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ELGAR: Symphony No. 2; Carissima; Mina; Chanson de Matin – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch./Vasily Petrenko – Onyx Classics

ELGAR: Symphony No. 2; Carissima; Mina; Chanson de Matin – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch./Vasily Petrenko – Onyx Classics

by | Apr 12, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

A very worthwhile addition to the Elgar resurgence. EDWARD ELGAR: Symphony No. 2; Carissima; Mina; Chanson de Matin – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch./Vasily Petrenko – Onyx Classics ONYX4165, 69:44 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] (3/24/17) ***1/2: Sir Edward Elgar wrote two symphonies, relatively late in life and they have a long history of fairly sparse performance. Some critics and some audiences considered the works a bit out of time against the modernist movements of the early twentieth century; by some accounts even a bit unexciting. Still others found the esteemed composer of choral works, anthems, marches and ceremonial music a slightly ‘uncomfortable’ symphonist. Once these symphonies were championed by but a few conductors, such as Boult and Beecham. Yet they are wonderful pieces and their slightly reserved qualities and a sound that feels like that of an earlier generation is a remarkable and fairly moving symbol of the composer, himself. Elgar was – like many Brits – saddened and shocked seeing his country dragged violently into what would be two world wars and watched as the lifestyle of England, itself, had changed forever. Yet, even Elgar’s disappointment at the lack of audience and critical enthusiasm for the Second Symphony would wane […]

BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata in A Major, “Kreutzer”; Violin Sonata No. 6 in A Major – James Ehnes, v./ Andrew Armstrong, p. – Onyx

BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata in A Major, “Kreutzer”; Violin Sonata No. 6 in A Major – James Ehnes, v./ Andrew Armstrong, p. – Onyx

by | Mar 15, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

Two of Beethoven’s sonatas in A Major provide excitement and inventive poetry, played brilliantly by Ehnes and Armstrong.  BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 47 “Kreutzer”; Violin Sonata No. 6 in A Major, Op. 30, No. 1 – James Ehnes, v./ Andrew Armstrong, p. – Onyx 4170, 61:57 (3/24/17) [Distr. by HM/PIAS] ****: Recorded 15 January 2016 (A Major Sonata) and 7-8 December 2015 (“Kreutzer”), these two Beethoven sonatas proffer distinctly polar temperaments in the Bonn master – the 1802 A Major cast in a sunny, lyrically tender sensibility, while the 1803 Kreutzer has come to instantiate the turbulent, fiery nature of consummate passion. Ehnes opens with the “Kreutzer” Sonata, whose first measures indeed correspond to A Major but whose subsequent evolution well incorporates a minor. Beethoven conceded that the broad emotional canvas of the piece embraced the scope of a concerto, with three movements that occupy their own raison d’etre. Ehnes and his collaborator Armstrong each provide a balanced fury to the proceedings, which begin with Ehnes’ solo in multiple stops, Adagio sostenuto.  The Presto carries both players forward with a sweeping gesture initiated by a small interval, E-F. True, an chorale-like episode in E Major (echoed in […]

HAYDN: Cello Concertos – Pavel Gozmiakov, cello/Orch. Gulbenkian – Onyx

HAYDN: Cello Concertos – Pavel Gozmiakov, cello/Orch. Gulbenkian – Onyx

by | Dec 20, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

HAYDN: Cello Concertos – Pavel Gozmiakov, cello/Orch. Gulbenkian – Onyx 4151,  59:55 (6/17/16) *****: The legendary King of Portugal 1725 Stradivarius makes police-escorted journey from museum to concert hall where it dazzles in two Haydn concertos. In some endeavors, say bird-watching, novelty is the desideratum. Last year a Siberian Bunting (sp. vlasowae) with a faulty compass created quite a stir as a rare guest from another continent. In other experiences, say having some dental work done, surprises and experimentation are not what we are looking for. Listening to two cello concertos by Joseph Haydn falls somewhere in the middle. These works top the list for both the genre and the composer’s oeuvre and are thus exceedingly familiar. A new wrinkle would not come amiss. On the other hand,  we don’t wish for major tinkering or indulgent extravagances that would mar the perfect design of these works. The Haydn recital begins with a cello adaptation of the adagio from the violin Concerto in C. The sound of Pavel Gomziakov’s cello is astonishingly beautiful on the simple melodies of what is rare in Haydn, a true adagio. Behind the cellist and quite recessed at that, the Gulbenkian orchestra mostly stands quietly in […]

