MARLBORO FEST 40TH ANNIVERSARY

BEETHOVEN: VIOLIN SONATAS FRA

MAHLER: DAS KLAGENDE LIED BOU

MOZART: 7 PIANO CONCERTOS, RON

Air & Ground

"Where opera is concerned, our generation will undoubtedly be remembered for its emphasis on restoring scores to their pristine state, or at least attempting to divine and then execute the original intentions of the composer. Whether it be Gluck, Mozart, Verdi or Mussorgsky, authenticity and completeness have been the order of the day, perhaps going even beyond the composer's own wishes. In the case of Boris nobody has been more diligent than Abbado over the past 15 years, since he first presented the epic at La Scala, in seeking the truth about this vast canvas. Now we have the latest fruits of his efforts. Incidentally, this work forcibly reminds us how little has changed in Russia regarding conflicts of power: fanaticism and religion competing for attention with cruelty and intrigue. Plus ça change ...

As happens most often today, Abbado plays the definitive 1872-4 version, adding scenes, including the complete one in Pimen's cell and the St Basil's scene from 1869. To avoid the Simpleton losing his kopek twice he omits the repetition of this episode, cutting from fig. 20-25 (in the OUP full score) in the Kromy Forest scene; a sensible solution.

This recording took place in 1993, as Richard Fairman explains on page 16, around the same time similar forces presented two concert performances in the Berlin Philharmonie, where the set was also recorded. It precedes stage performances in Salzburg (Easter and summer this year) with similar forces. As when Abbado conducted the work at Covent Garden in 1983 and at the Vienna State Opera in 1991, his is a taut, tense reading. With the Berlin Philharmonic now at his call, it has become grander, more virtuosic, at times hard-driven, favouring extremes of speed. The orchestra is very much in the foreground, sounding more emphatic than would ever be the case in the opera house. The total effect, for all its magnificence, is a shade unrelenting and the extremes of dynamics, recalling Karajan, are very marked. The precision and clarity are undoubted: whether or not Mussorgsky might not have preferred Gergiev's more understated, equally incisive Kirov reading on the Decca video version which I reviewed last month, is a matter of conjecture.

What cannot be doubted is that Michael Haas's first opera recording as producer for Sony Classical is of demonstration standard: most potent in the way it captures the wonderfully incisive and pointed singing of the combined choruses in their various guises, best heard through the most wideranging loudspeakers. Here all is vividly brought before us by conductor and producer in the wide panorama predicated by Mussorgsky's all enveloping vision.

Kotcherga, the Russian bass who will also sing the title-role at Salzburg, has a superb voice, firmly produced throughout an extensive register. Even before I read RTF's report, I was astonished and delighted at the accuracy of his reading and at its complete avoidance of conventional melodrama. I was interested to read that he was concerned to show the loving father, for his scene with Boris's children is here among the most rewarding. Given the velvety, soft grain of his timbre, it may not be surprising that the inner torment is not always much in evidence as it is with Talvela (on the reissued EMI recording), even more with Ghiaurov for Tchakarov. But these may seem like quibbles when set beside the beauty and musicality of Kotcherga's concept.

The ambitious lovers are well represented. Indeed, Larin is quite the best Grigory yet on disc, sounding at once youthful, heroic and ardent, and quite free of tenor mannerisms. Lipovkk characterizes Marina forcefully: we are well aware of the scheming Princess's powers of wheeler-dealing and of erotic persuasion. A certain hardness that has now come into her tone lately is not inappropriate. Even so, I would like to have heard the lovely Elena Zaremba in the role: here she makes a lively Hostess, a part so often consigned to superannuated mezzos. Marina's scene with the Rangoni of Leiferkus is one of the set's best, accompanied with a sure feeling for its many undercurrents of religious bigotry, voluptuousness and cant.

Ramey is classy casting for Pimen, but – for all his fine singing – he doesn't quite convince me that he is inside the part. Ghiuselev (Tchakarov) or Morozov (Gergiev) show just how much more subtlety can be read into the old monk's narration through variations of colour, tone and phrase deriving from long experience in the genre (Tchakarov is also gentler, more yielding here than Abbado). Langridge certainly knows everything there is to know about Shuisky, a role he has often sung with Abbado and though his tone hasn't true Russian character, his range of colour is arresting.

