I came away from hearing this version with renewed enthusiasm for the work.

Studies in Rome equipped Francisco Ant�nio de Almeida for high musical standing at the court of the Portuguese King, Jo�o V. Here he wrote a series of admired operas but also embarked on serenades', court spectacles of a more private nature. Il Trionfo d'Amore, a scherzo pastoral, was written to celebrate the King's name-day. Ranging from intimacy to ceremonial splendor, with several sublime arias, not least the beautiful In queste lacrime, as well as dramatic passages, it reveals de Almeida to be one of the outstanding Portuguese composers of the eighteenth century.

This new release features Carl Reinecke’s Die wilden Schwaene (The Wild Swans). This work in sixteen musical numbers is based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Performers on this release include soprano Kirsten Labonte, alto Gerhild Romberger, soprano Shuang Shi, baritone Markus Kohler, and more.

Classical Music

Classical Music

February 2012

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It's a good thing people buy the disc before they read the notes. What sane person buys a CD, even one of contemporary music, in order to digest an essay called "Universality, Time and Phenomenology in the Oeuvre of Erkki-Sven Tüür"? Really, life is too short for such garbage, and if Tüür himself believes in this stuff then perhaps most normal listeners should look elsewhere. Happily, we can ignore the pompous twaddle and focus on the music itself, which is quite attractive.

To be sure, the vocal works try very, very hard to be "deep". Awakening mixes liturgical texts with words by various Estonian poets, but happily (for non-Estonian-speaking listeners anyway) we can ignore the words and just concentrate on the emotional ambience of the music itself. Like much contemporary music today, dissonant textures alternate with more consonant harmonies. The general pacing is slow, and Tüür makes an obvious effort to be "transcendental"--but there's little sense of strain and the work's 36 minutes pass without trying the listener's patience. It's quite beautiful.

Tüür's sensitivity to texture is everywhere in evidence in the a cappella setting The Wanderer's Evening Song. Modern choral writing often requires a virtuoso response, and this work is no exception, but the effort proves to be worth it. The text, drawn from poems by Ernst Enno (d. 1934), is yet another super profound concatenation of transcendental imagery, and I have no patience for it. But then, I feel the same way about Wagner's librettos--you may feel differently, and the setting is stunning. Insula deserta, for string orchestra, is a simple work in alternating sections rich in textural contrast. The performances are all splendid, and so is the sound. I do think that Tüür needs to lighten up a bit, but there's no question that he's a composer of real quality, phenomenology be damned.

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Starting out in the world of progressive rock music and becoming a professional composer in the mid-1980s, Erkki-Sven Tüür’s music has been becoming ever more widely recognised, and ever more refined and luminous. This recording stands as a triumphant representative of this progression.

The most recent piece, Awakening, for mixed choir and chamber orchestra, was written as part of Tallinn’s multitudinous activity as European Capital of Culture 2011. The texts are a mixture of Estonian poetry and Latin liturgical words related to Easter. This is a highly approachable score, full of colourful harmonies and transparent textures, as well as having mysterious depths to go along with the more overtly joyful gestures. Some moments are comparable to the kinds of open musical expression of Americans such as John Adams and Steve Reich, and with the strong Estonian choral tradition pushing the piece onwards like wind in the sails of a galleon. This makes for compulsive listening from beginning to end. Tüür himself views awakening as a life-long process. “While composing this piece I lingered deep on the level of instincts and senses... From a musical perspective, this composition can also be viewed as an awakening to the light.” You can’t have an awakening to light without first experiencing the dark, and there are some central minutes of nocturnal chills before we make the final journey. There is no really well defined moment of awakening as such, as Tüür’s impressionistic writing keeps us guessing if we’re looking for a point of climax. The final coda in the last few minutes has some of the most sublime choral writing you could ever wish to hear. By avoiding corny stereotypes and going back in onto the resources of his own past work, Tüür has created a work which is tremendous in its effect.

The Wanderer’s Evening Song for mixed choir was written for the 20 ^th anniversary of the Estonian Philharmonic Choir and its founder, Toñu Kaljuste. This is a narrative of the wanderer who, to quote Gerhard Lock’s booklet notes, “is bewitched by the sombre silence of the northern woods [and is] longing for home.” This piece is also concerned with a fascination with light and an approach towards blissful ecstasy, using a mixed combination of the romantic poetry of Ernst Enno to create a remarkable journey. Close harmonies, dramatic dissonance and beautifully ethereal atmosphere make this another very special work.

