Debussy: Orchestral Works

Gramophone Magazine
Editor's Choice - August 2012

“Denève shows how precise were [Debussy's] choices of instrumental colour and how well-defined and animated the images he was expressing through his music...There is nothing vague about these performances; rather they convey both the dynamism and the delicacy of the music with understanding and stimulating freshness.” --Gramophone Magazine, August 2012

“his meticulous attention to detail is impressive, but what should be a complex, living seascape remains stubbornly one-dimensional...Outwardly brilliant, inwardly dull. Perplexing.” --MusicWeb International, August 2012

“his Debussy is his own, muscular yet transparent, colouristic yet atmospheric and mysterious...Even that symphonic warhorse La Mer sounds freshly reimagined by the young Frenchman, whose sense of the music’s ebb and flow, with surging climaxes, is unerring...an ideal way to acquire Debussy’s orchestral masterpieces” --Sunday Times, 3rd June 2012

“Denève still summons a sensuous bloom in the Prélude, and thanks to his influence, the RSNO proves better than the French at their own game: these are among the most seductive Debussy performances I have heard in years.” --Financial Times, 9th June 2012 ****

“Denève has clear ideas about the lucidity of Debussy’s scoring and he conducts the orchestra in a way that brings the poetic or visual pictures that inspired the music vividly and freshly to life...All are performed with finesse and with a combination of energy, discretion and colour that give them a luminous quality.” --The Telegraph, 22nd June 2012 ***

Pianca & Ghielmi duo

With musical tastes changing radically, the transition between the Baroque and the Classical eras allowed for the musical style of Central Europe to flourish, freed at long last from the yoke of French and Italian influences. For a time, the instruments of the Ancien Régime coexisted with the newer pre-Romantic models, although when a level of technical complexity in the music was added to the mix, the end for the lute and the viola da gamba was signalled: a swan song which enjoys all the charm of a period of decadence.

Obras para laúd y viola de gamba del barroco alemán

Cuando el gusto musical cambia radicamlmente, la transición entre el barroco y la època clásica permite la afirmación del estilo musical de Europa central. Finalmente liberado de las influencias francesas e italianas. Los instrumentos del Antiguo Régimen coexisten con nuevos modelos pre-románticos. 

A esta mezcla de elementos se añade una complejidad técnica que anuncia la desparición del laúd y de la viola de gamba: un canto del cisne, que posee todo el encando de la decadencia.

Devil's Dance

There's some first rate music-making in this eclectic collection, including excellent performances of Sarasate's Concert Fantasy on Gounod's Faust, Korngold's Caprice Fantastique, Bolcom's Graceful Ghost Rag, Bazzini's La Ronde des Lutins, and the obligatory (for any "ghosts and goblins" violin compilation) Tartini "Devil's Trill" Sonata. Other pieces tend to resist being transcribed for violin and piano. Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre sounds a pale shadow of its real self absent the composer's colorful orchestration; nor is John Williams' Devil's Dance (from his film score for The Witches of Eastwick) one of his stronger inspirations, at least in this arrangement.

It is fun, though, to have John Morris' title theme from Young Frankenstein making an appearance as A Transylvanian Lullabye, and while I understand violinist Gil Shaham's decision to play the music more or less straight, a little additional schlock turns the piece from sweet to hilarious. It is, after all, a parody. But these are quibbles. Collections like this, cleverly put together and very finely executed, basically sell themselves. If you like the concept and the repertoire on offer, there's no reason that you won't enjoy this disc. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com [10/31/2001]

Nielsen: Orchestral Music

“…this disc is a good reminder of just how experimental Nielsen could be: prepared to try out not just different stylistic devices but even different kinds of persona. Thomas Dausgaard conducts all these works with tremendous gusto, balanced by a fine ear for unusual, suggestive textures, or the comedic vitality that erupts in Maskarade.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2007 *****

Gramophone Awards 2007
Finalist - Orchestral

“This is outstanding, and unmissable for Nielsen collectors – and not only for the less familiar items, all of which have been recorded before (not badly, either). The Danish Radio Symphony must have played the Saul andDavid and Maskarade excerpts and the Helios Overture more times than they can count. But for Dausgaard they relish every detail, without ever sounding self-conscious. To call the balance in the 'Cockerels' Dance' felicitous would be an understatement; it is revelatory. Nor is affectionate an adequate word for Dausgaard's interpretations of all the music on this disc; there is love here, and a sense of crusading mission.

