Author: Bill Dodd
Bill is Senior Music Reviewer at NativeDSD. He lives in the Portland, Oregon area. He is an avid photographer too! Along with his early interest in broadcasting and high fidelity audio, he was exposed to classical music in small doses from age 5, was given piano lessons from age 9— Starting with Bach and including Gershwin. Successful morning personality in San Francisco at age 22. (true). Sang in choirs in high school and college. Although the broadcasting experience was all in popular music, his personal listening has been mostly classical his whole life—along with others including Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Joni Mitchell, The Who, and Led Zeppelin.
‘Czech Songs’ from Magdalena Kozena on Pentatone
This lovely, haunting album of Czech orchestral songs is a real winner. It’s a followup to last year’s Folk Songs, winner of Album of the Year in the vocal category. This new one from Magdalena Kozena, backed by the Czech Philharmonic with Sir Simon Rattle conducting, is even more attractive to me because 14 of these […]
The ‘Beethoven Piano Concertos’ You’ve Been Looking For
I’ve been listening for too many years, and loved too many different recordings of the 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos to settle on absolute favorites, but this set comes very close, and it has kept me smiling since it was released last year. The estimable Garrick Ohlsson with Sir Donald Runnicles conducting the Grand Teton Music […]
‘Paysage’ from Véronique Gens is Simply and Gently Moving
When I went to check the mailbox today I was greeted by a cloudless sky. The temperature was perfect. Our large bay tree is perfuming the entire yard. And just when I thought things couldn’t be better, a hummingbird came by to check out the honeysuckles! Was I dreaming? It truly was an amazing moment. Believe it or not, […]
Britten’s ‘Sinfonia da Requiem’ from Sir Simon Rattle and LSO
I first “discovered” Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem in 1963 with Andre Previn’s premiere album as conductor of the St. Louis Symphony. I bought the album because it had Aaron Copland’s Red Pony Suite, and while I love that, it was Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem that made this a favorite LP. It was commissioned in 1939 by […]
Praise for ‘Mozart, You Drive Me Crazy!’
Golda Schultz, supported by seven other fine soloists, takes us on a delightful excursion through the three Mozart/da Pointe operas, Don Giovanni, Le nozzi di Figaro, and Cosi fan tutti. The album is dedicated to the five strong female characters in these three operas, and she brings strength to each, navigating the sometimes difficult arias perfectly. Conductor […]
Pentatone Has a Rising Star!
Pentatone has a rising star! Venezuelan Rafael Payare has been making a name for himself for the past few years, and these two newer releases from Pentatone are lighting up my listening room. I have so many great Mahler 5’s, and I’ve praised many of them right here. But this new one from Payare with […]
New Discoveries – Autumn 2023
Lately I’ve been spending more time listening, and It really paid off! I found these albums I want to showcase. Each has some unexpected rewards. Take some time yourself and listen! Remember, many of the samples are full length, and have quite good sound quality. So let’s dive in! Stravinsky/Poulenc/Debussy: Works for Cello and PianoAmalie Stalheim & Christian Ihle Hadlan […]
An Embarrassment of Riches – Pt. 2
It’s been wonderful to see so many excellent new releases on Native DSD– “An Embarrassment of Riches!” Well, here I am with even more! The Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos Garrick Ohlsson, Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles Last year I was totally entranced by Peter Takacs’ complete Beethoven Sonatas (here), and the […]
An Embarrassment of Riches – Pt. 1
We’ve had a wonderful increase in the number of available albums. More varieties, more depth, Simply more! I’m just getting started, but here are a few I’ve been enjoying very much. Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare is becoming increasingly well known for both his musical skill and his charismatic energy, and this release shows it! It’s […]
Even More Variations
*All albums featured in this article are now available at 20% discount. Offer ends March 31, 2023 end of day CET. Discounts are applied automatically at checkout. It’s true! As more and more time goes by I find that it’s quite difficult to have a single “favorite” performance of a given piece of classical music. […]
Relax | The Best DSD Albums to Evoke Peace and Calm
It seems that these days many of us are feeling the need to relax, to wind down, and to take a step back – myself included. So I thought I might list a few NativeDSD sets that I personally find interesting and involving, but ultimately relaxing. I’m just scratching the surface with these, and […]
Some Surprises
While looking (and listening) for prospective nominations for the Album of the Year Nominations of 2021 list, I was pleased to rediscover some wonderful releases. These are not “also-rans”! They are top quality recordings of superb musicianship– easily recommendable on their own. So… Schumann is not a name one associates with Organ music, but these […]