Classical Music

Classical Music

The Heavy Metal brigade began it's triumphant progress alongside the magicians of tone colour and orchestration Hector Berlioz and Richard Strauss. Jazz and light music also contributed to the emancipation brass players. "Brilliant Brass" inspiringly depicts this via the repertoire of the brass quintet. First with two "classics" by Victor Ewald and Malcolm Arnold (unforgettable as the composer of the music for the film "The Bridge over the River Kwai"), then with works from Austria: a transcription of the melodious "Steyrische Taenze" by Joseph Lanner, "Flotter 5er" by Thomas Gansch, and the Suite "L'homme au Marteau dans la Poche" ("The Man with a Hammer in his Pocket") - two sparklingly witty works of breathtaking virtuosity performed con brio and con moto in such a way that Heavy Metal should now be renamed Heavenly Metal.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Jonathan Nott is since 2000 principal conductor of the Bamberg Symphony. Such a lengthy collaboration is rare nowadays, and it has produced unique results with this Schubert-Cycle and the Mahler Symphonies. Successful concert tours, guest performances and engagements as orchestra-in-residence at such festivals as Edinburgh and Lucerne are proof of the international reputation of the Bamberg Symphony and their principal conductor, a success not solely based on the classical and romantic standard repertoire but also on works by Boulez, Berio, Lachenmann and Ligeti.

In 1778, music was booming in Mannheim, thanks to its 90 players- strong orchestra’s unique blend of instrumental virtuosi and innovative composers: Johann and Carl Stamitz, father and son, the most original and prolific composers of the Mannheim school – a still somewhat underrated period. The importance of Carl Stamitz’s clarinet concertos cannot be overestimated; while laying the foundations for similar works by Mozart, Weber and Spohr, he also created inspiring masterpieces. Eduard Brunner is an ideal advocate, fusing the Mannheim idiom with modern sensitivity.

�Bruckner's last mass is a masterpiece. Rooted in the traditional Austrian mass, it also contains symphonic elements found only in Beethoven's Missa solemnis, although Mahler can be seen on the horizon. Premiered in Vienna in 1872 to immense acclaim, the work is now performed both in the liturgy and in concert, a permanent part of the repertoire. In contrast to the monumental symphonies, here we encounter a very special soundscape, reaching from soft ethereal sounds to jubilant surges

Franz Schubert composed the works on this release at the peak of his career, just before his untimely death at age 31. These works display both his rapture of music making, and his melancholy farewell. These works are presented on a two-disc set, performed by Rachmaninov Trio Moscow. Rachmaninov Trio Moscow is Mikhail Tsinman, Natalia Savinova, and Victor Yampolsky. The group’s interpretation of Russian favorites has already been well received, and they meet the challenge of Schubert’s virtuosity with ease.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Classical Music

Jonathan Nott’s Mahler cycle has now reached the fourth installment. Recordings have already been issued of the First Symphony, the Fifth Symphony and the Fourth. This is the first in the series to come my way.

Before considering the performance I think a few words about the recording itself may be helpful – I listened to these hybrid SACDs as conventional CDs. When I first started listening I thought that the sound appeared almost too close. In fact, I found that my ears soon adjusted as the performance continued and that I didn’t find the closeness to be as much of an issue on further hearings. I suppose the effect is rather akin to sitting just a few rows back from the stage in the concert hall. The orchestra sounds very ‘present’. There certainly seems to be a good spread of sound from one side of the platform, as it were, to the other but I’m less sure that there’s adequate front-to-back perspective. Another feature of the recording is that Nott has divided his violins left and right – of which I heartily approve. However, until the finale, where the strings dominate the scoring for much of the time, I couldn’t hear much of the viola, cello or double bass lines. In fact the strings as a whole are too easily swamped by the wind and brass sections in the first three movements.

For comparison I put on Simon Rattle’s Berliner Philharmoniker recording, which I so much admired in 2008 (see review by Tony Duggan). Here too the recording is fairly close but much more inner string detail is evident. I strongly suspect that the Tudor engineers have used a limited microphone array in an effort to present a truthful concert hall sound image whereas the EMI team have probably used multiple microphones placed within or above the orchestra in order to capture much more detail. I think the Tudor sound does indeed present the sort of sound that you’d hear in a concert hall – and Mahler’s scoring is very often wind- and brass-heavy – and it depends whether you want a recording for home listening to give you a concert hall perspective or whether you want as much detail as possible.

So you might want to sample the recording before purchasing. However, even if the sound is not quite your ideal – and, as I say, my ears adjusted quite quickly – sonic considerations aren’t everything here for Nott leads a fine performance of this magnificent, complex symphony.

He takes a fairly spacious view of I. In fact, at 29:46 his is one of the longest performances I know. Rattle is slightly quicker overall (28:56) but it’s interesting to note that some, though by no means all, conductors of the previous generation have taken less time over this movement. Barbirolli, for example, took 26:53 in his famous EMI Berlin recording, while Kubelik’s live 1975 reading (Audite) took 26:44. The celebrated 1938 Bruno Walter recording flashes by in 24:47. Have Mahler performances broadened over the years?

