Challenges even the best - a bargain alternative to Trevor Pinnock.

Naxos already had a decent recording of the ‘Nelson’ Mass (8.554416, with the ‘Little Organ’ Mass, Hob.XXII/7) on which soloists, the Hungarian Radio Chorus and the Nikolaus Esterházy Sinfonia were conducted by Béla Drahos. The new recording, Volume 3 of the Naxos series of the Haydn Masses, is also available in an 8-CD.

The Nikolaimesse, recorded in 2002, gets the new recording off to a very good start. The music is lighter, less vintage Haydn than its more familiar companion, with mainly brisk tempi much in the manner of the short early Masses which Mozart composed for his Salzburg patron Archbishop Coloredo. It also receives a fine performance and recording. The soloists don’t merit a listing on the rear insert, but they are named inside the booklet, as they deserve to be. If I select Ann Hoyt, the soprano, for special praise, that should not be at the expense of the others.

To be honest, I had not expected much from this CD - I hadn’t heard of any of the performers and I’d forgotten the warm reception which the complete box had received - but the performance of the Nikolaimesse alone makes it worth the modest price. All concerned convince me that this early work is at least the equal of any of Mozart’s Masses, with the exception of the Coronation (K317) the ‘Great’ Mass (K427)and, of course, the Requiem (K626).

The ‘Nelson’ Mass is, I think, at least the equal of the three best Mozart Masses. I shall continue to give it that name as a kind of shorthand, though it has very little to do with Lord Nelson: Haydn nicknames have a habit of sticking even when they are inappropriate - there is at least enough evidence to doubt that it was at a performance of Symphony No.96 that the heavy chandelier narrowly missed causing serious injury, yet the name ‘Miracle’ continues to be attached to that work. Haydn himself called it Missa in angustiis, Mass in straitened times, but it’s easier and shorter to continue to call it the ‘Nelson’.

The opening Kyrie announces that this is a more serious work than the Nikolaimesse. As Jennifer More Glagov notes in the excellent booklet, the lack of wind players - the Prince had just dismissed them as an economy measure - apart from three (specially hired?) trumpets gives the work an undeniably martial tone.

The performers again give an excellent account of themselves. Only Ann Hoyt remains from the earlier line-up and continues to sing impressively - my wife came in as I was listening and was very surprised to discover that this was the voice of a singer whom neither she nor I had heard before. Naxos and others please note, we want to hear more of her. The other soloists and the choir also step up to the plate and the recording, though thicker than for the earlier work, recorded five years earlier, is more than adequate. The last semi-professional performance of the ‘Nelson’ that I heard was spoiled by a soprano who out-sang everyone else, but that is certainly not the case here. I understand that all the soloists are members of the Trinity Choir, which must make it a formidable place for the musically inclined to worship.

John Sheppard (hereafter JS) complained of Burdick’s habit of slowing at certain points, but some of these are traditional. In the Creed, for example, the slowing at the end of track 16 on the words descendit de cælis prepares for the more marked traditional emphasis on et incarnatus est in the next section, where it used to be expected that all would kneel or bow deeply. In any case, JS soon began to be as untroubled by this practice as I was.

William Hedley (hereafter WH) commented on the reverberant acoustic of the Trinity Church but I really was not troubled by this - different audio systems react differently to reverberant recordings. Nor was I really troubled by the other detailed criticisms which he makes. Rather than repeat these here, I refer you to his review. Whilst I admit the validity of just about all of them, I cannot consider them a serious handicap to an overall recommendation.

WH is more than a little hard on the diction - the syllables are frequently chopped up in the wrong places, but the demise of Latin in the school curriculum makes it almost inevitable that a choir’s familiarity with that language can no more be taken for granted than a knowledge of Japanese. (Actually, the latter is a more frequent visitor to the modern UK secondary curriculum). Haydn would have expected to hear the harder Austro-Germanic pronunciation of Latin, with hard ‘g’ in virginis, and ‘c’ in crucifixus, for example; I’m pleased to report that all concerned here take the softer Italianate course.

JS raises the possibility that the set as a whole is superior even to Hickox (Chandos CHAN0599, also available separately) or Guest (Argo/Decca). I’m not quite sure that I would go that far, but I was impressed enough by the single CD under consideration to wish to sample more of the set via the Naxos Music Library.

