Paganini Played On Paganini's Violin, Vol. 1

Pursuing a musical career was no easy matter for women in the nineteenth century, but Louise Farrenc’s character and determination resulted in her becoming a respected part of the European scene, and the first ever female senior professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire. Farrenc’s Second Symphony owes something to Mozartian models, with imaginative writing for winds and hints of Beethoven. The Third Symphony is notable for a richness of harmonic writing which, in its color and lyricism, is reminiscent of Mendelssohn and Schumann.

The years 1898-1900 for Elgar saw the composition of The Dream of Gerontius which represented a new style of oratorio in which a continuous musical flow replaced the customary division into separate arias and choruses. He embarked seriously on The Apostles in 1902 and the first performance took place in October of the following year at the Birmingham Festival conducted by Hans Richter. Elgar himself conducted performances in 1914 and again in 1922 in Canterbury Cathedral where this performance was given. As with Handel's Messiah Elgar's work was to have been in three parts, though it soon became apparent that it was going to be far too long for one oratorio, and the third part became the starting point for The Kingdom. This piece grew in its turn and the project became one for three oratorios; the first The Apostles, concerned with the apostles' relationship with the earthly Jesus, the second, The Kingdom, with the period after the crucifixion and the coming of the Holy Ghost, and the third, which never came to be written, on Judgment and the Life Everlasting. Another influence is to be found in Wagner who built up his scores from a pattern of leit-motifs. In his analysis of The Apostles, Jaeger identified and named about sixty such themes, though he came under criticism from Ernest Newman (a leading Wagner authority) for being too obsessional in this respect, and even Elgar himself felt that Jaeger had taken this aspect of the work further than was really justified, since the themes, while being a strong structural element in the music, lacked the immediately identifiable symbolism of Wagner's motifs. The two composers' compositional methods were very different: Wagner completed his libretto first, allocating fragments of melody to particular ideas and incorporating them into the score at significant moments, for Elgar the musical development was pre-eminent he was by nature a symphonic, rather than an operatic composer.

The second Mephisto Waltz dates from the years 1878/9 to 1881. In it's orchestral version it was heard in Budapest in the latter year. The piano version was dedicated to Camille Saint-Sa�ns. The dance starts tentatively with the notes that suggest the diabolus in musica, the devil in music, the awkward interval of a tritone, and it is with the same allusive interval that the piece ends, after moods that swing from diabolic energy to more relaxed passages, still suggesting, after so many years, the literary inspiration that was it's original source. The third and fourth Mephisto Waltzes are also the product of Liszt's later years. The third piece was written in 1883. It was dedicated to Marie Ja�ll, now living in Paris, a former pupil of Liszt, who described her as 'artiste �minente qui est hors ligne au-dessus de la r�putation qu'elle a acquise'. From the outset the third Mephisto Waltz makes use of ambiguous intervals of a fourth that, in outline, make up the tentative opening, and remain a continuing feature, suggesting at times an inversion of the tuning of a violin. There are lyrical passages in a dance that largely lacks the diabolical fury that had impelled it's predecessor. The fourth Mephisto Waltz, dated March 1885, remained unpublished and apparently unfinished, since it's seems that Liszt intended to incorporate a contrasting Andantino section, for which he left sketches. As with other compositions of this last period of his life, the harmony is ambiguous, dominated by the scale motif of the opening. The first of the two Elegies was written in 1874 in memory of Madame Moukhanoff-Kalergis, n�e Countess Marie Nesselrode, a gifted pianist and pupil of Chopin, a leading member of Liszt's circle, commemorated in a concert in Weimar. The deep-felt mourning is expressed in a descending interval, heard at the outset and remaining a feature of the whole piece. The second Elegy, composed in 1878, was dedicated to Lina Ramann, Liszt's biographer, initially in a collusion with the Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein that later proved troublesome, and editor of his writings. She had a piano school in Nuremberg and had made a name for herself as a teacher, notably with her Grundriss der Technik des Klavierspiels (Ground Plan of the Technique of Piano Playing), adopted, on Liszt's recommendation, by the Royal Hungarian Music Academy in Budapest. A work of tender melancholy, the Elegy includes a gently lyrical passage marked dolcissimo amoroso, which leads to a passionate climax, resolving into final evocative simplicity. Liszt's Grosses Konzertsolo was written in 1849-50 for a competition at the Paris Conservatoire and was dedicated to the pianist Adolph von Henselt. Whether it was played then is unknown, but it presented daunting technical difficulties. Clara Schumann, to whom Liszt had sent a copy, refused to play it, privately criticizing what she regarded as empty virtuosity, while suggesting to Liszt that it was beyond the grasp of a mere woman, a work to which only Liszt himself could do justice. The first performance was apparently given by Carl Tausig. Liszt also arranged the work for piano and orchestra as Grand Solo de Concert, a version that remained unpublished, and for two pianos as Concerto Path�tique. The work represents a development of the now traditional sonata, including in a single movement contrasting elements of other movements, united by a single theme, from which others are derived. The principal theme of the Grosses Konzertsolo is heard at the start, the first part of the work moving to a chordal G major passage marked Grandioso, followed by a lyrical Andante sostenuto, opening in D flat major. A cadenza is followed by a continuation of this quasi-slow movement, now in more majestic and ornate form. The principal theme returns in something approaching it's original form, followed by the secondary theme, now in E minor and marked Andante, quasi marcia funebre, it's progress accompanied by a simulated muffled drumbeat, melting into the E major of the earlier Andante sostenuto and capped by a triumphant conclusion.