Nott may be spacious but throughout the movement his control and concentration are impressive. His reading isn’t as passionate as Rattle can be at times; it’s more patient. There were one or two occasions when I thought his speeds were just a little bit too measured but as a whole his reading is impressive. The climaxes are thrust home – at these points one has the impression that the orchestra is playing flat out – but the quiet passages often impress. For example the ghostly passage between 8: 01 and 9:47 is imaginatively presented with lots of good detail – I like the distanced muted horns, for instance. I think it would be fair to say that sometimes the violins sound just a little thin in alt and the string bass line is certainly underpowered – no doubt because one is so used, with many other conductors, to hearing the cellos and basses prominently through the right hand speaker. But, set against that I must say straightaway that much of the playing is vivid, the orchestra’s response is totally committed and there’s a lot of fine solo playing to admire. I have heard more dramatic, angst-ridden accounts of this amazingly rich movement but drama isn’t the whole story by any means and Nott’s account is very convincing and never less than wholly musical. He seems to see the whole movement in one long sweep and I admire his way with it very much.

The two inner movements go very well. There’s a good deal of sharply etched, piquant playing in II. Nott paces the music very well and he judges the many tempo modifications expertly. His reading of III is dynamic and thrusting. He and the engineers bring out a great deal of the teeming contrapuntal detail in the score. The trio (from 5:55) is taken at a suitably relaxed pace. This is nostalgic music but I like the fact that Nott never wallows in the sentiment; on the contrary, forward momentum is nicely maintained – and praise too for the solo trumpeter, whose silvery tone is just right. When the Rondo resumes (10:23) the music is turbulent and exciting right to the last bar.

The strings come into their own in the finale. The opening paragraphs are full-toned but the emotion is not overdone – Nott doesn’t play his cards too soon. The string playing is very good, the tone just weighty enough - and now we do hear a satisfyingly strong bass line. One rather special moment occurs between 4:05 and 4:54 where Nott obtains the most atmospheric playing imaginable from his strings. At this point the bass line is spectral with a wafer-thin violin line on top.

Nott unfolds the finale compellingly and the Bamberg strings and horn section in particular do him proud. Once again, this isn’t perhaps the most overtly emotional reading I’ve heard but the patience – perhaps even a degree of reserve? – brings its own rewards. Nott’s ability to take the long view and to build the movement incrementally means that when we reach the sustained ardent passage that lies at the heart of the movement (14:18 – 17:03) the effect is all the greater. The closing pages of this movement are always a huge test for players and conductor alike. Here the test is passed very successfully. During the last four minutes or so, starting with the second violin entry at 21:07, the music gradually winds down, all passion spent.

This Mahler Ninth is a very fine achievement. A host of great conductors and leading orchestras have essayed this symphony on disc over the years and though the seventeen versions on my own shelves don’t quite go from A to Z they do go from Barbirolli to Walter. This new version can certainly contend with the best of them and it’s one to which I’m sure I shall be returning frequently in the future.

-- John Quinn, MusicWeb International

It is a shame that this unhackneyed collection of French music for oboe and piano has been overlooked. The Swiss company Tudor apply their usual exemplary production standards to recording and documentation. Artistic matters are in the hands of two dedicated musicians. Bamberg-born Mayer produces a full-throated quality, but going by the initial Fauré tracks, tends to scout over emotional expression. The Sicilienne could have been touching if the emotional agenda had been painted in. The Pavane feels rushed. The Berceuse is on the other hand quite pleasing with the note production being both curvaceous and penetrating. Wisniewska’s piano sound is rounded; not harsh. The Saint-Saens Sonata seems congealed in the first movement but in the other two is perfectly gracious. There is a gamin cheeky finale with strange echoes of Beethoven’s Fifth. Is Saint-Saens lampooning Beethoven?

Then we are back to Fauré with a sequence of five song transcriptions. Après un rêve is heavy-lidded and weighed down with sleepy contentment. Le secret is suitably grave with the music carrying a faintly melancholy tincture. Au bord de l'eau explores an elusive mood though the faint clicking of the oboe’s key mechanism can be heard and does return you to earth. Clair de lune is a brisk and pleasant stroll of a piece; not ardent. Mayer’s oboe here takes on the opulence of its cousin up the road, the clarinet. There are two Pierné’s represented in this recital Gabriel’s Serenade has an Iberian accent – more Massenet than Ravel. The Pièce sounds rather Tchaikovskian with a surprisingly brusque role for the piano. Fantasie Pastorale is by Paul Pierné. It radiates elysian calm – superbly done by the two players. The Satie pieces are well enough known. Here that sentimentality deficit I mentioned earlier is again in evidence though I did note that Wisniewska’s insight provided emotional contrast – listen to the way she gives face to a simple note cell in Gymnopédie 2. Bozza’s Fantaisie Pastorale is so much more than the shallow display piece I had braced myself for. It surveys stygian Bax territory, moves into showers of fanciful curlicues and culminates in a magically poised and elfin close. Koechlin’s Au Loin is for English horn and piano. It is splendidly ermine-dark and languid. The melodic material might remind some listeners of Bax’s In The Faery Hills.


