Twenty five years after their last recording of piano duets on Chandos, the Canadien pianists Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier return in a watershed collection of magnificently played duets by Rachmaninoff including the two suites and an arrangement for his Symphonic Dances. The Lortie/Mercier piano duo have known one another since their early teens, and have a considerable collaborative discography that showcases their affinity for the art of 4 hands and 2 pianos performances and repertoire.

Conceived originally as the score for a performance comprising music, text and archive images of legendary cyclists and commissioned in part by the 2013 UCI Road World Championships, the Naples born Cristian Carrara's (b. 1977-)'Suite per Bicicletta e Orchestra' perfectly captures in spirit and title the multiple textures that characterize this collection. Thematically broad, Carrara's melodic, whimsical, and above all gorgeous compositions are of a kind of 'atmospheric' classical strain reminiscent of popular pianist Ludovic Einaudi's works. With the Orchestre Lyrique et Symphonique de Nancy led by Flavio Emilio Scogna.

Grammy Award-nominated cellist Antonio Meneses’ dazzling virtuosity in on display in the Suite for Solo Cello by Gaspar Cassadó, and two works by Zoltán Kodály - the Duo for Violin and Cello with violinist Claudio Cruz, and the Sonata for Solo Cello that was written in 1915. It is released in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the work.

Following the success of Capriccioso, a solo spectacular of works written by cellists for cellists, Antonio Meneses' brilliance is demonstrated again, with the rarely recorded Suite for Solo Cello by the Spanish cellist-composer Gaspar Cassadó. Alongside two early works by his Hungarian contemporary Zoltán Kodály - the Duo for Violin and Cello, with violinist Claudio Cruz, who was the conductor on Antonio's Grammy-nominated recording of the Concertos by Elgar and Gál; and the Sonata for Solo Cello, which was written in 1915 and is released in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the work.

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REVIEWS:

In Cassado's dark, sensuous Suite, inspired by Kodaly but infused with Spanish undertones, he exudes a mesmerising, Zen-like calm: tenderly shaped curlicues, ornate arabesques, and complex harmonic accompanying figurations never disturb his long, arching lines or the sense of easy, improvisational charm. You can almost forget you're listening to a virtuoso display; in his refreshingly self-effacing, idiomatic approach musical substance is always to the fore.

– BBC Music Magazine

Meneses gives a performance that has been crafted down to the tiniest detail, the swirling finale in particular confident and polished, with every technical trick in the cellist's book pulled off with panache.

– Gramophone

REVIEW:

This compilation offers a selection of the best recordings of French baroque repertoire drawn from Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra's own catalogue. The album includes the 2005 JUNO Award-winning, Grammy Award-nominated recording of an orchestral suite from Rameau's epic five-act tragedie en musique Dardanus, originally released on CBC Records. The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and guest soloists are featured in a 2006 CBC recording of the Grand Motet Dominus regnavit by Mondonville. Two works are drawn from Tafelmusik's genre-defying, globe-trotting, multi-media concert programs: a suite from Lully's Phaeton from the 2009 recording of The Galileo Project, and a suite from Marais' Alcyone from the 2012 recording of House of Dreams. Ms. Lamon and Tafelmusik have earned high marks ... the music's greatness might not be so obvious but for Tafelmusik's fine period style... It will have listeners wondering why this music is not as well-known as works by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi.

— The New York Times

On the Belceas’ disc, the [Berg] Lyric Suite fidgets at the centre of a Second Viennese School primer. The [Webern] Langsamer Satz is slow only according to the clock, nervous and more dissonant than usual, in expressive terms – there are no wrong notes – with an acute sense of timing as, at the movement’s halfway stage (4'40"), Webern looks back on himself and this voluptuous dream of C major with mingled nostalgia and regret. In the Five Movements, Op 5, the Belceas’ muted, breathless approach is no less effective than the extrovert technical accomplishment and timbral extremes of the LaSalle Quartet, and in the slow second and fourth movements, when they contrive to play on the very edge of audibility, more to the point. Their [Schoenberg] Verklärte Nacht bucks the trend of recent slow and solemn performances – the Achilles heel of the orchestration being that it draws the piece closer to Metamorphosen than Erwartung – and is fitted closely to Dehmel’s lascivious storyline. - Gramophone

No, it’s not the title of new horror flick. Swanwhite and The Lizard remain two of Sibelius least known incidental scores, here played in their complete original versions. As is often the case with these works, the suite that Sibelius made from his Swanwhite music is far more satisfying then the original score. The augmented orchestration for the suite, especially the important part for harp, adds tremendously to the music’s appeal, especially in a piece where that instrument gets mentioned all over the place but had to be left out of the theatrical version for reasons of economy (the original used only thirteen instruments, but the strings are intelligently padded even here). Still, there are plenty of extended bits as initially conceived and the music itself is really, really lovely.

