Classical Music

Classical Music

SIBELIUS: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4

Berio had an abiding fascination with reconciling the past and the present, which can be seen in his orchestral realisations of works by Mahler and Brahms, and most notably, in Rendering (1990), his typically creative completion of unfinished symphonic sketches by Schubert. In Rendering, Berio - in his own words - sets himself the target of 'following those modern restoration criteria that aim at reviving the old colours without, however, trying to disguise the damage that time has caused, often leaving inevitable empty patches in the composition'. In the 'restoration', Schubert's sketches have been beautifully orchestrated in period style, and the 'empty patches' have been filled with music composed by Berio himself, in his own voice - thereby successfully combining the musical worlds of the early nineteenth and late twentieth centuries into one convincing whole. The Clarinet Sonata by Brahms embodies the composer's taut and concentrated compositional style. In transcribing the work, Berio felt that, when experienced in the less intimate surroundings of today's concert halls, the extreme compression of Brahms's late chamber music style was in need of some additional support, and his version, recorded here, includes a fourteen-bar orchestral introduction to the first movement, leading into Brahms's own, much shorter opening phrase, as well as five additional bars at the beginning of the second movement. Berio completed his orchestration of six early songs by Gustav Mahler in 1987, and conducted the first performance with the Toscanini Orchestra on 7 December that year,with Thomas Hampson the baritone soloist. The six songs in this orchestrated set are 'Hans und Grete', 'Phantasie', 'Scheiden und Meiden', 'Erinnerung', 'Frühlingsmorgen', and 'Ich ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald'. The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Edward Gardner, with Roderick Williams the baritone soloist in the songs by Mahler and Michael Collins the soloist in Brahms's Clarinet Sonata.

Even listening "blind," I suspect I'd have pegged these as Russian performances. The opening 'cello phrase of the D minor Trio is distinctly melancholy; the violin, taking up the same theme, infuses the vaulting leaps with yearning; and the arrival of the "tutti" at 1:11 is rather grand -- or, at any rate, as grand as three instruments can make it.

So it goes. The Borodin Trio's heightened emotional scale doesn't turn Mendelssohn into Tchaikovsky, as one might fear, but the more turbulent passages of the D minor's first-movement development do suggest a sort of Slavic Beethoven. The pianist launches the Andante con moto tranquillo with a simplicity that recalls the Songs without Words, but the string players take over on the repeats with a saturated, vibrant tone, and the more unsettled second theme rises to unusually impassioned climaxes. The Scherzo comes off as both playful and trenchant, echoing its Midsummer Night's Dream counterpart in spirit. The Finale is cogent and persuasive, with the climaxes again bringing an added touch of grandeur and breadth. It's an impressive and satisfying performance, though likely to disconcert those who think of Mendelssohn's output as uniformly graceful and featherweight.

Stylistically, the C minor Trio's outer movements follow more or less conventional patterns -- or perhaps I'd simply gotten used to the Borodin's expanded sense of scale -- but the playing still has its uniquely reflective moments. The Andante espressivo again juxtaposes the piano's gentle rocking rhythm with more heartfelt, sustained string playing; the players really bring out the expressive weight in the development's string of secondary modulations. This Scherzo, taut and volatile, recalls its counterpart from the Octet. The Finale's main theme, with its triple rhythm, has a nice swing; the players lean on their agogic stretches to maintain a firm propulsion.

The sound quality is big, warm and vivid to match the performances, avoiding the excessive ambient resonance that would characterize Chandos's orchestral recordings. This budget-price reissue merits a warm welcome.

-- Stephen Francis Vasta, MusicWeb International

Bax's fine Quintet, its three movements composed in 1922, is the weightiest piece here, with numerous melodies that sound like Irish folktunes but are apparently original. The first movement has a rhapsodic introduction, the last is in the character of an Irish dance. As in the Harp Quintet (reviewed on page xxx) the textures are remarkably varied, and in the central Lento a long initial passage for strings alone is balanced by oboe cadenzas, solo and accompanied. Next in musical interest stands the Moeran, a quite powerfully moody single movement that passes through several distinct yet related areas of expression. Lacking the poetic imagination of these two works, Gordon Jacob's Quartet is still excellent, its four movements being written with clarity, economy and a ready invention. Like the Bax, it was designed for Leon Goossens.

