Reviews » Urlicht AudioVisual

“As Louis Armstrong said, all music is folk music”

Reviews Comments Off

May 312023

Ethan Iverson on Miranda Cuckson‘s new double CD/download “Világ”:

“Miranda Cuckson has always impressed with an effortless command of the hardest modern music. I first heard her on the 2014 album Melting the Darkness, which opens with the dumbfounding “Mikka S” by Iannis Xenakis. It’s an incredibly difficult piece, but Cuckson sounds like she’s crooning a blues lullaby. … Is [Franco Donatoni‘s ‘Argot’] really folk music, you ask? Yes it is, at least in the hands of Miranda Cuckson, who plays the Donatoni as if it was written for her. As Louis Armstrong said, all music is folk music. … Less expected is Stewart Goodyear’s contribution. “Solo” from 2022 is downright down-home, a fiddler in a pub offering tales of a bygone age. I am utterly taken with Goodyear’s harmonic conception. (I had heard Goodyear’s name as a concert pianist, but had no idea he was this kind of composer.)”

– Ethan Iverson, Transitional Technology

Miranda’s new recording, Világ, is available for HD streaming and download, and as a double-CD set.

“extraordinary playing”

News, Reviews Comments Off

May 162023

\”It’s also illuminating, not only for its compositional diversity but for Cuckson’s extraordinary playing. In featuring violin alone, her virtuosity, dexterity, and command of intonation and phrasing are on full display, and the performances mesmerize. … Cuckson’s playing is always compelling and never less than transfixing. Anyone who might think nearly 100 minutes of unaccompanied violin might be less than engaging will be otherwise enlightened by Világ. If anything, hearing her performing alone allows for an enhanced appreciation of her singular artistry.”
– Textura

Available for streaming, for download, and on CD!

Praise for Parnassus’ Reissue of Haendel and Hassid

Reviews Comments Off

Apr 202023

Urlicht AudioVisual’s remastering for Parnassus Records of recordings by Josef Hassid (his entire recorded legacy) and Ida Haendel (in some of her first recordings) receives strong praise in the June issue of Gramophone:

“Finally, a disc of encores recorded by then-young Polish-Jewish violinists Josef Hassid and Ida Haendel, in 1940 and 1948-53, sympathetically accompanied by Gerald Moore. Hassid, described by Moore as ‘the greatest instrumental genius I’ve ever partnered‘, plays with a sure technique and gleaming tone a range of pieces including by Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Kreisler and Achron. Sadly his career abruptly collapsed the following year, as he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Handel, almost as impressive a player, offers a more adventurous mix, including a : piece by Tartini and contemporary works by Bartók and Copland.
“The transfers are smooth and one quickly adjusts to the mono sound.”
Parnassus PACL 95011 ****
– Daniel Jaffé, Gramophone

Click here to stream, download, or order in CD format!

‘Deeply Loveable Music’

Reviews Comments Off

Jan 172015

Arts Desk reviews Pascal Rogé et ses amis | Poulenc:

There’s far more to this composer than breezy high spirits, and anyone encountering his music for the first time through this disc would get an unusually balanced impression of Poulenc. Les Biches and the Concerto for Two Pianos aren’t the whole story. … Excellent performances of deeply loveable music, captured in rich, velvety sound.

Read the full review here.

Order the CD directly from Urlicht AudioVisual.[simpleecommcart_add_to_cart id=”14″]
Downloads available from Amazon and iTunes.

Baltimore Sun: “Indispensable to Serious Mahler fans”

Reviews Comments Off

Jul 072014

The Baltimore Sun‘s Tim Smith celebrates Gustav Mahler’s birthday by going “old school” with Urlicht AudioVisual’s acclaimed complete edition of issued prewar 78s:

“Mahler will always be a big deal to me, which means I never tire of learning more about him and hearing more interpretations of his work. And that is why I want to make sure you know about a collection from Urlicht AudioVisual — ‘The Music of Gustav Mahler: Issued 78s, 1903-1940′.

“This set of eight compact discs is indispensable to serious Mahler fans. Of course, the most serious will already have the Bruno Walter-conducted items and may have tracked down a lot of the more obscure material already. But a lot of us will find many a fresh treasure — or curio (the Fourth Symphony recorded by a Tokyo orchestra in 1930, for example).

