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STRAUSS: An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64. Staatskapelle Weimar, Antoni Wit (conductor). Naxos 8.557811. (54' 14"). 

The most detailed and atmospheric recording of Richard Strauss's journey into the Alps yet to appear, a sizeable assertion when the catalogue already contains thirty versions by almost all of the world's great orchestras. The performance starts with the major advantage of a self-effacing conductor whose primary aim is recreate the printed page, and in so doing exposes so many details that we usually miss. It is a big and bold reading; the grandeur of the vista painted on a huge musical canvas never underestimated, with powerful and rich strings matched by robust brass. Climatic moments bring a thrilling response from trumpets and percussion, though it is the contrast with the quiet moments that makes the disc so special, distant horns perfectly balanced, while the delicate woodwind is beautifully played. You feel that the players are taking risks with Antoni Wit the inspiring force. Yet however good the orchestra - and this one is superb - the players finally rely on the sound engineers to reveal the full magnitude of the score. That shows immediately in the exquisite sound they produce in the quiet opening, with a very realistic spread of sound from front to back of the sound stage. Yet it will be those moments when the sound takes your speakers to the very brink that will remain uppermost in your memory.

MEYERBEER: Semiramide. Deborah Riedel (Semiramide), Filippo Adami (Ircano), Fiona Janes (Scitalce), Wojtek Gierlach (Mirteo), Olga Peretyatko (Tamiri), Leonardo Silva (Sibari), Altensteig Rossini Choir, Wurttemberg Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge (conductor). Naxos 8.660205-06. (2 CDs). (125' 38"). 

Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer became Giacomo Meyerbeer to ensure success in musical Italy where he lived for many of his younger years. He had been born into a very wealthy Berlin family in 1791 and enjoyed the finest teachers to support his obvious musical gifts. At first aiming to be a concert pianist, it was the years in Italy following his twenty-fifth birthday that persuaded him his future was in the theatre. If he is now best remembered as the composer who provided Paris with the most outrageously flamboyant operas ever seen there, it was in the footsteps of Rossini that he learned his trade. Like many of that era he saw his works come and go, initial enthusiasm quick to evaporate, his answer being to compose another one. From this period came Semiramide riconsciuta completed when he was twenty-eight. The story surrounds the life of Semiramis, Queen of Babylon, and was just about as improbable as any plot ever devised, relying on a brother who does not recognise his sister and the heroine appearing as her own son. The overture immediately grabs your attention, the score musically strong with an impressive sextet early in the first act (track 4). He was at the time composing arias intended to show the vocal skills of his principals, Deborah Riedel's voice taking time to warm in this 'live' theatre performance, though she must have kept a great deal in reserve for the massive demands of the last act. Here she turns on a show of considerable virtuosity. I much enjoyed the smooth voice of Fiona Janes as Scitalce, while Filippo Adami does his best with a role that sorely tests intonation. Yet the performance belongs to Richard Bonynge who is breathing life into this 'Rossini in Wildbad Festival 2005' staging, one of the first in modern times. He drives the performance forward with suitable verve, his orchestra responding with alertness, the big set pieces having the required impact. The chorus needed their own microphone to bring them into focus, but otherwise the sound is good, and I guess we are unlikely to ever have another recorded opportunity to hear the work.

HENZE: Violin Concerto No. 1. Violin Concerto No. 3. Funf Nachtstucke. Peter Sheppard Skaerved (violin), Aaron Shorr (piano), Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Lyndon-Gee (conductor). Naxos 8.557738. (69' 30"). 

A couple of months ago I was commenting on the fact that today it is difficult to understand why Hans Werner Henze once so outraged traditionalists. The youthful first Violin Concerto, dating from 1947, more or less continues where the big virtuoso concertos from the Romantic era left off. Flitting back and forth between atonality and tonality in a way Henze was to make his own, the opening movement offers the soloist every opportunity for technical display, a feature that returns in the noisy finale. Between these two contrasting movements of vivacity there comes a tender Andante. Composed fifty years later, the third concerto is undeniably from the same source though now increasingly atonal. The opening movement has a dramatic and showpiece cadenza, while the finale is a long and sad statement its cadenza minus the opening brilliant colours. The Five Night Pieces have less to offer, and in the present context simply fill the disc. Peter Sheppard Skaerved's playing in the concertos is staggeringly brilliant, every technical problem and trick dispensed with confidence though never robbing the listener of the thrill of a musician taken to the brink. The orchestra is equally satisfying, the massive dynamic range generated by Christopher Lyndon-Gee leading to some awesome climatic moments. To get the best sound turn up your volume and be prepared to turn it down again for the Five Pieces recorded at a different level. The concertos have no alternative recordings and provide a major addition to the catalogue. Fabulous.

LOEWE: Passion Oratorio. Nathalie Gaudefroy (soprano), Christianne Stotjin (alto), Jacky da Cunha (tenor), Henk Neven (bass), Edwin Crossley-Mercer (bass), Ensemble Instrumental des Heures Romantiques, Ensemble Vocal des Heures Romantiques, Udo Reinemann (conductor). Naxos 8.557635-36 (2 CDs). (96' 37"). 

