Sunday, 11.23.08, 6:00 am
December in Music
December isn’t a strong month for quality music, but there is enough to keep you busy if you wanted to attend all that there is left. It begins with your Bach-Tuesday when the Noontime Cantata opens the month with the Washington Bach Consort performing Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (BWV 61) on December 2nd. If the Noontime Cantata usually is your getaway from daily noise and madness, it can serve as a refuge from excessive, sleigh bell-enriched elevator muzak being piped out of every store and the tacky “holiday” decorations that have already ensnared the unsuspecting residents. (Noon)
December 4th offers more Bach if you make it out to the Clarice Smith Center for the University of Maryland School of Music’s Bach Cantata Series (also a free concert) which will feature Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 140). If “free Bach” doesn’t make your heart jump, I don’t know what will. (Maybe Elliot Carter, of which – rejoice – there will be plenty in December, too!) (1.30pm)
The Juilliard String Quartet, amazingly, is still active – and on Friday, December 5th they will perform a nicely put together program of Mendelssohn (Quartet no.1 in E-flat), Ravel, and Dutilleux (“Ainsi la Nuit”) at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. (7.30pm)
One of the piano highlights of the season, the modest acoustics not withstanding, will be the National Gallery of Art’s Beethoven sonata recital with Till Fellner on Sunday, December 7th. It’s free, but to get a good seat you must come early to get in line. Bring a book or a chatty friend. With Alfred Brendel retired, Fellner is the pianist to continue the Austrian tradition of great, yet understated pianists. (6.30pm)
Monday, December 8th the Young Concert Artists Concert will feature works of its young composers in residence. “Music with a pulse”, if you will, and if you are interested in what the future of (American) classical music sounds like, attendance would seem mandatory. Among the works played will be the Sonata-Fantasy for violin and piano by Benjamin C.S. Boyle whose work has charmed me greatly on most every occasion I had to listen to it. (7.30pm)
Not technically a concert, but if you are interested in Elliot Carter (or more importantly: interested in why other people are interested in Elliot Carter), the free showing of Frank Scheffer’s documentary “A Labyrinth of Time” at the Library of Congress would be a great event to attend on December 9th. (7pm)
Not only the Carter centenary is upon us, but also Messiaen’s. La Maison Française combines them in a two-for-one musical celebration in their second “Musicians of the Paris Opera” program. Messiaen is represented by his curiously timeless “Quartet for the End of Time”, Carter by an array of miniatures. Among the players will be Alexis Descharmes whom Washingtonians might have heard before at the Maison Française’s Contemporary Music Festival. It’s happening on December 10th. (7.30pm)
That’s the same date (and time) as the first installment of the Musicians from Marlboro at the Freer Gallery of Art. Mozart’s String Quintet K. 614, Mendelssohn’s Octet, op. 20, and Janácìk’s String Quartet no. 1 are on the promising-looking menu, made to look yet more promising since it is free (tickets required). (7.30pm)
The Library of Congress celebrates Elliot Carter laudably, extensively. On December 11th, it’s the Verge Ensemble to do the honors (throwing in small pieces by contemporary composers who could be Carter’s grand children – 8pm) and on December 12th, it’s “Sequitur” who include the Double Concerto for piano, harpsichord and two chamber orchestras in their program, as well as two more young whippersnapper compositions. (8pm)
On December 13th it is the Left Bank Concert Society’s turn to do their Carter at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, combining it with some Schoenberg and Argento. (7.30pm)
The Harlem Quartet offers an exciting mix of Turina (La Oración del Torero), Piston (String Quartet no. 3), Strayhorn (Take the “A” Train – also featured on their recent CD) and Schubert (String Quintet in C Major, D.95) at the Library of Congress on December 18th, which is the last decent concert of the year before the variously ill-conceived Christmas Carol carousing and all the Messiahs take over. If you feel like indulging in one, though, my recommendation would be the National Symphony Orchestra’s series of performances under the very capable organist and conductor Martin Haselböck (Handel-Festival Göttingen, Salzburger Festspiele et al.) from December 18th through the 21st (Kennedy Center).
Wednesday, 11.19.08, 1:05 pm
New Releases: CDs
Three Beethoven Symphony Cycles (Fedosseyev, 3/3)
"New Releases" posts are regular columns that feature reviews of new CDs that are, for one reason or another, truly outstanding among the many I come across every month.
The Vladimir Fedos(s)eyev Beethoven is a bit of an oddity, on the small Relief label seemingly not even distributed in the US. The set’s un-unappealingness starts with the five low-grade digi-packs in a flimsy paper slipcase and cumulates in a cover that’s ugly as sin (a bad cut-and-paste of Beethoven’s bust next to the Russian maestro’s head), itself stark proof how saving on a good graphic designer (because our secretary can do that, too) is the wrong idea. Just as the visual is part in eating, so it is of listening. Whether the product is Anna Netrebko or a box of Beethoven symphonies (think Abbado’s or Rattle’s nicely produced Berlin and Vienna cycles on DG and EMI, respectively), the packaging is a sales argument – and here it is one against the purchase of this cycle.
