This is the second of two LPs recorded by Chick Corea shortly after he broke up the avant-garde quartet Circle, saying that he wanted to communicate to a larger audience. As with the first set, these brief sketches are melodic and a bit precious but contain some strong moments. In addition to seven Corea originals, he interprets Thelonious Monk's "Trinkle Tinkle" and Wayne Shorter's "Masquellero." Not essential but worth acquiring.

One of the most successful instrumental performers in pop history, trumpeter Herb Alpert was also one of the entertainment industry's shrewdest businessmen: A&M, the label he co-founded with partner Jerry Moss, ranks among the most prosperous artist-owned companies ever established. Born March 31, 1935, in Los Angeles, Alpert began playing the trumpet at the age of eight. After serving in the Army, he attempted to forge an acting career, but soon returned to music, recording under the name Dore Alpert for RCA.

Hildegard v. Bingen & Herrad v. Landsberg - Hortus Deliciarum: twefth-century gregorian chants
Discantus / Brigitte Lesne
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 246 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Naive, Opus111 # OP 30390 | Country/Year: France 2004
Genre: Classical | Style: Medieval, Sacred

…The unison singing is quite remarkable for its clarity and smoothness. The singers have discovered, too, how to manage repercussions, subtly but entirely convincingly. The ordering of the recital, with its frequent use of First Mode pieces juxtaposed, and its judicious groupings, is successful and never monotonous. The listener is left with a good sense of how sacred music was developing in the 12th century by leaps and bounds in so many directions, even to the extent of cantillated readings being occasionally sung in three parts.

Because George Crumb's atmospheric compositions are usually scored for chamber ensembles and filled with myriad quiet effects, his larger-scaled orchestral works may be more difficult to recognize and appreciate. The private tone that Crumb practically trademarked, in such works as Ancient Voices of Children and Music for a Summer Evening, is harder to find in his largest ensemble pieces; though his gestures, quotations, and advanced techniques are similar, they are less intimate and affecting in such a public "forum" as the orchestra. Crumb's intense vision is blurred in A Haunted Landscape….

Blair Sanderson @ Allmusic

Luigi Dallapiccola, who died in 1975, was the leading Italianexponent of the 12-note compositional method devised by Arnold Schoenberg, but adapted the technique to accommodate his own highly expressive and lyrical style. One contemporary described Dallapiccola’s use of instrumentation as ‘soft and starry’, and this quality is to be found in all three works on this disc – even though they come from quite different periods of his creative life. The Piccolo concerto per Muriel Couvreux is a two-movement work for piano and chamber orchestra which pre-dates his adoption of serialism, giving …

David Michaels @ Classical-Music.com