Editor’s Choice, Vocal & Choral – August 2015 When one considers Franz Liszt’s rapacious appetite for poetic stimulation, the exalted literary circles in which he moved and his inexhaustible creative drive, it should come as no surprise that he composed over 70 songs, although only a handful will be familiar to most lieder-philes. That may change thanks to this third volume of Hyperion’s latest project in the label’s seeming aim to record the entire art-song repertoire and the bringing on board of Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley will broaden its appeal.  The album spans some 50 years of Liszt’s career and demonstrates his wide ranging polyglot tastes and searching intellectual curiosity for source material. His harmonic and formal invention can veer from the exploratory to the mundane, but when taken on its own terms and delivered with this level of dramatic intensity it makes for a haunting 75 minutes.  Finley takes these songs by the scruff of the neck and gives them all the dramatic gesture and flair he can muster. The Petrarch Sonnets are here, but heard in the substantially revised second edition for low voice, their austere profile casting a darker shadow than the familiar soaring soprano version. The…

Along with the many other Soviet composers who are deemed insufficiently dissident, Dmitry Kabalevsky’s reputation, despite the craft and quality of his utilitarian output, has been crushed beneath the wheels of the commie-bashing critical bandwagon so it’s high time that his serious work was reappraised. His breezy First Cello Concerto, Opus 9, is popular among today’s young players on the competition circuit, but the serious Second Cello Concerto, Opus 77, is rarely heard, and that is quite a shame. It is a warmly expressive and accessible work with a distinctive mood entirely of its own. The concerto’s brooding introduction eventually gives way to a nervous, agitated argument that has an obvious socio-political subtext with furtive glances over the shoulder. The mood carries over to the Presto marcato movement with its inevitable Russian carnival grotesqueries and interrupts the finale’s periods of calm resignation. Written in 1964, one senses in the background the dreadful possibility of Cold War apocalypse or the mundane fear of the dreaded knock on the door. Leonard Elschenbroich justifies his advocacy by digging in deep with bold, emotive gestures and precise articulation. Litton and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra provide a finely graded and polished accompaniment. Prokofiev’s Cello Sonata…

This is the third release in The Sixteen’s admirable exploration of Polish choral works and offers a sample of works by Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki (c. 1665-1734) who lived almost all of his life in Kraków and was regarded as the outstanding composer of the Polish High Baroque. Little is known of his career before he was appointed Kapellmeister at Wawel Cathedral and all but 39 pieces from his output have been lost in the various conflagrations and upheavals that have plagued his nation. The programme opens with an arresting bugle call that promises grandeur and pomp to come but then proceeds through a selection of a cappella and vocal-instrumental pieces of increasingly soporific dullness. Gorczycki’s style was deeply conservative and even the concertante works seem 40 years out of date with few genuinely memorable ideas. The Mass in stile antico is workman-like with a few quirks in the writing that might be discerned by the attentive choral-scholar but will pass the average listener by. There are some sober beauties to be found in the Conductus Funebris and the concluding Litania de Providentia Divina so maybe this is a programme to dip into rather than wade through the whole. I cannot…

Having previously encountered Thomas Søndergård’s fine work on the Dacapo label I have high hopes for this projected cycle of Sibelius Symphonies on Linn, which should appeal to those who like their Sibelius cool, crisp and bracing. Tempi are swift while phrasing is thankfully free of mannerisms. Textures and sonority are clear and limpid but not overly refined so essential Sibelian cragginess is retained. The first movement of the Second is beautifully judged with its pulsating chords ideally weighted, but the second movement is too matter-of-fact; his reluctance to take a breath robs the piece of narrative flow. The Scherzo whizzes along but the build-up to the last movement seems to embarrass the conductor’s modernist sensibility so is rushed. When it arrives the finale is splendid, despite reticent trumpets. The early pages of the Seventh can meander in slack hands. Søndergård’s firm grip keeps it to the point, steering it home with a sense of inevitability. The BBC NOW play superbly for their new chief with strings really digging in. Those strings are well captured, but the recording, while marvellously transparent at the front of the orchestra is a little blurred at the rear to the detriment of brass and…

