This CD box set from BR-KLASSIK combines Mendelssohn's twelve string symphonies, his “Symphoniesatz“ in C minor (No. 13) and his early violin concerto in D minor in the form of studio recordings made by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under its leader Henry Raudales. The violinist has won several awards and made numerous recordings with the orchestra as a conductor and soloist. (The Violin Concerto and Symphonies Nos. 1-6 have already been released separately). It was thanks to his father's penchant for organizing musical concerts in his family's Berlin apartment on Sunday mornings that the 11-year-old Felix Mendelssohn began to compose quite a long series of string symphonies, and also that the works were initially performed. The study of music and composition spurred the young composer on greatly; his diligence as well as his youthful creativity developed early, and he made astonishing progress. In 1821, he wrote the first half of his string symphonies, which together took less than two years to complete. During performances that formed part of the concerts at home, he always took over the direction of the chamber orchestra, which consisted of amateur and professional musicians from the Berlin court orchestra.

Mendelssohn’s early concerto for violin and string orchestra, written at around the same time for his violin teacher Eduard Rietz, was probably played in the same setting. Formally, it owes much to the concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach, but it clearly sounds like Mendelssohn. Ever since their long-lost manuscripts were successfully rediscovered in 1950, Mendelssohn’s early string symphonies have been a fixed part of the string and chamber orchestra repertoire. In the youthful freshness and carefreeness of these early works, one can already hear echoes of the instrumental masterpieces by this important symphonic composer of early Romanticism that were soon to follow.

REVIEW

The Belgian violinist Henry Raudales, originally from Guatemala and significantly promoted by Yehudi Menuhin, has been concertmaster of the Munich Radio Orchestra since September 2001.

These are gripping interpretations performed at a high technical level. They convince not only with exuberant temperament, tight rhythm, and great textures, but also express the melancholy of the Grave movements very well.

–Pizzicato (Remy Franck)

As a pupil of Mozart and contemporary of Beethoven, Hummel was esteemed for the elegance of both his playing and his music. The opus numbers of these appealing quintets are misleading. The Op. 87 belongs to his early period, much more Classical and Mozartian in manner than the powerful Op. 74 which opens with a powerful D minor statement and continues in turbulent fashion as a work belonging to 1815, by which time the composer had achieved both fame and security.

A quartet of Dutch string players, experienced in the early-music scene, forms the core of the Nepomuk quintet, named after the composer on this album; they are joined by the pianist Riko Fukuda, who contributes an authoritative essay on Hummel and his piano quintets to the booklet.

REVIEW:

This is a very valuable release… The manner in which all five musicians construct musical phrases throughout is quite impressive. And their sound blends superbly … The refinement with which these musicians rediscover this relatively unknown music is simply astonishing … The sound of this recording is quite impressive too; the level of detail is amazing, and the spatial depth is compelling.

-- Fanfare

This release is the fruit of the French pianist Nicolas Stavy’s efforts to uncover unknown works by Dmitri Shostakovich. Spanning some fifty years of the composer’s career, these rarities include early piano pieces influenced by Chopin and the fragment of an unfinished violin sonata, but is bookended by arrangements of symphonic music, by Shostakovich himself and by Mahler, a constant influence.

The album opens with the most substantial work on the disc, Shostakovich’s arrangement of his late, great Fourteenth Symphony (1969) for soprano, bass, string orchestra and percussion. With texts by poets including Guillaume Apollinaire, Federico García Lorca and Rainer Maria Rilke, the work evokes death, reaching great emotional depths. Rather than ‘just’ making a piano transcription for rehearsal purposes, Shostakovich included a percussion part as well as one for celesta, in order to reproduce sounds that would be impossible to imitate on the piano alone. This is followed by the substantial fragment of a sonata for violin and piano dated 1945 and four short piano pieces composed around 1917-1919, which reveal a very young composer and demonstrate his surprising individuality and maturity. The final work on the disc is an arrangement of the opening 95 bars of Gustav Mahler's Tenth Symphony which Shostakovich probably made during the 1920s for personal study purposes and to demonstrate the work to his fellow members in one of Leningrad’s two Mahler Societies. In Shostakovich’s transcription for piano four hands, Stavy is joined by Cédric Tiberghien.

