Classical Music

Joachim Raff’s symphonies have a reputation as being diffuse, bloated, and just not terribly interesting. On the basis of some of his programmatic works in the form, perhaps this is true, at least some of the time, but his Second is a lively, compact, formally shapely and melodically rich work that does not deserve its neglect. Maybe the first movement, which is based on a triadic theme not terribly susceptible to development, lacks drama, but it certainly moves well, as does the entire symphony for that matter. The finale in particular maintains its momentum from start to finish, unlike so many other romantic symphonies. At only 33 minutes (in this performance), you can’t say that the piece outstays its welcome. Järvi typically does not see profundity where none exists, but leads the orchestra in a joyful romp through the piece that proves consistently entertaining.

The four Shakespeare preludes also prove to be lots of fun. All are relatively short but well-orchestrated and atmospheric. Perhaps Romeo and Juliet is the tamest–it’s only nine minutes long and it’s not Tchaikovsky, but Othello is punchy and tense (and even shorter); The Tempest opens with an effective storm and features music that challenges you to figure out who the characters are that Raff illustrates; and Macbeth, possibly the best of all, spends a lot of time focused on the witches and, seemingly, the final battle. It’s great to have this music recorded, and terrifying to realize that the symphony is Raff’s Op. 140 and the preludes his WoO 49-52. My but that man could churn it out, couldn’t he? Fine playing and excellent sonics round out a release that deserves your attention.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

London Early Opera continue their new series of Handel's works with the second volume of pieces composed in Italy. Both volumes of Handel in Italy explore the young composer's Italian years through his cantatas, sacred pieces, operatic works and instrumental compositions. Featuring performances from internationally acclaimed soloists, the sopranos Sophie Bevan and Mary Bevan with their uncle, baritone Benjamin Bevan, conducted and conceived by Bridget Cunningham.

Classical Music

Classical Music

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

REVIEW:

All of the discs in this set have been reviewed individually, and in detail. Still, it's worth pointing out that this is unquestionably one of the great Beethoven cycles, and on SACD there's certainly none better. Osmo Vänskä manages to have the best of both worlds--an interpretive perspective enhanced by the latest scholarship, as performed by a great orchestra on a mission. And this is exactly what Beethoven needs: a point of view, and total commitment. There are no weak performances here. In the "Eroica" I was just a touch disappointed in the first movement when Vänskä's pursuit of the barely audible pianissimo threatened to become a mannerism, but that is about the only criticism possible to level at this set.

His Fifth blazes; the Seventh offers the apotheosis of excitement that never spins out of control. The early symphonies have charm and humor in abundance. The Fourth and Eighth reveal Beethoven's masterly command of movement and proportion with effortless enthusiasm. In the Sixth we find a perfect balance between programmatic description and symphonic logic. It's all capped by one of the great Ninths, with a perfectly timed Adagio and a gloriously sung finale. If you haven't been purchasing these discs as they were released, then get the box. It's one of the few cycles that maintains the highest standards all the way through, and the sonics are uniformly stunning.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

After the success of the first fourteen reissues, which restored to the limelight some of the gems of the early music repertory in the catalogues of our labels, here are fourteen new titles to allow listeners to renew acquaintance with further treasures of the Renaissance and Baroque (and even a journey through time thanks to Raphaël Imbert’s album Bach Coltrane), performed by some of the leading interpreters of the genre; most of these discs won one or more awards on their first release. As with the first series, the artists have been asked to contribute to the booklets, in which, with a few years’ hindsight, they talk about their conception of the works and how they went about recording them. The photographers of the Magnum agency illustrate the covers of the series with their work; this time the common design element is the colour yellow.In addition to the 13 titles shown below, the album FIRENZE 161 by LE POEME HARMONIQUE, VINCENT DUMESTRE, will also be reissued.

This selection is also available on Walking Frog (distribution) 266.

Classical Music

Over the last decade the music of the Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra has become internationally admired, and this has led to prestigious commissions and performances around the world. Fandangos was heard at the BBC Proms in London and employs a harpsichord work attributed to Antonio Soler as a departure for a richly inventive orchestral fantasy. The dramatic Sinfonia No. 4 was described by ArtsNowNashville as 'a textbook example of how this composer breathes new life into old forms. The piece is basically a classic Germanic symphony imbued with Spanish sensibilities and reinvigorated with new harmonies and rhythms.' Robert Schumann is subtly evoked in Carnaval, five character pieces that explore mythical creatures, both menacing and serene.

