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PLATTI: Six Trio Sonatas for Violin, Violoncello and Continuo – Armonioso – MD&G

PLATTI: Six Trio Sonatas for Violin, Violoncello and Continuo – Armonioso – MD&G

by | Dec 21, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

PLATTI: Six Trio Sonatas for Violin, Violoncello and Continuo – Armonioso – multichannel SACD (and 2+2+2) MD&G 903 1978-6, 64:40 (12/2/16) ****: (Francesco Cerrato; violin/ Stefano Cerrato; violoncello/ Marco Demaria; cello/ Michele Barchi; harpsichord/ Daniele Ferretti; organ) Late Baroque trio sonatas from the music library of the Counts of Schonbrun-Wiesenheit. By the 1730s, the language of the Italian Baroque was spoken throughout Europe. The superabundance of learned Italian-trained musicians and composers had spread out in search of patronage in courts of German-speaking lands. The most enterprising, such as Handel and Geminiani, set up shop in London, where the prosperous middle-class was learning to sit quietly through concerts. Scarlatti was on his way to Spain with the Infanta and soon to publish his hybrid Hispano-Italian masterpieces known as the essercizi. Increasingly, Power sought to dress itself in refinement, elegance, and lavish adornments. Even a relatively small court such as that in Wurzburg, owned by the family of Schonborn counts, required a resident composer/musician to certify its cultural status. The one who created the works under review here, Giovanni Benedetto Platti, turned up to occupy this position in 1722 and spent the rest of his life as a successful and well-paid employee […]

TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker ballet; Sym. No. 4 in f – Mariinsky Orch./ Valery Gergiev – Mariinsky

TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker ballet; Sym. No. 4 in f – Mariinsky Orch./ Valery Gergiev – Mariinsky

by | Dec 8, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

The holiday favorite ballet has had better recordings, but this Fourth will knock your socks off. TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker, Op. 71; Sym. No. 4 in f, Op. 36 – Mariinsky Orch./ Valery Gergiev – Mariinsky multichannel SACD MAR0593 (2 discs), 129:02 [Distr. by Naxos] ****: This is Gergiev’s second go round with the Nutcracker; the first was with the then-called Kirov Opera from 1998, and was a big seller. This one seems rather willful to me. Gergiev, for no particular reason, pushes and pulls the tempos in many sections where there is little more need than the fact that he simply likes it like that. “Waltz of the Flowers” is deadly slow, with a Furtwanglerian race to the finish that makes no sense even from an easy-to-dance standpoint. There are also a few minor intonation issues and some scrappy string playing in a few spots, nothing egregious, but unexpected from these forces. Nonetheless, this Nutcracker is good enough to offer a lot of pleasure, even though I don’t think it can compete with the splendors of the radiant Ormandy recording (selections) or the wonderful MCA two-fer with Arthur Rodzinsky, surely one of his greatest efforts. So it is a little […]

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Sym. No. 2, “A London Symphony”; Sym. No. 8 ‒ Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch. / Andrew Manze ‒ Onyx

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Sym. No. 2, “A London Symphony”; Sym. No. 8 ‒ Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch. / Andrew Manze ‒ Onyx

by | Dec 5, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Symphony No. 2 in G, “A London Symphony”; Symphony No. 8 in d‒ Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch. / Andrew Manze ‒ Onyx 4115, 75:33 (4/29/16) ****: Symphonies from the opposite ends of Vaughan Williams’ symphonic career. Interesting programming choice and fine performances. It’s interesting to note that Ralph Vaughan Williams’ first two symphonies started life as something other than symphonies. Symphony No. 1 is a reworking of movements intended as a cantata about the sea based on the poetry of Walt Whitman, a favorite author among English composers at the turn of the century. The result: a vast choral symphony that was really something new, especially in English music. A hit at the 1910 Leeds Festival and critically acclaimed as well, The Sea Symphony would seem to have immediately precipitated Vaughan Williams’ long and successful career as a symphonist. Not so, apparently. For some reason Vaughan Williams had misgivings about writing a symphony thereafter and had to be persuaded by his friend the English composer George Butterworth to consider a new symphonic project. So Vaughan Williams converted a work in progress, a tone poem about the city of London, into his Symphony No. 2, which was premiered in […]

