Recording of the Month
Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs / Richard Wagner: Arias from Tannhäuser
Lise Davidsen, soprano
Philharmonia Orchestra
Conductor: Esa-Pekka Salonen
Recorded 28 & 29 September and 6 & 7 October 2018 at Henry Wood Hall, London
Released on May 31, 2019, by Decca Classics
On her self-titled album, Lise Davidsen opens with two highly vivid arias from Wagner's "Tannhäuser". One is immediately plunged into a sound-world of highly charged and evocative emotion, which Davidsen depicts with effortless ease. The first, "Dich, teure Halle brims", is presented with boundless energy and vigor. In this first aria she demonstrates all the dramatic qualities and colors of her remarkable voice, but what is more exceptional here is the dexterity with which she can change the hues. This technically challenging aria is an impressive opener to a magnificent release.
In the second aria, "Allmächt'ge Jungfrau!", Davidsen shows another, more lyrical aspect of her remarkable voice. Here she shapes phrases with a sense of architecture, drawing out long melodic lines expressively and expansively. In both arias, the woodwind players of the Philharmonia Orchestra produce sonorous richness which serves to enhance the luminosity of Davidsen's sound.
The remainder of the album is dedicated to Richard Strauss. "Es gibt ein Reich" from "Ariadne Auf Naxos" (track 3) is a captivating aria, Davidsen taking the listener on a journey to view the afterlife, awarding us with an enchanting perspective to "Im Abendrot" which comes later in the album. Strauss' Four Songs Op.27 are presented at the heart of the program. The beauty and richness of Davidsen's voice draw all the sentiment out of these songs. "Morgen!", the most widely known of all the Strauss' songs other than his final set, is given a remarkably crisp and visionary rendition. Davidsen's tone takes on a very different shade, almost whispered at times, imperceptibly creating moments of peace.
The famous "Four Last Songs" closes this album. There are charm and sincerity to Davidsen's approach here, but it's the final song which makes this set stand out from others in the catalog. She treats each of the four songs as an individual entity, giving each one a different tone, emphasizing the contrasting characters and meanings of the texts. "Im Abendrot" is taken slower than many famed interpretations, including Renée Fleming and Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, but not as expansive as Jesse Norman. The balance Davidsen strikes creates a gentle sense of motion with a level of transcendence. Salonen takes Davidsen's lead and phrases the orchestral passages with the same level of naturalness, avoiding making the textures of Strauss' orchestration sound too dense. The final bars have a tremendous sense of authority as the listener leaves this musical world for another.
It is not often that musical chemistry comes together like this; The natural bond between conductor, singer and orchestra is one of the many highlights which makes this recording so special. Every phrase of every piece is carefully considered, shaped impeccably with an intense musical understanding of where the music is heading. Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra are the perfect accompanists to Davidsen; The conductor knows exactly how to control the orchestra, allowing it to come to the fore in their passages and to drop back when required, giving Davidsen ample opportunities to shine. Decca's engineers have captured the sound with clarity and precision, allowing this exceptional music-making to be savored.
Davidsen has considered this program thoroughly, and the result is a convincing musical journey. The transitions between pieces are seamless as the soprano takes the listener from the earthly and grounded to the spiritual and celestial. She understands the heart and soul of this repertoire and is able to perform it with masterful command and authority, extraordinarily giving insight on the passage of time. For those who are new to Wagner or Strauss, this recording would be an excellent introduction to the music. It would also be a welcome addition to any established library. Highly recommended.
Source: Leighton Jones (theclassicreview.com)
Colin Currie, percussion
Steve Reich, percussion
Colin Currie Group
Synergy vocals
Recorded December 2 & 3, 2017 at Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris
Released on April 12, 2019 by Colin Currie Records
With performances by Steve Reich and Musicians – Reich's own group – becoming a far less regular occurrence these days, it has been left largely to others to record and perform his music. The list now includes several important ensembles, ranging from Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices, Alan Pierson and Alarm Will Sound, Brad Lubman and Signal Ensemble, Ictus Ensemble, Third Coast Percussion and Powerplant to soloists such as Kuniko Kato.
Among the most important to make their mark on Reich's music is the Colin Currie Group. The virtuoso percussionist's ensemble team up again with Synergy Vocals for this recording, which captures two performances given in the opulent surroundings of Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, in December 2017.