Sibelius never made a suite out of The Lizard, and for good reason. It would have been nearly impossible. The score consists of two movements: a three-minute Adagio followed by a twenty-two minute Grave, both scored for strings. There’s very little actual music here: it’s all atmosphere and repetition of brief melodic patterns. It is, in short, background music, probably perfect for its intended use, and pretty good at home too if you need something moody that never forces you to pay attention. And as always with Sibelius’ string writing, Segerstam’s performance is gorgeous. It’s not often recalled that Segerstam was himself a violinist of considerable ability in his youth, and he pays a great deal of attention to the orchestral string sections in all of his recordings, to excellent effect.

A Lonely Ski Trail and The Countess’ Portrait are both poetic recitations for narrator and strings. I truly loathe spoken text over music, but Riho Eklundh has a very pleasant, mellow voice, and I find Swedish fun to listen to because it sounds like it ought to be in English but, obviously, it isn’t and you’re left wondering why what you are hearing makes no sense. For example, the opening line of A Lonely Ski Trail, “Ett ensamt skidspar” (with a little circle thing over the “a” in “skidspar”), sounds just like someone saying in English “And in some cheap sport.” It’s fun. So is this beautifully played and recorded ongoing series more generally.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Leif Segerstam directs all this material with unhurried authority, abundant perception and heaps of character. Likewise, his willing Turku colleagues are with him every step of the way. Admirable production values and useful notes, too. A job well done.

- Gramophone Magazine

‘It is with certainty one of the most virtuoso pieces of all’, Stefan Vladar says about Maurice Ravel’s piano suite Gaspard de la nuit, constituting, so to speak, the main work on this Capriccio release. The pianist has worked the suite’s three movements diligently for more than two decades and also consistently studied Ravel’s other piano compositions, works that reflect completely different aspects of pianistic technical virtuosity and compositional aims. The journal Fono Forum has spoken of this Austrian pianist and conductor as “one of the most remarkable pianists of our age.”

Philip Glass’ Fifth String Quartet is the most substantial of his five quartets and the most traditional, using formal structures and expressive contrasts that go far beyond minimalism. While maintaining Glass’ unmistakable personal style, this is a quartet that delivers both driving energy and an unforgettable, threnody-like tenderness. Glass chose a string quartet for his score to the film Dracula to ‘evoke the feeling of the world of the 19th c.’, the music underpinning the film’s visual drama while avoiding obvious ‘horror’ effects. The String Sextet is an arrangement of Glass’s Third Symphony, combining symphonic scale with the intimacy synonymous with the chamber music genre.

REVIEWS:

The Carducci’s performance is imbued with a grainy, almost greyscale patina. In ‘Excellent Mr Renfield’ and ‘Women in White’, moments of eerie anticipation are punctuated by dramatic outbursts. The quartet is joined by Cian O’Dúill (viola) and Gemma Rosefield (cello) for the string sextet arrangement of Glass’s Symphony No 3. Written originally for a 19-piece string orchestra, the Third lends itself well to a chamber setting. There are a few moments when the lines split to one-to-part, but what is lost in weight and depth is more than made up in clarity, focus and forward momentum.

-- Gramophone

…here, at last, is what I’ve awaited. [Carduccis’] performance of the sextet is, hands down, much better than the one with the Glass Chamber Players on Orange Mountain; in fact, I can’t imagine one that could be better. As I think this is one of Glass’s best later compositions, this release warrants immediate purchase. To this there are also just as luminous performances of the Fifth Quartet and a suite from the Dracula score—the latter, again, infinitely more vibrant and passionate than [previous recordings].

