PIANO

A. Scarlatti: La Santissima Trinita / Biondi, Gens, Composer: Alessandro Scarlatti, Performer: Roberto Abbondanza, Paul Agnew, Vivica Genaux, Roberta Invernizzi, Conductor: Fabio Biondi, Orchestra/Ensemble: Europa Galante, Number of Discs: 1. La Santissima Trinità is in fact an immensely rewarding work. Scarlatti, far from being inhibited by the subject matter, produced a score that extracts maximum effect from the conflict of views, articulating Faithlessness's mockery and sturdy skepticisms with a strength that demands all the resources of his opponents, who reply through a variety of means often employing metaphor. It is some of these mimetic arias-the depiction of the turtledove's freedom (enhanced by two solo violins) in Faith's "Vedrai la tortorella," or Theology's evocation of the "hapless little boat" on a stormy sea ("Povera navicello")-that provide just some of the highlights of a richly varied score that throughout shows Scarlatti at his most imaginative and inventive. Stylistically, numbers range from brief, old-fashioned continuo arias with a concluding instrumental postlude to more modern, fully accompanied arias that frequently include concertante solo-writing for the strings (there are no wind parts). Despite reservations about Biondi's direction, this is unquestionably a major addition to the Alessandro Scarlatti discography, yet further vitally increasing our understanding of a prolific major composer who was until relatively recently largely restricted to the more shadowy realms of the Baroque.

Tracks:
1. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO CONCERTO NO.12 IN LA MAJOR I. ALLEGRO
2. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO CONCERTO NO.12 IN LA MAJOR -II. ANDNATE
3. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO CONCERTO NO.12 IN LA MAJOR II. ALLEGRETTO
4. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO CONCERTO NO.15 IN SI BEMOL MAJEUR - I. ALLEGRO
5. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO CONCERTO NO.15 IN SI BEMOL MAJEUR- II. ANDANTE
6. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO CONCERTO NO.15 IN SI BEMOL MAJERU- III. ALLEGRO
7. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO CONCERTO NO.17 IN SOL MAJEUR - I. ALLEGRO
8. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO CONCERTO NO.17 IN SOL MAJEUR- II. ANDANTE
9. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO CONCERTO NO.17 IN SOL MAJEUR- III. ALLEGRETTO
10. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO ET ORCHESTRE NO. 18 EN SI BEMO MAJEUR- I. ALLEGRO VIVACE
11. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO ET ORCHESTRE NO. 18 EN SI BEMO MAJEUR- II. ANDANTE UN POCO SOSTENUTO
12. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO ET ORCHESTRE NO. 18 EN SI BEMO MAJEUR- III. ALLEGRO VIVACE
13. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO ET ORCHESTRE NO. 20 EN RE MINEUR- I. ALLEGRO
14. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO ET ORCHESTRE NO. 20 EN RE MINEUR- II. ROMANZE
15. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - PIANO ET ORCHESTRE NO. 20 EN RE MINEUR- III. RONDO- ALLEGRO ASSAI
16. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - 2 PIANOS ET ORCHESTRE NO. 10 IN MI BEMOL MAJEUR- I. ALLEGRO
17. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - 2 PIANOS ET ORCHESTRE NO. 10 IN MI BEMOL MAJEUR- II. ANDNATE
18. SZELL, GEORGE- CASADEUS - 2 PIANOS ET ORCHESTRE NO. 10 IN MI BEMOL MAJEUR- III. RONDO. ALLEGRO

SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONY NO 5, E

INTERMEZZI AND SERENADES

PIANO CONCERT NR. 1

Amsterdam-based Baroque trio, Fantasticus, return to the Resonus label, following a number of highly-acclaimed releases, with this scintillating and inspiring survey of works from the German stylus fantasticus period. Charting the rise of the Baroque era, Fantasticus explore the extravagance that flourished when composers and instrumentalists dared to traverse the established limits of the usual. Among the composers represented are Dieterich Buxtehude, Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, Johann Philipp Krieger, Johann Jacob Walther and August Kühnel in a scintillating combination of works for trio and solo.

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

CHORALPASSION OP. 7

Ricercar's recording of the complete cantatas of Matthias Weckman (RIC 216) is now followed by one of his chamber music. His sonatas for four instruments were intended for the concerts given by the Hamburg Collegium Musicum, the society where the most 'modern' music of the time was to be heard, and were inspired by the virtuoso works by Viennese and Venetian composers. The harpsichord pieces are very much in the style of his friend J.J. Froberger; they foreshadow the works of Bach's generation in that they allude just as much to the style of the French suite as to that of Italian contrapuntal works. The various German songs recorded here are an example of the works that Weckman supplied for the official occasions of Hamburg municipal life.

