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Commercial classical CDs using Ernest Cholakis’ ‘Pure Space’ reverberation impulses by producer Simon Fox as of May 23, 2005

Click on CD cover for publication details

Classical guitar recording using ‘Pure Space’ reverberation impulses.

Click on CD cover for publication details

AVIE Records, 2004:  AV0052 http://www.avierecords.com/

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
The Six Cello Suites
Antonio Meneses (cello)
recorded in St Martin’s Church, East Woodhay, Berkshire, 2-5 June 2004

Produced, engineered and edited by Simon Fox-Gál

RECORD OF THE MONTH

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Dec04/Bach_%20meneses.htm

 “First things first. Meneses, his 1840 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaumme cello, the East Woodhay recording location and Simon Fox-Gál (the Avie producer, engineer and editor) combine to produce a truly beautiful and completely believable sound.”

(Record of the Month, Musicweb-International.com)

Magazines or websites which review CDs are, I suspect, most commonly read by would-be purchasers interested in acquiring the ‘best’ recording of a piece, or the one which represents ‘best’ value for money. But - sorry, my question is a cliché! - what constitutes ‘best’? And who is best qualified to say so? Why take my recommendation of a ‘best’ recording of the Bach Cello Suites, against the obviously more trustworthy word of Starker, Fournier, Tortelier, Schiff, Harrell, Kirshbaum, Gendron, Wispelwey or Ma? Which of these (including me!) has thought longest and hardest about this music?

I ask this question because, with this impressive new issue, we’re presented with yet another high-ranking recording of this timeless repertory, and comparisons with others are once more the order of the day. But comparisons, even evaluative comparisons, don’t have to result in some sort of batting order; that would be an irksome and ultimately pointless task, given the range of conflicting criteria we necessarily adopt in order to ‘assess’ different versions. Better accept that players and reviewers too have different yardsticks, and often come to different but equally defensible conclusions. Especially in repertory such as this, ‘truth’ (whatever that is) is far from absolute.

We can’t even satisfactorily pigeon-hole players according to ‘school’ - say, old-school with modern instrument on the one hand; ‘authentic’ (how I hate that word!) with period instrument on the other. For example, both Casals and Bylsma, poles apart in terms of their playing styles, each adopts a free approach to tempi, dynamics, tone and phrasing: and each exhibits a deeply personal expressive rubato. On the other hand, Rostropovich (an old-timer?) and Jaap Ter Linden (a baroque specialist?) tend to be more objective, more universal, without obvious expressive indulgence, clearly wanting their playing to be a statement on behalf of the composer rather than themselves. Okay, these are oversimplifications: and I’m sure that both Casals and Bylsma share the same ultimate goal of illuminating Bach - and only Bach!

Of course anyone keen to duplicate key pieces such as the Bach Cello Suites in their CD collection will usually want contrasting performances: performances which, in one way or another, represent different stylistic approaches - as with a subject being photographed from opposite angles, or in different lights. But a collector who is content with a single CD is more likely to be looking for a safe, middle-of-the-road and hopefully ‘definitive’ performance, rather than anything obviously wayward or untypical.

All this is a prelude to considering Meneses, who occupies the middle ground between interpretative extremities. I need to be careful here: adjectives used to describe such performances often imply blandness or monotony - as with a landscape which, however beautiful, lacks easily-distinguishable features. In truth, these readings are anything but bland or monotonous - Meneses speaks with the voice of reason, wisdom and maturity: he won’t provoke you, nor will he disturb you!

First things first. Meneses, his 1840 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaumme cello, the East Woodhay recording location and Simon Fox-Gál (the Avie producer, engineer and editor) combine to produce a truly beautiful and completely believable sound. I feel as though, on my dozen traversals of this set over these past few days, Meneses has been playing specially for me: as though I am his private audience. True, you can hear his every sniff (not too many of these, though, so don’t worry) but you can also hear the subtlest musical detail. The lower strings resonate with a wonderful depth and weight: high fidelity indeed!

Seemingly never wanting to be either sidetracked or overly subjective, his tempi tend to be brisk. But a great performer can always shape music without having to create room in order to do so: here, phrases breathe and unfold with a truly vocal conviction. And, in those pieces which encourage expressive extravagance, Meneses resists temptation: and, in so doing, knowing the difference between understatement and overstatement only too well, he simply underlines the point he is trying to make. So, the opening Prelude of the G major may lack the organ-like sustained ‘chords’ implied by its multi-string voicing: but, with more detached bowing than is customary, he allows it to speak to us intimately, to be monodic rather than polyphonic, implied rather than overt. And the great D minor Sarabande is sung with magisterial restraint: no Mahlerian self-indulgence or youthful excesses here! And yet Bach’s Bourrées and Gigues have all the dance-like energy, character and dashing momentum one could possibly want.

