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SaleBond: Instruments of Revelation / Muller, Lin, Vinokur, Chicago Pro Musica
Naxos · Apr 2019CD$19.99$9.99 -
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SaleThe Lost Generation - Apostel, Busch & Kauder / Botstein, The Orchestra Now
Avie Records · May 2024CD$19.99$9.99 -
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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 2, Rococo Variations, Andante Cantabile / Elschenbroich, Kitayenko
Oehms Classics · Jan 2013SACD$19.99 -
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Bizet: Symphony In C, Jeux D'enfants, Variations Chromatiques / West, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Reference Recordings · Sep 2013CD$18.99 -
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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 / Helmchen, Manze, Deutsches Symphonie Orchestra
Alpha · Oct 2019CD$20.99 -
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Great Ballet
Ballet was born from the late Renaissance movement in Europe, combining the classical skills of music, dance and drama. Its origins can be traced back to the dance traditions of the nobility in the French and Italian courts of the fifteenth century. The creation of classical ballet as we know it was developed under the auspices of Louis XIV, and was then further refined in France and Russia in the nineteenth century into the hugely influential and highly skilled concert dance form with which we are familiar today. Fittingly this collection starts in France, with one of the most haunting and memorable examples of the ballet form: Adam’s Giselle. We are then swept along in a whirlwind tour of some of the greatest Russian ballets by such great composers as Prokofiev, Khachaturian and Shostakovich, while no ballet anthology would be complete without Tchaikovsky’s three Romantic masterpieces Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. From Delibes to Stravinsky, this collection amply demonstrates why ballet remains one of the most loved musical genres.
Reviews of some of the original recordings that make up this set:
Swan Lake
"With Yablonsky's version of this great work we can enjoy it (if we choose) as a kind of Straussian (Richard) tone poem. The ‘plot’ is fundamentally about the striving of a 'superhero' against evil and allowing him to triumph through the power of love.
So how does Yablonsky’s version compare to the other recordings? Well, Bonynge is operatic in his conception rather than symphonic. Previn for me brings greater excitement than Yablonsky, but once again it is predicated on having sight as well as hearing stimulated. One mentally has to supply the dancing with Previn.
What we have in this Naxos recording is a fine concert performance that allows us to concentrate on the music without having to superimpose movement, colour and narrative. Although we can if we want to - and it is excellent too!"
-- John France, MusicWeb International
Raymonda
"If you want to be reminded just how great the three Tchaikovsky ballets really are - and why The Sleeping Beauty remains the best three-act ballet score of them all then listen to the complete Raymonda. Not that it's a bad piece of work by any means. Even the bottom line - which is that Tchaikovsky simply has inspired dance-melodies by the yard while Glazunov doesn't - is something turned to good use in Raymonda. For while Tchaikovsky finds a new idea or two for each of his characteristic dances, which only throws still more into relief the few truly symphonic stretches of his scores (of which the "Sleep" interlude in The Sleeping Beauty has to be the finest), Glazunov forges connections throughout. A waltz melody becomes a pizzicato variation; even a racy coda turns out to be a brilliant transformation of the grand "Pas de deux" with further themes appended. The three principal characters - sweet Raymonda, her chivalrous hero and the lovesick villain (a Saracen, naturally) - have their leitmotifs, but the plot remains uninterestingly confused. It serves only to provide Glazunov with every flavouring in the balletic hook: medievalism and moonshine in Act I, orientalia in Act 2, a Magyar divertissement in the last and weakest of the acts (poor stuff compared with the outer acts of Coppélia).
That makes for a feeble sense of unity, but few dull moments; and so welcome to a first-rate complete performance. Alexander Anissimov was a conductor unfamiliar to me. He keeps the Moscow Symphony Orchestra on their toes: the strings are keener of articulation than their Bolshoi or Kirov counterparts while balances and dynamics are all observed in an end result of greater sophistication than you might expect from this source (with handsome sound to match). Anissimov excels in the grand symphonic unfolding of the first two numbers and the two Entr'actes, over which he takes more time and care than Fedotov."
-- Gramophone [8/1996]
Le sacre du printemps
"Robert Craft's performance of The Rite of Spring, rescued from oblivion on Koch, proves that in the early ballets he can be both accurate as well as exciting. Extremely well played by the London Symphony, seldom have the complex textures in the Introduction to Part One or the Ritual of the Rival Tribes sounded so clear and natural. And yet, in the Dance of the Earth, or the concluding Sacrificial Dance, Craft pulls out all of the stops to really impressive effect."
-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Awesome Organ: Best Loved Classical Organ Music / Various
Rieti: Complete Piano Solo & Duo Works, Vol. 3
BEETHOVEN: STRING QUARTET, OP. 131
Bond: Instruments of Revelation / Muller, Lin, Vinokur, Chicago Pro Musica
Victoria Bond is a distinguished force in contemporary music. She is known for her melodic and dramatic flair, and her orchestral works, chamber pieces and operas have been lauded by The New York Times as “powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding.” This collection of world premiere recordings by Grammy Award-winning ensemble Chicago Pro Musica provides an essential overview of Bond’s multi-faceted inventiveness- from a musical interpretation of tarot cards in Instruments of Revelation, to descriptive and dramatic images of the tragic city of Pompeii in Frescoes and Ash. Leopold Bloom’s Homecoming expresses in music what is left to our imagination in James Joyce’s Ulysses, and the mathematics of Binary turn the digits 0 and 1 into variations on a Brazilian samba.
