Gluck: Alceste

Bavarian State Opera, Antonello Manacorda

UNITEL 756804

Gluck used dance as an integral part of his staging but this version goes even further and includes dancers throughout, often to the point where the singer is static and only the dancers are moving. While the narrative of Alceste is certainly limited, the dancers add a parallel rather than a supportive element. Interesting, but not always convincing.

Shakespeare: Timon of Athens

Kathryn Hunter, RSC, Stratford upon Avon

OPUSARTE OA 1311D

We saw this production in Stratford in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am not totally convinced by the whole scale indulgence in diversity but there is certainly no problem with Kathryn Hunter as Timon. The timeless setting and the fine emotional reality of the narrative make for a compelling production by Simon Godwin. With so much classical theatre around which I am afraid I regard as dubious, this is a refreshing approach which really works.

Beethoven; Piano Concertos 1 & 2

Igor Levit, Xiaohan Wang, piano; Kolner Kammerorchester, Helmuth Muller-Bruhl

NAXOS 8.551447

It is not often one has different soloists for the major works being recorded but the use of two soloists here goes back to the Kolner Kammerorchester’s policy of working with a range of young soloists to promote the best. As such we have two perfectly pleasing recordings of the Beethoven concerti but little more focus than that.

Mahler: Das Klagende Lied

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Gielen

ORFEO C 210021

This is a live recording from 1990 and very fine it is. Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied is surprisingly little performed when set alongside the symphonies yet it really deserves a place with them if only for the magnificence of the orchestration and melodic creativity. Good to have this available.

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 5; Scenes from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins

HYPERION CDA 68325

As one who feels that Vaughan Williams’ Pilgrims Progress is greatly undervalued, it is a pleasure to find these scenes at least linked with an equally fine recording of the Fifth Symphony. Martyn Brabbins has always been a sensitive conductor of Vaughan Williams and proves to be so again here.

Respighi: Concerto All’antica; Ancient Aires and Dances 1-3

Davide Alogna, violin, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Salvatore di Vittorio

NAXOS 8.573901

The Concerto All’antica is almost certainly unknown compared with the familiar Ancient Airs and Dances but it is an immensely appealing work, very much in the same vein. The score was only printed in a critical edition in 2019 and so is here recorded for the first time. It is good to have it available.

French Duets

Paul Lewis & Steven Osborne

HYPERION CDA 68329

This is sheer indulgence and there is nothing wrong with that. Think of a lollypop and it is probably here – Faure’s Dolly, Debussy’s Petite Suite, Ravel’s Ma mere l’oye – plus a number more, all joyfully played with enthusiasm.

Vida Breve

Stephen Hough, piano

HYPERION CDA 68260

I caught Stephen Hough speaking with enthusiasm on radio recently about this new recording. It creates a fine over-arching programme opening with an austere reading of Bach/Busoni Chaconne and then moving through a number of works which gradually unfold in enthusiasm until they end gently with a rapturous meditation on Bach’s familiar Ave Maria, drawing on Bach and Busoni as well as Stephen Hough himself. A lovely disc.

I wonder as I wander

James Newby, baritone, Joseph Middleton, piano

BIS BIS 2475

These are essentially reflective songs by a wide range of composers, but all focussed on the ruminations of the singer, even when the texts are drawn from folk songs. James Newby manages to communicate his introspection at the same time as ensuring we are not somehow too far on the outside. A moving collection.

JOHANN KUHNAU – COMPLETE SACRED WORKS VI

OPELLA MUSICA / CAMERATA LIPSIENSIS, GREGOR MEYER, conductor and organ

CPO 555 305-2   57’35

This recording project aims to reclaim the work and music of Johann Kuhnau, predecessor of JS Bach at St Thomas’, Leipzig. It is clear from this volume that this composer’s music is well worth revisiting. Two large scale cantatas for Ascension bookend this programme – Ihr Himmel, jubiliert von oben and Lobet, ihr Himmel, den Herrn. Smaller scale works for a variety of forces are also included here including Bone Jesu, care Jesu for solo soprano, 2 violins and continuo. Laudate pueri dominum is scored for solo tenor and varied instruments including two violins tuned in the unusual scordatura fashion. These are lovely live performances of music and a composer that has largely been forgotten for too long.

