The final installment in the BEETHOVEN & BARRY recording series which, over three volumes, has traced all nine of Beethoven’s Symphonies coupled with music by the celebrated Irish composer Gerald Barry.

“Adès makes you hear things with which you thought you were familiar as if they were completely new” (Tom Service, The Guardian)

This is the first release marking the culmination of the Britten Sinfonia's three-year Beethoven Symphony Cycle, with Thomas Adès as director and conductor. Adès interleaves Beethoven’s masterworks with the audacious and sometimes explosive music of the wonderfully idiosyncratic Irish composer, Gerald Barry, exploring these monuments of the orchestral repertoire. This release combines Beethoven's first 3 symphonies with two works by Barry: his 'Piano Concerto' was composed for pianist Nicolas Hodges, and blends his characteristic musical zeal and unconventionality (featuring a percussion section of wind machines and bass drum).

Gerald Barry’s setting of Beethoven's famous "Immortal Beloved" text is among several of his works surrounding the life of Beethoven, whom he deeply admires. Despite the desperate tone of the letter, the music is buoyant and cheerful, with references to Beethoven’s own Music. The composer writers: "The letter to the so-called “Immortal Beloved” is the only real love letter to survive from Ludwig van Beethoven. It’s one of the strangest ever written. It more or less says I love and long for you but it’s not possible. The letter is a confusion of longing and desperation, a cry for forgiveness, that she not abandon him, whatever his inability.’ (Gerald Barry)

REVIEW:

Adès tackles the “Eroica” in a blazing performance, very energetic but not lacking in affection. He has the horns and trumpets ring out with great presence and his dynamic range is good. The timpani also make their presence known, but are not overdone. Adès takes the exposition repeat—something I am now getting used to, though do not find particularly necessary. The horn solo in the recapitulation is quite ravishing.

Barry’s Piano Concerto is in a single movement and apparently a piece of theatre with the piano and orchestra opposing each other. They only occasionally play together in the concerto’s nearly 23-minute length...it does not lack interest and contains sufficient humour if not downright silliness. Nicolas Hodges, for whom the concerto was composed, plays it to the hilt.

–MusicWeb International

Adès’ direction of the Britten Sinfonia is excellent, as you might expect. Together, they take a historical-ish approach to these works – tempi are swift, and articulations are crisp. Still, while these might not be world-shatteringly new performances, there’s something to be said for the wonderful colours Adès and the Britten Sinfonia conjure up. The sheer power of Beethoven’s Eroica comes across beautifully, for instance, despite the chamber scale of the ensemble, and Adès’ sharp direction cuts through the potential for ponderousness that the work can have in lesser hands.

--Limelight

Signum’s first album with Mexican composer Rodrigo Ruiz combines the composer’s musical and literary passions in performances by world-class soloists Kerenza Peacock, Huw Watkins and Laura van der Heijden. Born in Tijuana, Mexico, Ruiz has attracted commissions from a number of artists, with both the opening Violin Sonata and ‘A riveder le stelle’ commissioned by Kerenza Peacock for this recording. The second work is a duo for violin and piano that is accompanied by poetic quotations from Canto XXXIV of Dante’s Inferno. The booklet notes include an interview with the composer by Jessica Duchen, who describes how the programme “clearly shows Rodrigo´s roots in the traditions of Beethoven and Brahms, but with individual twists that clearly indicate we are in fact on new territory”.

Born in Strasbourg, Elizabeth Sombart studied piano from the age of seven. She studied all over the world with various teachers, including Bruno-Leonardo Gelber, Peter Feuchtwanger, Hilde Langer-Rühl and Sergiu Celibidache. Elizabeth received the rank of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite in 2006 and then was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2008, both in reference to her career in music. Elizabeth has a strong relationship with the RPO and will be continuing this Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle with them over the coming months. This third installment of this series features Beethoven’s mighty fifth piano concerto as well as his ever popular triple concerto, featuring Duncan Riddell on violin and Richard Harwood on cello.

Volume 2 in Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia's collaborative performances of the works of Beethoven and Barry; specifically the Beethoven Symphony Cycle and a selection of Barry’s works. This CD features Beethoven’s 4th, 5th and 6th symphonies, interspersed with Barry’s 'Viola Concerto' (featuring Lawrence Power) and piece for orchestra and bass 'The Conquest of Ireland' (featuring Johsua Bloom).

