Classical Music

On the occasion of it's 40th anniversary Carus has initiated a new series Carus Classics, featuring ten outstanding CD productions from the past library of recordings. This exclusive collection, designed by Friedrich Forssman and Cornelia Feyll, is presented in high-quality DigiPacs and each CD includes an extensive booklet. '... exemplary recording.' (New Classics, September 2005)

HAYDN The Creation • Martin Pearlman, cond; Amanda Forsythe (sop); Keith Jameson (ten); Kevin Deas (bs-bar); Boston Baroque • LINN CKD 401 (2 SACDs: 96:09 Text and Translation)

I was disappointed in Boston Baroque’s recording of Cherubini’s C-Minor Requiem (Fanfare 30:5), but this Creation has, from its orchestral introduction, an essential rightness—of mood, sonority, drama, and tempo. As with Dinu Lipatti’s Schumann Concerto (the first time I experienced such a feeling), this is the way it should go. Martin Pearlman realizes the work’s character of being very serious yet radiantly joyful. His period orchestra (strings 6/5/4/4/2) has a full measure of both power and tenderness, without having to strain for either. The chorus (7/6/6/6) is magnificent; the opening of “Stimmt an die Saiten” (disc 1, track 11) is so electric that one wants to stand up and cheer. Pearlman’s vocal soloists are each superb, in voice and in delivery; their clean, never ostentatious ornamentations fit this particular work (the florid style of René Jacobs’s soloists is better suited to the more Baroque The Seasons), and they match beautifully in ensemble. The fortepiano continuo is always just right. Above all, the lofty spirit of the whole is thrilling.

The icing on the cake is Linn’s recorded sound, from Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, during October 2011. It is so realistic, so natural, that one might be sitting beside Beethoven at the premiere. Balances are ideal; the chorus is clearly spread from sopranos on the left to basses on the right, and every contrapuntal line comes through. This is Boston Baroque’s first recording for Linn, and it helps explain the vast improvement over its Cherubini. No doubt it is aided by listening on a system of all-Linn electronics (with KEF 104/2 speakers and/or Sennheiser HD 600 head phones). I blamed the Worcester Hall’s acoustics for the Cherubini’s problematic sound; either I was mistaken or Linn’s team, led by Thomas C. Moore of Five/Four Productions, Ltd., has worked miracles. SACD smoothes the sound, lessening the orchestra’s impact, but clarifies the choral lines even more; one has the sensation of almost hearing each individual voice, which is just as it should be. Surround sound restores any lost impact and throws the listener into the performance, a wondrous if slightly unreal effect.

Must there be something wrong? Okay, the side-by-side German/English libretto is in small white print on black pages, making one squint.

I haven’t been counting, but I’ll bet there have been 100 recordings of The Creation. This one stands comfortably at the pinnacle; among its close competitors, Thomas Hengelbrock on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi is sweeter but less dramatic, Neville Marriner’s incomparable EMI soloists steal the show in a modern-instrument performance. In more than six decades of listening, I have found that almost every new recording of any masterpiece brings more doubts, because every performance has characteristics that others lack. About once a decade have I found the recording, one that has everything: Willem Mengelberg’s (Telefunken) Franck D Minor, Otto Klemperer’s 1954 mono “Eroica,” David Willcocks’s “Lord Nelson” Mass, Klaus Tennstedt’s (pirate) live BSO Schubert Ninth, George Szell’s Schumann Second, Riccardo Chailly’s Gurrelieder, James Levine’s Prokofiev Fifth. Martin Pearlman’s Creation joins that list.

FANFARE: James H. North

Compared with large-scale oratorios such as St Paul, which includes the lyrical chorus How lovely are the messengers, Mendelssohn’s smaller sacred choral works were influenced by Palestrina, ranging from short liturgical motets such as the Sechs Sprüche to the canticle settings of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis. The famous sacred melody ‘O for the wings of a dove’ is to be found in Hear my prayer. The fine choristers of St Albans Cathedral can also be heard ‘on sparkling form’ (Gramophone) in John Rutter’s Gloria (8.572653).

Altissimo is proud to honor all veterans with this special compilation performed by the U.S. Military bands and choruses. The pieces featured on the album were selected for the message behind the music. Included are: Eric Ewazen's "A Hymn for the Lost and Living," which he composed as his musical response following September 11th; "That Others May Live" written by SSgt Jeremy Martin and dedicated to all of the medical workers in all branches of the U.S. Military; Gene Sheer's "American Anthem" composed to serve as a reminder of the selfless sacrifices of the men and women who fight for our nation; Robert Jager’s “Epilogue: Lest We Forget,” commissioned by Colonel Jack Grogran for the 50th Anniversary of WWII; "Gardens of Stone" by James A. Beckel, Jr. written for all fallen heroes buried at Arlington Cemetery; and "The Last Full Measure of Devotion" by Larry Grossman and Buz Kohan composed for the 1991 CBS Special "CBS All-Star Salute to Our Troops," among many other great pieces.

