Puccini: Il Trittico / Maazel, Scotto, Domingo, Cotrubas
CBS Masterworks
CD · 3 discs
$54.99Sep 10, 2009
It's refreshing and invigorating to have a taut unyielding view of a fine score. This recording should win converts among those who still regard Puccini as merely soft and sentimental.
Rather as I expected, the reissue of Lorin Maazel's three recent recordings of Puccini's one-acters as a co-ordinated box of the Trittico sharply brings out the conductor's distinctive approach. It is an approach which is typified by the very start of Gianni Schicchi, where there is an almost Stravinskian sharpness in the ostinato rhythms. Generally Maazel's concessions to romantic expressiveness are calculated rather than obviously warm. This degree of severity has the merit of underlining the musical cogency of all three pieces, splendid examples of Puccini's mastery at his high maturity, and Suor Angelica—wrongly regarded for far too long as a limp piece of sentimentality —benefits just as much as either of the others with the succeeding climaxes spaced in carefully balanced relationship.
The snag is that particularly with CBS's somewhat close recording balance, the atmospheric qualities of each opera—which some Puccinians would regard as among their highest merits—are underplayed. When I first reviewed Il tabarro, this absence of essential atmosphere made me give a less charitable review than I would now. Hearing it in context with the other performances, it is refreshing and invigorating to have a taut and relatively unyielding view of a fine score, even while one misses the dark evocations of the scene under a bridge of the Seine in Paris, which other versions so vividly capture.
The other gain from hearing the performances together is to have the dominance of Renata Scotto reinforced in both It tabarro and Suor Angelica. In Il tabarro neither Placido Domingo as Luigi (not quite in his warmest voice) nor Ingvar Wixell as the bargemaster Michele (rather too gritty-toned as recorded) is exactly a cipher, but Renata Scotto consistently focuses the centre of involvement with her dramatic and finely detailed singing.
In Gianni Schicchi the central pivot is provided of course by the contribution of the veteran Tito Gobbi, and though there may be some signs of the voice not being as young as it was, it is a deeply satisfying performance, as fine in its way as the classic one he recorded for HMV 20 years earlier. That HMV version is included in the boxed reissue set of Il trittico which appeared two years ago (SLS5066, 10/76), with all three operas given marvellous performances but with very dated recording and only Schicchi in stereo. The Decca set under Gardelli (SET 236-8, 12/62) is more idiomatic in performance than this Maazel CBS issue, and the sixties recording is amazingly bright and full for its age. But the new issue, controversial as it may be in some ways, is certainly refreshing, and should in particular win converts among those who still regard Puccini as merely soft and sentimental.
-- Gramophone [8/1978, reviewing the LP release of Il Trittico]
Haydn: London Symphonies Vol 2 / Slatkin, Philharmonia
RCA
CD · 1 disc
$17.99Jan 07, 2010
"Leonard Slatkin's series of Haydn London Symphonies brings fresh, refined readings at speeds that never sound breathless. There is wit from the Philharmonia woodwind and the string phrasing always gives pleasure."
REVIEWS: American Record Guide (11-12/97, p.122) - "...Starker plays with marvelous control and virtuosity, leaving him free to make the most of the music....Slatkin follows him beautifully, and the orchestra is terrifyingly uncompromising in their response..." BBC Music (4/98, p.73) - Performance: 3 (out of 5), Sound: 3 (out of 5) - "...The opening flourishes [of the Elgar] are perfectly played but alarmingly matter-of-fact....Slatkin makes the most of the colourful and often lush scoring [of the Walton]..."
An unforgettable live-concert recording, selected from the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen's season of works by Béla Bartok - 'Infernal Dance'. Reviews of the concert from which this recording was taken: "John Tomlinson and Michelle DeYoung were vocally so commanding as to render "choreography" entirely superfluous. Tomlinson's cavernous voice seemed to embody the very interior world of his castle - its sadness, darkness, emptiness - his Hungarian so vivid and expressive in itself that it became another sonority in Bartók's aural palette. He was quite extraordinary. Musically stunning ..." The Arts Desk "The part of Judith was well taken by Michelle DeYoung but it was the portrayal of Tomlinson that stole the show. At first predatory and prowling - no one can prowl like John Tomlinson - he visibly collapsed into himself as his secrets were exposed. And never was that magnificently gnarled tone put to better use." The Evening Standard
Poet Laurence Binyon is known today for one famous verse from "For the Fallen," the complete poem being the most substantial part of Elgar's the Spirit of England and the other two poems being "The Fourth of August" and "To Women." with this important new release SOMM commemorates World War I, and the courage and patriotism of those who fell defending England. The war inspired Elgar to write some of his most moving pages of music, which he dedicated "To the memory of our glorious men." the Philharmonia Orchestra, under the baton of John Wilson, and the London Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Simon Halsey, bring these pages to life in the most inspiring way. Another "plus" is the premiere recording of Elgar's Complete Incidental Music to Binyon's Play Arthur, edited and conducted here by Ben Palmer and his Orchestra of St Paul's.