Holst's contributions date from 1896, although the Pieces were revised in 1910. As Colin Matthews's sleeve-note honestly admits, there is nothing of the mature composer here, though he was already a deft craftsman. These performances, too, are most expressive and in general well recorded, although I feel that the oboe is rather forward in Bax's Quintet.

-- Gramophone [2/1985]

BEETHOVEN: String Quartets, Vol. 5

On this disc, the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge performs Mozart’s ‘Coronation Mass’ alongside four distinguished soloists and the period instrument ensemble St John’s Sinfonia. Notably, soprano Susan Gritton has amassed a vast discography that has earned her two Grammy nominations and includes, for Chandos, recordings of works by Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Vaughan Williams. The ‘Coronation’ Mass achieved great renown after its performance at the Imperial Coronation in Prague, which took place nine months after Mozart’s death. The opulence of the Gloria, in particular, is unmistakable, and the alternations between soloists and choir add drama to the text, which Mozart scored with operatic clarity. Here the choir forcefully praises and glorifies, while the soloists more intimately bless and worship. Also on this disc is Susan Gritton’s first-ever recorded performance of Mozart’s dramatic solo cantata Exsultate jubilate, and a motet for the Feast of Corpus Christi, Ave verum corpus.

Sir Andrew Davis takes his multi-award-winning Elgar discography to the next level with breathtaking interpretations of Falstaff, Elgar’s most accomplished and characteristic work, and several orchestral songs, with exemplary support from the BBC Philharmonic, all recorded in surround-sound. Owing to its technical challenges and more complex harmonic language, the composer always had a high opinion of Falstaff, saying that he had enjoyed writing i Gramophonet ‘more than any other music I have ever composed and perhaps for that reason it may prove to be among my best efforts’. His earlier music for Grania and Diarmid pays tribute to the Irish legend of Diarmuid and Grainne; the Funeral March is probably Elgar’s noblest creation, and echoes the popular Pomp and Circumstance Marches. The various less well-known songs, given heroic interpretations by the baritone Roderick Williams OBE, span the multiple facets of Elgar’s style, from the stern and dramatic impressions of Op. 60 to the satirical and impish jollity of ‘Kindly do not SMOKE’.

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REVIEW:

This is a superbly perceptive traversal of Elgar's Falstaff, evincing a strength of purpose, emotional candor, and meticulous attention to detail. Right from the outset there's an irresistibly idiomatic swagger, acquity, and temperament. Baritone Roderick Williams is at his eloquent best in an attractive selection of orchestral songs.

– Gramophone

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and its Associate Guest Conductor John Wilson record for the first time together on Chandos, embarking on a new series devoted to the brilliant orchestral works of Sir Richard Rodney Benentt. While internationally famous for his dances, jazz creations, and film and TV scores, Bennett wrote sumptuous works of ‘concert music’ as he called it. This first volume reveals him as one fo the most brilliant natural talents to emerge in post-war British music. Influenced by both the American Songbook and his teacher Pierre Boulez, he also always strove to place melody- and emotional honesty- at the center of his music. These traits are coupled in the epic Marimba Concerto, an innovative piece for the composer, moving from a colorful and lyrical first movement to highly virtuosic passages and strikingly athletic cadenzas. The demanding solo part is tackled here by the multi-award winning Colin Currie, nowadays seen as the world’s finest and most daring percussionist, as well as a champion of contemporary music.

Following a highly praised recording of Symphony No. 1 last year, Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony present here an electrifying interpretation of Elgar’s Symphony No. 2, with the addition of one of his most performed works: the Serenade for Strings. Having now become experts in British repertoire with highly lauded series of Walton and Britten, they reveal all the aspects of Elgar’s masterpiece in this surround sound recording. Symphony No. 2 is richly orchestrated and skillfully constructed, drawing on hugely varied resources of harmony, rhythm and melody, and making considerable use of thematic transformation as a unifying technique. While the Symphony No. 2 is one of the greatest products of Elgar’s maturity, the Serenade in E minor for Strings is perhaps the most charming product of his youth. In this three-movement piece dominated by a deeply passionate Larghetto, the strings of the BBC Symphony superbly encapsulate all the emotions offered by this graceful work: tender lyrical and intense.

Romantic music for the screen - smooth and touching.



