Discography
Royal Mezzo
Royal Mezzo, Cedille Records
World-renowned mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore sings four royal roles in a tour de force program of dramatic orchestral works.
Surging with epic emotions, Royal Mezzo showcases Ms. Larmore in symphonic portraits of commanding characters from legend, literature, and mythology.
Samuel Barber’s haunting Andromache’s Farewell depicts the anguish of a Trojan queen forced to give up her son after the Greeks conquered her city. The bold harmonies and orchestral colors of Hector Berlioz’s La mort de Cléopâtre (The Death of Cleopatra) shocked the French musical establishment. Maurice Ravel’s dreamy and sensuous song cycle Shéhérazade was inspired by the storytelling queen of The Arabian Nights. And Benjamin Britten’s graphic Phaedra recounts a mythic tale of lust and guilt in ancient Athens.
“Jennifer Larmore delivers it all with her trademark dramatic intensity and “faultless technique” (BBC Music), matched by the “exuberance, commitment and edge” (The New York Times) of the Grant Park Orchestra under Carlos Kalmar.
Portraits: Violin Concertos by Szymanowski, Martinu and Bartók
Portraits, Cedille Records
Jennifer Koh, Violin
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
“…the complete program is as coherent and well thought-out as the performances are outstanding.”
— Classics Today.com
“Cast in a long single movement, Koh's iridescent shading of hues and dynamics brings a sweet plangent tone to Szymanowski's rhapsodic lyricism and mercurial caprice, with Kalmar drawing ripe, rich–textured playing from the excellent Grant Park Orchestra.”
— South Florida Sun–Sentinel
“Jennifer Koh and the Grant Park Orchestra sound absolutely amazing, performing with great precision, awareness, and passion.”
— About.com
Symphony in Waves: Music of Aaron Jay Kernis
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
This recording from Carlos Kalmar and the acclaimed Grant Park Orchestra includes the first full-scale orchestral recording of Kernis's Symphony in Waves (1989). The CD also includes world-premiere recordings of Kernis' soaring soundscape, Newly Drawn Sky (2005), and the hyper-energetic virtuoso orchestral showpiece Too Hot Toccata (1996).
"Remarkable."
— The New York Times
American Orchestral Works
American Orchestral Works, Cedille Records
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
“[Carlos] Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra perform... with exuberance, commitment and edge.”
— The New York Times
“Conductor Carlos Kalmar and the orchestra give five premiere recordings of Americans’ works on this disc. The brightest light among them is John Corigliano’s Midsummer Fanfare, a GPMF commission for the opening of the Pritzker Pavillion. From the scratchy and wayward beginning to the thrilling theme’s brassy perorations, it shows just what the orchestra can do. Such heroic (and loud) unison passages from the trumpets, horns and trombones bear witness to the orchestra’s strength and Kalmar’s work ethic.”
— Time Out Chicago
“For the last couple of years Cedille Records producer James Ginsburg has been devising worthwhile American projects for Kalmar and his ensemble, and this new CD is their latest, holding first recordings of six recent American symphonic scores. It is a winner.”
— Chicago Tribune
“In sum, this collection (as so often with this label) works very well as a diverse program very well-suited to continuous listening, and the engineering is about as good as it gets. Terrific!”
— Classics Today.com
Robert Kurka: Symphonic Works
Robert Kurka: Symphonic Works, Cedille Records
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Praise and awards for Robert Kurka: Symphonic Works
Nominated for a 2004 GRAMMY® Award
Winner of a 2004 Classical Internet Award
“I have no hesitation in acclaiming this disc as one of the most important and rewarding releases of 2004.”
— ClassicsToday.com
“Listeners given to wondering why nobody is writing American music like American composers used to write will welcome this enjoyable collection of orchestral music by the lamented Robert Kurka.”
— Chicago Tribune
American Works for Organ and Orchestra
American Works for Organ and Orchestra, Cedille Records
David Schrader, Organ
Grant Park Orchestra
Carlos Kalmar, Conductor
Music of Barber, Piston, Sowerby, and Colgrass performed on the new organ in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall
Independence Eve At Grant Park
Elizabeth Norman, Soprano
Grant Park Orchestra
David Loebel, Conductor
Grant Park Chorus
Music of Copland, Gershwin, Schuman, Sousa, Tchaikovsky
