CD and Other Review

Review: SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphonies Nos 6,12 (Royal LiverpoolPO/Petrenko)

As a teenager, I once bought a recording of Shostakovich’s Twelfth. I played it once and, mystified, put it back on the shelf and hadn’t heard it again until this CD turned up! I’m still mystified but, as I always opine with Shostakovich symphonic cycles, you have to take the good with the bad – and the Twelfth is pretty bad. Not even Petrenko, who is developing into one of our best Shostakovich conductors, can do much with this turkey, but he does manage to invest the Adagio with a generalised eeriness. The Sixth is another matter: unduly neglected, it’s arguably Shostakovich’s most inscrutable and abstract symphony, whose lopsided construction does interpreters no favours, since the second and third movements combined are barely half the length of the preceding Largo and, as a skittish Scherzo and jokey presto respectively, are uncomfortably similar. Petrenko manages to distinguish them effectively and also achieves a haunting effect in the hugely spanned opening movement. It also sounds genuinely Russian: the “moodiness” of the strings with their undercurrent of sinister power and the piquant woodwind in the latter movements (something Haitink never managed in his recording with the LPO). The four stars… Continue reading Get unlimited digital…

February 1, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: SAINT-SAENS: Elan – Ballet Music from Operas

This exceedingly rare anthology presents ballet music from four seldom-performed operas by the French late-Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. This disc may be the only way most people will ever experience these delightful works. We know the operatic Saint-Saëns for the most part only through Samson and Delilah and its famous aria Softly Awakes My Heart. His other operas have languished, but here we have excerpts from his Henry VIII, Ascanio, Étienne Marcel and Les Barbares – all mostly consigned to the music history books.  Orchestra Victoria under Guillaume Tourniaire makes a persuasive case for ending this neglect. If the rest of the operas are as graceful and beautiful as the ballet music suggests, then their resurrection is well overdue. The music is elegant, and surprisingly modern touches are couched in musical language wittily evoking a more Classical era. Tourniaire weaves an orchestral tapestry of the most delicate beauty and fluidity. The orchestral sound is never excessive – this refined music is always on its best behaviour. Orchestra Victoria’s playing has a silky sheen and is layered as if translucent. Their level of professionalism makes it extraordinary that our federal and state governments and even The Australia Council are not willing… Continue reading Get unlimited digital…

January 25, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: Dances to a Black Pipe (clarinet: Martin Frost; ACO/Tognetti)

Anyone who saw Swedish clarinettist Martin Fröst twist, twirl, strut and shimmy his way through his national tour with the ACO last year will know what a physically engaging showman he is. So it’s natural that he would record a dance-themed album during the tour, and no surprise it’s the most eclectic and inspired program the ACO has committed to disc. Hillborg’s Peacock Tales creates a spellbinding atmosphere even without its visual component, Fröst running the expressive and technical gauntlet against an eerie backdrop of clustered strings. Copland’s Clarinet Concerto is equally virtuosic. Both soloist and orchestra (with added piano and harp) are bright and punchy right up to the final clarinet glissando. Fröst is spirited and idiomatic in klezmer tunes scored by his brother Göran and attacked with gusto by the ACO. Göran’s arrangements of Brahms’s Hungarian Dances are well served by the soloist’s lightness of touch and flawless intonation, but it’s the band’s sweeping romanticism that carries these pieces. The most fun on the disc, however, is Högberg’s highly charged Dancing with Silent Purpose with its manic electronic beat. The Expressive Rage movement gives the ACO an opportunity to rock out… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from…

January 25, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: ARRIVEDERCI (Vittorio Grigolo t; Orch del Teatro Regio di Parma/Morandi)

It’s a brave man who steps into the shoes recently vacated by “Big Lucy” and certainly no one could accuse Vittorio Grigolo of timidity. For his second Sony album, the former Sistine Chapel choirboy with the matinee idol looks has nailed his colours firmly to the mast with a selection of popular arias and Italian song. In his sleeve note Grigolo cites Gigli’s influence but also, tellingly, popular tenor Claudio Villa. So how does it stack up? First off, the opera: Grigolo certainly has all the notes. He also has a fast, but not intrusive vibrato. My two quibbles concern a tendency to be below the note at medium volume and another to scoop up to notes in the upper part of his voice. Listen to his La Donna E Mobile for an example of what I mean. This is a pity as he is a good vocal actor and he tops it off with a terrific bravura high B. Elsewhere he offers us a most sensitive Lamento Di Federico from Cilea’s L’Arlesiana, proving that with a little control he can manage any vocal waywardness. Where this CD really takes off, though, is with the “popular” songs. Here Grigolo has…

January 25, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: WAGNER: Meistersinger – an orchestral tribute (Royal Scottish National Orch/Jarvi)

