A rare outing for Poulenc's delightful, tune-filled ballet score

Poulenc's third and final ballet, Les animaux modeles, was begun, he wrote, "in the darkest days of the summer of 1940, and one way or another I wanted to find a reason for hope in the future of my country". The fables of La Fontaine provided him with the plot and it was first performed on August 8, 1942, in occupied Paris (in the penultimate section, "Les deux coqs", Poulenc mischievously quotes the song "Non, non, vous n'aurez pas notre Alsace-Lorraine" for an audience made up mainly of German officials).

Why we don't hear this delicious score more often is a mystery. Too many good tunes, probably. Its eight movements are quintessential Poulenc with the characteristic melange of harmonic and stylistic influences that make their composer's voice so unmistakable. There is also a good deal of self-plagiarising (spot the quotes from the Organ Concerto and the contemporaneous Babar the Elephant). Only one other recording is currently available, apart from the abbreviated version recorded by Georges Prêtre from 1966. The Turin players match the Parisians every step of the way with their incision, sure-footedness and sheer panache.

Stefano Bollini, whose career has been mainly in jazz, makes a good fist of the Concerto champetre (commissioned by the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska, of course, but sanctioned by the composer to be played on the piano as well), rounding off the disc with his own "elaborations" of two of Poulenc's late Improvisations, No 13 from 1958 and No 15 ("Hommage a Edith Piaf"), from 1959, the last of the cycle.

-- Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone [12/2007]

Avie continues its series of recordings featuring principal players of the New York Philharmonic with flautist Robert Langevin. Joined by fellow Philharmonic player pianist Jonathan Feldman, the Quebec-born Langevin gives flawless performances of three staples of the flute repertory. Though the Sonatas by Fauré, Franck and Pierné were all originally conceived for the violin, the composers sanctioned the adaptations for flute which fit the instrument perfectly naturally. Langevin studied in his native Quebec and in Europe. Prior to joining the New York Philharmonic in 2000, he was principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Montreal Symphony, with whom he can be heard on over 30 recordings. critical acclaim "dazzling performance ... beautiful solo playing" - The New York Times summary Principal flautist of the New York Philharmonic, Robert Langevin gives flawless performances of three staples of the flute repertory, the Sonatas of Fauré, Franck and Pierné.

Andreas Haefliger continues his fascinating, thought provoking, and captivating Perspectives series in which he juxtaposes the Piano Sonatas of Beethoven with other composers, casting an enlightening glow on the works which one would not detect if played in isolation. On Perspectives 6, themes of humanity, nature and love run through a program emphatically to be listened to rather than analyzed intellectually. Haefliger opens with Beethoven's early Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 14,then segues into two of Berio's seldom heard encores, Erdenklavier and Wasserklavier. He emerges to perform Beethoven's late Piano Sonata No. 30, Op. 109, followed by two more miniatures by Berio, Luftklavier and Feuerklavier. The album culminates with Schumann's great Fantasy in C.

Percy Grainger was an extraordinary human being and musician- a precocious pianist, colorful composer and world traveller, a peculiarly passionate and emotive eccentric whose fertile mind produced an expansive oeuvre of original and inventive works. Above all Grainger is best known for his most enduring musical endeavor- his exploration and dissemination of folk music. With this release, soprano Claire Booth and pianist Christopher Glynn, who have spent decades delving into Grainger’s folk music output, document their fascination with the multifaceted firebrand, and bring his alluring music to a wider audience. Grainger’s success resulted in multiple versions of his folk song settings, for orchestra, wind band, chamber ensemble and choir. But it’s perhaps his versions for voice and piano that are the most characteristic, bringing out Grainger’s own highly individual style at the keyboard. Claire’s and Christopher’s survey, one of the most comprehensive available on the market today, offers a variety of transcriptions of songs found in collections from the British Isles as well as discoveries Grainger heard as he roamed throughout the field. The album concludes with Grainger’s most celebrated piece, English Country Gardens, in which Claire makes a cameo appearance on piano, joining Christopher in a rousing duet.



