Every so often one encounters a composer whose innovations had an enormous impact on music but whom subsequent events overshadowed. One such is Giuseppe Torelli, a great innovator who deserves to be credited with much of the early development of the concerto. This fascinating disc includes the Concerti Op.8, a landmark opus worthy of special attention, for it influenced a whole new generation of composers including Vivaldi, Telemann and Bach. These historically accurate performances give us a chance to experience these ground-breaking concertos as they would have been heard at the time, and will prove popular with scholars and fans of early music alike.

This music could be called pre-Elgarian, since it was composed between 1878 and 1879, well before this late-bloomer had begun to find his distinctive voice. It was designed for a specific group of friends who joined together in an ensemble that was off kilter both in terms of its makeup (two flutes, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon) and in terms of its varying skills (the clarinetist was apparently less fluent than the flutists, while the bassoonist—the composer himself—was just beginning to master the instrument). It was penned under less-than-ideal circumstances, too: according to Jerrold Northrop Moore, cited in Noël Goodwin’s informative notes, the young church-organist composer tossed off much of this music during Sunday sermons.

All of this is apt to seem inauspicious, especially for those who don’t much care even for such “important” early works as the Bavarian Dances or for those who don’t like Elgar’s miniatures more generally. Rest assured: there may be nothing even faintly characteristic of the composer here, but the music is consistently captivating in a way that may bring the wind versions of Rossini’s String Sonatas to mind. No profundity, no sentimentality, no significant aesthetic aspirations, no formal challenges, no real attempt to engage the listener on any but the most superficial level: next to this, even the sunnier moments of the Dvo?ák Wind Serenade seem both monumental and avant-garde. But in its bursts of wit and in its unflagging and self-confident optimism, Elgar’s egregiously old-fashioned tidbits will surely brighten your brunch. These spirited performances, by the players who introduced the music to the wider public, have been staples of the Chandos catalog for years—and for good reason. If you’ve missed them in their earlier incarnations, now is a good time to make their acquaintance.

FANFARE: Peter J. Rabinowitz

Classical Music

With excellent performances and a fine recording this comes with a warm stamp of approval.

Chandos’ recordings of Palestrina’s Music for Maundy Thursday (CHAN 0617), Music for Good Friday (CHAN 0652) and Music for Holy Saturday (CHAN 0679), performed by Musica Contexta directed by Simon Ravens were all described as ‘excellent performances’ in Brian Wilson’s download roundup of April 2009. If you have happened upon any of these releases you will have some idea of what to expect in this programme.

This is described as taking us on ‘a journey of Renaissance Rome on a February day at the end of the sixteenth century [on] Candlemas, the Day of the Purification, [and] at each church along the way we stop and listen to a piece of music.’ There are no special effects involved in this trip, and with no change in the acoustic there isn’t really any idea of different churches – presumably occupied by different choirs. I for one am however prepared to suspend disbelief and become completely absorbed in what is quite a special programme, filled as it is with music which sees its recorded appearance for the first time.

Not a huge amount is known about Jacques Arcadelt, or at least, the booklet notes don’t go into his life in great detail. The central work which threads this programme together is his Missa ‘Ave, Regina caelorum’ which used Andreas de Silva’s motet Ave, Regina caelorum as its basis. The whole sense of historical flow, from de Silva though Arcadelt to Palestrina, who arrived in Rome in the year Arcadelt left to go back to France, is as strong as the sense of flow through an imaginary Candlemas day of music, and the music has a seamless feel of unity and connection, one piece to the other. The warm accompaniments of The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble enhance a few of the works, with de Silva’s remarkably spare and modern sounding Inviolata, integra et casta es Maria providing something of a highlight in this regard, a solo female voice rising from among the rounded brass sounds as the contrapuntal lines intertwine through slow moving, sometimes somewhat enigmatic sounding harmonies. The choral richness of the Missa is cleverly dosed throughout the disc, the Agnus Dei delivering a climax which makes the entire journey all the more worthwhile.