“And, besides, it’s great to have everything gathered together in a neat package, all sensitively transferred (by Ward Marston, Mark Obert-Thorn and Charles Martin), with highly detailed and illuminating notes by Sybille Werner and the set’s producer Gene Gaudette. …

“There are marvels of interpretive nuance that emerge throughout the set, despite dated sound and some less-than-stellar orchestral playing here and there. Today’s performers could learn an awful lot from studying this music-making.“

Now available in the US and most European and Asian territories.

The most comprehensive collection ever assembled of Mahler’s music as issued on 78s between 1903 and 1940 — every such recording listed in Péter Fülöp’s Mahler Discography
New transfers by Ward Marston and Mark Obert-Thorn
Detailed notes on the music, the recording artists, and revelatory information about performances of Mahler’s music prior to World War II by Sybille Werner
Full texts and translations
Super-value price

No longer available, limited to an edition of 1000 copies
Continue reading »

“rigor and grace, violence and gentleness…”

Reviews Comments Off

May 242014

Christian Carey reviews the newest CD from Miranda Cuckson and Blair McMillen:

Violinist Miranda Cuckson and pianist Blair McMillen have already proven themselves an estimable duo for works by American Modernists such as Shapey and Martino. Their latest outing features Elliott Carter’s Duo for Violin and Piano (1973)… a rendition that juxtaposes rigor and grace, violence and gentleness… Clocking in at over thirty minutes, [the Sessions Sonata for solo violin] is a bear of a piece, demanding both virtuosity and considerable thoughtfulness from the violinist to bring it off: Cuckson has both in spades. … [Eckardt’s Styrömkarl] is vividly characterful and a real workout for the performers; one they assay handily.

Elliott Carter: Duo for violin and piano (1973) [21:56]
Roger Sessions: Sonata for solo violin (1953)
1. Tempo moderato, con ampiezza, e liberamente [10:53]
2. Molto vivo [6:57]
3. Adagio e dolcemente [10:22]
4. Alla Marcia vivace[4:53]
Jason Eckardt: Strömkarl [12:51]

Miranda Cuckson, violin
Blair McMillen, piano

Produced by Gene Gaudette
Engineered and edited by Ryan Streber, Oktaven Audio

CD Edition: Urlicht AudioVisual UAV-5989
[simpleecommcart_add_to_cart id=”3″]

Download Apple Lossless HD album from Payloadz.com ($10.99)
Download FLAC format HD album from Payloadz.com ($10.99)
Download Apple Lossless CD-quality album from Payloadz.com ($9.99)
Download FLAC CD-quality album from Payloadz.com ($9.99)
Download mp3-MAX* album from Payloadz.com ($9.99)
* mp3-MAX uses mEyeFi Media’s cutting-edge variable bitrate .mp3 encoding, optimized for maximum fidelity and transparency

New York Times Praises Cuckson and McMillen’s New Urlicht CD

Reviews Comments Off

Apr 232014

High praise from the newspaper of record:

The violinist Miranda Cuckson and the pianist Blair McMillen, who are individually brilliant and adventurous artists, bring out the best in each other in their frequent collaborations, including their latest recording of contemporary works. Their incisive, animated playing cuts through the density and complexity of Carter’s Duo for Violin and Piano to reveal the music’s wit and fancifulness. Jason Eckardt wrote his glistening, jittery and playfully frenetic “Strömkarl” last year as a companion piece for this recording. Ms. Cuckson is outstanding in Sessions’s magisterial, technically challenging Sonata for Solo Violin (1953). — Anthony Tommasini

Elliott Carter: Duo for violin and piano (1973) [21:56]
Roger Sessions: Sonata for solo violin (1953)
1. Tempo moderato, con ampiezza, e liberamente [10:53]
2. Molto vivo [6:57]
3. Adagio e dolcemente [10:22]
4. Alla Marcia vivace[4:53]
Jason Eckardt: Strömkarl [12:51]

Miranda Cuckson, violin
Blair McMillen, piano

Produced by Gene Gaudette
Engineered and edited by Ryan Streber, Oktaven Audio

CD Edition: Urlicht AudioVisual UAV-5989
[simpleecommcart_add_to_cart id=”3″]

Available in Europe and Asia in May 2013

Audiophile Audition Praises Cuckson and Burns

Reviews Comments Off

Apr 232014

Miranda Cuckson and Chris Burns garner a five-star review for their recording of Luigi Nono’s La lontananza from the Internet’s number one audiophile review site:

Just before she plays, Cuckson enters from the back of the stage, then pauses at each of six (out of nine) music stands to play from 7-12 minutes, and then moves along to the next, soundlessly, on bare feet. How does one reproduce such shifting dynamics on a CD? Simple. Issue the work on a five-channel surround-sound Blu-ray disc as well. With impressive and extreme dynamic range, the Blu-ray has little trouble presenting the full pallet of tones from the various channels.