His playing is impressively accurate. Something we can surely take for granted, you’re probably saying to yourself. Not so! Such are the technical demands of this music, it’s not uncommon to find minor imperfections in intonation, or phrase highpoints where tonal purity is temporarily lost through some momentary excess. Not here! Only in the high-lying tessitura of the D major Suite written for a five-string instrument, but played here - as usual, even these days - on a standard four-string instrument does Meneses ever make you think he’s getting near the edge.

Like a peace-maker between rival factions, Meneses plays as if inspired, as if motivated by something bigger than all of us. He brings together a lifetime’s experience of playing and reflecting on this sublime music, and incorporating all the richness and expressive freedom of the ‘old school’ with the more cerebral, intellectually-illuminated thinking of today’s so-called ‘specialists’. These are enduring performances, which you can live with comfortably. A truly wonderful thing, it deserves the strongest recommendation: buy it, be it your 1st recording, or your nth.

Peter J Lawson

Here’s the original ‘dry’ recording (made using Neumann KM143 microphones). The acoustic audible is from the church venue.

http://www.numericalsound.com/av2_dry.mp3

 Here’s just the 100% wet reverb signal generated from the ‘dry’ recording above using IR 2495. Note the sense of space and distance due to the coherence of the impulse. Practically the equivalent of another pair of microphones at the back of the church:

http://www.numericalsound.com/av2_2495reverbonly.mp3

 And here’s the mix as used for the CD:

http://www.numericalsound.com/av2_2495.mp3

The copyright in these tracks is owned by Antonio Meneses, 2004

Born in Recife, Brazil in 1957 into a family of musicians, Antonio Meneses began his cello studies at the age of ten. At the age of 16, he met the famous Italian cellist Antonio Janigro and was asked to join Janigro's classes in Dusseldorf and later in Stuttgart. In 1977, Antonio won the first Prize at the International Competition in Munich and in 1982, he was awarded first Prize and gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Regularly appearing in the music capitals of Europe, the Americas and Asia, Antonio Meneses has performed with most of the world's leading orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, BBC Symphony, Concertgebouw, Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Moscow Philharmonic, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra (Washington D.C.), in Buenos Aires, in Warsaw, in Brazil, and with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo. Among the conductors with whom he has collaborated are Herbert von Karajan, Riccardo Muti, Mariss Jansons, Claudio Abbado, Andre Previn, Andrew Davis, Semyon Bychkov, Herbert Blomstedt, Gerd Albrecht, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Sanderling, Neeme Jarvi, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Vladimir Spivakov, and Riccardo Chailly.

Antonio is also a frequent guest at many important music festivals, including Puerto Rico (Festival Pablo Casals), Salzburg, Lucerne, the Vienna Festwochen, the Berlin Festwochen, the Prague Spring Festival, New York (Mostly Mozart Festival), Seattle, la Grange de Meslay, the Festival de Colmar, and the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival.

A devoted chamber music performer, Antonio Meneses has collaborated with the Emerson Quartet and the Vermeer Quartet on tour as well as with pianists such as Nelson Freire, Cristina Ortiz, and Gerard Wyss. Antonio has been a member of the Beaux Arts Trio since October 1998.

As a recording artist, Antonio Meneses made two recordings for Deutsche Grammophon with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra: Brahms' Double Concerto for Violin and Cello with Anne Sophie Mutter and Richard Strauss' "Don Quixote". Antonio has also recorded the D'Albert Concerto, works by David Popper - both with the Basel Symphony Orchestra - and Cello Concertos by Carl Philip Emanuel Bach with the Munich Chamber Orchestra for Pan Classics. In addition he recorded the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio with Nadja Solerno-Sonnenberg and Cecile Licad for EMI/Angel, and Concertos and the Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra by Heitor Villa-Lobos for Auvidis France. His most recent recordings, the complete works for Cello and Piano by Villa-Lobos with Cristina Ortiz and encore pieces with Gerald Wyss, were released in 2002.

In addition to a busy concert schedule, Antonio Meneses gives master classes in Europe, the Americas, and in Japan.

AVIE Records, 2005: AV2063 http://www.avierecords.com/

Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741)
Music for the Chapel of the Pietà
 Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Sarah McMahon (cello solo), Robert Howarth (organ)
La Serenissima/Adrian Chandler (Director, violin)
Recorded at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Salehurst, East Sussex, England, 22–24 Nov 2004
Produced, engineered and edited by Simon Fox-Gál

 RECORD OF THE MONTH

MusicWeb Record of the Month www.musicweb-international.com

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Mar05/Vivaldi_pieta_AV2063.htm

 “The balance at all times is exemplary – everything can be heard with clarity and great beauty.”

