Classical Music

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 "Eroica"

Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 2 / Cello Concerto No. 1 / Kraft,

John Eliot Gardiner's fresh take on Brahms' Symphony No. 2 is only partially about performing forces. The Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique's period-based proportions yield impressive ensemble clarity along with bracing instrumental timbres, most notably in the strings, which play sans vibrato. This has a curious effect in Brahms--compared to the accustomed buttery warmth produced by the Vienna Philharmonic or the Chicago Symphony, Gardiner's spare-sounding string band lends a certain curtness to the musical expression, especially so at the start of the slow movement, which here sounds more baroque than romantic. But this quality fits Gardiner's interpretation, with its moderately quick tempos and crisp phrasing. The orchestra's lively playing, most notably the woodwinds, makes Brahms' harmonies sing quite beautifully and makes you listen to the music with fresh ears. Only the finale breaks the spell--Gardiner's rather deliberate coda keeps the grand conclusion firmly on the ground.

The coupled Schubert choral works, of interest primarily to choral music aficionados, really don't add much to the program, although they do set the stage for Brahms' Alto Rhapsody, the opening of which interestingly has stylistic similarities to the Schubert pieces. Nathalie Stutzmann's dark, true-alto voice rings powerfully in the Rhapsody, while the Monteverdi Choir gives compelling performances throughout. Completing the package is recorded sound that's clear and detailed (with a slight emphasis on the high frequencies), fully complementing Gardiner's interpretive approach (especially that decidedly different Brahms Second!). A most welcome release.

--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

BIZET:L'ARLESIENNE/+/RÖGNER

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José Serebrier's distinctive conceptions and nimble conducting imbue the familiar Marche slave, Capriccio italien, and 1812 Overture with a freshness that belies their long-held "warhorse" status. By employing lighter sonorities and crystal-clear balances (all rendered with spectacular fidelity and dynamism by BIS's remarkably vivid recording) that expose Tchaikovsky's gorgeous woodwind writing and inner harmonic detail, Serebrier brings a vibrant youthful quality even to the overplayed 1812. Listen to how the bracing opening, with its cleanly phrased, rhythmically taut string playing fosters ever-increasing tension. Later, in the grand coda, the dramatic brass-and-strings interplay genuinely excites while cannons roar away in the distance (the opposite approach to Telarc's cannon-down-your-throat technique).


Serebrier's light and balletic rendition of the rarely heard Fatum is in marked contrast to the heavier variety offered by Slatkin, yet it nonetheless doesn't shy away from the raucous percussion that makes this rather naïve piece a real kick (just what does all that booming and crashing have to do with an inexorable "fate" anyway?).


Tchaikovsky's elegant and sweetly melancholy Élégie, and Serebrier's own arrangement of the Andante cantabile from the String Quartet No. 1, come as relaxingly gentle interludes between the noisier selections on the disc, all of which receive probing and polished performances by the Bamberg Symphony. Even if you think you've heard this music one too many times, you'll likely find this disc a rewarding listening experience.
--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

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A leading authority on Bach, conductor Masaaki Suzuki now tackles his first album by a twentieth century composer. Collaborating with the acclaimed ensemble Tapiola Sinfonietta, Suzuki has chosen the works of Stravinsky for this release. Tracks include Pulcinella Suite, Apollon Musagete, and Concerto in D for Strings.

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Includes work(s) by Jean Sibelius. Ensembles: Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Tempera String Quartet, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki University Chorus, Dominante Choir. Conductors: Osmo Vänskä, Neeme Järvi. Soloists: Leonidas Kavakos, Dong-Suk Kang, Anne Sofie von Otter, Bengt Forsberg, Monica Groop, Folke Gräsbeck.

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Classical Music

Calm, elegant music to help you while away an afternoon or evening, come rain or shine; so put the kettle on, open a large box of chocolates, turn up the volume - and relax in the company of some of the world's greatest composers!

