Two well-known masterpieces of Russian music complement each other perfectly on the latest release of Mariss Jansons and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Recorded November 2014 (Mussorgsky) and April 2015 (Stravinsky) at concerts in the intimate dimensions of Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz and in the Philharmonie im Gasteig. With the 1947 revised version of Stravinsky's “Petrushka”, a revision ultimately preferred by Stravinsky himself and here featuring the piano of the prolific Lukas Maria Kuen, along with the 1922 orchestral version of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" memorably and engagingly transcribed by Maurice Ravel elevating the piece to the pantheon of one of the most familiar of all classical works.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) Gabriela Benackova, soprano; Josef Suk, violin & violaJaroslav Soucek, baritone; Josef Hala, pianoCzech Philharmonic Chorus; Prague Philharmonia;Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Panocha Quartet; Smetana Quartet Symphony no 9 in E minor, Op. 95/B 178; Te Deum, Op. 103;String Quartet no 12 in F major, Op. 96/B 179Sonatina in G major for Violin & Piano, Op. 100/B 183String Quartet no 3 in E flat major, Op. 97/B 180Silent Woods for Cello & Orchestra, Op. 68 no 5/B 182Rondo in G minor for Cello & Orchestra, Op. 94 /B 181Humoresque, Op 101 no 7/B 187; Suite in A major, Op. 98b/B 190Cello Concerto no 2 in B minor, Op. 104/B 191

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Herbert Blomstedt has recorded Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 in A major several times since the early 1980s, which makes him something of a champion for this comparatively under-recorded work. His live 2008 recording with the the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is the first super audio version he has made, and while audiophiles will be attracted to it and his other SACDs in the Bruckner cycle on Querstand, it is recommended to a general audience as well. Blomstedt is a past master in Bruckner's music, with decades of intimate experience, and his controlled expression, steady pacing, and clear conception of the formal needs of the symphony make him an excellent guide, especially for listeners who might not know it as well as the more popular Fourth or the Seventh. Leipzig's playing is full in expression and rich in tone, though the music never feels heavy or plodding, thanks to Blomstedt's light touch and forward propulsion. High energy is sustained throughout, even in the Adagio where the slightest slackening of tempo can distract from the movement's building outpouring of emotion, and there is an air of suspense that holds the listener's attention through the fast movements, most notably in the Scherzo and the Finale. The reproduction is exceptional in every way, providing vivid orchestral colors, credible dimensions, and a fine balance between acoustic resonance and precise details that are perfectly audible. Highly recommended.

-- All Music Guide

A "seventeenth-century Art of Fugue" -- The seventh volume of the Froberger Edition on Aeolus is perhaps the craziest: a roller-coaster ride through the world of the fugue, performed with virtuosity and the spirit of adventure. Bob van Asperen plays himself here into an absolute frenzy! Froberger's Capriccios show a composer who not only perfectly mastered his métier, but drove his art forward to new heights. Not without reason, the accompanying text (written by the performer) points out many connections to the works of J. S. Bach. With Bob van Asperen, the Edition features an exceptional interpreter who performs these works just as passionately as knowledgeably. Eighteen multi-part Capriccios are to be heard, also including a recently discovered work. As in all the other volumes of the Edition, an important historical instrument is employed: here it is the large Arp Schnitger organ of the Ludgerikirche in Norden (Eastern Friesland, Germany), which with its numerous stops allows the wealth of polyphony to resound.

Chicaquicha – this is the name of the indigenous peoples who used to live in the area where today’s city of Zipaquirá, Colombia is, and where Andres Villamil was born in 1976. He studied classical guitar with Gentil Montaña, Sonia Diaz and Roberto Aussel at the ALAC music academy and the Universidad Nacional conservatory, both in Bogotá, as well as at the Academy of Music and Dance in Cologne. In 1998 he won First Prize as soloist in the IDCT competition “Intérpretes del Próximo Milenio” in Bogotá. In 2004, a First Prize at the international “Voice and Guitar” competition with the Duo Ymaya in Germany followed. In addition to his classical training, Andres Villamil concentrates on the music of his home continent, South America. This program, his debut CD, pays homage to the music of his country. He selected original compositions for guitar as well as his own arrangements of Colombian songs and instrumental pieces. The program ends with four of his own works.

The celebrated Bruckner cycle by the Hamburg Philharmonic under Simone Young saw its completion during the 2014–15 season. On 30 August 2014, this mature, practiced Brucknerian orchestra recorded Bruckner’s radiant Seventh Symphony in the Laeiszhalle, heard live on this CD. With the beauty of its themes and its moving homage to Bruckner‘s great, intimidating model, Wagner, this Symphony - ranking among the composer’s finest orchestral statements - offers a particularly impressive listening experience.

REVIEWS:

The most apposite word I can apply to Simone Young's approach to Bruckner is 'fluidity.' She allows the lyrical melodies of the first two movements to unfold naturally and with a good sense of structural cohesion.