REVIEW:

Nicolas Stavy’s painstaking trawl through the Shostakovich Archives has brought together some completely unknown works from the composer’s vast output with a major masterpiece recorded for the first time in a completely different guise. Admittedly, not everything here is of the highest quality. For instance, the earliest music, a collection of four short piano pieces composed during Shostakovich’s teenage years, is fluent but largely derivative.

Yet the rest of the album has much to offer. From the 1920s, we get a deftly scored arrangement of the first 95 bars to the Adagio of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony for piano duet, which is beautifully performed by Stavy and Cédric Tiberghien. Another tantalisingly brief fragment is the large-scale opening section of an unfinished Violin Sonata dating from 1945 which is given a powerfully committed performance by Stavy and Sueye Park.

However, the most substantial discovery is undoubtedly the composer’s reduction for piano and percussion of the orchestral score to his 14th Symphony. Whether or not Shostakovich conceived this arrangement as a viable performing alternative to the original, rather than a useful vehicle for helping the vocal soloists learn their parts, its intimate scoring works particularly effectively in the more reflective settings such as the opening ‘De profundis’, ‘O Delvig, Delvig!’ and ‘The Poet’s Death’. Elsewhere, despite Stavy’s phenomenal mastery of the enormously tricky piano writing, I miss some of the cut and thrust of Shostakovich’s pungent string writing, especially in the frenzied musical argument of ‘Loreley’ and in the furious outburst of anger unleashed at the end of ‘The Zaporozhian Cossacks’ Answer to the Sultan of Constantinople’.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Final volume in the first-ever complete recorded cycle of symphonies by Talivaldis Keninš (1919–2008), one of the most prominent post-WW2 composers in Latvia and Canada. This album includes three of the composer’s eight numbered symphonies performed by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra under Andris Poga.

Although born in Latvia, Keninš lived most of his life as an exile. He was educated in Paris, where he studied under Tony Aubin and Olivier Messiaen, and won several awards. Keninš emigrated to Canada in 1951 and became a respected pedagogue and a very influential figure in Canada’s music life. Alongside his eight symphonies, the composer also wrote 12 concertos. However, he also included many concertante elements in his symphonies and the Symphony No. 2, “Sinfonia concertante” (1967), scored for three wind instruments and symphony orchestra, is very close to a triple concerto. The symphony’s extensive second movement is based on a lullaby of the Mi’kmaq First Nations people. Symphony No. 3 (1970) was completed few years after its predecessor and is a step forward in the composer’s journey as a symphonist. Here we encounter the idea of a lyrical hero, which, in the ears of the listener, could be personified. Although many consider Kenins’ 8th Symphony to be his symphonic climax, the 7th Symphony (1980) is by no means a lesser work: it could be even considered as one of the composer’s most personal and intimate creations. The symphony ends with an aria based on a text by the composer’s father and the atmosphere of the work seems to stem from the composer’s emotional trauma on the occupation of his native Latvia by the Soviet troops.

REVIEW:

Ķeniņš composed his first symphony when he was forty and almost a decade elapsed before he turned to the genre again. However, his Symphony No 2 “Sinfonia concertante” does not strictly adhere to any symphonic mould. That the composer had a trio of wind instruments as some sort of a concertino tends to show that he was not completely sure of how to tackle that form again. This also shows is the lay-out of the piece, i.e three movements of strongly contrasting character as well as weight. In fact, the whole weight of the symphony lies in the long central movement whereas the brief opening Lento and the equally brief final Molto animato e marcato merely function as a prelude and epilogue of some sort. Moreover, the central Molto moderato: Tema e variazioni is twice as long as the two other movements put together. The weighty central movement is cast as a theme and variations on a lullaby of the Mi’kmaq First Nations people which the composer also used in his Suite in D major for organ. Anyone interested in what the Mi’kmaq First Nations people may be referred to Wikipedia for it all seems a rather long story. The variation movement of the Second Symphony is an impressive piece of music in which Kenins’ contrapuntal mastery is already fully displayed.