Going backwards in time the final work is the oldest: Insula deserta, which is the string orchestra piece which marked Tüür’s international breakthrough. This has appeared on CD before, including as part of the Virgin Classics ‘Searching for Roots’ series, in this case with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi (Virgin Classics 7243 5 61993-2, 2002). There is little to choose between this version and Daniel Reuss’s as both are excellent, though the Sinfonietta Riga has a closer, more detailed and intimate feel. Exploring “the relationship between fragility and power” is a driving force in the piece, which unites and fragments the orchestra in a variety of ways, punching dramatically or giving voice to the different sections and individual voices within fields of sound.

This release represents a genuine cross-section of Erkki-Sven Tüür’s work, but is by no means a catch-all compilation. If you are new to his expressive and compelling work then I would hope it might be a springboard for discovering more of his pieces, such as the Architectonics series, and an extensive catalogue to be found on the ECM label.

-- Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

Silent Night: A Christmas Program

Gothic Record’s original recording, The Spirit of Freedom, features the outstanding Washington Men’s Camerata in a spectacular collection of patriotic classics. The 23 selections include the complete “National Anthem” (all 4 verses!), “God Bless America,” “National Hymn (“God of Our Fathers”), “Chester,” “Anchors Aweigh,” “Yankee Doodle,” “Hail to the Chief,” and many more beautifully-sung favorites! (Gothic)

Complete Track List:

1. How great Thou art
2. Ode to Music
3. Sweet Hour of Prayer
4. The Long Day Closes
5. I'll Walk with God
6. Suddenly You're Older
7. Love at Home
8. I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked
9. The Windows of the World
10. One Voice
11. The Lost Chord
12. Danny Boy
13. Home on the Range
14. Nearer My God to Thee

In Boulez's hands, this music sounds as it should: immensely expressive, enormously concentrated, totally unyielding, and utterly uncompromising.

As they used to say back in the fin de siècle, for every generation, it's art. How could one argue? Every generation has its own life and its own world and its own history and every generation has the right to its own artistic prophet. But should every generation's art appeal to the next generation, or the generation after that, or the generation after that? In his generation, Schoenberg was anathema to almost everyone not accepted into his elect band of disciples who revered him as the prophet of modern music. After his death, Schoenberg was still anathema to almost everybody except the next generation of disciples, and that generation gave the world performances of the prophet's music that made it sound as austere and forbidding as possible. But, finally, after three generations, the disciples were able to relax a bit and give the world performances of the prophet's music that made it sound as close to appealing as the music has ever gotten. In these recordings of Schoenberg's choral music by Pierre Boulez and the BBC Singers and BBC Chorus, the prophet's music still sounds like the prophet's music: immensely expressive, enormously concentrated, totally unyielding, and utterly uncompromising. But at least the music is accurately directed and accurately performed so for once it is clearly and lucidly presented, which is more than one can say for earlier recordings. And if the prophet's music still sounds forbidding to most listeners, well, there is only so much performers can do and remain faithful to the spirit of the music and of the prophet. For true believers, however, these discs will provide proof positive of the greatness of the man and the music.

-- James Leonard, AllMusic.com

HONEGGER Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher • Helmuth Rilling, cond; Sylvie Rohrer ( Jeanne d’Arc ); Eörs Kisfaludy ( Fr. Dominique ); Karen Wierzba ( La Vierge ); Letizia Scherrer ( Marguerite ); Kismara Pessatti ( Cathérine ); Jean-Noël Briend (ten); François Le Roux (bs); Stuttgart College Boys’ Ch; Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart; Stuttgart RSO des SWR • HÄNSSLER 098.636 (2 CDs: 84:30 & French only) Live: Stuttgart 4/2–3/2011


Here is, truly, an unusual release: the little-known but extremely powerful dramatic cantata by Arthur Honegger, Joan of Arc at the Stake, conducted by one of the world’s leading baroque specialists, Helmuth Rilling. This combination, which seems on the surface a mismatch, in fact results in one of the most emotionally powerful and musically atmospheric realizations on record in my entire memory.


