Simply unmissable for any fans of this opera, Anglophone or not, Mackerras balances the songful and the sinister with absolute sureness. There is not a weak link in the cast, with Rebecca Evans in particular showing how her voice has bloomed in recent years. Jane Henschel is a frighteningly credible witch: she could be your smiling next-door neighbour.

-- Gramophone [9/2007]


This new Opera-in-English set of Engelbert Humperdinck's wonderful Hansel and Gretel goes straight to the top of the list of recorded performances, along with the Schwarzkopf/Karajan. Charles Mackerras leads a most beautiful reading, fully aware of Humperdinck's debt to and love for Wagner but with a warmth that makes the glorious orchestrations and easy, lovely, folksy melodies flow naturally and gracefully. This is not to say that there isn't excitement--the "Witch's Ride" is thrillingly lumpy and aggressive. Mackerras offers a terrific piece of storytelling in music, and the big burst when the Witch is pushed into the oven is a fine cataclysm, handsomely captured by Chandos' engineers.

David Pountney's translation is always comfortable and mostly understandable, and the cast is blessed with natural actors. Jennifer Larmore at times has been faulted for her hard-edged tone; here, as Hansel--sure of himself, boyish, and charming--she's just right. Rebecca Evans sounds nothing like Larmore and portrays a Gretel both spunky and spooked out. If the children's Evening Prayer ever has been sung more beautifully I certainly don't remember it; absolute obedience to dynamics and an ideal blend of voices make it a few moments of sheer bliss. Jane Henschel's Witch is the tour de force this role had better be, and while she may not be the absolute best on CD (that honor goes to Christa Ludwig on an old RCA recording, a set marred only by Anna Moffo's weird Hansel), she's a master of altering her tone, from cajoling to menacing to utter loathing.

I prefer a lighter-toned Sandman, but Diana Montague cannot be faulted vocally or for her gentle singing, and Sarah Tynan's Dew Fairy is lovely. Rosalind Plowright's Mother is strong (she might have made a good Witch) and Robert Hayward sings the Father's music brightly (Mackerras leads his entrance "Tra-la-la-las" nice and quickly). Orchestra and chorus are superb. This set is a pleasure--the ideal Hansel in English, and perhaps in any language.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

The highlight of this sunny, consistently delightful disc comes in the form of 26 Variations on "La folia di Spagna", based on one of the most famous tunes in Western civilization. A veritable "concerto for orchestra", this late (1815) masterpiece offers a compendium of orchestral tricks of the trade, with brilliant sectional writing, echo effects, and solos for everyone, including (alongside more traditional strings and winds) trombones, harp, and even snare drum. Why it's not an orchestral staple even today simply defies the imagination, and aside from a less-than-seductive principal violin solo, it's brilliantly played here.


The remaining works consist of opera overtures and symphonies created from them, in the purest pre-Rossini Italian tradition. Zesty rhythms, lively tunes, and daring wind writing make these pieces a joy from first note to last. The Sinfonia "Il giorno onomastico" and the overtures to Falstaff and Angiolina offer particularly enticing melodies set amid bold splashes of orchestral color. As noted, Matthias Bamert and his London Mozart players do the music proud, though Chandos' recording does not quite solve the problem of recording a small orchestra up close in an overly ample acoustic. Great fun.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Recorded in: 'Kitara' Concert Hall, Sapporo, Japan 8-11 May 2000 Producer(s) Tony Harrison Sound Engineer(s) Mike Hatch

Every Strauss lover needs a recording of this ballet, composed just before (or during) An Alpine Symphony, for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Paris. The work has suffered from Strauss’ professed lack of interest in the title character, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t work hard to create a successful piece. I mean, who deliberately wants to fail at a Paris premiere by the Ballets Russes? The notion that Strauss just couldn’t handle it because of his own comments about the subject hold no water, at least for me. He was a great composer, and more than that, a consummate professional, and he did his best.

