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	ARENSKY Egyptian Nights     Moscow SO/ Dmitry Yablonsky    MARCO POLO 8.225028 (50:43)
		Crotchet

This is ballet music written in the true classical Russian ballet tradition. Arensky has employed basic North African musical forms in movements like the Dance of the Egyptian Girls but blended them with familiar Slavonic idioms in such a way that the 1908 audience must have felt as though it had barely left St. Petersburg. ln fact the "Pas de deux" Tempo di valse sounds rather incongruous.

Here is a very brief idea of the story to help readers visualise the mood of the music and the production of the ballet. Amoun an accomplished hunter and friend of the High Priest, is betrothed to nice country girl Berenice. Then Cleopatra arrives and Amoun is smitten by her beauty to such an extent that he shoots an arrow into a tree above her head with a message attached declaring his love. Cleopatra is not amused. Even though she is struck by Amoun's handsome good looks and grants him the kiss he desires, she orders that he must die by poison, at the first light of day. Mark Anthony appears and goes off with Cleopatra after Amoun has drunk the lethal potion. But the ballet ends happily for the High Priest has given Amoun only a harmless drug and he is reunited with the for-giving Berenice.

The Music is pleasant enough throughout if not particularly memorable. The influence of Tchaikovsky is very apparent: so too is that of Rimsky-Korsakov (Arensky was one of his students). Not surprisingly therefore, Arensky's instrumentation is sparkling and very colourful. The music often suggests languid, perfumed nights in lush, sensuous surroundings, and it is frequently delicate and gossamer-like. The contrasting ceremonial music for the arrival of Cleopatra and, later, Mark Anthony is suitably imposing and. once or twice, it sounds oddly Elgarian.

The Moscow Symphony Orchestra clearly revels in this repertoire and it plays with spirit and enjoyment. Soloists Alexander Avratnenko (violin) and Vladimir Kolpashnikov (cello) shine in their movements (erroneously credited on the CD's cue page). Avramenko's ardent, romantic playing in the Poisoning Scene suggests that Cleopatra's kiss before the lethal brew is handed to Amoun, must have been lingering and passionate.

An enjoyable bit of escapism.

Reviewer

Ian Lace

"This review originally appeared in Fanfare (Nov/Dec 1997) and is reproduced by kind permission of that publication"

	Howard BLAKE A Month in the Country; Violin Concerto "The Leeds"; Sinfonietta for 10 brass instruments. Christiane Edinger (violin) English Northern Philharmonia conducted by Paul Daniel ASV CD DCA 905
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	ERNEST BLOCH (1880-1959) - BLOCH PERFORMS BLOCH Schelomo (Hebrew Rhapsody) for cello and orchestra (1916) *, From Jewish Life for cello and piano (1924) **, Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh) for baritone, choir and orchestra ***. Zara Nelsova (cello) *, Aron Marko Rothmüller ***, London Philharmonic Choir ***, LPO * ***, Composer * ** ***  Recorded 1949 (mono) Jewish Musical Heritage Recordings SMHR CD015 [73:32] The CD can be ordered from the Trust for £13.49 plus £1 Post and Packing in UK and £2 outside UK. Phone 0181 909 2445 Fax 0181 909 1030. E-mail enquiries to jewishmusic@jmht.org. (please check that these prices are still valid)

I have been interested in the music of Ernest Bloch ever since hearing a Radio 3 broadcast of his opera Macbeth (Swiss Radio recording). Later I heard Schelomo, the Rhapsody America, the Violin Concerto (Menuhin) and the Concerti Grossi. I had heard the Sacred Service before in an earlier Chandos recording (CD release - 1989) but it made little impact at the time.

Jewish Musical Heritage Recordings have done a great service to music-lovers and collectors (not always exclusive categories!) by reissuing these recordings from the Decca archive. They comprise recordings made by Bloch during his visit to London in 1949 and were associated with concert performances. The celebrity point of the visit was the premiere of his 1949 Concerto Symphonique for piano and orchestra. This was premiered at the Edinburgh Festival and broadcast live on the then Third Programme (BBC). The soloist was American pianist Corinne Lacomblé. The composer conducted. Unfortunately that work was not recorded at the time .. at least not commercially by Decca. Does it survive on acetate somewhere?

The concerts including a Prom offered Schelomo (soloist Nelsova), Suite Symphonique (1944) and the first performance in London of Sacred Service. The artists went into the Decca recording studios shortly afterwards. Schelomo has been recorded by many cellists but this is something special being both a vibrant projection of the music and one conducted by the composer. Nelsova herself studied the work with the composer and of her three recordings said she liked the one with him (the first) the best.

These are al lhistoric recordings in mono and they do not have the sonic richness of a modern recording. They do however have an immensely more vibrant musical richness (try Schelomo at 7:03). The years have taken their toll on the sound quality which can be coarse-grained. This is especially noticeable at the start of Schelomo. The ears soon adjusts to this. The work itself is inspired by the Book of Ecclesiastes and Vanity of Vanities. Bloch’s own notes refer to the work’s momentary joy in sensual pleasures and the sharpness and utter negation inherent in the realisation that it is all evanescent. This sense of negation ends the work. Nelsova seems to have absorbed the essence of the work and projects it with conviction. I came to know the Dvorák Cello Concerto through a tape of one of Nelsova’s BBC broadcasts. It is good to hear her again and I can only hope that she will be invited back to perform with the London and other British orchestras.

The Three Sketches ‘From Jewish Life’ (cello and piano) are soulfully gentle, tentative and quietly exotic. There are no grand outbursts. Instead the mood is sustained across all three brief movements. Nelsova brings the same concentration and inwardness to her playing that we hear in Schelomo.

Sacred Service has not had that many recordings over the years. I can recall the Chandos LP and was there a Bernstein version? The recording quality is the best of the three works here and the choral singing comes over with satisfying depth. The orchestral passages (track 5) come over with a glittering savage grandeur. Interesting that the devotional atmosphere is contrasted with a certain wildness. Aron Marko Rothmüller’s voice is darkly intense although at times his slight vibrato is a distraction and he clearly finds Lift Up Your Heads a strain. At track 6 3:10 there is an exotic march-like figure which seems to stride right out of a Vaughan Williams (or Holst) choral score. There are many attractions in the score but overall the steady pacing and consistently elevated tone of the work does not consistently hold the attention .. or at least not mine. The performance seems dedicated as would be expected.

I rather hope that JHMT will now seek out other archive recordings of Bloch. Any chance of finding a decent tape of Macbeth (I predict widespread interest in that one)? Concerto Symphonique is on a Vanguard CD. The Rhapsody ‘America’ is on Delos. I believe there is a commercial recording of the Israel Symphony (Vanguard again) but I have never seen a recording of the very early ‘Symphonic Fresco’ Helvetia. Interesting that Bloch chose to celebrate his birth and adopted homelands in such an explicit way. Recordings of the Symphonic Suite, Concerto Grosso for quartet and strings and the viola concertino would be interesting.

There are thorough notes by Alexander Knapp and an interview with Zara Nelsova (happily still with us). Nelsova reminisces about the composer and her visits to his Oregon home. This reminds us that in researching the life and music of a composer CD booklets must not be ignored. The booklet is splendidly detailed. Trilingual notes (English French German).

This generously-timed CD recommends itself very strongly to Bloch enthusiasts. Nelsova fans will also do well to get the disc as will anyone concerned with performance styles and the role of the composer as conductor/performer. For the general listener Schelomo would be the best introduction to Bloch and there are quite a few modern stereo recordings around although I doubt that many can match the musical spirit of Nelsova’s and Bloch’s partnership. This disc represents a wonderfully rewarding project bringing largely forgotten though important recordings back into availability.

Reviewer

Robert Barnett

I would be very interested to hear of any private non-commercial radio tapes that may exist documenting Bloch’s conducting of or involvement in his other works. It would be surprising if none existed given that he died in 1959.