With a collection of titles, if the programme is well played and recorded one can only come up with the usual line of "go ahead if this is the selection you want". Three out of the four overtures here are early ones and for myself, I must say that the mellow blend of the orchestration of the Prelude to Die Meistersinger was a considerable relief after the brashness of Rienzi. But that the playing is fine cannot be denied. The Philharmonia violins sing the "Prize Song" with a softly expressive silkiness of tone that is most beautiful. The quiet blend of the wind at the start of Tannhduser is equally good to hear, while when the "Pilgrims' Hymn" returns towards the end all bombast is avoided by the soft and deft violin figuration being so delicate that the woodwinds can also play softly, as well as quite swiftly. Maazel does allow the greatest expansiveness later on, as the music demands. Nor is there any lack of brilliance or zest in such a piece as the Dutchman Overture or in the final polacca of Rienzi; though there is a top B just before the final molts put stretto (bar 344) where violins and woodwind do take a split second to become unanimous (not such a niggling criticism as it may seem, since the note is quite long and is an important one at the top of a climax).
Schumann & Dvorak: Cello Concertos / Du Pre, Rostropovich
ICA Classics
CD · 1 disc
$14.99Apr 06, 2018
This previously unreleased live recording of Jacqueline du Pré playing the Schumann Cello Concerto is her first public performance of the work, given in the Royal Festival Hall on 12 December 1962 with Jean Martinon conducting the BBCSO. She had worked intensively on the concerto with Paul Tortelier in Paris prior to this concert. When Du Pré studied the Schumann with Mstislav Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatoire in 1966, he exclaimed, ‘This is the most perfect Schumann I have ever heard’. The 1962 live performance of the Dvorák Cello Concerto by Rostropovich has also never before been released. He is partnered by Carlo Maria Giulini, who went on to to make a studio recording of the same concerto with him in 1977. The Times critic described this Edinburgh Festival performance as an ‘exciting’ and ‘emotionally supercharged interpretation’ with Giulini’s reading ‘full of finely wrought points of detail’. The attractive bonus features Rostropovich and his wife Galina Vishnevskaya in the Ária from Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras.
Slatkin gives a towering and majestic performance of the Sinfonia Antartica (No. 7), which evolved from RVW’s score for the film Scott of the Antarctic. It must be regarded as the best modern choice, eclipsing even Haitink’s impressive EMI recording. Slatkin’s Antarctic wilderness chills you to the bone. You smile at the comic dignity of the penguins, are awed at the immensity and weight of the ice wall and thoroughly involved in the human tragedy. A glowing account of the lovely Dives and Lazarus Variants completes a very attractive issue.
Rossini, Schumann & Brahms: Orchestral Works / Cantelli
ICA Classics
CD · 1 disc
$14.99Nov 17, 2017
Guido Cantelli’s live recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra are exceptionally rare because the BBC seldom broadcast any of his concerts. ICA Classics released Cantelli’s live concert from the Edinburgh Festival in September 1954 on ICAC 5081 but there has been nothing else. Toscanini was Cantelli’s mentor and there is no doubt that he would have continued in the great conductor’s footsteps had he not been tragically killed in an air accident in Paris on the 24th November 1956. He was 36 years old. ICAC is proud to present Vladimir Jurowski’s recording of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty. It was recorded live in December 2013 with the ‘Svetlanov’ orchestra. Jurowski has already accumulated a large catalogue of recordings all of which have received great critical acclaim.
