Ustvolskaya was an enigma: a quiet, reserved and introspective individual who wrote powerful, massively constructed (yet short in length) music which astounded her audiences and ten years after her death is becoming highly regarded and Ustvolskaya is almost becoming a cult figure. Unrelelenting rhythms in many works brought her the nickname 'The Lady with the Hammer'. Russian pianist Natalia Andreeva has however studied the music in great depth and while fully committed to the great mechanistic climaxes also brings out the lyrical and melodic qualities which are always present, expecially in the earlier works such as the picturesque Preludes. This composer, a pupil of Shostakovich (who claimed that he could teach her nothing new), will be seen in hindsight as a pivotal figure in the development of 20th century Soviet/Russian music.

Mieczyslav Weinberg (aka Moisey Vainberg) was in fact born and raised in Poland, but the vast majority of his compositional career was in the Soviet Union and he remained there for the rest of his life, in Minsk (now the capital of independent Belarus). He therefore comes well within the definition of 'Russian' for the purpose of this series and was certainly treated as such by the authorities. This and the preceding album (dda25105) which includes the first three sonatas, were originally released on the now defunct Olympia label but had a relativley short life and restricted distribution, and are still the only full recordings of these very fine works. This is music which though modern is written to comply with Soviet requirements and is thus also very approachable and melodic without ever being trite or unoriginal.

"Murray McLachlan is ideal in this repertoire, playing with both sensitivity and bravura. These former Olympia recordings are excellent, with excellent piano tone and there are first rate notes by the late Per Skans. Th[is] beautifully produced discs [is] thoroughly recommended."
-- The Classical Reviewer

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov arranged his most famous work, Scheherazade, and the little jolly Neapolitan Song, op. 63, for piano four hands.

Considered one of the leading early-music specialists in Europe, Terence Charlston introduces a unique instrument in his new release Mersenne's Clavichord, a clavichord built to plans and specifications by Marin Mersenne in his 1636 treatise Harmonie Universelle. This collection includes primarily French compositions of the 16th and 17th centuries, and Charleston vividly demonstrates the now rarely heard sound-world of the instrument which was so familiar to the composers of that day.

MAHLER Symphony No 10 • Christopher White (pn) • DIVINE ART dda25079 (67: 04)


The performance on this CD is a transcription by musicologist Ronald Stevenson (first movement) and pianist Christopher White (movements 2 through 5) of the Deryck Cooke performing version of Mahler’s unfinished 10th Symphony. White’s purpose is explained in an essay in the CD booklet: “My intention was, partly, to tap into a tradition with which Mahler in his time would actually have been rather familiar.” This statement comes after a couple of disavowals: The transcription isn’t an attempt at “finding our way back to the original Mahler,” nor is it a desire for a “wider dissemination of an unknown work,” since CDs of the several realizations of the symphony are readily available.


There was, indeed, an established tradition of transcribing Mahler symphonies for piano, from Walter’s four-hand version of the First to Mahler’s own piano rolls, but White goes on to cite Mahler’s re-orchestrations of Beethoven, Schumann, and Weber. There is, however, an obvious distinction: Where Mahler was augmenting, White and Stevenson are reducing, as transcriptions for piano of orchestral works inevitably must. The pianist describes his attempts at “quasi-orchestral effects,” though one might ask why a transcription for piano of the 10th would be concerned with matters of orchestration, since it is precisely the lack of much of the orchestration that, for many Mahlerians, disqualifies the symphony from inclusion in the canon. White explains that he considers his piece a “piano commentary on the performing draft” of Mahler’s symphony, and it was as such that I approached this recording.


The contrast in tempo between the opening Adagio and the Andante of the first theme is mostly absent here as the opening slows markedly before the principal theme arrives; this is effective, however, in establishing the bleakness of the opening in contrast to the warmth of that first theme. That I was less aware of the absent orchestra than I had anticipated is tribute both to the pianist and to Stevenson’s arrangement. The sudden dissonance worked well until the “cry” assigned in the orchestral version to the trumpet; this can’t be easily duplicated on the piano, and the busy trills that accompany the nine-note chord aren’t a good enough substitute.


White manages the constantly shifting rhythmic accents of the second movement with apparent ease; he also clarifies the tricky counterpoint. The warmly ingratiating Trios are lovely. White allows you to admire Mahler’s melodies without regard to the propriety of an orchestral version (though, of course, those of us familiar with any of the versions will probably supply our own much of the time). The “Purgatorio” movement may be the most appealing due to its delightfully satiric character, quite pronounced in this transcription—it could almost be Satie.


