Author: Yarlung Records

GRAMMY® Award winning Yarlung Records brings fresh musicians to the classical music world using minimalist audiophile recording techniques to deliver sound as close to living performance as possible. Rather than using recording studios, engineer Bob Attiyeh produces these albums in concert halls famous for their acoustics

Eminent music critic John von Rhein writes in the Chicago Tribune about James Matheson

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Baird Dodge, principal second violin of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, gave the world premiere of American composer James Matheson’s Violin Concerto with the CSO under Esa-Pekka Salonen here in 2011. Yarlung Records has issued an all-Matheson disc anchored by a composite of those live performances, and it’s a winner. The concerto is a supercharged neo-romantic showpiece, two perpetual-motion outer movements surrounding a lyrical chaconne. Brilliantly played by its dedicatee and his orchestral colleagues, the concerto shares disc space with two Matheson chamber works that make the recording well worth checking out. Please enjoy John’s full article in the Tribune. Thank you John!

How do talented musicians reach new audiences?

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How do talented musicians reach new audiences? This is a question we ask every day at Yarlung.  As the music “industry” continues to “evolve,” we must reevaluate how we increase visibility for new music and our musicians on a regular basis.  (I use “industry” and “evolve” euphemistically, as you may have guessed.) The music industry of recorded music, especially in its more sophisticated forms of classical music and jazz, has largely ceased to be a “business” like it was in the heyday between say 1940 and 1990.  “Evolve” is a euphemism for “disintegrate.”  People no longer spend money on recordings the way we did in prior decades.  We acknowledge this, and find other ways to help our musicians reach new audiences. Five years ago, “Social Media” seemed to be the key.  Large print ads no longer sold albums in significant numbers, but interactive media did hold the promise of engagement Continue Reading →

Commissioning New Music: Jim Farber writes in the San Francisco Classical Voice

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The eminent music critic Jim Farber interviewed me recently for a two-part article he wrote for San Francisco Classical Voice about new music, organizations that commission new music, and various ways to fund these exciting creations.  He was particularly interested in Coretet, the commissioning arm of Yarlung Artists, founded by Coretet’s executive director Donna Morton. Jim speaks at length with Deborah Borda, president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Raulee Marcus, who has been intimately involved (and generous)  as an underwriter for several commissions by Yarlung Artists, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. It was also great to see Jim include Thor Steingraber, who now runs the Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge, where Yarlung is planning multiple recordings in June, 2017. Thank you Jim, for bringing clear focus to commissioning new music, which is pumps fresh life blood into the musical experience. -Bob Attiyeh Jim’s Continue Reading →

New Year’s Eve Concert at Hesperia Hall

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Hall members welcomed in the New Year with another in a series of New Year’s Eve concerts organized by resident Bob Attiyeh and Yarlung Records.  This year’s offering swerved away from previous concerts when, following a short medley of songs played on the Renaissance pipes by Adam and Rotem Gilbert, the stage was turned over to jazz pianist Yuko Mabuchi.  She started off with a jazz arrangement  of three Japanese songs and then charmed us with Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are “and a pair of Duke Ellington numbers, “Take the A Train” and “Satin Doll.” Bassist Ilai Gilbert and keyboard player and Master of Ceremonies Billy Mitchell then joined Yuko with a rousing cover of “Route 66” with vocals by Billy and the audience. Dancing broke out, and from there the concert was in full swing. A base solo by Ilai in a Sonny Rawlins tune was followed Continue Reading →

A Gorgeous Debut from the Sibelius Piano Trio

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…once you hear [The Sibelius Piano Trio’s debut album] from Yarlung Records, best appreciated via stereo and multi-channel DSD downloads from NativeDSD.com… you’ll understand why their debut recording of trios by Sibelius and contemporary composers deserves a place in your collection. [Pianist Juho Pohjonen] is distinguished by deep sensitivity and lucid insights. Like him, violinist Petteri Iivonen (b. 1987) and cellist Samuli Peltonen (b. 1981) have won top prizes in national and international competitions, and used them to launch international careers. IIvonen is actually famed Finish composer Kaija Saariaho’s violinist of choice for her Violin Concerto, which is saying quite a lot. Together, these three friends formed the Sibelius Piano Trio just two years ago. For a new ensemble that has only performed once in the U.S., and does not yet have a viable website, they’ve certainly racked up several impressive commissions. The discs contain three intriguing works written for Continue Reading →

