Some great brass and woodwind music today. First, by request(s), The Modern Age of Brass with Roger Voisin leading a bunch of his BSO colleagues followed by Frank Glazer and the NY Woodwind Quintet in music by Riegger and Poulenc. Both records date from the mid 50's, the Voisin in mono and the woodwind in stereo, though I have seen the latter's recording date as 1953! The stereo here appears natural.
Brass players are so indebted to Roger V for his pioneering recordings and editions of various works for trumpet and brass. Though admittedly, I have never been a great fan of the bright French school of trumpet playing that he was one of the last proponents of, I recognize him as a tireless promoter of the trumpet and music for brass ensembles. And, as I said previously, Roger was completely and utterly dedicated to music in Boston, especially the next generation of brass players. This important record, from MIT, preserves strong, pioneering excursions into great works. In particular is the masterpiece of Ingolf Dahl, his Music for Brass Instruments, a brilliant work of colors and invention. There is some fine playing by Voisin, Armando Ghitalla and Kauko Kahila here. Great stuff.
The woodwind album features two works, Wallingford Riegger's Concerto for Piano and Woodwind Quintet and Poulenc's "Piano" sextet. We all know Poulenc whose star shines pretty bright these days but Riegger is shamelessly neglected, in fact nearly forgotten. Though Riegger primarily composed within the twelve tone system, he was not orthodox enough to make his output difficult to listen to, The concerto, Op 53 and written in 1953(!) is a marvelous piece of imagination and beauty. I think it to be a great display of Riegger's understanding of the instruments and the colors and sounds that they make. Now, if we can only get a recording of his Music for Brass Choir! The Poulenc is delicious in that French 20th century kind of a way and players like Samual Baron and David Glazer eat it up for all its worth. Frank Glazer's piano conributions are insightful and a pleasant reminder of this fine, and underrated, artist.
Both of these lp's add up to a well filled cd. It all works well together, at least I think so.
Personal note: I will be on vacation through the middle of July. More posts will come after I return.
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