01/07/08
DIVINE ART (www.divine-art.com)
JAMES COOK/From Wonderland to Heaven: A most proper and veddy British classically inspired date finds the works of Cook and Lewis Carrol getting a special treatment by harp and organ with voices. Works from 17th Century Puritans, this is not the typical warhorse repertoire you come across and gives choral music fans something well out of the ordinary to enjoy. With a light and living touch, this old music is not so much brought into the present as it is brought to life and certainly has found it’s shelf date extended here. An interesting diversion for old music ears.
24123 (Diversions)
TREVOR BARNARD/Piano Odyssey: An ace classical piano man since his 1962 debut, Barnard has spent a lot of time in Oz over the years and unless you are a hard core classical music junkie, he might not have crossed your radar yet. This set takes him on a history of classical music thought his eyes from Bach to present mixing previously recorded material with new material for a real treat of a career spanning omnibus. Very much a player you should be better acquainted with, Barnard’s odyssey is a trip well worth taking with him. A marvelous collection.
24125 (Diversions)
GOLDSTONE & CLEMMOW/Brain Chapple Piano Music: Certainly a find for those that love to discover the new, Chapple is a rising classical piano composer that is still bubbling under. He can write in the vein of Debussy or Gershwin just as easily as he can slip into the excesses of 70’s free/progressive jazz. Goldstone and Clemmow tackle his works alternately in duo and solo mode and bring him the kind of exposure that will move him from the ranks of the cult hero. Dazzling players in their own rights, this is a solid set that opens the ears whether moving through fun or serious works. Tasty.
25056
GOLDSTONE & CLEMMOW/Gershwin and Ravel Music for Piano Duo: Focusing on familiar works like “Rhapsody In Blue” and “Bolero” but offering them in their original four handed arrangements before they were passed into the familiar orchestral pieces we know, this feels like a candid look at the works as they were originally supposed to be heard. A real ear opening date that has a deceptive simplicity that puts the music front and center, classical piano fans have a winner of a set on their hands here as the duo takes you inside the music in a way that you might not have been before. Not really small chamber music despite only 20 fingers out there carrying the load, it’s nothing less than a crisp new post card from an old friend you thought had nothing new to say.
25057
Volume 31/Number 68
January 7, 2008
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2008 Midwest Record