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	WALTON Violin Concerto (1939) * BRITTEN Violin Concerto (1939 rev 1950) ** Sergej Azizian (violin) Copenhagen PO * cond Giordano Bellincampi ** cond Osmo Vanska. recorded 1996/97 Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen ClassicO CLASSCD 233 [63:58]
		Crotchet

Two romantically-inclined English violin concertos played by a Russian violinist working in Denmark, a Danish orchestra plus two conductors, one Finnish, the other Italian - all recorded by a Danish label.

These words are by way of introduction, not criticism. I am not a believer in the only true voice for British music being by British artists. The chances of good music travelling would be virtually non-existent without orchestras worldwide being willing to explore and record music from other states and cultures.

The self-same coupling of concertos exists in the EMI catalogue where the soloist is the vivaciously-toned and fiery Ida Haendel (Bournemouth SO/Paavo Berglund). That recording dates from the 1980s and is now rather long in the tooth though astoundingly freshly-minted as a performance.

The two concertos date from the same year, written in the shadow of World War 2. Their composers stand at opposite ends of the style divide and yet these two concertos are spiritually close. The Britten is amongst his most romantic works running contrary to his usual style. The Walton is a vital example of his own true language.

Azizian is a powerful player though occasionally harsh in the sounds he conjures. He does not have the high-powered consistently tense approach of a Heifetz or an Oistrakh.

The Britten concerto performance rates highly, delicately stepping the line between neo-classicism and neo-romanticism, leaning more often into the latter. Vanska already has a well-justified and good reputation arising from his work with BIS and with the BBC Scottish SO. From the V-for-Victory figure at the opening through to the Prokofiev echoes (violin concerto No 1) and the uncharacteristic (for Britten) relaxation into succulent romance, this performance is extremely engaging and is in good sound. Only in the third movement before the twittering and flickering fantasy interlude does the work seem to wander and lose concentration.

Vanska surrenders the podium to (the, to me, totally unheard of) Giordano Bellincampi for the Walton concerto.

The Walton work (with its heritage in Elgar's much earlier concerto) is a classic of late late-romanticism; a passionate (Heifetz-dedicated and championed) work both loving and erotic, soaked in a Mediterranean glowing blue-green sea-swell. It is a work which appeals to me strongly. I rate the no-holds-barred recordings by Zino Francescatti (CBS/Sony) and Ida Haendel (EMI) very highly.

The first movement is nicely pitched in terms of breathing ebb and flow. What leaves me feeling dissatisfied is the recessed balance of the orchestra in which Walton has embedded much of the poetry of the work. Azizian is passionate and driven although he is not aided by an orchestra or recording that presents the ensemble as having a less than silkily sumptuous and golden upholstered sound. There is much to enjoy, not least the myriad moments of artful colouring presented by Azizian. He has a good sense of fantasy. The orchestra sounds somewhat disengaged and the outlines of the climactic spasm at 8:30 (first movement) are softened and blurred. This happens quite often in the orchestra and is a definite disadvantage. So what we have here is a very strong and poetically motivated soloist whose identification with the 'jolt and charge' of the music seems not to be consistently matched by the orchestra.

The helpful notes are in English only and are by the 'house' writer for ClassicO, Mogens Wenzel Andreason.

The playing time is not that generous by many standards but is perfectly respectable as indeed are the performances. There is nothing here that would put off the first time listener to these works. Clarity and a natural approach to recording balance have a great deal to commend them. I expect to hear more of Azizian on the international stage and in due time this recording is likely to become a collectors' item amongst violinist fanciers.

Reviewer

Rob Barnett

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	Anton BRUCKNER Symphony No.4 in E flat major, "Romantic" (1878/80 version, ed. Haas) Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by George Tintner Naxos 8.554128
		Crotchet

 

I was prompted to hear this recording after reading so many glowing reviews by mycolleagues. Is it as good as they say it is? Yes, it is! Tintner's dedication and scrupulously meticulous attention to Bruckner's enormous, monumental score is clearly evident in every bar.

Tintner's Bruckner scholarship deeply impresses too, as his CD booklet notes reveal. How many other conductors will insist on this level of commitment?

Tintner is exemplary in his pacing, phrasing and shading, carefully controlled crescendos - beginning softly and working slowly, inevitably but unhurriedly forwards - and in his terracing of the great majestic climaxes to achieve the maximum impact that Bruckner surely desired. The misty, hushed strings opening of the first movement with its horn calls and answering woodwinds is magical. Just listen to how seamlessly yet powerfully Tintner shapes this opening into the radiant main theme with its glorious fanfare decorations. Tintner offers some fascinating interpretative insights of the detail of this movement in his notes.

The gentle funeral march and the lovely long-spanned song for the violas supported by the plucked notes of the other strings of the second movement is handled with considerable finesse while the famous hunting scherzo horn music blazes out most thrillingly. (Tintner tells us that the "... wonderful Trio represents the hunters unpacking and eating their cheese!").

This symphony was written originally in 1874 but Bruckner radically revised its detail in 1877-78.

In 1880 he composed yet another Finale and this is the version that is usually played (as in this performance). As Tintner says: "It is considered by some to be sombre for the rest of the work, but I do not share this view and think it is the crowning glory of this wonderful symphony..." His glowing and majestic reading, contrasting light and shade, innocent charm and strong assertive heroics, is a strong advocate for his argument. This has to be the new benchmark recording of Bruckner's 4th Symphony.

Reviewer

Ian Lace

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	EISLER The Hollywood Songbook Matthias Goerne (baritone) and Eric Schneider (piano) DECCA 460 582-2 [70:09]
		Crotchet

This new CD of music for silent and early sound films is of interest to film music enthusiasts for several reasons. First, little music survives from the European films of this period. Second, it includes documentaries - for which we have hardly any music. And, lastly it celebrates a "lost" film composer, a musician of considerable ability.

Eisler was a wonderful writer for voices, as we are now rediscovering with his Hollywood Songbook, his choral Deutsche Simfonie and his songs for the plays of Berthold Brecht - a few are included on this disc. He was also a talented orchestral composer but most of all he was a musician who believed that music should be at the service of everyone. Sadly, he had the great misfortune to be a German, a Jew, a communist and working in the middle years of this century. Consequently he managed to fall foul of the Nazis, the US un-American Activities Committee and finally, the East German Communists during a creative and productive life. A rotund and smiling little man, sometimes he had little to be happy about.

If he is known by film music lovers at all it is usually for the scores he wrote for RKO studios in Hollywood from 1943 to 1947. Or for his co-authorship of the 1947 book, Composing For the Films. Yet he had begun scoring in Germany in 1924 for a Walter Ruttmann experimental film and the Suites on this disc represent his main work immediately after that.

In Suite No. 2 the music from the 1931 pacifist story Niemandsland (GER.dir Viktor Trivas - all copies destroyed by the Nazis) establishes Eisler's pre-war style immediately. Jazzy, with atmospheric woodwind writing, black and white montages create themselves in your mind.

Suite No. 4 is from a 1932 documentary made by the great Dutch film maker, Joris Ivens. Called Pesn o gerojach in Russian [Heroes Song], it celebrates the Magnitostroj mines in the Urals. Eisler uses (as was usual in Soviet filmscoring) local songs as his inspiration. The result is a mixture of marches, heroics and jazzy Jewishness, both lively and tender.

Trivas is also the director for the 1933 French production Dans les Rues, which provides the music for Suite No 5. Its eight sections display a more reflective side to Eisler's writing to contrast with the brass scoring of the marches.