It’s hard to know at whom this release is aimed. Wagner’s idiom changed perhaps more radically than that of any other famous composer. Listen to the overtures to Das Liebesverbot (The Ban on Love) and The Fairies and you’d think you were listening to Offenbach or even Gilbert and Sullivan, not the man who went on to compose Tristan and Isolde, The Ring and Parsifal. This strangely assembled program contains an orchestral tribute to The Mastersingers by one Henk de Vlieger, about whom no information whatever is vouchsafed, other than that he was born in 1953. This attempt at a symphonic synthesis is surely based on The Ring: An Orchestral Journey brilliantly recorded by Lorin Maazel and somewhat less excitingly by Edo de Waart. The difference is that, while the Ring Cycle is studded with orchestral interludes and even accompanied vocal passages which have become showpieces in their own right, The Mastersingers has very few. Which brings me back to my original point: who really wants to hear a sort of operatic soundtrack which is hardly self-sufficient? Järvi and the Royal Scottish orchestra are in fine form and the Chandos acoustic is deep and rich, but I somehow can’t help…

January 16, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas Nos 3, 21 “Waldstein”, Andante favori, Rondo a capriccio (Alice Sara Ott)

Alice Sara Ott has won several piano competitions and has landed a recording contract with DG. That company has always been generous with up-and-coming pianists, and on the basis of this disc alone Ott should be one of the stayers. Her clarity of articulation and wide dynamic range make her a standout. Ott gives a delightful performance of the C Major Sonata, Op 2 No 3. She is playful and spontaneous in the outer movements, and thoughtful in the Adagio, where she is adept at pointing the passages that hint at the Beethoven to come. The big C Major Sonata Op 53, Waldstein, operates on a larger canvas. At first I thought she was underplaying the drama, but as the work progresses Ott’s individual approach becomes clear. She opts to look inward; her central Adagio molto is a meditation, not the rich outpouring of song we get from Barenboim. Under Ott, the first appearance of the finale’s main theme is as delicate as Debussy’s snowflakes, while the coda dazzles without the try-hard bluster of some other pianists. Altogether it is a refreshing take on a masterpiece, stunningly brought off. She personifies grazioso in the Andante favori, and uses the fiery…

January 16, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: QUINTOPIA (New Sydney Wind Quintet)

The wind quintet offers such a kaleidoscope of colours and characterisation that it’s surprising only a handful of composers have made significant contributions to the genre. Happily, there are superb arrangements to be had, and for their second album the New Sydney Wind Quintet has chosen some real gems. Ravel’s fairytale suite Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose), originally for piano four hands, is the perfect candidate for arrangement. NSWQ’s accomplished orchestral players understand the composer’s rich palette: they are agile and enchanting in the Empress of the Pagodas and bassoonist Andrew Barnes teases out the humour in Beauty and the Beast. Balanced tone in the languid movements comes at the expense of dynamic and dramatic variation, but the quintet throw themselves impressively into the final trills and fanfare. Of the three Percy Grainger miniatures, Lisbon demonstrates how naturally NSWQ’s soloistic passages bend the ear as they emerge from delicately blended textures. Two works by another Australian composer, Lyle Chan, seize the opportunity for mercurial, mischievous wind writing. Passage is fun for players and listeners alike with its jaunty, jazz-inflected syncopation and swing. His rather docile Calcium Light Night, however, yields an uninspired performance. Carl Nielsen’s quintet is the main event of any disc…

January 16, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: CHOPIN: Fantaisie in F Minor; Ballades; Mazurkas; Nocturnes (piano: Yevgeny Sudbin)

In his notes to this anthology, Russian pianist Yevgeny Sudbin opines that, in a way, the very young are sometimes best fitted to play Chopin, as they can be free from the accretions of conceptions and misconceptions about that composer. As an example, he cites the young Evgeny Kissin – anyone who has heard that prodigy’s sublime recording of the Second Piano Concerto recorded when he was only 12 years old would have to agree. At 31, Sudbin is somewhat older, but he approaches Chopin in what seems a wonderfully youthful and transparent way, removed from “accepted” practice or conceptions. This is a far cry from the delicate Chopin of drawing rooms or Hollywood’s image of the neurotic consumptive genius. Here instead are highly-charged, powerful accounts of some of Chopin’s strongest works, including a spectacular reading of the Ballade No 4 – Chopin with muscle. Sudbin’s pianism is assured and constantly exciting. So is his inventiveness, as shown when he closes this recital with his own paraphrase À la Minute, a witty reinvention of the Minute Waltz as Rachmaninov might have imagined it. The program opens with another major piece, the Fantaisie in F Minor, and the recital, which also comprises…

January 16, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: HAYDN: L’Anima del filosofo, Orpheus and Eurydice (Pinchgut Opera)

Haydn’s much-feted sojourn in London in 1791 was the occasion for the writing of his final opera, based on Ovid’s treatment of the Orpheus myth. Alas, operatic politics at the Haymarket meant that the first staging had to wait until 1951 with no less a leading lady than Maria Callas. Since then, revivals have been patchy so we must thank Sydney-based Pinchgut Opera for this live recording. Antony Walker and the excellent Orchestra of the Antipodes give the best reading of the score since Doráti. Dramatic pacing is spot on with sprightly tempi and fine instrumental contributions to Haydn’s ambitious orchestration, while Cantillation offer characterful singing. Elena Xanthoudakis has a light, pretty voice, able to cope with the flashy coloratura in both her roles – the Sybil’s showcase aria rightly brings the house down. It’s a pity that in her lower register she falls short of her recorded rival, Bartoli. Derek Welton offers fine support as her father, Creonte; his vengeance aria is particularly effective. Only the fluttery tenor of Andrew Goodwin lets the side down, struggling with coloratura and lacking power low in the voice. The CD also misses a certain depth, perhaps… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from…

