Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

This is a Mahler Third where nobody puts a foot wrong anywhere: conductor, orchestra, or the recording team. Yet it's executed with the kind of wild abandon that's so necessary to the success of the earlier movements. Delos provides an aural canvas that's perfectly balanced between the four principal sections of the orchestra.


There was a time when new recordings of Mahler symphonies were major events, eagerly anticipated by the Mahler faithful, propagated by specialist conductors and orchestras steeped in the style. Now new recordings arrive seemingly every month, and everybody's doing it. This is often considered to be a Bad Thing in classical music circles because it supposedly deadens the senses to the unique qualities of each interpretation, and reduces the significance of the release itself. There may be some truth to this. On the other hand, the reasons why Mahler has become so popular, both live and on disc, are perfectly reasonable. He's one of the few composers who can sell out a concert without the need to hire a "big name" concerto soloist or conductor. Because most of his symphonies are very long and fill an entire evening, they are actually in some respects easier to rehearse and play well than a more varied program. Finally, as arguably the greatest symphonic orchestrator that ever lived, musicians simply love to play him, and usually give him their best shot. Here is a case in point.

This new Mahler Third from Litton and his Dallas Orchestra may well be the best integrated view of the work, as a totality, ever to have come along. First off, it offers absolutely the finest vocal treatment the piece has ever received. Nathalie Stutzman is a genuine, dark toned contralto, and sings the fourth movement's Nietszche text with an "earth mother" brand of heaviness that's powerfully, hypnotically appropriate. The Texas Boys Choir just might be the best from anywhere on the planet, and Litton doesn't underplay the short orchestral interlude wedged into the middle of the same "bim-bam" fifth movement, as is sometimes the case. Though these are the shortest movements of the whole work, the care with which they are presented really is typical of the whole performance.

At 32 minutes long, the expeditionary first movement receives a raucous, unbridled performance that's similar to Esa-Pekka Salonen's up-tempo Los Angeles account (Sony), yet Litton never lets the major key "happy" march sound rushed, or bogs down the slower sections in funereal murk. The short development section that Mahler referred to as "the rabble" or "the southern storm" is completely unbuttoned but precisely played, with rushing strings, crackling percussion, and spectacular brass. The entire final, five minute reprise leading to the movement's coda is as perfectly played as it ever has been, by anyone. Solid trombone solo too. After that, the second movement receives, for my money, its best recorded performance ever, with Litton making a much stronger contrast between fast and slow sections than usual, and proving that the Dallas Symphony's strings are as adept as its brass and winds.

The third movement Scherzo starts out simply enough (nice, forwardly placed woodwinds), but things really pick up when the double basses and cellos dig in hard at the first meter change at about one minute into the movement. Litton takes his time with the famous posthorn solo (played on trumpet), but it's well worth lingering over as McDermott Hall has a special antechamber designed for offstage wind and percussion parts. As a result, the solo sounds like it's reverberating from "everywhere", yet it's also perfectly clear--thus realizing Mahler's sound picture to a tee. The coda to the Scherzo is sensational, with tons of harp, and with Litton's willingness to let the brass really take their time paying hugely atmospheric dividends. The last movement Adagio receives a long and lyrical treatment (exactly 26 minutes), superbly sustained by the strings, and with all of its climaxes gauged so as to offer no hint of strain or ugliness from the brass. The final brass chorale and closing pages really are executed with precisely the kind of "saturated, noble" sound that Mahler asks for, trumpets dominant but never shrill. Even the last note is held for just the right amount of time--not too long, not too short either.

This is a Mahler Third where nobody puts a foot wrong anywhere: conductor, orchestra, or the recording team. Yet it's executed with the kind of wild abandon that's so necessary to the success of the earlier movements. Delos provides an aural canvas that's perfectly balanced between the four principal sections of the orchestra. Neither is their "Virtual Reality" sound analytical or contrived in any way. Packaged in a slim line double case and priced two discs for the price of one, this new comer from Dallas easily enters the pantheon of great Mahler Third recordings, alongside Bernstein, the first Haitink, Levine, Salonen, and Kubelik.

We live without a doubt in a Mahlerian "Golden Age," and taken in tandem with their recent excellent "Resurrection" Symphony, Litton and Dallas are certainly on a roll. Mahler may have become the "common coin" of today's orchestral experience, but there's nothing common in what Litton and his band have achieved here. They offer a blend of fine playing and freshly idiomatic interpretation that is never for one second less than world class. Play this newcomer, and it will open your ears.

--Barry Guerrero, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Also available on Blu-ray

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REVIEWS:

The Azerbaijani soprano Dinara Alieva, a Bolshoi soloist since 2010, is better known for her Russian – rather than Italian – repertoire, but sings most prettily as Magda. There’s a rich darkness to her voice, especially in Doretta’s Dream, but there is also an attractive lighter quality later on which is very appealing. Her acting isn’t a strength, regularly outshone by Alexandra Hutton’s sparky performance as her feisty maid Lisette. Charles Castronovo’s Ruggero moons around with puppy-dog eyes and matinee-idol good looks – a perfect role for his lyric tenor. Alvaro Zambrano provides a good contrast, a vibrant Prunier, if lacking a true legato. He and Hutton work well as the comic pair who reunite before the leading couple part as the opera closes. Roberto Rizzi Brignoli occasionally indulges Puccini’s score with a little too much rubato but draws rich playing from the Berlin strings. An understated, stylish production, which could win round some of Rondine’s critics.