-- American Record Guide

The All-Star Orchestra gives you a front row seat to the world’s greatest music, performed by top players chosen from over 30 great American orchestras, and conducted by Gerard Schwarz. The programs feature complete performances of popular masterpieces and world premieres of new works by leading American composers. Filmed in High-Definition with multiple cameras in and around the orchestra, the All-Star Orchestra celebrates the symphonic experience in the 21st c. Gershwin’s immortal Rhapsody in Blue is featured in the rarely heard original jazz-band version from the 1924 New York premiere. This iconic work is complemented by Aaron Copland’s 1925 jazz-age classic “Music for the Theatre.” Robert Beaser’s “Ground O” offers a contemporary musical perspective of New York after the attacks of 9/11. (Program 9: Visions of New York) This exotic orchestral showpiece is based on fantastical tales that - according to tradition - were told by the ingenious wife of a cruel Sultan so as to prolong her life for 1001 nights. Concertmaster David Kim conveys the voice of the wily heroine Scheherazade in virtuosic violin solos. (Program 10: 1001 Arabian Nights – The Legend of Scheherazade)

THE ALL-STAR ORCHESTRA
Programs 9 & 10

Program 9: Visions of New York

George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Aaron Copland: Music for the Theatre Suite
Robert Beaser: Ground “O”

Program 10: 1001 Arabian Nights – The Legend of Scheherazade

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

Lola Astanova, piano
David Kim, violin
The All-Star Orchestra
Gerard Schwarz, conductor

Recorded live from the Great Hall, Purchase College Performing Arts Center, New York, 26–27 August 2014

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Language: English
Running time: 114 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Sibelius never made a suite out of his incidental music to Hofmannsthal’s Jedermann (Everyman), and for good reason. There’s nothing here that works independently of the play. The individual tracks range in timing from eleven seconds to thirteen minutes. There are four tiny initial movements, a series of songs requiring three soloists (soprano, tenor, and bass), a brief Allegro molto, and then a whopping sequence nearly half an hour long.

Much of the music is athematic, and aside from being exceptionally slow it’s also exceptionally repetitious. You could make the case that Sibelius is anticipating much contemporary music–Arvo Pärt at his droopiest has nothing on this – but what would be the point? And it has to be said that Segerstam and his Turku players make a meal of it. The performance is gorgeous, unflinchingly dark and anguished, and if you’re going to do it at all you might as well revel to the max in the music’s wrist-slitting despondency.

The couplings are particularly well chosen. The Two Serious Melodies, Op. 77, for violin and orchestra, are lovely, virtually unknown, and positively riotous after Jedermann. In memoriam is a funeral march inspired by the more lugubrious music of Liszt, and it too sounds almost uplifting here despite Segerstam’s measured tempo. It was smart of Naxos and Segerstam to find all of Sibelius’ most miserable music and stick it on one convenient CD, with wonderfully apt cover art so that you know exactly what you’re in for. If you feel depressed, your life is a mess, and you’re sunk in an abyss of despair, by all means try this disc. It will convince you that you have a long way to go before you hit bottom.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Segerstam's often daringly spacious conception absorbingly complements Vanska's splendid Lahti accont - diehard Sibelians will, I fancy, want to have both - while Turku PO member Mikaela Palmu responds with big-hearted dedication in the lovely Two Serious Melodies for violin and orchestra.

- Gramophone

Vol. 11 of Jordi Masó’s complete Joaquín Turina piano edition features music inspired by the immediate surroundings and/or various aspects of his everyday life, a Turina specialty. Verbena madrileña is a brightly colored portrait of a Madrid feast-day. En la zapatería describes the shoemaker’s tasks in vignettes ranging from Wagnerian drama to balletic pirouettes. The Linterna mágica is cinema-inspired; the Radio Madrid suite offers up ‘broadcasts’ from different places in Spain. Each miniature is a brief flash of inspiration from deep within Turina’s fertile, creative spirit.

Andrew Sparrow's Chiaroscuro Suite ranges from John Barry’s inspired rich orchestration and melodic style to classical piano, oboe and harp sonatas. Recorded in Prague in the Czech Republic at SONOS Studios in 2013. Produced and engineered by Pavel Karlik. Stephen Powell Music Services worked with Mr. Powell throughout 2013 on the orchestration of the work and preparation of the full score and parts prior to the recording. Marek Valáŝek (b. 1969), conductor of the Czech Film Orchestra is a Prague Conservatory teacher and principal organist of the Capuchin order in Hradčany, Prague.

