Au sommaire de ce remarquable SACD, le Concerto pour Violon et orchestre N°1 datant de 1977 et le Concerto pour Cor et orchestre de 2008. Très tôt, le violon s'est imposé à Penderecki comme une évidence : " je compose principalement de la musique pour instruments à cordes. Cet élément est omniprésent dans ma création. Je transcris même mes pièces orchestrales pour instruments à cordes. Le violon est ma priorité. Pour moi, le violon c'est du son, des mélodies, un style". Dirigeant le Sinfonietta Cracovia, le compositeur polonais trouve l'osmose parfaite avec ses solistes. Et le jeu de ces derniers soulève l'enthousiasme de bout en bout d'un discours musical dans lequel tout semble placé sous le sceau de l'évidence: phrasés, couleurs, accents, souffle. Tout ici est émotion à l'état pur et le résultat ne suscite qu’admiration. La prise de son exemplaire participe également à cette réussite qu'il est urgent de connaître. Voici bel et bien un grand, un très grand disque Penderecki.

Jean-Jacques Millo

On this remarkable SACD are to be found the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra N°1, dating from 1977, and the Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, from 2008. Early on, the violin was Penderecki’s instrument of choice: “I mainly compose music for strings. This element is omnipresent in my works. I even transcribe my orchestral pieces for string instruments. The violin is my priority. For me, the violin is sound, melodies, a style.” Directing the Sinfonietta Cracovia, the Polish conductor finds the perfect osmosis with his soloists. And their playing sparks our enthusiasm from the beginning to end of a musical discourse in which all is incontrovertible: phrasing, colors, accents, respiration. All here is emotion at its purest, and the result demands admiration. The exemplary sound is no less a part of the success of this recording, which one would be well-advised to listen to promptly. Here then is a great, a very great disc by Penderecki.

Translation Lawrence Schulman
 

This is an absolutely magnificent disc. Penderecki's First violin concerto is a grand work, evocative but not merely imitative of the Romantic concerto tradition. It was one of the first pieces in which he turned his back on the avant-garde of the day (1977), and for the best of reasons. The violin is, above all, a melody instrument, and so any successful concerto requires that it play melodies. And so it does here, very beautiful ones too. That said, the music is still dark, anguished, deeply moving, and almost uniformly tragic in tone. Penderecki has conducted recordings of it before, all of them quite good, but this is the first that vies successfully with the classic Stern/Skrowaczewski premiere recording. Robert Kabara is an excellent, impassioned soloist, playing with full-bodied tone and fearless technical command. Penderecki's conducting is a touch slower and heavier than Skrowaczewski's, but God knows the music can take it.

The Horn Concerto (2008) will come as a revelation to most listeners, I am sure. The "Winterreise" of the title is not the bleak misery of the Schubert song cycle, but rather the change of seasons: sleigh bells make a regular appearance in the percussion section, and Penderecki doesn't slight the horn's hunting associations either. Again, there is some ravishing melodic material, but also a lyrical charm, even whimsy, that we don't normally associate with this composer. Certainly there is no finer 20th-century concerto for the instrument: this is a masterpiece that you will return to often, and the performance here is entirely worthy of the work. It's great to see Penderecki continue to enlarge and deepen his art in new and surprising directions. Channel Classics' sonics, whether stereo or multichannel, are state of the art.

--David Hurwitz

PENDERECKI: Violin Concerto No. 1; Horn Concerto (world premiere) – Robert Kabara, violin/ Radovan Vlatkovic, horn/ Sinfonietta Cracovia/ Krzystof Penderecki, conductor – Channel Classics multichannel SACD CCS SA 30310, 59:23 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****:

Isaac Stern’s recording of this work with the Minnesota Orchestra remains a touchstone; though the 1977 piece was a marked turning point for the composer, abandoning his block chordal cluster style, it was still not an easy work to get used to despite its neo-romantic moniker applied by the critical press. In fact the work is a bastion of tragedy, relieved only slightly by the hopeful utterances of the solo violin. It was composed during a time when the composer’s father was on his deathbed, and Penderecki let every ounce of pathos ooze through his pen to the page. Robert Kabara does a fine job with this work, probably eclipsing Stern (though his recording will always be significant) and enjoying the added reflections of 30 years with the work behind us.

The Horn Concerto is new (2008) and the differences in tone could not be more different; the notes suggest a struggle with the will of God with the violin concerto while the horn offers a joyful submission. Whatever the truth is, this is a very joyful piece, almost Haydnesque in spirit while drawing on the horn’s tunefulness and hunting origins. It is not left alone by the orchestra, but partners it in a joint effort to see who can create the most engaging melody, an attempt that ultimately fails because neither can compete without the integral involvement of the other. Spirited, lively, and smile-provoking, this one is destined for greatness and a firm repertory status, made sure by the terrific playing of Radovan Vlatkovic.

The Sinfonietta Cracovia play like champs under the direction of the composer, and Channel’s sound is front-row vivid in its impact. This is a winner.

-- Steven Ritter

The Gents: "Sehnsucht"
 Songs by Schubert, Wolf, Strauss, Schumann, Röntgen. With Ruiten; Janssen, piano; Csillag. Texts, no translations. Channel Classics CCS SA 30109

Sehnsucht, or longing, would be a good title for any offering by the Gents, an impressive all-male Dutch vocal ensemble that has perfected the art of leaning plangently into a yearning musical phrase. Taking its title from the eponymous Schubert lied, this collection of mostly unaccompanied romantic choral songs allows the Gents ample opportunity to showcase that skill, along with their mellow, resonant sound and pitch-perfect intonation.

Founded in 1999 by Peter Dijkstra, the Gents have a new conductor, Béni Csillag, but have maintained their silken, perfectly balanced sound and sophisticated musicianship. They are particularly well attuned to the tensions drawn from shifting suspensions in three Schumann selections, "Die Lotusblume," "Die Rose stand im Thau" and "Der Träumende See." Wolf's Sechs Geistliche Lieder have an appropriate sense of reverence and mystery. The group indulges its playful side in Strauss's percussive "Vor den Türen" and in two quirky songs by Dutch–German composer Julius Röntgen. However, my favorite selections are those by Schubert, particularly the title track, "Die Nacht" and "Ständchen," for which they are joined by pianist Thom Janssen and soloist Lenneke Ruiten. Ruiten's light lyric soprano is a lovely contrast to the Gents' juicy virility, but she approaches her lines with the same sensitive phrasing and delicacy of tone. She also shines in three solo turns, including a particularly graceful "Nachtviolen." spacer

JOANNE SYDNEY LESSNER

Editors Choice Gramophone September 2010
Dvorak Symphony no. 7, American Suite

This is one of those magnificent performances, typical of Ivan Fischer, that offer so much. Some will take from it a sense of elegance and sweetness. For me it's the detail - the concentration of every moment in the strings, for instance. You can almost focus on a different instrument for each listening and experience different yet satisfying musical journeys, as it were. Marvelous music - making.
James Inverne
A refined and individual Seventh plus the return of a classic Eighth and Ninth
Ivan Fischer is truly 'one on his own', a fund of fascinating interpretative ideas which, whether or not you always agree with them, invariably make musical sense. On this new version of Dvorak's Seventh Symphony, for example, the way he 'lifts' the transition into the second subject, with string lines that positively bulge nectar. The second subject itself is light and easy-going (beautiful horn playing) whereas the development section ebbs and flows despite the uneasy climate, much as it should. Just follow its course from say 4'22'' through 6'47'', then for half a minute or so beyond 7'01'', and you soon realize that here we have players who, under inspired and imaginative direction, know how to shape phrases and how to control and project dynamics. Sir Charles Mackerras on his recent 'live' Philharmonia recording (Signum, 4/10) captures just as much of this first movement's elemental storm and stress - the ever-volatile Kubelik in his DG Berlin recording is even more riveting - but Fischer's consistent coaxing provides a more temperate alternative. Similarly, the Poco adagio enjoys some superb playing (gorgeous horns again at around 2'40'') and note the unexpected Mahlerian string portamento at the movement's close.
The Scherzo's high point is an expressive but seamless transition into the Trio (always a tricky moment) and an energetic rocket ride back again. The finale is very well judged, excitingly played too, and it was a good idea to follow the ultimately exultant Seventh Symphony with a flowing, genial account of the still to rarely played American Suite, a dance sequence that's an ideal bedfellow, repertoire wise, for the Slavonic Dances and Legends. Competition here isn't too strong and although I retain a fondness for Karel Sejna's broader, grittier Czech Philharmonic account, I love the gutsy cut and thrust of the vintage Czech strings in the finale, many will prefer Fischer's refinement and polish. (...)mandatory listening for anyone interested in Dvorak and the best of his modern interpreters.
Rob Cowan
 

29709

Handel & Croft - Peace of Utrecht [Hybrid SACD Plays on all CD systems]
None
Channel Classics
2010

Signed in April 1713, the Peace of Utrecht brought to an end the war of Spanish succession, a conflict in which Britain, Austria, Portugal and the Dutch republic joined forces to prevent the unification of France and Spain under a single monarchy. A major event in the history of British expansionism – we acquired Gibraltar as a result – it precipitated celebrations in London and Oxford, some of the music for which is collected here. Handel's Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, premiered in St Paul's, are comparatively familiar. Less well known is William Croft's Ode for the Peace of Utrecht, written for Oxford. In some respects the disc is uneven: Handel's Te Deum is among the great 18th-century choral works; Croft's Ode is no more than proficient and the text, fulsomely praising Queen Anne as the prime mover of the whole conflict, now strikes us as suspect. But the performances, with Jos van Veldhoven conducting the Netherlands Bach Society, are terrific. The treaty also put an end to the centuries of Spanish occupation in the southern Netherlands and the fires of political and humanitarian justice still blaze in the majesty of the choral singing and the elation of the playing.

Tim Ashley - The Guardian

Händel: Te Deum HWV 278 (Music for the Peace of Utrecht, 1713) - Jubilate HWV 279 (Music for the Peace of Utrecht, 1713).