The drawback, of course, is that the libretto is in French only. Certainly one is aware enough of Joan’s story to be able to follow what is going on in generalizations, yet the highly literate subtleties of Paul Claudel’s libretto are lost on the non-French speaker. Thus we must rely on the few words we can pick out of the booklet and rely on the emotional and dramatic power of the speakers, singers, chorus, and orchestra. Even within those parameters, this is pretty powerful music. Behind the spoken dialogue, at one point, the chorus enters singing strophic lines in almost Stravinsky-like neoclassicism, which then leads directly into a baritone solo with choral interjections. Honegger’s orchestra slashes and burns throughout: sometimes as an undercurrent, at other times in the foreground, moving from staccato brass chords to stabbing or swirling figures, underlining the drama of the situation—confined to the time of Joan’s trial and execution—in the most dramatic terms possible.


Conductor Marin Alsop has given us this synopsis of the oratorio at npr.org/2011/11/05/142021891/arthur-honeggers-joan-of-arc-for-the-ages:


“Claudel wanted to look at Joan’s life in a series of flashbacks—starting at the end. The piece opens with darkness setting over all of France. Is this the France of 1400 or the France of 1935? Perhaps that’s the point. Joan meets Frère Dominic in the afterlife and recognizes him, at which point they look back on what led to her trial and death. When Joan asks, ‘How did this happen?,’ Frère Dominic replies, ‘It was a game of cards that decided your fate,’ alluding to the political quagmire in which Joan, an illiterate peasant teenager, found herself immersed. The adjudicator at Joan’s trial was aptly named Cauchon (pig), and Claudel goes wild with the possibilities. The assessors are all depicted as animals, with the ass leading the pack and sheep commenting on the proceedings. And then there’s Honegger’s instrumentation, which creates a vibrant and unique sound world. He includes three saxophones plus an ondes martenot —a spooky-sounding instrument, invented in 1928, that sounds like its cousin the theremin. Honegger and Claudel’s collaboration brings Joan to life in a vivid and emotional drama that concludes with the line, ‘There is no greater love than the person who gives his life for a friend.’”


Alsop, as well as other commentators, allude to the “cinematic” quality of this opera-oratorio, mentioning that Honegger was also a film music composer. But if this is film music, it is extremely dominant in mood and structure, which to my ears is far too aggressive a composition to work well in that mode. Yet there is a certain “cinematic” structure to the work, which in effect makes it a “movie for the ears.” (One constantly hears nowadays that we “listen with our eyes,” so why not at least one piece where we “see with our ears”?) Alsop conducted a live performance of this work at the Barbican in 2011, but according to one online commentator the program notes for that performance were also spotty and indistinct.


I’ve been unable to track down an English translation of the text anywhere online. From what I can judge, between the French-only text and my slight grasp of the language, the actors in this recording are all extremely good, bringing out Joan’s combination of confusion, defiance, and fear perfectly. Much of the credit for this goes to Sylvie Rohrer, whose reading of the text is both dramatic and natural-sounding—a rare combination indeed. The singers are all excellent in both vocal quality and—more importantly—diction, as is the chorus itself. Despite being German, Rilling is to be highly commended for his persistence in bringing out the proper idiomatic Frenchness of the music as well as his insistence on clarity of pronunciation.


Particular credit for the success of this recording goes to engineer Friedemann Trumpp for capturing such incredible 3D sound.


