Music DVD Review: The 2007 Newport Music Festival (Boxed Set)
Published July 13, 2008
Disc One is 20-year-old Adam Golka with a mixed program of various composers in an engaging performance that you’ll not want to miss a second of.
Disc Two is Jean-Philippe Collard on piano and Henri Demarquette on cello on an all-Chopin and Schubert program.
Disc Three is titled Lisztening Post and features Liszt arrangements of his own work, as well as compositions by Schumann and Verdi, played by pianists Michael Endres, Kevin Fitz-Gerald (I’ve seen this name as Fitzgerald, FitzGerald, and Fitz-Gerald, so I’m not sure which he prefers), Alain Jacquon, Daniel del Pino, Criag Sheppard, and Grigorios Zamparas.
Disc Four includes interesting commentary as well as performances by The Colorado quartet with a selection of a variety of composers culminating with a remarkable performance of “Dvorak String Quartet No. 14.”
Disc Five is different, offering the expected fare of classical music by vocalist Valerie Wilson, pianist John Bayless, and organist Hector Olivera, but also a highly entertaining tongue-in-cheek skit on modern piano pieces as if they were composed by classical masters.
Disc Six is a group of six musicians in a mixed variety of compositions old and new, on piano, violin and French horn.
Disc Seven, entitled “Pieces of Eight,” features octets and “eight-hands piano” in selections by Villa-Lobos and Mendelssohn, as well as lesser-knowns such as Herold, Moscheles and Bruch.
Disc Eight features Indonesian pianist Eduardus Halim on a Schumann program of sonata, fantasy and etudes.
Disc Nine, titled “Connoisseur Concert,” consists of festival favorites over the years featuring Amanda Baker on flute, Nai-Yuan Hu on violin, Alain Jacquon on piano, Eric Kean on viola, John Lenehan on piano, Göran Marcusson on flute, Luigi Piovano on cello, and Eugen Tichindeleanu on violin.
Disc Ten is titled “Best of the Fest,” and consists of three particularly outstanding concerts featuring pianists Michael Endres, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Pedja Muzijevic, and the Newport debut of Craig Sheppard.
This boxed set consists of 10 DVDs totaling 15 hours, featuring surround sound and widescreen. Special features include several interviews with General Director Dr. Mark P. Malkovich, III, and several hours of bonus performances.
- Music DVD Review: The 2007 Newport Music Festival (Boxed Set)
- Published: July 13, 2008
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Video: Music, Music: Video, Music: Opera, Music: Classical, Culture: Society
- Writer: Lou Novacheck
- Lou Novacheck's BC Writer page
- Lou Novacheck's personal site
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