As is often the case these days when the composer himself is present, Currie and Reich kick off with a punchy performance of Clapping Music. A strong rhythmic focus is maintained for Music for Pieces of Wood and the more recent Mallet Quartet, where two marimbas provide a rock-steady rhythmic pedal against which two vibraphones overlay a series of complex interlocking patterns. A powerful rhythmic incisiveness and assertiveness that marked the group's excellent recording of Drumming (5/18) is again apparent throughout.
The two remaining compositions present Reich's music in a more reflective light. The opening of the most recent work featured here, Pulse, is taken at a steadier pace than on the recent recording by the International Contemporary Ensemble (Nonesuch, 4/18). This enables Currie, now directing, to impart a slightly more dramatic curve to the work's gently undulating trajectory.
Composed in 1995, the aphoristic Proverb sees Reich pay homage to Pérotin via an epigram from the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein ("How small a thought it takes to build a whole life!"). Live performances of Proverb have been quite rare, partly because of its unusual instrumentation (a combination of three female and two male voices, two MIDI electric organs and two vibraphones), but also because of the technical demands it places on the singers, who have to navigate a quite treacherous tonal tightrope. The original recording, featuring Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices, was probably pieced together from a patchwork of edits. Other than a little wobble in the middle section, where the music suddenly shifts downwards semitonally from B minor to a kind of E flat minor over a pedal B flat, Synergy Vocals impart a beautiful, haunting performance, whose quiescence quietly defuses the energy and explosiveness of the rhythmic pieces.
Source: Pwyll ap Siôn (gramophone.co.uk)
Matthew Barley, cello
Sinfonietta Riga
Recorded July 2 & 3, 2018 at The Anglican Church, Riga, Latvia
Released on June14, 2019 by Signum Records
This disc begins with a beautiful reading by Olwyn Fouéré of Yeats's heartbreaking "The Cloths of Heaven", a poem Tavener set as part of his remarkable and rarely performed song-cycle To a Child Dancing in the Wind (1983), and then suddenly we are in the breathtaking rhapsody that is The Protecting Veil. Matthew Barley has gone to considerable trouble to construct this programme, centred on his own magnificent performance of a work whose premiere at the 1989 Proms brought Tavener back to worldwide fame, and it is an approach that brings ample rewards.
Remarkably, Barley directs the Sinfonietta Riga himself, from the cello, and the sense of complicity is very much a hallmark of this performance. When I first saw the score of this work, when the composer showed it to me in 1988, worrying that it was "too romantic", I could never have imagined that it would be possible to arrive at a performance of comparable intimacy, so grand did its gestures seem. But Barley has absolutely understood that intimacy is what underlies this piece: it is certainly on a large scale but it is also a kind of personal dialogue between the composer and the life of the Mother of God. Barley's cello sings and the orchestra functions perfectly as the "cosmic echo chamber" the composer desired.
After another reading by Fouéré, of Yeats's "The Mother of God", an arrangement by Barley (including some improvised solo cello music) of Tavener's Mother and Child is heard, which I have come to prefer to the original version for choir, organ and gong. A poem by Fritjof Schuon, whose work meant so much to Tavener later in his life, follows, read by Julie Christie, and the disc closes with Barley's arrangement for cello and tabla of a work by Sultan Khan, an appropriate acknowledgement of Tavener's lifelong interest in the music of India.
Even if you have other recordings of The Protecting Veil, I recommend this utterly beautiful and originally framed version unreservedly.
Source: Ivan Moody (gramophone.co.uk)
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, tenor
Quatuor Manfred:
Marie Béreau, violin
Luigi Vecchioni, violin
Emmanuel Haratyk, viola
Christian Wolff, cello
Recorded May 2018 at Église de Bon Secours, Paris
Released on May 31, 2019 by Paraty
After more than 30 years of intense activity, the repertoire that our quartet has enjoyed, explored and championed is particularly vast. Several characteristics are expressed in it, and one of them is highlighted in this recording: our passion for the repertoire with voice.
The truly rich histories of string quartets, of the French mélodie and of the German Lied offer parallels, but curiously, they only rarely intersected (Schoeck, Wellesz, Schoenberg, Eisler, Hindemith, Milhaud wrote for voice and the quartet, but are not among the most sought-after composers). We often approach certain cycles through transcriptions that we commission or create for ourselves (Haydn, Schumann, Dvořák, Brahms, Mahler).
