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JAMES, Harry: Concerto for Trumpet (1939-1941)
Naxos Nov 2002
CD
$19.99

AMERICAN CHORAL MUSIC – BOLCOM, W. / FINE, I. / FOSS, L. / PERSICHETTI, V. / SCHUMAN, W.
Naxos Jul 2010
CD
$19.99

Mozart: La finta giardiniera / Martin du Theil, Fasolis, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala [Blu-ray]

Naxos AudioVisual

Blu-Ray

$40.99 Jul 09, 2021

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Mozart wrote La finta giardiniera in 1775 when he was 18 years old. It was his first staged buffo opera and centres on the lovers at the heart of the action, Sandrina – the pretend garden-girl of the title – and Belfiore. With few ensembles, Mozart channels his most intense and expressive music into arias which demonstrate a masterful ability to convey the full range of tenderness and passion. Originally staged at Glyndebourne in 2014 by Frederic Wake-Walker, this 2018 revival from La Scala is performed on period instruments with a strong cast and expertly conducted with exuberance and charm by Diego Fasolis.

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Mozart: La finta giardiniera / Martin du Theil, Fasolis, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala [Blu-ray]
Naxos AudioVisual Jul 2021
Blu-Ray
$40.99

Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Sharp Minor, Op. 11; Fanta

DUX

$19.99 Apr 17, 2026

Two early works by Robert Schumann surge with emotional intensity, where lyrical beauty meets dramatic urgency, soaring passion collides with deep introspection. Pianist Ayham Hammour, long associated with Poland and a familiar presence on major stages throughout Europe and the Americas, brings Schumann's inner world vividly to life. With imagination and keen insight, Hammour uncovers not only the composer's profound dramatic voice, but also the sparkle of wit, lightness, and subtle irony that lies beneath the surface.

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Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Sharp Minor, Op. 11; Fanta
DUX Apr 2026
CD
$19.99

Mix & Match

CHOPIN: Piano Concerto in F minor / Scherzos
Brana Records Feb 2003
CD
$10.99

Mendelssohn, Felix: Symphony No. 2, "Lobgesang"
BIS Mar 2009
SACD
$21.99

Rosenberg: Symphonies 3 & 6 / Venzago, Gothenburg SO
BIS Feb 2010
CD
$21.99

Karg-Elert: Works For Organ
BIS Jul 2002
CD
$21.99

Loshkin: Symphonies 5, 9 & 11 / Lokshin, Swierczewski, Grosses Orchester Graz

BIS

$21.99 May 01, 2006

Almost twenty years after his death it is still difficult to properly evaluate the work of Russian composer Alexander Lokshin (1920-1987). His uncompromising stance led to numerous conflicts with the Soviet regime, resulting in him being banned from the Moscow Conservatory twice - first as a student and later as a teacher. Many of his works were suppressed either before or immediately after their first performances, and most of his eleven symphonies, symphonic poems and chamber music remained confined to his desk drawer, and are only now gradually coming to light. One reason for the almost systematic persecution was the fact that Lokshin often included vocal parts in his orchestral works. In several cases it was the text rather than the music which caused the work to be banned. One such instance is Symphony No. 9, where the poems by Leonid Martynov, in turns harrowing and sarcastic, form a veiled indictment of the Soviet system. At the première in 1976 baritone Yuri Grigoriev was choked by emotion. 'I didn't know if I was going to be arrested the following day', he later admitted. He wasn't - but the symphony was blacklisted. (Reportedly, Dmitri Shostakovich, who was present at the première, acquired the score and avidly studied the work, which he greatly admired.) This is the second disc of Lokshin's music on BIS, the first being BIS-CD-1156, with the composer's only purely instrumental symphony (No. 4, 'Sinfonia Stretta') and his Three Scenes from Goethe's Faust. Two of the present performers, conductor Michel Swierczewski and soprano Vanda Tabery, also participated on that disc, which received praise both for the performances ('outstandingly vibrant') and for the music, which one reviewer described as 'challenging late romantic modernism'. These two are joined by baritone Jeffrey Black and 'recreation - GROSSES ORCHESTER GRAZ', both of whom are appearing on BIS for the first time.

