Is Heitor Villa-Lobos the last great 20th century composer to be rediscovered? Because he wrote so much, it's easier to sidestep rather than face his overwhelming catalog point by point. The folks at Naxos, though, are tackling his Amazonian output, starting with the piano music. Brazilian pianist Sonia Rubinsky controls the undulating chordal syncopations in the wonderful Book One of A Prole do Bebê with a left hand propelled by an imaginary, rock-steady rhythm section, and never lets the pungent dissonances overshadow the melodies. Rarely heard, the delightful Cirandas are virtually the Brazilian equivalant of Bartok's folk-inspired character pieces. The improvisatory Hommage à Chopin evokes the Polish master's decorative syntax, filtered through Villa-Lobos' more lush keyboard deployment. Rubinsky is both on top and inside of the Brazilian composer's idiom, and her vivid playing is beautifully reproduced. As they say in Portuguese: "um CD sensacional."

– Jed Distler

VERACINI: Overtures and Concertos, Vol. 1

KRAUS: Symphonies, Vol. 2

TELEMANN: Musique de Table (Tafelmusik), Vol. 2

Complete Track List:

1. Dagen är kommen 04:36
2. När juldagsmorgon glimmar 02:43
3. Det är en ros utsprungen 02:24
4. Betlehems stjärna (Gläns över sjö och strand) 03:17
5. Ding, dong, merrily on high 01:53
6. Nu tändas tusen juleljus 02:32
7. Stilla natt 02:44
8. Gladelig vi sjunge dig 01:49
9. Förunderligt och märkligt 02:27
10. Vid Betlehem 04:59
11. Tre kungar 02:40
12. Härlig är jorden 02:51
13. O helga natt (Adams julsång) 04:19
14. I saw three ships 02:11
15. Jungfru Maria 02:43
16. Och det hände vid den tiden 03:03
17. Jul, jul, strålande jul 02:37
18. Ave Maria 05:51
19. Tomorrow shall be my dancing day 02:41
20. Lyss till änglasångens ord 03:03

"Spohr's various works for mixed chamber ensemble have found admirable modern interpreters in the Nash Ensemble. It is not only that their make-up, with a number of distinguished wind players and the excellent Ian Brown working with a string ensemble, is well-disposed to the different instrumental groupings which Spohr liked: they seem to have an affinity with his vein of elegant, undemanding, graceful music-making, the nineteenth-century equivalent of the eighteenth-century serenade... The Nonet, Spohr's most popular chamber work, receives from the Consortium Classicum (Orfeo/Harmonia Mundi) a performance that I thought probed a little deeper than that by the Nash, suggesting a vein of sadness in Spohr's famous chromaticisms and in his eloquent melodies. But it is also a serenade, or a divertimento; and the Nash give it a friendly, light touch. These are charming performances of works that fall very easily on the ear."
John Warrack, The Gramophone

Classical Music

RYBA: Czech Christmas Mass / Missa Pastoralis

ROSSINI: Overtures

Classical Music

Creativity, openness to new musical horizons, and zest: such were the personal traits that earned Bohemians the reputation of being the Mediterraneans of Central Europe and enabled them to occupy top positions throughout the European musical world of the eighteenth century. The Mannheim Court occupied the center of this musical universe, and it was there that Franz Xaver Richter, along with Johann Stamitz, rose to prominence and paved the way for Viennese classicism. - Dabringhaus & Grimm

REVIEW:

The Finnish Brass Symphony, directed by Hannu Lintu, has recorded a masterful survey of music by countryman Einojuhani Rautavaara. Spanning more than 45 years of the composer's work, the album functions as something of a compendium of themes that Rautavaara has returned to time and again in his music, from the dodecaphonic experiments of the Wind Octet to his ongoing fascination with angels. In this performance of 1981's Playgrounds for Angels, it becomes unclear if the playgrounds belong entirely to terrifying otherworldly beings or to these instrumentalists, whose superb ensemble skills definitely qualify them as supernaturally talented. 1953's A Requiem in our Time has been recorded at least four times, most memorably--until now--on a BIS disc with Brass Partout. The bold strokes and brash colors of this work are reflected in the more rare Soldier's Mass from 1968, whose "In Hora Mortis" movement presages the shimmering intensity of Rautavaara's later works.

