It's great to see this work, incomparably the most magnificent string trio ever written, getting increasing attention on disc. We recently welcomed a splendid new recording on BIS, and now here's another, equally fine. It seems that the music brings out the best in its performers, as well it must. Anyone attempting a nearly 50-minute-long string trio had better have the chops to carry it off. Perhaps the outstanding quality of this performance is its rhythmic thrust, combined with the ability of the players to characterize their musical lines in an independent but still effectively coordinated way.

I'm thinking in particular of cellist Christoph Richter's delightful, swooping comments at the end of the first-movement exposition, the almost "parlante" phrasing of the finale's principal rondo theme, and the generously lyrical phrasing of the grand second-movement Adagio. In music bursting with some of Mozart's catchiest tunes, there's never a moment that turns dull or static in this performance, and the sonics let the music breathe in a warm but ideally intimate setting. You really can't have too many versions of this piece, one of the glories of the chamber music literature. Let this be one of them.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Music from the original soundtrack 'Swan Lake,' presenting scores by Tchaikovsky. Performed by Oliver Award winning production nominee Matthew Bourne and The New London Orchestra under the direction of David Lloyd-Jones. An original BBC release is now available on the Teldec label.

Beethoven: Complete Works for Cello and Piano

Classical Music

Scored for as few as three marimbas or as many as a hundred percussion instruments plus celesta, harp and piano, these five striking works by contemporary American composers abound in fascinating rhythms, ingenious combinations and juxtapositions.

RECITAL

To get a sense of the ambition of the Romantic movement, one need only hear Franz Liszt's A Symphony to Dante's Divine Comedy, which represents one high point of exploration that had wide influence, and Alexander Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy, which is characteristic of the period's final efflorescence. These are the major works of this album by Yuri Ahronovitch and the Orchestra of the Alte Oper Frankfurt, with Richard Wagner's Rienzi Overture serving almost as a light interlude between them. While this operatic piece is certainly an important indication of the groundbreaking directions Wagner would take in his later music dramas, it is still a comparatively modest musical example, particularly when compared to the weighty works on either side of it, which leave a clearer impression of Romantic innovations. In terms of orchestration, form, and harmonic advances, the Dante Symphony and Poem of Ecstasy both seem to burn with originality and still have the capacity to surprise modern listeners, where Wagner's overture has sections that hearken back to early 19th century Italian opera and seems at time predictably bombastic. The live performances date from 1983, so the sound quality is not outstanding, and the sound of the orchestra is a little shallow in dimensions. All the same, this CD will be a keeper for Ahronovitch fans, and an interesting offering for beginners exploring Romantic music.

-- All Music Guide

Gioachino Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia performed by Chor de Grand Theatre of Geneve and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne directed by Jesus Lopez-Cobos.

Lively and touching Beethoven voiced for the piano and viola.

This CD is the first in one of Toccata’s many series – almost as many as Naxos. This one is Beethoven by Arrangement.
 
As far as we know Beethoven, himself a violist, completed no works for the viola as principal instrument. The absence of a local viola virtuoso or at least a viola commissioner might well have been the reason. Others stepped into the breach.
 
This disc documents their arrangements. Before doing so it documents the 27 second torso of a Viola Sonata he began but never completed. It’s typically assertive and lively. Paul Silverthorne who is the guiding mind and hand behind this project arranged the compact three-movement Horn Sonata. It was written originally for the celebrated horn-player Giovanni Punto. It works rather fluently with its pulsingly dynamic and tenderly noble outer movements framing a mournfully captivating little Poco Adagio. Karl Kleinheinz was a contemporary of Beethoven and turned his musical skills to bear on two works for string trio: the opp. 8 and 25 – the latter arranged for flute. The seven movement Serenade for String Trio op. 8 became the Notturno for viola and piano. It’s in the mood and manner of Mozart’s cassations and serenades with witty movements alternating with more pensive and serious ones. The Allegretto alla Polacca is especially attractive. Friedrich Hermann, a pupil of Mendelssohn at Leipzig, did the same service for the much arranged Septet op. 20 – here appositely dubbed the Grand Duo. It’s an even more extended work at forty minutes than the Notturno this time across six movements. The music is from the high watermark of Beethoven’s early period and rewards close attention as well as casual overhearing. After much profundity the finale’s Marcia and Presto end proceedings with gleaming-eyed cheer and urbane confidence. Intakes of breath can be distracting but I only really noticed them from Silverthorne in the Andante segment of the Grand Duo’s finale. Silverthorne’s playing on the Amati viola is impassioned and completely in-style. David Owen Norris is always not merely reliable but ready with apt and lucid playing; so it proves here.
 
The liner-notes are by Paul Silverthorne who is Principal Viola of the London Symphony Orchestra. I recall him as the violist who premiered the Thea Musgrave concerto in 1991. He was also the violist for the very late Rozsa Viola Concerto recorded by Koch International circa 1998. Toccata Press have Silverthorne’s Beethoven Edition comprising the Grand Duo and the op. 17 Sonata in preparation. Violists will be pleased and so should their audiences.
 