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Loshkin: Symphonies 5, 9 & 11 / Lokshin, Swierczewski, Grosses Orchester Graz
BIS May 2006
CD
$21.99

Schubert: Lied Edition 12 - Mayrhofer, Vol. 2
Naxos Apr 2003
CD
$19.99

Zaimont: Sonata, Calendar Set, La Fin De Siecle / Christopher Atzinger

Naxos

$19.99 Mar 27, 2012

ZAIMONT Piano Sonata. Calendar Collection: Spring, Summer, Autumn. Jupiter’s Moons. Wizards. La Fin de Siècle. A Calendar Set. Cortège for Jack. Jazz Waltz. American City: Portrait of New York. Hitchin’. In My Lunchbox. Hesitation Rag. Reflective Rag. Judy’s Rag. Serenade • Elizabeth Moak (pn) • MSR 1366 (2 CDs: 155: 36)

ZAIMONT Piano Sonata. A Calendar Set. Le Fin de Siècle • Christopher Atzinger (pn) • NAXOS 8.559665 (65:55)

ZAIMONT Piano Sonata. Jupiter’s Moons. La Fin de Siècle. Hesitation Rag • Joanne Polk (pn) • ALBANY 617 (62:56)

Judith Lang Zaimont, now in her late 60s, has been a consistently and productively active presence on the American compositional scene since the 1960s, and I have followed her work—though not exhaustively—from almost as far back. She has won a generous share of awards and enjoyed a series of academic affiliations, notably on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory, Adelphi University, and the University of Minnesota. She now lives in Arizona, devoting her time largely to composing. Although I have found her work collectively to be of variable interest, it has always impressed me with both excellent craftsmanship and a basic sincerity of expression, devoid of glitz or mere cleverness. Her basic stylistic roots are in a traditional 20th-century language, though updated in some pieces with sounds and techniques that entered the modern vocabulary after midcentury. But nothing I have heard of hers ever violates sound musical judgment or good taste. But what I don’t hear is a personal stamp, a recognizable voice that proclaims her identity, or a sense that she is sharing her deepest personal feelings. However, while such a recognizable identity often enables listeners to feel closer to a composer, it is not a prerequisite of artistic importance.

A pianist herself, Zaimont has composed a good deal of music for the keyboard. Her piano music represents much of her strongest work, and some pieces—such as A Calendar Set —have attained a well-earned popularity. The three releases discussed here comprise the vast majority of her music for piano solo, with some pieces—the Piano Sonata, for example—addressed on each recording, making comparisons inevitable. Although Joanne Polk’s release doesn’t include A Calendar Set , an Arabesque disc, titled Zones (Z6683), features her performance of that work. In addition I have a Leonarda LP that includes Gary Steigerwalt’s rendition of A Calendar Set . I will say at the outset that making these comparisons was the most difficult aspect of this review, as all three pianists are extraordinarily fine, and all three recordings are distinguished by performances that are both sympathetic and brilliantly virtuosic. Though one pianist may seem to grasp some pieces better, another captures some of the others more effectively. Consumers’ decisions will be based on factors other than excellence of execution. Mississippi-born Elizabeth Moak has been performing Zaimont’s music for decades, and built her doctoral work around it; her two-CD set—the culmination of her years of study and performance—is, of course, both the most comprehensive recording and the most expensive one, and includes the vast majority of her music for piano solo. Christopher Atzinger’s on Naxos features the most important pieces, and is budget-priced. Polk’s on Albany also offers a fine selection, and is full-priced.

