Blogger Musical (Beautiful Classical Music): agosto 2011

Debussy · Complete Works for Solo Piano Volume 3

“This third volume confirms Jean-Efflam Bavouzet's winning affinity for Debussy's music. Such familiar pieces as the Suite bergamasque, Deux Arabesques or Children's Corner come across with their colours luminous, their ideas voiced fluently and the moods atmospherically fixed.” -- The Daily Telegraph

“Fiercely energised yet superfine, his performances are not for those with comfortable drawing-room notions of Debussy.” -- Gramophone

“…this delightful disc places Debussy's two most modest cycles (Children's Corner and Suite bergamasque) within a broadly chronological sequence of pieces spanning the composer's career.” -- BBC MUsic Magazine *****

Bruch’s ripely romantic late Octet (scored for 4 violins, 2 violas, cello and double bass)…has a genuine romantic sweep. Although the structure of the first movement seems partly modelled on Mendelssohn, there is no Scherzo. Instead, after a lovely song-like Adagio, with an Andante middle section (the highlight of the work), the finale has much of Mendelssohn’s infectious exuberance. It is played with persuasive warmth and conviction by the combined Kodály and Auer Quartets and is a thoroughly worthwhile addiction to the Bruch discography. -- *** Penguin Guide

Antonio Salieri is still better known today for the renowned composers with whom he was associated than for his own many and varied compositions. While he cannot be ranked among the great masters himself, he has nevertheless come into view as an underrated and important composer deserving of closer attention. Salieri was the dominant figure in Parisian opera from the mid to late 1780s. Tarare (1787), generally considered his finest achievement in the genre, is a masterpiece. He also wrote significant instrumental, sacred, and vocal compositions, and shaped the Viennese musical world that would produce so many important composers for a century and a half.

Persichetti was an inventive and powerful symphonies who followed the traditions of Piston, Roy Harris and William Schumann. He was a particularly distinguished composer for wind ensemble, and these inventive and vital works are well worth exploring, particularly given the competitive price. The playing of the LSO Winds under David Amos is virtuosic and infectious. Let us hope Naxos will give us some of the symphonies. -- *** Penguin Guide

Although Alfred Brendel goes on at length about the textural improvements in his liner notes to his cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos with James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the real reason to get this recording is to hear the acoustical improvements in the sound.

In the original 1983 edition, Philips' early digital sound was harsh, hard, glassy, glossy, and very ugly. In this 1997 edition, Philips' digital remastering is clean, clear, lucid, pellucid, and very beautiful.

Suk’s Asrael Symphony was his greatest musical memorial. It was his chosen way to express the loss of Dvorák, his teacher and father-in-law.’Asrael’ is the name of the Angel of Death who, according to Muslim folklore, carries away the souls of the departed.

'Jirí Belohlávek, the principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, draws powerfully expressive playing from the orchestra in a work which in its five large-scale movements is predominantly slow. Next to Pesek's fine Liverpool performance, the speeds flow a degree faster and more persuasively, and the ensemble, notably of the woodwind, is even crisper, phenomenally so. It helps too that the sound is warmer, closer and more involving ' -- Penguin Guide review, *** Rosette winner

“If anything, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet surpasses the high standards he set in his previous Debussy release… with this second instalment. …he focuses upon clarity of textures, rhythmic precision, well differentiated articulation, plus scrupulous balances between the hands and within chords.” -- Gramophone

This second volume of Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s Debussy cycle reveals the intelligence of his programming. A trio of three-movement works is at its heart, but the disc opens and closes with two further triptychs, pseudo-cycles of contemporaneous pieces usually heard in isolation. Bavouzet’s strengths are also to the fore, with glowing colours in the opening Ballade and Valse romantique followed by sparkling elegance in the Danse. -- BBC Music Magazine

Infectious performances of well-written and entertaining music.

Francesco Mancini is one of the representatives of the Neapolitan school of the first half of the 18th century, although one of the lesser-known, in comparison to the likes of Pergolesi or Porpora. He studied the organ at the Conservatorio di S Maria della Pietà dei Turchini, and then acted as organist. In 1704 he became organist of the royal chapel and in 1708 vice maestro di cappella under Alessandro Scarlatti, whom he succeeded in 1725. In 1720 he was also appointed director of the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto.

