I’ve noticed quite a few new saxophone discs filtering into the classical market place recently which, given the previous dearth of decent repertoire for this instrument in the past, has got to be a cause for celebration. The Japanese virtuoso Nobuya Sugawa has been responsible for a lot of it, and his seemingly unquenchable thirst for exploration of his chosen instrumental family continues unabated.

The present release is very nicely programmed, starting with two premiere recordings of works written for him by fellow countrymen, and concluding with two repertoire pieces with strong links.

The two familiar works were written within a year of each other and both come from that heady 1930s period of Stravinskian neo-classicism. Both were commissioned by Sigurd Rascher and both featured in the repertory of the influential French teacher and pioneer Marcel Mule. There are textural and rhythmic similarities but both have their own stamp of individuality. The Ibert is actually for soprano sax and 11 instruments, giving it a transparent, occasionally jazz-like feel. It’s a short, engagingly colourful work typical of its composer, and it’s no surprise that it crops up many times in competitions and student practical exams. The dreamy central larghetto is memorable, especially given Sugawa’s honeyed tone and supple phrasing.

The Larsson Concerto has a bit more backbone and sinew, though still only accompanied by string orchestra. The spirit of France hovers again here, with a Poulenc-like first subject and a motoric allegro scherzando finale that is thrillingly played by all here. It’s a slightly more serious work, but still full of life, vigour and contrast.

The two other concertos maybe of more interest to the curious and both explore the familiar traits of the instrument as well as taking it to further boundaries. In the booklet note written by the respective composers, fellow-saxophonist Honda writes that he was ‘entrusted with the task of writing a concerto that would represent a tribute to jazz…’vent’ is the French word for wind, so please think of the Concerto du vent as a Concerto of the wind’. It does have a pleasingly ‘open air’ quality to the melodic line, with Sugawa given plenty of opportunity to play ‘around’ the phrase – not strictly improvising but using portamento and blue note phrases to embellish the chords in a jazzy fashion. It works quite well, linking nicely with the older pieces, and is again given stunning advocacy, but I’m not quite sure Honda knows what sort of piece this is, so maybe we don’t. It’s certainly undemanding listening and doesn’t particularly outstay its welcome.

Sugawa has collaborated with Yoshimatsu before on the 1994 Cyber Bird Concerto, and Chandos continue their championing of this composer with this latest premiere. Using once again soprano sax, this strikes me as an eclectic work, having a moody, post-Takemitsu Impressionistic first movement - which clearly suits this instrument’s timbral character - some wilder, Berio-like improvisatory shrieks around 3:45 and 7:50 into track 2 before going off into some fairly predictable blues/ jazz doodlings around 6:05 –a homage to Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’? – before dissolving into Garbarek territory towards the end. Again, it cleverly explores the instrument’s unique and versatile sonorities without being especially memorable or groundbreaking; in fact, at times we seem to be in a world of background mood music, but it is superbly performed and recorded.

Altogether, an interesting survey that will be welcomed by those with a liking for this sort of repertoire.

-- Tony Haywood, MusicWeb International

This is the second disc of Moeran's work this month on the Chandos Classics label. The performances under one of the masters of British music are quite superb, and the rich Chandos recording is well up to the best vintage standards for which these Ulster recordings were famous. Recorded in: Ulster Hall, Belfast 7-9 Septemer 1987 (Symphony and Overture), 8-11 March 1988 (Rhapsody) Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Philip Couzens (Assistant: Symphony and Overture) Ben Connellan (Assistant: Rhapsody)

Classical Music

Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 4 & 5

The third volume of the complete orchestral works by Robert Schumann features the Cello Concerto and the 2nd version of the Symphony in d, two major works composed and revised during Schumann’s time as music director in Duesseldorf. + In both works, the movements of the classical model merge into one another without interruption. + Heinz Holliger's interpretations draw on a life-long study of Schumann's oeuvre, thought, personality and fate. + His approach imparts lightness and lucidity to these opulent scores, rectifying the widespread image of this romantic composer as a weak orchestrator.

