2 Sem 2012 - Part Five

Trevor Pinnock & The English Concert
The Complete Mozart Symphonies 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

By Alan Majeska 

Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert turn in the best period instrument Mozart Symphony cycle around. With 20-30 players, the English Concert sounds full and rich, and are so well recorded, one could mistake them for a modern instrument chamber orchestra augmented with more players for a bigger sound. The early symphonies employ fewer players, the symphonies from about No. 20 and following call for more players, in some cases trumpets, horns and timpani in addition to the usual strings, harpsichord, flutes, oboes, and bassoon.
Pinnock chooses perfect tempos for the English Concert: allegros are spritely, but not driven and there's never a sense that the musicians are having trouble keeping up at Pinnock's tempos. Andante movements sing with the cantabile quality Mozart is famous for, and are always musical and flowing: very beautiful.
I am not a big fan of period instrument Mozart. I have heard Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music (L'Oiseau Lyre) in Mozart Symphonies 34, 38, 39, and 41 and that's enough to give me a sense that Pinnock is superior - more confident, and better recorded - to Hogwood in this music. Haydn's symphonies seem to work better with period instruments than do Mozart's, but Pinnock and the English Concert have a special musical quality which MAKE Mozart work with a period orchestra. Incidentally, both Pinnock and Hogwood have recorded very fine Haydn Symphonies with their respective orchestras.
I have also read, in AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE (July/August 2005 issue) in a review of the Mozart Symphonies with Linden/Mozart Academy of Amsterdam, a period orchestra (Brilliant Classics set) that Pinnock's Mozart cycle is to be preferred. I have not heard Linden myself, but ARG's review states that with the exception of Symphonies 20, 39, 40, and 41, Pinnock "wins across the board." The reviewer cites sour tuning, below standard pitch, sloppy playing, not enough contrasts of dynamic range and pokey allegros, as liabilites which are especially annoying in Linden's cycle, and advises the reader to go with Pinnock if looking for a period cycle of Mozart symphonies.
Other options? Bohm/Berlin Philharmonic (DG); Krips/Concertgebouw (for Symphonies 21-41, Philips); Hans Graf/Mozarteum Orchestra, Salzburg (Capriccio); and Nicholas Ward/Northern Chamber Orchestra, modern instrument chamber orchestra (for early symphonies, Naxos). But unless you really hate period instruments, you will like Pinnock, as I do, and as I stated earlier: I am not a fan of period instrument Mozart.


By ClassicsToday
- Artistic Quality: 10
- Sound Quality: 10
Trevor Pinnock’s set of Mozart symphonies, recorded between 1992 and early 1995, was greeted warmly upon its release in three separate volumes (the last volume typically never made it to U.S. shores as a domestic release) and Universal has seen fit to re-issue it in an 11-CD box as part of its Collectors Edition series. While the general public honed its “historically informed” ear on the pioneering compilation set by Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music in the mid-1980s, Pinnock’s later account, the second such to use period instruments, showed just how much more refined and skillful period-instrument playing was to become. “Authentic” colors abound–bright, aggressive, vibratoless strings and pungent winds combine to provide the now-customary sparkling textures redolent in period performances–but with a suaver, more graceful, and better-tuned overall presentation than its predecessor.
In general, Pinnock opts for a degree of moderation and conviviality in the slow movements that brings out their lyricism, a contrast with Hogwood’s starker stance. Pinnock conjures up the dark, heavier timbres necessary for the opening of the Prague and in the Andante section of the E-flat symphony (K. 543), among other examples. This set has been one of the stalwarts of the period-practice approach since it first appeared, and it sounds as great as ever. And in spite of more recent competition, it continues to be highly and widely recommended. If you like your Mozart with plenty of rhythmic vivacity and without a smidgen of harshness that has befallen so many period-instrument recordings, then look no further than this now attractively priced gem.

- CD 1: Mozart: Symphonies K. 16, K. Anh. 223, K. 19, K. 22, K. Anh. 221, K. 43
Symphony No.1 in E flat, K.16
1.1. Molto allegro 5:49
2.2. Andante 6:13
3.3. Presto 1:55
Symphony in F, K.App.223
4.1. Allegro assai 5:00
5.2. Andante 3:54
6.3. Presto 2:32
Symphony No.4 in D, K.19
7.1. Allegro 2:14
8.2. Andante 4:04
9.3. Presto 2:44
Symphony No.5 in B flat, K.22
10.1. Allegro 2:38
11.2. Andante 2:48
12.3. Molto allegro 1:14
Symphony No.7a in G, K.App. 221, "Alte Lambacher"
13.1. Allegro maestoso 5:04
14.2. Andante 4:55
15.3. Presto 2:26
Symphony No.6 in F, K.43
16.1. Allegro 5:32
17.2. Andante 5:31
18.3. Menuetto 2:18
19.4. Allegro 3:39
Total Playing Time 1:10:30