This doesn’t meant that Josephslegende is his best work. The problem it has, and that Strauss had difficulty solving, is musical. Because it’s a ballet, he was forced to impose on his natural polyphonic fluidity a certain rigidity of rhythm, generally in the form of those typical ballet-type percussion ostinatos for the tambourine and its friends, that almost all ballets feature in one form or another. The result can weigh the music down, so what it needs is just what Järvi and company offer here: a reading of exceptional liveliness, lasting under an hour. There are no dead spots, and the climaxes are really exciting as belted out by the Scottish National players. We can also really hear how the music foreshadows the Strauss to come in Die Frau ohne Schatten, especially the “magic” music in the opera involving the character of the Nurse. The work has been gaining some ground lately; who wouldn’t want what is effectively another big Strauss tone poem? Even with fine versions by Sinopoli (DG) and Fischer (Channel Classics), this stands out as perhaps the most vivid of all.

We also get couplings. The early Festmarsch, Op. 1 is both festive and march-like, which is all that need be said about it. The Love Scene from Feuersnot, however, is another story, a gem of an extract from another unjustly neglected mature score. It really ought to be called a “sex scene” rather than a “love scene” for reasons that become completely obvious once you hear it. This literal climax also includes references to The Ride of the Valkyries in the brass which only serve to make Strauss’ intent even more graphic, as well as funny (in case you didn’t know, the opera is a comedy). He must have had a huge laugh over this bit, and you will too.

Excellent sonics in all formats make this a treat for Straussians and the curious, both.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Rumon Gamba and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra follow their Grammy-nominated volume 1 and Editor's Choice winning Volume 2 with four rare orchestral works from Vincent D'Indy's legacy. The previous volumes have obtained such comments as '...superbly realised by the excellent Iceland Symphony Orchestra under Rumon Gamba and the state-of-the-art Chandos recording; definitely a key record of d'Indy's orchestra output' (Gramophone) and 'this series is going to be virtually definitive' Musical Opinion Composed in 1916-18 at the climax of the Great War, d'Indy's last symphony is a valid reflection of his intense patriotism. In its dramatic theatric and tonal conflicts it well portrays the heightened emotions of exaltation and terror experienced by the French nation. D'Indy's seven-variation programmatic work, Istar, Op.42 is a beautiful, flowing work set in the underworld and inspired by the sixth canto of an ancient Assyrian epic poem called Izdubar that was probably written around 2000 B.C. The unconventionally conceived yet well integrated work Choral Varie for Saxophone Solo ans orchestra, Op.55 employs an eclectic variety of styles. Like certain other French composers such as Bizet, D'Indy well understood the saxophone's expressive potential. The solo role is taken by one of Iceland's most prominent musicians, Sigurður Flosason, who has twice been nominated for the Nordic Music Prize, and four time winner of the Icelandic Music Awards. Volume 3 is completed by D'Indy's last orchestral work, Diptyque Mediterraneen, Op.87. It reflects the Indian summer which his happy second marriage brought him in his final decade. There is a certain similarity with the earlier Ardeche-inspired Jour d'ete a la montagne in its illustration of the sacred rhythms of nature during the course of the day, but here the influence of Debussy is clearly apparent in its superb Mediterranean-like clarity of texture.

Classical Music

Classical Music

This superb programme combines the beautiful 'Alto Rhapsody' with the much more rarely performed 'Gesang der Parzen' and the cantata 'Rinadlo' - a work which gives us some idea of how a Brahms opera world would have sounded. This is the third and final volume of Brahms's works for chorus and orchestra, performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under its distinguished Principal Conductor, Gerd Albrecht.