There seems no end these days to the new talent coming out of Russia. Here we have Albert Shagidullin as Shchelkolov, the Boyar's Secretary, disclosing a baritone of infinite possibilities and Alexander Fedin, a Covent Garden Rodolfo, singing the Simpleton with plaintive beauty."

-- Gramophone [5/1994] Reviewing original release

With the same dedication they brought to Beethoven and Schumann, The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Paavo Järvi now turn their attention to the symphonies and overtures of Johannes Brahms. Once again, only after intensive rehearsals and closed sessions did they accept invitations to appear in New York, Amsterdam and Istanbul, for example, and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Bonn International Beethoven Festival. And their success with Brahms exceeded all expectations. »A Brahms revelation« was the headline in the New York Times to a review that went on to declare »With risk came reward in this dark and ultimately triumphant reading of Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 from Paavo Järvi and his virtuosic orchestra.« Complete Brahms cycles were given to great acclaim in Tokyo, Vienna, St. Petersburg, at the Rheingau Music Festival and at the festival in Lanaudière (Canada). Only with the experience gained in these many concerts and the resulting certainty that they had something important to say about the Brahms symphonies, and that they could make this music sound as if it were improvised, as if it had only just been written – only then did the musicians venture into the recording studio. Once again, Philip Traugott brought his perfectionism to bear on the role of producer, while Paavo Järvi and the orchestra plunged headlong into an adventure whose aim was to avoid safe and down-to-earth interpretations in favour of the same freshness and spontaneity that singled out their live performances.

This re-release of William Kapell's 1951 recording of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with Fritz Reiner and the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra will hopefully serve as a corrective to the many pianists who take this work at dreadfully slow tempos. The fleet and bright Kapell-Reiner reading makes this work's theme and 24 variations cohere in a way that eludes so many other interpretations--as an extended, precise, and often frenetic dance and thus not, in this way, unlike Ravel's 'Bolero.' Such a reading not only teases out a most appropriate Paganinian mania in the faster variations but also rescues the slower ones, like the eighth (here given a cool, easy swing), from sounding like dirges.
Whether under the direction of Reiner or, as with the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2, under William Steinberg, the woodwind soloists of the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra are exemplary, while the strings (especially under Reiner) shimmer. The concerto possesses many moments that require careful advanced staging; otherwise, the work runs the risk of sounding tunefully episodic. With Steinberg keeping the ensemble super-tight throughout all three movements, he and Kapell stage these moments brilliantly.

Legendary for his accomplishments, musical, scholarly and beyond, Camille Saint-Saëns created an astounding collection of compositions. These pieces for cello and accompaniment must surely rank among his finest achievements.
The composer wrote more than mere pleasant melodies. The demands of Cello Concerto No. 2 are extraordinary, and yield results quite profound. Baroque lyricism and a penchant for drama make Saint-Saëns' orchestral work a delight. The more intimate Cello Sonata No. 2 takes advantage of the rich tonal power of both instrument and soloist.
Renown cellist Steven Isserlis performs with panache befitting his reputation as one of the world's leading cellists. His technique, both technically precise and deeply passionate, brings out the most of Saint-Saëns difficult works.

Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 58: Beethoven: Piano Concertos N

This selection features Leontyne Price reading the story of 'Aida' along with highlights from the opera.
REVIEWS:
Opera News (5/00, p.82) - "...The narrative itself is completely successful. The plot has been reduced for clarity, but the characters maintain individuality....Most importantly, the directness, warmth and drama of Price's storytelling involve the listener irresistibly..."

Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 54: All Schubert: Sonata, D. 960

Dvorák: Piano Quintet in A, Op. 81; Artur Rubinstein, piano; Guarneri Quartet. RCA Gold Seal 6263-2.

Artur Rubinstein was a youthful 84 when he sat down with the Guarneri players in the spring of 1971 for this recording of the Dvo?ák quintet. His lovely tone and lively phrasing, the clarity of the textures that emerged under his hands, and most of all the instinct he possessed for the singing line, proved infectious and spurred his colleagues to one of their best efforts on record. The sound, while not the best, has good presence. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection.

Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 55

Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 50: Chopin: 51 Mazurkas