In response to the rich harmonic colours of Berlioz, Gabriel Fauré's string quartet makes its presence felt through its entirely symbolist intimacy, its finely chiselled harmony, and "its thought purified up to the threshold of abstraction and evanescence".
With regard to the Summer Nights and in order to pursue our singular poetic path with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, our dear quintet partner proposed to us the Fauréan vision of Gautier's Lamento (Fauré kept the original title La chanson du pêcheur whereas Berlioz chose Sur les lagunes). In order to develop this long-distance dialogue between the two composers, we were tempted to compare the Clair de lune of Paul Verlaine by Fauré with that of Gautier by Berlioz.
This is how Clairs de lune was born, an album more poetic – more dreamlike – than musical, a truly personal album by our quartet, an amorous programme of mélodies for voice and string quartet.
Source: Emmanuel Haratyk, violist fot the Manfred Quartet (paraty.fr/en)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Sakari Oramo
Recorded May 22-23, 2018 at Watford Colosseum
Released on May 31, 2019 by Chandos Records
Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 2013, Sakari Oramo has a special affinity with the music of his compatriot the Finnish composer Sibelius, which this recording admirably demonstrates.
Sibelius's ever-popular Lemminkäinen Suite is complemented here with the early Spring Song and the lesser-known Suite from Belshazzar's Feast.
Sibelius composed the Lemminkäinen Suite (also called the Four Legends, or Four Legends from the Kalevala), Op.22 in the 1890s. Drawing on material originally conceived for a mythological opera, Veneen luominen (The Building of the Boat), the suite focuses on the character Lemminkäinen from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.
In 1906 Sibelius composed ten numbers of incidental music for the play Belshazzar's Feast (by Hjalmar Procopé), which was first performed in the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki in November of that year, the composer conducting. The following year, Sibelius extracted four of the movements to form the more widely known orchestral suite that we hear in this recording.
Source: chandos.net
Delphine Galou, contralto
Accademia Bizantina
Conductor: Ottavio Dantone
Recorded February 2018 at Sala Oriani, Convent San Francesco, Bagnacavallo, Italy
Released on May 31, 2019 by Naïve
When it comes to prosperity, Vivaldi got pretty lucky. Thanks to a succession of happy accidents, his personal collection of manuscripts has survived through the centuries, allowing his music to be preserved, then later played and recorded. The contralto Delphine Galou and Ottavio Dantone, the director of the Accademia Bizantina, drew from this priceless batch of nearly 450 compositions to develop the program for this album of sacred music pieces dedicated to the alto voice. This new recording of the Vivaldi Edition, begun by Naïve many years ago, offers cantatas and arias for viola, functioning as perfect companions for the album of works sung by the same Delphine Galou. The lyrics, often by unknown authors, do not have a strong literary interest. Here, we find a pastoral world populated by shepherds in need of love as well as cruel and fickle nymphs, obeying the cannon of the time. Vivaldi takes advantage of these stereotypical characters to vary his expressive palette in a very subtle way and introduce the operatic style into works primarily intended for living rooms. The exceptional quality of his music generally transcends the commissioned work he is obliged to do, both in Mantua and Venice. These cantatas are accompanied here by some arias from his many operas. They allow Delphine Galou to fully express the variety and range of her singing through the pathetism of "Liquore ingrato" (Tito Manlio), the sweetness of "Andrò fida e sconsolata" of the same opera or the innocent grace of a childish song in the aria "È pure dolce ad un'anima amante" (Il Giustino).
Source: François Hudry (qobuz.com)
Delphine Galou, contralto
Accademia Bizantina
Conductor: Ottavio Dantone
Recorded February 2018 at Sala Oriani, Convent San Francesco, Bagnacavallo, Italy
Released on May 31, 2019 by Naïve
Vivaldi, the Venetian, master of the whole palette of human emotions. From the church to the opera house, from tragedy to joy, the immediately-recognisable sensibility, the expressiveness, the inimitable colours and an unbeatable talent to say so much in just a few notes.
The contralto Delphine Galou (who recently won a Gramophone Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the classical music world) and Ottavio Dantone's Accademia Bizantina have created two recitals of sacred music and of opera that illustrate the incomparable richness of Vivaldi's body of work and establish the emotional connections between the two repertoires.