When David Skinner founded his crack vocal ensemble in 2005 he named them after Petrus Alamire; one of those extraordinary figures of the 1500s who turned their hand to whatever might keep them afloat on the turbulent seas of political upheaval and courtly intrigue. An illuminator, scribe and composer-musician seeking safe harbour amongst the various northern-European courts he dabbled in a little espionage on behalf of Henry VIII. After nine critically acclaimed releases, Skinner’s group now pays tribute to their namesake with this complete performance of Alamire’s finest legacy, the exquisite choirbook he once presented to Henry and is now held in the British Library. A collection of 34 motets celebrating the glories of Flemish polyphony with masterworks by Josquin Desprez, Pierre de la Rue, Jean Mouton, Antoine de Févin and a smattering of fine works of unknown provenance, some of which here receive their first recording. The choir is superb with impeccable intonation and the ideal timbre for this repertoire, finding the right compromise between modern polish and period tang, maintaining clarity of line with just the right bite in the texture and avoiding the bland results of the overly-blended. Some may crave the raw excitement of Graindelavoix’s account…

★★★★☆ With the passing of Gustav Leonhardt, elder statesman of period keyboard performance, the mantle passes to Ton Koopman, a treasure of the early music scene for the last 30 years. His witty approach to a potentially sober repertoire has charmed and illuminated, with several tours of this country and a discography treasured by connoisseurs.  His complete set of the elder Bach’s organ works is one of my desert island discs. As one of many cast-offs from the major labels we can thank Challenge Classics for continuing to record him and this latest release is a delight. Koopman’s musical personality is tailor-made for CPE Bach’s free-wheeling invention and whacky sense of fantasy. His experiments in period keyboard techniques has always given his playing an extra degree of air and space so CPE’s rhetorical stop-starts and flourishes have extra point and lift.   The younger Bach didn’t write much organ music but the six sonatas are delightful works in his mature empfindsamkeit style. Koopman has recorded them on a magnificent restored organ once owned by Princess Amalia of Prussia. She owned a manuscript of these works, so it’s possible the composer played on the very instrument heard here. Recorded in state…

Editor’s Choice: Chamber – July 2015 ★★★★★ For some years Emmanuel Pahud has been the poster boy of the flute fraternity with prominent positions in the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado’s hand-picked Lucerne Festival Orchestra. His superb two-disc set The Flute King explored the German school hovering around the court of Frederick the Great, while this new release is a tribute to the French school of the late 18th century.  For those of us who grew up with hoary old music histories declaring this a period bereft of interest apart from Mozart and Haydn, other fascinating developments from a time of social turmoil are gradually coming to light. Earlier recordings of these works in the old “Dresden china” manner of playing were mostly deadly dull and reinforced those old prejudices so it is a delight to hear them taken by the scruff of the neck and presented with the sort of flair and élan that a crack team would lavish on a mainstream masterpiece.  Pahud’s playing is stunning with perfectly focused tone at all dynamics, immaculate articulation and a technique so supreme that one can simply enjoy it for its physicality and grace. A single sustained note from Pahud can…

It is interesting to compare this ensemble’s earliest recordings to their latest. You’ll note how their playing standards have soared and observe the evolution in stylistic practice over the past 50 years. Egarr’s approach is to use one player per part but offset the potential for lean asceticism by tuning down to French Baroque pitch (A=392). Although I still prefer the grandeur of massed strings, the result here is close to a best of both worlds rendition with the clarity of the chamber approach warmed by rich umber tones. There is also a conscious move away from breathless tempi to relaxed natural speeds that still move forward. Short cellular phrasing is replaced by longer flowing lines. These changes are unexaggerated so don’t expect the stodgy tempi of yesteryear’s non-specialists; Egarr’s choices are mostly ideal, although surely the Passepied I and II of BWV1066 could flow a little faster. The various Bourrée come across a little too leaden; more lift to the rhythms and a little more schwung would have done wonders and elevated this to the top of list. However, the excellent playing and characterful tonal colours are a delight in themselves. There are illuminating shifts of balance with Egarr’s…