Classical Music

Between the Bliss and Me is a wonderful collection of musical settings of poems by the great American poet, Emily Dickinson. The CD gathers compositions which might be familiar to some listeners, particularly the settings composed by Aaron Copland, but there are also works by lesser known composers such as Ernst Bacon, John Duke, Arthur Farwell, Scott Gendel, Lori Laitman and Richard Pearson-Thomas which add an extra dimension to Dickinson's genius. Unlike most modern art song, the songs on this CD have a refreshing melodic quality.

Classical Music

At the heart of this CD is the cellist Raphael Wallfisch. He not only performs these pieces with the utmost musicianship but they were also all written for him. Since the BBC NOW play with their customary skill under William Boughton, about as well established an expert on his native British music as one could wish to have, this CD is home and dry. The Hoddinott Hall is one of the best acoustics in the country and Lyrita's engineers have, as usual, produced a splendid sound. I did wonder about the slight left-placement of the cello but that is where soloists usually sit so it may simply reflect reality.

Joubert's work is, as the title states, in two movements. Each lasts a little over 11 minutes. Considering it is scored for only double woodwind, horns and strings, it displays a wide range of instrumental colours and is not only impressively coherent but also makes a very pleasurable sound. There is plenty of energy in the work. This is not a pastoral idyll one can allow to just wash over you. Joubert keeps one firmly engaged throughout and reminded me that I have neglected my sole Joubert CD prior to this, the First Symphony, also on Lyrita.

The late Robert Simpson was a very important symphonist and composer of string quartets. His musical structures require close attention from his listeners. This concerto, one of a mere handful, is typical of his later style. It was in fact his last orchestral piece. It consists of a theme and eleven variations played without a break and lasting very nearly half an hour. It is by turns lyrical and dramatic, ending quietly. Though the orchestra is large the textures are always clear and I found myself gripped by his typically involved musical argument right up to the 'calm resignation' of the coda, described thus in the excellent notes by Paul Conway.

Finally Christopher Wright has come to my attention only recently, having heard an extract from his lovely Violin Concerto of 2010 (Dutton CDLX 7286), so I was not surprised to discover that his Cello Concerto is also a fascinatingly individual creation full of lovely sounds but also of much energy and momentum.

We do not hear many different cello concertos in the concert hall. Those by Elgar, Dvorak, Schumann and Shostakovich are deservedly the most frequently performed. The three recorded on this CD are of a quality and approachability to match such as Saint-Saëns, Hindemith, Martinu and Walton. They should most certainly not be allowed to lapse into obscurity.

- Dave Billinge, MusicWeb International

Bach's late, contrapuntal masterwork, left incomplete upon his death in 1750. Played here on an untempered piano and complete on 2 CDs. French/Swiss pianist Cedric Pescia has concertized throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Professor of piano at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Geneve. Gold Medalist - 2002 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah (USA).

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

NUEVAS RELACIONES: Atardecer

T he Strauss family was one of music's greatest dynasties. In this glittering disc, we hear such classics as the Radetzky March of Johann Strauss I, and his son, Johann Strauss II's overture to Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), one of the enduring masterpieces of the Viennese concert repertoire. The irresistibly exciting Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning) offers thunderous delight, whilst Ander schenen blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube) is one of the most unforgettable melodies ever written. Strauss the Elder's second son, Josef, was an outstanding composer in his own right, as demonstrated by the frenzy of excitement that is the Jokey-Polka (Jockey-Polka). After positions as Chief Conductor of Prague State Opera and First Permanent Conductor of Leipzig Opera, Johannes Wildner was the General Music Director of the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Westphalia (Germany) for ten years from 1997. His years of experience as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra have given his conducting a distinctive stamp.

Classical Music

A wonderful introduction to this amazing composer’s music.

With over 500 works to his name Alan Hovhaness may well be the most prolific American composer as well as one of the most fascinating. His music cannot be pigeonholed since he drew influences from so many varied sources. That said, above all, he insisted on melody, having roundly rejected the path of ‘modernism’ that many others followed in the 20 ^th century. Among those influences was his Armenian heritage inherited through his father. These are very much to the fore in his First Symphony subtitled Exile which references the plight of Armenians who were forced to flee in their millions in the face of an onslaught by Ottoman Turks during the First World War. Lovers of big tunes will revel in the lush sonorities on display. They’re in evidence right from the first notes. These are given to the clarinet which introduces a plaintive tune taken up by other woodwind with the orchestra continuing the Middle Eastern-sounding scales and the music becoming disturbed and agitated. The second, short movement marked Grazioso is further demonstration of the melodies for which Hovhaness is rightly renowned. Woodwind sings out against a background of pizzicato from strings and harp. This allows for an interlude of calm before the third and final movement brings us back to agitation. Driving strings and winds recall the opening theme in chorale form which then becomes the main focus of the orchestra. The powerfully expressed message is that a whole people cannot be suppressed. Its spirit will reassert itself and prevail against all the odds.
 