Skip Sempé’s Capriccio Stravagante Renaissance Orchestra is the largest and most luxurious ensemble yet assembled for the performance of masterpieces from this Golden Age of musical creativity, with Renaissance violins, viols, recorders and sackbuts.

“He clearly has qualms about the emotional involvement he brings to Chopin's miniatures, executing an evocative transformation from languid self-absorption to high drama in the 'Ballade no. 1 op. 23', and navigating the turbulent, oceanic depths of the 'Fantaisie op. 49'.” -- The Independent ****

“memorably refined and stylish performances...Here, as so often with Tharaud, there is an aristocratic balance of sense and sensibility, though his brilliant fury in the Second Ballade's Presto storm is breathtaking” -- Gramophone

French Symphonic Poems

Paul Dukas, Camille Saint-Saens, Cesar Franck, Henri Duparc, Sylvio Lazzari

EMI France and Michel Plasson have created many recordings of major works of French composers, some never recorded before. Many have since received the highest distinctions worldwide. Although Plasson has long term commitments with the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, he has also regularly conducted the world's leading orchestras.

'A disc of pure delight from beginning to end. Another example of why Hyperion gets my vote as the most innovative record label. Full marks!' --Which CD

“Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has a wonderfully light touch, imbuing 'Les collines d'Anacapri' with a skittish exuberance, or creating delicate wisps of mist in 'Brouillards' evoking Debussy's advice to forget that the piano has hammers. The opening of 'La terrasse des audiences au clair de lune' floats languorously, captured in marvellous sound, with warm bass textures and clarity without harshness in the piano's upper registers.” -- BBC Music Magzaine ****

Strong, bold and exuberant. Both players have the feel of the music in outline as well as in the detail, and they make out an excellent case for the Rachmaninov as a major romantic cello sonata.

Rachmaninov's lengthy, not to say protracted, Cello Sonata was written for his friend Anatoly Brandukov, an evidently gifted and delightful man who had been a pupil of Tchaikovsky (and was also the dedicatee of Tchaikovsky's Pezzo capriccioso). It certainly reflects his magisterial technique; but a good deal more is required of the pianist.

Decca's "The World of ..." series have been of variable quality, but for this issue, the selection is exactly on the mark. This CD presents all the major works of Borodin and provides a wonderful snapshot of his music. The three excerpts from Prince Igor are dramatically played, full of Russian vigour and energy. Sir Georg Solti injects power and grandeur into the London Symphony Orchestra, and one would be hard-pressed to find a more lyrical Polovtsian Dances.

Pachelbel was not only a famous organist, but also a prolific composer. This recording offers the chance to hear his six suites entitled 'Musical Delight'. These pieces are true gems of seventeenth-century instrumental music, just like his now famous 'Canon and Gigue', in which Pachelbel skilfully combines his knowledge of counterpoint and his creativity in the field of variations.

The Tchaikovsky and Bruch concertos, composed in 1878 and 1866 respectively, are two of the best-known – and best-loved - concertos in the repertoire. In the case of the Tchaikovsky it is also one of the most technically demanding.

“Her approach to the Tchaikovsky is both full-blooded and sensitive. She rides the first movement’s emotional storms with utter confidence and complete command of old Romantic tricks...The central canzonetta is taken very slowly, yet the flow of feeling never stops, and her magically sustained pianissimos deserve an Oscar.” -- The Times

This is another outstanding entry in Phoenix Edition’s series of 1980s recordings by the Cappella Coloniensis. (See my reviews of Hasse’s Cleofide and music by Haydn elsewhere.) Although by this point I’m past complaining about the booklet space devoted to the cover photographer, it is again a shame that no ink is allotted to any of the singers. Of course, Emma Kirkby is world-famous and probably needs no introduction, yet though I am familiar with the excellent Isabelle Poulenard, I doubt that everyone else is, and I was not previously familiar with Sophie Boulin at all.

