The Whole Music Experience

Mike Marshall And Caterina Lichtenberg Adventure Music Two parts Bach, one part Brazilian with Venezuelan and French seasonings describes American mandolin player Mike Marshall’s latest recording on Adventure Music. The virtuoso has literally traveled around the world with his mandolin and on this recording he teams up with Early Music mandolin player Caterina Lichtenberg, thus the simple and direct CD title. Opening with a Bach violin sonata in which Marshall plays double-duty on cello, the duo then launches into their musical journey which hop scotches its way through American bluegrass, Brazilian jazz, Early Music, Bulgarian and Venezuelan classical. And yes, this exhilarating recording leaves a listener breathless. Jean-Marie Leclair’s Sonata VI for Two Violins (French baroque) sounds absolutely gorgeous when played on two mandolins. The movements alternate between gentle and lilting to enchanting. The short Bulgarian folk tune oddly doesn’t feel out of place following...

Gustavo Dudamel & Simòn Bolìvar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela Beethoven 5 & 7 Deusche Grammophon The connection between Venezuelan youth and Beethoven might not seem an obvious one at first. Imagine, a youth orchestra comprised of children once at-risk, but now leaving an impression on international classical music lovers. Conductor Gustavo Dudamel (25 years old at the time of this recording), revealed his connection to the Great German composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the liner notes. "As a six-year old, Gustavo Dudamel's favorite game was to line up his toy soldiers in orchestral formation to conduct them in an imaginary performance of Beethoven's 5th Symphony . By the time he was twelve, he was conducting his local youth orchestra. Two years later he had his own chamber orchestra. At 17, he became chief conductor of the Simòn Bolìvar Youth Orchestra…" According to the liner notes, Dudamel grew up in Barquisimeto, the capital of the state of Lara....