MACHAUT – THE LION OF NOBILITY

THE ORLANDO CONSORT

HYPERION CDA68318  61’01

Guillaume de Machaut is a significant and influential composer from the 14^th Century. However, much of his music is still not well-known. It is good, then, to have this new collection of largely secular music delivered expertly by the ever reliable Orlando Consort.

The title of the disc is derived from the longest piece included here, En demantant et lamentant – a lament for the ‘Lion of nobility’, thought to be King John II of France, captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. A number of shorter pieces make up the rest of the programme. Full texts and background notes make for an interesting historical document as well as an enjoyable listening experience.

TUNDER APPRECIATED

MUSICA POETICA, OLIVER JOHN RUTHVEN, conductor and chamber organ

VETERUM MUSICA VM020 44’18

Small, but beautifully formed, this first recording from Musica Poetica, runs to just under 45 minutes. Like the first CD in this month’s batch, the focus is on a composer who has links with JS Bach. The group have been exploring the music of Franz Tunder, organist at Lubeck and father-in-law of Buxtehude. He was influenced by Italian developments in music and may have been taught by Frescobaldi. He went on to develop his own distinct musical style. Alongside four of his vocal works, including  a setting of Ein’ feste Burg, are pieces by Frescobaldi and Buxtehude. A well balanced and finely executed recital.

YORK BOWEN- FRAGMENTS FROM HANS ANDERSEN & STUDIES

NICOLAS NAMORADZE, piano

HYPERION CDA68303  66’33

This is a very welcome release and items from it have already been featured several times on Radio 3. There are several recordings of some of Bowen’s (1884-1961) music already available but it is only relatively recently that his writing is being rediscovered and reassessed. This is a very good collection of pieces – Fragments from Hans Andersen, 12 Studies for piano and two Concert Studies. There is much to explore and enjoy here from an often overlooked British composer.

CLARKE-IVES-BEACH PIANO TRIOS

GOULD PIANO TRIO

RESONUS RES10264 60’35

This is another debut release-this time for The Gould Piano Trio. Here are three relatively modern works with links to America. The two Piano Trios are by Amy Beach and Rebecca Clarke. Charles Ives’ music is his Trio for violin, cello and piano. These performances make for a very enjoyable CD.

STEVE REICH – EIGHT LINES; CITY LIFE

HOLST-SINFONIA, KLAUS SIMON, conductor and piano

NAXOS 8.559682  73’24

Part of Naxos’ American Classics Series this is CD contains a very good selection of Steve Reich’s work. Arranged chronologically it shows something of the way in which the composer’s music has developed, from minimalism to more complex techniques and structures including the use of electronics and tape. The oldest work Music for Two or More Pianos dates from 1964 and this is a world premiere recording. Phasing and sampling feature alongside more conventional instrumentation and two of the works here, New York Counterpoint and City Life (1995) especially draw on urban influences. This is a very welcome and enjoyable release and could be an exciting introduction to music that crosses boundaries of categorisation.

SP

Weinberger: Fruhlingssturme

Komische Oper Berlin, Jordan de Souza

NAXOS NBD0122V

This is about as politically incorrect as one could hope to find today! The work was first performed in 1933 and concerns members of the Russian military headquarters in Chinese Manchuria. Needless to say in this Berlin production all the cast are German! The original production was closed down by the Nazis when the composer left for America. As with much operetta of the period there is a lot of dialogue and the score varies wildly from musical comedy (to say nothing of Hollywood style dance numbers) to operatic arias. It is certainly well sung and musically sound, though whether it has a place in the repertoire today is more questionable.

Stephan Elmas: Piano Concertos

Howard Shelley, piano, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

HYPERION CDA 68319

Two concerti both in minor keys and both richly romantic. Elmas may have straddled the turn of the 20^th century but his works are firmly embedded in the late nineteenth century romantic tradition of Schumann and Brahms. Worth investigating alongside the earlier 81 volumes!

John Adams: My Father knew Charles Ives; Harmonielehre

Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero

NAXOS 8.559854

John Adams with a difference. Both of these works are an homage. My Father knew Charles Ives draws on Ives own techniques to create a suite which, while still obviously from Adams, includes the quirks and vulgarities which Ives relishes. Harmonielehre is an early work which explores a more romantic palette while maintaining a pulse of minimalism.

