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FRANZ SCHREKER: Orchestral Music from the Operas – Royal Swedish Orch./ Lawrence Renes – BIS

FRANZ SCHREKER: Orchestral Music from the Operas – Royal Swedish Orch./ Lawrence Renes – BIS

by | Nov 19, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

The unfortunately almost forgotten composer Franz Schreker emphasized operas but these instrumental works from them show off his great musical art. FRANZ SCHREKER: Orchestral Music from the Operas [TrackList Follows] – Royal Swedish Orch./ Lawrence Renes – BIS multichannel SACD -2212, 68:30 (10/14/16) [Distr. by Naxos] *****: Franz Schreker was thought to be one of the most eminent composers for the sumptuous sonorities of his operas at his time, early in the 20th century. Schoenberg even called him one of the foremost. However, from the 1930s on, his music was in almost complete oblivion, partly due to the Nazis and his father being of Jewish descent. (This in spite of his operas being greatly influenced by Wagner.) He was also out of step with all avant music developments during the 1920s. Schreker usually wrote the librettos for his own operas, which often had symbolist and erotic subjects. More then other opera composers, the orchestral sections of his operas are often of greater importance when heard in concert. Schreker often intended the instrumental sections for independent concert use, showing off his musical wizardry. He often set his operas in medieval times, and the closing track: Nachtstück (Nocturne) was, in a slightly […]

MOZART: Le nozze di Figaro, (The Marriage of Figaro) (complete opera) – DGG (3)

MOZART: Le nozze di Figaro, (The Marriage of Figaro) (complete opera) – DGG (3)

by | Nov 16, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

A fine mid-course addition to what is proving an excellent series. MOZART: Le nozze di Figaro, K492 (complete opera) – Thomas Hampson (Conte)/ Sonya Yoncheva (Contessa)/ Angela Brower (Cherubino)/ Christiane Karg (Susanna)/ Luca Pisaroni (Figaro)/ Maurizio Muraro (Bartolo)/ Anne Sofie von Otter (Marcellina)/ Philippe Sly (Antonio)/ Regula Mühlemann (Barbarina)/ Rolando Villazón (Basilio)/ Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (Don Curzio)/ Ch. Orch. of Europe & Vocalensemble Rastatt/ Yannick Nézet-Séguin – DGG 4795945 (3 CDs), TT: 173:34 [Distr. by Universal] ****: Record reviewers don’t seem to know what to make of this latest installment of the Rolando Villazón-inspired series of the seven mature operas of Mozart (this is number four). Metropolitan opera designee conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin has had interesting things to say so far, and this, arguably the most popular of all Mozart’s operas, gets similar treatment. So what exactly is this? Simply, modernly brisk though tasteful tempos, period instrument brass punctuations and over-dynamic forte explosions, crisp string playing, and an insistence that the drama keeps moving. Though modern instruments are used, they are employed with ancient instrument sensibilities even though the more lyrical passages actually sound lyrical and not like the all-too-typical rubber band sound of many period instrument recordings. The singers are also […]

MOZART: Da Ponte Operas, Blu-Ray (2016)

MOZART: Da Ponte Operas, Blu-Ray (2016)

by | Nov 14, 2016 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

MOZART: Da Ponte Operas, Blu-Ray (2016)  The great writer/rogue/adventurer Da Ponte deserves far better than this middling set. (Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, and Cosi fan tutte) Performers: Chorus & Orch. of the Zurich Opera House/ Juergen Flimm (Director), Soloists: Rodney Gilfrey, Cecilia Bartoli, Liliana Nikiteanu, Agnes Balta, et al. – Nikolaus Harnoncourt; Chorus Master: Ernst Raffeksberger/ Studio: Arthaus Musik [7/29/16] [Dist. by Naxos] Length: 598 minutes Video: for 16:9 screens, color Audio: DTS-HD 5.1, PCM Stereo Subtitles: English, German, French Ratings:    Audio: ***¼ Video: *** I had great hopes for this set. Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749–1838) wrote the librettos for three of Mozart’s greatest operas and his lines sparkle, amuse, and sting, unlike any librettist before or since. You can read all about his colorful life in his Memoirs (New York Review of Books, 2000). Oddly, he doesn’t spend much time describing his work with Mozart; he treats their collaboration as if it were just another gig, like the hack work he did for Antonio Salieri. Arthaus Musik has collected the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s versions of these on three Blu-ray discs. The operas, recorded about twenty years ago at the Zurich Opera House – Le Nozze de Figaro […]

