“Andrew von Oeyen revived Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (which doesn’t seem to be played that often anymore) before intermission. The California native, a Juilliard grad now in his early 30s, gave it a thrilling ride. He laid into the whiz-bang outer movements with considerable gusto and grit, the fingers flying, not skating over the keyboard but digging in, and not using too much of the sustaining pedal to smooth it over. He rendered the slow movement with simplicity and intelligence, his voicing just-so. It’s not the most profound piece; but it’s an awful lot of fun when played like this. By all means let’s have von Oeyen back.” — Timothy Mangan, The Orange County Register

Read the full review on OCRegister.com

Liszt Piano Music
Andrew von Oeyen, piano

Celebrating the Bicentennial of Liszt’s Birth (1811-1886)

LISZT:
Piano Sonata in B Minor
Waldesrauschen (Zwei Konzertetüden)
Vallée d’Obermann (Années de Pèlerinage)
Liebestraum No. 3 in A-Flat Major
VERDI-LISZT:
Concert Paraphrase of Rigoletto
WAGNER-LISZT:
Elsa’s Bridal Procession (Lohengrin)
Isolde’s Liebestod (Tristan und Isolde)

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We’ll make sure to share the guaranteed rave reviews for Andrew von Oeyen as they come in throughout the weekend.

Here’s the Pacific Symphony conductor Carl St. Clair in a preview of the concert:

Liszt Piano Music
Andrew von Oeyen, piano

Celebrating the Bicentennial of Liszt’s Birth (1811-1886)

LISZT:
Piano Sonata in B Minor
Waldesrauschen (Zwei Konzertetüden)
Vallée d’Obermann (Années de Pèlerinage)
Liebestraum No. 3 in A-Flat Major
VERDI-LISZT:
Concert Paraphrase of Rigoletto
WAGNER-LISZT:
Elsa’s Bridal Procession (Lohengrin)
Isolde’s Liebestod (Tristan und Isolde)

Buy Direct from Delos and Save!:

Photo by Chip Peterson

Pianist Miko Kominami graduated from the Juilliard School, and currently enjoys a varied career on the faculty at Luther College, and as Principal Keyboardist of Orchestra Iowa. She has concertized extensively throughout North America, including performances in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, and Toronto, both as a soloist and a collaborator with other artists. As a concerto soloist, she has performed with Orchestra Iowa, Danbury Symphony, Kishwaukee Symphony, and the Luther College Symphony.
 
Ms. Kominami gave her New York Solo Debut Recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 1996, as a result of winning the Artists International Award. She was acclaimed by New York Concert Review as “both a virtuosic and a musicianly performer.” Other awards include a Canada Council Arts Grant, and First Prize at the 1996 Concerto Soloists’ Competition in Philadelphia. She has performed live on WFMT Chicago, as well as Maine and Iowa Public Radio Stations.
 
In addition to her solo engagements, Ms. Kominami is a founding member of the Murasaki Duo, a cello/piano ensemble. In 2005, the Duo toured Scandinavia. It regularly performs on chamber music series throughout the nation, and has released a recording on the Centaur Records label, featuring the works of Beethoven, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff. Ms. Kominami can also be heard on recordings released by Innova and Fleur de Son Classics.

Find out more about Miko Kominami at www.murasakiduo.com

Watch Spencer Martina and Miko Kominami perform Ernest Walker’s Sonata in C Major, Op. 29 – Movement I. Andante, sempre largamente, quasi un poco adagio:

“For the past five or so years, I have been thinking about recording a program of unknown or unrecorded works for viola and piano. The works recorded on this CD are the pieces that rose to the top.
 
All of the works on this program are firmly planted in the Romantic tradition. The music of these lesser-known composers offers an interesting sampling of the varied works composed for the viola during this time period — a time in which the viola came into its own as a solo instrument.
 
It is my hope that this music will be of interest to violists and non-violists alike, as each of these pieces deserves a place in our standard repertory.” — Spencer Martin

Meet Spencer Martin:

Spencer Martin has performed and taught at music festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, Israel, and Europe as both violist and conductor. An active chamber and orchestral musician, he has appeared as guest violist with the Pro Arte String Quartet and the Amelia Piano Trio. His solo performances include Berlioz’s Harold in Italy with the Luther College Symphony Orchestra in venues in Austria, including Vienna’s Konzerthaus. Spencer has served as Principal Violist in the Tuscaloosa Symphony, and also frequently performed in the viola sections of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Spencer’s solo, chamber, and orchestral performances have been featured in numerous radio broadcasts including National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Minnesota Public Radio and Kansas Public Radio.