Croft: Ode for the Peace of Utrecht ("With Noise of Cannon").

Nicki Kennedy (sopraan), Wlliam Towers (altus), Wolfram Lattke en Julian Podger (tenor), Peter Harvey (bas), Koor en Orkest van De Nederlandse Bachvereniging o.l.v. Jos van Veldhoven.

Channel Classics CCS SA 29610 · 73' · (sacd)

www.channelclassics.com

Over twee jaar is het feest en dan hopelijk niet alleen in Utrecht, al was het in deze stad dat op 11 april 1713 het verdrag werd gesloten dat officieel een einde maakte aan bijna twee jaar oorlogen die een groot deel van onze aardbol in hun greep hadden gekregen. Aan de vele handtekeningen die op die gedenkwaardige dag werden gezet waren lange onderhandelingen vooraf gegaan. Gedurende anderhalf jaar was de stad Utrecht het toneel geweest van een groot aantal komende en gaande internationale diplomaten, die in het politieke en geografische centrum van ons land de staatkundige toekomst van Europa bepaalden. Het grote internationale gezelschap bestond voornamelijk uit adellijke vertegenwoordigers van de diverse landen. Geen wonder dus dat Utrecht in die periode kunst en cultuur hoog in het vaandel had. Zoals vele kunsten kon ook de muziek prima dienen om de partijen dichter bij elkaar te brengen. Een uitstekend smeermiddel dus. Een eeuw later, van 18 september 1814 tot 9 juni 1815, zou in Wenen een soortgelijke vredestichting plaatsvinden, toen na de overwinning op Napoleon door de overwinnaars, Oostenrijk, Pruisen, Rusland en Engeland, Europa staatkundig opnieuw ingedeeld moest worden. En ook toen was er volop muziek in de Oostenrijkse hoofdstad en werd er met groot enthousiasme op de ongetwijfeld prachtige ensembleklanken gedanst.

De Stichting Vrede van Utrecht (klik hier voor de website) loopt alvast op de grootscheepse viering in 2013 vooruit met de presentatie van allerlei culturele 'opwarmertjes' op de mooiste plekken in de stad. In de zomermaanden, als het weer niet al te veel roet in het eten gooit, zijn er op forten, kastelen, maar ook op andere historische plekken verschillende evenementen die de Vrede van Utrecht ook in cultureel perspectief plaatst. Bovendien worden in samenwerking met de Universiteit Utrecht in de Nicolaikerk lezingen gehouden en zijn er door het gehele jaar heen programma's voor en door Utrechters. Er is zelfs een gratis toegankelijk feest op het imposante Domplein, met DJ's op de al even indrukwekkende Domtoren. De Stichting, een initiatief van de gemeente en de provincie, heeft de lat hoog gelegd. Dat past in de ambitie om in 2018 Culturele Hoofdstad van Europa te worden.

Uiteraard stond de Vrede van Utrecht ook hoog op de Engelse agenda. Merkwaardig genoeg kreeg Händel van staatswege het verzoek om een Te Deum te componeren. Normaliter werd een dergelijke opdracht aan Engelse componisten verleend, laat staan aan de 'Duitser' Georg Friedrich Händel, de 'Kapellmeister' van de keurvorst Hannover, met wie de Engelse koningin Anne bepaald geen vriendschappelijke relatie onderhield. Mogelijk heeft Händel de opdracht in de wacht gesleept met hulp van enige hem goedgezinden in adellijke kringen, maar het is zeker ook niet uitgesloten dat zijn successen in Londen een rol hebben gespeeld. Zijn talent en zakelijke handigheid hadden hem in niet meer dan twee seizoenen tot de meest toonaangevende componist van Engeland gebracht. Het regende bijkans compositieopdrachten en niet van de minsten.

Händels Te Deum is ook weer zo'n goed voorbeeld van een combinatie van creatieve inventiviteit en zakelijke handigheid. Misschien had hij de compositie al afgerond toen de opdracht op zijn deurmat viel. Maar belangrijker is dat het indrukwekkende werk getuigt van Händels kennis van de manier waarop de Engelse ceremonies en vieringen met muziek luister werden bijgezet, met alle daarmee verbonden 'pomp and circumstance'. Hij had een fijn oor voor de typisch Engelse gebruiksmuziek die hij in zijn stukken zeer geraffineerd wist te verwerken, zonder daarbij overigens zijn persoonlijke componeerstijl naar de achtergrond te schuiven. Wat het Te Deum betreft had hij bovendien geweldige voorbeelden in Purcells Te Deum en Crofts anthem Rejoice in the Lord. Purcells Te Deum lijkt min of meer model te hebben gestaan voor Händels Te Deum, terwijl diens Jubilate interessante raakvlakken heeft met Crofts Rejoice.