The Symphony No 3 is Ķeniņš’ first large-scale work for large symphony orchestra and again the composer demonstrates his assurance in his handling of form and counterpoint. The central movement Lento inquieto, though shorter than that of the Second Symphony, is again the emotional heart of the piece but it is nevertheless counterbalanced by two outer movements of fairly equal length but of quite different character. Georgs Pelēcis is quoted in Orets Silabriedis’ excellent notes as saying that “Kenins rejects seemingly essential symphony ingredients, such as the sonata form. That does not appear in any of the three movements … only one main theme is developed in each movement, and they are all interrelated. The unifying element is the rich chromatic intonations …”. The Third Symphony is clearly a work by a composer in full command of his aims and means, which shows in the way that the composer handles polyphony – an essential component of his music making. The first and second movements end with uncertainty, preparing for what is to follow, but the final movement Molto animato e brioso ends with an assertive gesture. As Silabriedis puts it: “I am responsible for everything that I have said and done”. (Incidentally, one might be reminded of RVW, whose Fourth Symphony also ends abruptly with a fist banging on a table and a door brutally slammed.

The Symphony No 7 “Symphony in the form of a Passacaglia” is scored for large orchestra and a mezzo-soprano in the final aria. Half the duration of the piece is purely orchestral and cast as a fully developed Passacaglia capped, so to say, by a short Allegro molto before the final aria for mezzo-soprano on a poem by the composer’s father, Atis Ķeniņš (1874–1961), who was also a statesman and one of the founders of the Republic of Latvia in 1919. The poem must have had a particularly personal resonance for the composer. “The mezzo-soprano solo links the composer more tightly with his family roots, expresses itself in more trusting and optimistic feelings; however, the unease in the harmonies and rhythm likely cannot hide the composer’s fears about out era. The concluding epilogue is like an Agnus Dei. The finale should express hope and faith, which stands over life’s troubles, soothing our darkest predictions, and suppressing our fears” (the composer’s words quoted in Silabriedis’ notes). The text, as translated in the booklet, may seem somewhat dated but has now acquired some new relevance in our troubled times and the symphony now carries a most welcome and needed appeal for peace. Nonetheless, Ķeniņš’ Seventh Symphony is quite an impressive piece of music in its own right and its “message” (if such there is) may be heard by any man of goodwill.

This final installment in Ondine’s Ķeniņš cycle has been carefully prepared and is as immaculately performed as the preceding ones. These are committed performances throughout, in excellent sound, up to Ondine’s best standards and Orests Silabriedis’ notes are excellent.

Ķeniņš’ symphonic cycle is on a par with other largely forgotten similar cycles that would probably have remained ignored or little known, were it not for brave and enterprising recording companies who have invested in similar projects. Examples that immediately come to mind are BIS’ recordings of Tubin’s symphonies and the hopefully ongoing Wordsworth cycle by Toccata. One cannot but hope that ventures such as these will encourage others to follow suit.

Ķeniņš’ music is too good to be ignored and these performances do it full justice; I am sure that they will play a part in securing his music its deserved status.

-- MusicWeb International

This panoramic survey of Argentine tangos shows the genre in all its rich variety of moods and virtuosity. It salutes Angel Villoldo, the father of tango, whose El choclo (‘The Corncob’) is one of the most famous tangos of all time, and charts the music’s evolution towards the romanticism and lush harmonies of Augustín Bardi. Improvisatory styles, syncopation and jazz harmonies were introduced by such great composers as José Pascual and Orlando Goñi, whilst Enrique Francini developed his personal qualities of dissonance and rhythmic flair into the 1960s. This survey is the first in a series that will document around one hundred rare and classic tangos, all performed by the Argentine pianist Mirian Conti.

