There is hardly a better way to approach Ludwig van Beethoven than through his piano concertos. Beethoven’s own instrument was the piano, and in his improvisations – which made him the darling of the Viennese salons – he merged virtuosity and unbridled expression. The piano concertos give a clear idea of these performances. At the same time, they are prime examples of Beethoven’s ability to create large orchestral works with seemingly endless arcs of tension. One of the most revered artists of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, R. Schumann and Beethoven, as well for being a devotee of the piano music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and György Kurtág.

This 8 CD box set has more than 10 hours of Ben Webster's music including previously unreleased tracks. The sessions were recorded mainly during 1964-1973 in Europe, mostly in Scandinavia, and include live recordings from festivals, clubs and radio and television broadcasts. They feature Webster at Copenhagen's famous Montmartre club and other Danish locations as well as sessions from his renowned month-long residency at London's Ronnie Scott's. Completing the set are recordings from Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Germany and several tracks recorded before he left New York.

This album features many extraordinary performances of 19th Century repertoire, but it also provides a glimpse of Schuricht's advocacy of 20th century composers such as Borish Blacher and Gunter Raphael. A bonus disc featuring Schuricht in rehearsal rounds out this second portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest conductors.

After the tremendously successful first Rendez-Vous with Martha Argerich, this second volume will certainly thrill music lovers from all around the world again. For this new edition, Martha Argerich partners with high-profile musical friends such as Sylvain Cambreling, Renaud Capu�on, Charles Dutoit, Gabriela Montero, Edgar Moreau, Akane Sakai and many others in new repertoire like Mendelssohn' Second Piano Trio, or in stalwarts of her repertoire such as Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, Beethoven's 'Kreutzer' Sonata or Schumann's Kinderszenen. In total: 6 albums that will allow you to marvel at the art of Martha Argerich and her friends in state of the art new recordings.

Peter Maxwell Davies is universally acknowledged as one of the foremost composers of our time, and is currently Master of the Queen' Music.

R E V I E W S:

Die Fledermaus:
When a director and a production team have a concept for an opera production that alters the composer-librettist’s original vision, the results can vary from imaginative to hubristic expressions of a director trying to be unique—or just unusual. The concepts that work best are the ones that retain the integrity of the opera. Such is the case with this DVD of Die Fledermaus derived from performances at Glyndebourne. The action has been moved into the early 20th century, art deco simplicity has replaced 19th-century fussiness. The score remains intact, but the dialogue is new—yet it remains quite faithful to the story line. It was adapted by Stephen Lawless and Daniel Dooner, written in English, and then translated into German by Johanna Mayr. Purists are not likely to be offended by Glyndebourne’s updated Die Fledermaus, and most viewers will probably greatly enjoy this production.

The cast is a talented ensemble that excels not only as musicians but actors as well. Thomas Allen and Pamela Armstrong are wonderful as the Eisensteins. Their comic timing creates characterizations that are in equal measure sophisticated and droll. The act-II seduction with the watch is terrific. Lyubov Petrova makes the most out of Adele, the chambermaid with a mind of her own. Håkan Hagegård is an especially genial Dr. Falke, with intriguing glimpses of the anger prompting the Revenge of the Bat. Pär Lindskog makes a suitably lecherous Afredo. Special kudos to Malena Ernman in the trouser role of Prince Orlofsky. She does a convincing male impersonation complete with bushy mustache.

Udo Samel has the non-singing role of Frosch, the jailer. Frequently the role is assigned to the comedian of the day who pads the third act with a monologue of trademark shtick or topical humor. Mr. Samel introduces himself as Frosch — James Frosch. He admits his banter is intended to cover a scene change; however, this interplay with the audience has been edited from the operetta and appears as part of the Extras.

The biggest liability of Die Fledermaus is the third act. The first act lays the groundwork for the disguises and intrigues in act II. The third act serves as the dénouement, the unmasking after the splashy second-act party...Happily, this Glyndebourne production keeps affairs moving along nicely. The cast maintains the energy level from the first two acts. Quite a feat, since it appears the entire performance was done without intermissions.

