Set in medieval Italy, Rossini’s rarely performed Adelaide di Borgogna is based on dramatic historical events that led to Otto the Great (Ottone) of Germany conquering the Kingdom of Italy. Despite its political and warlike subject, Adelaide di Borgogna is full of beautiful music, Rossini using lyrical moments to emphasize emotions and express the triable of passionate love and rivalry between Adelaide, Ottone and Adelberto. Adelaide is bel canto in its purest form and was held in high regard by its composer, who recycled music of it in his subsequent operas. This performance was recorded live at the Trinkhalle, Bad Wildbad, Germany, in July of 2014 for the XXVI Rossini In Wildbad Festival (Artistic Director: Jochen Schoenleber).

Described as “often beautiful and sometimes frightening” (NZ Listener), Ross Harris’s Symphony No 2 is a setting of poems on the subject of New Zealand soldiers shot for desertion in World War One. Writer Vincent O’Sullivan’s deeply felt descriptions of violence, love and tragedy are reflected in a moving and dramatic score. Symphony No 3 is inspired by the paintings of Marc Chagall, and develops and transforms klezmer-like tunes as its basic material. These symphonies were composed for the Auckland Philharmonia, and both won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award.

Commissioned by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Ross Harris’s Fourth Symphony is a tribute to and a portrait of poet and songwriter Mahinarangi Tocker. Her movingly evocative words and songs serve as references for each movement, while a solo viola increasingly takes on her character and personality. The Cello Concerto was inspired by the brilliant playing of cellist Li-Wei Qin, its single continuous movement a dramatic dark-to-light journey filled with rich singing lines and extravagant virtuosity. Ross Harris’s Symphonies 2 and 3 can be heard on Naxos 8.572574.

There is as much an art in composing a miniature as there is in writing a short story. Both are notoriously difficult since telling a complete story in a brief time is a real challenge. In music there are some brilliant examples from Chopin to Satie. Ned Rorem’s name can be added to the list as this disc will amply demonstrate.

Jim Holmes, Ned’s partner of thirty-two years, was the inspiration for the majority of the pieces in Piano Album I, along with other close friends. He would ensure that each piece would fit onto a single page so that he could then brightly decorate it and frame it. That alone makes for the minute scale of these pieces, with only a single example lasting much over two minutes. As Rorem is quoted in the insert, he then incorporated many of them into others of his works. I always think this is such a good idea, since so many composers’ wonderful tunes only get single outings, which is a shame. Six Friends is another similar set; all these miniatures are so gentle in their writing. The overall feeling is of an oasis of serene calm that is the perfect antidote to a stressful day.

I have been listening again while writing this review to another disc of Rorem’s music also from Naxos. This includes his works End of Summer and Bright Music. Each confirms his originality which seems boundless.

Time magazine called him “the world’s best composer of art songs” with over 400 to his name which I must make a mental note to check out.

The pianist here, Carolyn Enger, plays with a highly sympathetic approach to the delicate phrasing required to emphasise the gentle nature of these pieces.

This disc is a good place to start an exploration of one of America’s most distinguished composers.

– Steve Arloff, MusicWeb International

Ned Rorem describes this performance of his Double Concerto for Violin and Cello as "perfect", so it would be presumptuous to challenge his opinion of it technically. Certainly the playing of Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson is excellent, as is that of the IRIS Orchestra under Michael Stern. Like some of Rorem's other concertante works, this takes the form of a series of short movements, eight in all, save that one of them (Conversation at Midnight) isn't so short, lasting for nearly a quarter of an hour, or about half the concerto's total time. The two soloists offer admirably focused playing here, with a real feeling of dialog both between themselves and with the orchestra. The scoring is Spartan--strings, eight woodwinds, and four brass--but there's no lack of color or incident. In short, this is a lovely addition to the string concerto repertoire, and a terrific piece for chamber orchestras to consider programming.

