The Whole Music Experience

Dvorak Zigeunerlieder Songs and Duets Bernarda Fink, Genia Kühmeier and Christoph Berner Harmonia Mundi I was not familiar with Dvorak’s song cycles and duets prior to reviewing Zigeunerlieder .   I am familiar with Dvorak’s bigger works and I heard recordings featuring mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink in the past.   Of Dvorak’s smaller works, this recording features Gypsy Melodies sung by the young soprano Genia Kühmeier and accompanied on piano by Christoph Berner, Moravian Duets with the addition of Bernarda Fink and Biblical Songs sung by Fink and accompanied by Berner, who plays beautifully on this disc. According to the liner notes, Moravian Duets launched Dvorak’s career and attracted the attention of the esteemed composer Johannes Brahms who at the time was a member of a jury that awarded the Austrian State Stipendium “for young, talented, and impoverished musicians”.   Dvorak had composed the songs originally for his private mus...

The Michael Treni Big Band Boy’s Night Out Bell Production Co. The Jens Wendelboe Big Band Fresh Heat Rosa Records When I think of big bandleaders, I think piano.   Yet, here are two new releases by trombonists leading modern-era big bands.   You won’t find rehashed covers of Ellington or other American jazz legends, but both the Michael Treni 16-piece big band and The Jens Weldelboe Big Band swing low and high.   First, there is Treni who began his jazz career with promise, almost landing a touring gig with Art Blakely that at the last moment fell through leading the musician to a new direction of arranging.    Trombonist Jens Wendelboe, on the other hand, has run the gamut between jazz, pop, and movie soundtracks.   He leans heavily on a strong melody. Opening with Leonard Bernstein’s Something’s Coming Treni and his musicians provide robust jazz on the album, Boy’s Night Out .   The musical personnel however, does...