“Collage” – The Last Work of JAMES HORNER – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/ David Arnold & Royal Philharmonic/James Martin – Mercury Classics

“Collage” – The Last Work of JAMES HORNER – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/ David Arnold & Royal Philharmonic/James Martin – Mercury Classics

by | Nov 11, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

“Collage” – The Last Work of JAMES HORNER [TrackList Follows] – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/ David Arnold & Royal Philharmonic/James Martin – Mercury Classics 481, 64:00 (9/23/16), 64:00 ****: A lovely tribute to the music of the late film composer James Horner. If you see any films you’ve doubtless heard the music of James Horner. He wrote the music for Titanic and Avatar, two of the top- grossing films in history. He had written  for another 130 or so films, before he tragically died in a small plane accident last year. Some of his other notable works include Star Trek II, 48 Hours, Cocoon, Glory, Field of Dreams, Braveheart and Apollo 13. He had an academic life before entering the world of film scoring, teaching at UCLA. I didn’t consider him a first-tier composer, the equal of say Miklos Rozsa or Alex North, but he had an excellent sense of matching the music to picture, and the films he scored were helped immensely by his good musical taste. This disc contains some symphonic arrangements from some of his films, including First in Flight and Aliens. It concludes with Horner’s last work, a concert piece called Collage, written in 6 movements. It’s […]

BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4; SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10 – Leningrad Philharmonic Orch./ Yevgeny Mravinsky (1955) – Praga Digitals

BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4; SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10 – Leningrad Philharmonic Orch./ Yevgeny Mravinsky (1955) – Praga Digitals

by | Oct 21, 2016 | Classical Reissue Reviews

Two Mravinsky performances from the Prague Spring 1955, of which the Shostakovich seems “definitive.” BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60; SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10 in e minor, Op. 93 – Leningrad Philharmonic Orch./ Yevgeny Mravinsky (1955) – Praga Digitals PRD 350 115, 79:28 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****: Praga Digitals restores two performances from the 3 June 1955 Smetana Hall concert of the Prague Spring Festival, here featuring the esteemed Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky (1903-1988). Already known for the intense discipline he instilled into the Leningrad ensemble, Mravinsky gleans alert responses from his woodwinds – especially his principal flute and bassoon – for the opening Adagio – Allegro vivace first movement in the Beethoven B-flat Symphony. No less commanding, Mravinsky’s tympani reveals the new power Beethoven had brought to the percussion of the Classical symphony. Once the mysterious and even ominous b-flat minor Adagio passes us, the ensuing Allegro assumes frenetic and unbuttoned energies, volatile as they are irreverent. The capacity for direct lyricism in Mravinsky’s color arsenal reveals itself in the Adagio second movement, a fervent song in sonata-form, sans development.  Winds and strings converge in massive – although not particularly warm – harmony. What makes […]

The Last Words of Christ (REGER, HAYDN, WEBERN & Others – Ebonit Sax Q. – Challenge Classics

The Last Words of Christ (REGER, HAYDN, WEBERN & Others – Ebonit Sax Q. – Challenge Classics