-- BBC Music Magazine

I enjoyed this performance very much. I also liked the sound on this SACD which has presence and definition. There’s a good front-to-back perspective and all sections of the orchestra have been well served by the engineers. In particular the brass, so important in Bruckner’s sound-world, register very satisfyingly yet never excessively.

-- MusicWeb International

This is one of those performances where you feel from the opening phrases that everything is just right. The music soars, yet has all the heft and depth one could want. Orchestral balances are excellent… Above all, the spirit of Bruckner, often felt in the concert hall but so elusive in recordings, is present. This is a glorious Bruckner Seventh.

-- Fanfare

A noteworthy fact: Marais, in his five books of Pièces de viole, published only two suites for two viols and continuo. Aside from the two suites for three viols (Book IV), all the other pieces are intended for the solo instrument with accompaniment of harpsichord, theorbo or a second viol in different combinations.

These two particular suites are both found in Book I (1686). The addition of a second solo viol reinforces the character of the various parts: especially in the slow sections, Marais ideally emphasizes the sound of the two viols with long sostenuto lines and poignant dissonances. The Tombeau pour Mr. Meliton constitutes the absolute height of this. After Mieneke van der Velden’s recordings Hommages and Images, Dialogues completes the picture of the imposing sound world of Marin Marais’s music, magnified by the collaboration with the master Wieland Kuijken.

BERNSTEIN West Side Story: Symphonic Dances. Trouble in Tahiti 1 & • Ulf Schirmer, cond; Kim Criswell ( Dinah ); 1 Rodney Gilfry ( Sam ); 1 Marlene Grimson ( Trio sop ); 1 Adrian Dwyer ( Trio ten ); 1 Ronan Collett ( Trio bar ); 1 Munich RO • BR 719003 (77:43 Text and Translation) Live: Munich 10/12/2008


& German interview with Ulf Schirmer


I have not generally been impressed with German orchestral performances of distinctly American scores such as these by Leonard Bernstein—heavily dependent on Latin dance rhythms and jazz inflections, having found too many of them stiff and uncomfortable with the idiom. I rather imagine that Viennese listeners have a similar reaction when an American orchestra and conductor perform Johann Strauss. Like the subtle inflections of language, there are some things one just absorbs from the culture that are hard to master otherwise.


So it proves here, especially in the “Symphonic Dances.” The percussion get the rhythms, and the brass have the feel as well, though the trumpets seem reluctant to wail with sufficient abandon, but generally, the woodwinds just can’t quite bring themselves to let lose in the long stretches of exuberance, and the strings are too polite by half. Add to that Ulf Schirmer’s tendency to relax momentum in the more lyrical sections—something Bernstein never did—and you have a performance that is a little too pokerfaced to take flight. It is not bad by any means—Schirmer often generates a good deal of energy and excitement—but it is simply not competitive with more idiomatic performances by the composer and others.


Some of that same orchestral stiffness infects the performance of Bernstein’s heavily ironic, autobiographical one-act opera, Trouble in Tahiti —the characters almost certainly represent Bernstein’s mismatched parents, Jennie and Sam—but this performance is harder to pass over. First of all, there are not a lot of recordings around, and more important, these singers have the style to make it work. The issue raised by this interpretation is one of genre: is it opera or is it musical theater? While most performances are cast with classically trained singers who can act, this recording straddles the fence by using an operatic baritone and a Broadway mezzo. (They also appeared in Simon Rattle’s 1999 EMI Wonderful Town .) Both are very fine: Gilfry, with his virile, flexible instrument, is a perfect self-absorbed and egotistical Sam, and Criswell, a singer with a vibrant and colorful voice, though rather limited on top for “I was standing in a garden,” is an emotionally fragile and angry Dinah. Their voices never blend, but one has to wonder if the stylistic contrast is an interpretive choice. Certainly, even if the combination gives less aural pleasure than two matched operatic voices might, it makes some sense for the antagonistic characters. And the choice of Criswell, a brilliant actress, is vindicated by an absolutely stunning performance of the show-stopping, musical theater-style “What a movie!” The Greek-chorus jazz vocal trio is classy with a reasonable sense of swing, and though the balance between the voices is not always ideal, they create just the right balance of satire and empathy.


In the end though, effective as this performance is, it must still take second place to the 1973 Bernstein-led performance on Sony 60969: very stylish and expressive, with excellent soloists and a perfect trio. There are other performances on CD: the student-cast performance by the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater on Newport Classic 85641 is quite good, and the 2006 Calliope recording (9391) in accented English with French performers, is an interesting novelty: urbane and very coolly jazzy. But once you have the Bernstein CD, Gilfry and Criswell make this new release an ideal supplement.


FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

On this release the award-winning Quartetto di Cremona draws on sixteen years of giving concerts and making recordings. Leading Italian pianist Andrea Lucchesini joins the ensemble for the Piano Quintet. These two chamber works of Camille Saint-Saëns represent crucial stages in his oeuvre - the Piano Quintet, a work of early perfection, demonstrates his engagement with German Romanticism while the String Quartet, marks the transition into his late style.

