This falls very neatly into the category of clean, tidy, well-mannered, and very articulate Mozart Requiems, with crisp rhythms and expeditious tempos that perfectly suit the moderate-sized performing forces. There are so many different versions, editions, and variations of each version and edition of this famously unfinished work that your preference may just come down to whichever one you heard first, or whether you prefer period or modern instruments, Süssmayr or Levin, Decca or Telarc. Who knows--but suffice it to say, this new recording from Leipzig stands as a solid, safe choice, with no faddishness, bad soloists, or strange conductor mannerisms (except for an unnecessary, gratuitous pause just before the final chord). The only thing missing is the more pointed expression and scintillating power of some other versions on disc, from Marriner/ASMF (still my favorite Süssmayr/modern-instrument recording) to Pearlman/Boston Baroque (the Levin edition, with period instruments), or Herreweghe (Süssmayr, with period instruments). I also feel that in general the brisker tempos detract from the movements where more solemnity and weight is required. However, the keenly-drawn phrasing and careful diction, along with a more modestly-proportioned orchestra, brings an intimacy to the work that we usually don't experience.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 1 in g, “Winter Dreams.” Capriccio Italien • Christoph Poppen, cond; Southwest German RO • OEHMS 760 (57:57) Live: Saarbrücken 12/2007; Mainz 1/2010


This appears to be a sequel to Tchaikovsky’s Fourth with Poppen, reviewed in Fanfare 33:3. Is it part of an emerging cycle? I don’t know. I was not overly enthused with the earlier release, only because I felt Poppen’s reading of the Fourth, one of the composer’s more nervous-tic-ridden scores, needed a bit more in the way of the frenzied and the frenetic than the performance delivered. I concluded that if Poppen had brought as much urgency to the symphony as he did to the 1812 Overture that complemented it on the disc, the venture would have been more successful.


Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Dreams” Symphony is another animal altogether. Aside from the flash of drama here and there, the work is one of the composer’s loveliest lyrical creations. For Tchaikovsky, this first-born among his symphonies was perhaps his greatest labor of love. He worked on it tirelessly for at least eight years, from 1866 to 1874, making constant and sometime drastic revisions. I’d even go so far as to say that if he had left only four symphonies instead of six, the Second and Third would not be missed, for neither surpasses the First in formal construction, handling of materials, or sheer melodic inspiration.


My last encounter with a “new” Tchaikovsky First was a 1995 Arte Nova recording with Samuel Friedmann leading the Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic, reviewed in 32:1. I thought it was very good, not quite equal perhaps to my longtime favorite with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on a 1970 Deutsche Grammophon recording, but still quite successful in capturing Tchaikovsky’s musical portraiture.


Much the same may be said of this recent recording by Poppen and his Southwest German Radio Orchestra forces. The recording has excellent perspective and presence, and Poppen’s reading of the score is well balanced and nicely characterized. I especially liked his fantasy-spun Adagio (“Land of Desolation, Land of Mists”), which morphs perfectly from a feeling of finding oneself alone and forlorn into that most human of reactions to such circumstances, escape into a state of semi-conscious reverie.


With so many recordings of the symphony and the Capriccio Italien (nearly 100 of the latter!) competing for your attention and dollars, it would be a tough case to make that Poppen’s, at full price, can lay claim to being better than any number of others. Just saying it’s at least as good as any number of others, and perhaps better than a few, seems to me recommendation enough, should you happen to be in the market for a new recording of these works.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

The Phoenix Symphony enjoys a long history of premiering new works that bridge gaps between Western art music and Native cultures. Hailed as 'a master', Mark Grey 'is a composer as well as a sound engineer.

Fern Hill is a blithe poem, yet touched by darkness; time finally holds the poet "green and dying"... Poem in October begins in Thomas' seafront town: The poet, marking his birthday, climbs to a high hill, where he reflects on his youth.

GRAMMY®-Award winners in 2009, The King’s Singers are one of the world’s most celebrated ensembles. Their programming concept in this disc is unique: built upon the individual clauses of The Lord’s Prayer, beginning and ending in plainchant, it ranges over the centuries to explore the spiritually charged text. Chant is at the heart of the programme, and each composer’s setting illuminates the others, shedding rich interpretative light on the poetic and devotional aspects of the prayer.

Includes work(s) by Ferdinand Ries. Soloist: Susan Kagan.