The praises of the Rhapsody Overture and Panand Syrinx could be sung just as extravagantly.

As could those over the theatre music excerpts, all of which lead to or from the world of Nielsen's symphonies. Given playing of such finesse and bite (one virtually takes idiomatic understanding for granted) they all feel like gems in their own right.
Here's a Nielsen disc that comes about as close to the ideal as one could hope to hear, and it eclipses almost all others in its field. Dacapo's recording quality is top-drawer, and there is an exemplary essay from Jørgen I Jensen.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

classicstoday.com

Tchaikovsky: Ballet Suites

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky excelled at every form of composition but was particularly adept at orchestral music. His tone poems, concerti and symphonies are all basic repertoire compositions but it's in the great ballet scores 'Swan Lake,' 'Sleeping Beauty,' and 'Nutcracker,' where we encounter the essence of Tchaikovsky's genius. The ballets are models of brilliant orchestration, melodic invention and dramatic excellence. Most listeners are familiar with the ballets through the brief orchestral suites heard on this recording.

Herbert Von Karajan was one of the great conductors in all of music. On this recording, part of Decca's Legendary Performers series, he leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's ballet suites. The recording lives up to its name with Von Karajan spotlighting the delightful orchestral details and drama in the scores. The orchestra plays with sumptuous tone and a keen sense of drama. Kudos to the Decca engineers for providing warm, natural sound.

Bizet: L' Arlésienne Orchestral Suites

“Minkowski has a ball with these suites, relishing their rich sonorities and glorious melodies, while at the same time investing them with a serious-minded sensitivity. The L’Arlésienne suites have rarely sounded so genuinely moving...The choral singing is splendid and the playing of Les Musiciens du Louvre alternates sparkle with delicacy of colour and feeling, while the recording and sumptuous packaging are first-class. This is now a clear first choice on virtually all counts for those wanting a disc combining music from Carmen and L'Arlésienne.” --Gramophone Magazine

“I find it hard to know what to praise most, the vivid, taut rhythms of the various marches and dances… the sensuous orchestral colours of the quieter moments, of the passion that suddenly erupts… in the L'Arlésienne overture.” --BBC Music Magazine, June 2008 *****

“Couplings of the Carmen and L'Arlésienne suites have long been a favourite, and Minkowski's new disc has the best of all worlds in demonstrating a Beechamesque flair (the opening cymbal crash of the Carmen Suite is immediately arresting) and in including three suites from L'Arlésienne, their content well thought out and lovingly prepared. They consist of the familiar First Suite (as Bizet designed it), the Second, arranged after the composer's death by Ernest Guiraud, including the borrowed Menuet from La jolie fille de Perth, and a third suite of excerpts from the original score. The collection is a delight, not least because of the beautifully elegant orchestral playing.

Minkowski's choice of tempi and crisp pointing of the woodwind are admirable – in the first Entr'acte from Carmen, for instance, and the Minuet which follows. The Farandole too, is given a splendid lift by Minkowski's virtual double-dotting, while the flute solos in both Carmen and L'Arlésienne all have a delicious delicacy. There is much pleasure too, from the sensitive phrasing and the light and shade of the playing. L'Arlésienne's famous Adagietto is very affecting at the slower pacing, and it touchingly returns before the final reprise of the exuberant Farandole, heard first with men's voices and then full choir in imitation.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The orchestral playing is first-rate in every way, with an especially delicate contribution from the flutes...The Carmen Suite is vivaciously colourful and, throughout, the recording is of demonstration quality.” --Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

Donizetti: Double Concerto · Flute & Clarinet Concertos

Penguin Guide - Rosette Winner

While generally known only as a composer of operas, Gaetano Donizetti in fact also composed a great many other works, totalling more than 600. This anthology of instrumental concertos demonstrates that Donizetti’s command of the exquisite vocal line was not confined to his operas and that he could also write in a carefree, infectiously Rossinian vein. On its first appearance on the Marco Polo label, this recording was described by The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs as “a collection which will give great and repeated pleasure”.

