Franco Corelli: A Discographic Career

This recording brings together three youthful masterworks all composed by Benjamin Britten before his 30th birthday. Originally released in 2005 'Britten: Les Illuminations' has been re-issued as part of Linn's ECHO series which offers a second chance to enjoy the best of the label's award-winning catalogue. These are highly insightful performances, widely considered to be modern reference versions to set next to Britten's own. Clio Gould and the ensemble demonstrate playing of impressive unanimity of purpose, joyous intensity and clarity of detail. The ensemble is joined by the Royal Philharmonic Society's 2012 'Singer of the Year' Toby Spence, for two of Britten's most popular song cycles. Toby Spence's voice is ideally suited to the wide-ranging demands that Britten makes on it; his tonal freshness and acutely observed articulation of the words are absorbing. Martin Owen, whose horn playing has drawn comparisons with Dennis Brain, is equal to every one of the near-impossible tasks set him by Britten in the Serenade. Re-defining the string orchestra, Scottish Ensemble inspires audiences with vibrant and powerful performances. Scottish Ensemble is the UK's only professional string orchestra, built around a core of twelve outstanding string players. The ensemble is known both in the UK and internationally for it's versatility and ambitious programming. Performing standing up, the individual layers bring an energetic and passionate dynamic to every performance.

Classical Music

Periodically someone decides the time is ripe for a re-appraisal of the music of the Ukrainian-born Polish composer Karol Szymanowski. Among his most persuasive advocates have been such eminent conductors as Pierre Boulez and Simon Rattle, both of whom have committed much Szymanowski to disc. But, for one reason or another, he remains a name known to many while his music remains largely unknown. Possibly the Etude in B flat minor for piano – one of the most deeply moving of all piano études, with its powerful echoes of Rachmaninov – will be familiar to pianists, but little else from his broad output finds its way into the consciousness of music lovers. This latest disc devoted to Szymanowski on Capriccio’s “Modern Times” series does all it can to keep Szymanowksi obscure, but the music succeeds where Capriccio fails, and I would recommend this most strongly to all of those for whom Szymanowski is merely a name that sounds like a Russian transliteration of Schumann or a spoof composer with a name derived from a cross-fertilization of Schumann and Tchaikovsky. These are not the best performances you will find, and the packaging is grim, but the music is wonderful and for those whose idea of hi-fidelity is listening to music through their computer speakers, the flat recorded sound will not unduly disturb the pleasure of an encounter with this gorgeous music.

The trouble with describing the music of an unfamiliar composer is that one reverts to comparisons with better-known ones – as if originality of voice is given only to those whose music has crossed the fickle threshold of popular taste.

With the Concert Overture which opens the disc, one can possibly be excused this, for if any music ever sounded like a Richard Strauss tone poem, this does. From its boisterous opening to its triumphal conclusion, it is a feast of Straussian gestures and ideas, a wonderful orchestral romp and a stirring musical journey. And this is what Szymanowski intended, for in 1904 when he wrote it, Richard Strauss was the dominant figure. If the booklet notes are to be believed, Szymanowski deliberately aped the style of Strauss “as a provocation to the, in his view, completely fossilized structures of Polish music”.

At this point we must break off to mention those booklet notes, tightly compressed into a distinctly unappealing booklet which seems designed to put off potential buyers. Christian Heindl’s German text is dense enough, striving to place Szymanowksi in some sort of context with Polish music at the start of the last century. But the English translation (claiming to be the work of one Ian Mansfield) is a disgrace. Seeming to have done little more than run the original German through a free online translator, and not even having made the effort to check the spelling afterwards, Mansfield comes up with such incoherent nonsense as; “he ranks as one of the many tone wolves and practically outsiders in music”, “the composer instrumented the cycle for chamber orchestra”, and “meaningful for the concert hall and fathoming it to the depths”.

