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David's Review Corner - January 2006
HANDEL:
Water Music. Music for the Royal Fireworks. Aradia Ensemble, Kevin Mallon (conductor).
Naxos 8.557764. (70' 50").
There is certainly no shortage
of Handel's two highly popular orchestral suites on disc, and they come in shapes
and sizes to suite every taste and fashion. This new one belongs to the period
instrument brigade, with conductor, Kevin Mallon, pointing out that 'traditional'
tempos for the Water Music are much slower than the composer requested. Even
Handel's best known piece - the Air from the first suite - is marked Presto
rather than the usual drawn out affair, and at that faster speed it makes far
more sense in the work's general structure. So Mallon sees the whole score as
a series of virile dances, the use a tambourine in place of the tambour stressing
that dance aspect. Even the fourth movement of the second suite, marked Lentement,
is quite quick, while it would take some extremely fit sailors to dance Mallon's
idea of a hornpipe. He does, however, slow for the finale of the first suite,
the big and bold approach reinforced by the brilliant quality of horns and trumpets.
Tempos for the Fireworks are more circumspect, the overture sounding pompous,
a feature heightened by the use of wooden-headed timpani sticks and weighty
horns. Even the Minuets have gravity, and I would have ideally liked a more
staccato approach to much of the string playing. But throughout the Canadian
ensemble is among the best on disc, and with some very fine woodwind contributions
the suites make a formidable rival to any recording in the catalogue, the Water
Music being particularly recommended. The disc comes in Surround-Sound (6.110115)
and DVD (5.110115), but at the time of review I have heard neither.
BROUWER: Aurolucent
Circles. Mandala. Pulse: a 50th Anniversary Fanfare. Remembrances. Sizzle. Evelyn
Glennie (percussion), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz
(conductor). Naxos 8.559250. (65' 03").
Margaret Brouwer, presently
the Head of Composition at the Cleveland Institute, has become one of the most
sought after composers of her time, with many scores commissioned by major orchestras.
Born in the United States in 1940, she treads that path of modernism that has
a friendly face of readily appreciated tonality. Here she has the partnership
of the world's most charismatic percussionist, Evelyn Glennie, in a programme
of recently completed scores, Aurolucent Circles having been premiered
in Seattle by Glennie with Schwarz conducting in November 2002. A glittering
array of bells illuminates the central Stardance as a foil to the introverted
atmosphere of the opening movement Floating in Dark Space, while the
finale is a big virtuoso showpiece, the powerful music reflecting its title,
Cycles and Currents. Two highly contrasting movements create the fascinating
sounds of Mandala and after a quiet start the second becomes highly animated.
Pulse takes us musically to the Orient, the contemplative Remembrances
featuring a quite superbly played clarinet solo. Sizzle, as the title
suggests, brings the disc to an energetic close. Throughout Glennie's participation,
as we would expect, is excellent, moving from the delicacy of the opening track,
to the virtuosity required for the second movement of Mandala. Since
the arrival of Schwarz in Liverpool the orchestra has entered a new golden era
in the concert hall, which is here transferred to disc in a mixture of delicate
and subtle nuances. A must for anyone interested in listener friendly music
for the 21st century.
ENESCU: Oedipe.
Monte Pederson (Oedipe), Eglis Silins (Tiresias), Davide Damiani (Creon), Marjana
Lipovsek (Jocaste/La Sphinge), Michael Roider (Le berger), Peter Koves (Phorbas),
Walter Fink (Le veilleur), Yu Chen (Thesee), Josef Hopferweiser (Laios), Ruxandra
Donose (Antigone), Mihaela Ungureanu (Merope), Goran Simic (High Priest), Vienna
Boys Choir, Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Michael Gielen (conductor).
Naxos 8.660163-64 (2CDs). (128' 23").
George Enescu was a musical
genius who in hindsight may have spread his immense gifts over too large an
area. He was one of the great violinists in the early part of the 20th century,
a gifted pianist, an outstanding conductor and a teacher who brought to the
fore so many young internationally famous violinists. Yet it was as a composer
that he strove to be recognised, his output substantial in every genre apart
from opera, where he completed just one work, Oedipe. The extensive draft was
lost in the conflicts of the First World War, and it was not until 1931 that
he completed a score with which he was happy. The story, which was also used
by Stravinsky, has the highly successful King Oedipus finding the words of the
prophet that a man he killed was his father and has since married his mother
to be true. In his remorse he blinds himself, but in exile and now in old age
he pleads his cause that separated from his parents he knew neither, and his
plea is taken up by the gods. Musically the score owes much to Richard Wagner
who Enescu adored, with use of motifs that musically represent characters and
events. Though an opera in four acts, and dramatically highly charged, it is
largely static and shaped as a series of tableaux, male voices dominating the
score in line with the story. Much admired by critics at its premiere in Paris
in 1936, it never established a place in the repertoire, and I know of only
two previous recordings, one rather negating itself by being sung in Romanian.
