Yaala Ballin - Sings Irving Berlin - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Double vinyl LP pressing. Experience the iconic debut album from Brandy like never before, now available on vinyl for the very first time. Originally released in 1994, this groundbreaking album introduced the world to Brandy's smooth vocals, infectious hooks, and effortless blend of R&B and pop. Featuring timeless hits like InchI Wanna Be Down,Inch InchBaby,Inch and InchBrokenhearted,Inch this vinyl edition captures the magic and nostalgia of a true classic.

In the spring of 2020, the Covid pandemic caused turmoil in the concert diaries of most musicians, including the conductor Andrew Litton and his wife Katharina Kang Litton, principal violist of New York City Ballet. To find an outlet for their musical expression they began to explore the repertoire for viola and piano together. Having played the sonatas by Brahms they came across the music by two other Viennese composers, Brahms' near-contemporary Robert Fuchs and his student Egon Kornauth. Fuchs - who the less-than-effusive Brahms called 'a splendid musician' - had a long and distinguished career at the Vienna Conservatory where his other students included such composers as Mahler, Wolf, Sibelius, Zemlinsky and Korngold. That the sonatas recorded here were composed around the same time as Schoenberg's Second String Quartet can be hard to believe - as is the fact that Fuchs's Phantasiestücke (composed in his 80th and final year) was contemporary with Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 1. But if they are not in any way pioneering, all three works are beautifully achieved formally both strong and flexible, with a subtle, deeply-felt emotional coloring of their own. The Litton Duo close the recital with a piece that has a personal significance for the two - an arrangement of the Korean folk song Arirang which they received as a wedding present from Stephen Hough.

What we have here is the welcome memento of the Duke Ellington's 1959 European tour. Berlin's Sportpalast is not a concert hall and during the cursed Nazi reign often was the site of speeches by Hitler and his fellow criminals, but the hall can be said to have been thoroughly purified by sounds of jazz by the time of this concert. The music starts with the Ellington Medley, by then a standard concert opener in varied embodiments. Critics often chided Duke for (in their opinion) overdoing this staple, but in fact it was not only a clever way of dealing with what undoubtedly would have been audience requests for beloved Ducal standards, but also a way of celebrating the continued life of his musical heritage. The concert has been remastered to modern standards, and is a must own for any Ellington fan.