Founded in 1998 with members from the world-famous Gachinger Kantorei, Stuttgart's celebrated men's choir "Die Meistersinger" have devoted themselves to rescuing the rich repository of 19th century works for male voices from obscurity. The "Mannerchor" has a distinguished history throughout the Germanic lands, often serving the community with multiple functions such as a social club, political forum or an ad hoc auxiliary to professional guilds. In keeping with the spirit of the season, "Die Meistersinger" return to offer their perfect blend of voices and rich, goldenhued sound in a program of Christmas favorites.

Classical Music

Heavenly voices raise in honor of the Christmas season. Inspirational choral music for Christmas comes from one of England's finest choirs in a program of the greatest church music of the past. This diverse program melds the clarity and precision of medieval carols and the emotional intensity of Russian Orthodox music to elucidate the season for "we who wait."

Drawing on the romantic spirit in music, Schubert’s moving setting is of a poem by Goethe which compares a rushing waterfall to the soul of man, while Strauss’s gorgeous Mittagsruhe depicts the peace of a summer noontide. Narrative vocal traditions are heard in Sibelius’s nationalist Vapautettu kuningatar, Bruckner’s heroic Helgoland, and Grieg’s Landkjenning, which tells of the 10th-century Norwegian king Oleg Tryggvason. Das Liebesmahl der Apostel anticipates the religious ecstasies of Wagner’s Parsifal, while Debussy’s early cantata Invocation resonates with Gallic sparkle.

Track Listing: 1) Pater Noster; 2) Ave Maria; 3) Tota Pulchra es Maria; 4) Verbum caro factum est; 5) Adeste Fideles / O Come, All Ye Faithful; 6) Once in Royal David's City; 7) Quem pastores laudavere; 8) O magnum mysterium; 9) O Little Town of Bethlehem; 10) There is no Rose of such vertu; 11) Once as I Remember; 12) Es ist ein Ros; 13) Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day; 14) The Lamb; 15) Jesus Christ the Apple Tree; 16) There Will Be Rest; 17) A Merry Christmas

On the 52nd disc in his monumental undertaking of recording all the sacred cantatas by J.S. Bach, Masaaki Suzuki includes one of the best-loved cantatas of all, Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140. With the famous chorale as the unifying element, Bach creates a majestic first movement which is followed by a couple of the most beautiful love duets in the history of music, between the Soul and Jesus, here interpreted by the soprano Hana Blažíková and Peter Kooij, bass. Following BWV 140 on the disc is Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt (‘the Lord is my faithful shepherd’), in which an adaptation from 1531 of the famous Psalm 23 provides the text for all five movements. It is thus a late addition, composed in 1731, to the so-called chorale cantatas that Bach composed a number of in 1724-25. The final cantata in this volume was composed for a church service celebrating the inauguration of a new city council, a ‘Ratswahl cantata’. For this unusually festive occasion Bach clearly wished to demonstrate to the Leipzig notables how sacred music was flourishing under his direction and to present himself as a composer. As a result, the opening sinfonia is a brilliant organ concerto movement, while the first chorus is a reworking of material which Bach would return to in the Dona nobis pacem of his Mass in B minor. The ending of the cantata is suitably splendid and festive, with trumpets and timpani joining in the praise ‘unto God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost’ expressed in the closing chorale. As this recording project is nearing completion – three more volumes remain to be released – reviewers worldwide are commending it for its consistently high standards, with the German web site Klassik Heute remarking that Suzuki ‘not even towards the end of his marathon is showing any lack of freshness or breath – one can only wait impatiently for the final discs of this series’.

Cantus angelicus

Where late the sweet birds sang is a gorgeous contrapuntal choral collection of works by three of the leading Elizabethan composers featuring some of the repertoire's best singers. Directed by Philip Cave Magnificat specializes in the restoration and performance of neglected choral masterpieces of the 16th and 17th centuries.

One of Boston's premier choirs, The Copley Singers draw from British and American traditions with both unusual and familiar arrangements of holiday favorites.

I Wander as I Wander' was recorded at Harvard Memorial Church with the Copley Singers, a professional choir under the direction of Brian Jones (who for many years was the Music Director at Trinity Church, Copley Square in Boston). It includes a number of first recordings and unusual arrangements which utilizes the newly installed but vintage 1932 Aeoline-Skinner organ. The version of 'We Three Kings' alone is worth listening to this biannual recording from Gothic.