What keeps this disc from getting the highest rating is an admittedly personal issue, one that you may not share. After Reading Shakespeare, a suite for solo cello, was also written for Sharon Robinson, and it is very sympathetically performed (listen, for example, to how vividly she characterizes "Titania and Oberon"). Nevertheless, the pairing of an orchestral piece with this most chamber-like of chamber compositions strikes me as unconvincing, coming as it does after the concerto. In his notes Rorem emphasizes the fact that the movement titles of this piece should not be taken literally, the music having preceded some of them. If so, then why use them at all? And why suggest as opening and closing movements such weighty subjects as "Lear" and "Othello and Iago"? They really beg the question of whether or not Rorem's inspiration is up to Shakespeare's, and we don't want to go there, do we? There are times when composers might do better to resist the temptation to offer verbal clues, even if they are perfectly valid ones. Still and all, the music and performances themselves are self-recommending to the composer's many admirers, and on that basis I can recommend this fine new release without further qualification.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Outstanding among Romberg's eight quintets is Opus 41, a set of three brilliantly elaborated and expressively condensed four-movement compositions, a reminder of Romberg's contemporary reputation as a remarkable violinist, although his friend Spohr, who referred to him as a cultivated and subtle artist, also found his actual playing cold and dry. Romberg's flute quintets, scored for flute, violin, two violas and cello, illustrate the freshness of his musical language, with it's use of dance movements and variations on well-known melodies. The Flute Quintets, Opus 41, are superb music, created as the classical style began to turn towards the romantic. The Quintet in E minor starts with a movement in tripartite classical form, in which the first subject assumes considerable importance. A stately Minuet follows, with the flute offering a sinuous melody in the first of the two contrasting Trios. The strings open the slow movement, before the flute joins in the principal theme, leading to the well-known strains of the English national anthem, a melody that enjoyed similar use in a number of German states. The last movement finds room for a traditional display of counterpoint. The second work here included, the Quintet in D major follows a similar pattern, a repeated exposition in the first movement leading to a central development, before the expected recapitulation. The second movement Minuet has corresponding Trios in contrast, and the slow movement Romanza is again introduced by the strings, the theme varied on the entry of the flute with the melody, against a running accompaniment. The quintet ends with a lively Rondo. In the Quintet in F major the flute introduces an operatic melody in the style of the period, admitting, as it is developed, a measure of counterpoint and passage-work for the flute. The slow movement, placed second, offers a singing melody in a finely crafted texture, to be followed by a third movement Minuet with something of Haydn about it. This is capped by a short Vivace in conclusion.

The Vieuxtemps violin concertos offer a feast for violinists (and listeners) who are attuned to their special charms and have an affinity for Romantic concertos. Misha Keylin scores on both counts. He's a Russian-born, Juilliard-trained American whose traversal of these works for Naxos is capped by this installment of the final three. The Fifth is the most popular of them all, with splendid recordings by Heifetz and Grumiaux, and Keylin's is right up there with them, and better engineered too. He's somewhere between Heifetz's supercharged virtuosity and Grumiaux's slightly understated elegance, combining both of those essential qualities. The Fifth is an oddly constructed work in three movements, the first being three times longer than the other two. While Keylin excels in that dramatic first movement, the sheer poetry of his Adagio and the brilliant tonal qualities he demonstrates in the fiery brief last movement make his performance especially memorable.


The Sixth and Seventh concertos date from Vieuxtemps' last year, 1881, but there are few valedictory qualities to be found in them. The Sixth is a delightful confection pervaded by a light-hearted spirit and teeming with fetching melodies. The longest movement is the first, an Allegro moderato from which drama is largely excluded, the soloist given the requisite virtuoso fiddling duties but within a lyrical context. Keylin's relaxed phrasing and his rich but sugar-free tone make the most of the beauties of the Pastorale, and he's alive to the rhythmic subtleties that make the Siciliano movement so enticing. The Seventh Concerto is made of sterner virtuoso stuff, as in the coda to the first movement, where Keylin never makes anything approaching a strained or ugly sound, and he sails through the final Allegro vivo without appearing to break a sweat. Throughout the disc, Keylin's technical facility is allied to real feeling for the music, without which these works can strain interest.


It's not just a one-man show, either. Both conductors and orchestras provide first-rate support (Yuasa and the Arnhem Philharmonic in the Seventh and Mogrelia and the Slovak Radio band in the other two), and the engineering captures the performances with admirable realism. At the Naxos price, this is a steal. [9/6/2003]
--Dan Davis, ClassicsToday.com

This recording received a 1998 "Critic's Choice" award from Gramophone
magazine.

Chen, He, Yan, Zhu & Zhang: Romantic Violin Concertos

Beriot: Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 8 and 9

These three works together constitute an attractive and generous programme. All three are little known although all have been recorded, if not necessarily on particularly high profile releases. There is not an abundance of chamber works involving solo viola and this disc certainly adds to our understanding of how a repertoire for the instrument emerged during the early years of what we now regard as the Romantic era. It also introduces a young recitalist who plays with an assured technique and no little passion. She is the German-born and trained violist Hiyoli Togawa who also has Japanese and Australian roots. Her well-matched accompanist is the Armenian Lilit Grigoryan. There is an interesting and rather confessional interview with Ms Togawa on the Naxos website in which she explains the appeal of these pieces and her philosophy in terms of their performance. To cut to the chase she characterises the works pithily as follows: “Onslow’s sonata reflects …..cheerfulness as well. …..Onslow’s sonata has nothing of Kalliwoda’s dreaminess nor does it have the deep seriousness of Mendelssohn’s sonata.”