Mozart: Flute Concertos Nos. 1, 2 & Clarinet Concerto

Miaskovsky: Cello Concerto, Op. 66 & Cello Sonatas

Quirkily entertaining, here is Rota the clown on display with effervescent lampooning music.

Nino Rota’s quirky, eccentric Concerto soirée was written shortly after his film score for La dolce vita. Unsurprisingly the music is reminiscent of Rota’s comedy film scores. In fact the music of the concluding Can-can was used later in the film 8½. Gerald Larner, who contributes the notes to this album succinctly describes it as “a piano concerto written in the spirit of Rossini’s Soirée musicales”. Clearly this is not a Late-Romantic Concerto played in the grand manner but an informal playful work constructed as if it were almost an extemporisation. The opening movement marked, Valser-Fantasia is a waltz with Chopinesque figuration but lampooned by the orchestra. The central Romanza meanders introspectively with some Arabian-style woodwinds before the piano turns skittish; it’s all as if some sad clown is wandering across the musical landscape. A slapstick Quadrille follows and the music here reminds one of the insouciance of Poulenc. The Can-can taken at the gallop concludes this entertaining romp. Rota presents his interpreters challenges of sudden changes of mood, harmonic twists and rhythms all of which are surmounted with enthusiastic dexterity by Barry Douglas and the orchestra.

The quirky mood of the Concerto soirée is sustained, in the main, in Rota’s Divertimento concertante for double-bass and orchestra. Rota makes full expressive use of the instrument’s wide range covering nearly four octaves with harmonics extending its upper range even further. The opening movement is capricious in character now solemn, now asinine. The clowning continues into a comedic march that is the second movement with the soloist pompously trying to impose some sort of dignity on the surrounding chaos. The more serious central Andante has a calming influence with the double-bass in a more lyrical mood; the central section is reminiscent of a Tchaikovsky ballet. The concluding movement is back in sprightly, quirkiness again with a tussle between soloist and taunting woodwind.

Rota’s brief Third Symphony is less serious than its two predecessors (see review). Its lighter character is set in a neo-classical style. The opening Allegro is a brisk ‘open-air’ frolic. Written in the mid-1950s it is again reminiscent of film music although in this first movement one might detect a hint of Hitchcock in sardonic mood as well as broader hints of Italian film humour. The Adagio is altogether more serious and treads a rather darker path in personal introspection - possibly alluding to a personal loss? There is stormy passion and a depth of feeling here we have not encountered so far in this sunlit album. The third movement scherzo is cast in neo-classical style and lilts happily along to a lovely poignant Trio melody. A Vivace con spirito finale rounds off this symphony in comic style once more.

Quirkily entertaining, here is Rota the clown on display with effervescent lampooning music.

-- Ian Lace, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

Carlo Grante is one of the most active and accomplished performing and recording artists of his generation. His concert performances feature a broad repertoire: recently, under the direction of conductor Fabio Luisi, he performed Franz Schmidt's Concertante Variationen with the MDR Orchestra of Leipzig at the Gewandhaus;.

March's Disc of the Month sees Howard Shelley, recently awarded an OBE for his services to music, conduct the Orchestra of Opera North from the piano. In this his latest recording for Chandos Shelley turns his attention to three popular concertos in the piano repertoire: Robert Schumann's only completed piano concerto, Grieg's single piano concerto and Saint- Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor. These authoritative performances shed new light on three wellloved works, brought together on one disc for the first time. Shelley elucidates his revelatory approach to the works: 'Ever since I first fell in love with Schumann's Piano Concerto in my early teens, I have been intrigued and slightly puzzled by the tradition of slowing the fourth bar of the Allegro affettuoso first movement to what is effectively no more than an Andante, even though there is no indication of any tempo shift in the score. A metronome marking of 84 to the minim, taken from Schumann's manuscript, is given in almost all editions of this work, reducing only to 72 to the dotted minim for the central Andante espressivo section. These are extraordinarily fast basic tempos. There are similar issues in the second movement - a surprisingly fast metronome mark, suggesting perhaps a lighter lyricism than we are sometimes used to, especially in the big cello melody - and also in the first movement of Saint-Saëns's Second Concerto, which is often taken at about half its marked speed. As for Grieg's Concerto, we are fortunate to have Percy Grainger's very informative and detailed notes on the piece, as he discussed it with the composer. Elsewhere he points out that Grieg's tempos were generally faster than when others played the piece. These are some of the considerations which have led to the interpretations on this recording. Directing a highly responsive orchestra from the keyboard has also allowed me great freedom in realising my ideas.'