For the first time, two volumes of the Vivaldi Edition (in this case the 59th and 60th) will be released at the same time, with their synergy also reflected in the albums' artwork.
The recital "Musica sacra" consists of six works of very diverse themes and styles, symbolising the richness of the religious fervour of Antonio Vivaldi's sacred music.
Source: prestomusic.com
There's so much more to Vivaldi than The Four Seasons and, here, in the company of the award-winning contralto Delphine Galou and her husband, Ottavio Dantone, a light is shone on his sacred music. With her rich, flexible, and wonderfully expressive voice, Galou is a glorious companion for this short journey that reveals Vivaldi's genius in the vocal arena. She is gifted at finding the still core of a piece like "O clemens, o pia" from the Salve Regina, making time stand still, while in a number like the duet "Hymnus Deus tuorum militum" (with Alessandro Giangrande) the music dances and sparkles.
Source: music.apple.com
Hermitage Piano Trio:
Misha Keylin, violin
Sergey Antonov, cello
Ilya Kazantsev, piano
Recorded September 3-7, 2017 at Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts
Released on June 7, 2019 by Reference Recordings
Electrifying Piano Trio Performances in the great Russian musical tradition!
The Hermitage Piano Trio is distinguished by its exuberant musicality, interpretative range, and sumptuous sound – attributes that Reference Recordings expects to be highly appealing to music lovers and audiophiles worldwide. Following a recent performance, The Washington Post raved that "more striking even than the individual virtuosity was the profound level of integration among the players, who showed a rare degree of ensemble from beginning to end". Based in the United States, the Trio excels at performing an enormous variety of music and has a wide repertoire ranging from Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Arensky, Glinka, and Tchaikovsky to Schubert, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, and Brahms.
This is their debut album as a trio. More albums with Reference Recordings are planned. Sessions were held at famed Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, and were recorded by RR's engineering team, comprised of GRAMMY®-winning engineer and Technical Director Keith O. Johnson, and multi-GRAMMY® nominated engineer Sean Royce Martin. The album was produced by the multi-GRAMMY® nominated team, Marina and Victor Ledin.
A rarity in the chamber music world, this elite trio is comprised of three musicians who are noted soloists in their own right. In a career already spanning fifty countries on five continents, violinist Misha Keylin is attracting particular attention with his world premiere CD series of the seven Henri Vieuxtemps violin concertos. These bestselling recordings have garnered numerous press accolades and awards, including "Critic's Choice" by The New York Times, Gramophone, and The Strad. Hailed as "a brilliant cellist" by the legendary Mstislav Rostropovich, Sergey Antonov went on to prove his mentor's proclamation when he became one of the youngest cellists ever awarded the gold medal at the world's premier musical contest, the quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Competition. Antonov's entry into this elite stratum of soughtafter classical artists has already placed him on stages at worldrenowned venues from Russia's Great Hall at the Moscow Conservatory to Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Pianist Ilya Kazantsev, a fresh and exciting presence on the international music scene and a passionate interpreter of his native Russian repertoire – hailed by The Washington Post as "virtually flawless" – has performed as recitalist and soloist with orchestras in Russia, Canada, Europe, and the United States. Among his many awards and honors, Mr Kazantsev received first prize at the Nikolai Rubinstein International Competition (Paris) and a won the International Chopin Competition (Moscow) and the 2007 & 2008 World Piano Competitions (Cincinnati).
Source: highresaudio.com
Cameron Crozman, cello
Recorded January 2019 at the Philharmonie de Paris
Released on March 15, 2019 by Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo
At twenty-three years of age, Canadian cellist Cameron Crozman has chosen the Suites of Benjamin Britten for his first solo disc. Broad and expressive, his playing is characterized both by a formidable technique and a highly personal approach to the repertoire. A natural explorer, Crozman is passionate about the music of our time and often works with contemporary composers. His interpretation of the English composer's three Cello Suites thus succeeds in harmonizing echoes of Bach's masterpieces for the instrument and the various other sources of inspiration that nourished these three scores – from the playing of Mstislav Rostropovich to the sarcastic gestures of Dmitri Shostakovich, taking in references to the traditional music of various European and Asiatic countries.