Zaimont’s most ambitious work for piano solo is the Sonata (1999–2000). This half-hour work in three movements covers a good deal of expressive territory within the generally modern-traditionalist language. In ways that are hard to articulate, the work doesn’t have the feel of a sonata—a sense of businesslike goal-directedness propelled by an individual treatment of familiar formal designs. The first movement begins and ends atmospherically, and might even be described as improvisatory. However, the central portion boasts a strong assertive thrust—propulsive and quite challenging for the pianist. The second movement, which is described as a reflection on the slow movement of Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata, is really much more than that. Again, much of the music is ruminative and improvisatory in character, although scherzoso portions of the movement provide considerable technical challenges for the pianist. The third movement is rapid and toccata-like for the most part, although this is relieved by some slower passages. All in all, the multiple tempos within each movement make following the basic structure only by ear a little difficult. But on the whole, this is a challenging and provocative work, and one that rewards multiple rounds of concentrated listening. As suggested earlier, all three pianists do more than justice to the work. If forced to select a preference, I would probably choose Polk’s as the one with the greatest technical assurance.

The other major work is the cycle A Calendar Set , which occupied the composer on and off throughout the 1970s, and was her first extended work for piano. As its title suggests, these are 12 character pieces, each associated with one of the months of the year. These subjective associations create an attractive, evocative, and convincing conceit. (More on this later.) Two of the pieces—July and December—are quodlibets that ingeniously weave familiar tunes (patriotic for the former, carols for the latter) into a subtle texture. These pieces are more traditional in style than the Sonata, with undisguised roots in the Romantic piano repertoire represented by Chopin, Scriabin, and company. I have been familiar with these pieces since shortly after they were completed, and I must say, they appealed to me upon initial exposure, and continue to do so today. Again the performances are all extremely good, but if forced to select one I would probably go for Moak, although Atzinger is more effective in some of the pieces, Polk in some of the others, and Steigerwalt in still others.

Interestingly, during the period when Zaimont was working on A Calendar Set , one of her publishers suggested that she compose another set based on the same months-of-the-year conceit, but designed to be somewhat easier to play, and with explicit pedagogical intentions. She fulfilled this request with Calendar Collection —12 pieces that are just as appealing to hear as the concert set, and reward serious musical consideration. Moak includes nine of the 12 on her recorded recital. Let me note here that while a good deal of the music included on Moak’s program was composed with pedagogical intentions and limited technical demands in mind, none of this music is any the less interesting for it, nor are the results so elementary as to be identifiable as student fare.

Jupiter’s Moons is a group of six short pieces, composed in 2000. Each of the pieces draws upon both mythological and geophysical associations from which to anchor its character. At this point I must voice a reservation I noted in my last review of music by this composer: Zaimont has a propensity for fanciful titles, presumably to offer gentle suggestions to guide the listeners’ imaginations. However, with some exceptions—most notably A Calendar Set —I find these titles to be more of a bother than they are worth. In most cases I find myself looking in vain for connections between the music and the images suggested. Rather than facilitating a grasp of the expressive intentions of the music, for me they are more of a hindrance.

The six pieces identified as Jupiter’s Moons generally inhabit a stylistic realm that most would term Impressionistic, with some reminiscences of Debussy, although the first one avoids both tonality and meter. Each piece is both evocative and engaging, and as a group they are delightful. But instead of movement titles such as “The Moons Swim in Orbit, “Europa,” “Leda,” “Io,” etc., I would have been content with “Six Preludes,” period. I have no principled objection to fanciful titles in general, but the associations must be universal enough to engender spontaneous confirmation in the listener—otherwise they are distractions. I find that Polk’s presentations of these pieces are somewhat more exciting and dynamic than Moak’s. If I have a criticism of the latter’s generally fine performances, it is that they tend to be a little understated and bland—especially the more difficult pieces. On the other hand, Moak is somewhat more effective in clarifying the textures, while Polk can sometimes be a little murky.

Wizards is a nine-minute piece in a single movement, composed in 2003. It is a fantasy that presumes to delineate the features of three distinct “Magic Masters.” The style is somewhat reminiscent of late Scriabin, although there is some hand-damping of the strings. Aiming to convey a sense of magic and mystery, the music is again quite challenging for the performer.