GUNNING Poirot Variants. 1 La Móme Piaf. 2 Under Suspicion. Cold Lazarus. Rosemary and Thyme Caprice. 3 Rebecca. 4 Pollyanna. Firelight. When the Whales Came. 5 The Hollow. 5 Little Pigs. 6 Lighthouse Hill • Rumon Gamba, cond; BBC Phil; 1 Martin Robertson(sax); 2,5 Nicole Tibbels (sop); 2 Matthew Compton (acc); 3 Craig Ogden (gtr); 4 Julia Bradshaw (vc); 6 Yuri Torchinsky (vn) • CHANDOS 10625 (75:50)


Some 20 years ago a friend alerted me to a limited-edition recording of the score for a British television documentary, Yorkshire Glory . This gloriously lyrical music in a richly pastoral vein was my introduction to the work of Christopher Gunning (b.1944), a composer who is reinvigorating the timeless tradition of Vaughan Williams, Holst, Finzi, et al. However, this pupil of Richard Rodney Bennett as well as Edmund Rubbra can, when appropriate, also demonstrate an acute awareness of postwar developments in English music, as this generous and varied compendium of his film and television music over the past two decades makes clear.


This collection marks the first time in Chandos’s indispensable movie-music series when a living composer has directly participated in the presentation of his scores. Gunning has prepared special versions for this particular project in the form of small-scaled but through-composed tone poems, not the customary sequence of disconnected excerpts. So the listener can experience this disc as a kind of multimovement suite of diverse moods, because of the high consistency and individuality of the writing.


Although only a few of the films and television series will be familiar to American audiences, two of the well-known highlights open the program. The Poirot Variants for saxophone and orchestra—a totally independent work from the composer who gave us the lovely Thames Rhapsody for the same combination (available on a Dutton Epoch disc of several years ago)—is based on the well-known wily and insinuating theme that introduced the popular BBC series starring David Suchet. The following piece, for accordion and orchestra, is derived from music for the acclaimed film biography of French legendary singer Edith Piaf, La Vie en Rose . The alternation of film and television scores continues with the 1990s thriller Under Suspicion starring Liam Neeson, and the great television dramatist Dennis Potter’s final effort, Cold Lazarus. Both of these illustrate Gunning’s darker and more melodramatic side.


Then follow a number of lesser-known television productions: a sprightly, folk-inflected caprice for the series Rosemary and Thyme ; yet another adaptation of the romantic perennial Rebecca (a haunting prelude for cello and orchestra); the family-styled Pollyanna (full of the usual good tunes); two individual Poirot episodes— The Hollow and Five Little Pigs— and finally an obscure British film (never issued here), Lighthouse Hill.


The most impressive compilations here are drawn from two somewhat better-known films, the romantic dramas Firelight of 1997 and When the Whales Came, the earliest score included, from 1989, where Gunning’s use of an eerie soprano vocalise recalls Vaughan Williams’s Scott of the Antarctic music. Both of these emphasize Gunning’s exceptionally scenic imagination and his natural gift for the telling and memorable theme garbed in a lustrous orchestration.


As always in this series, conductor Rumon Gamba, the BBC Philharmonic, and the Chandos recording staff offer this endlessly appealing music in the best possible light. Anyone who loves the traditional school of English music will not be disappointed.


FANFARE: Paul A. Snook


The case of Christopher Gunning has been well and truly taken up by Chandos. Last year we had two of his six symphonies and the oboe concerto (review). Now the genre that brought him to wide attention is tackled.

