Classical Music

Philharmonia Orchestra, Christopher Warren-Green leader conducted by Australian conductor Geoffrey Simon recorded in All Saints' Church, Tooting, London on August 1, 1984.

'All this music, Gallic in its unsentimental clarity, demands the cleanest and crispest playing, and this the Philharmonia Orchestra admirably supplies.' - Gramophone

Classical Music

Classical Music

This is the second volume in Chandos’s series devoted to the masses of Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837), following on a stirring recording of masses in D and B flat (CHAN 0681). The only competition for this E??Mass with which I am familiar is a Koch Schwann recording led by Martin Haselbock (317792) and I find somewhat more energy and an improved sense of shaping here from Hickox.

The problem for me is that this is decent, good, pleasant music—but not more than that. I find a bit more of a creative spark in the two masses on the earlier recording, but to my ears, none of this music has about it the originality and depth of Hummel’s best piano music. When one hears one of his piano concertos (particularly those in B Minor and A Minor), one hears a distinctive voice—music that stays in the memory after the sounds have ended. His piano music may not have about it the greatness of stature of Beethoven or Chopin (between whom he was an interesting stylistic bridge), but it is music of presence, music of immediate appeal and lasting impact. To my ears, at least, the same cannot be said for his religious music.

The E flat?Mass was composed in 1804, and is apparently one of the first important works by the composer after he became Konzertmeister at the Esterhazy court, taking over the Kapellmeister title after Haydn’s death in 1809. (Hummel left the court in 1811, and was not replaced—the beginning of the end of the importance of music at the court). Hummel was considered by contemporaries to be one of the most important musicians of his time, and he was a prolific composer in many forms. But when set against the religious choral works of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and even Schumann or Mendelssohn, the music on this disc pales, its impression evaporating almost immediately after it sounds.

The strongest work is actually the Gradual “Quod in orbe,” probably written for the Esterhazy court in 1806. It is scored for chorus and orchestra (no soloists), and has an energy and spark about it that raises it above the rest of the music here. The weakest music is found in the Te Deum, a 10-minute piece that even Chandos’s annotator describes as “one dimensional.”

Hickox does all he can with the music, shaping it tautly and eliciting involved, spirited singing and playing. The soloists are excellent, Chandos’s recorded sound is what we’ve come to expect from the company—rich, warm, reverberant, but not muddy. Informative notes and full texts accompany the disc.

Henry Fogel, FANFARE

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

All tracks have been digitally mastered using 24-bit technology.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Excellent, two-disc collection of romantic classics from a wealth of composers. Works are included from Mozart, Elgar, Myers, Walton, Beethoven, J.S. Bach, and more! (Chandos)

[The Violin Concerto's] last five minutes [are] a most moving elegy which Lydia Mordkovitch plays very beautifully on this excellent new recording. . . . [If] you can surrender to its rhapsodic musings and gusts of passion and forget its obvious debt to Elgar and Delius, then this is as good a performance as you could wish, recorded with the clarity and fidelity that are the hallmark of Chandos recordings. The Ulster Orchestra plays superbly, so that Moeran's attractive and colourful scoring gets its full due; and, of course, Vernon Handley is a sympathetic interpreter. -- Gramophone

This is the second disc in Antony Beaumont's Zemlinsky survey. The first was released to excellent critical accaim. Beaumont is a world authority on Zemlinsky, whose previous interpretations of the composer's works have been universally admired for their authenticity and sheer musicality. Gramophone noted: 'No one has studied these scores with more sympathy thant Antony Beaumont..' Recorded in: Dvorák Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague 12-14 and 22 & 23 March 2003 Producer(s) Ralph Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Oldrich Slezák

This is the premiere recording of Vaughan Williams's opera The Poisoned Kiss. This romantic extravaganza contains some of the composer's finest music, and a sense of fun runs through the delightful score. Vaughan Williams began writing The Poisoned Kiss, his fourth opera, in 1927. He was also working on Sir John in Love and had begun sketching the first scenes of Job. he was at the height of his musical powers, yet The Poisoned Kiss has remained unperformed, unrecorded and unknown. The reason for this neglect lies mainly in the rather dated text and the lengthy sections of spoken dialogue (some of which is omitted in this recording). It did not help that the composer and the librettist were uncertain about the balance between comedy and drama in the opera, a dilema that led to major revisions of the work by Vaughan Williams in 1936 and again in 1956-57. In the final version the composer's lyricism dominates the humour and we are treated to an extraordinary wealth of expressive and heart-felt music whcih does not deserve to be ignored. Recorded in: Brangwyn Hall, Swansea 3-6 January 2003 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Matthew Walker (Assistant)

Towards the end of any major, protracted set of recordings, especially when it has maintained such an outstanding high standard as the Bryden/Chandos series of Bax's orchestral music, there must be quite some trepidation that even Jove will nod and that the mould of excellence will be broken. Well, Thomson has yet to put a foot wrong!' Which CD 'Thomson possesses an intuitive understanding that allows more of the music to compel than one had dared hope...The London Philharmonic plays beautifully...' The Independent Recorded in: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London 3 & 4 April 1986 (Saga Fragment), and 11 & 12 April 1988 (Four songs) Recorded in: St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London 2 & 3 November 1988 (Russian Suite) and 23-25 June 1991 (Golden Eagle, Romantric Overture) Producer(s) Brian Couzens (Saga Fragment) Tim Oldham (other works) Sound Engineer(s) Richard Lee (Golden Eagle, Romantic Overture) Ralph Couzens (other works) Janet Middlebrook (Assistant: Four songs) Ben Connellan (Assistant: Russian Suite) Philip Couzens (Assistant: Saga Fragment)) Peter Sheldon (Assistant: other works)

Chandos' latest release in its film music series features the film music of Sir Arnold Bax. Comprising two of the composer's most important film scores, Oliver Twist and Malta, GC. This disc features the first complete Oliver Twist, in an edition specially compiled for this release. Both these works are rare in the catalogue. Recorded in: Studio 7, New Broadcasting House, Manchester 24 & 25 September 2002 Producer(s) Brian Pidgeon (Executive) Mike George (Recording) Sound Engineer(s) Stephen Rinker

This selection is also available as a Super Audio CD (SACD).

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music