Suona Classics

Dizi Favourites

Dizi Classics

This second volume in Marco Polo's crucial survey of the symphonic cycle by the most prominent Slovak symphonist of the first half of the past century—Alexander Moyzes (1906-84)—comprises two consecutive though quite contrasted works.

The Third or "Little" Symphony of 1942 is one of the composer's shortest and least problematical, and thus an excellent point of entry into his musical world. It is adapted from an earlier wind quintet, and its atypical five-movement format projects an easygoing and celebratory character. Though it opens with a near-Beethovenian motto-motif, which recurs in the finale and thus helps the piece from lapsing into a species of symphonic suite, the symphony quickly springs into an essentially joyous and eventful kind of momentum. With its relatively compact movements—a Larghetto Variazioni, Presto Scherzo, and Largamente Intermezzo framed by two highly charged Allegros— the work is suffused with Moyzes's very personal but also universalized distillation of the Slovak folk spirit.

The Fourth Symphony, however—initially written during the dark days of World War II and extensively revised in 1952—is a very different kind of piece. Scored for a large orchestra and running 40 minutes, it is among the longest and most elevated of Moyzes's 12. Utilizing once again an integrative motto-theme, it is usually interpreted as both a protest against war and a healing evocation of the Slovak past and countryside. The 16-minute opening Andante con moto sets the tone for the whole work: one of expansive breadth and slowly unfolding narrative where the heroic and epic strains generate a high level of majesty and grandiloquence. These moods carry over through the quasi-Impressionist textures of the Adagio (in which a brief scherzo flare-up is embedded) and reach fulfillment in the guardedly affirmative Allegro moderato finale. Although the annotator speaks of stylistic parallels with Sibelius and Mahler, to these ears the idiom remains tenaciously Slovak in sonority and personality.

The veteran conductor Ladislav Slovak has been identified with the Fourth Symphony over many years, having recorded an analog version in the early 1960s. That earlier performance was perhaps somewhat tighter and more forceful than this more relaxed approach of three decades later. Nonetheless, this is a most sympathetic reading that succeeds in melding Moyzes's tendencies toward the rhetorical and the episodic into a satisfyingly coherent whole.

Another illuminating installment in the reconstruction of the mosaic of 20th-century Czech music, and an essential purchase for those whose interest focuses on the modern symphony.

-- Paul A. Snook, FANFARE [7/2001]

Set in the Basque homeland in the eighth century AD, Jesus Guridi's 1920 opera centres on the love triangle between Amaya, heiress to the Basque royal house, Asier, a local pagan prince and stepson of her aunt Amagoia (the local priestess), and Teodosio, the leading Christian prince and war-leader against the Arab invaders. Circumstances throw Amaya and Teodosio together, the latter seizing his chance to convert and marry her and thereby ascend the throne. Asier's vengeance is to fuel Teodosio's suspicions of Arnaya's infidelity. Storming back to his palace, he finds and slays a couple in his bedchamber, but on meeting Amaya is horrified to discover he has murdered his own parents. The Epilogue, Act 4 in all but title, takes place seven years later when Teodosio's penance (to live as a hermit until the chain around his waist breaks) climaxes with his forgiveness of the mortally wounded Asier. As the latter expires, Teodosio's chain shatters and he is reunited with Amaya (who has been hiding nearby).

It is not hard to see why Amaya is effectively the national Basque opera. Guridi's music is full of good tunes and local colour, as in the Act 2 Sword Dance ('Espatadantza') or the irrintzi (war-cry) that opens the Third. Amaya is essentially Verdian in structure, but Guridi clearly learned from Wagner. There are also passing more contemporary resonances — Janii:ek in the wind writing in Act 1, or Sibelius in Act 2's prelude — but most of the music is strongly Guridi. There are some dramatic lapses, though: Amagoia's improbable mistaking of Teodosio for her own stepson in Act 1 or the Epilogue's pastoral opening conveying nothing of Teodosio's situation (the chorus, little used throughout, sounds barely supplicatory, let alone penitential). The soloists catty the drama — there are few real ensembles — with the orchestra, who perform with gusto, capably directed by Theo Alcantara. Rebecca Copley sings the title-role well enough, but like Marianne Cornetti (Amagoia) has little to do after the close of Act 2. Rosendo Flores audibly relishes the role of Asier, but it is that of Teodosio which comes to dominate, and Cesar Hernandez secures the main singing honours. Andrew Walton's recording is very clear.

-- Guy Richards, Gramophone [5/2001]

Moyzes: Symphonies Nos. 9 and 10

STERNEFELD: Mater Dolorosa

The fourth volume in Marco Polo's survey of Guatemalan composers focuses on the piano music of Ricardo Castillo (1894-1966). Don't solely judge Castillo's aesthetic from the six lightweight, salon-ish sections opening the disc. Play these later. Go first to the evocative multi-movement Preludes, Poème Pastoral, or Guatemala, Serie de impresiones. It is in these works that Castillo's own voice emerges with gentle authority, running an accessible gamut from spartan, single-line thumbnail sketches to the fetchingly bitonal toccata opening the Suite en Re. Massimiliano Damerini plays best when his hands are kept busy, but his fidgety rubato in the two Barcarolles and three Nocturnes has a slightly hesitant quality that prevents the music from flowing as freely as it should. The recorded sound is full and resonant, if a little too clangorous for my taste. But don't take my piddling reservations to heart. If you have a yen to explore some delightful, unpretentious, and virtually unknown piano music, you'll certainly enjoy this disc. I know I'll return to it often.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Bigger-than-life bass-baritone Bryn Terfel heads a seeming cast of thousands in this no-holds-barred celebration of Welsh song. There are gentle lullabies and nostalgic songs of a missed homeland as well as rip-roaring patriotic numbers. The instrumentation ranges from solo harp, as in the lovely 'Dafydd y Garreg Wen' ('David of the White Rock') to full orchestra and multiple choruses, as in 'Calon lan' ('A Pure Heart') and the hymn 'Cwn Rhondda.'
Terfel sings most of the selections in his native Welsh, including such world favorites as the carol 'Ar hyd y nos' ('All through the Night'), which has a lovely humming male choral introduction, and the lullaby 'Suo gan,' popularized by Charlotte Church. This is a welcome selection indeed, with songs of unabashedly warm emotions made all the more irresistable by Terfel's obvious sincerity and vocal charisma.

STRAUSS II, J.: On Stage with Johann Strauss, Vol. 1

TRIMBLE: 2 Pianos - Songs and Chamber Music

STRAUSS II, J.: On Stage with Johann Strauss, Vol. 2

AURIC: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur

LYON, D.: Horn Concerto / Fairytale Suite / Farnham Suite /

Mosonyi, M.: Piano Trio / Grand Nocturne