Cyril Scott was an artists of immense standing amongst his contemporaries. Debussy wrote of him, 'Cyril Scottt is one of the rarest artists of the present generation...' and Elgar acknowledged Scott's influence in his treatment of harmony. Scott failed to receive attention after the First World War for he did not connnect with the msuical establishment as it developed. His posthumous lack of popularity is unfathonable as his music has a personality and integrity which demand, nearly half a century on, that we revisit it. This release places Scott's early masterpiece, the first Piano Concerto, alongside one of the larger orchestral works composed after the Second World War. Performed here by Howard Shelley, the large scale Piano Concerto was composed immediately before the First World War and premiered by Scott himself, with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of his friend Sir Thomas Beecham. Scott's static and exotic harmony, and his use of ostinati, repeated motifs, exotic orchestral colours and the bell-like effect of repeated fourths lend the work an oriental sound world. Scott himself said about it: 'It's as if Scarlatti had lived in China'. Symphony No.4 was completed in 1952 but has not been performed until now and with this release receives its world premiere recording. Clearly influenced by Ravel and Debussy, particularly at the climax points, Scott composes melodic lines that are richly chromatic, and his orchestration is colourful and constantly changing. This work is coupled with 'Early One Morning', a single-movement 'Poem' for piano and orchestra.

Yuli Turovsky and I Musici de Montréal offer a very different listening experience in John Corigliano's Pulitzer Prize-winning Second Symphony (a masterful and imaginative string-orchestra arrangement of his 1996 Quartet) in comparison with the work's recorded premiere with John Storgards and the Helsinki Philharmonic on Ondine (to see David Hurwitz's favorable and succinct comments, type Q7651 in Search Reviews). For starters, Turovsky's chamber orchestra contains far fewer strings, resulting in more transparent and delicate textures all around, abetted by faster tempos in each of the five movements. Granted, the eerie, atmospheric opening movement and central Night Music benefit from the Helsinki ensemble's broader, padded sonorities, but Turovsky's more incisive articulation of the Scherzo and Fugue movements gives clearer voice to the music's quirky mood shifts. Furthermore, Chandos' surround-sound production manages to be sharply detailed and lifelike at the same time.


The sonic excellence particularly comes into its own in the "Red Violin" Suite culled from Corigliano's score to the François Giraud film of the same name. With all due respect to Joshua Bell's suave, effortless violin virtuosity that distinguishes the original soundtrack recording, Eleonora Turovsky's more impassioned and colorful solo work adds depth to the composer's unfettered eclecticism (try the cadenza-like passages in Shanghai and Pope's Betrayal). Perhaps some listeners will find this score more accessible and easier to absorb than the Symphony, although it's not as interesting or inspired as Corigliano's wacky collage piece The Mannheim Rocket that couples the Helsinki's Second Symphony. The bottom line is that Storgards and Turovsky are both excellent in their own ways, making a clear-cut choice difficult. Knowing that the present recording was made under the composer's supervision and bears his enthusiastic endorsement might tilt the scales in Chandos' favor.
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Claude-Bénigne Balbastre, the French composer, organist, and harpsichordist, was one of the most famous musicians of his time. His suite of pieces from 1759 is here performed by Sophie Yates on a harpsichord specially chosen for the repertoire, a double manual instrument built by Andrew Garlick in 1996. It is a copy of a French harpsichord by Jean- Claude Goujon, made in Paris in 1748, which today forms part of the collection of the Musée de la Musique at the Conservatoire de Paris. Sophie Yates has made a series of solo CDs for Chandos, many of which have won international awards. She has been described by Gramophone as 'hugely talented' and by BBC Music as playing 'with exceptional poise'. In the eighteenth century, aristocratic or, ideally, royal patronage was the undisputed key to an artist's success. In the case of Balbastre, the young composer was quickly and efficiently introduced to the Parisian musical circles and high society by no less a figure than Jean-Philippe Rameau, and made a brilliant career. He played at the Concert Spirituel until 1782, became organist of the Notre-Dame cathedral and of the Chapelle Royale, harpsichordist to the French royal court where he taught Queen Marie Antoinette, and organist to Louis-Stanislav Xavier, Count of Provence, later Louis XVIII, King of France. His fame grew so great that the archbishop of Paris had to forbid Balbastre to play at Saint Roch during certain services, because the church drew excessive crowds whenever he played. Because of his royal patronage, Balbastre developed a compositional style that displayed strong elements of nobility and grandeur, but there was also a great deal of exuberance, which meant that his works were commonly regarded as more popular than intellectual. The music on this recording takes the form of descriptive 'pièces de charactère'. Some of them - 'La Suzanne', for example - require a sparkling virtuosity, whilst others, such as 'La Berville', calls for the sensitivity to create a supple line. The title Giga at the top of 'La Lugeac' is a clue to its Italianate vigour, and its infectious spirit shows off Balbastre's gift for the common touch. 'La d'Hericourt' and 'La de Caze' are more noble and traditional. By contract, the pastoral style, so very popular in eighteenth-century France, is clearly heard in the socalled Air Champêtre, 'La Castlemore'. This collection of pieces was composed at the time when Balbastre was enjoying his greatest success in Paris, just before the old regime and all that went with it came to a dramatic end. It embodies the last flowering of the French harpsichord repertoire.