Soprano Marisol Montalvo is, thankfully, infinitely more eloquent in the cycle of five songs, Slopiewnie, which bears the same opus number as Szymanowski’s great opera, King Roger but is otherwise unconnected. Exotic, sometimes harmonically brittle, sparsely orchestrated but highly effective, these are a world away from the lush world of Strauss’s orchestral songs and present a musical voice which is both distinctive and accomplished. There is nothing identifiably Polish about these settings of Polish texts by Julian Tuwim, but the booklet note suggests the musical idiom is derived from Gorals, an ethnic group which “has its area of distribution in the Polish Tatra and the Beskids, but also in parts of Slovakia”. It also observes some stylistic parallels with Stravinsky and Les Noces. Montalvo has a pure, shining vocal quality with an innately focused sense of pitch.

The major work on the disc is the Fourth Symphony, subtitled Sinfonia Concertante, but which is, to all intents and purposes, a fully-fledged piano concerto. Szymanowski wrote the work for himself to play (although he dedicated it to Artur Rubinstein) and called it a Symphony to disguise his shortcomings as a concerto soloist. Ewa Kupiec is the fleet-fingered soloist, delivering the almost Ravelian delicacy of the first movement with a refreshingly light touch supported by the kind of clear-textured orchestration which seems such a feature of Szymanowski. Even as the movement builds up to its great climax, the feeling of delicacy and suppleness Kupiec brings to the performance is never lost, and Karl-Heinz Steffens seems to have an instinctive feel for the balance which comes across even when the recording engineers have done little to assist. A gentle, fluttering second movement introduces all manner of magical orchestral effects, much in the manner of a Bartók night-music movement but built around Polish rather than Hungarian folk songs. And in the final movement it is the spirit of Polish dances which seems to dominate in music that sounds like Ravel and Bartók holding hands but is, in reality, uniquely the voice of Szymanowski – stunning orchestral writing, impeccably crafted moments of climax and repose and an exotic musical language which is utterly enthralling. Steffens maintains a wonderfully incisive rhythmic momentum which his German players throw themselves into with great gusto.

The Nocturne and Tarantella is an orchestration, made two years after Szymanowski’s death by Grzegorz Fitelberg, of a work originally written for violin and piano. It draws attention to Szymanowski’s fondness for the exotic, combining Spanish and Italian elements in a scintillating dance-like display, where only the final cadence seems indicative of a composer not quite of the very first rank, but with a voice all his own.

– MusicWeb International (Marc Rochester)

DOWLAND / PHILIPS / FERRABOSCO / BYRD / COPERARIO / MORLEY:

Classical Music

World Premiere recording! This Mass has come down to US as a single manuscript source, dated 1689 and kept in the Archive of the Holy House Shrine in Loreto. The manuscript is archaic not only in looks but also in content, disposition of the parts, and notation. It is difficult not to think of this Missa as a devout testament offered by Legrenzi to the Virgin of Loreto.

The Composers Conduct

This collection of rarely recorded Wagner repertoire, the master’s work for voice and piano, includes the famed Wesendonck-Lieder in both its original German and an Arrigo Boito Italian version. Also featured are the famed ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade’, ‘Melodram’, the complex ‘Dors, mon enfant’ and further works with texts by writers including Hugo, Heine, de Ronsard and Scheurlin. Michela Sburlati - ‘a fine dramatic soprano’ (NYT) and fellow Italian maestro Marco Scolastra perform. Booklet includes liner notes, sung texts and artist biographies.

•Conductor Herbert von Karajan leads the Choir and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera in this New Year's Eve performance of Johann Strauss's (1825-1899) ever-popular Die Fledermaus. This unique live recording insplendid sound features a spectacular cast of singers including Hilde Güden, Walter Berry, Rita Streich and a special guest appearance by Giuseppe di Stefano.

Although highly productive and respected in his lifetime as a Lied composer, Robert Franz (1815–92) has since become a peripheral figure in music history. As they began to explore the songs of Franz, Georges Starobinski and baritone Christian Immler were moved by their findings to devise a program including twenty-three of the composer’s often quite brief songs. Using the poet Heinrich Heine as their guiding star, they present these – all Heine settings but from different opus groups – in the form of two ‘imagined’ song cycles, framed by further settings of Heine poems by Schumann and Liszt.