Musica Contexta is not a huge vocal ensemble, and while their 12 voices, three to each part, can create a full and convincing choral sonority, the overall impression is one more of rather intimate music making than the grand-scale productions associated with Venice and the later fashions of the high Baroque. The singing is restrained, but by no means shorn of vibrato or expressive warmth, though there is something of a consistency of sound which can make everything sound a bit samey. A little more contrast might have been more inviting, and I have to admit this does sound more like Hampstead Garden Suburb than raunchy renaissance Rome, but this is after all not the kind of music which of its nature promises high drama and extremes of exotic expression. With only two out of 15 tracks not première recordings this is the kind of CD which is self-recommending in its field, and with excellent performances and a fine recording it comes with a warm stamp of approval.

-- Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

For decades now the Dvorák symphony cycle sweepstakes has been dominated by three classic contenders: Kubelik (DG), Kertesz (Decca--and to my mind not quite as deserving of the attention it has received), and Rowicki (Philips). But there are other cycles worthy of consideration, including Neumann (Supraphon), Pesek (Virgin), Suitner (Berlin Classics), Macal (Koss), and this one. Its merits are considerable, and it may be that its previous incarnation on nine discs (with couplings) prevented collectors from making its acquaintance.

Neeme Järvi's fresh approach most recalls Rowicki's and results in very fine interpretations of Symphonies Nos. 1-4, 6, and 8; very good ones of Nos. 5 and 9, and a strangely dark and heavy performance of No. 7 that will not appeal to all tastes but bespeaks of a valid interpretive tradition (noted Czech conductor Zdenek Kosler always did it this way too). Sonically the recordings range from excellent to excessively reverberant, but they certainly equal or surpass most of the competition. If you collect these symphonies and want to explore beyond the canonical Big Three sets, you will find much to enjoy here.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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

Recorded in: Goldsmith's College, New Cross, London 9-14 August 1994 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Richard Smoker (Assistant)

REVIEWS:
American Record Guide (7-8/00, p.86) - "...[T]he Chandos sound gives the strings plenty of body and a strong edge (partly the conductor's doing, of course) and color...it's rich and still incisive, and it puts the music across....[T]his disc is well worth hearing and owning."

Almost forty years after his first recording on Chandos, this unique limited-edition release gathers some of the best and most-awarded recordings on the label by one of the most prolific conductors of all time: Neeme Järvi. It highlights a 200+ discography that explores an astonishingly wide repertoire, with selections from the legendary complete series of Prokofiev’s symphonies and Tchaikovsky’s ballets to the groundbreaking discoveries of composers such as Atterberg or Suchon. It features nearly a dozen of the numerous orchestras with which he has collaborated, including the RSNO, Chicago Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, all here celebrated at their best. Offered at a very special price and retaining the original covers, this product also includes very special notes by James Jolly, Editor in Chief of Gramophone, as well as exclusive photos and interviews with figures central to Järvi’s extraordinary musical life.

Past praise of previously released material included in this set:

Prokofiev: Symphony No 6, Waltzes Suite / Järvi, SNO

As in all of his Prokofiev symphony recordings–this was the first, by the way–Järvi really digs into the music. The engineering is as big and bold as the performances. This recording deserves classic status.

– ClassicsToday

Smetana: Má Vlast / Järvi, Detroit Symphony

Järvi and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra deliver an expansive reading of the complete work, and their feeling for the music's vivid imagery and richly Romantic expression is spot on.

– All Music Guide

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

An auspicious and impressive debut for this new performing team. Any new Schmitt disc from this source will be eagerly awaited.

This is a disc to welcome in every respect. Yan Pascal Tortelier was a stalwart of the Chandos catalogue not so many years back so it is a pleasure to welcome him back into ‘active service’ particularly when at the helm of the orchestra with which he has recently started as principal conductor, The São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. This ensemble have proved to be an absolute revelation in recent years with a series of sensational discs - mainly on the BIS label - of primarily Latin-American repertoire. It is a particular delight to hear all the good opinions of them formed there carried over into unfamiliar repertoire. Chandos have matched BIS on the sonics front producing a disc of excellent range, detail and sonic impact – elements all vital in conveying the richness and power of these three hedonistically romantic scores.

