The fact that Ofra Harnoy chooses to record the Grutzmacher arrangement of Boccherini speaks for itself: this is a CD for cello-fanciers, not for those who like eighteenth-century music. I am not being 'authenticist' in saying that; rather, I am expressing my aversion (which readers may have noticed before) to music that mixes styles so crudely as to be, in my view, ultimately styleless and therefore offensive. That said, there is no arguing that this is very fine cello playing. I won't comment on the 'Boccherini', as there is no proper basis for critical discussion of the style of performance, except to say that Harnoy is not afraid to take the music on Grutzmacher's own terms and to allow it a generous measure of sentimentality, especially in the Adagio where she chooses a decidedly slow tempo––though the finale is certainly done with plenty of spirit and thrust.

Josef Myslivecek, a good friend of Mozart's, was a gifted composer, particularly of opera. This concerto has a most appealing slow movement, beginning poetically as a soft, sustained note on the cello steals through the texture, and continuing with highly expressive galant figuration. In the outer movements, competent but rather ordinary invention, Harnoy has, and takes, plenty of opportunities for showing her capacities in the upper reaches of her instrument; her light, pure, slightly wiry tone and clean articulation are a delight. She uses more portamento than Myslivecek might have expected, and in rather different contexts, but does it with purpose and control. Her cadenza in the first movement is, however, disagreeably violent for the context; that in the Viotti first movement is far too long, elaborate and romantic. In this work––the attribution is not absolutely secure––she justifiably uses a weightier tone, with a rather heavy eloquence in the Adagio.

In sum, it is playing that, with its excellent intonation, pleasing tone and polished bow techniques, admirers of good cello playing are sure to enjoy.

-- Stanley Sadie, Gramophone [8/1993]

Selections recorded January 5-8, 1991.

According to Roger Lustig's well-researched programme notes, Mozart's self-declared dislike for the flute says more about the circumstances surrounding the composition of his works for the instrument than it does about any real hatred for the instrument itself. Furthermore, the performances of the Flute Quartets by James Galway and the Tokyo Quartet, here under review, speak equally eloquently for Mozart's evident care in their composition—this despite Hans Keller's dismissal of them.

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. The slow tempo of this Quartet's second movement is slower than in the Bennett/Grumiaux version on Philips whose performance has a much more jaunty feel to it. 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. One minor reservation: it is useful to have individual variations separately tracked (K285b.2 and K298.1) but, in the earlier Quartet, there is an annoying click on my disc as the tracks change.

The principal difference between the Galway/ Tokyo and the Bennett/Grumiaux versions reflects the recordings and the circumstances surrounding them. Galway's choice of slower tempos might well have been conditioned, at least in part, by the spacious church acoustic in which it was recorded. The Bennett/Grumiaux was recorded in 1969, but the digital transfer is excellent. These are both fine discs, so choice will be determined by personal taste.'

-- Gramophone [6/1993]

Here is a neat conspectus of Soviet music for chamber orchestra forces in the immediate post-Shostakovich years. Schnittke in 1979 was already on his way out of his familiar Gothic-horror juxtaposition of styles. His Concerto for Piano and Strings may still confront emblems of religious ritual with a demented waltz, a thumping toccata, or a lacerating cadenza, but on the whole its concern is with a single-minded, in-bred intensity. Whether it is any the better for that I am still not sure; but Krainev and Spivakov certainly respond whole-heartedly to its alternation of the hypnotic and the trenchant.

Since the flurry of interest in his music in the late 1960s Rodion Shchedrin has failed to capture Western imaginations to the extent of his younger colleagues. Yet his musical personality has always been blessed with a distinctive brand of rhythmical poise and wit, and even if Music for the City of Cothen (composed in 1984 for the Bach tercentenary the following year) comes across as little more than watered-down neo-classical Stravinsky — Dumbarton Oaks, above all — it has more than a few moments of attractive pungency.

Gubaidulina's Seven Last Words of 1982 could hardly be more different. Modelled to some extent on Schütz's and Haydn's settings of the last words of Christ on the Cross, it is shot through with mystical symbolism, not least in its deployment of the bayan (a Russian accordion) and cello to represent the human and spiritual spheres respectively. Again the performance is first-rate.

