It's an initially disorientating experience to hear Sea Pictures in a version with choir. The Rodolfus Choir are an elite SATB group and have a wonderfully smooth and often lulling sound; there's a lot of that mood in Sea Pictures. The choir's diction is a marvel although the sung words are in any event at the back of the booklet. The singers are attentive to dynamic contrast and register some superbly poetic effects. Open-minded Elgarians who can get over the heresy of unfamiliar forces will find much to enjoy here. Where Corals Lie is a delight and works exceptionally well with choir.

A lazy unobservant glance at the details of this disc had me assuming that the Piano Quintet had been re-engineered into a Piano Concerto to join the Elgar/Walker. No such thing. What we have here is something of symphonic proportions and character. While there are some dark and dramatic moments and even some hints of the Second Symphony this now comes across as reflective and in the same territory as Falstaff. The first movement has an air of halting even fearful uncertainty. It's all very smooth though, suave even. A Viennese lilt at 10.00 is one of several instances where things become quite Brahmsian. The second movement is almost Finzian as details entwine much as they do in the woodland Interludes in Falstaff. The finale has its exciting moments but is overall quite nostalgic, philosophical, and regretful.

These two works in new colors should give many more opportunities to hear this music although ironically each requires a greater number of performers than the originals. Of the two Sea Pictures strikes me as the more attractive.

– MusicWeb International (Rob Barnett)

In the 1990s, Donald Fraser scored a hit with his orchestral arrangement of Marin Marais’ baroque classic The Bells of Genevieve which reached the Top 5 of Billboard’s Classical Chart and remains a radio evergreen to this day. Numerous commissions for arrangements followed for musicians such as The King’s Singers, Yehudi Menuhim and the English Chamber Orchestra. In 2016, AVIE released Don’s large-scale orchestration of Edward Elgar’s Piano Quintet and choral version of Sea Pictures, which charted in the Top 10 of the UK Specialist Classical Chart. Don now returns to the art of arranging smaller scale, classic works by John Dowland, Henry Purcell, Antonio Vivaldi and others, including new versions of his own “Amen” from A Christmas Symphony which was written for and premiered by soprano Jessye Norman, a new remix of The Bells of St. Genevieve and orchestrations of four Elgar art songs that evoke the album’s title, Songs for Strings.

This selection is also available in Super Audio CD format.

MOZART: OBOE CONCERTOS MIYAMO

MOZART: VIOLIN CONCERTO NO 2,

All these works are small in scale and modest in their emotional range, but they make a highly enjoyable collection. John Ireland's wistful, slightly melancholy romanticism is well brought out by David Garforth, and the orchestra respond with warm, sensitive playing. Though the ECO are not a large ensemble they produce considerable depth of tone and their rich string sound has been well captured by the engineers.

Norman del Mar's performance of the Bridge Suite, also on Chandos, is most sympathetic and there is little to choose between his version and that of Garforth. But Del Mar's original 1978 recording is a little pale in comparison with the new issue, and though the strings of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta play well they sound fewer in number and less tonally opulent than the ECO players.

-- Gramophone [5/1987]

Sir Colin Davis’ sensitivity is effortlessly mirrored by Larrocha with her enviable ease, her avoidance of all artifice or attention-seeking dalliance. Few other pianists are more attuned to Mozart’s mix of pain and radiance.

Alicia de Larrocha’s and Sir Colin Davis’s Mozart concerto cycle, while rarely less than distinguished, grows in stature with each new issue. Indeed, so musicianly and distilled are both these performances that the casual listener is in danger of taking them for granted, mistaking their classic sobriety for monotony and their devotion for a monochrome quality.

Sir Colin’s unforced way with the opening tutti of K595, his awareness of “all passion spent” is haunting but unobtrusive. Such sensitivity is effortlessly mirrored by Larrocha with her enviable ease, her avoidance of all artifice or attention-seeking dalliance. Few other pianists are more attuned to Mozart’s mix of pain and radiance, of the subtle major-minor shifts commencing at 6'34'' and, throughout, her economy ensures that every passing mood is unmistakably yet unobtrusively registered. Again, tempos are ideal whether in K595’s gently paced final Allegro (less idiosyncratically slow or autumnal than from Kempff on DG) or in the central Allegretto of K459. Even in the finale’s opera buffa high-jinks she captures the music’s undertow, a poise and equanimity like “the still point of the turning world”.