Carl Loewe is today best known as a songwriter who during his life was considered as the major rival to Schubert. Born in Germany in1796, he was to become a highly prolific composer in most genres, including highly successful operas, while still finding time to pursue a career as conductor, organist and teacher. His success with ballads was in many ways to overshadow all his other works, the Passion Oratorio, long forgotten and probably here receiving its first recording. Opening in the musical world of Bach, the score is set in the Protestant world of mid-19th century Germany, combining biblical recitatives and chorales. As the score progresses the influences of Handel are made clear, while in the later part the young Mendelssohn becomes the major source of inspiration. Such a curious mix may sound rather strange, but Loewe makes it work, the lack of melodies that burn themselves into the memory being its one weak point. It could never hope to have a more persuasive recording, the team of soloists are in every way superb, the fabulous Christianne Stotjin and Henk Neven being outstanding. The chorus is equally persuasive, even if they began to tire in the fugal ending. Udo Reinemann's tempos seem natural for the flow of the work, and his rather flowery titled orchestra plays very well. It is only with the applause at the end that its 'live' recording status is really revealed, the engineers obtaining a nice balance in a friendly acoustic. In sum, though it cannot match, for instance, Mendelssohn's Elijah, if you enjoy that era, Loewe will give much pleasure.

VIVALDI: Concerto in G minor, RV 495. Concerto in C major, RV 474. Concerto in E flat major, RV 483. Concerto in B flat major, RV 502. Concerto in C major, RV 472. Concerto in A minor, RV 500. Tamas Benkocs (bassoon), Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, Bela Drahos (conductor). Naxos 8.557556. (53' 20"). 

If you want to hear one of today's great virtuoso soloists, then dash out and buy this stunning disc. Among Vivaldi's prolific concerto output he wrote thirty-nine for bassoon, taking a very serious view of an instrument so often pictured as a comic figure in music. He must have had superb players at his disposal, many of the outer movements becoming showpieces for technical skill, the bassoon in those days without many of today's refinements. They all follow the conventional three-movement pattern with a slow movement surrounded by fast music, the six included in this third volume of the complete bassoon concertos requiring tremendous finger agility and a complete command of the reed. Just turn to track 7, the opening movement of RV483, where the soloist is asked to play fast repeated notes, something no bassoonist relishes. The creamy smoothness in slow movements is not accompanied by the heavy vibrato we usually associate with East European players, his playing here quiet and simple. Appointed principal bassoon of the famous Budapest Festival Orchestra while still a student, and more recently holding the same position with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, his playing is so refreshingly clean and seeks out the joy in the music. Bela Drahos robustly presents the tutti passages, while making sure his soloist is never swamped. Benkocs uses that trick of standing back from the microphone in slow movements to add a more rounded tone, and the engineers have provided exemplary sound best heard a notch or two below your normal volume setting.

FLAGELLO: Piano Concerto No. 1. Dante’s Farewell (orch. Sbordini). Concerto Sinfonico for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra. Tatjana Rankovich (piano), Susan Gonzalez (soprano), National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, John McLaughlin Williams (conductor), New Hudson Saxophone Quartet, Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, Kynan Johns (conductor). Naxos 8.559296. (65' 26"). 

Born in New York in 1928, Nicolas Flagello began his career as a concert pianist touring widely in the States and Europe. During his student years he had also been a conducting pupil of Dimitri Mitropoulos, and in 1962 was appointed as Music Director of the Rome Symphony Orchestra. As a composer he studied with Vittorio Giannani, an American of Italian descent whose mentor had been Goldmark. It comes as no surprise therefore to find that Flagello inherited a cosmopolitan background, and on his death, at the early age of 66, he left a considerable catalogue of scores, the earliest dating back to his early twenties, though he was forty before he completed his first symphony. Looking back at a previous Flagello review I described his idiom as 'Korngold orchestrating Hindemith's thematic material', a description I would be happy to attach to the present disc. I could add 'Rachmaninov meets Hollywood' to set the scene for the First Piano Concerto, its opening in a rich and dramatic mood offering unlimited space for virtuoso solo display. Conventional relaxed Andante comes before we turn full circle for another shot of brilliant orchestral colours. For Dante's Farewell we are in the world of opera, the big scene highly rewarding for the solo soprano. The Saxophone Quartet Concerto - his last completed work - is highly engaging, its lyrical centrepiece offset by the wild conclusion full of spine tingling excitement. Performances are of mixed origin, but share the same degree of conviction, with soloists that are unfailingly superb, the gorgeous voice of Susan Gonzalez being a major discovery that I am itching to hear again. Sound quality is good, and has the bass drum ever been more realistically captured than in the finale of the saxophone concerto? One of the most enjoyable American music discs I have heard.  

GRIEG: Holberg Suite Op. 40. Two Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34. Two Melodies, Op. 53. Two Lyric Pieces, Op. 68. Two Nordic Melodies, Op. 63. Peer Gynt, Op. 46, No. 1b - The Death of Ase. Oslo Camerata, Stephan Barratt-Due (conductor). Naxos 8.557890. (51' 58"). 

Grieg's complete music for string orchestra together with one of his most popular extracts from Peer Gynt provides a most attractive offering from the young Oslo Camerata, a chamber ensemble formed in 1998. Its small size brings greater clarity than we normally hear, the lightweight quality allowing the conductor, Stephen Barratt-Due, to strip away the sentimentality that has become encrusted over the years. His tempos are generally sprightly, the final movement of Holberg almost breathless in its urgency. Such buoyancy imparts a welcome happiness to the Two Nordic Melodies, the second skipping along with youthful zest. The conductor does stamp his own personality on the performances with some unexpected and quite frequent changes of tempo, the fast opening to Holberg soon modified to a pulse we would normally expect. Comment on the warm viola sound is required as they help boost the more fragile cello quality. Play the disc a few notches above your normal level.

