Violin Recital: Schneider, Elisabeth Zeuthen / Staerk, Ulric

Carolyn Sampson has enjoyed notable worldwide successes in repertoire ranging from early baroque to present day, in opera, in concert and on disc. Nevertheless, the present recording is, as she writes in her introduction in the CD booklet, something of a début – her first recital disc of songs with piano. When choosing repertoire, she collaborated closely with her pianist, Joseph Middleton and together they chose settings of poems on a floral theme in Russian, English, French and German. The selected songs represent a great diversity, through their different musical styles and affects.

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Arne True; Megyesi; Savaria Thomas A Arne: Overtures and Cantatas

Between the Bliss and Me is a wonderful collection of musical settings of poems by the great American poet, Emily Dickinson. The CD gathers compositions which might be familiar to some listeners, particularly the settings composed by Aaron Copland, but there are also works by lesser known composers such as Ernst Bacon, John Duke, Arthur Farwell, Scott Gendel, Lori Laitman and Richard Pearson-Thomas which add an extra dimension to Dickinson's genius. Unlike most modern art song, the songs on this CD have a refreshing melodic quality.

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Mahler Karneus, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Kindertotenlieder

The twelve volumes comprising The Complete Songs of Robert Burns remain the benchmark of all Burns songs recordings. This groundbreaking series took seven years to complete and involved over 80 musicians. Encompassing ballads and bawdy songs, patriotic and political anthems plus songs which bring Scottish people and places to life, these volumes touch all aspects of human nature and represent a vigorous folk tradition past and present. ‘...a delightful cornucopia of excellent, often hauntingly authentic performances.’ (BBC Music Magazine)

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This is the seventh disc in the Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki’s series of secular cantatas by J. S. Bach. The best known of these cantatas is featured on this installment, the ever popular “Peasant Cantata.” The piece was written in broad dialect, and set to music which was based around folk songs, making it accessible to the greater population rather than the educated elite. The soprano cantata BWV 209 was composed as a musical farewell to one of Bach’s pupils upon his departure from Leipzig. Finally, Amore traitor for bass solo follows the story of a lover who accuses Amor of betrayal and deception. The closing aria is distinct, utilizing both the voice and the harpsichord in virtuosic passages.

This disc of music by internationally renowned British composer Philip Wilby includes several world premiere recordings.

Gentle lullabies and quiet music combine to form this special program of music to invite sleep. Unlike most calming programs, this release relies on real instruments and fine classical music, progressing gradually into calmer and quieter waters, growing slower and more repetitive, and eventually fading away into sweet rest for the listener!

This set contains Stereo and Mono recordings.
Selections recorded in the 1940s and 1950s. This set contains both stereo and monaural recordings. It also includes a lecture on just intonation by Harry Partch and some conversations with the composer.

� A comprehensive, multi-layered documentary portrait of this 80 years young (2013) composer. � Includes his personal and career reflections, dialogue and musical extracts. � The film follows Penderecki from Krak�w to Munich, Vienna to Leipzig, and to his country estate in Luslawice. � Interviews with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Mariss Jansons and Lorin Maazel, among others. � To be premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, February 2014. � Availability: Blu-ray and DVD � Subtitles. 814337011550 CMAJ715504BR 26016962 .00 37.99 .18 C MAJOR BLU-RAY MOVIE DOCUMENTARY 03/25/2014 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/6/8/6/3/2523686.jpg 13 1 N BUSONI / BACH / SLOTCHIVER VISIONARY 3 044747339627 CAV3396.2 27775257 .00 18.99 .20 CENTAUR COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 02/10/2015 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/6/1/4/9/2839416.jpg 15 1 N NEUBAUER / PUNTO / DEMACHI / HAGEL / CAPELLA NASSAU COURT MUSIC Searching for traces of once-admired Nassau court music in European and American libraries made it apparent that, despite large losses, there still survives a corpus of court music, though hard to fully assess due to it's size and geographical scattering. The majority of these autographs and manuscripts are unheard pieces, condemned to two and one-half centuries of oblivion. The 350th birthday of Count Johann Ernst of Nassau-Weilburg (1664-1719) provides an appropriate occasion to let the brilliance of the Nassau court music be heard again.

CHOPIN Songs (19). CHOPIN-VIARDOT-GARCIA Seize-Ans. Aime-moi. L’oiselet. Coquette • Olga Pasichnyk (sop); Natalya Pasichnyk (pn) • NAXOS 8572499 (57:04)


It seems like 100 years ago, but it was only the late 1960s when Maria Kurenko’s now-legendary album of Chopin songs (recorded, I believe, in mono) first appeared on LP in this country. It was considered sui generis, and so it was for many years; but now here we are in the 21st century, and there are several collections of these charming pieces available, including the first-class performances by Konrad Jarnot reviewed above.


Olga Pasichnyk, a Ukrainian soprano who studied at both the Kiev Conservatory and the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, gives us beautiful, charming, deeply felt, and often spectacularly sung performances of these songs. Being in the original Polish helps a lot—excepting, of course, the four extra songs in French, which are actually arrangements by Pauline Viardot-Garcia of instrumental pieces, of which more later—and it also helps that Pasichnyk has not only the voice but the technique, interpretive skills, and voice to sing them. My only caveat is that, like so many Slavic soprano voices, hers has that unusual (to Western ears) prominent vibrato, not always even under pressure, but in this case Naxos’s overly ambient sonics cover some of the edginess of the voice. Otherwise, her voice is sweet of timbre, surprisingly flexible in both range and florid ornaments, and at times quite stunning in unexpected ways. Possibly because the original texts are less cumbersome in syllabic structure, she is able to sing them at quicker tempos than Jarnot, which allows her to fit in the four extra Viardot songs (totaling about 12 minutes) to the recital while only adding four minutes to the total disc time.


