20th Century (1900–1970)
Modernism, serialism, neoclassicism. Stravinsky, Bartók, Shostakovich, Britten.
2959 products
Respighi: Belkis, Queen Of Sheba Suite, Metamorphoseon Modi XII / Simon, Philharmonia
Recorded in: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London 21,22 January 1985 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Bill Todd [Assistant]
Shostakovich: Symphony No 7 / Järvi, Scottish National Orch
Recorded in: Caird Hall, Dundee 22-23 February 1988 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Janet Middlebrook (Assistant)
Lutoslawski: Orchestral Works Vol 6 / Wit, Polish Rso
Symphony No. 1 was written during the 1940s and is scored for a large orchestra augmented by battery of percussion instruments. The symphony is a work of shifting moods, animated by colorful orchestration. When the Communists took power in Poland they demanded that composers write music based on folk-songs. Lutoslawski's 'Silesian Triptych' written in 1951, meets the party's demands but rises above the genre with its sensitive vocal writing and genial Slavic flavor.
Olga Pasiecznik's warm soprano voice is perfect for the 'Silesian Triptych,' and she floats lovely pianissimo notes in the complex song cycle 'Chantefleurs et Chantefables.' The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra directed by Antoni Wit play this music with energy and technical proficiency.
Enesco, Shostakovich: Octets, Etc / Asmf Chamber Ensemble
Recorded in: Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Suffolk 1-3 March 1992 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Richard Lee
STRAUSS, R.: Orchestral Songs, Vol. 2
Rachmaninov: The Piano Concertos
Stravinsky: Firebird Suite; Lyadov, Rimsky-korsakov / Järvi
Recorded in: St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London 18-19 May 1987 and 12 July 1988 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Janet Middlebrook (Assistant) Philip Couzens (Assistant)
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2, Symphony for Strings
Recorded in: Church of Ste Madeleine, Outremont, Montreal 5,6 August 1985 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Philip Couzens [Assistant]
MESSIAEN: LA NATIVITE DU SEIGNEUR
Respighi: Pines Of Rome, Etc / Eiji Oue, Minnesota Orchestra
All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.
Aus Den Fugen Geraten (All About Fugues)
Alwyn: Symphony No 3, Violin Concerto / Mordkovitch, Hickox
Recorded in: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London 11, 14 January 1993 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Ben Connellan (Assistant)
Reger: Das gesamte Orgelwerk, Vol. 3
Respighi: Complete Ancient Airs & Dances, Etc / Hickox
Recorded in: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London 8-9 June 1995 & 13 September 1995 Producer(s) Ralph Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Peter Newble
Krenek: Piano Works / Khristenko
KRENEK Piano Sonatas: No. 2, op. 59; No. 3, op. 94/2; No. 7, op. 240; Little Suite, op.13a; Fünf Klavierstücke, op. 39; Echoes from Austria, op.166 • Stanislav Khristenko (pn) • OEHMS CLASSICS OC 422 (74:16)
As much as I enjoy his music, I should start by saying that Ernst Krenek (1900-1991) will never be a popular composer with most listeners. That is a shame because there is such a variety of styles present in his compositions that there always seems to be at least a few works by the composer that would appeal to just about everyone’s tastes: some moments inspired by jazz, other moments inspired by past composers or by folk-music, passages of simplicity and tunefulness, others of complex atonal counterpoint. Throughout, however, no matter the composition, there always seems to be a vital recognition of the listener. From the obvious traditional idiom of Echoes from Austria , op. 166 (miniature piano works inspired by Austrian folk-tunes, lasting anywhere from a little under a minute to a little over two) to the more complex and densely written third piano sonata (1943), Stanislav Khristenko proves to be an invaluable guide. His acute sense of rhythm in the second piano sonata (1928)—though seen by the composer as a confusing mixture of different styles, a student work of sorts—helps to bring a sense of not only propulsion and movement, but also a sense of the dance to it. This contrasts greatly in his interpretation of the third piano sonata. In Khristenko’s hands it is a rather mellow composition, from its improvisatory-like opening to its sublime and muted closing pages. The Little Suite of 1922 is a strange work: While most of its six movements (Allemande, Sarabande, Gavotte, Waltz, Fugue, Foxtrot) inhabit quite different sound worlds, they come together admirably to form a cohesive whole. It should not be lost on the listener that Krenek wrote the work as a birthday gift for Irene Erdmann (wife of the pianist Eduard Erdmann) in a single night. Above all else, Krenek said that “the suite was meant to be funny.” Khristenko certainly brings that light-hearted character to the fore. The seventh and final piano sonata (1988), written at the ripe old age of 88, shows Krenek to still be an explorer of musical possibilities. I miss the sense of improvisation in the composition’s opening pages—Krenek is careful to notate his intentions through his use of curved arrows, showing the interpreter where to push the tempo and where to pull it back. It is odd that the same pianist who brought a sense of the improvisatory to the aforementioned third sonata, here seems to lack just that quality. It is, however, a rather remarkable performance of a late and austere work. Though it may pose obstacles to the listener, its rewards are numerous. With very fine performances in detailed and spacious sound, this makes a very fine addition to those looking to expand their horizons, or to those who relish this music already. In addition, I would not want to be without Glenn Gould’s inspired performance of the third sonata (available on Sony 52661 along with the Berg Sonata, the Webern Concerto and Variations, and works by Debussy and Ravel). Recommended.