REVIEWS:

They beautifully manage the contrasts between simplicity and immense sophistication that all these songs regularly provide; it makes a really engaging sequence.

– Guardian (UK)

This disc affords tremendous pleasure; it’s well recorded and intelligently annotated, too. Warmly recommended.

– Fanfare

Following their critically acclaimed debut recording of the complete string trios of Hans Gál and Hans Krása, which garnered a Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Ensemble Epomeo turns to music by Eastern European and Russian composers written in the latter half of the 20th century. Each work bears a distinct personal compositional stamp, providing for captivating listening and enlightening contrasts: the Polish Penderecki’s dramatic and lyrical String Trio of 1990 – 91, the Russian compositional giant Schnittke’s String Trio of 1985, the haunting Trio of the increasingly recognised and respected Weinberg from 1950, and the ever-enigmatic Hungarian Kurtág, whose continuously evolving signs, games and messages represent a collection of highly individual miniatures.

Classical Music

Flautist Marina Piccinini astounds with her virtuosity in her own arrangements for Paganini's devilishly difficult 24 Capricci.

Flautist Marina Piccinini relishes tradition with a twist. Having recorded J. S. Bach's Flute Sonatas with the Brasil Guitar Duo - the first ever recording using this combination of instruments (Avie 2196) - she astounds again with astonishing virtuosity in her own arrangements of Paganini's notoriously difficult 24 Capricci. Piccinini matches Paganini's vision and independence of spirit, explaining, "I was drawn to transcribe and record all the Caprices as a challenge and stimulus for my own development, a path towards pushing the envelope outside my personal comfort zone. What I discovered and fell in love with was a musical voice that demanded a far greater emotional expression through technical perfection of phrasing, flexibility of embouchure, depth of sound, breath control, digital dexterity and precise articulation."

The exhilaration and sense of discovery is utterly infectious.” — International Record Review

“These are performances of enormous drama, delicacy, and zest played with keen attention to expressive and textural nuances.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer

This all-Mozart recording leads with the composer’s darkest Symphony, No. 40 in G minor. American soprano Amanda Forsythe joins the group in a dramatic recitative and virtuoso aria from Lucio Silla, and the disc includes the Ballet Music from Idomeneo, a festive and rarely-heard suite from the last great work in the opera seria tradition. Rounding out the set are four lively and entertaining Contradances.

MOZART Piano Sonatas: in c, K 457; in C, K 545; in B?, K 333. Rondos: in F, K 494; in D, K 485; in a, K 511 • Marcia Hadjimarkos (fp) • AVIE 2138 (76:29)


The best compass, it seems to me, for successful traversal of Mozart’s piano music is constant reference to and evocation of his operatic style. If some gesture cannot conceivably be accomplished by the voice, accompanied by a late 18th-century pit orchestra, chances are it is an anachronism and has no place within Mozart’s keyboard textures. Listening to Avie’s remarkable new release of three sonatas and three rondos by Mozart, played superbly by Marcia Hadjimarkos, the imagination repeatedly roams to the operatic stage where, of the generations after Monteverdi and prior to Verdi and Wagner, the Austrian master reigns supreme.


A native of Oregon, Hadjimarkos earned degrees at the University of Iowa before pursuing her studies at the Paris Conservatoire with Jos van Immerseel; she has specialized in performing on the fortepiano and clavichord since the 1980s. One of the more appealing aspects of Hadjimarkos’s interpretations is her exploitation of the richly varied registers of her instrument (in this case a replica of a 1793 Sebastian Lengerer fortepiano by Christopher Clarke). Mozart himself was keen to mine this expressive potential on the pianos of his day; this tendency constitutes a veritable hallmark of his style that unfortunately is all but lost on modern pianos. Hadjimarkos never neglects expressive nuance in melodic inflections and her varied strategies of attack and release result in a realm of beautifully realized legato and detached effects. The lavishly applied variants—to the repeat of the exposition of the C-Major Sonata and indeed to each thematic repetition in the D-Major Rondo, to cite but two examples—seem both appropriate and inevitable. Nor does Hadjimarkos shy from engaging the una corda mechanism of her fortepiano: witness its highly effective use for long stretches in the F-Major Rondo and in the Andante of the C-Major Sonata.