The mastermind behind this terrific CD, Adrian Chandler, is not only Director of La Serenissima and a violinist of flair and distinction; he is also a meticulous scholar, as his excellent booklet notes reveal. He has clearly engaged in much fruitful research in preparing for this recording, even carrying out imaginative reconstruction where necessary.

The result is a rich musical treat. All of this music was written by the ‘Red Priest’ for use in the Chapel of the Pietá, the Convent School for orphans (or ‘foundlings’) in Venice. The music on the generously filled disc consists of three instrumental concerti and two solo vocal cantatas, Laudate Pueri and Salve Regina. These are sung by the Scottish soprano Mhairi Lawson, who turns in thoroughly delightful performances. She gives the more lyrical movements, such as the very beautiful Et Jesum Benedictum that concludes Salve Regina, an easy and natural expressiveness, while she is more than equal to the bravura of the quicker movements. Laudate pueri contains much that represents Vivaldi at his very best, for example Quis sicut Dominus with its tip-toeing staccato in the strings.

This, and all the other instrumental music, is realised superbly by the players of La Serenissima, the enlarged chamber ensemble named after the city of its inspiration; the name being, of course, a poetic soubriquet for Venice itself. The string sound is pure and bold, yet capable of great subtlety when required. They are underpinned by a continuo section of great richness: the harpsichord of Joseph McHardy, the theorbo (bass lute) of Richard Sweeney, and the organ playing of Robert Howarth.

Despite the scholarship, there is nothing ‘academic’ about the performance of this music. Indeed, it is exuberant and often full of élan and humour. The final movement of RV554a is a sprightly Allegro which inspires McHardy to an outrageous three octave glissando, more normally associated with jazz pianists – fun!

Elsewhere, fine contributions come from cellist Sarah McMahon and organist Robert Howarth, the latter in the two concerti with organ solo parts. It’s not clear whether Howarth is playing the organ of the lovely old church in East Sussex where this is recorded; I doubt it, as, as far as I can gather, that instrument dates only from the late 19th century. Thus I think it is an imported chamber instrument that is used. Very fine it sounds, too.

The balance at all times is exemplary – everything can be heard with clarity and great beauty. Vivaldi is a funny old composer; sequences of mind-numbing repetitiveness are so often succeeded by sudden twists of utter harmonic or textural magic. Infuriating, but, in performances as wonderful as these, you can’t help loving it!

Gwyn Parry-Jones

 Here’s an extract from the CD. No dry excerpt available. There is almost no perceivable acoustic on the original recording – practically speaking, all that is heard here is generated by the impulses 1748 and 1550 (for the orchestra and voice respectively). The main pair for the orchestra is Earthworks QTC1, and a Soundfield MKIV for the voice:

http://www.numericalsound.com/av3_1748_155001.mp3

 The copyright in this track is owned by Adrian Chandler, 2005

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/edschoice.asp

Gramophone magazine - Editor’s Choice, June 2005

Four Temperaments
Thomas TALLIS (c1505-1585) ,William BYRD (c1539-1623), Robert PARSONS (c1530-1571), Alfonso FERRABOSCO I (1543-1588)
Phantasm
 Phantasm: Laurence Dreyfus, treble viol and director; Wendy Gillespie, treble and tenor viols; Jonathan Manson, tenor viol; Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, bass viol; Asako Morikawa, tenor and bass viols; Emilia Benjamin, bass viol
Recorded in August 2004 at St Mary's Church, South Creake, Norfolk, UK

Producer: Jonathan Freeman-Attwood; Balance engineer & editor: Simon Fox-Gál

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Apr05/Phantasm_AV2054.htm

“The sound is crisp and clear, yet warm and vibrant.” – Musicweb International

"It was Hippocrates who, in 'the Nature of Man', first identified the four temperaments so as to help diagnose illness. Corresponding to four essential bodily 'humours' or fluids (...) a patient was treated based on the humour the physician reckoned to be most dominant. The temperament also evoked one of the four types of personalities." Thus Laurence Dreyfus begins his liner notes to Phantasm's recording of music for viol consort by four composers of the English renaissance: Tallis, Parsons, Byrd and Ferrabosco I. He then identifies the 'temperaments' which were most characteristic of them. Tallis is the sanguine, reflected by the optimistic character of his music. Parsons is the choleric, who is quick to anger. Melancholy, which leads to sadness, is a feature of Byrd, whereas Ferrabosco is the phlegmatic, who is unshakeable. These features are represented by the choice of pieces by the respective composers in this programme.

