MESSIAEN: TURANGALÎLA SYMPHONY, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Soloists Lintu/ SACD Ondine ODE 1251-5 Since its Boston premier – given by Leonard Bernstein in December 1949 – Messiaen’s exotic and lavishly scored Turangalîla Symphony has received many fine recordings, including some with the imprimatur of the composer and some that additionally feature both Yvonne Loriod, the composer’s wife playing the virtuoso piano part written for her, and Jeanne Loriod, her sister, performing the important part for the eerie sounding electronic instrument the ondes Martinot. No performance or recording of this challenging work is likely to be undertaken without intensive rehearsal by the artists involved which is why I have yet to encounter a badly executed performance of it on disc. It is unlikely that, with over twenty recordings available on CD, any potential purchaser will have much difficulty in finding a performance to suit their own taste. Nevertheless, leaving aside artistic considerations, Messiaen’s kaleidoscopic orchestration and complex juxtaposing of the various sections of his vast orchestral forces (that require a minimum of eight percussion players) call for a recording of exceptional sound quality, such as only SACD or Blu-ray can provide, in order that every manifestation of the composer’s aural palette be made audible. This new recording from Ondine is only the second of this sprawling work to appear as a multi-channel SACD. The first was the 1992 version from Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on Decca. This was re-mixed, for its release on SACD, from the edited master tapes by the producer Andrew Cornall and the recording engineer John Dunkerley to produce the multi-channel version. Though quite successful in many respects, the deployment of the surround channels is rather cautious and the sound of the PCM 48kz/16 bit recording on some players may be considered to be over bright. The Ondine disc is in 5.0 surround, but here the surround channels are used purely for ambient information, so the orchestra is presented in a normal concert layout as shown in a photograph in the liner notes. The recorded balance does favour the piano of Angela Hewitt and ondes Martinot of Valérie Hartmann-Claverie, but not excessively so. Comparison of performances yield no clear preferences. Overall Lintu is slightly faster by a couple of minutes, but this means little, as Chailly is faster and more urgent in six of the work’s ten movements. The biggest difference occurs in (VI) ‘Jardin du Sommeil d’amour’ where Lintu presses forward and Angela Hewitt’s magical evocation of bird song makes a greater impression than does Thibaudet for Chailly. In the final analysis, I still prefer the refinement and absolute precision of Chailly and the RCO to that of Lintu and his fine Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, but in truth it is a matter of swings and roundabouts. The greater availability (and cheaper price) of the Ondine disc may, for many, be the deciding factor.
DVORAK: SYMPHONY NO. 8/JANACEK JENŮFA SUITE, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck/SACD Reference Recordings FR7-10 This is an absolutely marvellous release both in terms of its thrilling performances and wonderful sound quality. Manfred Honeck, as on his first disc for Reference Recordings of Strauss tone poems, has shown that he is not afraid to challenge conventional approaches to familiar works, and his account of Dvořák’s sunny 8th Symphony that opens this disc once again evince a searching and perceptive mind at work. Thanks to his rapport with his top-class Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra he is able to communicate his ideas to the listener with absolute conviction. In the fascinating notes accompanying this disc Manfred Honeck explains that, in his performance of this symphony, he has returned to Czech traditions both in style of playing and overall sonority. He does not hesitate to introduce some tasteful portamento where necessary, and his liberal use of rubato and tempo changes combined with attention to detail make one hear many passages in the symphony with fresh ears. It almost goes without saying that Honeck’s strikingly individual interpretation will not suit all listeners, but I confess to being completely bowled over by it. Maintaining the Czech theme of the disc, the Dvořák 8th Symphony is followed by an effective and well-constructed 23 minute ‘Symphonic Suite’ of music from Janáček’s tragic opera ‘Jenůfa’ – described as ‘Conceptualised by Manfred Honeck, realized by Tomáš Ille’. The Suite is in a continuous single movement, but falls into a number of clearly identifiable sections – energetic dances alternating with contrasting lyrical passages and linked by repeated appearances of the soft xylophone passage that opens the opera. The Pittsburgh players really are on fire in this piece, delivering spine tingling orchestral playing in passages such as the dramatic final bars of Act 2 with its pounding timpani and brass fanfares. The sound quality of this 5.1channel 64fs DSD recording made by the Soundmirror team is, as usual, first class in every possible way. The marvellous playing of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is captured with thrilling realism in sound that does full justice to both the warmth of the Pittsburgh strings and their phenomenal brass section (the brilliance and confidence of the trumpet playing that opens the fourth movement of the Dvořák symphony is typical of the latter). I recommend without hesitation this spectacular SACD and look forward keenly to future releases in this ‘Pittsburgh Live!’ series.