HARRISON: Suite for Timothy. CHAGRIN: Renaissance Suite. FLETCHER: Folksong and Fiddle Dance. LEWIS: Suite Navarraise. CAZABON: Giocoso. ROSEINGRAVE: Three Pieces arranged by Humphrey Searle. IRELAND (arr Bush): A Downland Suite. Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Gavin Sutherland (conductor). Naxos 8.557752. (75' 43"). 

Even to ardent anglophiles some names in this fifth volume of 'English String Miniatures' may well have slipped from memory. Pamela Harrison, born in 1915, is the least known, her output quite small but the work of a perfectionist. Suite for Timothy was completed in 1948, and comes straight from the Elgar/Vaughan Williams stable, its four movements opening and closing in a happy mood, the language purely tonal at a time when such convention was winning few establishment friends. Francis Chagrin qualifies by a life largely spent in London, though he was born in Romania. Taught in France and French by musical inclination, he found his life in film and radio compositions, but is remembered by many composers as a tireless promoter of their music. The Renaissance Suite was completed in 1962 and is an unashamed and very pleasing pastiche of yesteryear. Thomas Roseingrave was born in England into an Irish family of musicians and became a celebrated organist and composer in early 18th century London. There is nothing English about his style as he was influenced by Italian music, the three pieces here being essentially sombre. The best known tracks on this release is John Ireland's Downland Suite, a really charming and gently lyric score, while Percy Fletcher's Folksong and Fiddle Dance is a Vaughan Williams spin-off. Strange to have a Suite Navaarraise included on an English music disc, but it belies its title, Paul Lewis's music coming direct from our pastoral background. The playing is the best we have ever heard from this orchestra in the studio, with spot-on intonation and the assurance that could persuade you they play this music every day. Perfect backdrop for a sunny autumn evening.

IRELAND: String Quartet No. 1 in D minor. The Holy Boy. String Quartet No. 2 in C minor. Maggini Quartet. Naxos 8.557777. (57' 30"). 

Having experienced the death of both his parents while still very young, John Ireland suffered a sense of insecurity throughout his life. His good fortune came with a comprehensive musical education, principally as an outstanding pupil of Stanford.

A gifted pianist and composer, Ireland earned his early living as a church organist and choirmaster, and it was a life-style that allowed time to compose. His Phantasie Trio of 1906 brought him to public attention, yet as a perfectionist this success did not generate a sudden burst of activity, and he was later to destroy almost all of his early scores. In 1923 he became an important and influential lecturer at London's Royal College of Music, and among his pupils were Benjamin Britten, Ernest Moeran and Alan Bush. For a time he retired, but went onto enjoy an Indian summer and the satisfaction of growing popularity. Fortunately among the early works he spared the two string quartets from destruction, though neither was published until after his death. True they are of mixed musical parentage, the first moving between the Germanic influences of his mentor, Stanford, and his natural free-flowing Englishness. They came from his eighteenth year, though the second was experimental and much more fluid in passing thematic material around the quartet. The disc also contains a quartet adaptation of one of his most popular pieces, Holy Boy. It would be foolish to make exaggerated claims for the quartets, but in robust performances played with a conviction that states they are forgotten masterpieces, they do give real pleasure. Close-up sound engineering does not expose one chink in the outstanding quality of the Maggini's playing.

GURIDI: El Caserio. Vicente Sardinero (tenor), Ana Rodrigo (soprano), Emilio Sanchez (baritone), Bilbao Choral Society, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Juan Jose Mena (conductor). Naxos 8.557632. (78' 32"). 

Jesus Guridi was born in 1886 to a family that was deeply involved in music, so that it came as no surprise that he was soon following in their footsteps. Developing an early love of the piano, it was his talents as a composer that took him to Paris where he became a pupil of d'Indy. The intuitive Spanish affection for colours and his mentor's love of the exotic was a potent mix that injected such vitality into his output. On his return to Spain he combined a career as organist and choirmaster in Bilbao, before gained international attention with a much-acclaimed opera, Amaya, first performed in 1920. But it was to be his three-act zarzuela, El Caserio, which became his best-known stage work. Sadly I have never seen this very entertaining piece, but it is set in the imaginary Basque village of Arrigorri, and integrates original folk music into Guridi's score to create the love story. Generally lyric in character, the tenor and soprano partnership of Vicente Sardinero and Ana Rodrigo is excellent, with some sturdy singing from the Bilbao chorus. Try the big finale to the first act (track 7) to get a taste of the music in general, or the spirited dance on track 12. Very good orchestra directed with a nice feel of urgency by Juan Jose Mena. I thought the changing perspective and balance between soloists was the result of a 'live' performance, but the disc's cover contradicts this. Light, frothy and much recommended.

