CD and Other Review

Review: Poetry in Music (The Sixteen/Harry Christophers)

Harry Christophers has crafted this superb programme around four settings of King David’s lament for his slain son When David heard and describes it as “a best of poetry in music” – a big call, bearing in mind it is mostly sacred.  William Harris’s Faire is the Heaven and Bring us, O Lord God are sumptuous double-choir anthems full of delicious added-note harmonies and make a glittering wrapping for the delights within. James MacMillan’s The Gallant Weaver is a modern miniature masterpiece of accessible appeal with its gentle hints of Scottish folksong; such a clever piece of vocal writing – its decaying repetitions at different speeds evoke the stacked digital delay effects of modern-day electronic techniques. A surprising rarity is Ivor Gurney’s Since I Believe in God the Father Almighty, an anthem for double choir that is a deeply moving prayer from a troubled soul; Gurney’s experiences at the Western Front haunted him and despite a brief flourish of creative activity after the War he spent the rest of his days institutionalised where he wrote this work. The austere lines set against rich harmonies with surprising side-steps of tonality betray a fragile bipolar state of mind. Sample the line “And…

February 22, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Royal Consorts: Music for English Kings (Latitude 37)

This is the third album recorded for ABC Classics by Melbourne-based early music ensemble Latitude 37. Julia Fredersdorff (baroque violin), Laura Vaughan (viola da gamba) and Donald Nicolson (harpsichord) are renowned exponents of historically-informed performance, and for this recording they train their collective expertise on a cross-section of music from 17th-century England that collapses “the artificial divides of art music and popular music.” The album takes its name from the Royal Consorts of William Lawes (1602-1645), a set of ten suites or ‘setts’ of dances; Sett No 2 is presented here along with works by William Byrd and Henry Purcell, including one of his spectacular Fantasias for Viols and a jaw-dropping Let Me Weep from The Fairy Queen, featuring young Sydney soprano Alexandra Oomens.  These sit beside works by less-famous composers including Davis Mell (1604-1662), William Corkine (1569-1645), and several anonymous works in arrangements. Of particular note is the world premiere recording of Fantasia-Suite No 2, an unpublished work for treble, bass viol and organ by Christopher Gibbons (1615-1676). It is an absolute delight to hear the chamber organ ‘breathing’ as this work begins, and as good a time as any to mention the sumptuous, spacious beauty that characterises the…

February 22, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Bach: Violin Concertos (Alina Ibragimova/Arcangelo)

Alina Ibragimova has previously tackled Bach’s solo violin Sonatas and Partitas with great success, and here she presents an equally superb recording of the Bach violin concerti. JS Bach’s violin concertos are oft-recorded, so new performances have to face down most of the 20th (and 21st) century’s greatest violinists – not an easy task! However, with sensitive accompaniment from ensemble Arcangelo and director Jonathan Cohen, Ibragimova brings a fresh and lively approach to these popular favourites. Only two of the works on this disc are officially labelled as “violin concertos”, the Concerto in A Minor, BWV1041, and the Concerto in E Major, BWV1042. In contrast, the Concerto in A Major, BWV1055, the Concerto in F Minor, BWV1056, and the Concerto in D Minor, BWV1052 all exist as harpsichord concerti, but due to various quirks, scholars have suggested that the pieces once existed in violin concerto format as well. Parts of the keyboard versions contain passages that seem oddly reminiscent of violinistic writing, complete with double-stops and convenient open strings. The theory is that Bach wrote a violin original, transcribed it for harpsichord (or other instruments), and at some point the violin original was lost, leaving only the transcription. Although these works are more…

February 22, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride (Pinchgut Opera)

Based on the premise that far more operas were written before 1750 than since, Pinchgut has been unearthing a rich stash of rediscovered treasures for Sydney audiences since 2002. Starting off with one production a year, the company under its Artistic Director Antony Walker has moved to two short seasons at the intimate City Recital Hall. For its 2014 offerings Pinchgut moved to the decade before the French Revolution to stage two contrasting works, Salieri’s comedy The Chimney Sweep and Gluck’s Euripidean saga of parricide, matricide and near-fratricide, Iphigénie en Tauride, which marked the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth. You can now share the performance of the latter, containing some of Gluck’s finest music, with this live two-disc set. Premiered in Paris in 1789 Iphigénie was an instant hit and this disc shows why – the vocal and orchestral writing are both wonderful. The mystery is why it has taken so long for it to re-emerge from relative obscurity. Gluck pitches the listener straight into the dramatic action. Dispensing with an overture we hear the timpani signalling an approaching storm at sea off Scythia where Iphigénie, exiled after the goddess Diana saved her from being sacrificed by her father…

February 18, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Scriabin, Janáček: Sonatas and Poems (Stephen Hough)