Source: printempsdesarts.com
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Conductor: Andris Nelsons
Recorded December 9 & 22, 2018 at Gewandhaus, Leipzig
Released on May 3, 2019 by Deutsche Grammophon
Andris Nelsons has emerged as one of the top conductors of big late Romantic repertory, and his cycle of Bruckner symphonies has contained some gems. Here, he pairs the Symphony No.6 in A major, with the gigantic Symphony No.9 in D minor, where the composer strove for the heights of Beethoven's Ninth, but didn't quite make it: he died before completing the work. Many completions have been offered, but Nelsons here performs only the first three movements, as completed by the composer before his death. In this case, the Adagio lives up to its "feierlich" (ceremonial, festive) marking despite its 24-plus minutes of slow movement, making for a satisfying finale. Nelsons' Symphony No.9 in general is quite a strong one, and a good deal of the pleasure is down to the expertise of the venerable Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, which all around ranks among Europe's best. The brass execute flawlessly in the mighty fanfares of the Symphony No.9, and they're matched by the strings in Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, and the Prelude to Parsifal. Sample the Siegfried Idyll for an example of central European orchestral playing at its absolute best. The Symphony No.6 in A major is not quite as successful, although the orchestra's talents are undimmed. It's hard to get "feierlich" out of his slower-than-normal, rather lugubrious Adagio (the corresponding movement in the Symphony No.9 is not so slow), and a sense of the larger line so crucial to Bruckner is lost. In general, however, this is a major release for Brucknerites, with Deutsche Grammophon, as with other releases in this series, furnishing excellent sound from the Gewandhaus.
Source: James Manheim (allmusic.com)
Alexandre Kantorow, piano
Tapiola Sinfonietta
Conductor: Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Recorded September 2016 (Nos. 4 & 5) and January/February 2018 (No.3) at the Tapiola Concert Hall, Finland
Released on May 3, 2019 by BIS
It is no hardship to review yet another Saint-Saëns piano concerto recording when it is as good as this, and one which, moreover, has managed to accommodate these three on a single disc lasting a generous 80'37", a first for these particular works, so far as I know.
The soloist is the young (b. 1997) son of the distinguished violinist-conductor and, believe me, he is the real deal – a fire-breathing virtuoso with a poetic charm and innate stylistic mastery, as anyone will confirm who has heard his Liszt concertos (A/15) and, on his "À la Russe" disc (7/17), an Islamey which is among the finest ever recorded.
One hardly needs to be told, listening to the opening of Op.29, that it was inspired by an Alpine torrent, so beautifully conjured is it by Kantorow père et fils and the Tapiola players, a passage which also immediately establishes the ideal balance between piano and orchestra – a further plus for this recording (tip of the hat to producer Jens Braun and sound engineer Martin Nagorni). "Prodigiously uneven" though the Third Concerto may be (in the opinion of Alfred Cortot), this team papers over the cracks and the exuberant high spirits of the finale, as bracing as a splash of cold mountain water, are hard to resist.
Arguably the greatest of the five concertos, No.4 sets out on an uncertain journey, improvisatory, discursive, as if trying out and then discarding certain themes and ideas before pulling them all together in the second half. It begins, like the famous Organ Symphony (No.3), written a decade later, in C minor and ends in a triumphant C major. I had forgotten just how demanding is some of the piano-writing (for example, several passages of rapid sixths or thirds played simultaneously in both hands) but I have rarely heard it delivered with such commanding ease and infectious delight.
For further evidence of Kantorow's skill, listen to the first few minutes of the Fifth Concerto and you'll hear soufflé-light leggierissimo scale passages contrasted with fortissimo octaves of penetrating depth and weight. Yes, they are in the score but you will rarely hear them delineated as well as this. The exotic second movement, with its references to various musical genres – a Nubian love song, a gamelan, a Spanish guitar – is, again, among the best on disc and in fact my only quibble about the whole recording is the unmarked accelerando through the coda which renders the peroration inappropriately lightweight, a concern which does not disqualify it from sitting beside Hough (Hyperion, 11/01) and Darré (in all three), Cortot (in No.4) and Chamayou (in No.5 – Erato, 10/18).