Händel is ook de componist die een superieure synthese wist te bereiken tussen solisten en koor, tussen solozang en tutti. De grootschalige opzet doet nooit afbreuk aan het fijnzinnige karakter van melodiek en harmonie, terwijl de muzikale uitbeelding van de tekst steeds trefzeker is en van een grote verfijning getuigt. Wat dat betreft is het zeker niet alleen The Messiah die daarvoor model kan staan. Het succes van Händels Te Deum was dusdanig dat het werk jaarlijks werd uitgevoerd ter gelegenheid van St. Cecilia's Day, op 22 november, en daarmee Purcells pendant van de eerste plaats verstootte. Händel had met zijn 'Church-Musick' het onmogelijke mogelijk gemaakt!

Het Jubilate werd na het Te Deum gecomponeerd. Beide werken waren bedoeld als muzikale omlijsting van een dienst van dank en gebed in een afgeladen St. Paul's Cathedral op 7 juli 1713, drie maanden na het sluiten van de Vrede van Utrecht. Het Jubilate kan en wordt weliswaar afzonderlijk uitgevoerd, maar dient in feite toch als aanvulling van het Te Deum.

De Ode voor de Vrede van Utrecht van William Croft (1678-1727) begint met een ouverture die de componist los had gepubliceerd. In het voorwoord van deze losse uitgave memoreerde Croft dat hij het had geschreven om - als een soort proeve van bekwaamheid - daarmee in Oxford de doctorstitel te behalen en dat het stuk onderdeel was van een groter geheel. Maar 'doctor in musick' werd je niet zomaar. De voorwaarde was niet alleen het componeren maar tevens het uitvoeren van een grootschalig werk, voor solisten, koor en orkest. Een componist die het om de doctorstitel te doen was moest dus flink uitpakken. Met alleen maar een ouverture lukte dat niet.

In de toelichting geeft dirigent Jos van Veldhoven aan dat twee zaken hem door het hoofd spookten: de datum van 13 juli 1713, waarop de eerste uitvoering van Crofts muziek plaatsvond, dus drie maanden nadat de Vrede van Utrecht een feit was, en nog geen week nadat Händels Te Deum en Jubilate in St. Paul hadden geklonken. Dan was er die intrigerende titel, 'With Noise of Cannon', waarbij de verwijzing naar het kanon mogelijk betrekking heeft op het oorlogsgeweld dat aan de Vrede van Utrecht vooraf ging.

Onderzoek in de archieven van de Bodleian Library in Oxford leverde een intrigerend resultaat op:

Musicus apparatus academicus, being a composition of two odes with vocal & instrumental musick performed in the theatre at Oxford on Monday July the 13th. The words by the Reverend Mr. Joseph Trapp A.M. and set to musick by William Croft Dr. in musick, organist & composer to His Majesty, master of the children in the Chapel Royal and organist of St. Peters Westminster.

De tekst in het manuscript van een van de twee odes, de ode op deze cd, een wereldpremière, zorgde voor nog een verrassing: de rechtstreekse verwijzing naar de Vrede van Utrecht. Daarmee was er in ieder geval een historisch verband tussen Händels Te Deum en Jubilate en Crofts Ode. Maar ook tussen Händel en Croft bestond er een relatie. Ze kenden elkaar goed en waren beiden verbonden aan de Chapel Royal. Evenals Händel was Croft een componist van groot aanzien. Terwijl Händel in Londen druk in de weer was met de voorbereidingen voor de uitvoering van zijn Te Deum en Jubilate repeteerde Croft zijn nieuwe Ode voor de uitvoering in Oxford. Daarmee kon hij, zo liet het zich aanzien, bovendien die zo fel begeerde doctorstitel halen. Voor de 'vredestekst' strikte Croft de predikant Joseph Trapp, die Croft het libretto leverde. Het zal geen toeval zijn dat het Allegro in de ouverture thematisch verwant is aan Händels meer dan vijfendertig jaar later gecomponeerde Music(k) for the Royal Fireworks, ditmaal ter gelegenheid van de Vrede van Aken in 1748, die een einde maakte aan de Oostenrijkse successieoorlog. In onze tijd zou onmiddellijk aan plagiaat worden gedacht, maar het ligt meer voor de hand dat Händel in dit geval Croft uit eerbetoon heeft geciteerd. Dat de grote Händel graag thema's van anderen gebruikte en zich daarbij soms als een echte 'gazza ladra' gedroeg heeft de Engelse musicoloog Winton Dean aangetoond. Maar zo bijzonder was dat in die tijd trouwens niet. Bach deed het ook en zelfs Mozart citeerde bijna letterlijk werk van Händel in zijn Requiem. Zo lijkt Händels Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline - The ways of Zion do mourn HWV 264 uit 1737 model te hebben gestaan voor de introitus (vanzelfsprekend transponeerde Mozart het origineel van g-klein naar d-klein.) De overeenkomsten in zowel de instrumentale inleiding als het contrapunt kunnen onmogelijk over het hoofd worden gezien. Ook de Kyrie-fuga in datzelfde Requiem verwijst naar een werk van Händel: het slotkoor 'We will rejoice in thy salvation' uit het Dettingen Anthem HWV 265 uit 1743. Dit alles met de kanttekening dat Mozart het voorbeeld van Händel niet zomaar slaafs navolgde, maar er zijn geheel eigen invulling aan gaf.

Deze nieuwe uitgave van Channel Classics biedt niet alleen een wereldpremière in de vorm van een hoogst geïnspireerde en doortimmerde uitvoering van William Crofts Ode for the Peace of Utrecht, maar tevens een niet minder bevlogen vertolking van Händels Te Deum en Jubilate. Wat de laatste twee werken betreft is daarmee de niet minder spetterende en soms zelfs spectaculaire uitvoering onder leiding van Simon Preston op het label l'Oiseau-Lyre niet onttroond, maar de opname (1978/79) is inmiddels toch wel gedateerd. Bovendien is die uiteraard alleen in gewoon stereo, dit in tegenstelling tot de Channel Classics-sacd, die tevens surround-weergave biedt. Bovendien mist u dan het prachtige werk van Croft (de koppeling op l'Oiseau-Lyre is daarmee vergeleken nogal conventioneel, met Händels Jubilate en Vivaldi's Gloria RV 589). Dan is er nog Nikolaus Harnoncourt met zijn Concentus musicus Wien op Apex, die Händels Te Deum koppelde aan The Ways of Zion do mourn HWV 264. Zeker interessant om erbij te hebben, al is het alleen maar om HWV 264.

De opname klinkt ruimtelijker dan ik mij van de Philharmonie in Haarlem herinner, maar de gesuggereerde kerkakoestiek past deze muziek als een handschoen. Articulatie en helderheid blijven daarbij volkomen intact en laten nergens te wensen over. Solisten, koor en orkest staan er bijzonder fraai op, met volledig behoud van hun individuele karakteristieken. Het gebruik van historische instrumenten verhoogt de waarde van deze uitgave nog eens extra. Een mooie, bijzonder goed verzorgde productie, de zoveelste van het huis Channel Classics.

Apropos, hoe zit dat nu met die 'Noise of Cannon'? Jammer, maar u zult er niet door worden opgeschrikt. En al evenmin door 'rattling drums'. Wie dus rekent op een soort achttiende-eeuwse Ouverture 1812 moet ik teleurstellen. "With Noise of Cannon" verwijst alleen naar de tekst:

With noise of cannon and of rattling drums
Our songs of triumph shall resound no more;
Crowds shall no longer shout, the conquerer comes,
Nor in our verse shall warlike thunder roar.

Maar wel stevige taal voor een predikant, en zeker in die tijd!

Aart van der Wal, juli 2010

Editors Choice Gramophone September 2010
Handel - Croft
Music for the Peace of Utrecht
The site of a famous peace treaty spawns a marvelous disc in eloquent tribute.
(...)The new recording by the Netherlands Bach Society has been produced in collaboration with the Treaty of Utrecht Foundation, as the city gears up towards the tercentenary commemoration in 2013 of 'The first peace achieved through diplomacy'. Jos van Veldhoven's excellent Dutch musicians are joined by a team of mostly English soloists. 'To the all angels cry aloud' is sung with tense drama by the incisive chorus, Julian Podger and William Towers. 'When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man' has sensitive contributions from oboist Michael Niesemann and high tenor Wolfram Lattke, and the accompaniment of 'We believe that thou shalt come' (an adaptation of 'De torrente' from Dixit Dominus) is played gently by the strings and flautist Marten Root. The Netherlands Bach Society fires on all cylinders in the Jubilate, the joyful opening part is based on another earlier Roman sacred work (Laudate Pueri). The choir handles lively counterpoint intuitively, slower reflective music is eloquent, and the brassy homophonic passages adapt and ideal character of ceremonial splendour. Contrasts between penitent intimacy and colourful magnificence are managed shrewdly by Veldhoven.
The programme concludes with William Croft's ode 'With Noise of Cannon'(1713). Performed at Oxford, this partly commemorated the Peace Treaty but also supported the Master of the Chapel Royal's obtaining of a doctorate. Croft had been a chorister under Purcell and Blow; the stylistic link between Croft's forbears and the newcomer Handel is manifest and charismatic details such as agile trumpets and echoing dance like strings in the overture, and the tender duet 'Peace is the Song' (sung finely by Peter Harvey and William Towers).
AS one expects from this label, the superb sound engineering and the artistic integrity of the project are second to none.
David Vickers
 

Music for the Peace of Utrecht = HANDEL: Te Deum, HWV 278; Jubilate, HWV 279; WILLIAM CROFT: Ode for the Peace of Utrecht, “With Noise of Cannon” – Netherlands Bach Society/ Jos van Veldhoven, conductor – Channel Classics multichannel SACD 29610, 73:03 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****:

This disc is offered as a foretaste of the celebration of 300 years since the passing of the Treaty of Utrecht, an event that can hardly be underestimated as it brought an end to almost 200 years of war in Europe. It was a big event then and has not lost its significance today. The Treaty of Utrecht Foundation is in part responsible for the sponsorship of this recording.