- CD 2: Mozart: Symphonies K. 45, K. 48, K. 73, K. 76, K. Anh. 214, K. 81
Symphony No.7 in D, K.45
1.1. Overture 2:35
2.2. Andante 2:25
3.3. Menuetto 3:09
4.4. Molto allegro 2:34
Symphony No.8 in D, K.48
5.1. (Allegro) 3:04
6.2. Andante 3:51
7.3. Menuetto 3:30
8.4. (Allegro) 3:00
Symphony No.9 in C, K.73
9.1. Allegro 3:05
10.2. Andante 4:21
11.3. Menuetto 3:17
12.4. Molto allegro 1:56
Symphony No.43 in F, K.76
13.1. Allegro maestoso 4:22
14.2. Andante 3:51
15.3. Menuetto 3:42
16.4. Allegro 2:44
Symphony No.55 in B flat, K.App.214
17.1. Allegro 2:18
18.2. Andante 4:40
19.3. Menuet 2:44
20.4. Allegro 3:40
Symphony No.44 in D, K.81
21.1. Allegro 2:52
22.2. Andante 4:38
23.3. Allegro molto 2:27
Total Playing Time 1:14:45

- CD 3: Mozart: Symphonies K. 97,K. 95, K. 84, K. Anh. 216, K. 75, K. 96
Symphony No.47 in D, K.97
1.1. Allegro 2:36
2.2. Andante 3:28
3.3. Menuetto 3:05
4.4. Presto 1:33
Symphony No.45 in D, K.95
5.1. Allegro 2:15
6.2. Andante 3:13
7.3. Menuetto 3:16
8.4. Allegro 3:02
Symphony No.11 in D, K.84
9.1. Allegro 3:40
10.2. Andante 2:30
11.3. Allegro 3:17
Symphony in B flat major, K. App. 216
12.1. Allegro 3:27
13.2. Andante 4:10
14.3. Menuet - Trio 2:40
15.4. Allegro molto 3:36
Symphony No.42 in F, K.75
16.1. Allegro 3:11
17.2. Andantino 5:16
18.3. Menuetto 3:32
19.4. Allegro 2:17
Symphony No.46 in C, K.96
20.1. Allegro 1:58
21.2. Andante 5:28
22.3. Menuetto 3:42
23.4. Molto allegro 2:56
Total Playing Time 1:14:08

- CD 4: Mozart: Symphonies K. 10, K. 110, K. 112, K. 114, K. 124
Symphony No.10 in G, K.74
1.1. Allegro 3:10
2.2. Andante 2:40
3.3. Allegro1:48
Symphony No.12 in G, K.110
4.1. Allegro 6:41
5.2. Andante 4:29
6.3. Menuetto 3:48
7.4. Allegro 2:08
Symphony No.13 in F, K.112
8.1. Allegro 5:20
9.2. Andante 5:24
10.3. Menuetto 2:18
11.4. Molto allegro 2:19
Symphony No.14 in A, K.114
12.1. Allegro moderato 7:41
13.2. Andante 4:55
14.3. Menuetto 3:49
15.4. Allegro molto 4:21
Symphony No.15 in G, K.124
16.1. Allegro 5:09
17.2. Andante 4:58
18.3. Menuetto 3:22
19.4. Presto 2:11
Total Playing Time 1:16:31

- CD 5: Mozart: Symphonies K. 128, K. 129, K. 130, K. 132, K. 184
Symphony No.16 in C, K.128
1.1. Allegro maestoso 4:24
2.2. Andante grazioso 4:06
3.3. Allegro 3:14
Symphony No.17 in G, K.129
4.1. Allegro 6:27
5.2. Andante 5:46
6.3. Allegro 3:43
Symphony No.18 in F, K.130
7.1. Allegro 5:16
8.2. Andante grazioso 5:08
9.3. Menuetto 2:15
10.4. Allegro molto 6:56
Symphony No.19 in E flat, K.132
11.1. Allegro 4:04
12.2. Andante 6:09
13.3. Menuetto 4:19
14.4. Allegro 3:49
Symphony No.26 in E flat, K.184
15.1. Molto presto 2:50
16.2. Andante 3:09
17.3. Allegro 2:12
Total Playing Time 1:13:47