LARSSON: SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN D OP. 2, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Manze/SACD CPO 777 671-2 Little, if any, of the music of the composer Lars-Erik Larsson (1908-1986) could be said to be well known outside his native Sweden, so this, the first volume of a projected series of his orchestral works from Andrew Manze and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, is most welcome. The longest work on this well-filled SACD is Larsson’s Symphony No. 1 in D Op. 2, a work of sunny disposition and brim full of delightful melodies. It is in four movements that are played without a break. Though the work does display some influence of the early symphonies of Sibelius, especially in its mellifluous woodwind writing, the 20 year-old composer demonstrates a winning freshness and immediate listener appeal. Manze’s account is marginally more lively than that by Hans-Peter Frank and this same orchestra found on a fine BIS CD from 1989, but really there is little to choose between them apart from the undoubted benefits of hi-rez recording on this new SACD from CPO. The ‘Four Vignettes to Shakespeare’s Winter Tale’ extracted from the incidental music that Larsson wrote in 1937/38 comprise a gentle ‘Siciliana’ with delightful solos for oboe and flute, an ‘Intermezzo’ of gossamer lightness for the strings, a brief Sibelian ‘Pastoral’ and finally a haunting and ravishingly beautiful ‘Epilog’. The three pieces that make up ‘Music for Orchestra’ Op.40 date from1949 and show a marked change in style from the previous works. The music, though still tonal, is more austere and dark in character , especially the central ‘Andante elegiaco’ that unwinds over a steady and ominous drumbeat. A muscular brass dominated ‘Allegro’ strikingly reminiscent in style to Hindemith’s ‘Konzertmusik for Brass and String Orchestra’ ends this powerful composition. Two works for small orchestra complete the programme on this disc. A ‘Pastoral’ in 6/8 time taken from another of Larsson’s 1930’s theatre scores is a miniature gem, while the exquisite ‘Lyric Fantasy, ‘dating from 1967, with its magical opening horn solo over a cushion of soft strings, conveys a reflective and dreamy romanticism that lingers long in the memory. Andrew Manze and his orchestra’s splendid performances of Larsson’s beautifully crafted and unpretentious music could hardly be more idiomatic or sympathetic. The clean, yet atmospheric, CPO multi-channel recording, made in the lively acoustic of the Helsingborg Concert Hall by the experienced team of Lennart Dehn (producer) and Tobjorn Samuelsson (engineer), could hardly be improved upon. Future issues in this Larsson survey are eagerly awaited.
ENIGMA: WORKS FOR SOLO VIOLA, Dana Zemtsov/ SACD Channel Classics CCS SA 35714 While talented young pianists, violinists and cellists are promoted on disc with predictable regularity, solo violists have been something of a rare breed (though recently this does appear to be changing) so the discovery of a player of the quality of Dana Zemtsov is a real find. 22 year old Dana Zemtsov was born in Mexico City to a musical family. At the age of 5 she received her first music lessons from her grandmother and from her parents, who are both viola players and she is currently studying with the viola virtuoso Michael Kugel, two of whose compositions appear on this disc together with his transcriptions of works by Fritz Kreisler and JS Bach. The programme she has chosen for this recital is a challenging one, as she herself admits in the liner notes, and certainly features works of a predominantly dark nature. For example, the Kreisler ‘Recitativo and Scherzo Caprice’ that is the first item on the disc is a dramatic and gritty piece far removed from his more familiar sugary Viennese salon items. Stravinsky’s ‘Elegy for Solo Viola’ – his only solo work for this instrument – was written in 1944 as a memorial to Alphonse Onnou the leader of the Pro Arte Quartet who had died in 1940. It is a sombre and austere piece that makes a moving impression in Zemtsov’s nuanced performance. Hindemith’s Viola Sonatas are accepted as some of the peaks of the viola repertoire and there are many fine recordings of them including those by the composer himself. Dana Zemtsov’s