Includes work(s) by Franz Joseph Haydn, Georg Philipp Telemann. Ensembles: American Horn Quartet, Sinfonia Varsovia.
Includes work(s) for hrn and orch by George Frideric Handel. Ensembles: American Horn Quartet, Sinfonia Varsovia.

Gra?yna Bacewicz (1909-69) constantly sought ways to develop her style, and it is this continuous line of development that is perfectly exemplified in her series of string quartets. String Quartet No. 2 was premièred in 1943 in challenging circumstances but attests to her positive spirit. The prize-winning String Quartet No. 4 is one of her most performed works, perfectly balancing formal complexity, approachable themes and harmonic sophistication. The powerful and intense String Quartet No. 5 is a compositional tour de force. Volume 1 can be heard on Naxos 8.572806.

Includes work(s) for gtr by various composers. Soloist: Victor Villadangos.

VIRTUOSO TIMPANI CONCERTOS Composer(s): Georg Druschetzky; Johann Carl Christian Fischer; Christoph Graupner; Johann Melchior Molter; Andr� Danican Philidor; Jacques Philidor Artist(s): Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra; Alexander Peter

Giacomo Meyerbeer’s eminence as an operatic composer was such that the works he wrote for the Paris Opéra between 1831 and 1865—Robert le Diable, Les Huguenots, L’Africaine and Le Prophète—were among the most spectacular and popular, well into the twentieth century. These overtures and orchestral pieces illustrate the power of Meyerbeer’s writing, his sense of drama, his orchestral coloring, and his melodic beauty. L’Etoile du Nord and Dinorah, written for the Opéra Comique, are lighter in tone, but notable for their programmatic inventiveness.

Certainly the disc’s title is intriguing. But based on past experience, listening to many recordings with similar hooks where some obscure yet supposedly worthy music just didn’t live up to its billing, the most I expected was an hour of pleasantly undemanding background entertainment. My only previous encounter with the music of Giovanni Valentini (c.1582-1649) was a 2001 review of a disc of vocal works, and I was only marginally aware of the ensemble Acronym (although I was familiar with a few of its members, who also play in other groups).

