"Masaaki Suzuki brings to the St Matthew Passion the same devotional intensity that has characterised his Bach cantata recordings. This focus is immediately evident in the opening chorus/chorale, which he imbues with compelling power despite opting to use relatively small vocal and orchestral forces throughout. It is evident, too, in Bach Collegium Japan’s impeccable performances, which bespeak a score explored in meticulous detail and with profound affection. There is certainly much to admire here: fierce turbas, gentle chorales, exemplary instrumental solos."

5 out of 5 stars for both sound and performace!

-- Graham Lock, BBC Music Magazine

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‘Our main purpose for this recording,’ writes Masaaki Suzuki, ‘was to perform all the music contained in the collection that Monteverdi published in 1610.’ So he begins with the Missa In illo tempore, a superb example of old-style, elaborate polyphony; moves through the Vespers themselves, following the original order of the pieces and interpolating nothing; then, after the lavish Magnificat a 7, he ends with the more modest Magnificat a 6, which Monteverdi appended as an alternative.

This straightforward approach seems almost radical given the current glut of more fanciful versions, in which conductors reshuffle the Vespers, pepper them with antiphons and works by other composers and variously ‘adapt’ them to fit specific liturgical occasions. Such diverse interpretations make the choice of a benchmark recording highly subjective. Gardiner (dramatic, on Archiv) and Parrott (intimate and liturgically correct, on Virgin Veritas) offer fine, contrasting views, and several other versions (Christie, Garrido, Junghänel, Pickett) are well worth exploring.

This new set is consistently engaging. Unlike his rivals, Suzuki uses a high pitch of A=465Hz (common in Monteverdi’s Italy), but follows current thinking in transposing certain pieces down a fourth (the Missa, the Magnificats, ‘Lauda Jerusalem’). Performances throughout are expressive, sharply focused, intensely committed. Though he dispenses with liturgical trappings, Suzuki, aided by a spacious ‘churchy’ acoustic, certainly brings out the ritualistic and devotional character of the music, from the ornate orchestral splendour of the ‘Sonata sopra Sancta Maria’ to the tender vocal passions of ‘Pulchra es’ and ‘Duo Seraphim’. Excellent.

-- Graham Lock, BBC Music Magazine

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When asked why songs had come to play such an important role in his oeuvre, Edvard Grieg once said: 'I loved a girl with a wonderful voice and an equally wonderful gift as an interpreter.' The girl in question was Nina Hagerup, later to become Grieg's wife, and with whom he regularly performed many of his songs - as depicted on the painting on the cover of the present boxed set. These songs were thus a labour of love for Grieg - not just his love for Nina, but also for the poems that he chose to set: 'When I compose songs, my principal goal is not to write music but first of all to do justice to the poet's most secret intentions... If this task is performed well, then the music is successful too.' The 172 songs that make up this musical treasure-trove have, with some notable exceptions, received less than their share in terms of international recognition, largely due to the fact that the great majority of them are settings of Norwegian or Danish texts. The present collection includes a 184-page booklet containing all the song texts in the original language with parallel translations into English. The seven discs that make up the collection have previously been released separately, to great acclaim from reviewers around the world: 'Something of a landmark in the Grieg discography... Monica Groop penetrates the very essence of the Grieg spirit with the artlessness that conceals art', wrote International Record Review about one instalment, while a BBC Music Magazine review described another as 'an irresistible new take, thrilling to both the shadows and the bright high-latitude light in this music.' In her own introduction to the project Monica Groop writes: 'I have always felt a special and instinctive affinity for Edvard Grieg and his music ... I admire his gift of being able to write simple, natural music and I have sought to preserve this in performance.' In these endeavours the acclaimed Finnish mezzo-soprano has enjoyed the expert support of three fine pianists: Roger Vignoles, Ilmo Ranta and Love Derwinger.

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


This is an absolutely wonderful disc in every way. Weber's clarinet music is delightful, and it's hard to imagine it being better played or recorded. Martin Fröst has such a supple, liquid timbre that at times you could almost swear there were words behind the notes, especially in the slow movements of all four works. And few soloists manage to bring such an irrepressible feeling of joy to the virtuoso passages that you can hear, say, in the finale of the Second concerto.

