Interchanging Idioms

Sony Classical proudly announces the release of BOSTON: THE DOCUMENTARY (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), featuring music by EMMY® Award Winning composer Jeff Beal (HOUSE OF CARDS, AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER) performed by musicians of The Boston Symphony Orchestra. The soundtrack was made available digitally on April 7, 2017. Through Fathom Events, BOSTON will screen on more than 500 screens nationwide beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, April 19, 2017 ( www.fathomevents.com ). BOSTON is presented by John Hancock in association with the Kennedy/Marshall Company. Narrated by Academy-Award winner Matt Damon, it is the first ever feature-length documentary film about the world's most legendary running race - the Boston Marathon. The film chronicles the story of the iconic race from its humble origins starting with only 15 runners to the present day. In addition to highlighting the event as the oldest annually contested marathon in the world, the film showcases many of the...

Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde was posthumously premiered in Munich in 1911 and described by Mahler as a “symphony for tenor, alto (or baritone) and orchestra.” It follows that two soloists have been featured in every recording to date: either tenor and baritone or tenor and alto/mezzo soprano. Jonas Kaufmann is the first soloist to be heard singing both parts. His recording of Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde will be available from Sony Classical on April 7, 2017. The three tenor songs alone pose quite a challenge, particularly the opening “ Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde ” (Drinking Song of Earth’s Misery). What inspired Jonas Kaufmann to take on the three lower-pitched songs too? “During performances I’ve often wondered why one needs two singers for these six songs. Of course, there are powerful contrasts between the songs and also clear differences in terms of their vocal tessitura. In spite of this, I was attracted by the idea of framing these six songs – despi...

When there are literally thousands of miles between the musicians, the sound engineers and the composer, trying to get all the pieces to fit together can be a monumental task. TwtrSymphony is in the last stages of releasing the 4th movement of Birds of a Feather , their debut symphony. So far the first three movements have been met with great enthusiasm, the videos averaging over 1000 views within the first 30 days and the music downloads beyond all expectations. Still, you'd think for an organization that has been playing together for eight months we'd have the process down. Far from it! With remote recording sessions the variety of recording levels from one track to the next. Is the flute really meant to be the focus in this section or is the volume of their track just that much higher than the strings? The engineer has to make choices as to what works and what doesn't. Then, he/she has to send the track to the producer (me) to make suggestions as to changing the volu...

Tweet your Q's to #TwtrTpc to answers from the sound engineer professionals of TwtrSymphony all day today. They'll try to answer questions on Twitter, but all your questions will be posted here tomorrow - with as many answers as possible. Also look for future posted with more in-depth answers to the more difficult questions. WOW, the conversations were fast and furious today. A HUGE thank-you to Felipe for fielding so many questions. Although, I have a feeling anyone reading today's discussion will only have more. That's OK - you can tweet them to #TwtrTpc OR email to TwtrSymphony . We'll get you an answer! ails: What programme should I se for my recording. Been using mixpadaudio on my laptop #TwtrTpc Felipe Gonzalez: Hi: we have posted some options here… http://www.instantencore.com/buzz/item.aspx?FeedEntryId=215574 Jeff Freeman: #TwtrTpc I use a Zoom H2 as a USB mic into my Windows laptop. Mixcraft 6 is my software of choice. Felipe Gonzalez: NIce ...

Felipe actually tweeted these gems to the musicians of TwtrSymphony, but they were SO good I had to share Violin recorded with 1 mic at 1 mt, room by 2 mics. No eq, no edit no plugins. Quick thoughts: Headphones for recording?, Closed Back or In Ear type. On both cases not the cheap ones, here, more $ is better. MAC, Windows or Linux OS?, it doesn't matter.If you setup the computer correctly, all of them will perform OK Which Audio Interface?, one with at least 1 Mic input and headphones output, USB 2 or Firewire for faster speed. An external Audio Interface will sound better than the computer built in, allowing better recordings from you. DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) is recording software in your computer. Purchased software options: ProTools, Logic, DP, Cubase. More purchased DAW options: Audition, Nuendo, Vegas. Some free DAW options: Audacity and Ardour. Felipe and Garry will get checking in on Twitter throughout Thursday to answer your technical questions. Tw...