Spencer currently serves on the faculty of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. A former member of the music faculty at the University of Alabama, Spencer holds degrees from Butler University, Wichita State University and the University of Minnesota. His teachers include Korey Konkol, Catherine Consiglio and Barbara Westphal. Also an avid proponent of Baroque music, Spencer performs frequently on Baroque violin and has studied in Berlin with Baroque violinist Bernhard Forck.

Spencer can also be heard on the Innova CD “Waves of Stone, Music by Brooke Joyce.”

Find out more about Spencer Martin at his website www.SpencerLMartin.com!

Listen to Fuchs: Sonata in D Minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 86 – III. Allegro vivace on Delos Radio:

When we’ve spoken in the past of “critical acclaim” for Delos’ own Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian Guitar Quartet (BGQ), we weren’t just whistling Dixie.  It is, in fact, the near-unanimous praise from critics, vendor sites and bloggers everywhere that has inspired us to repackage the BGQ’s five Delos albums to date as a specially priced box set. So don’t just take our word for it that guitar quartet aficionados (and classical fans at large) should jump at this chance to add all five albums to their collections at a bargain price. Take a look at what trusted critics and happy customers have had to say about each one, before deciding that this is music – and performing artistry – that you simply can’t live without!

Essencia Do Brasil (DE 3245)

As Raymond Tuttle wrote in Fanfare,  “Like a good ginger ale, the contents of this disc are spicy but smooth. The South American rhythms percolate along, and there are frequent pauses for melodic refreshment on the way.  … The sound of four guitars expertly played is a gorgeous one, and the repertoire … suits this ensemble very well.”

Jornal do Tarde described the release as “an ideal synthesis of brightness and reverie, tropical warmth and clarity of ideas … an unsurpassable disc.”

Audiophile Audition: “Best of the Year” CD (1999)

Encantamento (DE 3302)

Writing in Fanfare, Barry Brenesal cited BGQ’s “….fine tonal qualities and immaculate technique, and praised the sound quality as “clean, close, yet reverberant.”

Gwendolyn Freed of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune – in her discussion of music suitable for sharing with friends – concludes that, rather than resorting to the latest “fad” albums, it’s “Better to seek out more appetizing rarities, oddities and other charmers. One such find is Encantamento … by the Brazilian Guitar Quartet … This mellow disc makes a nice first impression, and gets better with repeated hearing.”

Catherine Moore, in American Record Guide, enthused that the “Brazilian foursome kept me glued to my seat when I’d rather dance! They are musically ept, technically polished, and highly listenable. Go for it!”

BACH: Four Suites for Orchestra, arr. BGQ

Amazon customer Richard B. Schuchman labeled this one as an “Enlightening CD,” going on to describe it as “… a GREAT disk! The transcription to four guitars clarifies, simplifies and just generally makes this music much easier to hear and understand what, to me, was muddy and more like background music in its original form. The counterpoint practically leaps out at you …”

According to The Washington Post, “It’s hard to imagine J.S. Bach played with more seductive beauty than in the Brazilian Guitar Quartet’s performance…Playing directly over the sound holes of their instruments to produce the plummiest tone possible, the guitarists allow Bach’s contrapuntal writing to emerge with buoyancy and clear, structural logic, while bathing this rigorous German score in the warmest Brazilian sunshine.”

As opined in Billboard magazine, this recording “… makes the Suites sound as if they were meant for this arrangement all along.”

Audiophile Audition: “Best of the year” CD (2000) 

Albeniz: Iberia, arr. BGQ

In Allmusic, Patsy Morita wrote, “The recording picks up all the details of the different guitarists’ sound, but there is still a greater sense of the ensemble as a whole rather than individual performers. This version of Iberia is as warm and transcendentally evocative as Albéniz could have wished for.”

Calling it an “Amazing transcription and performance,” Amazon customer Daniel J. Rose went on to state, “I wanted to give it five stars ASAP, because it is such a remarkable recording … with beautiful balance and tonal resonance across the instruments, some of which are fitted with strings at an extended tonal range to capture more closely the full span of the original score.”