The nocturne La Fin de Siècle dates from 1979, and is another one of Zaimont’s most popular and frequently performed pieces. It is also another whose title—or in this case, subtitle—is both limiting and misleading, explicitly suggesting a work of retrospection—a venture into the language of a bygone era. But again, this seven-minute piece is much more than that: For one thing, it is no more alien to Zaimont’s natural language than are many of these other works, its agitated central section embracing a harmonic language that evolved decades after the turn of the century; for another, it is a superb and often beautiful work in its own right—not in the least hackneyed or preoccupied with retrospection, but, rather, spontaneous and improvisatory, although the listener who makes too much of the subtitle may readily overlook its breadth and depth of expression. The nocturne is included on all three discs discussed here, as well as on the Leonarda LP, and all four performances are excellent. Here I find it simply impossible to choose one as the best.

The remainder of this review is devoted to shorter, less ambitious pieces, all but one of which is found on only the Moak disc. Zaimont is fond of the ragtime genre, and has written several. Her Hesitation Rag is the most ambitious of those included here. Composed in 1998, the six-minute piece is quite an elaborate concert work, maintaining the essential elements of the genre, while reaching beyond its limited associations. It is included on Polk’s CD as well; she provides a fuller, more sonorous rendition than Moak, who is more delicate. The other two rags— Reflective Rag and Judy’s Rag —date from the 1970s. They are shorter and less ambitious, but no less delightful and engaging—and are worked out with considerable subtlety.

American City: Portrait of New York is a group of six short pieces that purport to evoke various images associated with New York City. What is most striking and remarkable about them is that five of the six were composed in 1957—when Zaimont was 12! If the prospective listener anticipates being called upon to indulge the composer’s shameless vanity, that listener is entirely wrong. These are mature, sophisticated, entertaining, and pianistically challenging vignettes that in no way betray their youthful origins, and won a number of auspicious awards at the time they were composed. Although she added the movement “Scrapers” in 2010, the composer insists that the five early pieces remain essentially untouched (the few subsequent modifications are indicated in the program notes).

Jazz Waltz is a short movement from a 1996 work called Suite Impressions . It is a pleasantly stylish piece, inventive both melodically and harmonically.

In My Lunchbox (2003) is a suite of five short pieces, with individual titles such as “Swimming Tuna,” “Celery Stalks,” “Dessert—Sugar Rush,” and other items typically found in a child’s lunchbox. It is designed for 11-year-olds who have been playing for at least four years. While its pedagogical intentions are explicit, and the pieces are more manageable technically, they are musically interesting enough to engage the attention of young pianists and those for whom they play.

Serenade was composed on a single day in 2006. Zaimont calls it an homage to big-band music and the film scores of the 1940s, but I do not hear these associations at all. What I do hear is an irresistibly lovely six-minute piece of great appeal and some real beauty. It has been approved for performance in a number of different instrumentations.

Hitchin’ is another short pedagogical piece, composed in 2007, and designed to engage the interest of high-school-age piano students. I am sure that it accomplishes its intentions, as it is infectious and lively. But it is not all that easy to play!

The most recent piece here is Cortège for Jack , written just a few days after Zaimont learned of the death of her former composition teacher Jack Beeson in 2010. She notes that she composed the piece on an involuntary and irresistible impulse. Although it is in triple meter, it has the character of a processional, solemn and poignant.

In conclusion, I note that these shorter pieces are played with considerable subtlety, artistry, and attention to detail by Elizabeth Moak, on what is her debut recording.

