Music to my ears
What the classical world has been listening to this month
Linda Richardson Soprano
Over lockdown, while tidying things up in my loft, I came across my old vinyl collection. One recording I really like is Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, played by the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan. I remember listening to it in my teens and it has everything in it – the passion, the calm and the storm – and Schoenberg so beautifully depicts the poem by Dehmel that inspired it.
I’ve been learning the role of Leonora in Verdi’s Il trovatore for a production with Welsh National Opera, so have been listening to several recordings of it. These include Barbara Frittoli conducted by Riccardo Muti and Zinka Milanov under Renato Cellini. My favourite Leonora, though, is Leontyne Price in Rome in
1962. She sounds so fresh and it shows off her voice so well – her range of dynamics and colours is something quite special.
I always enjoy listening to blackand-white musical movies with
Leontyne Price’s range of dynamics and colours is something special
the likes of Deanna Durbin and Doris Day. I absolutely love Doris Day’s voice – she phrases and shades her singing and there is a truthfulness and natural quality to it. She makes you believe she is singing to you personally: a melodic outpouring of her personality, if you like. A lot of it makes me smile, too, partly because it’s pretty jolly stuff but also because it reminds me of watching her films years ago.
And also…
I really enjoy The Archers on Radio 4. I come from a farming family, so listening to it has always been a bit of a tradition. I love the not-too-dramatic, not-too-shouty everyday life of these country folk and find it very calming. You can put it on in the background, but still find yourself getting very engaged with the characters.
Linda Richardson’s new recording of Italian Opera Arias is out this month on Chandos
Hans Graf Conductor
A piece that I have wanted to conduct and pay my dues to is Suk’s neglected Asrael Symphony – Czech conductors have always performed it, but we shouldn’t leave it just to them. Suk was a composer of charming piano pieces, but this is of a completely different stature. It’s a great and serious symphony, though sadly occasioned by a personal catastrophe. I’ve been enjoying the Essen Philharmonic’s recording under Tomá Netopil.
I have been listening to recordings of the Concerto Gregoriano by Respighi. It’s a really good piece – incredibly well written and very refreshing – but it’s quite new to me. There are lots of wonderful moments, and the beginning reminds me a little of ‘La fuga in Egitto’ from Respighi’s Vetrate di chiesa. It’s one of a rich yield of violin concertos that were written in the second and third decades of the 20th century.
I conducted Jae-hyuck Cho in Rachmaninov’s Second and Third Piano Concertos about a year ago. He was fabulous. He’s not just a remarkable pianist, though, but also a virtuoso organist. I have a disc of his on which he plays Liszt, Widor and Bach on the organ of La Madeleine in Paris, an instrument we’d describe in German as a ‘brüllendes Monster’:
a roaring monster. He is so intelligent in how he chooses the registration in a way that allows the inner structures to be heard. And also…
Though I wouldn’t describe myself as a connoisseur, I am a great lover of wine and have a cellar of around 1,000 bottles. I particularly love Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne though in general I have fairly simple tastes – I’d say that most of my wines are in the lowerprice bracket. I have been lucky to become acquainted with a couple of incredibly talented winemakers – just as in music, it’s nice to get to know the people who are behind what you’re enjoying.
Hans Graf is chief conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, details of whose online and live concerts can be found at sso.org.sg
Anthony Mcgill Clarinettist
I have a four yearold, so tend to listen to music in short bursts. Lately, I’ve been enjoying my friend Lawrence Brownlee’s new Rossini album Amici e Rivali with fellow tenor Michael Spyres. Larry is the greatest Rossini singer out there. Like the title suggests, a lot of these operas have characters that are constantly trying to outdo one another, whether it’s trying to get the highest note or trying to be the most virtuosic with spinning sound. You get all that and more on this album.
I used to be in the Met Opera Orchestra, and while the musicians in the orchestras are out of work because of COVID, they’ve created a new website where they can host masterclasses, talks and a series of live concerts called the Spotlight Series. I tuned in to see a few string players and a horn quartet play Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, which was unbelievably beautiful. It was such a wonderful reminder of what fantastic musicians they all are individually.
The trumpeter Sam Nester has created an online sound installation called ‘Arcadia’, which uses a MIDI sensor to produce the sounds of the biorhythms and electrical currents found in plants. It’s on 24 hours a day, and I just shut my eyes and meditate to it. It’s an incredibly beautiful sound.
And also…
Before the pandemic I read
New Power by Henry Timms and Jeremy Heimans, which talks about the new state of interconnectedness in the world, and how people are using social media and the internet to reach new audiences. It explores the ability of an individual to make a big difference in the world, and has inspired me to start an online movement to talk about racial and social justice. It has also encouraged me to ask people to join me in using music to change the narrative and to bring awareness to something
I care about.