It's mostly suave music for television. We start with the Poirot Variants for sax and orchestra. This is a combination he has tackled before in On Hungerford Bridge on ASV (review). A smooth fantasy touches on train rhythms, Buenos Aires dance-halls and a worldly romantic lassitude. Martin Robertson's saxophone presents the music without rough edges, subtle and undulating: not a trace of rasp. La Môme Piaf - 2007 film – quite rightly fears no cliché in deploying the accordion. It's all very romantic. Under Suspicion leaves such smoothness behind in a gruff nightmare-image speaking of the ruptured emotional landscapes of late Malcolm Arnold … though tenderness does arrive. The Cold Lazarus (1996) music is at first ascetic and doom-laden with whip-like dactyls reaching out. From this Fahrenheit 451 chill arises the most glorious romantic theme - almost Born Free or Howard Hanson Second Symphony. The Rosemary and Thyme Caprice has the closely recorded Craig Ogden confiding Scarborough Fair to the listener in an English countryside evocation. Rebecca showcases the cellist Julia Bradshaw in another dark-clouded piece completely in keeping with the brooding and intensely romantic spirit of the Daphne du Maurier book. It's well worth hearing. Innocent folk voices abound in Pollyana which is heavily freighted with charm. Woodwind solos and piano are prominent. Firelight - 1997 film - is among his most popular scores yet is quite low key and contained. This is not a grand statement and the music is heavily characterised by Yuri Torchinsky's tremblingly vulnerable violin. When the Whales Came - 1989 film - is quite naturally threaded through with the spirit of the sea. There are added elements such as a slowed whale-song recording (like Hovhaness and George Crumb, in that sense only) and a vocalising soprano. The Hollow and Five Little Pigs are from Poirot episodes. The first is very romantic and memorable. The second is sly and ambivalent in mood as voiced by the solo violin. Lighthouse Hill - film, 2004 - is again hyper-romantic and rounded in its progress. I was rather sad that there was nothing here from Geoffrey Household's Rogue Male or from Porterhouse Blue or from Middlemarch.

A wide soundstage complements a lavish audio image each of which articulates the often simple textures yet meets with a fierce embrace the grander statements.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

The work was never performed; its main characters have no singing parts; the music written for the original project was later reworked and reused in several other stage productions. So what exactly is the attraction of Handel’s incidental music for Alceste, a play by Tobias Smollett based on the tragedy by Euripides? First, we should know that the original production—what would have been an elaborate and costly affair, involving a host of performers, supported by a large orchestra and showy scenery—was abruptly cancelled before the opening. Various theories exist as to the reason, but suffice it to say, after the event Handel happily carved up his score to satisfy the needs of other productions, and Smollett’s play ultimately was lost. Which brings us back to the question: What’s the attraction here, with this reassembled program of (much of) Handel’s music for Alceste? For me, the answer is, the two gorgeous soprano arias sung by the Muse Calliope, “Gentle Morpheus, son of night; That when bright Aurora’s beams” and “Come, Fancy, empress of the brain”. But I have to add that although Handel graced these arias with some of his loveliest tunes, they are made extraordinary here by the singing of Lucy Crowe. And this is the true attraction of this program and this disc, which is not to discount the fine contributions of the rest of the cast and players.

It’s just that Crowe so completely embraces, embodies, and possesses her music, her voice so captivating, every phrase delivered with the natural, unmannered purity that comes with consummate technique and comprehensive textual understanding. For her, a climactic high note (as at the close of “Come fancy empress…”) is not an objective but a thing to savor in the context of the whole line, indeed of the whole song; and the reams of twirling runs are a means, albeit a free-spirited and fancy means, through the vibrant, verdant harmonic texture. Ah, but that high note—and also those many earlier passages of leaping intervals—are so perfectly sung, all the more affecting because they are so fleeting, uncatchable, and as a consequence, inevitably repeatable. And those signature Handelian runs—no one sings these with such ease, unencumbered as a bird in flight.

To be sure, there’s lots more to savor on this disc, including Christian Curnyn’s absolutely spot-on direction, keeping things moving with his superb orchestra at a theatrically cheerable pace, even without the actual “theatrical” bits of the original play to define the action (whatever it was). Who cares, when the music is this typically, engagingly Handelian? My only reservations are the usual ones in Handel’s vocal music: the tenor and bass, who both have very fine voices and an excellent sense of style, manage their melismatic passages via the “ha-ha-ha” school of vocalism—which is not only distracting (I would even say irritating), but technically faulty and musically unjustifiable. They are by no means serious offenders—but the mannerism is noticeable; however, for the pure pleasure of Crowe’s singing, these are distractions that you can easily overlook, or skip over. This is one not to miss.

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Alceste was planned as a lavish collaboration between the impresario John Rich, the celebrated set-designer Servandoni and the rambunctious author of Roderick Random, Tobias Smollett, but it never made it to the stage. Notes by the librettist Thomas Morell hint that the play may have been cancelled owing to Handel’s incidental music being too difficult for the cast. However, it seems that Rich may simply have decided that an adaptation of a drama by Euripides was too risky a venture. This was, after all, a period in which the tastes of the London audience were as volatile as the explosives that had destroyed Servandoni’s Temple of Peace during the Green Park performance of Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks.