We already know the Concertino for Cor Anglais, which is played here with a delectable timbre and a nice feeling for light and shade. The Clarinet Concertino brings a touch of melancholy to its opening cantilena, yet the finale chortles. The Flute Concertino also opens with an eloquent aria, but the closing rondo is irrepressibly light-hearted, with an infectiously carefree, Rossinian wit. The Oboe Concertino has a vigorous hunting finale, played here with bouncing zest. 

The Double Concertino, in three movements, is the most ambitious work. In short, all these concertos are most winning, as elegant as they are inventive, and all the expert soloists (several of whom seem to be interrelated) smilingly convey the music’s Italian sunshine. The Concertos are framed by two contrasting Sinfonias. Both are played very persuasively, and throughout the collection László Kovács and his Budapest chamber orchestra provide supportive and stylish accompaniments. The recording could hardly be bettered, and the result is a collection which will give great and repeated pleasure. Now at Naxos price it is a great bargain. --Penguin Guide, January 2009

Vivaldi: Violin Concertos Volume 2

This is the second volume of the “Naïve” Vivaldi edition to be dedicated to the violin concertos. It features the outstanding young German soloist Anton Steck and the renowned specialist baroque ensemble Modo Antiquo performing works collectively known as “Di Sfida”. They are considered to be some of the most challenging pieces that the composer ever wrote.

Even at a time when technically daunting violin concertos were all the rage, the six concertos assembled on this disc were remarkable for their difficulty; indeed, they were the most difficult concertos Vivaldi ever wrote. The B flat major Concerto that concludes the set at hand, for instance, may be the single most virtuosic work in the violin repertoire before Paganini. Fortunately, German violinist Anton Steck has what it takes. With bow blazing and fingers burning, Steck conquers the many challenges in these works with dash and panache: their slashing staccato, ringing ricochets, brave leaps, daring double stopping, searing sixty-fourth note scales, and almost impossibly high lying lines. Brilliantly accompanied by the excellent Italian period instrument orchestra Modo Antiquo led by Federico Maria Sardelli, Steck turns in literally breathtaking performances that deserve to be heard by anyone who loves great violin concertos and great violin playing. Naïve's 2006 digital sound is big and close, perhaps too big and close for every listener's comfort but still thoroughly impressive. --allmusic.com

Sibelius: Tone Poems

"The recording [CD1] is absolutely stunning, rich, detailed and hugely spacious." --Classic CD

"Neeme Järvi has placed Sibelians deep in debt [...] The Bard is wonderfully inward and atmospheric in his hands [...] [Tapiola] Järvi's is a reading of thrilling instensity, excellently paced" --BBC Music Magazine

All the major works: Finlandia, Luonnotar, Karelia Suite, Oceanides, King Christian, The Swan of Tuonela, 4 Legends from Kalavala, Phjola's Daughter, Night Ride and Sunrise, En Saga, Spring Song, 4 excerpts from Kuolema, The Bard, Tapiola

Vivaldi: Violin Concertos Volume 1

“Onofri is as good a soloist as may be met in a long march, pitch-perfect, incisive but not 'edgy' and effortlessly alert to every nuance.” --The Gramophone

“Enrico Onofri is a player of dazzling virtuosity, whose intonation seldom falters and whose imaginative responses to some of Vivaldi's most poetic utterances thrilled and touched me.” --BBC Music Magazine, October 2006 ****

“Enrico Onofri writes that 'when subjected to a profound, subtle and precise reading of the rhetorical formulas that compose them, [Vivaldi's] concertos stand revealed as extremely impassioned works, by turns gently melancholic, impetuous, ironic, dramatic, caricatural, introspective, voluptuous, violent, tender, graceful.' All these characteristics are depicted in Onofri's intensely rhetorical playing. Occasionally he likes to introduce mischievous (perhaps even anarchic) elements into Academia Montis Regalis's performances, as if to insist that we must not regard this music as mere fashionable wallpaper music. The relentlessly tempestuous Concerto RV234, L'inquietudine, is not stuff that corporations will use for holding callers on the telephone.