Onslow’s Sonata is in fact his own transcription for viola of the first of his three Cello Sonatas Op 16. I have previously expressed enthusiasm for Onslow on this site, and this interesting sonata proves as imaginatively conceived and executed as his String Quintets which are currently being recorded by the Elan Quintet and released systematically by Naxos. While this sonata is not especially earth-shattering it is unusually democratic as the instrumental protagonists are clearly treated as equal collaborators. The opening Allegro is pleasing enough, amiable if rather conventional. The work’s true heart and highlight is the gorgeous Andante. It is odd how individual movements in Onslow’s large and unfamiliar output sometimes make one stop in one’s tracks. Such is the case with this limpid and tender Andante where violist and pianist demonstrate a deeply intuitive sympathy. Onslow’s stylistic influences tended to be Beethoven and Schubert but this early work hasn’t fully absorbed the spirit of these Romantic giants and I find there is something rather Gallic about it. Focusing on Grigoryan’s restrained accompaniment it’s possible to perceive something of French music’s future; it has a weirdly wistful and melancholic Faurean hue. The final Allegretto is contrastingly light as air and full of a youthful joie de vivre. It’s enjoyable, delightfully played and cleanly recorded.

There follows a rare outing for Mendelssohn’s Viola Sonata. I can hear some readers reacting with surprise – “Mendelssohn wrote a Viola Sonata??” Not only A viola sonata. In terms of the viola as we know it, ie not the viola d’amore, my research has thus far failed to turn up an earlier example of this form. (I’m sure somebody reading this will be far better informed….) It dates from 1824 when Mendelssohn was in teenage prodigy mode, although it has no opus number and wasn’t in fact published until 1966. It’s a dark inspiration and it nails its colours to the mast from the first bar of the opening Adagio-Allegro. Its gloomy countenance is tackled with great restraint by Hiyoli Tagowa as if to emphasise the contrast with the more conventional Allegro section which follows although this is not without its own moments of introspection (an 1820s example of teenage angst?). The melodic lines are unusually chromatic. The way the music simply fades at the conclusion of this movement is most novel, and beautifully managed by both players. Indeed the entire work is full of original touches and consequently its relative neglect is puzzling to me. It is scarcely believable that this sonata, with its unusual but utterly convincing structure and especially the brooding darkness of its melodic content could possibly have been produced by a boy of 15. The following Menuetto-Allegro molto will be familiar to anyone on nodding terms with Mendelssohn’s First Symphony (also in C minor) which followed soon after the sonata in March 1824 as it was reworked as the symphony’s third movement. The ensemble between the two players is again outstanding, the instruments have been very closely recorded but this doesn’t detract from the overall sound, which is truthful but never excessively so. The finale is more typically Mendelssohnian and employs his beloved variation form, though the final Allegro forms a kind of independent coda to the whole work, and sort of acts as a counterweight for the first movement fade-out. Another truly individual touch is the piano solo which dominates the final variation. This is lovingly played by Lilit Grigoryan who truly makes the most of her moment. It also underlines the fact that just as in the Onslow work, piano and viola are equals here. While this sonata is not necessarily a masterpiece of Octet proportions the viola repertoire is hardly overflowing and Mendelssohn’s early contribution to the form should surely be better known. It seems the most significant rival to this new recording is the one by Paul Coletti and Leslie Howard on a Hyperion disc from 1998 (CDA 66946), but this is a superlative account from Togawa and Grigoryan, the highlight of the disc for me.

It concludes with the equally unfamiliar set of Six Nocturnes Op 186 by the prolific Johann Kalliwoda, born in Prague in 1801. The notes tell us that these little pieces were among the works that kept his name alive at the start of the twentieth century, not least because they could be used for intimate family chamber performances. Nor do they appear to fulfil the stereotype of the ‘nocturne’ in the sense that the set alternates between slow and fast pieces. The fact that they were written a generation later than the Onslow and Mendelssohn works is reflected in a style that occasionally brings Schumann to mind, most notably in the last of the group which opens with a notably dark and chromatic flourish. Togawa most certainly does not hold back here, and the close microphones capture her 1749 Testore viola in really vivid sound which actually suits these brief and closely argued pieces admirably.

This is a terrific disc. My concern is that issues with generic titles like ‘Romantic Viola Sonatas’ often get overlooked by the record-buying public. I hope this review provides readers with the necessary encouragement to acquire it. It showcases another deeply impressive young violist (I was fortunate to be asked to review Ellen Nisbeth’s superb BIS disc of English repertoire late last year) doing her bit for the instrument. She also has the benefit of a sympathetic and generous accompanist and a warm, if close recording. While the Mendelssohn work is a standout, its companions here are far from makeweights.

– MusicWeb International (Richard Hanlon)

Chu / Liu / Sheng / Xu / Yin / Shi: The Yellow River Piano C

Thalberg: Piano Concerto in F Minor - Souvenirs De Beethoven

Includes work(s) by Moritz Moszkowski. Ensemble: Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antoni Wit.

To have such romantic richness . . . offered on a bargain label is cause for celebration in itself; to have it performed and recorded with such tireless commitment is a double blessing. . . . [S]uccessful on all counts. Scherbakov, praised by Richter and recently hailed as a ‘modern Rachmaninov’, is now more attuned to Medtner’s widely fluctuating idiom, complementing his unquestioned virtuosity with inwardness and conviction. . . . Scherbakov’s agility at, say, the con moto (8'38'') is never at the expense of a composer whose bravura is always poetically motivated, and so all lovers of romantic piano concertos need look no further. . . . -- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone