RECORDING OF THE MONTH     CHOPIN Waltzes and Impromptus Vladimir Feltsman £11 post free World-wide VIVALDI The four seasons London Mozart Players/Juritz £12 post free World-wide BEETHOVEN Symphonies 4 and 5 LSO/Yondani Butt £12 post free World-wide

RECORDING OF THE MONTH

BUY NOW  AmazonUK   AmazonUS

On Photography Gavin BRYARS (b. 1943) And so ended Kant’s travelling in this world (1997) [7:50] Three poems of Cecco Angiolieri (1997) [14:00] On Photography (1983) [13:14] Arturs MASKATS (b. 1957) Da ispravitsja molitva moja (1936) [12:17] Valentin SILVESTROV (b. 1937) Diptychon (date of composition not given) [12:17] Janis Maleckis (piano); Gavin Bryars (harmonium); Edgars Saksons (percussion); Monta Martinsone (soprano); Gundars Dzilums (baritone), Ensemble Cosmos Latvian Radio Choir/Sigvards Klava (conductor), Kaspars Putnins (On Photography) rec. 10-14 January 2005, St. Johns Church; Riga Reformer’s Church, Riga Latvia. GBR RECORDS BCGBCD07 [70:39]

I’ll just kick things off with a bang and go on record as stating that this is one of the best choir discs I’ve heard in recent years. The Latvian Radio Choir handles difficult material with ease and with no noticeable sagging in pitch over the duration of these pieces. These new and unfamiliar works have a great beauty, hold the attention of the listener, and are works of quality. Quite simply, a stunning achievement. Of the pieces represented here, only the Diptychon by Silvestrov appears to have been previously available on commercial recording. All will likely be unfamiliar to most listeners. In this recording, for the first time, GB Records (Gavin Bryars’ own label) includes works by someone other than the man who established the label. Bryars is certainly well-represented here, with seven of the ten tracks by him; included here are two astounding works by Valentin Silvestrov and Arturs Maskats. All of these pieces — with the exception of one track — are a capella save for occasional percussion. The disc starts off with Bryars’s setting of a paragraph from de Quincey’s The Last Days of Immanuel Kant. The tonality is very much from that of early church music — a tone that carries us though the disc. The Maskats piece is the showstopper; a breathtaking setting of three verses of Psalm 141, starting with verse two. With child soprano Monta Martinsone repeating the line that titles the work ("let my prayer be set forth" in the King James translation - the work is sung in Russian), this section is a wonderful depiction of a fragile hope, of humility before God. By verse three the fear of sin is given expression through Gundars Dzilums’s ominous baritone. The choir builds as the urgency of the plea rises to the breaking-point. The pale hope, the fragile faith represented by the soprano returns. An absolutely stunning work. Next, the centrepiece of the album, Bryars’ On Photography has a lot to live up to after such a piece. It holds its own, though not as visceral or urgent. It is a setting in three movements of the poetry of Cardinal Pecci written in 1867, before he became Pope Leo XIII. It is written, like the other Bryars pieces, in a style steeped in early church music. The choir begins in octaves. The middle movement begins in unison, and for the first time on this disc we hear a harmonium and piano which maintain a barely-there presence. The middle movement’s 17 minute length overstays its welcome with extended Philip Glass-like noodling, but the work as a whole is quite affecting. The final piece, the Diptychon by Russian composer Valentin Silvestrov, begins with a beautiful setting of the Lord’s Prayer. It has a very Russian Orthodox flavour, with the higher voices shifting chords over a bass drone. At no point here or elsewhere does the Latvian Radio Choir wobble in its control over dynamics, pitch or expression. This ensemble has immense range vocally and emotionally; they display the range of both to great effect here. Recording and production values for this disc are superb, and the performances set a very high standard for any subsequent recordings of works that should be performed more widely. A triumph. David Blomenberg BUY NOW  AmazonUK   AmazonUS Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.