DOWLAND: Lord Strange’s March. Mrs. White’s Thing. Mrs. White’s Nothing. ‘Tremolo’ Fancy (P73). Mrs. Nichols’ Almain. Fantasie No. 1. Preludium. Fantasie No. 5. A Dream. Fantasie No. 7. Mrs. Winter’s Jump. Lady Clifton’s Spirit. Mrs. Vaux’s Galliard. Mrs. Vaux’s Jig. Tarleton’s Riserrectione. Fantasie No. 6. Forlorn Hope Fancy (Fantasie No. 2). The Shoemaker’s Wife. Lady Hunsdon’s Puffe. Orlando Sleepeth. Mr. Dowland’s Midnight. Farewell ‘In Nomine’ (Fantasie No. 4). Farewell (Fantasie No. 3). Nigel North (lute). Naxos 8.557586. (64' 39"). 

John Dowland was the most celebrated English court musician working around the turn of the 17th century, having become the leading lutenist of the time. Widely travelled in Europe, the refinement of the French influence from his younger years spent in Paris was to colour the English feel of his works. Pieces for the lute made a major contribution to his output with over a hundred works having survived. He was equally a fine composer of vocal works, including 84 songs with lute accompaniment. That so much still exists was largely due to his son, Robert, who edited his father's works after his death. Even so he could not prevent many works being handed down carrying John's name, and that still persists even at a time when we know their origin. This is the first disc in a series of the complete lute works and is in the hands of Nigel North, who has already placed some fine Dowland performances on disc. The first volume shows a performer who enjoys happiness rather than lachrymose and is very convincing in the faster tempos where his agility is quite superb. He shapes and shades each work with a rare imagination, his tone falling pleasantly on the ear with left-hand shift seldom audible. Excellent sound quality, and a series to look forward to.  

MOZART: Six Variations in G minor on the French Song, ‘Au bord d’une fontaine’ K360. Sonata No. 29 in A major, K402 (completed by Stadler). Sonata No. 30 in C major, K403 (completed by Stadler). Sonata in B flat major, K570 (arr. for violin and piano). Takako Nishizaki (violin), Benjamin Loeb (piano). Naxos 8.557665. (63' 16"). 

With Mozart's intimate knowledge of the violin, it is surprising that he created so many works where the instrument plays a subordinate role? The present disc, for instance, contains two sonatas where the violin is used to add embroidery to scores often more akin to piano sonatas. Though commenced almost ten years before his death they remained incomplete, Maximilian Stadler performing that task before publication. There are more technical demands in the violin part during the Variations, but essentially the music is all in the realms of a modest student. That fact in itself requires the artistry of Takako Nishizaki to elevate their status, her impeccable taste and sweet silvery tone always a delight to hear, with the Adagio to K570 a particularly rewarding movement. Benjamin Loeb relishes the music, the joyful opening to K403 being played with sparkling happiness. His clarity of articulation is certainly helped by a recorded balance that places the piano well forward. The sonatas have been seldom recorded and such unaffected performances are well recommended.

CRUMB: Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death. Quest. Ensemble New Art, Fuat Kent (director). Naxos 8.559290. (54' 45"). 

Born in 1929, George Crumb became one of a number of composers emerging in the first half of the 20th century who had been completely educated in the States and was looking to create a new American modernism divorced from European influences. As an overt progressive he became highly regarded among the many new music festivals that thrived in the years following the Second World War. He was to receive prestigious grants and awards to supplement his teaching posts at major music colleges, and by modern standards was a prolific composer. The influence of Lorca's verse imagery that shaped much of his music, whether in the many songs or by virtue of the instrumental colours the words created in his mind. Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death was completed in 1968 and scored for the unusual combination of baritone, electric guitar, electric double-bass, electric piano and harpsichord, with two percussionists. Many of the persuasions that have come into Crumbs life are here, the unusual use of tonality linked with a degree of minimalism when music almost becomes static. Long quiet passages suddenly erupt with anger in Schoenberg's pungent atonality before simmering down to introversion and silences. This is a lone voice speaking in his own very different way. Quest requires a sextet lead by an acoustic guitar to link with a battery of unusual percussion. Ghostly Dark Paths and Fugitive Sounds are the two opening sections, the music often straying towards tonality, the atmospheric sound pictures very approachable by innocent ears. The work ends in restful peace. Obviously a challenging score to perform, the guitar given a solo role, this recording placing the performer in a totally different acoustic. I would want time to get to know the music, but with such persuasive performances it is well worth investigating.

VILLA-LOBOS: Guia Pratico I – IX. Sonia Rubinsky (piano). Naxos 8.570008. (63' 17"). 

Heitor Villa-Lobos is the popular face of South American music composed in the 20th century, though as a young man it was his years spent in Paris that both stimulated his creative career and formulated his compositional style. It came at a time when the city became gripped in Latin America mania, that fact and the influence of the French Impressionists was to have a profound effect on the young man. He was a self-taught composer, a fact that often surfaces in his lack of academic rectitude. It was this lack that made him insistent that music should be taught in schools. It was as an educational tool that he composed Guia Pratico, a collection of over one hundred pieces for piano in which he used traditional Brazilian songs taken from all regions of the country. Each of the albums contains a number of short pieces - forty-eight on this disc - and though they are not studies in the accepted sense, they do pose a test for an early talented student. If you remove that factor you are still left with a pleasant selection of melodies, often spiced with unusual rhythms, though in need of Sonia Rubinsky's innocent charm to prevent them sounding too childish. She keeps rhythms very tight, her articulation crisp and agile. By Naxos's high standards the piano tends to be too bright at the top end, but is quite acceptable. The remainder of these pieces will be issued later.