REVIEW:

Tangorama: a wonderful aural trip to the southernmost South American nation

Tangorama, Vol. 1 is the first of an upcoming series of tango albums lovingly selected and superbly played by the terrific Argentine-American pianist Mirian Conti. This first in the series features over two dozen gems that trace the development of the Argentine tango from its humble origins rooted in Afro-Argentine and Cuban-influenced dance forms birthed in the bars an dives on the shores of the River Plate to the sophisticated compositions of mid-20th century composer-performers that inflected the form with European harmonies and counterpoint while retaining the syncopated underpinning of the original dance form.

– Rafael's Music Notes (Rafael de Acha)

Argentine-American pianist and recording artist Mirian Conti has recently released her new solo album, Tangorama, performing a collection of 25 vintage tangos, written over the span of half a century. Tango originated in Argentina and Uruguay in the late 1800’s as immigrants poured in from all parts of Europe. They brought their music with them: waltzes, polkas and mazurkas, which blended with Cuban habanera and African candombe music and rhythms to create early forms of tango music and dance. These early years, from about 1895 to 1925, are known as Guardia Vieja, the Old Guard, when tango began to develop structure and identity. One of the early composers was Angel Villoldo (1861-1919), generally considered the father of the tango. Three of his tunes are included on this disc, all in early tango 2/4 duple meter. In 1903 Angel composed the well-known El Choclo, one of the best of the early tangos, which became a popular hit song again in 1952 as “Kiss of Fire”. Mirian performs these piano arrangements with a light, graceful touch and a delightful sense of rhythm, timing and phrasing. Another early tango is the famous La Cumparsita, the most popular tango ever written. It was composed in 1917 by Geraldo Matos Rodriguez (1897-1948), and originally written for a marching band. The tune is driven by the bold arrastre sound of slurring chords mixing with crisp staccatos.

The tango period known as Guardia Nueva, or New Guard, lasted roughly from 1925 to 1955. This included the Golden Age of the 1940’s, which was the hey-day of the big tango orchestras. Generally coinciding with the explosion of the Big Band era, tango began developing and maturing in form and complexity. Alfredo Gobbi (1912-1965) was a violinist and composer who wrote El Andariego in 1951. The tune features a smoother 4/8 meter, slower tempo, heavy rubato, and delicate staccato passages. From 1955 to 1970, tango went through an Avant-Garde period of development and began moving in new directions. Julian Plaza (1928-2003) was an outstanding musician and composer who wrote Melancolico in 1960 and Nostalgico in 1962. The tunes are intoxicating with dramatic tango rhythms, melodies and dissonant harmonic structures. Mirian presents them with beautiful dynamics and phrasing, meticulous keyboard technique and solid intuition.

This music was recorded on 15-24 September 2020 on two Yamaha Disklaviers, one each at Conti Studio in Buenos Aires and at Yamaha Artists Service in New York. Mirian Conti and G. Richard Glasford were the producers, and Aaron David Ross was the engineer. Joseph Patrych performed the mastering. A 28-page booklet is included, with photographs and commentary in Spanish and English. The sound quality is excellent.

--MusicWeb International (Bruce McCollum)

Hearing a composer conduct their own work offers the potential for fascinating interpretive insights and comparisons, all the more so when the composer in question is one of the most-influential names in 20th century music. Presented in this 3 CD boxed set are some of the composer’s most important works, including the Symphony of Psalms, Symphony in C, Dumbarton Oaks, Violin Concerto in D, and more. The collection also features a number of world renowned soloists, including Charles Rosen, Isaac Stern, Benny Goodman, and Philippe Entremont.