As a player, Hadjimarkos remains rooted “in the moment,” lending her performances a refreshing emotional immediacy. Inevitably, one comes across the curious interpretive choice. At the beginning of the development in the first movement of the C-Minor Sonata, for instance, Hadjimarkos lifts the dampers in the ascending triad, the central thematic material of the entire movement, which she plays (appropriately) secco elsewhere in the exposition and recapitulation.


The recording was made in Chenôves, France, in August 2004. The parish church there has a sweet, flattering acoustic for the Clarke fortepiano. The engineers have done a marvelous job and the sound is dimensional and clear. Brian Robins wrote the engaging booklet notes, to which Christopher Clarke contributed information on his fortepiano.


This is living, breathing Mozart interpretation of a very high order, simultaneously innocent of “received wisdom” or “tradition” (which, as Artur Schnabel was fond of saying, is nothing but a collection of bad habits) and constantly informed by obvious immersion in the music of earlier masters, including C. P. E. Bach and Haydn. Those who still prefer their Mozart on the modern concert grand will no doubt continue to enjoy the performances of Schnabel (Music & Arts Programs of America 1193) and what perhaps remains the all-around best complete recording of the sonatas, that of Lili Kraus (Sony 88808). But those with an ear for the manifold beauties of the instrument that Mozart knew and loved—the late 18th-century Viennese action piano—are not likely to find more imaginatively realized, full-blooded, or loving readings than these presented by Marcia Hadjimarkos. Very highly recommended.


FANFARE: Patrick Rucker

South African-born, London resident Daniel-Ben Pienaar is a completest. Recent surveys, both on the concert platform and in the recording studio, include Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Chopin's Complete Waltzes, Schubert's Complete Sonatas, and the complete keyboard works by Orlando Gibbons. He arrives on the Avie label with another major project in tow: the complete Piano Sonatas by Mozart.

An active recitalist, chamber musician and professor at the Royal Academy of Music, Pienaar has a number of critically acclaimed independent releases under his belt, but this recording represents and uncommon synergy between artist, repertoire and production values. In Gramophone Award-winning producer Jonathan Freeman-Atwood, Pienaar found a special simpatico which he found "profoundly enabling", resulting in a creative recording process specific in relation to the music in hand. Pienaar presents the works chronologically over five CDs, illustrating Mozart's compositional trajectory which represents all of the major stylistic and emotional shifts in his mature career, with the earliest dating from his twentieth year, through his Viennese period, and the final works which were written towards the end of his all too brief life.

Critical acclaim:
"... no doubt that this South African-born pianist is a thinking virtuoso ... In the company of such contrasting practitioners as Edwin Fischer, Samuel Feinberg, Sviatoslav Richter and Glenn Gould, he seems determined to leave his own mark" - BBC Music Magazine

"Daniel-Ben Pienaar's performances are quite simply stunning. The instrument he plays matters much less than his musicianship, which is evident at every turn." - Gramophone

"A kaleidoscope of colours and textures in performances that combined the dramatic with the ethereal, the monumental with the intimate" - International Piano summary South African-born, London resident Daniel-Ben Pienaar makes his Avie debut with this beautifully recorded and ambitious project: the complete Piano Sonatas of Mozart.

MOZART Piano Concertos: No. 18; No. 22 • Imogen Cooper (pn); Northern Sinf • AVIE AV2200 (66:20)


Both Imogen Cooper and her playing of Mozart need no introduction to regular readers of Fanfare. Colin Clarke recently did a feature review with her regarding a new Schubert recording project in 33:6. Michael Ullman reviewed previously released discs of Mozart concertos in 30:5 (Nos. 9 and 23) and 32:1 (Nos. 24 and 25); the latter were also reviewed by Evan Dickerson in 32:3. All the reviews were quite positive, though Ullman did not find that her performances were quite on the same level as classic accounts by Schnabel and Gieseking.


