CD and Other Review

Review: Roots (Martin Fröst)

Recording of the Month – May 2016 The title of Swedish clarinettist Martin Fröst’s Sony Classical debut says it all while implying so much more. Growing out of a live music project Fröst was already working on in Stockholm, Roots is an entirely organic listening experience, resembling (not so much contemplating) an ancient, solitary tree but strolling through a fragrant garden where a profusion of different plants brings forth flowers and fruits in eclectic abundance. Apart from Crusell’s famous Introduction and Variations on a Swedish Air and specially commissioned works by Anders Hillborg, the rest of the music here has undergone multiple metamorphoses, whether through transcription, arrangement, variation, improvisation or a new setting. Unfolding chronologically through time and space, the programme seamlessly connects each work by avoiding spaces between tracks; implicit is the invitation to find further connections in a shared heritage of dance and song, sacred ritual and secular entertainment, as well as folk and art music. Roots opens gently with Hildegard of Bingen, Fröst’s solo clarinet gliding between declamation and song before choir and orchestra enter almost surreptitiously; the following presto from a Telemann concerto originally for recorder and flute thus feels like a rude but not unwelcome…

May 2, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Kaleidoscope (Khatia Buniatishvili)

We’ve had “the next Callas”, “the next Sutherland”, “the next Wunderlich”, now, we’re hearing 28-year-old Georgian pianist, Khatia Buniatishvili touted as “the next Argerich”. Not on the strength of this CD, featuring works each of which exists in an orchestral guise (and in which I’d much rather hear all of them)! The Guardian critic unleashed as much bile on Buniatishvili’s Wigmore Hall performance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition as his feminist colleagues routinely do on signet ring-wearing, old Etonian Tory politicians who ride to hounds. Broadly, I’m forced to agree: the very opening of this recording is promisingly imaginative, with the Promenade played tentatively – as if the viewer is intimidated by art galleries (though The Promenade connective tissue convincingly becomes bolder as the performance progresses). The Old Castle is hypnotically, but interminably slow. This works, but Bydlo, the ox cart, sounds as though it’s lost a wheel. Other movements – like Baba Yaga (the Hut on Fowl’s Legs) – are dispatched in such a helter-skelter way that they become virtually meaningless. What should be a magical transition between Baba Yaga and the gravity and grandeur of The Great Gate of Kiev is completely botched and goes for nothing….

April 29, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Mozart: Arias (Dorothea Röschmann)

Initially, listening to Dorothea Röschmann singing Oh Smania! Oh Furie! from Idomeneo, I was aware of some alarming shouting. In the next track, Deh, Se Piacer Mi Vuoi from La Clemenza di Tito, I thought her singing had improved considerably until she hits a top note with what can only be described as a bit of a shriek. This happens a few times, exacerbated by minor audio peaks on the recording.  Porgi, amor, from The Marriage of Figaro fares much better, with less abrasiveness on top notes and a more beguiling style throughout. In Dove sono, requiring less forte singing, the loveliness of her voice is once more to the fore. The weightier demands of Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata from Don Giovanni, suit her stentorian style well, and in E Susanna non vien! we find a Countess who is not as put upon as some. Back to Idomeneo, she sings the moving Solitudini Amichi beautifully and with considerable feeling. Ecco il punto from Clemenza, has spirit, her rich bottom notes a feature. This substantial aria requires that the singer range across many moods in order to bring the piece off successfully, which she does. Finally the concert aria Bella Mia Fiamma,…

April 29, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Widor: Organ Symphonies Volume 1 (Joseph Nolan)

I’m not sure Charles-Marie Widor would have liked to be remembered simply as the man whose Toccata provides happy couples with the second most popular wedding recessional in history. But there’s not much danger of that with organists the calibre of UK-born Joseph Nolan (currently Organist and Master of the Choristers at St George’s Cathedral, Perth) keeping the sacred flame burning. Nolan here offers the first fruits of seven nocturnal recording sessions in a row, during which he put down all ten of Widor’s organ symphonies at the console of the superb four-manual, 60-stop, 4426-pipe Cavaillé-Coll organ of La Madeleine, Paris. The first two symphonies of Widor’s Opus 42 are grandly Romantic, five-movement behemoths that balance huge multicoloured edifices of devilish complexity with softer-lit landscapes populated by angelic choirs of varying dimensions. Nolan hovers over all like some musical demiurge, fleet of feet and fingers as he negotiates the massive chords and filigree passagework of faster movements such as the closing Vivace of Symphony No 6; thoughtful and sensitive yet smouldering with creative tension in slower movements such as the multi-faceted Andantino quasi allegretto and mellifluous Fifth Symphony Adagio. And “that” Toccata, with which the Fifth Symphony and the disc…

April 29, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Widor: Organ Symphonies Volume 3 (Joseph Nolan)

