Appetising anniversaries
Monteverdi and Telemann lead this month’s round-up
Anniversary fever is alive and well, Telemann 250 and Monteverdi 450 yielding some attractive offerings. Warner’s 13-CD Telemann – The Collection (0190295860134) is by no means in-depth (he wrote over 3,000 works), but the quality of the performances, including the Darmstadt Overtures played by the Concentus Musicus Wien and the Paris Quartets featuring Sonnerie, should convince buyers of Telemann’s worth – in his day, he was compared favourably to JS Bach.
Monteverdi’s reputation received a boost with the arrival in 1980 of the first of four refreshingly raw recordings by Les Arts Florissants under William Christie of madrigals, dramatic ballets and sacred music. Here were musicians alert to Monteverdi’s emphasis on text and his love of improvisation, and the results are spicy and seductive. Harmonia Mundi has repackaged these seminal discs in a four-cd set called Madrigali e Selva morale (HMX290877275).
Youthful in comparison is the New York Phil, whose birthday Sony Classical is marking with its 65-disc New York Philharmonic – 175th Anniversary Edition, featuring 75 years of recordings conducted by principal and guest conductors: Beecham, Bernstein, Stravinsky, Masur, Boulez and more (88985336362). Notable absences include
Alan Gilbert, Lorin Maazel and Leopold Stokowski, but this is an enjoyable set of iconic recordings, including Mahler Symphonies Nos 2, 3 and 8 under Bernstein and Stravinsky conducting his own Rite of Spring.
Finally, two sets of music for piano duo. On DG, the seven-cd
Sisters from Katia and Marielle Labèque includes a variety of repertoire for two pianos and piano duet (481 4731); and, on Divine Art, we have Goldstone and Clemmow’s hugely valuable
Franz Schubert – The Complete Original Piano Duets (DDA 21701). The latter set is the best possible celebration of the brilliant Anthony Goldstone, who died earlier this year.
Les Arts Florissants’ Monteverdi is spicy and seductive
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE