4 discs for the price of 2 This boxed set includes the first complete recorded cycle of Alexander Tcherepnin's symphonies and piano concertos, along with four shorter orchestral scores. The striking stylistic diversity within this body of work illustrates the complex evolution of Tcherepnin's style during a half-century-long odyssey both artistic and geographic. Born in St Petersburg Tcherepnin would pursues his dual career as composer and pianist all over the world: from Tbilisi in Georgia to Paris and central Europe, from Shanghai and Tokyo to Brussels and back to Paris, and ultimately from Chicago and New York to England and Switzerland. His inspiration came from sources as diverse as Prokofiev, avant-garde circles in Paris during the 1920s and Far Eastern pentatonic idioms explored during lengthy stays in China and Japan. Tcherepnin's development can be charted throughout these four discs, from the First Piano Concerto, composed in 1919, to the works of the 1960s. In the words of Benjamin Folkman, Tcherepnin's biographer and the compiler of the liner notes for this title, 'what one hears is the music of a composer who is not so much reinventing himself as seeking an artistic orientation that gains in coherence by growing ever more comprehensive: a composer secure in his faith that, while the musical impulse is a universal human phenomenon, each musical work is a world unto itself.' The recordings included in this set were originally released on single CDs, and have all received lavish praise, both for the fascinating repertoire and for the highly sympathetic performances by Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Lan Shui (Classica-Répertoire: 'The orchestra possesses a high degree of virtuosity and plays with conviction and impressive musicality') and for Noriko Ogawa's interpretations (Fanfare: 'In everything Noriko Ogawa tackles, she comes up shining: Her playing customarily blends brilliance and power in equal measure, and here again she's just as good as she has now led us to expect.')

MOZART Clarinet Concerto. 1 Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, K 498 “Kegelstatt” 2. Allegro for Clarinet and String Quartet, K Anh 91 (516c) 3 • Martin Fröst (cl); 1 cond; 2 Antoine Tamestit (va); 2 Leif Ove Andsnes (pn); 3 Janine Jansen, 3 Boris Brovtsyn (vn); 3 Maxim Rysanov (va); 3 Torleif Thedéen (vc); 1 Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen • BIS 1893 (SACD: 53:43)


This is Martin Fröst’s second take on the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, recorded some decade after his first bestselling album. He here performs the Concerto, as in his first take, on a basset clarinet. Rather than including the Clarinet Quintet—the standard offering on most albums and his choice for his first disc—Fröst has brought together an array of artists and recorded two other chamber works: the “Kegelstatt” Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, and the fragmentary Allegro for Clarinet and String Quartet, which was completed only in the 1960s by Robert Levin. Fröst here also follows the path of many a pianist nowadays and chooses to conduct the orchestra himself in the Concerto. It is obviously a work he knows inside and out and loves deeply, as his simple yet heartfelt way with the piece shows. In some ways he sees the piece ever more inwardly speaking than he did his first time around. Though he may be one of the most technically proficient players of his instrument around today, and the ease of his performances is at times bewildering, this should not be confused with emotional distance. His Mozart Concerto sings occasionally, but more often it speaks: the first lone appearance of the instrument seems to grieve over some great loss, the sighing motives made palpable by his ever careful phrasing of them—and this all in the bright key of A Major! His full attention to details of articulation, his use of orchestral swelling to add tension (sometimes a bit much for my taste), and his ability to color his line differently than the orchestra all add to the overall interest in the movement. The Adagio which follows is perhaps even more inward looking than the first, yet it reveals that glimmer of hope that will be fulfilled in the final lighter-hearted, almost bubbling Rondo.


The mood is perfectly set for the more intimate nature of the “Kegelstatt” Trio. Joined by pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and violist Antoine Tamestit, here Fröst and company adopt a much more lyrical, singing approach to the work than that taken in the Concerto, though the energy at times feels a bit low—once again a mellow, inward-looking approach is taken. And though one may quibble about certain details, this is spectacular chamber playing, as just a quick glance at the final Rondo will show: each and every lyrical phrase is carefully performed and thoughtfully answered, producing a wonderful sense of give and take, a palpable sense of dialogue. The small Allegro for Clarinet and String Quartet, of which Mozart left an entire exposition, carefully and tastefully completed by Levin, makes for a fine encore to the recital. The energy that the players bring, along with their fine sense of stylistic matters in terms of articulation, instrumental balance, and gracefulness all add to the overall joie de vivre.


