Stories » The Bach Choir of Bethlehem: A Child?s Christmas in Bethlehem is WFMT: Chicago 'New Release of the Week

Stories for January 16, 2021

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    Dudamel, LAPhil, and DG deserve thanks for releasing these endlessly fascinating 'Ives' works / THE CLASSIC REVIEW
     
    Posted At : January 15, 2021 12:00 AM

    Deutsche Grammophon releases Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic's performances of the complete Charles Ives symphony cycle. Called "a revelation" by the Los Angeles Times, the rarely heard symphony cycle was recorded in early 2020 as part of the LA Phil's Dvořák and Ives festival.   THE CLASSIC REVIEW's David A. McConnell writes.....Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and DG deserve our warmest thanks for releasing new recordings of these endlessly fascinating works. The label "Complete Symphonies" is misleading however, since the "New England Holidays" Symphony is not included. Given the excellence of these performances, I hope Dudamel and Los Angeles turn their attention to that work in the future. Nevertheless, it is fantastic that one of America's finest orchestras has recorded this repertoire.   SEE THE CLASSIC REVIEW PAGE

  • Fanfare gives Smaro Gregoriadou - A Healing Fire 5 out of 5 stars....says; 'A lovely, very musical and varied guitar recital'
     
    Posted At : January 15, 2021 12:00 AM

    FanFare's Henry Fogel writes.....Gregoriadou is a Greek guitarist who draws a remarkably wide range of color from her guitar. The calm beauty of the third movement of the Bach violin sonata, simply marked Andante, is followed by a brilliantly executed final Allegro that manages to wed crisp articulation with lyrical flow. Britten's Nocturnal after John Dowland, written for Julian Bream, is given a superb reading. The music is a set of variations that appear before the Dowland theme itself emerges at the end. Britten said that the music contained "disturbing images," though he never specified what they were. This is unsettled music that seems to stop and start, building tension in its halting, quiet way. Release, at least to a degree, is found at the end with Dowland's original theme. Gregoriadou's performance emphasizes the work's underlying tension without overplaying it. Sofia Gubaidulina's Serenade was composed in 1960 when the composer was 29, and is a gentler and more introspective work than we are used to from her. At three minutes, it is also very brief. Not unlike the Britten, the music is tonally ambiguous until resolving in what Gregoriadou, in her excellent notes, calls "a therapeutic G major chord." Jacques Hétu was a Canadian composer (1938–2010) who wrote his Suite pour guitare in 1986. It is predominantly a lyrical work, much of it at soft dynamics. The third movement, "Ballade," is marked by an underlying darkness that is relieved in the following "Rêverie." After these two quiet movements the work ends with a brilliant finale, in the style of a moto perpetuo. What is special about this recording is Gregoriadou's focus on timbre. Her technique is exceptional, but it is always at the service of creating a sound world with a wide spectrum. Her dynamic shading in the last movement of the Hétu is astonishing, and it is so effortlessly achieved that you don't think about technique as you listen. I don't think of Gregoriadou as a guitarist. I think of her as a musician who happens to play the guitar. This is a very beautiful guitar recital, with recorded sound that makes it seem as if you are in the room with Gregoriadou, and at just the right distance for the best perspective.

  • Gustavo Santaolalla - The Last of Us Part II makes 'HAPPY: The 10 best video game soundtracks of 2020'
     
    Posted At : January 14, 2021 12:00 AM

    HAPPY's Rian Howlett writes.....2020 was an incredible year for gaming for a few reasons. A lot of free time went around the place, imminent next-gen releases pushed everyone into a gaming frenzy, and Keanu Reeves called another man, and all of us, breathtaking. And just like the titles they represent, the video game soundtracks released in 2020 were top notch. We trawled back through the year that was to single out who we thought brought true heat to the musical table. For the most part, these OSTs are albums you can listen to in their own right, some of them however just complemented the game so perfectly that now it's hard to think of one without the other. From electrically charged thrash metal to spine-tingling orchestral scores, HAPPY picks the 10 best video game soundtracks of 2020. On the list is Gustavo Santaolalla - The Last Of Us Part 2. Gustavo Santaolalla has stood as the invisible third piece of the Joel and Ellie puzzle for as long as we've known them. The guitar in the original TLOU was a sparse, exquisite affair. Barely noticeable builds, and almost entirely acoustic. It was haunting and instantly recognisable. With all of the weapons of the contemporary music producer at his arsenal, he brought a much bigger world for our ears to play in. While absolutely different to the original, there wasn't anything lost through the shift in the music from part one to two. The Last Of Us Part 2's soundtrack is a gorgeous, expansive experience that complemented the jump from adolescence to adulthood that Ellie makes between the games. SEE THE FULL HAPPY PAGE

  • The Kanneh-Mason family, a modern musical dynasty performs Saint-Saens, Bob Marley on new recording / 98.7WFMT
     
