Daily Archives: 15 November, 2019

CDs/DVDs November 2019 (2)

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Verdi: La Traviata
Royal Opera House, Antonello Manacorda
OPUS ARTE OA12920

A most unusual recording if only because Richard Eyre’s production in Bob Crowley’s richly evocative sets is as naturalistic as one might wish for. At a time when director’s concepts and imposed ideas are still very much in fashion it is refreshing to find a presentation unafraid to set the story in its original time frame and allow the characters to develop in line with the narrative and score.

The singers not only work closely as an ensemble but are outstanding, if slightly unusual, in their own right. Charles Castronovo is a dark voiced Alfredo, though the top of the voice is certainly secure and passionate. By contrast Placido Domingo’s Giorgio Germont allows his tenor heritage to shine through in the lighter and higher lying passages. It is unusual and utterly convincing. Ermonela Jaho is a strong minded Violetta in the opening scenes but fades as she goes to, providing a very moving death scene.

Orchestra and chorus are excellent and the quality of the recording in faultless.

 

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Bolshoi Opera, Alexander Vedernikov
BELAIR BAC246

Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production may be unusual but it is remarkably effective. Essentially every scene is set around a large dining table – middle class at the start and distinctly aristocratic by the end. Where most approaches feature the three very different dances, here we have three very different meals, with Onegin himself the outsider at each. He is warmly welcomed at the first two but cold-shouldered with the Gremins. Mariusz Kwiecien’s Onegin is a vulnerable individual, uncomfortable within close family settings yet equally out of place with the aristocracy. Tatiana Monogarova’s Tatiana on the other hand is aloof when at home but the life and soul of the party once married to Gremin. Lensky’s death is an accident rather than a brutal duel and occurs more because of the callousness of those at the party than any real animosity with Onegin.

It is all very effective and wonderfully well sung with Anatolij Kotscherga outstanding as Prince Gremin. A splendid addition even given the competition.

 

Shostakovich: Symphony No10
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
BR KLASSIK 900185

A dark brooding recording of a dark work. The sense of tension which comes from a live performance is very much in evidence and the individual playing is excellent if often subdued by the scoring. Not an easy work but one which I return to more often than I might once have expected.

 

Handel Uncaged: Cantatas for Alto
Lawrence Zazzo, counter-tenor, continuo
INVENTA INV 1002

I wish I could be more enthusiastic about this recording. The voice is fine, the small continuo group plays convincingly but for all that I admire Handel these are not among his greatest works. Two are here given world premiere recordings and it is difficult not to jump to conclusions as to why this might be. The notes refer to Handel’s daring experiments in composition but I suspect you might need to be a Baroque expert to sense these.

 

Johann Joachim Quantz: Flute Concertos
Greg Dikmans, flute; Elysium Ensemble
RESONUS RES 10252

Resonus has an uncanny knack of finding composers unknown to the majority of listeners – even those of us who love Baroque music. Here is another of them. J J Quantz was born in 1697 and worked at the courts in Dresden and Berlin, having a close relationship with Frederick the Great who was of course a fine flute player himself. Quantz set a standard of flute playing and his books on music theory far outlived him even if his work is little known today. The three full concerti recorded here are an admirable introduction to his work and the care of original instrument performances brings us some way to understanding his professionalism and innovation.

 

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
Arranged for brass ensemble with Derek Jacobi, narrator
Septura
NAXOS 8.574157

One has to assume this is aimed at the Christmas market. The arrangement if delightful and works extremely well for brass ensemble. However – unless you have a very skilful technical set-up – each short piece of music is preceded by narration from Derek Jacobi. This is fine the first time through but I doubt it will last more than a few hearings, at which point one might prefer to hear just the score. Maybe the music will be reissued later together with other brass arrangements. It would be a pity to lose them.

 

Beethoven: Piano Trios
George Malcolm Piano Trio
FHR FHR96

One of the real joys of the recorded music industry is that tracks which were laid down half a century ago can pop up just as fresh and bright as the day they were recorded. This is certainly true of these two piano trios recorded in 1976 and as delightful today as they were back in the 1970s. many thanks to First Hand Records for making them available again.

 

 

Garsington Opera announce partnership with Ollie Dabbous

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Next summer, Garsington Opera and their caterers, Feasts, launch a new partnership with Ollie Dabbous, chef patron of Michelin-starred London restaurant, Hide.

Ollie is one of the UK’s most accomplished chefs, creating product-driven dishes that respect the integrity of the ingredients and highlight their best qualities. He honed his skills with many of the world’s top chefs, including two years with Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat-Saison, a position at the legendary Mugaritz in Spain and the opening of Texture with Agnar Sverrisson. He opened his first restaurant, Dabbous, in 2012 to unprecedented critical acclaim and was quickly awarded a Michelin star. Ollie has since been involved in many of the top restaurant experiences in the country.

Nicola Creed, Executive Director of Garsington Opera said:

“We are thrilled to announce that Ollie Dabbous is our new menu consultant for our 2020 Season. We have been working with him to develop a selection of dishes which we are sure will tempt and excite our audience. Ollie has gained a reputation as a culinary genius who transforms simple ingredients into unbelievably delicious dishes.

We are constantly striving to combine an exceptional experience with a sense of fun both on and off the stage and Ollie brings another dimension with his unique style and well-deserved reputation. In collaboration with the Feasts team, we look forward to welcoming customers with our usual warmth and enthusiasm.”

Ollie Dabbous said:

“For Garsington Opera, we want to celebrate the British summer and offer a menu that is both accessible and innovative. The setting is very special, so it’s a privilege to be part of proceedings and hopefully adding to the guests’ enjoyment. I genuinely enjoy opera so hopefully I can see a performance as well one evening!”

ENO: The Mask of Orpheus

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London Coliseum, 13 November 2019

Harrison Birtwistle has never been an easy composer but equally has always been worth making the effort to engage with the complexities he creates. There can few works more complex than The Mask of Orpheus which not only has multiple versions of the same character but refuses to provide simple dialogue, so that one is frequently involved in simply going along with the production rather than trying to work out at any one moment what is actually happening. In this light Daniel Kramer’s production was either magnificent or counter-productive, and for my part I tend to think this is the finest work he has done for the company. Rather than trying to smooth out the complexities he allows them to pile up on themselves to the point of confusion, both for those of us watching and for the characters we are watching.

With three Orpheus, three Eurydice and three Aristaeus, who inter-act with each other as well as their own obvious partners, there is a continuing dichotomy for the audience, working out who to pay attention to or who to regard as the more important at any one time. As such it is uncomfortably lifelike. The frustrations of day-to-day living are here given a mystical level but one we can empathise with even given the excessively heightened presentation.

On one level the narrative is naturalistically set, within a large 1970s/80s apartment, but as soon as the glass tank drifts in with the mime artists, and the grandiose costuming of the mythical characters we are aware this is anything but natural.

Nothing is explained and by the end we are none the wiser, unless it is having experienced the story cathartically, which is surely more than enough.

Musically this is finest thing we have heard so far this season with the orchestra on exceptional form for all the demands of the score, under its two conductors – Martyn Brabbins and James Henshaw effectively working back to back. The integration of electronic music with the live musicians is finely balanced and the links are invisible.  The large cast are drawn from strength with Peter Hoare a moving Orpheus the Man. The choreography by Barnaby Booth is always closely related to the dramatic needs of the scene rather than being dance for its own sake. The video design is apt and never intrusive.

Though realistically the production is unlikely to be revived it is a pity because it was certainly well attended and ENO should be mounting more works like this rather than yet another – dare I say – Carmen.