Onofri's rapid flourishes in the extensive cadenza that concludes the Grosso Mogul Concerto, RV208, are not only phenomenal from a technical point of view but delivered in such a convincing way that every single note seems to matter. Amid the thwacks and snaps in fast tuttis one wonders if elegance might be an authentic Vivaldian characteristic in danger of becoming overlooked, although there is much more to these performances than shock tactics. Among the finest elements of this kaleidoscopic disc are the quieter slower movements: eloquence, grief, tranquillity and desire all seem to be worn on Onofri's sleeve. The Adagio in Concerto RV270, Il riposo, is breathtakingly beautiful; La caccia is unusually provocative, rewarding and frequently amazing.

Academia Montis Regalis present Vivaldi's concertos as totally compelling and meaningful music that demands full attention and respect.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Field: Piano Concertos Nos 6 & 4

The performances are outstanding. The London Mozart Players, under the assured direction of Bamert, and soloist O’Rourke, show a great affinity for this wonderful music, and bring out a glorious sense of joy in lively and exciting performances.

“O'Rourke and his partners capture Field's spirit and style to perfection, warmly recorded in a natural acoustic.” --Gramophone Magazine

John Field was born in Dublin, although his family moved to London when he was 10. By then he was already showing great talent as a pianist. He studied with the highly-esteemed composer, teacher and publisher, Clementi.

Crusell: Clarinet Concertos

'The most rewarding clarinet concertos of the early 19th century. Strongly recommended' --BBC Music Magazine

'Totally engrossing' --Records and Recording

'Quite excellent, with wonderful ensemble from the London Symphony Orchestra and equally impressive solo efforts from King' --Fanfare

'Quelle élégance de style, quelle délicatesse dans l'insouciance heureuse d'une élocution toute en souplesse, en evidence poétique du phraser!' --Répertoire, France

'If you didn't snag this one the first time out, you've got another shot and it's worth it' --Fanfare, USA

Nieminen: Flute & Clarinet Concertos

The music of Finnish composer Kai Nieminen does not conform to any “isms”. He remarks: “I feel like I am a painter in music, who having seen or experienced something attempts to give that something a shape in music.” The flute concerto Palomar was written for Patrick Gallois, soloist and conductor on this disc.

The clarinet concerto Through Shadows I Can Hear Ancient Voices was inspired by the Italian Antonio Tabucchi’s novel Notturno indiano. In Vicoli in ombra we meander through the misty alleys of Rome, encountering strangers.

"This is wonderfully evocative music, idiomatic and supple, though not quite fitting the “impressionist” label that I was initially considering. Kai Nieminen, guitarist and composer, finds his inspiration often in literary forms, but then chooses not to force the meaning of those forms upon his audience. His music is fantasia-like, but deeper in meaning and more complex than most. The titles serve to provide starting points for the imagination, yet do not intend the music to be followed in a tone-poem manner from reference point to reference point.

He writes very well for his solo instruments, giving them a thorough workout (little rest for the performers in these works) and integrating them with the orchestral textures in a marvelous way. The flute and clarinet concertos are highly sophisticated and unflaggingly interesting, not to mention tuneful and breezily ruminative in nature. While, of course, Debussy haunts the proceedings, I kept thinking of a more sedate version of Ibert as a model. But in many ways, this music transcends either of those folks, and I found every moment quite enjoyable. I need not mention that both Gallois and Raasakka play like the champs they are, and the orchestra is superb.