There appear to be three other recordings available on CD: Supraphon 11 0557/58 featuring narrators Nelly Borgeaud and Michel Favory, sopranos Christiane Château and Anne-Marie Rodde, alto Huguette Brachet, and the Kühn Children’s Chorus, Czech Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Serge Baudo; a single-disc version (meaning under 80 minutes) with narrators Anne-Marie Ferrière, René Piloy, and Madeleine Joris, sopranos Marthe Dugard and Ria Lenssens, tenor Frédéric Anspach, and conductor Louis de Vocht (Opera d’Oro 1223); and another one-disc version conducted by Siegfried Heinrich (VMS Musical Treasures 152), none of which I’ve heard. I have, however, heard the recording by Sonia Petrovna, Michaël Lonsdale, Christian Papis, Anne-Marie Blanzat, other soloists, the Choeur de Rouen-Haute-Normande, and Orchestre Symphonique Français conducted by Laurent Petitgirard on Cascavelle OSF 49008/09. This was also a live performance, given on June 26 and 27, 1992 at the Salle Wagram in Paris. I could only find references to this recording on French CD sites like Price Minister and Amazon.fr. The sound quality is also excellent, and this performance, too, is wonderfully atmospheric, but none of the actors are recorded particularly well—they sound like they’re behind the choir. The actress playing Joan (Petrovna) is good, but does not declaim her text with as much feeling (perhaps she was an excellent actress visually, but on CDs you can’t see her). A very good performance, then, but this new Hänssler release is just as fine musically, better in the placement of the actors, and of course much easier to obtain, making it well worth getting. With the odd running time of this work, one could possibly combine it with the equally excellent but seldom-heard L’Amore de tre re of Montemezzi for a superb evening of dramatic works that will challenge and not just entertain you.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

Classical Music

Over the centuries thousands of musical treasures came to be through the choral tradition of the British cathedrals and universities. Some of the most beautiful motets and anthems have been recorded here in their original language by the figuralchor koln and Richard Mailander. Notable composers such as William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, and Charles Villiers Stanford are contributors to this lineup of English sacred choral music which travels through the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

Battle Cry Of Freedom

MAHLER (transcr. Gottwald) Erinnerung. Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen. Um Mitternacht. Die zwei blauen Augen. Urlicht. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. Scheiden und Meiden. Es sungen drei Engel. Im Abendrot. A. MAHLER (transcr. Gottwald) Drei frühe Lieder • Marcus Creed, cond; SWR Vocal Ens Stuttgart • CARUS 83.370 (63:41 Text and Translation)


Once upon a time (1960, to be exact), choral conductor Clytus Gottwald created the Schola Cantorum Stuttgart, a chamber choir whose specialty was music by that era’s most avant-garde composers . . . Ligeti, Ferneyhough, Penderecki, and so on. This ensemble attracted the attention of Pierre Boulez, and it was Boulez who inspired Gottwald to transcribe Ravel’s song Soupir for the ensemble. The results were so effective that Gottwald continued transcribing other works for his ensemble, including music—some of it not even vocal—by Gustav Mahler and his wife Alma. Those transcriptions have outlasted Schola Cantorum Stuttgart. The ensemble disbanded in 1990, but within the past few years, several of Gottwald’s transcriptions have been recorded by the French ensemble Accentus (for the Naïve label), and English conductor Marcus Creed has taken them up for Carus with one of his ensembles, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart. (It doesn’t hurt that the printing arm of Carus publishes three of these selections.) Almost none of them have been recorded before, the exceptions being Die zwei blauen Augen, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen , and Scheiden und Meiden. Im Abendrot is a transcription of the Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. Accentus has recorded a different transcription, believe it or not, of that same music, prepared by Gérard Pesson. Gottwald’s transcription uses the same Eichendorff text that Strauss used in his Four Last Songs.


This disc reveals the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart to be spiritual descendents of Gottwald’s ensemble. In the 1970s, there was no practical reason why Mahler’s music needed to be treated this way. It is my impression that Gottwald did it because it presented him with an interesting intellectual puzzle, and as a challenge for Schola Cantorum Stuttgart. These “auxiliary” transcriptions (to use Gottwald’s word, from the interview printed in Carus’s booklet) present the music in a striking and different light, and help to make Mahler’s music a little strange again, which is not a bad thing in a world in which we risk being overexposed to Mahler. (Imagine saying that 60 years ago!) These transcriptions are not likely to appear on the next program of your local amateur choir. They are, in fact, intimidatingly complex and difficult. For example, the transcriptions of Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen and Im Abendrot require a 16-part ensemble. Overall, these transcriptions are punishing exercises in breath and pitch control, in the modulation and matching of vocal colors, and in the precise blending of sound. What is needed, really, is a team of vocal gymnasts who can approach the music as if with one mind.


