Classical Music

The chance to hear so many of the composer’s gems on the cello, played so well, is not to be missed. An ideal companion disc to the concerto.

Besides its gorgeous cover photo, this disc has three main attractions: Dvorák’s music, the comprehensiveness of the collection, and the cello playing of Christian Poltéra. None of them disappoint. We have here the usual Dvorák cello gold (Silent Woods, Rondo in G minor, the Polonaise), plus a number of arrangements by Poltéra himself: of the violin sonatina and four songs, including ‘Songs My Mother Taught Me’ and the ‘Song to the Moon’ from Rusalka.

The sonatina has been arranged for cello before by Oscar Hartwieg, and Maria Kliegel recorded that version for Naxos. Poltéra’s playing is preferable almost everywhere; he has the perfect light touch in the opening tune, for instance, compared to Kliegel’s heavier, dour treatment. He also sounds more playful and ‘American’ in the sonatina’s finale. Hartwieg’s transcription has Kliegel several octaves higher in the scherzo.

The shorter works are all delights, from the rarely-played Larghetto in G minor to Poltéra’s lovely arrangement of the ‘Song to the Moon.’ I had thought Silent Woods more or less impossible to play poorly, but Ramon Jaffe’s lack-lustre account on CPO increases my appreciation for Poltéra’s polish and dignified style. If the CD’s encore looks unfamiliar (“Lasst mich allein”), you will find, upon hearing it, that it is the song which Dvorák quotes in his great concerto, in memory of his beloved sister-in-law. Poltéra and pianist Kathryn Stott are as sensitive as ever in this touching finale.

Basically, if you love Dvorák, and you love good cello playing, acquire this. Poltéra is an admirable performer, Kathryn Stott is a good partner, and the chance to hear so many of the composer’s gems on this instrument, played so well, is not to be missed. This disc is an ideal companion to the legendary concerto.

-- Brian Reinhart, MusicWeb International

This is one red-hot Shostakovich Fourteenth. Mark Wigglesworth holds nothing in reserve as he leads a blazing account of the score, with the BBC Wales Orchestra providing some wonderfully gutsy string playing (the frenzied leaping in Malaguena and the brutal slashing of the Zaporozhian Cossacks' Answer), and driven, searingly precise percussion. The tubular bells evoke dread whenever they are struck, and the rude prominence given the woodblock enhances its chilling effect. Both singers skirt the edge, going all out in their portrayals. Joan Rogers projects palpable desperation in Loreley, near-hysteria in Malaguena, and resigned gloom in The Suicide. John Tomlinson sings with a miraculous combination of suavity, depravity, and grit that makes his De profundis, Zaporozhian Cossacks' Answer, and O Delvig especially enthralling. Of course, you'll still have to seek out Rostropovich's pioneering recording to feel the full lacerating impact of the work (when it was still new), and to experience the exquisite, benumbed horror embodied by Galina Vishnevskaya. But, with demonstration quality sound from BIS (watch that extremely wide dynamic range!), Wigglesworth's rendition belongs in the top rank among modern versions. --Victor Carr Jr., ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

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

The present recordings of The Swan of Tuonela, Lemminkäinen’s Return and Finlandia are previously unreleased. Stereo versions of the original 5.0 surround sound recordings of the Karelia Suite, The Wood-Nymph, Spring Song, Valse triste and Scene with Cranes have appeared in the BIS Sibelius Complete Edition. For inclusion on this hybrid SACD they have been remixed.

Regularly described by reviewers as ‘the pre-eminent Sibelius interpreters of our day’ (American Record Guide) and ‘the Sibelius orchestra and conductor of the moment’ (International Record Review), Osmo Vänskä and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra have become synonymous with idiomatic, pioneering and authoritative interpretations of the music of Jean Sibelius. In fact the team’s very first Sibelius recording, in 1991, caused a sensation: juxtaposing the final version of the composer’s famous violin concerto with the original version – never before recorded – made for a disc that was of eminent interest to the world of classical music, as witness the Gramophone Award that it received upon its release. But the recording, with soloist Leonidas Kavakos, was also praised for its artistic quality, and is still, almost twenty years later, considered a classic account of the work. The Lahti / Vänskä team went on to record the well-known Sibelius works – the seven symphonies, the tone poems, Kullervo – as well as a large amount of music that had hitherto been all but ignored. The fruits of their long involvement with the composer now form the orchestral back-bone of the ongoing Sibelius Edition on BIS, and have been of great interest to Sibelius specialists and music-lovers alike. The present programme unashamedly glories in some of the composer’s most popular pieces, all in the versions familiar to concert audiences around the world. Recorded in 5.0 surround sound during sessions in 2006 and 2007, the performances constitute a sonic spectacular – and some of the last Sibelius recordings by a legendary team.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

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

It was during the winter of 1900–01 that Elgar began to sketch what he hoped would turn into a symphony – his first. But the sketches were quickly absorbed into several shorter pieces, one of which was the Cockaigne overture. Although composed in the rural area of the Malvern Hills, the work is nevertheless an unashamedly populist portrait of ‘old London town’, complete with references to whistling errand boys and a marching band – the composer himself described the music as ‘cheerful and Londony’. As for the First Symphony, seven years would pass before its première in Manchester and subsequent London performance – a triumphant occasion, as described by Elgar’s publisher: ‘After the first movement E.E. was called out; again, several times, after the third… people stood up and even on their seats to get a view.’ For Elgar, the success must have come as an immense relief - the symphony is hugely ambitious in scale and scope, but also seems to have had a personal significance to the composer, who summarized it as follows: ‘There is no programme beyond a wide experience of human life, with a great charity (love) & a massive hope in the future.’ Conducting this all-Elgar programme is Sakari Oramo, the Finnish conductor who has been all but adopted by English music-lovers and orchestras – for ten years he was music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and since 2013 he holds the post as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Playing here, however, as on the acclaimed 2013 release of Elgar’s Second Symphony, is his ‘Swedish orchestra’, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. But lovers of Elgar’s music can rest assured: in the words of the reviewer on the British web site classicalsource.com ‘there is no need to be concerned that a Finnish conductor and a Swedish orchestra do not “get” Elgar’s music. They do – with power, passion, compassion and authority…’

Classical Music

Classical Music