Brief Notes
Your quick listening guide to more new releases, including a feast of Russian music, Irish piano concertos and Brahms at his impassioned best
Brahms • Franck • Debussy Cello sonatas
Victor Julien-laferrière (cello), Adam Laloum (piano)
Mirare MIR 310
Julien-laferrière’s burnished tone and Laloum’s strident articulation combine for impassioned Brahms and Franck cello sonatas, their Debussy beautifully paced, poised and balanced. This duo has an innate sense of ensemble.
(OC)
Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes, Opp. 52 & 65; Waltzes, Op. 39
Mclaren (soprano), Losier (mezzo), Charbonneau (tenor), Sylvestre (bass-baritone); Myriam Farid and Olivier Godin (piano)
ATMA Classique ACD2 2710
Brahms’s two sets of Liebeslieder Waltzes are the ultimate pick-meup music, and there’s plenty of joy in these accounts. The performance of the
Op. 39 Waltzes for piano four hands could have more finesse. (RF)
Brahms String quintets
Mandelring Quartet,
Roland Glassl (viola)
Audite 97.724 54:55
The Mandelring Quartet, with viola player Roland Glassl, is a true team of equals. Its luscious, even sound is perfect for Brahms’s rich quintets and shown to great advantage in this impeccably crisp recording.
(EC)
Bruch Violin Concerto No. 3; Romanze; Konzertstück
Antje Weithaas (violin); NDR Radiophilharmonie/ Hermann Bäumer
CPO 777 8472
A welcome outing for Bruch’s Third Violin Concerto which, compared to the omni-present First, rarely gets a look in. It’s cut from the same luxurious late-romantic cloth and gets an aptly sumptuous performance from Antje Weithaas. (JP)
Daugherty Tales of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon a Castle
Zuill Bailey (cello), Paul Jacobs (organ); Nashville Symphony/ Giancarlo Guerrero
Naxos 8.559798
Colourful and characterful works inspired by 20th-century American culture, from Hemingway to Hearst Castle. Vivid performances, particularly by the excellent soloists. (RF)
Field Piano Concerto No. 3 Hammond Piano Concerto
Michael Mchale (piano); RTE
National So/courtney Lewis
RTE Lyric FM CD150
Two Irish piano concertos, composed 200 years apart. The Field (1811) consists of two movements of genial bonhomie either side of a beguiling nocturne. In contrast, Philip Hammond (2014) trundles laboriously from one nondescript idea to the next. (JP)
Jenkins Cantata Memoria
Bryn Terfel, Elin Manahan Thomas et al; Sinfonia Cymru/karl Jenkins Deutsche Grammophon 479 6486 Drawing on Welsh song and children’s voices, Jenkins has made a decent job of marking the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster. It’s straightforward stuff, but all the more poignant for that. (JP)
Kats-chernin Solo and duo piano
works Cislowska, Kats-chernin (piano) ABC Classics 481 2625 Tamara-anna Cislowska performs this showcase of Elena Kats-chernin’s piano works with sleek virtuosity. You may recognise the Eliza Aria from the 2007 Lloyds TSB advertisement. (EC)
Melartin Traumgesicht; Marjatta; Music from The Blue Pearl
Isokoski (soprano);
Finnish Radio So/hannu Lintu
Ondine ODE 1283-2
Melartin’s lushly atmospheric orchestral soundworld is more akin to the likes of Richard Strauss than his Finnish compatriot, Sibelius. Soile Isokoski is simply glorious in the tone poem Marjatta. (JP)
Rachmaninov Vespers LSO Chorus/
Simon Halsey LSO Sing LSO0781 Halsey’s control of this 107-strong choir is impressive, dynamic contrasts expansive and impactful. Inevitably, lines are a little on the fuzzy side, but every syllable is audible. (OC)
Rachmaninov Vespers
Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, Fifth Avenue, New York/john Scott Resonus RES10169
A fine tribute to
John Scott – this is accomplished singing, the boys’ voices forthright, the men ever sensitive to blend. Exemplary tuning. It pips the LSO Chorus for clarity and shape. (OC)
Shostakovich Piano Trios Nos 1 & 2; Viola Sonata
Ashkenazy (piano), Visontay (violin), Lidström (cello), Meinich (viola) Decca 478 9382
Wonderful recordings of works that span Shostakovich’s life. Ashkenazy and co perform with the required combination of anguish, anger and playfulness. (OC)
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1; Nutcracker Suite
Dariescu (piano); Rpo/darrell Ang Signum SIGCD441
The RPO and Dariescu make one majestic unit in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, but the Pletnev arrangement of the Nutcracker Suite for piano lacks the magic of the original.