Handel was just starting to acclimate himself to the ways of England when the opportunity to write his Te Deum presented itself. The accompanying Jubilate was almost an afterthought to the other composition. It only took about two seasons for the already-successful composer to establish himself as the one to beat in terms of musical talent, and the Queen and English court caught on to his genius in rather short order. Otherwise it is impossible to understand how a foreign composer so easily assumed the first place for selection in such an important commission as this, works to be performed at St. Paul’s to celebrate the most important European event in 500 years. In fact, Handel’s opus was destined to supplant Purcell’s Te Deum that was annually performed on St. Cecelia’s Day on November 22 of each year, no mean feat. It is a spectacular piece with all of the typically Handelian effects that we all know and love, though it will probably not rank among favorite Handeliana when compared to what he could accomplish in future years; likewise the Jubilate, another invigorating and immediately popular work that served as an infallible calling card to London society.

William Croft (1678-1727) was court organist and composer along with master of the Children in the Chapel Royal and organist of St. Peter’s Westminster. His motivations for the composition of this blockbuster Ode were a little different from Handel’s, a musical dissertation devised to earn him a doctorate from Oxford University, which it did. This work was performed three months after the Utrecht treaty, and is full of what we would now consider Handelian devices as well. This is not surprising as the two composers were colleagues and friends at the Chapel Royal, and it is hard to ascertain who influenced who. Croft’s work is a marvel, wonderful choral work with a striking overture, and one that did good service to the court and the celebrations.
The Netherlands Bach Society is a crackerjack ensemble of tremendous quality and digs into these pieces with relish. Channel’s surround sound is simply brilliant, and I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed by this recording.

-- Steven Ritter
 

THE ABSOLUTE SOUND

August 2010
Brahms Piano Concerto no. 3
Dejan Lazic; Atlanta Symphony
Robert Spano. Channel Classics

Brahms was famously casual about performance instructions for his own compositions. And, following Bach and Beethoven before him, both of whom recast their violin concertos using keyboard protagonists - he wasn't at all averse to arrangements of his music in other - than- original instrumentations, and indeed reworked his late clarinet sonatas for repertoire - starved violists.
If the notion of replacing the violin with the piano in his magisterial Opus 77 concerto probably wouldn't have bothered old Johannes, it's still likely to startle today's concert audiences. Fortunately Dejan Lazic's 2008 rendering of the work as a piano concerto (here in its first recording) is amazingly effective. It leaves the orchestration untouched and transforms the solo violin part into idiomatic Brahmsian piano figurations with appropriately rich chordal sonorities, sparkling arpeggios, and a fully elaborated first-movement cadenza. Lazic plays with flair, eloquence, and, in the lovely central adagio songful poetry.
Recorded 'live in concert' the hybrid SACD conveys full throated weight and a judicious balance between soloist and orchestra, with the multichannel encoding offering extra ambience and presence.
Mark Lehman
 

Manuel de FALLA (1876–1946)
Spanish Dance (from La vida breve) (1905) [3:23]
El amor brujo (1916 version) [23:04]
Excerpts from El sombrero de tres picos (1919): Danza del molinero; Danza de los vecinos; Danza de la molinera [9:35]
Siete canciones populares españolas (1914): El paño moruno; Seguidilla murciana; Asturiana; Jota; Nana; Canción; Polo [12:16]
Homenaje (from Le tombeau de Claude Debussy, 1920) [3:07]
Tus ojillos negros (1903) [3:50]
Peter and Zoltán Katona (guitars); Juanita Lascarro (soprano); David Garcia Mir (percussion)
rec. Doopsgezinde Kerk, The Netherlands 2008
CHANNEL CLASSICS CCS SA 28809 [57:00]

Imagine well-dressed gentlemen and old ladies in furs and jewels, coming to listen in concert to some respectable Mass – Cherubini’s, for example. Suddenly they hear about a change in the program, and are presented with the Misa flamenca! A similar shock is in store for you on this disc.

Dedicated to the music of Manuel de Falla, this disc contains the entire El amor brujo (in its later, more “civilized” ballet form), the irresistible Seven Popular Spanish Songs, and a few other pieces, including three dances from The Three-Cornered Hat and the ubiquitous Spanish Dance from La vida breve. In brief, the most Spanish of all the Spanish music. So, the program is quite standard – but the arrangements aren’t! In addition to the two guitars played by Peter and Zoltán Katona, and the mezzo-soprano (in the songs and the vocal numbers of El amor brujo), there is a lot of diverse percussion. Moreover, in several parts of El amor brujo we hear electric guitars! Did I like it? Yes and no. I loved the added percussion – very colorful and inventive. But the electric guitars seem a bit out of place sometimes – and I do not feel musical unity in the cycle, since the electric guitars grab the stage in some numbers and disappear in others. The style jumps hither and yon and back again.

Manuel de Falla’s music appears born to be played on guitar. The short and frequent notes, the clear articulation, the stomping chords, the tremolos – it is hard to believe that it was not initially written for the instrument. This is especially noticeable in the Seven Songs, where the original piano arrangement imitates the guitar. These arrangements liberate the hidden spirit of the music.

