BRIEF NOTES
A review round-up of 24 new releases, including a fine Bach B minor Mass, some lofty Strauss and enticing introductions to Bolcom and Joubert
JS Bach Mass in B minor Landshamer, Vondung, Tarver, Wolf; Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Concerto Köln/peter Dijkstra
BR Klassik 900910
This is classy, largescale Bach, a live recording with real depth and passion. The choral singing and orchestral playing both possess tremendous heft and shape – the Gloria, in particular, is a thrilling experience – while the soloists are uniformly excellent. One for the library. (OC)
Bolcom Piano Rags
Spencer Myer (piano)
Steinway & Sons 30041
In the tradition of Scott Joplin, the US composer William Bolcom’s rags are packed full of frolicsome humour and variety, and laced with a tender melancholy. Spencer Myer approaches these terrific miniatures with a welcome directness that avoids undue sentiment. (OC) Boyle Clarinet Sonatina; Burble for solo clarinet; Tatty’s Dance; Dramatis Personae
Fraser Langton (clarinet); James Willshire (piano); Rosalind Ventris (viola) Delphian DCD34172
Of all the premiere recordings on this disc, Rory Boyle’s evocation of Carl Jung’s three archetypal figures
Dramatis Personae – written for the performers on the disc – is the most engaging. (EC)
Durante Requiem;
Organ Concerto in B flat
Christ Church Cathedral Choir; Soloists from The Sixteen; Oxford Baroque/stephen Darlington;
Clive Driskill-smith (organ)
Coro COR16147
Durante’s 1746 postbaroque Requiem is no great masterpiece, but it does have moments of elegance and charm which are beautifully rendered. The likeable Organ Concerto benefits from sparkling registration and articulation. (OC) Elgar Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme
Johannes Moser (cello); Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/andrew Manze Pentatone PTC 5186 570
Johannes Moser is an unfailingly elegant soloist. His rather matter-offact approach to the Elgar misses some of the work’s elegiac lyricism, but the Tchaikovsky Variations have a suitably Rococo grace and spirit. (RF)
Fauré Romance, Op. 69;
Cello Sonata No. 1 etc
Saint-saëns Romance, Op. 36; Romance, Op. 51 etc
Brian O’kane (cello);
Michael Mchale (piano)
Champs Hill Records CHRCD113
Cellist O’kane is the star of this disc, sensitive and introspective in The Swan, then animated and robust Saint-saëns’s Sonata No. 1, in which he and Mchale have a more even partnership. (EC)
Virginia Woolf’s recorded voice opens this disc, as her work inspired the ballet Woolf Works. Richter’s music offers a long slow build-up of tension with little release. (EC)
Schumann Dichterliebe;
Selected Songs
Mauro Peter (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano) Sony 8895338492
The Swiss tenor’s beautifully clear diction is one of the pleasures of this recording. Helmut Deutsch’s sensitive piano playing is the ideal foil for the subtle colourings of
Peter’s voice. (RF)
Spohr Sonate Concertante,
Op. 115; Fantaisie sur des thèmes de Händel et Abbé Vogler etc Davide Monti (violin), Maria Christina Cleary (harp) Stradivarius STR 37072 The two instruments on this disc match those played by Spohr and wife Dorette, who performed together on tours around Europe. It’s charming stuff, though violinist Davide Monti’s playing is ragged at times. (JP)