Luigi Nono: La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura (1988-89)
Miranda Cuckson, violin / Christopher Burns, electronics

Produced by Christopher Burns and Richard Warp
Recording engineer: Richard Warp
Recorded at A Bloody Good Record Inc, Long Island City NY
Mixing engineer (stereo CD): Richard Warp
Mixing engineers (DTS 5.1 surround mix): Paul Special and Richard Warp
Assistant mixing engineer (DTS 5.1 surround mix): Dillon Pajunas
DTS 5.1 surround mix produced at Sonic Arts Center, CCNY, NYC
Produced for New Spectrum Recordings, NYC
Executive producer: Glenn Cornett

Urlicht AudioVisual UAD-5992

CD plus Blu-Ray Audio for home theater systems — available at Amazon.com.
CD plus DTS-CD for home theater systems — available here.
Lossless FLAC download — available here.
MP3 download — available here.

Cuckson, McMillen Get “Expressionistic”

Reviews Comments Off

Mar 282014

Ultra-eclectic new music blog Burning Ambulance raves about the newest CD from Miranda Cuckson and Blair McMillen:

Carter Sessions Eckardt, the new disc of American music for violin and piano or solo violin by Miranda Cuckson (with pianist Blair McMillen) should go a long way towards providing a corrective to [the] misunderstanding [of what “American Expressionism” is]. … The highly charged phrases and structure of [Elliott Carter’s Duo] are clearly characterized by Ms. Cuckson and Mr. McMillen in a performance of power and charm. … I’ve heard some other pieces by Jason Eckardt, and I think he’s a composer worth keeping an eye on. … The real revelation of this disc (the high level of playing is not a revelation, because I’ve heard Cuckson and McMillen before, and they are always this good) is Roger Sessions‘ magisterial Sonata for Solo Violin, composed in 1953. … Cuckson’s performance is direct, authoritative, and probing. In her extremely well-written and informative notes, she tells us that it was this piece, along with the Carter Duo, that set her on her artistic path. We can all be grateful that she is following the path with such grace and artistry.

Read the full review here.

Miranda Cuckson, violin
Blair McMillen, piano

Produced by Gene Gaudette
Engineered and edited by Ryan Streber, Oktaven Audio

CD Edition: Urlicht AudioVisual UAV-5989
[simpleecommcart_add_to_cart id=”3″]

Available in Europe and Asia in May 2013

CRQ: “Fascinating and Most Valuable”

Reviews Comments Off

Jan 122014

Classic Recording Quarterly‘s Alan Sanders devotes nearly two pages to a detailed review of the recordings in “The Music of Gustav Mahler: Issued 78s” in the magazine’s Winter 2014 edition, and he likes what he hears!

“[Ward] Marston has been at work [transferring Oskar Fried’s acoustic recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2] again, and he has produced a notably clearer and fuller sound than before. …

“I have compared the [Bruno Walter transfers with those on EMI/Warner’s recent Walter collection (6 79026-2)… the new Symphony No. 9 has a little more warmth and presence. …

“There is also a Das Lied potpourri and an arrangement of a Wunderhorn song played by the Dol Dauber Salonorchester. Both are strangely convincing. One disc that needs to be mentioned is of the “Urlicht” from the Second Symphony, coupled with one of the Rückert Lieder, sung by the contralto Sara Charles Cahier. She was a member of the Vienna Hofoper between 1907 and 1911, and performed under Mahler’s baton shortly before he lef his post as music director. She also sang in the first performance of Das Lied von der Erde. At the time of the 1930 recording she was 60, but she still sings affectingly. …

“A fascinating and most valuable set, and it is supported by a very informative 50-page English language essay.”

Now available in the US and most European and Asian territories.

The most comprehensive collection ever assembled of Mahler’s music as issued on 78s between 1903 and 1940 — every such recording listed in Péter Fülöp’s Mahler Discography
New transfers by Ward Marston and Mark Obert-Thorn
Detailed notes on the music, the recording artists, and revelatory information about performances of Mahler’s music prior to World War II by Sybille Werner
Full texts and translations
Super-value price

No longer available, limited to an edition of 1000 copies
Continue reading »

Older Entries

Luigi Nono: La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura (1988-89) Miranda Cuckson, violin / Christopher Burns, electronics

Luigi Nono: La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura (1988-89)
Miranda Cuckson, violin / Christopher Burns, electronics