Christian Curnyn’s delicious recording of the surviving score is amplified with a sinfonia from Admeto and a passacaglia from Radamisto. These fizzy, sexily swung orchestral additions emphasise the parallels between Handel’s incidental music and Purcell’s music for King Arthur, The Fairy Queen and The Tempest.

Though Alceste was written in 1749-50 and features one aria that could only date from that time (the exquisite lullaby ‘Gentle Morpheus, son of night’), it observes the contours of a Restoration masque. Alcestis’s journey to the Underworld is enchanting, with Curnyn’s fleet strings, intimately proportioned chorus, and polished soloists, soprano Lucy Crowe, tenor Benjamin Hulett and bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams. The choral writing marries the pastoral delicacy of Handel’s Acis and Galatea with stylings from Purcell’s Odes to St Cecilia, showing Handel’s feel for local tastes, and Curnyn’s perceptive approach to Handel.
Performance: 5 (out of 5); Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Anna Picard, BBC Music Magazine

English translation by Hugh MacDonald.

"...The casting shows the depth of ENO 30 years ago, with Eilene Hannan as Mélisande, more knowing, less naive than some portrayals, the baritone Robert Dean a Pelléas with just the right mix of muscularity and lyric grace, Neil Howlett the conflicted Golaud and John Tomlinson the pontificating Arkel." - Andrew Clements, The Guardian U.K.

BACEWICZ Violin Concertos: No. 7; No. 3; No. 1. Overture • Joanna Kurkowicz (vn); ?ukasz Borowicz, cond; Polish RSO • CHANDOS 10533 (63:47)


The recorded works of Gra?yna Bacewicz (1909–1969) consist almost entirely of compositions for violin in various combinations, with a few piano pieces thrown in for good measure. Violinist Joanna Kurkowicz has contributed to that catalog three of Bacewicz’s seven violin concertos, conductor ?ukasz Borowicz having suggested (according to Kurkowicz) the Overture as a companion piece. (Several years ago, Kurkowicz released a collection of Bacewicz’s violin sonatas—No. 4, No. 5, and No. 2—and short pieces—Oberek No. 1, Partita, Capriccio, and Polish Capriccio —with pianist Gloria Cheng on Chandos 10250.)


The program opens with the last of the three concertos, No. 7, from 1965. Despite its modernity, this Concerto has been tailor-made for the violin by its violinist-composer. So no matter how colorful or impressionistic its orchestration, the solo always maintains equality of interest. The entire work, divided into the traditional three movements, lasts just a bit less than 22 minutes, with the cadenza in the first—a movement almost eight-minutes in length—arriving it seems almost before the Concerto has gotten underway, so firmly does the interplay of capricious melody and texture hold the listener’s interest. The comparisons in the notes with Szymanowski’s First Concerto hardly seem out of place, although Bacewicz appears to have wandered farther along that path than did the earlier composer. Fairy-like sonorities and eerie timbres predominate in the second movement, with textures suddenly piling up and then as suddenly dispersing. The third movement begins with a commanding orchestral statement, but the violin launches into almost manic figuration. Joanna Kurkowicz seems particularly comfortable breathing these rarified atmospheres, and Borowicz brings a kind of preternatural clarity to the sprinkles of orchestral stardust. The engineers have captured both the detail and the lithe tone of Kurkowicz’s 1699 Pietro Giovanni Guarneri.


The Third Concerto, from 1948 (Kurkowicz and Borowicz play them in reverse order), remains closer to traditional tonality, though the violinistic figuration often suggests the kind of pulverization listeners will remember from the Seventh Concerto. Nevertheless, the orchestral parts have a cinematic sweep, with Romantic expressivity echoing through its basic modernity. (If the Seventh Concerto recalls Berg and Szymanowski, this one sounds in some ways closer to Korngold!) Once again, despite the difference in style, the cadenza arrives almost before it seems the movement has gotten fully underway. And the movement ends with a bang, not, as in the Seventh Concerto, with a whimper. Adrian Thomas’s notes trace the slow movement’s lyricism to what Bacewicz identified as a little-known song, sung at first simply before rising to heights of dramatic expression. The jaunty finale (the notes identify a dance-like Tatra Mountains motif), provides—as did the first movement—a harmonic and melodic background for the frequently frantic figuration, though nostalgia haunts the Meno that precedes the dance’s final appearance.


