New Releases: Bach on mandolin, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and African-American folklore

Featuring the newest classical releases from around the world, including Plucked Bach III with Alon Sariel, Patricia Kopatchinskaja with two accomplices in Take 3, and a new work from American composer Carlos Simon. 

Plucked Bach II

This is the second album from Alon Sariel featuring his own arrangements of some of JS Bach’s most beloved music. The first album was all about Bach’s famous Cello Suites, however here Sariel has tackled some music that was originally for a much larger scale. For instance, a mandolin arrangement of the massive Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Alon Sariel is one of today's most versatile performers, known as a multi-instrumentalist in the realm of plucked strings with a growing reputation as a fascinating Bach interpreter.

Take 3

Featuring a trio of musicians with Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), Reto Bieri (clarinet), and Polina Leschenko (piano), this album presents music by composers who loved to experiment with folk/traditional sounds and classical music.
“The basic idea of this album was to play in threes... Not to play 'something', but to experiment 'in threes' with sound worlds as different as those of Bartok, Poulenc and Schoenfield.”
The pieces have been placed in a specific order, so it does seem a shame to pluck one piece out and play it as a standalone. These three, particularly Patricia, love the theatre of performance so I would advise to sit down and go on the ride.

Carlos Simon: Tales – A Folklore Symphony

Tales: A Folklore Symphony is a four-movement piece for orchestra that explores African American folklore as well as Afrofuturist stories. The work was commissioned by the Sphinx Organization for its 25th anniversary and the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. Here we have a release of this work performed live by the National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center and famed conductor Gianandrea Noseda.
‘“Where are all the black people in comics?” This is a question posed by the creative duo Black Kirby (John Jennings and Stacey Robinson). Based heavily in Afrofuturism, Black Kirby’s characters show black people as heroes using ancient customs and futurist motifs from the African and African American diaspora. This piece is inspired by the many heroic characters found in the work of Black Kirby, but mainly Motherboxx Connection.’ – Carlos Simon

YANG Jing: Singing Strings – Identity

On this album, composer Yang Jing explores her relation and juxtaposition between Eastern and Western musical languages. She grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution but has since moved to Switzerland and now is interested in the interplay between the two cultures, as seen in her music featured here, which features the Chinese pipa and the Western string quartet.
The quartet featured here are four members from the Festival Strings Lucerne, of which Australian Daniel Dodds is the Artistic Director.