"Tremulando Dança" is the third movement and is Portuguese for Fluttering Dance. As might be typical for a third movement in a classical symphony the minuet and trio is used with a nod toward the Scherzo or "joke." The music dances about in an altered rumba beat for the minuet, with the trio a modified waltz with some unlikely shifts in the beat. The minuet keeps the heavy use of 13/8 as the main underlying meter. You can download the music from TwtrSymphony's website: twtrsymphony.instantencore.com . Want to get involved? TwtrSymphony is always looking for new people who want to connect with other musicians from around the world. Click here for more information.

Pre-release copies are available NOW for FANS ONLY Monday, October 15th, TwtrSymphony will release the long awaited 3rd movement of Symphony No. 2 Birds of a Feather , "Tremulando Dança." This piece, which some of our musicians called, "the most difficult, yet rewarding music" is finally out of the studio and ready for the public. Sound Engineers Garry Boyle and Felipe Gonzalez have been working on this track now for nearly two months. When you hear the complexity of the voicing, the interweaving rhythms and the intricate interplay of the various melodies you'll understand their struggle. Complicating their efforts is the fact that none of the musicians recorded their parts in the same room. The whole concept of TwtrSymphony is connecting musicians from around the world. So, "Tremulando Dança" is a piece comprised of recordings from all over, brought together in the studios of Garry (in Edinburgh Scotland) and Felipe (in Concón, Chile) to cre...

On October 30 in North America Decca will release the debut album of American cellist Alisa Weilerstein. The album features the Edward Elgar and Elliott Carter Cello Concertos, and Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei performed with conductor Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Staatskapelle. Ms. Weilerstein signed an exclusive recording contract with Decca in October 2010 and is the first cellist to sign with the record label in over thirty years. Ms. Weilerstein said, “It has been a thrill to work with Decca Classics. Performing and recording the Elgar Concerto with Maestro Barenboim has immeasurably deepened my relationship with the work, and it has been an honor to record Elliott Carter's Concerto. The Staatskapelle Berlin has been an outstanding musical partner, and I can't say enough about my producers Andrew Keener and Friedemann Engelbrecht. I am so excited to finally share with the world what has been, for me, an unforgettable experience in every way.” Ms. Weilerstein gave a speci...

INCLUDES DELUXE LIMITED EDITION WITH BONUS DVD “MY LIFE WITH CHOPIN” AVAILABLE OCTOBER 9 The music of Chopin – universally loved for its beauty and communicative power – has long been a dynamic force in Lang Lang’s life, propelling him through a number of career-defining experiences. Now, in his 30th-birthday year, Lang Lang records his first album entirely devoted to the great composer’s solo piano masterpieces. The Chopin Album – Lang Lang’s third album for Sony Classical – includes the second set of Chopin’s Études (op. 25), the Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise and a selection of shorter works that he has long enjoyed performing, including three Nocturnes and the Waltz op. 64 no. 1, popularly known as the “Minute” Waltz. Chopin “speaks with such a universal voice,” Lang Lang says. “I genuinely believe he’s a true ambassador for classical music among the great composers. He appeals to everyone.” Chopin has accompanied Lang Lang throughout his career. One of the fir...

EMPTY ORCHESTRA this week released their much anticipated album, entitled One More Time, Altogether Now, on Pentimento Music Co. A record that comes as the result of years of writing, recording and endless touring, the group have described the incredibly in-depth sound of the release as "filled with our blood and guts and hands and hearts." One More Time, Altogether Now is available for purchase here . To coincide with the album release, the video for single, The Audience, has debuted on The Performer. Filmed and set in the historic Capitol Theatre in the band's hometown of Flint, Michigan, the clip pays a gritty homage to the unfaltering melancholy of entertaining. Hauntingly beautiful, the band wanted the clip to encapsulate the ever-present love/hate relationship between performer and audience member. Check out the music video, plus guest blog entry from band member, Stephen Wisniewski, here .

