BERLIOZ: LA DAMNATION DE FAUST, Soloists, London Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle/LSO Live LSO 0809D SACD Classical music lovers are following the saga of the new concert hall for the LSO in London (to be situated on the site of the London Museum near the Barbican) with keen interest, despite the contradictory reports we hear. Fortunately – in the interim — the orchestra is as busy as ever in familiar venues – and the ever reliable LSO Live label continues to set down for posterity some remarkable performances in SACD sound. As here: Simon Rattle and the orchestra tease out every nuance of Berlioz’s colourful score, and with a top-notch group of vocal soloists, this bids fair to be the definitive recording of the piece.
VERDI & DONIZETTI: ARIAS, Michael Fabiano, tenor, London Voices, London Philharmonic orchestra, Enrique Mazzola, PENTATONE PTC 518 6750 The first thing one notes about the remarkable tenor voice of Michael Fabiano is the exquisitely honed timbre utilised in this collection of Italian opera arias. But it is not just beauty of sound that Fabiano specialises in; the dramatic imperatives of each individual piece are realised with great aplomb. Alongside such familiar plums as La Donna è Mobile, there are neglected, less familiar pieces by Verdi and Donizetti. Ironically, one of the effects of this disc will be to send listeners to complete recordings of the operas – but this well-chosen recital fully deserves the listener’s attention.
STRAUSS: EINE HELDENLEBEN, DER ROSENKAVALIER SUITE, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Thomas Sondergard/Linn CKD 510 Strauss’s magnificent tone poem (which some aficionados consider to be his finest) has been lucky over the years in terms of superlative recorded performances, but few have the sheer finesse and vigour of this new reading. The recorded sound is admirable, although it is once again a source of regret that the Linn label has abandoned its commitment to surround sound recordings – it is undoubtedly true that the latter medium does more justice to Strauss’s colourful writing than the serviceable stereo on offer here.
BEETHOVEN PIANO SONATAS, OP. 110 & OP. 111; BAGATELLES, OP. 126 Yevgeny Sudbin/BIS2208 SACD Many listeners regard these two Beethoven sonatas as the summit of the piano repertoire, and it is a formidable test of a musician’s skill to bring off Opus 110 & Opus 111 with the drama and musicianship that is the sine qua non of these pieces. Yevgeny Sudbin has the absolute measure of the music here, and the recording of the piano timbre is sensitively rendered in BIS’ first-rate surround sound, giving the listener a perfect concert hall perspective. Sudbin has previously recorded Beethoven’s piano concertos – releases which have received international acclaim. For his first disc featuring solo works by Beethoven, Sudbin has chosen the two final sonatas and the Six Bagatelles, Op. 126 – late works written between 1821 and 1824, just a couple of years before the composer’s death. There are numerous anecdotes that testify to the fact that Beethoven was highly temperamental. But in his liner notes to this disc, Sudbin writes of another, contrasting side to the composer: ‘warmth, generosity and wisdom – with unexpected outbursts of cheeky humour – are also unmistakably among Beethoven’s qualities and particularly evident in the works on this recording.’
KHACHATURIAN: CELLO CONCERTO IN E MINOR; CONCERTO-RHAPSODY FOR CELLO & ORCHESTRA, Torleif Thedéen, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, Daniel Raiskin/CPO 555007 To some degree, the reputation of the composer Khachaturian is still in flux – while many acknowledge his prodigious gifts, there are those who still sniff at what they regard as the meretricious in his music. This very winning disc may convert some of the naysayers, not least for the impeccable musicianship of the performance. Aram Khachaturian was an established Soviet artist when he realized an old dream of his in the first postwar year 1946 and composed a grand, quasi-symphonic work for his main instrument. Following his spectacular concertos for piano and for violin, which in the meantime had taken the world by storm, he now surprised his public with music that only gradually reveals its fiery temperament: we hear very clearly how well the composer knew the violoncello, the instrument on which during his study years he had practiced until his fingers hurt, in all its special qualities and how precisely he knew how to bring out its expressive and velvety autumnal personality. Performances here are non-pareil.
BENNETT: ORCHESTRAL WORKS VOL.3, Sarah Connolly, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, John Wilson/Chandos CHSA 5230 SACD When this writer spoke to Richard Rodney Bennett in the 1980s, the composer was gloomily philosophical about the fact that his serious music (as opposed to his popular film scores and musical theatre endeavours) was undergoing a period of neglect. It’s a shame that he did not live to see the splendid work that Chandos is doing in putting his musical legacy on disc. In this third instalment John Wilson continues his survey of the orchestral works of his friend and mentor, and while the pieces here do not immediately reveal their riches, they are more than worth repeated listenings.
INSIGHTS, Rosanne Phillippens, violin/Channel Classics CCS 41619 Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this very winning disc is the enterprising programme arranged by the violinist Rosanne Phillippens. It is a selection generated from the musician’s tours of Europe’s for a series of solo recitals – and Phillippens welcomed audience feedback. Equally unusual here is the notion of baroque piece from 1676 set against a sarabande by the 20th-century composer Enescu and dances by Bach. The final result is a fragmentary but exhilarating programme, dispatched with immense musicianship.
