STRAUSS: MACBETH, DON JUAN, TILL EULENSPIEGEL, Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Möst /Cleveland SACD  Though the profile of the Cleveland Orchestra is not as high as it used to be with the so-called ‘major’ record companies, be in no doubt that it is still one of the finest body of musicians in the world as this superb release on the orchestra’s own label irrefutably confirms. Franz Welser-Möst has been at the helm of this orchestra for more than twenty years and has maintained the superlative standards set by his six distinguished predecessors of whom George Szell and Lorin Maazel are probably the most familiar to collectors.(Szell’s incomparable 1957 accounts of two of the three works on this disc are still available on SACD. In his essay, ‘Orchestral Mastery and Art’, Welser-Möst writes “…these scores can be over interpreted and played simply for orchestral brilliance. But that, I have learned, misses the point and lessens the musical impact.” Though his performances of each of the works on this SACD are swift, the unforced virtuosity of the Cleveland players make the conductor’s tempi seem perfect. The rarity in this programme is Strauss’s early tone poem ‘Macbeth’ – a much underrated piece in my opinion. In his essay Welser-Möst tells us that he considers it to be a more challenging work than the others and it took more time than usual with his orchestra in rehearsal for him to discover ‘the underlying truths in this score’. Surprisingly it was in October 2021 that it received its first performance in Cleveland. While I marginally prefer Marek Janowski’s more expansive account from Pittsburgh, Welser-Möst’s turbulent and passionate performance does not disappoint. ‘Don Juan’, that follows is especially thrilling in this athletic but notably sensitive reading with alluring solo playing in the slower episodes while elsewhere it possesses all the panache one could ask for. ‘Till Eulenspiegel’s Lustige Streiche’ is also delivered with wit and drama in equal measure and its various episodes are brilliantly characterised, even matching the Szell version referred to above. The packaging of the disc is exceptionally luxurious, if a little eccentric. The SACD is clipped inside a 19cm square book whose surface is very tactile – almost like suede – but is awkward to remove. The forty page book includes essays on Strauss, and one for each of the tone poems featured. All are profusely illustrated with full colour photographs and even excerpts from the Nikolaus Lenau poem that inspired Strauss to write his ‘Don Juan’ are given in German and English. The three tone poems were recorded live at 24bit / 96kHz in October 2021 at the Mandel Concert Hall, Severance Music Centre in Cleveland. Like all these Cleveland own-label releases this is a stereo hybrid, not multi-channel disc, but the sound is well engineered and has considerable presence as well as warmth. It is also worth noting that a unique code is provided enabling one to download a personal set of high resolution audio files (flac) of the music. All audience noises and applause has thankfully been excised. One’s only regret is that with a playing time of just under 46 minutes it was not possible to include another Strauss work – ‘Tod und Verklärung’ being the obvious choice. Altogether this is a most recommendable addition to the Cleveland Orchestra’s already impressive discography.

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 6, STUCKY: SILENT SPRING, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck/REFERENCE RECORDINGS SACD  The connection between the two disparate works on this latest SACD from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Reference Recordings would seem to be the relationship between Man and the natural world. Here the recording of Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral Symphony’ emanates from live performances given in Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts (June 23, 24 & 25, 2017) while Steven Stucky’s ‘Silent Spring’ was taped almost a year later (April 20, 21 & 22, 2018). It will come as no surprise to most listeners that in terms of recorded sound and quality of orchestral playing this release matches the earlier ones from this source in all respects – ie. absolutely outstanding. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s music director Manfred Honeck has for many years established a wonderfully close and collegial relationship with his players who respond unfailingly and with finesse to his interpretative demands throughout both works. Steven Stucky’s tone poem “Silent Spring” was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 2012 to mark the 50th anniversary of nature writer Rachel Carson’s book by the same title, which details the damage to the environment caused by the use of chemical pesticides. The work is in one continuous movement with each of its four section linked to titles from Carson’s book – ‘The Sea Around Us’; ‘The Lost Wood;’ ‘Rivers of Death’ and ‘Silent Spring’ itself. The music is both atmospheric and menacing as befits its subject and Stucky, who sadly died in 2016, uses the resources of his very large orchestra with considerable assurance. It is not an easy piece to assimilate after only a few hearings, but is certainly worth the effort and needless to say the orchestral execution is phenomenal. Manfred Honeck and Reference Recordings have already given us magnificent accounts of Beethoven Symphonies 3,5,7and 9 so I expected no less from this latest recording of the Pastoral Symphony. As has become the norm with these Pittsburgh releases the conductor provides fulsome notes in the accompanying booklet about the work and his approach to it. Reading these, one cannot fail to be impressed by the clarity with which he communicates his ideas on both the music and his erudition. The opening movement ’Awakening of cheerful feelings on arriving in the country’ however is, for this listener, played far too fast – not what the ‘Allegro ma non troppo’ marking suggests – and gives the impression of undue haste if not impatience. Turn to Bruno Walter or Erich Kleiber for a more congenial evocation of ‘cheerful feelings. Furthermore, Honeck has decided to ‘improve’ Beethoven’s scoring by adding a piccolo to bring out the suggestion of bird song near the opening. While I did not find this really disturbing, it did seem to be quite unnecessary. In contrast, Honeck’s tempo for the second movement ‘Scene by the brook’ seems ideal – flowing, unhurried but never sluggish. Here one marvels at the perfectly turned Pittsburgh woodwind and warm strings. The third movement ‘Merry assembly of country folk’ is performed with considerable vigour and precision but again the conductor has added a piccolo and this time it is more distracting, especially when earlier in this movement he has asked his musicians to “stamp along with their feet on these repeated sforzati…..”. The ‘Thunderstorm’ that follows is vividly evoked, and incisively played, with tremendous impact from the timpani and the piccolo that Beethoven actually did reserve for this movement! Honeck’s control of dynamics and sense of drama is remarkable, though his decision to use wooden mallets for the timpani might suggest to some listeners artillery fire rather than thunder. The finale entitled ‘Shepherds Song-Benevolent feelings of thanksgiving to the deity after the storm’ is thankfully free of any interpretive quirks and one can relax and enjoy the superlative orchestral playing captured in a recording of exceptional clarity. It would be remiss not to have drawn attention to the conductor’s genuinely well-meaning, though in my opinion, misguided, tinkerings with one of Beethoven’s, most loved scores. If these do not bother you then be assured there is much to enjoy on what is overall a fascinating release.

