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RECORDINGS
OF THE MONTH
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH York BOWEN (1884-1961) Piano
Concertos 3 & 4 
Danny
Driver, BBC Scottish SO/Martyn Brabbins rec. 2007 HYPERION
CDA67659 [60:49]
[IL] 
Derivative
but delightful. A wonderful romantic wallow ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Elgar:
A Self-Portrait Edward ELGAR (1857-1934)
Overture: Froissart, op.19 [13:29] Dream Children,
op.43 [6:50] The Music Makers, op.69 [38:41] Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750), orch. Elgar Fantasia and
Fugue in C minor, BWV 537/op.86 [8:58] Jane Irwin (mezzo)
Hallé Choir and Orchestra/Mark Elder rec. 2005
HALLÉ CD HLL 7509 [68:24]
[GPJ]
High
standards … a fascinating programme ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH George Frideric
HANDEL (1685-1759) Parnasso in Festa
The King’s Consort and Choir/Matthew Halls rec. 2008
HYPERION CDA67701/2 [72:25 + 59:26][BW]
A
very important discovery, excellently performed and recorded ... see
Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH George Frideric
HANDEL (1685-1759) Acis
and Galatea Susan
Hamilton, Nicholas Mulroy, Dunedin Consort and Players/John Butt
rec. 2008 LINN
CKD319 [41:19 + 53:59] 
[BW] 
Already
a strong contender for the 2009 Recording of the Year ... see Full
Review
RECORDING OF THE MONTH Pierluigi
da PALESTRINA (c.1525-1594) Live in Rome - Celebrating
Palestrina’s 400th Anniversary
The Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips
GIMELL GIMDP 903 
[81:34
+ 51:20][BW]
The
CD is excellent, the DVD even better ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Tandem Sergei
PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) Sonata for 2 violins Arthur
HONEGGER (1892-1955) Sonatine for 2 violins Eugène
YSAŸE (1858
- 1931) Sonata for 2 violins Frédéric
Angleraux,
Raphaël Oleg (violins)
rec. 1999 No label/number [58:05]
[MC]
Beautifully
produced and performed … A tremendous success ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Franz
SCHUBERT (1797–1828) Die
Winterreise Hans
Hotter (baritone); Michael Raucheisen (piano)
rec. 1942 MUSIC & ARTS
CD-1061 [75:50]
[GF] 
Belongs
among the Desert Island Disc recordings of Winterreise ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Eine
Alpensinfonie, Don Juan Royal
Concertgebouw O/Mariss Jansons
rec. live, 2007 RCO LIVE RCO08006 
[70:22]
[IL]
A
stunning Alpine ascent and a robust and opulent Don Juan ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Emily
Beynon: flute & friends Hilary TANN (b.1947) From the Song
of Amergin Amy BEACH (1867-1944) Theme and Variations Sally
BEAMISH (b.1956) Words For My Daughter Thea
MUSGRAVE (b.1928) Impromptu Louise
FARRENC (1804-1875) Trio Emily
Beynon (flute), Henk Rubingh, Marijn Mijnders (violins), Roland
Krämer (viola), Daniël Esser (cello), Sepp Grotenhuis (piano),
Alexei Ogrintschouk (oboe), Petra van der Heide (harp) rec. 2007 CHANNEL
CLASSICS CCSSA26408 [68:15]
[CR]
Unmissable
... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Diversity
- Amrywiaeth John
METCALF (b.1946) Light Music Alun
HODDINOTT (1929-2008) Sonata Brian
HUGHES (b.1938) Arithmetical Bagatelles Jeffrey
LEWIS (b.1942) Night Fantasy John
HEARNE (b.1937) Solemn and Strange Music Pwyll
ap SION (b.1968) Emyn Helen
and Harvey Davies (piano, four hands) rec. 2007 CAMPION
CAMEO 2073 [73:40] [DC]
World
class, in every regard ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Artur Rubinstein Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano
Sonata 23 Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Intermezzo
2 Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Carnaval Fryderyk
CHOPIN (1810-1849) Ballade 1,
Etude Franz LISZT (1811-1886) Hungarian