    Posted At : January 14, 2021 12:00 AM

    98.7WFMT: Chicago, Lisa Flynn writes.....There have been many musical dynasties throughout history – think of the Bach and Strauss families. Today, we have a new dynasty in the making with the extraordinary talents of England's Kanneh-Masons – seven brothers and sisters, all of whom play either violin, piano, or cello. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided the siblings with the opportunity to join together at home for the first time in over five years, as they've performed and shared their music with the world via livestreams. In 2020, the Kanneh-Masons also released their first-ever family album, Carnival, joined by several instrumentalist friends for Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals. Michael Morpurgo wrote delightful new poems for the beloved work, read by the author and actress Olivia Colman.     (Photo: Stuart McIntyre) READ THE FULL ARTICLE

  • 99.5CRB - Out of the Box interviews Avi Avital on the 'Art of the Mandolin'
     
    Posted At : January 14, 2021 12:00 AM

    99.5CRB - Boston - CHRIS VOSS writes.......When I asked Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital about his newest album and how it differed from his previous mandolin albums, he answered me with a wry, winking smile: "I don't have other mandolin albums." Which is true enough. Avital's past albums - like the 2012 Bach album or the 2015 Vivaldi album - have mostly included pieces composed for other instruments, like the keyboard, violin, or guitar, in arrangements for mandolin. The mandolin was not the focus. As he puts it, those albums featured works that he enjoys playing "because it's beautiful music." To this day, that he plays the mandolin is simply "is a technical fact."  But with Art of the Mandolin, music written for his instrument takes center stage. In our discussion we explore the ins and outs of the instrument, talk about how composers's social perception of the mandolin shaped how they wrote for it, hear a work that was assumed to be for keyboard but simply makes more sense played on mandolin, and chat about Avital's passion for expanding the repertoire for his instrument through frequent commissioned works. LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

  • Neon Jazz interviews Sarah Mckenzie
     
    Posted At : January 14, 2021 12:00 AM

    Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Composer & Pianist Sarah Mckenzie. When the corona virus hit in early March., she was just on tour in France and all her shows got cancelled. At the same time the US government implemented a travel ban for everyone who was traveling from the Schengen territory so Sarah was unable to return to her home in Los Angeles immediately. ‘In order not to get stuck during lockdown in a big city – she rented an old school house in the very South of England, in Hastings at the English Channel coast. It was a very romantic place from the 17th century. They had planned to stay for two weeks, in the end it was 3 1/2 months. She explains was ensured .. Enjoy ..  Neon Jazz is a radio program airing since 2011. Hosted by Joe Dimino and Engineered by John Christopher in Kansas City, Missouri giving listeners a journey into one of America's finest inventions. Take a listen on KCXL (102.9 FM / 1140 AM) out of Liberty, MO. Listen to KCXL on Tunein Radio at http://tunein.com/radio/Neon-Jazz-Wit.... You can now catch Neon Jazz on KOJH 104.7 FM out of the Mutual Musicians Foundation from Noon - 1 p.m. CST Monday-Friday at https://www.kojhfm.org/. Check us out at All About Jazz @ https://kansascity.jazznearyou.com/ne.... For all things Neon Jazz, visit http://theneonjazz.blogspot.com/ LISTEN

  • Jane Ira Bloom and Mark Helias release improvised duo album during coronavirus lockdown / lab.fm
     
    Posted At : January 12, 2021 12:00 AM

    lab.fm writes....Saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and bassist Mark Helias have released Some Kind of Tomorrow, an improvised duo album they worked on during coronavirus lockdown. Bloom (soprano saxophone) and Helias (double bass) worked on the 11-track record together over the course of 2020, collaborating remotely online. The two recorded simultaneously in their respective homes and combined the tracks together in post-production, Helias explained in a Facebook post. "The first time that Jane and I improvised together through Wi-Fi sometime in April or May 2020 was a very high experience on so many levels," he said in a statement.  "We were sorting out the possibilities of making music remotely and assessing the technology and our relation to it. Once we made peace with the situation and the medium, listening, feeling, hearing and responding was the same as it ever was." Bloom added, "There is a vibration between us that's uncanny given the circumstances and a deep need to play what was real to us just then. It's as real as it gets for two musicians who needed to create music together to try to find some way to mend the world." Listen to the adventurous title track and purchase Some Kind of Tomorrow in its entirety via Helias' Bandcamp below. SEE THE lab.fm PAGE

Top 10 for Jan

  • Ilan Eshkeri :

    A Perfect Planet

     Sony Music today announces the January 8, 2021 release of A PERFECT PLANET (SOUNDTRACK FROM THE BBC SERIES) with music by composer ILAN ESHKERI (Stardust, The Young Victoria).
  • Jane Ira Bloom, Mark Helias :

    Some Kind of Tomorrow

     Soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and bassist Mark Helias come together to create duets discovered in the moment in a way that is rarely heard today with Some Kind of Tomorrow.
  • Yo-Yo Ma | Kathryn Stott :