A few shorter compositions round out the collection. Originally written as a compulsory piece for a trumpet competition, the Tarantará must have struck fear into the hearts of those brass players--in Rautavaara's hands, the instrument is nothing short of a wild animal that shrieks, growls, and leaps all over the register with dizzying speed. The extraordinary trumpeter Pasi Pirinen makes it all seem easy. The fanfare written for Finland's 75th independence anniversary is a mere 37 seconds long: blink twice, and you miss it entirely. The most recent composition, 1998's Hymnus for trumpet and organ, ably performed by Deborah Calland and Barry Millington, completes the survey. Kudos to Ondine for a marvelous recording.

--Anastasia Tsioulcas, ClassicsToday.com

Prokofiev: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 7

This selection is a High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) recording.

...Ricci's performance of the Adagio [from the Spohr Concertante] could not be bettered and he has a worthy partner in Susanna Mildonian... Louis de Froment is an admirable accompanist and the recording...is admirably clear and well balanced.

-- Gramophone [6/1979, reviewing an LP release of the Spohr]

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The chromatic harp is an idiosyncratic and, outside certain simple formulae, difficult instrument to write for; it has also been hard for it to escape from its 'romantic' image. Think of the harp, think of arpeggios (isn't that what the word signifies?), and those traversed with a sweep of the hand are inevitably colourful because you can't do it with a simple triad. Harp concertos have never been numerous and, other than Mozart and Handel, have come and gone like recorded ships in the night. Glière's has survived but Zabaleta's account of Reinecke's has long gone (DG 138 853, 11/63). Hard to realize the Glihre was written as late as 1939 —broad but fairly commonplace tunes, ultraconservative structure and language, arpeggios galore are its lot, music to relax and dream to. Michel is a fine harpist and her Glibre fully matches Ellis's older and less crisply recorded version on Decca, but neither can transmute the music's pewter to gold. The Reinecke is a more demonstrative and developed work, not written 'Out of its time', exploiting the resources of the harp in both solo and subsidiary roles, the flanking movements with cyclic connections.

The slow movement is exceptionally beautiful, the opening theme given by harp and trombone in hushed unison, and later, in ethereal harmonies on the harp with quiet responses from the strings. Michel presses a little ahead of her colleagues at times (notably the unisoni trombone) but generally benefits from skilful orchestration, sensitive support and well balanced recording. Written for a 'commoner' instrument the Reinecke might have become an oft-heard standard in the repertoire- it may still find favour with anyone following my advice to buy this recording.

-- Gramophone [4/1980, reviewing the LP release of the Gliere and Reinecke concertos]

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The novelty for me—and I daresay it may be for others too—was Roussel's Serenade of 1925, refreshing music that while keeping well clear of profundities, is yet most elegantly fashioned, urbane and full of wry charm. Here you will find the Melos Ensemble more smiling and certainly more kaleidescopic in colour. The Turnabout team are a bit more serious about the musical argument, a bit less bemused by effects of tone colouring. The flautist, Wilhelm Schwegler, also unfortunately has to breathe, whereas Richard Adeney's instrument (I presume it is Adeney) miraculously seems to play itself without audible intakes of air. It is Adeney's tonal bloom, his wider range of dynamics and colour and more malleable phrasing that in the first place succeeds in making Debussy's sonata sound more beguiling than the cheaper version, and especially in the opening Pastorale—considered by many critics no less seductive than the famous L'apres-midi. In this movement the Turnabout team do not react subtly and sensitively enough to detail, whereas the Melos are constantly reading between the lines and yielding rhythmically to this and that. But perhaps you could argue that the graver pulse chosen by the Germans for the Minuetto emphasizes its archaic, hieratic quality. I also thought they manage to define individual notes a bit more precisely in the finale than the Melos, who are sometimes a bit too impressionistic in their fluidity for this movement, where Debussy, "Musicien Francais", is very definitely looking back to seventeenth-and eighteenthcentury French classicism.

The performance I enjoyed most was the old, familiar Ravel from the Endres Quartet with Helga Storck, Konrad Hampe and Gerd Starke. The music, of course, is much less equivocal than the Debussy, and these players respond to its sensuous languor and tingling darts with more immediacy than I detected anywhere else on this record.

