EMI's American Classics series: Sweet & Cheap
millionrainbows | 05/10/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This EMI American Classics series is sweet & cheap (11.99). Another "American Piano Sonatas" disc contains an excellent reading of the Piano Sonata No. 1>
This disc is all chamber music. The Largo is good, not too fast, as I've heard others. One small quibble: I don't like the way the clarinet player (Stanley Drucker) broke the phrase for his breathing point; it sounds wrong. Other than that, the other players (Glenn Dicterow, violin; Alan Stepansky, cello; Israela Margalit, piano) do a fine job on the Piano Trio and the two Violin Sonatas. Unlike the Piano Sonata No. 1, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, these were recorded in New York, so I'm assuming the players are American.
A selection of 5 songs by Ives is also included, featuring soprano Deborah Voigt. I don't prefer her style; too much pitch-obscuring vibrato.
Ives'chamber works are under-recorded, so any new version is welcomed. This disc is worth getting for the good parts, and is well-engineered."