Schubert: Piano Trio No2; Arpeggione Sonata

Erich Hobarth, violin; Alexander Rudin Arpeggione / cello; Aapo Hakkinene, fortepiano

NAXOS 8.573884

How splendid to get the Arpeggione Sonata played on instruments for which it was written. There is a real sense of warm engagement throughout with the slightly ethereal sound of the arpeggione answering all of Schubert’s needs. The piano trio is equally engaging, making a most welcome release.

Beethoven: Leonore (1805)

Opera Lafayette, Ryan Brown

NAXOS NBD0121V

Beethoven: Fidelio (1806)

Vienna Philharmonic, Manfred Honeck

UNITEL 803304

Beethoven worked on his only opera for many years, honing it and refining its emotional impact. One of the simplest comparisons across these versions is the way the composer shortens, tightens the musical lines, removing anything that amounts to ornament for its own sake and concentrating on the dramatic impact. The Opera Lafayette production of the early Leonore by Oriol Tomas is blessedly uncomplicated, allowing the characterisation to blossom easily and for those of us who know the final version well, to note the differences.

It is very well sung by a young cast and intelligently staged.

The Vienna Fidelio is as far removed from this as one could dream. The setting is a vast double open staircase which fills the whole stage twisting above the heads of the cast like a roller coaster. It is very impressive but not particularly effective when the essence of the opera is about incarceration. As before, the singing is fine throughout and the conducting by Manfred Honeck excellently controlled and shaped.

Vienna had hoped – Beethoven’s anniversary year – to stage all three versions of Fidelio but because of the pandemic only this 1806 version was eventually filmed. Good to have it but it would have been so much better to have had all three!

Elgar: From the Bavarian Highlands

Bavarian Radio Choir, Howard Arman

BR KLASSIK 900522

These bring back happy memories as I learned a number of these songs when I first went to grammar school and sang in the school choir. Happily here they are sung in English and are beautifully phrased and crafted. There are a few lesser known works in the collection but I particularly enjoyed the final two – Weary Wind of the West and The Prince of Sleep.

Sousa: Music for Wind Band 20

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra, Keith Brion

NAXOS 8.559850

This is a wonderful series and this latest release brings us a range of Sousa’s own arrangements of popular music specifically for his own band. It draws on music hall songs as well as arrangements from El Capitan and Good-Bye. The musicians are obviously enjoying themselves playing it and this communicates with ease.

Salieri: Armida

Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset

APARTE AP244

Salieri has had a bad press ever since Amadeus which is a pity as he was a fine composer in his own right. This new recording of his 1771 opera not only contains a great deal of very fine music but demonstrates the composer’s stylistic movement. If the opening act is distinctly Gluck-like in its rather formal, if beautifully moulded, melodic lines, the second act has a far more relaxed Mozartian feel. Though it is a long work it is well worth indulging in its extensive creativity, and Les Talons Lyriques have done another great job in bringing it to our attention.

Mediaeval Carols

Opus Anglicanum, Zeb Soanes, narrator

www.opusanglicanum.org

There are two cds here. The first is the full sequence of readings and early carols, which could be used as an act of worship or meditation and the second is just the musical items. A clever idea and one which works well. Zeb Soanes is a familiar voice from the BBC and sits comfortably alongside the reflective tones of the singers. A different but very engaging offering for Christmas.

MANTYJARVI – CHORAL MUSIC

CHOIR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, Stephen Layton, conductor

HYPERION CDA68266   70’54

This is a lovely marriage of choir, location and composer as one of the two more substantial works here is the Trinity Service dating from 2019. The other longer work is Stuttgarter Psalmen (2009). A few other shorter works complete this recording of contemporary sacred choral music. The Finnish composer describes his music as ‘not tonal, but largely consonance-driven’. There is much here to explore and enjoy.