All the suites are interspersed with ballads and songs performed in a typical German cabaret-style which surely would have appealed to Eisler, cynicism mixed with a streetwise sadness, The disc's closing suite is No 3 from the 1931 film Kuhle Wampe (GER - Dir.Slatan Dudow). This tale of unemployment in Berlin is notable for being one of Brecht's few film scripts. Eisler's score drives the film along, giving the montage sections an optimism which sometimes contrasts with the events, notably in the 'searching for work' sequence - section [3] of this suite. It ends with an orchestral arrangement of the once world-famous up-beat 'Solidarity March', in this performance suitably bright and manic.

Some of the orchestral works exist on a Berlin Classics disc. But the bounce and tightness of the Ensemble Modern performances with their brisk tempos will appeal to today's audiences. And although the songs have no immediate movie connections as Gruber presents them they add a gutsy supporting period flavour to the whole collection. If you are exploring music as well as movie history this disc will repay your time.

Reviewer

Norman Tozer

	Edward ELGAR: In the South (Alassio) Op. 50*. Enigma Variations Op. 36$. Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5$. Chanson de Nuit, Chanson de Matin. Op. 15*, The Starlight Express Op. 78^. National Symphony Orchestra Boyd Neel*, Sir Malcolm Sargent$, Sir Charles Groves^ Dutton Laboratories CDK 1203 [71] ADD (Recorded in 1945)
		Crotchet

As I listened to the opening bars of this magnificent performance of Elgar’s ‘In the South’, I was continually asking myself why did Decca leave this true Elgarian testament unissued for over five decades. There is a certain ebullient warmth about Boyd Neel’s bold and romantic performance that eluded those before and after him, excepting perhaps those historic records the composer himself made. I make no bones about this, Alassio is my favorite Elgarian work, and nothing written from that majestic pen comes so close to the Mediterranean warmth and joie de vivre that positively implodes the score.

Dutton have conveniently split the work into four distinct sections, the one at fig. 34 is slightly difficult to conceive but the music does retain the natural edge. Decca’s fabled FFRR engineering was at the forefront and one can imagine the hit this recording would have made with its life-breathing violin playing and the various woodwind instrument solos permeating the vast Italian canvas. Boyd Neel is close to Sir Yehudi Menuhin’s excellent Tring account, but that suffers from some over gorging in the slower pieces.

Here the various passages of the work are fused together with a remarkable sense of elan and most of all, a humanity that eludes most conductors. There is no need to make any excuses for the sound, as I said earlier this is sensational Decca at its brilliant best. If Sir Malcolm Sargent’s recording of the ‘Enigma Variations’ is similarly full rounded and brilliant, one must take issue with him for some interpretative points that are slightly controversial. First of all, the performance sounds like a rushed job from the outset with the beautiful Theme lacking in mystery at the swift tempo.

However there are definitely advantages to be had especially in the genial ‘Ysobel’ and ‘Troyte’, both models of Elgarian picture painting. ‘Nimrod’ is a fleeting glimpse from a motor bus; here one almost weeps for the pompous majesty that is to be found in Elgar’s unsurpassable account. Still, all in all, Sargent’s performance is serviceable, but with such a plethora of versions available, he is definitely hard pressed to match the best. The recording is a souvenir of the fantastic National Symphony Orchestra at their brilliant best, one must not forget that there were artists of the like of Dennis Brain in its ranks.

The enticing filler to the original 78rpm set of ‘Enigma’ was the swaggering Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5, this is an ideal and fascinating addendum to the 1953 Decca recordings of Nos. 1 & 4 now available on Beulah (1PD13). Malcolm Walker tells us that the original dates of the actual sessions do not survive, thus continually enhancing the enticing nature of this release. Boyd Neel’s ‘Chansons’ are earlier September 1945 recordings, and in them one can feel the authentic touch that the String Orchestra was able to give to British music. In fact, the soft and silky sweet nature of this salon music has rarely sounded better.

Dutton have chosen to end the compilation with an early, rare pressing of the young Sir Charles Groves in two songs from ‘The Starlight Express’. Henry Cummings clearly enunciated and deeply felt renderings are given sympathetic accompaniments by this much missed character who was to imprint such a firm name on Elgar’s music in the years to come. A treasure trove of a disc, with it’s authentic front cover featuring one of those long lost Decca 78’s and as usual, superbly remastered by Michael Dutton. I still hear those magnificent bars of ‘In the South’ ringing in my ears!

Reviewer

Gerald Fenech

Performance:

Sound:

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	MANUEL DE FALLA (1876-1946) Grabaciones Históricas - Historic Recordings  (1923-1976 commercial recordings, radio tapes and live concert hall tapes) Junta de Andalucia - Consejeria de Cultura  Almaviva DS0121 Durations: CD1 [75'25"] CD2 [75'18"] CD3 [65'17"] CD4 [69'15"] 4CDs
		Crotchet

	GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924) Requiem (1893 version) - world premiere of version with harmonium 32:20 Pelléas et Mélisande suite (1898) Op. 80 16.44 Three Mélodies (Dream Sequence) orchestrated by Douglas Bostock 6:56 world premiere Pavane (chorus and orch) Op. 50 (1877) 5:53 Pueri Gaudentes Chamber Philharmonic of Bohemia/Douglas Bostock ClassicO CLASSCD 241 62:30
		Crotchet

A significant disc including two Fauré world premiere recordings.

The Danish firm ClassicO have been working away unobtrusively and building up a distinctive catalogue. The company founder, Peter Olufsen, has founded the firm on the bedrock of a classical mail order club active in Denmark and Germany. The catalogue is distinguished by some extremely distinctive issues. These include a collection of Rued Langgaard piano music and (soon to be released and, I hope, reviewed here) Niels Viggo Bentzon's massive piano sequence Det Tempererede Klaver. French music has been part of the picture from early on with three discs by the same orchestra and conductor as above, focused firmly on largely neglected French music from 1850-1950 (reviewed last month). I have the highest hopes that they will be tempted to tackle Ropartz's Symphonies 1, 2, 4 and 5. In addition their British Symphonic Collection series (Munich SO/Bostock) promises to bring us many premieres of fabled works from the British musical renaissance.

This disc has its peaks and troughs. It is in familiar territory with the Requiem and in front of withering competition. The authentic harmonium marks out the recording as a world premiere and will make it a 'must-have' for many.

The artistry is beyond most challenges although they use an off-puttingly mournful baritone solo in the Requiem. This is a Requiem, true enough, but I would have expected a little more expressiveness and colour in the voice. Otherwise the performance is easeful and contentedly reflective, raking over echoes and pre-echoes of Verdi, Howells, Finzi and Vaughan Williams. Interesting to note the composer's failure to set the Dies Irae.

The work and performance are intimate in style and the Libera Me is floated with an effortlessness and taste which commands immediate respect and affection. The image of a cold church with clouds of condensation rising from the mouths of the singers is almost tangible. The inevitably tremulous tone of the harmonium adds an attractive homely dimension in contrast with so many 'stainless steel' versions on the market.

The Pelléas et Mélisande suite comprises four movements. The prelude receives a subdued performance without angularity - just a little characterless. The next movement is much more successful, as is the famous siciliènne. Both dance along like Ravel's Infanta: innocence, a light sadness and beauty in equal measure. The final molto adagio is liturgical and has some of the awkward halting qualities of the first movement. This version would not be my recording of choice. For that I would look to the Michel Plasson EMI account. Bostock uses the version which Fauré expanded from Koechlin's pit band original score. You may not know that the Maeterlinck play for which this music was written was performed with this music for the first time in London on 21 June 1898.

The 'dream sequence' is a cycle of three of Fauré's most famous songs orchestrated for small orchestra and harp. Here the baritone solo (Furio Zanasi) is much better at colouring the words and adding expression in a way notably absent from the Requiem. He is still a little soulful but then the songs for which we have the full texts in French and English are languid dreams. Mr Zanasi is rather backwardly balanced but the sound is what you might expect about fifteen rows back in a concert room. The orchestrations are tastefully in style. The songs are: Rêve d'Amour; Après un rêve; Aurore.