    Comfort and Hope

     Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott come together again, this time for Songs of Comfort and Hope, set for release on December 11, 2020 on Sony Classical.
  • Ezinma :

    Drummer Bae

     Violin sensation, Ezinma, releases "Drummer Bae," (Decca Records) an imaginative medley of cherished Christmas melodies.
  • The Comet Is Coming :

    Imminent

     "The London-based trio The Comet Is Coming-made up of the saxophonist King Shabaka, the percussionist Betamax, and the keyboardist Danalogue-thrusts empyrean jazz into an apocalyptic future, where raucous psych rock and danceable electro-grooves ride lush tenor lines to outer space.
  • Nick Cave - Nicholas Lens :

    L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S

     Belgian composer Nicholas Lens & Australian singer and songwriter Nick Cave present their lockdown album L.
  • Cast Albums :

    THE PROM - MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX FILM

     Sony Music Masterworks today announces the release of THE PROM (MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX FILM), an album of music from the forthcoming Netflix film directed by Ryan Murphy and based on the hit Broadway musical from Bob Martin, Chad Beguelin, and Matthew Sklar.
  • Max Richter :

    Beethoven - Opus 2020

     Max Richter and Deutsche Grammophon are set to release a brand-new orchestral composition to mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birthday.
  • Ben MacDougall :

    Godfall (Music from the Video Game)

     Milan Records today announced the release of GODFALL (MUSIC FROM THE VIDEO GAME) by composer Ben MacDougal.
  • Cecilia Bartoli :

    Queen of Baroque

     Decca Classics releases a stunning collection of arias from Cecilia Bartoli, ‘The Queen of Baroque'.

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem: A Child?s Christmas in Bethlehem is WFMT: Chicago 'New Release of the Week

Posted: December 15, 2013 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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"It's the night before Christmas and all through the world people gather to share stories, poems and music of this wondrous night." Thus the narrator of ‘A Child's Christmas in Bethlehem' draws us into a magical recording that includes carols spanning seven centuries and five languages. Poems and stories take us from Bethlehem in the Holy Land, where we are present at the birth of Jesus as seen through a child's eyes, to diverse Christmas traditions of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the present day.

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem: A Child's Christmas in Bethlehem is WFMT: Chicago 'New Release of the Week.

Crossover Media Projects with The Bach Choir of Bethlehem

  • The Bach Choir of Bethlehem

    A Child's Christmas In Bethlehem

    Under the direction of Greg Funfgeld The Bach Choir of Bethlehem is joined by The Bel Canto Children's Chorus, and accompanied by organ, piano, violins, guitar, handbells and percussion for A Child's Christmas in Bethlehem . The voices of adults and children; poets from Robert Herrick, William Blake and Langston Hughes to 10 year old Carla Victoria Lugo; storytellers from Jostein Gaarder to Zaida Padilla; and composers from Johann Sebastian Bach to John Rutter and Bob Chilcott combine to create pure delight for the ears and the heart. 

    34 New 'ON' 
    SYND:     CBC
    Direct: Galaxy, Music Choice
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Wash DC, Atlanta, Seattle, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Houston, St. Louis, Denver, Portland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, New Orleans, Albuquerque, Madison WI, Omaha, Rochester NY, Canada
    Online: WGOE

  • The Bach Choir of Bethlehem

    Songs Of Hope

    After a first recording on the Analekta label featuring Bach's Magnificat and Vivaldi's Gloria, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem performs Songs of Hope, an inspired program of works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Stephen Paulus, Benjamin Britten and Leonard Bernstein. All of the music on this album was commissioned, one way or another, for special occasions, in thankfulness for the past and in hopefulness for the future. Bach's stunning motet for double choir Singet dem Herrn, BWV 225, was composed either for New Year Day or Reformation Day. It was discovered in 1789 by Mozart, who listened with astonishment and said, "Now there is something one can learn from!"

    21 New 'ON' this week: 76 Total
    SYND: NPR/Sunday Baroque
    Direct: SiriusXM
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis, Portland, Kansas City, Detroit, Cincinnati, San Antonio, Canada
    Online: RadioIO, WGOE, Taintradio
  • The Bach Choir of Bethlehem

    Bach: Magnificat & Cantata / Vivaldi: Gloria

    The oldest American Bach Choir, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem performs, on their first recording on the Analekta label, works celebrating the Creator by J.S. Bach and Vivaldi. Such renowned singers as Daniel Taylor, Daniel Lichti and Benjamin Butterfield are joining conductor Greg Funfgeld on this glorious recording. This recording could have been titled "Glorious Glorias," since the first of these three works ends with the Gloria Patri, the second is a setting of the Gloria in excelsis Deo, and the third conjoins the Gloria in excelsis Deo with the Gloria Patri.

    20 New ON this week 67 Total
    Direct: SiriusXM, Music Choice
    Markets include: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Houston, Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit, Portland, Indianapolis, Salt Lake
    Online: RadioIO