Pasichnyk also possesses a quality rare among present-day singers in that she has a “smile in the voice.” This is a rare and precious asset, not to be taken lightly, and she makes the listener smile as well. The Viardot-Garcia songs are rarely performed because they are far more technically difficult than Chopin’s own songs, but again Pasichnyk rises to the challenge; listen particularly to Aime-moi, set to the music of the Mazurka No. 23 in D. This piece demands not only a polished technique but, more importantly, the ability to use that technique in a flowing, instrumental manner—in other words, to emulate the way the notes are played on a piano. Pasichnyk does this so well, and so easily, that my jaw drops to hear it. And, like everything else she sings, she has worked over her technique so well that one is scarcely aware of the immense hard work that underlies her ease of execution. I assume that Natalya Pasichnyk is her sister, though the relationship is not mentioned in the notes, but whether she is or not, she is a first-rate accompanist and also knows this style like the back of her hand. Again, no texts are included in the booklet.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley


It was just a few months since I welcomed a disc with Chopin’s complete songs, marvellously performed by the great Lied singer Konrad Jarnot. I even had it on my list of possible candidates for Recording of the Year but in the semi-finals it lost against Yann Beuron’s Fauré recording. It is still a very good disc but has two drawbacks: there are no texts and translations in the booklet and it is sung in German. The new Naxos disc is sung in the original Polish and while the rather meagre inlay has no room for the texts they can be accessed on the Naxos website. That’s good service but I have never quite managed to come to terms with listening to music in front of the computer. To be frank: I hate that and I have found that I am not alone. End of complaint.

The original language makes an important difference insofar as it was the Polish words that Chopin set. To sensitive song composers the musical values inherent in the sounds as much as the actual meaning of the words are essential. Here one feels an integration that seems totally authentic while Jarnot’s German texts stand out as slightly strange birds. Since he is such a distinctive interpreter, the ‘wrong’ language didn’t bother me but I get closer to the atmosphere of the songs in the Olga Pasichnyk’s readings. Coming from Ukraine, Polish obviously isn’t her mother tongue but parts of her studies were carried through in Warsaw and she was soloist at the Warsaw Chamber Opera from 1992. Hers is a truly lovely and beautiful voice and she is a most sensitive singer, producing ravishing pianissimos. The majority of these songs are lyrical and poetic and Olga Pasichnyk is an ideal interpreter. It also seems that a female voice is more natural in this repertoire, though that may just be prejudice. But she also has the required power Hulanka (tr. 4), this outgoing, burlesque dance, where she responds with some stirring chest notes while otherwise retaining the elegance and sensitivity.

She is also careful with words and the whole recital is so alive and ‘lived-in’. Just listen to her inflexions of the text in Sliczny chlopiec (tr. 8) and the hushed intensity in Melodia (tr. 9). She certainly covers all the interpretative facets of these songs. One of my favourites is Moja pieszczoyka (tr. 12), a delicate waltz, that I can’t remember hearing better sung, and Piosnka litewska (Lithuanian Song)(tr. 16) is another highlight, simple and enchanting.

Her sister Natalya is an extraordinarily flexible accompanist and contributes greatly to the overall impression.

As a bonus we are offered four out of the twelve songs the famous singer Pauline Viardot arranged from mazurkas by Chopin. Viardot was a technical phenomenon with a range of three octaves and virtuoso technique and the songs were written to show off her ability. Chopin was also satisfied with the songs and they are splendid showpieces. Olga Pasichnyk has both the brilliant top as well as a contralto depth – listen to Coquette (tr. 23) – and the technique to negotiate the vocal fireworks.

The recording is fully worthy of the interpretations and anyone wanting a recording of this lesser known part of Chopin’s oeuvre need look no further. At super budget price and sung in the original Polish – the Viardot songs are in French – and with texts and translations available on the internet this is a self-recommending issue.

Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International

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ARAMBARRI: 8 Basque Songs / In Memoriam / Spanish Fantasy

The Old Testament Book of Lamentations has been subjected to a number of settings since the Middle Ages; that of Jan Dismas Zelenka occupies a significant position among them. In his Lamentations, Zelenka succeeded in combining the contemplative aspect with a powerful dramatic charge. His penchant for unusual instrumentation is evident in, for instance, the final Lamentation (solo violin, bassoon and chalumeau). Zelenka only set to music two lessons of the first Nocturne for each day; here, every third reading takes the form of Gregorian chant, as was most likely heard at the Dresden court.

The percussion ensemble Kroumata has been astounding audiences around the world for over 25 years. The concert halls that they have visited during their tours of over 35 countries include the Lincoln Center in New York, Berliner Philharmonie and Wiener Konzerthaus as well as less conventional venues such as a quarry in Northern Sweden and their own headquarters, a former cinema in central Stockholm. Many audiences - and buyers of their several BIS recordings - have met Kroumata as soloists with symphony orchestra, others perhaps as an integral part in a performance of modern dance, performing works as diverse as Sofia Gubaidulina, John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, Steve Reich, Toru Takemitsu and Sven David Sandström. On this disc we meet a different Kroumata, as the ensemble performs some of their favourite encores, ranging from a Bulgarian dance to foxtrot, from the lyricism of Alfvén's 'Skogen sover' to the sultriness of a tango. Most of the pieces have been composed or arranged by members of Kroumata, and fully exploit all colours, nuances and spectacular effects of this colourful and spectacular ensemble, supported by guest artists such as baritone Håkon Hagegård and the folk musician Ziya Aytekin, who adds his Turkish flutes to the palette.

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Hasse, J.A.: Miserere / Salve Regina / Te Deum