The Pavane will be well known to some from the version used on British TV for the World Cup in France in 1998. This has a consistency of atmosphere with the middle two movements of the Pelléas suite. The recording balances the choir rather tacitly against the orchestra. This together with the Sicilienne and the Pie Jesu are among Fauré's most beautiful gifts to a world which came to a shivering and shuddering change in 1914. The ClassicO recording is not afraid to celebrate with restraint.

The recording, which is naturally subdued rather than garishly lit, was made in St Wenceslas Church, Lans-kroun in the Czech Republic.

The 22 page booklet has detailed notes in English only. It gives a considerable amount of background information. The main notes are by the conductor.

The cover art is by the same artist who contributed the surreal pictures which adorn the three ClassicO volumes of neglected French orchestral music.

Well worth your investment, then. Shortish on playing time but Fauré enthusiasts will find much to enjoy in the understatement and the concentration on fine lines and inwardness which pervade and drifts languidly from these performances.

Reviewer

Rob Barnett

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	ZDENEK FIBICH Hippodamia Trilogy (1889-91) - three melodramas Plays in spoken (not sung) Czech with continuous music 1. The Courtship of Pelops Op. 31 (1889) [114:23] 2. The Atonement of Tantalus Op. 32 (1890) [145:59] 3. Hippodamia’s Death Op. 32 (1891) [144:03] Words by Jaroslav Vrchlicky (1853-1912) All directed by Lubomir Pozivil recorded 1981-84 at Stadion Studio, Brno and Domovina Studio, Prague.SUPRAPHON SU 3037-2 616 (boxed set of all 3 - also available separately as respectively: SU 3031-2 616 Pelops - vary the middle number: 3033 Tantalus 3035 Hippodamia)[114:23] [145:59] [144:03]
		Complete Pelops Tantalus Hippodamia

Jaroslava Adamova - Hippodamia

Eduard Cupak - Pelops

Rudolf Hrusinsky - King Oenomaus

Martin Ruzek - Tantalus, King of Argos

Josef Vinklar - Myrtilus

This massive six and three quarter hour cycle of ‘shock’ melodramas follows the classical story of Hippodamia. The epic story is presented in the form of a radio play with a constant fabric of music underpinning the words and action.

Each of the three handsomely designed sets of CDs comprises two discs and comes with a full set of notes and a booklet of the complete spoken text in both Czech and English. The notes and separate synopsis are in English, German, French and Czech.

What would Richard Strauss have made of this salty gore-stained story? Desire and revenge, tragedy and passion crash and heave like monstrous waves. In Act 1 of the first of the cycle Hippodamia kisses the severed and impaled head of one of her hapless suitors who failed in the contest for her hand. This is years before Salome.

The balance favours speech at some slight disadvantage to the audibility of the music. The two are woven together but the words are the lead component. In other melodramas or orations more prominence is given to the music. I think particularly of Prokofiev’s Eugene Onegin where the rollingly magical text seems to achieve an equal symphonic balance with the, music. This is best heard in the Melodiya LPs (not yet reissued) rather than the atmospheric English language set produced by Chandos.

Fibich clearly invested much effort in Hippodamia and had written three other melodramas what appear now, from this perspective, to be an apprenticeship for this giant of work.

Grove V speaks of the vast complexity of leitmotivs linked to each of the many characters who populate the triptych and whose bodies lie broken and bleeding throughout the great story. Not to worry; the eloquent pleasures of the music are accessible without having to identify and map out these character signposts.

The cast is consistent across the three dramas and so are orchestra and chorus. The more internationally known Jaroslav Krombholc directs the first drama. Frantisek Jilek conducts the second and third parts.

1. The Courtship of Pelops (4 acts)

Jaroslava Adamova; Eduard Cupak; Rudolf Hrusinsky

Kuhn Mixed Choir/Pavel Kuhn

Brno State PO/Jaroslav Krombholc

Pelops arrives at Pisae a city ruled by King Oenomaus. The king has a daughter, Hippodamia. Suitors are put to the test in a chariot race and if they fail are slaughtered and their dripping heads impaled on stakes on the city walls. Pelops set his heart on Hippodamia and she on him. She fixes the chariot race so that her father loses and is mortally wounded. She wishes to rule with Pelops. Wedded, the two return to Pelops’ home and Hippodamia discovers Pelops has a childless wife who Pelops promises to banish. The couple are followed by Myrtilus the charioteer who had conspired to kill Oenomaus and who loves Hippodamia. When it becomes apparent that Myrtilus is in love with Hippodamia and had fixed the race and killed the king Pelops fights with Myrtilus and throws him over a cliff into the sea far below. Pelops and Hippodamia fall into each others arms. This is promising operatic stuff.

The Fibich’s slightly Schumann-inflected language is leavened by the blackest of brass contributions underlining the dark skein of intrigue and lust. The actors are uniformly excellent, intoning the Czech words and investing them with feeling. It is really more like a radio play with a larger-than-life musical score. It is a continuous tapestry of melody rather than incidental music which often comprise brief packets of music here and there.

At end of track 2 (disc 1) listen to the drum-beat which gives forward momentum and suggests fear over Myrtilus’s resentment and commitment to intrigue. Other highlights include the solo violin’s sweet singing in the prelude to scene 3. There is also a great paean of triumph and anticipation to announce the start of the chariot race in which King Oenomaus’s death is planned by Hippodamia who must have Pelops.

The music occasionally sounds like Elgar (would Elgar have completed his sacred trilogy if he had committed to melodrama rather than sung oratorio?). Other ‘voices’ are there too: Brahms, Beethoven, Schumann (quite often), Smetana and Dvorak.

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2. The Atonement of Tantalus (four acts)

Jaroslava Adamova; Eduard Cupak; Martin Ruzek

Kuhn Mixed Choir/Pavel Kuhn

Brno State PO/Frantisek Jilek

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Vrchlicky (the playwright) wrote Tantalus in the knowledge that it would be set to music by Fibich. The other two parts were written quite independently and earlier. The first to appear was Hippodamia’s Death. Vrchlicky’s play ‘A Night at Karlstein’ was the inspiration for Fibich’s overture (a work which, in its whirling and bubbling champagne energy, is fully the match for Smetana’s Bartered Bride overture) of the same name.

The plot of part 2 continues from where the first melodrama ends and does so without a temporal break. Pelops returns with Hippodamia to his home and his father King Tantalus. He rejects his virtuous and innocent childless wife, Axiocha and with Hippodamia humiliates her in front of the people. Pelops returns to Pisae to put down an invasion. Tantalus, guilt-ridden by his own previous crimes, announces that his kingdom shall be open to any seeking asylum. Axiocha returns and takes him up on this. Hippodamia ensures that she is rejected. Tantalus is racked by yet more guilt. Pelops returns to discover that after her exile Axiocha bore a child but has been killed on Hippodamia’s orders. He promises his wife’s shade that he will protect the child. Tantalus adopts the child. The bloody Hippodamia vows the child shall die but, despite her entreaties, Pelops acknowledges the child as his own. Tantalus dies atoned in his son’s arms.

The second in the cycle launches with a sullen indomitable prelude. The rich interweaving of themes amongst a great tapestry of music continues unabated. There are so many striking effects. Track 12 (disc 1) for example is notable for the cry of ‘aaaah’ which is repeated in tones of increasing resignation and tenderness by the chorus. The orchestra throughout is a grand and large one featuring harp and gong. As for the themes, they are often memorable though the grandiose theme for Tantalus is pompous and hollow (at least partially suitable - the pity is that there is not enough torture in his music).