BUXTEHUDE: Toccata in F major, BuxWV 157. Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, BuxWV 220. Praeludium in A major, BuxWV 151. Nun freut euch, BuxWV 210. Canzonetta in G major, BuxWV 172. Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, BuxWV 201. Fugue in G major, BuxWV 175. Mensch, willst du leben seliglich, BuxWV 206. Praeludium in G minor, BuxWV 148. Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ BuxWV 196. Fugue in B flat major, BuxWV 176. Vater unser im Himmelreich, BuxWV 219. Toccata in F major, BuxWV 156. Julia Brown (organ). Naxos 8.557555. (76' 07"). 

The fifth volume in the complete organ works of Dietrich Buxtehude, a series that started several years ago and only recently regenerated by the gifted Julia Brown. Buxtehude was the founder of the German organ tradition, and legend would have it that Johann Sebastian Bach walked 200 miles just hear him play. That was most unlikely, though the legend does show the high esteem in which he was held. Born around 1637 - probably in Denmark - he was to spend his mature life in northern Germany, the appointment as organist in Lubeck providing the status that made him a major influence on the country's music both as a performer and composer. He was highly productive in both, his scores - mainly containing church cantatas - being blessed with a substantial input to the organist's repertoire that carries his name forward. At times his music can sound boringly academic as in the Choral Fantasia, Nun freut euch, while the two Toccatas in F major are stirring masterpieces that must have inspired Bach. Between those extremes the disc contains a number of shorter pieces, the Praeludium's nimble and lightweight charm being quite irresistible. Brown is a thrusting performer who uses registers well to extract the maximum range of colours, and I love the short muted Fugue in G major. Her playing is unfailingly accurate and relates ideally with the composer. To ears used to modern tuning, the period sounds will create some quizzical moments, while the engineers have balanced the church acoustic with spotless clarity.

BACH: Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35. Ich armer Mensch, ich Sundenknecht, BWV 55. HOFFMANN: Meine Seele ruhmt und preist. TELEMANN: Ich weiss dass mein Erloser lebt. Marianne Beate Kielland (alto), Markus Schafer (tenor), Cologne Bach Choir, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Helmut Muller-Bruhl (conductor). Naxos 8.557615. (62' 41"). 

The linking factor between the four works is the belief - until recent times - that they were all the work of Bach, and even today they persist in the CD catalogue listed as BWV 189 and BWV 160 for the Hoffmann and Telemann pieces respectively. Indeed as you listen to Bach's enormous catalogue of solo vocal cantatas, you realise they were of such mixed quality they could have come from many hands. The first of the two genuine ones, Geist und Seele wird verwirret, requires a very nimble alto soloist that taxes the silvery voiced Marianne Beate Kielland. Even more demanding is the one for tenor, Ich armer Mensch, ich Sundenknecht, Markus Schafer very stretched early in the score. He is much happier in Hoffmann and Telemann where the demands of vocal flexibility are less exacting. Yet it is, as in previous volumes of this cantata series, the conducting of Helmut Muller-Bruhl, that avoids the excesses of period 'authenticity' now invading so many recordings. Orchestral accompaniment is sparse for much of this music, but many solo passages, particularly those for flute in BWV 55, are well handled. Good solid sound engineering.

TRADITIONAL (arr. Anderson): Irish Suite. HAYMAN: My Darling Irish Rose. Sing-Along Medley. COHAN: An Old Fashioned Sing-Along Medley. O’CONNOR (arr. Hayman): Macnamara’s Band; TRADITIONAL: Irish Tune From Country Derry. HERBERT: Irish Rhapsody. The Irish Have A Great Time Tonight (from the operetta Eileen). Richard Hayman and His Orchestra. Naxos 8.555016. (58' 17"). 

Ireland as seen through the eyes of Hollywood and just 'as pretty as a picture'. It's all a million miles from the real country, but it is how the majority of the world imagine it to be, with lashings of sentimentality and lots of jolly people dancing their jigs and singing the songs of the dear old homeland. So why should reality spoil it, particularly when Richard Hayman is so adept at creating this pleasant world, his orchestra responding with colourful playing as we pass through some of Ireland's most famous melodies. The disc has been 'rescued' from the Naxos International catalogue, the sound vivid and attractive, and it would be hard to imagine a more relaxing hour of escapism.

ROZSA: The King’s Thief. YOUNG: Scaramouche. KORNGOLD: Captain Blood. STEINER: The Three Musketeers. Brandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Potsdam, Richard Kaufman (conductor). Naxos 8.557704. (65' 16"). 

Hollywood was cavalier in its attitude towards the great composers who had supplied their film scores. Many were destroyed, others lost and many vandalised to supply backing for lesser films. It has been left to those willing to dedicate painstaking time to the reconstruction and arrangement of what little remains, often simply working from a piano/conductor score, orchestration having to be gleaned from film soundtracks. Such is the case with these four major films, the booklet enclosed with the disc elaborating on the work needed to give us the pleasure of this recording. It was an unusual assembly of composers brought together in Hollywood in the 1930's, mostly classically trained musicians escaping from the ethnic concerns of Europe. Only Victor Young was 'home grown' having learned his craft by orchestrating the work of the Europeans. All four of these swashbuckling films were a success, Captain Blood overnight making a young man called Errol Flynn into a superstar, while at the same time creating a whole new career for the recently arrived Erich Korngold. But of all four composers, it was Maximillan Steiner who really conquered Hollywood writing 150 scores in 30 years. Trained in Vienna as a classical composer, he arrived in the States virtually without money. At first helping to make Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern and George Gershwin famous by orchestrating their music - a fact the general public never appreciated - Steiner he moved to Hollywood in the 1930's, and at a time when background music was the poor relation of the film industry. Things were to change when he composed the music for the blockbuster film, King Kong, and he became so prolific that he ended up using others to complete the orchestration. First released on the Marco Polo label, the playing and recording is first class, and essential for all film buffs.