I am not sure about the relationship between the four temperaments and music. I have looked into several encyclopedias and music books, and couldn't find any reference to 'temperament' in the sense it is used here. I also think it is highly speculative to link a composer's personality to his music. If a composer in the Elizabethan era writes a lot of melancholic music, this doesn't necessarily mean he is a melancholic person himself, as melancholy was much in vogue at the time.

I hasten to add that Laurence Dreyfus admits nuances in his temperament-based characterisation of composers when he writes: "Naturally, the emotions expressed in any given piece are too complex to be reduced to one humour and none of my attributions are meant as all-embracing. In fact, all four composers modulate skilfully between the temperaments, just in different ways. All people, according to this way of thinking, are subtle admixtures of the humours."

As a consequence the 'four temperaments' seem to me little more than a stepping-stone to present very different kinds of music for viol consort as composed in the English renaissance. If it was Phantasm's goal to demonstrate how varied the repertoire for viol consort was, then they have succeeded quite brilliantly. Listening to the pieces which are based on the famous 'In nomine' theme, for instance, one is impressed by the many ways composers have dealt with it.

An interesting aspect of this recording is the performance of Byrd's 4-part Mass. It is noted in the booklet that it wasn't unusual in those days to perform vocal music with instruments only. It is a tribute both to the quality of the composition as to the level of playing that the content of the mass comes through very clearly in this instrumental performance. The sections of the mass are interspersed with settings of 'In nomine' - the theme of which comes from John Taverner's Mass Gloria tibi Trinitas, creating a kind of liturgical setting.

Another item which particularly pleases me is the first piece of the programme: Tallis's 'A Solfing song', which was originally written for viol consort, but has a strongly vocal character, and could easily be sung on a given text. Another fine contribution is Robert Parsons' 'A Song called Trumpets', with its fanfare-like motifs. He was the most experimental of these four composers, and puts the performers to the test in his 'Ut re mi fa sol la': "The texture becomes 'untamed' in a moment of panicked frisson when all four players enter a distinct time zone (...), each forced to count in a way which disrupts the others. (...) The piece became addictive once we made it to the end without 'falling off' the ever-present precipice. Which took a good while." It is good to know that they are human after all.

This recording is an impressive addition to the growing list of brilliant recordings by Phantasm, many of which have received or have been nominated for awards. Another good candidate for an award - the playing is outstanding. The sound is crisp and clear, yet warm and vibrant. The melancholy of some pieces is just as well realised as the more joyful works, where the ensemble displays a strong sense of dynamics and rhythm. In short, this disc presents English consort music in its full glory.

Johan van Veen

This recording was made in a church, but best results were obtained by using a very up-front dry mix based upon a main system of 2 Neumann KM143’s with only a small amount of additional ambience from a more distant pair of Neumann KM130’s...

http://www.numericalsound.com/av1_dry01.mp3

 ...and generating reverb from this signal using IR1748. Here’s the mix:

http://www.numericalsound.com/av1_1748.mp3

 The copyright in these tracks is owned by Laurence Dreyfuss.

http://www.phantasm.org.uk/

Photo: Hanya Chlala

Phantasm, a quartet of viols founded in 1994, catapulted into international prominence when its debut CD won a Gramophone Award for the Best Baroque Instrumental Recording of 1997. Since then, they have released eight further recordings and have become recognised as the most exciting viol consort active on the world scene today.

Phantasm's latest CD, Four Temperaments was released at the end of February. This disc, featuring the music of Byrd, Ferrabosco, Parsons and Tallis follows the success of Phantasm's 2004 CD of Orlando Gibbons Consorts for Viols which won a Gramophone Award for Early Music and was a finalist for Gramophone's Record of the Year.

Phantasm was founded in 1994 by Laurence Dreyfus, who dreamed of forming a viol consort embodying the highest artistic standards. Inspired by the great twentieth-century string quartets, Phantasm have championed a bold and passionate style of consort playing which does full justice to its magnificent repertoire.

The international members of the quartet (from Britain, Finland and the US) all trained on modern instruments, but were drawn to the viol consort because of the dazzling sonority of the ensemble and the independence of lines cultivated by the complex polyphony. Specialising in music from the 16th to the 18th centuries, the quartet have been applauded across the globe for their moving performances, which embrace the eloquent fantasies of Byrd and Gibbons, the magical works of Lawes and Purcell, even new arrangements of Bach and Mozart.