The Lost Generation - Apostel, Busch & Kauder / Botstein, The Orchestra Now
If you’ve seen the Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro”, you’ve seen and heard The Orchestra Now, the exceptional ensemble that appears in the movie’s Tanglewood Music Festival scene. The Orchestra Now (TON), a New York-based graduate-level training orchestra comprised of the most vibrant young musicians from around the globe, was founded by conductor, educator and music historian Leon Botstein, whose insatiable curiosity has resulted in rescuing countless musical works from oblivion. Their first recording for AVIE, “The Lost Generation”, brings together three German-speaking composers who were contemporaries of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, but whose music became supressed by historical events of the 20th century.
In November 2022, TON gave the US premiere of Hugo Kauder’s Symphony No. 1, a “splendid” work that “made a splash” (New York Classical Review). The largely self-taught Moravian-born composer had a distinguished career in Vienna until he was forced to flee the Nazis and arrived in New York in 1938. The first of Kauder’s five symphonies was dedicated to Alma Mahler. Whilst his musical language is rooted in the tradition of Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler, he forged an individual voice with his ease and flexibility of harmonic and metrical shifts.
German-born, Austrian composer Hans Erich Apostel studied with Schoenberg and Berg. His works incorporated his mentors’ expressionism and 12-tone methods in equal measure. The Nazis deemed Apostel’s music “degenerate”, but he lived out his life in Vienna until his death in 1972. His Variations on a theme by Haydn, performed frequently in the mid-20th century, is an homage to the second movement of Haydn’s Symphony No. 103, the “Drum Roll, which itself comprises variations on a theme.
Adolf Busch, one of the most celebrated violinists and chamber musicians of the 20th century, was also a prolific composer. A staunch opponent of Nazism, he left his native Germany, arriving first in Switzerland and eventually the United States in 1939. A late Romantic compositional style imbues his Variations on an Original Theme, originally for piano four hands and presented to his wife as a Christmas present in 1944. Busch’s longtime chamber music partner and son-in-law, the pianist Rudolf Serkin, frequently performed the work with his son Peter, who made this orchestration of his grandfather’s composition, in a familial labor of love.
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 2, Rococo Variations, Andante Cantabile / Elschenbroich, Kitayenko
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 2 in c, “Little Russian.” Variations on a Rococo Theme1. String Quartet No. 1 in D: Andante cantabile • Dmitri Kitaenko, cond; 1Leonard Elschenbroich (vc); Cologne Guerzenich O • OEHMS 669 (SACD: 62:56)
As of early February 2013, here is the status of the four major ongoing Tchaikovsky symphony cycles.
Poppen Reviewed Reviewer Kitaenko Reviewed Reviewer
1 34:3 Dubins 1 36:3 Dubins
2 36:1 Morrison/Bayley 2 36:6 Dubins
3 36:1 Morrison/Bayley 5 35:6 Dubins
4 33:3 Dubins 6 35:1 Morrison
6 35:4 Dubins
Pletnev Reviewed Reviewer Jurowski Reviewed Reviewer
1 35:6 Dubins/Grames 1 33:4 Dubins
2 36:2 Dubins 4 36:4 Dubins
3 36:4 Dubins 5 36:4 Dubins
4 34:6 Pomeroy 6 33:4 Dubins
5 35:3 Rabinowitz
6 35:3 Dubins
Notes:
(1) Thus far, only Pletnev’s cycle is complete. Poppen’s is close, with only the Symphony No. 5 left to go. If a symphony number is absent from one of the above tables, it means that that symphony has not yet appeared as of this writing.
(2) Of the four cycles, two are on SACD—Pletnev’s on PentaTone and Kitaenko’s on Oehms.
(3) One label is competing against itself—the Kitaenko and Poppen cycles are both on Oehms, but only the former is available in SACD format.
(4) For the sake of consistency, I’ve adopted the spelling of Dmitri Kitaenko’s name as it appears in the Fanfare Archive, but the Oehms discs give his name as Kitajenko, and I’ve encountered it elsewhere as Kitayenko.
(5) As is clear from the above tables, the overwhelming majority of these releases have been assigned to me. I’ve enjoyed the assignments because I’m a fan of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies—well, most of them, anyway—but I wish that more of my colleagues could have submitted reviews of these releases as well; for I, and the reader, I’m sure, would be interested to learn if others share or disagree with my conclusions.
For the most part, I’ve favored Pletnev for his dramatically charged readings, for the superb playing of the Russian National Orchestra, and for PentaTone’s exceptionally dynamic recordings. But what I call dramatically charged, others might call volatile and over the top. I’ve also criticized PentaTone for its rather ungenerous fillers.
Between Poppen and Jurowski the only question is which one I prefer less than the other. Both conductors and their respective orchestras—the London Philharmonic for Jurowski and the Southwest German Radio Orchestra for Poppen—have their strong points, among which are solid and secure playing in even-tempered, articulate performances and first-rate recorded sound. But relistening to them in preparation for this review, I found my original conclusions confirmed. There’s nothing exceptional in Poppen or Jurowski’s readings to make them standouts in the crowd. Then too, of the four cycles under discussion, these are the two that are not in SACD. A few years ago that wouldn’t have mattered; the recordings would have been considered state-of-the-art. But Tchaikovsky is one of music’s greatest orchestrators, and the subtleties and myriad details of his orchestration really benefit from well-engineered multichannel recordings.