None of this admittedly minimal cognizance prepared me for the absolutely brilliant performances or the fascinating, consistently engaging, and yes, somewhat “peculiar” music–expertly recorded–that emerged as these exceptional musicians began the first track, a G minor sonata in five parts. Within the first 30 seconds–the delightful oddity of Valentini’s writing had already showed itself–my imagined expectation for “undemanding background entertainment” had turned to rapt, seriously focused listening.

The 12-member Acronym bills itself as a “Baroque String Band”, and that’s exactly what it is; and if you’ve ever been queasy about or dismissive of the sound and substance of period-instrument performance, set your concerns aside and listen to these virtuoso string players–their instruments include gambas, violins, violas, cello, violone, theorbo, and harpsichord–as they play the daylights out of music you didn’t even know you loved. Entertainment, yes; this is exactly what this music is supposed to be about, with its frequent “metric eccentricities”, occasional “whimsical motivic material” and “unprepared modulations”, and often surprising chromaticism. The Acronym musicians are not only are aware of these devices, they fully exploit them in the most affecting and skillful manner, neither overplaying nor apologizing for an expressive utterance or effect.

As you listen you sense an exceptional level of communication is going on among the players–there’s no other way to achieve the remarkable coordination of intricate lines, phrasing, and dynamics–and, owing to a fortuitous coincidence, I can assure you that this is the case. Just as I began listening to this recording I noticed that Acronym would be performing in a summer concert series only a few miles from where I live. They didn’t play any Valentini that evening–the varied program of solo-vocal and instrumental works consisted of, if anything, music even more unusual and often astonishingly virtuosic, by composers such as Poglietti, Thieme, Drese, and Bertali, than Valentini’s work–but to see these musicians play (and play with such passion) is to confirm the strong and powerful connectedness of eyes, body movements, and auditory cues that make the performances here so vital and vibrant.

Finally, to return to the disc’s title, I have one suggestion for prospective listeners: Although the words “oddities” and “peculiar” are to some degree accurate, “trifle” in this case should be taken not in its more common sense–“something of little value or importance”–but would be better regarded in association with something delectable and enticing, such as “a dessert made with spongecake pieces, spread with jam, sprinkled with sherry, and layered with custard, fruit, and whipped cream…”, like this disc, irresistible and well worth indulging.

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

"Born to a Korean mother and an American father in the U.S., Jackiw is known here as the grandson of the famous late writer Pi Cheon-deuk. He began playing the violin at age four and pursued joint degrees at Harvard University and the New England Conservatory. In 2002, he received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant...when the 24-year-old Stefan Jackiw chose the sonatas for his recording debut (under the Sony Classical label with veteran producer Steven Epstein), one had to wonder how he would tackle the pieces.

"The third sonata I just played is a dark, fiery work; the first is introspective, nostalgic; the second is open-hearted and very loving. It's an interesting and contrasting set," Jackiw told reporters in Seoul about his reasons for choosing Brahms. He had already demonstrated his talent through solos with local orchestras and with the explosively popular chamber ensemble Ditto. But how did he attempt to depict an old man's spiritual struggle to grow ``anxious flowers'' ? harnessing one's gifts to artistic ends, just as flowers bloom in full glory just before they wilt?

"For me certainly some parts are more difficult than others. The first sonata is especially more elusive than the others; it's not as dramatic or open as the others. It is about an old man looking back at his youth, and it's tricky to capture that," Jackiw said after playing the third sonata.

In his playing, both live and recorded, Jackiw makes the violin sing. Poeticism takes flight ? with both youthful exuberance and a certain timelessness ? soaring from unapologetically beautiful, balletic lyricism to lighthearted caprice and red-blooded vigor that ignites dazzling furies."

- Lee Hyo-won, from review in The Korea Times

"Stefan has a young violinist's fire and energy but also maturity, rare depth and understanding." - Max Levinson, pianist on this recording.