This releases continues Segerstam’s so far excellent survey of Sibelius’ complete incidental music coupled to other rare works. Belshazzar’s Feast works better in its complete form than many other such pieces: it has eleven short movements, including “Song of the Jewish Girl” setting the familiar lament “By the waters of Babylon.” A couple of the dances return at the end giving the work a semblance of form, and there are a few extra bits that didn’t make it into the more familiar suite, such as the exotic number simply marked “Allegretto”. In short, this is worth hearing.

The remaining items also are of unusual interest. The Overture in E major and Scène de Ballet both date from 1891 and comprise Sibelius’ earliest orchestral works. Both are worth hearing, not so much because they sound like the later composer (they have moments), but because despite their immaturity, they still don’t sound like anyone else. Scène de Ballet, in particular, features very curious scoring for castanets and suspended cymbal, while the overture is a surprisingly big work–almost twelve minutes–with some attractive if relatively anonymous melodic invention.

The Wedding March is all that Sibelius wrote as incidental music to play called The Language of the Birds. Its date, 1911, signals a fully mature piece, and the music is not really a march at all–more a miniature tone poem with some of the harmonic strangeness of The Bard and the Fourth Symphony, which come from the same period. You might feel that the Cortège also needs a new name: it’s actually an ebullient Polonaise in triple time, and again, surprisingly substantial. This music found a later home in both the Scènes historiques and The Tempest.

Sibelius used bits of the Menuetto in the King Christian II music, but this larger orchestration from 1894 is absolutely delightful. What a great encore this would make in concert. Segerstam concludes the program with the Processional, Op. 113, No. 6, a piece that eventually found its way into the composer’s collection of Masonic music (yes he wrote some, even if no one knows it). It’s suitably dignified and brings the program to a very satisfying close.

As with previous releases in this series, the performances are just about as good as it gets. Segerstam plays all of the music with evident care and invests it with plenty of character. He has the Turku Philharmonic responding to his every whim, and if some of these “chips off of the master’s workbench” remain rather “chippy,” well, that’s the composer’s fault. At least they leave us wanting more. Pia Pajala is the attractive soprano soloist in her single song, and the engineering is rich, warm, and atmospheric. Worth your time and attention, no doubt about it.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Sor: Studies in a Form of a Suite

It has become trendy to play Sibelius’ incidental scores more or less complete, rather than as he revised isolated numbers or grouped them into suites. I am not personally convinced that this is wise; Sibelius knew what he was doing, but it very much depends on the score. King Christian II works perfectly well, and the single vocal number, “Fool’s Song of The Spider,” has plenty of character. The music itself includes some of the most gloriously lyrical moments in all of Sibelius, especially when the Nocturne is as sumptuously played as it is here.

Kuolema (“Death”) gave us the Valse triste, played with hypnotic slowness Segerstam and the Turku strings. The remainder of the score strikes me frankly as dull, at least until we get to the last couple of movements, where things perk up (at least a bit). The Two Songs from Twelfth Night are well sung by baritone Waltteri Torikka, and very atmospheric. Texts and translations are also included in the booklet–not something to be taken for granted these days. Finally, the Overture in A minor is a brief chip off of the workbench that Sibelius threw together for the premiere of the Second Symphony. It’s fun, and typically Sibelius, but the music goes nowhere and ends very oddly.

Segerstam’s conducting, as you might have noticed, is lovingly shaped, occasionally a bit slow, but always attentive the music’s colors and moods. The engineering is odd though: the brass at the start of the Overture are backwardly placed, and the strings have a metallic edge. Still, if you haven’t already sprung for the BIS complete edition, this disc offers a sensible way to plug a few gaps in your Sibelius collection.

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

These are two exceptional Sibelius discs containing a number of rarities coupled with performances of Kuolema, King Kristian II and Belshazzar’s Feast that are as good as any available. I hope that Naxos will continue with further instalments from this team of superb Sibelians.

– John Whitmore, MusicWeb International, reviewing this disc and another

"Segerstam has his Turku Philharmonic playing with both idiomatic, long-focused energy and poignant understatement; the first movement of the music for Järnefelt’s play Kuolema, later published separately as the Valse Triste, has rarely waltzed as sadly or as profoundly as this. The music for Adolf Paul’s play King Christian II centres on an expansive and genial Nocturne that sounds almost cinematic." – The Guardian (UK)