Deutsche Grammophon continues its collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen with this new release of two works by Shostakovich: the prologue to Orango and Symphony no. 4. Both works, recorded live at Walt Disney Concert Hall this past December, are given searing performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and a cast of singers. The 2-disc set (over 90 minutes of music) will be available on June 19, 2012. Little was known about Orango other than its title until 2004 when the Shostakovich scholar Olga Digonskaya unearthed a thirteen-page piano score of this prologue in the Glinka Museum in Moscow. The opera was apparently commissioned to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the October Revolution and the well-known historical and science-fiction novelist Alexei Tolstoy (a distant relative of the author of War and Peace ) and his regular collaborator, Alexander Starchakov, were brought in to write the libretto. The absurd ...

A collection of works by Ravel, Stravinsky, Weill and de Sabata feature the jazz pianist with the Gewandhausorchester Following the success of last year’s sparkling recording of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto and Rhapsody in Blue , conductor Riccardo Chailly and pianist Stefano Bollani return with an album of jazz-inspired classical works, including two world-premiere recordings. The album, which was recorded live at the Gewandhaus, Leipzig, will be released on May 22, 2012. Last year Decca released an all-Gershwin recording featuring these artists and it was a surprise hit. Gramophone commented that “…the performance of the Concerto is the finest I have ever heard . . . Inhibitions are left backstage and, while all parties are alive to the smallest detail, there is an irreverence and spontaneity which capture the spirit of the work like no other . . . Bollani's exuberance and panache are infectious.” This unique combination of a revered maestro (who recently has received the h...

Young Pianist makes her EMI Classics Debut with Complete Beethoven Sonatas, to be released exclusively on iTunes for $9.99 on May 22 “In her hands, Beethoven has moved from VHS to Blu Ray in a heartbeat. Everything is dangerously invigorating, strikingly original. This is the kind of album that will save the classical recording industry.“ The Telegraph The brilliant 24-year-old Korean pianist HJ Lim, who signed an exclusive contract with EMI Classics in September 2011, has recorded her first project for the label, an ambitious traversal of the Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas. As an unheard of feat in launching a new artist, EMI will release Lim’s Complete Beethoven Sonatas on the iTunes Music Store for only $9.99, a strategy commonly used with compilations, but never with a new release until now. A Yamaha exclusive artist, HJ was also the first to record the complete sonatas on a Yamaha CFX concert grand piano, the crown jewel of their remarkable piano collection. Pianists who r...

Celebrated British ensemble reconstruct 400-year-old lost choral masterpiece for seven choirs and release world-premiere recording of Italian Vespers extravaganza Following their multi-award winning 2011 Decca debut recording of Striggio’s Mass in 40 Parts from 1566, Robert Hollingworth takes his maverick ensemble I Fagiolini on a new journey unearthing lost works from the High Renaissance and early Baroque. The group’s second Decca album 1612, set for release on June 5th, presents the world-premiere recordings of Viadana’s 4-choir Vesper Psalms, a reconstruction of Giovanni Gabrieli’s 28-voice Magnificat , a reconstitution of his In Ecclesiis and other lost treasures from this glorious period of multi-choir music. 1612 is a majestic and intricate feast of kaleidoscopic color for voices, brass, wind, strings, lutes and organs. The recording of Gabrieli’s lost Magnificat is the culmination of a musical detective story. Reconstruction of the piece had been considered impossible, wi...

Deutsche Grammophon presents conductor Myung-Whun Chung and his Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra with a new album of Debussy and Ravel. The orchestra, “a world-class ensemble” (Berliner Morgenpost), is setting a new standard for orchestral music in Korea and regularly performs for largely sold-out audiences. In anticipation of the orchestra’s first official North American tour, the Yellow Label releases this album of French masterpieces, available April 10. Myung-Whun Chung, who has held the position of Music Director and Chief Conductor since 2006, has reinvigorated the Seoul Philharmonic and brought worldwide attention to the ensemble. In 2010 the orchestra made a European tour which drew critical acclaim in cities such as Berlin, Bologna, St. Petersburg and Prague. Now maestro and orchestra come to North America with performances in Vancouver, Seattle, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. On the tour, as on the new album, the orchestra will perform Debussy’s La Mer and Ravel’s Ma Mère ...