The 12-odd-minutes First Concerto, from 1937, combines motoric scramble with poignant reflection in its first movement, a lyricism that foreshadows the out-of-focus harmonic schemes of the Third Concerto in its second movement (which strays farther toward its end), and a sprightly finale. The tumultuous Overture, from 1943, rhythmic and complex (compare an exhilarating rhythmic fugue by Karl Amadeus Hartmann), provides an exhilarating conclusion to the collection. The orchestra plays it with a combination of exuberant abandon and disciplined clarity.


Kurkowicz’s suggestion in the booklet that these works deserve a wider reputation appears to be more than mere puffery. Imaginative texturally, harmonically, melodically—and not least, violinistically—they certainly deserve the kind of sympathetic performances that Kurkowicz and Borowicz give them. If Bacewicz seems in these riveting, strongly appealing works more a composer-violinist than a violinist-composer, many will doubtless consider that designation to redound to her credit. Strongly recommended.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham

'Where has this fabulous choir been all my life? No choral strength you can name eludes them... Chandos' usual lucid and unaffected notes, full texts and resplendent SACD-hybrid sound conspire with irresistible choral wizardry to make this an absolute must', wrote American Record Guide on Shakespeare in Song, the first release by the Phoenix Chorale (then the Phoenix Bach Choir) in 2004. Four years on and the Phoenix Chorale has released a further three discs on Chandos, in conjunction with the Kansas City Chorale, including Grechaninov's Passion Week for which choirs were nominated for five Grammys, winning in the Best Engineered Recording, Classical category. On this new SA-CD the Phoenix Chorale returns with an international anthology of songs to celebrate the Virgin Mary. The rewarding and unique programme, which includes premiere recordings, will appeal to all lovers of beautiful choral singing.

Childhood-related but mature and attractive music, well performed and recorded.


Bryden Thomson had something of a reputation for slowish tempi, savouring the music a little too much as he went along. I find this less irksome in his performances of Bax, for example, than some reviewers, and it is not too much in evidence here. He is often faster than Boult; only rarely is he slower.

The Slumber Scene (track 6) is one exception: here, at 4:27, he is exactly a whole minute slower than Boult’s 3:27. EM, who has already reviewed this recording – see review – also noted that Thomson takes whole minute longer over this movement than Handley – at least, I think he meant to say that Thomson was slower, not shorter.

Not recalling that I had thought this movement at all slow in my first run-through, I let several days elapse before listening carefully to the Boult version, fully prepared to think his timing too rushed. It was no such thing – he captures the spirit of the piece perfectly. Having put on the Boult recording in order to check the one track, I just couldn’t resist playing the whole thing. This is a wonderful recording and EMI should urgently consider reissuing it, perhaps more appropriately coupled – the music and performance are even worthy to sit alongside the Enigma Variations. I note that JQ welcomed its most recent appearance on EMI British Classics with enthusiasm.

Then I played the Thomson again and derived equal pleasure from it. At first I thought the recording not quite as full as the Boult – EMI’s ADD sound is very good for its age – but that is an aural delusion resulting from the fact that the EMI transfer is at a slightly higher rate: turn up the Chandos a notch and the illusion disappears. Both performances and recordings deliver plenty of power where it is need.

Did Thomson’s Slumber Scene sound too slumberous? Only marginally – heard on its own, without comparison, it’s perfectly fine. I’ve said so often that tempo indications don’t always tell the full story that it’s time that I got it into my own noddle. I do think, however, that the March which begins the second suite (tr.8) is a touch slow at 4:58 against Boult’s 4:26.

The Nursery Suite and Dream Children also receive fine performances – the latter from Norman del Mar, always idiomatic in English music – well recorded. At its new price, this recording is very welcome. In the absence of the Boult (temporary, I hope) this will do very nicely.

If you enjoy these pieces, you will probably react favourably to Elgar’s other piece of childhood-related music, The Starlight Express, Op.78 - not to be confused with the West End musical of that name; there’s a wonderful budget-price Vernon Handley version on Classics For Pleasure 5859072.

-- Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International

This notable new compilation will be of special interest to Strauss fans for it contains some of the composer's earliest work. The charming, rarely recorded Second Symphony in F minor was premiered when the composer was just twenty and the rich and flowing Romanze in F major dates from a year earlier. It is generally acknowledged that Järvi's accounts of Richard Strauss's orchestral works ranks amongst the finest available and here he works his usual magic to provide readings that have sweep, atmosphere and grandeur.

