TCHAIKOVSKY: THE TEMPEST, FRANCESCA DA RIMINI, THE VOYEVODA, OVERTURE AND POLONAISE FROM ‘CHEREVICHKI’, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra| Alpesh Chauhan/Chandos While the symphonies and ballets of the composer Tchaikovsky are utterly familiar to lovers of classical music, more adventurous listeners will be pleased to seek out less familiar pieces – and this extremely tempting (and beautifully recorded) SACD disc will fill several gaps for such individuals, particularly as several of the pieces here make their debut in surround sound (a speciality, of course, for the Chandos label). Francesca da Rimini has already appeared in the SACD medium, but this new performance sports great vigour and colour, and immediately becomes highly competitive. The Voyevoda has been something of an ugly duckling among the composer’s tone poems, but a performance as vigorous as this will do much to redress that balance. Alpesh Chauhan’s debut recording for Chandos is the first in a projected Tchaikovsky series — and bodes extremely well.
SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONIES 6 & 15, London Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda/LSO LiveFrom the days when it was conducted by Sir Edward Elgar through the dynamic period of Andre Previn’s stewardship, the London Symphony Orchestra has long been one of the world’s top orchestras – particularly celebrated for its impeccable, world-beating brass section. The orchestra is at its best in dynamic scores, as is the case of Shostakovich symphonies 6 and 15, here delivered with jawdropping panache by the orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda. For those of us (such as this listener) who first heard Shostakovich’s final Symphony under his son Maxim at the Royal Festival Hall – with the composer present in the royal box – its strange musical puzzles (such as the unexplained quotes from Rossini and Wagner), once so mystifying, have now settled into place in this remarkable final utterance. And the performances here are nonpareil.
KHACHATURIAN, BABAJANIAN, PETROSSIAN: CELLO CONCERTOS, Alexander Chausian, Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Eduard Topchjan/BIS Have you heard of the Armenian composers Babajanian and Petrossian? If, like me, these are new names to you, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the colourful, alluring music they provide here, full of brio. But it goes without saying that in a collection such as this, the superb Khachaturian Cello Concerto is the real point of interest, and this piece is given a performance of both integrity and passion. What’s more, it is (to the best of my knowledge) the first performance of the work in the surround sound medium, and achieves pole position for that alone. But the combination of the three composers here makes for an extremely attractive disc.
BARTÓK: HUNGARIAN PICTURES, CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA, Concerto Budapest, Andras Keller/Tacet The vast Decca back catalogue is one of the glories of the classical music industry, and there are some remarkable performances (such as George Solti’s definitive performance of Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra). But classic performances of the past for this late masterpiece now have a very competitive newcomer to contend with: the Concerto for Orchestra recorded in Tacet’s customarily all-enveloping surround sound – and, what’s more, matched by a performance that does full justice to the rich Hungarian flavouring of Bartok’s score, even though the latter was written in America.
ADAM: ORFA, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Dario Salvi/Naxos The ever-enterprising Naxos label supplies a world première recording of Adolphe Adam’s last-but-one ballet Orfa, featuring a scenario drawn from Nordic mythology. The Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra under Dario Salvi utilise a new edition drawn from Adam’s original manuscript score at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. For those who admire Adam’s tuneful, understated charm, this will be a diverting issue.
IANNACCONE: SYMPHONIES THREE & FOUR, TONE POEMS, etc., various orchestras/Navona Records Several years ago there was an international competition arranged by the writer John McLaren that awarded a prize for accessible 20th-century music (as opposed, McLaren told me, to the uningratiating fare that was alienating so many classical music audiences). Sadly, the competition was discontinued, but had it still been in existence, a clear winner would have been the composer Anthony Iannnaccone, whose work has both detailed colour and rich invention. The two symphonies on this disc have in common a principal selling point in that they are both works of winning appeal – it would be refreshing to feel that they might be given an outing in British concert halls, but in the meantime this attractive disc fills the gap.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: THE FIRST SONGS OF TRAVEL, Richard Standen, Frederick Stone/Albion RecordsOnce again, the admirable Albion Records label has put admirers of Vaughan Williams into their debt with an enterprising performance. The interest of this disc lies in the sprucing-up of the vintage 1954 recording of Songs of Travel by Richard Standen and Frederick Stone, which includes the then-extant five songs (these days, of course, we are familiar with all nine songs). The performance is splendid (and was admired by Vaughan Williams), although those who have more contemporary versions (such as that by Bryn Terfel) may find this more of historic interest than anything else. The fill-ups are other songs by British composers such as John Ireland.
