CEDILLE - CDR90000053:
AMERICAN VIOLA WORKS

George Rochberg: Viola Sonata (1979)*;
Frederick Jacobi: Fantasy for viola & piano (1941);
Alan Schulman: Theme & variations (1940)*;
Quincy Porter: Speed etude (1948)*;
Lowell Liebermann: Viola Sonata (1984).

Cathy Basrak (viola) with William Koehler and Robert Koenig (piano)

Total time: 72.35

(but currently unavailable)

Offering a wide spectrum of urbanely sophisticated music stretching from mid-to-late twentieth century, American Viola Works rewards anyone who enjoys attractive and inventive American chamber music. Award-winning young violist Cathy Basrak, newly-appointed Assistant Principal Violist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, makes her recording debut with works that bridge both sides of the viola's intriguing personality: its dark-toned lyricism and its propensity for virtuosic display over many registers. All except the Rochberg are first recordings.

Raymond Tuttle in January/February 2001 Fanfare - "This new CD reveals her to be a major talent, with technique, temperament, and taste. It would be wonderful if people got to know her on the basis of this CD, with its interesting repertoire, rather than from a recording of Harold in Italy, which I am sure someone will rightly ask her to do, sooner or later. She has fine pianists to assist her, excellent sound, and the deserved support of Cedille Records."

CEDILLE - CDR90000054:
CLEARINGS IN THE SKY

Songs by Lili Boulanger and her Compatriots -
Fauré, Ravel, Debussy, Messiaen and Honegger

Patrice Michaels (soprano) with Rebecca Rollins (piano)

Total time: 76.35

(but currently unavailable)

The American soprano, Patrice Michaels, presents a recital of songs by Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), younger sister of the more famous Nadia Boulanger, who was a brilliant and precocious French composer who dazzled the world of European music at the beginning of the 20th century. The recital includes the monumental Clairières dans le ciel, Boulanger's 1914 cycle of 13 songs based on poems by Francis Jammes. To place Boulanger's music in context, the CD also offers songs by prominent French composers who had a connection to her music: Fauré, Ravel, Debussy, Messiaen, and Honegger.

Joel Kasow in March/April 2001 Fanfare - "... it is Boulanger who is the focal point of this disc. As usual, Patrice Michael's programming is exemplary, allowing us to hear music by contemporaries and colleagues of the central figure...Boulanger does not make things easy for the interpreter, demanding an extremely wide vocal compass that stretches Michaels, but she emerges relatively unscathed from the encounter."

Al Fasoldt in March/April 2001 Fanfare - "Cedile Records continue to issue CDs that are delights for the ears and the eyes. Clearings in the Sky, a presentation of songs by Nadia Boulanger and others, is matched by a simple and very effective recording technique on the CD. The recording engineer is Bill maylone, whom I consider one of the three best audiophile engineers in the sound business."

CEDILLE - CDR90000055:
AFRICAN HERITAGE SYMPHONIC SERIES Volume 1

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Danse Negre from African Suite;
Petite Suite de Concert;
Fela Sowande: Three movements from African Suite;
William Grant Still: Symphony No.1 "Afro-American".

Chicago Sinfonietta conducted by Paul Freeman

Total time: 51.26

(but currently unavailable)

This recording is the first disc in an emerging three-CD series devoted to twentieth-century composers of African descent, a project inspired by CBS Records' landmark Black Composers Series of the 1970s. Paul Freeman, artistic director and featured conductor for the long out-of-print CBS series, conducts the Chicago Sinfonietta for Cedille's African Heritage Symphonic Series. All three featured composers on this disc have drawn on traditional African, Caribbean and Western sonorities.

Victor Carr Jr for classicstoday.com - "Cedille Records intends its African Heritage Symphonic Series as a follow-up to CBS Records' Black Composers Series from the 1970s, and I'm happy to say Volume 1 makes for a strong start...thanks to conductor Paul Freeman's rhythmic exactitude and to enthusiastic playing by the Chicago Sinfonietta. Freeman and his band give vibrant performances of the Coleridge-Taylor works as well, and show a far less self-conscious demeanor in the Still Symphony than Neeme Jarvi and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, playing with much more relaxed authenticity and "cool". Cedille's recording is a model of three-dimensional realism, making this disc both a sonic and musical treasure. "

Peter J Rabinowitz in March/April 2001 Fanfare - "...the first installment is united more by its approachability than by any distinctive ethnic flavor. Given its aesthetic premises, the music is all first-class, polished in its construction and inventive in its use of traditional materials. Production is excellent too: The sound is natural and immediate, and Dominique-Rene de Lerma provides detailed notes. All in all, unless you demand thorns with your roses, it's hard to imagine that you won't be beguiled by this collection."

PROPIANO - PPR224525:
CLAUDE DEBUSSY: PIANO MUSIC

Debussy: Preludes Book 1;
Debussy: Preludes Book 2

Vladimir Viardo (piano)

Total time: 70.52

(GB pounds 14.50)

Listen to an extract

ProPiano continue their splendid Pianist's Perspective series with these vibrant performances of the complete Debussy Preludes by Vladimir Viardo, a doyen of the Russian School of pianism. His highly successful international career was suddenly cut short when for 13 years he was not allowed to travel outside of the Soviet Union. Following Perestroika, he was allowed to accept engagements again in Germany and the USA and he became artist in residence at the University of North Texas. He now tours widely and has appeared with most of the world's leading orchestras and conductors.

Suzuki San in Summer 2001 ClassicPress Japan - "...when one listens to Danseuses de Delphes one will understand that Viardo is not a 'nervous pianist' but that he is a 'super entertaining pianist'. I enjoyed Viardo's Debussy very much. He plays with lots of 'attitude' and is obviously having great 'fun' with pianistic life on display here. Viardo plays with an acutely aggressive style. However, this style cannot be disliked... in fact, it is lovable to the extreme..."

KIWI PACIFIC - DIMENSIONSCD:
DIMENSIONS

John Williams: Star Wars Medley; Alford: Eagle Squadron;
Grainger: Londonderry Air; Chaminade: Concertino for flute;
Sousa: Stars & Stripes Forever; Sharpe: Blades of Toledo;
Barnes: Golden Festival Overture; Coates: The Dam Busters;
Ron Goodwin: Aces High; 633 Squadron; Barker: In the Miller Mood;
and music for swing band.

Central Band of the Royal New Zealand Air Force directed by Flight Lieutenant Stephan J van Lieshout

Total time: 64.57

(GB pounds 14.50)

Another collection of music for military band, show-casing the versatility of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band with popular marches, more serious pieces together with swing band arrangements of music by Hoagy Carmichael and Gershwin.

TALL POPPIES - TP147:
PURPLE BLACK & BLUES:

Kats-Chernin - Purple Prelude; Russian Rag; Sonata lost and found; Alexander Rag; Stur in dur; Suburban Rag; Schubert Blues; Variations on a Serious Black Dress; Get Well Rag.