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: COMPLETE SYMPHONIES, Various Orchestras, Richard Hickox, Andrew Davis/Chandos SACD boxed set The cycle was intended to be conducted by Richard Hickox, one of the finest champions and interpreters of British music, with the London Symphony Orchestra – an orchestra that already had a close relationship with this conductor. Sadly the sudden and untimely death of Hickox in November 2008 meant that the cycle remained short of completion with just Symphonies 7 and 9 missing. Fortunately Chandos were able to call upon the services of Sir Andrew Davis (another distinguished interpreter of Vaughan Williams) to finish the project, albeit with a different orchestra (the Bergen Philharmonic). It is perhaps worth noting that most of the original single releases contained just one symphony per disc with various other choral and orchestral works by the composer acting as fill-ups. This new box set is shorn of these additional pieces, many, though not all of which, are available elsewhere.
DISC 1
The ‘Sea Symphony’ (Symphony No.1) originates from live performances given in the Barbican in 2006 and is the only one to be recorded in DSD rather than Chandos’s customary 24bit/96kHz. With Gerald Finley’s magnificent, firm voiced singing – a baritone who really understands how to communicate Whitman’s words – and soprano Susan Gritton in radiant voice, this is a riveting account of the score. The LSO Chorus is on top form with immaculate diction and the sound quality does not disappoint even with the limitations of the Barbican acoustic. This regrettably was the last of the cycle to be conducted by Richard Hickox.
DISC 2
The ‘London Symphony’ (Symphony No.2) is performed in its original 1913 version, one that has almost twenty minutes of additional music of the highest quality that the composer excised in his later revisions. As a colleague wrote in his enthusiastic review “The orchestral playing and conducting of Hickox throughout this disc is quite beyond criticism” a view I would fully endorse. This is an essential acquisition for all Vaughan Williams aficionados and the only recording of it that has been permitted to date by the RVW Trust.
DISC 3
Two works of considerable contrast on this disc – the ‘Pastoral Symphony’ (Symphony No. 3) from 1921 and its successor Symphony No.4 that appeared some ten years later. Hickox’s tempi for the former are finely judged, avoiding any sense of sluggishness and the ample ambience of the recording venue (All Saints Church, Tooting) provides a magical glow to a performance that successfully conveys both the work’s outward tranquillity and its darker undercurrents.
Hickox’s interpretation of the 4th Symphony is one of the finest on disc. He gives a very fast and terrifyingly visceral account of the score from start to finish, revelling in the music’s violence and dissonant turbulence. The LSO is on blistering form with white-hot playing from all sections. The only downside is that the acoustic ambience of All Saints, so right for the previous work, does tend to mask some detail in the loudest passages.
DISC 4
Hickox launched his cycle in 1997 with a work of serenity (Symphony No.5) first heard in 1943 and though recorded at a comparatively low resolution the sound does not disappoint. Thanks to the marvellously eloquent playing of the LSO and Hickox’s clear direction this is a cherishable account of the score, and only a touch of glassiness in the string sound detracts from the otherwise fine recording. The coupling is the turbulent and sometimes diabolic 6th Symphony in an account that underlines Hickox’s interpretive skill in handling the extreme contrasts of mood and pace in this most challenging piece. One such example is his masterly control of dynamics in the symphony’s final Epilogue with its suggestion of a desolate and dystopian landscape.
DISC 5
As I have mentioned above, Symphonies 7 and 9 were assigned to the very capable hands of Sir Andrew Davis and the Bergen Philharmonic and, both in sonic and performance terms, are outstanding. Davis shapes the Sinfonia Antartica with unerring skill with tempi that ensure there are no longueurs in any of the work’s five movements while the wide dynamic range of the recording provides a thrilling listening experience.
The much underrated 9th Symphony is also finely delivered by Davis, with captivating playing by the Bergen orchestra throughout and notably in the slow movement from Martin Winter on the flügel-horn, considered by the composer as ‘a beautiful and neglected instrument’.
DISC 6
Hickox’s invigorating account of the 8th Symphony was originally coupled with the 6th and the ambience of All Saints certainly enhances the percussion in the finale, a Toccata, with its tuned gongs and “all the ’phones and ’spiels known to the composer”.
The remainder of this disc is occupied by a fascinating collection of archive material that includes a 28 minute lecture broadcast from 1955 by the composer, a discussion between Sir Adrian Boult and Robert Layton about the 3rd and 4th Symphonies and contributions from Sir John Barbirolli and the composer’s widow Ursula Vaughan Williams.
Each of the six SACDs is packaged in a cardboard sleeve inside a box that also includes a 47-page booklet with authoritative notes on each symphony, predominantly by the late Michael Kennedy, as well as the texts for the Sea Symphony and dates of the recordings. While there are now other recommendable individual accounts on SACD of these works, this Chandos cycle spanning 20 years is a unique and more than worthy contribution to the celebration of the Vaughan Williams 150th Anniversary.