Composer Florent Schmitt seems doomed to the periphery of the popular Classical Music repertoire certainly outside his native France. The issue, as it is with so many similar composers, is one of achieving a kind of critical mass of familiarity which allows him to become recognisably his own man as opposed to being simply an amalgam of influences. Curiously, this disc both serves and hinders that cause. As a first port of call for the collector new to his music this is pretty much ideal bringing together as it does his three most famous (relatively) scores in solidly fine performances. If Chandos are going to do for Schmitt what they are currently doing for Halvorsen or D’Indy it is vital that this represents simply volume 1 in a developing series. None of the works presented here are new to the catalogue so converts to the Schmitt cause will have to decide whether duplication of repertoire is affordable.

La Tragédie de Salomé turned up on a blind listening disc a year or so back and is a perfect embodiment of that peculiarly Gallic obsession with what might be termed ‘erotic exotica’. Schmitt wrote an hour long ballet score in 1907 scored for chamber orchestra. Subsequently he extracted a suite of about half the score scored for a much larger orchestra and that is what is presented here. The sequence of the music in the suite follows the broad arc of the drama from a quiet yet sensuous dawn through ever more obsessive and charged dances to the climactic tragedy as Salome and the palace are overwhelmed by a storm. It is graphically seductive stuff and impossible not to respond to if you have any taste for cinematic excess in music. Likewise it is meat and drink to a virtuoso orchestra and a recording company with a reputation for demonstration quality recordings. Throughout the entire disc the playing of the orchestra is simply first rate. The strings are a model of sensuous sonority, the woodwind full of character and the brass perfectly blended; brazen or full-voiced as the music requires. Additionally, the trumpets just give their tone a little edge of vibrato which is ideal in this repertoire. Chandos have produced this as a SA-CD. Unfortunately I do not have the facilities to listen to it in this format but even the ‘standard’ CD is pretty sensational. The liner notes by Roger Nichols are good and include a useful synopsis for the ballet suite. The information about the individual works is good but I do think it would have benefited from a more extended biographical note and one that placed these works in context both as part of the composer’s oeuvre and more importantly their significance in the greater scheme of French music of the period.

The second work on the disc reflect another French fin-de-siecle obsession; namely the works of Edgar Alan Poe. Here Schmitt writes a compact thirteen minute tone-poem called Le Palais hanté based on the story The Fall of the House of Usher. In recording terms this is the rarest item offered. I can think of only one other recording – on French EMI with the Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra coupled with Caplet and Debussy. My cassette copy languishes unloved and unlistened to somewhere in the attic so I have not been able to make a direct comparison but memory tells me it had nothing of the colour or fluency of the current version. In a not wholly relevant but interesting diversion it is interesting to see how that other great Poe-acolyte Josef Holbrooke treated similarly nightmarish narratives at almost exactly the same time (1903/4) – I have to say I prefer Schmitt who manages to reign in the temptation to go fully over the top. The problem that Schmitt does have in this work is that it is far stronger on atmosphere and orchestration than melodic memorability. It is certainly worth hearing but is not the work to convince one that Schmitt is a great composer.

More convincing on that front is the final work which seems to tap yet another abiding French fascination – this time with what I might term the ‘militant psalm’. The orchestra is joined by their own – very fine – choir and soprano soloist Susan Bullock. The immediate impression of the singing is of great discipline and care over the balancing of the voices. The men’s voices are strong and extremely well focused whilst the sopranos have no apparent difficulties at all with Schmitt’s high-lying tessitura. The chorus to orchestra balance is very good with soloist Bullock set believably in front. For my personal taste I find her voice a fraction too fruity for this type of music. The booklet provides full texts in the original French as well as English and German translations but the choir sing with such excellent diction that it is easy to follow the text by ear alone.

