Andre Previn: `An 80th Birthday Celebration'

Andre Previn
'An 80th Birthday Celebration’
RCA Red Seal

Andre Previn fetes his 80th birthday, which fell on April 6, with a retrospective of his work spanning over half a century.

His career took off when he played the piano for a party hosted by Frank Sinatra when he was just a teen, and went on to become a widely loved composer, conductor and pianist.

This comprehensive album paints a vivid portrait of the prolific artist, featuring everything from jazz to the classical orchestra repertoire. Tracks include ``Bye Bye Blackbird,’’ ``Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra’’ with the London Symphony Orchestra and ``Vocalise’’ with cellist Yo Yo Ma.

Sarah Brightman 'Symphony: Live in Vienna'

Sarah Brightman
`Symphony: Live in Vienna’
EMI

Sarah Brightman’s unforgettable ``Symphony’’ tour came to an end in Korea, Friday, but fans can review the spectacle in the specially released album featuring the CD and DVD of her Vienna performance.

It features powerful rock-inspired tracks such as ``Fleur du Mal’’ from the album ``Symphony’’ as well as signature songs ``The Phantom of the Opera’’ duet, with Chris Thompson, and ``Time to Say Goodbye.’’ Also included are passionate duets with Alessandro Safina.

The DVD captures the fantastic stage sets that dazzled concertgoers. Her studio recordings are top notch, but the queen of popera sparkles with that special something in the live performances.

Greatest Maksim

Maksim Mrvica
`Greatest Maksim’
EMI

Charismatic pianist Maksim Mrvica wowed Korean fans in his March 18 concert, and this compilation album of his greatest hits will help concertgoers relive the experience while servicing those who missed it.

In addition to his unconventional crossover music, the Croatian’s rock star good looks continue to attracted a staunch fan base here. Maksim’s fingers fly across the electronic piano in ``The Flight of the Bumblebee,’’ silencing complains that classical music is boring.

Also featured are ``Exodus,’’ ``Wonderland’ and ``Nostradamus,’’ as well as ``Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’’ from the Japanese film.

Violist O’Neill Set to Dazzle Fans

This guy has an amazing stage presence. I've also noticed his exquisite taste in shoes.

Violist Richard Yongjae O'Neill/Photo Courtesy of Credia

Violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill is back to show off a different musical streak. The 30-year-old star musician begins a cross-country tour this weekend to play tracks from his fourth solo album ``Mysterioso’’ (Archiv Produktion/Universal), a Baroque project with the renowned period ensemble Alte Musik Koln.

``If I were to find a main concept to tie all of the tracks together, I would have to say it is the sound world within which the piece exists,’’ said O’Neill in a statement. The album features Baroque classics like Corelli’s Violin Sonata No. 12 ``La Folia’’ and Vitali’s Chaconne in G minor _ which, based on manuscripts, are a special treat for period music purists.

For the recording, the artist modified his viola, a rare Giovanni Tononi from 1699, with gut strings, which are not wound like today’s synthetic steel ones, and used a baroque bow. ``The timbre of the viola is even more mellow, rich and gentle, with gut strings. I am sure that any listener will be able to tell right away how different and mysterious the tone color is,’’ he said.

To capture the life and energy of the pieces, he paid heed to articulations of notes, tempi and hierarchy of beats. The style indeed contrasts sharply with the poeticism of O’Neill’s earlier albums, but his way of liberating a controlled gust of lush emotion and whirlwind colors remains unchanged.

``As classical musicians, we dedicate our whole lives to the pursuit of deepening our knowledge and understanding of the great masterpieces of the great composers of all time… Baroque period practice affects so much of what we do in later periods, including the work of Mozart and Brahms. Those composers had deep respect of the Baroque,’’ he said.

After entering the public spotlight through a TV documentary as the loving son of a Korean adoptee, the violist has been captivating fans with his music. In addition to his best-selling albums and sold-out performances, O’Neill’s stardom was manifested in appearances in the sensational TV soap ``Beethoven Virus’’ and a fashion-icon award ceremony alongside movie stars.

