CLASSICAL

BEETHOVEN, STRING QUARTETS OP. 18. MIRO QUARTET

(VANGUARD CLASSICS)

The Miro Quartet, with North Allegheny High graduate Joshua Gindele as cellist, has so far built its reputation on electric performances and diverse repertoire. Its composer-supervised recording of George Crumb's "Black Angels" is one of the best in the vault.

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Eventually, however, any quartet must be measured against the acme of the genre: Beethoven's string quartets. One hopes that the spunky young Miro won't get caught up in the glamor of a project that will eventually be a recording of the complete Beethoven cycle on Vanguard. The label is already referring to Gindele as playing the violincello, so it may already be too late!

But the performances here tell a different story. This is too talented a quartet not to bring something new and substantive to even the early quartets here. Truth be told, the group is still pushing boundaries, premiering a new work by Brent Michael Phillips at Carnegie Hall this coming season.

Not that the six quartets of Op. 18 are the most conducive to interpretation. Unlike Beethoven's expansive late quartets, these lighter works are best played straight, with clarity and joie de vivre (yes, even Beethoven enjoyed life occasionally). The Miro definitely does that, playing with remarkable sharpness and ensemble and commendable verve. On the whole, the tempos are a little brisk, but the group is still able to bring out the subtleties of the quartets and the crucial tension and release. An impressive start on an important journey.

-- Post-Gazette classical music critic Andrew Druckenbrod

CHAUSSON, 'LE ROI

ARTHUS' (TELARC)

To the detriment of posterity, French composer Ernest Chausson (1855-99) somehow fell between the looming shadows of Wagner and Debussy. His opera "Le roi Arthus" (King Arthur) leans more toward the overt passion of "Tristan und Isolde" than the understated psychodrama of "Pelleas et Melisande."

There are parallels with both works, yet this unfamiliar opera bears an individual stamp -- notably in Chausson's melodic gifts -- that sets his work apart from those giants.

In the composer's own libretto, Lancelot saves Genievre (Guinivere) from the advances of the evil Mordred but fails to kill him in a duel after Mordred discovers the lovers together. They run away, but Lancelot refuses to further dishonor Arthus, his friend. Lancelot allows himself to be killed in battle, and Arthus forgives him but also courts death himself.

The music is better than the libretto, and the performance here, with the BBC Symphony led by Leon Botstein, is exemplary. Baritone Andrew Schroder is an eloquent King, while Simon O'Neill and Susan Bullock provide appropriate passion as the adulterous duo.

Their central love duet does indeed have echoes of "Tristan," but no one would mistake one for the other, and despite some pages that might better have been tightened up, the work's musical merits provide sufficient cause for an occasional revival.

-- Robert Croan, Post-Gazette senior editor

ROCK/POP

THE RAMONES

'WEIRD TALES OF THE RAMONES' (RHINO)

As many times as the Ramones' entire catalog has been repackaged, no one's ever done it quite like this.

Its title and cover an obvious tribute to EC Comics, "Weird Tales" brings together cartoon artists from Simpsons creator Matt Groening and "Zippy" (who's also a Pinhead) creator Bill Griffith to Mad man Sergio Aragones and Pittsburgh's go-to guy for rocking illustrations, Wayno (who casts the band as Sea-Markys and guests of the Archies). The illustrations underscore the band's cartoonish tendencies and pop-art-icon status in a giant CD booklet packed with artwork, some in 3-D (for which glasses are, of course, provided).

A DVD features interview segments and 17 videos, including such low-budget highlights as "Rock 'n' Roll High School," "Psycho Therapy," "Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?," "Time Has Come Today" (which makes much better use of a church congregation than the other 7 million videos that tried that decade), "Substitute" and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" (which places the band in brightly colored cartoon panels).

And they even throw in three CDs of music, just enough to take you on a joyride from the world-shaking primal genius on display in such early punk classics as "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat on the Brat" and "Judy is a Punk" to such latter-day, yeah-we're-still-doing-this gems as "I Believe in Miracles," "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" and "Life's a Gas."