Scriabin's Piano Sonatas (10) chart his career from Romantic piano virtuoso to mystical voyant more clearly than any of his other works. Yet hearing them in order also reveals that their increasing complexities and stylistic advances developed on a continuum, and that they are actually quite unified, despite their dramatic changes of forms, harmonies, rhythms, and tonality.

This is a wonderful disc. Zina Schiff plays this music with exceptional passion and commitment, which is really what Bloch is all about. Her tempos in the outer movements of the concerto are a touch more relaxed than the competition, particularly the classic Szigeti/Mengelberg, but the performance has greater excitement than the (limited) modern recorded versions, not just because of the fine sound, but because Schiff really digs into the music and phrases with both spontaneity and unusual communicative depth. When the melodies have such strong character even the long first movement, which admittedly has a tendency to sprawl in less committed hands,

This delightful album was recorded in 1992 in Cologne; at the time of its 2011 issue by the Capriccio label, it was still one of the few available recordings of the music of Jan Ládislav Dussek, who wielded more of an influence on Beethoven than the other way around. The Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 49, was composed in 1801, and in its expansive first movement, noble Adagio, and briskly folkish finale it seems a clear forerunner to the music of Beethoven's middle period.

Alicia de Larrocha maintained a fine repute for her chastity and taste in performance, her relatively small stature and small hands having been surmounted by a big imagination and a lifetime of stretching exercises. Her penchant for the clear, plastic line made her a natural Mozart exponent, and in these four virtuoso concertos none so well accommodates her fluency and rhythmic vitality as the under-rated "Coronation" Concerto in D Major . . . we have a set that bears repeated musical scrutiny for profoundly aerial pleasures, intellectual and emotional. -- Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition

Faure wrote surprisingly few orchestral works, and it was a good idea on the part of Chandos to assemble this selection. However, although the transcription of the celebrated cello Elegie is the composer’s own, the Dolly suite, originally for piano duet, comes here in Henri Rabaud’s arrangement and the flute Fantaisie is the transcription made by Louis Aubert for Jean-Pierre Rampal. The biggest concertante work here, the Ballade of 1881, is Faure’s orchestration of his piano piece of the same name; it is gentle music that persuades and cajoles in a very Gallic way. Though not an overtly virtuoso utterance, it makes its own exacting technical demands on the soloist, among them being complete control of touch and pedalling.

Today almost ignored by musicologists and performers, and totally unknown to music-lovers, Johann Paul von Westhoff is one of those composers with an endearing personality who achieved a synthesis of the multiple trends in European music. He was held in high esteem by his contemporaries, including the Sun King himself, before whom he appeared in 1682. Though he left only two collections to posterity, he nevertheless helped violin music through decisive phases in its development.

Romanian-born Gheorghiu is one of the most famous contemporary sopranos in the world. An intense and passionate stage actress, she is particular noted for her performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini.

The daughter of a train driver, Angela sang opera music from a very early age. She studied singing at the Bucharest Music Academy from the age of 13 and after her graduation she sought an international career as an opera singer. She made her professional debut as Mimi in 'La Bohème' in 1990 at the Cluj Opera.

"Sardelli's advocacy of the utmost respect for Vivaldi’s scoring and markings is very welcome. The integrity of this recording is one result. Moreover, it’s a highly desirable result. Indeed Atenaide is one of the more successful and pleasing opera recordings from an already celebrated series [Naïve Vivaldi Edition]."
--Mark Sealey, Musicweb

'The String Quartet and Piano Quintet make an ideal pairing … The Quartet is delicately charming, with an exquisite Elgarian touch that the Goldners capture most sympathetically, without sentimentalising it. They also give an excellent performance with Piers Lane of the better known, much more dramatic Piano Quintet, tracing its mood swings seamlessly and handling the great Adagio with the unaffected restraint it deserves' --Financial Times

It was only a matter of time before the remarkable Yo-Yo Ma went along with the tide and dipped his talent into the so-called authentic instrument movement. On this recital, abetted by Ton Koopman--one of the most respected names in early-music practice--Ma plays Bach and Boccherini.

One of the most important and influential jazz musicians of the 20th Century, Edward "Duke" Ellington led a band from the early 1920s until his death in 1974. He composed new material relentlessly, specifically writing to get the best out of his band members.

