Showing posts with label Brahms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brahms. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

New Album Review: Canadian Brass Takes Flight


The Canadian Brass has been on the scene for over forty years and the formula for their success hasn’t changed much. You can always count on them to program a couple of barn-burning showpieces, a few Baroque tunes, a smattering of chestnuts and a ragtime or jazz rave-up. Canadian Brass Takes Flight proves that nearly a half-century of a good thing can continue to be a good thing.

Canadian Brass Takes Flight is what Daniel Guss calls in his effusive liner notes, “a kind of state of the union address by the group.” A cynic might say that means the overlying concept behind the dozen and a half selections is to serve as a showcase for what this talented quintet can do. If you think of Canadian Brass Takes Flight as a brilliantly played and smartly packaged greatest hits album you will not be disappointed.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

New Album Review: The Sixteen - Exclusive Sampler


Is there any choral ensemble with as broad a command of repertoire as the Sixteen? The Sixteen’s mastery of nearly 500 years of choral music is presented on this specially priced Ariama exclusive sampler featuring music from England, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.

This eclectic collection is a superb exploration of musical styles and a tribute to the Sixteen’s versatility.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Eleven Number 1’s

Today is November 1, 2011 or 11/1/11. Music and numerology sometimes go hand-in-hand. The number nine seemed to be the cut point for symphonies. Beethoven, Bruckner, Schubert and Dvorak all got to nine and then wrote no more. Rossini apparently suffered from triskaidekaphobia (the fear of the number 13). Rossini also was worried about Fridays and ironically died on a Friday the 13th. He was also born on a leap year, so the numbers were always against him.