I’ve already praised the quality of the Naxos notes. One small complaint concerns the absence of texts, but the Tridentine Latin Mass is pretty well known and the texts and translations are available online, as indicated above: they can be yours even without buying the CD.

Overall, I think that WH is right to prefer John Eliot Gardiner (Philips 470 2862, with the Theresienmesse) and Trevor Pinnock (DG Archiv 423 0972, with the Te Deum). I recommended the Pinnock version of the ‘Nelson’ Mass as Download of the Month in my May 2009 Download Roundup) and thoroughly agree with WH that it offers a life-enhancing experience, but I can’t imagine purchasers of the present CD being disappointed with J Owen Burdick’s performances. Having heard the recording right through once, I couldn’t wait to hear it all again, instead of taking the usual time out to gather my impressions. Go for Pinnock for the best - even at full price and rather short value - but the new Naxos makes a very fine and less expensive alternative.

-- Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International

Beethoven: Fidelio, Op. 72

George Szell leads taut, energetic, and texturally detailed performances of both symphonies--no surprise to anyone familiar with the other discs in this series. Szell's briskly paced Symphony No. 2 sits comfortably in the classical tradition from which it sprang, in contrast to Bernstein's expansive and romantic-style rendition with the Vienna Philharmonic. Once again comparison with period performance versions reveals Szell's ability to maintain clear textures without the need to resort to period instruments.


In the Fifth Symphony Szell doesn't go hell-for-leather in the first movement but nonetheless offers a gripping account that sets the stage for his superbly argued finale. With brilliantly judged tempos and stunning orchestral playing, Szell makes the finale the great summation it is often claimed to be. Every event follows with a satisfying sense of inevitability--just listen to how Szell heightens the drama by slowing the tempo for the development's great climax, just before the reprise of the scherzo's theme. Oh yeah, this is one of the great Fifths! Sony's remastering reveals a noticeable amount of tape hiss but not enough to deter your enjoyment of these well-engineered and naturally balanced 1964 recordings.
--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

SPONTINI: Chamber Songs

This comic opera tells the story of Geronimo, a wealthy citizen of Bologna, who is trying to arrange aristocratic marriages for his two daughters, Carolina and Elisetta. What he doesn�t know is that his youngest daughter Carolina is already secretly married to Paolino, his young secretary. Through a series of humorous situations the young couple confess their marriage and all ends well. Giovanni Antonini conducts the Wallonie Royal Opera Orchestra for this performance of Cimarosa's two-act comic opera 'Il Matrimonio Segreto' ('The Clandestine Wedding'), recorded live at Liege in February 2008. Soloists include Cinzia Forte, Priscille Laplace and Damiana Pinti. Directed by Stefano Mazzonis Di Pralafera. Starring Cinzia Forte, Alberto Rinaldi, Damiana Pinti. Language: Italian Subtitles: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish

CARL MARIA VON WEBER: Elena Prokina, soprano; JOlana Fogasova, soprano; Yikun chung, tenor; Andreas Scheibner, bass-baritone; Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari/Gerard Korsten; 169 mins; NTSC; Subtitles in Italian, English, German, French, Spanish; DTS, Dolby Digital 5+ CARL MARIA VON WEBER: Euryanthe (Sung in German).

Classical Music

Recorded at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in June 2004, this Marriage of Figaro was unanimously acclaimed by public and critics alike as a Mozart opera landmark. Director Jean-Louis Martinoty brings an elegantly intelligent narrative sense to an interpretation in which the protagonists, against a backdrop of magnificent canvases of 18th-century inspiration, are dressed by Sylvie de Segonzac in a palette in which every shade is perfect. Hans Schavernoch's set suggests an elitist society that is coming apart at the seams. René Jacobs conducting of the Concerto Köln is meticulous and perfectly balanced, offering a ravishing use of tonal colour and orchestral dynamics. A veteran Almaviva, the excellent Pietro Spagnoli plays opposite Annette Dasch's beauteous Countesss. As Figaro and Susanna, Luca Pisaroni and Rosemary Joshua are a truly sparkling couple, while mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager embodies the most divine troubling of Cherubino.

Classical Music

Classical Music

In 2010 Yevgeny Sudbin released the first instalment in a cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos. Featuring the Fourth and the Fifth concerto the disc received top marks on web sites such as ClassicsToday.com and klassik-heute.de and was selected CD of the Week in Daily Telegraph and Editor's Choice in Gramophone, whose reviewer wrote 'The mother-of-pearl sheen of [Sudbin's] pianism is backed by a special underlying sensitivity...Delectably light-fingered brilliance and virtuosity shines a new light on some of the most familiar scores in the repertoire...' Other reviewers agreed that there was something very special about these interpretations ('Extraordinarily vibrant and unforced', Piano News) and, not least, about Sudbin's partnership with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra ('There is a true give-and-take between soloist and orchestra throughout these performances that makes them especially engaging', Listen Magazine). The web site Classical CD Review found Sudbin and Vänskä to be 'ideally matched Beethoven interpreters,' and the French reviewer in Classica agreed, detecting a 'Mozartian flame' in the performances. For this sequel Sudbin and Vänskä go one step further and actually include a Mozart concerto to precede Beethoven's Concerto No.3 in C minor. Also in C minor, Mozart's Concerto No.24, K 491, is often regarded as having been the inspiration for Beethoven's work. The mood of K 491 is dramatic, even Romantic - the concerto was memorably described by the Mozart expert Alfred Einstein as an 'explosion of passion, of dark tragic emotions' - reflecting its proximity to The Marriage of Figaro, which was composed at the same time. Among Mozart's concertos it is one of the most ample, both in terms of scoring and duration, and thus provides an ideal counterweight to Beethoven's Third, which the composer began to sketch in 1796, but only completed eight years later.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Issued between 1779 and 1787, the six collections of sonatas, rondos, and fantasias “fur Kenner und Liebhaber” constitute Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s largest-scale publishing venture. Aimed at ‘Connaisseurs and Amateurs’, the first collection was a retrospective selection of six sonatas but when this became a commercial success Bach expanded and varied the scheme, adding rondos (a recently popular form) for the second and third collection and, in the final three collections, samples of his free fantasies. On the previous two discs in his acclaimed series, Miklós SpAnyi combined pieces from Collection 1 and 2, performing them on the clavichord (Volume 31) and the tangent piano (Volume 32). For the present disc, SpAnyi has chosen to remain with the tangent piano, an early form of the piano with strings that are struck by small wooden slips (‘tangents’). The basic sound of the instrument is reminiscent of the harpsichord, but this can be modified in a number of ways through the use of various devices. In Collection 3, Bach provided variety by alternating previously composed sonatas with newly written rondos and Miklós SpAnyi adds to this by appending an independent set of variations to the collection. Probably intended for amateur keyboard players, the Canzonetta with 6 Variations was composed in 1781, and described by Bach in the catalogue of his works as ‘Canzonetta by the Duchess of Gotha with my 6 variations’.

cpe bach spanyi, miklos; Cto. Armonico, Marta Abraham complete keyboard ctos vol.18

BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6

The latest release in the Remastered Classics series from PENTATONE is Rafael Kubelik’s sprited and acclaimed reading from the 1970s of Beethoven’s first and fourth symphonies, performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Delightful, infectious and witty, Beethoven’s first symphony is a paean to the classical symphonies of Haydn and Mozart shot through with very Beethovenian touches, such as the opening Adagio which starts in the wrong key and the final movement which struggles to get started at all. These peculiarities taken with the felicity and inventiveness of his writing make this a happy and evergreen work. Overshadowed by the monumental third and the dramatic fifth symphonies, Beethoven’s cheerful and optimistic fourth has been described as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” for its mix of engaging melodies, lurching rhythms, pungent dissonances and its vigorous orchestral writing. While structurally and harmonically more complex than the first symphony, it too is cast in the classical mould with a palpable nod to Haydn in the rousing final movement. Rafael Kubelik recorded his acclaimed cycle of Beethoven symphonies in the 1970s for Deutsche Grammophon, each with a different orchestra to dazzling effect. Although recorded in multi-channel sound, these unmissable performances have previously been available only in the conventional two-channel stereo format. Using state of the art technology which avoids the need for re-mixing, PENTATONE’s engineers have remastered the original studio tapes to bring the performances to life as originally intended: in compelling and pristine multi-channel sound. Further releases from this memorable cycle are planned this year in the Remastered Classics series: Symphonies 2 & 5 (October) and Symphonies 6, 7 & 8 (November).

