SIBELIUS/LUONNOTAR, TAPIOLA, SPRING SONG, RAKASTAVA, PELLEAS AND MELISANDE, SPRING SONG, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner, Lise Davidsen/Chandos SACD Given the amount of time that the surround sound disc has been most faithful method of classical music reproduction, it’s something of a surprise that not all the orchestral masterpieces of Sibelius have found their into the medium. But the omissions are slowly being filled, and there is no issue more welcome than this remarkable new set, even though most Sibelius aficionados will have Tapiola on SACD. What they won’t have in the medium is the suite from Pelleas and Melisande -– this is the first outing for the piece in the best of all wide-ranging orchestral palettes. The performance of Tapiola is in fact one of the most searching and dramatic it has been accorded, finding every nuance of the composer’s remarkable orchestration, and everything else on disc is given a searching reading, with Lise Davidsen both poignant and dramatic in the haunting Luonnotar. An absolutely unmissable disc.
BEETHOVEN THE VIOLIN SONATAS 5-7, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Martin Helmchen/BIS HYBRID SACD The Chandos set of Beethoven violin sonatas from Tasmin Little and Martin Roscoe quickly established itself as a market leader, but as the company chose not to record these superb performances in surround sound (something of a disappointment given the company’s commitment to the mode), the field was open for a new SACD set – and that is precisely what we are acquiring (though admittedly piecemeal) from Frank Peter Zimmermann and Martin Helmchen, who give performances of equal musicality to Little and Roscoe. The earlier set placed both instruments in absolute balance whereas the new one takes the customary approach of highlighting the violinist, but both approaches are valid, and the extra dimension of sound here pays dividends. As with the first volume, the sonatas are given readings of great sensitivity, and those who have been collecting the new set will be impatient for volume 3. Zimmermann and Helmchen open this second disc in the series with the Spring Sonata, Op. 24. and close with the second sonata of Op. 30, in C minor.
RUSSIAN SPECTACULAR – MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION; NIGHT ON A BARE MOUNTAIN; BALAKIREV: ISLAMEY; BORODIN: POLOVTSIAN DANCES, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui/BIS SACD Apart from Balakirev’s Islamey, most of the pieces on this generously filled disc are familiar repertory, but rarely have they been performed with the panache on offer here. The Night on a Bare Mountain is a particularly energetic, and Ravel’s exquisite orchestration of Mussorgsky’s piano pieces in Pictures at an Exhibition is given a recording that does justice to the Technicolor spread of the French master’s orchestration. This disc of orchestral showpieces features four of the five members of the Mighty Handful, a group of Russian composers who, during the second half of the 19th century, collaborated to create a distinct national style. The recorded works illustrate different aspects of their endeavours – both in terms of the musical means they employ and their subject matter.
WORDSWORTH: ORCHESTRAL MUSIC, VOL. 3, Florian Arnicans, Liepřja Symphony Orchestra, John Gibbons/Toccata Many listeners have relished the musical gems uncovered in the recorded field in recent years (which is not to say that core repertoire still receives an overabundance of representation). But one musician whose name will only suggest a great English poet to most educated people is the composer William Wordsworth, and his energetic and colourful music has proved to be an absolute revelation – as this continuing series reminds us. The music of William Wordsworth (1908–88) echoes that of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius; and this third volume of his orchestral works brings two major scores in their first studio recordings. Wordsworth’s Cello Concerto is a work of symphonic proportions, blending angular rough-and-tumble with a sober lyricism in a style that sits somewhere between Shostakovich and Bloch. The Fifth Symphony has an even grander sense of scale, John Gibbons’ commitment as conductor is total.
MENDELSSOHN: STRING QUARTETS 1 & 2, Minguet Quartett/CPO There is no denying that the calling card pieces for Mendelssohn have long been the Scotch and Italian symphonies and the Midsummer Night’s Dream incidental music, but admirers of the composer should investigate his charming and inventive string quartets. No one would assert that they are in the class of his orchestral masterpieces, but all of the familiar tuneful fingerprints (if that’s not mixing a metaphor) are solidly in place, particularly in these very musical performances by the Minguet Quartett.
POOT: SYMPHONIES NOS. 1–7, Antwerp Philharmonic • Léonce Gras, BRTN Philharmonic Orchestra • Hans Rotman, Moscow Symphony Orchestra • Frédéric Devreese, Belgian National Radio Symphony Orchestra • Franz André /Naxos One of the many virtues of the Naxos label is its readiness to record music with which most classical listeners will be unfamiliar – and that’s very much the case here with the complete symphonies of a composer who will be new to most listeners. For the most part, the music is highly accessible, and some of these pieces certainly deserve being made available on silver disc. The Belgian composer Marcel Poot was one of the most striking musical figures of his time, with a spicy compositional style that exemplified his zest for life. His cycle of seven symphonies which show the influence of Ravel, Stravinsky and jazz.