Scene designer Benoit Dugardyn has created a clever set on a revolving stage...in this case the set is interesting and adapts quite well to the scenic demands of each act. A rather nifty scene change transforms the Eisenstein home into the Orlofsky ballroom. During the second act, the set frequently revolves, adding interesting dimensions and scenic interest.

Acts I and II and the Entr’acte to act III are on the first disc, act III is on the second disc, along with a number of interesting extra features and interviews. A compliment is due to television director Francesca Kemp and television producer Ross MacGibbon for the excellent transference of a stage production to home video. This video is respectful of the stage production without gimmicky distractions. There is very much a sense of being in the theater while watching....the new Glyndebourne production makes any evening New Years Eve.

David L. Kirk, FANFARE

La cenerentola
This is a conventional production of La cenerentola in most respects. The stage sets are sparsely suggestive rather than literal and detailed, but sufficient. Costumes are excellent, and Peter Hall gets superior comic acting from his principals. Timing and definition of gesture are especially good, with Di Pasquale and Alberghini making the most of their respective parts, minus any distracting add-on gags that all too often disrupt both the work’s rhythm and audience’s attention.


I have one reservation concerning Hall’s production, however: his treatment of the concertato . This Italian operatic convention completely stops the action and allows all characters on stage to express their thoughts simultaneously; which in Rossini’s comic operas invariably means stupefaction and derision. Hall exchanges conventional lighting at these instances for blue scrims, and sets his performers moving and weaving about in odd, slow motion patterns. In theory, this is interesting; in practice, I admittedly found it hard not to laugh at something Hall intended to be taken earnestly. I could only recall Eugene O’Neill’s pretentious 1929 play, Strange Interlude , with its characters given to occasional zombie-like speeches out of time, revealing their thoughts; or to Groucho Marx’s satire on it in the 1930 movie, Animal Crackers : “I see figures . . . strange figures . . . weird figures . . . Steel 186, Anaconda 74, American Can 138 . . .”. Hall’s desire to gussy up each concertato (and there are several, if you count smaller sections of otherwise standard ensembles, as Hall does) with a psychological dimension definitely raised a specter, but I don’t think Rossini had bushy eyebrows, a moustache, and a cigar. It’s possible to work up an academic thesis about the depth and seriousness of anything meant humorously, and the liner notes accompanying this release strive earnestly to accomplish this. But sometimes the light is just that—all light, no shadows; and this composer wasn’t a post-modernist.


Like most other Rossini operas, for many years La cenerentola went unperformed because of changing public tastes that in turn led to an absence of singers who could handle the parts. This was a vicious circle—for a lack of appropriate voices meant a lack of productions, and the absence of productions meant no need to train the voices. What are Rossini voices? They require the same qualities that can be found in other bel canto music: great agility, firm breath support, good enunciation, proper score-reading habits, and schooling in style. All of these qualities can be found in varying degrees in the seven performers who take a major stage part in this La cenerentola . Please note this; because if you ever doubted we’re entering a renewed age of bel canto , then a Rossini production that can boast of three basses, a tenor, two sopranos, and a mezzo, all reasonably fluent in coloratura, is surely as good an indication as any. However, I will single out only Ruxandra Donose for praise. Hers is a dusky mezzo, even in coloration, volume, and support across the registers. The voice is able to handle exacting coloratura without any aspiration or evidence of strain. Her forthright, focused attack in her final aria (“Non più mesta”) brought memories of Marilyn Horne in the 1970s; and like Horne, Donose builds her part from the text, not by working around it. A young singer with little as yet on CD or DVD, she clearly bears watching.


Jurowski is incisive, and alert to his singers’ needs. Sound is available in LPCM stereo and surround sound, while the video is offered in 16:9 anamorphic. Finally, there are subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian, as well as one of those bits-and-pieces interviews (entitled “Insights,” just in case you missed what it offered) that tries to sell a darker view of the opera. It doesn’t work, but it also doesn’t matter. This production of La cenerentola was a good one for Rossini, and the audience agreed. I think you will, too.


