Sept 2022 – Alto CD

Best of British Brass Bands

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:47:48 +0000

“Plenty of treats here as expert players are able to display their skills both in groups and as soloists in 27 pieces (mostly specially arranged)”

Massed Brass Bands of Fodens, Fairey Aviation & Morris Motors

conducted by Harry Mortimer OBE

1. William Tell Overture – finale (Rossini) 3:23

2. Three of a Kind (Heyler) 2:25

3. The Donkey Serenade (Friml) 2:16

4. Finlandia (Sibelius arr Bidgood) 7:14

5. Trumpet Voluntary (Clarke arr Wright) 2:20

6. Serenade (Heykens) 3:15

7. Trombones to the Fore (Scull arr Pope) 3:04

8. Whispering Brass (Haysom arr Gay) 2:33

9. Marching Trumpets (Seymour/Siebert) 2:29

Harry Mortimer and his All-Star Brass

from Faireys, Fodens, GUS and Morris Bands

10 The Faithful Hussar (Frantzen) 2:35

11 When Johnny Comes Marching Home (Trad arr Howe) 3:58

12 Sousa on Parade (Medley- Sousa arr Palmer) 4:45

Hymns with Grimethorpe Colliery Band / George Thompson

13 Aberystwyth – Saviour When in Dust to Thee (Parry) 2:01

14 Bethany – Nearer my God to Thee (Mason) 1:56

15 Crimond – The Lord’s my Shepherd (Irvine) 2:00

16 Easter Hymn – Christ the Lord is Risen Today (Anon) 1:11

17 Eventide – Abide with me (Monk) 3:20

18 The Old Rugged Cross (Trad arr Thompson) 2:44

19 St. Clements – The Day Thou Gavest (Schofield arr Thompson) 2:01

20 Jerusalem – And did Those Feet (Parry arr Rimmer) 3:00

21 Cwm Rhondda – Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer (Hughes) 1:31

22 Old Hundredth – All People that on Earth do Dwell (arr Allan) 1:08

Black Dyke Mills Band / Geoffrey Witham* / Major C.H. Jaeger**

23 Spanish Harlequin (Haysom arr Pope)* 2:39

24 Carnival of Venice (W Rimmer arr D Rimmer)* Solo cornet: Jim Shepherd 5:18

25 Orpheus in the Underworld – Can-Can (Offenbach arr Hibbert)** 2:00

26 Thunder and Lightning Polka (J Strauss II arr Wright)** 2:43

27 The Mikado – Selection (Sullivan)* 4:41

Time 79:36; Originally issued Decca (1-9); EMI (10-12, 23-27); (Pye 13-22).

Digital Re-mastering: Paul Arden-Taylor (www.dinmore-records.co.uk)

Vivaldi (etc) Lute and Mandolin Concertos

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:47:27 +0000

“I enjoyed greatly some highly attractive and charming music, sensitive playing, and clean, fresh-sounding recordings … The Lute concerto in particular has good things … Of the Mandolin concertos, this double is most interesting, done with charm, with one mandolin each to the left and to the right, and is quite delightful. Much of the music is in Vivaldi’s best sombre G minor tone.” (Gramophone)

Vivaldi: Concerto in G for 2 Mandolins & Strings, P.133 [12:22]

[1] Allegro 5:04 [2] Largo 3:04 [3] Allegro 4:13

Paul Grund & Artur Rumetsch / Württemberg Chamber Orchestra / Jörg Faerber

Vivaldi: Concerto in C for Mandolin & Strings, P. 134 [9:22]

[4] Allegro 3:30 [5] Largo 2:56 [6] Allegro 2:56

Paul Grund / Württemberg Chamber Orchestra / Jörg Faerber

Hummel: Concerto in G for Mandolin & Orchestra [20:08]

[7] Allegro moderato e grazioso 9:12 [8] Andante con variazione 5:06

[9] Rondo 5:49 Edith Bauer-Slais / Vienna Pro Musica / Vinzenz Hladky

[10] Hoffmann: Rondo from Mandolin Concerto in D 4:25

Elfriede Kunschak / Vienna Pro Musica / Vinzenz Hladky

[11] Caroso: Andantino 3:31

[12] Galilei: Allegro marcato 4:35

Vienna Mandolin & Guitar Ensemble / Vinzenz Hladky

Vivaldi: Trio Sonata in G minor for Violin, Lute & Continuo, P.85 [9:33]

[13] Andante molto 4:32 [14] Larghetto 2:33 [15] Allegro 2:27

Rudolf Breitschmid (violin) / Anton Stingl (lute)

Peter Buck (cello) / Martin Galling (harpsichord)

Vivaldi: Concerto in D for Lute & Strings, P.209 [9:42]

[16] Allegro giusto 4:28 [17] Largo 2:41 [18] Allegro 2:32

Anton Stingl / Württemberg Chamber Orchestra / Jörg Faerber

Johann Nepomuk Hummel ‘Collection’

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:47:27 +0000

“altogether this is as tempting a Hummel collection as any we know … His G major (mandolin) Concerto here in even more agreeable form, as Op.73 Piano Concertino, and Martin Galling is even more persuasive, helped by a very spirited backing in Berlin …also La Galante, a lilting Rondo for solo piano … Zukerman and Faerber return for Hummel’s Bassoon Concerto, impressive to be discussed in the same breath as Mozart’s, particularly with this splendid soloist, who is deliciously jocular in the characterful finale. The disc concludes with Septet Militaire, Op.114: the very happy finale, with its ingenious upward scale, is most felicitous” (Gramophone)