So this is a very welcome release and comes from a live performance at the Vienna
State Opera dating from May 1997, with Michael Gielen a persuasive advocate.
It is more as a shortcoming of the score than a fault in the performance, but
it does not really ignite until the third act. The second track on the second
disc is a good sampling point when the performance has reached the moment where
Oedipus's crimes are exposed. Monte Pederson is a vocally imposing as he moves
from the self-assured and swaggering King to a creature resigned to its fate
as the opera comes to a peaceful conclusion. I am not sure why the name of Marjana
Lipovsek does not appear on the front sleeve, her voice takes time to warm and
become focused, but she is a thrilling Jocasta as the story proceeds. The remainder
of the cast is generally good - Ruxandra Donose particularly so - and the orchestra
well captures the feel of the score, though the venue and engineers have come
together to give preferred status to the singers. The applause that erupts at
the conclusion shows the tremendous impact the work made on the audience, and
the whole venture is a major catalogue addition.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Tuba
Concerto in F minor. GREGSON: Tuba Concerto. STEPTOE: Tuba Concerto.
GOLLAND: Tuba Concerto, Op.46. James Gourley (tuba), Royal Ballet Sinfonia,
Gavin Sutherland (conductor). Naxos 8.557754. (64' 13").
It was the concerto composed
by Vaughan Williams that helped to bring the tuba from the back of the orchestra
to take up a solo role. But long before that the great British tradition of
brass bands had held the instrument in considerable affection, it big and ripe
low notes adding to the character of so much of their music. Edward Gregson
is certainly better known in band circles, and if the finale of his concerto
could be mistaken for Malcolm Arnold, he certainly knows how to explore the
instrument from the jollity in the opening Allegro to its ability to sing in
the central Lento. And a finally a moment if sheer brilliance in a cadenza of
real virtuosity. Roger Steptoe takes a completely different approach, removing
the instrument's knockabout humour we readily think of, and replacing it with
a more serious view in the concerto's calm and sombre finale. Completing the
disc we move to the world of light music for John Golland and his frothy happiness.
Scottish-born James Gourlay is acknowledged as one of the UK's famous band conductors,
though in symphonic terms he has been a distinguished member of the City of
Birmingham Symphony and BBC Symphony orchestras. His suitably restrained playing
of the classical Vaughan Williams acts as a foil to its companion pieces where
he takes the big instrument into the world of nimble virtuosity. He has the
Birmingham-based Royal Ballet Sinfonia playing better than I have ever heard
them, the strings just a mite stretched in the opening movement of the Steptoe,
but elsewhere bringing their ballet background to make the music dance. Soloist
is well to the fore, but there is total clarity in the orchestra. An absolute
winner.
STRAVINSKY: Pulcinella.
Le Baiser de la fee. Diana Montague (mezzo-soprano), Robin Leggate (tenor),
Mark Beesley (bass), Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Robert
Craft (conductor). Naxos 8.557503. (78' 21").
For a company whose objective
is to have just one version of each work in its catalogue, it seems downright
greedy of Naxos to have two versions of the complete Pulcinella, a work thinly
represented on disc. They are, however, quite different in approach with the
earlier version using the small instrumental ensemble of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta.
It did have one major advantage with the young Ian Bostridge singing the tenor
part, while Stefan Sanderling directed a lean and lithe performance. Robert
Craft is more robust in his approach, yet often blisteringly fast - try the
Tarantella (track 13) to sample his approach. His soloists are proactive in
their characterisation, so that the whole work springs to life, the Philharmonia's
clean cut playing - the solo horn absolutely superb - capturing the work's many
quirky colours. The ballet The Fairy’s Kiss is at the other extreme,
the London Symphony creating the opulent quality of Stravinsky's pastiche on
music by Tchaikovsky. Craft employs tempos entirely in accord with the needs
of dancers, maybe relaxing just a little too much in the second part of the
second tableau. Better that than some of the rushed versions on disc. As with
the releases in this ongoing Stravinsky cycle, the sound quality is exemplary,
the whole release much to be admired.
