At the tender age of 15, Francis Poulenc was introduced to a circle of daring French composers that included Eric Satie and Georges Auric. The experience no doubt left a mark on the young composer, whose style is wonderfully eclectic and ever challenging throughout. Poulenc became a member of this circle, a celebrated group of French composers that also included such luminaries as Arthur Honnegger and Darius Milhaud. Nicknamed "Les Six," they changed the face of French music forever.
This recording, the fourth in a series dedicated to the chamber music of Poulenc, offers a healthy cross-section of the composer's work in the genre, with particular attention paid to his vocal works. Poulenc's music is dizzyingly eclectic, and this recording of chamber music includes his celebrated "cantate profane," 'Le Bal masquè.' The delicious whimsy of 'Le Bal masquè' comes to life in a superb performance by baritone Franck Leguérinel and a talented instrumental ensemble. Purely instrumental works are included as well, including the rarely heard 'Sarabande for guitar,' played by Pierre Laniau with a sensitivity that captures the work's dreamy spirit.

Naxos' triumphant march through Poulenc's complete chamber music continues with this latest release containing, among a host of smaller items, a smashing performance of the magnificent Sonata for Two Pianos, one of the composer's greatest large works in any medium. Alexandre Tharaud and Francis Chaplin play beautifully; their performance is a touch less expansive than Fèvier/Tacchino on EMI, but still hypnotically seductive in the slow introduction and third movement, while the faster music has the right rhythmic skittishness and crisp articulation. The other outstanding performance here is the Sonata for horn, trumpet, and trombone. This awkward but charming piece has seldom sounded better balanced and more natural (not to mention in tune), and it's very well recorded in a warm acoustic. The other pieces are trifles, but no less enjoyable for that. Another winner. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Francis Poulenc reportedly felt uncomfortable writing for piano and strings and had harsh things to say about both the violin and cello sonatas, remarks duly parroted by critics and biographers ever since. And yet the fact remains that they are his most ambitious, lengthiest, and emotionally complex chamber works. As so often happens in these circumstances, it's much easier to regurgitate received opinion than it is to actually listen to the music and take it on its own terms.


Alexandre Tharaud, whose superb pianism enlivened Volume I of this ongoing series, plays this music with a freshness, seriousness, and bigness of gesture that reveals its greatness at every point. In the Violin Sonata, he and his partner Graf Mourja really do make the finale a "Presto tragico" rather than a series of cartoon episodes. Similarly, the four-movement Cello Sonata, Poulenc's largest chamber work, is so strongly projected and sensitively balanced that the composer's reservations simply vanish. The Clarinet Sonata, of course, is "classic" Poulenc: Tharaud and Ronald Van Spaendonck have a ball both with its suavity and its caustic wit. When Poulenc writes "très rude" over the solo part, that's exactly what we get. The recording is extremely vivid: close up, in your face, and a bit dry--ideal for this music. Bring on Volume 3! [4/30/2000]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

This excellent first volume in what promises to be a two-disc collection of Poulenc's complete chamber music offers performances that compare favorably with the best available. All of the musicians are superb, but several deserve special mention. Alexandre Tharaud plays Poulenc's piano parts with great flair, wit, and a true feeling for the music's manic shifts from raucous high spirits to nostalgia and melancholy. Since all of these works feature the piano, the importance of his contribution can't be overestimated. Laurent Lefèvre's reedy, piercing, truly "French" sounding bassoon is a highlight both of the Sextet and the delicious Trio for piano, oboe, and bassoon. It's very difficult to find a bassoon player with sufficient dynamic range to balance the more penetrating tones of the other players, and Lefèvre not only holds his own in the ensemble, but his unfailing musicality and dead accurate intonation triumphantly vindicates the affection that Poulenc shows for his instrument. Finally Olivier Doise's oboe playing offers a sweet, focused tone throughout his range, and this makes the Oboe Sonata a much more moving and less squeaky affair than it so easily becomes in less sympathetic hands. If the string players in Volume II offer the same level of accomplishment, then this series will be the outstanding bargain of Poulenc's centenary year. As it stands, this initial installment, brightly and clearly recorded, is indispensable. Look for further volumes to be released throughout 2000, beginning in early spring. [1/2/2000]--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