3. Hippodamia’s Death (four acts)

Jaroslava Adamova; Eduard Cupak; Josef Vinklar

Kuhn Mixed Choir/Pavel Kuhn

Brno State PO/Frantisek Jilek

The final instalment of this royal soap (or gore) opera was written first in time by Vrchlicky.

Twenty years have passed under Pelops’ rule. Pelops is now king of Elis. He is married to Hippodamia and they have two sons Atreus and Thyestes, the latter a chip off Hippodamia’s block - thirsty for power, full of treachery and scheming. Chryssipus, Pelops’ son with Axiocha, is favoured by Pelops. Myrtilus returns having been thought to have been slain at the end of part I. Airopa, a hostage princess living in Pelops’ court, is the source of trouble among the three sons. Hippodamia spurs her all too willing sons into plotting against Chryssipus. Myrtilus returns as a beggar like an echo of Ulysses. The games are to be held and against their father’s express prohibition Chryssipus and Atreus enter the games and the games are abandoned. Myrtilus meets Chryssipus and tells him of his father’s crime and the role played by Hippodamia. Chryssipus denounces his mother for the murder of Oenomaus. Atreus stabs Chryssipus who dies but not before cursing Hippodamia. Thyestes draws his knife and finishes off Chryssipus. Pelops is devastated by the loss of his favourite son and be the revelation of a dark secret which only Myrtilus could have known. Pelops determines to find Myrtilus and extract the truth about the plot and whether Myrtilus had been rewarded with Hippodamia’s bed. Airopa, misled by the treacherous Thyestes, leaves the city. Pelops banishes Atreus and Thyestes for the death of Chryssipus. Hippodamia will not support this decision. Hippodamia makes Atreus promise to kill Pelops. Atreus pretends to be Chryssipus and goes in that guise to see Myrtilus. Hippodamia is tormented by her multiple levels of guilt. She turns on Pelops blaming him. Pelops forces her to confess all that she has done and she turns on him with a dagger. Myrtillus refuses to tell Pelops what reward he received for conspiring in killing Oenoamus. Pelops kills Myrtillus. Hippodamia sees her father’s dying curse coming true around her and in despair stabs herself. Pelops leaves to open his palace to the divine retribution of the Furies. All ends in a bleak negation.

Track 3 of CD 1 delivers a grand triumphant ceremonial scene. For the first time we get an impression strongly reminiscent of Dvorák and this returns again in tracks 5 with a grand march hinting at Dvorák’s Symphonic Variations and also in track 13. Track 11 has music of overflowing great tenderness. An odd echo Boieldieu is found in the harp solos in track 14. The music is hyper-romantic with modernistic brass. The textures become more impressionistic and there are hints of mature Tchaikovsky.

The second disc opens by unfolding a shapely Elgarian tune with a dash of Lizst. This is energised by a white-glowing passion and by a waywardness which contrasts with the customarily more uncomplicated Dvorak. The music underpinning track 5 is of similar character but again with washes of Tchaikovsky; witness the clarinet tune in track 5 at 3:23. Turmoil is to the fore in this last part of the trilogy. An uncanny fore-echo of Sibelius’s Pohjola’s Daughter surces in track 9 at 1.25 and the Finnish composer’s first symphony seems about to rear up in track 12. The acting is fully committed coaxing or berating, loving or cold. Overall the feeling of summation and consummation makes this listening experience distinctive and worth the effort of concentration.

If I had to restrict myself to only one of the trilogy this is the one I would choose.

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SUMMARY

Fibich is a significant composer who wrote rewarding lyrical music without the revolutionary edge of a Janacek but with a sturdy and often inspired gift for melody and drama. These strong gifts are to the fore in this towering cycle. His orchestration tends towards Dvorák and Smetana but is no empty facsimile of either.

I do not know his operas but would expect them to be well worth the effort. In many ways the Hippodamia trilogy is a counterpart for an operatic cycle. He must surely have wondered about it as a sort of Czech national Ring. Its themes are universal and in their extremes of emotion will hold the attention. The figure of Hippodamia is not a sympathetic one but is certainly commanding. She is in some ways a combination of Lady Macbeth and Balakirev’s Tamara.

Those who would like to learn some Czech (which seems to be precisely though not pedantically enunciated although I confess I do not know the language at all) will, no doubt, find the set worthwhile and would wile away a long journey in the car or on headphones in the train or coach.

The Supraphon catalogue seems quite stable but I would recommend a prompt purchase of this full price set (although each part is I believe available separately) for those at all interested in this lively monument to a fine composer. His music is pretty consistently rewarding and his oeuvre still seems likely to have many agreeable surprises and challenging discoveries for us.

The musical language of the melodramas is tangy but familiar and when mixed with the resonantly acted words makes for a powerful epic experience. Recommended for those who enjoy the Fibich symphonies, Suk’s Asrael and Dvorak. I should also have added that the music is quite Tchaikovskian especially in part 3.

Reviewer

Rob Barnett

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	G.F.HANDEL: FURY WITH RED SPARKLING EYES Dramatic arias by Handel JENNIFER LANE (mezzo)  Brewer Chamber Orcestra conducter by Rudolph Palmer NEWPORT CLASSICS CD NPD 85628
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	KARL AMADEUS HARTMANN (1905-63) The Eight Symphonies & Gesangs-Szene (1935-63) Bavarian Radio SO Wergo WER60187-90-50
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4 CDs in 2 single-width boxes in card slipcase.

Rather like the Donemus set of the Vermeulen symphonies this one from Schotts-Wergo stands as an important document of twentieth century music and an assertion of the vibrant adaptable life of the symphony.

Hartmann's music is predominantly serious with a strong vein of the exotic and impressionism. It is not out of keeping with the lugubrious looking composer portrayed in Adolf Hartmann's painting on the cover of the CDs. The history of many of the works here traces back to earlier works from the 1930s and Third Reich years. There is clearly a great deal more to hear from those years. I hope someone will resurrect the works of that time, or have they all been destroyed? I cannot imagine this music appealing to the National Socialist movement, but who knows? It would be interesting to hear of Hartmann's role in the political and artistic life of Germany.

To return to the Wergo set: documentation is rather sketchy; no biography at all. There are two booklets - one in each of the pair of slimline boxes (I wish more companies would use these elegant boxes: it saves space and materials). The first box has the notes in German; the second in English. The sung texts of symphony 1 and Gesangs-Szene are given in full. The orchestral specifications are listed and there is a technical description of each work. The translation into English is not always a very happy one. The first two CDs run over 60 mins. The others run 50 mins or less. Sadly, precise dates and even years of recordings are not given. The recordings (all AAD) are in very good stereo and date from no later than 1980 when this collection was first issued on LP. I would guess that the earliest recording here would be no older than 1960s. The provenance of these recordings is likely to be from radio and concert tapes.

The Bavarians are conducted by Rafael Kubelik in all but numbers 7 (Zdenek Macal), 3 (Ferdinand Leitner) and 1 (Fritz Rieger). These Wergo recordings should not be overlooked in the current revival of interest in Kubelik both as conductor and as composer.

The competition is not directly comparable. There is a 1990s series of the Hartmann symphonies on German HMV but it is curiously arranged with many of the symphonies coupled with works by other composers. I have not heard any of these CDs. I do have the Koch International CD which includes the Sinfonia Tragica and the surviving adagio from symphony No. 2 all conducted by Karl-Anton Rickenbacher with the Bamberg SO. The fact that it includes the Tragica not offered here makes it an appendix to the Wergo set.

No 1 Essay for a Requiem (1936 rev 1948-50) This, the only pre-WW2 symphony, starts the cycle with an evocation of the apocalyptic chasm. The contralto is Doris Soffel and she has a fine rich voice which does not compromise enunciation, though under strain (e.g. track 4 00:38) she develops a wobble. In any event, the words are here in German and English. The words are by Walt Whitman from Leaves of Grass. Later the sentiments are to be echoed in the much later and even more apocalyptic Gesang-Szene from the end of his life. It might be interesting to hear the first symphony with RVW's 4th or Bax's 6th symphonies. The Hartmann language is still challenging although whether it was still as challenging in its original pristine 1930s version we will perhaps never know. Schoenberg (especially Gurrelieder in this work) was clearly a powerful influence on Hartmann. Sprechstimme is used in the epilogue final section.

