ENGLISH SONG

KDFC-ISLANDS OF SANITY III

The Naxos Deutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition presents all of Schubert' Lieder, over 700 songs, grouped according to the poets who inspired him.

Helmut Walcha was one of the most influential organists of the 20th century. His Chorale Preludes stand as a testament to his enrichment of the Lutheran tradition, building on the inheritance of Baroque masters to create works of great expressive clarity and contrapuntal transparency, as well as introducing highly individual organ colors and sonorities. Volumes 1 and 2 of this four volume complete collection can be found on Naxos 8.572910 and 8.572911.

The great violinist Jascha Heifetz made numerous transcriptions for violin and piano, many of which have come to form a standard part of violin repertoire, offering various challenges of virtuosity to performers.

VERDI: Songs

Set in a time of ancient Rome' persecution of the Christians, Handel' late masterpiece Theodora tells of the tragic martyrdom of the heroine and her lover Didymus.

PENDERECKI Piano Concerto, “Resurrection.” Flute Concerto • Barry Douglas (pn); ?ukasz D?ugosz (fl); Antoni Wit, cond; Warsaw PO • NAXOS 8.572696 (60:30)

It is fascinating to trace the development of Penderecki’s compositional style, as he seems to become more conservative the older he gets. The Piano Concerto, composed in 2001/02 and revised in 2007, is a work that the Penderecki of the 1960s and the Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima probably never dreamed of writing. In fact, nothing in Penderecki’s canon, not even his recent works, prepared me for this concerto. After several auditions, I’m not sure it’s even a successful work (I’ve seen the adjective “kitschy” applied to it), but if it’s not, it is, in today’s popular terminology, a hot mess, and a fascinating one at that.

In this work, Penderecki has channeled the romantic piano concerto. In the words of annotator Richard Whitehouse, it renews “Penderecki’s direct involvement with the ‘grand’ concerto tradition—notably of the Russian lineage that had its culmination in Rachmaninov and Prokofiev.” Granted, the work is not as lyrical as, for example, Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, or even Prokofiev’s Third, but there’s no missing the size and the strength of the emotional gestures, and the respect for virtuosic display. For the first time ever (in my experience, anyway), Penderecki has even included passages that a reasonable person might describe as “pretty”—for example, at 2:30 into the second section, and that passage returns near the end. (The work is in 10 continuous sections, and Naxos has tracked them separately.) Granted, the concerto’s overall mood is more tense than pretty, and there are violent climaxes. I have to say, though, that the music that kept coming to mind as I heard this concerto was Bernard Herrmann’s Concerto Macabre, a work that he composed for the 1954 film noir Hangover Square—and I intend that as a compliment. “Resurrection,” the concerto’s subtitle might be understood as a Christian reference, but apparently it is not meant to be taken too literally. Whitehouse indicates, however, that a “plainsong-like idea (which was conceived in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack) . . . only gradually makes its way into the foreground before emerging at full strength during the climactic stages.” Barry Douglas, whose name now comes up less often than it did at the start of the CD era, plays the heck out of this 37-minute concerto, and does not stint on its steel, drama, and emotional power. The engineering, by the way, is outstanding—this is a sonic showpiece. I’d be interested to hear an earlier recording (on Dux), conducted by the composer, with pianist Beata Bili?ska.