Orchestral Editor’s Choice, December 2013 Those of you who still haven’t cottoned onto the idea that Widor wrote a hell of a lot of brilliant organ music, most of it far superior to that Toccata, really need to hear this third volume in UK-born Perth-based organist Joseph Nolan’s recordings of Widor’s ten organ symphonies, part of his traversal of the composer’s complete works for organ. Like the previous two highly acclaimed volumes, this one’s been recorded on the magnificent Cavaillé-Coll organ of La Madeleine, Paris. Cavaillé-Coll was a friend of Widor’s and the composer’s music is inextricably linked to his instruments, which Widor played throughout his career. The four organ symphonies which comprise Opus 13 were first published in 1872 and later dedicated to Cavaillé-Coll. Taken together, the Symphony No 3 in E Minor and the Symphony No 4 in F Minor form a contrasting diptych, the more overt romanticism of the first contrasting with the neo-Baroque qualities of the second. Both however are equally imbued with delicacy and drama – qualities that are brought to the fore by Nolan with such nuance and insight that you feel you learn more about Widor by listening to these performances than reading…

April 29, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Schoenberg, Potera: Pierrot Lunaire, Red Music (Ensemble Bios/Andrea Vitello)

Ensemble Bios is an Italian group led by conductor Andrea Vitello, dedicated to performing works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Their first outing for Italy’s Continuo label features “actress of the voice” Anna Clementi in Schoenberg’s 1912 song cycle Pierrot Lunaire.  Broken into three lots of seven (reflecting the composer’s obsession with numerology), it famously utilises Sprechstimme, a semi-spoken technique associated at the time with melodrama and to some extent Lieder and cabaret. Clementi’s delivery is deft, mocking and expressionistic, soaring and plunging while detailing Pierrot’s macabre exploits as the instrumentalists sensitively weave around her vocalisations. A century on, it still sounds thrillingly modern.  It’s paired here with a recent work by Florentine composer Andrea Portera (b. 1973), whose symphonic, theatrical and chamber works (over 120) have met with critical acclaim and two silver medals from the President of the Italian Republic. Red Music consists of three quite beautiful pieces for chamber ensemble, all just over four-minutes long, and dedicated to Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Rostropovich respectively. Each work subtly evokes the subject of its dedication – the frenetic dynamism of Prokofiev’s piano works, Shostakovich’s deeply unsettling strings, or the sound of Rostropovich’s rich, expansive cello. It makes for an…

April 19, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Domenico Zipoli: Complete Suites & Partitas (Giovanni Nesi)

Generally, when you think of baroque music you think Europe. Handel’s London, perhaps, JS Bach’s Leipzig, or Vivaldi’s Venice. For the composer Domenico Zipoli, his training as a missionary meant that he wound up further afield. Instead of hobnobbing at the courts of Europe, he lived and composed in Argentina at a time when getting to South America meant a difficult and lengthy journey. The music recorded on this disc was published as Sonate d’Intavolatura per Organo e Cimbalo, before Zipoli’s South American adventures began. Though still far from well known, the suites and partitas in the harpsichord half of the set are masterful enough to have impressed fellow composers. Writing centuries later, Vincent d’Indy referred to these works as proving Zipoli “one of the greatest Italian masters in musicality and elegance in composing”, and compared him favourably to Frescobaldi, Pachelbel and Bach. For the most part following the standard baroque dance suite form, Zipoli’s music is brought to life in this recording. Giovanni Nesi’s choice to record these works on the piano serves the music well, bringing a wonderful crispness and clarity to these works. Usually I’d quibble over historical accuracies, but that becomes irrelevant with a performance this…

April 19, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Mozart: Piano Works Volumes 8 & 9 (Kristian Bezuidenhout)

Fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout’s traversal of Mozart’s complete keyboard music is fast becoming one of the most significant recording projects of the 21st century, combining as it does the best contemporary thinking on historical performance practice with an individual and refined musical sensibility. No stranger to Australian audiences, Bezuidenhout is equally at home in an orchestral or solo instrumental context; he is also as much at home with the improvisatory aspects of historical performance as other fortepianists such as Robert Levin and the great Malcolm Bilson. These factors combine to enliven Bezuidenhout’s interpretations in both a colouristic and decorative sense. Even non-specialists will be left utterly convinced of his total fluency in the musical language of the 18th century. And how lovely to open with the deceptively simple C Major Sonata, K545, so familiar to generations of piano students and yet so elegant and ingenious in its writing.  Here, Bezuidenhout’s delicate phrasing, subtle balancing of voices and charming embellishments prepare the listener for what is to come, not only in other familiar works such as the piano sonatas K280, K279 and K576, but some preludes, a neo-baroque dance suite, a couple of allegros completed by Levin and three dazzling sets of…

April 19, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Bruckner: String Quintet, Intermezzo, String Quartet (Fitzwilliam String Quartet)

I’ve always had a high regard for Bruckner’s String Quintet in F Major, the work he wrote in the afterglow of his Fifth Symphony, and every bit as symphonic in scope and ambition. Alongside the Quintet, the Fitzwilliam String Quartet has included the String Quartet in C Minor, which Bruckner composed when studying under Otto Kitzler, and an alternate view of the chamber music path he might have followed presents itself. Young Anton revels in inhabiting the compositional fabric of Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn. The tone is light and playful; but ultimately Bruckner’s sonic imagination drove him elsewhere.  Adding guest violist James Boyd, the Fitzwilliam Quartet performs with gut strings and period instruments configured to exactly the pitch Bruckner himself would have expected. Vibrato is expertly controlled throughout, and although the medium might cross into unfamiliar terrain, the sound and motivation behind this music is pure Bruckner. Beginning in the midst of an unfolding harmonic argument, the fulsome and fine-grained blend of the Fitzwilliam approach sings proudly. Phrasing breathes luxuriously and is never allowed to tip into the red heat of faux-Romanticism. The extended Adagio – where Lucy Russell’s violin soars towards the heavens – could well be one of…