-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

Antonín Dvorák crowned his symphonic oeuvre with his Ninth Symphony. After its 1893 Carnegie Hall premiere, the symphony went on to acquire worldwide success, and remains one of the most frequently performed of all symphonic works. He opened the ears of musicians and audiences to Indian folklore and the melodic treasury of black Americans. While certain particularities were inspired by Indian music, the work’s themes are all original Dvorák creations. Here, as in the “American Suite”, Robin Ticciati and the Bamberger Symphoniker can be said to have rediscovered the “New World”.

As a performer on the hautboy, Giuseppe Sammartini, 'Londinese', was undoubtedly the greatest that the world had ever known. He contrived to produce such a tone as approached the nearest to that of the human voice. His Concerti grossi and his later sets of Concertos have a breadth of invention and sureness of purpose second only the music of Handel. (General History of the Science and Practice of Music, 1776). This album presents neglected works by the lesser-known, younger brother of Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Giuseppe Sammartini.

The embodiment of the most serious and most sacred artistic will of our time,' said Thomas Mann after the premiere of the Symphony No. 8 to Gustav Mahler. The impressive Mahler Symphony cycle from the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra continues, with a new recording of the Seventh and it's famous 'Night Music' movements. 'The Germans and their conductor Jonathan Nott are proving to be a dream team for Mahler, so we've been eager to hear the latest installment.' - David Nice, BBC Music Magazine.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

This recording of “The Bis” by Georges Athanasiades is a joyful album, a Serenade rich in delightful and popular melodies. This soundtrack of emotions displays a liberated Queen of instruments. Born in 1929 in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, Georges Athanasiades’ father who was himself a pianist and choir leader initiated him into music. After completing his classical and theological studies, followed by the study of German literature and musicology at the Universities of Heidelberg and Freiburg, Breisgau, he distinguished himself as organist at the Conservatory of Lausanne, where he received the highest diplomas. A Canon of Abbey Saint-Maurice in Switzerland, a priest since 1952 and longtime professor at the Lycee there, he is titular organist in the Basilica, which possesses a remarkable instrument- the same one heard on this outstanding recording.

Kammermusik 1958'': for tenor, guitar and eight solo instruments, on the hymn ''In lovely business'' by Friedrich Holderlin, is one of Hans Werner Henze's most scintillating creations. Featuring a wide-ranging tenor part, a virtuosic solo guitar and brilliant contributions by the instruments Schubert chose for his great Octet, this masterpiece imaginatively confronts the mannered style of the Darmstadt school. In ''lovely blueness'' the emphasis is on ''blueness'' - but not only when lovely. The Mediterranean light and the nostalgia for Greek Antiquity give this music a special place in the composer's output: to the element of euphony, of consonance in its widest sense are added grittier sounds and sharper contrasts, as befits the hymn's heavily symbolic content. - ''The idea for 'Neue Volkslieder und Hirtengesange' is closely linked to my activity as cultural animator during the Eighties in the Steiermark. At the time I had made a nice collection of sketches on Styrian folklore and composed songs for an amateur play. From this material I have now assembled this small chamber music in folksong style, hoping to capture some of the atmosphere, of the mood of this melancholy landscape, like a dream or a painful memory''.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

"The oft-recorded Haydn Concerto is vividly recorded with the signal completely unclouded. This reveals Tarkövi’s peach-tender full fat tone. This is on best display in the Andante of the Haydn which paves the way for the lickety-split allegro. The charmingly decorous two-movement Leopold Mozart Concerto features harpsichord continuo. Neruda’s Trumpet Concerto - like the Hummel work - returns us to the conventional three movement template. Prague-based Neruda wrote 18 symphonies, 10 violin concertos, one bassoon concerto, 34 trio-sonatas and, among much else, this trumpet concerto. It is a fluent work with some very eloquent noble invention in the opening Allegro and many touching and original turns in the solo line in the final Vivace. Hummel opens with sturm und drang before making way for some witty light-on-the-feet material. It is good to be reminded that Hummel wrote such a sweetly inclined concerto. Tarkövi is always pleasingly ripe-toned though he is not always ideally attentive to staccato demands. On the other hand mechanical noise from the pistons is imperceptible except once during the trills at the end of the first movement of the Hummel. There is much to enjoy here among these four concertos written between 1762 and 1803.

It is typical of Tudor that their booklet which is in three languages is a joy to use. It affords plenty of information about the music and the sensible font design and size is kind to the eyes."

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

The Bamberger Symphoniker and Jonathan Nott present Mahler's Symphony No. 7. Mahler's seventh was described as "very problematic" by Otto Klemperer following it's premiere, and as "a weak piece" by Theodor W. Adorno. Mahler himself considered this work to be mainly cheerful and humoristic in content. Here, we encounter a masterpiece of formal construction, instrumentation and, above all, content.