The dance element of the fourth movement is very much at the heart of White’s transcription; the performance possesses an elastic sense of rhythm and a palpably nostalgic grace. As the movement nears its conclusion, White becomes inventive as he strives to imitate the sound of Mahler’s muffled drum: He employs “a complicated trick involving the third pedal and my right forearm to generate extra resonance.” It’s an interesting effect, but not the sound we need; here, it’s a sharp thwack, more imitative of the hammer blows in the finale of the Sixth, when what we need is a deeper, even dampened, note. For those keeping score, White places the first drum beat at the end of the movement, and begins the fifth movement with the ascending figure in the bass before repeating the drum sound.


The unearthly beauty of the melody that Mahler indicated was to be played by a flute is no less affecting on the piano, another indication that Deryck Cooke was correct: This is, indeed, “pure Mahler, and vintage Mahler at that.” White captures the burlesque nature of the Allegro section that leads to the quote from the first-movement dissonance with both dexterity and sensitivity; as the music slows to near stasis, the lovely lyrical melody reasserts itself in playing of nobility and heartbreaking poise. This is a song without words, and the piano is just as convincing a medium as the orchestra to convey it.


It is not at all surprising to read in the notes that White’s master’s degree dissertation focused on the music of Mahler. His transcription is not merely evidence of a familiarity with the Mahlerian idiom; it is infused with a profound understanding of the importance of this work in the larger context of Mahler’s symphonic journey. Highly recommended.


FANFARE: Christopher Abbot

Another disc of the very highest quality from the brilliant Piano Duet team of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow. I repeat what I have written previously; their discs represent an ideal; superb and often rare music, played with great technical accomplishment and musical insight. They’re very well recorded and presented with liner-notes as informative as they are entertaining. My only quibble with the current issue is the umbrella title of “Magical Places” which to me implies something slightly fey and twee - a supposition instantly dismissed as soon as the music starts. In essence the six pieces are representations of places/times but the main interest - as ever with transcriptions of orchestral works - is how well they survive the move from full romantic orchestra to four hands on a single keyboard. There is further interest in that three of the works are presented in the composer’s own transcription - the Alfvén, Ibert and Ireland whilst the other three were done by friends or associates/contemporaries of the composer in question.

Two quick comments to make before discussing the music; as before on Goldstone and Clemmow discs the quality of the music-making is of the very highest order. I have nothing but admiration for the performances here. Whether or not one feels that the transcriptions fully realise the intentions of the original is a question relating to the transcription not the execution. Such is the unanimity and absolute accord of the playing that you have to remind yourself that there are two players here and that they make such light work of the fearsome complexities of the music presented.

Much as I enjoyed Anthony Goldstone’s superlative recital disc of the solo piano music of Mussorgsky I have to say the Night on Bald Mountain has never appealed to me much in any of its guises. What we have here is in effect a double remove from the composer’s original as the piece is a piano transcription of the Rimsky-Korsakov [familiar] orchestral version. I cannot imagine either the performance or transcription being better done but to my ear it remains an unwieldy piece. One little curiosity; a tubular bell is added to the score - as it is in the orchestral version - to represent a church bell marking the hour of dawn. The bell used here is fractionally out of tune with the piano which doubles the same note resulting in a slightly jarring effect. For all my disparagement of the work the closing lyrical section shows perfectly just how effectively the players are able to sustain legato lyrical lines with the various layers of melody and accompaniment perfectly balanced and voiced.

I should miss the orchestra more in the next two works - both showpieces for the modern orchestra and full of brilliantly conceived moments for large and colourful ensembles. That I don’t shows that, in the right hands, a good transcription can add to one’s appreciation of a work. The Alfvén proves itself to be full of wonderfully happy melodies artfully put together - Nationalist Rhapsodies all too often degenerate into a string of simple melodies knowingly orchestrated. It is Alfvén’s great skill that he manages to retain so much of the energy and spirit of the folk-tunes both in the original version and the one presented here. To quote Anthony Goldstone’s liner: “for sheer fun it is hard to beat”. I will second that. The piece I expected to ‘work’ least well in transcription was the next; Ibert’s Escales (Ports of Call). Too often still he is a composer disparagingly thought of as a kind of Ravel with jokes. For sure his strength lies in smaller forms and there is a wit and sophistication to his writing but it is not all froth and glib superficiality. In the transcription offered here there appears a work of great sensitivity and harmonic interest. It is an absolute gem and the piece that emerges with its stature most enhanced by the extra simplicity the piano duet version endows. Again Goldstone and Clemmow are a minor miracle of subtlety and shade with the complex filigree of the writing effortlessly dispatched. A lovely touch is Ibert’s use of tapping the wood of the piano to substitute for the tambourine of the original - it’s a simple nuance but a very effective one.