Gerald Barry grew up in rural Ireland. His music shows us how his upbringing had an effect on his compositional style - giving a piece a title such as Beethoven would suggest an attempt at emulating his legacy nearly two centuries after his death. Do not be fooled by this however; his music shows his major influence from radio, moving from the sublime and the ridiculous with carefree abandon. "...the most striking orchestral contribution to this year’s anniversary celebrations that’s come my way." (Presto Classical) "This set cuts pristine interpretations of Beethoven’s early symphonies with Gerald Barry’s 21st-century zesty homage ... Adès and the Britten Sinfonia present tightly knit performances [of the Beethoven Symphonies], and dynamic subtleties are largely preserved in the concert recordings." (BBC Music Magazine)

REVIEW:

Volume two of Thomas Adès’s Beethoven symphony cycle with added Gerald Barry continues to illuminate both composers. Under Adès, the Britten Sinfonia provide lean, though certainly not mean, performances of Beethoven’s middle three symphonies. There are a few scrappy moments, the wind almost getting ahead of themselves in the Fourth’s slow movement, but generally this is stylishly incisive Beethoven. Barry’s pieces are no mere filler.

– BBC Music Magazine

Born in Strasbourg, Elizabeth Sombart studied piano from the age of seven. She studied all over the world with various teachers, including Bruno-Leonardo Gelber, Peter Feuchtwanger, Hilde Langer-Ruhl and Sergiu Celibidache. Elizabeth received the rank of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite in 2006 and then was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2008, both in reference to her career in music. Elizabeth has a strong relationship with the RPO and will be continuing this Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle with them over the coming months. Beethoven is one of the single most influential figures in the history of Western music. Starting out with Mozart and Haydn as his spiritual mentors; he wrestled off the shackles of 18th century Classicism, forging uncompromising musical landscapes with a visionary intensity that left most musicians quivering in his wake. For centuries, music had lagged behind the other arts, but with Beethoven’s iron-clad will, it found itself at the cutting edge of social change.

Born in Strasbourg, Elizabeth Sombart studied piano from the age of seven. She studied all over the world with various teachers, including Bruno-Leonardo Gelber, Peter Feuchtwanger, Hilde Langer-Ruhl and Sergiu Celibidache. Elizabeth received the rank of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite in 2006 and then was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2008, both in reference to her career in music. Elizabeth has a strong relationship with the RPO and will be continuing this Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle with them over the coming months. Beethoven is one of the single most influential figures in the history of Western music. Starting out with Mozart and Haydn as his spiritual mentors, he wrestled off the shackles of 18th century Classicism, forging uncompromising musical landscapes with a visionary intensity that left most musicians quivering in his wake. For centuries, music had lagged behind the other arts, but with Beethoven’s iron-clad will, it found itself at the cutting edge of social change.

The Choral Scholars is an internationally acclaimed chamber choir of gifted student singers led by founding Artistic Director, Dr. Desmond Earley, based at University College Dublin College of Arts & Humanities. Scholars come from various academic disciplines and commit to an intensive programme of choral study. Be all Merry is one of three new pieces especially composed for the Choral Scholars. This lively carol for choir, orchestra and violin by Irish composer Eoghan Desmond evokes the joyful play of Christmas in the lines ‘Be all merry in this house/Exultet celum laudibus!’. The recording contains a remarkable setting of the Advent plainsong hymn Christe Redemptor Omnium for tenor solo, chorus, violin and violoncello by Ivo Antognini, crafted for Choral Scholars with the kind support of the Swiss Embassy in Dublin. The Adoration of the Magi by American composer Timothy Stephens is a breathtaking setting of W. B. Yeats’ poetry. A beautiful Irish-language lullaby – Cró na Nollag – set by father and son, Adhamhnán and Uinseann Mac Domhnaill, and the much-loved Scottish tune simply titled Suantraí, are also included. The Irish Chamber Orchestra are also featured on a number of tracks including The Wexford Carol and Carol of the Bells. The choir closes the album with the song most associated with friendship, hope and the promise of a new year, Auld Lang Syne. The post-production phase of this recording project took place as the world grappled with the outbreak of COVID-19. American composer Linda Kachelmeier’s piece – We Toast the Days – serves as a reminder of the strength, love and hope that resonates throughout the world not simply at Christmastide but also during periods of hardship.