My reaction to this latest CD issue is very similar to that of Ullman, though I will accentuate the positive to a greater degree. For me at least, such comparisons have become more difficult to make because of the far-reaching changes that period-instrument performances have brought to our understanding and expectations of Mozart interpretation. For example, while the Northern Sinfonia plays on modern instruments, it employs minimal string vibrato and the woodwinds are more pungent, creating a leaner sonority that emphasizes rhythmic crispness and harmonic tartness over melodic warmth. There is also considerably less use of rubato for expressive effect. For those accustomed to, say, the fuller sound and romantic warmth of a Bruno Walter (a personal touchstone in Mozart), any performance adopting or influenced by period practices risks sounding less expressive. In moving from one to the other, I personally must make a conscious effort to adjust my aesthetic expectations and look for the type of interpretive expressiveness apropos of the performance style in question.


On their own grounds, these performances succeed quite well indeed. Led by first violinist Bradley Creswick, the conductorless Northern Sinfonia plays with exemplary ensemble and balance. Cooper is about as elegant a Mozartian as one could want; her touch is delicate and crystalline, her runs fluent and seamless, and she makes very sparing use of the pedal. Interpretively she stresses the graceful elements of the music, but is by no means superficial or slighting of those moments requiring more gravitas. If the slow movement of K 482 does not have the sheer weight and darkness brought to it by, say, Barenboim in his classic EMI recording with the English Chamber Orchestra, it is still effective on its own terms. Above all, there is a relaxed, singing quality to her playing; even though the timings of the movements are virtually identical to those of several other performances with which I made comparisons, they have a more leisurely, almost playful feel to them, without seeming to drag in the slightest. The recorded sound is clear and not too closely miked, which adds a bit of warmth and takes the edge off the leaner string sound. My one complaint is that the booklet notes include gushy puff-piece overviews of Cooper and the Sinfonia of the sort found in concert program brochures, at the expense of more substantive comments on the music. But those seeking recordings of Mozart piano concertos that reflect the best melding of modern instruments and period-performance practice can turn to this disc with complete confidence.


FANFARE: James A. Altena

Best-selling American violinist Rachel Barton Pine, whose previous release went straight to #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart, debuts on AVIE with a survey of Mozart’s complete Violin Concertos and the Sinfonia Concertante, in which she introduces the extraordinarily talented young violist Matthew Lipman. Her orchestra is none other than the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by their legendary founder, Sir Neville Marriner.

In 1440 King Henry VI of England founded simultaneously two educational establishments to show his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. These were ‘the College Roialle of our Ladie at Eton beside Windsor and….the College Roialle of our Ladie and St. Nicholas of Cambridge.’ Thus were established what became two of the most venerable seats of learning – and of liturgical music – in England: Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge.

At Eton, where the college actually opened its doors in 1443, evening devotion to the Virgin was prescribed in the statutes from the start, with the singers required to sing in the chapel an antiphon in her honour every evening – in Lent it was always to be the ‘Salve Regina’. Over the years a corpus of music was assembled at Eton and by the early sixteenth century a significant amount of it had been copied into that remarkable treasury of music, which survives to this day, the Eton Choirbook.

The Choirbook contains a substantial amount of music. Some composers are represented by just one piece, whereas John Browne has no less than fifteen of his pieces preserved in it. From this vast collection Stephen Darlington has chosen five pieces, all of them quite substantial and all of considerable interest. Music from the Choirbook has been recorded by many ensembles, not least by The Sixteen, but here Darlington offers us the authentic experience of hearing it sung by an all-male church choir which is just a little larger than the Eton establishment of the time: the Eton choir consisted of sixteen choristers and ten lay clerks while for this recording Christ Church’s choir comprised eighteen trebles, four altos and five each of tenors and basses.

Just before discussing the performances, it’s appropriate to note the reason for the well-chosen title of the CD. Stephen Darlington tells us in the booklet that in 1515 an Italian visitor to Eton described the singing he heard there as ‘more divine than human’.