"Jackiw possesses a slender, silvery tone well suited to Brahms's intimate lyricism, and his pianist, Max Levinson, proved an equally idiomatic partner." - The Miami Sun Herald

Drawn from the worldwide catalog holdings of Sony Classical, which includes both the Columbia/CBS and RCA Victor label imprints, the SONY Classical Originals, SONY Classical Masters Singles and Box Sets, and SONY Opera House series offer an extensive selection of highly desirable and collectible EU (Germany) pressed import editions, smartly designed and graphically pleasing, featuring the most sought-after recordings by the world's preeminent, legendary artists both past and present, with many titles newly re-mastered in 24bit High Resolution Audio.

The three works on this recording are collections of short pieces, strung together and forming a cohesive whole—a form which Schumann himself invented, developed and brought to perfection. Davidsbündlertänze (Dances of the League of David) was written after Schumann’s engagement to Clara Wieck, to whom he wrote, ‘If I have ever been happy at the piano, it was when I was composing these.’ Papillons (Butterflies) is the work of a youthful, unfettered imagination, and Carnaval is one of his most popular pieces, a display of both technique and emotion. Boris Giltburg, who took first prize at the 2013 Queen Elisabeth Competition, is one of today’s most exciting young pianists, lauded for his ‘massive and engulfing technique, supporting interpretations that glow with warmth and poetic commitment’ (Gramophone).

The Ahn Trio's latest CD, LULLABY FOR MY FAVORITE INSOMNIAC, is a showcase for this vibrant and original music. Lucia, Angella and Maria thrive on dissolving the barriers between art forms. They have fused their work with that of dancers, pop singers, DJs, painters, installation artists, photographers, lighting designers, ecologists, and even kite makers. LULLABY FOR MY FAVORITE INSOMNIAC features original acoustic and electronica / ambient arranged 5-minute works by David Bowie & Pat Metheny, Michael Nyman, Kenji Bunch, Astor Piazzolla and more.

With these marvelous performances of the three Brahms violin sonatas, Nikolaj Znaider hits his artistic stride, abetted by Yefim Bronfman's impeccable piano partnership. The G major seemingly begins out of nowhere in darkness, then gradually takes on brighter colors as Znaider opens up his tone. The canonic interaction between violin and piano unfolds with gentle yet enlivening lack of effort, as does all of the composer's cross-rhythmic phrasing. Sample, if you can, Bronfman's solo introduction to the slow movement, and also notice how he admirably avoids other pianists' tendencies to push forward in climaxes by allowing the bass lines time to resonate and breathe in strict tempo. The A major sonata proves equally winning in a tender, lyrically inflected interpretation where even the softest, most delicate moments never go the least bit slack.

The musicians take the D minor's first movement at an animated Allegro that still manages to convey the music's brooding, somewhat mysterious underside. In the eloquent Adagio, Znaider's long-lined command suggests a bow with no end, while Znaider and Bronfman bring astute voice leading and relative sobriety to the third movement--a valid alternative to more impulsive and animated accounts (Mullova/Anderszewski, for example). Control and clarity define the pair's way with the finale, although the rollicking momentum they generate does not quite match the irresistible, kinetic abandon with which Suk/Katchen, Dumay/Pires, and Heifetz/Kapell have spoiled at least one reviewer named Distler! They conclude with an impassioned, intelligently parsed rendition of the "F.A.E Sonata" Scherzo. RCA's detailed, beautifully balanced engineering further enhances my highest recommendation.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Recording information: ORF Funkhaus, Großer Sendesaal, Vienna, Austria (06/04/2008-06/06/2008); ORF Funkhaus, Großer Sendesaal, Vienna, Austria (09/17/2008).

The influx of European composers to England in the 18th century led to a particularly active musical life, especially in London, but the influence of composers like Hellendaal, Castrucci, and especially Handel, led to the development of a musical culture whose native participants included the likes of William Boyce, Thomas Arne, John Stanley, and Charles Avison. These and many others were eager to take up the gauntlet tossed down by the Continentals, and they did so, but with the anticipated varying results. While the names of Boyce, Arne, and Stanley are rather well known among aficionados of 18th-century music in the sceptered isle, the same is not quite true for Charles Avison (1709–1770).

Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Avison spent most of his life in his native city, but for 11 years he resided in London, where he came under the influence of Corelli’s student and champion, Francesco Geminiani. Geminiani exerted a strong influence upon the young Avison and when the latter returned to Newcastle, he organized a series of 14 subscription concerts two weeks apart during the winter months. In addition to composing, Avison was a musical mover and shaker on his home turf, writing musical criticism. His treatise, An Essay on Musical Expression (which proclaimed Geminiani to be a greater composer than Handel), appeared in 1752. Avison was responsible for the introduction of Rameau’s Pièces de clavecin to England, and he cobbled together a number of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas into a set of string concertos.

Beyond the transcriptions of Rameau and Scarlatti, Avison’s authentic output is relatively small and consists of concerti grossi, keyboard concertos, and chamber music. John Johnson published the dozen concertos in this collection in London in 1758, at a time when Avison’s reputation was at its zenith. The composer’s debt to the Italian tradition in general and to Geminiani in particular is apparent, but rather than being a mere epigone, Avison strikes out on his own in a number of ways. While the majority of these concertos follow the structural pattern of the Italian concerto da chiesa, the first work in the set opens with a movement reminiscent of the tripartite French ouverture; the ninth and twelfth concertos follow the concerto da camera model with its fast-slow-fast sequence. Avison also expands the concertino, adding a viola to the normal complement of two violins and violoncello. There are also moments when—via the melodies—one is transported to the English countryside and the mind’s eye can almost envision a rustic gathering with the village folk clapping in unison while a fiddler merrily plies his craft and a band of revelers circles the brightly-colored maypole. The writing saves the truly difficult parts for the concertino, but the ripieno is given plenty to do by way of passages that are quite satisfying for musicians whose skills do not approach the virtuoso level. Led by Ukranian-born Pavlo Beznosiuk, a fixture in the early-music life in England and on the Continent, who has performed with Christopher Hogwood’s Academy of Ancient Music, Ton Koopman’s Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and others. The Avison Ensemble was established for the sole purpose of acquainting the musical public with the work of a composer hailed by The New Grove as being “the most important English concerto composer of the 18th century.” They have furthered the revival of the Newcastle subscription concerts that Avison established over 250 years ago.

This is uncomplicated music, calculated to entertain, not to stimulate one’s intellect. The lack of profundity here is outweighed by the ability of Avison to craft interesting music that can be taken up and be happily tossed about by members of the ensemble; the band knows how to do this and do it well. Beznosiuk and his exceptionally gifted ensemble of young colleagues further enhance Avison’s gifts by serving up performances that sizzle with energy and spring in their step. Melodic lines are well shaped and the overall presentation is texturally lean and tightly focused. Though this is far from great music, these readings are enthusiastic and polished enough to satisfy any lover of the Baroque in general or the English Baroque in particular.

Michael Carter, FANFARE

"The subject here is the early life of Mahatma Gandhi and the text is a selection of verses from the Bhagavadgita, sung in the original Sanskrit and used as another strad in the complex repetitive web of sound. The result is undeniably powerful. The recording is spectacular."

-- Penguine Guide [2003/4 Edition]

You know how animal conservationists say that it's essential to cull the over-populated deer herds every so often so as to make life better and less competitive for the remaining animals? Well, this is similar to what I do every two or three years to my persistently-proliferating stock of Vivaldi Four Seasons recordings. The active catalog now lists more than 200 versions; about a dozen is the limit of both my shelf-space and sensibility. So this new one arrives and, well, it's Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, so it's likely to be worth a listen, and perhaps a place on that already over-populated shelf.

Of course, Sony already has a perfectly wonderful period-instrument Four Seasons with Giuliano Carmignola, and then there's the very fine modern-instrument Anne-Sophie Mutter rendition on DG, with an identical coupling no less, which like this one weirdly neglects to mention the Tartini sonata on the disc front cover or spine(!)--and we've yet to touch on other respectable versions by Fabio Biondi (Virgin) or Gil Shaham (also DG)--and no doubt you've already got your own favorite(s).

