Iron Orchid (CD Review)
Iron Orchid Ning Yu and David Bird New Focus Recordings Composer and electronic musician David Bird’s work Iron Orchid enlists pianist Ning Yu as a collaborator. Bird’s electronics often provide…
Best of 2021: Messiaen on Kairos (CD Review)
Sequenza 21 – Best of 2021 Olivier Messiaen Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus Alfonso Gómez, piano Kairos CD In 1944, Olivier Messiaen wrote a recital length work (about 2 hours in…
Best of 2021: Christian Baldini Conducts UC Davis Symphony (CD Review)
Best of 2021: Varèse, Ligeti, Lutosławski, Baldini on Centaur Varèse, Ligeti, Lutosławski, Baldini Munich Radio Orchestra; UC Davis Symphony Orchestra Miranda Cuckson, violin; Maximilian Haft, violin Christian Baldini, conductor Centaur…
Best of 2021: Andrew Cyrille Quartet (CD Review)
Best of 2021 Andrew Cyrille Quartet The News ECM Records David Virelles, piano; Bill Frisell, guitar; Ben Street, bass; Andrew Cyrille, drums and percussion Andrew Cyrille is now an octogenarian,…
Best of 2021: Spektral Quartet Plays Thorvaldsdottir (CD Review)
Anna Thorvaldsdottir Enigma EP Spektral Quartet Clara Lyon, Maeve Feinberg, violin; Doyle Armbrust, viola; Russell Rolen, cello Sono Luminus CD, 2021 Enigma, the first string quartet by Icelandic composer Anna…
Bernhard Lang – Piano Music (CD Review)
Bernhard Lang Piano Music Wolfram Oettl, piano Kairos Music CD Bernhard Lang (b. 1957) writes in a number of different media, from chamber music to theatre works. His solo piano…
Nite Jewel’s No Sun (CD Review
Nite Jewel No Sun Gloriette LP/DL How closely does art imitate life and vice versa? It is a question that has been debated since antiquity. Ramona Gonzalez, who records as…
Two Wandelweiser Recordings (CD Review)
Sivan Silver-Swartz Untitled 6 Wandelweiser CD EWR 1920 Nigel Dean, violin; Patrick Behnke, Tanner Pfeiffer, viola; Tal Katz, Julian Tedaldi, cello Antoine Beuger Jankélévich Sextets Another Timbre CD at168 Apartment…
City of Tomorrow on New Focus (CD Review)
City of Tomorrow Blow New Focus Records The City of Tomorrow is a woodwind quintet dedicated to 20/21 music, particularly compositions that explore environmental themes. They first convened to play…
Cantus Records Manifesto
Cantus Manifesto Signum Classics The all-male vocal ensemble Cantus’s first full length recording in seven years, Manifesto, features pieces, all in world premiere recordings, that explore relationships and identity. The…