powerful performance of the Sonata Op. 25 No. 1 is gripping in its intensity. The colour and range of expression that she elicits from her instrument is astonishing. The fourth movement of the Sonata, with Hindemith’s notorious marking of ‘Rasendes Zeitmass: Wild. Tonschönheit ist Nebensache’ (Raging tempo. Wild. Beauty of tone is of a secondary consideration), sounds like a swarm of angry bees and is delivered at a hair-raising tempo. By contrast, she is equally capable of expressing the melancholic melodic sweetness of Capriccio ‘Hommage à Paganini’ in C minor by Henri Vieuxtemps, where her warm and expressive cantilena is beautifully conveyed by the recording. Dana Zemtsov is not fazed by the considerable technical and interpretive challenges of the remainder of her eclectic programme that includes the ‘Sonata-Poème’ and ‘Prelude-Ysaÿe’ by her teacher Michael Kugel and Krzysztof Penderecki’s ‘Cadenza’. The final item on the disc is Zoltán Kodály’s superb transcription of Bach’s ‘Chromatic Fantasia’, here given a performance that demonstrates this artist’s virtuosity and fine musicianship in equal measure. It need hardly be said that both the production and engineering of this 5.0 DSD recording from Jared Sack is of the highest quality. The rich tonal quality of Zemtsov’s instrument is enhanced by the fine acoustic of the Doopsgezinde Kerk, Deventer where the recording was made a year ago. This is a remarkably successful first solo recital from an artist with a most promising future so if the programme on offer here appeals do not hesitate.
HAYDN: PIANO SONATAS 50-52 “THE LONDON SONATAS” Gottlieb Wallisch/SACD Linn CKD 464 The Viennese born pianist Gottlieb Wallisch has already made three generally well received recordings of Mozart for the Linn label and for his latest release he now turns to the late keyboard sonatas of that other great 18th-century master Josef Haydn. When in 1790 Joseph Haydn’s employer and patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy died he was succeeded by his son, the unmusical Prince Anton, who discontinued both the orchestra and the opera company. Fortuitously Haydn was invited to England in 1791 by the impresario Johann Peter Salomon to conduct his symphonies in London. The composer quickly assumed celebrity status with the English and it was during his second journey to London in the years 1794-5 that Haydn composed his last three piano sonatas. It is these with which Wallisch opens his programme on this SACD. It is clear when listening to these incomparable masterpieces that Haydn’s abundant invention and imagination was in no way restricted by the limitations of the fortepiano or early examples of the pianoforte available to him at the time of their composition. This is why they are particularly well suited to the colour and range of the modern concert grand something that is immediately apparent in Sonata No. 60 in C major, Hob. XVI/50 in which Wallisch demonstrates the wide dynamic range of his Steinway Model D instrument to excellent effect. Each of these sonatas is a treasure house of captivating musical delights, fantasy and typical Haydnesque wit that Wallisch explores to the full in these performances. From the unusual conciseness of the striking D major Sonata, Hob. XVI/51 to the grandeur of Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major, Hob. XVI/52 the pianist shows himself to be in total sympathy with the style of the music and able to convey its qualities to the listener. Wallisch’s recital also includes Sonata No. 59 in E-flat major, Hob. XVI/49 – the last sonata Haydn composed before coming to England and a searching performance of the marvellous Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII/6‘Un piccolo divertimento’ that Haydn dedicated to the pianist Barbara von Ployer, who was also the dedicatee of Mozart’s Piano Concertos K449 and K453. The recording, produced and engineered by Philip Hobbs is first class. It was made in the Historischer Reitstadel zu Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, a venue noted for its excellent acoustics and the sound is crisply focused and immediate enhanced with just the right amount of ambience from the surround channels. These persuasive performances in fine sound will afford much pleasure.
SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONIES 4,5 & 6, Mariinsky, Valery Gergiev/Mariinsky SACD MAR0545 This latest release of Valery Gergiev’s on-going survey of the 15 Shostakovich symphonies for the Mariinsky label offers the 4th, 5th and 6th Symphonies as a double album – packaged in a standard CD case. These new recordings compete with the conductor’s earlier versions of these three symphonies made for Philips (Universal) back in 2001-2002. Then the 4th Symphony was a single issue while the 5th Symphony was coupled with the 9th (a work that has yet to appear in the current cycle). A further complication for those collectors happy with Gergiev’s earlier performances is that only the 4th and 5th Symphonies ever appeared on SACD, so this new release is the only option for listeners who wish to hear his interpretation of the 6th on SACD. All three works were composed during Stalin’s Terror in the 1930s but only Symphonies 5 and 6 had their premières during that decade, as the composer wisely withdrew the radical 4th until a less politically dangerous time, and it had to wait until 1961 for its first public performance. Having them presented in this way as a package certainly highlights the composer’s changes of style between the experimental and Mahlerian 4th and the enigmatic 6th of 1939. The new recording of the 4th Symphony is in every respect finer than the earlier one. Gergiev’s performance now seems more confident and purposeful, the playing more incisive and his orchestral seating with its antiphonally placed violins elicits much more audible detail from this gargantuan score. Unlike the other two works presented here this is not a live recording. The deal breaker in this set is Gergiev’s exciting and intense performance of the 5th Symphony. The conductor’s approach to this score has always been quite straightforward with no attempt made, particularly in the finale, to stress real or imaginary political overtones in the music. His tempi in all four movements are only marginally faster than those on his earlier recording and he still adopts a rather idiosyncratic, but quite effective, ending to the scherzo. Unfortunately, in this live performance Gergiev increases the quantity of his signature groaning to an unacceptable level, something that will rule this recording out of court for many listeners. Try a couple of minutes into the first movement and the passage in the finale between 3.50 and 5.00 to judge its acceptability. The recording of the 6th Symphony is also live but thankfully the conductor’s vocalisations are, for the most part, less intrusive. Gergiev propels the sombre and doom-laden first movement at a pace that skilfully maintains a sense of forward momentum as the many wind solos slowly unwind over long tremolando pedal-points, without short changing the music’s overall hypnotic stillness. The two brief fast movements that follow are delivered with thrilling panache and considerable virtuosity by Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra both capturing the music’s brashness and false jollity. The up-front sound quality obtained by Vladimir Ryabenko, who is credited with the production, engineering, editing and mastering of the 5.0 multi-channel recording, matches that of earlier issues in this series, and in all three works the power of the Mariinsky percussion section and weighty brass is captured magnificently. With recordings of Shostakovich symphonies, even on SACD, reaching saturation point collectors have a bewildering choice of versions to suit all tastes. My caveat regarding the 5th Symphony notwithstanding, those collecting this current cycle are unlikely to be disappointed with these idiomatic and searching performances.
BERNSTEIN: WEST SIDE STORY, San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas/SACD San Francisco Symphony SFS0059 Though it is more than half a century since Leonard Bernstein’s iconic musical West Side story took to the stage it shows no signs of losing its popularity as the many performances and new productions world-wide testify. Bernstein’s fruitful collaboration with writer Arthur Laurents, choreographer Jerome Robbins and lyricist Stephen Sondheim yielded a show whose combination of emotional impact and biting social commentary is as potent and relevant today as it was in 1957. The original cast recording released in 1958 directed by Max Goberman remains a unique document and, for me, is still a much cherished one. In 1961 the film of West Side Story directed by Robert Wise appeared and although it was, and still is, a great success with the public, significant deviations were made from Bernstein’s original conception. These included changes to the running order of some numbers and bowdlerisation of Sondheim’s hard hitting lyrics. In the same year Bernstein, assisted by his colleagues Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, assembled portions of the score into ‘Symphonic Dances from West Side Story’ an orchestral piece that gave the work a new life in the concert hall. In 1984 Bernstein was persuaded by DGG to make a complete recording of the score, and it is this famous (or arguably infamous) one which has held sway for many years. The choice of opera stars for the main roles proved controversial at the time and to many, with hindsight, now seems ill-advised; though naturally it had the imprimatur of the composer. In the intervening years there have been further recordings of the work that range from the worthy to the disastrous (the 50th Anniversary Version with Hayley Westenra and Vittorio Grigolo being a prime example of the latter). Now, at last, thanks to the dedicated efforts of Michael Tilson Thomas and the wonderful players of the San Francisco Symphony we have a definitive recording of the first-ever concert performance of Bernstein’s complete Broadway score for West Side Story – one