One of the few violists to receive the Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Grammy nomination, O’Neill studied at the Juilliard School in New York. While appearing in various halls, he also teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Read my previous interview with Mr. O'Neill. He also published an essay on classical music.

Best of Voices 2: The Most Beautiful Voices & Great Videos

Various Artists (Universal)

The second ``best’’ album from Universal’s eight serial compilations, featuring the most beloved voices of modern times, is now in stores.

The package includes two CDs with 32 tracks, of which five are presented as music videos in the accompanying DVD.

The popular singers offer timeless songs, ranging from pop to classical, including ``Prayer’’ by Secret Garden, Schubert’s ``Ave Maria’’ by Nana Mouskouri and ``Only Time’’ by the Vienna Boys Choir.

Fans can also see the music video for ``Rejoice’’ by mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins, who recently visited Seoul with Placido Domingo.

Read about Voices 8

Vienna Phiharmonic's 2009 New Year's Concert

Daniel Barenboim, Vienna Philharmonic
`New Year’s Concert 2009’
Decca

The Vienna Philharmonic concert is an event that classical music fans look forward to each New Year. This live recording is no exception, and can satisfy those who weren’t able to attend the actual show.

This year, maestro Daniel Barenboim conducted the ensemble, which, for the first time in its New Year’s concert history, played Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 45 ``Farewell’’ in honor of the late composer’s bicentenary. The only regret about the stellar performance is that it only features the fourth movement.

Also included are, without fail, the traditional Austrian waltzes and polkas by Strauss I and II as well as Barenboim’s humor and a little bit of politics that heighten the festivity. The DVD is also available in stores.

Kim Myeong-min's Classic: Maestro

Various Artists (EMI)

The TV series ``Beethoven Virus'' took Korea by storm last year, and the winds don't seem to have settled down just yet. Following Deutsch Grammophon's best selling soundtrack album, EMI presents a compilation of the some of most frequently played songs in Western classical music ― packaged with the face of ``Maestro Kang,'' actor Kim Myeong-min.

(Kim's tailored look on the show helped middle aged men dress in style. I absolutely loved his brown Oxfords!)

Like the drama, the four themed CDs cater to those who are new to the genre. ``Passion,'' for example, features the first movement from Beethoven's 5th Symphony and the Choral from the 9th.

But ``Relax'' is, disappointingly, an exact replica of Sony BMG's ``Relax Vol. 1: Smooth Classics.'' Nevertheless, the album features performances by top artists, including the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert von Karajan.

Mayuko Kamio `In Recital'

Mayuko Kamio

`In Recital'

(RCA Red Seal)

Japanese violinist Mayuko Kamio makes her recording debut with Sony BMG. A winner of the 2007 Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition, she was also the youngest artist, at age 13, to perform at the Kennedy Center in New York.

The young virtuoso chooses a repertoire of Bizet, Tchaikovsky and Stravinksy.

Her fiery rendition of ``Carmen Fantasie'' shows there is room for yet another violinist to shine through the myriad of rising stars. Isaac Stern had long hallmarked the Franz Waxman composition written for the 1946 film ``Humoresque.'' But Kamio topples the monopoly and offers something of her own color.

Sol Gabetta's 'Cantabile'

Sol Gabetta

`Cantabile'

(RCA Red Seal)

Sol Gabetta brings a selection of ``cantabile'' opera arias and songs. The Prague Philharmic Orchestra, led by conductor Charles Olivieri-Munroe, accompanies the Argentinean cellist.The CD includes romantic classics like Gounod's ``Je Veux Vivre'' and Offenbach's ``O Mon Cher Amant.''

Gabetta allows the cello to sing rich, mellifluous tunes, expressing all the subtle quivers of the human voice. The musician often says ``I dance with my cello,'' of course not literally, but one can almost see the cello waltz to the music in her rendition of Faure's ``Pavane''

The bouncy bonus track, ``Figaro's Aria'' by Rossini, features pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa.

