DAVID BAKER
CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN & JAZZ BAND

"There are two compositions on this CD by Dave Baker. The work that was written for James Pellerite is the Concerto for Flute, String Quartet, and Jazz Band. The opening is a little reminiscent of Gil Evans, because it starts with tone clusters that resolve outwardly by half-steps into 9th chords and 13th chords. The band that plays on this recording is the 27 member Indiana University Jazz Band and String Quartet, so there is a wonderful, full, big band sound. When Pellerite makes his entrance in the first movement it immediately brings back many of memories of hearing him play simply because of the incredible sound that he gets from a flute: it is warm and full and round with amazing breath control. He plays remarkably long phrases without ever taking a breath. This is an absolutely excellent piece of music: it is definitely jazz but it is also unmistakably a “classical” work of the 20th century that uses jazz harmonies and rhythms. The art of this work is immediately noticeable, as is the art of James Pellerite. Those two elements go hand-in-hand. I have never heard octave overtones and fifths on the flute (think double stops on a violin).

...but this recording cements the fact that he is one, as Baker says in the liner notes, of the greatest flutists of all time."

Robin McNeil OpusColorado.com November 4, 2011

ERNEST BLOCH
QUATUOR A CORDES & PIANO QUINTET No. 2

"There have been few recordings of this work over the years, and fewer still that are able to meet its emotional and technical requirements. In 1982 Laurel released a stupendous performance of the work on LP, played by the Pro Arte Quartet, the first of several extraordinary recordings featuring this ensemble in Bloch's chamber music. Most of these recordings have made their way onto compact disc, but only now is this recording of the First Quartet thus available.

Then why would one be interested in Laurel's reissue now? The chief reason would be that the latter offers full, rich ADD sound quality. Bloch's Quartet No. 1 is post-Romantic in style and symphonic in scale, and benefits greatly from the sonic breadth thus afforded.

The Piano Quintet No. 2 makes for a fascinating companion piece, as it is the composer's last major work, composed in 1957, more than 40 years after the First Quartet. Bloch's Weltanschauung--with its savagery, passion, and sober introspection--remains largely unchanged, but the means of realizing it are now much tighter and less rhetorical. When the reading at hand first appeared on LP in 1984, it was the work's first recording, and set an astoundingly high standard. It was then reissued on CD in 1991 with an equally powerful performance of the Quintet No. 1. Heard today, these performances have not lost their primacy ..."

Walter Simmons FANFARE 30:5 May/June 2007

ERNEST BLOCH
VIOLONCELLO MUSIC

"These, [cello suites], are gorgeous works that communicate an end-of-life sorrow and resigned finality. They are also ferociously difficult; yet so consummate is cellist Parry Karp’s technique that one is barely aware of the difficulties. Instead, he brings to all of the works on this disc a tone of glowing warmth and profoundly felt emotion. His able partner in the duo pieces, Frances Karp, is also well equipped technically and in full sympathy with Bloch’s muse. Also quite exceptional is the recording, which allows just enough ambient space around the instruments to give the impression of openness but without the cavernous reverberation that afflicts some recordings of solo instruments.

Jerry Dubins FANFARE 31:1 p.68 Sep/Oct 2007

"The recording, which was proudly made on analogue tape, is gripping and of almost forbidding immediacy and impact...
... These performances are uniformly magnificent with Parry Karp giving every sign of having learnt and known these suites from the inside. The playing of Frances Reiche Karp in the first two pieces projects equal commitment and communicative passion. "

Rob Barnett MUSICWEB-INTERNATIONAL

ERNEST BLOCH
VIOLIN CONCERTO & SOLO VIOLIN SUITES

"(Bloch, himself a violinist... knew how to extract striking sonorities - novel yet idiomatic - from violin, viola, and cello; and so does Lefkowitz). Its vigor and intensity, coupled with the brilliance of Lefkowitz's technique... suggest what a wonderful vehicle this Concerto might make for just the right kind of virtuoso; and clearly Lefkowitz is that kind of virtuoso... Lefkowitz's white-hot performance should still appeal to aficionados of violin literature and of Bloch...

Lefkowitz plays these brief works [the suites] with a dedication matching his elan in the Concerto."
Robert Maxham FANFARE

NIKOLAI LOPATNIKOFF
Works for Solo Piano and for Violin and Piano.

"The presentation could hardly be better. Solomon plays with authority and conviction. The two works for violin are expertly negotiated. Warmly recommended."
- J. Rabinowitz. FANFARE.

"Instead of buying some Romantic or Classical warhorse, seek out this remarkable collection. You won't regret it..."
-Robert Hesson, STEREOPHILE.

MIKLÓS RÓZSA
String Quartets; Rhapsody for Cello & Piano

"The Pro Arte is an extraordinarily cohesive group. This recording reminds you that stereo means solid. The image of the quartet is simply astounding in its three-dimensionality. For the sheer illusion of having musical instruments in your listening room, this disc has no peer. The NEA grant used in the production of this recording was money well spent. The music is capivating, the performance intense and the sound superb. Look for this one; it's worth it."
-R. Hesson, STEREOPHILE.

"The Pro Arte ensemble is most impressive and captures the spirit and energy of the works, and defines the contrapuntal textures with pinpoint clarity. The Rhapsody receives a sonorous, very committed performance from Parry Karp, the cellist for the Pro Arte Quartet and his father, pianist Howard Karp."
S. Brown, FANFARE.

"This essential release is another crown in the jewel of Laurel Record's owner-producer Herschel Burke Gilbert... and deserves the full support of all lovers of string quartet repertoire as well as the always growing band of devotees of Miklos Rozsa."
- Paul S. Snook, FANFARE.