Some might think this is a shallow or insubstantial perspective. But I don’t claim that this matter is a question of whether the visual should be a factor in the purchase of an audio product, merely that it is. On we go.
These symphonies with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Radio (formerly known as the USSR State Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra or also Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio and Television) were recorded live in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and there is plenty ambient noise. Lots of clapping, players talking (neither between movements, thankfully), coughing, page-turning and the like.
The liner notes claim that Fedosseyev is the “most Russian among Russian conductors”, and perhaps the TSOMR is the most Russian orchestra, too. Those looking for a Russian cycle of Beethoven should probably look here (not Pletnev) – although I cannot honestly say that I know what one would be looking for in a ‘Russian’ LvB cycle, or whether this one particularly, notably offers such ‘Russianness’. If edge-of-the-seat playing (chaos just beneath the surface) is meant, then there isn’t more to be found here than in many other live cycles. The brass is not so typically bloated or strident (the liner notes call it “husky”) as might be expected, nor the strings more voluminous (“full, vibrant, ‘red glow’, as ascribed to them by Urs Weber, author of those liner notes) than any other large symphony orchestra.
What is audible are very unlovely woodwinds (3rd Symphony), imprecise strings, a boomy, not sprightly, 1st Symphony (with little ‘Mozart’, nor particular spontaneity - despite Fedosseyev’s claim or aim to the opposite), and a children’s choir in the 9th Symphony for which the word “ghastly” might be too harsh a description… but “pretty” sure sounds different. There are good moments, too, of course – the 7th sounds compelling so long as not compared to Karajan’s and there is a sense of excitement in the 5th that’s not undermined by scrappy playing. But over all, the interpretations are surprisingly ‘standard’ – and a standard of decades past, at that. No exposition repeats are taken, and the tempos are generally slower than Karajan’s, and subjectively slower, still, than the timings would indicate. For Fedoesseyev-fans only, I’d say, and no competition for recent live cycles like Mackerras’ (hyperion) or Abbado’s (DG, Rome).
(These Relief recordings are available via Tower Japan, HMV Japan, ClassiCDirect, MusiContact – both Germany).
Saturday, 11.15.08, 6:00 am
New Releases: CDs
Three Beethoven Symphony Cycles (Blomstedt, 2/3)
"New Releases" posts are regular columns that feature reviews of new CDs that are, for one reason or another, truly outstanding among the many I come across every month.
The Blomstedt Beethoven cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden has been available in many different versions – for many years as a super-budget box when Brilliant Classics licensed the recordings. I bemoaned that Brilliant chose the Kurt Masur/Leipzig recordings for their “Complete Beethoven” box, instead of the Dresdeners, but perhaps Brilliant’s license had already run out and the rights gone back to Berlin Classics / Edel – the successor to the GDR’s “VEB Schallplatten” (“People Owned Company – Records”). It would make sense, because Berlin Classics has now issued these recordings themselves, in a neat slim cardboard box at just a little more than Brilliant’s asking price and with a higher production value thanks to a fine little booklet with good liner notes and a short biography of Herbert Blomstedt in English and German, but unfortunately no text for the last movement of the Ninth.
This Beethoven cycle is the epitome of everything that is good about “Kapellmeisterdom” – significantly broader than Karajan’s (Blomstedt also ignores the exposition repeats), these are ‘old-Europe’ readings, steeped in the long tradition of the wonderful sounding Dresden Staatskapelle. Even if it sounds nonsensical, I find these very well recorded readings – made between 1975 and 1980 in Dresden’s St. Luke’s church – “spectacularly solid” and even. There simply isn’t a weak spot in the lot – and while no single symphony (I am trying to avoid the word “interpretation”, because it might insinuate the injection of overt personality on part of Blomstedt, which is wholly absent in a way comparable to Günter Wand) might make anyone’s first choice, as a whole this is one of the ‘standard’ cycles to compete with the very best, more famous ones.
In the Seventh Symphony, Blomstedt doesn’t nearly reach the intensely driven, propulsive mood that Karajan does, but how glorious shineth its slow movement! The Fifth Symphony doesn’t start very alertly, but the immense power he packs into the work without any sense of exaggeration is terrific in its cumulative effect.
The long arch that reaches from the first to the last note in the Ninth Symphony (Peter Schreier and Theo Adam ‘good enough’ but no more; neither Helena Does nor Marga Schiml leaving room for many complaints) keeps you gently smiling throughout even if you’ve listened to the work a couple too many times to still be astounded by its grandeur and original novelty. Throughout the set, the star is the Dresden Staatskapelle, which sound marvelous. (Look in the upcoming Gramophone Magazine for the Dresden Staatskapelle in their “20 Best Orchestras in the World” ranking.) The only qualm about sound I have is the choir, which sounds slightly veiled, and Schreier who is less to my taste here than with Karajan a few years before.