FANFARE: Barry Brenesal


Cosi Fan Tutte
Simply put, this widely praised Glyndebourne production is the Così we’ve been waiting for. Yes, there are plenty of alternatives. But little of the video competition has fared well on these pages. Sometimes the problems stem from the musical performance: the Pritchard-led Glyndebourne predecessor was dismissed as “largely routine” by David Kirk (29:5); the Östman was ruled out of court by Barry Brenesal, who said that the “conducting belonged to the then-new movement that found only three tempos in Mozart operas: fast, faster, fast forward” (30:4). Others were panned because of inadequate production values: Chereau’s “takes itself far too seriously,” according to Brian Robins (30:3); Bob Rose was less charitable still with Hermanns’ “simply rotten” production that, he said, “reveals the producers’ lack of understanding Mozart’s genius” (30:6). Only Muti’s Vienna production (Brenesal 32:3) and Harnoncourt’s from Zurich (Christopher Williams, 30:1) received passing grades.


So what makes this performance stand out? First, the singing of the young cast is uniformly excellent. Or perhaps not quite uniformly: as is the case with her new Susanna in Pappano’s Figaro , Miah Persson is even better than excellent, combining a gorgeous, flexible, and stunningly controlled voice (even in the most challenging coloratura passages) with her by-now familiar depth of dramatic insight. Just listen to (and watch) the solid scorn on “Come scoglio”—or, even better, the subtle variations in mood in her wrenching account of “Per pietà”—and you’ll understand why she’s my favorite Mozart soprano these days.


But the rest of the cast is nearly as good. Anke Vondung holds her own as Dorabella (certainly, a less rich part), and their voices blend extremely well. Topi Lehtipuu and Luca Pisaroni capture the emotional wobbles of the two self-deluded lovers—their ardor, their ungrounded confidence, their fury—with unerring security and luxurious tone. More than most performances, too, this one reveals a key social dynamic: the deception works in part because they’re so much sexier when their costumes allow them to abandon the constraining propriety imposed by the social conventions that normally govern their behavior. Ainhoa Garmendia is a pert, disdainful Despina who doesn’t over-camp the impersonations; and running the show tactfully is Nicholas Rivenq. An unusually attractive Don Alfonso, he’s younger and far more fit than most in this role (he looks as if he just came off the racquet-ball court), and he seems an intellectual without a trace of pedantry; you can really believe that he wants to educate these two naive friends. Iván Fischer conducts with more romantic flexibility than you often get with period-instrument orchestras—and balance (both among the singers and between stage and pit) is finely calibrated. Purely as an audio version, this would stand up to any I’ve heard.


Fortunately, Nicholas Hytner’s production is equally impressive—hardly a false step from beginning to end. In general, this staging takes the opera—arguably, Mozart’s most intellectually challenging—seriously. But the seriousness does not bring solemnity. Hytner may avoid extreme farce, but there’s plenty of wit, energy, and color throughout. More important, he doesn’t condescend to the characters: you can understand both why they’re so foolish and why they’re so torn, and the final shots (where the resolution is clearly only partial) create tremendous poignance. The sets and costumes—simple but far from austere—suggest the late 18th or early 19th century, without creating a very specific moment; and while the production doesn’t ostentatiously update the action, it stresses those aspects of character and situation that still ring true today. One point highlighted here is the bond between the sisters—indeed, one could argue that it’s really Dorabella who seduces Fiordiligi; and while there is nothing louche or tasteless in the presentation of their relationship, it’s obvious that they have a strong erotic link. Not that there’s any lack of heterosexual electricity—as a result, the final scene, where nearly every possible pairing seems highly charged, is as smoldering as any you’ll see. Yet aside from one or two moments, the sex is handled with tact: the performance is hardly prudish, but it’s never aggressive either.