Balance and sound (grainy but apt) are exemplary, and this issue is graced with a fine portrait of the pianist by Christian Steiner.'

-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone [12/1997]

Pinchas Zukerman, Jos‚ Luis Garcia (in D minor concerto); English Chamber Orchestra. RCA Red Seal 60718-2-RC [with Concerto in G minor, BWV 1056] (recorded 1990)

Pinchas Zukerman’s accounts are appealing for their emphasis on line and phrasing, and for their restraint. They are intelligently drawn, though a little drawn out (and Russianized, with un-idiomatic slides) in some of the slow tempos; there is also a tendency to hasten a little in the Allegros. But most of the time, in spite of his urge to keep a high expressive profile, Zukerman is able to scale down his sound and gestures to fit the music. The Largo of the D minor concerto is especially lovely. The recording is an excellent one, with the soloists ever so slightly forward. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection.

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

MOZART: PIANO CONCERTOS 17 & 1

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Another splendid trawl through the treasurable Lyrita back-catalogue. Here's an uncommonly wide-ranging and generous selection of Holstian delights, encompassing music as stylistically diverse as the folk-song bumptiousness of the early Two songs without words (a VW dedication from 1906) to the ''tender austerity'' (to use the composer's own phrase) of the Lyric Movement for viola and chamber orchestra—a most haunting creation from his penultimate year. Elsewhere, we are offered such rarities as the colourful Golden Goose ballet music and Capriccio (both expertly reworked by Holst's daughter, Imogen), the gritty Double Concerto of 1929, as well as the composer's own string orchestra transcription of the tender ''Nocturne'' from A Moorside Suite—a marvellous work, scored originally for brass band (I do wish Decca would restore their superb Grimethorpe Colliery Band version to currency). The enchanting Brook Green Suite is here, too, but the outstanding account of the popular St Paul's Suite which came with it on that 1967 LP anthology will have to wait a little longer for its silver-disc debut.

Performances throughout possess unfailing insight, and the present remasterings are superb. An essential companion disc to Lyrita's classic Holst/Boult compilation from last year (7/92).

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone [4/1993]

Patrick Hawes has quickly established himself as one of the UKs leading composers, writing in a personal and thoroughly English style that has endeared him to the listening public. This new disc of choral and organ works centers on the mystery and beauty of the words of the Old Testament with stunning performances from Welsh soprano Elin Manahan Thoms, alongside Patricks own choral group Conventus and the English Chamber Orchesta.

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The Glière Harp Concerto has always been a favorite among harp enthusiasts, though being written in the 1930’s the work’s stylistic features are redolent of both the Viennese classical style united with Russian romantic nationalism. This disc highlights the extraordinary talent of the young Official Harpist to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, Claire Jones.

Claire has performed for members of the Royal Family on more then 70 occasions and has recently performed a brand new Royal Commission by Patrick Hawes at Highgrove House with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

She is joined by renowned flautist William Bennet OBE, and the English Chamber Orchestra to complete the release with Mozart’s Concerto for flute, harp and orchestra and Debussy’s Danses pour Harpe Chromatique.

Carl Czerny penned an astonishing amount of music, including the numerous potpourris, fantasies, teaching pieces and studies for which he became known. This recording features the delightfully entertaining Concertino in C major, Op. 210/213, as well as the highly enjoyable Rondino, a work based on an enchanting theme taken from Daniel Auber’s opera comique Le Macon. A pupil and lifelong friend of Beethoven, Czerny was just 21 when he wrote the pastoral Second Grand Concerto in E flat major. Begun only twelve days after he had given the Viennese premiere of his mentor’s Emperor Concerto, the same choice of key seems a fitting homage to the grand master he so revered.