Universal Classics continues its commitment to conductor Daniel Barenboim with this new release on Deutsche Grammophon of Bruckner’s Symphony no. 7 in E major featuring the Staatskapelle Berlin. Recorded live in the Berlin Philharmonie in June, 2010, this performance was rapturously received by the audience which erupted into 13 minutes of uninterrupted applause. The recording will be available on May 8, 2012. In June 2010 Barenboim conducted six of Bruckner’s symphonies at the Berlin Philharmonie within a single week, programming the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Symphonies alongside Beethoven’s five piano concertos, with Barenboim himself as the soloist. It was the most monumental project of the concert season, both for the musicians involved and for the audience. The result of this cycle (a favorite practice with Barenboim) was an extraordinarily flexible Bruckner with fluently shifting tempi and an exceptional range of orchestral tone colors. The Staatskapel...

Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) will release a hybrid SACD recording of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Overture No. 3 from Leonore on the Orchestra’s SFS Media label June 12. A pre-release of the album is now available exclusively on the iTunes Store. The San Francisco Symphony’s e-store is currently accepting pre-sale orders for a hybrid SACD version at sfsymphony.org/store , and on May 16 the SACD will become available at the Symphony Store in Davies Symphony Hall. The national retail release for the recording, both on CD and digitally, will be June 12. The release at the Symphony Store coincides with MTT and the Orchestra’s concerts of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Pastoral, taking place May 16-19 at Davies Symphony Hall. All of the music on the new recording was captured live in concerts held at Davies Symphony Hall. Symphony No. 7 was recorded in concerts held October 7-9, 2010 and Overture No. 3 from Leonore was recorded September 14...

The remarkable Monks of the Desert, who spend their daily hours praying for peace, working and studying in silence, have entered the realm of major label music production with their Sony MASTERWORKS debut album Blessings, Peace and Harmony available April 24, 2012. The Monks of The Desert observe a strict daily prayer schedule called Divine Office, or Opus Dei, which takes place 7 times during the day and once at night, starting at 4:00am and ending at 7:30pm. When not praying or studying, the monks run a multitude of self-sustaining businesses including light manufacturing, brewing beer (Monk's Ale & Monk’s Wit), an on-site “hotel” and community thrift store in Santa Fe and a separate retail store specializing in hand-crafted religious items, books, music, and folk art. The Monastery of Christ in the Desert is located completely “off-the-grid” in the stunning Chama Canyon wilderness in northwestern New Mexico, about 75 miles north of Santa Fe and 53 miles south of Chama. ...

Eric Whitacre Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Hila Plitmann & Julian Lloyd Webber Join Whitacre On The Composer/Conductor’s Second Decca Album Out Now Water Night follows GRAMMY-winning, chart topping Light & Gold Straight out of the gate, Eric Whitacre’s newest Decca recording, Water Night, has debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Classical Traditional chart. Water Night is the composer and conductor’s second album on the label, which was released on April 3, 2012. With no fewer than seven world premiere recordings, Water Night features the Eric Whitacre Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Hila Plitmann and cellist Julian Lloyd Webber. Water Night follows Light & Gold, Whitacre’s GRAMMY-winning Decca debut which was one of the highest performing new classical releases for 2011, spending 70 weeks on the Billboard Classical Chart. Whitacre was recently profiled on both ABC World Newsand NBC Nightly News. In 2011 Whitacre was also featured on Good Morning America, CNN, NPR...

New and catalog releases highlight both Debussy’s range of works as well as the rich history of his works on recordings On August 22, 1862 Achille-Claude Debussy was born in Saint-Germain-en Laye, near Paris. In 1872 he entered the Paris Conservatoire and, as a student, won numerous prizes eventually culminating with the Prix de Rome. While at school he began composing and at the age of 19 performed his own music in public for the first time. His first major masterpiece, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune , whose dream world awoke modern music in Pierre Boulez’s memorable phrase, was premiered in 1894. From then on he continued to compose in a variety of formats (symphonic, opera, chamber, song, etc) until his death in 1918 at the age of 55. To celebrate Debussy’s extraordinary music, Deutsche Grammophon and Decca have come together to feature a number of benchmark catalog recordings as well as new recordings. The Debussy Edition (available May 1) is an 18-CD set that highlights...