Argentina Hotels Travel - Ballades for Saxophone and Orchestra
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List Price: $8.99
Argentina Hotels Travel Price: $4.36
Your Save: $ 4.63 ( 52% )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Naxos
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0074731324520
Label: Naxos
Manufacturer: Naxos
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Naxos
Release Date: 2004-08-17
Studio: Naxos
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: no masterpiece... but suprisingly worth the listen
Comment: Being a person who is constantly striving to find something new on saxophone recordings, I tend to put a slightly unhealthy emphasis on the avant-garde. Many saxophone recordings coming out recently not only focus on that style, but also take thsi to new levels with more theatrical styles molded with electronics (see John Sampen's The Electric Saxophone). However, this recording offered something new even though the selections (for the most part) are staples of the saxophone literature.
His choices of the Tomasi and Martin "Ballade" are what attracted me to this recording. I also was curious about the Piazzola as well as his world premiere recordings, but my main focus were on the works which I have performed or have heard performed before. I will begin with those:
I was fairly unimpressed with his performance of both the Tomasi, Martin, and especially the Ravel "Piece en forme de Habanera". Allow me to be constructively critical: Kerkezos is a protoge of Jean Marie Londiex, and his performance with regards to his sound shows. But let me go deeper into my meaning. If you have ever listened to recordings of J.M. Londiex, especially of the Ida Gotkovsky "Brilliance", you will notice he has a very bright and forceful sound. Theodore Kerkezos emulated this throughout the recording, but was innapropriately forceful with his sound, especially in the Ravel. While I am impressed with his technique and control of the instrument, his musicianship did not appear to me as somethingthat was too important to him. The music just did not jump off the page. His tone made it seem almost as if the microphone was behind the orchestra, and he had to play at the top of his lungs at times to be heard.
There isnt much I can say about the Dragatakis or the Iturralde since they were premiere recordings, but I will say my favotie part of this recording, and the only thing I have no criticism towards is the Tango Suite. The "forceful" tone I mentioned before worked like a charm through out the suite, and honestly, it was what made me listen to the album through a second time. I believe this recording would be a great learning aid for Astor Piazzola, though obviously not the best.
Since this is the second of Kerkezos' recording I have listened to and reviewed, I decided to do a side-by-side comparison and came up with the following conclusion: This recording is indeed a miraculous change/improvement from his previous with the Debussy, Ibert, Glazounov and Villa-Lobos. Although I was not happy with the musicianship - as stated before - I was impressed with his preparation, control, and of course the orchestra. Would this recording made a great learning aid? I believe so... It offers an aspiring saxophonist the opportunity to listen and learn core repertoire that is rarely seen on a recording track list. And for the price, it certainly is unbeatable. While it is no masterpiece, I am glad to have this one on my shelf.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Good, the Blah, and the OK
Comment: Theodore Kerkezos' first Naxos disc was of very standard works for saxophone and orchestra (Milhaud, Debussy, Villa-Lobos, Glazunov & Ibert) plus a new Greek work. His third disc, "Impressions for Saxophone" (see my review) is devoted entirely to Greek works. This disc features a Greek work too. It's wonderful to see a musician so committed to diseminating the music of his contemporary compatriots.
THE OK - The "Ballade for Saxophone and Strings" by Dimitris Dragatakis is, however, a fairly bland little piece. It's surprising that over the course of its not-quite-three-minutes it manages to bore me so thoroughly. The "Czardas" by Spanish composer and old-timey jazz musician, Pedro Iturralde is quite fun but probably won't knock too many socks off.
THE GOOD - The 'big' pieces here are the Ballades by Henri Tomasi and Frank Martin. The Tomasi begins as a very atmospheric work before becoming more animated (I prefer his Concerto) but feels a little 'bloated' due to Kerkezos' thick, highly resonant tone. When he plays loudly, though, his tone can become quite strident and a little unattractive. (There's something 'filmic' about the music. There are moments when I expect Maurice Chevalier to appear and start thanking heaven for little girls.)
He fares much better in the Martin. His altissimo (very high notes) is impressive. For those wishing to learn this tricky piece, I would recommend this disc as one reference point.
THE BLAH - Unfortunately (at least from my point of view), the rest of the disc is devoted to transcriptions. Now, I know the sax has a fairly limited repertoire, but there are works out there; works that DON'T get recorded at all. I WISH Ravel had written more for saxophone than those solos in "Bolero" and Mussorgsky's "Old Castle", but he didn't. Delangle has taken to recording Ravel transcriptions too. I just don't get it. At three minutes duration, it's hardly enough to rope in a customer who otherwise wouldn't have purchased the disc. Though, perhaps combined with yet another Piazzolla melange, it may well be the icing on the cake.
Hasn't the Piazzolla craze finished yet? I mean, I actually LIKE Piazzolla, especially his "Tango: Zero Hour" album. And I certainly think he was an awesome musician. I have even liked a few sax transcriptions of his pieces--Nobuya Sugawa playing the "Histoire du Tango", the Aurelia Quartet playing a selection of pieces, for example. But I've heard way too much now. So many musicians have released albums of (or including) Piazzolla arrangements: Yo-Yo Ma, Gidon Kremer, Claude Delangle, and many more. I don't even think Kerkezos plays this suite especially well or idiomatically. I think the orchestration is particularly lacklustre. Without Piazzolla's own wonderful bandoneon and like-minded accomplices, it just sounds corny. But hey, others will feel differently no doubt.
I still recommend this disc. For the price, it's a very good performance of the Martin and a serviceable reading of the Tomasi, which is otherwise hard to find on CD. If you just can't get enough of old Astor, then you'll quite possibly love it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Delight
Comment: While I do not endorse all the selections, it is for the best of it that is why this is one of my more often played CDs here at the office. Gave it as a gift, and the recipient was one tough customer when it comes to music, but liked this.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It can be a Cure for broken heart
Comment: I think it's one of the best interpretation of Piazzolla.
Piazzolla did not plan to make This suite, but I feel
they originally made a perfect suite.
And all songs are True song of soul, I think.
Customer Rating:
Summary: delightful, awesome, superb
Comment: This album has something for everyone; Serenity, excitement, passion all conveyed by the wonderful talents of Theodore Kerkezos and his sweet sounding saxophone. His opening track by Tomasi has the most beautiful harmonies and his vibrato really accentuates this. I am however a huge fan of the Piazzolla Tango Suite and this is a must for any saxophonist out there to listen to how a saxophone should be played. The Prelude has a distinct "Kill Bill" sound but it's oh so exciting. You've got elements of Bach's fugues but jazzed up especially in the Fugata. Then there's Oblivion, absolute pure sounding heart rendering music that you could just listen to all day. The album ends in the best fashion with Iturralde's "Czardas" which any saxophonist knows is a fantastic piece to perform and what a great finale to an outstanding collection of music.
This album is a must for any saxophonist and anyone that wants to hear some great works of the 20th century. I can't rate it enough and if there is anyone in two minds - BUY IT!
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