-- Gramophone [5/1993]

BACH: CONCERTOS VLADIMIR SPIV

Track Listing
1. Blues March
2. Moanin'
3. Whisper Not
4. Now's the Time
5. Out of the Past - (CD only)
6. Evidence
7. Theme, The

Full performer name: Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers.

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Art Blakey (drums); Benny Golson (tenor saxophone); Lee Morgan (trumpet); Bobby Timmons (piano); Jymie Merritt (bass).

Producer: Daniel Filipacchi.

Reissue producer: Orrin Keepnews.

Recorded live at the Club St. Germain, Paris, France on December 21, 1958. Includes liner notes by Doug Ramsey.

Personnel: Art Blakey (drums); Benny Golson (tenor saxophone); Lee Morgan (trumpet); Bobby Timmons (piano).

Liner Note Author: Doug Ramsey.

Recording information: Club St. Germain, Paris, France (12/18/1958-12/19/1958).

For those who prefer the Blue Note MOANIN' era of Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, this live set from Paris in 1958 is for you. This classic lineup is a favorite among hard bop fans and this set features them in a rousing performance in front of an excited crowd. It was a triumphant time for the Blakey band, and the audience that packed the Club St. Germain lets them know how much they're appreciated.

Benny Golson was the band's musical director at the time and the group performs three of his most cherished compositions here. The signature "Blues March" gets things rolling with a powerful stomp. Also from the Golson book are the classics "Whisper Not," an elegant piece with an atypically subdued groove, and the equally graceful "Out Of the Past." Of course, no Blakey show would be complete without the soulful romp of Bobby Timmons' "Moanin'," a piece that electrifies the crowd from its familiar opening riff. Also included in this excellent set are spirited readings of Bird's "Now's the Time" and Thelonious Monk's quirky "Evidence," both featuring powerful opening solos by Blakey.

-- AllMusic.com

ELISABETH WELCH SINGS JEROME K

WHAT IF MOZART WROTE BORN TO B

Track Listing
1. Any Old Time
2. Rosalie
3. Star Dust
4. Lover Come Back to Me
5. Everything Is Jumpin'
6. I Surrender, Dear
7. At Sundown
8. Chantez-les Bas
9. St. Louis Blues
10. Diga Diga Doo
11. El Rancho Grande, (Alla en)
12. My Blue Heaven
13. Concerto For Clarinet
14. I Cover the Waterfront
15. Nocturne
16. To a Broadway Rose
17. Suite No. 8
18. Maid With the Flaccid Air, The

Personnel includes: Artie Shaw (clarinet), Billie Holiday, Tony Pastor (vocals).

All tracks were personally selected by Artie Shaw and represent the best of his Bluebird/Victor recordings from 1938-1945. Included are many long- unavailable tracks and rare broadcast performances.

This is a rather odd but intriguing collection of Artie Shaw recordings. Shaw himself picked out these performances as his personal favorites and they include both familiar studio recordings and lesser-known broadcasts. Most Shaw collectors will already have "Any Old Time," the magnificent "Concerto for Clarinet" and "Lover, Come Back to Me" but may not possess copies of the seven broadcast performances.

GEORGE RUSSELL JAZZ WORKSHOP

A 'sampler' of the entire [RCA Classic Film Score] series, valuable in many ways as it contains Gerhardt's superb recording of the main title of Star Wars (the original CD - 2698 has been deleted), plus the magnificent suite from The Thing and Amfitheatrof's Salome excerpt, neither of which are available elsewhere. Also included is a lengthy interview with Gerhardt about the entire series. -- Robert Benson, Classical CD Review

This double-CD set (part of the French RCA Jazz Tribune series) includes all of King Oliver's Victor recordings of 1929-30, except for a few alternate takes. The 32 selections are better than one might expect, considering that Oliver's playing abilities were rapidly fading (due to serious gum problems). The cornetist in fact takes a few memorable solos, particularly on "Too Late" and "Struggle Buggy." But it is the high musicianship of his sidemen that make this set so enjoyable, including trumpeters Dave Nelson, Red Allen, and Bubber Miley (who is outstanding on "St. James Infirmary"); trombonists J.C. Higginbottham and Jimmy Archey; clarinetist Omer Simeon; altoist Charlie Holmes; and, filling in for Oliver, cornetists Louis Metcalf and Punch Miller.