Piano Concertino in G major, Op 73 [17:47]

[1] I Allegro moderato 8:52

[2] II Andante grazioso 4:12

[3] III Rondo 4:42

Martin Galling / Berlin Symphony Orchestra / Carl-August Bünte

Introduction and Rondeau for Piano,Op120 “La Galante” [8:19]

[4] I Introduzione 3:02

[5] II Rondo 5:17

Martin Galling

Bassoon Concerto in F major, S 63 WoO 23 [26:17]

[6] I Allegro moderato 13:19

[7] II Adagio 7:26

[8] III Rondo 5:31

George Zukerman / Württemberg Chamber Orchestra / Jörg Faerber

Grand Military Septet in C major, Op 114 [24:18]

[9] I Allegro con brio 7:43

[10] II Adagio 6:48

[11] III Menuetto: Allegro 3:57

[12] IV Finale: Vivace 5:49

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Clarinet Quintet Suite de Concert, Ballad, Sprituals for piano

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:47:27 +0000

“He was very well thought of by Stanford, at the Royal College of Music; and not just out of sympathy with allowing a negro composer a hearing in London. The Clarinet Quintet (that pleased Stanford) also received approval from Joachim. It is a very agreeable quintet, most acceptably performed and recorded, and as easy on the ear as its more famous predecessors (Mozart and Brahms). Petite suite de concert: lovable music; Other of the piano music could have great appeal: especially so could the arrangements of Negro Melodies with their easygoing simplicity” (MusicWeb)

Petite Suite de Concert [11:50]

1. La Caprice de Nannette 3:21 2. Demande et Réponse 3:36

3. Un Sonnet d’Amour 2:42 4. La Tarantelle Fretillante 2:09

Virginia Eskin piano

5. Ballade in D minor (1895) 12:54

Michael Ludwig violin Virginia Eskin piano

Spirituals [18:19]

6. Take Nabandji 2:00 7. Going Up 2:46 8. Deep River 5:39

9. Run, Mary, Run 1:58 10. Sometimes I feel like a Motherless

Child 3:29 11. The Bamboula 2:25

Virginia Eskin piano

Clarinet Quintet in A [35:40] **

12. Allegro energico 11:54 13. Larghetto affetuoso 7:31

14. Scherzo 8:09 15. Finale 8:05

Harold Wright clarinet with the Hawthorne String Quartet

Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos.4 & 5

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:47:27 +0000

The [4th Symphony] is especially interesting: not previously issued; furthermore, it may well be new to the Davis discography. Vaughan Williams’ Fourth Symphony receives a terrific reading … first movement full of teeming energy and the recorded sound adds to the impact … an expertly judged slow movement offers refined playing but they and Davis make the climaxes ardent. The Scherzo is really incisive … the finale explodes into life and the LSO brass is on trenchant form … Davis keeps the performance rock-steady and they achieve great clarity … hard to understand why it was never issued separately – greatly to be welcomed” (MusicWeb). [5th symphony]

Symphony No.4 in F minor [31:43]

1. I. Allegro 7:57

2. II. Andante moderato 9:29

3. III. Scherzo: Allegro molto 5:31

4. IV. Finale con epilogo fugato: Allegro molto 8:45

Symphony No.5 in D major [39:17]

5. I. Preludio: Moderato – Allegro – Tempo I 12:11

6. II. Scherzo: Presto misterioso 4:28

7. III. Romanza: Lento 11:31

8. IV. Passacaglia: Moderato 11:05

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet – Suites Nos.1 & 2 The Love for Three Oranges – Suite*

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:47:26 +0000

“The playing of the Minneapolis Orchestra is on a virtuoso level. The crystal-clear acoustic and the ambience seem ideally suited to the melodic lines and pungent lyricism of this powerful score, to underline the sense of tragedy without losing the music’s romantic sweep. The fidelity of the Mercury engineering reaches a zenith in the powerful closing sequence… Doráti’s Love for Three Oranges suite still sounds remarkably vivid . Here his imagination really does take wing; such a well prepared account … Skrowaczewski includes the whole of Suite No.1 and all of No.2 except Friar Laurence. The additional pieces do merit occasional hearing, especially the lovely one from Act 1 called Romeo and Juliet” (Gramophone)

Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges – Suite, Op. 33a [15:47]*

1. The Ridiculous People 3:03

2. Infernal Scene 3:32

3. March 1:36

4. Scherzo 1:35

5. The Prince and the Princess 3:46

6. The Escape 2:13

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (Ballet): Suite No.1, Op.64a [26:51]

7. Folk Dance 4:28

8. Scene 1:48

9. Madrigal 3:21

10. Minuet 2:55

11. Masks 2:14

12. Romeo and Juliet 7:18

13. Death of Tybalt 4:43

Prokoviev: Romeo and Juliet (Ballet): Suite No.2, Op.64b [29:00]

14. Montagues and Capulets: Dance of the Knights 5:12

15. The Maid Juliet: 3:50

16. Morning Dance 2:10

17. Romeo and Juliet before Parting 9:07

18. Dance of the Maids from the Antilles 2:12

19. Romeo at Juliet’s Grave 6:26