WEINER: TOLDI – SYMPHONIC POEM, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV, Valéria Csányi/Naxos 8.573847 If you are an admirer of Hungarian composers such as Bartok and Kodaly, and are keen to try something else in a similar idiom, it is time that you invested in the music of Leo Weiner. While he is not in the class of his more famous countrymen, his music is colourful, accessible and often infectiously dynamic – as in the ambitious tone poem, Toldi. Leó Weiner’s influence as a teacher in Budapest was exceptional and his pupils were some of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. But it’s only in recent years that his compositions, with their synthesis of German Romantic and Hungarian elements, have been brought to wider appreciation. Like Csongor and Tünde (8.573491), the symphonic poem Toldi was inspired by a masterpiece of Hungarian literature. Cast in twelve sections, the music follows the epic poetry in a way that seems to notate the text musically, a unique achievement. Weiner considered Toldi one of his most significant compositions.
MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO. 10, completed and arranged for chamber orchestra by Michelle Castelletti, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, John Storgårds/BIS 2376 SACD It’s hard to believe that there was once a time when Mahler’s music was neglected – before such conductors as Leonard Bernstein began to bring his astonishing epic symphonies to a wider audience. Now we live in an era when even something as strange and quirky as the current disc is offered to the public : an intriguing chamber music completion (and reduction) of the unfinished 10th. While hardly replacing the many recordings of orchestral completions of the piece, this new disc unveils (and forges) many details unrealised in other completions. Left unfinished at the death of the composer, Gustav Mahler’s Tenth Symphony has exerted an enormous fascination on musicologists as well as musicians. Whether fully orchestrated in specific passages, or a sole melody in others, there is one continuous line throughout the surviving manuscript pages and over the years a number of different completions or performing versions have seen the light of day.
MARX: EINE HERBSTSYMPHONIE, Grazer Philharmoniker, Johannes Wildner/CPO 555262-2 Listening blind to these sumptuous pieces may have the listener thinking at times that they are encountering Debussy or perhaps Richard Strauss – but that is not to minimise the individuality of the composer Joseph Marx; not music of the first rank, but well worth the listener’s attention, particularly in performances as committed as here. The magnificent Graz premiere of Joseph Marx’s Herbstsymphonie (Autumn Symphony) was held on 28 September 1922 under the expert conductor and sound specialist Clemens Krauss. It was a great triumph for Marx, and when Krauss selected this work for a concert program in Vienna in late May of the following year, the public went wild. The Herbstsymphonie is not so much a symphony in the traditional sense as a multi-movement rhapsody of massive proportions, both in view of its huge orchestral dimensions and its performance length. For this reason this gigantic composition ranks as one of music history’s most lavishly instrumented works.
BRIAN: SYMPHONIES NOS. 7 AND 16, The Tinker’s Wedding: Overture, New Russia State Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Walker/Naxos 8.573959 A declaration: apart from the Gothic Symphony, this writer is in the group of listeners unpersuaded by Havergal Brian’s prodigious output. But if anything were to change my mind, it would be committed performances such as may be found here. Havergal Brian’s late creativity is almost unparalleled in musical history – in the last two decades of his life he wrote 25 symphonies. No. 7, the last of his truly large-scale symphonies, was inspired by Goethe’s autobiographical account of his time as a student in Strasbourg. Symphony No. 16 is a tough single-movement work, evoking Ancient Greece and the savagery of the Persian Wars. In bright contrast The Tinker’s Wedding is a sparkling comedy overture based on the play by J.M. Synge.
BACH CELLO SUITES (ARR. VIOLIN), Rachel Podger, violin/Challenge Classics CCSA4111920 This is the first time the Bach cello suites have been recorded on violin. Those who know these masterpieces in their original cello incarnation will be well aware that a certain degree of concentration and application is required when tackling them as a listener; certainly, only the hard-core Bachian should consider listening to all of them in succession. This arrangement for violin certainly has the effect of sugaring the pill (in the best sense) and may open up the pieces to many listeners who have found them forbidding in the past. It goes without saying that Podger’s performances are exemplary.
ALFVÉN: COMPLETE SYMPHONIES, VOL. 2 – SYMPHONY NO. 3; UPPSALA RHAPSODY; THE MOUNTAIN KING SUITE, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Lukasz Borowicz/CPO/ 555237-21 If you have a taste for the unusual, then little recommendation is required for this enterprising issue which places on disc some relatively neglected scores by a Scandinavian composer of real accomplishment. It was in 1905,that Hugo Alfvén completed his third symphony. In this work Alfvén, like many other Scandinavian composers, found the typical Nordic tone of his music in the sunny south. Like Sibelius’ second symphony and Stenhammar’s Serenade for Orchestra, this symphony is Swedish through and through. In addition, it is pervaded by the longing for home repeatedly felt by Alfvén during his years of wandering. He composed his Uppsala Rhapsody in 1907 for the commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of the great botanist Carl von Linné (Linnaeus) held at the University of Uppsala in May 1907.