Kantorow and the Tapiola Sinfonietta also offer perfect accompaniments: swift, sensitive, texturally transparent, and rhythmically snappy. The F minor concerto in particular has plenty of passion and drama. The conductor's own transcription of the Clarinet Quintet for string orchestra works beautifully and fills out the disc generously, while the engineering in all formats couldn't be better balanced or fall more easily on the ear. There's no need to go on at length: this is now the reference recording for this music. It defines "state of the art."

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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The fourth volume of the BIS Tchaikovsky cycle focuses on Symphony No. 2, nicknamed for its use of themes from the folk music of Ukraine ('Little Russia'). The first presentation of the work, at a private gathering, was a welcome success for the young Tchaikovsky in 1872: 'The entire assembled company almost tore me apart with delight, and Mme Korsakov, with tears in her eyes, asked if she might arrange it for piano four hands.' Even so, seven years later, during a stay in Rome, Tchaikovsky reworked the symphony radically. As on previous discs, the symphony is combined with shorter, and often less well-known, works. The Overture to Ostrovsky's play The Storm - later used by Janacek for his Kata Kabanova - was written as a holiday assignment during Tchaikovsky's studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and earned him his teacher's disapproval for the extravagant, Berlioz-inspired scoring. The Overture in F was also a student work, which Tchaikovsky adapted for large orchestra when offered a welcome opportunity to have his work performed in Moscow. Just a couple of years later, he received a prestigious commission for a work to mark the wedding of the Tsarevich Alexander with the Danish Princess Dagmar. In the resulting Festive Overture he used motifs from the Danish and Russian national anthems, finally letting the Danish anthem resound in all its glory, in a splendid Maestoso. Even in later life Tchaikovsky regarded this piece highly, preferring it to the much more popular '1812' Overture. The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under its principal conductor emeritus Neeme Järvi gives all in this interesting programme.

The four cantatas of Volume 21 were written earlier in the year––No. 190 for New Year’s Day, No. 65 for Epiphany, No. 81 for the fourth Sunday after Epiphany, and No. 83 for Candelmas (the feast of the Purification of the Virgin). BWV 65 is a splendid cantata, richly scored with pairs of corni da caccia, oboes da caccia, and recorders (in addition to the usual strings and continuo), as befits a commemoration of the arrival of the three kings. In addition to the brilliant opening chorus, there is a memorable aria for tenor. In Cantatas 81 and 83, the chorus is limited to the concluding chorales, the narrative being carried forth in arias for alto, tenor, and bass. The men’s arias in BWV 81 deal with raging waters, but in the bass aria, Jesus’s command for the sea to subside does not result in a corresponding calming of the musical argument. The New Year’s cantata, BWV 190, is––or should be––even more resplendent than No. 65, calling for three trumpets (with kettledrums), three oboes, and an oboe d’amore. Unfortunately, the surviving score is even more compromised than that of BWV 59––to the extent that Harnoncourt and Leonhardt omitted it from their series. For the BIS series, however, Suzuki includes a first movement reconstructed by his son, Masato, and a second movement of his own devising. For interested listeners, a detailed description of the process is included in the notes. Purists, of course, can skip the reconstructed movements, but it seems unlikely that most listeners will want to do so after hearing them.

Some general notes: after Maestro Suzuki himself, the closest thing to a constant in the series remains Peter Kooij’s steady bass. The leading soprano is now Yukari Nonoshita, whose clear, near white tone is entirely appropriate for Bach’s music. Tenors come and go; note that four different tenors, all satisfactory, appear on these four discs. Suzuki continues to alternate between male or female altos depending on the specific task at hand. The soloists participate in the chorus but do not sing alone. Western names have become quite rare in the list of performers, with Japanese musicians handling most parts, vocal and instrumental, with their by-now-accustomed excellence. The notes remain exemplary, but Klaus Hofmann now shares that task with Suzuki, whose function is generally to explain his decisions regarding problems with the performing editions. As always, BIS’s recordings are first-rate.

I thought I detected a hint of fatigue when I got to Cantata 83, but wasn’t sure whether to attribute it to a harried composer or a hyperactive interpreter––or to an ear-weary listener. Frankly, it may well have been the third. At any rate, everyone seemed to have revived by the time I got to Volume 22 and the second cycle. Of course, I’m going to urge interested listeners to acquire [this disc]. Bach and Suzuki are still one of the best tandems going.

-- George Chien, FANFARE - FANFARE

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Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

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