Given the $27 price tag of the set on Brilliant, Berlin Classics’ asking price of ~$33 makes it no worse a deal, considering the somewhat increased production value. It is one of the finest ‘standard’ symphony sets and in its presentable, space saving box ideal as an introduction to the symphonies – as good a first cycle as there are, without interpretive kinks leaving the listener unbiased for further exploration of more individual readings. Of its type and style of interpretation, the only modern cycle that competes is Barenboim’s (Warner) whose Beethoven of dark varnished oak is more individual, but equally rich and often as expansive.
Karajan-77 is discussed here, Fedosseyev here.
Thursday, 11.13.08, 6:00 am
New Releases: CDs
Three Beethoven Symphony Cycles (Karajan 77, 1/3)
"New Releases" posts are regular columns that feature reviews of new CDs that are, for one reason or another, truly outstanding among the many I come across every month.
Three Beethoven Symphony cycles all at once could be a case of masterpiece-overkill for the reviewer, but faced with H.v.Karajan (DG, Berlin Philharmonic, Karajan Symphony Edition), Herbert Blomstedt (Berlin Classics, Staatskapelle Dresden), it turned out to be more joy than chore. Only going through Valery Fedosseyev’s cycle, so much up front, was more a case of duty.
If Karajan’s 1963 set of Beethoven symphony recordings (recorded 1961-62 on DG) is generally hailed as (one of) the over-all best cycles, Karajan-77 might in some ways be the better Karajan-Beethoven cycle – namely because it is more typical of Karajan and what he had achieved with the Berlin Philharmonic in the many years they were his orchestra. In the same way, the 80’s cycle might be considered as the exaggerated characteristic of everything that was questionable about Karajan’s particular approach – a trend toward homogeneity gone wrong, with edges first overstated, then smoothed over, and captured in sound worse than either of the predecessors.
Karajan-63 is individual, dynamic, conductor-driven, and – for its time – progressive. A comparison of the best (or at least most exciting) modern interpretations of the “Eroica” Symphony (Paavo Järvi / Bremen on RCA or Osmo Vänskä / Minnesota on BIS) with the Karajan’s 1963 version (available individually as part of the Karajan Master Recordings re-issues and as part of the SACD-remastered cycle) shows that, the ever-missing exposition repeats aside, Karajan created a stunning sound: modern then, timeless today.
Karajan-77 is a more collaborative effort with his orchestra, the detailed sound and clarity of his earlier Beethoven married to the homogenous orchestral sound that is said to have been his ideal. Although the timings are not very different from the earlier cycle (in the “Eroica” Karajan shaves off over two minutes from his previous account, [inadvertently?] coming close to Beethoven’s metronome markings), the symphonies often ‘feel’ a little bit more deliberate because the saturated, secure sound of the orchestra (and recording) removes any sense of instability, nervous energy,
Among the absolute highlights is the Seventh Symphony, and within the Seventh the Presto which is simply terrific, riveting – energy and weight used toward very propulsive ends which is taken right into the Allegro con brio. In addition to the nine symphonies, this cycle also includes Karajan’s 1960’s recordings of the Egmont-, Leonore III-, Fidelio-, Coriolan-, Creatures of Prometheus-, and Ruins of Athens-Overture.
Notable, too, are the excellent liner notes: three different essays, one in English, German, and French each – that don’t vaguely or generally discuss Beethoven or engage in undue hagiographic Karajan-worship, but poignantly, candidly discuss the specific recordings at hand. The set is available only in the UK it seems - and in the US as an import. What is available, however, is the “Karajan Symphony Edition”, undoubtedly the best deal among all the commemorative Karajan re-issues. Apart from this Beethoven cycle, it includes Karajan’s complete Brahms, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky cycles, some Haydn, and late Mozart – 38 discs in total, offered at a ridiculously low $100 in the US. Consider the Haydn and Mozart anachronistic throw-ins to what are some of the finest standard repertoire symphony recordings available (Brahms, Bruckner, and Mendelssohn especially).
Blomstedt’s and Fedosseyev’s cycles will be discussed in the next few days.
Thursday, 11.6.08, 6:00 am
Alfred Brendel’s Good-Bye in C-Minor
Alfred Brendel has been on stage for 60 years – beginning with a 1948 recital of “The Fugue in Music” and ending his concertizing career with two performances of Mozart’s E-flat concerto No.9 on December 17th and 18th in Vienna. A WPAS organized recital on March 17th of this year was the last time he played in Washington. Last Wednesday and Thursday his 13th-to-last stop en route to permanently closing the lid was Munich, where Christian Thielemann and the Munich Philharmonic accompanied him in Mozart’s c-minor concerto.
Framed by Beethoven (a brilliant Coriolan Overture and a fine, dynamic “Pastorale”), Brendel delivered Mozart in the manner that has made him one of the foremost interpreters of the Viennese Classics: Music from the heart, not the fingers. And few pianists have more heart for Mozart than Brendel. The warm geniality of his touch, his casual yet sincere way with the notes, is what has made Alfred Brendel such an unlikely superstar of classical music.
His opening notes in the Munich concerto were halting, as if acknowledging that these would be some of his last sounds emitted from the piano in Germany. But even if this was good-bye, ‘c-minor’ was not sad with Brendel, it was serious and collected. The separation of notes in the cadenza made the ears perk, and his skilled simplicity, his serious ease and dry wit (well hidden) made the ears smile. Because of who he is, how he plays, and what we know him to be, his whole persona, not just the naked notes, determines the impression he makes in concert. Perhaps that’s one reason why this listener finds him a good deal more appealing live than on record.
His performances were never special because of pianistic infallibility but the humanist touch he endowed every note with. What we got in the musician Brendel was the simultaneously serious and comic, the orderly and the absurd. “Chaos, in a work of art, should shimmer through the veil of order” (Novalis) was one of his favorite quotes. With Brendel you saw that veil on stage, in his playing you heard what was going on behind it: the machinations of joyous re-recreation at every turn of a phrase.
Softly, tenderly, wistfully he parted with an encore of Schubert’s op.142/3 Impromptu. How good to have had one more opportunity to hear him at his best.
Recommended recordings:
Friday, 10.31.08, 6:00 am
November in Music
November starts off strong with musical choices. On November 2nd you can either see the Verdi Requiem performed by the Choral Arts Society of Washington at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (3pm), hear the Guarneri String Quartet at Shriver Hall in Baltimore (5.30pm), the Kronos Quartet (“Alternative Radio”) at the Clarice Smith Center (7.30pm) or – what would be my preference – a double bill of the Handel cantata Armida Abbandonata and the Haydn cantata Arianna a Naxos performed by Opera Lafayette at La Maison Française (7.30pm).
Tuesday, November 4th, is Noon-Bach-cantata Tuesday at the Church of the Epiphany (Lobe den Herren, BWV 137), your monthly lunch-time haven of sanity. On November 5th, at 7.30pm the Emerson String Quartet will present their first installment of the second half of their Shostakovich String Quartet cycle (9-12) at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. (The first half took place in February of 2007.) Alternatively you could see Leonard Slatkin showcasing Leonard Slatkin with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore that night (8pm), presenting his composition “The Raven” and Sibelius’ 2nd Symphony. I have a feeling he might be interested in showing himself from his best side (as a conductor, at least), so it could turn out to be one of those inspired concerts that have every potential to be quite terrific.
Friday, November 7th, it’s time to head to the Library of Congress to hear three ladies and Christian Tetzlaff (appearing as the eponymous “Tetzlaff Quartet”) in a intriguing program of Mozart’s Quartet in D minor, K. 421, Berg’s Lyric Suite and the rarely heard Sibelius Quartet in D minor (“Voces Intimae”). Even without a (free) ticket, you can get to hear it if you get to the Library early (~6.30pm), pass the metal detectors, sniffing dogs, body searches, and then stand in line for an hour.
You won’t be assumed a terrorist if you go to the Clarice Smith Center on November 9th, to hear the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, but it’ll cost you a little. I recommend it independently of the fact that WETA 90.9 is the “media sponsor”, because the offered music Arvo Pärt and Erkki-Sven Tüür are eminently worth hearing, and the thrown in Vivaldi Beatus vir for two choirs and orchestra won’t do any harm, either. (3pm)
You can’t hear enough Bach, so if the drive down Route 193 is too far, the Harman Center for the Arts hosts the Washington Bach Consort the same night, in cantatas BWV 50 (“Nun ist das Heil”), 80 (“Ein feste Burg”), 207 (“Vereinte Zwietracht” – a theatrical cantata of sorts). (Also 3pm)
The only excuse for missing the beloved, adored, and admired Takács Quartet that day (5pm, at the Corcoran Gallery of Art), is that you can might catch them at the Library of Congress on November 14th (8pm) when they will perform again with the Hungarian folk group Muzsikás as they had already in a most memorable concert a few years ago at the Freer Gallery. This time Muzsikás will not get lost in the traffic on 16th street, not arrive late, and not curse like truck-drivers behind the scenes. It was rhythmically compelling the last time already, this time it’ll be harmonious, on top.
On November 14th, the Kirov Orchestra with Valery Gergiev will stop by the George Mason University Center for the Arts. If you have no qualms with Gergiev’s heavy handed political escapades, you can enjoy the (uninspired but interesting enough) program of Prokofiev’s Cinderella Suite No. 3, act 3 from Romeo and Juliet, and Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto (pianist Alexei Volodin, 8pm).
But if Russian fare is you thing, you might – nay: should – prefer the WPAS sponsored recital of Vadim Repin and Nikolai Lugansky on November 15th, at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall at 4pm. I’ll opt for hyperbole here: If you only go to one classical performance in November, make it Repin/Lugansky. Repin, arguably the finest violinist of his generation, has never before made it to Washington – make his first appearance a memorable one, as he will your attendance!
Back to Bach on November 16th, when the Washington Chorus presents the Mass in B Minor at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (5pm) and on November 18th, when master-harpsichordist Pierre Hantaï will play the German master and his exact contemporary Domenico Scarlatti. No one has recorded Scarlatti (on harpsichord) as well as Hantaï and he’ll be at La Maison Française at 7.30pm.