Ultimately none of this matters. If you're a Joshua Bell and/or Vivaldi fan, or if you've just arrived on planet Earth and therefore haven't yet acquired your first Four Seasons recording, you only have to consider whether these performances are distinctive and authoritative and exciting enough to move them from the store shelves to yours. The answer is unequivocally "yes".

Bell is one of the more consistently tasteful, sensitive, anti-self-indulgent violin virtuosos on the scene today, and as such he delivers these inherently flashy concertos with a refreshingly straightforward approach that scorches and sizzles without ever falling prey to pyrotechnic vulgarity. Bell and his first-rate partners--bravo to harpsichordist John Constable!--just make beautiful music out of Vivaldi's conceptions, and their efforts are as gripping as we expect from musicians of this caliber. The final, hair-raising Allegro of "Spring"--brought to vivid, room-filling life by the superb engineering--is just one example. Aficionados of the Tartini sonata will be interested to hear Bell's own little cadenza along with his occasional personal ornamentations, which confirm this performance's distinctive character as well as Bell's technical and interpretive artistry.

This music is so familiar and its technical demands so mainstream these days that any of today's better-trained violinists could deliver a respectable rendition--of any Vivaldi concerto for that matter. But Bell's assured performances and exceptionally vibrant sonics move this recording into the top tier--and I'm already eying my shelf to see which current occupant will have to be sacrificed.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Chopin turned the Scherzo into a new form of piano composition: an independent virtuoso work which he laced with drama, Polish folk song, tranquility and nuance. With their rhythmic lilt and filigree ornamentation the Impromptus are infused with Romantic freedom, while the Allegro de concert, Op. 46 was originally conceived as a movement for a projected piano concerto but was instead revised for solo piano. Mao Fujita was awarded Second Prize at the 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2019. A laureate of numerous national and international competitions such as the World Classic in Taiwan (2010, first prize in the junior section), the Rosario Marciano International Piano Competition in Vienna (Austria, 2013), the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians (2015), the Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition in (USA, 2016) and many others. In 2017 he won the first prize as well as three special prizes at the Concours International de Piano Clara Haskil in Switzerland. In October 2019, Fujita made his UK debut with the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev, which was critically acclaimed by The Times. Immediately following this success, he made his debut in Seoul and Moscow. Mao Fujita has recorded several albums under the Naxos Japan label, which include woks by Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Liszt and Prokofiev, among others.

SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET

This recording features the rare version of this score with baritone replacing the mezzo-soprano. Sony Music have released this CD to mark the company’s centenary.

Review:

"Nagano brings to the listener the full depth and breadth to this lapidary score in which the realism of nature and the outdoors speaks with forceful impact from the concert platform."

The story goes that Mahler did not dare to call Das Lied von der Erde a symphony, for fear that being his Ninth it would also be his last as it was also for Beethoven and Bruckner. Even so, he entitled it: “Symphony for tenor, contralto (or baritone) and orchestra” but did not call it “Symphony No. 9”. It is this seemingly hybrid form that makes Das Lied the epitome of Mahler’s two poles: song and symphony. The hybrid form drew from him some of his most masterful music as it did with Richard Strauss some forty years later in Vier letzte Lieder.

What are those qualities, those ‘basic elements’ of Mahler’s sound-world that captivate people today? It’s an intriguing question. After all these elements are the driving force behind the continuing popularity of the music in concert-halls and on record and the vital spark that gives life and momentum to “Mahler Societies” worldwide: Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Malaysia, New York, Toronto and Vienna. Those elements involve an ingenious combination of early twentieth-century polyphony, late-Romantic pentatonic monumentalism and his ability to recapitulate the “yin and yang” of life. His music has the potential to amaze even a century later.