The Blu-ray video quality is stunning: you can see each leaf on the salads that our heroines are eating in act I. The 5.0 channel PCM is excellent as well. And while the extras are nothing special, both the conductor and the director offer intelligent insights into the opera. Two numbers are omitted, No. 7 (the duet “Al fato dan legge”) and No. 24 (Ferrando’s “Ah, io veggio”), but that’s a minor issue. All in all, if this doesn’t make it to my next Want List, we’ve got quite a year in store for us.


FANFARE: Peter J. Rabinowitz

Marking the centenary of his birth, this 17-CD box celebrates the long life and passionate, exotic music of this treasured French composer (who was also one of the greatest organists and pianists of his time). His rich romanticism and rhythmically complex creations depict what he called "the marvelous aspects of the faith" (he was a devout Roman Catholic); the artists here who tackle his complete organ works, piano works and songs include Willem Tanke, Peter Hill, Ingrid Kappelle and Hakon Austbo. Festivals worldwide are currently honoring Messiaen's legacy; join them as you hear L'Ascension; La Nativite Du Seigneur; Les Corps Glorieux; Livre D'Orgue; Messe de la Pentecote; Meditations Sur Le Mystere de la Sainte Trinite; Livre Du Saint Sacrement; Petites Esquisses D'Oiseaux; Visions de L'Amen; Harawi Chants D'Amour Et de la Mort; Chants de Terre Et de Ciel; Poems Pour Mi Premier Livre, and more!

J.S. Bach: Complete Organ Music, Vol. 1, Composer Johann Sebastian Bach, Artist Stefano Molardi organ, Format 4 CD, Stefano Molardi is shaping his recorded survey of Bach's complete organ music as self-sufficient and musically satisfying recitals which, disc by disc, explore the diverse styles at the composer's disposal, the flexible usage to which he, the ultimate 'compleat musician', puts 'his' instrument through it's paces, and the different liturgical demands which he was required to meet during the course of his career as he moved from church to court and back again. Grand Weimar- and Leipzig-composed preludes and fugues rub shoulders with intricate trio sonatas which he had initially conceived as chamber music, and between them nestle intimate chorales from his C�then days. Accordingly, Molardi makes full use of the potential flexibility of his chosen Trost organ in the Stadtkirche 'Zur Gotteshilfe' in Waltershausen, deep in the provincial heart of Thuringia. This is Bach country, and although the organ has been periodically restored since it was finally inaugurated in 1755, almost 30 years after the work was begun, it retains the classic characteristics of it's age and situation: a thorough restoration in 1998 returned the instrument to it's original glory. Born in Cremona, Molardi has undertaken a Renaissance career as not only organist but harpsichordist, conductor and scholar, not only at home in the rarified confines of early music but a virtuoso who has performed the complete organ works of Liszt and Franck and made an extraordinary recording of Verdi arranged for organ. These Bach discs are, perhaps appropriately, less overtly spectacular but no less imaginative in their rhythmic and coloristic response. A new recording (2013) of Bach's complete organ works is, even in these overfed and crisis-stricken days, an event of the first order. First of all because the music is of such overwhelming beauty and power, one of the greatest creations of humanity, and secondly because there is still so much to discover and illuminate in these works. These recordings are based on the choice of instruments: organist Stefano Molardi chose German instruments from Bach's time, lending an authentic character to the project. This first set features the wonderful Trost Organ of the Stadtkirche Zur Gotteshilfe in Waltershausen, Thuringia, built in 1725 and gloriously restored in 1998. Stefano Molardi is a "renaissance man", organist, harpsichordist, scholar, historian and writer. He recorded extensively for Divox, DGG and other labels. His playing is clear, crisp, free and rhythmically vibrant. The CD's are programmed like concerto programs, a fine diversity of genres and styles, to avoid monotony and uniformity.