ANTON BRUCKNER – THE SYMPHONIES VOL. 0

HANSJORG ALBRECHT, Bruckner organ, Stiftkirche St Florian, Linz

OEHMS CLASSICS OC476. 62’32

The transcribing of orchestral music for the organ is not a new concept. Through the Town Hall tradition here in the UK, many people were able to hear music played live that would otherwise have been denied them at a time when the repertoire of the local orchestra was limited or concerts off limits to people of a certain class and recordings were few and far between. In churches, at the opening and close of worship, and in concerts, transcriptions allow a wider range of music to be imported into a setting that would otherwise be more limited. I have no problem with transcriptions in either case but do wonder about the value of complex transcriptions of lengthy orchestral works. This question is raised in the booklet notes which explain that this is the first volume in a series that will present transcriptions of Bruckner’s symphonies, together with 10 new compositions by contemporary composers to sit alongside them. Bruckner’s love of the organ, his legendary lost improvisations and the relatively scarce amount of compositions for the organ are all reasons given for this cycle which aims to help to promote an understanding of Bruckner’s affinity and understanding of the organ. So, whilst not be a recording I would usually choose to listen to for pleasure there may well be much for us all to learn from this project.

WIDOR – ORGAN SYMPHONIES 4

CHRISTIAN VON BLOHN, Organ of St Joseph’s Church, Sankt Ingbert, Germany

NAXOS 8.574207.  81’31

These symphonies – which were written for the organ! – continue this particular series within the ever expanding Organ Encyclopaedia catalogue. Here we have the 1901 version of Symphony No 8 in B major coupled with the shorter Symphonie romaine. Both are sympathetically presented on this suitably comprehensive romantic instrument which was restored in 2007 following a fire.

George Schumann: piano works

Michael van Krucker, piano

CPO 555 304-2

George Schumann came from a very musical family and he was a professional church organist at the age of twelve. Though he composed a wide range of works, these beautiful pieces for piano – Sechs Fantasien, Stimmungsbilder, Drei Stucke Op1 & Drei Stucke Op3 – are early and demonstrate his established ability both as a performer and composer. Yet again it is a delight to be introduced not only to a composer who is little known today but to one who we really do need to know better.

Mauro Giuliani: Le Rossiniane

Goran Krivokapic, guitar

NAXOS 8.574272

Mauro Giulani was a gifted guitarist of the early nineteenth century and composed a large range of works for the instrument. These six Rossiniana skilfully draw on melodies from Rossini’s operas as the basis for the individual movements. However these are not simple improvisations in the way that Liszt approaches Rossini or Bellini. Giulani takes a number of themes in each movement so that the outcome is a new work rather than a variant on the original. Highly effective and splendidly played here by Goran Krivokapic.

Rossini: Matilde di Shabran

Gorecki Chamber Choir, Passionart Orchestra, Jose Miguel Perez-Sierra

NAXOS 8.660492-94

The problem with genius is that even on off days they are better than the rest. Matilde di Shabran – in this edition from Rome in 1821 – is a perfectly respectable piece which I guess, with an outstanding cast at a summer festival, might get by quite well. Unfortunately none of the soloists here has the heroic flair Rossini calls for and so we are left imagining what it might be like rather than sitting back and enjoying it. A pity – there is much good music here but it really needs a better vehicle.

A B Marx: Mose

GewandhausChor, Camerata Lipsiensis, Gregor Meyer

CPO 555 145-2

It is not often you come across a work which is a real surprise but Marx’ Mose is certainly that. Robert Schumann may have hated it but Wagner loved it and put it alongside Mozart and Bach in terms of scores he had by him at all times. It may not be as dynamic as Elijah but it is certainly as good if not better than St Paul and a real find. It is also, thankfully, very well sung and played here in a performance under Gregor Meyer which maintains interest throughout. Let us hope someone takes it up once choral societies get back into the swing of things next year.

Brahms: The last piano pieces

Victor Rosenbaum, piano

BRIDGE 9545

Three Intermezzi Op117; Six Piano Pieces Op118; Four Piano Pieces Op119

Victor Rosenbaum brings great sensitivity and a real sense of calm to these beautifully crafted late works. Almost too intimate at times, they speak directly to us – a welcome moment of peace in the present circumstances.

British Music for Strings 1

Sudwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Douglas Bostock

CPO 555 382-2

Three substantial works here – Parry’s An English Suite; Elgar’s Organ Sonata Op28 arranged for string orchestra by Hans Kunstovny and Gordon Jacob’s A symphony for strings. Of these the Parry and Elgar are fairly familiar if not heard as often as they might deserve. The Gordon Jacob piece is more acerbic, written in 1943, and bearing the hallmarks of a composer grappling with conflicting musical styles. Good also to hear a German ensemble playing essentially English works.