Das Lied reflects the composer’s perception of time, of life and nature, and demonstrates a peculiar affinity with the arabesques of Orientalism. Contemporaries like Debussy, Ravel, Puccini and Stravinsky were equally seduced by the East. However Mahler made music speak in a language never spoken before - a link to the extremes of humanity, the passage of time, and the wonder of nature woven into the notated score. Mahler redefined music as had Bach, Beethoven and Berlioz centuries before him.

With the aid of sound engineers Jeremy Tusz and Carl Talbot Nagano brings to the listener the full depth and breadth to this lapidary score in which the realism of nature and the outdoors speaks with forceful impact from the concert platform. The first song “The Drinking Song of Earth’s Sorrow” (sung by the tenor) ranges from exhilaration to terror. It includes a remarkable passage accentuated by the OSM evoking an animal howling in the moonlight over the grave. It anticipates Schoenberg’s expressionist art. The second song “The Lonely one in Autumn” (sung by baritone) is in D minor, a key laden with autumn tints supported by the veiled, damped sonorities of the violin ostinato and a lyrical solo oboe line by Theodore Baskin. Nagano's flexible tempi allow the performers full expression of their solo entries. His understanding of the philosophical tone of the original Chinese poems has, I am sure, contributed to the musical drama. Listen to his way with the extremes of existential anguish in the three songs “Of Beauty”, “The Drunkard in Spring”, and “The Farewell” (sung by tenor, baritone, tenor). Nagano’s understanding of Mahler’s music is like fitting hands into a pair of perfect gloves.

Surprisingly, what is marvelous throughout this recording is not the grandeur or boldness of the sound, but Nagano’s keen perception of softness. Through quietude and suggestion Mahler makes his greatest impact. For example, the poetic depiction of an autumn landscape in transition toward winter becomes a metaphor for the passing of life. The music becomes a stimulus to trigger memories of the beauty of the earth and of nature, enhancing ones memories of the coniferous and deciduous forests and the serene sounds of meandering river creeks. “The Farewell” (sung by baritone), lasting 29:07, impresses just as vividly as all that has preceded it. This encloses a great funeral march, and when the soloist engages in the words of the final verse, the orchestra intensifies the emotional scale of the text: “everywhere the lovely earth blossoms forth in spring and grows green anew … for ever.” Death is a fact, and this is what Das Lied is about. For this reason, the work has been called "one of Mahler’s surest claims to immortality as a composer.”

Second, the success of this recording owes much to the soloists – tenor Klaus Florian Vogt and baritone Christian Gerhaher. Gerhaher is well suited to the exotic East and his versatile voice is apt to the heart-felt arabesques of the melodic line. But the especial miracle of this performance comes with Vogt's intelligent and relaxed account of the daunting tenor songs. This score has left many a tenor red in the face and struggling to be heard over the welter of orchestral sound. Vogt projects well with a fine and even somewhat baritonal quality. He scales the heights of the text with ease and never seems to strain. His range of expression adroitly conveys the depiction of young people on green and white porcelain and the extrovert vehemence of the springtime drunkard. Yet he also accommodates witty irony amid lightly inflected rhythms. If his voice is well stewarded and not overtaxed Vogt could be one of the great heldentenors of his generation. The attractions of these two singers complement Nagano’s incisive way with the score.

Nagano is one of the few conductors to record this work in one of its rarer versions with a baritone as partner to the tenor in place of the more usual contralto - often sung by a mezzo. He follows in the footsteps of Leonard Bernstein’s infamous 1966 legendary recording with James King and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (reviewed here) and Bernard Haitink’s 1985 Mahlerfest recording with Ben Heppner and Thomas Hampson. More recently we have had Kenneth Slowik’s unique 2003 interpretation of the Schönberg-Riehm chamber transcription with John Elwes and Russel Braun and Michael Tilson Thomas’s revered 2007 recording with Stuart Skelton and Thomas Hampson (reviewed here). One minor downside is that listeners will have to get the text of these poems elsewhere although note-writer Dujka Smoje provides an excellent analysis of each poem in her notes.

