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New Releases by Young Attractive Female Soloists (Just a coincidence, really)

My latest shipment from MDT contained many excellent discs. Sometimes I'm lucky, like this, and sometimes the impulse purchases don't pan out.

Let's start with the most pleasant surprise of the shipment, Liza Ferschtman on violin with her father, Dmitry Ferschtman, on cello in three duos. I enjoyed Ms. Ferschtman's previous releases. This combination was new to me, but I found the Kodaly, Ravel and Schulhoff duos fascinating music pieces with the two instruments generating unusual colorful sound combinations. It's also an SACD, and the sound is fantastic.

The second surprise is an album on Capriccio of cello works with piano accompanyment. Harriet Krijgh is the cellist with Kamilla Isanbaeva on piano. It's called The French Album and contains the Franck Violin Sonata transcribed (?) for cello. This is one of my favorite violin sonatas, and the cello version makes for an interesting alternative. The other works on the disc include the Debussy Cello Sonata and works by Faure and Offenbach. Again, the music is very interesting and well recorded.

Sayaka Shoji's second disc for Mirare is the two Shostakovich Violin Concertos. The First has become one of my favorite. I'm not that into the Second yet, but I'm working on it. Although Shoji doesn't come as close to destroying her violin on the First as Leila Josefowicz (my favorite performance), she really covers a wide range of moods and colors making the piece seem like one angst-ridden whole. The piece is rightfully quite exhausting yet exhilarating. The recording is well-balanced, detailed and dynamic.



The last three discs are solo piano releases. The Melodie Zhao was the impulse purchase of the order. Just what everyone needs is a new Transcendental Etudes by a sixteen year-old prodigy. To my surprise and enjoyment, this disc is awesome. First, it's one of the best recorded CDs of solo piano I've ever heard. I have several releases of this music where the engineers seem to have lost their mind and messed up basic piano sound. Second, the interpretation is dynamite. Ms. Zhao does not try to play the pieces as fast or as flashy as possible. She plays them as music. The playing is clean and clear. They have shape and flow. I'm sure that this is not the best Transendental Etudes in the world, but it sure is worth hearing many times.

I am a Claire-Marie Le Guay fan, and her latest is a series of bon-bons by Russian masters. It makes a great companion to Yuja Wang's latest release, Fantasia, which is also a set of encores. The two discs have one piece in common. It is Rachmaninov's Etude-tableau in E flat minor. Ms. Wang's is faster and flashier while Ms. Le Guay's is more flowing and emotional. I think that basically sums up the two discs. When I'm in the mood for flashy show pieces, the Wang is perfect. Her Carmen, Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Danse Macabre are amazing. When I'm in the mood for more emotion or a lighter touch, I'll put on the Le Guay. Both are well recorded.

All-in-all a bonanza, an embarrassment of riches. It's what makes music collecting and listening fun.


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Topic - New Releases by Young Attractive Female Soloists (Just a coincidence, really) - srl1 18:01:13 04/22/12 (7)

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