The introduction to El amor brujo immediately shows the two strong points of this disc: the sonorous, strong guitar sound (the tadimm-tudamm tadimm-tudamm motif has orchestral power), and the constant presence of the percussion. The following Night in the Cave introduces the electric guitars and is all recyclable plastic, after which we go to flamenco singing in Cancion del amor dolido. All this creates a feeling of a big mix, which continues throughout the entire cycle. It’s a bit uncomfortable. I liked the arrangement solutions in the classical-guitar parts: very rhythmic, propelled by the percussion. In the vocal numbers, Juanita Lascarro does a very good job. She does not descend to the depths of the throat like an authentic flamenco cantaora, but also does not have the superficial opulence of some opera-house singers. Her voice has a natural beauty and roundness. She is recorded a bit remotely, which creates a feeling of stage action. Escena (track 10) is another dubious electric experiment, but the surrounding Danza ritual del fuego and Pantomima are well done, the former with good contrast, the latter sensitive and letting the music breathe.

Out of El Sombrero de tres picos we have three dances. The Miller’s Dance has a virile, rather arrogant, character. Some percussion effects give it a more sinister hue than usual. The Dance of the Neighbors is sunny and good-humored, relaxed, very well arranged and played. The Dance of the Miller’s Wife is, regrettably, too hard-driven and loses its voluptuous, Carmen-like appeal. The percussion try to substitute depth with quantity but lack subtlety. Instead of a dance, the Miller’s Wife seems to be enjoying an exciting horse ride. The same can be said of the opening track of the disc, the Spanish Dance from La vida breve. The guitars and percussion do not always blend well. However, the percussion effects definitely make the music more interesting, although probably less emotional.

But I can say without reservation that in the Seven Popular Songs the arrangers’ approach bears wonderful unique fruit. In the main this is due to the beautiful singing of Juanita Lascarro, her voice strong and velvety, like a clarinet. The accompaniment is well-planned and well-measured. The percussion never dominate, yet they add illuminating detail. The entire construction is open and colorful: an Eiffel Tower of music!

The two last pieces on the disc dispense with the percussion. First comes the purely instrumental Homenaje – the only piece de Falla actually wrote for guitar! It is soft and delicate, like the music of Debussy to whose memory it was dedicated. Last, Juanita Lascarro grants us a radiant performance of the beautiful song Tus ojillos negros. It has one of de Falla’s unforgettable tunes. The two guitars are like two additional singers - a perfect close for the album.

The sound of the guitars is orotund and resonant, well articulated yet not dry, without any extraneous noises, powerful when required and delicate when needed. The recording is clear, though I would prefer the percussion to have been a little more recessed: at some moments it eclipses the guitars. The insert notes speak sufficiently about the performers, but not enough about the works. And no texts of the songs, either.

The bottom line: I would not recommend this disc as the only recording of El amor brujo, but it offers a very interesting and indeed unique alternative view. The songs are first class, with some great singing and sensitive playing. I am very happy that discs like this continue to appear – giving new perspectives on ‘old’ music. This cannot be called a crossover: it’s just a fresh approach. With efforts like this, classical music will never fossilize.

Oleg Ledeniov

Read more: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/June10/falla_ccs_sa_28809.htm#ixzz0rZIY9KcM

ROBERT SCHUMANN: Davidsbundlertanze, op. 6; Arabeske, op. 18; Gesange der Fruhe, op. 133 – Paolo Giacometti, piano – Channel Classics multichannel SACD CCS SA 28709, 55:30 ***** [Distr by Harmonia mundi]:

Paolo Giacometti is an up and coming performer of great gifts, and quite accomplished record-wise as well, though he has appeared on more chamber recordings than solo to this point, aside from his very successful series of Rossini discs. He likes to vary the instruments he uses from recording to recording, and here he chooses the standard Steinway D, perhaps the most requested instrument in all of modern concert playing. This is a wonderful recording with Channel’s always reliable and super-spectacular surround sound working to capture these very poetic performances in a lush and resilient atmosphere of great clarity and cushiness. Giacometti’s superb playing compliments in every way the audio excellence.

The Davidsbündlertänze (“Dances of the League of David”) is a work of supreme mastery by the 27-year old composer, deeply in love with the newly-engaged Clara. The “League of David”, an imaginary fellowship populated by Schumann’s own alter egos and some invited composer guests, was created as a sort of antidote to what the composer thought of as a challenge to the musical values that he most admired, and not the more populist and superficial theatrics of Liszt and others. Florestan and Eusebius make an appearance here as in other places in Schumann’s music, the former wild and extroverted, and the latter gently introverted, with the tensions between them amply captured in the music. This is a beautiful performance, easily equal to the best ones on the market, including Kempff and Haskil among others.
 