Fortunately, it is unlikely that any performers will stumble blindly into this repertoire, and the recorded performances I’ve heard are uniformly excellent, but not identical. One can hear Gottwald’s Schola Cantorum Stuttgart perform Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen in a giant doorstop of a CD set (no longer in print) from Cadenza/Bayer. Gottwald is significantly faster than Creed, to good effect, and solo voices come out of the texture more prominently than they do for Creed. Gottwald’s ensemble is more closely microphoned, and the effect is almost claustrophobic. Creed’s ensemble, while a bit more impersonal, may come a hair closer to technical perfection. Accentus (directed by Laurence Equilbey) adopts almost exactly the same tempo as Gottwald, but the ensemble’s sound is less warm than either Gottwald’s or Creed’s. Given the song’s text, I find Accentus too edgy, but still mightily impressive.


The only caveat I have about the present disc—also about the other two I’ve mentioned—is that these transcriptions are so intense that emotional and intellectual fatigue is a risk for listeners. Several tracks into Creed’s disc I asked myself, “Why are they singing so loudly?,” but then I realized it wasn’t the volume as much it was the laser-like concentration of the transcriptions and the performances. Beautiful stuff, this, but it is far from relaxing!


FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

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.

The Carus Classics series feature outstanding CD productions from Carus’ past library of recordings. In the works introduced here, Schubert presents vocal chamber music as an independent genre. The male voice ensemble “Schubert hoch vier” – consisting of four internationally renowned Lied singers – together with Schubert specialist Thomas Seyboldt at the piano offered this unfortunately little regarded group of works with a masterful balance between ensemble spirit and soloistic expressivity.

Classical Music

Classical Music

HOMILIUS Habe deine Lust an dem Herrn. Kommt her und sehet an die Wunder Gottes. Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot. Die Elenden sollen essen. Domine ad adiuvandum me. Magnificat in C. Deo dicamus gratias. Ich will den Herrn loben. Mir hast du Arbeit gemacht. Dennoch bleib ich stets an dir. Die richtig für sich gewandelt haben. Lasset euch begnügen. Wo ist ein solcher Gott. Der Herr ist meine Stärke. Siehe, den Herrn Auge sieht • Stefan Schuck, cond; sirventes Berlin • CARUS 83.266(Text and Translation)

HOMILIUS Warum toben die Heiden. Frohlocke, Zion, dein Erlöser. In der Zeit meiner Not. Kommt, frohe Völker. Steig, Allgewaltiger, von deinem festen Sitze • Rainer Johannes Homburg, cond; Marie-Pierre Roy (sop); Henriette Gödde (alt); Knut Schoch (ten); Markus Köhler (bs); Handel’s Company Ch; Handel’s Company • CARUS 83.267 (71:10 Text and Translation)

HOMILIUS MUSIK AN DER DRESDNER FRAUENKIRCHE: Jubiläumsedition • Various performers • CARUS 83.268 (2 CDs: 141:14 Text and Translation)

With three exceptions—a 1980 recording of organ works issued by Arion, a 1985 CD of motets released by MDG (reviewed by J. F. Weber in 8:6), and the 1992 Berlin Classics set of the St. Matthew Passion (see the enthusiastic review in 18:3 by Martin Anderson)—the revival of the music of Gottfried August Homilius (1714–1785) appears to be entirely an endeavor of the Carus label. Like CPO, a label which has also devoted much effort to reviving the work of neglected German composers, Carus—the publishing division of which is producing a complete edition of the works of Homilius—is to be congratulated for both its courage and discernment in selecting this repertoire for revival. Along with Anderson, Weber, Brian Robins (in a review of a disc of cantatas in 29: 6), and Michael Carter (in multiple reviews in 29:2, 29:6, and 30:6), I concur in ranking Homilius as an unjustly overlooked figure who composed works of unfailingly high quality that fully merit renewed attention.

Since the biographical data for Homilius is scattered throughout multiple previous reviews, I will summarize it here in one place for convenience. The son of a Lutheran pastor, Homilius was born in Porschendorf, a village southeast of Dresden. He attended school in Dresden in 1722 after his father’s death, and then came to Leipzig in about 1735, where (according to Johann Nikolaus Forkel) he studied keyboard with Bach and occasionally substituted for him at the Nikolaikirche organ. In 1742 he was appointed organist at the Frauenkirche in Dresden, and in 1755 was appointed Kreuzkantor of the Kreuzkirche, which made him music master for the city’s three main churches (the third one being the Sophienkirche), serving in that position until his death 30 years later. He composed some 180 sacred cantatas and 60 motets, several Passion settings, a Christmas oratorio, and chorale preludes for organ.