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

Review:

The Estonian strings sing their hearts out…the woodwind solos are very lovely, too. Viola-player Mikhail Zemtsov impresses with the sheer beauty of tone.

– BBC Music Magazine

-----

This album with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and its artistic director, Neeme Järvi, features two mature works by Bohuslav Martinu, recorded in the splendid acoustic of the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn.

One of the most wide-ranging composers of music for the stage, Martinu was also enthusiastic about the theatrical possibilities of including new media in his operas. Špalícek in many ways belongs to this experimental tendency. Although it was published and billed at its first performance as a ballet, it might best be described as an opera-ballet, as alongside the many dances there are extensive roles for chorus as well as tenor, soprano, and bass soloists. Martinu described the work on his manuscript as deriving from folk games, customs, and fairytales.

The lyrical Rhapsody-Concerto was written in 1952, at a time when Martinu was fighting homesickness and depression, worsened by the political situation in his native Czechoslovakia. The work is a marked move toward a more romantic sound world. The soloist here is Mikhail Zemtsov, principal violist of the Residentie Orchestra The Hague since 2001 and a prize winner at the first International Viola Competition (Vienna) and the Elisa Meyer String Competition (Hamburg).

The exploration by Järvi and the ENSO of hidden gems from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has proved highly successful, their recent recording of works by Suchon awarded the Choc de Classica

Bach, J.S.: Zufriedengestellte Aolus (Der) / Keyboard Concer

"These works are like rare stones. You have to find them but once found they shine brilliantly." - Joanna Kurkowicz

This is Volume 2 in Chandos’ series devoted to the published violin concertos of Grazyna Bacewicz who was regarded by Witold Lutoslawski as ‘a distinguished Polish composer of the twentieth century and one of the foremost women composers of all time’. Bridging the gap between the neo-romanticism of Karol Szymanowski and the modernism of Witold Lutoslawski, she deserves much wider recognition than she has received to date outside her native Poland.

Mozart: Sinfonia concertante, K. 364 & Violin Concerto No. 5

Historic Concert Performances

Baiba Skride is not just one of the most sought-after artists when it comes to finding a soloist for one of the great violin concertos. She is also much in demand for chamber music. This makes her ideal for her new recording, her first on the ORFEO label, devoted to the work of Johannes Brahms. It is a highly promising start to our collaboration with this First-Prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2001. Besides Brahms's Violin Concerto, she here offers his Hungarian Dances in the version for violin and piano made by Joseph Joachim. The long-standing musical partnership of Brahms and Joachim is reflected doubly here, for Joachim was also the dedicatee of the Concerto. Baiba Skride's Brahms interpretations are themselves characterized by happy musical constellations. In Sakari Oramo she has a conductor who is himself a violinist and who offers the appropriate momentum with the Royal Philharmonic in Stockholm. One clearly hears the energy and vigour with which every instrumental grouping plays. Thus the great arch of the work is perfectly formed, from the solo interjections (not just from the violin!) to the symphonic dialogue between the partners. The chamber-music intimacy of the Hungarian Dances could not be achieved more powerfully or more beautifully than in Baiba Skride's tried-and-tested duo partnership with her sister Lauma Skride at the piano. Unhindered by the "pianistic" violin part with its many double stoppings, Baiba develops an ensemble that is in tempo and in its gestures carefully moulded with the piano. The piano may have what is clearly an accompanying part, and Lauma Skride certainly adapts to her sister's playing in an unpretentious manner, but nor is her part understated. The result is a performance of these atmospheric dances that is at times resilient and fiery, at other times melodic, gentle and smooth. They belong just as much to Brahms's art as do the formal stringency and unity we find in his large-scale works - and it is all the lovelier when we find all of this on a single CD recording.