Opera Explained: GLUCK - Orfeo ed Euridice (Smillie)

C. P. E. Bach was a chamber musician at the court of Frederick the Great for nearly three decades. He was also one of the greatest keyboard players in Europe. His compositional mastery is exemplified by the six 'Prussian' Sonatas of 1742, works of great expression and stylistic interest. His desire to explore 'musical speech' was accompanied by bold contrasts, tremendous dynamism, and acute sensitivity for the shaping of slow movements. These reveal his inventive, forward thinking harmonies that both acknowledge the past but also strike out in vivid new directions. Susan Alexander, Max is recognized internationally as a leading forte pianist and clavichordist specializing in the music of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. A featured performer on international radio and television, she is known to festivals, museums, universities and music colleges world wide.

Johann Michael Haydn's music has inevitably been overshadowed by that of his elder brother Franz Joseph, but his music represents some of the best features of 19th century classicism. These four Sinfonias span just over a decade, from the graceful combination of elegance and liveliness in the Sinfonia in D, the muted violins in the Adagietto affettuoso of the Sinfonia in E-Flat, the lovely sicilienne of the Sinfonia in B-Flat to the substantial Sinfonia in F, which features a solo violin and cor anglais playing together or in alternation.

The most famous and popular Italian opera composer of the second half of the eighteenth century, Domenico Cimarosa composed more than 65 operas which were performed all over Europe, as well as a significant body of instrumental music and works for the church. Cimarosa’s overtures are remarkable for their melodic invention, assured handling of the orchestra and sheer vitality. This recording includes the overture to one of Cimarosa’s most popular operas, I due baroni di Roccazzura, and that of his personal favourite, Artemisia, regina di Caria.

Booklet includes libretto in English.

I truly can't imagine why anyone would want to own more than one good recording of this opera, and so if you have none, this one will make you very happy. If you have the Harnoncourt, you'll need this to get a real sense of what the opera is about, and if you have the Hager, scene by scene you should be pleased. But Fischer almost turns this work into true drama, and his singers are marvelous. The sound throughout is bright and forward; the booklet contains interesting essays and a four-language libretto.

The approximately three-hour-long (depending on cuts, pacing, etc.) Lucio Silla was composed by Mozart for Milan in 1772, as the lad was nearing his 16th birthday. A true opera seria, with dozens of da capo arias and a plot that ties itself in knots until the eponymous hero, the despotic Silla (138-78 B.C.), suddenly decides to stop being a tyrant, has a change of heart and becomes the very model of the Enlightenment, it offers the listener no context for soul-searching, almost no action, and no character growth. However, like the best opera serie, we get many splendid frozen-in-time moments in which individual characters can stop, face us, and articulate in music and text an array of human emotion: warmth, hopelessness, fury, elation, fear, tenacity. And for the most part, they do so with great bravura.

The opera was a great success in Milan, running 20 performances. The plot tells of Silla (tenor) who lusts after Giunia (soprano), whose husband Cecilio (mezzo) he has banished and declared dead. Cecilio, back in Rome but hiding, eventually tries to kill Silla but is stopped and sentenced to death. Then, for no reason made clear to anyone, Silla denounces his own dictatorship and offers clemency to all, including Cecilio's friend Cinna (soprano) and his own sister, Celia (soprano), who loves and is loved by Cinna. A character named Aufidio (tenor), shows up occasionally; he is Silla's bloodthirsty friend, always interested in stirring up trouble.

There are several performances of this opera available, and this new one turns out to be the best all around despite some remarkable individual performances elsewhere. The cast here is made up of not-very-well-known Scandinavians, and they are all worthy. Great credit must go to conductor Adam Fischer, who leads the superb period-instrument Danish Radio Sinfonietta in a performance that unites youthful refinement with fiery delivery, textural and textual lucidity, and just the right mood and tempo for each character's situation. He rightly turns each aria into an event while having trimmed the recitative to a minimum; compared with Leopold Hager's reading on Philips, with every note and word intact, we get a performance that is 32 minutes shorter and light years more exciting. (Harnoncourt on Teldec cuts the role of Aufidio entirely as well as a couple of important arias, and his tempos and dynamics define manic depression.)

