There’s something exhilarating about the arrival of Paris from violinist Hilary Hahn (website). It’s an all-out big budget classical music release from a major label, Deutsche Grammophon, that sounds like it was put out by some small, independent audiophile label. We’re talking a 2-LP 45RPM set on 180g vinyl, absolutely glowing sound quality, lavish gatefold packaging and that unmistakable feeling of glamour, as if classical music is finally making a comeback in the US. I bought this almost on a whim. I have some unexpectedly sophisticated phono preamplifiers in for review from Pass Labs (the XP-27), Allnic Audio (H-5500) and Brinkmann (Edison Mk. 2), and I just wanted to buy some killer new vinyl. Paris from Hilary Hahn stood out on one site’s New Release section–was this a remaster? This looks like an all-out big budget classical music release from a major label. That’s not possibly, is it? Why it is! This is a new release from Hilary Hahn. 2021’s right on the back cover. Hmmm, I thought. Interesting. And then I almost moved on until I caught something on the front cover: Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1. That’s my favorite violin concerto of all time, but I primarily know […]
Tag Archives: prokofiev
My latest Vinyl Anachronist music review is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. You can read it here.
My latest Vinyl Anachronist music review is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. You can read it here.
What’s an improkofiev? For that matter, what’s a spirabassi? Spirabassi‘s Improkofiev has one of those inscrutable album covers, letters going every which way, so it’s hard to figure out what this CD’s about without listening. Here’s the low down: soprano sax player Stephane Spira has teamed up with pianist Giovanni Mirabassi, along with drummer Donald Kontomanou and bassist Steve Wood, to record this album, which is called Improkofiev. It includes a jazz arrangement of Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.1–a favorite composition from one of my favorite classical composers. Spirabassi is the name of this quartet, and Improkofiev refers to the fact that only “excerpts” of Prokofiev’s angular yet stunning themes appear. My first reaction to ideas explored in Spirabassi’s Improkofiev was oh, this is like the Jacques Loussier Trio performing all those fabulous jazz arrangements for popular Johann Sebastian Bach compositions. Spirabassi doesn’t restrict itself by sticking solely to Prokofiev, which I have to admit is an album I would buy in a second. Instead, the quartet runs through a few tracks first before launching into the three-part suite, giving us superb and lush interpretations of Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No.1, Carla Bley’s “Lawns” and a couple of original tunes from Spira. The […]