After all of the superlatives above it might seem strange not to give the disc an unqualified recommendation which indeed I probably would have done right up to the point I made a comparison with another version in my collection. This is the 1990 Erato recording from Marek Janowski and the Choir and Orchestra of Radio France. The two main works are here but by omitting Le Palais hanté it makes for a disc of relatively short measure. Add to that that the current disc is better played and engineered and you will wonder why I hesitate. It is simply because somehow when making the direct comparison the new disc has a fraction of controlled calculation the older disc doesn’t. In its rather wild and woolly way the ecstasy – be it of a lascivious Salome or of a religious fervour comes across better. For example, in the psalm setting Schmitt repeats the lines “frappez les mains”. The French chorus, strained by the tessitura and not nearly as tight an ensemble do sound as though they are caught up in some revelatory moment. The São Paulo chorus in contrast sound a tad too drilled - perhaps worth noting too Janowski is a good two minutes quicker than Tortelier overall which does convert into extra urgency of expression. Likewise in the ballet suite, the final conflagration and destruction of the palace strains the French players and engineering but in doing so the mental picture they create is excitingly vivid, conversely the Brazilian players are able to take it all in their stride – objective reportage rather than breathless eye-witness. But this is really a matter of tiny degree and no-one buying this new disc would be anything but thrilled particularly if you have a sound-system up to the task. One last thought – again in direct comparison I think Janowski is slightly more skilful at handling the transitions between sections in both main works. This is less of an issue in the suite which are linked dances but in the Psalm his more fluent approach allows the work to flow as an organic whole. And just to add to your purchasing conundrum – the Janowski Erato disc has been re-released on the Warner Apex label at a tempting bargain price of under £5.00 as opposed to the Chandos full price. Well nobody ever said collecting was straightforward!

I’m none the wiser as to whether Schmitt is a great composer or not – my listening notes are dotted with references to other works but then I realized that often the Schmitt pre-dates them so in effect he was very much a composer of his time. The fact that he rarely seems to get to a “volume 2” is emphasized by the fact that there is a recent (2007) Hyperion disc I have not heard which again duplicates the two main works as well as HDTT’s revival of the classic EMI Martinon recordings. These are also relatively early pieces – Schmitt lived through to 1958 so I do hope that this same team return to his later catalogue. In any event, this is as auspicious and impressive a debut for this new performing team as I hoped it would be – any new disc will be eagerly awaited.

-- Nick Barnard, MusicWeb International

Recent News Tasmin Little has scooped the Critics' Award at the 2011 Classic Brit Awards, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London on 12 May, for her recording of Elgar's Violin Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis Recent reviews The CD received a string of superlative reviews on its initial release: 'Little tantalises with a winning combination of heartfelt passion and engaging simplicity that radiates beguiling warmth.' Julian Haylock, Classic FM ***** 'For sheer beauty of tone and expressive nostalgia, Tasmin Little and Sir Andrew Davis out-Elgar their rivals.' Michael Kennedy, The Sunday Telegraph 'Tasmin Little's [recording] goes right to the top of the class.' David Mellor, The Mail on Sunday Edward Greenfield in Gramophone ('Editor's Choice') described Tasmin Little's playing as masterly'. The long-awaited and much anticipated recording by Tasmin Little of Elgar's Violin Concerto will be released this November, 100 years after the work's first performance. In concert Tasmin Little is closely associated with this concerto, having celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Edward Elgar with performances of it on a major tour to Southeast Asia and Australia in 2007; she has also performed the concerto extensively in London: at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, and with the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Royal Festival Hall. What makes this recording especially interesting is that she has included the cadenza used in the work's first recording, made in 1916 with Marie Hall. For that occasion, Elgar, amongst other things, added harps to counter the sonic limitations of the acoustic recording process. For those used to hearing the standard version, also included, the result makes for fascinating listening, and the recording will prove a valuable addition to the Elgar discography. The 1916 version of the cadenza has been tracked separately. Tasmin Little: 'I have waited a long time to record the Elgar Concerto, a work that I have been playing for twenty years and one which is so close to my heart. In the inspirational Andrew Davis and the RSNO's commitment, I found exactly the right partnership for this monumental work.' The Violin Concerto is complemented by another piece for violin and orchestra, the charming Interlude from The Crown of India, as well as the rarely recorded but imposing Polonia, an inventive and colourful work incorporating much Polish melodic material. This was commissioned by the Polish conductor Emil Ml~ynarski in 1915 and dedicated to Ignacy Jan Paderewski, the pianist composer and, later, Prime Minister of Poland. Since coming to prominence as a finalist in the string section of the 1982 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, Tasmin Little has enjoyed an international career, making more than twenty recordings. Highly imaginative in her approach to classical music, she received the 2008 Classic FM / Gramophone Award for Audience Innovation in London for the project 'The Naked Violin'. Whilst she has made superb recordings of the great popular violin concertos, including those by Bruch, Brahms, and Sibelius, she has made a speciality of recording and performing less familiar repertoire, especially neglected British works. On Chandos, she has released a recording of Finzi's Violin Concerto to tremendous critical acclaim (CHAN 9888). Sir Andrew Davis is famous for his performances of British music in general, and of the music of Elgar in particular. Last year he had great success with the premiere recording of Elgar's The Crown of India on Chandos (CHAN 10570(2)). Chandos also has a long association with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Over the last thirty years the label, in partnership with the RSNO, has produced a string of award winning CDs, notable among much else for their sound quality. This new CD, recorded in five-channel surround sound, continues that tradition.

