Lees Complete Symphonies on CD - Albany Releases
Important 2-CD Set
Albany Music has released the most important recordings of the music of Benjamin Lees in many years - the first integral recordings of the composer's masterful Symphonies No. 2, 3 and 5 ("Kalmar Nyckel"), performed by Staatsphilharmonic Rheinland-Pfalz, conducted by the composers longtime musical interpreter and close associate, Stephen Gunzenhauser.
This joins the acclaimed Naxos recording of the Symphony No. 4 "Memorial Candles", performed by mezzo Kimball Wheeler, violinist James Buswell and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Theodore Kuchar conducting (Naxos 8.559002).
The Albany Records new release catalog for February said the following about the 2-CD set, "Three symphonies and a work for piano and orchestra from one of the great American composers."
It is especially appropriate that Stephen Gunzenhauser has recorded these three works, as he has been a strong advocate of Mr. Lees' symphonies, and it was the conductor's Delaware Symphony that commissioned Symphony No. 5 to honor the founding of the city of Wilmington by Swedish immigrants from the ship Kalmar Nyckel.
Also on the 2 CD is Etudes for Piano and Orchestra in a performance by pianist James Dick and the Texas Festival Orchestra, Robert Spano conducting. The work, first performed by the Houston Symphony Orchestra with Lawrence Foster conducting, is dedicated to the pianist.
Special thanks to our friends at the Aaron Copland Fund for Music and the Swedish Information Service for helping make this recording possible.
It's catalog number Troy 564-65 and you can find more about it at the Albany site - http://www.albanyrecords.com/.
The symphonies and the etudes are published by Boosey & Hawkes and are available for performance by American orchestras. You can obtain a perusal score of these superb works from B & H at 212-358-5300.
This Spring will also bring the Pierian CDs release of the classic 1964 New York Premiere performance of Lees' Piano Concerto No. 1, performed by pianist Joseph Bloch and the National Orchestral Association, John Barnett conducting.
The Pierian Recording Society is a tax-exempt, non-profit corporation
devoted to the preservation of historic performances and obscure
repertoire. The recordings of the Society are distributed by Albany
Music
Distribution and are available at major stores and at http://www.amazon.com
or http://www.towerrecords.com.
UK distribution is through Priory Records.
The composer's Piano Trio No. 2 (Silent Voices) has been released
to great acclaim as part of the Albany Records From Darkness to
Light series of CDs sponsored by the National Holocaust Museum.
Sequenza21 web magazine (http://www.sequenza21.com)
said this about the release, "The latest release from the
Chamber Music Series at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
is highlighted by the stunningly original "Piano Trio No.
2 "Silent Voices" (1998) by Benjamin Lees. Anguished
and almost unbearably intense, Lees crams more drama, passion
and empathy into this 14-minute piece than many composers muster
in a lifetime." Troy 518 - available at http://www.albanyrecords.com
On the Web
For more information about Benjamin Lees, visit his website at http://home.dc.rr.com/bglees. You can also read a recent (and wonderful) Sequenza21 Electronic Dialogues interview with the composer at http://www.sequenza21.com/Lees.html.
On the Phone
For any other information about the music of Benjamin Lees, please contact Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-797-9166 or jamesarts@worldnet.att.net.