Source: Jeremy Nicholas (gramophone.co.uk)
Albrecht Mayer, oboe
Bamberger Symphoniker
Conductor: Jakub Hrůša
Recorded September 23, 2016 at Konzert- und Kongresshalle Bamberg
Released on May 17, 2019 by Deutsche Grammophon
"Longing for Paradise", oboe concertos by Richard Strauss, Elgar, Ravel and Goosens with Albrecht Mayer, and Jakub Hrůša conducting the Bamberger Symphoniker, new from Deutsche Grammophon. "How does an emotional, sensitive and romantic composer react when faced with the reality of war and a destroyed homeland?" writes Mayer, describing the choices on this eclectic programme – Richard Strauss's Oboe Concerto, Elgar's Soliliquy for oboe and orchestra, Eugene Goossens Concerto in One Movement and Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin. An intelligently planned programme, executed extremely well, makes this disc a top recommendation. It soothes my soul and stretches my mind!
Richard Strauss's Concerto for Oboe and small orchestra in D major (AV 144), receives an outstanding performance, Mayer navigating the technical complexities with finesse. The Allegro moderato begins with a tour de force section of 57 bars which focus attention on the oboe. Gradually, orchestral textures build up around the oboe. If Metamorphosen was written in response to the destruction of war, the Oboe Concerto might represent a reflection on the past and future, the strings in Metamorphosen replaced by the deeper sounds of winds, the oboe supported by flutes, cor anglais, clarinets and bassoons. The serenity of Mayer's playing has purpose, evoking the balance of an idealised past. As he notes these beauties are "perhaps an intimation of Paradise". There are no hints of Strauss's typically ambivalent waltzes, no ironic fractures. Instead interpretation requires "maximum effortlessness. Perhaps Strauss himself soared in something like the pure riches oif its euphony when he wrote it". The Andante is exqusite, enhanced by a sense of melancholy, the oboe singing gracefully. The Vivace-Allegro is lively. With extended solo passages the oboe leads the orchestra in full flow towards the confident conclusion.
Edward Elgar's Soliloquy is also a late work, written in 1930 for oboe and piano for Léon Goossens, though only the second movement was completed. The arrangement for oboe and small orchestra heard here was made in 1967 by Gordon Jacobs. The oboe line stretches expansively, the orchestra responding with hushed tones, before fading elusively away. Also originally conceived for oboe and piano, is Eugene Goossens's Concerto in One Movement for oboe and orchestra (Op.45, 1927). The piece traverses different styles – pastoral, energetic, and exotic – the oboe part redolent of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faun or even The Firebird, though with a touch of wry humour.
Maurice Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin, is as much an hommage to French style as a a series of memorials to Ravel's friends who died in the 1914-1918 war. A vivacious Prélude, with the oboe as lithe and athletic as a creature of the forest. The dance origins of the Forlane are sprightly, every "step" in the music vivid. The more formal Minuet and the Rigaudon are vigorous, but beneath this lies sorrow, Oboe and strings interact, two voices entwining like partners in a dance, an allusion that connects the living and the dead.
Source: classical-iconoclast.blogspot.com
Hilary Hahn, violin
Recorded June 28-30, 2017 at Gore Recital Hall, Roselle Center for the Arts, and University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, U.S.A.
Released on May 17, 2019 by Decca
Hilary Hahn never stops pushing the boundaries of classical music. An accomplished virtuoso and talented chamber musician, the American violinist plays the entire violin repertoire from Bach all the way up to the present day, including the classical and romantic period. Most of all, she likes to excite interest around new works and already commissioned a series of small pieces from twenty-seven composers. Then she went a step further and asked the Spanish composer Antón García Abril to compose a sequence of 6 Partitas for solo violin inspired loosely by J.S. Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas. Already feeling very confident about García Abril's work, the violinist was surprised to find that the music completely exceeded her expectations. She found this new body of work "inspiring" as the phrases resonated with her and the notes flowed naturally from her fingers, "His writing for violin is compelling" says Hilary Hahn, "Fluid, emotional, clever and expressively rich". The polyphonic writing of the Spanish composer born in 1933 is indeed marvellous in these unaccompanied pieces. García Abril has turned his back resolutely on the typical avant-garde that emerged in the post-war years and the composer's music is tonal and full of melody, using his own rhythms. Despite the suggestion from their title, the 6 Partitas are not dance suites but rather a succession of six independent states of mind, "Heart", "Immensity", "Love", "Art", "Reflexive", "You", (an acronym for Hilary herself). This is more than enough to fuel the imagination and the musical repertoire of violinists from all over the world who play their "Bach", rather predictably, for the encore of each concert.