With this set, RICERCAR is beginning the rerelease of one of the jewels in its catalogue: the large collection devoted to sacred music of the German Baroque. Each set will group pieces by theme, the first being devoted to music for Passiontide, Easter and funeral cantatas. This long page in the history of music stretches from Schütz to Bach with the first release of a highly moving live recording of Bach's Johannes Passion by Les Agrémens and the Chamber Chorus of Namur conducted by Guy van Waas.

DELIBES Lakmé • Richard Bonynge, cond; Joan Sutherland ( Lakmé ); Isobel Buchanan ( Ellen ); Jennifer Berminghan ( Rose ); Huguette Tourangeau ( Mallika ); Rosina Raisbeck ( Miss Bentson ); Henri Wilden ( Gérald ); Graeme Ewer ( Hadji ); John Pringle ( Frédérick ); Clifford Grant ( Nilakantha ); Australian Op Ch; Elizabethan Sydney O • OPERA AUSTRALIA OPOZ56012 (2 CDs: 149:05) Live: Sydney 8/18/1976


In 1976, Australian Opera (now known as Opera Australia), with the help of the Australian Broadcasting Company, began filming operas and concerts for broadcast on television and radio. Many of these productions were eventually released for home video. It was believed that three productions featuring Joan Sutherland, Lakmé, Lucrezia Borgia , and Norma , were lost. They were eventually found after a six-year search but, according to the accompanying CD booklet, were in terrible shape because of poor storage. The booklet recounts the difficult process of preserving and restoring these tapes.


Had Opera Australia not recounted the history of this recording, I would not have known that there ever was a problem of any kind. The sound is excellent for a live recording, though somewhat boxy, lacking in atmosphere. The notes refer to “blank gaps resulting from countless audio drop-outs” for which matching material had to be found and spliced in. The restoration, as far as I am concerned, is completely successful.


The question then arises, was all that effort worthwhile? If we lacked a recorded memorial of Sutherland’s Lakmé, or if we had only an inferior recording of Sutherland in the role, then this recording would be an invaluable addition to the catalog.


Opera Australia’s production is generally a very good one. It has two outstanding portrayals. Sutherland is very good as Lakmé, coping easily with the difficult Bell Song in act II, as one would expect. It must be admitted, however, that she neither sounds nor looks (as the booklet picture shows) like a girl of the age she is portraying. Clifford Grant is excellent as Nilakantha, his dark, steady voice making a perfect fit for the role. Henri Wilden is an ardent and believable Gérald, although his voice lacks the elegance and ease of his recorded competition. John Pringle is a sympathetic, steady Frédérick, and the minor roles are taken adequately (Rosina Raisbeck) or better (everyone else).


Sutherland recorded Lakmé for Decca in 1967. She was in steadier voice at the time of the Decca recording than she was nine years later for Opera Australia, though the difference is not substantial and much of it could be the difference between studio and live recordings. In almost every other role, I prefer the Decca cast to the Opera Australia one. Alain Vanzo sings with great beauty of tone and fervor in a totally successful portrayal of Gérald. I prefer Jane Berbié (Decca) as Mallika, where she sounds more youthful and fresher of voice than Opera Australia’s Huguette Tourangeau, familiar from many Sutherland recordings. Honors are evenly split between Gabriel Bacquier (Decca) and Clifford Grant as Nilakantha and between Claud Calès (Decca) and John Pringle as Frédérick. Monica Sinclair is a definite improvement over Rosina Raisbeck as Miss Bentson.


There is little evidence that Richard Bonynge’s conception of the opera had changed over the nine years between recordings, although he does seem a bit surer in his handling of the orchestra in the Opera Australia performance. Orchestra and chorus perform very well. The sonic balance of the present recording places the orchestra front and center though in no way overpowering the singers, while the Decca recording has a more-balanced perspective.


In both recordings, Bonynge uses an edition of the score in which some dialogue is set as recitative. Joel Kasow discussed a similar edition used by Michel Plasson in his recording ( Fanfare 22:4). The live recording contains some cuts; perhaps these are the result of damage to the original tape that could not be restored. The audience is generally quiet except for applause at all the expected places.