For this new recording of orchestral works by Mendelssohn, the CBSO and its principal guest conductor, Edward Gardner, join the violinist Jennifer Pike, who made a remarkable debut at Carnegie Hall this year. She here performs the Violin Concerto in E minor, the piece that launched her career thirteen years ago when she became the youngest-ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Award. This recording contains another of Mendelssohn's later works: the Incidental Music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1843), in which he managed to recapture and amplify the unique magic of his early years.

Review:

Pike allies the luminous beauty of her tone to her innate musicality and mercurial technique to produce an exceptionally lyrical interpretation of the evergreen Violin Concerto in E minor.

– Guardian (UK)

Recorded live on SACD in the sumptuous acoustic of Grieghallen in Bergen, this mind-blowing interpretation of Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder involves 350 performers: large choral forces, six exceptional soloists, and the legendary Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra- extended for the occasion- all conducted by Edward Gardner. Marking the pinnacle of the Orchestra’s 250th anniversary celebrations, the same forces offered two evening concerts that met with unanimous acclaim in the press, including a five-star review from The Daily Telegraph praising the ‘sweep of Gardner’s conducting, by turns luminous and incisive.’ It added, ‘He unleashed the piece’s volcanic passions while never becoming mired in its high-calorific density, and somehow avoided drowning the singers’, and also congratulated the ‘heroic’ Stuart Skelton, ‘warm’ Alwyn Mellor, ‘ethereal’ Anna Larsson, and ‘powerful’ Thomas Allen.

Distinguished British music interpreter Sir Andrew Davis joins forces with the BBCSO once again, this time with acclaimed soloists Dame Sarah Connolly and Andrew Staples, in this thoughtful presentation of the last two substantial choral works of Sir Edward Elgar. The matury of Elgar as an orchestrator is obvious in both works on this album, notably, in ‘The Music Makers’ (1912), during passages in which he quotes from ‘Sea Pictures’ and the Violin Concerto, and in representing the sound of aircraft in ‘The Spirit of England’ (1917). Elgar uses self-quotation to reflect: ‘The Music Makers’ is a canvas of self-reflection, written quickly following a period of illness. The orchestral introduction is introspective, melancholic, and noble, before the words of Arthur O’Shaughanessy’s poem and much self-quotation within the music offer an insight into the sense of nostalgia and awareness of the loneliness of the creative artist felt by the composer. ‘The Spirit of England’ reflects on the sadness and desolation of war felt by a nation, with the inclusion of quotations from ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ in some of the more negative stanzas that Elgar found harder to set. Specified in the score for tenor or soprano, all three movements are sung here by a tenor in a recording first.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

MENDELSSOHN Paulus • Richard Hickox, cond; Susan Gritton (sop); Jean Rigby (mez); Barry Banks (ten); Peter Coleman-Wright (bs); BBC Natl O & Ch, Wales • CHANDOS 10516 (2 CDs: 115:13 Text and Translation)


This is a rerun from 2001 on Chandos’ “Classics” series. James Miller reviewed it in Fanfare 25:1. I will refer readers to his review for more of the details of this production. Miller seems to prefer the Masur reading, not available then but reproduced now as an arkivmusic.com CD. Masur certainly deserves respect, and his cast is nothing to sneeze at, but I have come to prefer the Rilling recording on Hänssler to just about any other. His soloists, while less stellar than Masur’s, are every bit their equal, and Rilling gives us a highly charged, gorgeously sung performance of just about unequalled beauty.


