Welcome to the weekend and the best of what’s New In Music This Week: September 29th.
My top pick this week is a charmingly idiosyncratic celebration of an icon of New York City.
TOP PICK: CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: SONGS AND SYMPHONIQUES: THE MUSIC OF MOONDOG– Ghost Train Orchestra and Kronos Quartet – Catanaloupe Music
Composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich referred to Moondog (Louis Hardin) as “the godfather of minimalism.” But do you know Moondog? If you lived in Manhattan in the mid 20th-century you might have seen a blind musician dressed like a Viking who would sing his music, sell sheet music of those songs and read poetry. He was the type of cultural icon best found in New York City.
His music is celebrated in this collaboration between these two incredible ensembles. But they don’t do it alone. They are joined by Sam Amidon; Brian Carpenter; Jarvis Cocker; Petra Haden; Joan As Police Woman; Karen Mantler; Marisa Nadler; Aoife O’Donovan and Rufus Wainwright.
Some of this music exudes such joy you might be tempted to replay individual songs before moving onto the next tracks. It’s a richly rewarding album worthy of your time.
The rest of New In Music This Week: September 29th are:
CLASSICAL: MOZART: THE VIOLIN CONCERTOS – Renaud Capuçon/Orchestre de Chambre De Lausanne – Deutsche Grammophon
Violinist Capuçon is an avid supporter of chamber music. He first released a recording of Mozart’s Violin Concertos 1 & 3 in 2009. But what instrumentalist does only one recording of the great works?
For this recording he’s doing all five of the composer’s violin concertos. The first was composed in 1773 and the other four were composed two years later. Added to this release are Mozart’s Rondo in C Major, J. 373from 1781 and the Adagio in E Major, K. 261 from 1776.
Fans of Mozart won’t want to miss this recording filled with 2 hours of beautiful music.
CLASSICAL: FANTASIA – Igor Levit – Sony Classical
Nearly two hundred years of classical music are covered in this 2-disc set of solo piano perforamnces by Levit. The album begins with three works by Bach (including the very well-known Suite for String Orchestra No. 3 in D Major – arranged by Alexander Siloti).
The first disc continues with the Piano Sonata in B minor by Franz Liszt and the composer’s Der Doppelgänger. Disc two features Alban Berg’s Klavierstück in B Minor and Piano Sonata op. 1. Levitt concludes the recording with Ferruccio Busoni’s Fantasia contrappuntistica and Nuit de Noël.
The simplicity of the opening Bach track is built on and challenged throughout this incredible recording.
CLASSICAL: DIABELLI VARIATIONS – Shai Wosner– Onyx Classics
Maybe you prefer Beethoven more than Mozart (not that one has to choose). If you do, you will enjoy this recording of the 33 variations Beethoven wrote based on a waltz by Anton Diabelli. By the time you get to Variation 3 you will recognize immediately the brilliance of Beethoven’s writing.
Wosner makes the recording an enjoyable one and does not approach it from a scholarly point of view as to take the life out of these variations. This recording is full of life and consideration.
Trivia: these 33 Variations inspired playwright/director Moisés Kaufman to write his play of the same name which opened on Broadway in 2009 with Jane Fonda in the lead role.
JAZZ: BLOODY BELLY COMB JELLY – Andrew Krasilnikov – Rainy Day Records
I didn’t know Krasilnikov before listening to this album which sounds like it was timed for Halloween. There’s nothing scary about this large ensemble recording. It has one foot firmly planted in the future and the other keeping track of all that came before him.
There are seven tracks (including the title track) with most of them composed by Krasilinkov. A couple tracks were composed by Alexey Bekker, a core member of his quartet who plays piano and Rhodes on the album.
Making the album particularly interesting is the varying uses of woodwind instruments, brass and marimba. Regardless of the title, this album is all treat, no trick.
JAZZ (adjacent): AJA – Steely Dan – GEFFEN/Ume
Anyone familiar with Steely Dan (Walter Becker and Donald Fagen) will know how much jazz influenced their sound. Yes, they were considered a rock band, but they fused jazz with rock in a way that was all their own.
This vinyl release (the first time since its original release in 1977) is probably best known for the opening track, Black Cow and the hit song Peg.
UK’s New Musical Express called the album “simply the most sophisticated and intelligent rock album to be released this year.” Rolling Stone’s Michael Duffy said, “By returning to swing and early be-bop for inspiration – before jazz diverged totally from establish conventions of pop-song structure – Fagen and Becker have overcome the amorphous quality that has plagued most other jazz-rock fusion attempts.
MUSICALS: THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE THE MUSICAL – Original Cast Recording – Sony Masterworks Broadway
On November 1st the world premiere of this musical based on Audrey Niffenegger’s novel will have its official world premiere at the Apollo Theatre in London. The score and lyrics were composed by Joss Stone (whose early 2000s albums are amongst my favorite) and Dave Stewart (he of the Eurythmics). It should be noted that the musical is also inspired by the 2009 film.
As in the novel, the musical tells the story of Clare, a sculptor and Henry, a time traveler. Their relationship is more give and take than most because little of their love story happens in a linear fashion. They remain in love, but time gets in the way. Can they find a way to each other? (Of course they can, it’s a musical.)
For tickets and more information for the West End production, please go here.
OPERA: THE GREAT PUCCINI – Jonathan Tetelman/Prague Philharmonia/Carlo Rizzi – Deutsche Grammophon
When one thinks of Chilean tenors Ramón Vinay is probably the first tenor that comes to mind. With this collection of, shall we say, some of the greatest hits of opera, Tetelman’s name is going to quickly gain on Vinay.
Tetelman makes his Metropolitan Opera debut in two productions next spring: as Ruggerro in Puccini’s La Rondine beginning in late March and assuming the role of Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in April.
You get a preview of those two operas along with Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Turnadot and more in this crowd-pleasing recording that heralds the arrival of an opera star.
That’s our list of New In Music This Week: September 29th.
Enjoy the music. Enjoy your weekend.