Alternatively you could let yourself be swept away by the (live-only) excitement that Gustavo Dudamel exudes in his appearances. Even the Israel Philharmonic will kick into a higher gear when the new LA Philharmonic MD pushes them through standard repertoire of Mendelssohn and Brahms (each composer’s Symphony no. 4) at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall at 8pm.
Washington has fared well with a conductor’s younger conducting brother taking on the NSO as Principal Conductor. The NSO is bound to fare well, too, with a different conductor’s younger conducting brother leading them through Dvořák, Mozart (Piano Concerto in d-minor with Lars Vogt!), and the excellent Fourth Symphony of Franz Schmidt. It’s Yakov Kreizberg I’m talking about (who has also recorded one of the finest versions of that symphony) – and he is the younger brother of Semyon Bychkov. It’s the orchestral concert I’d least want to miss in November – and it will take place on November 20th (7pm), 21st (8pm), and 22nd (8pm).
Of course Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle is a work well worth hearing, too. But if it would mean skipping the NSO, there’s no reason to expose yourself to the doings of the Washington National Opera Orchestra struggling with the music under the guide of a modest conductor. That’s not to say that they might not surprise with accidental excellence – which they could do either on November 21st (7.30) or 22nd (7pm). In case you needed another reason (not) to attend: the featured “tenor” is Andrea Bocelli.
November 21st, is could also be spent with the Capuçon-Capuçon-Angelich Piano Trio. Washingtonians who were at one of their concerts know that the two Capuçon brothers are a wonderful musical team – nor is the almost-French (but actually American) pianists Nicholas Angelich a stranger to these parts. The program promises Haydn, Shostakovich, and Mendelssohn trios and is hosted by WPAS at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater at 7.30pm.
Emanuel Ax has evidently forgiven Yefim Bronfman for canceling his wedding after Ax had already bought the wedding present. The two friends will unite for an evening of piano duos at the George Mason University Center for the Arts which, regardless the exact program, promises to be a romp and a hoot. You can catch it on November 23rd, at 4pm.
Wednesday, 10.29.08, 6:00 am
New Releases: CDs
Aimez-vous Brahms… a Lot!? (Chamber Music - 3/3)
"New Releases" posts are regular columns that feature reviews of new CDs that are, for one reason or another, truly outstanding among the many I come across every month.
There are many favorites in the Clarinet Trio. I’ve not yet heard the most recent recording with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and Ricardo Morales (whose Brahms Clarinet Quintet much impressed me much at the National Academy of Sciences in DC, over four years ago) on Koch which came out last month. But the 2005 BIS release of Martin Fröst (with Roland Pöntinen and Torleif Thedéen) was predictably excellent. It’s not unlike Richard Hosford’s with the Florestan Trio on these hyperion discs: flawlessly played with extraordinary command over the instruments and superbly balanced by the engineers. The BIS sound is caught even more closely and naturally (warts – if that’s what you want to call key-clicking and breathing noises – and all), and Fröst manages more hushed pianissimo phrases. Neither, however, have the beautiful long, unhurried lines that Karl Leister manages – either in his 1968 recording on DG (with Christoph Eschenbach and Georg Donderer) or on Nimbus (just re-issued on Brilliant Classics) with Berlin Philharmonic colleagues Ferenc Bognár and Wolfgang Boettcher. Hyperion would have had another option for this set, too: Thea King with Clifford Benson and Karine Georgian (hyperion 66107)– who deliver a performance rivaled in warmth only by Stoltzman/Ax/Ma on the classic Sony recording. But even amid an embarrassment of choices, Hosford/Florestan stand their ground proudly and give little reason why their version shouldn’t be anyone’s first choice.
For those who cherish Dame Thea King, good news come with the Clarinet Quintet and the Clarinet Sonatas. The Gabrieli String Quartet and Mme. King deliver a splendid, unified performance. Instead of string quartet and a dominating quartet, they are five equal players where King’s warm clarinet is just one of five voices. Especially in the first movement it’s surprisingly humble, bordering self-effacing – fans of extroverted playing will have to look elsewhere. The competition is similar to the above: Stoltzman with the Tokyo Quartet (RCA), (better than the Tokyo Quartet with Joan Enric Lluna on Harmonia Mundi), one of the many Leister recordings (on DG with the Amadeus Quartet, on Brilliant with the Brandis SQ4t, or – perhaps most compelling – with the Vermeer Quartet on Orfeo). Add to that Sabine Meyer with the ABQ (EMI), Herbert Stähr and the Berlin Philharmonic Octet members (Philips) and you have half a dozen alternatives that (nearly) reach the heights of King & Co who compare weel even against my current favorite – Paul Meyer and the Capuçon brothers on Virgin (where it is the filler to a mildly disappointing Brahms Double Concerto.)