While firmly anchored in the late Baroque and showing the influence of Bach (and perhaps, even more, of Telemann), the music of Homilius also clearly evinces the absorption of the Empfindsamkeit aesthetic of the mid-18th century. There is less use of devices such as fugue and counterpoint (though these are far from absent), and correspondingly greater employment of primary melodic lines with chordal accompaniment. This is particularly true of the motets featured on the first CD here, where the settings are highly homophonic, though still quite challenging technically; the cantatas by contrast adhere more closely to the older Baroque stylistic contours. What makes this music so enjoyable is Homilius’s talent for shapely and expressive thematic lines, which unfailingly fall gracefully and gratefully on the ear. Had not his music, like that of Bach’s sons, been so unfairly eclipsed for so long, some of his melodies might be as familiar to us today as those of Bach. What he does lack, of course, is Bach’s stunning originality, daring, and ingenuity; his music is well crafted but comfortable and safe rather than challenging and provocative. But then, it is hardly fair to blame any other composer for not being Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven.

With the first two items listed above, Carus has now issued 10 sets devoted to Homilius, and these uphold the extremely high standards of quality of their predecessors. Both the sirventes Berlin (the lower case letter of the first word being the usual unfortunate and now hopelessly clichéd current naming affectation) and the Handel’s Company Choir are both exceptionally polished vocal ensembles, and the instrumentalists of Handel’s Company are an equally crackerjack company. All four vocal soloists are quite accomplished, and conductors Stefan Schuck and Rainer Johannes Homburg lead energetic, crisply pointed performances that engage one’s attention at every turn. The recorded sound is ideally balanced, clear and yet warm; detailed booklet notes and complete German (or Latin when occasionally required) texts with English translations are provided.

Readers may be puzzled as to why I have said nothing until now about the third set listed above. The reason is that it is not a new release, but rather an anthology drawn from previous releases in the Carus series. More specifically, it features three of the four cantatas (omitting Selig seid ihr, wenn ihr geschmähet werdet ) from Carus 83.183 (reviewed by Michael Carter in 29:2) with soloists, chorus, and instrumentalists conducted by Roderich Kreile; the closing chorale from the St. John Passion on Carus 83.261 (reviewed by Carter in 30:6) featuring the same performers; the Christmas Oratorio from Carus 83.235 (reviewed by J. F. Weber in 32:4) with assembled forces under the leadership of Ludwig Güttler; and two cantatas, four chorales, and an oboe sonata from Carus 83.261 (not reviewed) again with various performers led by Güttler. Once again, Carus is to be praised and congratulated in that, with the exception of the Passion excerpt, instead of offering bleeding chunks it provides the more extended works (the oratorio and five cantatas) complete, so that the release is actually worth acquiring in its own right rather than being a sampler disc to audition once and discard. The same care has been taken as with the original releases to provide detailed booklet notes and full original texts with English translations. This is a veritable model of how such compilations ought to be done, and increases my already high estimation of the quality of this label. In sum, the whole lot is highly enjoyable and heartily recommended.

FANFARE: James A. Altena

Paul Hindemith's compositions for a cappella choir are distinguished by a richness of expression and mood manifested in various compositional techniques and artistic forms. Again and again in his writings and textbooks, Hindemith emphasized the important role of the singing voice as a natural instrument for the composer-in-the-making to test his compositional sketches as well as for the layperson and music lover for spontaneous singing and music making. The CD presents choral compositions on texts by Bertolt Brecht, Gottfried Benn, Walt Whitman, Fitz-James O'Brien, medieval and self-composed texts. Both dramatic and humorous, light tones in these choral works show the breadth of Hindemith's skillfulness. The CD was awarded the Quarterly German Record Critics' Award and the "Echo Klassik 2001" (best choral-work recording)!

Beat Furrer is no stranger to the attention he receives for his subtle exploration of the possibilities of the human voice. Furrer's six Enigmas, a cycle of a cappella settings of Leonardo da Vinci, demonstrates a striking emotional range, from rich, almost romantic tonal warmth to dramatic avant-garde expressionism. All eight works on this new release accentuate Furrer's fondness for exploring sonority, timbre and texture.