FANFARE: Scott Noriega
Gershwin: Songbook, Rhapsody In Blue / Michael Endres
This new recording, presents 18 piano pieces from his songbook in fantastic interpretations by Michael Endres. The Rhapsody in Blue is also included and is almost more impressive in the arrangement for piano solo as it is with piano and orchestra. - Oehms
Hindemith: Music For Viola
Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Sondheim: Sweeney Todd / Henschel, Stone, Schirmer
SONDHEIM Sweeney Todd • Ulf Schirmer, cond; Mark Stone ( Sweeney Todd ); Jane Henschel ( Mrs. Lovett ); Gregg Baker ( Anthony Hope ); Rebecca Bottone ( Johanna ); Jonathan Best ( Judge Turpin ); Adrian Dwyer ( Beadle Bamford ); Diana DiMarzio ( Beggar Woman ); Ronald Samm ( Pirelli ); Pascal Charbonneau ( Tobias ); Bavarian R Ch; Munich R O • BR 900316 (2 CDs: 123:59) Live: Munich 5/6/2012
Composer-librettist Stephen Sondheim maintains that Sweeney Todd is not an opera, and so does the annotator for the present release. Nevertheless, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (its full title), since it premiered on Broadway in 1979, has been revived by several opera companies, including the New York City Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Chicago Lyric Opera. Why? Musically, it is highly sophisticated, and operatic voices are not wasted on it. Furthermore, with its larger-than-life dramatic themes, including mistaken identity, lust, vengeance, obsession, madness, and murder, how more operatic could a theatrical work be?
There have been several recordings of this work, including the unforgettable original cast recording on RCA with Len Cariou in the title role, and Angela Lansbury in the role of Mrs. Lovett, his cheerfully amoral partner in crime. That version will never be eclipsed, but each new recording adds a welcome new perspective. The one reviewed here, recorded in the Munich’s Prinzregententheater, is the most operatic yet, even more than the one with the New York Philharmonic which features singers such as Heidi Grant Murphy (Johanna), John Aler (Beadle Bamford), and Paul Plishka (Judge Turpin). This time around, we have legitimate operatic singers in all of the main roles; only DiMarzio appears not to be a “classical” musician per se. In other words, here we have an ensemble of acting singers, as opposed to singing actors such as Cariou, Lansbury, George Hearn, Patti LuPone, and Michael Cerveris, who all have made major contributions to this opera’s . . . I mean, musical’s performance history.
It turns out fairly well. I was immediately pulled in by Ulf Schirmer’s conducting, which is tense, taut, and stylish. In fact, you might not hear a better conducted Sweeney Todd anywhere. The Bavarian Radio Choir also adds much to the success of this performance. Although their diction is less clear than that of English-speaking ensembles who have recorded this music, their dramatic involvement is high, as is their musicianship.
This is an actual performance. Apparently the time, funds, or energy to correct the inevitable live lapses was unavailable, and thus we have oddities such as Henschel at one point rechristening Beadle Bamford as “Beadle Rumford.” A few memory lapses are covered professionally, but will leave those who know the show well asking, “What did (s)he just sing?” These issues are minor, though.