I’m unsure if the music is presented in chronological order in the programme. Indeed, little is known about many of the composers whose music is included in the Choirbook, still less is it possible to date with precision the date of composition of individual pieces. However, to judge from the dates of birth and death of the featured composers, it seems plausible to suppose a rough chronology. Furthermore, the pieces do seem to grow in complexity and intricacy as the disc progresses. So listening to the contents of the disc in the order in which they’re presented makes a lot of sense, I think. It was interesting to come to this disc hot on the heels of reviewing a disc by the choir of Edinburgh Cathedral devoted to the music of John Taverner. Taverner’s music was probably written a little later than anything on this present disc and his output represented the high water mark of the English florid style. There’s nothing in this programme to match the sheer exuberance of Taverner’s music though one can sense that trait developing as the pieces succeed one another. Interestingly, Darlington’s choir are not as unbuttoned and open-throated as their Edinburgh peers – that’s not an implied criticism – and their smoother, more mellifluous style is appropriate, I think, to the slightly more sober, though no less interesting music that they have recorded here.

John Fawkyner’s name was completely new to me and, it seems, nothing is known of his life. Gaude rosa sine spina is one of two pieces by him in the Choirbook. It’s not a particularly elaborate piece. I think I’d describe it as patient music, since it makes its effect cumulatively. Stephen Darlington’s fine choir sing it with suitable patience too and build it up well so that the final, affirmative stanza makes the proper effect.

There were two composers named William Cornysh, the second (younger?) of whom died in 1523. It is thought that this setting of ‘Salve Regina’ is by the earlier Cornysh, who can claim a footnote in musical history as the very first informator choristorum at Westminster Abbey. His five-part ‘Salve Regina’ shows an advance on Fawkyner’s piece in that the music is richer in texture and harmony and the polyphony is more intricate. It’s also a very beautiful composition. The present performance is a splendid one. Not only is the music very skilfully sung but a fine sense of atmosphere is generated. Listening to it, I found it quite easy to conjure up a mental picture of a candlelit evening rendition in the Eton chapel.

Walter Lambe’s ‘Magnificat’ is an alternatim setting This is a fine piece in which the polyphony frequently sounds celebratory. Stephen Darlington leads a strong performance.

Equally successful is the account of Richard Davy’s In honore summe matris. This is a luxuriantly expansive piece. The technical aspects of the music are very clever for we read in Timothy Symons’ good notes that the piece contains passages for no less than nine different combinations of two-part writing. These are all well done and the sections for full choir are no less impressive. Towards the end, leading up to and during the closing ‘Amen’, Davy employs triplets in some of the parts. In my experience this rhythmic device is not that common in music of this period and it makes an exciting effect.

Finally we hear Browne’s ‘Stabat Mater’, one of the jewels in the Choirbook. As befits the text, the tone of the music is quite sombre at the start but the music opens up as it unfolds and much of the full choir writing is texturally rich. It’s an imposing piece, which becomes ever more impressive as it progresses, and the concluding ‘Amen’ is quite magnificent. The choir perform it splendidly, sustaining the long lines, which are musically and mentally taxing, expertly.

There’s some marvellous music here. Throughout this fine disc the singing of the Christ Church is cultured and very impressive. They display excellent control and the tone is full and consistently pleasing to hear. There’s always good clarity in the delivery of the part writing, no matter whether a small group or the full choir is singing. It’s obvious that they’ve been expertly trained by Stephen Darlington. The recorded sound is atmospheric and reports the choir with clarity and presence.

-- John Quinn, MusicWeb International

Honored among the 30 "Unmissable Albums of the Past 30 Years" by BBC Music!