The Flute Concerto dates from 1992, and is more in line with what we have come to expect from latter-day Penderecki. It is, in other words, an anticlimax to the piano concerto, but worthwhile nevertheless. Like the piano concerto, it is a single-movement work, but that single movement contains several clearly contrasted sections. If the piano concerto is unexpectedly emotional, the flute concerto is in keeping with the composer’s familiar style, which I would describe as intellectual and objective, gaining its interest from the way in which Penderecki develops his material, and creates interesting instrumental timbres. The word “eclectic” keeps coming up, which I suppose is another way of saying that the music is modern, but not too modern. It was composed for Jean-Pierre Rampal, who did record it, with the composer, for Sony, but I have not heard that version. There’s also another Dux disc, with the composer conducting, and flutist David Aguilar, but the version I know, also on Naxos, is with flutist Petri Alanko and the Tapiola Sinfonietta, conducted by Okko Kamu. Alanko and Kamu pare more than three minutes from the score’s total length. Their reading is more dramatic than the new one, and Alanko emphasizes the lyrical aspects of the music more than Dlugosz does, wherever he can. Compared to Wit, Kamu is more precise, and creates more focused sonorities with his ensemble, but I do like the lush sound that comes out of the Warsaw Philharmonic, and I feel that Wit is a superior story-teller to Kamu.

Although neither of these works is new to CD, the combination is unique, and the performances are very strong. I see no reason not to be enthusiastic about this release, and the piano concerto is growing on me. Let’s see if this makes it onto my Want List in the next issue!

FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

First performed in a production by Abigail Morris in March 2010 at St Michael�s Church in Hampstead, London, The Ice Mountain is a story of the cycle of life, of loss and how to come to terms with death. The cyclical passage of time through the four seasons reflects the work�s emotional journey, while the story itself is based on an old Swiss legend The Old Woman and the Dead and the music incorporates elements of Swiss folk-music and liturgical chant. Composer and conductor Ronald Corp says �the tale is a haunting one and very poignant and I was drawn by the mystical element in the story; I think my music for the opera reflects this�.

The scintillating virtuoso pianist and composer William Vincent Wallace wrote a sheaf of memorable compositions for his instrument. He met the huge demand for sheet music by producing a series of waltzes, nocturnes, mazurkas, barcarolles, and other works dazzling in their variety, invention, wit, humor and charm. Their tone ranges from Latin American to Spanish and from seascape to melancholy reflection. Widely admired exponents of Wallace's music, Rosemary Tuck and Richard Bonynge are joined by the Tait Chamber Orchestra for the brilliant Grande Fantaisie La Cracovienne. In 2001, Rosemary Tuck gave the first official performance in the William Vincent Wallace Millennium Plaza in Waterford, Ireland and has appeared in an all Wallace program in London conducted by Richard Bonynge. Her previous recordings include music by Liadov, Ketelbey and Wallace.

It is not known for sure why Haydn chose the flute over the more usual violin in these three trios. Possibly it was to appeal to English or aristocratic taste for the instrument.

Volume 2 of 4 of Helmut Walcha's complete chorale preludes, authoritatively performed by one of the composer's most renowned students, Wolfgang R�bsam.

The two works on this recording are separated by 35 years, during which time Penderecki made a decisive break with the post-war European avant-garde. In the Magnificat, chilling instrumental clusters, spectral sounds and impassioned rhetoric unite with tonality and counterpoint to deliver a work of monumental emotional power. Written to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of the Jewish ghetto in Lodz, Kadisz is among the most distinctive of Penderecki's later choral works in the stark contrasts between drama and sombre reflection of it's individual sections.

Reger’s status as the supreme German organ composer since J. S. Bach has never been seriously challenged, and this disc explores some of the inspiration that Reger found in his great model. Some of the earliest music here, such as the Three Organ Pieces, Op. 7, is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Bach – though as yet it lacks the chromaticism that was to be a feature of Reger’s later writing. Together with his good friend and fellow organist Karl Straube, Reger wrote a sequence of inventions, based on Bach’s 1723 Two- Part Inventions that ingeniously cultivate complete independence between the three parts, to which they gave the title Method of Trio Playing. This is the final volume in the critically acclaimed 16 CD series of Max Reger’s complete organ works.

Kamran Ince writes music of thrilling intensity. His Piano Concerto is a "sonic dream" of a work, constructed on the principle of block-like contrasts that embody startling and glittering sound worlds, and Infrared Only is no less stupendous.