So, here we are with Kitaenko’s fourth installment in his cycle, Tchaikovsky’s “Little Russian” Symphony, the No. 2. As I’ve had occasion to opine before, it’s a tossup, as far as I’m concerned, as to which is the weakest of the composer’s symphonies, the No. 2 or the No. 3. Kitaenko actually makes a stronger case for No. 2, I believe, than does Pletnev, the only other No. 2 out of the four above cycles I’ve reviewed. Kitaenko’s first movement is slower by only 33 seconds—11:29 vs. 10:56—but that slightly slower tempo gives the performance a feeling of being tighter, more disciplined, and better controlled. Pletnev drives the movement harder, which, in comparison, makes it sound a bit wild-eyed. In Kitaenko’s hands, the remaining three movements are slower too, considerably so in fact, such that his overall timing for the symphony is 36:07 compared to Pletnev’s 31:47. That’s really a significant difference. For the most part, I do think Kitaenko’s slower tempos work to the advantage of this particular score. Tearing through it the way Pletnev does only further trivializes its already subpar inspiration.
Here comes the hard choice. Complementing the symphony on Kitaenko’s disc is Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, welcome for its brilliant performance by young, London-based cellist Leonard Elschenbroich who plays the magnificent “Leonard Rose” cello made by Venetian luthier, Matteo Goffriller. Unfortunately, Elschenbroich chooses to perform the defiled Wilhelm Fitzenhagen version of the score, as so many cellists do. In a nutshell, Tchaikovsky entrusted Fitzenhagen, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, to edit and fine-tune the cello part. In the composer’s absence, the emboldened professor performed a sorcerer’s apprentice repair job on the vehicle, connecting the windshield wipers to the exhaust pipe. When the sorcerer returned from abroad, he was so shocked and disgusted by what Fitzenhagen had done that he washed his hands of the whole thing, exclaiming, “Let the devil take it; let it stay as it is.” And for the most part it has.
Beyond the minor changes to dynamics and phrasing, Fitzenhagen reduced the number of variations from eight to seven and moved the third variation, along with the cadenza that precedes it and the Allegro that follows it, to the very end of the work. This resulted in two variations of similar character being juxtaposed, a problem Fitzenhagen solved by removing the last variation and tacking its closing paragraphs on to the concluding Allegro vivace. What possessed him to do all of this is not clear, but Tchaikovsky’s exasperated “let it stay as it is” has been taken by many, if not most, modern cellists as license for performing Fitzenhagen’s hatchet job. If you would like to hear the piece the way Tchaikovsky originally wrote it, I can recommend Julian Lloyd Webber’s Philips recording with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maxim Shostakovich.
The thing is that Elschenbroich’s performance of the work on this disc is really outstanding, which, in part, is what makes the choice between this new Kitaenko release and Pletnev’s a difficult one, for Pletnev offers as a filler for his Tchaikovsky Second the composer’s original first movement to the symphony, which the composer majorly revised a number of years later. The revised version is the standard form in which the symphony is performed today, so it’s instructive to be able to hear Tchaikovsky’s original thoughts.
The current Oehms album concludes with a souped-up version of the famous Andante cantabile movement from Tchaikovsky’s D-Major String quartet in what sounds like an arrangement for solo cello and string orchestra. My guess is that Elschenbroich plays the cello part while the orchestra’s strings play the violin and viola parts, but the cellist is placed so far forward and is so dominant that for much of the time it’s hard to tell what the strings are playing, or if they’re playing at all.
Decisions, decisions. I prefer Kitaenko’s way with the Second Symphony to Pletnev’s, and I’m very impressed by Elschenbroich’s Rococo Variations, though I wish he’d have opted for Tchaikovsky’s original version. On the other hand, Pletnev’s inclusion of the Second Symphony’s original first movement is a valuable addition to his disc. As for the respective orchestras and recordings, both make an equally visceral impact. I suppose the only advice I can offer you is to acquire them both. FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
BEETHOVEN: COMPLETE VARIATIONS FOR PIANO VOL. 1
Bizet: Symphony In C, Jeux D'enfants, Variations Chromatiques / West, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
BIZET Symphony No. 1 in C. Jeux d’enfants. Variations chromatiques (arr. Weingartner) • Martin West, cond; San Francisco Ballet O • REFERENCE 131 (75:27)
While we rightly lament the deaths of Mozart and Schubert, which came much too early, let us also save a few tears for Georges Bizet, who died at age 36 shortly after having composed what is, arguably, the most popular opera ever written, a piece that was admired by such disparate musical figures as Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner. He also left behind him such charming pieces as Jeux d’enfants , the L’Arlesienne incidental music, the Symphony in C, and The Pearl Fishers. Jeux d’enfants , a suite of 12 brief pieces, was originally composed for piano, four hands. To simplify my task, I’ll give the names in sequence since I will be referring to them again: 1) “L’Escarpolette” (The Swing), 2) “La Toupie” (The Top), 3) “La Poupée” (The Doll), 4) “Les Chevaux de bois” (Hobby Horses), 5) “Le Volant” (The Shuttlecock), 6) “Trompette et Tambour” (Trumpet and Drum), 7) “Les Bulles de savon” (Soap Bubbles), 8) “Les Quatre Coins” (Puss in the Corner), 9) “Colin-Maillard” (Blind Man’s Bluff), 10) “Saute-Mouton” (Leap Frog), 11) “Petit Mari, petite femme” (Little Husband, Little Wife), 12) “Le Bal” (The Ball). Bizet later orchestrated numbers 2, 3, 6, 11, and 12 and named the result the Petite Suite.