Sumi Jo Returns Home With Globetrotting Album

She was very upbeat on the phone, but I was a little irritated when her two dogs kept interrupting the conversation.

There’s no place like home for internationally feted soprano Sumi Jo. The lyric coloratura singer has been traveling the world for over 20 years, and makes a ``homecoming’’ through a new crossover, cross-border album of world folk music, ``Missing You.’’

``The most important thing in life is family, and I miss home the most when I travel,’’ Jo told The Korea Times, sounding cheerful over the phone from her Italian residence. The 45-year-old lives with her three pet dogs, which she had to shush in rapid Italian during the conversation. ``For me, voyages and airports are marked by loneliness and homesickness, rather than excitement and fun. This album is like returning home,’’ she said.

The Grammy Award-winning artist comes back to Deutsche Grammophon, a label under which she recorded her opera debut ``Un Ballo in Maschera’’ with maestro Herbert von Karajan in 1987. With 16 songs in 11 languages ranging from Nordic hymns and Mexican serenades to Yiddish tunes like ``Dona Dona,’’ the project embodies Jo’s past two decades of music making around the world.

``Are there too many tracks?’’ she asked, slightly concerned. Her personal motto being ``less expectation, more appreciation,’’ she is grateful for the small things in life, but her greed for perfection is boundless when it comes to work.

Jo has released a crossover album every now and then ``like a relaxing vacation,’’ but this recording, she said, was as demanding as a hefty opera compilation. Though versed in multiple languages, Jo had to employ tutors and visit cultural centers for the unfamiliar lyrics in Norwegian and Russian among others. Recent concert tours in Russia and Israel, as well as pronunciation tips from her Argentinean assistant helped, but she felt greatly pressured about capturing the tradition and sentiment inherent to each folk song.

The result is not a messy potpourri, but a collection of soulful love songs suffused with warmth and feeling that transcend the spoken word. ``It’s Sumi Jo’s love story, and the protagonist is music,’’ said the singer. Indeed, she makes each classic song her own, whether it be something serene like ``Cossack Lullaby’’ or sensual like ``Besame Mucho,’’ which is delivered in harmony with crossover tenor Alessandro Safina. There’s an endearing artlessness to it, where Jo’s vivid voice is not embellished by fancy techniques. ``I can’t sing in a calculated manner. For me, singing is natural like breathing or sleeping,’’ she said.

The album’s last and most important track ``Mother, Sister’’ brings her back home to Korea. Singling out just one Korean piece was extremely tough, but speaking to her mother made the decision easier. ``My mom reminded me of how I used to get in trouble for fooling around and not practicing the piano when I was young. She scared me by saying how she found me beneath the Han River bridge and I’d behave,’’ said the soprano with a laugh.

Jo chose this sad song evoking Korean War orphans even though she had envisioned something brighter. ``It moved me to tears,’’ she said. The soprano also colored the piece with haegeum, a traditional Korean two-string fiddle. ``I am just so Korean,’’ she said. You can take the Jo out of Korea but not the Korea out of Jo.

Looking back on her career, she said ``music was and is my reason for living.’’ But she cautions young singers about walking a similar path. ``I’d like to advise them to make music a companion in life and not necessarily life itself,’’ she said. To add to her roster of honors, she recently won the prestigious International Puccini Award. ``It was really unexpected. It’s a great honor but it also made it clear how much more there is to achieve,’’ she said. Besides continuing to explore the vast ocean of classical repertoire, the UNESCO Artist of Peace laureate wants to continue helping children and animals.

In December, Jo and Alessandro Safina will visit Korea to sing the beautiful folk songs. ``I’m actually thinking of having the conductor wear a pilot’s uniform,’’ she said with rhythmic laughter. ``I want the audience to travel the world through music.’’ The ``Dream With Us’’ concert will take place Dec. 5 at Seoul Arts Center. Call (02) 3461-0976.

Relax Vol. 1: Smooth Classics

Various Artists (Sony BMG)

Not another classical compilation, you may think. But this 3-CD album is perfect for any urbanite wanting to sit back with beautiful, relaxing music.Each disc contains carefully chosen pieces by outstanding musicians including Lorin Maazel and the L.A. Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra among others.