The emotional centerpiece of the opera, if there is one, is Giunia, a high coloratura who has four lengthy arias to sing, requiring great virtuosity as well as a sense of longing and moral outrage. Her opening aria changes mood effectively as it progresses, and a scene near the first act's close in which she and the chorus weep for her father (who was killed by Silla) is truly moving. Simone Nold does a fine job with her bright tone and impeccable diction; she's well up to the challenge made by Arleen Auger (Hager) and Edita Gruberova (Harnoncourt).

Lothar Odinius is the best Silla on disc. The under-composed role (only two arias instead of four due to a last-minute cast change in Milan a week before the premiere) can be effective, and Odinius not only has the notes and coloratura, but he's capable of sounding truly nasty and sings Peter Schreier (on both other recordings cited) under the table. Cecilio is represented with Harnoncourt by Cecilia Bartoli and with Hager by Julia Varady; the latter has great authority but struggles with pitch while the former is at her most expressive, noble, varied, and outraged. Kristina Hammarström cannot match Bartoli but she is nonetheless excellent, the tone perhaps not quite dark enough at times but the intelligence and accuracy outstanding. Henriette Bonde-Hansen sings with dignity as Cinna; Susanne Elmark's Celia is sincere, loving, and shallow, much like Dawn Upshaw's for Harnoncourt. Jacob Naeslund Masden's Aufidio has a nice snarl to it.

I truly can't imagine why anyone would want to own more than one good recording of this opera, and so if you have none, this one will make you very happy. If you have the Harnoncourt, you'll need this to get a real sense of what the opera is about, and if you have the Hager, scene by scene you should be pleased. But Fischer almost turns this work into true drama, and his singers are marvelous. The sound throughout is bright and forward; the booklet contains interesting essays and a four-language libretto.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

The rich Glenn Gould discography is enlarging of a series of recordings performed by the artist between 1960 and 1963 for the television and now are presented for the frist time on disc, after a digital remastering. Glenn Gould had a personal propension for some Beethoven, specifically Variations, Op. 34 and Op. 35, of which he often performed live when he was younger. His interpretation of the two movements Adagio ma non torppo and the fuga of Sonata No. 110 are really something unique in his career as a performer and artist. These masterpieces are now available for the public and Gould fans.

World premiere recording in the DXD resolution! With this recording, 2L presents a fresh version of the most elegant violin concertos in the history of music. While respecting the origin and tradition of this music, we have sought a new and dynamic musical experience rooted in our present time.

This is indispensable for any opera collector or lover of great music. Sparkles and delights.

For anyone compiling a directory of the ‘greatest recordings’ of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra some nominations are easy to classify. Sir Thomas Beecham’s 1937/8 Berlin recording of Mozart’s The Magic Flute is certainly one of them. Originally re-mastered in 1991 it is pleasing to have this Nimbus set available in the catalogue.
 
Mozart’s The Magic Flute described as, “ An exotic fairy tale with mystical elements” ( The Penguin Concise Guide to Opera, ed. Amanda Holden, 2005) with a Masonic subplot is one of my favourite operas. I have seen several productions and last September (2009) was fortunate to attend Günter Krämer’s splendid contemporary staging at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin. Beecham’s celebrated version is a studio recording that he recorded at the Beethovensaal in Berlin principally in November 1937. Beecham had to return to Berlin in February/March 1938 for a couple more recording sessions and almost completed the score. Producer Walter Legge used a virtually all-German cast and it seems that he audaciously replaced a few members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra strategically with players from the Berlin State Opera Orchestra. The Queen of the Night’s aria O zitt’re nicht, mein lieber Sohn ( Tremble not, my dear son) was the one set-piece that had to be recorded later in March with Bruno Seidler-Winkler conducting the Berlin State Opera Orchestra. Incidentally, Beecham chose to omit the spoken dialogue and also the majority of the recitative passages. The roles of the Three Boys are taken by female singers, the sopranos Irma Beilke and Carla Spletter with Rut Berglund, a contralto.
 