COOKE: Symphonies 4 & 5 – BBC S.O. /BBC Northern S.O. / John Pritchard & Bernard Keeffe – Lyrita

COOKE: Symphonies 4 & 5 – BBC S.O. /BBC Northern S.O. / John Pritchard & Bernard Keeffe – Lyrita

by | Apr 7, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

ARNOLD COOKE: Symphonies 4 & 5 –  BBC S.O. /BBC Northern S.O.* / John Pritchard & Bernard Keeffe* – Lyrita REAM.1123 59:44 [Distr. by Naxos] **** : The tonal, contrapuntal music of composer and teacher Arnold Cooke. The long-lived Arnold Cooke (1906-2005) was a composer, and teacher at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now the RNCM) and, after the second world war, Trinity College of Music in London.  He left a wide body of work, including a pair of operas, orchestral, chamber and instrumental music.  He studied cello, piano and organ and wrote for all three instruments. Tonal, contrapuntal music became somewhat unfashionable after the 1940s, and especially later on at the BBC. But Cooke remained highly regarded there and elsewhere, being aired regularly, for example, at the Proms and at the Cheltenham Festival.  The BBC gave the first performances of some works, including the Piano Concerto with Louis Kentner in 1942, the First Symphony under Sir Adrian Boult in 1947, and the Fourth, whose premiere performance in 1975 is included on this disc. After studying History at Cambridge University, Cooke took a second degree there in Music in 1929 and then spent three years at the Berlin Hochschule […]

Editorial Page for March 2016

Editorial Page for March 2016

by | Mar 1, 2016 | Editorial

Our lavish March drawing is for “Opera baroque” – a 39-DVD plus 4-CDs boxed set from Harmonia mundi consisting of over 47 hours of wonderful music, with top soloists and such directors as René Jacobs & William Christie. 17 complete operas are included in the set.  This is a set you will treasure for a lifetime. The  five lucky winners of the set of two CDs by The Alexander Quartet on Foghorn Classics – our February drawing – are: Charles Volstad, Eden Prairie MN; Will Leben, Emeryville CA; Seth Shapiro, Snohomish WA; Gary Walker, Sanford NC; and Gregory Weis, Aiken OH.   EDITORIAL AUDIOPHILE AUDITION began as a local program in San Francisco and then in 1985 as a weekly national radio series hosted by John Sunier, and aired for 13½ years on up to 200 public radio and commercial stations. In September 1998 its web site for program listings was expanded to this free Internet publication. March 2016 is our 204th issue! All disc reviews are added thru the month as written and received, often daily, amounting to nearly 100 a month.  The Home Page lists the latest published reviews.  Vinyls, Pure Audio Blu-rays and other hi-res formats are included in the SACD/Hi-Res Section, […]

KUHLAU: Piano Quartets 1 & 2 – Copenhagen Piano Q. – DaCapo

KUHLAU: Piano Quartets 1 & 2 – Copenhagen Piano Q. – DaCapo

by | Feb 20, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

If you think Kuhlau is simply all about flighty flute music, you’ll be in for a big surprise here. KUHLAU: Piano Quartet No. 1 in c, Op. 32; No. 2 in A, Op. 50 – Copenhagen Piano Quartet – DaCapo multichannel SACD 6.220596, 72:44 [Distr. by Naxos] ****: It’s odd how the one-eyed German who adored Beethoven more than anyone else became one of Denmark’s most admired composers. He was nonconformist to the extreme, loved his drink and his smokes, avoided the cliquish inner circles of Copenhagen (where much of his support came from), and was offered Danish citizenship and the post of Royal Court Musician. He was also a terrific pianist. Though most today know him by the somewhat pejorative title of “Beethoven of the flute” since he wrote so much music for an instrument that enjoyed enormous popularity at the time. In fact his operas and other chamber works make for an impressive expanse of creativity in many genres, of exceptional quality. Such is the case of the first two of his three Piano Quartets, written rather closely together despite the divergence in opus numbers. In fact, the Second Piano Quartet was written at the same time as […]

ROSSINI: Semiramide (complete opera) – Soloists/Vienna Concert Choir & Radio SO/ Panni – Nightingale Classics (3 CDs)