TIOMKIN: Red River. Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Choir, William Stromberg (conductor). Naxos 8.557699. (64' 08"). 

The second of this month's transfers from the Marco Polo label is the film once described as the 'Greatest Spectacle Ever', Dmitri Tiomkin providing music of tremendous strength and vitality. Born in St. Petersburg in 1894 his composition mentors were the formidable combination of Glazunov and Busoni, though it was as a pianist that he made his early living. Arriving in the United States in 1929 as performer and composer, he was soon in demand in the film industry, and unusual for Hollywood he was never typecast, working on a whole range of films. He went on to write 140 scores, always at his best where he could write large stretches of music rather than synchronised snippets. The epic Western adventure, Red River, was completed in 1948 and stared John Wayne and Montgomery Clift, the story line allowing Tiomkin to provide a colourful orchestration. Try track 7 for atmospheric scoring, or track 14 for an orgy of spectacular sound. We have become indebted to Stromberg and the Moscow Symphony for so many great Hollywood film scores performed by the size of orchestra seldom available for the original soundtrack. Here they are in fine form and with punchy sound it is an essential part of any film music collection.

MONTEVERDI: Il quinto libro de madrigali. Delitiae Musicae, Marco Longhini (director). Naxos 8.555311. (78' 34").

Claudio Giovanni Monteverdi was only 17 when the first volume of his three-part motets was published, a fact made all the more extraordinary when any music widely distributed at the time was a major event. Many saw him as a reactionary with his experiments in new musical ideas and publicly attacked his compositions. Today the motets are best known by virtue of their recordings, his name is living on as a religious composer, the Vespers of 1610 still forming part of our choral repertoire. He was thirty-seven when the fifth volume of 18 madrigals was published in 1605, by which time he had broken all ties with traditional musical styles. He was using very varied texts to bring a nicely balanced group of songs, so that they have the possibility of being performed singly or as a whole, often using solo voices that require secure intonation. As in previous volumes Delitiae Musicae brings a sacred feel to secular music and is most happy when the whole group is involved. Go to track 10 where voices intertwine in complex patterns to sample the music and performers. I also much enjoyed the extensive Questi vaghi concenti, one of Monteverdi's most beautiful scores. With this fifth volume the composer introduced instruments, though here so reticent they are barely audible against the well-balanced voices. I don't know why the madrigals are sung in a different order to other recordings, but it’s a minor point, and the church acoustic covers the tone with a nice warm glow.

BORODIN: Nocturne - Andante. SCHUBERT: Litany for All Soul’s Day - Adagio. BEETHOVEN: Notturno in D, Op. 42. WAGNER: Wesendonk Lieder, No. 5 - Traume. AGUIRRE (arr. Heifetz): Huella - movido y energico. VALLE (arr. Heifetz): Ao Pe da Fogueira - Allegro comodo. PAGANINI: La Campanella. VILLA-LOBOS: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 - Aria. BIZET: L’Arlésienne Suite - Adagietto. ZIMBALIST: Sarasateana. TCHAIKOVSKY: None but the Lonely Heart. BRAHMS: Wie Melodien zieht es mir, Op. 105, No. 2. Roberto Diaz (viola), Robert Koenig (piano). Naxos 8.557391 (65' 30"). 

Composers have been very remiss in providing the viola with its own catalogue of recital lollypops, so you cannot blame them for stealing music from wherever they can. The legendary virtuoso of the instrument, William Primrose, was responsible for some of the most notable additions, drawing on many sources, the task made easier when Heifetz had already taken them into the violin world. Strangely enough Primrose was very circumspect at times, allowing the piano to be musically the dominant factor. They are most persuasive when Primrose concentrated on the nutty quality of the instrument as in Borodin's Nocturne, though it is the Zimbalist work that places the viola in virtuoso mood, the original score being for violin and piano. It is here that Roberto Diaz show the quality of the Amati instrument once owned by Primrose, its big powerful sound a thing of great beauty. For many years principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, he gives nimble and unassuming performances. Robert Koenig proving a very strong partner, never backing into the role of accompanist. The piano tone for the Paganini sounds totally different to the other tracks, but it is probably just a quirk of the sound.  

TCHAIKOVSKY: Capriccio Italien, Op. 45. BALAKIREV: Tamara. GLAZUNOV: La Foret, Op.19. La Mer, Op. 28. Aurora Quartet. Naxos 8.557717. (64' 26"). 

I am not quite sure how you get to know about Naxos's Limited Edition series, as I haven't seen any advertised yet. So best to keep looking each month at this space to see what treasures are lurking in the background. This one is surely different with four pianists playing two pianos in a disc of Russian orchestral works. The advance release information does not tell me the arrangers, but each piece is so persuasive I could well believe it was the original composer. The outright winner is Tamara, a score that seemed destined for this treatment, the missing orchestral colours replaced by new and attractive sounds that are taking their place. Capriccio Italien was also working quite well until the quartet allow the ending to become too overheated. Lots of things to enjoy in the Glazunov, but he was not the most gifted tune peddler, and moving his orchestral skills to the piano is not so easy. Still these excellent pianists play with that obvious commitment that can create something out of nothing. There is nothing here that is easy to play, but if you have two pianos you will want this disc to sample the possible repertoire. Very realistic sound.  