-- Joan Chissell, Gramophone [2/1969, reviewing the LP release of the Debussy, Ravel, and Roussel works]

With this third volume (the first two were reviewed in 12/96), Nicholas Ward and the Northern Chamber Orchestra complete their series of Mendelssohn’s youthful string symphonies, joining others who include the Hanover Band (RCA), the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam (BIS, 6/94, 9/95 and 11/96), the Concerto Cologne, the English String Orchestra (Nimbus, 3/89) and the London Festival Orchestra (Hyperion, 12/91). Once completely unknown outside the library, these delightful and in many ways enterprising works have been a natural draw to string orchestras, and since they demand plenty in the way of instrumental skill and liveliness but, really, little in the way of interpretative subtlety, it is unsurprising that there is not a great deal to choose between the different versions. In some of the earlier symphonies, Ward seemed to be setting unnecessarily fast tempos, which did not over-tax his players but which sometimes left the music too little time to breathe. There is no suggestion of this here: the Allegro molto finales of Nos. 11 and 12 speed along with a lively spring, but with plenty of air in the rhythms. Other tempos are nicely chosen, such as that of the Swiss song in No. 11, and Ward pays agreeable attention to the niceties of scoring which were absorbing the young Mendelssohn. There is plenty to enjoy here, and in the whole of his set. Roy Goodman’s Hanover Band have a particular brightness and charm, though their set is at full price. It also includes, as does Ward’s and that of the Concerto Cologne, the Thirteenth Symphony, the so-called Sinfoniesatz.

John Warrack, Gramophone [Awards Issue 1997]

MENDELSSOHN: String Symphonies, Vol. 2

REVIEWS:
BBC Music (3/98, p.72) - Performance: 3 (out of 5), Sound: 3 (out of 5) - "Liszt's symphonic poems call for performances that blend flamboyance and exalted lyricism - or, in other words, that revel in Romantic empathy....Fortunately, Michael Halász and the New Zealand Symphony offer real performances rather than unimaginative run-throughs....The orchestra...plays with considerable fire in extrovert passages..."

Handel's violin sonatas, familiar to violinists and chamber audiences, have been inexplicably neglected on disc. These intimate, inviting sonatas show the seldom-heard side of Handel's genius.

"Violinist Rachel Barton triumphs in her first release for the Cedille label… Indeed, Rachel Barton's wonderfully vital Handel performances bring us some of the most refreshing, life-enhancing Baroque playing heard in years." -- Chicago Tribune

"[Rachel Barton] is one of the rare mainstream performers with a total grasp of Baroque style and embellishment, and the whole disc is a delight… The exhilarating bravura of her incisive articulation and sharply pointed rhythms is matched by Barton's singing line in her poised and elegant lyrical movements. Superb continuo players David Schrader and John Mark Rozendaal contribute to the real sense of ensemble teamwork." -- Fanfare

"Few non-specialists have gotten inside this procedure [of ornamentation] as convincingly as violinist Rachel Barton. Her playing is splendid on all levels - lovely tone, wonderfully expressive phrasing, secure technique, and strong involvement with the music. But the most unusual aspect of Barton's Handel is the convincing and imaginative way she embellishes the repeats in the music - adding runs, ornaments, and flourishes that give a different aspect to a phrase we've just recently heard… They help to enliven a cherishable disc." -- Classical Pulse

"A spritely partnership between violin and cello, with deft rhythmic accompaniment on harpsichord… The music's virtuosic character is rendered with superb, resonant double and triple stopping and de-emphasized dance motion in the allegros. Barton lets the music's raw, improvised feeling hang out a little, giving the recording a refreshing zest." -- Classical Net

"[Rachel Barton] uses a baroque bow with her modernized 17th-Century violin, making a wonderfully warm yet still focused sound, and her passage work is brilliant yet lyrical - much like the cascades of a coloratura - and her ornamentation is both thoughtful and virtuosic. This is a wonderful recording." -- American Record Guide

Classical Music

This recording was formerly available as Vox-Unique V2U 9000.

Glazunov, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 - the Kremlin / Fr

1998 release. Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865-1936) Orchestral works 8, the Seasons, Op. 67; Scenes de Ballet, Op. 52, Scene Dansante, Op.81 performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra Alexander Anissimov conductor. Recorded at Mosfilm Studio, Moscow, Russia in August 1995.

REVIEWS:
BBC Music (6/98, p.67) - Performance: 3 (out of 5), Sound: 4 (out of 5) - "...the exquisite and atmospheric miniatures that make up the Mozariaan 'Masques et bergamasques' and the incidental music for 'Pelléas et Mélisande'....feel ever fresh....The 'Shylock' suite....contains beautiful moments and Lynda Russell's pure, light voice suits the style very well..."

Hildegard Von Bingen: Heavenly Revelations