Download: Blogger Jazz MP3

Locatelli | L'Arte del Violino

'Elizabeth Wallfisch ... meets Locatelli's formidable challenges with splendid brio ... she imparts a lilting gaiety to the music and negotiates the Capriccios with breathtaking finesse. All lovers of Baroque violin will want this release, but its cache of bright, lively music and brilliant playing deserves the widest audience' --BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide

19 romantic slow movements from the Concertos of Albinoni

While flautists have kept the Joueurs de flûte on the fringe of the repertoire, and harpists, likewise, the Impromptu, Roussel’s chamber music has not been embraced by musicians as has Debussy’s or Ravel’s, though his works afford comparable and more varied satisfactions. Nor has Roussel lacked for superb performances, but they crop up only one or two a decade and tend to vanish with disconcerting rapidity.

Hence, the present collection, issued originally by Olympia in the mid 1990s, has proven—and continues to prove—more serviceable than it might if some of the classic Roussel performances had commanded some longevity. On the plus side, there’s the undeniable fascination of following Roussel’s compositional unfolding through the collection’s chronological arrangement.

"...An elegant, sedate sound that is nonetheless warm. That's how I would characterize Wipelwey's playing here in general. He and his mates produce ravishing sounds that nonetheless are never outsized for the music, or excessively Romantic..." --Fanfare

"Another disc of surprises from the Wispelwey school of wizardry....Altogether, this is a fine concept disc, played with Wispelwey's costumary virtuosity and stylistic sensitivity." --American Record Guide

This is vintage Woodward performing vintage Debussy : a clear, luxurious recorded sound, a distinctive yet discreet musical personality and an imaginative, immaculate control of piano sonority are informed by reverence for the composer’s text. It is playing distilled from a lifetime’s experience with this music, with each performance commanding individual attention and respect…. it is a set to return to again and again. -- Sydney Morning Herald

“Here, for once, is the level of artistry that the work needs...for all his seemingly endless reserves of technical power [Matsuev] never makes an ugly sound...Gergiev and his Marinsky Orchestra, too, contribute here on a level so far beyond routine that you would think none of them had played the work before” -- BBC Music Magazine *****

Raphael Wallfisch needs offer no apology for these delightful and effective orchestrations of Grieg's solo works and songs, or for his elegant and thoughtful performances. Even if Joseph Horovitz's orchestration of the well-known Cello Sonata doesn't sound particularly like Grieg's orchestral writing, the advocacy of Wallfisch and beauty of the music make the question irrelevant. At times, Horovitz's wind scoring is reminiscent of another nationalist composer, Dvorák.

Dorati's record of "Petrushka" is based on the 1947 version though at certain points he reverts to the original 1911 scoring, basing his decisions on his recollection of a conversation he had with Stravinsky himself about "the ideal Petrushka". Dorati's version must be acclaimed as an altogether splendid recording: vivid, exceptionally clean, well-focused and transparent textures, and splendid body. The performance, as one would expect from so experienced a ballet conductor, is a good one: sensitive and characterful.

These are brilliant performances. No one understands the language or structure of this music better than Dutoit, and his three soloists are magnificent. Rogé and Deferne are on just the right side of brittleness, and Hurford’s sense of theatre and timing is compelling. The Philharmonia, tight in ensemble and rhythmically athletic, are in a class of their own. Demonstration quality sound, not least in the Organ Concerto (recorded in St Alban’s Cathedral).

Performance: 5 (out of 5); Sound: 5 (out or 5) -- BBC Music Magazine

Hailed as ‘Queen of the classical accordion’, Mie Miki made her first public appearance at the age of five, and has since then given countless concerts. This CD brings together pieces that do not form part of her standard performance repertoire but are more old friends and new, childhood acquaintancies, and some surprise guests from a wholly different musical universe.

“Johann David Heinichen was a contemporary of Bach and one of an important group of musicians employed by the Dresden court during the 1720s and 1730s. As well as being an inventive composer, Heinichen was also a noted theorist and his treatise on the continuo bass was widely admired. All the music collected here was probably written for the excellent Dresden court orchestra and most of it falls into that rewarding category in which north and central German composers were pre-eminent.

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