I’m more concerned about two other points. One is the lack of (black, very black) humor in this production. For example, I can’t understand why, in “A Little Priest,” the wonderfully uncomfortable pun about a meat pie made from a general (“With or without his privates?”) has been removed. This is a grim show, still there is much about it that can be very funny, and allowing it to be so makes the gore and horror even more effective. As the original Mrs. Lovett, Angela Lansbury was charming and endearing; she might bake you into a meat pie, but you couldn’t stay angry with her for long! Henschel can’t inspire that kind of affection, and she makes it clear that her murderous instincts were present even before opportunity allowed them to come out. The other thing that concerns me is the way in which some of the big dramatic moments are almost thrown away. Todd’s aborted murder of Judge Turpin (interrupted by Anthony’s untimely arrival) should be a big moment, but it isn’t. Similarly, soon after, in Todd’s “Epiphany,” we should feel his mind crack and his murderous rage insanely swell to encompass all of mankind, not just the Judge, but Mark Stone is not that fine an actor, the direction is too hurried, and one of the show’s most Brechtian moments doesn’t come off. The last segment of the show, with its string of murders and its Grand Guignol effects, moves forward jerkily, sometimes grinding to a halt, and sometimes not pausing long enough to make its points. On Broadway, Harold Prince would have fixed these miscalculations, but, at least as I am hearing them on CD, they were not addressed in Munich’s Prinzregententheater.
All of the singing itself is very fine. One curiosity is a baritone Anthony; Gregg Baker’s voice is darker than Mark Stone’s. Anthony is supposed to be an inexperienced sailor, newly arrived in London, and the early scenes between him and Todd feel strange, because the voice relationships have been inverted from the original production. I really missed hearing a tenor’s voice soar into “Johanna,” one of Sondheim’s most rapturous love songs. Also, the multinational cast presents a variety of accents. In 1979, Cariou had almost no accent at all, while Lansbury made the most of hers. Here, we have the reverse: a cockney Todd in Baker, and a Mrs. Lovett of no particular nationality or region in Henschel. Someday, there will be a production of this work in which everyone gets on the same page with dialects.
So, if you want an operatic Sweeney Todd , or a fresh look at it, this new recording will satisfy. It has many enjoyable moments, but a few unfortunate ones as well. If you do not know this show at all, however, the Broadway cast recording—still in print, thank goodness!—is the only place to begin. This show is one of the masterpieces of American musical theater, and absolutely needs to be heard.
FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle
Rachmaninov: The Rock / The Isle of the Dead - Scriabin: Pro
Weinberg: 24 Preludes for Violin Solo / Kremer
Although one loses the the cello’s bass-to-treble-register tessitura, Kremer compensates by intensifying dynamic contrasts and articulations. As a result, the repeated phrases of Nos. 2 and 19 sound fascinatingly quirky and obsessive here, rather than merely playful. On the other hand, the violin arguably lends itself better to No. 7’s rapidly spinning figurations. On violin, the Sarabande (No. 18) takes on a stentorian character quite different from the cello’s warmer resonant overtones. The elegant concluding Menuet (No. 24) falls within the cello’s tenor and mezzo-soprano ranges in such a way that the long lines suggest a seamless conversation between two singers. By contrast, the music’s high-lying range on the violin conveys a completely different impression: ethereal, otherworldly.
I wouldn’t want to be without Feigelson’s standard-setting recording of Weinberg’s original cello versions, yet Kremer’s effective arrangements and fiercely focused interpretations deserve equal consideration. Allow these pieces to grow on you over time; they’re well worth your attention.
– ClassicsToday (Jed Distler)
Mahler: Symphony No 9 / Chailly, Gewandhaus Orchestra [blu-ray]

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.
Also available on standard DVD
Abbado and Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra - Lucerne Festival
Mahler: Symphony No 6 / Chailly, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
MAHLER Symphony No. 6 & • Riccardo Chailly, cond; Gewandhaus O • ACCENTUS 20268 (DVD: 86:25 + 18:28)
& Panel discussion with Riccardo Chailly and Reinhold Kubik
A Mahler Sixth in which the Andante movement comes second? And where the last movement has two hammer blows, not the three that Mahler himself included at the premiere)? Well, yes, and those are just two of the things that make Riccardo Chailly’s interpretation of this over-familiar work sound new. Another is the incredibly swift, truly scherzo-like tempo with which Chailly takes the (now) third movement, not at a pace mimicking the first, as usually happens when it comes second.