This 2009 recording will surely be remembered for long, as one of the quintessential recordings that brought Mahler’s bleeding Weltschmerz to full expressive power.

One final thought and recommendation. Do try listening to your favorite recording of this work in a nearby forest. It really helps to distil the fundamental earthly elements Mahler hoped to convey. You’ll be surprised how satisfying this can be.

- Patrick P.L. Lam, MusicWeb Interantional

* The "must-have" 1959 stereo recording of the studio cast.
* Features unseen photos & in-depth liner notes.
* Bonus tracks (listed below)

"For all the extraordinary textures that are in it, it plays more like a musical comedy than any of the other successful Rodgers and Hammerstein shows." - Ted Chapin, The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization

When Oscar Hammerstein visited his friend Joseph Fields during the filming of South Pacific for 20th Century-Fox, Fields mentioned he was in the process of acquiring the rights to The Flower Drum Song, a novel by C. Y. Lee. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, it told the story of a young Chinese-American man torn between his own leanings and his desire to comply with his father’s rigorous, traditional teachings. Intrigued, Hammerstein read the book and immediately saw in it the gem for a new musical. Richard Rodgers also warmed to the idea and the two soon joined Fields as co-librettist and began work on it. The music Rodgers wrote reflected some of the traditions of old China, mixed with the brasher aspects of American culture; his approach found an echo in Hammerstein’s lyrics, which were modeled after Asian poetry on the one hand and contemporary American lingo on the other. As a result, Flower Drum Song emerged as perhaps the team's best-integrated work.

Flower Drum Song
Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, directed by Gene Kelly, orchestration by Robert Russell Bennett.

The noted cast includes:

Miyoshi Umeki as Mei Li the Mail-Order Bride
Pat Suzuki, already famous for her popular song releases, as Linda Low, a nightclub singer
Arabella Hong as Helen Chao, a seamstress and best friend of Linda Low
Jack Soo, who later appeared in the ABC sitcom Barney Miller, portrayed Frankie Wing, Nightclub Emcee
Ed Kennedy as Wang Ta, the young man torn between love and tradition.
Juanita Hall, who earlier sang the role of Bloody Mary in the film South Pacific, portrayed Madam Liang
Larry Storch, who later appeared on TV’s F Troop, portrayed Sammy Fong
Keye Luke, a veteran Hollywood film actor famous as Charlie Chan's rambunctious "Number One Son" portrayed conservative Mr. Wang, the family patriarch.

This entire 1959 production was directed by Gene Kelly with choreography by Carol Haney.

Bonus tracks (listed below) feature arrangements of songs from Flower Drum Song sung by Florence Henderson, Pat Suzuki and Sandra Church recorded just after the premiere in 1958 and 1959.

Previn's Four Songs, using poems by Toni Morrison, continues the US song tradition established by Copland. They may not be strikingly original in style (they owe a debt to 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson), but they are very attractive, idiomatically American and movingly evocative of their texts. The set was written for Sylvia McNair, with a plangent cello obbligato for Yo-Yo Ma. McNair is outstanding here, her voice radiant but warm, soaring but secure. She is a singer for whom every syllable counts, and her performance is utterly absorbing in the way she is able to illuminate words that might seem obscure on the page. From the haunting 'Mercy', to the 'bright and sassy' (Previn's marking) 'Stones', to the dreamy content of the other set here, Two Remembrances, with their shimmering flute obbligatos, McNair's performance is perfection. The rest of the disc contains a diverting Cello Sonata, commissioned and dramatically performed by Ma, and a Vocalise for soprano, cello and piano, that is schmaltzy, bland and reminiscent of Francis Lai's film soundtracks. (Previn boasts of having written it in an afternoon during the recording sessions; well it sounds like it.) The sound, however, is exceptional: brilliant, vivid and so detailed that Ma's breathing is audible.

Performance: 4 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Claire Wrathall, BBC Music Magazine

Footlifters: A Century of American Marches