No 3 (1949) This is likely to be the same recording as was once issued by Deutsche Grammophon in the early 1960s on a 10" LP. The conductor is Ferdinand Leitner.

At 35 mins this is the largest of the symphonies. It is in two large (18'+17') movements. The first is a largo which opens in chamber music textures - long string lines interlacing. The music is searingly atonal at times but usually intensely and stabbingly lyrical in a way like Tippett's Corelli Fantasia. At 9:35 there is a clear break where the mood and tempo changes. A furious fugal section now takes over and this can seem rather academic but such is the tumult and the flashes of triumph that this impression is soon dispelled. At 12:00 some of the most extraordinary music of sinewy tumult can be heard. At 14:10 an exotic Chinese march appears - charming in its music box evocation. A sprightly little march is decked in harp figures. The movement ends in metropolitan high-wire dramatics.

The second movement adagio opens with a cool balanced trumpet ushering in a steaming march, there briefly and then gone. The trumpet echoes out over meditative harp slashes. This is one of Hartmann's best works. He is at his most imaginative when at his quietest and most impressionistic. Sections like that at 4:20 show Hartmann as the inheritor of the late-romantic mantle borne by Strauss, Schoeck and Marx. The transition from high drama to more cerebral waters between 9:20 and 10:00 is wonderfully done and a key moment in the work. The work resolves itself in quiet and in the same shadows which opened the Largo. This work has a fine finished and rounded feel to it.

No 2 Adagio (1946) This is a single quarter hour structure by turns apocalyptic (the heritage of then recent German history surely), serene and comforting. Much of the music is impressionistic and exotic - almost the Roussel of Padmavati or Evocations. How often this happens in Hartmann. The quieter pools of music are impressionistic, poetic and easier to assimilate. The moment passions intensify and grand tragedy rears up the strings and brass lean on atonalism, screeching (a little like Vermeulen) in pain and loss. This work is very sensuous and French. It makes an immediate impact. Of course Hartmann must gaze into the chasm and this happens at 9:10 and is all the more horrifying for all that has gone before. Even the exertions of the last four minutes are quite French and could well have been written by some pupil of Ravel, Roussel, Schmitt or Koechlin.

No 4 (for strings) (1947) This is a three movement work adapted from an earlier symphony for strings and soprano (1938) the last movement of which was intriguingly entitled Epitaph for a Warrior. I wonder why that movement was suppressed? That last movement was in any event replaced by another Hartmann adagio. The first movement lento assai - con passione (14 mins) serenades calmly with only a hint of tonal sourness. The music has a hint of Tippett's string writing as well as something of Nicholas Maw. The movement ends with a solo violin in an atmosphere approximating to The Lark Ascending. The central movement is busy and buzzing with activity, again recalling middle period Tippett and this time Bartók. The last movement seems anachronism by comparison with its predecessors. The language is more stridently atonal and I am not at all convinced that it works well as a resolution to the symphony.

No 5 Symphonie Concertante (1950) The orchestra used here is unusual: double woodwind, pairs of trumpets and trombones, tuba, and strings (cellos and double basses only). Four movements in about 16 minutes. This is a decidedly Stravinskian work with touches of Dumbarton Oaks, Soldier's Tale, Rite of Spring (the bassoon theme is toyed with repeatedly), Symphonies of Wind Instruments and Fireworks. I was also reminded of Kurt Weill from the Dreigröschenoper Suite. A salty sound - full of intrigue for the ear. Not even a hint of a movement going on too long. The final movement ends in a pugnacious threat from the brass.

No 6 (1952-3) Symphonies 6-8 are in two movements. No 6 was based on a withdrawn 1938 work inspired by Zola's novel L'Oeuvre and premiered in Liège in 1939. It was premiered in Munich in 1953 when it was conducted by Eugen Jochum. Hartmann's striving lyricism is much to the fore and the main vehicle for it is the string section. The language has its roots in French impressionism as well as early Schoenberg and Zemlinsky. The drive is torrential and brass and percussion spur it forward. Dreamy respite comes sparingly in a Debussian haze (8:00 track 1). Side-drum and increasingly ominous brass disturb the dream. The second of the two movements is a toccata of buzzing activity structured around three fugues. Its theme has a sour jollity borrowed from Bartók. Occasionally the string-writing here made me wonder if Tippett had heard the work. The close is replete with landslides of percussion and orchestral piano.

No 7 (1958) This bubbling, bejewelled work was commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation. It was premiered by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt. There is yet more of the eerie jollity and patterned fugal feel - a breathless flood of activity. The second movement opens with a quiet cello solo which the violins soon develop and sing in long high-lying sinuous lines. The symphony is conducted by the Czech, Zdenek Macal.

No 8 (1960-62) The first movement is another of Hartmann's cantilenas. The long-unwinding tune is announced first by solo viola in a passage which sounds positively Holstian. This is a touchingly melodious inspiration. It is appropriated by furious high-tension strings and punctuated by the marimba and stern brass figures. Not for the last time I was reminded of Tippett's style from Priam onwards. The opening of the second movement is a whispered sardonic march with a triumphal skirl and snap the outline of which would not be out of place in mid-period Bax although the sour treatment is very different.

Gesangs-Szene (1961-63) The singer (and speaker) is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in fresh voice. The text, printed in full in the booklet, is from Jean Giraudoux's Sodom und Gomorrha. The text is apocalyptic painting an empire grown quickly to splendour and struck down by every form of pestilence and canker, inflation and poison. The vision is one of nightmare and the music partners the text ideally. This is surely an echo of the rise and fall of Nazi Germany although it has something to say about all empires and what follows when they fall.

With the exception of No 1 these are all-post WW2 works written during trauma, disillusion, renewal of identity and recovery. British symphonies written in the 1950s are gradually being rediscovered (e.g. Rubbra and Frankel). Hartmann's are the German counterpart and written against the recent background of defeat, separation under the occupation, nuclear threat and amid reconstruction they have a fascination and much poetry.

The language is romantic in a Bergian way. Hartmann has a deep sympathy for romanticism as well as for strong rhythmic figures. Rarely does the music grind to anything approaching a halt. If you enjoy the music of Frankel, Allan Pettersson or William Schuman you should explore this set. The third symphony is the strongest and most accessible of the cycle but try also the concentrated Adagio symphony.

Recording quality is consistently excellent - detailed, open and life-like (page-turning can be heard in No 7 and a cough or two in No 8) with plenty of impact. Performances are confident and suggest plenty of rehearsal time and players who are inside the idiom. Recommended.

Reviewer

Robert Barnett

HARTMANN A DISCOGRAPHY OF THE SYMPHONIES

Please let me know of any errors, omissions or other corrections.

Symphonies Nos. 1-8. Gesangszene (1963) Doris Soffel (contr); Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (bar); Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Fritz Rieger, Rafael Kubelik, Ferdinand Leitner, Zdenek Macal. CD Wergo WER60187-50 (four CD set: 225 minutes: ADD). From LP set WER60086. Symphonies—No. 1 (1935-6); No. 2 (1946) Adagio; No. 3 (1948-9); No. 4 (1947); No. 5 (1950); No. 6 (1952-3); No. 7 (1957-8); No. 8 (1960-62). Symphony No. 1, "Versuch eines Requiem" (1935-6) (Martinu Memorial to Lidice. Nono Canti di vita e d’amore. Schoenberg A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46) Sarah Leonard (sop); Cornelia Kallisch (contr); Thomas Randle (ten); Udo Samel (spkr); men’s voices of the Bamberg Symphony Chorus; Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher. CD EMI CDC5 55424-2 (59 minutes: DDD).