Classical Music

Kodály's orchestral output was relatively limited. Best known for his educational material, he wrote only nine works for orchestra. On hearing Kodály's orchestral music, one cannot help but notice similarities to Bartók in the use of Hungarian folk melodies, rhythms and dance forms, as well as his application of quartal harmonies, that is, harmony using the interval of the perfect fourth as its basic unit, instead of the third or fifth. Though overshadowed by Bartók as a serious composer, Kodály's music is neither derivative nor insignificant. Bartók was more of a modernist with respect to form, using mathematical and architectural strategies to generate new forms. Kodály strove to frame Hungarian music with classical and baroque forms, as in his Concerto for Orchestra.
This is a good overview of Kodály's orchestral music. Yan Pascal Tortelier metes out a steady tempo without being too rigid to accommodate the fluid exoticism of the 'Dances of Marosszek.' The BBC Philharmonic is a tight rhythmic ensemble, essential to a good performance of the dance rhythms found in Kodály, Bartók, or Stravinsky. This is particularly evident in the woodwinds' nimble performance at the end of the Allegro con brio from 'Marosszek.'

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg variations were published in 1741 and named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who was possibly the first performers of the work. The work consists of an aria and a set of thirty variations. It is seen even today as one of the most significant examples of variation form. Harpsichordist and historical music interpreter Pascal Dubreuil performs these works for this recording.

Recorded in: New Broadcasting House, Manchester 29 February & 1 March 2000 Producer(s) Ralph Couzens Mike George Sound Engineer(s) Stephen Rinker Tim Archer (Assistant)

Throughout the history of music, there are fascinating cases of family involvement in composition, the prime examples being the Bach and Strauss dynasties. In England, it was the Wesleys. Samuel was the younger son of hymn-writing Charles. His brother, also named Charles, wrote music, as did his son, Samuel Sebastian. All were highly regarded musicians in their day, and all were firmly rooted in the Methodist Church. Samuel wrote six symphonies, of which five survive. They are modestly scored yet highly inventive works. The earliest is written for a curious group of obbligato instruments: violin, cello, and organ--solo instruments that are used only in the fast outer movements of the three-movement piece. The next three symphonies vacillate between Baroque and Classical period styles. Often, as in the first movement of the A major symphony, we find both styles alternating as if vying for prominence. The last symphony, from 1802, shows the influence of Haydn, no surprise since Wesley undoubtedly had heard Haydn's symphonies performed on that composer's two visits to London.

REVIEW:

Wesley's music is not the equal of Mozart or Haydn, but is surely melodious, expertly constructed, and highly enjoyable. The vibrant, perfectly executed, impeccably phrased readings that Matthias Bamert extracts from his London Mozart Players make the best possible case for these works. The recorded sound is robust, complementing the exuberant performances. The bass line is solid, the upper strings sparkle, and there is an ideal balance between warmth and brilliance.
--Rad Bennett, ClassicsToday.com

"•Between 1899 and 1930, Vierne wrote six organ symphonies of hitherto unknown richness in timbres, mysticism and cyclical architecture. • With this volume, the three-part audite recording of the six Louis Vierne organ symphonies is complete. • The St. Martin Goll organ creates unobtrusive power and fullness of sound yet remains clear. • The work's polyphonic structures become distinct and the transparency of sound permits freshly considered tempi. Hans-Eberhard Roß is Director of Church Music in Memmingen."

Classical Music

Classical Music

A perceptively played and admirably recorded performance of two substantial piano works by William Alwyn.

This is a perceptively played and admirably recorded performance of two substantial piano works by William Alwyn, who died last September at the age of 79. The 11 Fantasy-Waltzes are notable for their variety within an integrated conception, and this is also true of the 12 Preludes, both works encompassing a wide range of modern piano-writing techniques. John Ogdon is naturally a match for the technical demands of the music and, since he tells us in the sleeve-note that he recorded the 58-minute programme in the presence of the composer and his wife, we may take it that a high degree of authenticity to the composer's intentions has been achieved. With excellent sound balance and documentation, this is a disc to treasure.

-- Gramophone [11/1985, reviewing the original LP release]

Classical Music

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote works in a wide variety of genres, more than can readily be categorized; within that vast oeuvre, the flute often plays a leading part. At the beginning of the 18th century, the transverse flute was a fashionable instrument among music lovers and Bach took due account of prevailing trends. One of the best known of his compositions featuring the flute in a solo role is the B minor Orchestral Suite BWV 1067. Krzysztof Penderecki‘s Concerto per flauto ed orchestra da camera picks up the virtuoso tone. Tatjana Ruhland and the RSO Stuttgart under Roger Norrington and Alexander Liebreich present an intense musical old-new conflict.

(Previously available on CHAN8983/4, now discontinued) Recorded in: St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London 24-28 February 1991 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Ben Connellan (Assistant

Classical Music