The first CD features standards like Pachelbel's ``Canon in D major'' and the adagio movements of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto and Rodrigo's ``Concierto de Aranjuez.''Disc 2 is all about dreamy relaxation with Massenet's ``Meditation'' (Thais) while disc 3 is light and jovial, with Elgar's ``Chanson de matin.''

Kent Nagano Explores Modern History With Beethoven

For some people, Beethoven may be old history, but for others, he is more alive than ever. Renowned conductor Kent Nagano and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal (OSM, Montreal Symphony Orchestra) bring ``Beethoven: Ideals of the French Revolution’’ (Analekta), a new album that illuminates the Rwanda crisis in 1994 through Beethoven’s music.

``(When) people ask who is your favorite contemporary composer, I usually give three names: Beethoven, Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach,’’ Nagano told reporters last week during his first visit to Korea. The OSM gave two memorable concerts _ the first time in 11 years.

``Somehow (their) music has a meaning in challenges we face in 2008. Sometimes there’s a danger that these great pieces are played so often they feel routine,’’ he said. ``It’s important for (musicians) and the public to look for context and various illuminations of Beethoven’s music,’’ said the Japanese-American conductor about his first recording with the OSM.

He shared how the project came about. ``The night before my daughter saw a Hollywood movie called `Beethoven’ (about a dog whose name is Beethoven) and that evening on TV, I saw an advertisement for an automobile and the background music was Beethoven’s 5th _ I was furious. I asked the question, we should all ask ourselves, what is Beethoven? Is Beethoven a brand name? Or a marketing tool? Soundtrack? Or box office guarantee?

``I felt we should construct our project in Montreal a little bit differently,’’ he said.. ``Beethoven was very aware of current events. He knew the modern ideas of the French Revolution: principles of democracy, freedom and equality and the right to express yourself,’’ he said.

In addition to the 5th Symphony, the 2-CD album includes ``The General,’’ an entirely new interpretation of Beethoven’s ``Egmont,’’ itself based on a poem by Goethe. It is a piece for orchestra with soprano, choir and narrator.

```Egmont’ is usually performed in one of two ways: either as musical excerpts or with some fragments of Goethe played. Both of course are not ideal because the music was written to accompany a theatrical drama,’’ he said.

``The themes in the Goethe play are very contemporary: cultural misunderstanding, conflicting of class, international tensions, war, oppression and corruption. Of course these themes are here today on the first page of the Herald Tribune; they’re part of our world today. This is why instead of taking the original Goethe play, we took a recent episode of history,’’ he said. And so, the track features a new theater piece by Paul Griffiths about the Rwanda crisis in 1994.

``Our hope is that listeners will experience Beethoven’s 5th (Symphony) with `Egmont,’ that one has a contact with a passion of Beethoven’s time, because we can feel that what lies within Beethoven’s music is what surrounds us today,’’ he said.

``Beethoven: Ideals of the French Revolution’’ is currently available in CD stores.

Voices 8: 17 of the Most Beautiful Voices in the World

Compilation albums can be terrible like a skatterbrained buffet but I like Universal's "Voices" series.



Various artists (Universal)



The eighth of Universal's crossover compilation series brings more of the best from a variety of genres.



Seventeen of the most unforgettable singers of our time sing beloved songs from operas, pop music and musicals: Andrew Lloyd Webber's ``Pie Jesu'' by the young artist Charlotte Church, Celine Dion's ``My Heart Will Go On'' sung by Vittorio Grigolo, who is also known as ``Little Pavarotti,'' and ``Nessun Dorma'' (from Puccini's opera ``Turandot'') by Luciano Pavarotti himself.

Also included is Simon and Garfunkle's ``Bridge Over Troubled Water'' by the soulful Russel Watson, Edith Piaf's ``La Vien en rose'' by musical star Ute Lemper and ``Amigos Para Siemper'' by Sarah Brightman and Jose Carreras.