(EC)
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6; Romeo and Juliet
Czech Philharmonic/semyon Bychkov Decca 483 0656
A legendary orchestra with an intelligent and wellrespected conductor – but these are disappointingly prosaic readings lacking in atmosphere and dramatic engagement. (DJ)
Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia Britten Frank Bridge Variations Elgar Introduction and Allegro
LSO String Ensemble/roman Simovic LSO LSO0792 53:59 mins
Three of the best British string orchestra works, meticulously performed. I’ve heard more atmospheric Vaughan Williams and more idiomatic Elgar, but their Britten is spot on. (RF)
Vasks String Quartets Nos 1, 2 & 4
Spikeru String Quartet
Wergo 7330 2
The First String Quartet is the gem here – written in 1977, it reflects on the misery of Soviet existence with a mix of elegiac bleakness and raging fury. All three works get spirited performances. (JP)
Wagner An Orchestral Adventure
Baltic Sea Philharmonic/kristjan Jarvi Sony Classical 88985360682
A triumphant performance of De Vlieger’s sweeping arrangement of Wagner’s Ring cycle. An ideal introduction to Wagner for anyone daunted by the scale of his operas. (EC)
All you need is Bach
Organ works by JS Bach Cameron Carpenter (organ)
Sony 88875178262
More Stokowski than Bach. Carpenter is an imaginative player, but unnecessary ornamentation and constant manual/registration changes are too distracting. (OC)
Après un rêve Works by Fauré, Debussy & Ravel Svarfvar (violin), Pöntinen (piano)bis BIS-2183
Yet another disc taking its title from Fauré’s song, but the playing is anything but routine. Intoxicating atmosphere, delicious rubato and lovely recorded sound. (RF)
Danse Macabre Orchestral works
Montreal So/kent Nagano
Decca 483 0396
Nagano sets the volume dial to ‘11’ in unashamedly big and brash performances of orchestral works inspired by all things supernatural. Ives’s Halloween is a fun, if brief, surprise. (JP)
Polish Violin Concertos Bacewicz, Tansman, Spisak and Panufnik
Piotr Plawner (violin); Kammersymphonie Berlin/bruns Naxos 8.573496
Four lively Polish violin concertos from 19301971, well performed. Buy it for the colourful, lyrical, smart Bacewicz, and then explore expansive Panufnik, neo-classical Spisak and neo-baroque Tansman. (RF)
Sonnets Song recital
B Johnson (tenor), G Johnson (piano) Champs Hill Records CHRCD103
This eloquent poetryled programme shows off Ben Johnson’s powerful yet flexible voice and Graham Johnson’s nuanced pianism. Their Liszt Tre Sonetti di Petrarca is a particular highlight. (EC)
Tailwind Works by Mcdowall, Salter, Wilson and Yeats
Gelächter Trio Oboe Classics CC2032 One couldn’t ask for better performances of these contemporary woodwind works. All are full of inventive spirit, from a Suite of Sweets to the knottier Dark Gravity. (RF)
Treblesome Britten, Bennett, Brahms, Schubert, Thomas et al
The Temple Church Boys’ Choir/roger Sayer Orchid Classics ORC100058
The trebles of London’s Temple Church sing this imaginatively mixed programme with verve and energy. Rodney Bennett’s The Insect World is a charming vehicle for their sweet tone. (OC)
Reviewers: Oliver Condy (OC), Elinor Cooper (EC), Rebecca Franks (RF), Daniel Jaffé (DJ,) Jeremy Pound (JP)