- CD 6: Mozart: Symphonies K. 133, K. 134, K. 162, K. 181, K. 199
Symphony No.20 in D, K.133
1.1. Allegro 7:20
2.2. Andante 5:57
3.3. Menuetto 3:55
4.4. Allegro 5:23
Symphony No.21 in A, K.134
5.1. Allegro 5:20
6.2. Andante 4:36
7.3. Menuetto 4:10
8.4. Allegro 3:28
Symphony No.22 in C, K.162
9.1. Allegro assai 3:33
10.2. Andantino grazioso 3:00
11.3. Presto assai 1:58
Symphony No.23 in D, K.181
12.1. Allegro spirituoso 4:53
13.2. Andantino 2:05
14.3. Presto assai 2:06
Symphony No.27 in G, K.199
15.1. Allegro 6:47
16.2. Andantino grazioso 5:33
17.3. Presto 5:18
Total Playing Time 1:15:22

- CD 7: Mozart: Symphonies K. 182, K. 183, K. 202, K. 297
Symphony No.24 in B flat, K.182
1.1. Allegro spiritoso 4:00
2.2. Andantino grazioso 2:35
3.3. Allegro 1:27
Symphony No.25 in G minor, K.183
4.1. Allegro con brio 10:13
5.2. Andante 6:50
6.3. Menuetto 4:08
7.4. Allegro 6:24
Symphony No.30 in D, K.202
8.1. Molto allegro 5:53
9.2. Andantino con moto 5:57
10.3. Menuetto - Trio 4:53
11.4. Presto 4:43
Symphony No.31 in D, K.297 - "Paris"
12.1. Allegro assai 7:28
13.2. Andante 5:53
14.3. Allegro 3:35
Total Playing Time 1:13:59

- CD 8: Mozart: Symphonies K. 201, K. 200, K. 319
Symphony No.29 in A, K.201
1.1. Allegro moderato 9:59
2.2. Andante 11:22
3.3. Menuetto 3:47
4.4. Allegro con spirito 6:30
Symphony No.28 in C, K.200
5.1. Allegro spiritoso 7:27
6.2. Andante 8:30
7.3. Menuetto (allegretto) 4:24
8..4. Presto 5:23
Symphony No.33 in B flat, K.319
9.1. Allegro assai 6:52
10.2. Andante moderato 4:26
11.3. Menuetto 3:12
12.4. Finale (Allegro assai) 8:11
Total Playing Time 1:20:03

- CD 9: Mozart: Symphonies K. 318, K. 338, K. 385 "Haffner", K. 425 "Linz"
Symphony No.32 in G, K.318 (Overture in G)
1.1. Allegro spiritoso 2:54
2.2. Andante 2:50
3.3. Tempo I 1:50
Symphony No.34 in C, K.338
4.1. Allegro vivace 6:57
5.2. Andante di molto più tosto Allegretto 7:08
6.3. Finale (Allegro vivace) 7:33
Symphony No.35 in D, K.385 "Haffner"
7.1. Allegro con spirito 5:46
8.2. Andante 6:45
9.3. Menuetto 3:28
10.4. Finale (Presto) 3:45
Symphony No.36 in C, K.425 - "Linz"
11.1. Adagio - Allegro spiritoso 11:04
12.2. Andante 9:21
13.3. Menuetto 3:56
14.4. Finale (Presto) 7:32
Total Playing Time 1:20:49

- CD 10: Mozart: Symphonies K. 504 "Prague" & K. 543
Symphony No.38 in D, K.504 "Prague"
1.1. Adagio - Allegro 13:07
2.2. Andante 12:10
3.3. Finale (Presto) 7:27
Symphony No.39 in E flat, K.543
4.1. Adagio - Allegro 10:21
5.2. Andante con moto 8:26
6.3. Menuetto (Allegretto) 4:23
7.4. Finale (Allegro) 7:26
Total Playing Time 1:03:20

- CD 11: Mozart: Symphonies K. 550 & K. 551 "Jupiter"
Symphony No.40 in G minor, K.550
1.1. Molto allegro 7:23
2.2. Andante 11:21
3.3. Menuetto (Allegretto) - Trio 4:48
4.4. Finale (Allegro assai) 9:19
Symphony No.41 in C, K.551 - "Jupiter"
5.1. Allegro vivace 11:16
6.2. Andante cantabile 11:22
7.3. Menuetto (Allegretto) 5:27
8.4. Molto allegro 11:27
Total Playing Time 1:12:23