The Cleveland-based baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire, together with founder / conductor Jeannette Sorrell, launched on Avie in July 2010 with a double release featuring discs of Mozart and J.S. Bach. They follow with their tribute to the 400th anniversary year of Monteverdi's seminal Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, released in anticipation of the group's first European tour which takes them to Spain and Holland, and culminates with their Wigmore Hall debut on 30 November. Vespers has been a signature piece for Apollo's Fire for over ten years, and it's fitting for Sorrell and her vibrant band to bring this magnificent masterwork to wider audiences through this recording. critical acclaim for Apollo's Fire "Resplendent . . . with vibrant attention to dramatic detail. Unlike many accounts of the "Vespers," Sorrell's interpretation conveyed the intense drama that pervades this many-splendored puzzle. She must be one of the best conductors around in this repertoire. In her hands, the glory of Monteverdi's accomplishment couldn't have been more radiant or moving. An Apollo's Fire triumph . . . a thriller from first note to last." - The Cleveland Plain Dealer "A stunning achievement" - Fanfare "Sorrell and her fine young choir lavish attention on every phrase and inflexion. The exhilaration and sense of discovery is utterly infectious" - International Record Review

REVIEW

This recording is stunningly different from the norm. [Jeannette Sorrell] constructs a simulacrum of [17th-century Italians'] religious fervour in the explosive presentation of Dixit Dominus, and their sincere reverence in Ave Maris Stella. The real understanding of style is everywhere. No cautious "note counting" in the complex Duo Seraphim, instead the fluttering lines become the beating wings of angels, and in the startling echo duet of the Gloria Patri (from the Magnificat) we feel the ricochet from the very stones of Monteverdi's church.

--BBC Music Magazine (Anthony Pryer)

MENDELSSOHN Cello Sonatas: in B?, op. 45; in D, op. 58. Variations concertantes, op. 17. Assai tranquillo. Lieder ohne Worte, op.19a/1,3,6 (arr. Piati); op.109 • Antonio Meneses (vc); Gérard Wyss (pn) • AVIE 2140 (72:45)


As Chopin’s works for cello owe their genesis to his association with Franchomme, so Mendelssohn’s pieces were written with specific cellists in mind. The charming and brilliant Variations concertantes (1829) and the First Sonata (1838) were written for the composer’s talented younger brother, Paul. In the interim, Mendelssohn composed the charming albumblatt, known as the Assai tranquillo , as a gift for his Düsseldorf colleague, Julius Rietz. The weightier Second Sonata, from 1843, is dedicated to Count Mateusz Wielhorski, who became a professional cellist on his retirement from the Russian army and eventually an important patron of music in St. Petersburg. Mendelssohn’s last work for cello and piano, the poetic Song without Words , op 109, is dedicated to Lisa Cristiani, one of the few women cellists of the time. Three of the piano solo Songs without Words , transcribed by the cellist Alfredo Piatti, who was much admired by Mendelssohn when they met in London, are interspersed among the original works on this disc.


The distinguished Antonio Meneses—a celebrated soloist and, since 1998, cellist with the Beaux Arts Trio—is a near-ideal interpreter of this important Romantic repertoire. Commanding a rich and varied tonal palette, Meneses approaches Mendelssohn’s essentially lyric expression with poise and equilibrium. This does not mean that passion and drama are given short shrift. In the Scherzo of the D-Major Sonata, the cunning pizzicatos verge on the sinister, only to be dispelled by the flowing cantabile of the trio. During the ensuing Adagio, one of the most beautiful slow movements in Mendelssohn’s chamber music, the cello interrupts the piano’s chorale figure with a series of recitatives. Meneses imbues these passages with a poetic utterance that is disarming in its intensity. His reading of the op. 109 Song without Words is the finest I can remember. Though Gérard Wyss’s piano-playing may lack a certain polish and finesse, his musical instincts are acute, and he remains the sensitive and supportive partner throughout.


Musically speaking, these performances will comfortably take their place alongside other admired readings of the repertoire, including those of Mischa Maisky and Sergio Tiempo (DG 471565) and János Starker and György Sebok (Mercury 434377). The recording, however, made in England in June 2007 at Potton Hall, Suffolk, doesn’t seem to do full justice to Meneses’s wonderful sound. It’s difficult to tell if poor microphone placement or a problematic acoustic space is the culprit, but presence and blend are lackluster. Stephen Pettitt contributed the informative and inviting notes.


FANFARE: Patrick Rucker