Dinah Washington… The fabulous Miss D!
Dinah Washington, The Fabulous Miss D! AC 36777
We recently received this fine Hip-O-Select collection that brings together in one place all of Dinah Washington’s Keynote, Decca and Mercury singles from 1943 to 1953. The book/CD package has great photos, reproductions of record labels and album covers, and detailed discographical notes for each single. The introductory essay was written by Marc Myers, who pens the Jazz Wax blog.
Find it here: Loeb Music Library AC 36777
The Rake’s Progress
Igor Stravinsky, The Rake's Progress. CD 38218
Just in on CD is this landmark recording from 1953, the first complete Rake’s Progress conducted by the composer. Stravinsky leads the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus and a cast including Hilde Gueden as Anne, Blanche Thebom as Baba the Turk, Eugene Conley as Tom, Mack Harrell as Nick Shadow, Martha Lipton as Mother Goose and Norman Scott as Trulove.
Find it here: Loeb Music Library CD 38218
Menotti in German
Gian Carlo Menotti, Operas. DVD 1780
We recently acquired an Arthaus DVD that contains 1960’s German-language studio recordings of Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief and The Medium. Elisabeth Höngen and Hilde Konetzni are featured in both operas, along with the Orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper. The DVD also includes an interview with stage director Otto Schenk.
Find it here: Loeb Music Library DVD 1780.
Venus Records
Eddie Higgins Trio, Essential Ballads Best. CD 38226
Over the past few years we’ve received a number of jazz titles on Japan’s Venus Records. This label has primarily been marketed to a Japanese audience, but is becoming more visible here in the U.S. Cambridge-born pianist Eddie Higgins, who died in the summer of 2009, was a favorite of the label’s owner and is featured on many Venus titles. A recent release culls “essential” ballads from some of those recordings.
Find it here: Loeb Music Library CD 38226.
– Peter Laurence