Anyone with an interest
in recorded music will remember Robert
Woods and Jack Renner’s early Telarc
LPs, many of which went on to become
demonstration discs. I have fond memories
of Lorin Maazel’s Tchaikovsky Fourth
and Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition,
not to mention the Kunzel/Cincinnati
1812 Overture with its warning
sticker on the sleeve. Of course Renner
and Woods were just pushing the audio
envelope as RCA and Mercury had done
before them, and it is remarkable how
good these recordings still sound today.
American Jubilee,
recorded between 1985 and 1987, is the
kind of orchestral workout that shows
both the orchestra and engineers to
best advantage. Renner and Woods capture
the natural heft, energy and bite in
this music and when it comes to sheer
panache the Cincinnati Pops yield little
or nothing to their rivals in Boston.
John Williams’ Liberty
Fanfare has a cinematic sweep –
indeed one can almost see the giant
credits rolling up the screen – while
the traditional Yankee Doodle Dandy
with its distant martial opening looks
backwards to a more traditional celebratory
style. The overall dynamics in both
are superbly judged, the muffled bass
drum and crisp side drums in the latter
especially well recorded.
William Schuman’s arrangement
of Ives’ Variations on ‘America’
strikes a different note again; there
is a more symphonic style here but when
‘that’ tune steals in for the first
time we are reminded of Ives the maverick.
It’s a terrific piece, each variation
more outlandish than the last. Listen
out for those subterranean bass-drum
thwacks, something of a Renner/Woods
speciality.
The selections from
Gottschalk’s Cakewalk were reconstructed
and orchestrated for a 1951 ballet by
Hershy Kay. Coming straight after Ives’
rogueish writing the orchestration may
seem a little plain but the ungainly
little Wallflower Waltz should
raise a smile or two. (Incidentally,
anyone wanting to explore more of Gottschalk’s
œuvre should sample pianist Philip
Martin’s definitive series on Hyperion.)
Chadwick, who studied
in Leipzig, combines American joie
de vivre with a more sober Germanic
symphonic style. It is a pleasing juxtaposition,
reminiscent of Dvořák
at times, but the lingering air of old
Europe is quickly dissipated by a riotous
coda.
Few pieces can be more
emblematic of the American south than
Dan Emmett’s Dixie (also popular
in the north as Dixie for the Union).
Kunzel and his band really bring
out the parade atmosphere, with strumming
banjos and sawing fiddles. Another tune
with its roots in the Civil War is the
stirring Battle Hymn of the Republic.
According to David Loebel’s detailed
liner notes the piece has its origins
in the camp-meeting hymn ‘Say, Brothers,
Will You Meet Us On Canaan’s Happy Shore?’
which mutated into ‘John Brown’s Body’.
The Twelfth Massachusetts Regiment then
turned it into a march, to which the
abolitionist and poet Julia Howe Ward
added the words we know today.
The May Festival Chorus,
one of the oldest and most prestigious
of its kind in America, brings genuine
nobility and some lovely hushed singing
to a piece somewhat out of synch with
21st-century cynicism. It
is all the better for being sung with
restraint rather than in the grandiose
choral style of, say, the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir. That said it has moments of real
grandeur and ends with a tummy-wobbling
contribution from the organ. As always
the Telarc team achieve a thrilling,
believable soundstage.
Although this is a
disc of ‘patriotic tunes’ Kunzel keeps
a judicious hand on the tiller throughout,
even in works such as Gould’s tub thumper
American Salute. From the same
period (the Second World War) comes
a rather different celebration – this
time of peace and the joys of community
– in Copland’s Variations on a Shaker
Melody from Appalachian Spring.
Although the original ballet suite has
been ruthlessly overplayed on the airwaves
Kunzel still manages to convey much
of the work’s rustic charm.
Another celebration,
this time a sophisticated metropolitan
one, with the Broadway medley by composer
and lyricist George M. Cohan. Here the
Cincinnatians really throw themselves
into the music, giving it a genuine
swing and shimmy that bands this side
of the pond, good as they are, never
quite seem to manage.
The disc ends with
three of the most iconic American pieces.
Irving Berlin’s God Bless America
was penned at the end of one war in
1918 and pressed into service at the
beginning of another in 1938. Once again
one appreciates Kunzel’s restrained
approach to music that can so easily
become overblown. The percussion and
organ are superbly caught, the latter
bringing splendid weight to the proceedings.
The drum roll and orchestral
prelude of America the Beautiful
has the same sweep of Williams’ Fanfare,
evoking the craggy landscapes and open
skies of Ansel Adams and John Ford.
As a finale the Sousa, with its mix
of Habsburg elegance and new world swagger,
may not have quite the frisson
one expects from this showpiece but
then that is typical of Kunzel’s general
approach. That said, the May Festival
Chorus certainly ratchet up the decibels
with their splendidly incisive singing
at the close.
My review copy has
a sticker on the jewel case proclaiming
‘HiFi – Good Value’ and that says it
all really. Hifi buffs will certainly
rejoice in this spectacular recording
but those who just want to hear the
music will find plenty to enjoy as well.
Dan Morgan
for details
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