VOYAGE: BARBER, CARTER, YSAYE, SAN, BREL, Christine J. Lee, cello, Henry Kramer, piano/Fuga Libera Those who have discovered the vivid, intense music of Samuel Barber will be well aware that he is one of the most rewarding composers to have emerged from America, combining sinewy strength with an imposing command of orchestral resources. This intriguing collection has as its centrepiece the plangent, dramatic cello sonata played here with intense feeling by cellist Christine J. Lee and pianist Henry Kramer, but other elements of the unorthodox program will appeal – this must be the first time Samuel Barber and Jacques Brel rub shoulders on the same CD.
DURUFLÉ; COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS, Thomas Trotter/Kings College The more committed admirers of organ music will regard certain composers as essential to their collection, from Bach to Messiaen And Duruflé certainly deserves a place, particularly in performances that do as much justice to the music as Thomas Trotter does here on the Kings College label.
WEINBERG: STRING QUARTETS NOS 1, 16-17, Silesian Quartet/Accord Of all the excavations of characterful 20th century music, few are as important as the current dusting-off of the music of Weinberg. The String Quartet that Weinberg completed in May 1937 bears no resemblance to the music that young Warsaw composers were fascinated with at that time. It is devoid of any clear echoes of Szymanowski’s style or of neoclassicism, the latter being most appealing to the younger generation of composers at the time. It seems that Weinberg was writing from the perspective of a pianist. The result was a three-movement cycle with a slow central movement and a dance-like finale that brings back themes from the beginning of the piece. Weinberg wrote his String Quartet No. 16 (completed in January 1981) at the same time he was working on his Symphony No. 16. Performances here are top-notch.
NICKEL: SYMPHONY NO. 2, Northwest Sinfonia, Clyde Mitchell/Avie Approachable tonal music of the 20th century has, thankfully, enjoyed a comeback, although there is still a modern perception that attempts to recreate the glories of the more recent tonal past can lead to anodyne results. That’s not the case here, although the piece is hardly the masterpiece in the making that the sleeve notes attest. It is nevertheless interesting for the adventurous listener. The Symphony No. 2 by award-winning Canadian composer Christopher Tyler Nickel is in a single movement, 53-minute-long work, receiving here its world-premiere recording with Clyde Mitchell conducting the Seattle-based Northwest Sinfonia.
BOISSIER: TWO PIANO CONCERTOS AND A SONATA, Valentina Seferinova, Ukranian Festival Orchestra, John McLaughlin Williams/TOCCATA The Parisian Corentin Boissier, is not a conventional composer, as the titles of his Glamour Concerto and Philip Marlowe Concerto suggest, his territory is the distinctive sound of 1940s and ’50s Hollywood and British cinema, echoing Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto and Rota’s Legend of the Glass Mountain. A disc to luxuriate in.
SPAIN, Franz Halasz, guitar/BIS This generously filled disc contains most of the familiar Spanish composers (Granados, Albeniz et al), alongside others who may be less well known. All are given the greatest possible advocacy in the colourful, sensitive performances here by Franz Halasz who has the full measure of this music. As a recital, it may be best listened to in separate sessions; 81 minutes of solo guitar music may lead to aural fatigue. It is, nevertheless, a very welcome disc.
SIR ANTONIO PAPPANO’S ON VAUGHAN WILLIAMS’ SYMPHONIES NOS 4 & 6 Sir Antonio Pappano’s latest recording with the London Symphony Orchestra features a pairing of Vaughan Williams symphonies that span the build-up and aftermath of the Second World War. Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos 4 & 6 will be released via the Orchestra’s LSO Live label on CD, download and for streaming.
‘For years, I’d had my heart set on conducting the Fourth; its bewildering audacity knocked me off my feet when I first heard it. The fact that it was the only symphony the composer recorded himself added to the allure for me, as if there was some very deep secret in it, so painfully personal.
Post-World War 2, the strain of ‘getting on with it’ after such horrific happenings with so much loss did keep the UK united, but the personal reaction to these tumultuous events, especially from artists, was often less hopeful for the future than we would ideally imagine. Both the Fourth and Sixth Symphonies are angry pieces. No, the composer did not ‘explain’ these works in print. ‘Can’t a composer just write a piece of music…?’ So personal are these works that even studying them is a painful process, not only because of the complexity of the writing, but also because you quickly understand that you will eventually have to deal with something titanic. Are you up for it? Do you have the strength, the wisdom? Quite frightening, but also stimulating in the extreme.
This recording is taken from two separate concerts, the Fourth on 12 December 2019, the Sixth on 15 March 2020. Coincidentally, both dates were important dates in the UK calendar; the first was Election Day, the second the night before the announcement of the closure of all concert venues and theatres due to COVID 19.
It’s often remarked in concert lore that on such and such a night there was a particularly electric atmosphere in the hall; I can attest to that being totally the case with these two concerts. The Fourth symphony and its tortured and conflictual nature somehow resonated with the political struggles of the country, but, importantly (for me at least), the music unhesitatingly defines the British character: courage, perseverance, action. This has nothing whatsoever to do with taking political sides, but only with the febrile sensations of performers and audience members in the hall that night.
I would say that to an even greater degree this was true of the March 2020 date. We somehow knew that a lockdown or a shutdown was coming, this knowledge or fear (!) inspiring the combined forces of the LSO to give their utmost, to hold a proverbial fist up to the insidious virus. Everyone felt it.’