Rachmaninov devotees have long treasured the masterly survey of songs by the late Elisabeth Söderström, accompanied by Vladimir Askenazy, and the Chandos set from the early ‘90s that gave us the correct voice types. Some 20 years later this current set is a welcome release and a strong rival. Seven youngish Russian singers are heard here and all are fine artists and bring a great deal of Slavic intensity. Andrei Bondarenko’s rich baritone timbre caresses the ear and is superbly focused while Ekaterina Siurina’s bright forward tone is a delight and suits the lighter fare to a tee. Alexander Vinogradov, recently heard in a superb Shostakovich Babi Yar under Petrenko, has a sonorous instrument in the Russian bass tradition and does a fine job of vividly characterising those songs inspired by Rachmaninov’s friendship with Chaliapin. Daniil Shtoda who sung a fine Fenton on Abbado’s 2001 Falstaff sounds splendid if occasionally betraying a little wear and tear on the top of the voice. Justina Gringyte has a formidable dark mezzo sound that can tingle the spine. Rodion Pogossov and Evelina Dobraceva are both noticeably of the old school with occluded tone and some good old-fashioned Slavic wobble, however Dobraceva’s dramatic intensity…

The Sferisterio Opera Festival is a summer music festival held in Macerata in the Marche region of Italy under the artistic direction of Pier Luigi Pizzi, popular with Italian audiences for his cool minimalist but determinedly non-regietheater direction.  This 2011 production features star baritone Ildbrando D’Arcangelo surrounded by an ensemble of competent but unfamiliar names under the sprightly, if occasionally fussy, musical direction of Riccardo Frizza. D’Arcangelo is superb with a commanding presence; his dark tone carries a constant threat of violence and his portrayal is the very essence of Mediterranean misogeny. Andrea Concetti is a fine animated Leporello and his relationship with his superior is more intense bro-mance than the usual servant-master dynamic; they’re always playing footsies! He is also rather too familiar with the mentally unhinged Elvira as played by Carmela Remigio. Myrto Papatanasiu as Zerlina stands out for her fine vocalism and noble beauty but her beau is the usual weed and his pledges of revenge are unintentionally comic.  Otherwise humour is a scarce commodity and Pizzi’s direction is drearily low key with one puzzling exception; after a conventional opening scene there was the potential of an interesting psycho-sexual dichotomy with Elvira paying no attention whatsoever to…

In his booklet note, West Australian luthier and broadcaster Graham Hawkes writes, “A long time ago I realised that many of the songs I loved were in fact tangos.” To enrich the repertoire, Hawkes commissioned new tangos from a number of composers, many of them fine guitarists in their own right. Invitation to TANGO, shows just how adaptable this Argentinean form is. Of the works for solo guitar, Alan Banks’ bluesy, highly virtuosic Tango Improvisation 1, Krzysztof Piotrowicz’s Tango dia Sergei Rudnev, Mardae Selepak’s Tango para Paco and Owen Thomson’s Midnight Tango stand out, not least for the composers themselves delivering such passionate, idiomatic performances. Banks also gives a riveting account of Rohan Jayasinghe’s substantial Hungarian Tango. Veteran composer Philip Bracˇanin is represented by Se baila como eres I & II, two finely crafted contrasting tangos performed with panache by clarinettist Catherine Cahill and guitarist Stephanie Jones, while mandolin and guitar duo Ruth Roshan and Tanya Costantino revel in Roshan’s playful Low tide and Sunset.  For Hawkes this project has been a labour of love, and if Mark Viggiani’s festive Cabaret Closed brings a sense of finality to proceedings, well, as one of tango’s great exponents Carlos Gardel sang, “You always return…

Daniel Barenboim recorded a fine Elgar Falstaff with the London Philharmonic in 1974 so it is touching that he should program the work 40 years later for this Europakonzert recorded in Berlin’s Philharmonie. It is thrilling to hear players rip into the piece as though it were Don Juan or Till Eulenspiegel and the performance emphasises Elgar’s affinity with Strauss. The big moments come across with visceral impact while the gentle reflective moments are breathtakingly beautiful.  Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony may divide opinion; those who believe the Russian way is the only way will turn their noses up, but those with open ears will recognise a deeply emotional reading with broad tempi and grandly moulded gestures. Barenboim goes straight through with barely a breath between movements, and his conducting is a miracle of economy; there are big rallentandi and obvious gear changes but they are always organic and the orchestra stick to him like glue. Tonal resources mean there’s always something in reserve and the huge climaxes are always rounded; an iron fist in a velvet glove. Individual contributions are predictably superb but principal clarinettist Wenzel Fuchs stands… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a…