Music Reviews
A grand collection of reviews. If you are a professional music reviewer and would like to contribute a review to this blog, please contact us.
Power of the Piano with the Freshness of the Harp
It is not the first time that Chopin’s spiritual output has been used by other creative minds to rearrange or transcribe it for another instrument or even a full orchestra. Mily Balakirev used four of Chopin’s well-known pieces for his Chopin Suite. And, at the other end of the musical scene, who isn’t familiar with […]
Music from The Red Priest
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was an incredibly prolific composer who was known throughout Europe during his lifetime. He was an ordained as a priest and was known as “The Red Priest” because he had flaming red hair. He stopped saying Mass within two years of his ordination. Vivaldi taught for many years at orphanages in his […]
The Magic of its ‘Expressive Power’
I do not think that the Amsterdam Sinfonietta had anything else in mind than producing an album of “several romantic works, each with a very specific expressive power of its own”. A selection of genuine and adaptations for string ensemble. But in the face of actual global Covid-19 health developments, it may come across quite […]
Jazz Flugelhorn recorded by the NativeDSD Team
It all starts in this small town in the south of the Netherlands, when he joins the local brassband playing the flugelhorn at the age of 11. A few years later he gets so excited about Big Band Oss that he switches to trumpet to be able to join them. In 1980 Angelo moves to […]
Soprano Saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom’s Thoughts on Surround Sound
I’ve always been a visual thinker. I don’t know why, but when I play I hear sound moving through space. It’s as if I’m painting a canvas with sounds and so the visual and aural to me are all mixed up, though, in a good way. This sonic architecture is personal to me because it […]
Patricia Barber’s “Higher” belongs in your collection
Listen to Patricia Barber with an ear to the soul of the lyrics, and you’ll hear more than fine musicianship and superb audio recording. For more than 30 years, songwriter/pianist/singer Patricia Barber has occupied a unique space in American jazz. The character of her musical style suggests a Venn diagram showing the overlap of contemporary instrumental […]
A release that is as unusual as it is remarkable
Each new organ recording from Jake’s stable is a joy for organ lovers and exceptional in all its diversity compared to the previous ones. And so is this one. With this present release, the listener is taken into the Temple Protestant church, Dijon (tracks 1-5), and the Saint-Bernard church of Fontaine-les-Dijon (tracks 6-14) in France, […]
Audiophile Alerts
This is one of my Audiophile Italy publications, translated to English. The original section name is “Audiophile Alerts”. And all of these albums are available at NativeDSD! A very fresh release is this one from LSO Live, the label that records the best concerts of the London Symphony Orchestra. The occasion is invaluable for listening […]
Can Mozart be taken for a romantic composer?
Some have learned to hear the difference Technical aspects of music reproduction continue to occupy our minds. Leaving aside the indifferent, there seem to be two principal schools of thought: The innovators, wanting the very best, and the dissenters, going to any length to prove them wrong; Hi-Res makes no difference to the human ear, […]
Hidden DSD Treasures
It suddenly dawned on me a few days ago that Native DSD’s available albums have increased dramatically in number well over 1800 now. If you’re like me, you might forget to check earlier releases for hidden treasure. Or, you might have developed a different opinion about a given work or performance. So I decided to spend […]
Reviewed: The Coo, Carmen Gomes, Van Der Bent / Den Bakker
The Coo: Amsterdam Moon (Just Listen Records) In a time when distancing and division override our common human need for social contact, a musical collaboration that bridges the distance between England and the Netherlands delivers a message of hopeful optimism with a strong dose of emotional honesty. British singer-songwriter Matt Arthur’s encounter with Dutch singer-songwriter […]
BarcaNova Records – a new label that must be heard
BarcaNova Records is a relatively new Dutch label that must be heard. On their stylishly ‘cool’ website, BarcaNova founder, Hubert Koekenberg, outlines the label’s adage as follows: “Passionate and devoted to classical music, we aspire only perfection. Putting our all into producing only the best music”. Surely a stimulating statement invoking immediate curiosity among dedicated […]