Hope: 12 Prayers for Cello & Orchestra Andreas Graf, cello. London Symphony Orchestra/Ben Palmer Claves 50-3152 Total Time: 43:20 Recording: ****/**** Performance: ****/**** The concept album Hope is a collection of twelve new works for cello and orchestra. Each piece provides a different musical perspective on the human condition and wishes to inspire the listener with thoughts of a better world and our shared humanity. Cellist Andreas Graf shares how he was entranced

Dvorak/Simon Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck Reference FR-769 Total Time: 58:53 Recording: ****/**** Performance: ****/**** When Antonin Dovrak came to visit America in 1892, he spent some time trying to inspire Americans to explore their own folk music traditions. He saw the value of spirituals as one avenue of possibility, less so the music of indigenous peoples (though how much he might have heard of this on his trip to Iowa is hard to say). His ninth

Film music writer and reviewer Roger Hall has spent a lifetime exploring music for the big screen along. He has reviewed hundreds of scores and honored a host of composers over the years on his Film Music Review and The Music Buffs web pages for decades. Now he has compiled a lot of that research into a complete book, Hooray for Hollywood, in a downloadable PDF format. Hall's invaluable work is a must for anyone wanting to learn more about film music. It is also an import

Mahler: Symphony No. 5 Grand Teton Festival Orchestra/Sir Donald Runnicles Reference FR-763 Total Time: 72:57 Recording: ****/**** Performance: ****/**** Back in 1962, the first music festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, began what has become the Grand Teton Festival. Musicians from across North America and Europe are invited each year to this gorgeous location to make great music together. They come from 84 different orchestras and 72 educational institutions each sum