One of the other influences Hovhaness exploits is his love and reverence of the music of the Far East, particularly Japan and Korea, having studied both. The second work, Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints, has a title that allows him to explore his own impressions of the music from this part of the world. It involves extremely creative ways of approximating the sounds of Japan through clever and inventive use of the instruments of a Western orchestra. The marimba is the instrument of choice to carry the main theme against a background of orchestral experimentation creating a convincing and effective ‘Japanese’ sound for Western ears.
 
Yet another influence which has shown itself in many of Hovhaness’s compositions are mountains. He once wrote “Mountains are symbols, like pyramids, of man’s attempt to know God. Mountains are symbolic meeting places between the mundane and spiritual worlds”. It was a natural thing therefore to have been moved to write a symphony that expresses those ideas following the huge explosion of Mount Saint Helens in Washington State in 1980. The first movement sets the scene and pays reverence to the majesty and mystery of the mountain through use of gorgeous harmonically and melodically rich tunes. These emphasise the mountain’s imperious eminence over its surroundings and its naturally serene nature prior to its being geographically changed by the explosion. The second movement is also calm since it describes the fabulous Spirit Lake in whose waters the mountain was often magically mirrored. Once again Hovhaness uses Japanese-sounding melodies to create the air of mystery and natural beauty of a place which was obliterated by the explosion. The finale opens with an almost hymn-like theme from the strings with tubular bells in the background. A sole flute precedes a representation of the cataclysmic events that rent the mountain asunder, and which continues for much of the movement’s 14 minutes. This musical depiction of the destructive power of nature is extremely potent with plenty of work for bass drums and gong as wave after wave of explosions tear the very fabric of the ground on which the mountain stood. Finally the opening hymn returns to re-establish a measure of calm. Hovhaness doesn’t end the symphony there. Instead he creates a coda to signify the “youthful power and grandeur of the Cascades Mountains” that, as he said, renews the vitality of “our peaceful planet, the living earth, the life-giving force building the majestic Cascades Mountains (,) rising, piercing the clouds of heaven”. This symphony represents an extremely satisfying journey that shows the composer’s unique view of how to use music to describe nature in all its creative as well as destructive power. The disc as a whole is a wonderful introduction to this amazing composer’s music that I for one am only beginning to discover. More of Hovhaness’s works are being recorded all the time. With 67 symphonies alone there’s plenty left to record and to discover and that’s an exciting prospect. Gerard Schwarz is a great advocate of American music and he and his orchestra help do the kind of justice Hovhaness deserves. Ron Johnson does a sterling job on the marimba in the disc’s second work. These recordings were originally made by Delos and they offer an extremely rewarding experience for a whole new audience to discover and revel in.
 
-- Steve Arloff , MusicWeb International

The Phoenix, co-commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and Danish National Symphony Orchestra, was inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen tale, the mythical bird symbolizing for Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng "the muse of all peoples."

This cheaply priced set brings together a number of recordings made in the early 1990s in Venezuela, featuring the Simón Bolívar Orchestra under the baton of the Mexican conductor Eduardo Mata. Mata, who had a distinguished career in Europe, London, and the United States, died at the age of 52 in a plane crash in January of 1995. 

The Simón Bolívar orchestra is internationally known because of the  sistema , set up in Caracas in 1975 by José Antonion Abreu, whereby young people are taught to play and appreciate music. Many orchestras at various levels of proficiency are a part of this scheme, the Simón Bolívar representing the cream of the crop. Since Gustavo Dudamel became their chief conductor (prior to his tenure in Los Angeles), the orchestra’s profile has grown and the enterprise has expanded considerably. Ten years earlier, they had the good fortune to be associated with Mata, although I would guess that the majority of players from that time have since moved on.

Dorian initially recorded and distributed these CDs separately, and most collectors will be aware of them. Now they have been re-released as a box set by Dorian Sono Luminus. The latter company recently reissued the complete Villa-Lobos string quartets, and will produce a box set later this year of Mata’s Dorian recordings with the Dallas SO (where he was music director at the time of his sudden demise). 

According to the press release, all the recordings have been newly remastered, although there is no indication of that in the packaging, and no engineer credited with remastering. (This is in contrast to the well-documented Villa-Lobos quartets reissue.) In an A/B comparison using three discs, I found the sound on the new set to have more presence; the slight boxiness of the original pressings has been minimized. The new discs have also been mastered at a higher level, a noticeable improvement. 