FANFARE: Walter Simmons

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Zaimont: Sonata, Calendar Set, La Fin De Siecle / Christopher Atzinger
Naxos Mar 2012
CD
$19.99

SHILKRET, Nathaniel: Skyscrapers Symphonic Jazz (1928-1932)
Naxos Jan 2003
CD
$19.99

Piano Concertos Warsaw 2010

Accentus Music

Blu-Ray

$41.99 Jan 25, 2011

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

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Also available on standard DVD

To mark the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth, two leading Russian pianists tackle the great Romantic composer’s two piano concertos: Evgeny Kissin plays the F minor Concerto op. 21, a key work in Chopin’s output, while Nikolai Demidenko performs the E minor Concerto op. 11, a virtuoso display vehicle of the first rank. They are accompanied by the Warsaw Philharmonic under the direction of Antoni Wit. Enthusiastically acclaimed by the audience at Warsaw’s Philharmonic Hall on 27 February 2010, this memorable concert has been captured in first-class sound and picture quality.

Recorded live at the Filharmonia Narodowa, Warsaw, 26-27 February 2010.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 97 mins
No. of Discs: 1

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Piano Concertos Warsaw 2010
Accentus Music Jan 2011
Blu-Ray
$41.99

Piano Trios / Gatsby Etudes / The Violist's Notebook / 10 Micro-Waltzes

Naxos

$19.99 Mar 27, 2007

Born in 1938 into a musical family, John Harbison studied at Harvard, and with Roger Sessions at Princeton. He is one of America’s most accomplished musicians, with four symphonies, three operas and a Pulitzer Prize-winning cantata to his credit. Of his Piano Trio No. 2, Harbison writes: ‘[It] makes little contact with the Mozart-to-Shostakovich central trio repertoire, and a great deal with the transparency, ambiguity, and shiftiness of Papa Joseph Haydn’. The Gatsby Etudes, ‘pianistically challenging and fun to play’, were written while Harbison was preparing the opera The Great Gatsby for production by the Metropolitan Opera. The Violist’s Notebooks were inspired by Bartolomeo Campagnoli’s (1751-1827) Caprices for viola, Harbison’s own instrument. Other works on this disc include an earlier piano trio and a cello suite, which the composer describes as ‘baroque in origins, more private, and very compact’.

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Piano Trios / Gatsby Etudes / The Violist's Notebook / 10 Micro-Waltzes
Naxos Mar 2007
CD
$19.99

Kraus: Solo Piano Music / Ronald Brautigam

BIS

$21.99 Mar 01, 2006

This disc is a gem, yet it's also one of those releases that you might overlook in the deluge of new, and frequently marginal, titles each month. But that would be a mistake, and if you enjoy keyboard music of the classical period, from C.P.E. Bach to Mozart and Haydn, then you will certainly want to hear this recital. Joseph Martin Kraus (a.k.a. "the Swedish Mozart), like his illustrious colleague, had an almost exactly contemporaneous and equally short life. He was born in 1756 and died in 1792. His music was much admired by his contemporaries, including Haydn, both for its formal mastery and progressive tendencies, both of which are very much in evidence in the two major works here, the Piano Sonatas in E major and E-flat major.

Composed in the late 1780s, these sonatas are large-scale pieces as advanced as anything that Haydn and Mozart were turning out at the time. The E major work lasts nearly half an hour, and in its size alone it anticipates the large early sonatas of Beethoven. Both pieces have three movements, one of which is a big theme and variations (the finale in the E major sonata, the middle movement in the E-flat piece). Ronald Brautigam plays this music with uncommon ebullience and enthusiasm, in particular characterizing these lengthy variation sets with unfailing intelligence and imagination. This, combined with the bright, sweet timbre of his fortepiano, gives the music the same immediate appeal that typifies his Haydn piano music cycle.