I love Goldstone’s anecdote about Lyadov’s famed indolence. I had forgotten he received the original commission for Diaghilev’s Firebird but due to his “legendary procrastination” got no further than buying some manuscript paper! Rimsky-Korsakov was his teacher until he expelled Lyadov from his composition class for being incredibly lazy. A personality trait exacerbated in Goldstone’s words, “[by] his marriage to a rich lady [which] no doubt contributed to his lack of motivation.” The muted pastel shades of the Enchanted Lake presented here is a study in atmosphere and musical colour. Again great credit must go to the players for their ability to create and sustain such atmospheric effects deprived of the orchestral resources of the original. The one work that struggles most with this is Erwin Stein’s transcription of the Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten. So perfect and complete is Britten’s conception with orchestra and music inextricably linked that Stein struggles to retain the full impact of the original. Again, there is no question of the work receiving anything but an excellent performance. Indeed the layers of the musical argument are forensically revealed but too often Stein has to fall back onto tremolando chords to sustain harmonic and dynamic tension. Not even this piano duet team can quite manage to reproduce the teeming flamboyant orchestral virtuosity of the original.

Given John Ireland’s brilliance as a keyboard composer the quality of his own version of The Forgotten Rite should come as no surprise. Goldstone’s liner gives us an insight into the care and consideration which is lavished on the preparation of this and all their other discs and concert programmes. The duo have stayed faithful to Ireland’s original tempo markings even though this pushes to the limits the ability of a piano to sustain the tone. Also, Goldstone has restored the original harp-art which Ireland deliberately simplified. In both instances these choices are triumphantly vindicated. The work remains one of Ireland’s most impressive and powerful compositions and in this guise links itself to the other great piano works inspired by his time living on the Channel Islands. It makes a powerful and compelling end to yet another brilliantly executed CD. Only the Ireland and Alfvén have been recorded previously. Not having heard any other versions I cannot make comparative judgments but I am sure I can say that the versions considered here will have little to fear from any others.

A word here for the technical presentation of the disc. The playright of the disc belongs to the duo and certainly Anthony Goldstone has recorded in this Lincolnshire Church a lot. No producer or engineer is credited which implies this is very much a project driven by the players themselves. The piano sound is very good; rich and full with plenty of detail. Having recently read a liner of a bare page and a half covering a major composer’s complete symphonic cycle what a delight to sit down and enjoy the ever-excellent notes provided by Goldstone. As usual these are copious - some eleven pages, in English only and written with an ideal blend of information and entertainment.

All in all another fascinating exploration of the rich repertoire of music for piano duet; a superb anthology presented with scholarly flair and musical insight.

-- Nick Barnard, MusicWeb Interntional

"•Hailing from the northern British city of Durham, John Garth's first set of six accompanied sonatas, op. 2, appeared in 1768. • Following its success, a second set, the op. 4, appeared c.1772. • Garth’s writing is quite lyrical and he makes frequent use of popular devices such as the popular ‘Alberti bass’ left-hand accompaniment. • The op. 2 keyboard sonatas demonstrate that he could not only write popular music, but that he could employ some of the latest musical techniques with a touch of flair."

Acknowledged without reservation as the greatest composer working in England in the 18th century, Georg Frideric Handel is revered worldwide as a master composer. His Harpsichord Suites are among the finest instrumental works of the period, we are privileged to present exquisite performances by Gilbert Rowland, one of Europe's foremost harpsichordists.

"It is impossible to praise this new release too highly. The harpsichord, a copy of a two manual French harpsichord after Goermans (Paris 1750), built by Andrew Wooderson in 2005, is a lovely instrument. The combination of Handel, Gilbert Rowland, Wooderson’s fine harpsichord, the recording venue at Holy Trinity Church, Weston, Hertfordshire and the recording engineer John Taylor is unbeatable providing, as it does, a collection of these wonderful suites that I will return to again and again."