Characteristics of Frisina’s work can be found in the lush harmonisation of the choral movement ‘Psalm 45’, which is undoubtedly a highlight of the recording, and acclaimed Italian soprano Barbara Vignudelli sings the protagonist role, with David Scogna narrating. Organist Lorenzo Macrì, Coro Musicanova and the Nova Amadeus Chamber Orchestra are conducted by Flavio Emilio Scogna. New recording (17 March 2012 Cripta delle Ancelle della Carità, Rome) by Italian soloists, choir and chamber orchestra, conducted by Flavio Emilio Scogna. Italian composer Marco Frisina (b.1954) sets this tale in a moving and appealing musical language, in the great Italian choral tradition, reaching back as far as Palestrina.

The three cantatas on this recording come from the first half of the 1730s, by which time J.S. Bach was no longer writing a new cantata every week. In these later works, Bach’s affinity for instrumental colour is coming more clearly to the fore, as are elements of the new ‘empfindsamer Stil’ with its tendency towards expressive melodies rich in syncopations and suspensions, and towards homophonic writing. The three cantatas are also linked in that they are all chorale cantatas, harking back to Bach’s second year in Leipzig (1724–25), when the cantatas that he wrote were each based in their entirety on a well-known hymn. The opening cantata, In allen meinen Taten BWV 97, is a setting of nine strophes from a poem by Paul Fleming, one of the great German baroque poets, and begins with a splendid French overture, in which the orchestra intones a solemn, slow introduction with the typical dotted rhythms, followed by a lively fugal section during which the choir makes its entry. This is followed by BWV 177, Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, which at its centre has the aria Verleih, dass ich aus Herzensgrund… a heartfelt prayer from the soprano and oboe da caccia for the capacity to forgive one’s enemies. The hymn Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, on which the closing BWV 9 is based, remains an important hymn in the German Evangelical Church. The text – and Bach’s setting of it – eloquently conveys the message that it is through faith rather than deeds that mankind may achieve salvation.

It is only in the last few years, largely as a result of the pioneering performances of the Simon Mayr Chorus and Ensemble conducted by Franz Hauk, that Mayr has come to be valued as one of the most significant composers of operatic and sacred music of his time. Il sagrifizio di Jefte (The Sacrifice of Jephtha), first performed in 1795, is a dramatic oratorio with a wealth of variety in both the vocal and instrumental writing, which foreshadows the operas to come.

Without doubt, Monteverdi was the greatest of the early baroque European composers. He revolutionised the music of the theatre and the church by his dramatic and imaginative use of voices and instruments and by his daring harmonies and rhythms. Next to his Vespers of 1610, the Selva morale e spirituale of 1641 is his most significant and virtuosic collection of sacred music. Monteverdi stretches every singer's versatility to the limit in this demanding but exhilarating music. Included on this final volume are the eight part Magnificat (Primo) - one of the most impressive of all Monteverdi's settings with the added richness of doubling strings; the old style Credidi and Memento featuring the full choir; and the exquisitely beautiful soprano solo, Pianto della Madonna 'Iam moriar, mi fili', performed here by Grace Davidson.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered one of the most influential composers of all time. The child prodigy would become the author of some of today's best loved instrumental works, and a true king of sung drama. La Betulia liberata KV118/74c, the only oratorio he ever produced, was written by a relatively young Wolfgang whose potential is immediately obvious, even in his mid-teens.

La Betulia liberata, rarely performed or recorded, was commissioned by Don Giuseppe Ximenes, Prince of Aragon, in 1771 while Mozart was undertaking a tour of Italy with his father, Leopold. The text, by Pietro Metastasio, is based on the story of the Book of Judith, which appears in the Apocrypha of the Bible, and the oratorio is written in a seria style. The work also showcases the beginnings of a composer who would become famous for his employment of dramatic contrast and characterisation, as well as providing a psychological insight to his characters through the music. Two highlights are undoubtedly Nos. 11 and 14; in the former, the noblewoman Amital compares the plight of Bethulia to the desperation of a ship in a storm, portrayed in the music, and in the latter, Amital's changing mood is perfectly depicted as arrogance turns to docility -- a forerunner to Mozart's more challengingly unstable female protagonists, Donna Elvira and Vitellia.

The recording boasts a wealth of critically acclaimed vocalists. They are accompanied by the Coro e Orchestra dell'Oficina Musicum, directed from the harpsichord by Riccardo Favero.

Other information:
- Recorded September 2006, Chiesa della Scalabrini, Bassano del Grappa, Italy.
- The only "modern" recording available as a single issue!
- Mozart wrote this oratorio, his only one, in his mid-teens, and his genius was immediately evident in the dramatic choruses, moving arias and instrumental brilliance of this early masterwork.
- Excellent line up of soloists and Italian orchestral forces and conductor.
- Extensive liner notes and synopsis in the booklet.