The Brazilian Guitar Quartet plays Villa-Lobos (2011 Latin GRAMMY winner, “Best Classical Album”)

Why all the Latin GRAMMY fuss over this one? Read on:

We couldn’t have said it any better than Classical Guitar Blog did: “Suffice it to say this is not your typical Villa-Lobos CD … As soon as (they) started playing I was struck by how tight and together the BGQ was … all the works were beautifully played … Villa-Lobos has far more to offer, it seems, than most of us are aware. And the members of the Brazilian Guitar Quartet, with their ensemble excellence and interpretive powers, are well qualified to show us just what that is.”

As Oscar O. Veterano wrote for Amazon, “The Brazilian Guitar Quartet is the perfect match for the complex music of this composer. Their use of two 8 string guitars to augment the standard 6 string models gives them an extended tonal range that helps make their arrangements of even Villa-Lobos’ orchestral music less constricted than the adaptations done by other guitar quartets. Add to this their exquisite taste and flawless technique and it’s small wonder that they’ve become one of the foremost groups of their kind in the world.”

At Minor7th.com, Timothy Smith wrote: “For me, the appeal was found in the interplay between the traditional folk melodies and the composer’s supporting content, which was always charming. Arranging music for guitar ensemble is an art in and of itself, and the BGQ’s arrangements are natural and satisfying. The works they selected translate particularly well to four guitars, and honour the spirit of the original versions. Anyone who has been drawn to the works of Villa-Lobos in the past will certainly enjoy this unique offering.”

So, there you have it. With such commentary at hand, Delos has certainly earned its bragging rights about the BGQ and its wonderful music-making. We dare you to sample a few tracks below and NOT want to get this terrific box set!

Brazilian Guitar Quartet Box Set

The Brazilian Guitar Quartet’s “Dream Team” Collection on Delos

What better way for Delos to celebrate The Brazilian Guitar Quartet’s 2011 Latin GRAMMY win (for “Best Classical Album”) than to offer our legion of BGQ fans a new box set containing all five of their albums to date? Their win – for their Brazilian Guitar Quartet Plays Villa-Lobos recording (DE 3409) – confirmed BGQ’s status as one of the very finest groups of its kind worldwide. This specially priced box set will give guitar lovers everywhere an unprecedented opportunity to acquire – at very low cost – BGQ’s entire recorded output.

prevnext

Purchase today via The Delos Store!

Or purchase from these trusted online retailers:

 

BGQ Plays Villa-Lobos:

Delos Director Carol Rosenberger talks with the BGQ:

Albeniz: Suite Iberia:

Brazilian Guitar Quartet Box Set

The Brazilian Guitar Quartet’s “Dream Team” Collection on Delos

What better way for Delos to celebrate The Brazilian Guitar Quartet’s 2011 Latin GRAMMY win (for “Best Classical Album”) than to offer our legion of BGQ fans a new box set containing all five of their albums to date? Their win – for their Brazilian Guitar Quartet Plays Villa-Lobos recording (DE 3409) – confirmed BGQ’s status as one of the very finest groups of its kind worldwide. This specially priced box set will give guitar lovers everywhere an unprecedented opportunity to acquire – at very low cost – BGQ’s entire recorded output.

prevnext

Purchase today via The Delos Store!

Or purchase from these trusted online retailers:

Gems Rediscovered

Music of: Paul Juon, Ernest Walker, Benjamin Dale, Robert Fuchs

Spencer Martin, viola
Miko Kominami, piano

“It is my hope that this music will be of interest to violists and non-violists alike, as each of these pieces deserves a place in our standard repertory.” — Spencer Martin

The burnished, golden sonorities of the viola – the “forgotten stepsister” to the violin – are all too seldom heard in chamber compositions. Viola virtuoso supreme Spencer Martin and Delos seek to redress this injustice with “Gems Rediscovered,” a collection of lovely and beautifully crafted works for viola and piano from four little-known composers of the late-romantic era … works that definitely deserve to be restored to the sadly limited repertoire of chamber music for the viola.

The program features lush and varied sonatas by fairly obscure composers, including Russian-born Paul Juon – who has been called the “Russian Brahms.” On that subject, the often “abrasive” and hard-to-please Brahms held the music of Austrian notable Robert Fuchs in very high regard. There’s also striking music from Englishman Ernest Walker – plus a touching Romance by Benjamin Dale, another British composer.

• Rare and attractive chamber treats for viola: that unfairly neglected “underdog” of stringed instruments
• Music of startling quality and appeal from romantic-era composers you probably don’t know
• Bracing, profound performances from violist and pianist alike

Listen to Fuchs: Sonata in D Minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 86 – III. Allegro vivace on Delos Radio: