Daily Archives: 2 February, 2014

February CDs & DVDs

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Glorious Glynd

Glorious Glyndebourne

OPUS ARTE OA 1127 D

It is unlikely that anyone would doubt the quality of Glyndebourne’s musical heritage, but this collection, made up into a Gala event from some of the finest productions of the last decade, demonstrates the range and exceptional quality of both stagings and musicianship.

I am fortunate that I have seen most of these productions live at Glyndebourne and can report how well they transfer to the screen. The first half includes excerpts from Figaro and Cosi, two staples of the opening decades of the opera house, and concludes with passages from Tristan and Die Meistersinger. With other excerpts including Billy Budd, Gianni Schicchi and Carmen there is more than enough to entrance any opera-lover, and the range should ensure some with more limited tastes will realise what they are missing. This may look like a promotional video but on this occasion it is more than justified.

 

Rienzi 2Wagner: Rienzi

Frankfurter Opern- und Museums – orchester und chor, Sebastian Weigle

OEHMS OC 941

This recording comes from a live concert performance in Frankfurt in May 2013. The key singers are strongly cast with Peter Bronder a virile Rienzi and Falk Struckmann a stalwart Colonna. Christiane Libor is aptly forthright at Irene and all are stoutly supported by the Frankfurt choral forces.

The difficulty hearing the work as opposed to seeing it is that it can easily become unrelentingly bombastic, with overtones of Meyerbeer and Weber at their loudest, and little sense of reflection or characterisation which staging can bring.

 

cpe bach

CPE Bach: Hamburger Sinfonien WQ 182

Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Wolfram Christ

HANSSLER CD 98.637

It is difficult, listening to this delightful recording, to accept that these works were held to be too avant-garde and challenging when first composed; so much so that CPE Bach led from the fortepiano to keep his forces together. Here the Stuttgart forces are joined by Sebastian Kuchler-Blessing on the fortepiano, improvising convincingly throughout and adding to the sparkling impact of the scores.  You will enjoy this.

 

shostakovich violinShostakovich: Violin Concerto;

Rihm: Gesungene Zeit

Jaap van Zweden, violin

NAXOS 8.573271

The Shostakovich concerto is finely played with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic under Edo de Waart, the range of emotion keenly felt without exaggeration. I had not come across Wolfgang Rihm’s Gesungene Zeit before but felt it did not live up to the enthusiasm of the sleeve notes despite a second hearing.

 

LindburgJacobean Lute Music

Jakob Lindberg, lute

BIS 2055

Jakob Lindberg plays a lute made by Sixtus Rauwold of Augsburg sometime in the late 1590s. It may be pathetic fallacy but the realisation that any of the pieces recorded here could almost have been composed for it gives a frisson to the impact of the music. There are works by Dowland, Robinson, Johnson and Bacheler as well as a number of anonymous dances. Reflective and personal throughout this is a very pleasing disc.

 

composing withoutComposing without the picture – concert works by film composers

Richard Harwood, cello

RESONUS RES 10121 (2 cds)

World premiere recordings here by a range of composers we know best from the cinema, ranging from Miklos Rozsa to Ennio Morricone. There are many pieces to enjoy and some which will challenge the expectations of those who only know these names from the big screen. Works by Christopher Gunning and Alex Heffes were written specifically for the performer.

 

fantasticus

Sonnerie & other portraits

French Baroque Chamber Works

Fantasticus

RESONUS RES 10122

The baroque trio Fantasticus delve into the lesser known parts of the French Baroque. Starting with the more familiar names of Marais and Rameau, they quickly move on to Francoeur, Leclair and Dornel. A fascinating journey, fully documented throughout.

 

Farr clavierubung

JS Bach: Clavier-Ubung III

Stephen Farr, Metzler organ, Trinity College, Cambridge.

RESONUS RES 10120

This is Stephen Farr’s first Bach recording and it will surely not be his last. Rather than going for the conventional collection of lollipops we have the whole of the Clavier-Ubung III played on the 1975 Metzler. The twenty-seven sections are finely characterised and the liner-notes include complete registrations so that we can follow the nuances of choice in the tone colour as the works progress. We look forward to the next release with keen anticipation.

 

 

MSO: Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Finzi & Beethoven

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Maidstone Symphony Orchestra, Brian Wright

Mote Hall, Maidstone, 1 February 2014

There was, unexpectedly, a close romantic link between the four works we heard at the Mote Hall last night. Not a sentimental, St Valentine’s, romanticism but the emotional intensity which came from the Romantic Movement and lasted well into the 20th century.

It is there in every bar of Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. We can almost close our eyes and sniff up the ozone as we indulge in the rapidly changing moods of the sea. Yet this is a beneficent ocean, exciting but never threatening even as it hurls us into the waves. The composer’s experience is closer to the cruise passenger than the surfboarder. All of this was well caught in the ebb and flow of the dynamics, with hazy strings giving way to bright edged wind.

The open-air thrill of the ocean gave way to the melancholy of Sibelius’ Valse triste. Here the strings remain deep within a dark memory, with only the flute and clarinet solos lifting us out of the presence of death. It was moving and uncomfortable at the same time.

Emma Johnson

Emma Johnson made a welcome return, and even more so with her captivating reading of Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto. Though written in 1949 the first two movements breathe late Elgar both in the introspection of the writing and the air of melancholy. The wistful second movement, with its limpid, rising melody gradually gives way to hope as the clarinet urges the strings into more open and optimistic realms. The relationship between soloist and strings was splendidly captured throughout, leading to the final Rondo whose folk-like melody suddenly moves us into the later twentieth century. Such fine playing deserved an encore and we were delighted with Paul Harvey’s Etude on a theme of Gershwin which evolves as a cheeky set of variations on It ain’t necessarily so.

The second half took us from the melancholy of Sibelius and Finzi back to the heroism inherent in Mendelssohn. Beethoven’s Eroica symphony revisits familiar material in the final movement which the composer had long associated with Napoleon, and while he might have distanced himself once Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, there is no doubting the heroic nature of the symphony. Brian Wright brought out the dance-like quality of the score in many passages, lightening the textures and allowing the solo lines to shine through. David Montague’s oboe was particularly effective in the second movement, but there were no problems with the woodwind throughout. The horns distinguished themselves with the variety of tone produced, ranging from the wild hunting calls of the Scherzo to the softer introspection of the funeral march.

A fine evening – or should I say, another fine evening.

Join us again on 22 March for Schumann, Beethoven and Sibelius. BH