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(click on the "TP" number for more detail)

TP277 - I was dancing with a gnat Aura Go
Ian Munro
Duo pianists Aura Go and Ian Munro bring the music of Russian composer Ekaterina Komalkova to the listening public in the West for the first time. Ekaterina Komalkova (1959—) first came to national attention in the last years of the former Soviet Union when she won a nationwide composition competition. Her piano 'Fantasy' became known among the international community of pianists in 1986 when it was chosen as the mandatory test piece for the Tchaikowsky International Piano Competition. Writing for symphony orchestra, film, television and especially for young people, she was appointed musical director of Ulitsa Sezam, Russia's version of Sesame Street, in the late 1990's.
 
TP275 - Porgy & Bess Fantasy David Bollard
David Stanhope
In the early 1980s, two of Australia's finest pianists came together to perform several masterpieces of the piano duet repertoire. These recordings have come from both concerts and studio recordings, back in the day when these things were possible. This double CD is tribute to that remarkable musical collaboration.
 
TP274 - David Stanhope Live in Concert David Stanhope
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
In this era of ubiquitous digital streaming as a means of access to music, it is good to be reminded of the energy and excitement of a live performance. This concert, with its scintillating repertoire, is a reminder of what we miss out on in our diet of studio recordings. Franz Schreker's Prelude to a Drama is one of the most gorgeous examples of late romanticism in music, written for a huge orchestra. Rachmaninoff's last major work, Symphonic Dances, is as powerful a work as any other by that composer. Both performances on this CD are taken from a single concert on the 23rd of September, 1999.
 
TP273 - Pearl of May Satsuki Odamura Koto Ensemble
Tall Poppies is delighted to feature Satsuki Odamura and her Koto Ensemble once more. This CD contains new Australian works composed for the koto group by Sandy Evans and Ian Cleworth, as well as a new work for solo bass koto by Mark Isaacs. All works celebrate anniversaries of Satsuki's work in Australia and her 30th anniversary is represented by the Pearl.
 
TP272 - In Memoriam Adam Pinto (piano)
Roger Smalley AM (1943–2015) had a profound impact on the development of contemporary musical composition in Australia, and the initial inspiration for this project grew directly from his virtuosity both as a pianist and as a composer of visceral music for solo piano. A formidable pianist, Smalley had studied with Stockhausen, given British premiere performances of several of his Klavierstücke and, in the contemporary performance group Intermodulation, was the first to combine live electronics with transcendental pianism to extend the sonic possibilities of the instrument.
 
TP271 - The Emerald Phoenix Josie and the Emeralds
In 2014, Tall Poppies released The Emerald Leopard (TP233) which included music for soprano and viols by Brooke Green ("intriguing ... beguiling ... a delight"). The Emerald Phoenix presents recents works by Brooke Green for soprano, viols and theorbo, featuring soprano Josie Ryan and the brilliant bass viol player Laura Vaughan.
 
TP270 - After Julia Decibel
After Julia is an album of eight contemporary works by Australian women composers responding to Julia Gillard's tenure as Australian Prime Minster. Decibel Artistic Director, Cat Hope, was inspired to pursue the project after circumstances around Gillard's prime ministership exposed gender discrimination within politics and wider Australian society, causing her to reflect on the new music sector.
 
TP269 - David Pereira - Cello Works David Pereira (cello)
Lianah Jaensch (cello)
Edward Neeman (piano)
Tall Poppies is proud to present the first recording of David Pereira's compositions for cello. Written over 20 years, these works show a clear understanding of the instrument and often show a mischievous side that is rare in classical music today. Responding to his surroundings in Canberra, his children and grand-children, and to the art of fellow Canberra painter Micky Allen, David's music takes us on surprising journeys.
 
TP268 - Blue Sky Through Still Trees Vanessa Sharman - piano
Vanessa Sharman returns to the piano music of Tasmanian composer Don Kay, in this second recording featuring the Sonatas 5 and 9. Recorded in the beautiful acoustic of the Salon at Melbourne's Recital Centre, Vanessa's performances perfectly capture the delicacy and emotion of these works. Don Kay's music is transformed by his environment and in later years by the death of his wife Frances.
 
TP267 - W.F.Bach & J.G. Müthel
Complete Works for Two Fortepianos
Geoffrey Lancaster
James Huntingford
This disc represents a cultural 'coming of age'. Fortepianists Geoffrey Lancaster and James Huntingford have teamed up to produce what can only be described as the most remarkable recording to have been released by any early instrument specialists in Australia - it will be a long time before the transcendental virtuosity, artistry and stylistic insights heard on this CD are equalled within the Australian 'early music' world.
 
TP901 - Twenty-Five David Stanhope (piano)
After taking a break from recording the Chopin Op.10 etudes with the Godowsky studies and making a welcome return to the keyboard, David Stanhope tackles some of the most technically fiendish repertoire in the piano literature - the Godowsky Studies on Chopin's Etudes Op. 25.
 
TP266 - Le Tango Perpetuel Australia Ensemble
This CD contains a collection of wonderful piano music in transcriptions for the Australia Ensemble by its pianist Ian Munro, who says: "In these four essays in transcription, I have aimed to bring further instrumental colour to masterworks of the piano repertoire. ... I have frequently turned to gems of the piano repertoire that seem to me to contain instrumental colours trapped within them, begging to be released. To be honest, though, I have always enjoyed recasting music that I love into forms that I can play with friends, probably the best justification for arranging anything."
 
TP265 - Galop! Virtuoso Orchestral Transcriptions
David Stanhope and His Orchestra
This is a serious orchestral "show-off" disc. As David Stanhope says: "the major works were originally written for piano or two pianos. The Liszt and Godowsky pieces are rarely heard because of their extreme difficulty, while the Rachmaninoff (although well-known) may have been intended as a future orchestral work. My orchestral transcriptions are intended to shed light on brilliant or beautiful music that is either neglected or shows the possible intent of the composer. The two short pieces of mine attached as encores were originally written for the Asian Games of 2006."
 
TP263 - bushfire dreams Ormond String Quartet
Lotte Betts-Dean
If you doubted that the string quartet is alive and well in Australia, this CD should reassure you. Four marvellous works by Melbourne composers are presented here in superb performances by the Ormond Quartet, resident at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music between 2016 and 2018. Lotte Betts-Dean joins the quartet for the performance of Katy Abbott's work.
 
TP261 - TWO STEP Cathy Milliken and friends
Recorded in Berlin, Brisbane and Tev Aviv, this is a truly international recording. Cathy Milliken is an Australian oboist and composer currently working from Berlin. She has involved herself in many collaborative projects with some of the best modern performers available. The text flowing through the recording comes from a series of short poems in Gertrude Stein's 1914 collection 'Tender Buttons'.
 

 

 
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