It seems that Beecham’s set was the first complete recording. As far as I know it was originally issued in mid-1938 by the HMV label as part of their Mozart Opera Society series. Over four volumes, two for each act, the set comprised nineteen 78rpm records.
 
Mozart’s composition of The Magic Flute in 1791 partially overlapped with his writing of the Requiem a score he never lived to complete. A couple of months before his death the composer was to conduct the opera’s première in September 1791 at the Theatre auf der Wieden, Vienna. It was an immediate success. It is testament to Mozart’s capacity that at a time towards the end of his life, tormented by failing physical and mental health, and mounting debts that he could write music of such vital energy, japery and fantasy. The success was such that following its première the opera was staged over 230 times in its first ten years at impresario Emanuel Schikaneder’s Theatre auf der Wieden.
 
The opera gets off to a flying start with Beecham’s rousing rendition of the Overture - so light and attractive and bursting with energy. The introduction to act one is impressive. In Zu Hilfe! Zu Hilfe! ( O help me, oh help me!) after being chased by a enormous serpent a near-breathless Tamino meets the Three Ladies who emerge from a temple to kill the reptile. The Three Ladies, servants to the Queen of the Night are compelling performers, splendidly blending their well balanced tones.
 
In Papageno’s air Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja ( My profession is bird catching, you know) the highly convincing Gerhard Hüsch displays his durable baritone with bright and clear diction in a performance that just skips with freshness. I enjoyed the glorious flute playing that accompanies Papageno. In his second act air Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen ( I’d like a young wife to comfort me) Papageno is dreaming of the future, with suggestions of despondency, whilst ringing his magic bells. Here the excellent Hüsch has lowered his voice to demonstrate a smooth and dusky timbre.
 
Burning with passion Helge Roswaenge as the love-struck Tamino gives a splendid performance of her air Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön ( This image is captivating and beautiful). I was also impressed by the air Wie stark ist nicht dein Zauberton ( Now I see your powerful magic spell) where a joyous Tamino offers his gratitude to the Gods. With impressive assurance the tenor Roswaenge delivers his tender love song with vivid and penetrating enunciation, using only minimal vibrato.
 
As the Queen of the Night the girlish tones of Erna Berger would initially seem not sufficiently full for this mature and imposing character. Yet any casting reservations soon evaporate and Berger proves to be an inspired choice. In her aria O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn! ( Don’t be afraid, dear son) the soprano comes across as especially secure in her mid-top register. There is little noticeable vibrato to affect her light creamy timbre. Justly celebrated the Queen of the Night’s act two aria Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen ( My heart is afire with hellish vengeance) makes considerable coloratura demands that the impressive Berger, if a touch deliberately, surmounts with a thrilling and vehement attack.
 
Wilhelm Strienz performs Sarastro’s act two air with chorus, O Isis und Osiris ( Oh Isis and Osiris), a prayer to the Gods in the temple to bestow the spirit of wisdom on Tamino and Papageno. The bass has a wonderfully rich and mellow timbre with a compelling and menacing quality. I was impressed by Strienz’s remarkable breath control during his extended vocal line. Sarastro’s air from the second act In diesen heil'gen Hallen ( Within this holy place revenge is unknown) is calm and is movingly delivered by Strienz with a deeply resonant power. In this splendid bass aria where Sarastro forgives Pamina and comforts her it would be hard to imagine more wonderful singing.
 
In the act two air Alles fühlt der Liebe Freuden ( Everyone feels the joys of love) Monostastos the Moor creeps into the garden and lovingly gazes upon Pamina who is asleep in a moonlit arbour. As Monostastos I found Heinrich Tessmer a softly expressive and flexibly voiced tenor who certainly does not disappoint.
 
The Queen of the Night’s daughter Pamina is sung by Tiana Lemnitz. With its lyrical vocal line probably the most beautiful air in all the opera is Ach, ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden ( Ah, I feel that it has vanished) from the second act. In an affecting performance the heartbroken Pamina, yearning for Tamino, is tenderly conveyed by Tiana Lemnitz. Sounding a touch too ripe for the part the soprano’s vibrato is evident but never interferes with the enjoyment. Lemnitz’s voice has considerable weight and I noticed how she is able to rapidly glide up the top of her range where she feels most comfortable.
 