HAYDN: Twenty Variations
in G major, Hob XVII:2. Theme and Variations in C major, Hob XVII:5. Capriccio
in G major, Hob XVII:1. Arietta con 12 Variaziono, Hob.XVII: 3. Variations on
'Gott erhalte'. Divertimento: Il Maestro e lo Scolare, Hob XVIIa:I. Jeno Jando,
Zsuzsa Kollar (piano). Naxos 8.553972. (66' 11").
Haydn's group of keyboard
variations were composed around the middle part of the 18th century, their content
mainly functional and most probably intended for the consumption of his pupils
or the wealthy who enjoyed amusing friends with their performing skills. Appending
the name of Joseph Haydn would certainly have added status to the music they
were performing, though for much of the time it only makes modest demands on
the player. Whether the composer intended them for the harpsichord or square
piano is open to question, Jeno Jando avoiding the issue by playing a modern
concert grand. He equally eschews the current trend of playing such music with
a clipped tone to impersonate an instrument of Haydn's period. Indeed at times
Jando takes the music forward to the time of Beethoven, while some of
his spacious tempos will come as a surprise. He is joined by his pupil, Zsuzsa
Kollar, in the Divertimento, a suitably happy performance of a charming work.
It would be folly to describe any of this as great Haydn, but as a pleasing
experience the disc is commended to you, the engineering presenting a nice piano
tone.
FELDMAN: String
Quartet No.1. Group for Contemporary Music. Naxos 8.559190. (78' 33").
Morton Feldman was born
in America in 1926 and after studying with Wallingford Riegger and Stefan Wolpe
fell under the influence of John Cage in the early 1950's. It was a time in
Cage's life when he was obsessed in cleaning away all that was spurious in music
so as to discover a purity of sound. That passed onto Feldman's music with a
calm abstraction that creates a feel of inertia in his music as it slowly takes
shape. The first of Feldman's two enormous string quartets dates from 1980 and
at its first performance lasted over an hour and a half. He quipped that in
writing the piece he rather let things get out of hand, resulting in its length,
the whole work being in one continuous movement. Probably the word 'movement'
would give the wrong impression as we are already thirty-three minutes into
the score before we sense the other meaning of the word 'movement', to that
point sonorities have slowly moved around one another in a feel of rapt meditation.
That sense of forward momentum is short lived, the music soon moving back to
its opening pulse. To sustain our attention and to provide evidence of shape
within Feldman's concept requires considerable concentration from the performers,
and the Group for Contemporary Music have my utmost admiration as they manage
to make interesting the minute and subtle shifts of sound that Feldman offers.
This is certainly a brave release from Naxos and adds to the width of their
wide sweep across American music.
MOZART: Serenade
No.13 in G major, KV525, 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik'.
Divertimento in F major KV 247. Serenade No. 6 in D major, KV239, 'Serenata
Notturna'. Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Petter Sundkvist (conductor). Naxos 8.557023.
(61' 53").
Elegant and gracefully
performances played on conventional modern instruments, wonderfully neat and
devoid of eccentricities. There are some delightfully quick tempos to energise
the finales to each of the three works, with a dramatic approach to the opening
of the Divertimento. Certainly if you are looking for an unfussy account of
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik you need look no further, though Petter Sundkvist
is certainly not searching for any hidden depth of musical emotion in the piece.
He equally views the Serenata Notturna as a late evening piece, its tempos
and content shaped to create a feeling of happy tranquillity. If my attention
was drawn to a clumsy horn note in the third movement of the Divertimento, it
demonstrates that everything else is technically spotless. The engineers have
included a resonant acoustic that probably increases the apparent size of the
ensemble, which I would guess is quite modest.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano
Concerto. Clarinet Concerto. Signs of the Zodiac: Cantata for soprano, harpsichord
and string Orchestra. Olga Solovieva (piano/ harpsichord), Anton Prischepa (clarinet),
Yana Ivanilova (soprano), Irina Goncharova (harpsichord), Russian Academy of
Music Chamber Orchestra, Timur Mynbaev (conductor). Naxos 8.557727. (70' 04").
Boris Tchaikovsky was born
almost twenty-five years after Shosakovitch and ten years before Alfred Shnittke
placing him in a period of Russian music that seems to have gone largely unnoticed
on the international scene. He was a pupil of Shostakovich and become a prolific
composer, though, as you will find in the five-movement Piano Concerto, his
influences have been quite wide ranging. An offshoot of minimalism in the opening
movement; a lyrical second that could have come from Anton Rubinstein and a
Prokofiev inspired scherzo. Add these ingredients together and you have the
big outgoing finale. For the soloist it is daunting, the fast sections needing
the agile fingers of Olga Solovieva. The Clarinet Concerto is a more personal
creation that explores every facet of the instrument from the seductive opening
movement through to the fast and virtuoso finale. As the title would suggest,
the five movements of the Signs of the Zodiac are highly descriptive
and fascinatingly coloured. Three of the movements include a soprano soloist
with harpsichords adding a personal tone to the opening movement. I did find
the finale rather loosing the work's impetus, but throughout the disc Tchaikovsky's
music is tonal and easy to like. The soloists are all highly persuasive, and
if the orchestra sounds just a little tentative at times, they do bring some
important works to the catalogue. Sound quality is nicely balanced and with
plenty of impact.
ORDONEZ: Sinfonia
in A major. Sinfonia in G minor. Sinfonia in C major. Sinfonia in B minor. Sinfonia
in G minor. Toronto Chamber Orchestra, Kevin Mallon (conductor). Naxos 8.557482.
(61' 51").
That he may have been the
illegitimate son of a member of the nobility leaves the true name of Karl von
Ordonez or Carlo d'Ordonez shrouded in uncertainty. Born in Vienna in 1734,
little is known of his childhood but he was obviously trained as a violinist
and composer, connections with the aristocracy eventually providing him with
a place as a government official, though it may have been of low rank as he
died in poverty. As a composer he was abundant and was so highly regarded that
Haydn was among those who conducted his works. His catalogue contains around
seventy symphonies and a profusion of quartets, and if today he is largely forgotten,
history would describe him as having had a significant effect on music in Vienna.
Certainly the symphonies on this release display a facility for charming melody
and some unusual orchestration, his penchant for high horns adding pungency
to outer movements. Equally unusual is the feel of urgency he brought to many
of his 'slow' central movements and his use of serious music to precede the
happiness that was to follow. He may have lacked the consummate skill to extensively
develop his thematic material - movements here seldom going beyond four minutes
- but place his music in the hands of Mallon and his fine Toronto ensemble and
it oozes with charm. Sample for instance the final movement of the G minor symphony
(track 15) with its pleasant jog-trot rhythm and you will surely be persuaded
to buy. Sound quality is very good.
GOMBERT: Tulerunt
Dominum meum. Magnificat primi toni. Credo in unum Deum. Super flumina Babylonis.
Media vita in morte sumus. Salve regina (plainchant mode 1). Salve regina (diversi
diversa orant). Epitaphium (in Josquinum a Prato)
Oxford Camerata, Jeremy Summerly (conductor). Naxos 8.557732. (62' 17").
Probably of Flemish birth
towards the end of the 15th century, the first we know of Nicolas Gombert comes
with his name appearing as a student of Josquin followed by an early career
as a singer in the court of Emperor Charles V. His compositions continued in
the style of his mentor but added much of his own, his later life finding a
very inventive musical mind. It is the type of music well suited to the Oxford
Camerata who have created a very distinctive sound, the sopranos having the
quality of boy trebles but without their problems of pitch, while the male singers
produce a rich and sonorous underlay. Combined they produce a sound that brings
an ethereal quality to Media vita, the sheer peace being a perfect sampling
point (track 5). Not all of the music is of this inspired quality, though I
greatly enjoy the full texture and harmonic shifts of the Magnificat and the
repose of Salve Regina. The recording tends to catch the 's' in words, but
is otherwise of excellent quality and quite an unmissable release for the legion
of Camerata enthusiasts.
C.P.E. BACH: Sonata
in D minor, Wq.51/4; Sonata in F sharp minor, Wq.52/4; Sonata in A major, Wq.55/4;
Rondo in D minor, Wq.61/4; Sonata in C major, Wq.65/47; Rondo in B flat major,
Wq.58/5; Sonata in E major, Wq.65/29; Cantabile in B minor, from Sonata, Wq.55/3.
Christopher Hinterhuber (piano). Naxos 8.557450. (63' 46").
Austrian born Christopher
Hinterhuber has a catalogue of competition successes, including the Geza Anda
Competition in Zurich and the Beethoven Competition in Vienna. Selected for
the international tour as one of 'Europe's Rising Stars' he has recently appeared
in many of the major concert venues on both sides of the Atlantic including
New York, Amsterdam, London, Stockholm, Vienna and Salzburg. His credentials
hold him in good stead for his Naxos debut recording, with a bold choice of
music by C.P.E. Bach that does not normally feature in concert programmes. He
was the second and most important musical son of Johann Sebastian, Carl Philipp
Emanuel forming that important bridge between the Baroque and Classical eras.
Though his father had perfected music of his own period, it was left to his
son to take it forward, his sonatas being the most adventurous keyboard compositions
of his time, Thematically strong and immediately attractive, it is surprising
that we hear them so rarely. Early in the disc Hinterhuber uses a clipped style
that to a degree impersonates the harpsichords of Bach's time, but later moves
back to a more modern approach, his dynamic range greater than possible from
a period instrument. No complaint as he obviously enjoys the music and conveys
that pleasure to us, a good sampling point coming at the quick opening movement
to the A major sonata (track 7). Good sound quality.
RAMIREZ: Missa Criolla.
TRAD (arr. Haazen): Missa Luba. Choral Arts Society of Washington, Joseph
Holt (conductor). Naxos 8.557542. (56' 54").
A new look at long established
traditions is today sweeping across many religions with the object of embracing
the popular music of the younger generation to make church music more readily
accessible. It is not universally welcomed, but here we have a work from the
Argentinean composer, Ariel Ramirez, Missa Criolla mixing Spanish derived folk
idioms with today's populist culture. The result is more akin to show music
in Spain or Latin America, with dance rhythms, clicking castanets, strumming
guitars and a 'pop' backing rhythm group. That the result will be easily enjoyed
in the mass media music market is never for one moment in doubt, as it contains
every ingredient for success, the catchy tunes and vivacious rhythms quickly
drilled into the memory. The worthy people of Washington's Choral Arts Society
enter into the trendy music with enthusiasm, though you do feel they are happy
to arrive on more familiar ground when they reach the harmonies of Missa Luba.
The soloists have a rustic folk music quality with improvisation of rhythm and
pitch. Sound quality complements the style of music with solo voices well forward.
Released this month in the US and internationally next month, its sure to enjoy
a huge success.
SPOHR: String
Quintet No.7 in G minor, Op.144. String Sextet in C major, Op.140. Potpourri,
Op.22. New Haydn Quartet, Attila Falvey (violin), Sandor Papp (viola), Tama
Varga (cello). Naxos 8.555968. (69' 29").
Louis Spohr was born in
Germany in 1784 and admitted while still a teenager to the Court Orchestra from
where he developed into the most highly regarded German violinist of his time.
Subsequently holding major conducting posts in Gotha, Vienna, Frankfurt and
finally Kassel, it is probably an exaggeration that he trained over two hundred
violinists, composers and conductors, but he was certainly a major teacher at
this time. His flood of compositions, which include numerous operas, nine symphonies,
fifteen violin concertos, and a veritable deluge of chamber music, were already
out of date when written, his detractors citing too little inspiration spread
over too many works. By the 20th century his name had almost disappeared from
the concert repertoire, and it was largely left to the Marco Polo record label
to resurrect part of his output. Now those performances are being transferred
to the more readily available Naxos, this being the fourth volume of his complete
Quintets in more than serviceable performances from the augmented New Haydn
Quartet. Tuneful and often incredibly demanding on the leader's virtuosity,
the Menuetto movement of the Seventh being a particular joy. However I much
prefer the Sextet where Spohr's preoccupation with busy writing can take wing
using the greater number of instruments available. And finally a charming piece
of nonsense with the Potpourri, an aria from Mozart's Don Giovanni making
a brief appearance. The recording is detailed and nicely transparent.
MANCINI: Peter Gunn.
Moon River. Baby Elephant Walk. String on Fire. Dear Heart. Dream of a Lifetime.
The Great Race March. Days of Wine and Roses. The Pink Panther. Two for the
Road. Pie in the Face Polka. Ballerina's Dream. The Life Force Theme. The Glass
Menagerie. Charade. Beaver Valley '37. Drummer's Delight. The Thorn Birds. March
with Mancini. Richard Hayman and his Orchestra
Naxos 8.557825. (74' 52").
First appearing in the
early 1990's on Naxos International - a label dedicated to light music that
never really found a niche in the market - the discs are being progressively
moved to the regular Naxos catalogue. American conductor and arranger, Richard
Hayman, gives Henry Mancini's evergreen melodies a big symphonic treatment,
tempos allowing the music to expand into its new garb. As a fan of his arrangements
I must confess I have enjoyed Hayman more than this, Mancini's music not the
type of material that draws the best from him. Still if you enjoy the catchy
tune for Pink Panther, the folksy Pie in the Face Polka or the
repose of Sons of Italy, you can be assured of sharply etched performances,
some good solo passages - particularly the oboe in The Glass Menagerie
- and strong rhythm backing. Sound is quite up-front as the music demands.
