February 5, 2011

  • Best of January (2011)-New to the Collection

    There month of January is often a slow one for new releases as companies regroup from the Holiday shopping season.  Out of the many recordings that passed through this month, here are five that really stand out and are worthy of your attention.

    First up is a 2-disc set reviewed here earlier this week of Murray Gold's music for Doctor Who--Series 5.  Gold's music for this BBC series continues to be some of the finest on television and fans of the series will want to add this to their collection.  If you have been missing some great sci-fi action music, Gold's scores deliver with the addition of engaging themes.  His "new" hybrid theme for the series also opens the set.  See the review for more information.

    Also reviewed last week, a new disc of Rozsa's concert music from Naxos is well worth your time.  While one can dismiss these works as influenced by Rozsa's biblical epics, the works on this disc allow us to see that the composer was another valid Hungarian musical voice worth paying attention to along with Bartok and Kodaly.  The overture that opens the disc and the Hungarian Sketches that close are quite engaging works worthy of more concert appearances.

    I finally had a chance to hear Desplat's music for The King's Speech.  The Decca release, while being terribly brief at 40+ minutes still gives listeners a chance to revisit Desplat's score well.  His main thematic idea reminded me a lot of Williams' score for The Accidental Tourist in its orchestration and the way in which Desplat threads it through the various sequences collected on the CD.  It also made sense to me why AMPAS recognized this for an Oscar nomination--it, like several other candidated this year, makes use of unique recording techniques as part of the ending creative process.

    Next week you will be able to read a bit more about the next two discs on my best of January list in a review of the CDs themselves.  Michael Daugherty is one of the most frequently performed of contemporary composers and there is a brand new release from Naxos that will give you a chance to hear four of his more recent works.  Both Ghost Ranch and Sunset Strip are excellent pieces worthy of entering the repertoire.  They are featured alongside Route 66 (from which the new release takes its name) and Time Machine.  Marin Alsop's committed performances are also a highlight.  To gain perspective, I also requested a release from last year featuring the composer's Metropolis Symphony and the piano concerto, Deus ex Machina.  The release has just been nominated for 4 Grammy's and features the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.  Check in next week for a fuller review of both these discs, but they are well worth your time--I think the newer disc is a better listen only because it has more contrast in its selections.  But they really make great companions.