CHRISTMAS WITH MARILYN HORNE AND THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR

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.

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

Reviews:

It’s very fitting that during the four-year period when we continue to commemorate the centenary of World War I there should be a new and long overdue recording of Morning Heroes. Sir Arthur Bliss volunteered for the army in August 1914 and he served with distinction in the trenches in war-time France. He was wounded at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and in 1918 he was gassed at Cambrai. All this, and the carnage he witnessed all around him, made an ineradicable impression on him. However the most grievous blow was the loss of his younger brother, Kennard, who was killed in action on 28 September 1916 at Thiepval; he was just 24. After the war was over Bliss returned to France to find his brother’s grave but this pilgrimage failed to lay Kennard's ghost. In his notes for the earlier recording of Morning Heroes by Sir Charles Groves, Felix Aprahamian writes that Bliss began to suffer from nightmares in 1928; these must have been a manifestation of the psychological effects of the war. Finally, the opportunity came to commemorate his brother with a commission for a major choral work for the 1930 Norwich Festival. The result was Morning Heroes, scored for orator, chorus and orchestra. Bliss himself conducted the first performance. The score is dedicated ‘To the memory of my brother Francis Kennard Bliss and all other comrades killed in battle.’

Morning Heroes is an ambitious score and its construction is rather unusual in that two of its five movements are for orator with orchestra – though, as we shall see, the accompaniment in the second spoken movement is sparse indeed. A choral finale follows the second spoken section; together these two sections constitute the fifth movement. In the centre of the work are three movements for chorus and orchestra. Bliss assembled an anthology of texts; his sources include Homer’s epic Greek poem, The Iliad; Whitman’s Drum Taps; the eighth century Chinese poet, Li Tai Po; and poems by two twentieth century poets, Wilfred Owen and Robert Nichols.

Bliss’s scoring – if we can call it that – is astonishingly original and imaginative here. There is virtually no accompaniment to the orator’s recitation save for timpani rumbling ominously in the background like distant, menacing guns. Only once – at “Exposed!” – do the drums play loudly and that’s terrifying. What a masterstroke it is for Bliss to reintroduce the orchestra as the orator recites Owens last line, “Why speak they not of comrades that went under?” The woodwind play melancholy, lilting material from the first movement and the effect is very moving. The chorus then sing Robert Nichols’ Dawn on the Somme. The music begins quietly, almost like a hymn, but gradually the intensity increases as Nichols’ ‘morning heroes’ are saluted. If this music sounds like a glorification of heroism then who better than Bliss to write in this vein? After all he had been through he was surely entitled to celebrate heroism. Yet the work ends on a subdued, pensive note and that too feels eminently right.

Morning Heroes is a work of great stature and I find it very moving indeed. There’s no doubt at all that this new Davis recording is now a clear first choice for this fine score.

The “filler” is interesting – and relevant. Bliss wrote Hymn to Apollo in 1926 in gratitude to Pierre Monteux for his early championship of A Colour Symphony. Indeed, it was Monteux who gave the first performance, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. It seems that very early on Bliss was dissatisfied with the work but he didn’t get round to revising it until 1964. Sir Andrew offers the original version of the score, recording it for the first time.

This is a splendid disc. The performance standard is extremely high and Ralph Couzens’ engineering is excellent. Similarly excellent are the notes by Andrew Burn. Bliss devotees should acquire this as a matter of urgency and other collectors are strongly urged to hear this eloquent musical commemoration of the fallen of World War I. On this evidence Sir Andrew Davis appears to be a doughty champion of Bliss. I hope he may record more of his music in the future: might we hope, at last, for a modern recording of The Beatitudes?

– MusicWeb International (John Quinn)

This new recording is a revelation for its clarity (notably of the composer's vivid orchestral palette and imaginative choral writing), coherence and sheer emotional intensity.

– Gramophone

Sir Andrew Davis's performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus surpasses Sir Charles Groves's fine 1974 EMI Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra account with urgent tempos, choral singing of full tone and incisive attack, eloquent orchestral playing, and an excellent, open recording.

– BBC Music Magazine