A more persuasive advocacy of Takemitsu's music cannot be imagined.

All four works on this disc offer Takemitsu in contemplative mood, with the most recent and most substantial, Fantasma/Cantos, a BBC commission first heard at the 1991 Cardiff Festival, the most persistently calm and controlled.

Quatrain II (1977), composed as a kind of pendant to Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps, totally avoids the more hectic and flamboyant aspects of Messiaen's musical character. Yet the textural refinement and expressive reticence personal to Takemitsu are allied to material of considerable substance and consequence, the tendency to dwell on sweeter sonorities offset by more steely gestures. In Waves (also 1977) this steeliness is even more apparent, for although the music is persistently slow, the use of horn, trombones and bass drum brings darker colours and a more dramatic atmosphere into play. This is a Takemitsu thoroughly in tune with the Western avant-garde of the day, but speaking with his own accent.

By contrast, Water-Ways (1978) seems balanced on a knife-edge between a mysterious, even slightly menacing atmosphere and the kind of romanticized response to nature that runs virtually unchallenged through the recent Fantasma/Cantos. Water-Ways just keeps this sentimental inclination at bay, whereas Fantasma/Cantos, despite a few more forceful initiatives in its later stages, seems lush to the point of indigestibility. Its rich tapestry is superbly laid out for soloist and orchestra, but I find less substance, and more hints of padding, than in the earlier works.

This carping tone cannot be extended to Richard Stoltzman's playing in Fantasma/Cantos: a more persuasive advocacy of Takemitsu's music cannot be imagined, and the support of Tadaaki Otaka and the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra is no less ideal. The Tashi recordings of the earlier pieces, made in 1978, come up well in these CD transfers.

-- Arnold Whittall, Gramophone [1/1995]

"Sand, see Sugar. Sugar, see Grocer. Grocer, see Hindemith." Such run Tovey's whimsical indexentries in Essays in Musical Analysis (London: 1935/9), inspired by Hindemith's Kammermusik No. 1 and its instrumental exotica. "I like Hindemith and ... he does not bore me" was his judgement, in contrast to Constant Lambert who, in Music Ho! (London: 1934), vented his spleen on the German composer at great and repeated length, calling him "everything in fact but an artist" and "the journalist of modern music", finding his "view of music ... almost excretory". Of his concertos — primarily the early Kammermusik ones of the mid 1920s — Lambert felt that they had "the family resemblance of shape and texture that one edition of a newspaper bears to another". Well, unsurprisingly for a set of works written in the short spell of five years, there are commonalities of style and form, but these are more than made up for by the sheer exuberance of the music, which is what Tovey appreciated.

Whatever your view of the Kammermusiken, the yardstick for recordings of them was defined by Riccardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw in their 1993 Gramophone Award-winning release. This new RCA set is the first challenger but, fine as it is, it cannot dislodge the Decca version. There is not much to choose between the performances and interpretations: Stenz is generally quicker in the early concertos, Chailly in the later ones; the Ensemble Modern produce a rather more hardedged sound than the Concertgebouw, abetted by the RCA recording, though I am not convinced it is quite what Hindemith had in mind, at least for the later instalments in the series (though I doubt if he would have minded overmuch). More importantly, inequalities of balance on the RCA set arise, particularly affecting the stringed instruments, both the soloists in Nos. 3-6 and the quintet in No. I. The Ensemble Modern's accordion in the last-named is barely audible compared to that in the Dutch orchestra, whose siren, incidentally, is in better health (I cannot vouch for the canister of sand). Chailly has the clear edge then in Nos. 1 and 4-6 (for violin, viola and viola d'amore, respectively). In No. 2 (for piano), Stenz and Wiget just shade the decision, but No. 3 (for cello) is a dead heat. I also prefer the RCA version of No. 7, the organ concerto, which was recorded at Hindemith's old music school, the Hoch Conservatoire in Frankfurt: its instrument produces a cleaner, crisper sound. Decca have the advantage secured still further by their inclusion of No. l's companion piece, the Kleine Kammermusik for wind quintet, which RCA parsimoniously omit. If you already have that work, though, and like a brittle tang to your Hindemith, then the Ensemble Modern and Stenz will not disappoint.

-- Gramophone [1/1996]

VERDI, PUCCINI: DUETS LEONTYN

"Ernest Ansermet described Roussel as “a true Frenchman [who] conveyed musical dynamism through orchestral colouring. His melodies pass from one instrument to another, crossing a variety of orchestral textures, where they risk being lost.” Ensuring adequate projection of important features and lines in a Roussel score must be quite a challenge, less perhaps when he was in his early impressionist mode (the First Symphony), but definitely in the later concise and incisive neo-classical works (Third and Fourth Symphonies). Janowski is better at profiling the slower lines than he is at projecting faster-moving melody and busy details, but then who am I to say whether the inconsistent projection of the latter in the more breezy and cheery parts of the last two symphonies (especially their scherzos) is his fault or the result of the way the orchestra is recorded (relatively distantly in a fairly spacious acoustic)? In particular, the percussion are very discreet unless playing loudly, which, under Janowski, is not as often as you may feel you have a right to expect. However, it could be argued that here what Janowski offers is a fair show of spirit – tempered with discretion, a general refinement of tone and a delicacy of touch – that is more French in, say, the Third Symphony’s last two movements than Bernstein’s ‘fun at the fair’.