Paulus only has about 10 readings currently available, and has been suffering from the equivalent of professional swine flu for many years—not many want to touch it. Soloists are certainly hard to come by, as the parts are just not that demanding. But—this oratorio is guaranteed a bright future as it remains, after Messiah , perhaps the most popular oratorio among American church goers and oratorio societies. The very lack of demanding solo parts makes it attractive to local ensembles, and the choral work is adventurous, yet attainable by lesser ensembles. Mendelssohn’s part-writing is easy to follow and logical to rehearse and teach, and he manages to get a consistently whopping sound out of his chorus while keeping well within the confines of the eminently doable.


Miller says about this Hickox rendition, “I can certainly commend it to your attention as a worthy performance, probably at least as good as the competition.” I think this sums up the recording very well. In a detailed comparison with the Rilling, Hickox is actually about nine minutes faster in each part, though Rilling sounds quicker because of a tighter control over the ensemble and a tauter rhythmic approach. He also is more devotional, perhaps too devotional in some instances, while the Chandos recording delights in the early-Wagnerian overtones found in some of the brassier moments. The more I hear the Chandos, the more I like it, and I am finding the differences between Rilling and Hickox interesting enough to appreciate both equally, and it is difficult to choose one above the other.


Okay—if forced—I would still go for Rilling, but every collection deserves two recordings of Paulus , so I can rest content. As for Masur, he is still worth hearing, and many will prefer him, but not by much. Though there are not many recordings of this early oratorio, these three alleviate any need for concern.


Incidentally, in James Miller’s review he states: “‘Wie lieblich sind die Boten die den Frieden verkündigen’ is usually translated as ‘How beautiful are the messengers that bring the gospel of peace.’ In the Masur (Philips) libretto (and some other places) it is rendered, ‘How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace,’ which is, in fact, the way the verse goes in the King James version of the Bible (Romans X:15). But ‘Boten’ means ‘messengers’ in German. Did the King James translators get the original text wrong or did Martin Luther or other German translators get it wrong?” In the Chandos issue, “messengers” is given in the translation. After nine years, I think I can help—Luther got it wrong. The word pódeV (“feet”) appears not only in Romans 10, but also in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament in Isaiah and the book of Nahum, the books from which Paul took his quote. I can’t vouch for the Hebrew, but Paul would have taken his quote from a Septuagint source (the Greek translation of the Old Testament).


FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter

With this new release Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra continue their critically acclaimed series exploring Polish music for Chandos. It features two large scale works by Karol Szymanowski, the expressive Stabat Mater and the vigorous and colorful ballet Harnasie. The Stabat Mater, recorded here in its 1965 revised version, features a cast of internationally acclaimed soloists: Lucy Crowe, Pamela Helen Stephen, Robert Murray and Gabor Bretz.

"The Mighty Handful, or Mighty Five as they are sometimes called, are Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and César Cui. Together they embody the nationalist tradition in 19th-century Russian music. They are rarely programmed as a group, so Philip Edward Fisher's decision to fashion a recital from the works of all five has considerable appeal...Borodin's Petite Suite comes over as a work of exquisite grace and melodic charm that deserves to be much better known. It suits Fisher's refined style rather well, too..."

- The Guardian, London

On his first solo recital disc for Chandos, Philip Edward Fisher performs piano works by members of the so-called ‘Mighty Handful’, a group of five Russian composers – César Cui, Alexander Borodin, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov – who in the 1860s banded together in an attempt to create a truly national school of Russian music, free of the perceived stifling influences of Italian opera, German lieder, and other western European forms.

The Mighty Handful were all self-trained amateurs. Borodin combined composing with a career in chemistry; Rimsky-Korsakov was a naval officer; and Mussorgsky had been in the Guards, then in the civil service, before taking up music. They tried to incorporate in their music what they heard in village songs, in Cossack dances, in church chants, and the tolling of church bells; in short, the music of the Mighty Handful was brimming with sounds that echoed Russian life. From the more traditional, Chopin-esque Nocturne by Cui through to the technical innovations and strong Caucasus folk elements of Balakirev’s Islamey, the works here all show the composers’ strong connections with the past and the compositional innovations that would come to influence the likes of Prokofiev and Stravinsky, and help change the course of Russian music for years to come.

