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Camille
SAINT–SAËNS (1835
– 1921) Cello Sonatas 1 & 2 
Mats Lidström (cello), Bengt Forsberg (piano) rec. 1999 DDD
HYPERION HELIOS CDH55342 [63:46]
[BBr]
I
cannot praise this disk too highly.
Camille
SAINT-SAËNS (1835–1921) Album pour Piano, Études
Mi-Joo Lee (piano)
MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM MDG 604 0590-2 [72:25]
[MC]
Excellent
playing - gloriously committed, fresh, confident and perceptive. This
deserves a wider circulation.
Camille
SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Music for wind instruments Clarinet Sonata, Oboe Sonata, Bassoon
Sonata Romance, Caprice, Tarantella
Canada’s National Arts Centre Wind Qnt, Stéphane Lemelin
(piano) rec. 2008
NAXOS 8.570964 [64:23]
[JS]
Charm
and entertainment in the company of humanity, skill and craftsmanship.
Camille
SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) The Complete Symphonies
l'ORTF Ntl O/Jean Martinon rec. 1972-5
EMI CLASSICS 6318042 [79:05 + 77:13]
[GD]
The
best of the few options available.
Pablo
de SARASATE (1844-1908) Zigeunerweisen see
TCHAIKOVSKY
Alessandro
SCARLATTI (1660-1750) Messa per il Santo Natale, Stabat
Mater see PERGOLESI
Domenico
SCARLATTI (1685-1757) Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol.
13
Chu-Fang Huang (pno) rec. 2008
NAXOS 8.572107 [67:04]
[MB]
Enough
to tempt the palate of the most jaded collector. The element of pleasant
surprise is still alive and well in the recording studio.
Franz
SCHMIDT (1873 – 1939) Symphony 4, Variations on a Hussar’s
Song
Malmö SO/Vasily Sinaisky rec. 2008/9
NAXOS 8.572118 [75:02]
[BBr]
There
are better versions of both works elsewhere.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Franz
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Piano Duets
Paul Lewis, Steven Osborne (piano) rec. 2010
HYPERION CDA67665 [76:06]
[DC]
A
perfect partnering: Schubert in all his brilliance and emotive power.
Franz
SCHUBERT
(1797-1828)
Piano Duets: Fantasia, Variations sur un thème original, Rondo, Duo
Irena
Kofman, André de Groote (piano) rec. 2008
TALENT DOM 2911 119 [64:43]
[DC]
A
two horse race in identical repertoire: alas with only one winner.
Franz
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Arpeggione Sonata, Piano Sonata
D784 Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Kinderszenen
Håvard
Gimse (piano) Henning Kraggerud (viola) rec. 2008
NAIM NAIMCD104 [61:50]
[RBe]
Gimse
and Kraggerud are clearly fine players but they both may need to look
to other repertoire to showcase their considerable talents.
Franz
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Octet
Fibonacci Sequence rec. 2008.
DEUX–ELLES DXL1145 [61:00]
[RMo]
A
fine version yet lacking the last degree of refinement and Viennese
charm.
Franz
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) String Quintet
London String Qt, Horace Britt (cello) rec. 1928
PRISTINE AUDIO XR PACM071 [43:30]
[JW]
The
LSQ were a very fine Schubert group, as their other surviving performances
demonstrate, and this is no exception.
Franz
SCHUBERT
(1797-1828) Vocal
Duets, Trios and Quartets
Elly Ameling (soprano) Janet Baker (mezzo) Peter Schreier, Horst Laubenthal
(tenors) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) Gerald Moore (piano) Rias
Kammerchor
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94082 [65:02 + 57:41]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Winterreise
Christian
Hilz (baritone) Eckart Sellheim (fortepiano)
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94053 [64:20]
[RB]
Two
new Schubert releases from the upstart label Brilliant Classics: one
extremely good and the other which didn’t appeal to me at all.
Franz
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Piano sonata see
In the mists
Robert
SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Transcriptions for Cello
and Piano
Francesco Dillon (cello) Emanuele Torquati (piano) rec. 2010
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94060 [62:53 + 52:14]
[RB]
Artistically
well advocated, generous and sensibly priced.
Robert
SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Manfred - Overture, Symphonies
2 & 4
NBC SO/Arturo Toscanini/Bruno Walter, rec. 1940, 1946
GUILD GHCD 2362 [69:22]
[JW]
Walter
didn’t record the Second and Toscanini didn’t record the Fourth, so
there is symmetry at work here.
Robert
SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Kinderszenen see SCHUBERT
Robert
SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Symphonies 1-4 see
Sir Adrian Boult
Alexander
SCRIABIN (1872-1915) The Complete Mazurkas
Boris
Bekhterev (piano) rec. 2010
CAMERATA CMCD-28222 [68:03]
[SS]
Bekhterev’s
natural affinity and understanding of Scriabin shines through.
Aleksandr
SCRIABIN (1872-1915)
Sonata 4 see BRAHMS
Alexander
SCRIABIN (1872 – 1915) La Poème d'Extase see
HIGDON
William
SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616) Romeo and Juliet
Ellie
Kendrick, Adetomiwa Edun, Dominic Dromgoole (dir.) rec. 2009
OPUS ARTE OA1029D 
[101.77
+ 66.56] 
[MM-B]
It
is probably the closest you will ever get to experiencing a “real” performance,
as it would have been when Shakespeare was alive.
Dmitri
SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Symphony 10
London SO/Maxim Shostakovich rec. 1990
ALTO ALC1083 [59:30]
[RB]
Understated,
highly individual, telling. A work you thought you knew.
Dmitri
SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Violin Concerto 2, Symphony 15
David Oistrakh (violin) Moscow PO/Kyrill Kondrashin rec. 1967/74
ALTO ALC1062 [70:21]
[RB]
Atmosphere
and concentration you could cut with a knife.
Jean
SIBELIUS (1865-1957) Symphony 1, Karelia Suite,
The Swan of Tuonela, Finlandia
Royal PO/Sir Alexander Gibson rec. 1989
ALTO ALC1089 [65:26]
[RB]
Plenty
of vibrancy but no lack of careful and sensitive dynamic gradation and
spatial sense.
Jean
SIBELIUS (1865 – 1957) Symphonies 1 & 3
New Zealand SO/Pietari Inkinen rec. 2009
NAXOS 8.572305 [70:04]
[BBr]
This
bodes well for a complete cycle from Inkinen and the NZSO.
Valentin
SILVESTROV
(b. 1937)
Sacred Works
Kiev Chamber Ch/Mykola Hobdych rec. 2006/07
ECM NEW SERIES 2117 (476 3316) [75:23]
[JW]
Bass-hewn
Eastern Orthodoxy to Elysian refinement, carried on the winds of Silvestrov’s
meaningful harmonic shifts. A splendid disc.
Christian
SINDING (1856-1941) Suite see KORNGOLD
Alvin
SINGLETON (b.1940) Praisemaker see HIGDON
Kaikhosru
SORABJI (1892-1988)
100
Transcendental Studies for piano (1940-44): Nos 44-62
Fredrik Ullén (piano) rec. 2006
BIS BIS-CD-1713 [80:25]
[RB]
Refulgent
hyper-Szymanowskian writing, angry dissonance, delightfully stirring
jewelled veils.
John
Philip SOUSA (1854-1932) Marches
The Great American Main Street Band/Timothy Foley rec. 1990
EMI CLASSICS 6411222 [66:33]
[JS]
For
anyone wanting just a single disc of Sousa it might well be just right.
Walter
STEFFENS (b.1934) Guernica and Other Paintings
Frierich Flamme (organ) Rainer Schmidt (viola) Northwest German Phil/János
Kulka, North German RSO & Ch/Helmut Franz, Klaud Weise rec. 2005
LABOR
RECORDS LAB 7084 [77:37]
[RB]
Steffens
takes with utmost seriousness the transcribing of music from paintings.
The results are fascinating and can hold the attention without fore-knowledge
that what you hear began as something seen by the composer.