Given the ballet origins of this collection, a little history might be appropriate. In 1932, Leonide Massine choreographed Jeux d’enfants for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, using the five pieces Bizet orchestrated with the rest orchestrated by (I’m guessing here) Sigfrid Karg-Elert. Unfortunately Massine’s autobiography only mentions the sets by Joan Miró—perhaps the name of the orchestrator did not interest him. Antal Doráti did not conduct the opening night, but I assume that as a conductor for the company he was familiar with the arrangement. In 1937, presumably with the limited space of 78s in mind, he recorded 10 of the pieces with the London Symphony Orchestra, omitting numbers 7 and 10, changing the order of two pieces, and making a cut in number one. Though he was quite capable of doing his own arrangements, I am assuming that the five non-Bizet orchestrations were by Karg-Elert. Later, Jeux d’enfants was choreographed by George Balanchine (2–8) and Francisco Moncion (9–12) with number one serving as an Overture. One reference book says the non-Bizet pieces were “orchestrated by an unidentified English composer.” Could it have been Roy Douglas? Still later, Balanchine used only numbers 6, 3, 11, and 12 for a pas de deux called The Steadfast Tin Soldier.
Several conductors have recorded the Petite Suite, but I guess this is the first recording of a complete orchestrated Jeux d’enfants . On this recording, in addition to the Petite Suite excerpts, the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra performs five orchestrations by Roy Douglas and two ( L’Escarpolette and La Volant ) by Hershey Kay. Whereas Doráti had to concern himself with fitting the music onto 78 sides and sometimes rushed the tempos, Martin West uses the time available to him and the result is moderate, danceable tempos—I particularly like his relaxed way with “Trompette et Tambour.” Throughout, he allows the music’s simple charm to come through.
I suppose most people are aware of the fact that Bizet’s Symphony in C is a student work, written in 1855 when he was merely 17. Bizet apparently forgot about it, and it did not receive its official premiere until 80 years later when Felix Weingartner led a performance in Basel, Switzerland. Later the music was the basis of one of George Balanchine’s signature ballets, Le Palais de Cristal , eventually simply called Symphony in C . I don’t think I’ve ever heard a recording that does the last movement repeat, but it is used in the choreographed version and West does it. He also does the first movement exposition repeat, which isn’t used in the ballet. Perhaps hearing the piece done by ballet orchestras (usually conducted by Robert Irving) is responsible for my affection for this performance, which is so pleasant and danceable. It is most definitely my favorite recording of the nine that I own (for the record, Ansermet, Beecham, Delacôte, Munch, Pons, Saraste, Stokowski 1 and 2, West) but I wonder if many people will favor it since everyone else takes it faster and skips some of the repeats.
Given that Felix Weingartner was the first conductor to lead a performance of the Symphony, it’s not inappropriate to complete the CD with his orchestration of Bizet’s Variations chromatiques , originally composed for piano in 1868. I imagine that Bizet’s piano music, other than Jeux d’enfants , hardly gets played at all. He wrote very little of it and, while Weingartner’s orchestration adds a welcome element of color and power, the piece still doesn’t exactly fly. Bizet’s biographer, Winton Dean, wrote, “It seems probable that, though he loved to play genuine keyboard music … his greatest interest in the piano lay in its power beneath his fingers to evoke the different colors of the orchestra….His original music for the piano suffers from a double disadvantage: it is too clumsy to reward the concert pianist and too difficult for the moderate amateur.” Even if one discounts the Variations chromatiques (and some may like it more than I do), that still leaves the CD with an hour of delightful music and music-making. It’s beautifully recorded, too.
FANFARE: James Miller
Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance Marches, Etc / Gibson, Et Al
Recorded in: Glasgow City Hall 3-4 September 1978 (Enigma Variations) & 11 August 1977 (Pomp and Circumstance Marches) Recorded in: Guildhall, Southampton July 1976 (CD2, tracks 1-14) Recorded in: Christchurch Priory, Dorset 1975 (CD 2, tracks 15-20) Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Brian Couzens Ralph Couzens (Assistant)
PIANO SONATAS 3
Feldman Edition Vol. 6 - String Quartet No 2 / Flux Quartet
String Quartet No. 2 (1983)
FLUX Quartet
Tom Chiu, violin
Cornelius Duffalo, violin
Kenji Bunch, viola
Darrett Adkins, cello
Feldman's monumental String Quartet No.2 is in one unbroken movement. The FLUX Quartet performance is complete, lasting a total of 6 hours 7 minutes and 7 seconds. Available in 2 Editions: a 5-CD set OR complete and uninterrupted on 1-DVD!
In the 1970s Feldman took up the study and collecting of antique Turkish rugs, a highly evolved and exquisite folk art. The rugs are intricately patterned, symmetrical in basic design but with constant variation and displacement in the detailed execution of that design; strikingly and subtly colored, including fine variegations of principal colors resulting from the dyeing process. Analogies are clear to Feldman's music as it takes up large-scale patterning, partly working with his familiar subtle gradations of rhythm and instrumental color and ostinati, loops or extended repetitions of a sounds, partly - and especially in this second string quartet - continually finding new and surprising qualities of color. There are a number of sounds in this piece unlike anything one has heard from a string quartet.
Lasting more than six continuous hours, it is "a disorienting, transfixing experience that repeatedly approached and touched the sublime." - Alex Ross, in his review of the FLUX Quartet's New York City performance in The New Yorker.