Classical Music

A personality has who provoked considerable controversy over the centuries, Carlo Gesualdo (1566- 1613), aristocrat, musician and murderer of his first wife, is no less a composer whose music is marked by subtlety and refinement. His innovative Sixth Book of Madrigals, written two years before his death, exploits all harmonic, chromatic, and textural possibilities to meet the texts’ expressive requirements and proves to be a veritable masterpiece of the genre. After a first release devoted to the Italian composer’s sacred works, the Tenebrae Responsoria, Philippe Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale Gent invite us to (re)discover his secular music for the 450th anniversary of his birth. In masterful fashion, they propose a delicate, expressive reading of this complex music, doing justice to the modernity of the musical language of the Prince of Venosa. The acoustics of the church in the little Tuscan village of Asciano, where the programme was recorded in 2015, provides an ideal sound setting for this music.

This CD contains a spoken introduction by Virgil Fox.

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In the decades since the review disc material was originally recorded there has been exponential growth in interest in the classical guitar. Paralleling this are the numbers of people who play to concert standards and of those preoccupied with the short history of the instrument and its past champions.

During the period from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s the great José Rey de la Torre made twelve commercial recordings none of which are currently available. The review disc comprises material originally released in late 1950 or 1951 on the Philharmonia label (PH 106), later re-released on Elektra (EKL 244) and then again on Nonesuch (H-7123). It also includes a 1950 rendition of the Boccherini Quintet in D major featuring the Stuyvesant String Quartet (Philharmonia PH 101). The final track is a previously unissued live performance of Etude No. 11 by Villa-Lobos.

Rey de la Torre was born in Gibara, Cuba in 1917 and died on 21 July 1994 in San José, California. A child prodigy, he studied guitar in Havana with Severino Lopez, a student of Miguel Llobet. In 1932 his family sent him to Barcelona to study under Llobet.

On 9 May 1934 Llobet presented him in a concert at the Academia Marshall together with a pianist and then shortly after in a solo recital. Both received rave reviews from the tough Barcelona critics. Catalan composer and critic Jaime Pahissa described Rey as the most complete guitarist he had heard. Another critic compared him not only with Llobet but also with Pablo Casals.

Rey moved to the U.S.A. in 1937 or 1938 to establish his concert career. Motivated in particular by homesickness he made several return trips to Cuba to give concerts after which his family moved from Cuba to New York to support him.

Around 1961, right at a time when his career was flourishing, he suffered a setback: the middle finger of his right hand became less responsive and was a challenge for a number of years until Marianne Eppens, a physical therapist, was able to isolate the cause and offer a remedy. In 1969 they were married and moved to California. In 1975 at the zenith of his career Rey was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a disease which ended his performing career a year later.

The guitar playing on the review disc is quite inspiring. Informative and comprehensive notes accompanying this disc refer to Rey’s ‘poetic, precise, playing still evident half a century on - his rich resonant tone, his exquisite phrasing and sense of line, his bravura technique and profound musicality’. Testimonial of these qualities is readily found on the disc including a splendid rendition of Albeniz’s Torre Bermeja - The Crimson Tower [2]. We are reminded in the notes that, unlike much of what is recorded today, this particular recording was made without any edits.

Rey premiered Six Variations on a Theme by Milan [5] by composer/pianist Joaquin Nin-Culmell on 10 November 1947. Of him the composer said: ‘As a young player he was astounding. His playing was aristocratic and exact, quite different from the romantic, improvisational school of Segovia.’

The hitherto unreleased live performance of Etude No. 11 by Villa-Lobos is highly evocative of actually being at that very concert, coughs and all - not to mention the beautiful live guitar playing.

Given the vintage of the recordings the overall sonic qualities are quite good. No master tape was available for the solo recording so it was restored from a copy of the Elektra LP. The live recording of the Villa-Lobos Study has an eerie life-like quality.

Particularly touching is the great reverence, admiration and affection with which students, friends and associates refer to Rey de la Torre - also known as José, or Che - by that select group. Much of this is encapsulated in what ex-student Anthony Weller wrote in the accompanying notes: ‘Sometimes it is difficult to grasp how very quickly the vagaries of time can erase a performer’s legacy; the familiar name becomes an unfamiliar ghost. Now the classical guitar audience will have one of the instrument’s greatest poets, at his magnificent best, before them again, more than half a century later. May he never be forgotten.’

We can only hope that, like Mr Weller, future champions will emerge to ensure that past great exponents of the guitar, such as Jose Luis Gonzalez (1932-1998) will never become unfamiliar ghosts but forever be remembered for their magnificent contributions when the guitar had so few of their kind.

This is a highly important historical recording by one of the instrument’s greatest exponents.

-- Zane Turner, MusicWeb International

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2008 Grammy Winner! - "Best Instrumental Soloist Performance"

The god of inspiration sprints hand in hand with Garrick Ohlsson as the pianist nears completion of his Beethoven sonata cycle. The present disc opens with one of Op. 2 No. 3's finest recorded performances. Ohlsson's lean, propulsive first movement incorporates distinctly contrasted themes and subtle tempo modifications. Everything hangs together so well that when Ohlsson leans on the accelerator for the movement's final octave outburst the effect is conclusive rather than vulgar.

