KORNGOLD: VIOLIN CONCERTO, STRING SEXTET, Andrew Haveron; Sinfonia of London Chamber Ensemble; RTÉ Concert Orchestra; John Wilson/Chandos The days when recordings of Korngold’s exquisite Violin Concerto (Heifetz apart) are long gone, and the listener may now avail themselves of many distinguished recordings, both in CD and SACD format. This new iteration, impeccably played by Andrew Haveron, is notably enhanced by the sympathetic accompaniment of John Wilson, the Sinfonia of London Chamber Ensemble and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra; both playing with suitably passionate commitment. The versatile Wilson, of course, has the full measure of Korngold’s serious works along with his influential film scores, and that particular combination of skills services the music very well here. The composer’s String Sextet is a welcome companion piece. The disc may not be in Chandos’ market leader SACD sound, but still sounds extremely impressive.
ASPECTS OF AMERICA: THE PULITZER EDITION: PISTON, GOULD, HANSON, Oregon Symphony Orchestra Carlos Kalmar/Pentatone CD For admirers of 20th-century American symphonic music, this is a particularly attractive package. The fact that all three works won the Pulitzer Prize is not, of course, an emblem of their longevity, but all are written in the kind of broad and expansive idiom that represents American composition at its finest. Howard Hanson’s symphony is an eloquent late romantic/modern piece, bearing signs of its inspiration in Sibelius but full of the kind of character that is characteristic of this composer. To a degree, all three works represent a certain bravery on the part of their creators in their resistance to the all-conquering serial influence of the time, which had such composers as Stravinsky feeling obliged to write in that now-sidelined idiom. The performances here are both committed and forensic in their attention to detail. The sound (while not Pentatone’s superb surround idiom) nevertheless does full service to the music. The Oregon Symphony and Carlos Kalmar continue their Aspects of America series with this second entry, featuring Walter Piston’s Symphony No. 7 (Pulitzer Prize 1961 Morton Gould’s Stringmusic (Pulitzer Prize 1995) and Howard Hanson’s’ Symphony No. 4 “Requiem” (Pulitzer Prize 1944),
SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONY NO. 11, BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds/Chandos Unsurprisingly, given the orchestra and conductor involved, Shostakovich’s mighty 11th Symphony is granted a performance of great power and gravitas, its drama couched in a suitably room-shaking Chandos SACD acoustic. A clear front runner in current iterations in the medium.
THE UNKNOWN DEBUSSY, Nicolas Horvath, piano/Grand Piano For admirers of the composer Debussy, this disc of unfamiliar pieces will be the sheerest catnip. Admittedly, there are no undiscovered masterpieces here, but every note bears the composer’s very distinctive fingerprints – there is no juvenilia sounding like (say) Schumann, as Debussy was finding his compositional feet. Robert Orledge’s research into Debussy’s sketches and incomplete drafts has resulted in the unearthing and reconstruction of numerous lost pieces, here performed by the Steinway artist, Nicolas Horvath, the album features unknown versions of famous works such as La Fille aux cheveux de lin alongside the ecstatic Prélude de l’Histoire de Tristan.
SCHUBERT: LATE PIANO WORKS, Andrea Lucchesini/Audite This recording of Schubert’s 21st Piano Sonata and the three piano pieces D946 are evidence of a musician full alert to the demands of this deeply felt music. The Piano Sonata has had several recordings of significance, but at a stroke this new reading joins that exalted company.
MOZART: HAFFNER SERENADE; EIN MUSIKALISCHER SPASS, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens/BIS HYBRID SACD While it has long enjoyed considerable popularity, Mozart’s Haffner Serenade has not been particularly well served in the SACD medium, and this appealing performance nicely close the gap, pointing up all the elegance and likeability of Mozart’s score. Of the CD companies still committed to the SACD medium, BIS remains one of the most reliable, delivering performances of great authority etched in the most impressive of sound pictures. The label is also utilising eco-friendly cardboard sleeves which are as utilitarian as the older class plastic ones. Besides the recordings with Ronald Brautigam of the complete piano concertos by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Beethoven, Kölner Akademie and Michael Alexander Willens are undertaking a survey of Mozart’s serenades and other incidental works. Their first disc in this series included the Posthorn Serenade, and here takes on one of the most famous of the serenades, the ‘Haffner’, named after Sigmund Haffner, who commissioned it for the festivities surrounding his sister’s wedding in 1776.