-- Scott Yanow, AllMusic.com

Just the right combination of spirit and finesse.

The album opens with Lieutenant Kije and makes an immediate impression, with the opening cornet solo nostalgically distanced. The ambience of the Dallas auditorium adds evocative bloom. Mata achieves excellent ensemble with his orchestra. His rhythmic pointing is light and witty, bringing a balletic quality to the scoring. In Love for three oranges the ''March'' is fast and pert, the romantic interlude between ''The Prince and the Princess'', elegiacally touching. Characterization is constantly vivd and the balance very well managed so that detail is sophisticated, yet the overall layout of the orchestra is believable.

...[The Stravinsky Suites]...make a very suitable coupling, for many collectors will not have discovered their charm. Arranged from piano duets (easy pieces that are not so easy) each miniature has its own strong personality. The opening Andante is delightful and there is at least one reminder of Petrushka elsewhere. The eight brief movements are played with just the right combination of spirit and finesse and readily emphasize the excellence of the Dallas orchestra... [A] highly enjoyable set of performances.

-- Ivan March, Gramophone [9/1985]

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This is one of those “on demand” productions now available from Arkivmusic.com. The playing time isn’t overly generous, but the performances are terrific, and the sonics captured in Dallas at this time featured some of the finest that RCA offered (the one noteworthy exception was the very early digital Ravel Daphnis, which sounded like a castanet concerto). Mata had a genuine feel for this music (and French repertoire too), and if you’re a Kijé junkie (trust me, they exist) or really love your Three Oranges, then you might want to give this a shot. The adorable Stravinsky suites are equally well done; it’s just a pity that we aren’t offered more music.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com [6/2011]

WHAT IF MOZART WROTE ROLL OVER

The great inner strength and glories of this music are revealed here by fabulously eloquent playing. This performance of the Fifth Symphony is the pinnacle of Previn’s Vaughan Williams cycle - a major achievement.

The major offering is the seraphic Fifth Symphony. This is a supreme work, packed with thematic references to RVW’s opera (or ‘Morality’ as he called it), Pilgrim’s Progress, which at the time the symphony was written was still very much work in progress.

The long lines of the first movement are most lovingly shaped by Previn. The strings sing and soar marvellously and the horns contribute burnished tone. It seems to me that everything about the account of this movement, pacing, dynamic control and contrast, and sympathetic playing is just ‘right’. Later, when the tempo picks up the strings are dexterous and light and the interjections of the wind and brass introduce a suitable note of foreboding, which will be familiar to anyone who knows Pilgrim. The brief climax is convincingly built before the return of the luminous material with which the movement began (Track 1, 7’58")

The scherzo is brilliantly poised and gossamer light. This music always seems to me to be suggestive of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s certainly the case here. Then comes the glorious Romanza. A featherbed of hushed strings is the foundation for the beautiful melody, heard first on the cor anglais. In Pilgrim’s Progress (Act 1, scene 2) this theme movingly sets the words "He hath given me rest by His sorrow, and life by His death", sung by Pilgrim himself. This movement is, surely, one of the most moving creations in English music and Previn and the LSO do it full justice. The music, though beautiful, also has great inner strength and its glories are revealed here by some fabulously eloquent playing. If the performance of this symphony is a highlight of Previn’s cycle (which I believe it is) then the performance of this slow movement must be counted the pinnacle of the entire set. Here is just over twelve minutes of balm for the soul. Then the quietly radiant finale is a delight. This is RVW at his most outgoing and beneficent. The whole performance is a major achievement.

The Three Portraits from "The England of Elizabeth" consist of music extracted by Muir Matheson from a score that RVW had been invited to compose in 1955 by British Transport Films. The company had produced a short documentary about [16th century] Elizabethan England in order to promote tourism in Shakespeare country. Matheson’s three movement suite doesn’t contain vintage Vaughan Williams but it’s enjoyable and so far as I know there is no other recording.

The Tuba Concerto is a delightful piece, even if it too is not top-drawer RVW. As the notes point out the composer took a good deal of trouble to learn the capabilities of the tuba which he then exploited to the full. John Fletcher is a splendid soloist. He’s athletic in the outer movements and in the central Romanza he displays a poetic vein to the tuba which may surprise some listeners.

-- John Quinn, MusicWeb International