January 9, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: Debussy; Ravel; Franck: Violin Sonatas (Jennifer Pike; piano: Martin Roscoe)

What happens to a BBC Young Musician of the Year winner nine years on? In Jennifer Pike’s case, she signs a contract with Chandos. The youngest-ever winner of the BBC award at 12, Pike has matured into a confident and expressive musician. This program brings together three of the best-known violin sonatas by French composers (more or less; César Franck was Belgian). Throughout, Pike is alert to every nuance of light and shade. In Debussy’s offering she takes a cool, modern approach: exquisitely detailed, but eschewing old-fashioned portamenti in the yearning, falling phrases of the second movement. Her Ravel is technically brilliant, the third movement’s Perpetuum mobile dashed off as though it were the easiest thing in the world. In the bluesy second movement, she does not dig deeply into the strings and sex it up in the manner of the sultry Maria Bachmann (Endeavour Classics/Allegro), but allows the movement to build naturally to a bracing conclusion. Pike is most at home in Franck’s sonata, spinning a poised legato line in the first movement and finding plenty of heart for the climaxes of the Recitativo-Fantasia. In all this she has the huge advantage of Martin Roscoe’s support. He is one…

January 9, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: DVORÁK: Symphony No 9; Carnival Overture (Melbourne Symphony/Otaka)

Long ago, I heard a magnificent Rachmaninov 2 with Tadaaki Otaka, and that predisposed me favourably to this release. By and large, he and the MSO don’t disappoint. I suppose this reading could best be described as “middle-of-the-road Romantic”. The tempo in the first movement is steady, (reminiscent of Klemperer’s magnificent traversal – without his gothic touches) although the Largo, at a few seconds under 12’, is on the flowing rather than fast side. In the Scherzo, he delineates every strand – again, like Klemperer – and highlights the delightful way various instruments mimic each other. In the Finale, the work’s ambivalent ending is emphasised. Recently, in this very publication, Mark Wigglesworth opined that the New World Symphony is essentially Czech (or Bohemian) and was inspired by homesickness as much as the wide open prairies and “big sky” of America. The MSO plays well, and I especially like the forward, fruity woodwind which give the work a “Czech” feel. I have two reservations: Otaka omits the first-movement exposition repeat. This, I feel, is a mistake because it renders the movement too short in relation to the subsequent slow movement. Second, I think he slows down a little too much for…

January 9, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: Gioia! (soprano: Aleksandra Kurzak; Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana/Wellber)

Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak is the real and dazzling deal. Her choice of repertoire for Gioia! may be on the conventional side, but if she invites comparison with the greats, she well and truly lives up to it, with performances whose technical brilliance is matched by stylish, sensitive artistry. The arias here represent some of the mainstays of Kurzak’s career – Violetta, Lucia, Susanna and so on – and her mastery of them is thrillingly apparent. Flawless coloratura and silvery top notes are underpinned by a timbre of surprising warmth and depth, and by a vivid and versatile vocal presence. She’s remarkably good at teenagers and coquettes, but a full-blooded and ferociously well-sung rendition of Violetta’s Act I aria proves they’re far from the limit of her talents, and as Musetta and Lauretta, she manages Puccini’s lyrical legatos as perfectly as any of the fireworks. Having aced all these repertoire favourites, Kurzak concludes with a rare treat from her native land: an aria from Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor, sung with radiant beauty. Omer Meir Wellber’s leadership of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana is strong and dramatically astute, but the laurels here belong overwhelmingly to Kurzak. A sensational début.  

January 9, 2012
CD and Other Review

Review: BRAHMS: Works for Cello and Piano (Zuill Bailey; Awadagin Pratt)

These two young Americans – Zuill Bailey (cello) and Awadagin Pratt (piano) – could have been born to perform these works. There is an absolute commitment in their performances; Bailey in particular stands out as one of the pre-eminent cellists of his generation, whose immaculate technical skills only serve his deep musicianship. The Brahms chamber music is somehow contradictory. On one hand the works embody Romanticism in full flight, yet the essence of Brahms is his rigorous intellectual honesty, even austerity. The two aspects should clash. Here, with these performers, the one illuminates the other. Brahms was a perfectionist and almost had to be forced to make some of his works available for performance. There are examples here, including the famous Sonatensatz, part of a scherzo written solely as a three-movement party diversion for the famous violinist Joachim, who was challenged to name which composer wrote each movement. Only after Brahms had died did Joachim realise the now-famous contribution deserved publication. The two Brahms Sonatas for Cello and Piano are presented here alongside eight short works. The sonatas show another contradictory aspect to Brahms’s oeuvre in that the First is seemingly the more thoughtful, while the Second, an older man’s…

December 15, 2011