We get to hear more of the orchestra alone in Alleys in Twilight, a piece that is the first written by the composer for orchestra, and reflects the impressions of a journey through the Trastevere alleys in Rome, winding and branching and leading the traveler to places unforeseen, yet familiar. This piece is airy and full of light, fleeting and delicate, a presage of things to come for this composer.

I cannot imagine anyone who would be less than enthralled by this music." --Fanfare, September 2009

"Concertos are the main event on a new Naxos disc devoted to Kai Nieminen. Patrick Gallois directs the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyvaskyla very neatly and plays the solo role in the euphonious flute concerto Palomar (2001)…Nieminen’s ingratiation of his audience’s ears never compromises his expressive purpose with some deft orchestration—as in the early Vicoli in ombra (1995)." --Gramophone, July 2009

Wilhelm F. Bach: Symphonies & Concerto pour clavecin

This recording presents a selection of works that will at last allow justice to be done to Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann Sebastian's favourite son.

The legacy of his enigmatic life is a body of works whose highly personal style largely awaits rediscovery.

The eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann was born in 1710 in Weimar and was taught by his father, after 1723, when the family moved to Leipzig, becoming a pupil at the Thomasschule. He spent four years at the University of Leipzig, before finding employment as organist at the Sophienkirche in Dresden and subsequently, with unhappy results, at the Liebfrauenkirche in Halle. 

From 1764 until his death twenty years later he held no official position, although he had been widely recognised as one of the most distinguished organists of his time and had mastered very thoroughly the lessons taught him by his father. His own tendency to the freedom of thought of the Enlightenment had not endeared him to his Pietist superiors in Halle and independence of character rendered him gradually less employable, within the restrictive circumstances of his time.

Hubay: Violin Concerto 1 & 2

GRAMOPHONE CRITICS' CHOICE
ORCHESTRAL CHOICE OF THE MONTH - Classic FM Magazine

'With Shaham, Hubay's legacy is in very safe hands indeed. He delivers these works with a solid technique and commanding authenticity. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins provide rather more than just support, aided by a reasonably natural recorded balance which lets Hubay's colouristic touches have full effect' --International Record Review

'Hagai Shaham does wonders for these neglected scores, playing with beguiling purity throughout the range, and a heart-felt intensity that makes the most of Hubay's penchant for soaring E-string melody. Typically alert and sensitive backing from the BBC Scottish SO under the direction of Martyn Brabbins and luxury sound round out an excellent release' --BBC Music Magazine

'You wonder why all three works are not in the repertoire of every violinist. But then not every violinist sounds like Shaham. He really is something very special indeed. It almost goes without saying that that BBC Scottish and Brabbins provide their customary exemplary, colourful support. Earmarked for one of my discs of the year' --Classic FM Magazine

'Hagai Shaham is something very special indeed with a sound that reminds me of Heifetz at his most silkily seductive. Both of these blazingly romantic works should be in concert halls the world over' --Gramophone

'On retrouve dans cet album toutes les qualités de jeu du soliste qui nous avaient séduits dans les précédents volumes, finesse de timbres, agilité, panache, sobriété de style … Shaham fait preuve une fois encore d'une virtuosité scintillante' --Diapason

'The virtuosic demands of Hubay’s music are more than adequately met by the formidable technique of violinist Hagai Shaham. One has to admire and be grateful to such musicians as he, for learning the music on this disc probably carries with it little promise that concert engagements of Hubay’s music will follow' --Musicweb

'Hubay's works shuold come as a most welcome addition to the recorded repertoire and Shaham's performances as an enthusiastic for of introductnio. Recommended' --Fanfare, USA

Ginastera: Panambí, Estancia (Complete Ballets)

“Alberto Ginastera comes over as an Argentinian Stravinsky in these two early ballets, which is by no means to denigrate their distinctively Latin American idiom. Glittering orchestration, and strong performances licensed from Conifer's original recordings.” --BBC Music Magazine, April 2007 ****