MASCAGNI: Cavalleria
Rusticana. Maria Callas (Santuzza), Giuseppe Di Stefano (Turiddu), Rolando Panerai
(Alfio), Anna Maria Canali (Lola), Ebe Ticozzi (Lucia) Chorus and Orchestra
of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111025. (77'
46").
This was Callas at her
finest, creating not the usual Santuzza, but a very living and passionate young
woman, willing to fight in the big confrontation with Turiddu when she discovers
his duplicity. Throughout she was in fantastic voice, but who would have thought
that Giuseppe Di Stefano could turn in such a red-blooded part. The fire in
his voice sparks off a raging argument with Callas's Santuzza, Serafin stoking
up the whole scene as he drives the orchestra forward at quite fast tempos.
If you still need persuasion, just try track 14 and hear the very best of Di
Stefano and orchestra. Add to all of this a big resonant mezzo in Ebe Ticozzi
as Lucia, and a pert Lola from Anna Maria Canali and you have a first rate cast
- well almost, Rolando Panerai sounding a wooden Alfio and at times vocally
tired. Never mind, he is not a major player, and this really is the great recording
of Cavalleria for your collection, the 1953 sound only just beginning
to show its age.
LEONCAVALLO:Pagliacci.
Maria Callas (Nedda), Giuseppe Di Stefano (Canio), Tito Gobbi (Tonio), Rolando
Panerai (Silvio), Nicola Monti (Beppe), Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan,
Tullio Serafin (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111024. (72' 43").
Maria Callas's Nedda is
superb, vocally acting out the move between the real person and Nedda's part
in the commedia dell'arte, the two characters very differing. Giuseppe Di Stefano
is equally convincing, playing Canio with the feel of man resigned to the fact
that he can offer little to keep his wayward wife. The famous aria, Vesti
la giubba, is not overplayed, the sobs at the close without histrionics,
and having killed his wife the end is in quiet sadness. Tito Gobbi's Prologue
is taken without exaggeration, and only in his scene when he makes advances
to Nedda does he open up into his big and menacing voice. As in Cavalleria
Rusticana I find Panerai a little uninvolved and hardly the character to
tempt a girl as vivacious as Callas's Nedda. I still have the LP and comparing
it with this Naxos transfer I was amazed at the detail now exposed. I know there
are lots of very good recordings of Pagliacci that have appeared since
this one, but none have come quite to this level of musicality.
PUCCINI: Madama
Butterfly. Maria Callas (Madama Butterfly), Nicolai Gedda (Pinkerton), Lucia
Danieli (Suzuki), Mario Borriello (Sharpless), Renato Ercolani (Goro), Luisa
Villa (Kate Pinkerton), Mario Carlin (Prince Yamadori), Plinio Clabassi (The
Bonze), Enrico Campi (Imperial Commissioner), Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala,
Milan, Herbert Von Karajan (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111026-27 (2CDs).
(140' 26").
I remember the excitement
of hearing these discs on LP when they first appeared fifty years ago, though
they never took away my greater affection for the earlier Renata Tebaldi version
on Decca. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then, and we have
had some ravishing performances that have taken our attention away from Maria
Callas's deeply felt portrayal of the abandoned Butterfly. Yet returning to
it once again it is Karajan's conducting with his subtle nuances, ravishing
beauty, and unerring support for Callas that I find the major attraction. You
can only wonder what her other early recordings could have sounded like had
they been made with him. She does try that very difficult task of sounding like
a young girl, and in quiet passages this is deeply moving, particularly in the
second act when Sharpless visits her, while in the resignation she brings to
her final scene we find a young girl completely drained. The problem comes in
the dramatic moments when she has to return to her full and very typical Callas
sound. In Nicola Gedda she had an elegant Pinkerton, the first act love duet
being one of bliss rather than highly charged emotion. In the rush to make as
many recordings as possible from the still young soprano, not all of the casts
assembled were of a quality they should have been, Mario Borriello being a very
ordinary Sharpless. But don't let that hinder you, for I could go on at length
as to the wonders Karajan imparts. Certainly no one at that time could extract
such luminous playing from the Scala orchestra, or such organised choral participation.
This is, warts and all, an experience - harrowing though it most certainly is
- that you should not miss. Naxos has coaxed a sound better than we have a right
to expect from 1955, but why, oh why perpetuate that crime that so often appears
elsewhere of having a break between discs at the most dramatic moment in the
whole work.
ROSSINI:Il Turco
in Italia. Maria Callas (Fiorilla), Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (Selim), Nicolai Gedda
(Don Narciso), Franco Calabrese (Don Geronio), Jolanda Gardino (Zaida), Piero
de Palma (Albazar), Mariano Stabile (Prosdocimo), Chorus and Orchestra of La
Scala, Milan, Gianandrea Gavazzeni (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111028-29
(2 CDs). (137' 50").
When this release first
appeared in 1954 Rossini's Il Turco in Italia had largely fallen from
the main international operatic repertoire and was recorded simply to display
Maria Callas in her most dazzling form. Even so it could not escape the 'traditional'
cuts of the time that removed almost 30 minutes from a quite short opera, though
the basic story remains. Callas had opted for a soubrette approach to the flirtatious
Fiorilla with whom the rich Turk immediately falls in love, ignorant of her
married status. Her vocal acrobatics are all in place, the aria at the beginning
of the second scene in the opening act sparkling with crystalline brilliance,
while she moves to a suitably seductive voice as she charms her Turk. As another
of her adoring suitors Nicolai Gedda creates a lyric and most likeable Don Narciso,
so much so that you cannot really believe Fiorilla would fall for Nicola Rossi-Lemini's
Selim, his rich bass voice portraying a rather ageing person. The remaining
members of the cast provide a reliable team for the big ensembles. Just try
track 12 on the second disc to hear Gavazzini whip up the excitement. Maybe
the critics have been kind in placing it among the great classic opera recordings,
but here Naxos add icing to the cake with four extracts from Callas's 1954 recital
disc, including a fabulous Una voce poco fa from Rossini's Il Barbiere
di Siviglia. The recording of the opera is showing its age, but the voices
are well captured.
BEETHOVEN: Symphony
No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, 'Pastoral'. Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72a. Fidelio
Overture, Op. 72. Coriolan Overture, Op. 62. The Creatures of Prometheus,
Overture, Op. 43. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London
Symphony Orchestra, British Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter (conductor). Naxos
Historical 8.111032. (70' 33").
Bruno Walter took his interpretation
of Beethoven's Sixth symphony from the subtitle 'Pastoral', the music emerging
in a gentle pleasure of the countryside, tempos never rushed, the storm scene
in the fourth movement being nothing more than a rather gusty day. Just for
one brief moment in the third movement the vista becomes craggy in content,
the work's final moments ending in a sense of fulfilled calm. It required some
very special playing from the Vienna Philharmonic, the silky smooth strings
and woodwind matched by the rounded tone of the brass. Maybe the recording did
not do justice to the timpani who sound muffled throughout. By contrast the
overtures are highly charged and dramatic, Coriolan often hectic and
stretching the London Symphony strings. The sheer feeling of exultation in the
fast conclusion of Leonora No. 3 and the hefty treatment of Fidelio are
totally in accord with the opera's scenario. The recordings date from the 1930's
and these magnificent transfers belie their age.
GLUCK: Alceste -
Overture. MOZART: Serenade No. 10 in B flat, K.361, 'Gran Partita'. Serenade
No.13 in G major, KV525, 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik'. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwangler (conductor). Naxos Historical
8.110994. (72' 06").
Furtwangler's Mozart can
sound portentous after listening to period instrument performances, though at
the time of issue in the late 1940's it was fashionable and much admired. Eine
Kleine Nachtmusik is given the full symphonic treatment, the opening Allegro
being big and bold, while the varied pulse of the following Romanza pulls it
out of shape. Today the editing team would have got to work to sort out the
intonation and articulation on the final Rondo. By comparison Furtwangler's
Gran Partita is an amiable and lightweight account, generally of a happy
and sunny disposition. There is an elegant Minuet, though a mite stodgy in the
Theme and Variations sixth movement. The Overture to Alceste comes from
1942, the sound distinctly old and somewhat opaque, though Furtwangler's attention
to detail is admirable. Of course it is all too easy to look back with a condescending
smile, but those who admire the great conductor will certainly want these Mozart
performances that seem otherwise unavailable.
HALEVY: La Juive
- Rachel, quand du Seigneur, Act 4. LALO: Le Roi d’Ys - Puisq’on ne peut…
Vainement ma bien aimee, Act 3. TOSTI: Parted. Segreto. MURRAY:
I’ll walk beside you. CARDILLO: Core ’ngrato. MASSENET: Manon
- Je suis seul… Ah! fuyez douce image, Act 3. Werther - Pourquoi me reveiller?
Act 3. FALVO: Dicitencello. TRAD: Adeste fidelis. CITTADINI:
Ninna Nanna. Nostalgia ricordo. TOSTI: Il segreto. WILLIAMS: Vidalita.