AVIE Records, 2004: AV0042 http://www.avierecords.com/

Short Stories - A collection of romantic violin pieces.
 David Frühwirth (violin)
Henri Sigfridsson (piano)
Recorded in July 2000, Vienna Symphony Studio, Konzerthaus, Vienna

Produced, engineered and edited by Simon Fox-Gál

This record is a spectacular example of a recording made in a completely dry venue, brought to life entirely through the use of a Pure Space reverberation impulse.

Here is the dry original recording (made using a single pair of Neumann KM130’s):

http://www.numericalsound.com/av4_dry.mp3

 And here is the sound as released on the CD, brought to life using Pure Space impulse 1610. The key to this is the fact that using sampled reverb of this quality, there’s no need to roll off any HF components (as usually needs to be done with conventional reverb) – on the contrary, by boosting this part of the reverb signal, a greater sense of ‘air’ can be generated:

http://www.numericalsound.com/av4_1610.mp3

The copyright in these tracks is owned by David Fruhwirth.

Pan Classics http://panclassics.com/

Piotr Illitch Tchaikovsky:  Sextet for two violins, two violas and two cellos in D minor Op. 70 Souvenir de Florence

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: String sextet in A major
Wiener Streichsextett

Recorded by Musica Numeris

Producer: Simon Fox-Gál; Engineer: Koichiro Hattori

 This quite spectacular recording for Pan Classics of the legendary Vienna Sextet was made in a small church in Blumenstein, Switzerland, using a single pair of Neumann M149’s.

 The original dry recording:

http://www.numericalsound.com/pan1_dry.mp3

 ...and from the final CD, brought to life again by the Pure Space reverb impulses, this time from the ‘film’ set: IR2290, which has an extremely resonant top end whilst remaining balanced in the mid-range:

http://www.numericalsound.com/pan1_2290.mp3

 The copyright in these tracks is owned by Pan Classics.

Ambroisie, 2004  AMB9946

Handel: Water Musick; Telemann: Wassermusik
Ensemble Zefiro

Alfredo Bernardini

 Recorded in St.John’s Smith Square, London by Musica Numeris

Produced, engineered and edited by Simon Fox-Gál

Reverb added to live performance material (drier due to audience present) using IR 1785

According to Greek mythology, Zefiro was the sweet and benign God of the winds of the west.


In 1989, the oboists Alfredo Bernardini and Paolo Grazzi, and the bassonist Alberto Grazzi, founded Zefiro, a group with an organic variable, specialized in that repertory of the 1700's in which the winds have a prominent role, joining with the respective experiences collected participating to the activity of the most prestigious baroque orchestras.

From then Zefiro has been included in important european festivals (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva, Innsbruck, Lione, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Palma de Maiorca, Paris, Prague, Regensburg, Utrecht, etc), having everywhere a large success of public and critic.

Moreover, the recordings of the six sonatas of J. D. Zelenka and of music for winds groups of W. A. Mozart, both for the French label Astrèe-Auvidis, have been rewarded with various international prizes, like the Grand Prix du Disque, and (these recordings) make Zefiro a reference point for this repertorio in the entire world.

Michael Svoboda (trombone)

Orchestre Symphonique de la Monnaie, Kazushi Ono

 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14932-1541700,00.html

 “The recorded sound is exceptional: if Kazushi Ono and the Orchèstre Symphonique de la Monnaie, caught live in Brussels, sound as sumptuous as this, why do we suffer so many pinched recordings from elsewhere? With dazzling sound and polished performances, the music takes on added lustre.”

 BBC Music Magazine gave this album five stars for both performance and sound:
'...excellent performances, stunningly well recorded, a fine addition to [the] composers' discography'. Calum MacDonald, April 2005

  Recorded by Musica Numeris. Producer: Simon Fox-Gál; Engineers: Nicolas de Beco, Fréderic Briant

The material for this CD was recorded at live performances at Bozar, Brussels, Belgium. With an orchestra of this size and full house, the acoustic was effectively completely dry on the recording. The ambience on the final master was created entirely using Classical IR 1543.

About Kazushi Ono

Biographie On Kazushi Ono (http://www.warnerclassics.com/artistbiography.php?artist=4168)

In 2002 Kazushi Ono was appointed Music Director of La Monnaie, the Royal Opera House of Belgium, succeeding Antonio Pappano. This followed appointments as General Music Director of the the Baden-Württemberg State Theatre in Karlsruhe from 1996 to 2001, Chief Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra from 1990 – 1996 and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra where he was Principal Conductor from 1992 and where he still holds the position of Conductor Laureate and Artistic Advisor.