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WIRÉN Concert Overture No. 2. 1 Serenade for String Orchestra. 2 Ironiska småstycken (Ironic pieces) for Piano. 4 Piano Sonatina. 5 Miniature Suite for Violin & Piano. 6 Cello Sonatina. 9 Cello Concerto. 3,9 Sinfonietta 4,8 • 1 Tor Mann, 2 Sixten Eckerberg, 3 Sixten Ehrling, cond; 1 Stockholm R O; 2 Gothenberg S O; 4 Camilla Kinberg; 5 Stig Ribbing (pn); 6 Sven Karpe (vn); Dag Wirén ( 6 pn, 8 cond); 9 Maurice Maréchal (vc); 9 Harry Ebert (pn); 3 Gustav Gröndahl (vc) • CAPRICE 21761, mono (79:47)


Arné Wirén was a Swedish bass who recorded with (among others) Hjördis Schymberg, Bette Björling, and Erik Sædén. This Wirén’s first name was Dag (1905-1986), and I was rather relieved to discover online that he “is not widely known outside his native Sweden, though his music began gaining notice internationally on recordings in the decade following his death. His first serious compositions date to the 1930s and divulge a neo-Classicism tinged by a Romantic warmth.” So if this is your introduction to Dag Wirén, as it was mine, there’s the skinny on him.


This disc, titled Vintage Wirén, presents what are possibly the first recordings of these pieces. I say “possibly” because of the obscurity of these recordings in the West, and the fact that the liner notes don’t volunteer this information. (Whatever happened to the days when record companies told you EVERYTHING—whether or not the recordings were first versions or not, whether or not they’ve ever been on LP and/or CD before, who the performers are, etc.? This is the bane of modern record collecting, and reviewing. Modern-day record labels generally tell you very little or nothing.) This CD was initially reviewed by James A. Altena in Fanfare 33:6, and I am indebted to him for explaining that “Tonsåttaren,” who is listed as the pianist in the Miniature Suite and conductor of the Sinfonietta, is the composer himself.


What one hears on this disc are light but well-crafted works of the style I tend to call “popular neo-Classic.” The “Andante espressivo” of the Serenade for String Orchestra, for instance, strongly resembles the contemporary work of young Sam Barber or Copland in his popular phase, although the entire serenade shows the influence of both Stenhammar and of Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony. This is not a bad thing, and Wirén very obviously had a sense of humor, as his music practically bristles with it. The notes claim this the single most popular contemporary Swedish classical piece in existence, though later on in the notes they explain that it wasn’t issued in its entirely until 1949, nine years after it was recorded.


The Ironic Pieces for piano also runs in the Prokofiev vein, although Wirén purposely avoids some of the spikier harmonies of that style. Camilla Kinberg plays them with tremendous drive, finesses, and—yes—humor, particularly in the “Promenade” which starts and ends with a light tread but, in the middle, stomps around noisily with solid whacking notes in the bass.


The problem I had with the piano Sonatina was not the quality of the music, which was fine, but the condition of the records. All of these seem to have been pressed off-center, which causes the phenomenon known as a “swinging copy.” This, in turn, makes the pitch constantly fluctuate. What’s so annoying is that this is an easily correctable flaw: just get a turntable with a removable spindle. Put the record on the turntable with the spindle in, then remove it and start playing it at a slower speed (like 33 rpm). Watch how the grooves “swing,” and then very gently tap the edge of the disc with your fingernail until it looks more centered and regular. It works every time.


The Miniature Suite for Violin and Piano starts with a fairly innocuous, 49-second opening, but the Adagio is considerably interesting and moody. The remaining movements, though brief and lighthearted, are a bit less humorous or frivolous. So, too, is the Cello Sonatina, played well by Maréchal and pianist Ebert, who at this time (1940) was the regular accompanist for tenor Jussi Björling. My one complaint about this piece was that it seemed to be recorded rather distantly.


Even better, as both a piece and as a recording, is the Cello Concerto, though the soloist (Gröndahl) is not as secure in his bowing or intonation as Maréchal. On the other hand Sixten Ehrling, heard here in a very early recorded example of his work, shows why he was considered one of Sweden’s better conductors. This work’s moody, more serious quality reveals Wirén to have been a fine composer who might have developed more seriously had his beloved “Serenade” not taken over the imagination of the public. He creates a fine feeling of suspense in the “call-and-response” style of the concerto, and at roughly 16 minutes it does not overstay its welcome.