King’ is every bit as good in the Sonatas (still available on a low-mid priced Helios CD), and the competition largely the same: Stoltzman/Goode (RCA), Fröst/Pöntinen (BIS), Leister/Oppitz (Orfeo) and especially a newcomer from Harmonia Mundi USA with Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu. King’s tone is beautiful, accurate – like Manasse’s – but more clear, more assertive than the latter’s. Turn it around and you have Manasse with as soft (yet haze-free), round tone like I have rarely heard. Together with the similarly inclined Jon Nakamtsu, he emphasizes a bit more than King: Slow and moderate movements are a bit slower, fast, lively movements a bit faster. Both recordings are excellently recorded and well balanced – Thea King’s clarinet slightly ‘behind’ the piano, Manasse’s right on top of it.
Arriving at the Cello Sonatas I am inclined to say: “finally” a recording where direct comparison leaves room for critical remarks. Steven Isserlis’ first recording for hyperion – with Peter Evans – is included here, and while they are relatively vigorous performances (often Isserlis is too bland, too careful for me) in the usual splendid sound, I miss the assertive glory of Rostropovich/Serkin (DG), or the warm musicality and glow of Starker/Sebők (my favorite recording – Mercury), or the virtuosity put to such good use in the first Ma/Ax recording (1984 RCA, not 1991 Sony). Steven Isserlis didn’t have the Feuermann Stradivarius cello in his hands when he made this recording in 1984 (it belonged to Aldo Pariso until 1996), which is probably why he remade them with Steven Hough some 20 years later. Longer cello lines, a more subdued (not to say monotonous) air, better (more individual, independent) pianism, and a still richer sound mark the latter recording… an improvement only in some ways.
The matter is different with the three Violin Sonatas: Krysia Osostowicz and Susan Tomes may offer the least name recognition among the artists on this box-set, but their Violin Sonatas (1990) have been my beloved favorite ever since I bought them on hyperion’s Helios sub-label. I simply love their touching and melodious way with the music. No pair of musicians that I’ve heard plays these works so naturally, with such musical unobtrusiveness, as they do – which is why I favor them over all the competition that aims more for virtuosity and pronounced dynamics. Listening to it is like witnessing chamber music in the moment of being created, rather than ‘interpreted’. Absolute control over their instruments is a given, anyway, with these artists. The F-A-E Scherzo in c-minor has been tacked on for completisms’ sake – Mme. Osostowicz recorded it with Simon Crawford-Philips just this May. Other favorites of mine, like Suk/Katchen (Decca), Dumay/Pires (DG), and Capuçon/Angelich (Virgin), bring me great joy, too. But if I had to keep one, it’d be Osostowicz/Tomes.
I approached the final disc – the viola transcriptions of the op.120 sonatas and the clarinet trio – with some trepidation. Not my favorite works to begin with, and less so with the viola. But at least the viola-bias is an attitude attained from relatively limited, not always pleasurable, exposure. At the ARD competition, Sergey Malov played op.120/1 very well, indeed – hearing Lawrence Dutton (of Emerson Quartet fame) in both works was less enjoyable a few years back. Fortunately Lawrence Power (violist of the Nash Ensemble and the Leopold Trio) is more than up to the challenge and manages for dark, unfussy readings that I found not just bearable but even enjoyable. My memories of Zukerman/Barenboim on DG are vague, but negative; of Shlomo Mintz/Itamar Golan (Avie) vaguely neutral, of Kim Kashkashian with Robert Levin a rare case of delight (ECM). Maxim Rysanov (with Katya Apekisheva) on Onyx isn’t coming out in the US until in November, but that disc will include the viola transcriptions of the Horn Trio and the first Violin Sonata as well, and might be interesting for anyone looking specifically for those works. While it would not be my first choice bought individually, Power with Simon Crawford Phillips (and cellist Timothy Hugh) leave no complaints, ending this 12-disc set on a high point.
Looked at (and listened to) as a set, the merits are much higher, still, than “leaves no complaints”. Even if the DG and Philips sets were still available (which they currently are not), they wouldn’t be a threat to Hyperion’s – merely competition. DG has some spectacular highlights with the Rostropovich/Serkin Cello Suites and the Italiano/Abbado Piano Quintet. But even DG has stronger performances of some of the other works in their own catalog that are not included on the compilation: The Hagen Quartett with Gérard Caussé in the String Quintets and Emil Gilels with the Amadeus Quartet (or Argerich ‘with friends’) in the First Piano Quartet, for example. Philips has the Beaux Arts Trio, who were caught at the height of their powers and are particularly effective in the Piano Quartets with violist Walter Trampler. The Cello Sonatas with Sebok & Starker are my (emotional) favorite, anyway, and Sebők / Grumiaux are fine in the Violin Sonatas. But the clarinet works and the String Quartets (the Quartetto Italiano on auto-pilot) are not top drawer.