In addition to his activities at La Monnaie he frequently guest conducts with orchestras such as the NDR Hamburg, Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, RAI di Torino, Ensemble Intercontemporain, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein. This season he makes his debut at the Chatelet in Paris with Henze The Bassarids with the Orchestre Philharmonique.

Born in Tokyo, Kazushi began his training as a conductor at the State High School for Fine Arts and Music. He also studied with Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Festival and with Wolfgang Sawallisch and Giuseppe Patane at the Bavarian State Opera, going on to win First Prize in the Arturo Toscanini Competition in 1987.

Vivaldi:

 Stabat Mater RV621

 Nisi Dominus RV608

 Salve Regina RV616

 Concerto for viola d'amore FII No. 2

 Carlos Mena (counter tenor); François Fernandez (viola d'amore)

Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot

 Recorded at the Abbeye Royale de Fontevraud, France by Musica Numeris

Producer: Simon Fox-Gál; Balance engineer: Frederic Briant

Acoustic of the recording enhanced significantly using IR 1748

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

The complete pianoforte and violin sonatas

Jorja Fleezanis violin

Cyril Huvé pianoforte

Recorded in Valencay, France by Musica Numeris

Produced, engineered and edited by Simon Fox-Gál

Ambience of this recording consists largely of reverb generated by Pure Space classical IR1425.

Review http://www.stringsmagazine.com/issues/Strings123/reviews.html

Tavener: Ikon of Eros (world premiere recording). Minnesota Orchestra, Paul Goodwin, conductor; Minnesota Chorale, Kathy Saltzman Romey, music director. Jorja Fleezanis, violin; Patricia Rozario, soprano; Tim Krol, baritone. (Reference Recordings, 102)

Beethoven: The Complete Pianoforte and Violin Sonatas. Three CDs. Jorja Fleezanis, violin; Cyril Huvé, pianoforte. (Cypres, 1640)

Jorja Fleezanis, longtime concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra, is a splendid violinist, possessor of a masterful technique and a pure, variable, beautiful, expressive tone. These two recordings admirably illustrate her extraordinarily stylistic versatility and communicative power. In John Tavener's new work Ikon of Eros, written for Fleezanis, the violin represents Divine Eros; playing almost continuously, her tone has an uninflected, celestial purity, floating high above orchestra and chorus. The four-part piece is contemplative, mostly static, except for an oriental-sounding dance. Variety is created through dynamics and contrasting choral and instrumental textures. The style is based on Eastern orthodox liturgy. The soprano sings in unison with the violin, the baritone acts as cantor. In an interview, Tavener describes music as "liquid metaphysics;" learning beauty from "virgin nature," it heals, moves, fills with wonder, expresses a longing for God. He considers all religions sublime, "none remains exclusive." That belief is reflected here.

The Beethoven Sonatas are technically and stylistically impeccable. Both players make their meticulous observance of Beethoven's markings sound musically and emotionally natural. The most startling element is the pianoforte sound: dry, crisp, transparent, with a brittle, rattling quality, especially since Beethoven indicates pedal only in the last two sonatas. Fleezanis plays the early sonatas in a semiperiod style, with delayed, sparing vibrato, swells, and abruptly short notes, though her tone is unfailingly beautiful. Some fast tempos are breathlessly hectic, but most are well suited to the mood, character, and expression of the music, allowing for elegant phrasing, poised changes, and transitions within a flexible but rock-steady rhythm. Among the highlights are the two perhaps most elusive sonatas, Nos. 6 and 10, but listeners will find their own favorites.

—Edith Eisler

Jorja Fleezanis has been concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra since September 1989, assuming that position after nine years with the San Francisco Symphony, eight of them as associate concertmaster. In November 2003, Fleezanis was soloist with the Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä in the John Adams Violin Concerto, a work commissioned and written for her in 1993. She has given first performances of several other important violin works, including Nicholas Maw’s Sonata for Solo Violin and, with violist Thomas Turner, the American premiere of Benjamin Britten’ s Double Concerto for Violin and Viola. A master teacher, she serves on the faculty of the University of Minnesota and is artist-in-residence at the University of California-Davis. She maintains a long-time relationship with the Round Top (Texas) International Festival. Fleezanis plays a Matteo Goffriller violin, made in 1700 and given in 2003 to the Minnesota Orchestra for her use by John and Nancy Lindahl.

Alba Records, 2005 – ABCD205 http://www.alba-records.fi

CD-SACD Hybrid release.