Left unfinished at the death of the composer, Gustav Mahler's Tenth Symphony has exerted an enormous fascination on musicologists as well as musicians – a kind of Holy Grail of 20th-century music. Recognized as an intensely personal work, it was initially consigned to respectful oblivion, but over the years, Alma Mahler, the composer’s widow, released more and more of Mahler’s sketches for publication, and gradually it became clear that he had in fact bequeathed an entire five-movement symphony in short score (i.e. written on three or four staves). Of this, nearly half had reached the stage of a draft orchestration, while the rest contained indications of the intended instrumentation. Over the years a number of different completions or performing versions of ‘the Tenth’ have seen the light of day. One of the most often performed and recorded of these is that by Deryck Cooke. Cooke himself insisted that his edition was not a ‘completion’ of the work, but rather a functional presentation of the materials as Mahler left them. Cooke’s performing version of the symphony is the one that Osmo Vanska has chosen to use for the seventh installment in his and the Minnesota Orchestra’s Mahler series, a cycle characterized by an unusual transparency and clarity of sound as well as musical conception.

REVIEW:

From the outset, Vänskä’s handling of the opening Adagio is sublime, its long themes opening up in endless waves thanks to the clean-toned Minnesota strings and the conductor’s perfectly judged balance between purposeful progress and emotional repose. BIS’s engineering is immaculate, simultaneously spacious and detailed, and presented with convincing weight and clarity. The contrast between the pristine pianissimo strings and the moment the Adagiofinally heaves its heart into its mouth is overwhelming.

The first Scherzo is nimble and fleet of foot, Vänskä’s insistence on delicacy over grotesquery tying it neatly to the first movement. Again, incident is brought out with considerable imagination and there’s some superb solo work from the Minnesota principals. This is musical storytelling at its finest.

In Vänskä’s hands the “Purgatorio” movement is a gossamer reflection of the younger composer in the carefree days of the Fourth Symphony upon which the clouds occasionally darken. Building his argument, Vänskä urges the fourth movement second Scherzo along while ensuring plenty of contrasts. “The devil is dancing this with me; madness, seize me and destroy me,” Mahler wrote at the top of this movement, ending with, “You alone know what it means. Ah! Ah! Farewell my lyre! Farewell, farewell, farewell, farewell. Ah! Ah!”.

Linking the two final movements is a dramatic coup. The sudden impact of the muffled drum – inspired by a funeral procession that Mahler and Alma witnessed from the window of their New York hotel room – is heart-stopping, as is the following progression in which the musical spools of Mahler’s life seem to gradually unravel towards that final page where Mahler scribbled, “für dich leben! für dich sterben! Almschi!” (To live for you! To die for you! Almschi!). Over 25 unmissable minutes, Vänskä interweaves the moving with the mercurial in a riveting demonstration of musical storytelling.

As this Minnesota cycle enters the final furlong, this Tenth is a major achievement.

– Limelight (Clive Paget)

Keyboard legend, Rick Wakeman, famous the world over for his hugely successful and high-profile rock career - most notably with leading bands Yes and The Strawbs and for his sought-after collaborations with top artists of the day such as David Bowie and Black Sabbath - is pleased to celebrate the festive season with a brand-new album, 'Christmas Portraits'. With all tracks personally chosen and arranged by Wakeman himself, this special holiday album celebrates Wakeman's favourite time of the year as he performs familiar and favourite festive music, arranged for solo piano, all performed on his beloved Granary Steinway Model D grand piano. A former student and Fellow of the Royal College of Music, Wakeman has covered much musical ground during his wide-ranging career and here with 'Christmas Portraits', he brings his classic Wakeman twist to traditional Christmas classics, arranging some evergreens into fresh new medleys. Of this brand-new album, Rick Wakeman commented: "Christmas is my absolute favourite time of the year. I love every aspect of it, especially traditional Christmas music and songs which have wonderful simplistic melodies that are perfect for adaptation to produce variations on the piano. That is something I love to do and that is exactly what this album is".