by | Oct 13, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Ebonit Saxophone Quartet – The Last Words of Christ – REGER/HAYDN/WEBERN/SIBELIUS/SHOSTAKOVICH – Challenge Classics multichannel SACD CC72701, 53:13 (2/3/16) ****: (Simone Muller, soprano saxophone/ Dineke Nauta, alto saxophone/ Johannes Pfeuffer, tenor saophone/ Paulina Marta Kulesza, baritone saxophone/ Claron McFadden, voice) A nearly successful  attempt at solemnity. In 1786 a work by Joseph Haydn premiered in Cadiz, Spain. The occasion was Good Friday Service in a “subterranean” cathedral. According to reports made to Haydn, the church was darkened and a priest flung himself before the altar and uttered the first word of the seven last sentences spoken by Jesus before his death. A homily on each word followed, separated by the performance of each of the seven movements. Together, music and text comprised the Easter celebration of the Passion.  As such, it appears to belong to the tradition of religious music which reached its apogee in Handel, Pergolesi and Bach. However, I  have always had a problem with this notion; The Seven Last Words of Christ considered in purely musical terms does not seem to express any noticeable degree of solemnity, no transcendent yearning or tragedy. Certainly, the old Haydn jollity and wit are set aside, but instead we hear a […]

DVORAK: Sym. No. 9 in e minor, “From the New World”; Sym. No. 8 in G Major – Czech Philharmonic Orch./ Frantisek Stupka – Praga Digitals stereo-only

DVORAK: Sym. No. 9 in e minor, “From the New World”; Sym. No. 8 in G Major – Czech Philharmonic Orch./ Frantisek Stupka – Praga Digitals stereo-only

by | Aug 6, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews, SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

For those unfamiliar with the veteran Czech conductor Stupka, these two Dvorak performances provide a brilliant introduction. DVORAK: Symphony No. 9 in e minor, Op. 95 “From the New World”; Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 – Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/ Frantisek Stupka – Praga Digitals stereo-only SACD PRD/DSD 350 134, 78:23 (8/12/16) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] *****: The name of Czech conductor Frantisek Stupka (1879-1965) certainly did not convey to me the same authority as I had accorded Vaclav Talich, Karel Ancerl, and Rafael Kubelik, but these performances – of the “New World” Symphony (6 January 1964) and the G Major Symphony (8 January 1959) – have changed my perspective. Stupka – having made his reputation with the Czech String Quartet – served as co-director of the Czech Philharmonic from 1946-1956 and director of the Moravian Philharmonic, the latter of which remained an “Eastern” ensemble without recorded documentation. The live broadcasts here preserved by Praga prove instantly refreshing and eminently affectionate readings of repertory that once more – under an inspirational conductor – throw off any sedimentation or ossification from long-wrought familiarity. The reading of the New World Symphony proceeds linearly but with inflamed interior voices from the […]

SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 3 in C Major; The Swan of Tuonela; Symphony No. 7 in C Major; DEBUSSY: Nuages et Fetes – Leningrad Philharmonic Orch./ Yevgeny Mravinsky – Praga Digitals

SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 3 in C Major; The Swan of Tuonela; Symphony No. 7 in C Major; DEBUSSY: Nuages et Fetes – Leningrad Philharmonic Orch./ Yevgeny Mravinsky – Praga Digitals

by | May 18, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

In the music of Sibelius and Debussy, Mravinsky’s live performances extend his repute as an epic interpreter. 
 SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 3 in C Major, Op. 52; The Swan of Tuonela, Op. 22, No. 3; Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105; DEBUSSY: Two Nocturnes: Nuages et Fetes – Leningrad Philharmonic Orch./ Yevgeny Mravinsky – Praga Digitals multichannel SACD PRD/DSD 350 106, 70:56 (4/1/16) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] *****:
 The discography of iconic Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravnsky (1903-1988) benefits immediately with this live Moscow performance (27 October 1963) of the Sibelius Third Symphony (1907), a work often neglected even by so-called Sibelius proponents, like Herbert von Karajan. The music remains somewhat elusive, in that Sibelius assumes a more classical posture here than in his first two symphonies, economically and energetically martial in character in its first movement, Allegro moderato. Mravinsky, true to character, injects a palpably nervous tension into the low strings and occasional trumpet and trombone perorations. The thunderous tympani roll at the coda with the “Amen” cadence proves compelling. Without a slow movement proper, the symphony proceeds, Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto, with a stately motion in g-sharp minor. Mravinsky ushers forth a suavely animated pace, smoothly […]