Another highlight of the set is Pamina and Papageno’s first act duet Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen ( The gentle love of man and women) where the couple sing of the bliss and selflessness of the unison of two lovers. I was struck by the combination of the appealing soprano tones of Tiana Lemnitz so wonderfully set against the rock-solid baritone of Gerhard Hüsch.
 
From act two the trio between Pamina, Sarastro and Tamino Soll ich dich, Teurer, nicht mehr sehn? ( My love when we part, will I not see you again?) contains much splendid music as well as wonderful drama. This is a splendid example of voices that are exceptionally well contrasted. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is in glowing form under Beecham’s assured direction.
 
For a seventy year old recording the sound quality, involving digital transfers from the original 78rpm discs, is remarkable. What it may lack in depth is made up for by Beecham’s sparking performance. The accompanying booklet contains two essays and a synopsis but does not include any texts. So frustratingly the listener is prevented from obtaining the full enjoyment of the performances by understanding the meaning of the carefully chosen words. This same Beecham performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute is also available on Dutton 2CDEA 5011 and Naxos 8.110127-8.
 
Certainly this classic 1937/8 Berlin recording by Beecham of The Magic Flute is indispensable for any opera collector or lover of wonderful music. Casting a bewitching spell on the listener this performance just sparkles and delights.
 
-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International

Simon Mayr was born in Bavaria but made his name in Italy. Although familiar with the Venetian two-part and Neapolitan three-part operatic overture traditions, he forged a style which at first mirrored the models of his Viennese contemporaries, then broadened out into large-scale and often virtuosic sinfonias filled with unexpected modulations and intervals and beautiful instrumental solots. Spanning a period of 25 years, the works on this recording include Raul de Crequi with its striking fugal opening, the dramatic Ercole in Lidia with its solo part for harp and Gli Americani which recalls Mozart and Beethoven.

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 58 & Symphony No. 3, Op

Classical Music

Karajan in Italy, Vol. 2

Exceptionally elegant performances from a first rate band of musicians.

Although it is for his instrumental music, primarily symphonies, string quartets and works for solo piano that Josef Haydn is most known, he was quite given to writing for voices and left behind a sizeable output of operas, twelve authenticated masses and numerous other settings of sacred texts for choir, soloists and orchestra. This program gives us his first and last words in the mass genre, one by an exuberant boy of seventeen the other by a tired and weary old man, although one could never discern the composer’s fatigue by listening to the music.

The Missa Brevis in F is a little gem of economy, with Haydn sailing through the wordy Credo in under three minutes, a feat he accomplished by stacking phrases of the text on top of one another and distributing them throughout the voice parts. The unusual scoring for only two solo voices, both sopranos might have been a vehicle for he and his brother Michael, though it does stretch belief a bit to think of a seventeen year old with an unchanged voice.

The Harmoniemesse is one of Haydn’s final works, written for the birthday celebrations of the Esterhazy Princess in 1802. The composer soon took his leave of the Esterhazy family after decades of service and although he lived another seven years, he did little composing after this period. There is no evidence in this joyful and exuberant mass that Haydn was at all ill. In fact, his later masses have been criticized over the years for their joyous optimism, and sometimes overly upbeat settings of the more reflective and serious parts of the texts. Be that as it may, this is a masterpiece, beautifully augmented by the full complement of wind instruments that give the mass its nickname of “harmonie.”

These are performances of divinely understated elegance. Singing from the choir is dead in tune and beautifully balanced. Phrases are splendidly shaped and tempo choices are spot on. The Trinity Choir is full of fine soloists, and there is some magnificent singing from sopranos Ann Hoyt and Julie Liston is the Missa Brevis. The Rebel Baroque Orchestra is a tight band of precision players. The clarity of their playing, especially in fast passages is without flaw. The one and only defect in this production is the lack of texts and translations in the booklet. The program notes are informative and interesting and not loaded with blow by blow descriptions of the music.

These are performances of almost text-book perfection and will be a delight to any lover of choral music. With really nothing to criticize, I can say nothing more but go add this fine recording to your library.

-- Kevin Sutton, MusicWeb International