That (these recordings) are now available at budget price is a cultural achievement by [Berlin Classics]. Seize the opportunity. -- MusicWeb International

The fusion of lyricism and music in the Lied style, a form in which Schumann succeeded so subtly, finds a particular parallel in the interpretations of Schumann’s work by Peter Schreier and Norman Shetler. Their recordings, dating back half a century, are still regarded as reference works for their calmness and composure, as well as their warmth and intimacy. These works are presented with the same care and devotion as the music itself in these liner notes, as we are invited to experience the personal struggles and triumphs of one of the most famous composers of the Romantic era.

REVIEWS:

I don’t think I exaggerate if I state that Peter Schreier, among tenors, was the pre-eminent interpreter of German Lieder during the second half of the twentieth century...his verbal acuity, his ability to adjust the colour of the tone in order to express feelings and atmosphere and his sense for nuance set him apart from almost any other singer during that period.

Is Schreier dragging [tempi, compared to other singers]? No - that is not my feeling. His deep involvement and the hushed intensity in his declamation invest the text and music with such importance that any criticism is silenced.

This Dichterliebe should satisfy even the most discriminating connoisseur. This also goes for the other two cycles, Liederkreis Op. 24 and Op. 39. Besides the 37 songs that constitute the three cycles there are another 75 from various groups that Schreier for some reason preferred not to record in their entirety. These 75 are just as idiomatically performed. I am full of admiration for the consistency of Schreier’s singing – consistency in this case means that he treats each song according to its contents.

For those who are only familiar with the most well-known of his songs there will be revelations aplenty. Some of the “new” songs may need a couple of hearings to reveal their greatness, for instance the four Lieder aus dem Schenkenbuch im Divan. More immediate are perhaps the Fünf Lieder Op. 40, even though the second of them, Muttertraum, is uncommonly chromatic for Schumann. Der Soldat and Der Spielmann are charming and Verratene Liebe is quite irresistible. Here also is one of Schumann’s most touching songs, the Rückert setting Der Himmel hat eine Träne geweint, followed by Ich hab’ in mich gezogen and don’t miss Zum Schluss.

On CD 4 there are more gems. Zwölf Gedichte von Justinus Kerner Op. 35 is a longstanding favorite. I thought nobody would ever outdo Thomas Hampson, but Schreier is possibly even more involved. No. 2, Stirb, Lied’ und Freund’! is heart-rending in Schreier’s hands, Auf das Trinkglas eines verstorbenen Freundes (No. 6) is magical and Stille Tränen is so exquisitely interpreted. At first hearing this group of songs — it isn’t really a song-cycle — may seem rather alien to those who only know the “usual” Schumann. They are more akin to Brahms’ late songs. Give them a chance and they will open up and Schreier is the best possible guide into this new world.

Also lend an ear to the inwardly sung Schneeglöcken (CD 4 tr. 14). Finally Schreier takes us to the realm of darkness in Sechs Gedichte von Nikolaus Lenau und Requiem...Schreier is great here.

These recordings were originally produced by VEB Deutsche Schallplatten, which was the only record company in the German Democratic Republic. In the West they were also available on Deutsche Grammophon through a license agreement. That they now are available at budget price is a cultural achievement by Brilliant. Seize the opportunity.

--MusicWeb International (Göran Forsling)

With this recording of Book VII of Claudio Monteverdi’s madrigals (1619, Venice), Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano devote themselves to a love theme with a very pastoral edge the composer particularly savored. The Italian harpsichordist and conductor once again offers us a collection of Monteverdi madrigals of the highest quality, in which the poems not only lead the singing, but also determine the arrangement of the madrigals by poet. Inspired by “the hitherto unpublished stamp of a literary intention” indicated by the composer at the start of the collection, Rinaldo Alessandrini and his ensemble, accustomed to enlightening dramatics, offer a sparkling polyphony varying from one to six voices, in a wide range of pitches.