ALFRED SCHNITTKE: Works for Violin and Piano – Roman Mints, v. /Katya Apekisheva, p./ Andrey Doynikov & Dmitri Vlassik, per./Olga Martynova, harpsichord – Quartz (2 CDs)

ALFRED SCHNITTKE: Works for Violin and Piano – Roman Mints, v. /Katya Apekisheva, p./ Andrey Doynikov & Dmitri Vlassik, per./Olga Martynova, harpsichord – Quartz (2 CDs)

by | Jul 21, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

The many styles of Alfred Schnittke explored in authentic performances. ALFRED SCHNITTKE: Works for Violin and Piano = Sonata No. 1—Sonata No. 2 ‘Quasi una Sonata’; Sonata No. 3; Suite in the Old Style; Congratulatory Rondo; Stille Nacht; Polka – Roman Mints, violin/Katya Apekisheva, p./ Andrey Doynikov & Dmitri Vlassik, percussion/Olga Martynova, harpsichord – Quartz QTZ2116 (2 CDs), 47:25, 41:30 (5/6/16) ****: The music on this 2-CD set of music by Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) displays the multiplicity of styles and musical techniques of this postmodern Russian composer. The serial style of the First Violin Sonata; the polystylist Second Violin Sonata; the near-death late Violin Sonata No. 3; the film music of the Suite in the Old Style and the stylized distortions of the Congratulatory Rondo, Stille Nacht and Polka. Schnittke is the most important Russian composer in the late half of the 20th century. He followed Shostakovich in the trials of being a musician in an era of Soviet totalitarianism. His musical heritage—Russian, Jewish and Austro-German, physical struggles (two strokes), changing musical influences (from serialism to neo-Romanticism) made him a composer whose music is filled with the imagery and emotion of constant variation, often from one minute to the next. […]

VIVALDI: The Seasons & works by TARTINI & LECLAIR – James Ehnes, v./ Sydney Sym. Orch./ Andrew Armstrong, p. – Onyx

VIVALDI: The Seasons & works by TARTINI & LECLAIR – James Ehnes, v./ Sydney Sym. Orch./ Andrew Armstrong, p. – Onyx

by | Mar 19, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews


A new bottle of old wine – the Vivaldi Seasons – depends on your taste and the Ehnes charisma. VIVALDI: The Seasons, Op. 8; TARTINI: Violin Sonata in g “The Devil’s Trill”(arr. Kreisler); LECLAIR: Violin Sonata in D Major, Op. 9, No. 3 – James Ehnes, v./ Sydney Sym. Orch./ Andrew Armstrong, p. – Onyx 4134, 71:13 (10/9/15) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****: The world may little note nor long remember yet another recording of Vivaldi’s The Seasons (rec. 18-19 May 2014) by Canadian virtuoso James Ehnes (b. 1976), but we now add this tastefully conservative reading to a rather imposing list of alternatives. Playing his 1715 “Marsick” Stradivarius, Ehnes leads the Sydney Symphony over this well traversed, natural landscape. Of more note, however, the two Baroque sonatas that accompany the suite of concertos deserve our plaudits. Ehnes begins with Fritz Kreisler’s arrangement of Tartini’s Devil’s Trill Sonata in g minor (c. 1740), wherein Kreisler added much of the figured bass line and the exemplary cadenza passage in the last movement. Ehnes and his pianist Armstrong make a plastic and persuasive rendition for us, warm and seamlessly fluent. The sheer succession of double-stopped passages and florid trills alone warrants our […]