that many will wish the composer had made thirty years ago. As a close colleague and friend of Leonard Bernstein it is fair to say that for MTT this has been a labour of love and it is doubtful whether any conductor today could have brought this project to fruition with such overwhelming success. MTT has chosen a terrific cast of young singing actors for this recording – many with Broadway experience – and with not a single weak link amongst them. Cheyenne Jackson (Tony) singing with a velvet smoothness of tone displays absolute confidence and commitment in his assumption of the role. The unaffected lyricism he brings to his accounts of ‘Maria’ and ‘Tonight’ is especially touching. A fresh-voiced Alexandra Silber (Maria) is well matched with Jackson in her duets with him, and thankfully she avoids any faux Puerto Rican accent. While Jessica Vosk (Anita) does not erase memories of Chita Rivera or Rita Moreno, her sassy portrayal and exciting delivery never disappoint. The one (appropriately) ‘operatic’ voice in the cast is that of Julia Bullock (A Girl) whose beautifully nuanced singing of ‘Somewhere’ is one of the highlights of this set. Most definitely hers is a future career to watch. The many other lesser parts are convincingly cast whilst the members of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus relish their roles as Sharks, Jets and Girls. It would not be possible to pour too much praise on the playing of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the gripping direction of their musical director. They provide a level of polish and accomplishment that any theatre pit band could only dream of yet can really swing in the jazzy numbers such as ‘The Dance at the Gym’ and ‘Cool’. If occasionally the playing is at a marginally lower voltage than that from Bernstein’s New York band on his 1984 set, it is more than made up for by the overall vividness of the experience communicated here. Though this is a live recording, taken from five performances given at the Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco June 27-July2 2013, there is virtually no evidence of an audience (Sondheim’s brilliantly witty lyrics understandably do provoke just a ripple of distant laughter at the end of ‘America’) and what must surely have been tumultuous bouts of applause at the live concert have been excised. The punchy 5.0 channel PCM recording (96kHz/24-bit) is fairly close miked, but still provides plenty of air and space around the performers . The stereo spread is both wide and deep while thanks to the exemplary balances achieved by the engineers every word sung is crystal clear, even without reference to the enclosed libretto. The presentation of these two SACDs is as classy as the musical content found on them. The discs are enclosed within a lavishly illustrated104 page hardback book that includes, amongst many other things, some fascinating photographs charting the genesis of the show, the full libretto and Michael Tilson Thomas’s own thoughts on the work. For those who love Bernstein’s timeless piece of musical theatre this marvellous set is a mandatory acquisition.
GUSTAV & ALMA MAHLER: LIEDER Karen Cargill, mezzo soprano, Simon Lepper, piano/SACD Linn CKD 453 That the Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill is an outstanding artist who possesses not only a beautiful voice but exceptional musical intelligence is clear from this excellent recital of familiar Lieder by Gustav Mahler that also includes less familiar compositions from his wife Alma. When the 22 year old Alma Schindler married Gustav Mahler in 1902 she allowed her considerable musical talent to be subjugated by her husband in a way that would be totally unacceptable today – at least in Western society. In a letter to her written before the marriage Mahler stated “ If at a time when you should be attending to household duties or fetching me something I urgently needed or if as you wrote you wish to relieve me of life’s trivia – if at such a moment you were befallen by inspiration what then?” By 1910 Mahler’s intransigence had abated and Alma’s ‘Funf Lieder’ – settings of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, Heinrich Heine and others – were published. Since then another nine of her songs have appeared and been recorded. These songs are harmonically quite advanced – closer to Berg and Alma’s teacher Zemlinsky, than those of her husband. Cargill performs them with great sensitivity and communicates a keen understanding of the texts. She is accompanied beautifully by Simon Lepper whose imaginative playing is ideally matched with Cargill’s fine singing. Gustav Mahler’s much recorded five ‘Rückert Lieder’, the ‘Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen’ cycle and ‘Urlicht’ from his Second Symphony make up the rest of this programme. One is so used to hearing these songs with orchestral accompaniment that their intimacy comes as something of a welcome surprise. This is particularly true in the case of the third of the ‘Rückert Lieder’, a love song for Alma that was never orchestrated by Mahler himself. Cargill’s performances of all these songs are wonderfully expressive yet refreshingly direct. Her steadiness and vocal control throughout this recital is most impressive as is her exceptionally clear diction. Again the accompaniments from Simon Lepper leave nothing to be desired. The disc was produced and expertly recorded by Philip Hobbs last year at St. George’s, Bristol a venue whose acoustic easily accommodates Karen Cargill’s opulent mezzo-soprano with ease. Balance between voice and piano is ideal and the sound, apart from an occasional touch of hardness in the piano, is clear and precise. The inclusion of full texts and translations as well as informative liner notes from Gavin Plumley put the seal on this most enjoyable release – one that can be unreservedly recommended.
