By Mike Telin

With the holidays upon us, what better musical gift to give than a recording by local musicians! Here are some CD’s we have received in the past few months that may give you gifting ideas. CD’s previewed or reviewed by ClevelandClassical.com appear at the end.

CD previewed on ClevelandClassical.com on November 29

Everything about this album is great: the arrangements, the performances, and the recording quality. Once again Jason Vieaux proves himself to be a masterful musician – Julien Labro’s bandoneon playing would surly make Pizzolla smile – A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra are superb collaborators who easily negotiate the tricky rhythms and special tango techniques. While The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires and Histoire du Tango have become standard concert repertoire, the Double Concerto for Bandoneón, Guitar, & String Orchestra is a spectacular composition that for many reasons is not heard often enough: the performance by Vieaux and Labro is outstanding and alone worth the cost of admission. Gail Wein’s extremely well written liner notes provide valuable historical context.

See other CDs here