The Arabeske is given a strong and almost steely reading that also emphasizes the gentle poetry found in this short, but always welcome interlude of Schumann’s. Gesänge der Frühe (“Morning Songs”) make for a picture perfect conclusion to this recital, as they are the last pieces Schumann would write before being confined to the asylum at Endenich, written about to his publisher only one day before tossing himself into the Rhine in a suicide attempt. These are very internal and introspective pieces, moody little things that allow for the sunrise to imprint itself in the imagination the same way it might in an impressionist painting. I have heard only one other recording that comes close to matching this one, that of Eric Le Sage in his recent and comprehensive series on Alpha. This is sterling Schumann of great conviction and substance, and will be enjoyed by everyone who comes across it.

-- Steven Ritter
 

From The Times
October 23, 2009
Ivan Fischer/Budapest Festival Orchestra: Brahms
A latecomer beats the Brahms field with the Hungarian dances, Variations on a Theme and of course Brahms’ First Symphony
Geoff Brown

In normal circumstances, emerging with a Brahms symphony recording at this moment would not be a wise move. Simon Rattle’s complete Berlin set was recently issued; John Eliot Gardiner’s period instrument accounts have been emerging: both of them revisionist enterprises, lively, thoughtful and fresh. Another CD on the Brahms mountain, and the public might not notice.
But with Ivan Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra you have to notice. Even before the laser beam hits the spinning disc, there’s the CD’s programme to take on board. First, one of Brahms’s Hungarian dances, arranged by Fischer for strings, a hesitating, melancholy delight; then the Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn, sparkling and strong. Only then does his First Symphony, the product of 14 anxious years, start to stride.
The fruits of this arrangement can be enjoyed only by playing the disc uninterrupted. Fischer’s rather schoolmasterish plan is to reveal the influences and stepping stones that led to the master work: Hungarian folk music, plus classical poise allied to contrapuntal strength. But the CD never feels like homework. These Budapest players have Hungarian folk music in their blood, and their national inflections of phrasing, tempo and string fingering make the symphony quiver with new life.
Fischer doesn’t press the first movement as forcefully as some, but he’s alive to the inner drama in every phrase, every iteration of those motives, tightly worked in the spirit of Beethoven’s Fifth. Folk music made elegant returns in the second movement. The third and fourth movements almost merge into one, with the finale’s allegro springing in after a magical Alpine landscape conjured up through the calls of the horns and the music’s high-altitude expanse. At the end, Brahms’s argument reaches its climax in a flourish of gaiety and composing muscle, suggesting the Haydn Variations finale, but on a far grander scale.
All this plus the usual finesse of tone and colour expected from this orchestra and conductor. Gardiner and Rattle’s Brahms both have real merit, though neither of them can top the natural sympathy and understanding shown in this outstanding performance. Symphonies two, three and four had better follow.
(Channel Classics)

Rather than trawl for forgotten manuscripts more widely through Latin America, Ashley Solomon and his group Florilegium prefer to concentrate their efforts on the archives in Bolivia. Solomon has founded a choir there, and both his groups regularly appear at the biennial renaissance and baroque festival in the Jesuit missions of the Chiquitos region. Their latest compilation includes pieces from those missions and from those of Moxos, together with music from the cathedral in La Plata, the present-day city of Sucre. Though the sources aren't always made clear, it's a lively, nicely varied sequence, mostly of works showcasing Solomon's excellent Arakaender choir, interspersed with an anonymous trio-sonatas and organ pieces recorded on a wonderfully gutsy instrument at the mission church of Santa Ana in the Bolivian part of the Amazon basin. The Italian-born Domenico Zipoli is the best known composer represented, appropriately enough, perhaps, for he did at least make the journey from Europe to the Spanish colonies in the new world.
Andrew Clements
 

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

August 9, 2008

Pieter Wispelwey

***1/2
Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante
with Solo Cello Works by Tcherepnin and Crumb
Pieter Wispelwey, cello; Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Vassily Sinaisky
Channel Classics 27909

****
Walton Cello Concerto
with Solo Cello Works by Bloch, Britten and Ligeti
Pieter Wispelwey, cello; Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate
Onyx 4042

Dutch cellist Wispelwey, now in middle age, is at a point in his career where he's setting interpretive standards in addition to technical ones, at least in these strong-minded discs, which juxtapose 20th-century concertos against little-known unaccompanied cello works by major composers. Those thrilled by the Prokofiev Sinfonia when performed by the Curtis Symphony Orchestra a few months back will be relieved to find this excellent new performance, which is truly able to encompass the sprawling piece. No Prokofiev gesture is too large or oblique for Wispelwey to find any number of telling details. In the Walton, Wispelwey is crisp almost to the point of brusqueness - welcome in a concerto whose suaveness can hide its own importance.

The unaccompanied cello works that fill out both discs are a mixed lot but mostly worth hearing. On the Prokofiev disc, Crumb's Sonata for Cello Solo is a student work that sounds nothing like later pieces, though an inquiring mind is definitely evident. Tcherepnin's Asian-tinged Suite for Solo Cello isn't so lucky. The Walton disc filler is more appetizing: Though Ligeti's excellent Sonata for Solo Cello is widely recorded, Bloch's rugged, little-known Suite No. 1 is not, and though Walton's 10 Passacaglia for Solo Cello shows the composer in decline, it's a good counterpoint to the more youthful concerto.

-David Patrick Stearns