The transfers are, for the most part, masterfully done. Remastering engineer Marie Wisén (if I translate the word “Redaktör” correctly) has removed all traces of record sound, leaving just the music to be savored without damaging the quality of the string tone, always a hazardous operation. My only complaint is that she did not then boost the treble to restore some of the upper frequencies, which makes these recordings sound muffled. I was able to obtain good quality sound, however, by turning the treble control on my amplifier all the way up. Otherwise, recommended.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

Spirit of Discovery

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Classical Music

Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and conductor Christian Eggen continue the survey of their compatriot Fartein Valen's orchestral music with a programme spanning the years 1932-1946. Valen had by then already established his distinctive tonal language, an atonal counterpoint based on his studies of Bach with inspiration from Schoenberg and from Alban Berg. The three single-movement orchestral pieces recorded here were written in the space of just over a year, and all have titles that are rich in extra-musical associations. They are not, however, examples of romantic programme music: the titles reflect the underlying inspiration rather than the content of the works. Nenia, from the Latin, is a lament - or 'funeral march' as Valen termed it - inspired by the expressive Roman marble figure known as the 'Dying Gaul'. For An die Hoffnung it was the poem 'To Hope' by John Keats which provided the creative impetus, and it is known that Valen owned a copy of Edmund Spenser's Epithalamion from 1595, as he was composing the work which he intended as a wedding gift to his nephew. These shorter works may be seen as preliminary studies for Valen's symphonies, of which No.2 and No.3 were composed from 1941 to 1946. During this time - which more or less coincides with the German occupation of Norway - Valen led a reclusive life on the family farm, spending his time composing and tending his beloved rose garden. As a symphonist, Valen was not interested in the traditional symphonic development but he did want to preserve the character of the extended lines with long spans through polyphony. To quote the liner notes by Valen specialist Arvid Vollsnes, 'many of the movements are like gigantic fugues. They have a dynamic, rather than an architectural form even though we encounter sonata form, Lied form and rondos.'.

To list the various distinctions awarded to the recordings that make up this sumptuous offering is almost impossible; suffice it to say that the entire series received the Grieg Award in 2007, the year of the hundredth anniversary of the death of the composer, as well as a very special commendation by the UK Grieg Society the same year.

During 2003-2006, as the individual discs were released, reviewers all over the world were heaping praise over the series – astoundingly enough, as this is repertoire that at least in part belong to some of the most well-represented on disc. But this did not seem to matter to the critics, who described the performance of the Piano Concerto as one that ‘will make you fall in love with the music all over again’ (American Record Guide) and that of the Holberg Suite ‘so compelling that it simply makes you forget about any other’ (Classics Today.com), deeming the Peer Gynt Suites to be ‘interpretations that rejuvenate even this almost hackneyed, overly familiar music, relieving it of all the ballast of performance history’ (klassik.com).

It was the freshness of the performances by Ole Kristian Ruud and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra that struck most critics – freshness coupled with expertise: ‘Bergen musicians have lived with these scores since their creation and all the performances here have a relaxed, idiomatic naturalness in their virtuosity’ (Gramophone). A second point was the superior sound quality – the result of inspired and painstaking work by the BIS recording staff in combination with the splendid acoustics of the Grieg Hall in Bergen. ‘Sonically this production features demonstration quality both in stereo and SACD multi-channel formats’ wrote the reviewer of Classics Today.com; ‘a fabulous complete cycle, admirably served by the splendid recording technique’ was the verdict in Classica-Répertoire.

The third factor contributing to the warm reception was of course the music itself, the fascination and power exerted by the Piano Concerto and the complete Peer Gynt, the emotion projected in Bergliot and Den Bergtekne, the charm and freshness of the orchestral songs and Lyric Suite – in the words of one reviewer: ‘music that you'd have to be either deaf or dead not to love’. The complete traversal, generally considered a reference point in the Grieg discography, is now available in this stereo-only version at a very advantageous price. (8 CDs for the price of 3)

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