Carley’s Staff Picks, for your enjoyment

To me, ’tis the season for Opera. For some reason I feel like I’m being bombarded with it. Are all of the HD Live-from-the-Met broadcasts contributing to a sort of comeback for the art? This live 1955 recording of Lucia di Lammermoor features Maria Callas in the role that she was born to perform. From its thematic depiction of the Scottish highlands in the overture through its perfect mad scene and finale, this is an unforgettable recording.

Lucia di Lammermoor – Donizetti -  CD 8254

No plot could be more devastating and tragic than Lucia’s, right? Wrong. Enter Susannah. If you’re not familiar with this mid-20th century American masterpiece you’re in for a wild ride.

Ready the Kleenex.

Susannah – Carlisle Floyd – CD 8401

The World So Wide – Dawn Upshaw – CD 7897

I was looking for a recording of Copland’s The Tenderland and I came across Dawn Upshaw, which doesn’t surprise me at all. Upshaw is a controversial artist. Her distinct and lyrical voice is especially light for the repertoire in which she specializes yet she is unarguably a defining voice of her generation.

La Traviata – Giuseppe Verdi – CD 3576

Anna Netrebko is another of our contemporaries who is constantly criticized for her timbre and overtly sexualized performances and I really love her gusto. I’m going to propose that La Traviata is perhaps the best we have heard from this powerful singer yet.

Just Keep on Doin’ It! ~ New CD’s ~

Well hello there! You came just in time, we have some new CDs to show you

Look! There they are:

The History of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues Vol. 1 ~ CD 10027

The History of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues Vol. 2 ~ CD 10028

Santa’s got Mojo 2 ~ CD 10029

Jeff Holmes Quartet ~ Of One’s Own ~ CD 10030

Michael Feinberg ~ The Elvin Jones Project ~ CD 10031

Dream Girls ~ Original Broadway Cast Album ~ CD 10032

Benny Andersson ~ Kristina ~ CD 10033

Herbie Hancock ~ Secrets ~ CD 10034

Dan Visconti ~ Lonesome Roads ~ CD 10035

Black Manhattan Vol. 2 ~ CD 10036

Eva’s Eclectic Picks

Hello dear friends of the Music Library and happy first day of class!

The last 5 months I have been studying at Trinity College in Dublin, which has been an absolutely wonderful experience. Ireland eats, sleeps and breathes music and you can find live singers and musicians at any time on any day in any pub. I am very excited to be joining the Music Library team again and can’t wait for all of the new music this semester!

Here is a crazy eclectic mix to satisfy whatever mood you are in this first week of school…thrilled/anxious/exhausted and so on (I’m a combination of all three):

• Les Misérables (CD 5356) ~ The film version just won 3 Golden Globes awards last night…enough said.

• Mumford & Sons – Babel (CD 9963) ~ One of my all-time favorite bands and this CD never gets old.

• Acoustic Brazil (CD 5027) ~ I traveled around Brazil this past summer and fell in love with their vibrant folklore music.

• Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series (CD 9058) ~ I’m a firm believer that a little Bob Dylan can fix anything. This is the most recent addition to the Music Library’s extremely thorough Dylan collection.

• Wicked Musical Soundtrack (CD 3128) ~ Seeing Wicked has been on my musical to-do list for years and I was finally able to see it this winter. It was amazing and I ended up having the entire soundtrack stuck in my head for a week. This CD features the original cast members Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth who are Musical Theater legends.

• Frank Sinatra in Hollywood (CD 5222) ~All of Frank’s movie gems in one CD…what could be better?

I warned you it would be eclectic….!

Have a great first week of school and be sure to swing by the Music Library to stock up on new musical goodies.

New Arrivals!

New CDs!

Benjamin Broening – Eighth Blackbird – Trembling Air – CD 9978

Victor Herbert – Eileen: A romantic comic opera – CD 9976

Joel Hoffman – Three Paths: 9 Pieces for Piano…the first time and the last         CD 9977

George Walker – Great American Concert Music – CD 9979

CanAm Piano Duo – This is the World – CD 9980

Charles Bestor – Eric Berlin, trumpet – The Sound of Time – CD 9981

Ragtime Concert feat. Bob Becker, Xylophone – CD 9975

New Sheet Music!

Karlheinz Stockhausen – Stimmung for six vocalists, Nr. 24                                M1529.5.S76 S75 1969

Karlheinz Stockhausen – Kurzwellen for six players,  Nr. 25                                M1470.S76 K8 1969

Louis Andriessen – Disco for Violin and Piano – M221.A63 D5 1995

Philip Glass – Four Movements for Two Pianos – M214.G48 M68 2011

Mario Davidovsky – Capricio for Two Pianos – M214.D250 C2 1965

John Cage – Music Walk – M25.C34 M875 1960

Some New CDs and DVDs

CDs

Christian Atunde Adjuah ~ CD 9960

John Luther Adams ~ Four Thousand Holes ~ CD 9961

Chic ~ Risque ~  CD 9962

Mumford and Sons ~ Babel ~ CD 9963

Mohammed Fairouz ~ Sumeida’s Song ~ CD 9964

A Christmas Story: The Musical ~ CD 9965

Nice Work If You Can Get It ~ Original Broadway Cast ~ CD 9966

Vision Quartet ~ Conicality ~ CD 9967

Sherban Lupu ~ Inner Visions ~ CD 9968

Berio ~ Recital 1 for Cathy ~ CD 9969

Orlando Jacinto Garcia ~ Celestial Voices ~ CD 9970

Pierre Boulez ~ Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite ~ CD 9972

DVDs

Jumbo ~ DVD 332

Love Me or Leave Me ~ DVD 334

Lullaby of Broadway ~ DVD 335

Young Man with a Horn ~ DVD 337

Calamity Jane ~ DVD 338

This weeks STAFF PICKS: Brought to You by Ella!

