Brahms: Liebeslieder - Vocal Quartets

Horn Trios by Brahms and Ligeti

Advantages: Two outstanding peices of chamber music for an unusual combination of instruments
Disadvantages: On the surface quite contrasting works, listener must be openminded

procedures, deriving new and original ideas influenced by the chamber music of old masters such as Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann. Ligeti was influenced by the music of fellow Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, who once stated that "Every art has the right to strike its roots in the art of a previous age; it not only has the right to but it must stem from it". This makes the pairing of one of Ligeti's finest works with the Brahms Op.40 Trio a very appropriate one. Both outstanding chamber works in their own rights and certainly the two best pieces composed for this unusual combination invented by Brahms, a good recording is essential, but hard to find. There are not that many recordings in existence of these works due to the technical complexity for performers and even acclaimed recordings such as the CD by Perlman, Ashkenazy ...

sandersabigail 29.08.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Brahms; Ligeti: Horn Trios

Earthsea Quartet

Advantages: Fantastically realised world, focused plot
Disadvantages: Minimalist detail, not a cohesive collection

The Earthsea Quartet compiles Ursula Le Guin's first four novels set in the Iron Age styled world of Earthsea. The first three books of the original trilogy were published over four years, from 1968 to 1972. A fourth book was released in 1990, erroneously subtitled the last tale of Earthsea but it ended up being the springboard for further tales. The four books are set in the known lands of Earthsea; made up of a central archipelago encircled by four polar reaches and the Kargad Lands. Areas outside the provided map are unknown; however a land of the dragons is speculated to exist in the far west. Earthsea is mostly populated by a dark-browned skinned people. The white Kargs are given a slightly more barbaric presentation than other races, shown to be less literate and superstitious of the practise of magic. Different characters from ...

pigeon_of_doom 08.05.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Earthsea Quartet - Ursula K.Le Guin

Mutter?s Magnificent Brahms Violin Concerto

Advantages: Mutter's eloquence and sensitivity in older recording are enhanced here.
Disadvantages: None at all!

As a fantastically talented eighteen-year-old, Anne-Sophie Mutter already awed me with her sensitive and thoughtful eloquence in her 1981 recording of the Brahms violin concerto (with Herbert von Karajan directing the Berlin Philharmonic). However, there?s an even deeper understanding in Mutter?s reading of the Brahms piece on this newer disc. This performance was taped live at the Lincoln Center?s Alice Tully Hall, New York City, in 1997. Kurt Masur conducts the New York Philharmonic in particularly inspired fashion. A difference of fifteen years separates the two recordings. In the time between, she married, had children, and then was widowed at a very young age. When Mutter returned to her instrument, she would bring a greater strength, emotional depth and insight to her playing, lending a maturity and assuredness to her ...

zerbine28 27.08.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Brahms: Violin Concerto; Schumann: Fantasie,Op 131