String Quartet 2's score is 124 pages, at one tempo marking of 63-66 beats per minute - as such, a slow tempo. Feldman idiosyncratically sets the bars, so one page may last as little as about half a minute or as much as nearly seven minutes.
"A very exciting quartet composed of four young men...who have lots of ideas and clearly enjoy making music together," - Anthony Tommasini, NY Times, the FLUX Quartet has performed to rave reviews at many music centers around the world. FLUX have performed Quartet 2 in concert numerous times and know the score intimately. The FLUX Quartet's repertoire consists of notable pioneers as well as visionaries of tomorrow - from "classics" by Nancarrow, Ligeti, and Cage, to works by John Zorn, Ornette Coleman, Oliver Lake, and tenor balloonist Judy Dunaway.
This deluxe set features liner notes by Feldman's colleague Christian Wolff, mixing personal experiences and recollections with analysis; and by FLUX founder Tom Chiu who writes of the "experience" of performing such a large-scale work.
One can experience the work uninterrupted - complete, with no need to change discs - on the DVD Edition; along with the thrilling realism of uncompressed 24-bit PCM sound. This audio-only DVD can be played on any DVD player (note: there are no visuals).
For ease of navigation, both the DVD and CD versions have many track points (approximately every 5-6 pages of the score) which allow you to navigate through the disc(s) and the piece. The tracks are identical for both the DVD and CD.
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 / Helmchen, Manze, Deutsches Symphonie Orchestra
As the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth approaches, and following a much-admired version of the Diabelli Variations (Alpha 386 – Gramophone Editor’s Choice), Martin Helmchen has decided to record his complete piano concertos in the company of musical partners with whom he has a special affinity, Andrew Manze and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. They devote this first volume to the Concertos nos. 2 and 5, giving lovingly polished performances of these two masterpieces of the piano repertory. Composed even before Concerto ‘no. 1’, the ‘Second’ Concerto was premiered in Vienna in 1795, when Beethoven was only twenty-five years old, but underwent several revisions before being published in its final version in 1801. Concerto no. 5 is the last that Beethoven composed. Though completed in 1808, it was not premiered until 1811. Beethoven normally gave the first performance of his concertos himself, but this time his increasing deafness meant he was unable to do so.
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REVIEW:
Theirs is to all appearances a straight-down-the-middle approach. Yet it does stand high and proud for its artistry, poetry, stylish musicianship and, perhaps above all, rapport between soloist and conductor. This really does feel like a meeting of minds.
– Gramophone
Suppe: Overtures, Marches / Jarvi, Royal Scottish NO
SUPPÉ Overtures: Leichte Kavallerie; Boccaccio; Pique-Dame; Dichter und Bauer; Das Modell; Isabella; Die schöne Galathée; Ein Morgen, ein Mittag und ein Aband in Wien. Boccaccio-Marsch. Humoristische Variationen. Marziale nach Motiven aus der Operette “Fatinitza.” Über Berg, über Thal. Juanita-Marsch • Neeme Järvi, cond; Royal Scottish Natl O • CHANDOS 5110 (SACD: 79: 42)
If your familiarity with Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo Cavaliere Suppé Demelli (Franz von Suppé to most of us) is limited to the Overtures to Light Cavalry and Poet and Peasant , then this disc is for you. It can be summed up in two words: GREAT FUN! Thirteen numbers spanning half a century (1844-1895) make up this 80-minute program, and few will disappoint. Right from the opening trumpet fanfare of Light Cavalry —bright, boisterous, splendidly assured—one senses that this disc is going to be a total delight. Tight rhythms, crisp articulation, immense verve, and Chandos’s vividly brilliant sound inform every number.
Unless you are already a die-hard Suppé fan, there are bound to be joyful surprises at every turn. The coda to the Queen of Spades Overture will have you positively jumping out of your seat and cheering with exhilaration. The March after Motifs from Fatinitza (arranged by the 20th-century Max Schönherr) is curiously reminiscent of the March from Beethoven’s Ruins of Athens . Listeners who know Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture will recognize one of its themes in the Humorous Variations , although it should be remembered that Suppé’s overture preceded Brahms’s by more than 30 years. And make no mistake, there is humor aplenty in Suppé’s work.
Exclusively Suppé discs are not common. Those that exist are almost all devoted only to the overtures, and I haven’t found any released since 2001, when Marco Polo issued Vol. 6 of its Suppé Overtures series (Volumes 1, 2, 4, and 5 have been reviewed in Fanfare 18:4, 18:6, 19:4, and 22:6). That makes the present item under consideration all the more welcome as it includes four marches and a variation set in addition to eight overtures, some well known, others not.
Extensive program notes by Calum MacDonald about each work add further sparkle to this outstanding release. Definitely a Want List candidate.
FANFARE: Robert Markow
Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 1-3 / Chiaroscuro Quartet
For a string player, Beethoven’s 16 quartets are of an importance similar to that of his sonatas to a pianist, or his symphonies to a conductor. As a body they form the culmination of all the chamber music composed before them, and to this day they remain a benchmark for every composer of string quartets. The Chiaroscuro Quartet begin their cycle of these works at the same place as Beethoven did, with the Op. 18 set which occupied him intensively for the best part of two years (1798 – 1800). The effort he put into these quartets was surely due to the fact that he had much to live up to – they would be measured against those of Haydn and Mozart, who had raised the genre to a supreme vehicle for ‘learned’ taste and subtle, civilized musical discourse. Beethoven was clearly determined that the six Op.?18 quartets should present the widest possible overview of his art. Of the three works included on this first volume, No.?1 in F major is the most imposing in scale and the widest in expressive range. In comparison, the second quartet, in G major, is more urbane and light-hearted, recreating the spirit of an eighteenth-century comedy of manners à la Haydn. The most lyrical of the set is Quartet No.?3 in D major, which despite its numbering was probably the first quartet that Beethoven completed.