The recording was made on a Viennese Blümel piano (1865) and a Brothers Amati viola (1620).
 
Lively and touching Beethoven voiced for the piano and viola. Viola players and the world’s curious Beethovenians will need to have this.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

Classical Music

This is an audio-only (i.e., with no video content) Blu-ray disc playable only on Blu-ray players.

Using the new Polish National Chopin Edition, acclaimed pianist Eldar Nebolsin and Poland’s national orchestra conducted by the renowned Polish conductor Antoni Wit, here present fresh interpretations of Chopin’s great works for piano and orchestra. The Second Piano Concerto was written before the first and completed in 1830, the year in which the composer set out for Vienna and then Paris. Chopin’s Variations on Là ci darem la mano, bear witness to his admiration for Mozart, instilled by his earliest teacher, the Bohemian Wojciech ?ywny. The Grande Polonaise brillante in E flat, Op. 22, was written in Vienna, and later augmented with the introductory Andante spianato.

Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Volume 5 of Naxos’s acclaimed series of Debussy’s orchestral music presents a potpourri of works that were either left incomplete by the composer or were orchestrated by others who greatly admired his music. His rarely-heard children’s ballet The Toy Box, dedicated to Debussy’s daughter Emma-Claude but not premièred until after the composer’s death, recalls the innocent world of his popular Children’s Corner suite. Based on Pierre Louÿs’ Chansons de Bilitis, Debussy’s Six épigraphes antiques evoke poetic scenes from the ancient world, as does the sole surviving portion of The Triumph of Bacchus.

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THE KING'S SINGERS THE KING'S SINGERS JOY TO THE WORLD

REVIEWS:

"All Fidelio and Beethoven fans will need this."

As most opera lovers know, Beethoven toiled greatly over his sole opera which was premiered in 1805 and revised in 1806--and then finally again in 1814, in the version that is now famous and beloved. The recording under consideration here is of the first version; this is the third time it has been recorded commercially.

Listening to this version...is an ear-opener: much music was eventually used in the familiar 1814 version, but even within those many pages there are small alterations everywhere and they're great fun to spot.

The performance is excellent, indeed marginally better than [the recording by John Eliot] Gardiner. It's as tightly led in exciting passages but Bertrand de Billy also captures some rapturous stillness and warmth in "Mir ist so wunderbar" and elsewhere, while Gardiner seems a bit clinical. De Billy also has slightly better singers. Camilla Nyland's sound is grander than Hillevi Martinpelto, and her reading of the text is deeper; Kim Begley and Kurt Streit are vocally both fine, but Streit's sweetness and goodness make a better case for Florestan. Peter Rose's understated Rocco is never mugged, and while I prefer a heavier voice than Gerd Gochowski's as Pizarro, his ease with the vocal line is a pleasure to hear. Dietmar Kerschbaum's Jaquino never cloys and Brigitte Geller's Marzelline is beautifully sung. De Billy gets thrilling playing from the Vienna Radio Symphony--the scoring in this version of the opera is very horn-heavy and generally heftier than the 1814--and I have a preference for ORF's non-period instruments here. The Arnold Schoenberg Choir sings with accuracy and feeling. All Fidelio and Beethoven fans will need this.

-- ClassicsToday.com

Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Respighi, Stravinsky, Mussorgs

ITALY • AUSTRIA

The Places

The tour starts at the great Augustinian foundation, Kloster Neustift (Novacella), at Brixen (Bressanone) in Southern Tyrol, with its rococo church interior and collection of late medieval paintings. This is followed by a visit to Innsbruck, the capital of the Tyrol, with its famous Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof) and rococo Wilten Basilica and Collegiate Church.

The Music

The music chosen for this tour of Brixen and Innsbruck is by Mozart and includes two symphonies, with other works. Symphony No. 40 is the second of the group of three final symphonies, written in Vienna in 1787, and Symphony No. 28 was written in Salzburg in 1773 or 1774. Other works included are overtures to the early opera Il rè pastore, to The Abduction from the Seraglio, Mozart’s first operatic success in Vienna, and the overture to La clemenza di Tito, written in 1791, a few months before his death.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 58 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

R E V I E W:

 
I guess these Musical Journeys serve several purposes. A far as Naxos is concerned they recycle sound recordings for those who prefer a visual image to make a change from the wallpaper. The images are often quite stunning, whilst the music, never less than appealing, can be appropriate to the image or otherwise; a fact I touch on in this review. Other functions can be to remind the inveterate tourist of places visited, or of places to go as part of a future itinerary.
 