“The performances and the recording are really first-class, defying the use of superlatives.” --MusicWeb International

"If you have any interest in Ginastera, especially in his earlier "ethnic" period and you missed the Conifer CD, Naxos has given you a second chance. May this excellent CD stick around longer than the Conifer did!" --Fanfare, June 2007

“It was a characteristically bold step by the 21-yearold Ginastera to make his Op 1 an ambitiously scored orchestral ballet rather than a modest suite or chamber piece. Of course, he had written such works – mostly withdrawn and destroyed – but the one-act choreographic legend Panambí (1935-37) was several strides forward and as impressive a compositional debut as any.
Drawn from an Amerindian tribal legend, the plot concerns the love of Guirahu for the chief's daughter, Panambí, and the machinations of the local sorcerer, who also desires her. A battle between good and evil plays out across a single night, opening with wonderful, impressionistic moonlight and ending with a radiant hymn to the dawn. In between, the expertly scored music is largely restrained, though with some electrifying episodes along the way.

Panambí betrays Ginastera's formative influences clearly, The Rite of Spring and Ravel in particular. The vividly achieved, primitivist atmosphere (not unlike the music of Revueltas) necessary for the story is absent from his follow-up ballet, Estancia (1941). Some of the latter's music is so well known, thanks to the popular Suite, that it may surprise that this recording of the whole was a premiere.

Absent, too, is the self-consciousness of Panambí as a public statement; in Estancia one can hear Ginastera relax as he whips up a greater storm. Gisèle Ben-Dor and the LSO are splendid throughout. Luis Gaeta makes a splendid soloist in Estancia. Recommended.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Richter: 2 Flute Concertos, Oboe Concerto

F.X. Richter was a central figure in the so-called Mannheim School of the early classical period, but little is known about him until the 1740s. From 1722 to 1727, he studied at the Jesuit seminary at Ungarisch Hradisch; immediately after that, until 1736, he spent some time in Italy and possibly in Vienna, where he may have studied with Fux.

Richter became a professional singer, a bass, who toiled in minor provincial German posts during the 1730s. In 1740 he began working as vice-Kapellmeister to the Prince-Abbot Anselm von Reichlin-Meldegg in Kempten, Allgau, although it's not known exactly how long he remained there. By 1747 he was working as a court musician, certainly as a singer (of both opera and sacred music), and possibly also a violinist for the Elector Palatine Carl Theodor in Mannheim. That is when he began to make his mark as a composer. He already had a set of symphonies published in Paris by 1744, but in Mannheim he gradually developed a reputation as a composer of sacred music, although he continued to write stylish secular pieces, including string quartets, symphonies, and concertos. Richter was also a noted teacher, and in the 1760s he wrote a composition method book based on Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum. In 1768 he seems to have given up performing to become a court chamber composer.

Despite his court duties, Richter had time for extensive travel, and he had little trouble getting his music published abroad. Perhaps this is because it was rather conservative, rooted, though certainly not trapped, in the Baroque style. He was the odd man out among Mannheim composers, resisting his colleagues' reliance on virtuoso special effects. Fed up, in 1769 he got a job as Kapellmeister at Strasbourg Cathedral, and focused more on sacred music during this final phase of his career, although he also supervised secular music at the prince-bishop's court and directed the municipal orchestra.

Schubert: The Piano Trios

The Schubert year is producing some high-class recordings of the piano trios. Coming to this shortly after La Gaia Scienza's period performance of the E flat Trio (see above), and the Schiff/Shiokawa/Perenyi recordings, I was struck first of all by the big scale of the playing, confidently virtuosic when the music demands it (Ashkenazy's command in the outer movements of the E flat Trio is outstanding), and with a warmth and wide range of expression that envelops you as you listen. The recording captures the variations of colour most faithfully — this has a more intimate feel, yet with a well-blended fullness.