REVIEW:
Quartet 3 in D major is the most striking, its first movement all surprises. Surprise 1 is its sense of improvisation, well conveyed by Alina Ibragimova. Surprise 2 is Ibragimova seamlessly introducing a second theme determinedly enjoying life. Surprise 3 is the cello, laying down a backcloth of octave leap then descent in quavers while the upper parts’ third theme comprises a spurting ascent and triumph of hammered crotchets. Surprise 4, all instruments together in a fourth theme of gracious chordal stability. Surprise 5, a crashing call to attention. Surprise 6: the development casts the opening theme in D minor. Surprise 7, a crisis with a surround of writhing quavers and conclusion of ff quavers in triplets by all. Surprise 8, a sudden calm and recapitulation. Surprise 9: the coda, Ibragimova bringing gazing, mystical questioning to that opening theme, the fourth theme response relieving it to return on an even keel, comfortably displayed by second violin and cello and enthusiastically validated by Ibragimova.
In the Andante con moto, the Chiaroscuros demonstrate the idée fixe of an opening theme progressing satisfyingly: just two largely rising sequences followed by two falling ones. The playful second theme is fastidiously pointed by Ibragimova and colleagues in turn. Soon comes an exploration of more sombre, questioning aspects of the first theme in a kind of variation proposed by first violin and cello and cast in pale sunlight, a striking effect from the Chiaroscuros’ gut strings, by first and second violins. Contrasted is the return of the second theme’s playfulness, then a wonderfully rounded, contrapuntally rich ‘variation’ of the first theme In the coda the cello brings a final observation of the shadowy low, and from first violin high, boundaries of the theme.
The third movement is an Allegro stylish dance from the Chiaroscuros, not labelled Minuet, not a Scherzo. It’s full of nuances well caught by the Chiaroscuros: pauses, rests and a sense of searching out the light. The ‘Trio’ in D minor has the second violin initiating running quavers, then the first taking them into upper register, the others treading saturninely the four-note ground bass Bach used in his Partita 2 for solo violin Ciaccona.
The Presto finale is an incisive display of rhythmic displacement, dynamic and textural contrasts, its development climax powerful. It sounds quite like 20th century music for strings. The Chiaroscuros deliver it with taste and polish, their coda both triumphant and carefree. The Dovers go for a lighter approach which, while matched by good contrast of accents and dynamics, doesn’t have the edge and tricksiness of the Chiaroscuros.
Best of the rest? In Quartet 1 in F major, the Adagio slow movement in D minor, marked affettuoso ed appassionato. From Ibragimova’s mournful first violin arioso there’s a vivid sense of exploring as well as experiencing this atmosphere of grief. Light comes with the F major second theme, started by second violin and sweetened by the first, a meditation extended by the viola, second and first violin in sustained, unhurried and unharried communion by the Chiaroscuros. Pianissimo reflection then moves suddenly to f despair, the Chiaroscuros gaunt and uncompromising, but becalmed by the first violin and viola in turn dwelling on the opening four notes of the first theme, so that also subject to meditation. Come the recapitulation of the first theme, after its first phrase the first violin is assaulted by the second and viola, to which it responds with movingly plaintive eloquence. The second theme return consoles, but D major sunlight is wintrier than F major. In the coda, the first violin takes frenzied flight in hemidemisemiquavers in septuplets, Claire Thirion’s cello staunchly maintains the first theme attacked by both violins. A crashing ff discord climax releases the first violin to muse in pitying empathy.
In Quartet 2 in G major, best is the finale, Allegro molto, quasi-Presto. The Chiaroscuros point well the soft, trim first theme before arrestingly sprightly loud wake-up. Then Thirion’s very loud entry of the theme, grittily delivered while Ibragimova half shrieks an equally determined counter motif, yet soon exchanges this for a delicate second theme, demurely echoed by Emilie Hörnlund’s viola, before a delightful sequence of luxuriant yawns from Ibragimova, before launching into a sylphlike dance. This provokes a bold re-entry of the first theme by second violin and viola with Ibragimova in wildly dazzling descant. The true first theme recapitulation begins quite docile, but Ibragimova decamps in showers of semiquavers. Thereafter the Chiaroscuros memorably keep the texture light, illuminating the contrapuntal ingenuity. The coda has a nicely pointed pp start before a crescendo to the scintillating ff close.
– MusicWeb International (Michael Greenhalgh)
Rued Langgaard: String Quartets, Vol. 2
For Dacapo and the Nightingale String Quartet (NSQ) alike, this is a quickish follow-up to volume 1 of Rued Langgaard's string quartets, released in spring 2012. It has a very similar feel. The only noteworthy difference, arguably, is the fact that the three works heard here come from an earlier period. That was before his music became more idiosyncratically flirtatious - or "filled with so much frustration and weirdness", as the NSQ's first violinist referred to the first-disc quartets. Indeed, this trio in particular is said to encapsulate feelings of love towards a certain 'Dora' that would stay with Langgaard all his life - even after his later marriage to Constance. There is, consequently, a lot of lyrical warmth and nostalgia embedded in these scores, which are basically late-Romantic-cum-neo-Classical in spirit. They are indeed conservative enough for Carl Nielsen's somewhat earlier quartets to be considered a useful reference point.