-- The Classical Reviewer

“[Guido] certainly knew how to write attractive music, full of invention and lovely sonorities. If anyone is tired of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and I suspect many will be, then this new disc provides a refreshing alternative with thrilling playing. The recording made in New College, Oxford, is first rate.” – TheClassicalReviewer

“Here is a beautiful work, vigorously played by 'The Band of Instruments', a group based in Oxford that accompanies Caroline Balding who shows herself to be a great violin virtuoso . Giovanni Antonio Guido's 'Four Seasons' might not show the musical richness of Vivaldi's work, but this is nevertheless music extremely pleasant to listen to, in a fresh and sharp reading by The Band of Instruments.” - Remy Franck, Pizzicato

Peter Seivewright was amongst the first musicians to seriously research (in 1994) the 100+ keyboard sonatas by Venetian composer Galuppi, also famed as a pioneer of opera buffa. While others have since come to appreciate and record the fine variety and novelty of these works, for many personal and career reasons, Seivewright’s series was held up after volume 3 was released in 2004 but is now back on track with this intermediate album which includes also the G major Piano Concerto. Many of the sonatas have had to be reconstructed from single movement manuscripts. They show amazing diversity, from single-movement works to two- and three-movement pieces, and from basic baroque style to a Romanticism prescient of Schumann. Seivewright strongly believes that the works were specifically written for the pianoforte rather than harpsichord due to their frequent need for sostenuto and other factors. Peter Seivewright studied at Oxford then at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has performed extensively as recitalist and concerto soloist and has taught in colleges around the world, from Scotland to Trinidad to Afghanistan and most recently in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Includes work(s) by Baldassare Galuppi. Soloist: Peter Seivewright.

REVIEWS:

"The music could not have a more sophisticated or dedicated advocate. In each sonata [Seivewright] unwraps a musical gift of exquisite beauty." – Michael Carter, Fanfare

"Absolutely immaculate execution matched by the clarity of the recorded sound... It is difficult to imagine this particular repertoire being presented to better advantage." – International Piano

"Seivewright is an enthusiastic and accomplished pianist... He plays with great conviction and flair... Pleasant listening from first note to last... A top class product... The recording is beyond reproach." – ClassicalNet

“Movements are built often quite imaginatively and always resourcefully... [Seivewright] is a sensitive artist and obviously enjoys this repertoire, and he communicates this enjoyment to us." – Penguin Guide to CDs (2005)

"Seivewright plays [the Sonatas] skillfully, and...they are pleasant to hear." – American Record Guide

REVIEWS:

“Peter Seivewright plays with style” – Northern Echo

“This is a fascinating disc... [Galuppi’s] music is very tuneful, unpretentious and untrammelled by 'early music fussiness.' They are far more appealing than Scarlatti sonatas. I have to commend the recording engineer who produces a close, intimate and crisp sound. Peter Seivewright gives us a splendid example as to how to play cantabile which all students and fellow pianists would do well to emulate. The sleeve booklet gives an excellent introduction to the life and times of this gifted composer and whets our appetite for further helpings. Highly recommended." – David Wright (Classical Music on the Web)

“A revelatory disc... Galuppi’s invention is rich and fresh, and Seivewright plays these wonderful pieces with a sense of delight in discovery. Highly recommended.” – Robert Cockroft, Yorkshire Post

“Movements are built often quite imaginatively and always resourcefully... [Seivewright] is a sensitive artist and obviously enjoys this repertoire, and he communicates this enjoyment to us." – Penguin Guide to CDs (2005)

Includes work(s) by various composers. Soloists: Anthony Goldstone, Caroline Clemmow.

It is always good to welcome to our company a musician of the stature of Burkard Schliessmann, and also to present our first multichannel SACD in luxury packaging.

This album demonstrates once again the sheer genius of Bach but also the individual and highly considered interpretative style of the performer. Schliessmann is not a purist demanding rigid tempi and 'traditional' baroque styling but recognises the inner soul of the music and brings it to life in a new way - thus this recording will be welcomed as a new approach even to those who know the works very well.

Also a special inclusion on the disc is BWV 906, which Bach left as a Fantasia and an unfinished Fugue. The Fugue was completed by Busoni who also inserted the Adagio, BWV 968, which was arranged for piano either by one of Bach's sons or by the publisher Altnickol. It makes for a highly rewarding complete work.