Astor Piazzolla's name is synonymous with Nuevo Tango, an experimental compound of traditional and contemporary influences, and this recording offers a bouquet of his finest music in wholly original arrangements for classical accordion and piano. This selection includes the unforgettable Milonga del angel as well as the evocative suite The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. The Double Concerto 'Hommage a Liege' is one of Piazzolla's most classically orientated works, by turns playful, catchy and lyric, while the examples drawn from his film music are among his most enduring. Geir Draugsvoll is considered to be one of the most versatile musicians on the classical accordion. He has performed with world class orchestras, conductors and musicians such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and others. He has also released several albums, all to critical acclaim. Mette Rasmussen studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and at Artlife International in Paris. She has performed as soloist and chamber musician in Scandinavia, Switzerland, France and China, and has broadcast on radio and TV, as well as appearing at several festivals and important venues.

Classical Music

The newest release from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Louis Langrée illustrates music transcending borders and composers drawing inspiration from the world around. The third CSO album with Langrée features the iconic American composer George Gershwin’s take on bustling Paris, the French composer Edgard Varèse’s take on New York’s soundscape, and Igor Stravinsky composing the same work across two continents. Recorded at Cincinnati Music Hall, the release marks the highly anticipated world premiere recording of the new critical edition of Gershwin’s An American in Paris, and also showcases the virtuosity and sound of the CSO through the original and rarely performed version of Edgard Varèse’s epic Amériques with 147 musicians, and Stravinsky’s Symphony in C.

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REVIEW:

His interpretation [of the Gershwin] is exceptionally clear (the crystalline recorded sound helps a great deal), and dances and shimmies without getting carried away. Some may find it a tad cool, but I rather like its air of Parisian elegance reading of the original 1922 version of Varèse’s Amériques may not be as joyously wild as Ludovic Morlot’s from Seattle (on that orchestra’s in-house label), but it still has gobs of character.

– Gramophone

Schubert's String Trio was modeled after the example of Beethoven, and it's transparent textures, Classical structure and fine interplay are capped by a charming Rondo finale. Composed over a decade later, during the period of his final illness, the String Quintet is wholly different in character. Scored for two violins, viola and two cellos, it is one of the most compelling and moving works in the chamber music canon, and stands as the summation of Schubert's writing for chamber forces. Praised by The Strad magazine and The New York Times, internationally renowned cellist Amit Peled is acclaimed as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today. Peled has released over a dozen recordings on several labels including Naxos. The Aviv Quartet made their Naxos debut in 2003, presenting Hoffmeister's Op. 14 String Quartets (8. 555952). It was followed by Schulhoff's String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 on 8. 570965, which received positive feedback from ClassicsToday. Com: 'This music, rhythmically charged and alternately folk-inflected and harmonically contemporary, is absolutely wonderful, and it's very well played... The group is also quite sensitive to Schulhoff's use of tone-color'.

Joachim Raff enjoyed enormous prestige with a reputation as Germany’s leading symphonist of his time. He also wrote music for the violin, an instrument he had mastered when young, and for which he wrote with great sympathy. The enduring success of his first two sonatas prompted him to write three more: the charming, genial and joyous Sonata in D major, the symphonically conceived Sonata in G minor which, uniquely for Raff’s violin works, is cast in a single movement, and a Sonata in C minor that, while often melancholic in tone, is still suffused with his trademark lyricism.

This new recording from the Vida Guitar Quartet continues to highlight Vida’s passion for ground-breaking arrangements. Mark Ashford’s version of the English Folk Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams is just one example of the quartet’s ability to re-work established masterpieces with breathtaking virtuosity. The Vida Guitar Quartet brings together four guitarists of exceptional artistry and “unerring musical instinct.” (Gramophone) Vida’s ability to “conjure up an orchestral palette of color and effects” (Classic FM) combined with their “exquisite tonal and dynamic control” has firmly established them as a passionate and masterful ensemble who sparkle with “vitality and spontaneity” (Acoustic) Vida’s seemingly effortless sense of ensemble and their broad range of timbres and dynamics evokes “listening to an entire orchestra and note merely to four guitars. There’s only one word for it: magic.” (Gramophone)

The piano music of Federico Mompou (1893-1987) holds a unique place in 20-th century piano literature. The apparent simplicity of Mompou’s music with its affinity to naïve “folk” elements – popular songs and dances, children’s games, spells and incantations - is deceptive: like Satie - the composer with whom he is most often compared - there is always a sense of a greater complexity hidden just below the surface. However Mompou himself was uninterested in analyzing his music, claiming, “ I don’t know where it comes from – that’s one of the secrets of art” and in describing his style as primitivista, he signalled a desire to return to first principles - a “recommencement” as he described it. Although he spent many years in Paris and was close to the galaxy of composers living in that city in the 1920s– becoming more or less and an honorary member of les Six - he remained virtually immune to outside influences.

Read our blog post about Brillon de Jouy and the classical-era piano!