Ohlsson also plays Op. 14 No. 1 beautifully, bringing a refreshingly terse quality to the Allegretto by underlining its sudden dynamic shifts. The pianist's genial, expansive account of Op. 14 No. 2's opening movement evokes memories of Claudio Arrau's likeminded mid-1960s recording, yet Ohlsson stresses different details, such as the left hand's chromatic broken octaves. Ohlsson's crisp yet full-bodied shaping of the second movement's detached chords brings out the music's Haydn-like wit, to say nothing of the finale's aptly timed, elegant fingerwork.

Excellent sound and notes.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Just Released -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol 5 / Garrick Ohlsson
The newest volume in Garrick Ohlsson's impressive and illuminating cycle.

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BEETHOVEN String Quartets, op. 18/1–6 • Budapest Qrt • BRIDGE 9342/AC (2 CDs: 135:18.


This set completes Bridge’s offering, in three installments, of a complete live Beethoven cycle by the Budapest Quartet, drawn from concerts at the Library of Congress over the period of its long residency there, from the war years to the early ’60s.


As a fixture of the American musical scene in the mid 20th century, the Budapest Quartet was in many ways the chamber-music equivalent of what Toscanini and the NBC Symphony represented on the orchestral scene: a similar “high Modernist” approach of score-based rigor, with virtuoso execution characterized by tonal luster, rhythmic brio, and expressive intensity. Although the sound and interpretations are familiar from the quartet’s studio recordings from the 1930s (CDs on Biddulph) and early and late 1950s (mono cycle on United Archives, stereo remakes recently collected in a bargain box in Sony’s Masters series), these live versions consistently score in their extra keenness, freshness, and the kind of spontaneous risk-taking only possible at a live event.


Quartets Nos. 1–3 are taken from concerts in 1944, with Edgar Ortenberg on second violin (the notes inform us that No. 3, from March 9 of that year, was actually his debut appearance with the group); No. 5 dates from a year earlier, when Alexander Schneider still occupied that seat. First movements are tightly coiled, with perfectly balanced tonal weight, knife-edge attack, and a wonderfully supple molding of the themes within a rigorously classical conception of unified tempo. (Exposition repeats are consistently omitted throughout.) Slow movements have great expressive immediacy, luxuriant tonal fullness, and often a penchant for dynamic and articulative extremes—for two examples, hear first violin Joseph Roisman’s breathtaking emergence from inaudibility in the messa di voce beginning of his melody in the Adagio of No. 1, and the radiant textural saturation the group achieves in the last variation of the Andante cantabile from No. 5. Scherzos leap off the page with rapier-like cut and thrust; finales are forcefully projected with trenchant, weighty brilliance (No. 1), blistering brio (No. 2), and mercurial group reflexes at an extreme tempo (No. 3).


Two late performances (No. 4 from 1962, No. 6 from 1960) undeniably display evidence of a collective hardening of the arteries, with thicker sonorities, less responsive interplay, and some moments of less than perfect tuning (though these should not be exaggerated). Even so, there is ample compensation in a lifetime’s accumulated interpretive wisdom, with a dramatic and emotional engagement that remains highly compelling—in No. 4 in C Minor, hear the richly affecting consolation they draw from the first movement’s contrasting major-mode theme, or their highly original conception of the third movement’s Trio, with a long-breathed gradual acceleration.


The sound is close-miked and clear, vividly transferred at a high level. There is some distortion in the loudest passages from the 1940s recordings, though this will present no obstacle to the set’s obvious target audience of historic collectors.


As a bonus we have a nine-minute rehearsal fragment from 1944, a fascinating glimpse of the quartet at work on the exposition of the E-Major Molto Adagio from the Second (E-Minor) “Razoumovsky” Quartet. There is a lively back-and-forth (in Russian—naturally—with no translation provided), with painstaking attention (as one would expect) to tuning and rhythmic control, and the vivid sense of an interpretation being hammered out among four strong-willed individuals. The atmosphere is highly concentrated, with no hint of comfortable routine.


Besides being a mandatory purchase for those collecting the cycle, this set will be self-recommending to chamber-music aficionados and historic collectors generally.


FANFARE: Boyd Pomeroy

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On their newest release, the Latvian Skride sisters present yet more composers from their extended Baltic homeland region. The uniting thread of the works on this album is "finding one's own sound", something which each of the featured composers first had to find, and an element that the sisters effortlessly achieve as performers. All four composers on this recording share a close link with the violin, and all four had an ambivalent relationship with the German and were also all friends. The fact that all composers share a very conscious musicological relationship to their music, which brings out their "own sound" in their works, proves to be highly rewarding, both for an unsentimental musicality and for the performers' flawless, nuanced technique on the piano and violin, as well as for their open-minded listeners.

Bach: Toccatas