In a bit of sloppy editing, the CD booklet omits the track list and timings for act III. There is no libretto, just track list and timings for the first two acts, along with a synopsis of the action and an article on the restoration process in English, French, and German.


This is unlikely to be anyone’s first choice for a recording of Lakmé . However, for those who enjoy live-performance recordings, this set can be a valuable supplement to one of the studio recordings.


FANFARE: Ron Salemi

Classical Music

Especially in his late sonatas, Leopold Kozeluch’s keyboard music belongs no less to the quickly evolving cultural landscape of late 18th- and early 19th-century Vienna than the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. It can even at times be hard to tell which composer influenced whom; Kozeluch is his own man, not gifted in the final analysis with Beethoven’s feeling for dramatic expression, Mozart’s subtlety of formal innovation or Schubert’s melodic inspiration, but sharing a portion of these qualities while bringing to the table something of his own, not least a mood of deceptive simplicity which belongs to the world of his native Bohemia. Kozeluch (1747-1818) seems to have worked with uncommon ease and fluidity, in command of all the technical possibilities of his instrument, writing in the popular galant style and testing both performer and instrument with moto perpetuo passagework, double trills, sudden contrasts and, in the minor-key sonatas, a brooding chromaticism that belongs to the most powerful expressions of Sturm und Drang. In the hands of Kozeluch, as in those of all fine composers, they produce a musical whole that seems far greater than the sum of its parts; and, as in the creations of all geniuses, there is a profundity that cannot be explained merely by description of the processes at work. Jenny Soonjin Kim is a specialist in performances of Classical-era repertoire on instruments of the period. For this recording she performs on a modern copy of an Anton Walter fortepiano from Vienna in 1795.

Both on the concert platform and in the recording studio, pianist Daniel-Ben Pienaar is a completist. Following complete cycles of piano sonatas by Beethoven and Mozart, he presents 12 Great Piano Sonatas by Franz Schubert – the composer’s 11 finished sonatas and the seminal fragment D840. Pienaar relishes in these revelatory works, their extraordinarily detailed possibilities of characterisation, their call for immense energy and abandon, and navigating the vast dreamscapes that unfold in the course of this six-hour musical journey. “dazzling precision and clarity ... he communicates an individual and convincing vision for each piece, enough for every one of them to give delight. Brilliant.” (Gramophone, Editor’s Choice on The Long 17th Century) “dizzying virtuosity ... fresh, spontaneous, original readings that shed new light on the keyboard player’s Bible” (BBC Music Magazine on J. S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier)

 

REVIEW:

 

These readings for me capture the spirit of Schubert’s piano style. It is only when you set Pienaar next to the established greats that he lacks something in presence and imagination, but only by a small degree. His playing is at once natural and sympathetic, and blessedly free of artifice. It is also necessary to qualify my generalization that Pienaar’s approach is lively and alert. He recognizes the greater ambition and amplitude of the opus posthumous sonatas and changes his approach accordingly.

 

– Fanfare

The Danish King Frederik IX's preoccupation with music must be described as atypical, in fact, unique for a member of a royal house, since it is hardly possible to cite other examples of ruling monarchs whose favorite pastime was orchestral conducting. As a conductor Frederik IX, although self-taught, favored technically difficult challenges in the great symphonic repertoire, in particular music from Wagner's operas, gave the King's unusual musical activities a certain aura. This limited edition set celebrates two very unique King/orchestra relationship, namely King Frederik IX's close affiliation with the Royal Danish Orchestra and Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

This 5-disc set features four outstanding 20th century conductors, William Steinberg (1899-1978), Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960), Igor Markevitch (1912-83) and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (b. 1931) thrillingly directing several Great Choral Classics of the 19th century, including Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Verdi’s Requiem. Sopranos Galina Vishnevskaya and Dame Janet Baker, among other stellar singers, feature prominently in these performances.