WEIGL: SYMPHONY NO. 1; PICTURES AND TALES, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Jürgen Bruns/C53651 CAPRICCIO How many listeners today will know the music of Weigl? You may well consider that you wish to spend your time listening to scores by such established composers as Elgar or Bruckner, but if your taste is for something altogether new, this may be a piquant issue. ‘I have always viewed Dr. Weigl as one of the best composers of the old generation; one of those continuing the illustrious Viennese tradition’ said Schönberg, and Weigl remained faithful to the late-Romantic aesthetic and use of tonality, shunning the more progressive contemporary trends being explored at the turn of the 20th century, as might be found in the music of Zemlinsky, Reznicek or Franz Schmidt. Weigl’s style is well reflected in this programme that pairs the first of his six symphonies (written in 1908) with Pictures and Tales, a suite for small orchestra written in 1922.
SUTERMEISTER: ORCHESTRAL WORKS, VOLUME ONE; ROMEO & JULIET SYMPHONIC SUITE; AUBADE POUR MORGES; DIVERTIMENTO NO.2; Die Alpen Bruno Cathomas, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rainer Held/ Toccata TOCC 04201 Will the supply of now-obscure music ever run dry? Here is a disc of yet another composer whose reputation has long been in shadow, and one wonders why – far less interesting composers have been made available on disc. Heinrich Sutermeister (1910–95) belongs to the generation of Swiss composers after Bloch, Honegger, Martin and Schoeck. The runaway success of his operatic version of Romeo and Juliet – in the 1950s it was the most widely produced modern opera after Der Rosenkavalier – soon spread his reputation far afield, and conductors as prominent as Böhm, Karajan and Sawallisch championed his works. Although his star has waned in the quarter-century since his death, the four orchestral works recorded here – ranging from the dramatic suite he drew from that first Shakespearean operatic success via the easy-going charm of two lighter suites to his deeply felt response to the Swiss landscape – are very winning.
MOZART SYMPHONIES 40 & 41, NDR Radiophilharmonie /Andrew Manze/Pentatone PTC 518 6757 SACD (and see Graham Williams review opposite) Is it possible to bring something fresh to these two prodigious warhorses? Since recorded music began, Mozart’s two final symphonies have been extremely lucky on disc, often bringing out the very best in many conductors. Which is not to say that there are not some workaday performances around – but that’s emphatically not the case here. Andrew Manze’s radical, kinetic approach has the effect of making this music seem freshly minted, with a sense of dynamism that makes some other recent entries seem lacklustre. What’s more, these exemplary performances are delivered in the best possible Pentatone surround sound — listeners need not hesitate.
D’INDY: MÉDÉE KARADEC SUITE, SAUGEFLEURIE, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Darrel Ang/Naxos 8.573858 Who would have thought that such attractive music as represented by the unusual pieces on this disc should have languished unheard for so long? Chandos has long been a champion of undiscovered music, and is encouraging to see that they still take their self-appointed duty seriously in this regard. While not major works, the orchestral pieces here are immensely attractive and given sterling performances by the Malmö Symphony Orchestra under Darrel Ang. Described by Gabriel Fauré as the ‘Samson of Music’, Vincent d’Indy enriched French musical culture considerably as it made its transition into the 20th century. His orchestral works in particular demonstrate great skill and creativity, with his eclectic style often drawing inspiration from other composers, especially Wagner. At other times his music integrates Gregorian chant or French folk tunes, as in two of the works that feature on this recording, Médée and Karadec, both drawn from his incidental music for plays.
JANACEK, LIGETI: STRING QUARTETS, Belcea Quartet, Alpha A454 There are many recordings of the two imperishable Janacek quartets, along with a variety of orchestrations of the pieces. But anyone looking for a strong and committed coupling of the two works need look no further than this impeccably delivered entry, with the added bonus of an unfamiliar Ligeti quartet. The latter needs some application on the part of the listener, but will reward the patient. The Janacek quartets – particularly the ‘Kreuzer Sonata’ – are self recommending.
BEETHOVEN: PIANO CONCERTO No. 2, TRIPLE CONCERTO, Pires, Vogt, Nikolitch, Hugh, London Symphony orchestra Bernard Haitink/LSO live LSO 0745 SACD A fond memory for this listener is a series of performances of the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Vladimir Ashkenazy under Bernard Haitink. And despite the intervening years, the veteran conductor has lost none of his understated but consummate musicianship in Beethoven, as this new recording of the Second Concerto assertively proves. The problematical Triple Concerto is given an equally persuasive performance, and with a top-notch team of soloists, this is a disc to treasure.
GOUNOD: THE TWO SYMPHONIES, Iceland Symphony Orchestra / Yan Pascal Tortelier/Chandos CHSA 5231 Most listeners will be more familiar with Gounod’s Opera Faust than anything else, and these symphonies – while hardly major pieces – demonstrate that there is more to the composer than his best-known work. Yan Pascal Tortelier and his Iceland Symphony Orchestra grant these charming (if insubstantial) works the best possible advocacy.