Analog Planet article “Three Percussion Records You Should Own”

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Michael Fremer includes “Smoke & Mirrors” in his Analog Planet article “Three Percussion Records You Should Own” Smoke & Mirrors is another collection of “serious” (yet fun) works for percussion recorded in Zipper Hall, Los Angeles, June 7-10, 2011 and June 3-5, 2012. I think they had to wait a year to finish up after the first recording session in order for the hall reverberation to stop! This was recorded to analog tape using a single AKG C24 tube microphone and features the ensemble playing their own tunes plus one by Maurice Ravel. The sonics here are spectacular, in some ways the best of the three records covered here, and presented at 45rpm because the 33 1/3 test pressing proved too difficult for most tone arms and cartridges to track. At 45rpm you should have no difficulty. These performances were recorded live to tape with no editing by the seven Continue Reading →

“James Matheson” earns coveted spot in the Stereophile Magazine “Records to Die for 2017” lineup!

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James Matheson: Violin Concerto, String Quartet, Times Alone Baird Dodge, violin; Esa-Pekka Salonen, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Color Field Quartet; Laura Strickling, soprano; Thomas Sauer, piano The two-channel version of this release, fine in its own right, is available on CD and on three individual LPs: Yarlung YAR65005-670V, YAR25668-670V, and YAR25669-670V. However, my real motivation for this R2D4 listing is the DSD256 five-channel version, downloadable from NativeDSD. With no prior knowledge or expectations of James Matheson’s music, the slashing opening of Taut, energetic, the aptly titled first movement of his String Quartet, hooked me. Not only was the music gripping and appealing, the multichannel sound was completely involving. Matheson is a living composer for whom direct and emotional communication is not compromised by an unintelligible style or obscured by adherence to dated ones. His String Quartet is dramatic, his Violin Concerto virtuosic and witty, and oh, the lovely songs of Times Continue Reading →

Dr. David W. Robinson awards a 2016 Brutus Award to Yarlung Records

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The Great Dr. David W. Robinson awards a 2016 Brutus Award to Yarlung Records, with special mention of Yarlung’s analog tape releases and “James Matheson” on DSD: I can’t complete this set of Brutus Awards without a special tip o’ my hat to Bob Attiyeh and Yarlung Records. His production values and remarkable recordings in classic 15 IPS half-track analog tape on a fabulous SonoruS RTR recorder, and then transferred to Quad DSD via a Merging Technologies Hapi Quad DSD ADC and available on the NativeDSD.com site, have been a wonderful treat for me for the past several years. Bob has a lovely sensibility for the music, energized by an inspiring passion for both fine classical and jazz recordings. This year has seen more brilliant work from Bob, all of which can be accessed at his store on NativeDSD.com. Bob, this one’s for you! A Brutus Award for the Matheson Continue Reading →

Merry Christmas! A gift from the Sibelius Piano Trio

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Today marks the release of Sibelius Piano Trio in DSD, from executive producer Philip O’Hanlon.  Ann Mulally served as executive producer for the CD and HDTracks releases. Warm thanks to our executive producers, and to Juho, Petteri and Samuli who created this fabulous music at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Our Gift to You! Enjoy this free download of the exhilarating final movement of Sibelius’ Korppoo Trio. Please read Mark Lehman’s review in The Absolute Sound. Artwork and liner notes are here. Have a wonderful holiday, and thank you so much for your support.  You made Yarlung’s 10th anniversary a year to remember. Sincerely and best wishes, Bob Attiyeh, producer www.yarlungartists.org www.yarlungrecords.com Sibelius Piano Trio DSD artwork. Click to enlarge.

Pianist Sasaki Tackles Clara Schumann

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… Mika Sasaki strikes a happy medium between sensitivity of phrasing and boldness of attack. Her tone is rich and full with a wide range of dynamics and a judicious use of pedal. [Max Grafe’s Obsidian Liturgy is] to my ears the highlight of this album. The adventurous quality of the composition has some affinity to Robert Schumann, who has always been noted for his unexpected turns of phrase and emotional outbursts, although Grafe definitely has his own style. One might best describe it as “modernistic Romanticism,” as it is filled with an almost explosive outpouring of emotion yet is contained in a vessel of bitonality. What impressed me most, however, was Grafe’s sense of structure: he never loses sight of where his music is going, mood shifts or no mood shifts, and his grasp of mood is equally outstanding. Lynn René Bayley reviews for The Art Music Lounge, October Continue Reading →