PORTUGUESE POLYPHONY

This album contains pieces of Portuguese music that have left a legacy on an international level, including works by Luiz Costa, Claudio Carneyro, and Sergio Azevedo. Azevedo’s Hukvaldy Trio is featured here in its world premiere recording. These works are performed by Trio Pangea, which consists of pianist Bruno Belthoise, violinist Adolfo Rascon Carbajal, and cellist Teresa Valente Pereira.

This disc must be seen in context with Naxos's numerous discs of 20-century Portuguese music. The label's work in this field has been tremendous and we must hope that it continues.

Three names here will be familiar to thorough browsers of this site; try a search. Luiz Costa merits an introduction. He was a leading presence in the musical life of his birth city of Porto. He studied with Viana da Motta (review ~ review) and Busoni. Among his 180 works the original 1950s version of the Poema was for cello and piano. He set about an orchestral variant but didn't live to finish it. This was accomplished in 2008 by Pedro Faria Gomes at the request of the composer’s daughter, herself a cellist. What we hear is a romantic Delian idyll but not static and unvaried. Bird-song and Oriental touches see that things remain in engaging and often piquant motion. The adaptation keeps the orchestra pari passu with the cellist. Neither could be said to be a cipher to the other. This is a quite a discovery and should be taken up by the generality of cellists. Young cellists should look to include this as a fresh competition piece. Do be brave and try something out of the ordinary.

Fernando Lopes-Graça studied with Luís de Freitas Branco, José Viana da Motta and Charles Koechlin. The three movement Concerto da Camera, complete with its Martin?-style title, has been recorded before: Rostropovich's premiere in Moscow was issued by Warner-EMI Classics while a Portuguese recording, this time by Maria José Falcão, came out on the much lamented Portusom-Strauss label (review ~ review) and promptly disappeared. Neither of these is conveniently available and in each case the present recorded sound is greatly superior. The Portusom disc was quite short-playing, coupled with one other Lopes-Graça work, while the Warner-EMI version was part of a large 26-CD box. The music here is more obliquely meditative and dissonant. You need to think in terms of the Bernard van Dieren Elegy and the Alan Rawsthorne Cello Concerto; not as disparate as you might expect. The liner-note characterises the music as: "Intensely chromatic, sometimes obsessive, sometimes claustrophobic." I wouldn't dissent. There's a spikily exciting finale.

A pupil of Engelbert Humperdinck, Luís de Freitas Branco, had his Cena Lírica (Lyrical Scene) premièred in Lisbon in 1916. It was his first work for solo instrument and orchestra, just preceding his Violin Concerto. It has a greater affinity with the Costa but with more drama - it feels like a movement from a full-blown concerto. The music is imposing and certainly holds the attention. The cantabile writing for the cello is never bland. You get to the end and wish it had not been over so quickly. For more of the same ilk do try de Freitas Branco's glorious four symphonies.

The Joly Braga Santos is a very late work. About the same length as the Lopes-Graça, and also in three movements, this was commissioned by the very same Gulbenkian Foundation whose hall and orchestra were used for these recording sessions. We can say that Braga Santos's music falls into two phases - rather like that of Frank Bridge. Such 'boundaries' are often smeared but certainly this is not the Braga Santos of the first four symphonies. The two outer movements are introspective, lichen-hung and mildly dissonant. The central one is savagely kinetic but with moments of gloomy stasis. The finale has its moments of heroic eloquence (3:00) and towards the end suggests emotional turmoil yet falling away into silence. This Concerto has been recorded before by Naxos - in fact by Marco Polo for its Braga Santos orchestral series.