Perhaps my biggest complaint is that this recording gives us only 53 minutes of music; were it not for the final fragmentary Allegro recorded here, or even if a few repeats were to be left out in the mix of movements throughout the recital, the entire Clarinet Quintet could also have fit onto the current recording, and with a stellar roster to perform it! And yet the performances themselves—recorded in spectacularly vivid SACD sound, making one’s home feel like a concert hall—make one forget one’s prejudices about such trivialities. So the real question should be: which Fröst/Mozart should you go for? At least one, and that might depend more on how you like it served: with a side of Clarinet Quintet or a “Kegelstatt” Trio. Either way, you’re in for a treat.


FANFARE: Scott Noriega

Joining the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), BIS is reissuing a landmark in the past ten years of Mozart recordings. Originally released as single discs are gathered, for the first time, all ten CDs of Ronald Brautigam's complete cycle of Mozart's music for solo piano, performed on the fortepiano. Six discs of the 18 sonatas are accompanied by four discs with the composer's many sets of variations as well as occasional pieces. Together they form a panorama, seen through his own preferred instrument, of the great master's progress: from the 8 Variations (KV 24), written around Mozart's 10th birthday, to his last piano work, the Variations in F major (KV 613), composed some months before his death. At the time of their original release, these discs were greeted with the highest acclaim: 'I have no hesitation in recommending this extremely musical and imaginative series of performances' (Gramophone, August 1997) and 'Brautigam explores these 15 sets [of variations] with jubilation and a sense of wonder in each single instant' (Diapason; December 2001) are only two examples of the opinions voiced. Highly advantageous terms - 10 CDs for the price of 4 - makes this an opportunity not to be missed!

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

After finishing the chorus ‘How dark, O Lord, are thy decrees’ in February 1751, Handel noted in the autograph score that he couldn’t continue his work on Jephtha because of eye problems. Later in the year, he regained his eyesight and was able to complete the work in the autumn. The problems returned however, and in January 1753 a London newspaper reported that ‘Mr Handel has at length, unhappily, quite lost his sight’. Jephtha was thus to become Handel's last oratorio, and indeed his last major work. It is nevertheless no less a masterpiece than his earlier works, and contains some of his noblest music.

The plot of this ‘Sacred Drama’ is loosely based on the story of Jephtha in the Old Testament: a father who in order to win the the Israelites’ struggle against the Ammonites makes a rash promise to God, and after his victory is compelled to sacrifice his own daughter. The situation gives rise to music of touching poignancy, as well as great choral set-pieces.

This rousing live performance, recorded in 2008 in the Stavanger Concert Hall, boasts a roster of soloists headed by the fine British tenor James Gilchrist as Jephtha, as well as the eminent Belgian choir Collegium Vocale Gent, all backed up by the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. At the helm of these large forces is Fabio Biondi, the Baroque violinist and conductor who since 2005 has been artistic director of the Stavanger orchestra in the baroque and classical repertoires.

Despite the fact that Kaikhosru Sorabji wrote his Transcendental Studies in the early 1940s, most of these individual pieces were not performed for more than fifty years after their composition. This new release is Fredrik Ullen’s fifth installment in his survey of these works, and features twelve of the 100 studies. Sorabji’s Transcendental Studies Nos 72-83 are featured on this release. Especially intriguing is No 75, a Passacaglia, which is one of the longest of these works at almost 29 minutes. The piece receieved its debut performance in 2003 by Fredrik Ullen himself.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

When Maurice Ravel in 1909 was commissioned by the ballet impresario Serge Diaghilev to write a score based on the ancient Greek novel Daphnis and Chloe, he decided to compose 'a huge musical fresco, concerned less with archaism than with faithfulness to the Greece of my dreams'. Three years later, when Daphnis et Chloé was first performed by the Ballets Russes, it had indeed grown into Ravel’s longest work, playing for about an hour and requiring a large orchestra with an extended percussion section, not to mention a choir. The first production was fraught with difficulties and the première in Paris was less than successful. It was only the following year, in London, that the composer received proper recognition for his music, which Stravinsky later described as 'not only Ravel’s best work, but one of the most beautiful products of all French music'. Ravel himself labelled it a ‘choreographic symphony’, and although he did extract two suites from it, the complete ballet score has also entered the concert repertoire. It is here performed by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a team with the best possible credentials for realizing the full spectrum of this sumptuous music – from the idyllic evocation of dawn in Lever du jour to the orgiastic Danse générale which closes the work. If Daphnis et Chloé is one of Ravel’s most highly regarded works, his Pavane pour une infante défunte is one of the most popular. The brief piano piece from 1899 was orchestrated by the composer in 1910, while he was working on Daphnis. Its profound melancholy has caught the imagination of listeners ever since, in combination with the poetic title – which was only chosen because of its agreeable sound, however: Ravel never had a particular dead princess in mind, and finding many interpretations too sluggish, famously remarked that the piece was not, after all, ‘a dead pavane for an infanta’.

-----

Nézet-Séguin seems to have this music in his soul, and he unquestionably has it at his fingertips, with a secure hold on the drama, the unfolding of events and the ballet's cohesive span… [T]he Netherlands Radio Choir add wordless halos to a characterful, involving interpretation.

– Gramophone

On two previous discs, London Baroque has explored the genre of the trio sonatas as it unfolded in 17th Century France and England. Both these issues met with great acclaim. The ensemble has now arrived in Germany, or more correctly: the German-speaking world of the time, as the programme also features works from the Low Countries and Austria. The great masters of the period, Buxtehude and Biber - are both among the ten composers represented here. But included are also other, less well-known names, such as Johann Schmelzer and Johann Rosenmüller. The great variety of styles and forms found on the disc fully reflect the diversity among the composers, while also serving to remind the listener of the fact that the trio sonata genre was just becoming established during the period.

"Yevgeny Sudbin was born in St Petersburg and has lived in the UK since 1997. His previous outings on the BIS label, with recitals of Scarlatti (reviewed twice on these pages) and Scriabin have all been received to great acclaim, as has Sudbin’s concerto recordings for the same label...It is clearly apparent that Mr. Sudbin has established an enviable reputation, and for those to whom his name is already familiar, this release will be another shot in the arm of fine collections of piano recordings the world over.

There are quite a few rather special recordings of Haydn piano sonatas, but with 51 in the catalogue there are few pianists who would even consider tackling the whole lot, John McCabe on Decca being a distinguished exception, Jeno Jandó a highly competent if marginally less distinguished budget alternative on Naxos. There are a few fortepiano recordings both complete and ongoing, the Brilliant Classics one offers a different kind of Haydn to that on a modern grand piano, as does the excellent BIS complete set played by Ronald Brautigam. A pianist whose recordings have impressed me in recent years is Ragna Schirmer, and hers is the kind of cleanly unpretentious and witty playing with which I would compare Yevgeny Sudbin’s performances here. Schirmer gives Haydn every chance to shine and blossom in recordings which are crisp and full of colour, warm and clear at the same time, carrying us away with the music’s message, alive to the echoes of past music and the surprisingly potent emotional charge which can be surprising to find in this composer.

This is not so much a ‘better than’ kind of review, but I find it is useful to have a reference and a starting point from which to evaluate a new recording of an idiom which is familiar, even if the pieces don’t overlap. Yevgeny Sudbin has that lightness of touch which is essential for good Haydn, and especially good Haydn at the keyboard. The opening Allegro moderato movement of the Sonata No.47 in B minor says much about the rest of this programme, with richness of contrast and moments of drama fully exploited between music of almost naive simplicity. This simplicity is as important to Sudbin as every other aspect of this music. The thinning of texture to two-part lines which suggest harmony as much as proclaim it are all superbly rendered, sometimes held to the middle of the keyboard, sometimes turning the left hand into and orchestral bass section or a driving rhythmic leaping thing which serves multiple functions. The Minuet of this sonata is a development on this kind of purity of expression, and Sudbin knows exactly what he is doing, shaping phrases with elegance and a sense of proportion which seems to provide all answers: ‘yes, this is how it should sound.’

If I were to compare Sudbin and Schirmer then, by a small margin, Sudbin seems to explore depths ‘into’ or ‘within’ the notes a bit more, digging a little deeper where Schirmer sparkles and shines with a more twinkly kind of wit. This is all by a marginal degree however – Sudbin sparkles and Schirmer digs as well, just take the Finale: presto of this sonata for some crackling at the keyboard from Sudbin, with the minor key providing a reason for that extra layer of dark passion.

Following a minor key with a major, in this case the Sonata No.60 in C major is a good idea, and Sudbin lifts us high and carries us all the way in the opening Allegro, which is as full of smiles as a comedy turn by Michael Macintyre. His own booklet notes tell us something of how Sudbin approaches Haydn: “Is laughter the best medicine? I certainly hope so and would not hesitate to prescribe a healthy dose of Joseph Haydn twice daily.” Haydn’s humour is not to be found in heavy jokes, but in the very nature of the music itself. Any darkness is more often than not provided as a foil a contrast to those delightful moments of wit, and sometimes, as in this movement the ideas are so fun-filled that such moments need only be held for a few bars in the minor, or a segment of sublime beauty at 6:50 where the pedal suspends the music on a waft of mist for a mere moment. Sublime beauty is the essence of the Adagio of this sonata, and Sudbin traverses its measures with a good deal of freedom, creating a fascinating musical narrative in which you can become lost for what seems like a good deal longer than its 5:53 duration, but which you would gladly have last for a dreaming while longer. Sudbin has combined some of the original material from an earlier version of this movement, which was later revised to fit in with the outer movements of the sonata. I admire this kind of creative license and research based attitude, getting the best out of the music by exploring further beyond the notes on the page than would most musicians. The results certainly speak for themselves.