The other pieces are less important but nevertheless exude charm and personality. Both the Rondo in F major and the Scherzo con Variazioni are relatively substantial single movements, and the Swedish Dance will pique the interest of folk-music enthusiasts--its principal tune sounds remarkably like a sort of simplified Haydn rondo. The other two pieces, Zwey Neue Kuriose Menuetten and the Larghetto, are both tiny chips from the master's workbench. This is one of the most purely delightful discs of classical keyboard music to come along in quite a while, a discovery whose musical substance far exceeds its curiosity value. [7/26/2006]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Kraus: Solo Piano Music / Ronald Brautigam
BIS Mar 2006
CD
$21.99

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 22 And 25 (Arr. J. Hummel For C
BIS Nov 2005
CD
$21.99

Penderecki: St. Luke Passion / Nagano, Montreal Symphony

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Jun 05, 2020

Krzysztof Penderecki's setting of the Passion story as told in the Gospel of St Luke was premièred in 1966 and immediately established a place for itself among the most important large-scale choral works of the twentieth century. Despite its decidedly modernist idiom, the music’s emotional power, glowing colors and sonic impact spoke to audiences as well as critics, one of whom described St Luke's Passion as ‘the most important bridge between the spirit of the liturgy and modern music.’

Strongly influenced by the Passions of J. S. Bach, Penderecki pays homage to the great composer by using the B-A-C-H motif throughout the work, and like Bach he has arranged his Passion in two parts, with monumental choral numbers framing the whole. The score is for large forces including an extended orchestra, three mixed choirs, plus a boys’ choir, speaker and three vocal soloists (soprano, baritone and bass). On 20th July 2018 these all convened at the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg: l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal with their principal conductor Kent Nagano, the Warsaw Boys Choir and Kraków Philharmonic Chorus, the three soloists and the actor Slawomir Holland. The occasion was the opening concert of the Salzburg Festival, and in the audience was the composer himself, Krzysztof Penderecki. Present was also a recording team led by Robert Suff, senior producer at BIS, and this album is the document of this very special occasion.

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Penderecki: St. Luke Passion / Nagano, Montreal Symphony
BIS Jun 2020
SACD
$21.99

Franck, Faure & Prokofiev: Sonatas / Bezaly, Ashkenazy

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Nov 03, 2017

The flautist Sharon Bezaly has, over the past 20 years, released some 40 albums on BIS, recordings which have contributed to the international recognition that she enjoys. Both on recordings and in concert she has done much to champion new repertoire – she has had no less than 20 concertos dedicated to her. On her new release, however, she turns to core repertoire, although not necessarily that of her own instrument. The two sonatas by Cesar Franck and Gabriel Faure were composed with the violin in mind, and even though Prokofiev's sonata was originally intended for the flute it is often heard in the composer's own version for violin and piano. But joined by the legendary pianist and conductor Vladimir Askenazy, Sharon Bezaly now claims (and reclaims) the three works for her own instrument, in eloquent performances that make the best possible case for the flute.

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Franck, Faure & Prokofiev: Sonatas / Bezaly, Ashkenazy
BIS Nov 2017
SACD
$21.99

Schubert: String Quartets No. 10 And No. 14, "Death And The
BIS Nov 2002
CD
$21.99

American Classics - Corigliano: The Red Violin Caprices / Quint, Wolfram

Naxos

$19.99 May 27, 2008

John Corigliano is a man of many talents – composer, teacher, record producer. This enterprising disc showcases both his earlier work (the violin sonata) and a set of variations based on his score for François Girard’s 1997 film The Red Violin. Sensibly, Naxos have paired them with violin vignettes by Virgil Thomson, perhaps best known for his film scores The Plow That Broke the Plains and The River.

The Russian-born violinist Philippe Quint may not be a household name on this side of the Atlantic but he has made quite an impact in his adopted homeland. Apart from winning a slew of prestigious awards he is dedicated to performing American music. He is partnered here by the charismatic pianist William Wolfram, who made an impact of his own with a fine disc of Donizetti opera transcriptions [see review].

Briefly, The Red Violin traces the travels of the eponymous instrument from Italy in the late 1600s to 19th-century England, China during the Cultural Revolution and finally to Canada in the 1990s. The conceit will be familiar to anyone who has read Accordion Crimes by Brokeback author Annie Proulx.