The three high-powered musicians are at their best where the music is grand and large-scale — the opening Allegro of D929 has a wonderful sweep and energy, as do the outer movements of D898... [T]hese are extremely enjoyable, supremely accomplished performances... -- Gramophone [12/1997]

English Clarinet Quintets

'Yet another super disc from this company. Thea King is no stranger to Hyperion but I think this may be her best disc to date for them. [The Frankel] is a masterpiece pure and simple and anyone who tells you different must be deaf' --Tempo

'Thea King is a peerless advocate in just such a voyage of discovery' --Hi-Fi News

'Easily the most important clarinet disc of the year' --Clarinet & Saxophone Journal

'A CD to treasure and savour in the years to come' --Fanfare, USA

'A most attractive disc, beautifully played' --The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

Handel: Complete Violin Sonatas

As Andrew Manze remarks in the liner note for this album, the sonata was perhaps "but a toy theatre in Handel's world of architectural splendours." Indeed, the eight sonatas, with the addition of two independent movements, provide an insight into a world far removed from the imposing, monumental Handelian works known to many listeners. But these works are by no means a lesser manifestation of the composer's genius. 

In fact, from the imaginatively compelling fast movements to the meditative melodiousness of the introductory movements, these remarkable works provide the listener with a valuable and memorable insight into the rich -- and sometimes surprising -- musical mind of one of Baroque music's true giants. When discussing these sonatas, scholars make much of Handel's indebtedness to Corelli. While Corelli's influence is undeniable, one should heed Bukofzer's observation that in "many allegro movements, Handel easily surpasses Corelli by his superb handling of lightly fugal textures and his complete mastery of the concerto style." 

Andrew Manze's artistry beautifully captures the Baroque richness of these works, adapting his instrument's protean voice to the many complexities and contrasts inherent in Handel's musical discourse. Elegant, tastefully expressive, and drawing an unexpected fullness and raw volume from a finely controlled tone, Manze also masterfully expands his instrument's sound potential in an effort -- particularly in certain allegro movements -- to discern the composer's dramatic intentions. As an accompanist, harpsichordist Richard Egarr is the quintessential distant presence, a discreet but essential interlocutor in a musical dialogue in which the two voices essentially blend to create a unitary aesthetic experience.

Hamelin: Études

GRAMOPHONE AWARDS 2011 SHORTLISTED - INSTRUMENTAL
GRAMOPHONE RECORDING OF THE MONTH 2010
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE INSTRUMENTAL CHOICE 2010

'One of this extraordinary musician's finest achievements, indeed, one of the great solo piano recordings ever made' --Fanfare, USA

'Dear Marc-André, I begged and pleaded for Hyperion to keep this disc under wraps. But now that it's released, all of us composer / pianists have no choice but to go out of business. Isn't it enough for you simply to be the world's most proficient pianist? Do you also have to compose amazingly well for your instrument, and rewardingly so? Must you serve up some of the most witty, charming, entertaining and devastatingly effective piano music of your generation?' --Gramophone

Hamelin's original etudes … as well as the character pieces that round out the disc, with their blend of tasteful lyricism and striking textures and harmonies, are as enjoyable as his homages. While brashly flaunting his influences (Gershwin, Poulenc, Rachmaninov) he sounds utterly individual. Of course, the composer makes all the technical difficulties sound easy to play in these vividly recorded performances' --BBC Music Magazine

'A set of 12 Études that reveals Hamelin's immersion in the great virtuoso tradition … Hamelin the composer has the same kind of tact and imagination that Hamelin the pianist does … The virtuoso demands are daunting; but there's so much harmonic and contrapuntal interest in these works, so much sheer joie de vivre, such evident love for the instrument and its history, and such consistent wit, that even music lovers who disdain virtuoso excess are likely to be seduced … [Theme and Variations] In its gentle luminosity, it is the most touching work on the CD. Hamelin the pianist, of course, plays with his usual understated virtuosity - his unerring control of phrasing, articulation and dynamics; his ability to generate huge masses of sound without banging; his succulent legato; and, most important in the more thorny textures, his ability to give each contrapuntal line its own flavour … The engineering is first rate. A cause for celebration' --International Record Review

Torke: Color Music

Seven of Michael Torke's most popular orchestral showstoppers are presented on this 2012 compilation in Decca's 20C series, which surveys the most important works of the 20th century. The listener who is unacquainted with Torke's eclectic and ingenious compositions will get a clear idea of their originality as well as their slickness, and the high energy of his music as a whole is likely to leave a strong impression.