ROSSINI: Semiramide (complete opera) – Soloists/Vienna Concert Choir & Radio SO/ Panni – Nightingale Classics (3 CDs)

by | Feb 11, 2016 | Classical Reissue Reviews

Gruberova is well worth hearing, even if the whole does not equal the sum of its parts. ROSSINI: Semiramide (complete opera) – Edita Gruberova (Semiramide)/ Bernadette Manca Di Nissa (Arsace)/ Helene Le Corre (Azema)/ Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Assur)/ Juan Diego Florez (Idreno)/ Julian Konstantinov (Oroe)/ Vienna Concert Choir/ Vienna Radio SO/ Marcello Panni – Nightingale Classics NC207013 (3 CDs), 68:46, 64:43, 73:54 ***1/2: Though Semiramide, based on Voltaire’s tragedy Semiramis, was to be Rossini’s last Italian opera, in fact it represents a return to much of the vocal enthusiasms found in the operas of his youth. After this work he bolted from Italy to Paris, and never really was able to duplicate the greatness of this piece, adorned with scenery in true Baroque style, full choruses and expansive orchestral writing for an equally expansive orchestra. It has always maintained its popularity as one of the best operas in the repertory, and there have been many fine recordings, old and new. This one, a 1998 recording, is fine in many ways. I am especially partial to the Idreno of Juan Diego Florez, who was really singing well—and especially Rossini—at that time, and his artistry found its way onto other Rossini issues too. […]

VERDI: Macbeth, Blu-ray (2015)

VERDI: Macbeth, Blu-ray (2015)

by | Jan 8, 2016 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

Lots to recommend in this opera. It’s a keeper. VERDI: Macbeth, Blu-ray (2015) Cast: Anna Netrebko, Zeljko Lucic, René Pape, Joseph Calleja, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Studio: Deutsche Grammophon [10/30/15] (Dist. by Universal) Director: Fabio Luisi Video: 1.77:1 1080p HD Color for 16:9 screens Audio: DTS-HD 5.1, PCM Stereo Subtitles: English, German, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, Italian Length: 155 minutes Extras: Backstage at the Met – interviews Ratings: Audio: ****½ Video: ****½ Overall ****½ Who would have thought the old play had so much music in it? Unjustly considered one of Verdi’s second tier operas (just below his other Shakespearean operas, Otello and Falstaff), Macbeth nevertheless boasts excellent duets, solos, and several well-timed ensemble pieces. Yet it is rarely performed and even more rarely recorded. A film version (1987) transferred to DVD (2007) with Shirley Verrett and Leo Nucci is eminently splendid, with its simian topless witches (acrobats perhaps?), a musty Godfrey of Bouillon castle, and lots of blue-gray lighting. It set the bar very high, but lately it’s begun to creak in this age of HD and RF mikes. As Macbeth, Zeljko Lucic does a decent job, particularly at the beginning as he totes his AK-47 and […]

Home Page for November 2014

Home Page for November 2014

by | Nov 1, 2014 | Home Page

Our November drawing is for two 45-CD sets of The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon by famed conductor Ferenc Fricsay. Here is a complete list of all the selections on this multi-CD boxed set. And here is our review of it. These have been specially remastered for this collector’s set. The Hungarian conductor, who died in 1963, was known for his interpretations of Mozart and Beethoven, as well as works of his teachers Bartok and Kodaly. He was Chief Conductor of the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin for two periods. He conducted without a baton and recorded exclusively for DGG from the 1950s until his death. The two sets will go to two AUDIOPHILE AUDITION readers who this month register using our simple form. (Those who don’t completely fill out the form will not be eligible for the drawing, including those who registered in previous months.) The two winners will be listed on our Editorial Page next month, where this month you’ll find more details on the drawing.  Here’s our survey of 16 Christmas CDs & SACDs.

Home Page for November 2014

Home Page for July 2014

by | Jul 1, 2014 | Home Page

Our July drawing/giveaway will be for three EuroArts 14-hour-plus Blu-ray Classical Archive Collector’s Editions focusing on Ensembles. These are great video performances by some of the legendary musical artists of the 20th century. Outstanding ensembles of the past show their thrilling artistry in inimitable performances, including concerts, recitals and detailed booklet information. Among the performers are Rostropovich, Richter, David Oistrakh, Both Menuhins, Casadesus, Francescatti, and the Amadeus Quartet. All you need do to be considered as one of the three winners (plus having a Blu-ray deck and being into classical) to be selected is to register using our simple form this month. (Those who don’t completely fill out the form will not be considered for the drawing.) The three lucky winners will be listed on our Editorial Page next month, where this month you’ll find more details on this drawing.