Archive for the ‘Dream Instruments’ Category
1월 27th, 2006
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Strauss Buy New: $11.98 |
This recording of Strauss’s Four Last Songs is superb – for the most part. This is a gem of a disc. The Four Last Songs are among the most beautiful things Strauss ever wrote, and Elizabeth Schwarzkopf gives a heartfelt and poignant rendition of these apopemtic lieder.
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was one of those singers whom one either loves or hates. She was a “stylist,” who inflected every phrase, every note in her urge to communicate what she considered to be the meaning of the text. Others feel that the only thing she communicated was her own need to impress people with her ability to communicate, and I believe she often forgot the difference between art and artfulness. Be that as it may, she was an outstanding Strauss singer, and her performance of the Four Last Songs, in particular, is legendary.
1월 27th, 2006
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Wagner Buy New: $16.98 |
Karajan’s appearance with Jessye Norman and the Vienna Philharmonic at the 1987 Salzburg Festival produced one of the great Wagner discs of all time, capped by a seething, compelling, white hot realization of the “Liebestod.” Karajan knew he had something here, and listening to the performance is likely to leave you weak in the knees. As the account unfolds, everybody’s on the edge of their seat–Norman comes in just that way, not sure of what volume to give it, halting, momentarily unsteady; then she cuts everything loose. Her singing is agitated and emotional, practically orgasmic if one must characterize it accurately. But Karajan has the last word, and it is a minute and 12 seconds of the most rapturous playing imaginable, a meditation on the opera’s final word (“Lust”) and the whole meaning of Tristan und Isolde. This was the payoff for an entire career spent in pursuit of the refinement of orchestral sound. On the same CD, Karajan presides over perhaps the best Siegfried Idyll on record, a lovely, spacious reading full of gentleness and radiance. The piece is exquisitely played by the VPO–very much as they did for Karajan in those final years, communing with him as much as performing the music for us. –Ted Libbey
1월 27th, 2006
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Paganini Buy New: $10.99 |
This slam-bang, take-no-prisoners account of the Paganini Caprices is just the thing for a rainy day. Considered the last word in virtuoso violin technique when they were composed–and still quite a challenge today–these delightful miniatures each get played to the hilt by Perlman, reveling in their technical intricacies while also making the most of their lively charm and musicality. This is simply one of the best solo violin recordings available, and it belongs on any Perlman fan’s shortlist. –David Hurwitz
1월 27th, 2006
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Guero Buy New: $11.99 |
Now that Beck has effectively exorcised his personal demons with 2002’s hyperconfessional Sea Change, he can get back to the business of being a total fruit loop. We all know what that involves: videogame sound effects, random shouting in Spanish, and rhymes about popsicles and vegetable vans. And that’s just the second track. Guero is like every Beck album condensed into one, a no-holds-barred collision of two-turntables and a microphone with the added bonus of guitars, bossa-nova beats, Jack White, lyrics about spaceships, and dumptrucks full of ideas all fighting to be heard above the ruckus. It’s an exhausting and exhilarating listen with lots of peaks, such as the digitized power ballad “Broken Drum” and handclap-drenched folk freak-out “Farewell Ride,” and more than enough to restore anyone’s faith in Beck as one of the most chaotically inspired songwriters of our time. — Aidin Vaziri
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1월 26th, 2006
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Waltons Irish Tin Whistle |
This is Irish folky instrument. Very easy to play.Includes a D whistle and 6-language instructional leaflet that includes 20 popular Irish and international tunes.
Related: All the World Traditional Instrument
1월 26th, 2006
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Stomvi Elite Piccolo Trumpet |
Stomvi is gaining worldwide recognition with the high quality instruments they produce. This piccolo trumpet is a result of their hard work. This horn is perfectly suited for all baroque music due to its velvet sound and harmonic richness.
Related: All the Brass
1월 26th, 2006
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Pulse B-2 Tunable 2-Tone Bongos |
Well-crafted, tunable bongos feature well-built hardwood shells and authentic 7″ and 8″ skin heads. 4 tuning lugs.
Related: Percussion & Drum