Rhapsody Heitor VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959) O
polichinelo rec. live, 1963 MEDICI
ARTS MM029-2 [80:45]
[JW]
I
can’t recall a live performance by Rubinstein to equal it ... see Full
Review
BARGAINS
OF THE MONTH
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Frédéric
CHOPIN (1810-1849) The
Complete Works Garrick
Ohlsson (piano)
rec. 1989-2000 HYPERION CDS44351/66 [16
CDs: 1155:35] [PL] 
A
rewarding bargain no Chopin-lover should resist ... see Full
Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Sir John TAVENER
(b.1944) Ex Maria Virgine – A Christmas
Sequence for Choir and Organ (2005)* 1[37:57] Birthday
Sleep (1999) [5:27] O, Do Not Move (1990) [2:00] A Nativity (1985)
[2:14]
Marienhymne (2005)* [4:42] O Thou Gentle Light (2000)2
[4:41] Angels (1985/96)3 [6:45]
James McVinnie (organ)1; Stefan Berkieta (baritone)2;
Simon Thomas Jacobs (organ)3 Choir of Clare College, Cambridge/Timothy
Brown rec. Norwich Cathedral, England, 6-8 July 2008. DDD. Texts
and translations included. * World Première Recording.
NAXOS 8.572168 [63:46]
[BW]
Major
new music, well worth coming to terms with ... see Full
Review
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]
[Recommended
recordings]
Over
a period of three years from December 2003,
I have spent a lot of time in the company
of Harry Partch – not literally, of course,
as he died in 1974, but working my way though
an article and some eight reviews that can
all be found on MusicWeb. Then, at the MusicWeb
annual lunch (January 2007), the name of John
Cage caught my ear. For reasons that my subconscious
was not prepared to divulge, my curiosity
was tickled. Partch and Cage have on occasion
been paired off, as a sort of American "Debussy
and Ravel" – was there any real connection
between them?
This
may come as a bit of an anticlimax but, other
than them both being American originals with
"far-out" ideas, I can’t really
think of one. In fact, they are more on the
lines of diametric opposites: with my tongue
ever-so-slightly in my cheek, I could say
that Partch was a seminal genius who got branded
as a crackpot, and Cage was a crackpot who
got branded as a seminal genius.
John
Cage (1912-92) was nothing if not controversial.
With his rise to prominence, an obliging World
split into two opposing camps. His supporters
saw him as a prime mover in the fields of
experimental and electronic music, with abiding
interests in "chance music", new
ways of using traditional instruments, and
practical application of his Zen Buddhist
beliefs.
His
detractors, the more radical of whom would
have preferred the "nothing" option,
complained that he just made a lot of silly
noise, did unspeakable things to the private
parts of otherwise perfectly respectable musical
instruments, and came up with a load of airy-fairy
claptrap to justify his bizarre buffoonery.
Partch,
who was renowned for his considered and candid
conclusions, didn’t have too high an opinion
of Cage: "When he was younger, I found
him rather charming, albeit shallow. Then
later, when he was famed for the opening of
doors to musical insight, I found myself obliged
to use the word ‘charlatan’ . . . Pretty sounds
do not necessarily make significant music,
and serious words frequently cloak hokum .
. . I’m all for common sounds as valid materials
[but] one has to have control, so that
his common sounds will mean something. . .
I feel that anyone who brackets me with Cage
is bracketing actual music with metaphysical
theories, and what I think is a serious effort
with exhibitionism." [Letter to Ben Johnston,
1952, reproduced in Innova Enclosure 3]
Who
is right – the "pro" camp or the
"anti"? You tell me. The only opinions
I can voice with rceiver, he fashioned 4’33"
supposedly to demonstrate that fact to the
rest of us. P