BACH: CELLO SUITES, Alisa Weilerstein, cello/Pentatone The cellist Alisa Weilerstein has previously recorded for the Pentatone label with her debut Transfigured Night, and this impressive recording of the Bach cello suites – although (as usual for these works, masterpieces though they are) lacking in aural variety — is both deeply musical and keenly felt. The cellist’s interpretative skills are beyond dispute.
BACH: ST MATTHEW PASSION, Soloists, Academy of Ancient Music, Stephen Cleobury/Kings College Cambridge SACD It’s instructive to remember when Bach’s greatest choral masterpiece was somewhat neglected, and revival performances by no less than Vaughan Williams were instrumental in bringing it back to its proper place in the repertoire. Of course, the great English composer, spotting what he considered to be inadequacies in Bach’s orchestration added grand pianos – a notion that would be deeply frowned upon today. That’s because we’re used to performances that observe (and celebrate) the historical niceties as this quite splendid set does. Sprung rhythms, crisp articulation (but not at the expense of deep feeling) reign here in a performance which has sadly become somewhat valedictory for the talented Stephen Cleobury. The SACD recording does full justice to all the textures of the music, both choral and orchestral.
PARADISE LOST, Anna Prohaska, soprano Julius Drake, piano Alpha Classics The concept of this album, arranged in six sections including ‘Morning in paradise’ and ‘Earthly life’ is unusual, although it is not necessary to bear the notion in mind when listening to Anna Prohaska’s beautifully sung selection of songs by such composers as Ravel, Bernstein, Debussy and Rachmaninov. A particular asset of the set is the customarily impeccable accompaniment by the great Julius Drake.
RESPIGHI: LA BELLA DORMENTE NEL BOSCO (THE SLEEPING BEAUTY) Veta Pilipenko, Mezzo-soprano, Antonio Gandía, Tenor • Vincenzo Taormina, Baritone • Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Donato Renzetti, Leo Muscato/Naxos Blu-Ray A search for the availability of operas by Respighi is instructive. Current recordings are thin on the ground, and some of those available on the Internet are priced at amounts in the hundreds of pounds. It’s not too hard to see why, despite his immense melodic gifts, the operas have languished. The composer’s lyrical side is perhaps best showcased in his orchestral music and his operas lacked the appeal of such contemporaries as Puccini. Nevertheless, there is much to enjoy here, not least the customarily glittering orchestration fully to the fore. Respighi’s La bella dormente nel bosco (‘The Sleeping Beauty’) was originally commissioned by the puppeteer Vittorio Podrecca. The revised version we hear today preserves much of the kaleidoscopic approach and magnified characters and emotions of that original; now enhanced by the composer’s matchless orchestration.
GOULD: SYMPHONETTES NOS. 2–4, SPIRITUALS FOR ORCHESTRA, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arthur Fagen/Naxos While his music is perhaps not as popular as it once was, the attractive and inventive light orchestral music of Morton Gould is still delightful when listened to in the right mood – and particularly when delivered with the panache to be found on this disc. Morton Gould was an American musical phenomenon, equally at home in classical, crossover and film genres, and the recipient of both GRAMMY and Pulitzer awards during his long and distinguished career. The Symphonettes represent Gould’s best crossover work – the Symphonette No. 4 deriving its character from Latin-American dance forms to make it one of his most popular compositions.
KABALEVSKY: COMPLETE PRELUDES, Michael Korstick/CPO With the best will in the world, it would be difficult to make a case that Kabalevsky’s attractive piano preludes are in the class of his contemporary Shostakovich. Kabalevsky was better at playing the Soviet authorities’ mind games and negotiating Stalinist criticism than the troubled Shostakovich (who Kabalevsky would have admitted was the greater composer). Nevertheless, these pieces will have an appeal for pianists seeking unusual repertoire, and there is no denying that Michael Korstick makes the best possible case for them. Along with Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and Khachaturian, Dmitri Kabalevsky was one of the ‘Big Four’ of Soviet music. Following our recordings of his four symphonies, complete works for piano and orchestra, cello concertos, string quartets, and complete piano sonatas, this release again turns to his keyboard music featuring works for piano solo, this time focusing on his complete preludes.
PROKOFIEV: SYMPHONIES ONE & FIVE, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Thomas Sondergard/Linn This now-familiar coupling of Prokofiev’s most popular symphony, the ‘Classical’ and his greatest, the Fifth, is an entry in something of a crowded field, but these alternately poised and dynamic performances are extremely competitive, even though they are in two-channel stereo rather than surround sound. Thomas Sondergard (with the impeccable Royal Scottish National Orchestra) has a particular grasp of the unique sound world that Prokofiev creates, notably in the Fifth Symphony, and Prokofiev admirers can investigate without hesitation.