Torke is often superficially classed as a post-minimalist composer, but the interplay of minimalism, jazz, neo-romanticism, and popular elements puts him in a separate category that defies simplistic labeling. What is most evident is Torke's extraordinary need for speed, a preference for writing extremely propulsive music that sets him apart from most of his contemporaries, so Ecstatic Orange, Green, Ash, and Javelin are some of the fastest pieces in contemporary music, while Bright Blue Music, Purple, and Adjustable Wrench are only slightly less frenetic and volatile. 

The performances by David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Kent Nagano and the London Sinfonietta, and Yoel Levy and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra are bright and vigorous, and the digital recordings from the 1990s sound great, with little variability of quality or volume.

Glass, Rorem, Bernstein: Violin Concertos & Serenade

As the twentieth century came to a close, Deutsche Grammaphon released a series of CDs that encapsulate the music of the century. Their 20/21 series brings out the best, if not the best-known music composed in the latter half of the last century.

This CD is an unusual coupling on first encounter. Three very different works spanning over 30 years by three very different composers, Philip Glass, Ned Rorem and Leonard Bernstein. Three American concertos for violin and orchestra which demonstrate the wide scope for this genre, played by an exeptional violinist.

Born in Latvia, the son of two orchestral violinists, Gidon Kremer showed prodigious talent even as a child. He studied with David Oistrach, and burst onto the Western musical stage with his recording of the Brahms violin concerto in 1975. Herbert von Karajan declared him to be the greatest violinist of the age.

Kremer is most famous for championing new music and for new interpretations of old works. His style is technically brilliant, but never showy. His premier recording of the Glass violin concerto has never been bettered, and is perfect for his style.

So here we have three modern works for violin. The Glass is world-class music, an instant classic. The other two works are curiosities. While not in the same league, they are certainly interesting. And Kremer's performance is breathtaking.

Ries: Piano Trios

"These very sympathetic performances are ideally recorded—tangible and lucid—and the music is certainly worth discovering for both its vividness and novelty." --Fanfare

Ferdinand Ries (1784–1838) studied all the instruments of the conventional piano trio and had further piano study with Beethoven. It seems, from the booklet note, that Beethoven later accused Ries of copying him. While there are certainly similarities in style, Ries should not be perceived as a Beethoven clone. 

Ries’s music, whenever I have chanced upon it, has proved more than worthwhile and individual. These piano trios are splendid works, expansively conceived, and with memorable ideas that are sustained and developed very satisfyingly. Put simply, if the chamber music of Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn appeals, then you will derive much pleasure from these works of Ries. 

The first movement of the early Trio in E flat has a sparkle and confidence that is beguiling, a genuine sense of purpose that maybe the remaining two movements do not equal, but both are charming. The later work is bolder and more heartfelt—the first movement’s lovely second subject could have come from Mendelssohn’s pen—and the slow movement is eloquent. The spirited finale, with some decided Beethovenian gestures, is both active and songful, and commands attention. These very sympathetic performances are ideally recorded—tangible and lucid—and the music is certainly worth discovering for both its vividness and novelty. --Colin Anderson, FANFARE

Il Liuto a Venezia

Italian lutenist, Lonardi actively performs as soloist as well as in several ensembles all over Europe. Graduating from the Milan Conservatory with Ruggiero Chiesa, he then specialized in lute with Hopkinson Smith. His discography includes dozens of recordings and a number of monographic CD’s. He is professor of lute at the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicale “Franco Vittadini in Pavia and the Scuola di Musica Antica in Venice. Lonardi will present several master classes.