Dacapo have promised nine string quartets, the six numbered ones plus the A flat and Rosengaardsspil, both heard here, and the set of variations already appearing on volume 1. There exists also a late and very short quartet movement, the 'Italian Scherzo', which may or may not be included on the single volume to come. With the cycle Dacapo are, curiously, in direct competition with themselves: a double disc featuring quartets nos. 2-6 was recorded by the estimable Kontra Quartet in the 1980s, originally appearing on RCA LPs (DCCD 9302). It appears the Kontras never did complete their Langgaard cycle, although that may be due in part to gaps in the scholarship at the time.
Lest the collector be drawn to the present set primarily by the 'SACD' badge, it may be worth recalling that the first disc, recorded by the same team at the same location, did not really deliver 'Super-Audio' engineering, despite a short-listing for the 2013 BBC Music Magazine Awards. Volume 2 is no different: spacious, but so bright that the NSQ might have been given protective sunglasses for the recording sessions. Furthermore, although microphones have thankfully been kept away from players' noses, background traffic does intrude repeatedly in the more tranquil passages - of which there are quite a few.
Still, these quibbles are not so major as to constitute a true caveat emptor. Besides Langgaard's delightful, fundamentally hospitable music, the NSQ's interpretations are also most commendable. Volume 1 was in fact their commercial recording debut, but they showed little sign of greenness or nerves. A year or so on, they seem even more relaxed and in tune with the works of their maverick compatriot. A blend of expressive astuteness and technical self-confidence leaves the whole project smelling aptly of roses. The CD's credit side is further augmented by extensive and informative booklet notes, in English and Danish.
-- Byzantion, MusicWeb International
Bach: Organ Works / Guillou
This is a reissue of six separate discs Jean Guillou recorded for Dorian in 1987 (1 and 6) and 1990 (2–5), issued separately in 1990 and 1993. I couldn’t find reviews of them in the Fanfare Archive, which doesn’t go back that far. Elsewhere on the Internet, however, one finds both lavish praise and caveats, the latter because these are not strict readings of Bach’s music but contain moments in which Guillou, himself a composer, dares to improvise certain notes or passages, which brings the listener to decide whether or not such an approach is valid.
One online review said that Guillou plays these works much like Glenn Gould played Bach on piano, but where Gould’s reinterpretations extended only to tempo and phrasing, Guillou also adds or changes the music. As you can expect, reactions to this vary widely, from one Amazon reviewer who said (as I would) that “he improvises in such a way that casual listeners never suspect … that what they are hearing is not part of the piece they think they are hearing,” to Joel Warren Lidz, Ph.D., who flatly states that “his Dorian recordings are a joke in my opinion.” Both reactions are possible depending on your perspective. On the one hand, improvisation was accepted Baroque practice in solo instrumental music. Yehuda Hanani recorded Bach’s cello suites in a similar manner. But on the other hand, Bach’s music is considered sacrosanct; what one is permitted to do in Couperin, Scarlatti, or Vivaldi is simply not done in Bach. His works are considered complete and immutable.
In the final analysis, however, the most important question is, does it work, or is it really obtrusive? That must be left to the decision of each auditor. I say that it works. Should, or could, this approach be applied to other works by Bach? I think so, particularly in A Musical Offering and Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2. But, again, this is purely subjective and speculative.
As for Guillou’s playing there can be no argument. He is not only a virtuoso of the first rank, but shows a remarkable grasp of line and structure, rhythm and color. His feet and fingers fly so swiftly over the instrument that one is left in awe that he is also able to change registration, sometimes in the very middle of a passage. His playing is indeed relative to Gould’s in the sense that quick tempos and rhythmic acuity (almost a little clipped at times, like Gould) are hallmarks of his style. But also like Gould at various stages of his career, Guillou does not slough off or rush legato passages, but lingers a bit over them (as in the Trio Sonata BWV 525) with loving affection. He is, above all, French, and therefore brings a very Gallic sensibility to this music. Indeed, going through this set, one may be struck, as I was, by the sheer variety of moods he is able to evoke. Guillot clearly views Bach’s organ music as both evocative and structural, and so does not ignore either aspect of the music.
Of course, this set only includes about half of Bach’s organ music, not counting the concertos or spurious works given BWV numbers. Guillot made a second, complete, set issued by Philips on 12 CDs in 1999. You can find reference to it, and a photo of the box, at bach-cantatas.com/NVP/Guillou.htm#Organ2, but neither a catalog number nor an outlet where you can buy it outside of Amazon. The fact that it appears to be available only in Bach’s home country tells me that the Germans love his playing a lot more than American or British musicological pedants do.
Considering that the set is incomplete, I wondered why one whole disc was devoted to the Goldberg Variations rather than more of the bona-fide organ music. Listening explained why. Not only does Guillou view this music as an opportunity to (literally) pull out all the stops, but the score also gives him license to improvise beyond one’s expectations or belief. He turns the very first variation, for instance, into a two-part contrapuntal dialogue, taken at a rapid clip, but nothing in the entire boxed set prepared me for his playing of Variation 14. This will absolutely blow you away—I haven’t heard its like in 40 years of listening to organ playing, Bach, the Goldberg Variations , or any combination thereof. When it started, I thought for sure this was speeded up from the original tape for release. It seemed to me impossible that any human being, particularly one in his 70s at the time of recording, could play this fast. But there it is.