There's much more to this music than this but you can expect to appreciate the two concertos if you enjoy Shostakovich's cello concertos. The two single movement pieces are easier conquests without being at all bland.

The compact booklet notes by Francisco Sassetti are in Portugese with an English translation.

The sound is fine with pleasing detail and full spectrum impact. The performances radiate conviction and include world premieres. I see that the brilliant cellist Bruno Borralhinho is also active as a conductor.

– MusicWeb International (Rob Barnett)

Includes work(s) for guitar by various composers. Soloist: Ric Ickard.

The Bohemian cellist and pedagogue David Popper (1843-1913) wrote prolifically and quite effectively for his instrument. His magnum opus, the High School of Cello Playing Op. 73, is a collection of 40 solo etudes that add up to a veritable bible of Romantic cello technique. Although the pieces are designed for students to overcome specific challenges contained in solo and orchestral repertoire, they are more inventive and melodically attractive than their didactic aims suggest. I'd go so far as to say that you can listen to the studies in large stretches, or even all 40 in a single sitting, without getting bored. Perhaps this is as much due to the cellist as the composer.

Dmitry Yablonsky commands the technique and taste to play the Popper etudes like music rather than mere exercises. Listen to his elegant, unflappable handling of No. 7's perpetual motion writing in all registers. Notice how easily he dispatches No. 13's cruelly exposed octaves and double notes. Also note the veiled beauty Yablonsky brings to No. 28's high-lying passagework, and the perfect poise with which he articulates No. 37's relentless mordents. These are but a few examples that attest to Yablonsky's mastery. Given that Martin Rummel's pioneering boxed set devoted to Popper's complete etudes is not easy to locate and is relatively expensive, Yablonsky and Naxos pretty much have the field to themselves. Highly recommended.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Although he was already an established figure in Mexico City, Manuel Ponce's life was transformed after meeting the guitar virtuoso Andr�s Segovia in 1923. Their subsequent life-long friendship and artistic collaboration started with the sprightly wit and airy playfulness of the Sonata 'Mexicana'. The Third Sonata reveals Ponce's romantic-era roots and his affinity for Chopin, while the Sonata cl�sica is both an homage to Fernando Sor and Mozart's delightful Italian operatic style. The remarkable Sonate romantique is almost like a lost work by Schubert. Peeling aside Segovia's editorial changes, Aleksandr Tsiboulski's performances return as much as possible to Ponce's original manuscripts.

Listen to the Naxos Podcast to learn more about this release

The works on this recording were written by four roughly contemporary Polish composers who settled and pursued their careers in different parts of the world. Grayna Bacewicz's first Violin Concerto displays her own glittering virtuosity as a performer, while Alexandre Tansman wrote his Baroque-infused Five Pieces for the great Josef Szigeti. Michal Spisak considered his neo-classical Andante and Allegro to be "a little story for violin and orchestra", while Andrzej Panufnik's wide-ranging Violin Concerto became a "pilgrimage into my past" and is richly suffused with Polish atmosphere.

Review:

There are four rewarding works to be discovered on this disc, although only two of them are technically concertos. Andrzej Panufnik's Violin Concerto, written in 1971 and recorded in concert in 2014 by ?ód?-born violinist Piotr P?awner, the Kammersymphonie Berlin and conductor Jürgen Bruns. The second movement, with its seemingly endless lines of melody, reminds us that the concerto was written for Yehudi Menuhin and his famous nonstop vibrato. P?awner does those long lines justice here, before wrapping up the piece in a spiky, frenetic Polish dance.

– Guardian

ach of these five contemporary American pieces for wind band, performed by one of the country’s leading ensembles, explores its own very personal soundscape. Paul Dooley delves into the world of drum & bass with electronically inspired orchestrations, whilst for Steve Danyew the exploration of counterpoint is paramount. In composer Roy David Magnuson’s own words, Innsmouth, Massachusetts–1927 is “pulpy horror music” that depicts a night in H.P. Lovecraft’s terrifying The Shadow Over Innsmouth. In contrast, Scott McAllister’s Gone is meditative and prayerful. Pulitzer and GRAMMY® Prize-winner Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto is heard here in its arrangement for wind ensemble.