Portraits
Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra; Juha Kangas, conductor

 Producer: Simon Fox-Gál; Engineers: Alessandra Galleron, Simon Fox-Gál

This recording was made in the large Snellman hall in Kokkola, Finland. However, the liveliness of the venue was still able to be enhanced using the Pure Space reverb impulses.

 Here’s the original recording, with no reverb added:

http://www.numericalsound.com/alb_dry.mp3

 And here’s the same excerpt, including IR 1648:

http://www.numericalsound.com/alb_1648.mp3

 And from the same disc, a reverb tail. This example demonstrates how easily the impulse-generated reverb can be integrated into the natural acoustic, to transform a slightly dead-sounding dye-away into something more vibrant:

Original ‘natural’ recording:

http://www.numericalsound.com/alb_tail_dry.mp3

and with reverb IR 1648:

http://www.numericalsound.com/alb_tail1648.mp3

 N.B. for the 5.1 surround mix incorporated on this SACD/CD hybrid, the same IR1648-generated reverb was used for the mix.

 The copyright in these tracks is owned by Alba Records.

The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra has been a professional orchestra only since 1989, but its homogeneous sound and dynamic impact are the result of years of playing together. Juha Kangas, the artistic director, founded the orchestra in 1972.

The orchestra's repertoire covers all periods in the history of music from the Baroque to the present day. The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra has made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of contemporary Finnish music and had works written and dedicated to it by many Finnish composers. It also has close contacts with composers in Scandinavia and the Baltic states and has premiered over 90 works to date, many of them commissioned by the orchestra itself.

The Chamber Orchestra regularly performs with top international soloists and has released over 40 discs. Its foreign tours have taken it to several European contries and to Japan. This year the orchestra will visit Estonia, St. Petersburg and Japan, and in October it will debut in the USA with a concert in new York.

The orchestra was awarded the music prize of the Nordic Council in 1993. In 1995 the Chamber Orchestra and its conductor Juha Kangas were awarded the Luomus Prize by the Finnish Composers' International Copyright Bureau (Teosto) and in spring 1998 the Madetoja Prize by the Society of Finnish Composers.

THE FAMOUS OCO SOUND

Orchestras are known by their sound, assuming that they have one that is recognisable. The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra certainly does, and one which even the uninitiated will quickly learn to identify. Although describing a sound in words is virtually impossible, that of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra is beyond all doubt its strongest distinguishing feature. Cultivating it has been one of the Orchestra’s basic missions right from the very beginning, and spotting it inevitably brings immense pleasure. The vision of both the conductor and of every member of the Orchestra is singularly clear in this respect.


With its unique sound and intensity of interpretation, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra provides the listener with the keys to hearing and understanding music in a new way: freely and spontaneously, unhampered by any preconceived ideas or schools.

 Hans Gál (1890-1987)

Complete works for Solo Piano 3-CD Set

Leon McCawley, piano

To be released September 2005

Recorded at Potton Hall, Suffolk, England

Produced, engineered and edited by Simon Fox-Gál

 Producers Comments

This recording was made using Earthworks QTC1’s as the main pair. The live acoustic of the hall is present, but not enough to allow the music to breath; a bigger, more expansive space is needed. This is supplied by Classical imulse IR 1543, one of my favourites: light in the bass, lively in the treble, and has a pronounced ‘rebound’ in the tail.

 Here is the ‘dry’ original:

http://www.numericalsound.com/av5_dry.mp3

 and here is the mix incorporating IR 1543:

http://www.numericalsound.com/av5_1543.mp3

 The copyright in these tracks is owned by Eva Fox-Gál.

Gal [Gal], Hans

(b Brunn, nr Vienna, 5 Aug 1890; d Edinburgh, 3 Oct 1987). Austrian composer and musicologist. He studied composition with Mandyczewski and music history with Guido Adler at Vienna University, completing the doctorate in 1913 on the style of the young Beethoven. Two years later he won the newly created Austrian State Prize for composition. From 1919 until 1929 he was lecturer in music theory at the university, and the period between the end of World War I and 1933 saw his rapid rise to success as a composer, above all with his second opera Die heilige Ente, performed in some 20 theatres. After winning the Columbia Schubert centenary prize for his Sinfonietta in 1928, he was appointed director of the Mainz Conservatory (1929--33). On Hitler's accession to power in 1933 he was instantly dismissed and the performance and publication of his works were banned because he was Jewish. He returned to Austria, but was driven out by the Anschluss in 1938 and fled to England. Tovey invited him to Scotland, where he settled in 1939 and was appointed lecturer at Edinburgh University in 1945. From that time he played an active part in the musical life of the city, not only as lecturer, but also as conductor, pianist, musical personality and founder-member of the Edinburgh International Festival. He remained active as a composer but never re-established his pre-war career and relatively little of his output is known.