Scriabin’s wife Tatiana wrote in a 1907 letter that his Piano Sonata No 5 was “extraordinary”. The same can be said of Stephen Hough’s rendition in new release Scriabin & Janácˇek: Sonatas & Poems. Hough opens the album with this musical concoction of chaos and bliss, exhibiting power through his overtly expressive and dynamic performance, before progressing to Janácˇek’s cycle On the Overgrown Path. Though a comparatively delicate work, Hough’s presence isn’t diminished. His performance of A Blown-away Leaf (Book 1, No 2) is a sentimental caress, later offset by a startlingly intense The Frydek Madonna (Book 1, No 4). Scriabin soon returns with a jolt in his Deux Poèmes, Op. 32 – a musical contrast in fine taste which is felt throughout the release as the two composers’ works are interwoven. In fact the differences between Scriabin and Janácˇek grow fainter as the album progresses, with Hough’s musical approach and impeccable performance creating a sense of unity between them. Janácˇek’s Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 is a highlight and, well placed in the latter part of the album, it reveals Hough’s brooding dramaticism, preparing him for a final joyous release in the concluding Piano Sonata No 4 in F Sharp by Scriabin. Stephen Hough…

February 18, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Serene Nights (Guitar Trek)

A much-loved part of the Australian music landscape, Guitar Trek’s newest recording is a wide-ranging set of pieces. With the tagline “gems from classical music and beyond” it’s easy to imagine a rather cynical combination of classical hits, but Guitar Trek have recorded a delightful programme with a solid mix of the familiar and unfamiliar. They’ve given us familiar names but with unfamiliar pieces (Rodrigo’s Four Pieces for Piano), as well as favourites that are always welcome (Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers). One of the problems with the guitar quartet is that four of the same instrument results in a limited texture and range. Guitar Trek’s point of difference, however, is that they, along with Australian luthier Graham Caldersmith, have created a guitar “family” – they use treble, baritone and bass instruments, in addition to the normal guitar. This expansion creates significant new opportunities for performance, of which they take great advantage on this CD. For example, part of the disc is devoted to South American music. One piece, Noite Serena (Serene Night) by Rufino Almeida, known as “Bau”, uses Guitar Trek’s classical bass as a substitute for the original piece’s electric bass. Were a standard guitar quartet (sans classical bass)…

February 18, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Shostakovich: Cello Concertos Nos 1 & 2 (Capuçon, Gergiev)

Shostakovich’s cello concertos, both written for legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, swing from smouldering slow movements to flashes of manic, frenetic activity. This new recording from Erato pairs French cellist Gautier Capuçon with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra in a recording that highlights the exquisite details of Shostakovich’s cello writing, taken from concerts in 2013 and 2014 in Paris and St Petersburg. This is Capuçon’s second recording with Gergiev and Mariinsky, having previously released a CD of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev in 2010. Capuçon hits the spiky five-note motif that opens the First Concerto with restrained intensity. This personal motif, based on the initials of the composer’s name (DSCH), is repeated aggressively in various guises throughout the first movement, returning in the finale to give the concerto a cyclical framework. Capuçon’s tone in the Allegretto is liquid and velvet, but full of depth and crunch as he leans into the low double-stops. The Mariinsky’s strings are lushly dissonant as they introduce the second movement, Gergiev shaping them into flowing arcs before the creeping cello line enters. Capuçon’s glissandi sigh, his sound rich in the lower registers and smooth and glassy in the high. He harnesses space and silence in the cadenza…

February 11, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Arias for Benucci (Matthew Rose, Arcangelo/Jonathan Cohen)

Editor’s Choice, Jan/Feb 2016 – Opera Francesco Benucci was the star singer of Vienna’s Italian Opera Buffa Company, founded in 1783, and was renowned for his splendid vocalism and good taste – novel qualities for most exponents of the buffa style. He placed musical values first and foremost, characterising roles with elegance and sophisticated wit without descending into vulgar comic shtick. Mozart was delighted by his portrayal of the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro during those nine niggardly Viennese performances before its runaway success in Prague. Benucci later played Leporello when Don Giovanni was revived in 1788 and Mozart whipped up a special comic duet for him and the Zerlina. Hyperion here continues its smart “Arias for…” thematic programming with this tribute to Benucci and has wisely chosen Matthew Rose to convincingly channel the spirit of the original. His dark but nimble tone is ideal for this repertoire, yet not overweight making it fit well within the scale of Jonathan Cohen’s period direction. His musicanship is impeccable, but most importantly he sings ‘on the words’ with subtle changes of colour and emphasis so that the expression is carried across to us with no need for the visuals.  At…

February 9, 2016
CD and Other Review

Review: Pablo Neruda: The Poet Sings (Conspirare)

Editor’s Choice, Jan/Feb 2016 – Vocal & Choral “Those who find everything beautiful are now in danger of finding nothing beautiful.” So wrote Theodor Adorno in Minima Moralia. And yet according to composer Cary Ratcliff, the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda “wrote four volumes of odes to ordinary objects”. Of course that’s not all he wrote; Neruda was after all one of the greatest love poets of all time, and the other two composers featured on this recording of choral settings of Neruda’s poetry have availed themselves of some of his most moving love poems. Texas-based vocal ensemble Conspirare’s director Craig Hella Johnson writes in a booklet note that he hopes these settings “can serve as a conduit for an ever deepening experience with this sublime and powerful poetry.” And indeed they may, so convincingly do they translate Neruda’s delicate emotional chiaroscuro into accessible music of great lyrical potency. In Ratcliff’s Ode to Common Things, it is clear that the poet “loves all things” because of their connections with humanity: whether a bed, a guitar, a loaf of bread or a pair of scissors, they are for the poet “perfect things built by human hand” and “so alive”. In Kirchner’s…

February 9, 2016