BUCHARDO: Cancion de Perico. GRUBER: Silent Night. SCHUBERT:
Ave Maria. MASCAGNI: Cavalleria Rusticana - O Lola. BRAHE: Bless
this house. PENN: Smilin' through. Beniamino Gigli (tenor), Royal Opera
House Orchestra, Covent Garden, Rainaldo Zamboni (conductor), Rainaldo Zamboni
& Orchestra. Naxos Historical 8.111101. (67' 05").
In this complete 'Beniamino
Gigli Edition' we have reached the years 1946 - 1947, the time I first heard
the great tenor in the flesh. By then he was certainly on the downward slope,
though in the Halevy and Lalo arias, where he was not vocally pressed, he could
still create the old magic. He was now more frequently singing popular ballads
of the day, this crop of recordings coming from his visits to London, the microphones
kindly placed so that much of it was sung in the head. Accused of crooning his
way through his repertoire, this disc would confirm that criticism. To appeal
to his London audiences he sang many discs in his attractive broken English.
In Zamboni he had a responsive conductor happy to use whatever tempo best suited
the rather compromised voice. It is part of the Gigli discography and will appeal
to the populist market. The sound is amazingly good in these transfers.
STRAUSS: Mittel
gegen den Schlaf - Walzer, Op.65 (Cure for Sleep). Jugendfeuer-Galopp, Op.90
(Fire of Youth Galop). Erinnerung an Pesth - Walzer, Op.66 (Recollection of
Pesth). Cachucha-Galopp, Op.97. Gabrielen -Walzer, Op.68. Boulogner Galopp,
Op.104. Pfennig-Walzer, Op.70 (Penny Waltz). Der Carneval in Paris - Galopp,
Op.100 (The Carnival in Paris). Iris-Walzer, Op.75. Original-Parade-Marsch,
Op.73. Erinnerung an Berlin - Walzer, Op.78 (Memory of Berlin).
Slovak Sinfonietta, Zilna, Ernst Marzendorfer (conductor). Marco Polo 8.225283.
(54' 20").
We have now reached the
seventh volume in the complete works from the father of the Strauss dynasty,
a career that came from the period 1820 through to his untimely death in 1849.
He was probably at his most persuasive in the short and effervescent galops,
the Fire of Youth looking very much forward to the outgoing brilliance
of his sons. Waltzes were of more varied quality, Gabrielen a quite uninspired
piece compared with the mysterious opening and beautifully relaxed main melody
for Erinnerung an Pesth. Compared with his sons there is sometimes a
more earthy quality to his output, as we hear in the Original-Parade,
yet Erinnerung an Berlin has a sophistication that compares with any
later Viennese music. Once again I am pleased that his music is not boosted
by the use of a large orchestra, as Johann was working with a quite small group
of musicians at the time, so solo lines would have stood out from the music's
fabric. Maybe Ernst Marzendorfer could have relaxed more in Iris, its
gentle spinning-top central section a moment of pure delight. He has some good
musicians at his disposal with a fine leading violin, and the recording presents
the music in a nice natural way.
ENNA:The Little
Match -Girl - Overture. WEYSE: Feast at Kenilworth - Gypsy Dance. SCHIERBECK:
Prelude for Strings, Op.43. HARTMANN: The Raven - Overture. GLASS:
Suite for Orchestra, Op. 67. HOFFDING: Symphonic Fantasy, Op. 37. Odense
Symphony Orchestra, Ole Schmidt (conductor). Dacpo 8.226047. (53' 12").
Sadly I seem to have missed
this when it was first issued way back in 1986, the six tracks of music inspired
by the fairytales of Hans Christian Andersen being an unqualified joy. From
August Enna's atmospheric Overture for The Little Match-Girl completed
in 1897, to the playful piece by Finn Hoffding that owes much to Dukas's Sorcerer's
Apprentice, this is music that you can sit back and enjoy. The most extensive
piece coming from Louis Glass's Suite for Orchestra, a highly descriptive series
of musical pictures for Andersen's The Elf-Hill, at times a little
creepy as the story demands. Going back in time Weyse's jolly Gypsy Dance dates
from 1836, his short-lived musical association with Andersen leading to the
more extensive relationship between Hartmann and Anderson. That provided the
opera The Raven with Beethoven and Weber the influences here, a big and
bold overture setting a dramatic scenario. But of all the pieces I particularly
enjoy Schierbeck's Prelude inspired by Andersen's poem In Denmark I was born,
a sombre piece that captures the feeling of the poet's words. Throughout the
playing is very good, and, though nothing special, the sound quality is good.
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