What name comes to mind when you are asked about the essence of the Brazilian music? I am sure that some of you will say Villa-Lobos; others will think of Jobim. In Brazil, classical and the popular music are not far apart. They are more like two cities on the same plain and the present disc travels between these two cities while visiting a few towns on the way. What will carry us along this road? Obviously, the wings of song, as Portuguese is the singing language par excellence. The disc contains a selection of Brazilian songs written over the span of fifty years.

Christiane Roncaglio has a beautiful voice. With its dark smoky notes it sounds more mezzo than soprano. There are sharp corners too and the singing is intense. For these reasons, the album is probably not for repetitive and relaxed “evening listening”, but energises and stimulates. The diction is very clear. The accompaniment is divided between guitar and piano, a solution that provides lightness and diversity.

Jobim’s “Big Four” (Corcovado, Desafinado, One Note Samba and The Girl from Ipanema) are all here and need no introduction. His other songs are also memorably melodic and infectiously swinging in his unique affable way. Roncaglio’s performance of Jobim’s standards is a long way from the classical Astrud Gilberto’s shyness and mystery; her singing is more open and glossy. I like how she colours the long notes so that they are never plain or even, which is important for tracks like Eu sei que eu vou te amar.

Villa-Lobos’ songs from Floresta de Amazonas are all very beautiful and melodic. Roncaglio’s performance of them is alluringly mystical, like the singing of sea sirens. Songs from Santoro’s cycle Canções de Amor are sensual and expressive, and all distinctly Puccinian, especially the gloomy and intense Amor que partiu.

There are tender lullabies like Henrique’s Tamba-Tajá and sad cinematic ballads like Miranda’s Retrato. Some numbers, like Minha Terra, resemble operetta. Others, like Uirapuru, are more cabaret-style. Several tracks glorify Brazil and everything Brazilian. Roncaglio shows good control, plays with her voice and enjoys the process, yet never turns it into vulgar “cabaret singing”.

The two accompanying musicians play with sense and sensibility. Sometimes extra-musical squeaks are noticeable when the guitarist moves his fingers along the strings.

Overall, this is a very fine album with solid performances of beautiful songs. It is full of the colourful, carefree spirit of Brazil.

– M usicWeb International (Oleg Ledeniov)

JOHANN CHRISTOPH BACH Herr, werde dich und sei mir gnädig. Mit Weinen hebt sich’s an. Wie bist du den, o Gott. Der Gerechte, ob er gleich zu zeitlich stirbt. Ach, dass ich Wassers g’nug hätte. Fürchte dich nicht. Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben. Meine Freundin, di bist schön • John Eliot Gardiner (cond); Julia Doyle, Katharine Fuge (sop); Clare Wilkinson (mez); Nicholas Mulroy (ct); Jaes Gilchrist, Jeremy Budd (ten); Matthew Brook, Peter Harvey (bs); English Baroque Soloists (period instruments) • SOLI DEO GLORIA SDG 715 (78:11 Text and Translation)


If you have ever wondered what happened in German music between Heinrich Schütz and J. S. Bach, Bach would have had an answer for you. Most likely he would have mentioned several of his illustrious forebears, and most certainly he would have named his older first cousin once removed, Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703), whom he identified as “a profound composer.” That judgment was seconded by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who described Johann Christoph as a “great and expressive” composer. Both father and son performed the elder Bach’s music in the course of their respective duties. The great Johann Christoph—not to be confused with Sebastian’s like-named older brother—was born in Arnstadt and trained by his father, Heinrich Bach (1615–92). His younger brother, Johann Michael (1648–94), also an important composer, later became Sebastian’s first father-in-law. His first position (1663) was as organist in Arnstadt, but two years later he was appointed organist at St. George’s Church in Eisenach. He eventually became a chamber musician at the ducal court there and held both positions for the remainder of his life. Little is known of Johann Christoph’s private life other than his contentious relationship with his employers and his impoverishment at the end of his life. In Eisenach he often worked with his first cousin, Johann Ambrosius Bach (1645–95), a town musician and father of the younger Johann Christoph (1671–1721) and Johann Sebastian. When Sebastian became orphaned in 1695 a logical move might have been to place him in the custody of the established cousin in Eisenach, but the latter’s financial condition probably dictated the move to his 24-year-old brother’s home in Ohrdruf. Sebastian’s musical training came primarily from his brother. But he was not a distinguished composer. Who can doubt that Sebastian’s inspiration had some roots in his musical memories of Eisenach?