KROMMER: Oboe Quartet No.3. Oboe Quintets Nos. 2 & 3. Ambrose King (oboe), Solomia Soroka (violin), Joseph Kam (viola), Eva Stern (viola), Natalia Khoma (cello). Naxos 8.557669. (73' 21"). 

I am surprised that Naxos has included this in the 'Limited Edition' series as the label has done so much to popularise the composer. The son of an innkeeper and the nephew of a famous local musician, Franz Krommer, started his musical education in his teenage years, with tuition on the organ and violin from his uncle. After three years he taught himself the basics of composition, and at the age of 18 found local employment as an organist. Moving to Vienna at the age of 25 he eventually joined the royal court as performer and composer. He did not seek publication of his music until the latter years of his life when it became instantly fashionable throughout Europe. Together with Haydn he was regarded as the leading composer of quartets at that time, and while there is nothing profound in these scores for oboe and strings, Krommer aimed at uncomplicated and readily accessible music. If you want to sample try the spirited ending to the first quintet (track 8). The engineers have placed the oboe quite well to the fore with the leading violin trying to be heard. Ambrose King 's oboe has a pithy sound well suited to the music, the fast final movements posing no problems to his virtuosity.

VERDI: Aida. Zinka Milanov (Aida), Jussi Bjorling (Radames), Fedora Barbieri (Amneris), Leonard Warren (Amonasro), Boris Christoff (Ramfis), Plinio Clabassi (King), Mario Carlin (Messenger), Bruna Rizzoli (Priestess), Rome Opera House Chorus and Orchestra, Jonel Perlea (conductor).

Un Ballo in Maschera (highlights) Zinka Milanov (Amelia), Marion Anderson (Ulrica), Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111042-44. (3CDs). (205' 44") 

Zinka Milanov's recording career had the misfortune of coming much at the same time as Maria Callas was electrifying the world of opera. But Milanov also had a sizeable following, and they would claim, with much justification, that Milanov was more than a match. Putting their two studio performances of Aida side by side only confirms there is precious little to chose between them, Milanov's fiery outbursts matched by the sheer beauty of her act three O patria mia. She shared with Callas a temperament that resulted in uncontrolled passages, while she took a long time to get into this performance. On balance Callas takes my vote by her greater involvement in the last act where Milanov sounds very ordinary by comparison. At first sight the elegant Jussi Bjorling may seem a strange partner to such a firebrand singer, but it works quite well, particularly when we find him placed in the impossible position of her dominant demands for betrayal. But this recording of Aida does not stop there, for seldom has a more potent team been assembled, Fedora Barbieri's Amneris no pushover for this Aida, while the young Leonard Warren's Amonasro is full of bile in the Nile scene. Then to add the final touch of vocal opulence, we have Boris Christoff as a heavyweight Ramfis. It was a team that they could not match for Callas's recording, and when we come to sound quality this one is almost newly minted, with immaculate balance between voices. In sum, though it pains me, as a complete recording I would have to take this in preference to the Callas recording also on Naxos. There is here a bonus of Milanov singing excerpts from Un Ballo in Maschera with Marian Andersen’s only operatic role she undertook on stage. Interesting, but the fire burns in the orchestra pit, with Dimitri Mitropoulos a superb conductor. The sound is most acceptable.  

DVORAK: Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70. Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88. Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Talich (conductor). Naxos 8.111045. (73' 06"). 

Talk to a Dvorak enthusiast and they go glassy-eyed when you mention the name of Vaclav Talich, his symphony recordings seen as the benchmark against which all others must be judged. He was the chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic for over thirty years, during which time he had brought it from a respectable 'provincial' European orchestra to one that could take its place among the great names. He had become the self-appointed custodian of the Dvorak tradition, which brought him many enemies within his native country who viewed with distaste his failure to promote all Czech composers. They were to take their retribution at the end of the Second World War when he was accused as a German collaborator, a charge from which he could not escape, and he was dismissed from his post. In the 1930's things had been very different, and he was to take the orchestra on many prestige tours, among them visits to London where he recorded at the EMI studios. Heard today his interpretations, both in terms of tempo and dynamics do contain a great deal of Talich superimposed on the music. Yet there is so much affection lavished on the score, and with such a sense of natural flow that you cannot but enjoy these two performances. Technically the playing leaves much to be desired, string intonation in the Eighth, as an example, not always in the centre of the note. Maybe to modern ears, more used to literal performances, you would not start from here, though you may well end up with adding Talich to your collection. Only three years separated the recordings, the Seventh from 1938 being immeasurably the finer sound, the Eighth suffering from insipid violins. There is nothing that Naxos can do to change such shortcomings, but the transfers are another example of outstanding skill in this field.