Some of the mystery is explained in the 18-minute conversation that Chailly holds in the bonus feature. The “wrong” order of the movements (Allegro energico, Andante moderato, Scherzo, and Finale: Sostenuto) is how they appeared in the conductor’s score that was actually published in March 1906. By the time a second score was published in November of the same year, the Scherzo now came second, and this is how it was premiered. In addition, the premiere had three hammer blows in the last movement, not the traditional two; that came later, too. Early in the interview Chailly admitted that he had copiously studied the scores owned by conductor Willem Mengelberg, who had known Mahler and who wrote down all sorts of things, including metronome markings (usually not in Mahler’s symphonies), that he slavishly followed for years. “But now,” Chailly says, “I am no longer such a slave to tradition.” Musicologist Reinhold Kubik of the Mahler Society mentions that when Mengelberg wrote to Alma Mahler about the order of the movements, she said that the Andante came second—and she stuck by that judgment even as late as 1957. Was she wrong? She did mention that he had conducted it that way in a city where he never played this work, but memory is a tricky thing, and the fact that she emphatically insisted that the Andante came second in letters written some 40 years apart should count for something.
Whatever your judgment of these decisions, there is no question that Chailly’s Sixth is simply mind-boggling. The first movement itself is taken at an Allegro that is certainly more energico than I’ve ever heard it before in my life. In a certain sense, this new, brisker tempo rather eliminates the feeling of jackboots marching that most other conductors bring out in it; rather, it sounds like the blind rush of a madman, interrupted by the calmer middle section.
But there is much more to Chailly’s Mahler than just faster tempos. There is a much stronger feeling of organic unity and structure in the music, a more songful legato line in each and every movement, and the playing of the Gewandhaus Orchestra is staggeringly beautiful and dramatically effective. Chailly seats the orchestra the way Mahler himself wanted it: first and second violins split left and right, cellos in the middle right behind them, other instruments spaced out so as to create the balances Mahler so carefully constructed. (Michael Gielen seated his orchestra the same way when he conducted Mahler in Cincinnati during the 1980s.) The “traditional” seating used by most orchestras, Kubik tells us, originated from that used by Leopold Stokowski when he conducted Mahler in America in the early-to-mid 20th century. And in the last movement, which runs 34 minutes, Chailly creates a world-within-a-world. His hammer blows are not just some bangy little hammer on an anvil, but a HUGE wooden mallet that looks like it needed Thor to handle it.
On the podium, Chailly presents the image of an excited schoolboy, jumping up and down, raising his arms and slicing his baton through the air like the drop of a guillotine. Perhaps it is a bit overdone, especially if you are accustomed (as I am) to watching such conductors as Kempe, Böhm, Toscanini, Gielen, and Ormandy conduct, but it doesn’t really seem like an affectation, either. Most of what he does is either in response to the music or in anticipation of how he wants the next attack or the next phrase to go. He is simply emotionally involved in each and every bar of the score, and he wants it just so. Considering the great results he gets, I can’t really find much fault with that. After all, he does ask all the principal wind players to stand up and take a bow at the end.
So often, for me, watching a conductor perform an orchestral concert is a bit like watching paint dry, unless you are a really big fan of conductor X and you want to study the way he moves on the podium, but in this case I found myself completely caught up in watching Chailly and the orchestra because they’re so deeply into what they are doing. In the trailer on this disc for his video of the Fourth Symphony, Chailly mentions that both he and the Gewandhaus Orchestra musicians have come to an understanding of how to best play Mahler: They get involved but always remain in control. “If you let Mahler control you,” he warns, “you’re heading for trouble.” In addition to all this, the high-resolution digital sound is as spectacular as Chailly’s interpretation, capturing the slightest rustle of harp strings and the sound of stays on the oboe with astounding clarity.
Looking at the trailers, there are also DVDs out of Chailly conducting the Second, Fourth, and Eighth Symphonies. The snippets I’ve heard of all of them sound amazing. I recommend looking for all of them, and also awaiting the rest of the series.
FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley
Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales - La valse - Daphnis e
Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales - La valse - Daphnis e
Mahler: Des knaben Wunderhorn, Adagio from Symphony no 10 / Boulez, Cleveland [Blu-ray]
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Also available on standard DVD
Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra
Soloists: Magdalena Kožená and Christian Gerhaher
Gustav Mahler: Adagio from Symphony No. 10
Twelve Songs from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn"
“Boulez’s Mahler has surely gained a degree of intensity over the years. Rather than sacrificing his legendary intellectual rigor, he has wedded it to a profound visceral understanding of this music.” -- WCLV classical FM
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth and just one month short of his own 85th birthday, composer-conductor Pierre Boulez marked his forty-five-year collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra by directing this very special Mahler-only concert at Ohio’s splendid Severance Hall. Following the Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony, he presented Twelve Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn with soloists Magdalena Kožená and Christian Gerhaher, both much-sought-after opera and concert singers on the world’s leading stages.
Bonus:
- Interview with Pierre Boulez
Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 88 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)
R E V I E W:
The performances heard on this video are identical to the program released on CD by DG and reviewed by me in Fanfare 34:4. It therefore behooves me to suggest that the only reason to acquire the video is the dramatic difference in the respective sound productions.
The beautiful interior of Severance Hall, with its Art Deco accents, makes a very pleasant backdrop indeed. In contrast to the CD, the program starts with the Adagio from the 10th Symphony. The performance, a very good one, is greatly improved in its surround-sound version, especially on Blu-ray. It must be said, though, that watching Boulez with his minimal gestures and dour expression is not terribly exciting.
The occasional clever use of split screen provides a discrete frame each for the singer’s and conductor’s faces, though in this case the contrast between the animated vocalists and the stone face of the conductor is somewhat unnerving. As I wrote in my review of the CD, this is not my ideal version of this program, though Magdalena Kožená can hold her own with the best of the competition. Christian Gerhaher is a fine baritone but is not as dramatically convincing and lacks the heft of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau or Thomas Hampson, two of my preferences for the male voice. Of the two singers, Kožená is more fun to watch, too, as her facial expressions bring character to her songs.
The bonus interview program provides Boulez’s thoughts on Mahler’s music and the specific program performed in Cleveland, his observations on the orchestra and its hall, the future of classical music, and some personal observations. The questions appear written on the screen (typos and all), and then Boulez is shown answering. The interview can be heard in English, German, and French. Also included (from the Severance Hall stage) is a short tribute to the conductor on his 85 birthday with Franz Welser-Möst and the management of the Cleveland Orchesta, which includes an audience-particapatory sing-along.
FANFARE: Christopher Abbot
Korngoldmark: Korngold, R. Goldmark & K. Goldmark – Works fo
Martha Argerich & Mischa Maisky [blu-ray]
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Also available on standard DVD
At one of her rare appearances with orchestra, Martha Argerich, the grande dame of the piano, joined forces with world-famous cellist Mischa Maisky and the fabulous Lucerne Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin – “Romantic Offering”, a double concerto for piano, cello and orchestra dedicated to its very first soloists. The programme was rounded off by late-Romantic masterpieces by César Franck, Antonín Dvo?ák and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony under the baton of renowned maestro Neeme Järvi.
“I’ve attempted to depict and highlight the most distinctive individual qualities of these two musicians … Romantic Offering should inspire new thoughts and experiences. Music isn’t only the product of experiment. It should move your soul and touch your heart.” Rodion Shchedrin
Recorded live at the Concert Hall of the Culture and Convention Center (KKL), Lucerne, 9–10 February 2011.
Bonus:
- Behind the Scenes of a world première with Rodion Shchedrin, Martha Argerich and Mischa Maisky.
Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 112 mins (concert) + 17 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)
Mahler: Symphony No 6 / Chailly, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra [blu-ray]
Also available on standard DVD
Recorded live at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, 6, 7 and 9 September 2012
Bonus:
- My Sixth will propound riddles – A panel discussion with Riccardo Chailly and Reinhold Kubik
Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles (bonus): German, English, French
Running time: 86 mins (concert) + 18 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)