Corigliano won an Academy Award for the original score, which he has reworked as a set of five variations. From the outset it’s clear we are in the presence of a very fine fiddler. Quint produces a lovely warm tone in the elegiac opening to Variation 1, not to mention some scintillating passagework in the ensuing Con bravura. But it’s in the third variation that he really surprises, with an almost throaty sound. He seems perfectly in control at all times, especially in the quick, rhythmically precise writing towards the end of this variation. In Variation 4 he is wonderfully eloquent, too, and the instrument’s upper registers really sing. He also imbues the music with a meditative quality that is most attractive, notably in the final variation. Even in the more agitated passages he bows with great precision and bite, the engineers capturing the weight and character of sound very well indeed.

For anyone looking to sample Corigliano’s work this is an excellent place to start. His music is described as ‘neo-tonal’ but as so often the label doesn’t tell you a great deal about what to expect. Lightweight it may be but this is skilful music adroitly played. Ditto the violin sonata, where Quint is joined by Wolfram, whose first imperious entry is a sign of what’s to follow. Both soloists are warmly recorded, the violin tone nicely balanced by a weighty piano.

Wolfram proves he can play quietly and with feeling in the Andantino, in marked contrast to his jaunty Allegro. They both respond well to this meanderingly beautiful movement. But even here the music has a habit of modulating into something a little wilder before returning to its gentle wanderings. Indeed, there are times when one is reminded of Korngold’s violin concerto. But whatever the echoes it’s delectable stuff and superbly played.

The third movement – Lento – is more austere than anything we’ve heard thus far; Wolfram restrains the violin’s attempts to break free with darker more declamatory music. The tension is never fully resolved – shades of Shostakovich’s piano trios, perhaps – the movement ending in an enigmatic violin fade.

The final Allegro has a rollicking, silent-film quality that conceals writing of some subtlety and skill. Wolfram springs the rhythms with real affection, Quint shooting the musical rapids with ease. It’s a witty and engaging conclusion to a delightful work, helped by playing of rare commitment. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine this performance being easily trumped.

Virgil Thomson, like his contemporary Aaron Copland, belongs to that small group of composers whose work captures the spirit of America, whether in rousing tributes to the Wild West or evocations of its landscapes and rivers. But the works recorded here are altogether more urban – sophisticated, even – dating as they do from Thomson’s years in Paris.

The Three Portraits, arranged for violin and piano by Samuel Dushkin, are charming vignettes. It’s not essential to identify the subjects, who are rendered here with obvious insight. The first is a tipsy barcarolle, the second a haughty tango, both essayed with rhythmic subtlety and an artist’s eye for defining detail. The bird-like third portrait, complete with trills, is for violin alone. Fresh, open, never sly or knowing, these pieces are little gems.

Five Ladies, written in the 1930s but only published in 1983, offers more of the same but this time without the intervention of an arranger. If anything these pieces are more focused, the writing more distinctive than before. They really are the simplest of sketches, a series of telling musical pencil strokes. The soloists echo this disarmingly simple style with playing of lightness and grace.

The Eight Portraits, written between 1928 and 1940, give Quint another chance to demonstrate his skills. At first they can seem a little dry, almost like a set of practice pieces, but Quint individualises each of them with a range of mood and colour that is most impressive. That said, the material is overstretched at times. Minor caveats aside this really is playing of a high order, self-possessed yet never self-regarding.

Such fine performances of rarely heard works are what make the American Classics series indispensable. Indeed, this is one of the most consistently satisfying projects in the entire Naxos catalogue. And while this disc doesn’t qualify as mould-breaking or profound, it’s well worth hearing.

-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International

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American Classics - Corigliano: The Red Violin Caprices / Quint, Wolfram
Naxos May 2008
CD
$19.99

Brahms: Sonata In F Minor, Intermezzo, Etc / Evgeny Kissin
Sony Masterworks Aug 2003
CD
$11.98

Zuccari: Mass in C Minor & Magnificat in F Major

Urania Records

$18.99 Nov 02, 2018

The Mass in C minor for 5 voices by Francesco Maria Zuccari is included in this priceless collection and is heard here in it's absolute world premiere recording. The piece was first drafted in Assisi in 1723, when Zuccari was Kapellmeister, with a second version with instruments being drafted in 1745, when the musician was first organist at the Santo. The work has, however, presumably not been performed again since that year. The Magnificat in F major also hails from Assisi. It was composed in 1725 and revised later in Padova in 1748. In this recording, the ensemble uses Vallotti's typical tuning, which favors the use of flats and limits the interval of the fifth, showing a greater precision in the interval of third. The Orchestra Barocca di Cremona, conducted by Giovanni Battista Columbro, performs here on original instruments.