Radiohead – Kid A (2324)

Genre: Electronica, Experimental Rock

A departure from the punk-rocky roots of Radiohead’s earlier albums, Kid A was a little hard for me to get into at first – but it was worth the time. Full of electronic blips and Thom Yorke’s distorted vocals, the effect is a fascinating, ambient, soundscape.  Personally I think it’d be really great star-gazing music. Favorite track on the album: How to Disappear Completely

Dark Side of The Moon – Pink Floyd (3675)

Genre: Progressive Rock

I would consider Dark Side of The Moon one of the best (if not the best) rock albums out there. The album begins with just the sound of a heartbeat, and grows into an album that is a seamless, continuous piece of music. With philosophical lyrics, psychedelic guitar riffs, and some mean saxophone solos, the musicianship and experimentation present in this album blows me away every time. Favorite track on the album: Time

Elliott Smith – XO (3760)

Genre: Indie Rock

Elliott Smith’s whispery, mournful vocals and folky guitar are almost instantly recognizable. There’s something inexplicably magnetic to me about his darkly catchy and introspective music. I just started listening to Elliott Smith at the beginning of the semester, and can’t get enough (or recommend him enough)! Favorite track on the album: Waltz #2 (XO)

Unplugged – Eric Clapton (9794)

Genre: Acoustic Blues

In “Unplugged”, the emotion and soul really shines through Eric Clapton’s music. I grew up listening to this album courtesy of my parents. Recorded live in England for MTV’s unplugged project, “Unplugged” is an intimate, stripped down version of Clapton’s work. This album is bluesy and full of incredibly raw, sincere performances. Favorite track on the album: Layla

The Look of Love – Diana Krall (2873)

Genre: Vocal Jazz

Again, this is an album right out of my parent’s collection that I grew up with. Diana Krall has a breathtakingly smooth, expressive voice. This album always feels nostalgic to me. Good for relaxing after a long day, the album is full of tender love songs and lush orchestration that give the songs such a big band, romantic feel. Favorite track on the album: Cry Me A River

A few more new things (including Trombones!!!)

CDs

Mathew Rosemblum ~ Circadian Rythms ~ CD 9947

Joshua Bell ~ The Red Violin Concerto ~ CD 9948

Lo, in the time appointed ~ CD 9949

Ryan Scott Oliver ~ 35MM ~ CD 9955

Harold Brown ~ Music For Strings ~ CD 9952

Bernard Hoffer ~ CD 9953

Animal Songs ~ Bestiaries in English, French & German ~ CD 9954

Washington Trombone Ensemble ~ The Road Not Taken ~ CD 9951

DVDs

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers ~ DVD 319

Ivory  ~ DVD 329

What? More New Arrivals?!

Here at the music library we’re delighted to welcome a whole flock of new CDs to the fold.

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (CD 9931)

Motets, Guillaume de Machaut (CD 9932)

Victor Rice, Dub Discoveries from Version City (CD 9933)

Miles Davis, ESP (CD 9934)

Terry Riley, A Rainbow In Curved Air (CD 9935)

Glen Gould, Bach: The Two and Three Part Inventions (CD 9936)

Rodgers & Hammerstein, Pipe Dream (CD 9937)

2012 London Cast Recording, Singin’ In The Rain (CD 9938)

Original Cast Recording, Calvin Berger; A New Musical (CD 9939)

Original Cast Recording, Carrie (CD 9940)

Encores! Cast, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (CD 9941)

New DVD Arrivals!!!

Alberta Hunter: My Castle’s Rockin’ (Music Library DVD 283)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Opera by John Eaton (Music Library DVD 289)

Daddy Long Legs, starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron (Music Library DVD 290)

Carousel, by Rodgers & Hammerstein (Music Library DVD 291)

Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley (Music Library DVD 284)

Robert’s Staff Picks!!!

(Picture from Einstein on the Beach, performed by the Brooklyn Academy of Music)

I would like to dedicate this staff pick to modern music, more specifically modern opera and two symphonies.

CD 9615 – Einstein on the Beach, Phillip Glass – This piece is currently being performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music! It’s an opera about                .

CD 4508 – Nixon in China, John Adams – Who would’ve thought you could write an opera about President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China? Apparently John Adams did and it’s quite an interesting work.  The only university that has enough space to perform this opera is Indiana University! The set o the first act features The Spirit of ’76 which was President Nixon’s plane.

DVD 128 – The First Emperor, Tan Dun – This opera has a very interesting Eastern influence and is definitely worth watching! This pick is something you just have to experience!

CD 9834 - The Death of Klinghoffer, John Adams

CD 9695 – Dr. Atomic Symphony, John Adams – Of course I chose the Dr. Atomic Symphony because I am in love with the opera version of Dr. Atomic. This is for all those folks who don’t like opera but enjoy orchestral music.  Listen to this first! If you like it, then try listening to the opera itself!

CD 5002 – Transmigration, John Adams – Scored for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir and pre-recorded tape is a composition by composer John Adams commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Listen to these works and I think you’ll gain a real love for modern opera (and two symphonies)!