REVIEW:

Like the Winchester Quiristers, the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin are unique – a relatively new group of collegiate singers who trade a chapel for an intriguing commercial instinct. Be All Merry is a slick album of new, largely unrecognisable settings of old carols woven through with the sound of Gaelic folk song, much of it from the fiddle of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s concertmaster. It provides that one thing we badly need from Christmas albums – something different that’s still consistent and festive – and only occasionally edges into processed cheese despite every track being suitable for a TV chat show’s play-out. If you can take a degree of Gaelic mistiness there is plenty to enjoy. The jagged arrangement of the Carol of the Bells by conductor Desmond Earley caught my ear, sung by a choir very well trained with an idea of its own sound.

-- Gramophone

Alessio Bax returns to recording with the Southbank Sinfonia under Simon Over, in a new album of works by Beethoven centered around the majestic “Emperor” Piano Concerto No. 5. Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt “among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public” (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and is now a familiar face on four continents, not only as a recitalist and chamber musician, but as a concerto soloist. He has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the London and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, Dallas and Cincinnati Symphonies, NHK Symphony in Japan, St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, and the City of Birmingham Symphony with Sir Simon Rattle. Alessio has appeared frequently with the Southbank Sinfonia in concerts and recordings – their 2013 disc of Mozart’s Concertos Nos. 24 & 27 was described by Musicweb International’s critic as their “Recording of the Month … and quite possibly my recording of the year”. A live concert of the “Emperor” concerto in 2016 with the orchestra in Tuscany’s Incontri in Terra di Siena festival was met with praise by reviewers: “[Bax’s] capacity for softness and for evenness of touch came beautifully to the fore for the concerto’s many top-keyboard pianissimo flutterings, as his strong relationship with the orchestra also reaped dividends, producing satisfyingly sympathetic chamber pockets amidst the surrounding symphonic excitement.” Bachtrack (Live Concert Review)

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REVIEW:

His playing is consummately lyrical. His expressive molding and the very forward recording quality make for an overall result that is more immediate. All in all, this is an impressive disc, which repays repeated listening and can stand comparison with many of the biggest names.

– Gramophone

David Goode continues his new series of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, played on the Metzler Söhne organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge.

Shortlisted for the Gramophone Awards!

Fun, furious, frantic, and utterly fantastic! The surreal world of Lewis Carroll’s Alice, both in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, is given an extra twist in Gerald Barry’s operatic treatment. At less than an hour for the whole opera, this short, sharp shot of mayhem is ideal as a family treat. Meet a kaleidoscope of colorful characters in this joyful, headlong rush into a world gone deliciously mad. This release is based on the original production of the same title, a co-production between Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Irish National Opera.

BACH Violin Sonatas: N o . 1 (trans. Godowsky); No. 2: Andante (trans. Siloti). Orchestral Suite No. 3: Air (trans. Siloti). Violin Partitas: No. 1: Gavotte (trans. Saint-Saens); Chaconne (trans. Busoni). Flute Sonata in E?: Sicilienne (trans. Siloti). Keyboard Concerto in f: Largo (trans. Bax). Cello Suite No. 3: Boureé (trans. Godowsky). Cantata 208: Sheep may safely graze (trans. Petri). Cantata 140: Zion hört die Wächter singen (trans. Kempff) • Alessio Bax (pn) • SIGNUM 156 (65:45)


In today’s world of accessibility and hybrid crossover, the debate about whether Bach should be played on the modern piano is no longer relevant. However you wish to experience Bach or any other early master, a number of performance styles are available to you. Alongside the ancient music purists there are equally confirmed piano purists, whose gods are the great concert pianists of the 19th and early 20th centuries.


Godowsky, Siloti, Busoni, Petri, and company took the music of Bach and dressed it in the garb of their contemporaries, partly to display their pianistic prowess, but also in a genuine attempt to bring what they regarded as great music to the masses. In their own view, these virtuosos treated Bach with veneration and respect. We continue to enjoy their transcriptions today for two reasons: (1) Bach’s music is wonderfully resilient; and (2) the transcriptions can only be mastered by someone with an amazing technique. Audiences still like to be astonished.