Symphony No. 1, "Versuch eines Requiem" (1935-6) LP Wergo WER 60 061 c/w Gesangszene - presum. the same recording as in the boxed set?

No. 2, "Adagio". (1946) Gesangsszene to words from Jean Giraudoux's "Sodom and Gomorrah". Sinfonia Tragica. Siegmund Nimsgern (bar); Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Karl Anton Rickenbacher. CD Koch Schwann CD 312952

Symphony No 2 (1946) (c/w Sym 5 plus - Stravinsky - symphony in 3 movements Bernd Alois Zimmermann - symphony in one movement) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher Arno Bornkamp - Bariton Saxophon rec 1997: CD EMI CDC 5 56184 2

Symphony No 2 (1946) Rosbaud cond the SWF SinfonieOrch CD DMR 1004-6 Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. Poss same recording is now part of a 4-CD Col Legno set, AU-031800 CD Col Legno

Symphony No. 3. (1948-9) Ives Robert Browning Overture. Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher. CD EMI CDC5 55254-2

Symphony No. 4 (1947) Franz Andre cond Brussels Radio Symphony strings or INR Symphony Orchestra, Brussels LP ca. 1950 10" mono Capitol-Telefunken LP L-8146

Symphony No. 4 (1947) (finale Adagio Appassionato only) LP DL9769 LP "New Directions in Music and Sound", Contemporary German Music. Nr.1. This LP also has the Finale of Fortner's Symphony (a most distinguished work, the Paganini variations by Blacher, the Capriccio for Orchestra op. 2 by von Einem, and the Furioso for Orchestra by Rolf Liebermann).

Symphony No. 4 (1947) (finale Adagio Appassionato only) reputed DG 78 - no details

Symphony No. 4 (1947) (c/w Messiaen Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum). Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher. CD EMI CDC7 54916-2

Symphonies 4 (1947) and 8 Bavarian RSO/Kubelik LP DG (1968) (different performances from those on the Wergo set) LP DG 139359, in stereo. Recording June 1967. Ever issued on CD? Probably not. If issued on CD - numbers?

Symphony No 5 (1950): (c/w Sym 2; Stravinsky symphony in 3 movements; Bernd Alois Zimmermann symphony in one movement) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher 1997 CD EMI CDC 5 56184 2 Symphony No 5 (1950): (c/w 6 & 8) Berlin SO/Gunther Herbig CD Berlin Classics 0090482BC

Symphony No 6 (1952-3) cond. Ferenc Fricsay RIAS Symphony Orchestra, Berlin LP mono Decca Gold Label DL 9861 US release mid 1950s? LP Reissued 801 Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (c/w Egk: French Suite after Rameau. RIAS Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay. (ca. 1957?). This is Nr.2 in the series "New Directions in Music and Sound", Contemporary German Music.

Symphony No 6 (1952-3) (c/w Berg 3 pieces for orchestra op 6; Webern 6 pieces for orchestra for orchestra op 6) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher 1996 CD EMI CDC 5 55612 2

Symphony No 6 (1952-3) (c/w 5 & 8) Berlin SO/Gunther Herbig CD Berlin Classics 0090482 BC

Symphony No 6 (1952-3) c/w Berg : Wozzeck - three pieces BRSO, Kupper(s) (1955) Dallapiccola : Two pieces for Orchestra BRSO (1955) Erich Kleiber/Bavarian Radio SO CD Stradivarius STR10084

Symphony No 7 (1957-8) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher (c/w Symphony No. 8) CD EMI CDC 5 56427 2 1997

Symphony No 8 (1960-62) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher (c/w Symphony No. 7) CD EMI CDC 5 56427 2 1997

Symphony No. 8 (1960-62) Bavarian RSO/Kubelik LP DG (1968) (different performances from those on the Wergo set) LP DG 139359, in stereo. Recording June 1967. (world premiere No. 8 1962 conducted by Rafael Kubelik at Cologne) Reissued on CD? in DG Collectors series 1985?

Hartmann Symphonies No 8 (1960-62) Leipzig RSO/Herbert Kegel (c/w 5 and 6) CD Berlin Classics 0090482BC

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Your corrections and additions very much welcomed.

Footnote in the Metzmacher series:-

Gesangszene Sodom and Gomorrah; Miserae Gesangszene: Wolfgang Schoene Baritone; Hermann Pfister flute solo Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Ingo Metzmacher. (c/w Dallapiccola Canto di Liberazione with Chor des Sueddeutschen Rundfunks and the RIAS Kammerchor) 1997 CD EMI CDC 5 56468 2

compiled by Rob Barnett from information supplied by many contributors to the rec.music.classical.records newsgroup. June 1998

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	Joseph HOROVITZ Trumpet Concerto; Oboe Concerto; Jubilee Serenade; Sinfonietta;Canzonet; Rondino. Nicholas Daniel (oboe); James Watson (trumpet) with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Joseph Horovitz ASV CD WHL 2114 [67:14]
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	Sidney JONES The Geisha     Lilian Watson; Christopher Maltman; SarahWalker; Richard Suart; the New London Light Opera Chorus and Orchestraconducted by Ronald Corp    HYPERION CDA67006 [77:12]
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Through the years, a whole series of stage plays, operas and Hollywood films have given us a somewhat clichéd view of Japan and its culture - the films include: Sayonara and The Teahouse of the August Moon to name buttwo. The Geisha was one of the earliest such models. It dates from 1896 and is very much in the mould of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. It was written by Sidney Jones a now very much forgotten composer whose musical style has long since been eclipsed; yet, in the period between the early 1890s and the First World War, his stage productions enjoyed considerable success. They included: A Gaiety Girl, An Artist's Model, and A Greek Slave (which was a precursor of Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum). But The Geisha - A Story of The Teahouse was his greatest success; it ran at Daly's Theatre, London for an unprecedented 760 performances and in its initial production it starred Marie Tempest as Mimosa and Letty Lind as Molly.

The Geisha, described as a Japanese musical play, is bright and breezy. Its musical style of Victorian/turn-of- the-century lyricism, would be swept into redundancy by the music of 1920s Broadway. From this period, only the music of Gilbert and Sullivan has survived with much success. Yet once attuned to its style, listeners will find much to amuse and beguile them.

The story line of  The Geisha is one of romantic and comic complications. The Tea House of the Thousand Joys (run by devious Chinaman, Wun-Hi) - and, especially, its Geishas are a magnet to visiting English naval officers led, on this occasion, by Lieutenant Reginald Fairfax who flirts with Mimosa the Chief Geisha. Fairfax's fiancée, Molly, is not amused and resolves to teach him a lesson by dressing as a Geisha and surprising him.

In the meantime the Tea House is threatened with closure by womanising Marquis Imari, chief of police and Governor of the Province who is determined to have Mimosa to the chagrin of her admirer Katana Captain of the Governor's Guard. Many misunderstandings occur before all the lovers are united happily.