Johann STRAUSS Jr (1825-1899) Waltzes &
Polkas see RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Richard
STRAUSS (1864 – 1949) Amor - Opera Scenes
and Lieder
Natalie Dessay (soprano) Felicity Lott (soprano) Angelika Kirchschlager
(mezzo) Sophie Koch (mezzo) Thomas Allen (baritone) Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden O/Antonio Pappano rec. 2004
VIRGIN CLASSICS 6419332 [65.35]
[RH]
This
disc is something of a curiosity.
Igor
STRAVINSKY
(1882-1971)
The Rite of Spring, Petrushka
Rex Lawson (pianola) rec. 1991
NIMBUS RECORDS NI 2577 [71:37] [JW]
This
is fascinating.
Sir
Arthur SULLIVAN (1862-1900)
Pineapple Poll, Henry VIII Suite, Victoria and Merrie
England Suite
Philharmonia O/Sir Charles Mackerras, Royal PO/Royston Nash rec. 1974-82
DECCA
ELOQUENCE 480 1284 [66:12]
[JF]
An
important release: Pineapple Poll is the main event and is given the
definitive performance.
Peter
Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY
(1840-1893) The
six symphonies and the tone poems
Russian National Orchestra/Mikhail Pletnev rec. Moscow, 1993-96. DDD
DEUTSCHE
GRAMMOPHON UNIVERSAL COLLECTORS EDITION 477 8699 [7 CDs: 488:17]
[RB]
Admirable
with a great sense of three-dimensional imaging and satisfyingly emotional
musical insight.
Pyotr
Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Symphonies 4-6, Serenade, Moscow, Nutcracker suite
Russian Federation Large SO/Gennady Rozhdestvensky rec. 1988-92
ALTO ALC 1104/5/6 [72:35 + 70:50 + 67:43]
[RB]
Another
Rozhdestvensky Tchaikovsky cycle emerges from the shadows - unruly vitality
yet taut control. A superb Pathetique.
Pyotr
Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840 – 1893) Symphony 4
Gioachino ROSSINI (1792–1868)
La Cenerentola Overture
NBC SO/Guido Cantelli rec. 1954
PRISTINE AUDIO PASC 245 [49:04] Pyotr
Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphony 4, Serenade
Boston SO/Serge Koussevitzky rec. 1949
PRISTINE AUDIO PASC 247 [75:06] [BBr]
Both
performances are worthy of attention.
Pyotr
Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1849-1893) Serenade for Strings,
Souvenir de Florence
do.gma CO/Mikhail Gurewitsch
MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM 912 1654-6 
[65:01] [GD]
This
recording tries to bring the works together somewhere between the symphonic
and chamber music worlds. That might provide continuity across the programme,
but does both works a disservice.
Pyotr
Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Piano trio Sergei
RACHMANINOV (1873-1943) Trio élégiaque
Gould Piano Trio
CHAMPS HILL RECORDS CHRCD 012 [65:44]
[IL]
Polished
performances of two outstanding works in the Piano Trio genre.
Pyotr
Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Romeo and Juliet,
Capriccio Italien, Francesca da Rimini, Eugene Onegin
(excerpts)
Moscow State SO/Pavel Kogan, rec. 1990
ALTO ALC 1033 [68:22]
[RB]
I
urge all true Tchaikovskians to hear this disc.
Pyotr
Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Violin Concerto Julius CONUS (1869-1942)
Violin Concerto Pablo de SARASATE (1844-1908)
Zigeunerweisen Erich Wolfgang KORNGOLD
(1897-1957) Violin Concerto
Jascha Heifetz (violin) Philharmonia O/Walter Susskind, RCA Victor SO/Isler
Solomon, William Steinberg, Los Angeles PO/Alfred Wallenstein rec. 1950-3
NAXOS
HISTORICAL 8.111359 [79:12]
[JW]
Marvellously
communicative, quiveringly intense and breathtakingly virtuosic violin
playing.