The Hyperion box’s less than brilliant spot (weakness would be too strong a word) is probably the disc with the Cello Suites. Perhaps a missed opportunity in not having been generous and thrown in Isserlis’ new recording with Stephen Hough… though, in all honesty, even then I would still recommend supplementing your collection with either “Slava” or Starker. Brilliant Classics has a box out (Brilliant 99800), and it’s as complete as Hyperion’s. It happens to be one of the strong points of their complete Brahms box (which runs about the price of the Hyperion Chamber Works) and should not be dismissed. But Hyperion’s excellent interpretations are added by extraordinary production value – not the least the exceptionally well engineered recordings that offer a continuity of great sound that Brilliant’s pick-and-patch collection can’t match. Differences individual tastes will inform the choice between the sets – but with at least a dozen performances that are my favorites even on individual discs, the Hyperion set is my pick among the bunch.
This review covers CDs nine through twelve of the Hyperion Brahms Chamber Music Box. The previous installments can be found here:
Aimez-vous Brahms… a Lot!? (1/3)
Aimez-vous Brahms… a Lot!? (2/3)
Previous posts on Brahms have covered the First Piano Concerto, Double Concerto, Symphony No.1, and Exposition Repeats.
Saturday, 10.25.08, 6:00 am
New Releases: CDs
Aimez-vous Brahms… a Lot!? (Chamber Music - 2/3)
"New Releases" posts are regular columns that feature reviews of new CDs that are, for one reason or another, truly outstanding among the many I come across every month.
Among Brahms’ Piano Quartets, the first – op.25 in g-minor – is by far the most popular. A popularity exemplified (and maybe, partly caused) by Arnold Schoenberg’s oft recorded orchestration of this substantial, 40 minute long work. (Coincidentally, cpo has just issued a new recording thereof – coupled with Luciano Berio’s orchestral arrangement of the clarinet sonata op.120/1.) A couple of years ago an all-star cast of Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, and Mischa Maisky was assembled to record op.25 for DG. Fortunately the four full-blooded musicians celebrated Brahms, not their egos. The result is a brilliant and fiery reading that might never be surpassed in that regard.
While theirs and the Amadeus Quartet’s recording with Emil Gilels (another gem in the DG catalog) sound a little like the Little Symphony That Couldn’t (many of Brahms’ chamber works started out intended to be orchestral works), there are more chamber-music like approaches, too. For example the Trio Wanderer with violist Christophe Gaugué (HMU), or of course the Beaux Arts Trio who are at their best here with violist Walter Trampler (Philips or Pentatone). The players around Isabelle Faust and Derek Han (for Brilliant Classics) show all their promise in a fleet reading not just of the first, but all three Quartets. That’s stiff competition for the players on the Hyperion set, the Leopold String Quartet (Marianne Thorsen, Lawrence Power, and Kate Gould) who perform with that most nimble-fingered of all pianists, Marc-André Hamelin. And for a recording of all three Quartets, their strongest competition might not be the Beaux Arts or Wanderer Trio, but the Piano Quartet “Domus” on a budget Virgin re-issue.
Although I’ve cherished the Domus recording for many years now, I’ve never bothered to look up (or remember) its members. What a surprise then – or rather: how perfectly logical – to find that Domus is essentially the expanded Florestan Trio with Susan Tomes (piano) and Richard Lester (cello), violist Timothy Boulton and, instead of Anthony Marwood, the genial duo partner of Tomes’, Krysia Osostowicz, on violin. (Before disbanding, Domus had also been taken onto Hyperion’s artists roster.)
Hamelin’s slightly dryer and more enunciated playing and the closer recording make the Leopold String Trio’s performances more straight-faced and less reverberant than the modestly indulgent Domus. The chugging cello line of the op.25 second movement sounds so refined with the Leopold’s Ms. Gould, she could pass as playing the viola. And while the Leopold/Hamelin combination sounds incredibly and impressively fast in the concluding Rondo alla Zingarese, there’s not the sense of a turbulent, hair-down execution as with Domus (much less Argerich & Co.). For those in favor of leaner, longer lines in Brahms, the immaculate and civilized Leopold/Hamelin combination (exploring technical extremes without ever sounding challenged) might be the preferred version. Whatever the case, few would likely complain if these were their only versions of the Quartets.
There is little in the repertoire where the Florestan Trio would not be my first choice – and that goes for the Brahms Piano Trios as well. Without giving in to the temptation of romantic indulgence, this is superbly played, detailed, and compelling chamber music making that ranks right up there with the Beaux Arts Trio who can be a bit more generous and warmer (more ‘continental European’, if you wish), but don’t play quite as impeccably.
Their Horn Trio with Stephen Sterling has all the same qualities, and especially the precision of the musicians and the exceptional hyperion recording pays dividends here. Susan Tomes’ pianism is just the right mix between assertive and delicate – giving it, apart from the much superior sound, an edge over the 1957 Dennis Brain/Max Salpeter/Cyril Preddy collaboration (BBC Legends). The horn never dominates Anthony Marwood’s violin (as it does with Tuckwell/Perlman/Ashkenazy – Decca, 1968). Of the versions I know, only MDG’s 1995 recording is as well engineered. An interesting comparison would have been the new Harmonia Mundi release with Theunis Van der Zwart playing the work on the Waldhorn (as intended by Brahms) together with his colleagues Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov – alas it just came out this October and I haven’t gotten my ears on it, yet.