The opening chorus, "Happy Japan" is sunny and jolly and reminds one of the style of the Elgar part songs as well as of Gilbert and Sullivan. Clearly many of The Geisha's lyrics would be considered politically incorrect today such as those in the early patter song, "The dear little Jappy-Jap-Jappy" but they are conveyed with such innocent and irresistible charm that such considerations can be dismissed. Both Lillian Watson as Mimosa and, particularly, Sarah Watson as Molly are excellent they enter into the spirit of the work with enthusiastic commitment and without any trace of condescension. Mimosa's first big number, reminiscent of the style of Edward German, the charming "The Amorous Goldfish" has a nice catchy refrain. Molly, in her first number, shared with Christopher Maltman as Fairfax, remembers her toys in The Toy and amusingly derides Fairfax for toying with the Geishas. Sarah Watson immediately shows her considerable comic and mimicking talents which she later demonstrates to the full when she mimics a kill-joy parrot determined to destroy the love life of two canaries in the delightful Act II comic song "The Interfering Parrot". Molly is also given one of the more risqué songs, "Chon Kina" which she delivers in her Geisha disguise. Lyrics like - "And if my art entices, Then at extra prices, I can dance for you in quite another way" may seem surprising but then they were the Naughty Nineties! Richard Suart is in great form as Wun-Hi singing such tongue-twisting numbers as "Ching-a-ring-a-ree". Maltman and the chorus have their turn to shine in "Jack's the Boy" a sly and salty song with an engaging refrain about a roguish sailor with a girl in every port. The ensemble pieces are very clever and amusing too. Take the concerted piece, "We're going to call on the Marquis", when the company plan to have their revenge on the overbearing Police Chief It has all the hallmarks of the best of G&S and German.

Ronald Corp can add this sparkling album to the growing number of first class light music albums he has recorded for Hyperion

Reviewer

Ian Lace

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	ARAM KHACHATURYAN (1903-1978) Violin Concerto in D minor [14:50]; [11:53]; [9:20] Leonid Kogan (vn)/Grand SO/composer Concerto-Rhapsody in B minor for violin and orchestra - single movement [22:07] Leonid Kogan (vn)/Moscow SO/KondrashinRevelation RV 10065
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	MARTIN KISZKO The Battle of the Sexes OST (1999) Incidental Music to the BBC wild life documentary series on The Natural History of Sex 18 tracks. City of Prague PO/Harry Rabinowitz BBC MK1103 (distributed by Silva Screen) 60:57
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Martin Kiszko has previously contributed highly effective music to the British TV series Alien Empire, The Realm of the Russian bear and Land of the Eagle. Here his music graces (and that is the word) the BBC Natural History Unit’s latest 6 part documentary which examines the sexual act in all its forms. Kiszko assisted Edward Williams in the score for David Attenborough’s Life on Earth series from 1980.

The title track is stormy and features a grand theme. A whooping clarinet cutting right through the texture at one point is a very memorable touch. There is a gutsy turbulence in the skirling horns and a hint of what you might call Hollywood ‘Red Indian’ music adding a dimension of threat. In ‘Another world’ (2) there are hints of John Barry but I do not want to take away from the fine inspiration which pervades deeply velvet, romantically tender harp and flute dialogue and gentlest touch of the strings. This also surfaces elsewhere notably in tracks 4 and the final track interspersed with birdsong. Forays And Foreplays (11) has a decidedly Stravinskian tinkling motif which return in track 17. A jazzy, sinuous and slightly sleazy clarinet slides in Gershwinnying fashion up and down the scales in ‘Jazzed-Up Males’. In ‘Reluctant Hunters’ a solemn cello soliloquy takes centre stage. The cool, concentrated and immanent threat in of The Deep comes over strongly in track 10. Track 12 is notable for the insistent little rhythmic figure for higher woodwind. In track 17 Kiszko produces an excellent warlike ‘mongol horde’ type theme.

This is a classy, straightforward and richly impressionistic score which remains entertaining and even when separated from its images.

The notes are good. They include discographic information, compact information about the series by its executive producer, an ideally balanced note by the composer and a profile of the composer. I hope that before too long Martin Kiszko will become a name we associate with feature film scores as well as TV.

Recommended

Reviewer

Rob Barnett

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	David LYON (b.1938) Light Music Michael Thompson (horn) with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by David Lloyd-Jones MARCO POLO 8.225039 [60:59] Concerto for Horn and Strings; Fairytale Suite; Fantasia on a Nursery Song; Farnham Suite for Strings; Country Lanes; Overture to a Comic Opera; Waltz for Strings; Ballet for Orchestra.
		Crotchet

Marco Polo's British Light Music series shifts gear as epitomised by the modern painting (a detail from Ian Steadman's Opus 1) on the CD's booklet cover instead of the mainly quaint Edwardian-style illustrations to which we have become accustomed thus far. Yet it should be emphasised immediately that all these works, although quite recent (composed between 1968 and 1981), are all very melodic and accessible.

David Lyon, born in Walsall in England's West Midlands studied at the Royal Academy of Music with John Gardner and was influenced by the works of Mahler, Shostakovich, Tippett and Britten. He has written many pieces for the BBC's light music programmes; plus chamber, vocal and orchestral music. In 1978 he became interested in adult education and returned to studies this time at Bristol University. Since the mid-1980s much of his music has been designed for school or amateur performance involving voices in one form or another.

The programme commences with the Fantasia On a Nursery Song which is a cheery, often cheeky, set of variations on Nick, Nack Paddiwack as they might have been written by other composers such as Rossini, Arthur Benjamin (his Jamaican Rumba is vividly brought to mind), Sibelius (of Night Ride and Sunrise), Nielsen, Richard Strauss, Bartók, Stravinsky and Walton. This work won an Ivor Novello Award.

The enchanting A Farnham Suite for Strings is a beautifully-crafted, lyrical work written in the style of the great English works for strings - Holst and Finzi come to mind particularly. I loved thius little piece. Equally delightful is Lyon's catchy, carefree miniature, Country Lanes which is a wonderful study in varying cross rhythm and changing key patterns as the music keeps pace with the pony and cart.

The Concerto for Horn and Strings opens with an energetic Allegro conspirito. Unusually, the jaunty music winds down through slowing tempos, becoming more and more dreamily introspective as it does so until it, almost, comes to a standstill before the cadenza which winds the music up again. The Lento movement lets the horn weave a sinuous melody over continuous muted string murmurings leading to an impassioned central climax. The Final movement is bright and breezy and taken at the gallop. Michael Thompson rises to the opportunities and challenges of this quirky little work.

The bewitching Fairy Tale Suite is based on Hans Anderson's The Snow Queen. Its story is about a young boy, Kai, who disappears while playing in the snow. His friend Gerda sets off to look for him, encountering on the way, an enchanted garden, a beautiful Princess, reindeer, wood-pigeons, and a mysterious Ice Palace where Kai is held captive by the Snow Queen. Gerda melts the Snow Queen with her goodness so everything ends happily. The first movement, "Once upon a time..". scored for celesta, harp and two flutes creates a remote icy atmosphere and hidden menace as warmer music evokes the children at play in the snow. The jolly and melodic "Snow Scene" complete with sleigh bells, very reminiscent of Prokofiev, continues this playful mood. The style of the Romantic Russian composers informs "Gerda's Lament". The lovely Waltz (The Enchanted Garden) is followed by "Song of the Pigeons", a whirling, gently shrieking little evocation, directs Gerda to the frozen north. "The Ice Palace: Finale" is narrative music, beginning with ominous tremolandi on strings and icy treble percussion chords leading to confrontation and warmer compassionate figures as Gerda triumphs. A very appealing work.

The Overture to a Comic Opera is a rousing and brisk work, very like Walton/Stravinsky, which made me think of the commedia del arté tradition in its impression of merry pranks. Waltz for Strings is an ingenious little piece requiring great precision work from the violins in their high register made more difficult by the constantly varying time signatures and cross-rhythms.

Ballet for Orchestra is the most structurally complex in the collection and it stretches the term light music to its limits. But it is a high-spirited, accessible composition nonetheless. Brass, woodwind and strings tend to be separated out emphasising the contrasts between them and they are often pitched at the extremes of their range. There is hard, spiky almost aggressive edge to much of the music but its energy, dynamic rhythms and sharp contrasts engage and retain the attention.

David Lloyd-Jones told me how enthusiastic he was about David Lyon's music, and Lloyd-Jones's conviction is clear in brilliant, committed performances. I was very impressed with this collection.

Reviewer

Ian Lace

Performance

Sound

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