Pyotr
Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Sérénade mélancolique, Valse-Scherzo
see PAGANINI
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Jukka TIENSUU
(b. 1948) Vie Missa, False Memories I-III
Kari Kriikku (clarinet) Helsinki PO/John Storgårds rec. 2009/10
ONDINE ODE 1166-2 [64:34]
[HC]
A
most desirable addition to Tiensuu’s discography … magnificent.
Ralph
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
(1872-1958) An Oxford Elegy, Flos Campi, Te Deum
Jack May (narrator) Roger Best (viola) Christ Church Cathedral Ch, Oxford,
English String O/Stephen Darlington rec. 1989
NIMBUS NI5166 [52:20]
[WH][RB]
Creditable
performances for the most part, but let down by the sound. [WH] This
disc, modestly timed, brings together two of my favourite works by Vaughan
Williams in fine performances and adds three choral celebrations. [RB]
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH
Ralph
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) On Wenlock Edge Peter
Warlock (1894-1930) The Curlew
James Griffett (tenor) Haffner String Qt rec. 1973
REGIS RRC 1316 [64:47]
[RB]
Classic
and very individual recordings of English song. Do not be put off by
their nearly forty year old analogue origins.
Ralph
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) Three Shakespeare Songs
see Full
fathom five
Ralph
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) Symphony 6 see
ELGAR
Ralph
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) Songs of Travel see
Let Beauty Awake
Giuseppe
VERDI (1813-1901) Otello
Simon O'Neill, Anne Schwanewilms, Gerald Finley, Allan Clayton, Eufemia
Tufano, London SO & Ch/Sir Colin Davis rec. 2009
LSO LIVE LSO0700 [64:27
+ 66:54]
[JP]
Distinguished
by the fire and brimstone conducting of the ageless Sir Colin Davis
and O’Neill’s tireless, stentorian intensity and lovely Italianate refinement.
Giuseppe
VERDI (1813-1901) Otello
Wolfgang Windgassen (tenor) Sena Jurinac (soprano) Norman Mittelmann
(baritone) Wiener Staatsoper Ch, Wiener Sängerknaben, Süddeutsch
RSO/Argeo Quadri rec. 1965
ARTHAUS 101 505 [134:00]
[GF]
For
the historically inclined reader this is a real treat.
Giuseppe
VERDI (1813-1901) Aida
Montserrat Caballé, Placido Domingo, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Royal Opera Ch,
New PO/Riccardo Muti rec. 1974
EMI CLASSICS 5406302 [3 CDs: 39.42 + 41.14 + 65.25 + bonus disc]
[RJF]
Despite
limitations this is still a vivid recording with some excellent Verdi
singing of a quality hard to match today.
Giuseppe
VERDI (1813 – 1901) Aida
Iano Tamar (soprano) Tatiana Serjan (soprano) Rubens Pelizzari (tenor)
Camerata Silesia, Polish Radio Choir Krakow, Bregenzer Festspielchor,
Wiener SO/Carlo Rizzi rec. live, 2009
UNITEL CLASSICA 702308 [135:00]
[GF]
Innovative
for sure. One can marvel at ideas that suddenly illuminate the proceedings
but just as often one thinks: ‘What’s the point of this?’
Opera
Open Air Giuseppe
VERDI (1813-1901) Aida, Nabucco, La Traviata
Georges BIZET (1838-1870) Carmen
National
Theatre Brno Ch & O, Europa SO, Slovak PO & Ch/Ernst Märzendorfer
rec. 2004-8 EUROARTS 2058208 [4DVDs:
150:00 + 165:00 + 122:00 + 134:00]
[RJF]
Poor
singing in one of the four operas spoils the magnificent setting and
spectacular staging, but a bargain at the price.
Giuseppe
VERDI (1813-1901) Rigoletto
Juan Diego Florez, Zeljko Lucic, Diana Damrau, Staatsoper Dresden/Fabio
Luisi rec. 2008
VIRGIN CLASSICS 6418689
[137:00] [RF]
It
will be a few years yet before Juan Diego Florez brings to Verdi’s music
the vocal skills and nuance evident in his singing of the bel canto
composers.