Johann Christoph, of course, composed primarily for the church. Undoubtedly much of his music is lost. The extant catalog is small: two arias, two Konzerte (cantatas), two laments, two dialogues, and eight motets—the most famous of which, Ich lasse dich nicht , is variously attributed to him and to Sebastian. There are 44 organ chorales with preludes and an organ prelude and fugue. A few harpsichord pieces were probably written for the court. His style was progressive for its time and place, but listeners anticipating an appendix to Johann Sebastian’s legacy must be mindful that influence does not flow backward. Vocal parts are relatively undemanding, owing to the level of competence of the available choristers, but the instrumental accompaniments can be quite elaborate. One may find that Johann Christoph’s music has a logic of its own, and also that the younger Bachs were judicious in their assessment of it.


The disc title, Welt, gute Nacht , is not the title of any of the works in the program. It is the last line of the first verse of the valedictory aria, Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben . Most of these eight compositions are solemn—end-of-life arias, laments, funeral motets, and a penitential psalm—but the program has a 24-minute happy ending. Meine Freundin , with a text derived from The Song of Songs , was written for a wedding celebration and shows a lighter side of Johann Christoph’s dour countenance.


Johann Christoph has an ideal champion in John Eliot Gardiner. Gardiner, who, unlike the Bachs, is not plagued by inexpert choral singers, leads an octet of soloists in the choral parts (including the two arias) and a reduced English Baroque Soloists in the larger works. The two laments are beautifully sung as solos by Matthew Brook and Clare Wilkinson. Gardiner finds both expressiveness and profundity in his readings.


The prevailing culture throughout the lifespans of the seven generations of musical Bachs placed a much higher value on newly composed music than on music of the past. Were he to look in on us today, I suspect that J. S. Bach would be amazed and probably gratified to find dozens upon dozens of recordings of the B-Minor Mass and Brandenburg Concerto recordings beyond count. But he would be dismayed, I’m sure, by the sparse representation of Johann Christoph Bach on disc. This is a splendid release, and an important one, highly recommended.


Also recommended, Die Familie Bach vor Johann Sebastian (Archiv 419 253-2, two CDs), performed by Reinhard Gobel, Rheinische Kantorei, and Musica Antiqua Köln—music of Johann Michael, Georg Christoph (1642–97), Johann Christoph, and Heinrich Bach.


FANFARE: George Chien

This CD brings to light a completely forgotten composer, the priest Pietro Porfiri from Marche. Of him little is known; the works on this album are taken from a 1692 self-published collection of secular cantatas, just at the time when this kind of music was widespread by publishers all over Europe, particularly Italy. The soprano Pamela Lucciarini and countertenor Alessandro Carmignani bring to light an unexpected musical writing in search of innovative solutions extremely audacious for its time. Laboratorio Armonico, providing basso continuo, features highly skilled early music artists.

Classical Music

The Czech Republic can boast of a Christmas repertoire both ample and colorful, dating from at least the Baroque era. + A notable composer then active was Josef Antonín Sehling (1710-56), who in his day was Kapellmeister of several Prague churches, including the Church of Our Lady under the Chain, where the present world premiere recording was made. + This album features pieces intended for the period from Advent to Epiphany. + Sehling’s music contains the magic of Adam Michna’s 17th c. songs yet concurrently opens upon a world familiar from Jakub Ryba’s most famous late 18thc. Christmas Mass.

This recording brings together two of Los Angeles-based composer Fox’s haunting electro-acoustic works, The Copy of the Drawing, for spoken voice and electronics, and Last Things, for bass clarinet, pedal steel guitar, piano, and electronics. The Wire magazine called this CD “an austere, ethereal experience.” And International Record Review wrote of it, “Imagine a view of the sky on a brilliantly clear night, from an uninhabited part of the world: Fox’s music invites one to believe that if the stars, constellations and galaxies emitted sounds, these unearthly harmonics are what one might hear.” ClassicalNet commented that is was “Hypnotic…very impressive stuff.” The San Francisco Bay Guardian wrote that “the work is dreamlike, seemingly without beginning or end…it appears to exist outside of the realm of time.”