GRAMMY Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty explores three icons of 'The Greatest Generation', a turbulent period of adversity and achievement in the United States of America spanning the Great Depression of the 1930s through the Second World War. Mount Rushmore is a dramatic oratorio inspired by the monumental sculpture of four American presidents carved into the Black Hills of South Dakota. Radio City is a symphonic fantasy on the legendary Arturo Toscanini, who conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra in live radio broadcasts heard by millions across America. The Gospel According to Sister Aimee is an organ concerto inspired by the rise, fall and redemption of religious celebrity Aimee Semple McPherson. Under the masterful baton of Music Director Carl St. Clair, the renowned Pacific Symphony is joined by Pacific Chorale, one of America's greatest choirs, and GRAMMY Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs.

This recording, an exploration of sacred and secular music in the New World during the first years of the Baroque period, was made at the conclusion of a successful concert tour that formed part of the Festival de Wallonie 2012. Hanacpachap, recorded here, was the first sacred work in a native language to be published in Latin America.

Tying in with the centenary of Britten’s birth this year, this three-disc compilation set brings together a large selection of early and late unaccompanied choral works, performed by the Finzi Singers and Paul Spicer. This disc includes A Boy was Born, Rejoice in the Lamb, and Choral Dances from Gloriana.

BLACHER Der Großinquisitor • Herbert Kegel, cond; Siegmund Nimsgern (bar); Leipzig R Ch; Dresden PO • BRILLIANT 9437 (59:32 & German only)


This reissue of an Edel recording from 1986 presents Boris Blacher’s wartime (1942) setting of a scene from Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. In this oratorio, Jesus returns to earth in 16th-century Seville. Blacher, banned from Germany because he was Jewish, borrowed the plot from Dostoyevsky, yet wrote his own text in which “some hundred heretics were burnt ad majorem gloriam Dei by the Cardinal Grand Inquisitor.” According to the notes, Leo Borchard, who directed the Berlin Philharmonic at war’s end, assisted Blacher in his work by writing a text for the second part. He suggested the inclusion of “the three temptations by the Devil from Matthew 4:1-11 into the Grand Inquisitor’s monologue, which is directed at Jesus.”


Despite the painfulness of the experience that spawned Der Großinquisitor and its seriousness of plot, the music is often quiet, internalizing the composer’s pain and angst in music that is modern in harmony but conventional in rhythm, and also contains singable melodies. Yes, there are dramatic outbursts, but the score is not consistently loud and angry. Jörn Paulini’s notes claim that the score contains “apparently aimless melody,” but I found the melodic strands fairly easy to follow. Compared to some of Stravinsky’s works, they are models of clarity. I’m glad that the brief notes gave some idea of what was in the text, however, because the libretto included in the booklet is only in German, which was of little help to me or any other listener who does not know the language. One thing I noticed was how, in the second half of the cantata, Blacher used variations and inversions of themes from the first half—a very clever and creative way of tying the music together.


The sound quality of the recording tends to be diffuse and swathed in reverb, which takes the edge off some of the loud outbursts and makes the orchestra sound muffled in the quiet passages. I’m not sure if this was Blacher’s intent, but speaking strictly from a personal bias, I don’t like this kind of sound. Despite this, the performance quality is excellent. Kegel keeps things moving without unduly pressuring the music, although a little more pressure now and then might have been welcome. The Leipzig Radio Chorus is, in a word, superb, both in blend and (thankfully!) diction. Baritone Nimsgern, who appears only in the second half of the work, sings very well with his dark-timbred voice in his role as the Grand Inquisitor.


As with so many works written during this awful, angst-ridden period, one must ask the question if the work of art, good as it is, has meaning for listeners beyond its time and place. The suffering of not only individuals but also large masses of people is not only difficult to put into musical terms, but also difficult to make apply to mankind in general at a different period of time. I think, however, that different listeners in different cultures can imagine particular religious or political situations that a work like Der Großinquisitor could apply to in our present day. I found this to be an excellent work, one whose emotional impact was somewhat diffused for me by the clouded sonics, yet which I can imagine it making a tremendous impact in a live performance.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

This re-release features Gerald Finzi's Requiem da camera, Britten's Deus in adjutorium meum, Chorale on an Old French Carol and Cantata misericordium, and Holst's Psalm 86 and Psalm 148. All are performed by Richard Hickox and the City of London Sinfonia with the Britten Singers and various soloists. Available at a special price on the Classic Chandos label.

This disc forms part of our ongoing Richard Hickox legacy series. Featured on this two-disc set are Elgar's the Dream of Gerontius, and two works by Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens and I was glad.