Music News 1/19/23

NEW 

 

FUNNY GIRL: New Broadway Cast (Masterworks, $16.98) – Lea Michele jump-started—and certainly revived—this revival of Funny Girl when she took over the role of Fanny Brice last September. This revival was the first on Broadway since the original production in 1964 starring Barbra Streisand. Now hear Ms. Michele on the cast album, along with Ramin Karimloo as Nick Arnstein and Tovah Feldshuh as Ms. Brice’s mother. 

 

Ella Fitzgerald, LIVE AT MONTREUX 1969 (Verve, $16.98) – The last three years has seen the release of some splendid live dates by Ella Fitzgerald. The Lost Berlin Tapes (2021) and Ella at the Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook (2022) are now joined by this later set, recorded at the famous Swiss jazz festival. Ms. Fitzgerald is accompanied by the Tommy Flanagan Trio. The songs include “This Girl's In Love With You,” “I Won't Dance,” “That Old Black Magic,” “Well Alright Okay You Win,” “Hey Jude,” and a “Scat Medley: Girl From Ipanema / One Note Samba / Tisket-A-Tasket / Pretty Baby.” 

 

NEW CLASSICAL 

 

Renée Fleming, GREATEST MOMENTS AT THE MET (Decca, 2 CDs, $21.98) – Ms. Fleming considers the Metropolitan Opera her “musical home,” and this 2-CD set features almost two and a half hours of operatic highlights. There are hair-raising solos, and duets with, among others, Susan Graham, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Samuel Ramey, and Cecilia Bartoli. 

NOTE: Ms. Fleming was just awarded the Crystal Award by the Davos Arts Forum for her Sound Health initiative which “explores and brings attention to research and practice at the intersection of music, health and neuroscience.” 

 

 

New York Youth Symphony, FLORENCE PRICE / VALERIE COLEMAN / JESSIE MONTGOMERY (Avie, $18.99) The young players in the New York Youth Symphony celebrate Black women composers. Conductor Michel Repper and the ensemble play Florence Price’s Ethiopia’s Shadow in America (1932), and the Piano Concerto in One Movement (original version of 1934), with Michelle Cann, piano. They pair Ms. Price’s works with two more recent compositions, 

Valerie Coleman’s Umoja: Anthem of Unity (2019), and Jessie Montgomery’s Soul Force (2015). 

 

 

Jennifer Grim, THROUGH BROKEN TIME (New Focus, $17.98) – Flute player Jennifer Grim has assembled a fine mix of recent works by Tania Le­ón, Alvin Singleton, Julia Wolfe,  Allison Loggins-Hull, Valerie Coleman, and two by David Sanford. She is accompanied by pianist Michael Sheppard. 

 

 

JULIUS EASTMAN VOL. 2: JOY BOY (New Amsterdam, $15.99) – The L.A.-based ensemble Wild Up present their second collection of Julius Eastman performances, featuring the compositions Joy BoyBuddha (Field)Buddha (Path), Touch Him When (Light)Touch Him When (Heavy), and Stay On It. It is part of an ongoing seven-volume series devoted to the works of Mr. Eastman (1940 – 1990).