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and The Juilliard School, the pianist Philip Edward Fisher is widely recognised as a unique performer of refined style and exceptional versatility. He has performed across Europe, Africa, and North America where he made his New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in 2002, performing Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, and has also appeared at the Merkin Concert Hall and the Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.

At home he has given performances at the Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, and Royal Festival Hall in London, Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and Symphony Hall in Birmingham. He has appeared as a soloist with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and Juilliard Symphony Orchestra, and worked with performers such as exclusive Chandos artist bassoonist Karen Geoghegan, the tenor Robert White, pianist Sara Buechner, and violinists Elmar Oliveira, Philippe Graffin, and Augustin Hadelich. In 2001, Philip Edward Fisher received the Julius Isserlis Award from The Royal Philharmonic Society in London. - Chandos

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s first three volumes of Mozart concertos with the Manchester Camerata and Gábor Takács-Nagy have been received with widespread acclaim, and so it’s with some excitement that we release the keenly anticipated fourth instalment in the series. Composed within just one month in early 1785, these two concertos are among the most popular of all of Mozart’s piano concertos. No. 20, K 466, was his first concerto in a minor key, and it’s dark and stormy nature contrasts the light and sunny feeling of concerto no.21. As with so many of his piano concertos, both works were composed for the Vienna concert series, and given their premiere performances with Mozart at the keyboard. The two concertos are interspersed on this recording with a vivid performance of the Don Giovanni Overture, which further demonstrates the exemplary playing of the Manchester Camerata.

Classical Music

Job receives a performance of striking composure, luster, and palpable dedication. Not only do the Bergen Philharmonic respond with notable poise and eagerness (solo contributions are of the highest quality throughout), Davis conducts with unobtrusive authority as well as a sure hand on the structural tiller, uncovering a wealth of harmonic and textural detail along the way. The spectacular engineering handles everything with aplomb.

There's heaps to priase, too, in Davis's scrupulously observant and nobly unforced conception of the Ninth Symphony - and, once again what admirably vital and shapely playing he draws from the orchestra. This mightily impressive Ninth deserves a place at the top table alongside the 1969 Boult, Handley, and Haitink.

– Gramophone

Enescu’s First Piano Quartet (1909) shows his profound stylistic debt to Fauré; the Second (1944), one of his last works, is dedicated to the French master’s memory. But both works are essentially Enescian in their ceaseless exploration of basic thematic shapes and atmospheric evocations of his Romanian homeland. Neither sounds anything like the early Romanian Rhapsodies, whose ubiquitous success Enescu came to hate.

Time stands still in these extraordinary works. The rapturous nocturne that is the First Quartet’s slow movement is one of his most exquisite inspirations, while the first two movements of the Second Quartet seem miraculously independent of any barline, with phrases and lines of wonderful plasticity drifting in and out as if on the drawing and exhalation of the players’ breathing. In his notes, Martin Anderson asserts: ‘Enescu is the greatest great composer whose greatness is not generally recognized.’ But it’s precisely the rarified and genuinely unusual nature of his inspiration that may have contributed to that state of affairs.

The Schubert Ensemble have clearly lived with this music for a long time – and love it. Subtlety, restraint, perfect unanimity within the ebb and flow of the inbuilt rubato – they have it all, plus the sudden blazes of energy required in both Quartets’ finales. The limpidity and crystalline touch of William Howard’s pianism impresses throughout. These works are magnificently performed here. An important release.

-- Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine

From the Bolshoi to La Scala, from the Stockholm Philharmonic to the Vienna Symphony, the forty-five-year carrier and notably famous supple stick technique of Gennady Rozhdestvensky have made him one of hte most respected twentieth-century conductors in Europe. This release celebrates his superb Enescu series with the BBC Philharmonic. The Romanian composer was one of the most prodigiously gifted musicians of the twentieth century: a great violinist and composer, a distinguished conductor, an accomplished pianist, able cellist, and a famous violin teacher. Although relatively modest, his published output contained some substantial works, such as the folk-inspired Romanian Rhapsodies and romantically influenced symphonies, all featured here.