Recorded in: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London 22,23 September 1986 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Trygg Tryggvason Ralph Couzens [Assistant]

Internationally acclaimed pianist Benjamin Hochman brings his new conductorial skills to the impeccable release of two Mozart concertos, the joyful and lithe No. 17 in G major, and the dark and explosive No. 24 in C minor. Directing from the keyboard, Benjamin leads the finest Mozartian orchestra in the world, the English Chamber Orchestra.

-----

REVIEW:

His rendition of the G major concerto is captivating: fluent and subtly shaded throughout, Hochman directs the English Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard with aplomb. Avie’s sound, as always, is clean and natural, allowing the music to bloom.

– International Piano

BRITTEN CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Variations on a Roccoco Theme, Op. 33
Pezzo capriccioso, Op. 62
Romeo and Juliet – Fantasy Overture

Mstislav Rostropovich, cello
English Chamber Orchestra
Benjamin Britten, conductor

Recorded live from Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, 16 June 1968
Bonus:
BRITTEN, B.: Gloriana, Op. 53 (excerpts)

Peter Pears, tenor
Aldeburgh Festival Singers
English Chamber Orchestra
Benjamin Britten, conductor

Recorded at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, 5 June 1970

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: Enhance Mono
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Booklet notes: English, French, German
Running time: 68 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

These revelatory films feature Britten with his favored English Chamber Orchestra performing at two very different times of his life, with equal value. Filmed at Christmas 1964, the main program of Mozart's Symphony No.40 and Britten's own Nocturne shows a man in his prime. The Mozart was a particular favorite of Britten's and his admiration for it certainly comes across in the performance.

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Given the tremendous success of American violinist Joshua Bell, it's only natural that players across the Atlantic would want a piece of the action with similar re-creations of the semi-popular violin recitals of a century ago. British violinist Charlie Siem both achieves the requisite fireworks and somewhat reinterprets the classic formula in this pleasing collection, named for a popular song (actually called Underneath the Stars) once arranged by Fritz Kreisler. The version here is by Josef Pasternack, but Kreisler is one of the chief models for what Siem is doing here. Another is his teacher, Shlomo Mintz. Siem is a bit lacking in the sheer emotion that Kreisler (and Bell) bring to a piece like Kreisler's own La Gitana (track 8), but in more athletic pieces like the Carmen Fantasy by the underrated Jenö Hubay (track 5), and the Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 4 (arranged by Marco Jovic), he's sensational. One extra attraction here is a group of more-or-less forgotten works that Siem has resurrected; in addition to the Hubay there's Ole Bull's Saeterjentens Søndag (Solitude on the Mountain, track 2), and Elgar's exuberantly sentimental Salut d'amour, Op. 12. Another is a compositional contribution by Siem himself, Canopy (as a "bonus" track 13). It was recorded separately from the other tracks and stands apart from them artisically, but it stands about halfway between Kreisler and Philip Glass, and it's a new direction in violin virtuoso music. An enjoyable outing from a young virtuoso to watch, with suitably understated support from the Munich Radio Orchestra under Paul Goodwin.

– James Manheim, All Music Guide

Alicia de Larrocha will always be remembered as one of the most idiomatic and poetic interpreters of Spanish piano music, but this beloved artist – born in Barcelona in 1923 to two pianists – was hardly less devoted to Mozart. In the 1990s, towards the end of her career, she undertook a series of concerto recordings for RCA with Sir Colin Davis – one of the great Mozartians of his time – conducting the English Chamber Orchestra, formidable Mozart veterans themselves. Now collected for the first time in a 6-album set, these performances were widely admired by music lovers and critics. Gramophone wrote: “In their transparency and vitality these performances are outstanding. Sir Colin’s partnership is affectionate and exemplary [Nos. 25 and 27].” And of their collaboration in Nos. 19 and 27: “Sir Colin’s unforced way with the opening tutti of K 595, his awareness of ‘all passion spent’ is haunting but unobtrusive. Such sensitivity is effortlessly mirrored by Larrocha with her enviable ease, her avoidance of all artifice or attention-seeking dalliance. Few other pianists are more attuned to Mozart’s mix of pain and radiance.”