Michael Collins has been recording for Chandos what one might call thematic ‘mood’ albums; virtuosity has been covered [CHAN10615] and here is lyricism. Burgmüller’s Duo is a single movement, but tripartite piece, dating from 1834. It assuredly lives up to the disc billing, being profusely lyric, but in its central panel cleverly evokes the operatic by means of declamatory piano statements above which the clarinet spins vocalised curlicues of decidedly virtuosic pretension. It hardly aspires to anything especially deep, but makes for a good palette refreshing opener.

Finzi’s wartime Bagatelles are a clarinet staple. Collins’s subtly coloured, variegated tone is a perfect fit. He’s rhythmically sharp in the Prelude, and elegantly relaxed in the Romance, though I have to admit I do prefer John Denman’s slightly brisker tempo. Collins however plays the Carol with disarming simplicity, the tone remaining richly rounded, and he brings a very vocalised sense to the Forlana with its echoes of the composer’s great setting of Hardy’s For Life I Had Never Cared Greatly and specifically the lines ‘Conditions of Doubt/Conditions that leaked slowly out.’

Heinrich Joseph Baermann was an elite clarinettist of his time. His Clarinet Quintet of 1821 was rediscovered in 1922 and claimed to be a very early work by Wagner. Pamela Weston has arranged the Adagio from the Quintet for clarinet and piano, and most effectively, as it’s a lovely movement, rich and warm. Paul Reade’s Suite from ‘The Victorian Kitchen Garden’ comes from music for a TV series, and can be accompanied either by piano (as here) or harp. The five gentle scenes are atmospheric and engaging, the second (called ‘Spring’) having requisite jauntiness and the third – ‘Mists’ – just the right sense of stillness. I know Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel gets trotted out often in one of its manifold arrangements, especially when mining pathos in TV war documentaries – the Barber Adagio de nos jours – but I can certainly take the composer’s clarinet/piano version nicely. Nine minutes doesn’t seem a second too long.

And finally then to two very different French Clarinet sonatas. The Saint-Saëns was composed at the very end of his long life. It’s suffused with easy going charm and lyrical content. Collins drops to the chalumeau register in the slow movement where the piano’s rolled chords remind one very distinctly of César Franck. Collins conveys the quietude and ending-without-regret quality of this work very adeptly. The Poulenc too was a very late work, composed the year before his death and dedicated to the memory of Honegger. Again this is a convincingly argued performance. It’s a touch more measured than, say, Richard Horsfield and Ian Brown in the Nash Ensemble’s performance, but Collins and Michael McHale balance the introversion of the Romanza with the freewheeling dynamism of the finale well.

The warm recording comes courtesy of Potton Hall, an elite venue of choice for chamber recitals.

-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

The Symphonic Variations immediately echo Brahms, but have their own pleasures, and the eloquent Concertstuck (which unexpectedly lacks a solo instrument) has equally strong Wagnerian influences. From Death to Life is a pair of contrasted movements, the first sombre, the second lively, easily melodic and Elgarian in the best sense. The poignant Elegy for Brahms is both extended and very passionate, but has a particularly appealing central Largamente. It would be difficult to imagine more committed performances, and the rich recording fits the music like a glove.
GRAMOPHONE, 2/2001

Classical Music

Classical Music