Elements of Scarlatti appear with the rippling passing ornaments thrown in with effortless ease by Sudbin in the Sonata No.53 in E minor. The contrast between the spectacular Presto and the almost invisible following Adagio could hardly be greater. Sudbin plays the Adagio with such transparency that light and air shine through the whole time: it’s like a single mote of dust floating down to land, slowly and gently, onto a crystal shimmering in a bath of late afternoon sunlight. The sunshine moods anticipate Beethoven in the final Vivace molto, with quicksilver harmonic twists and turns which are still pretty breathtaking even 230 years after they were conceived. About one minute in the mood shifts several gears at once, and we are taken on a journey far beyond expectations.

The Andante con Variazioni follows and refines the model of C.P.E. Bach, involving major and minor variations alternately. Some say this was written as a kind of memorial to Mozart for, although there are smiling moments, these are as poignant as they are jovial, and the mood of the music is certainly more tragic than comic. Refinement and poise, sensitivity and grace are all words which spring to mind for both the piece and this performance, which is given with admirable restraint, reserving the emotional core of the work for a penultimate outburst at 12:39.

To end the programme with a flourish, Yevgeny Sudbin gives us an encore in the form of his arrangement or ‘pianistic impression’ of the finale of Haydn’s String Quartet in D major, Op.64 No.5. “I find [the string quartets] all addictive. Just as his sonatas are incredibly communicative and chamber-music like, his chamber music strikes me as having a very pianistic potential.” Larking with Haydn is therefore Sudbin’s ‘affectionate tribute’ to the Great Master, and one which fits in very well with the vibrant nature of the release as a whole. In fact this whole disc is of course a fine tribute to Haydn, showing once again how alive and resonant his music even today. The entertainment factor is high with this disc, but superficial show is never the basis of the music or the playing. I’m a big fan of the St George’s pleasantly resonant acoustic, and it works very well for the solo piano and this music, with the SACD quality transplanting you straight to Bristol’s top chamber music location. Superbly recorded performances such as these do exactly what Sudbin hopes, seeing Haydn “taken much more seriously, in an unserious sort of way.”

-- Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

REVIEWS:
Fanfare (5-6/98, p.204) - "The fifth complete recording of this magnificent collection of motets is astonishing....there is no feeling that the singing is rushed, nor does the diction of the nonnatives sound strange....Highly recommended."

When these three discs of Martinu's symphonies were originally released in 1987-88, the critics were unanimous. Neeme Järvi's interpretation, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra's playing and - not to be forgotten - the BIS sound, made this a release to be remembered. A prolific composer in most genres, Martinu came fairly late to the symphonic form. All of the 6 symphonies were written in the USA, where he arrived in 1941 as a fugitive from the Nazis. The success was immediate and the works were taken up by some of the greatest conductors of the time. Ansermet, for instance, maintained that 'among all the musicians in his generation, Martinu can be characterized as the really great symphonist'. With some justification it may be said that these works have been unjustly neglected, and it is with great pride that we now offer a new generation of listeners the opportunity to acquaint themselves with Martinu the symphonist in thse classic versions at a very affordable price.

Classical Music

Slowly and steadily, BIS continues its advocacy of the works of Swedish compatriot Allan Pettersson, a labor of love if ever there were one, since lovable this music certainly is not. The Third String Concerto is a huge work, with two ample quickish movements surrounding a monstrous, 25-minute-long central slow one simply marked "Mesto" (sad). Aside from its length, the music, whether ostensibly quick or slow, largely consists of static ruminations punctuated by abrupt, dissonant outbursts, and the lack of sustained music in quick tempos magnifies the listener's perception of the music's length indefinitely.

You might not find this a recipe for success, but the curious thing is that this awkward piece is much more successful, and more emotionally affecting, than the first two string concertos. Although much shorter, those seem little more than experiments when compared to this piece, in which the mature Pettersson is clearly operating. Despite the angularity of much of the writing, there is also melody, often clearly tonal and quite beautiful, and it always seems to crop up just when the music needs it most. Of course there's no effort to be ingratiating: all of Pettersson's music is heavy-duty stuff--but you won't feel as though he is being gratuitously gnarly, or that your time is being wasted by the merely miserable.

This performance also is much more successful than the competition (on CPO), being better played by the strings of the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, and is considerably quicker in the first two movements. This gives them greater coherence as well as tension--crucial qualities, as I'm sure you will agree, if you're intrepid enough to take the plunge. As usual, the BIS sonics are excellent as well. If you're in the market for this music, this is the recording you will need to own.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.