Of his 110 published works, more than half were composed in Scotland. His values were deeply rooted in the tonal tradition of the Austro-German musical style. Though an inheritor of the legacy of Brahms, he had by the time of his twenties found his own distinctive musical language to which, regardless of changing musical fashions, he remained true. It unites many elements: the clarity, playful humour and formal mastery of early Classicism; the chromatic harmony and extended tonality of early 20th-century, pre-serial music; a Schubertian love of melody; the lyricism and emotional restraint of Brahms and the contrapuntal textures that remained fundamental to his style. His deep insight into the life and work of great musicians is shown in his books -- on Brahms, Schubert, Wagner and Verdi.

Simon Fox-Gál  grew up in musical surroundings (his grandfather was the composer Hans Gál) and started the cello at the age of five, and the piano at the age of eight. After a six-year training as record producer (Tonmeister) at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany, he set up base in London, working initially for Swiss record label Pan Classics and ex-Decca recording outfit Classic Sound.

His work is now for the well-established continental recording company Musica Numeris, and as freelance record producer and editor for a number of labels in the UK and abroad.
Simon has made recordings for the labels EMI/Virgin Classics, Erato, Warner, NMC, Sony Music, Pan Classics, Campanella Musica, Mirare, Hungaroton, Ambroisie, Avie, Cypres, Naxos, Alba, and BMG/RCA. Editing work has included a substantial number of Decca/Universal releases.

To contact Simon Fox email address is simon.fox@dsl.pipex.com

Spector Music http://www.spectormusic.com/

Classical Guitarist Lawrence Spector

Recorded and Engineered by Tyler Monks

Mastered by Ernest Cholakis

All the tracks on this recording used reverb impulse 2240. The following are short excerpts from the recordings.

Track 1 Romance (Anonymouse) is the ‘dry’ original lspector_tr1_dry.mp3

The same track 100% wet lspector_tr1_wet.mp3

The final mixed version lspector_tr1_mix.mp3

Track 3 Gondoliera by Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856) is the ‘dry’ original lspector_tr3_dry.mp3

The same track 100% wet lspector_tr3_wet.mp3

The final mixed version lspector_tr3_mix.mp3

Track 15 El Noi de la Mere (Catalonian Folk Song) is the ‘dry’ original lspector_tr15_dry.mp3

The same track 100% wet lspector_tr15_wet.mp3

The final mixed version lspector_tr15_mix.mp3

I have played the guitar since 1972. My first six years allowed me to experience a variety of styles, and in 1978 I decided to study classical guitar. The beauty of its sound seduced me, as I hope it will you. I chose as my teacher the late Vicente Gomez, a Spanish flamenco and classical guitarist. Señor Gomez was in his mid-60’s, and in his earlier life he composed for and played in several Hollywood movies. We were maestro and disciple for about seven years. In 1985 I sought out Los Romeros, the famous family of Spanish classical guitarists to instruct me in their ways. From them I learned a new approach to the technical challenges of the instrument — a method of solving its seemingly complex technique in a systematic and relaxed manner. During this time I was residing in Los Angeles, then in 1987 I moved to San Diego to be closer to Los Romeros and enjoy more intensive studies. I also enrolled at San Diego State University where Celin Romero was on the music faculty.

In the summer of 1990 I traveled to Malaga, Spain, for a special week-long master class with Los Romeros. During that summer I also attended a three-week master class in Salzburg, Austria with Pepe Romero. These experiences not only helped my guitar playing, but they have also given a sense of history to the music I play. (Most of the classical repertoire is from Europe.) The following summer I returned to Salzburg, to once again participate in a Romero master class and absorb the musical culture of this inspiring city. When I returned to San Diego I graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Guitar Performance. Since then, there have been more Romero master classes and private lessons, and I have performed many recitals throughout Southern California. In 1993 I organized and performed a concert featuring two guitar concerti of Los Angeles composer and conductor James Domine. These works were performed with a string section comprised of members of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. In 1994 I gave a series of guitar and piano duet performances with pianist John Danke, featuring music of the Italian virtuoso/composer Mauro Giuliani. We played the fabulous opus 70  — a 30-minute guitar concerto of rapturous beauty. In 1995 I performed Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Sones en La Giralda” with the Alcala Symphony Orchestra, and, with a string quartet, Giuliani’s opus 30. In 2000 I was invited to play with the Bakersfield College Orchestra under the baton of Robert Martinez. This concert offered the dazzling and rhythmic “Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra” by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

The copyright in these tracks is owned by Spector Music, 2004