The new album demonstrates just how versatile a singer/songwriter Mike Mattison really is.
Music
Album Review: “Mixing Colours” — The Brothers Eno
Ironically, Mixing Colours is best experienced by taking in its video presentations.
Arts Remembrance: Flutist Doriot Anthony Dwyer
Doriot Anthony Dwyer was a virtuoso flutist, one who could coax brightly burnished tones out of the instrument.
Classical CD Reviews: “Clytemnestra,” Max Reger’s “Der Einsiedler,” and Richard Strauss “Lieder”
Soprano Ruby Hughes’ album is fine, well played, sung, and programmed; baritone Christoph Prégardien delivers vocal works by Mahler, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Max Reger with warmth; soprano Diana Damrau is in her glorious prime singing the songs of Strauss.
Classical CD Reviews: Isabelle Faust plays Schoenberg, Mariss Jansons conducts Saint-Saëns and Poulenc, and John Wilson conducts Korngold
Isabelle Faust makes Arnold Schoenberg’s thorny Violin Concerto sing; Mariss Jansons lends heft to Saint-Saëns’ Symphony no. 3, and John Wilson continues to be your go-to conductor for Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Classical CD Reviews: Beethoven & Knecht Orchestral Works, Josef Suk’s “Asrael,” and Berlioz’s “Symphonie fantastique”
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin’s pairing of Beethoven with Knecht is intelligent, programmatically and musically, but Thierry Fischer’s Symphony fantastique is a disappointing misfire.
Jazz Album Review: Liberty Ellman’s “Last Desert” — Going the Distance
Last Desert proves that guitarist Liberty Ellman and his group can dance when they want
Jazz CD Review: Kenny Barron and Dave Holland’s Delicious “Without Deception”
Eschewing ostensible flash and musical sleight of hand, Without Deception is a treat for connoisseurs.
Opera Album Review: Rossini’s Pre-fab Opera, “Edoardo e Cristina,” Turns Out to Be First-Rate
The practice of re-using large chunks of an opera for a new plot and new words may sound implausible to us, but in Rossini’s hands the result is delightful and surprisingly coherent.
Jazz Commentary: Remembrance of Jazz Venues Past
The idea of posting this list is to remind people of what has been lost and hope that it stirs us to preserve what we have left.