Two organs are used, discs 2–5 being recorded at the Tonhalle, Zurich, while discs 1 and 6 (the Goldberg Variations ) were recorded on the special Klueker organ that Guillou himself designed at the Church of Our Lady of the Snows in Alpe d’Huez, France. Both are modern in sound, with a wide variety of stops and registrations that add considerable color. The sound quality is spectacular, combining both a close perspective for brilliant passages and atmospheric roominess for quieter and more muted ones. If you insist on authentic-organ performances, there are not one but two series by Helmut Walcha, in a 10-CD set (mono) on Deutsche Grammophon 000185602 and a 12-disc set (stereo) on Archiv 463712; or the much better-recorded (and less dryly performed) 11-CD set by George Ritchie on Raven 875, possibly your best buy at around $60. Yet my personal recommendation for a “straight” set played by a master on older organs goes to the great Marie-Claire Alain (her third and last set, 14 CDs on Erato 96358, by all accounts her finest).
Your decision to acquire this Guillou set will, of course, depend on the issues described above, but I really think you owe it to yourself to hear it. Besides, it is a bargain, selling for a little more than the price of two of the single discs, if you can find them (not all are still in print). I recommend it, even as the only set you may want of Bach’s organ works, unless you are a purist or a completist.
FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley
This six-CD set presents J. S. Bach’s great works for organ performed by Jean Guillou, a leading exponent of his instrument. The discs were recorded in 1987 and 1990 on the Kleuer organ of the Eglise Notre-Dame des Neiges at l’Alpe d’Huez and on the Kleuker-Steinmeyer organ of the Tonhalle in Zurich. These are both exceptionally fine instruments, with focused, clear tone throughout the range and well-differentiated voicing. Guillou’s performances are extremely intelligent, with well-thought-out registration and an excellent resultant layering of sound. Individual voices are brought appropriately to the foreground and the climaxes are solid, though never clogged with redundant sound. The use of registration is particularly refreshing in the context of the better-known works - Guillou’s sense of dialogue in the closing paragraph of the Toccata of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 is palpable, lending a new perspective to a work that is so often characterised by an indulgent wash of sound. The delineation of voices can be heard to good advantage, too, in the Chorale Preludes - the chorale melody occupies the foreground to a sufficient extent to be evident, but still at a level of translucency that allows Bach’s often startlingly innovative harmonic interpretation to shine through. Listen to In dulci jubilo, BWV 608 and An Wasserflüssen Babylon, BWV 653, for particularly interesting examples of this. Striking harmonic piquancy is imparted through judicious use of the Sesquialtera on the Positif, which some listeners may find disturbing at first; but once the ear has accustomed itself to this slightly unusual colour, it will be perceived as an enhancement to the harmonic color and as an excitingly innovative dimension to the sound-landscape.
Guillou’s employment of rhythm as an expressive medium is also impressive, and results in a momentum that is essentially horizontal: he allows the music’s harmonic characteristic to inform the vertical element and thus brings the melodic element to the fore. Such an interpretation becomes at once a celebration of Bach’s contrapuntal art and a realisation of its basis in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century vocal polyphony.
The booklet notes are clear and well-written, with the works appropriately grouped according to type; although those unfamiliar with musicological research connected with this music might appreciate a brief explanation of the credentials of the ubiquitously mentioned Peter Williams. There is enough technical detail to provide ‘signposts’ to guide a listener through the works; and informative historical data, too; as well as some enjoyable anecdotes (such as Hubert Parry’s word-setting of the subject of the G minor Fugue). Fascinating notes on the organs and full specifications of both are given, pleasingly enough. An authoritative and fascinating set of discs.
-- Em Marshall, MusicWeb International
C. P. E. Bach: Rondos & Fantasias / Christine Schornsheim
For this program, Christine Schornsheim has selected an absolutely magnificent tangent piano housed in Schloß Bad Korzingen, one which, along with her scintillating playing, really brings this music to life. Not only does it allow her to sweep up and down the keyboard in those glittering arpeggios with which Bach adorns his Fantasias (try Wq 58/6), but the instrument turns on a dime. It can sustain a tone, or cut it off with amazing abruptness, giving an extra punch to those sudden modulations and changes of timbre and texture that make this music so exciting.
The program is also an unusually interesting one–a selection of Rondos and Fantasias from Bach’s Kenner and Liebhaber series of late keyboard works. The Rondos are supposed to be CPE’s concession to the popular taste, but they are anything but “easy” in the sense that they are often just as virtuosic as anything else that he wrote, and they are not rondos in the classical sense at all. Formally, they are more like variation sets with brief interludes coming between each varied restatement of theme, which may not return in its entirety.
Another noteworthy aspect of this program is that Schornsheim only includes three pieces in minor keys out of a total of thirteen (Wq 59/4, 56/5, and 61/4). So many programs stress the Sturm und Drang aspects of Bach’s music, but this program proves that he could be just as inventive, and unpredictable, writing in a cheerier mood. There are some very substantial works here, packed with colorful contrasts, including the C Major Fantasia Wq 59/6. and the wonderful E Major Rondo Wq 57/1, and Schornsheim plays them all with unaffected mastery and an impish delight in their “what comes next” abruptness. The engineering of her splendid instrument is also drop-dead gorgeous. This is a great recital from start to finish, an aural and expressive delight.
-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