A word first about the Tyrol. In the days of Mozart, whose music is the backing to these scenes, it was part of the Hapsburg Empire of which the composer was a citizen. Italy was not even a nation, rather a collection of states, some with rulers with a connection with the Hapsburgs whilst others were influenced by, or later under, French control. In that generic sense Italy was a country Mozart visited in his childhood as his father hawked his genius round Europe. I detail this in my survey of The Complete Operas of Mozart. It can be considered, therefore, wholly appropriate that his music is the backing to this collection of views of the Tyrol the southern part of which became ceded to Italy in the treaties of 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War, Italy having joined in on the allies side, albeit a little late in the day.
 
Brixen lies in that ceded part of the Tyrol and contains the magnificent Neustift Monastery - the focus of the first part of this collection (Chs. 1-4). The external beauty includes the ornamental ceilings of the Cloisters, the Romanesque Bell Tower dating from the twelfth century whilst other parts are Gothic (Ch.1). The Molto allegro movement of Mozart’s 40 ^th symphony, one of a group of three composed in Vienna as he sought work, is an appropriate accompaniment. However, it is the magnificent interior of the Neustift Monastery that is the highlight of this Musical Journey where an equally appropriate accompaniment is the Molto allegro of the same symphony. The camera wanders around the magnificently painted and ornamented ceilings. These scenes are quite fantastic and overwhelmingly lovely. If one has never visited them I suspect this will stimulate thoughts of rectifying that state of affairs. Meanwhile the camera and Mozart’s music allow the observer to luxuriate in such beauty (Ch.2). The camera moves on (Ch.3 ) to show a different perspective with late medieval paintings of the life and death of St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Barbara. These include a vivid representation of the Passion of Christ. Thus vivid scenes contrast with the interior as does the Minuetto of the symphony. The final part of the visit takes in the library and its Rococo ornamentation. The fastish Allegro is less appropriate as the camera has to eke out time for the music to finish with some repetitive scenes as the camera runs somewhat out of content.
 
The second part of this Musical Journey focuses on the Austrian town of Innsbruck, capital of the Tyrol. The views of the town and its hilly setting is impressive with the river Inn running through it. It was the Hapsburg seat and was rebuilt by the formidable Empress Maria Theresa in the eighteenth century. She had a less than benign view of Mozart; even so the allegro spiritoso of Wolfgang’s earlier 28 ^th symphony provides an apt background (Ch.5). In the town of Innsbruck the photographs of Helbling House, dated 1560, which is dominated by elaborate and extensive Rococo ornaments added around 1730 were rather too fancy for my taste (Ch.6). The visit to the rooftops of Innsbruck with the copper roof of the church, turned green, is less than interesting whilst the façade of the Golden Dachl originally built by Duke Friedrich in about 1420 as his own residence is more impressive (Ch.7).
 
The remaining views of Innsbruck are less than captivating and stretch time with a visit to the Innsbruck Alpine Zoo (Ch.9) with the music now finding vitality in Mozart’s overture to his early opera seria Il re pastore composed for a visit to Salzburg by the Archduke Maximilian, youngest son of the Empress Maria Theresa. The story of love and duty, with overtones of avuncular behaviour by royalty being considered entirely appropriate for the occasion albeit the family never did Mozart any favours. However the music finds an appropriate venue among some captivating water animals.
 
The concluding visits are to Wilten Collegiate Church (Ch.10) and Wilten Basilica (Ch.11); both stretched by the timings of the overtures to the singspiel The Abduction from the Seraglio and Mozart’s final opera La Clemenza di Tito respectively. By this time I was tiring of churches and their exterior decorations and would have much preferred a closer look at the impressive mountains that surround Innsbruck.
 
The included leaflet is adequately informative whilst Mozart’s music and the playing of the Capella Istropolitana under Barry Wordsworth was a consistent delight.
 
-- Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International
 

Classical Music

"Grigolo made a triumphant Covent Garden debut...He balances Italianate ardour with style and intelligence...and his good looks and energetic acting make him an appealing stage figure." - The Daily Telegraph

"He's got everything the role demands - a voice that flows, terrific looks, an instinctive sense of theatre. He's entirely credible as a 20 year old uncontrollably in love and everything he does seems natural, from his impetuous first appearance in the Aimens courtyard, to his chilling shriek of despair at Manon's death." - The Guardian

"In his Covent Garden debut, rising star Vittorio Grigolo wins the audience's hearts with his good looks, ardent singing and an eager demeanour that takes on the full tragic dimension of Chevalier des Grieux's predicament." - The Stage

"More than matching Netrebko for passion and control was the Des Grieux of the young Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo, making his debut at Covent Garden. The thunderous ovation he received at curtain call suggested that the audience sensed the birth of a star." - The Evening Standard

"Vittorio Grigolo's dashing and thrillingly sung Chevalier des Grieux, his seductive middle voice covered to beautiful effect in the many subito shadings in mezza voce." - The Independent

"The voice was ablaze, mobile in dynamics like Des Grieux's heart, able to soar and sob alike without the slightest strain. The house loved him." - The Times

The Composers Conduct

Aged only 17, Schubert conducted his first complete Mass setting, in F major, D. 105, in September 1814, gaining the approval of his former teacher Antonio Salieri.

Classical Music