BRAHMS: PIANO CONCERTO NO 2, 5

BARTOK: CONTRASTS STRAVINSKY

...Another later release, the 1962 Zarathustra, suggests greater spaciousness and dignity than its predecessor [Reiner's 1954 Zarathustra] due partly to the freed-up string sound, partly to Reiner’s broader tempi. On the same disc, he argues his own gaudy arrangement of the Rosenkavalier waltzes with tremendous panache and Byron Janis glitters with Lisztian transcendentalism in the Burleske.

-- David Nice, BBC Music Magazine
reviewing these performances previously reissued as part of RCA 68635

RODRIGO: FANTASIA PARA UN GENT

IN LOVE JULIA MIGENES JOHNSON

The only premiere of a Vaughan Williams symphony that I ever attended myself was in January 1953 in Manchester, when Sir John Barbirolli conducted the first performance of the Sinfonia Antartica. It was hard on that occasion not to feel disappointment after the range and depth of the Sixth Symphony with its visionary slow finale. Yet, when in September 1967 the emergent André Previn recorded the Sinfonia Antartica as the first of his complete cycle for RCA, he demonstrated that this is far more than a collection of atmospheric genre pieces, not just a spin-off from a film score but an intense, even a tough, work. It may be relatively slack in architectural terms, not at all a symphonic structure, but Previn—paradoxically for one associated with films—concentrates on purely musical argument. For once the sequential first movement, very slow and concentrated, seems an aptly monumental opening with playing from the LSO of superb quality, and though the 'penguin music' of the Trio in the Scherzo has less fun than it can have, the whole work easily sustains its length. Sir Ralph Richardson may not be ideal speaking the superscriptions, but this time I have found the furriness of the voice characterful and appealing.

-- Gramophone [12/1981, reviewing Symphony no 7]

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we are not exactly spoilt for choice when it comes to the Eighth Symphony. My preference here is for Previn, who gives a more thoughtful, sensitive and rounded performance of this, the most genial of the nine symphonies. The Cavatina is beautifully played, and Vaughan Williams's xylophones and glockenspiels are heard to great effect. Boult's account contains some beautiful playing as well, though the performance is much more 'up-front' and less introspective than Previn's. Both are valid, and ultimately choice will be a matter of personal taste.

-- Gramophone [3/1991, reviewing Symphony no 8]

RAVEL: TRIO DEBUSSY, RESPIGH

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO 6, EGMO

For sheer vocal opulence in Wagner, these tracks would be hard to equal. Her ‘Ho-jo-to- ho!’ in 1935 announced on the gramophone her arrival as a Wagnerian prima donna and the splendour of the singing is unsurpassed.

-- Gramophone [10/1990]

"One of the great things about Jascha Heifetz," said violinist Aaron Rosand in a recent interview, "... is that, musically speaking, he always got straight to the point." Quite so. And with that pertinent remark very much in mind, let me first of all put my own critical cards on the table: Jascha Heifetz was, for me and for most violinists I've spoken to, the greatest twentieth-century exponent of his instrument. In saying that, I don't necessarily mean, 'the greatest violin-playing musician' (Busch, Szigeti and Huberman are prime contenders for that particular accolade) or even 'the most lustrous-sounding violinist' ( where Kreisler and Elman could perhaps take equal laurels). Heifetz represented a potent manifestation of musical integrity combined with tonal and intonational purity, technical discipline, virtuosity and intellectual honesty. And yes, he did invariably 'get straight to the point', whether in unaccompanied Bach,...or in the countless miniatures that he infused with a wealth of wit and feeling, making Kurt Weill dance, Gershwin sing and Cyril Scott lose himself in nostalgic reverie.

-- Gramophone [11/1994]
reviewing the Heifetz Collection box set, RCA 61778

Galway is a natural soloist, pointing phrases and rhythms with poetic individuality, but the playing is still full of Mozartian grace and sensuous melodiousness.

Warmly recommended... [I]n the slow movements...Galway takes a far more expansive view, characteristically warm in his expressiveness, observing the marking Adagio in the two solo concertos, rather than the reservation ma non troppo, and taking a very broad view of Andantino in the Concerto for flute and harp... [W]ith Marisa Robles once again an equally characterful partner, the result could hardly be more hauntingly persuasive, and I love their bouncy account of the finale, with Robles’s harp given clearer, sharper focus... Galway...is a natural soloist, pointing phrases and rhythms with poetic individuality, never just a conformist orchestral player.

-- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone [7/1997, reviewing the concertos, originally released as RCA 68256]

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The first two quartets, K285 and K285a were written in 1776/7 for the Dutch nobleman Dejean. The playing here is full of Mozartian grace and sensuous melodiousness. At the beginning of the possibly inauthentic C major Quartet, K285b, Galway achieves a delightful liquid quality. The later Quartet, K298 is more substantial and draws playing of haunting intensity from Galway and the Tokyo... Galway's disc is rounded off with his own arrangement of the Oboe Quartet, K370, whose sumptuous slow movement and elegant finale make this an attractive added bonus.

-- Gramophone [6/1993, reviewing the quartets, originally released as RCA 60442]

MOZART: SYMPHONIES NO 39 & 40,

SCHUBERT: WINTERREISE HAGEGAR

DVORAK: SYMPHONY NO 9, ETC OR

Though Johann Kirnberger does not appear to have been of the inner circle, the Allegro of his Symphony in D which opens this well-planned concert embodies the very spirit of the carefree palace. Not that Sanssouci was ever quite that, as Voltaire discovered having risked once too often a verbal nonchalance on the subject of military matters, which were still of prime importance to his host when not playing the flute. Frederick’s delight in that instrument was assiduously looked after by Kammermusicus Quantz, also well represented here. The Flute Concerto in G is probably one of many (he reputedly wrote some 30 flute concertos and no doubt several are in G major), but it is a pleasing specimen, with a jolly first movement, a still more jovial third, and, in between, one of those adagios which the King is said to have played so well. C. P. E. Bach, best but not most highly valued of the court composers, provides an oboe concerto, the opening allegro scurrying about and taking full advantage of being the only movement not to have an inhibiting ma non troppo attached. Interspersed are some arias from the operas of C. H. Graun, including one from Rodelinda, the first of his 26.

Natalie Stutzmann sings these with a voice to cause a fair degree of souci among the chandeliers. Her deep contralto has a full-bodied resonance, sumptuous in quality and proficient in the trill. The concertos have admirable soloists, the period instruments bringing both delicacy and strength. Roy Goodman’s Hanover Band convey a sense of enjoyment in their playing and are keenly alert to the rhythmic liveliness of their music.

-- Gramophone [11/1997]