Turn exclusively to Roussel’s slower inspirations and much is outstanding, especially the wind-strings balance. Unlike Dutoit, such things as the first horn doubling the top line cellos at the start of the Third Symphony’s Adagio, and the violin solo with clarinet in the meditative central section of that symphony’s finale are caught to perfection. And more generally in the slow music, it is Janowski’s exquisite nuancing of melody (timing as well as shaping) that catches the ear as often as the correctly achieved balances, the purity of tone and the general limpidity of the sound."

-- John Steane, Gramophone [6/1996]

THE HEIFETZ COLLECTION VOL 7 -

Hagegard and Ax allow Schubert to speak for himself in sensible, moderate speeds and discreet phrasing, coming perhaps closer to a truly Schubertian ideal than more celebrated interpreters of this work.

With the galaxy of distinguished versions by the baritones and their equally distinguished pianists listed above, forgetting for a moment tenor readings, is there room for yet another? When it is as rewarding as this one, the answer is a decided 'Yes'. I have admired Hagegard in Lieder ever since he announced his considerable credentials in the field almost 20 years ago in London's Wigmore Hall. Based largely in the US, he has returned here too infrequently but always to his audiences' pleasure.

This disc tells us just why. Simply as a voice his is perhaps superior to that of any of those singers listed above. It is, paradoxically, a light yet heroic sound, typically Swedish in timbre, flexible throughout its range and—relevant to the work in hand—tenor-like in tone. Its owner uses it with marked attention to vocal verities, never disturbing a sure legato, placing his words firmly and naturally on it.

The eager youth of the early songs is unerringly enacted, perhaps without quite the sense of vulnerability suggested by Holzmair and some tenor interpreters, although by the same token he suggests an appropriately open-air, fresh youth, and one wholly obsessed by the mill girl as the hushed singing of the couplet beginning "Du blondes Küpfchen" in "Morgengruss" and the confident élan of "Mein!" convey. When sorrow, jealousy and eventually heartbreak enter the lad's life, Hagegard projects these with as much conviction yet without a hint of exaggeration or sentimentality. He, and the sensitive but never obtrusive Ax, allow Schubert to speak for himself in sensible, moderate speeds and discreet phrasing: in the context of frequent repetitions, this has undoubted advantages. Holzmair and Demus, Schmidt and Jansen do much the same. I would find it hard to choose among these three versions if I wanted a straightforward reading, but at present I feel that the sheerly beautiful sound of Hagegard's voice places him marginally in front. Bar, Souzay and, most of all, Fischer-Dieskau peer deeper into the songs and the youth's psychology—but I'm not sure that Hagegard and his partner may not come closer to a truly Schubertian ideal, as do some tenor versions, their merits often discussed here.

The recording is ideally balanced. The only regret is that it has taken almost eight years for this version to appear here.

-- Gramophone [2/1995]

THE HEIFETZ COLLECTION VOL 5 -

THE HEIFETZ COLLECTION VOL 6 -

MOZART: PIANO CONCERTOS NO. 22

BRAHMS: VIOLIN CONCERTO, DOUBL

The timeless romance and lilting melodies of Strauss waltzes and polkas are legendary; here, in classic performances by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, the charming music of Old Vienna comes joyously to life. This Living Stereo jewel will transport you to the innocence and grace of a bygone era.

Recordings made May 1956, May 1957, November 1958, August 1959, Septemeber 1959 in Symphony Hall, Boston.

Track Listing

Disc 1:
1. My Last Affair
2. My Last Affair
3. Jivin' the Vibes
4. Mood That I'm In, The
5. Hampton Stomp
6. Buzzin' Around With the Bee
7. Whoa Babe
8. Stompology
9. On the Sunny Side of the Street
10. Rhythm, Rhythm (I Got Rhythm)
11. China Stomp (Chinatown, My Chinatown)
12. I Know That You Know
13. Confessin'
14. Drum Stomp (Crazy Rhythm)
15. Piano Stomp (Shine)
16. I Surrender Dear
17. Object of My Affection, The

Disc 2:
1. Object of My Affection, The
2. Judy
3. Baby, Won't You Please Come Home
4. Everybody Loves My Baby
5. After You've Gone
6. I Just Couldn't Take It Baby
7. You're My Ideal
8. Sun Will Shine Tonight, The
9. Ring Dem Bells
10. Don't Be That Way
11. I'm in the Mood For Swing
12. Shoe Shiner's Drag
13. Any Time at All
14. Muskrat Ramble
15. Down Home Jump
16. Rock Hill Special
17. Fiddle Diddle

Personnel includes: Lionel Hampton (vocals, vibraphone, piano, drums); Benny Carter (alto saxophone, clarinet); Hymie Schertzer, George Koenig, Johnny Hodges (alto saxophone); Vido Musso (tenor saxophone, trombone); Arthur Rollini (tenor saxophone); Edgar Sampson (baritone saxophone); "Ziggy" Elman, Charles M. "Cootie" Williams, Harry James (trumpet); Lawrence Brown (trombone); Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow (clarinet); Jess Stacy (piano); Allen Reuss (guitar); John Kirby, Billy Taylor (bass); Gene Krupa, William "Cozy" Cole, William "Sonny" Greer, Jo Jones (drums).

Reissue producer: Jean-Paul Guiter.

Recorded in 1937 & 1938. Includes liner notes by Daniel Nevers.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Woody Herman & His Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Stoltzman. Soloist: Richard Stoltzman.

BEETHOVEN: PIANO SONATAS OP 57

WEBER: GRAND DUO CONCERTANT, +