Alessio Bax astonishes along with the best of them. His well-chosen program is bookended by two major works of inordinate technical difficulty: Leopold Godowsky’s transcription of the First Violin Sonata and Busoni’s monumental Chaconne from Partita No. 1. In both, Bax shows great control and a rare ability to “terrace” contrasting dynamic levels, even at fast tempos (for example, the final movement of Godowsky’s Violin Sonata). Like Hamelin, his technique is secure enough not to have to add ritards or arpeggiated chords when the going gets tough.


Between these two works, Bax gives us a program of encores in which he recreates the tender, lyrical side of the virtuoso persona. When Alexander Siloti arranged the Air from Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3, or the Sicilienne from the Flute Sonata, or Egon Petri made his transcription of “Sheep May Safely Graze,” the idea was to entrance their audience with playing of great beauty: laying out the melodic line like a series of gems against a warm velvet backdrop (to continue the metaphor), with intricate filigree to set it off. Bax understands that and is fully capable of realizing it.


Hyperion has covered this territory with a series of excellent CDs from different pianists. Even so, there are rarities in Bax’s program. Petri’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” and Kempff’s “Zion Hört die Wächter singen” are less well known than the transcriptions by Ignaz Friedman (and Harriet Cohen also, in the case of the second). The Kempff begins gently enough, but with the gradual addition of octave doublings and fuller harmonies, it reaches a grand apotheosis reminiscent of the organ. Bax’s own transcription of the Largo from the F-Minor Concerto (yes—by Alessio, not Arnold) brings a comparatively modern touch in its detached accompaniment, and a welcome calmness before we are plunged into the massive statements and dazzling decoration of Busoni.


In short, this disc is a must.


FANFARE: Phillip Scott

The organ loomed large from early on in Bach’s life. The foundations of his multifaceted career as a professional musician were clearly laid in the careful cultivation of Bach’ prodigious talent as an organist whilst he was still a child. - See more at: http://www.signumrecords.com/catalogue/david-goode/johann-sebastian-bach:-the-complete-organ-works/sigcd800.html#sthash.gfLILMva.dpuf

David Goode performs the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach on the renowned Metzler Söhne organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, in a new a set spanning 16 albums and over 17 hours and 40 minutes of music. Covering the multiplicity of genres and stylistic influences that typified Bach’s organ music, the set includes complete recordings of the Chorale preludes, the six Sonatas, and the many preludes, toccatas, fugues, fantasias, chorales and partitas. The accompanying 136-page booklet includes background information on each work by organist George Parsons, along with an introduction to the set by David Goode. As well as a tracklisting, the booklet includes indexes to the works by BWV number and alphabetical order. “This series is notable for the flair, clarity and spontaneity that Goode brings to this timeless music” (Gramophone)

REVIEW

This cycle of Bach's Complete Organ Works occupied David Goode between January 2015 and August 2016 and was originally issued as separate volumes, but now Signum Classics have released them as a 16 CD set. Centre stage is the magnificent Metzler organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, which ranks as one of the finest in the UK. The Signum engineers have done a sterling job with the sound quality. The cycle certainly stands shoulder to shoulder with some of my favorite traversals, including those by Christopher Herrick, Peter Hurford, Lionel Rogg and André Isoir.

--MusicWeb International

The initial impetus of the ‘Australian Thais’ project came from David Howie’s Thai family connections and the shared interest to explore the connections between the music and people of both countries. This led to collaborations with some of Thailand and Australia’s premiere composers to commission, workshop and produce new music for a cross-cultural exchange aimed at enhancing and strengthening links between the two countries, greatly increasing cultural awareness and understanding through music. This project was made possible by a Sydney University, Conservatorium of Music internal research grant. First performing together in 2008, Michael Duke and David Howie have always put exciting and innovative chamber music at the heart of HD Duo’s repertoire – commissioning, recording and performing new works written by some of Australia’s most prominent and respected composers. These include Anne Boyd, Michael Smetanin, Matthew Hindson. Mark Zadro, Gerard Brophy, Tim Dargaville, Andrew Batterham, Brenton Broadstock, Miriama Young and Paul Sarcich. As well as performing regularly across the major cities of Australia, HD Duo has also appeared in concert throughout the world in countries such as Thailand, USA, Singapore, UK, France, Malta, Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Canada, Croatia, Mexico and French Polynesian New Caledonia.