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Zuccari: Mass in C Minor & Magnificat in F Major
Urania Records Nov 2018
CD
$18.99

Handel: Concerti grossi, Op. 6 / Christie, Les Arts Florissants

HARMONIA MUNDI

$11.99 Aug 28, 2020

This is William Christie's valedictory disc for Harmonia Mundi before seeking pastures new with Erato. All five works belong to Handel's last and greatest set of concertos, Op. 6, printed in London in 1740. They are splendid pieces and I never tire of listening to them. Christie has chosen three of the four concertos for which optional oboe parts have survived (Nos. I. 2 and 6), as well as the seventh and tenth concertos of the set. It is as good a choice as any if choices have to be made and Christie brings the music to life with all his characteristic enthusiasm and feeling for Handelian idiom. The orchestra of Les Arts Florissants sound on good form, too, achieving a pleasant warmth of string timbre and a greater unanimity of sound than has sometimes been the case in earlier issues.

On the whole I like the presence of oboes in the aforementioned concertos, though the music loses nothing by their absence. Perhaps they are a shade too prominent in the G major Concerto (Op. 6 No. I) but I doubt if this seemingly slight imbalance will bother readers. What I did find more disconcerting, though, were some of the embellishments and cadential elaborations which felt too extended or spun out. One such instance occurs at the close of the Larghetto andante e piano of the F major Concerto (Op. 6 No. 2), where the continuo archlute launches into a veritable solo, albeit in miniature; and again, at the conclusion of the following Allegro the oboes, aided and abetted by the archlute, indulge in imitative flights of fancy. Such moments are neither unimaginative nor lacking in taste but my ears tell me that they are really not necessary. Perhaps I'm just being too English about it—beware of Channel tunnels!

Apart from this reservation, I found Christie's approach refreshing and full of vitality. The playing is wonderfully articulated and the rhythms clear-cut without being at all stiff or unyielding. There are moments, too, of great delicacy as, for example, in the languorous Musette of the G minor Concerto (Op. 6 No. 6), which is eloquently shaped and plentifully endowed with affecting contrasts. Then, at the opposite end of the scale, so to speak, are infectious movements like the Hornpipe of the B flat Concerto (Op. 6 No. 7), and the robust French overture which begins the D minor Concerto (Op. 6 No. 10). Christie enlivens these admirably—though the Hornpipe is, perhaps, a little restrained---responding with spontaneity to Handel's engagingly wide terms of stylistic reference. In short, a stimulating and enjoyable performance, notwithstanding reservations which may worry some ears much less than others.

-- Gramophone [5/1995]
reviewing the original release of this title

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Handel: Concerti grossi, Op. 6 / Christie, Les Arts Florissants
HARMONIA MUNDI Aug 2020
CD
$11.99

Carlstedt, J.: Metamorphosi / Larsson, L.-E.: Little Serenad
BIS Mar 1990
CD
$21.99

Symphony No. 6 In A Minor

Archipel

$10.99 Nov 13, 2015

Recorded in a 1955 concert at Carnegie Hall, the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos with the New York Philharmonic was an advocate and champion of Gustav Mahler. Said by some to bring a radical perspective to Mahler's scores, this re-issue of the so-called "Tragic" symphony enables us to appreciate the much talked about and legendary 1955 performance with superb sound acoustics but has suffered the fate of going in and out of print over the years.

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Symphony No. 6 In A Minor
Archipel Nov 2015
CD
$10.99