These are world premiere recordings.

During his long and energetic life, Ignaz Joseph Pleyel distinguished himself as a composer, publisher and piano manufacturer. His versatility, one of the keys to his survival in the turbulent years of the French Revolution, is also to be found in abundance in his vast musical output. This recording features two scintillating symphonies and Pleyel’s only authentic concerto for flute; all three works amply illustrate the reason why he achieved such an unprecedented level of popularity in the last two decades of the 18th Century.

PLEYEL Symphonies Concertantes: in B?; in A. Violin Concerto in D • David Perry, Isabella Lippi, (vn); Victoria Chiang (va); Markand Thakar, cond; Baltimore CO • Naxos 8.570320 (79:33)


Ignaz Pleyel (1757–1831) lived a long life in troubled times. Born in Austria, he was a pupil of Franz Joseph Haydn. Later he moved to France and remained there for the rest of his life. As a composer, he competed with both Mozart, who was born a year earlier, and Beethoven, who was born 13 years later. He also ran a company that made pianos, and another that published music. Despite his business activities, he was a prolific composer, but most of his music was written early in his life. The music on this disc is thought to have been written between 1786 and 1792.


The Symphonie Concertante in B? (Benton 112) has only two movements, both of which offer sunny melodies. Within Pleyel’s comparatively simple melodic strains, one looks for excellence of performance. The performance with violinist David Perry and violist Victoria Chiang, accompanied by the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra led by Markand Thakar, is replete with translucent playing, tonally colorful harmonies, and robust counterpoint. The opulent cadenzas for Perry and Chiang were written by Suzanne Beia, the second violinist with the Pro Arte String quartet. Although Pleyel did not call this work a double concerto, that is what it is. It’s a welcome addition to the repertoire, and we can hope to hear it played more often in the future.


Pleyel’s Symphonie Concertante in A Major (Benton 114) was composed for his trip to London during 1792, when the composer could not offer concerts in France. In London, he had to contend with competition from his former teacher, Haydn, who was performing there at the same time. Both men were successful, but Haydn’s reviews were far more ecstatic. Nevertheless, at that time Pleyel’s music was heard widely in Europe and even in much less sophisticated Massachusetts.


Today, Pleyel’s music is not that easy to find and the only way one can get a good idea of the musical landscape of the late 18th century is to sample the music of various composers and evaluate their ideas. On this Naxos disc Thakar and his chamber orchestra play the Symphonie Concertante in A with exquisite precision and the serious attention to detail that give the 21st-century audience a very good idea of the joys of long ago in London.


The final selection is the violin concerto in D (Benton 103 and 103A) with David Perry as soloist. He plays the opening Allegro with spirit and follows it with a plaintive rendering of the Cantabile movement. With the final Rondo, he brings us back to Pleyel’s sunny melodic writing and crowns it with his own virtuosity. The sound on this recording, made in 2008 at the Kraushaar Auditorium in Towson, Maryland, is clean and clear in an immediate aural perspective thanks to the engineering of Michael Mermagen.


FANFARE: Maria Nockin


------

Occasionally I find myself thinking, “oh no, not another disk of music by so–and–so’s lesser known, and probably lesser, contemporary.” Happily, this was not one of those occasions. Here are three works which are most welcome visitors to my home.

In two fairly fastish movements, the Symphonie Concertante in B flat, which is basically a Concerto for violin and viola, is a lovely affair. It is joyful, full of good humour, and a delight from beginning to end. There’s also a rather nice quirkiness to some of the themes.