Järvi's performances of Brahm's popular 'Hungarian Dances' are now available at Mid-Price. The combination of the London Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi and Chandos has ensured that these are amongst the best performances available. Recorded in: St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London 11-13 July 1988 and 13 October 1989 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Janet Middlebrook (Assistant) Peter Newble (Assistant)

Kalinnikov: Symphony No. 1 - Glazunov: The Sea, Op. 28 - Spr

John Ireland’s Downland Suite, influenced by his beloved Sussex countryside, must surely be one of the most appealing string works in all English music. Hickox lovingly shapes the sublime second subject of the Prelude, the meltingly beautiful Elegy and the charming Minuet, without allowing the Romanticism to become cloying. The Concertino pastorale is a strong contrast. Written shortly before the Second World War in 1939, it reflects its times with dark clouds hanging over Downs that are now wrapped in more sombre hues.

The Orchestral Poem is an early work strongly influenced by Brahms and Stanford. It is dramatic enough and colourfully orchestrated but it shows little of the mature Ireland and is therefore more of academic interest. Hickox gives a stirring performance, and he realises all the excitement of the huge cattle drive across the vast expanse of Australia, the subject of the Two Symphonic Studies from the film music for The Overlanders. The work demonstrates Ireland’s skill in evoking scene and atmosphere and flair for the dramatic; you can see the animals stirring in the immense, hot and dusty landscape that is the great Australian outback. An interesting and valuable collection.

-- Ian Lace, BBC Music Magazine

Recorded in: Chapel of New Broadcasting House, Manchester 15,16 September 1993 Producer(s) Ralph Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Don Hartridge

Classical Music

Recorded in: Danish Radio Concert Hall, Copenhagen 19-21 May 1999 (Ligeti Violin Concerto); 5-6 March 1999 (Helle Nacht); 22 May 1999 (Sonata 'The Secret Melody') Producer(s) Brian Couzens (Executive) Claus Due (Recording) Sound Engineer(s) Jørn Jacobsen

Felicity Lott's radiant singing has a glistening purity and brightness of tone. Her diction is immaculate and the sheer rapture of her phrasing is glorious to hear.

A distinguished Strauss disc, and how good to find it sponsored by a Scottish commercial firm. The SNO made many fine recordings under Sir Alexander Gibson and this achievement is obviously being prolonged by his successor Neeme Järvi, who has imparted his own precision to the playing. The orchestra now play with a smouldering intensity that can and does, when required, erupt with volcanic force. Em Heldenleben is just the work for this kind of corporate artistic personality and the best tribute I can pay to this performance is that it can stand comparison with Karajan's latest Berlin/DG recording; and Chandos offer better value for money by including the Four Last Songs.

The sound on the LP version is admirable. Recording balance is excellent and even the most complex and forceful sections of the score, such as the Battle scene, never sound congested. .15rvi is kinder to the Adversaries (music critics) than some of his colleagues: the SNO woodwind lack some of the spitefulness that this passage ideally requires. Edwin Paling's playing of the long violin solo depicting Strauss's wife, Pauline, is vividly characterized and technically beyond cavil. I was deeply moved by Jdrvi's interpretation of the final section, where the solo violin and solo horn contribute to his creation of a-truly noble tranquillity. One feature—unique among Ein Heldenleben recordings to the best of my knowledge—is that each of the work's six sections is banded, a very welcome idea.

Those fortunate enough to attend Glyndebourne know how well Felicity Lott sings operatic Strauss, so it is particularly pleasing that wider and larger audiences enjoy her outstanding performance of the Four Last Songs and can now have it on record. I have no hesitation in preferring it to Jessye Norman's over-praised Philips recording; for one thing, Järvi's tempos avoid Masur's ponderous treatment of this score. For another, the songs are sung in the order of the 1950 first performance, with "Beim schlafengehen" first (as on the Delia Casa/13611m classic 1953 Decca disc—nla). Emotionally this seems to me an improvement on the published sequence. Lott's radiant singing reminds me of Sena Jurinac in this music. It has a comparable glistening purity and brightness of tone. Her diction is immaculate and the sheer rapture of her phrasing–in a line like "Sommer lachelt erstaunt" and especially her profoundly moving delivery of "So tief im Abendrot" in the final song—is glorious to hear. The orchestral playing is luminous and rich in detail.

-- Gramophone [10/1987]