BRAHMS: Scherzo in E flat minor, Op. 4. Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21. Waltzes, Op.39. Capriccio in B minor, Op.76, No.2. Intermezzo in A minor, Op.76, No.7. Capriccio in C major, Op.76, No.8. Capriccio in D minor, Op.116, No.1. Intermezzo in A minor, Op.116, No.2. Intermezzo in E major, Op.116, No.4. Intermezzo in E flat major, Op.117, No.1. Intermezzo in B flat minor, Op.117, No.2. Intermezzo in A minor, Op.118, No.1. Intermezzo in A major, Op.118, No.2. Ballade in G minor, Op.118, No.3. Intermezzo in F minor, Op.118, No.4. Romance in F major, Op.118, No.5. Intermezzo in E flat minor, Op.118, No.6. Intermezzo in B minor, Op.119, No.1. Intermezzo in E minor, Op.119, No.2. Intermezzo in C major, Op.119, No.3. Wilhelm Backhaus (piano). Naxos Historical 8.111041. (72' 26"). 

During the mid-part of the 19th century the German-born pianist, Wilhelm Backhaus, was generally regarded as the greatest living exponent of Brahms piano music, a mix of an expansive approach and spontaneous musicianship setting the standard by which others would be judged. Today his performances would be seen as just one view of the composer, his generally lyrical approach smoothing out dynamic extremes. Tempos were flexible, as you will find in the E major Intermezzo (track 22), often moulding the music to his own taste. Though he was renowned for his bold and imperious account of the composer's piano concertos, it is the delicacy of his playing that is here the most rewarding. Technically he was outstanding, his Variations on an Original Theme still the most attractive version in the catalogue. The recordings were made between 1932 and 1936 the general sound rather boxy, which rather restricts dynamic contrasts. It goes without saying that the Naxos transfers are immaculate. In sum a most interesting look back at a view of Brahms only thirty years after his death, and while performers were still in contact with the style of the era.

SCHUMANN: Alte Laute, Op.35, No.12. Er und sie, Op.78, No.2. So wohr die Sonnescheinet, Op.37, No.12. Unterm Fenster, Op.34, No.3. Familen-Gemalde, Op. 34, No.4. Ich Denk dein, Op.78, No.3. BRAHMS: Botschaft, Op.47, No.1. Das Madchen spricht, Op.107, No.3. Volkslieder: No.25, Mein Madel hat einen Rosenmund. SJOBERG: Visions (Tonerna). CALCOTT: Drink to me only. WOLF: Gebet. Nun lass uns Frieden schliessen. Fruhling ubers Jahr. Auf ein altes Bild. In der Fruhe. Auch kleine Dinge. Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen. Peregrina I. Der Knabe und das Immlein. Heimweh. SCHUBERT: Winterreise D.911, Nos. 5, 8, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. Lotte Lehmann (soprano), Lauritz Melchior (tenor), Erno Balogh (piano), Paul Ulanowsky (piano), orchestra conducted by Bruno Reibold (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111094. (78' 50"). 

Lotte Lehmann's recording career went through several phases and by the time she was with the Victor Recording Company she was already in her late forties. By then a change had taken place and artistry was being used to hide the thickening of the voice. That often resulted in over-characterisation, as you will hear in Botschaft, though we have to go no further than the opening track, Alte Laute, to sample the elegance of her singing. By this stage her voice had become particularly appropriate to the contemplative songs, such as Auch kleine Dinge, the Lehmann of old returning when she lightens her tone for Fruhling ubers Jahr. We hear five of the Schumann tracks in orchestrations, and in four of those she is joined by the tenor, Lauritz Melchior, who sounded in very poor voice at the time. While we do appreciate Naxos's commitment to make these historic documents with each track presented in the order of recording, that does reach a silly point when that involves the extracts from Schubert's Winterreise appear totally out of musical sequence. One wonders what Lehmann would have made of that approach. Technically the recordings made between 1937 and 1940 were never outstanding as Mark Obert-Thorn, who was responsible form the transfers, readily acknowledges in his frank programme note. Though Lehmann is quite well served, the piano tone is at best acceptable, though Obert-Thorn has performed his usual conjuring trick of removing all clicks without impairing the upper frequencies.  

ENNA: Den lille pige med svovlstikkerne. ZEMLINSKY: Die Seejungfrau. Inger Dam-Jensen (soprano), Ylva Kihlberg (soprano), Danish National Children's Choir, National Choir, National Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard (conductor). DaCapo 8.226048. (75' 18"). 

The linking factor here is the use of words by Hans Christian Anderson and a deep admiration from both composers for the music of Richard Wagner, though that influence appears in very different ways. August Enna was brought up in abject poverty in Copenhagen, his gift for music manifesting itself in an ability to play the violin that he used to gain work as theatre musician. His talents took him to the post of conductor and at the same time taught himself composition. A folk opera, The Witch, gained considerable popularity and spurred him to write several more stage works. For performances at smaller venues he composed mini-operas, Den lille pige med svovlstikkerne (The Little Match-Girl) being one of his finest. With a major and challenging role for solo soprano it tells the truly heartbreaking story of the fate of the little match seller, here superbly sung by Inger Dam-Jensen. At the other end of the wealth zone comes Alexander von Zemlinsky, a musician successful from his early life, becoming one of Vienna's most influential composers and teachers. Whereas Wagner was simply a guiding influence on Enna, Zemlinsky carried on where Wagner left off, his luxurious large-scale orchestration creating a plush setting for the equally sad story of Die Seejungfrau (The Little Mermaid). That work has already enjoyed a number of recordings, this Danish performance leaner and also more cleanly defined than its rivals achieve. Good sound quality, and a 'must have' for the rarely heard Enna in a highly persuasive account.