Britten's cantata St. Nicolas is another of the great modern pieces on a Christmas theme. Dramatic, even dark in places – as in the best music from Bach on down, a glimpse of the shade helps us better appreciate the light – Britten's tale of St. Nick is utterly enthralling, especially in this beautifully recorded performance. Conductor Steuart Bedford assisted Britten at the end of the composer's life and became one of his most sensitive interpreters, leading the premiere of the opera Death in Venice and directing the Aldeburgh Festival for decades. The late English tenor Philip Langridge, the soloist in St. Nicolas, does his stirring best here, as do the BBC Singers in Christ's Nativity. Like many of Britten's later scores, his festive setting of Psalm 150 was designed for a mix of professional and amateur players; the children's chorus here shines brightly.

– Bradley Bambarger, Listen [Winter 2011]

You can’t go wrong with 68 minutes of gentle, relaxing, and intelligent music.

Brazilian composers in the 19th century often sought state scholarships to enable them to study in Europe where they were to become influenced by the German, Italian and French compositional schools. They also became involved in the vogue for writing suites based on ancient dances, such as Nepomuceno’s delightful Ancient Suite, premiered at Grieg’s home, or Braga’s Madrigal-Pavana which evokes the belle époque ballrooms of Rio de Janeiro. Miguéz’s Suite in the Old Style is polyphonic and lively, while Gomes’ Sonata for Strings is his finest non-operatic work.

REVIEWS:

Though these Brazilian composers—all born from 1836 to 1868—aren’t household names, they’re well worth your attention. Carlos Gomes's perky, witty Sonata for Strings reminds me a lot of Rossini; the melodies are reserved almost solely for the violins, and they sound like they should be arias instead of a sonata. Alberto Nepomuceno studied in Italy and Germany, but his Suite Antique is a cousin to the Holberg Suite by his friend Grieg. Brass, winds, and timpani join strings in Leopoldo Miguez’s Suite a Antiga, and the oboe solo in the “Aria e Double” is spare yet beautiful. His tunes are fetching, and his countermelodies are inventive and attractively detailed. He gets more chromatically adventurous than the others, too. You can’t go wrong with 68 minutes of gentle, relaxing, and intelligent music. The sound is reverberant though not plush.

-- The Absolute Sound

The English Chamber Orchestra give suitably refined performances, its elegant sound being ideal for this repertoire.

-- Gramophone

The delightful Sonata for Strings by Carlos Gomes (1836–96) that opens the disc may remind some of, say, Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence. The good humor continues thereafter in this enjoyable snapshot of the 19th-century Brazilian chamber orchestra music, all seemingly played with relish by the ECO.

-- BBC Music Magazine

An album combining works by Schubert, Piazzolla, and Lintinen, cellist Trey Lee is joined by the English Chamber Orchestra to perform compositions exploring the effects and impacts of climate change on both the environment and society. The album has two world premiere recordings of new arrangements for both cello and piano, and cello and orchestra by Trey Lee. “With the cello as a platform, I seek a sober yet trenchant means to tell the story of our seasons, and concurrently, create a musical narrative to account for how this crisis unfolds. This album is a journey across our world from the past to the present, and finally, to an increasingly plausible future through the prism of works by three composers from three eras.” – Trey Lee

Much of Carl Czerny’s concert music for piano was considered ‘wild and almost unplayable’ in his day, but these world premiere recordings reveal inspired melodic writing, great skill in orchestration and colourful virtuoso challenges in a programme that includes his final Concertino, Op. 650. This is the final release in the Naxos edition of works for piano and orchestra by Czerny. Previous releases can be heard on 8.573998, 8.573688, 8.573417 and 8.573254.

Flautist Ana de la Vega made a sensation in 2018 with her debut recording of Mozart and Myslivecek flute concertos, now returning in an affordable stereo re-issue. With sensuous melodies and elegant virtuosity, Mozart's Flute Concertos in G major (K. 313) and D major (K. 314) are the most cherished pieces composed for the instrument. Here they are brought together with the recently rediscovered Flute Concerto in D major by Josef Myslivecek, de la Vega works together with the English Chamber Orchestra on this acclaimed album.

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