In some other respects, crucial information is missing. No cast list is given for the opera  La vida breve , merely a few singers’ out-of-date biographies. Research suggests the lead role of Salud is sung by Marta Senn, who is also the soloist in El amor brujo and the Seven Popular Spanish Songs , although nowhere is this stated. No librettos are supplied, even though the original incarnation of at least one of these discs did so (Estévez’ Cantata criolla ). The Cuarteto Latinoamericano is no longer acknowledged for their major contribution to Orbón’s Concerto grosso, and Sensemayá is not listed as part of the contents of disc 2 in the booklet. Notes are otherwise comprehensive.

Putting the two Falla discs aside for the moment, the program consists of Latin American music’s greatest hits, with a few lesser-known works mixed in, such as those by the Venezuelan Antonio Estévez (1916–1988) and Spanish-born Cuban Julian Orbón (1925–1991). A personal friend of Orbón, whose Partita No.4 for Piano and Orchestra he also recorded, Mata is very much at home in this music. He generally takes a no-nonsense approach, so performances tend to be snappy and slick. Ensemble is tight and textures clearly delineated. 

In the 1990s, this orchestra had not attained its current level of polish, so it does not trump all competition—such as Mata himself conducting the New Philharmonia in Revueltas and the London SO in Falla (both RCA), or Dudamel’s sensational 2008 recording of  Sensemayá, Mediodia en el llano , and Estancia on DG. Nevertheless, these colorful and energetic readings are highly enjoyable on their own account; the Estévez cantata builds impressively to its climax—a vocal duel between the two male soloists. This is also the only available version of Chavéz’ rare ballet score, Caballos de vapor.

The four CDs of Latin music alone would have made a tempting bargain box, but Dorian has added two discs of Falla. The second includes two rarities: the composer’s own orchestration of his  Homenajes (“Homages”), some of which were originally written for piano or solo guitar, and the orchestral arrangement of the Seven Popular Spanish Songs made by Luciano Berio for his then wife Cathy Berberian. (Did Berberian ever record them?)

Falla’s early opera-cum-zarzuela  La vida breve is well worth getting to know. Its Impressionistic opening gives way to a red-blooded verisimo story of love and death, replete with a Spanish dance in the style of The Three Cornered Hat and an interlude for (male) flamenco singer/guitarist. Mata championed this work throughout his career. The main soloists here are fine, but Senn is outsung by Victoria de los Angeles (EMI), Alicia Nafé (Telarc), and Teresa Berganza (DG), respectively. And though he may be authentic, Mata’s Gypsy singer sounds as if he’s been gargling battery acid. Senn is clearly uncomfortable in El amor brujo , where the tessitura lies awkwardly for her; the low part of her head voice comes over as hooty. I much prefer Nati Mistral on Mata’s earlier recording. Orchestrally, the Venezuelan performances are typically vigorous and clear.

Chávez’  Sinfonia India , Revueltas’s Sensemayá , Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras No. 2 and Ginastera’s Estancia are cornerstones of the Latin repertoire. This release is a relatively cheap way to acquire them— and much else of interest besides—while paying fitting tribute to Eduardo Mata. It hardly feels like 15 years since his death.

FANFARE: Phillip Scott 

These world premiere recordings bring together several works from American composer Carson Cooman' Nantucket Dreaming cycle, a series of compositions inspired by the island' landmarks and landscape.

Peter Mennin was a leading member of the school of American symphonic composers who came of age in the 1930s and 1940s, a group that includes David Diamond, William Schuman and others. Cast in a traditional design of three movements in a fast-slow-fast pattern, Symphony No 3 is a work of great contrapuntal energy, percussive accents and propulsive rhythms. The composer described the passionate slow movement as “an extended song…making use of sustained voice-weaving.” Symphony No 7 develops in a single movement of remarkable contrasts and intensity. An exception to Mennin’s “pure” compositional approach, the concertato Moby Dick depicts “the emotional impact of the novel as a whole.” This recording has been acclaimed as “a fine tribute to an inexplicably neglected figure of the century’s American music scene”. - Chicago Tribune

"...along with Symphony No. 7 of Peter Mennin...may be the greatest of all American Traditionalist symphonies." - Walter Simmons, Voices in the Wilderness, page 377, (describing both the Symphony No. 1 of Nicolas Flagello and the Symphony No. 7 of Peter Mennin.)

Composed over a period of 14 years, John Pickard's Gaia Symphony and Eden are scored for the standard ‘British’ brass band, with expanded percussion in the case of the 65 minute 'Gaia' symphony. Both works in different ways mirror concerns regarding the world and nature, and their relationship with the human species. Eikanger-Bjørsvik Musikklag from Norway, one of today’s leading brass bands and the first non-British band to claim the European brass band title, perform these two demanding scores.