Louis
VIERNE (1870 – 1937) Le poème de l’amour, Psyché,
La ballade du désespéré
Michael Bundy (baritone) Jeremy Filsell (piano) rec. 2003-7
NAXOS 8.572346 [62:48]
[BBr]
Vierne’s
musical world as displayed here is of little interest.
Henri
VIEUXTEMPS (1820-1881) Viola Sonata see
CLARKE
Heitor
VILLA-LOBOS
(1887-1959) Choros Vols 1-3
Cristina Ortiz (piano); São Paolo Symphony Orchestra/John Neschling
rec. 2003-6
BIS BIS-CD-1440, 1450 & 1520
[BW]
Try
any of these three recordings – the second volume is a good place to
start – and you’ll want all three.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Antonio VIVALDI
(1678-1741)
L'Estro Armonico Concertos
Mercury Baroque/Antoine Plante rec.2010
MERCURY BAROQUE/HPR 84501 38529 [66:14]
[DB]
Eight
concertos from Vivaldi's great L'Estro Armonico, performed as well as
it is possible to imagine and excellently recorded.
Antonio
VIVALDI (1678-1741) Ottone in Villa
Julia Lezhneva, Veronica Cangemi, Roberta Invernizzi (soprano) Sonia
Prina (alto) Topi Lehtipuu (tenor) Il Giardino Armonico/Giovanni Antonini,
rec. 2010
NAÏVE OP30493 [76:59 + 57:36]
[MS]
Another
success in Naïve's Vivaldi Edition: not the most profound or original
Baroque opera ever written; but one which enthusiasts shouldn't miss.
Richard
WAGNER (1813-1883) Tannhäuser
Lucia Popp, Waltraud Meier, Siegfried Jerusalem, Kurt Moll, Bavarian
RSO & Ch/Bernard Haitink, rec. 1985
EMI CLASSICS OPERA 6408002 [3 CDs: 56:07 + 66:51 + 50:41]
[BW]
A
welcome reissue with a considerable price advantage over Sinopoli and
Solti.
George
WALKER (b. 1922) Chamber Music and Songs
Janet Stasio (sop.) Patricia Green (mezzo) James Martin (bar.) Sona
Sonora Str Qt, Capitol Chamber Artists, Videmus Ens, Cygnus Ens, George
Walker (pno) rec. 1994-2008
NAXOS 8.559659 [74:23]
[WK]
An
interesting variety of works from one of America’s senior composers.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH
Peter Warlock (1894-1930) The Curlew see
VAUGHAN
WILLIAMS
Mieczysław
WEINBERG (1919-1996) Chamber Symphonies 1 & 4
Umeå SO/Thord Svedlund rec. 1998
ALTO ALC1036 [62:10]
[RB] Mieczysław
WEINBERG (1919-1996) Symphony 2, Chamber Symphony 2
Umeå SO/Thord Svedlund rec. 1998
ALTO ALC1037 [56:48]
[RB]
Warm
and sumptuous recordings of four twentieth century classics of the North
European string orchestra genre.
Józef
WIENIAWSKI (1837-1912) Piano Concerto see
GOETZ
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Hugo
WOLF (1860-1903) Mörike-Lieder
Wolfgang
Holzmair (baritone) Imogen Cooper (piano)
WIGMORE HALL LIVE WHLIVE0029 [73:25]
[CC]
Magnificently
focused, with little or no sense of strain … seemingly infinite sensitivity.
A very special disc.
Eugène
YSAŸE
(1858-1931) Ysaÿe
Impressions Six Sonatas for violin solo, Op. 27
Wojciech Koprowski (violin) rec. 2008/9
CD ACCORD ACD 147-2 [65:01]
[AM]
For all his technical command, he rarely engages
with the score’s implicit demand to reproduce Ysaÿe’s idea of style
and sound.
Click
for alphabetical listings by composer:
[Part
1 New] [Part
2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R] [Part
5 S-Z]
[Part 6 Misc A-L] [Part
7 Misc M-Z]
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