REVIEWS:

Claudio Monteverdi’s Seventh Book of Madrigals have been recorded well by several early music groups, but one expects superior readings from harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini and his vocal-instrumental ensemble Concerto Italiano, and indeed, one gets them here. He presents the madrigals not in the order in which they were published, instead grouping the texted pieces by poet. This points to the stylistic features an audience of Monteverdi’s time would have been interested in, and Alessandrini supports these features with readings that differentiate the pieces sharply from one another. This is an ideal recording of music by the later Monteverdi.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)

This is Book 7, but not as you know it. A must-read booklet essay by Alessandrini himself frames the new recording as a philosophical and dramatic undertaking rather than an exercise in completism. This is opera without the stage – a riveting and incredibly stylish account of this vast and varied book of music.

-- Gramophone

"I’m sure that Nielsen’s time is coming, and I’m looking forward to sharing this wonderful music with the audience." - Alan Gilbert 2011 = "Mr. Gilbert drew colorful, glittering and full-bodied playing from the musicians." - The New York Times, concert review of Nielsen's Symphony No. 3, June 2012 = “Music is life, and like it inextinguishable,” said the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). With indomitable courage and infinite curiosity Nielsen developed into one of the 20th century’s greatest symphonists, after being raised in the Danish countryside as the son of a poor folk musician. With this new series of recordings, Nielsen crosses the Atlantic as the New York Philharmonic and their Music Director Alan Gilbert shed new light on the composer's uniquely Nordic symphonic sound. = ABOUT THE NIELSEN PROJECT = This is the first volume of the new recording series of Denmark's national composer Carl Nielsen's complete symphonies and concertos by The New York Philharmonic and their chief conductor Alan Gilbert. All works are recorded live during the New York Philharmonic's concert series in Avery Fisher Hall which has already impressed critics and audiences alike.

REVIEW:

As already suggested, Gilbert’s interpretations take no prisoners, and frankly that is just what Nielsen needs. The Allegro collerico opening of “The Four Temperaments” is really ferocious, the finale almost giddy. And yet, Gilbert’s tempos in the Andante pastorale of the “Espansiva”, or the Andante malincolico of the “Temperaments”, are also perfectly judged, sensitive, and expressive. The former, especially, reveals a combination of tranquility and flow unique in the work’s discography. The string playing is particularly beautiful here, and the Philharmonic’s woodwinds, solo oboe especially, do themselves proud in music that often relies on their artistry and character. Gilbert also very convincingly paces the tricky finale of the same work, with its hymn-like main theme that still has to sound “allegro”.

Dacapo, of course, already has an excellent Nielsen cycle—indeed, the reference edition—in its catalog, featuring Michael Schønwandt and the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (also available on Naxos). So the question must be whether or not this newcomer is distinctive enough to warrant the duplication, and the answer is a definite “yes”. Gilbert reveals a genuine affinity for the music, and Nielsen’s athleticism suits the orchestra very well indeed. If this series keeps up as it has begun, it’s going to be stupendous.

-- ClassicsToday.com

Including some of the most beautiful baroque Christmas music on offer, this programme makes for the perfect Christmas collection. 'This is period-instrument performance at its best', wrote American Record Guide on the CD's original release. It is re-issued here for the first time. Three popular favourites, Corelli's gorgeous concerto for Christmas Eve, an idyllic Christmas concerto by Vivaldi, and Manfredini's Concerto grosso are complemented by two little-known cantatas by Telemann and Scarlatti. Each of the Italian composers has his own voice, contrasting tremendously with the more rugged German style of Telemann. Susan Gritton is the soloist in Scarlatti's cantata, described by Classic CD as 'ravishing and ravishingly sung... worth anyone's CD token'. This is a disc of intimate Christmas music, which will make an ideal stocking filler. As Classic CD wrote at the time of the original release, 'This is a delightful addition to the Christmas market, and the careful selection of its items and superb recording ensure that, like the traditional puppy, it's not just for Christmas'.