The thirteen sonatas on this première recording represent the complete music for solo piano by the Parisian keyboardist and composer Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy, a musician much celebrated in her day and greatly admired by Boccherini. Introducing technical innovations more usually associated with Czerny and Liszt, these sonatas reflect a gloriously rich musical environment, incorporating and transforming elements from music of the time with great imagination and wit, and showing us that Madame Brillon’s glittering salon, though private, was by no means isolated. Nicolas Horvath is an unusual artist with an unconventional résumé. He began his music studies at the Académie de Musique Prince Rainier III de Monaco, and at the age of 16, caught the attention of the American conductor Lawrence Foster who helped him to secure a three-year scholarship from the Princess Grace Foundation in order to further his studies. He is the holder of a number of awards, including First Prize of the Scriabin and the Luigi Nono International Competitions.

REVIEW:

Brillon de Jouy's thirteen sonatas, recorded for the first time on this CD, represent all of her music for solo piano and are as technically noteworthy as they are imaginative. Nicolas Horvath’s performance is light, fluid and impresses with unaffected simplicity, which is especially beneficial to the slow movements. The recording crew has provided a direct and relatively dry piano sound, which is appropriate for this repertoire.

– Pizzicato

Franz Schubert is perhaps the greatest of all composers of art songs. He left huge body of songs for voice and piano of amazing quality. The song cycle Winterreise stands out even among this literature. Steven Tharp sings with great understanding and sensitivity, beautifully accompanied by Janice Wenger on fortepiano. Steven Tharp has been praised by Opera News for the “bel canto flexibility and sweetness” of his voice, while the New Yorker has described his voice as “strong, free, and forward in tone, verbally sure, lyrical in utterance.”

As well as being internationally recognized as a leading interpreter of music new and old, Peter Sheppard Sk�rved is the only violinist to have performed on the personal violins of Viotti, Paganini, Joachim, Kreisler and Ole Bull. In this new series, he plays music on these and many more instruments, many of which only he has access to. This double album contains 96 (short) pieces which are all of the works for solo instrument contained in the Klagenfurt Manuscript, a substantial folio dated circa 1685 and which the violinist believes may have been composed by a nun - we will probably never know. He plays these works which mainly consist of individual movements of a style typically found in the baroque Dance Suite; some seem to 'fit' into multi-movement suites, others clearly do not. For the purposes of this recording each movement is listed and tracked separately. This is the world premiere recording. Peter plays a wonderful Stradivari instrument of 1685 (thus exactly contemporary with the music). In those days violins were made in several sizes and this one measures 328mm (the modern standard being 350mm). It's design and construction is clearly influenced by Nicola Amati. Though 'modernized; in the 19th century, it is hear played with a period-design bow and gut strings for authenticity. The violin is from the historic instruments collection of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, England.

Classical Music

Argentinian composer, poet and teacher JOSÉ ANTONIO BOTTIROLI found his ideal means of expression in the Romantic idiom and in shorter forms of music. Exploiting the rich resources of the waltz, his pieces are infused with a remarkable range of moods, intimacies, real-life experiences and scenes from nature, as well as portraits of children and loved ones, such as the iconic Verdadero in honour of the composer’s wife – all played with the unique insights of his student and protégé Fabio Banegas. FABIO BANEGAS has appeared in recitals and as soloist in the United States, Europe and in his native Argentina. A recipient of numerous scholarships and awards in Argentina and in the US, he studied at the National University of Rosario (UNR) under Professor Nelly Gabús and Professor Anna María Cué, and earned a Masters of Music at California State University Fullerton (CSUF) under Dr Susan Svr?ek. Fabio Banegas is a specialist interpreter of the Argentinean composer José Antonio Bottiroli, of whom he was a student, and has given world premières of many of the composer’s works. He is currently based in Los Angeles.

Bernard Haitink was born and educated in Amsterdam. His conducting career began at the Netherlands Radio where in 1957 he became the Chief Conductor of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. The links between Bernard Haitink and the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra have withstood the test of time, even when his career was taking him all over the world. One fine example of this was Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust in 1998, later issued on CD(CC 72517). He returned on 15 June 2019, when he gave his very last concert in Amsterdam, with Bruckner Symphony no. 7, a work that has always been especially dear to him.

For most of the past century the Russian composer Leonid Sabanayev (1881-1968) was known principally as a writer, not least for his publications on his close friend Alexander Skryabin (he was also a scientist and mathematician). It is only now that his own music is being rediscovered. This first recording of his monumental Piano Sonata, 'In Memory of Skryabin', cast in a single movement half an hour in length, is prefaced by a number of characteristic miniatures.