The slightly later Symphonie Concertante in A is for two violins and orchestra and is a more conservative composition. It doesn’t have the immediate appeal of the other work, nor does it share that work’s quirkiness in its thematic material. That said, it’s still a lovely work, with much to enjoy. I wonder if the decision to write the work in three movements might have had something to do with Pleyel’s straightforwardness? After the minor key middle section of the finale there is the most fabulously enjoyable romp of a coda.

Although a pupil of Haydn, the Violin Concerto in D has more than its fair share of Mozartean fingerprints about it. A long first movement, which includes a big cadenza, has a couple of good tunes, the slow movement also includes a cadenza but, in truth, both movements are slightly overlong by a couple of minutes. Pleyel is neither a Haydn nor a Beethoven so his grasp on form isn’t quite as secure as theirs.

This is attractive music, however, and although it isn’t quite in the same class as his contemporaries it does please and entertain. The recording here is very good, even if the soloists are somewhat forward and a little too far in front of the orchestra, but the balance isn’t bad, one can always hear the band no matter how close the soloist is to the microphone.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in the music of this period who needs a rest from the angst and problems of the music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Also, we mustn’t forget that we need figures like Pleyel to remind us just how great Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven were!

-- Bob Briggs, MusicWeb International

PLEYEL String Quartets: in E?, op. 2/4; in B?, op. 2/5; in D, op. 2/6 ? Ens? Quartet ? NAXOS 8557497 (56:38)


Throughout his long and distinguished career, Ignaz Pleyel (1757?1831) composed a total of 57 string quartets, and by the time he wrote the half-dozen quartets that were engraved in 1784 by Graeffer in Vienna as op. 2, Haydn had already composed his ops. 20 and 33 sets, both of which expanded the scope and breadth of the form. Mozart was familiar with Pleyel?s work and it may have been Pleyel?s op. 2 that prompted Mozart to write his father, ?You will find them [the quartets] worth the trouble. They are very well written and most pleasing to listen to. You will also see at once who [Haydn] was his master. It will be a lucky day for music if later on Pleyel should be able to replace Haydn.?


Indeed, the presence of Haydn is unmistakable in these works, although it is not as if he were guiding Pleyel?s quill, for these quartets are not knock-offs. Rather they are as annotator Allan Badley noted, ?a remarkable achievement for a young composer and it is one of the cruel quirks of fate that works of such vitality and imagination could be forgotten for so long.? I add to Dr. Badley?s remarks that this music impresses immediately by way of its tunefulness, memorability, and tight, but never pedantic structure. It flows beautifully from page to page and movement to movement with the ease of a brook gently making its way down a hillside


The Ens? String Quartet?an American ensemble, by the way?is made up of violinists Maureen Nelson and Tereza Stanislav, violist Robert Brophy, and cellist Richard Belcher. The quartet takes its name from a Japanese zen painting of a circle ?that represents many things, perfection as well as imperfection, the moment of chaos that is creation, the emptiness of the void, the endless circle of life, and the fullness of the spirit.? In 2003, the group won the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and in the same year was awarded top prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs in Ohio. They have appeared in leading venues across the land including Lincoln Center and the Merkin Concert Hall (New York) and have been the guests of Bill McLaughlin on St. Paul Sunday Morning , heard nationwide on member stations of National Public Radio.


Lacking the first of the two Naxos discs that make up Pleyel?s op. 2, I placed this arrival in my player with no preconceptions as to what I might hear. It didn?t take long for me to determine that I was privy to extraordinary talent. The performances are replete with enthusiasm and momentum and, drawing upon a winning combination of instinct and convention, they evoke not only a distinct personality, but also exhibit poise, coupled with an exceptional sense of vitality and elegance. The energy generated by these young musicians is obvious from the get-go, as is their commitment to the repertoire. Vital and intellectually challenging, these curiosities repay the listener?s interest time after time by way of their memorable and affable nature.


Without doubt, these quartets stand their ground with similar works of Haydn and Mozart, and with advocacy this strong, they will certainly begin to emerge from musical oblivion, taking their long overdue place in the repertoire.


FANFARE: Michael Carter