– Gramophone

This, Puccini’s stepchild opera—once called “the day off of a genius”—used to be a rarity. Against all better judgment, however, it is popping up everywhere nowadays, including, as we can see from this video from March of last year, the Deutsche Oper, Berlin. This makes six available DVDs of this opera, while, say, the likes of Das Liebesverbot must languish on audio only. Injustice, I say.

Perhaps the public is growing fond of saccharine music attached to a plot that has elements of La traviata without the depth and some rollicking moments stolen from Die Fledermaus. Or perhaps it’s becoming popular because it’s short and the audience can be home for the 11 o’clock news.

Until this performance arrived, finding the best DVD was easy—it was from the Met and starred Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu. Beautifully sung and stunning to look at, one could overlook Gheorghiu’s relentless artificiality. But here we have a performance that lands the “best sung” award.

As our heroine, Magda, Azerbaijani soprano Dinara Alieva, when not singing in Russia, has been working mostly in German and Austrian opera houses. She is remarkable: perhaps not the finest of actresses, and with a technique that does not include using the breath properly, she owns a voice that is luscious in ways that we don’t hear lately.

With a warm, throbbing vibrato, she sounds to be an ideal Verdi and Puccini soprano; a full lyric with big, secure top notes (videos of her Traviata are on YouTube, as is a performance of her singing “Casta Diva”—both seem unfinished products, but the sheer sound is grand and memorable). The “Sogno di Doretta” is gorgeous, pianissimo high C and all. We can hope that she will become a true interpreter of the major roles. Her Magda is not girlish and flirty, as she is usually interpreted, but a woman of a certain age who makes up her own mind. This reading, probably the director’s, makes perfect sense.

At her side, as Ruggero, is the fine American tenor Charles Castronovo. He’s a singer who does everything right: the voice is handsome and well-produced, he sings off the text, he acts well, presenting a character naïve in the extreme early on, and shattered and incredulous by Magda’s rejection of him. As the opera’s “fun” couple, Lisette (Magda’s maid) and Prunier (a local poet), Alexandra Hutton and Alvaro Zambrano, sing marvelously and with spectacular energy, although their attempts to walk away with the show occasionally border on severe overacting. Stephen Bronk exhibits a solid bass voice to the thankless role of Rambaldo, Magda’s man-about-town.

The director is Rolando Villazon—yes, that one—and he brims over with ideas. Updating the opera to the “Roaring ’20s” allows for stunning flapper costumes by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, and in the sets by Johannes Leiacker there are not only references to surreal artists like René Magritte, Giorgio de Chirico, and Man Ray, but also a very permissive nude Venus by Titian as a backdrop for Act 1. The second-act cabaret scene is appropriately tacky and jumpy; in the last act, by the sea-shore, we encounter the same nude, but as a Magritte-like cut-out in sky blue against the blue sky. It works.

What doesn’t work, and gets in the way, are three male figures in white fencing attire (including masks) who interact, pose, and prance about; they hold up empty picture frames/mirrors to Magda, they writhe about in physical pain when Ruggero is in emotional pain in the last act. Are they the ghosts of Magda’s ex-lovers? A comment on the emptiness of her life? Or are they just there to keep us busy? I get the feeling the symbolism simply wasn’t clearly thought through—and is far too heavy for this piece of operatic, day-old meringue.

Roberto Rizzi Brignoli leads the Berlin forces with such enthusiasm that the performance is absolutely worth watching and the opera practically seems chic. Bravi to all, and now can we move them all into something more substantial?

– ClassicsToday (Robert Levine)

Subtitles: English, French, German
Audio Format: PCM Stereo - DTS 5.0

Classical Music

Classical Music

A wonderful “concert version” of the revered Komitas Divine Liturgy! Here the great Komitas work is transformed into a “concert mass” in the first-ever recording of this appealing mixed choir version. This version was beautifully arranged and edited by the brilliant Armenian composer Vache Sharafyan. In his arrangement, the added colors of female voices increase the beauty of the work. This version is also “concert length,” which means that it is appropriately shorter — and more accessible — than the original. The Latvian Radio Choir, under its remarkable conductor Sigvards Klava, is a unique, award-winning ensemble called “One of the world’s greatest choirs” by The Advertiser and “A great musical power” by the Washington Post. The accompanying booklet offers much interesting commentary, Komitas’ own autobiography, Armenian texts and transliterations, and translations into English.

New Live DVD from St. Petersburg features the great baritone singing favourite Russian romances and songs. Dmitri Hvorostovsky, 'one of the voices of the century', (Opera News) has become the foremost champion of Russian Soul in song form. 'The mutual love between Dmitri and his Russian public is now legendary', says Constantine Orbelian. 'Since 1994, he has carried the title of the People's Artist of Russia - and the title is not merely a formal one. He 'is' the People's Artist. Every summer the great Siberian baritone interrupts his international opera and concert schedule to return to Russia and embrace his own people with concerts of their favourite Russian romances and songs. This all goes to make up for a most felicitous late summer night event, and the audience response is tremendous: cheers, bows, much love and lots of flowers. Dmitri is his usual charismatic self in radiant voice, a truly gracious artist. During November, December, and January 2007 Dmitri Hvorovstovsky, Constantine Orbelian, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the Style of Five are touring Europe, Mexico, Canada and the USA in a program that has much in common with this new DVD, featuring Russian classic and popular music.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music