/August 2000 Fanfare - "I'm writing the final words of this
review on Easter Sunday, which seems wholly appropriate. Frank Ferko's Stabat
Mater is a transcendently beautiful work that manages to be both traditional
and innovative, crafted with a masterful hand. Even if you're not a big fan
of a capella choral music, give this recording a chance and you will
discover much glorious music, as well as a greatly gifted and compelling new
voice on the music scene."
Ivan Moody in August
2000 International Record Review - "This music commands attention
from its very first note. ..His Majestie's Clerkes under Anne Haider are superb,
producing a blended, full and rich sound and singing with admirable precision,
and Nancy Gustafson's powerful but sensitive soprano contrasts with and complements
their purity of tone very well, reflecting the correlation between the Latin
and the English interpolations. A fine and thought-provoking disc."
CEDILLE - CDR90000050:
Blackwood
- String Quartet No. 1, Op. 4 (1957); String Quartet No. 2, Op. 6 (1959);
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 42 (1998).
Pacifica Quartet
(Simin Ganatra and Kyu-Young Kim - violins, Kathryn Lockwood - viola,
Brandon Vamos - cello)
Total time: 63.10