Composer Kenneth Fuchs and conductor JoAnn Falletta completed their fourth recording with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, August 30–September 1, 2013. The recording features baritone and Naxos artist Roderick Williams and is produced by Grammy Award-winner Tim Handley. The repertoire includes Falling Man (for baritone voice and orchestra); Movie House (seven poems by John Updike for baritone voice and chamber ensemble); and Songs of Innocence and of Experience (four poems by William Blake for baritone voice and chamber ensemble). Fuchs’ music continues to find its visual counterpart in the work of Abstract Expressionist artist Helen Frankenthaler, whose art adorns the cover of this disc.

The compositions on this album are all set to texts by female Jewish poets. All of the poets featured in these works were either in the Holocaust, or fled just before the Holocaust to avoid Nazi oppression. These vocal works feature Nanette McGuiness.

This selection is also available as a Super Audio CD (SACD).

Deems Taylor (1885-1966) was one of America's truly original 20th Century composers, his works crossing between serious classical and a somewhat more popular vein. An ASCAP Board of Directors member for over thirty years, he also served as ASCAP President from 1942-48. Of the 24 songs featured on this Centaur release, sung by soprano Elizabeth Tryon accompanied by George Small, virtually all, if not all are receiving their first recordings. Ms. Tryon, often referred to as "two voices in one artist" sings both classical music and Top 40 pop, making her a perfect candidate for this literature.

Marty Walker performs music for clarinet and bass clarinet written for him by composers Daniel Lentz, Peter Garland, Jim Fox, Michael Jon Fink, Rick Cox, and Michael Byron. Performing with Walker are noted new music stalwarts William Winant, Wadada Leo Smith, Amy Knoles, and others. The music runs the gamut from a lush work for ten pianos and ten clarinets to a technically thorny solo and includes just about everything in between. Although the individual pieces are on their surfaces quite different from one another, they share a certain commonality—an embrace of music’s inherent sensuality. Critics have described Walker’s playing as “masterful,” “flawless,” and “true artistry.” Minnesota Public Radio’s Michael Barone called this album a “mild-mannered, soul-filling collection of contemporary ‘meditations’. . . think Satie and Morton Feldman, and you come close to the overall mood. Delicate textures prevail…the thinking-listener’s slow lane.” 21st Century Music magazine wrote, “If people are best known by the company they keep, then clarinetist Marty Walker is blessed indeed. He keeps wonderful company with an excellent series of composers…. Both the playing and the recording quality are sparkling.”

Although the instrumental and orchestral music of the Franco-German Romantic Théodore Gouvy (1819–98) is slowly being rediscovered, his songs remain largely unknown. Gouvy’s melodious songs, 105 in number, show a predilection for the 16th c. love-poems of Pierre de Ronsard: 40 of the songs set Ronsard texts. Of the 26 songs on this disc, only eleven have been recorded before, and none in the key the composer intended, as they are here for the first time. The other fifteen songs are first-ever recordings. Pianist Joel Schoenhals accompanies soprano MeeAe Nam and tenor John Elwes.

Initially regarded as a master composer of art songs, Jake Heggie has since become known as perhaps America’s leading contemporary composer of internationally acclaimed operas. Winning examples of both genres appear on this release: the world premiere recording of a short, one-act opera, The Radio Hour – as well as four shorter vocal pieces. The Radio Hour – the world’s first-ever “choral opera” – is a compact work for silent actress, with running narrative and commentary from a choir. The program is rounded out with four mostly art song-based works in varied arrangements, several with choral elements, sung by the vaunted John Alexander Singers. Susan Graham, one of America’s most beloved mezzo-sopranos, is heard in three of the shorter pieces; Pacific Symphony members provide the instrumentals. “A masterpiece of clarity and intensity, with a score that is at once thematically compact and richly inventive.” San Francisco Chronicle (review of Jake Heggie’s opera “Moby Dick”)

Canadian Soprano Shannon Mercer sings a stunning account of Les Nuits. Norbert Pelej is a contemporary composer who writes works of unusual depth. Group of 27 is a first-rate Canadian chamber orchestra.