Not every song here is a classic, and they could've leaned more heavily on that first revolutionary album. But this 85-song box set (its tracks hand-selected by Johnny) tells the tale in all its ragged glory. The flagship band of U.S. punk emerges as the most contagious hit machine this country has managed to produce since Brian Wilson started thinking there was more to rock 'n' roll than fun, fun, fun.

They may have redefined the course of rock 'n' roll, but here in late 2005, four decades down the road from "Blitzkrieg Bop," it feels more like a celebration of a proud tradition than a revolution hellbent on smashing the rock 'n' roll state, its timeless spirit fueled as much by Joey's heart as the pogo-compatible buzz-saw grind of Johnny's proto-punk guitar.

-- Ed Masley, Post-Gazette pop music critic

ALICE COOPER

'DIRTY DIAMONDS' (NEW WEST)

Like 2003's "The Eyes of Alice Cooper," "Dirty Diamonds" finds the former Mr. Nice Guy abandoning sinister metal and getting in touch with his roots as a '70s glam-rock icon. On songs where the lyrics are up to the challenge, the results are classic Alice.

"Perfect" mines a "Be My Lover" groove as Alice tips his "Welcome to My Nightmare" hat to a wanna-be pop star with stage fright ("She's an overnight sensation in the mirror on her wall/She gets a standing ovation at every shower curtain call/And she becomes a pop star in the safety of her car/And then she falls to pieces at the karaoke bar").

He revisits the post-Spaghetti Western mood and gallows humor of "The Ballad of Dwight Frye" in "The Saga of Jesse Jane" as a cross-dressing trucker in Texas. When he tries to buy a happy meal, the rednecks take exception to his wedding gown, and a shootout ensues after one local douses his gown with a Coke ("I guess that was the final straw/I pulled a pistol from my Wonderbra/I killed him dead/I killed 'em all ... And now I'm doing 10 to life/But I'll tell you one thing, Bubba/Someday, I'm gonna make someone in here a hell of a wife").

And even when he isn't being funny, he recalls his former glory in the weary, soulful blues "Six Hours" and a chilling cover of the Left Banke's "Pretty Ballerina." If there is a downside, it's the bonus track, an ill-conceived hip-hop duet with Xzibit, based around a lyrical cliche so trite, John Cougar used it years ago ("If you don't stand for something/you will fall for anything").

-- Ed Masley

JAZZ

HIROSHIMA

'OBON' (HEADS UP INTERNATIONAL/TELARC)

I enjoyed this veteran band's 2003 release "The Bridge," its first for Heads Up and so named because of its long tradition of melding jazz and funk with Far Eastern instrumentation and sensibilities. But it never occurred to me that it was just warming up.

This new CD, which refers to a Japanese festival memorializing the dead -- and by inference encouraging those still here to live to the fullest -- is the real deal. Seriously. "Obon" has something for every taste, and on top of that, the vibe on several tunes gets stronger and more intense as it progresses, which is often not the case with "contemporary" jazz.

"Atomic Cafe" starts out with DJ scratches and then moves into a Crusaders feel, with trombonist Ira Nepus joining band founder and leader Dan Kuramoto on tenor saxophone during the theme. Koto player June Kuramoto, Dan's ex-wife, leads on the lovely cha-cha "China Latina," with Dan Kuramoto offering an easy soprano sax solo. Kimo Cornwell plays piano.

"Obon Two-Five" -- the title refers to its quarter-century of recording -- offers countermelodies from the Kuramotos, Dan on flute and later tenor, as well as dramatic taiko drum from Shoji Kameda.

On "Pharaoh," dedicated to saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders, its feels like the band will break into some straight-ahead jazz at any moment. It actually does at the end of the subsequent "The Lighthouse," a nod to the legendary Hermosa Beach, Calif. jazz club, alternating eight bars of swing with eight bars of Latin during Cornwell's solo at the end.

Please, radio, get a hold of this and find someplace to play it as much as possible. It's that good.

-- Rick Nowlin, Post-Gazette Staff Writer