REVIEW:

These Baroque concertos and cantatas are all associated with Christmas, although some only marginally. The Scarlatti and Telemann cantatas were written for Christmas. The Manfredini and Corelli concertos probably received their associations with Christmas because each contains a pastorale movement, shepherds’ music in 12/8 time that Italian folk tradition associated with Christmas (the “Pifa” from Handel’s Messiah is another example). The Vivaldi concerto, one of his typical string concertos, seems to have received its seasonal connection from Vivaldi’s practice of programming it at Christmas time.

All of this music is delightful to hear. Many of Fanfare’s readers will probably have one or more of these works already, especially the concertos. The two cantatas are less often encountered, especially the Telemann, from the first movement of which we get the English carol Good Christian Men Rejoice. The playing and singing are excellent in all respects. Susan Gritton makes a major contribution in the solos of the Scarlatti cantata. Members of Collegium 90’s choir are equally good as soloists in the Telemann. Presiding over all, Simon Standage directs lively performances that respect the score and never stray into extremes of tempo.

This collection was issued 10 years ago under the title “Per la notte di natale.” In this reissue, Chandos provides full notes along with texts and translations, for which I commend them. Anyone looking for an enjoyable collection of Baroque music associated with Christmas need look no further.

-- Fanfare

All World Premiere Recordings

Grammy Award-winning Third Coast Percussion, whose artistry blends “creative fearlessness with reverent precision” (BBC Music Magazine), offers an album of enterprising collaborations and world-premiere recordings of works written or arranged expressly for the Chicago-based percussion quartet, representing four different approaches to composing concert music.

Danny Elfman’s Percussion Quartet, structured like a four-movement symphony, shares distinctive traits heard in his Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated films scores, as well as hints of African balofon, Indonesian gamelan, and Shostakovich. Great admirers of composer Philip Glass, Third Coast arranged Glass’s solo piano Metamorphosis No. 1 for marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, and melodica. Rubix emerged from Third Coast Percussion’s improvisational collaboration with virtuosic, cutting-edge flute duo Flutronix, who also perform on the recording. Critically acclaimed electronic musician and composer Jlin (Jerrilynn Patton) composed her seven-movement Perspective as electronic tracks, without music notation. Third Coast transformed this work of “beautiful complexity” into a version they could perform live as a quartet.

REVIEW:

Unlike a lot of academic music for percussion ensembles, Danny Elfman makes his quartet sing sweetly, leaning heavily on the warm sounds of the marimba interlocking with tinkling tubular chimes and pitched metal pipes.

The flute duo Flutronix's piece, Rubix, features punchy flutes dancing over a chilled out vibraphone, and foggy episodes where marimba, whirly tube and bowed flexatone provide an evocative backdrop of light and shadow.

Footwork is the hyper-beat music born in Chicago's underground dance competitions and house parties in the late 1990s. On Third Coast Percussion's album, the style undergoes a mesmerizing transformation in a seven-movement suite called Perspective, by Jerrilynn Patton, who goes by Jlin.

Third Coast Percussion, with albums like Perspectives, continues to push percussion in new directions, blurring musical boundaries and beguiling new listeners.

-- NPR. org (Tom Huizenga)

Germaine Tailleferre is best known for being a member of the French circle of composers known as Les Six - the only woman in the group. Her stylish combination of neo-Classicism with a ready wit and energy can be compared to Poulenc and Milhaud. From the captivating Romance written while still a student, to her sparkling music for the 1937 Paris international exhibition, all of these pieces show Tailleferre as being very much at the heart of the contemporary French musical scene. This recording, described by the composer’s granddaughter as being ‘as though Tailleferre herself was performing these works’, is the first of three volumes presenting the complete piano music played by Nicolas Horvath.

REVIEW:

The Monaco-born Horvath’s discographical versatility lends itself to the chameleon Tailleferre: she switches from neoclassical to radical, tonal to bitonal, rhythmic and familiar to irregular and dissonant. Horvath is a great advocate.

-- The Guardian