Years ago it seemed that Szymanowski's music was the property of Polish musicians, as little of it ventured outside Poland. As to the violin concertos, it was Thomas Zehetmair with Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony who broke the mold for many of us. Their EMI recording still holds a special place in the recorded literature of the composer. Yet here we have a terrific violinist accompanied by an equally superb orchestra and conductor who easily challenges that recording.

Szymanowski dedicated both of these concertos to Polish violinist Paul Kochanski, who encouraged the composer to write them and championed them until his death in 1933. He worked closely with Szymanowski on the violin parts. The First Violin Concerto shows the influence of Debussy and early Stravinsky in its exotic and rather impressionistic nature. Szymanowski based the work on a poem by Tadeusz Mici?ski, "May Night", though without any detailed musical programme. It has a nocturne-like atmosphere when it begins and then grows into something dynamic and ecstatic before evaporating pianissimo, "as if with the muted voices of the night", so described by Sebastian Strauss in his excellent notes to the CD. Where Zehetmair and Rattle brought out the Debussian elements well in their recording, Skride and Petrenko are bolder and more dynamic. Skride has a vast range of colours in her violin tone and Petrenko provides very detailed accompaniment. Both violinists are well integrated with their orchestral counterparts, but with Skride and Petrenko the listener is more aware of the intricate detail of the composition. Some of this is due to the clearer and more present recording, but mostly it is the artists whose interpretative focus is different. Both are valid approaches to the First Violin Concerto. With Skride and Petrenko I am reminded of Stravinsky's Firebird, rather than Debussy. That's not to say that the unique character of Szymanowski is in the least slighted. The concertos represent the composer at his mature best. It is interesting that stylistically he did not travel all that far sixteen years later when he penned the Second Violin Concerto, even with its allusions to the folk music of the Tatra Mountains.

There is a lesser difference of approach in the two accounts of the Violin Concerto No. 2, where the folk elements are made apparent, even if the orchestral texture is dense at times. Nonetheless, Skride and Petrenko are that much bolder and the recording allows one to appreciate the orchestral part better than with Rattle. The Oslo Philharmonic plays wonderfully throughout both works and I continue to be hugely impressed with Vasily Petrenko whose selection of repertoire continues to bring out his strengths. I am a real fan of his Shostakovich and it is now hoped he will perform more Szymanowski. As for Baiba Skride, her recording two years earlier of the Frank Martin and Stravinsky violin concertos quickly has become one of my favourite discs - especially for the Martin work which had not received its due before that. I find it amazing how quietly Skride creeps in at the beginning of Szymanowski's First Violin Concerto with a silvery tone and then can turn this into something intense and lustrous later in that work and throughout the Second Violin Concerto. With her fabulous technique I am sure we will be hearing a great deal from her as she records pieces that demand to be heard, rather than doing only the warhorses on which so many violinists today have earned their reputations. Patricia Kopatchinskaja is another such violinist who has demonstrated that doing modern repertoire well enhances one's reputation more than just playing it safe with the chestnuts of the past.

If the two concertos on this disc were not enough to convince me of her extraordinary talent, Baiba Skride supplements these with the perfect "filler", the Myths for violin and piano. Here she is accompanied on the piano by her sister, Lauma. The three Myths with their titles of "The Fountain of Arethusa", "Narcissus" and "Dryads and Pan" respectively, are clearly impressionistic with piano writing that recalls Debussy in its delicate filigree. Szymanowski composed them the year before the Violin Concerto No. 1 and some of the violin writing, in particular the high register of the opening of "The Fountain of Arethusa", can also be found in the violin concerto. The harmony in the second Myth, "Narcissus", on the other hand, is also reminiscent of Ravel. The last of the Myths, "Dryads and Pan", is virtuosic and whimsical and sounds less like Debussy or Ravel - more like the Szymanowski of the concertos. I compared this recording with another favourite, the reissued disc of these works with Isabelle Faust and Ewa Kupiec on Harmonia Mundi that I reviewed here last year. Where Faust and Kupiec are more direct in their interpretation, the Skrides show greater tonal and dynamic variety. Their tempi are also varied more than the formers. There is not all that much in it and I would not want to be without either account. The deciding factor comes down to the particular couplings. Faust and Kupiec contribute first-rate performances of Jana?ek's Violin Sonata and Lutos?awski's Partita and Subito on their CD.

For an all-Szymanowski programme, this current one will be hard to equal. Indeed, the artists have set a new standard for the violin concertos. Lauma Skride is as impressive in her role as her sister is, so a recording of Szymanowski's piano music would be welcome from her at any time.

I have reviewed many superb recordings this year, but none finer than this one. It should appear high on my list of Recordings of the Year.

– Leslie Wright, MusicWeb International

The life and work of Christian Ernst Graf (1723-1804) remains largely unexplored - a striking fact given the outstanding quality of the works that have been re-discovered and recorded. Little is known about Christian Ernst's life in his birth town Rudolstadt before he moved to the Netherlands. In the 1750s, he became a composer at the court of Princess Anna van Hannover (1709-1759), widow of stadtholder Willem IV (1711-1751), and at the Court of His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange. Graf's compositional idiom is characterized by an almost modern sensibility and inventiveness, both expressive and brilliant in style - qualities that are apparent in the two violoncello concertos presented on this SACD. Like Marin Marais in his viola da gamba pieces, Graf explored the virtuosic possibilities of the violoncello to its limits. Founded in 1983 as one of the earliest German early music ensembles, L'arpa festante has developed an outstanding reputation. One of the ensemble's main interests is the rediscovery and historically informed performance of forgotten works from the 17th Century and the Classical era as well as the symphonic and oratorio repertoire of the Romantic era.

This recording contains the piano concertos of Maurice Ravel and a piece for piano and orchestra by Florent Schmitt, performed by pianist Vincent Larderet, the OSE Symphonic Orchestra, and conductor Daniel Kawka. Vincent Larderet's performance of Ravel's piano concertos is marked by careful adherence to the original score and respect for the composer's markings, while at the same time, liberating it from certain habits of interpretation. Florent Schmitt's reputation as a composer rivaled Ravel's during his life time, though his music has now inexplicably and unjustifiably fallen into obscurity. The restoration of an extraordinary musical score may contribute to the rehabilitation of one of the greatest French composers of his generation.

A compilation of early orchestral works by the Polish contemporary composer, Krzysztof Meyer in performances that showcase both his incorporation of modernistic techniques such as the twelve tone system, and his allegiance to traditional classical structures.

Paganini & Sibelius: Violin Concertos

Classical Music

These are the original analogue tapes, which attain an astonishingly high quality, even measured by today‘s standards, with their tape speed of up to 76 cm/sec. The remastering – professionally competent and sensitively applied – also uncovers previously hidden details of the interpretations.

The conductor Leo Blech and the pianist Julian von Károlyi, whose live performance of the Chopin Second Piano Concerto given at the Berlin Titania Palast in 1950 is documented on this CD, are nowadays ranked amongst the greatest but unjustly forgotten interpreters of the twentieth century. Blech, whose sophisticated mature reading of Schubert’s Symphony in C major, “The Great”, can also be admired on this recording, had been a leading German conductor since 1908 until he was pushed out of his post by the Nazis in 1933, due to his Jewish faith, and was forced to emigrate. Károlyi, a leading pianist of his generation in the 1950s, was later accused of being routine-driven. His masterful Chopin interpretation demonstrates, however, that his ability to combine musicianship and virtuosity is exemplary even today.

The production is part of our series „Legendary Recordings“ and bears the quality feature „1st Master Release“. This term stands for the excellent quality of archival productions at audite. For all historical publications at audite are based, without exception, on the original tapes from broadcasting archives. In general these are the original analogue tapes, which attain an astonishingly high quality, even measured by today‘s standards, with their tape speed of up to 76 cm/sec. The remastering – professionally competent and sensitively applied – also uncovers previously hidden details of the interpretations. Thus, a sound of superior quality results. CD publications based on private recordings from broadcasts or old shellac records cannot be compared with these.