MOZART: MOZART VIOLIN CONCERTOS, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Arabella Steinbacher, violin/PentaTone SACD PTC 5186479 The legion of admirers of the charismatic violinist Arabella Steinbacher will need little urging to investigate the latest release in her rapidly growing discography on the PENTATONE label and will certainly be delighted by her lovely performances of the three Mozart Violin concertos presented here. Two versions that couple these particular concertos have already appeared on SACD; one from Marianne Thorsen in fine surround sound, and in addition a period performance from Andrew Manze. However, it can’t fail to be noticed by collectors that PENTATONE has already almost cornered the market on these concertos with the award-winning recordings made by Julia Fischer and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra conducted by the late Yakov Kreizberg, and it is fair to say that Arabella Steinbacher’s versions of these three works complement, rather than in any way supplant, those by Fischer. Steinbacher’s playing delivers a richer more full-blooded sound than Fischer’s more silvery tone and this coupled with her choice of marginally more expansive tempi lean her performances closer to those of the past rather than exponents of currently fashionable ‘period practice’. Her poised and unforced cantabile style in the slow movements of K216 and K218 is especially ingratiating, but throughout the disc subtle refinement can be found in abundance. The choice of cadenzas in these concertos, though hardly a deciding factor, is worth mentioning. Fischer mostly uses cadenzas by herself and her conducting partner whereas Steinbacher opts for those by Joseph Joachim in K218 and K219 and Wolfgang Schneiderhan in K216. All are models of appropriate style and good taste. The 26 players of the Festival Strings, Lucerne, (a group established as long ago as 1956 by Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Rudolf Baumgartner) here directed by their current Artistic Director Daniel Dodds, provide alert and spirited accompaniments in all three concertos. The 5.0 DSD multi-channel recording, made in the clean and open acoustic of Kirche Oberstrass in Zurich by the experienced team from Polyhymnia of Job Maarse, Erdo Groot and Roger de Schot, could hardly be improved upon. In this respect it even manages marginally to improve on the Julia Fischer recordings of these pieces where the more reverberant acoustic of the Waalse Kirche in Amsterdam and what sounds like a larger Netherlands Chamber result in the wind parts being fractionally less clearly focussed. In the final analysis, the listener’s own personal taste must inevitably be the deciding factor when comparisons are being made between these outstanding performances from Steinbacher and Fischer – both consummate artists. It is to be hoped that the rest of Mozart’s concertante works for violin and orchestra will eventually appear from Arabella Steinbacher and her talented colleagues. In the meantime this excellent issue is enthusiastically recommended.
BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY NO.7 IN E MAJOR, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer/ Channel Classics SACD CCSSA33714 Whilst there is hardly a shortage of recommendable recordings of Bruckner’s 7th Symphony to suit almost every taste – 28 available on SACD at my most recent count – canny collectors know that any new recording from Ivan Fischer and his peerless Budapest Festival Orchestra will be worth investigating and once again this proves to be the case. Nothing ever Fischer does is routine, and though this account of the 7th Symphony obviously will not satisfy all listeners, no Bruckner aficionado could fail to find the insights he brings to this work both imaginative and stimulating. Though, as far as I could ascertain, the edition used is not stated in the liner notes, it appears to be the 1954 Nowak – the one that retains the triangle and cymbal clash in the slow movement. A glance at the timing for the performance (56.45) places it amongst the swiftest available, and even Marek Janowski, a conductor hardly known for sluggish tempi, takes nine minutes longer than Fischer in his recording of this work. The opening ‘Allegro moderato’ arguably benefits considerably from the forward momentum that Fischer engenders throughout its 19 minute span, and one’s initial surprise gradually gives way to appreciation of the sense of freshness and discovery that he achieves as it unfolds. In the liner notes Fischer writes of the ‘religious ecstasy’ and ‘majestic proportions’ found in Bruckner’s music, but when we reach the ‘Adagio’ it is precisely these particular qualities that, for this listener, seem rather short-changed in Fischer’s account of this movement. The composer’s indication ‘Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam’ (Very solemn and very slow) surely suggests something more contemplative and expansive than what is experienced here, and in spite of the magnificently controlled orchestral delivery Fischer’s controversially fast tempi will for some listeners seem misguided. In contrast, the ‘Scherzo’ is a joy. It is delivered – to use an equine analogy – at a cantering tempo with a buoyancy and lightness missing from many recorded versions whilst the Trio section is played with great delicacy and charm. Fischer’s ‘Finale’ is both urgent and purposeful with the instrumental lines clearly etched (partly aided by the conductor’s antiphonal seating of the violins) and it builds to its blazing conclusion with absolute conviction. Whatever the differing views that might be held about aspects of Fischer’s performance, there will surely be complete unanimity with regard to the magnificent sound quality of Channel’s 5.0 DSD recording made in the Palace of Arts Budapest in March 2012. The acoustic of this venue provides warmth and the essential sense of space to allow Bruckner’s towering brass-capped climaxes to expand magnificently with no sense of strain. The playing of the Budapest Festival Orchestra throughout is breathtaking, with string playing that is supple and rich but never over-saturated. The burnished sound of the horns and quartet of Wagner tubas in their lament at the end of the slow movement is especially memorable, and timpani are always clean and well defined. Reservations about the ‘Adagio’ apart, this is a performance so thoroughly prepared, expertly executed and superbly recorded as to make it unmissable.