BRAHMS & SCHUMANN: ORCHESTRATIONS, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Paul Mann, Toccata Classics This disc adds to the storehouse of recorded orchestral music by Brahms and Schumann in the sympathetic and perfectly judged orchestrations of Robin Holloway. Of particular interest here is what is virtually a new symphony by Brahms, created by Holloway from the Sonata for two pianos Opus 30 4A. It would be doctrinaire indeed of Brahms and Schumann admirers to steer clear of this disc as the music was not orchestrated by the composer — why not simply luxuriate.
GLASS, BJERKESTRAND: WORKS FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Sara Ovinge, Edward Gardner/Lawo The immediate appeal of the music of Philip Glass cannot be denied, but there are those who have criticised his use of repetitive rhythmic patterns as too easy a bid for audience- pleasing tropes. Nevertheless, there is no denying the appeal of his second violin concerto, dispatched here with panache by the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Sara Ovinge and Edward Gardner. The first concerto by Kjetil Bjerkestrand is perhaps less immediately appealing, but has rigorously worked out musical argument. Recording qualities are top-notch.
MY SOUL, WHAT FEAR YOU? SONGS BY STRAUSS SCHUBERT et al. Christopher Purves, Simon Lepper/King’s CollegeThe songs on this well-curated disc by such composers as Richard Strauss, Schubert and Mahler, are mostly familiar, but these subtle, inflected performances rank with the very best that they have received, and there is a particular glow in the timbre of voice here. A valuable issue.
REICH: MUSIC FOR 18 MUSICIANS, Colin Currie Group/ Colin Currie Records For admirers of the composer Steve Reich, a challenging and intriguing issue in which Colin Curie (along with his musical colleagues and companions) makes a persuasive case for the new music on offer here.
ICHMOURATOV: PIANO CONCERTO, VIOLA CONCERTO NO. 1, Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, Elvira Misbakhova, LSO, Airat Ichmouratov/Chandos There was a time when such revered classical labels as Deutsche Grammophon were well known for concentrating largely on familiar repertoire, and it was thus left to smaller enterprises to be more adventurous in their choices. These days, the latter initiative (i.e. unusual repertoire) is very much the purview of the label Chandos, which almost since its beginning has spruced up some unjustly neglected pieces, particularly of colourful orchestral music. Here’s a classic example, with a diverting disc devoted to a composer with whom most listeners will not be familiar. The Volga-Tatar-born Canadian Airat Ichmouratov ably conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in two of his key works, another example of Chandos’s commitment to the composer; both concertos are performed by the soloists who premiered each work.
BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONIES NOS 4 & 5, National Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda/LSO LIVE LSO Live’s partners, the National Symphony Orchestra, have released a digital-only album, Beethoven: Symphonies Nos 4 & 5. The album is the second in a cycle of Beethoven albums from the NSO, conducted by the always-reliable Gianandrea Noseda. Remaining symphonies will be released in late 2023 and early 2024, concluding with an SACD box set. While the Beethoven symphonies are perhaps the most recorded cycle in the repertoire, this new initiative. proves to be tempting both in terms of its rigorous attention to the score and passionate commitment to the music. None of this, of course, will be a surprise to admirers of the conductor Gianandrea Noseda, who is proving to be one of the stellar attractions of the current music scene with some remarkable performances on disc already under his belt.
FORTHCOMING FROM BIS:
RAUTAVAARA & MARTINŮ – PIANO CONCERTOS NO. 3 The Czech Bohuslav Martinů and the Finn Einojuhani Rautavaara may not seem to have much in common, but both have adopted an attitude free of musical puritanism, constantly finding new sources of inspiration which they explored without taboos. Explaining the heterogeneity of his musical language over the years, Rautavaara stated that, as a Finn, he stands ‘between East and West, between the tundra and Europe, between Lutheran and Orthodox faith’. Premiered in 1999, his Piano Concerto No. 3 has managed to join the small group of late twentieth-century concertos that are now part of the repertoire. Its subtitle, ‘Gift of Dreams’, seems to describe perfectly the character of the music in the first two movements, before a finale that exhibits a more driven, anxious manner. Eclectic, prolific and capable of composing in all genres, Bohuslav Martinů is nevertheless a composer who is difficult to categorise and the word that seems to best suit his music is ‘cosmopolitan’. The Piano Concerto No. 3 shares many features with the Romantic concerto and recalls both Brahms and Stravinsky. Reflecting the tragic events in Prague at the time of its composition, the concerto ends in a macabre dance.