This review covers CDs five through eight of the Hyperion Brahms Chamber Music Box. The remaining 4 will be covered in a post in the next few days.
Aimez-vous Brahms… a Lot!? (1/3)
Aimez-vous Brahms… a Lot!? (3/3)
Previous posts on Brahms have covered the First Piano Concerto, Double Concerto, Symphony No.1, and Exposition Repeats.
Thursday, 10.23.08, 6:00 am
New Releases: CDs
Aimez-vous Brahms… a Lot!? (Chamber Music - 1/3)
"New Releases" posts are regular columns that feature reviews of new CDs that are, for one reason or another, truly outstanding among the many I come across every month.
Not to denigrate his songs or orchestral works, but Brahms’ chamber music is, with a few exceptions, his most pleasing and most admired output. I’d never pick a fight with anyone questioning whether the string quartets or the op.120 sonatas really belong in the Parthenon of chamber music. But the String Sextets, the Quintets (Clarinet, Piano, String), the Piano Quartets, the Trios (Clarinet, Piano, Horn), and the Cello- and Violin Sonatas are many musicians’ (very appreciated) daily bread and easily accessible to casual listeners as well. You’d have to be a pretty hardened Brahms-hater to feel, much less think, otherwise.
And because it’s all so terrific, it only makes sense to offer it all in one convenient box. Deutsche Grammophon has done so, as part of their complete Brahms Edition. A year later or so, Philips followed suit with a box of Brahms’ complete chamber music of their own. Both were setting very high standards, both are – inexplicably – out of print right now. In 2003 Brilliant assembled a collection of their own, which is now also available as part of their 60 CD complete Brahms set.
Now Hyperion has entered the fray, and it is most welcome, indeed. On 12 well filled discs, Hyperion gives us a survey of Brahms’ chamber music of consistent high quality – possibly unmatched by any of the competition. Many included performances that are not just good, but favorites and among the finest available. There are no particular weak spots in this assemblage and the sound quality of these modern recordings (the oldest is from 1983, the most recent from earlier this year) is as high as we have come to expect from the label.
The Raphael Ensemble’s String Sextets (including Roger Tapping) and Quintets would do any company’s catalogue proud. There’s nothing what might be construed as ‘stereotypically British’ here. And although all but two members have changed from the 1988 recording of the Sextets to the 1995 recording of the Quintets (both engineered by Tony Faulkner), the playing is of a seamlessly high quality: glorious, with total precision, and most importantly: with lots of heart. Other recordings (Sextets: ASFM Chamber Ensemble [on Chandos] and Leipzig String Quartet++ [MDG], Quintets: Hagen Quartet with Gérard Caussé [DG] and Leipzig String Quartet+ [MDG]) might match, but none surpass the Raphael’s versions.
When it comes to Brahms’ String Quartets, I don’t generally enthuse (“undisputed master of composing without ideas” [H.Wolf] and such…) and I don’t here, either. But having heard it so often lately – live and on CD – I’m more and more getting used to them. The New Budapest Quartet, which Hyperion chose to include in their entirety (instead of patching with their brand new Takács Quartet recording) aren’t bad at all.
I know hearty little about András Kiss, Ferenc Balogh, László Barsony, and Károly Botvay, except some of their recordings on Hyperion and Marco Polo (e.g. Bartók, Borodin, Beethoven, and lots of Spohr – most of them re-issued on the mid-price Dyad and Helios sub-labels). In these Brahms works, they go well beyond the ‘capable’ and make engaging, very Central European music out of it, downplaying the seriousness and without belaboring any phrase or musical point to long. This isn’t replacing my first choice Alban Berg Quartet (EMI) recording for all three quartets, or the Mandelring Quartet in op.51/1, but it pleases plenty. Were I to listen through this whole box again, as I have a few times already, I’d never think of bothering to skip these renditions in favor of others. For one, I’d not want to miss their Piano Quintet, which they play with Piers Lane.
Nostalgia has me consider stormy Leon Fleisher and the Juilliard Quartet (Sony via Arkiv) for that Quintet; I shall always cherish the smooth, sometimes detailed, sometimes bashful Quartetto Italiano with Maurizio Pollini (DG Originals), nor let the exacting, superbly sonorous, occasionally strident Hagen Quartett with Paul Gulda gather dust (DG via Arkiv). But splashier recent releases like said Takács with Stephen Hough (too nervous) or Emerson with Fleisher (too ungainly the execution of the piano part) can’t touch Lane & Budapest.
This review covers the first four CDs of the Hyperion Brahms Chamber Music Box. The remaining 8 will be covered in two posts in the next few days.
Aimez-vous Brahms… a Lot!? (2/3)
Aimez-vous Brahms… a Lot!? (3/3)
Previous posts on Brahms have covered the First Piano Concerto, Double Concerto, Symphony No.1, and Exposition Repeats.