This release has been sourced from the Richard Itter archive of 'live' BBC recordings. The collection is very important for collectors because it has never been on the market before. Following the archive's launch in October 2017 with successive releases featuring Beecham, Bohm, Cantelli, Casadesus, Karajan, Menuhin, Monteux, du Pre, Klemperer, Rostropovich and Walter, it has received universal praise from both the classical media and record collectors for the excellent sound and performances. Carlo Maria Giulini's celebrated studio recording of Le nozze di Figaro was recorded in September 1959 following a live performance at the Royal Festival Hall a few days earlier. Nearly 18 months later there was another performance but with a substantially different cast. Harold Rosenthal in Opera magazine wrote of the concert performance: "Giulini's reading of this miraculous score has deepened since the studio recording... The spark that was suddenly kindled between conductor and Teresa Berganza in 'Voi che sapete' was a moment to treasure. Indeed all Miss Berganza's singing was outstanding."
Mozart, Beethoven & Brahms: Orchestral Works / Klamperer
ICA Classics
CD · 2 discs
$26.99Oct 05, 2018
This is the second volume of Otto Klemperer’s ‘live’ authorized broadcasts from 1955 and 1958. None has ever been published before. When comparing the conductor’s studio accounts, Rob Cowan in Gramophone magazine said of the first set: ‘Viewed overall, what we have here is the Klemperer we already know and love, but granted wings and, trust me, you can tell the difference almost straight away’. Klemperer had a great affection for Mozart’s Symphony No.25, here almost a minute faster than his 1956 account. In his booklet note, Richard Osborne describes the performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 from the 1958 Edinburgh Festival as “a performance that genuinely gathers itself to greatness.” Klemperer’s performances of the Brahms Requiem were justly famous, and this 1955 ‘live’ account precedes his acclaimed 1961 studio recording and is almost five minutes faster. Gramophone described the latter as follows: “Klemperer’s reading of this mighty work has long been famous: rugged, at times surprisingly fleet with a juggernaut power.” In this ‘live’ performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Klemperer is joined by the baritone Hans Wilbrink from the Munich State Opera and the German lyric soprano Elfride Trötschel, a protégée of Karl Böhm. The Mozart and Brahms recordings have been sourced from the Lyrita Recorded Edition Trust, while the authorised BBC broadcast of Beethoven Symphony No.5 is from another collection.
I suppose the music lover within takes precedence over the sound freak, but not by much. Delighted as I was at my editor's decision to revive the old "Classical Hall of Fame" slot, I was hard put to decide what to write about first, until it occurred to me, as a fair and sensible thing, to praise those discs I play for pleasure between reviewing stints—the pauses that refresh, as it were.
Agreed, Turangalila's a flawed work—overlong, overblown, overacute, and, like so much of Messiaen's music, self-indulgent as only someone who fancies himself in touch with the Eternal can make it. But what a grand, fantastic-sounding thing it is! Salonen has taken Turangalila's measure most convincingly, and the Philharmonic plays it as well, it seems to me, as an orchestra can. Bud Graham's engineering wants special mention for its detail and clout, and if you've a playback system capable of delivering bodacious SPLs without imploding or crackling the glaze on your front teeth and bric-a-brac, you're dead wrong to ignore this glorious imperfection.
-- Mike Silverton, FANFARE [9/1991] reviewing the original release, CBS 42271
Beethoven: Symphony No 9 / Furtwangler, Schwarzkopf, Cavelti, Haefliger, Edelmann
Audite Musikproduktion
CD · 1 disc
$14.99Nov 18, 2014
Wilhelm Furtwaengler conducted Beethoven's Ninth Symphony more than 100 times. + In August 1954, three months before his death, he directed his last performance in Lucerne, leading the Philharmonia Orchestra and a stellar cast of soloists (Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elsa Cavelti, Ernst Haefliger and Otto Edelmann), which proved to be an "elemental musical event" (Neue Zuercher Zeitung). + For this release, the original tapes from the SRF archives have been newly re-mastered, and crucially, the pitch adjusted, bringing the audio, for the first time, as close to the original as possible.
Respighi: Church Windows; Brazilian Impressions; Belkis Queen of Sheba, Metamorphoseon; Roman Trilogy
Chandos
CD · 2 discs
$21.99May 28, 2013
The ‘Roman Trilogy’ is among Respighi’s best-known and best-loved works. Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome are comprised of four distinct sections, each again depicting a particular fountain, or pine grove, in Rome, at a particular time of day. The final chapter in the trilogy, Roman Festivals, is inspired by, as the title suggests, four Rome-based festivals.