April 19, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Brahms: Piano Quartet Op. 60, Piano Trio Op. 8 (Trio Wanderer)

A decade has passed since Trio Wanderer gave us a superb set of Brahms’ Piano Trios with the first Piano Quartet as filler. That recording set a benchmark thanks to the ensemble’s ideal balance of elegance and expressive intensity, so this sequel is long overdue. The rarely heard first version of the Op. 8 Trio is a fascinating adjunct to that set and the Wanderers tackle the work with a different mindset, helping to delineate the self-critical composer’s maturing concision. They don’t linger as they did during the lengthy first movement, which Brahms initially over-egged with five themes,  several of which were replaced by the lovely secondary subject. Hanslick thought the fugato passage as inappropriate as a schoolboy Latin quotation in a love poem and the composer took note and cut it. The marvellous Scherzo he left well alone but for a few nips and tucks, however he wisely remodelled the middle of the slow movement; the mood swings of the original are superfluous with such animated flanking movements. The last movement meanders through some tortured passages with a good third of the movement later excised and the clunky conclusion… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month…

April 19, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (La Serenissima/Adrian Chandler)

This recording presents an unusual juxtaposition. On the one hand, we have the ubiquitous Four Seasons, but on the other, two world premiere concertos. The Four Seasons recording is certainly excellent, with effervescent performances from soloist and director Adrian Chandler. Also on the disc are two bassoon concerti (La Notte in B Flat and per Maestro de Morzin in G Minor), in both of which soloist Peter Whelan shines. However, most interesting on this disc is the presence of  a couple of first time recordings. These world premieres (Concerto in D, RV221 and Concerto in G, RV311) are for a strange hybrid instrument a bit like a tromba marina (a one-stringed, box-like instrument designed to imitate the sound of a trumpet). The violin in tromba marina, then, is designed to imitate the tromba marina in turn. Complicating matters, however, is the fact that there are a grand total of none in existence. Chandler details the research involved in recreating the violin in tromba marina, the resulting instrument having only three brass strings and a bridge that has a metal attachment to give a trumpet-like rasp. This bright-toned instrument proves… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe…

April 19, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Mozart: Il Re Pastore (Classical Opera Company/Ian Page)

Mozart’s two-act serenata Il Re Pastore was written in 1775 in response to a commission by the Archbishop of Salzburg. Metastasio’s libretto, based on a Torquato Tasso play, tells the story of Alexander the Great’s attempts at diplomatic matchmaking after his defeat of Strato, tyrant of the Phoenician city of Sidon.  Alessandro (John Mark Ainsley) finds the true heir to the throne of Sidon in lowly shepherd Aminta (Sarah Fox), brought up in ignorance of his royal lineage. He and Elisa (Ailish Tynan) are in love, but Alessandro is unaware of this and tries to marry Aminta to Strato’s daughter, Tamiri (Anna Devin), who in turn is in love with nobleman Agenore (Benjamin Hulett). Confusion ensues, after which Alessandro cuts this particular Gordian Knot by making Aminta and Elisa rulers of Sidon and giving Agenore and Tamiri another kingdom to rule over. This fourth volume in Classical Opera’s planned complete survey of Mozart’s operas is every bit as terrific as the first three, with dramatically fulsome singing from all five soloists. Aminta’s famous arias Aer Tranquillo and L’Amerò are of course particular highlights, while Ainsley’s Si Spande al Sole in Faccia shows he’s lost none of the eloquence and agility…

April 15, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Grigory Sokolov plays Schubert & Beethoven

Sokolov is a cult favourite, not only because his conception of any music he plays is unflinchingly personal but also because of his tremendous concentration. Every note is coloured and weighted; each phrase meticulously judged. He refuses to record in the studio, but Deutsche Grammophon has secured a contract to release his live concert performances. This is the second release, taken from recitals in Warsaw and Salzburg in 2013; the previous disc won Limelight’s 2015 Recording of the Year.    Sokolov’s typically uncompromising programme includes Beethoven’s Sonata No 29, Op. 106, the Hammerklavier. I was surprised how delicately he plays the first two movements: his dry, detached staccatos are lightly etched, as if to remind us that we are still in the Classical period. The Adagio sostenuto is one of the great inward meditations of late Beethoven, and here it feels as if time had stopped. Sokolov ruminates for 21’28”. By comparison, Paul Lewis plays it in 18’31”, and Gulda in 15’44”. This communing over every single note requires deep concentration from the listener as well as the performer – easier in a concert hall than at home. While Sokolov’s single-mindedness never falters, his is not your everyday Hammerklavier.  Late…

April 15, 2016