Album Reviews

Stronen, a drummer, and Ballamy, one of our most resourceful saxophonists, have long collaborated, and on this latest outing are joined by trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer and guitarist Christian Fennesz. The soundscape they conjure up is determinedly experimental and contemporary, as electronics and samples swirl through the mix over Stronen's furious drumming and the often serene sound of Ballamy's soprano or tenor. Molvaer is noted for his poise, and the calmnness of his playing adds another unexpected element. AV

Curios: The Other Place (Edition) 11.99

This British piano trio is justifiably garnering a lot of praise for its inventiveness, and this latest release demonstrates once again that it's in the front rank of contemporary jazz.

Pianist Tom Cawley is the springboard for the invention, but his close rapport with bassist Sam Burgess and drummer Joshua Blackmore makes for a high degree of group interplay. An innovation in the group sound here is the introduction of some discreet electronic effects, which are used sensitively to enhance the music. It's absorbing music. AV

Stravinsky: Les Noces/Oedipus Rex Mariinsky MAR 0510 13.99

We have waited a long time for an innate Russian performance of Les Noces. Full of earthy joy in this wedding ceremony, the rhythms of the soloists razor-sharp, though conductor, Valery Gergiev, spares them nothing in vibrantly fast tempos. The Oedipus Rex is more debatable, solo intonation is at times unusual, while in the lower register the Jocasta of Ekaterina Semenchuk is rather short of flesh-creeping intensity. The Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus are suitably trenchant. DD

Corigliano: "The Red Violin" Concerto / Phantasmagoria (Naxos 8.559671) 5.99

Using music from his film score, The Red Violin, the fashionable American composer, John Corigliano, has created a modern version of the great romantic violin concertos. Full of readily accessible melody and liberally spiced with red-blooded virtuosity, it is stunningly performed by one of America's top violinists, Michael Ludwig. Conductor, JoAnn Falletta, and her fabulous Buffalo Philharmonic add the spooky Suite from the opera, The Ghosts of Versailles, the sound quality surely in line for a major award. DD