Respighi based his Church Windows on Three Piano Preludes on Gregorian Melodies. The preludes were published in 1922, and orchestrated three years later, Respighi adding one further movement, making it a four-piece symphonic suite. Each of the individual movements was given an appropriate sub-heading, illustrating a biblical or religious scene that might have appeared in actual stained-glass windows. The first movement, for instance, is slow and stately, its constant forward moving accompaniment suggesting ‘the passing of a chariot beneath a brilliant and starry sky’, hence the name ‘The Flight into Egypt’.
Brazilian Impressions took its inspiration from the composer’s colourful and vibrant memories of a trip to South America. The opening movement is a deeply atmospheric nocturne, depicting dance rhythms and folksongs heard in the distance on a warm, tropical Brazilian evening. A less pleasant memory perhaps is recalled in the second movement, namely a visit to the Butantan Reptile Institute, the sliding movements and angry whirring of the rattle-snakes perfectly depicted in the music.
The ballet score for Belkis, Queen of Sheba evokes the wondrous journey undertaken in the year 1000 B.C. by Belkis, the Queen of Sheba, in response to an imperial message from Solomon, the King of Israel. The full eighty-minute ballet required an enormous orchestra including such unconventional instruments as sitars and wind machines, a chorus and vocal soloists, and a narrator to relate the story in verse. Two years after completing the ballet score, Respighi extracted a purely orchestral suite, which is recorded here.
Metamorphoseon, commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1930, consists of twelve variations, or ‘modes’. The day after the work’s premiere performance, The Boston Traveller wrote: ‘...a colossal achievement... His is a rare genius for melody, an absolute technical command and above all, brilliant orchestration.’
Review:
Sumptuous, meaty performances, featuring Tortelier's vigorous Roman trilogy. The Philharmonia's rich sonorities enjoy a spacious Chandos recording.
Marking their latest collaboration with their conductor laureate Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Philharmonia returns with a stellar live-performance recording of two late works by Rachmaninov – the Symphonic Dances and Symphony No. 3 in A Minor. This release is third and final in a new series of Rachmaninov’s symphonic works, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy in live performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The previous volumes, which included Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, were met with critical acclaim. “Perhaps the most satisfying of all…” (BBC Music Magazine) “Ashkenazy knows how to shape detail and soar in the big melodic moments. The PHilharmonia sound is muscular and alert, from the opening woodwind solos to the mighty, stirring symphonic tutti of the finale.” (The Observer)
Marking their latest collaboration with their conductor laureate Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Philharmonia have returned to recording with a stellar live-performance of Rachmaninov’s ebullient Symphony No.2 in E Minor. This is the second release in a new series of Rachmaninov’s symphonies, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy in live performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The first release of Symphony No. 1 (SIGCD484) was met by critical acclaim: “Perhaps the most satisfying of all [Ashkenazy’s recordings of the Symphony]…” (BBC Music Magazine) “Ashkenazy knows how to shape detail and soar in the big melodic moments. The Philharmonia sound is muscular and alert, from the opening woodwind solos to the mighty, stirring symphonic tutti of the finale.” (The Observer)
Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Philharmonia Orchestra in a unique performance of Holst's The Planets Suite, captured in High Definition by 37 cameras. This immersive experience takes the viewer to the heart of the Philharmonia as they perform this well-loved piece, using cameras placed in a multitude of positions and angles to create an extraordinary glimpse of the orchestra at work from within. As well as Holst's The Planets, the filmed performance also includes a new commission by UK composer Joby Talbot, Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity.
Additional features include a 'Making of' documentary feature, listening guide films for each planet, audio commentaries from conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and principal players of the Philharmonia, and (for Blu-ray only) a bonus view option that allows a simultaneous view of the conductor and orchestra in action.
The Philharmonia Orchestra is committed to bringing classical music to new audiences in creative and exciting ways, and to this end has become a technological trailblazer in its adoption and adaptation of new technology. In 2010 the Re-Rite project allowed members of the public to experience Stravinsky's Rite of Spring for the first time from within the orchestra through audio/visual projections. Their 'Universe of Sound' project from which this release stems debuted at the Science Museum in London last year, and is set to tour the country in new installations during 2013.