Source: François Hudry (qobuz.com)
Lars Vogt, piano
Recorded May 2-3, 2016 (K.280 & K.281); January 18, 2019 (K.333); and January 19, 2019 (K.310), at Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Köln, Germany
Released on May 10, 2019 by Ondine
Mozart poses formidable challenges for modern pianists. Late 18th-century Viennese pianos resemble our contemporary instruments only on the most basic mechanical level. The way the hammers are triggered to strike the string has evolved almost beyond recognition, as have the hammers and strings themselves. Mozart's instrument had already undergone half a century of rapid technological development and its hegemony over other keyboards was well under way. But many of its celebrated attributes – among them clarity of sound, rich overtones, light touch and distinctive registers – would eventually disappear as pianos evolved towards greater power and stability. Today the pianist seeking to deliver some plausible representation of Mozart's musical imagination on a modern instrument must do so with a fearless blend of compromise, adjustment and conjury.
Lars Vogt certainly possesses these qualities, all presumably enriched by his recent experiences as a conductor. He has recorded two pairs of Mozart piano concertos (Oehms, 9/09; AVI, 3/14) and a selection of violin sonatas with Christian Tetzlaff (Ondine, 2/13), and this new release is a welcome return to the solo works after his early set for EMI (8/06).
In the A minor Sonata, K.310, tragic power is wed to fragile grace in a thoughtful and disturbing performance. The insistent drive of the Allegro maestoso never loses sight of the telling detail. Juxtaposition of fortissimo and pianissimo in the development, so rare in Mozart, is given its full due. The Andante cantabile presents a bouquet of detailed articulation, all of it supporting an inherent rhetorical logic. The concluding Presto is as harrowing a flight from the furies as one is likely to encounter, evoking panic only scarcely controlled.
Contrasts are also prevalent in the happier climes of the B flat Sonata, K.281. From the elaborately embellished staking out of the principal tonality in the opening Allegro, ingratiating humour is always eager to assert itself. One could call the tenderness of the leisurely Andante amoroso childlike were it not so sophisticated, while the Rondo seems to burst any remaining constraints from indulgence in unalloyed joy.
This is richly communicative Mozart-playing, capturing a youthfulness touched with wisdom and undergirded by one of the most sensitive left hands around today. Experiencing it is akin to having made a new friend.
Source: Patrick Rucker (gramophone.co.uk)
Alex Potter, countertenor
La dolcezza:
Veronika Skuplik, violin
Catherine Aglibut, violin
Felix Knecht, cello
Michael Fuerst, organ & harpsichord
Recorded June 23-25, 2017 at Kirche Grasberg, Germany
Released on June 7, 2019 by CPO
Alex Potter – praised by the press as "a rising star in the world of countertenors" – interprets sacred works by Telemann for cpo on this album. The setting of Psalm 6 continues to be thoroughly obliged to the tone of the sacred concertos of the seventeenth century associated with names such as Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Rosenmüller, and Johann Schelle. However, even though this psalm setting entitled "Ach, Herr strafe mich nicht" very much resembles similar works by older authors, it nevertheless displays a very special aura. Accompanied by two violins and basso continuo, an affectively nuanced narrative of a soul plagued by fear and hoping for the end of its torments is heard. The Missa in B minor is similar in style to the music of the psalm; it is what is known as a Lutheran "short mass", which with its Kyrie and Gloria merely consists of two compositional complexes. All the numbers comprising "Me miserum" concern the faithful soul, which tells its story, is aware of its insufficiency but does not yield to despair, and therefore is able to register its experience of faith. A sonata and two fugues round off the album.
Source: arkivmusic.com
The albums were chosen by the owner and blog editor of "Faces of Classical Music", Alexandros Arvanitakis.
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See also
The best new classical albums: January 2020
The best new classical albums: December 2019
The best new classical albums: November 2019
The best new classical albums: October 2019
The best new classical albums: September 2019
The best new classical albums: August 2019
The best new classical albums: July 2019
The best new classical albums: May 2019
The best new classical albums: April 2019
The best new classical albums: March 2019
The best new classical albums: February 2019
The best new classical albums: January 2019
The Faces of Classical Music Choose the 20 Best Albums of 2019
The Faces of Classical Music Choose the 20 Best Albums of 2018
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