BALLET MUSIC BY STRAUSS; LISZT; KORNGOLD; BUSONI; SCHREKER, Orchestre De La Suisse Romande; Kazuki Yamada/PentaTone Classics SACDPTC5186518
This varied collection of music associated with ‘The Dance’ is what record companies used to call a ‘sonic spectacular’ – a description well suited to this SACD. From the wild opening bars of the ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ from Strauss’s ‘Salomé’ it is clear that the team from Polyhymnia have delivered a recording (5.0 channel DSD) that is exceptional in its richness and clarity. There is a plausibly coherent sound-stage, full of detail, and thanks to the rounded ambience of the Victoria Hall in Geneva one that is ideally suited to the late-romantic lushness of most of the works presented here. The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande perform throughout with virtuoso brilliance for their young Japanese Principal Guest Conductor Kazuki Yamada who seems well attuned to the idiom of this music and revels in its predominantly sumptuous textures. Though Liszt’s short tone poem, the Mephisto Waltz No.1, that follows Yamada’s langourous account of the Strauss dance, is most enjoyable, it does perhaps lack some of the fire and erotic frenzy that can be found in other versions of this much recorded piece. The remainder of the programme consists of an imaginative choice of works from the 20th century Korngold’s mastery of orchestration is evident in his last completed work entitled ‘Straussiana’. This was one of a pair of commissions he received from the American School Orchestras associations in 1953. It comprises Korngold’s re-orchestration of three short pieces – a polka, a mazurka and a waltz – extracted from three of Johann Strauss’s lesser known operettas ‘Fürstin Ninetta’, ‘Cagliostro in Wien’ and ‘Ritter Pásmán’ respectively. The players of the OSR revel in this delightful trifle. The late works of Ferrucio Busoni (1866-1924) are often quite dark and even radical, but that is not the case with ‘Tanz-walzer’ dedicated to the memory of Johann Strauss, a composer whom Busoni greatly admired. It consists of a slow introduction followed by four beguiling though occasionally subversive waltzes played here with abundant élan. Franz Schreker’s ‘Ein Tanzspiel’ which bears the subtitle ‘Four Pieces in Olden Style for Orchestra’ was written in 1908 for two sisters Grete and Else Wiesenthal, pioneers of a new form of interpretive dance known as ‘Ausdruckstanz’. The titles are Sarabande, Menuett, Madrigal and Gavotte. Schreker’s glittering orchestration and melodic richness at once suggests the heady atmosphere of fin de siècle Vienna rather than any earlier style suggested by the titles. Again Yamada’s performance could hardly be more persuasive. The final work on this disc is the ‘First sequence of waltzes’ from Der Rosenkavalier not, as suggested by Kazuki Yamada in the booklet notes, the ‘Rosenkavalier Suite’. Strauss made this arrangement in 1944 and it received its first performance in 1946 conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. Yamada’s account of these familiar waltzes, taken from the opera’s first two acts, is slightly under characterised though still expertly played by the OSR. While one may have slight reservations about a couple of the performances on this SACD, 65 minutes of captivating music, executed with style and flare, and recorded in state-of-the-art sound will be for many a no-brainer.