My Discography - Part Two

Robert Silverman

Concert: Piano Works

Concert: CD 1

J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One
Prelude in e-flat
Fugue in d-sharp
Prelude in E-flat
Fugue in E-flat
Robert Schumann: Sonata No.3 in f, Op.14 ("Concerto Without Orchestra")
Allegro brillante
Scherzo 1: Molto commodo
Scherzo 2: Vivacissimo
Quasi Variazoni: Andantino de Clara Wieck
Prestissimo possibile

Concert: CD 2
Franz Schubert: Six Moments Musicaux, D.780
No.1 in C
No.2 in A-flat
No.3 in f
No.4 in c-sharp
No.5 in f
No.6 in A-flat
Frédéric Chopin: Three Works 

Barcarolle, Op.60
Scherzo No.3 in c-sharp, Op.39
Waltz in c-sharp, Op.64 No.2

Recording Information:

http://www.stereophile.com/features/315/index.html

Performances: Robert Silverman
Production/Editing/Engineering: John Atkinson, with Robert Harley
Executive Producer: Larry Archibald
Concert Organizer: Ralph Johnson
Road Manager: Danny Sandoval
Piano Technician: Charles Rempel
Emergency Piano-Stool Repair: Gorm Damborg
Photographs: John Atkinson

Venue: The First United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Recording Dates: November 6 & 8, 1992; November 5, 1993.
Steinway D piano: supplied by Riedling Music Company, Albuquerque, NM.

Microphones: two B&K 4006 ½" omnidirectionals with black (diffuse-field) grids.
Microphone preamplifiers: EAR 824 (1992-I), Meitner (1992-II), Sonosax (1993).
Cables: AudioQuest Lapis balanced, fitted with AudioQuest XLRs, to mike preamps; Beyerdynamic balanced microphone cable to recorder.
Recorder: Revox PR99 ¼", two-track, open-reel recorder.
Playback: Ampex ATR-100 ¼", two-track, open-reel recorder, restored by Mike Spitz (ATR Service Company) and modified by Robert Harley, with the invaluable help of Steve Hogan (Jensen Transformers), Jerry Ziss (Analog Devices), Steve McCormack (McCormack Audio), and John Curl.
Tape: Maxell XL-1 & UD-XL (1992), Ampex 456 (1993).

Editing/Mastering:

Analog original transfered to digital with the Manley/UltraAnalog 20-bit A/D Converter; edited with 20-bit resolution on the Sonic Solutions hard-disk editing system; mastered and redithered to 16-bit resolution using the Meridian 618 Mastering Converter. 

My Discography - Part One

Anne-Sophie Mutter, Herbert Von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker
Great Violin Concertos: Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Brahms



By Music lover (California) 
An excellent set, sure to become a standard. The combination of Herbert von Karajan, the Berlin Philharmonic and Anne-Sophie Mutter shines brilliantly. Ms Mutter performs the works with dignity and feeling, and shows why she is still one of the best in the world when it comes to playing the old masters. The Beethoven concerto is undoubtedly the signature piece of the set, a truly moving performance that ranks amongst the greatest I've heard. Technically, the recordings are consistent with the high quality one came to expect from DG. An absolute must-have collection!

Disc 1:
Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K.216, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1 Allegro 10:43
2 Adagio  9:51
3 Rondeau Allegro 6:46
Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major ("Turkish"), K.219 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
4 Allegro aperto 10:43
5 Adagio 10:57
6 Rondeau,Tempo di Menuetto 9:19

Disc 2:
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 - Ludwig van Beethoven 
1 Allegro ma non troppo 26:36
2 Larghetto 11:24
3 Rondo, Allegro 10:16

Disc 3: 
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 - Felix Mendelssohn
1 Allegro molto appassionato 13:55
2 Andante 9:28
3 Allegro non troppo - Allegro molto vivace  7:14

Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor, Op. 26 - Max Bruch
4 Prelude. Allegro moderato 8:35
5 Adagio 9:55
6 Finale. Allegro energico - Presto 7:35

Disc 4:

Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 - Johannes Brahms 
1 Allegro non troppo 22:00
2 Adagio 9:41
3 Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace

2 Sem 2012 - Part Four

Claudio Abbado & The London Symphony Orchestra

Mendelssohn: 5 Symphonies and 7 Overtures

By Gramophone
Symphonies Nos 1-5. Octet – Scherzo. Overtures – A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Die schöne Melusine; The Hebrides, ‘Fingal’s Cave’; Ruy Blas; Meerestille und Gückliche Fahrt; Trumpet Overture.
It is in the choral Second Symphony that the advantage of the wide-ranging digital sound comes out most strikingly, in clarifying the big tuttis with choir, at the same time providing extra weight of sound, notably in the way that pedal notes on the organ come over in a rich and realistic way. As to interpretation, Abbado in the first instrumental movement conveys a keener sense of joy with a wide expressive range. Again, in the choral finale Abbado’s speeds tend to be a degree more relaxed and the sense of joyful release is all the keener. His three soloists are very fine and their tonal beauty and natural feeling for words and phrasing are a delight. So too is the singing of the London Symphony Chorus, particularly beautiful in the chorale, ‘Nun danket alle Gott’.
It is that avoidance of Victorian blandness which is striking in Abbado’s accounts of Nos 1 and 5. In No 1 he is tough and biting, slower and simpler in the second movement, returning to a tough, dark manner for the Minuet and finale. This is a performance which has one marvelling that Mendelssohn could ever have countenanced the idea of the Octet Scherzo as substitute, a piece so different in mood. The first movement of the Reformation finds Abbado in dramatic mood, and crisper and again quicker in the second movement Allegro vivace.
In both the Scottish and Italian Symphonies Abbado’s earlier Decca versions clearly come into contention, but where in the Scottish the differences of interpretation are relatively unimportant – mainly a question of the slow movement being a little slower and heavier this time – those in the Italian are more striking. Here the outer movements are fractionally faster than before, and that difference brings just a hint of breathlessness in the playing of the LSO; but whatever my disappointment over those movements, this is now the most centrally recommendable version of the Italian on CD.
As for the overtures, they too bring fresh and attractive performances, very fast and fleet in the fairy music of A Midsummer Night’s 
Dream and with the contrast between first and second subjects of The Hebrides underlined. This was one of Abbado’s biggest recording projects with the orchestra of which he was music director and remains a richly rewarding legacy.

By The truth and nothing but (The High Peak, in the United Kingdom) 

Abbado offers some lushly textured Mendelssohn recording here. He is beautifully and ably supported by the sterling playing of the London Symphony Orchestra. Dating from the mid `80s, the recorded sound is also good despite its early digital vintage. Abbado takes a very classical view of Mendelssohn, however. He generally eschews any romanticism and perhaps that is where he falls down.
Performance: 4/5
For the most part these performances are incisive and the playing of the LSO is first rate. The overtures are generally invigorated with plush textures shining out quite consistently. It's a credit to Abbado that he has always produced golden throated playing from all the orchestras he has worked with. In that sense, who can doubt his natural talent for leading an orchestra? In the Symphonies, however, it feels like concentration and commitment does have the tendency to sag on occasion. This seems particularly true in the inner movements of the First Symphony (though the alternative scherzo is very pleasant) and the outer movements of the `Reformation' Symphony. Otherwise everything is quite excellent on this front. A small caveat would be that the palette of colour and timbre is rather restricted. Here, Previn got more out of this orchestra.
The `Lobgesang' may be the best part of this set, along with the overtures. It is realised beautifully, affectionately and musically. The singing of London Symphony Chorus is very good. It is very powerful at times. Elizabeth Connell (Soprano), Karita Mattila (Soprano) and Hans Peter Blochwitz (Tenor) do good justice to the work as solo voices, though superior singing in this work has been recorded before and since.
Sound: 5/5
There is very little indeed to complain about regarding the sound for this set. It is full blooded, warm and weighty with good detail as well. Perhaps it lacks a little sparkle but this is a very minor issue indeed and not too detrimental a caveat. Throw in a wide soundstage and it is some of the best sound the DG engineers were producing at the time. The main weakness in the sound is to be found in the Lobgesang where some may feel it to be a little fogged, muddy and overly reverberant.
Interpretation: 2/5
This is where the most telling problems arise. I must state now that I see Mendelssohn, along with Schumann, Bruch and Brahms, as a more romantic composer than Abbado apparently does. I suppose taste dictates much here. If you see Mendelssohn as closer in idiom to Haydn, Mozart and Schubert than he is to Schumann, Beethoven or Bruch then Abbado's set is almost certainly the set for you. Unfortunately, I don't see Mendelssohn like that.
True, there is no getting away from the fact that the First Symphony is classical in idiom. That is easy to accept and, as such, Abbado has followed Flor, Ashkenazy and Karajan (among others) in interpreting it classically. The Second Symphony is where Abbado diverges from the Classical path. This is a broad, magnificent view of the work. Indeed, it has something valedictory in the way he conceives it. Having said that, it has been equally well interpreted by the likes of Litton, Karajan and Dohnanyi. They each have a valedictory about them.
The `Scottish' Symphony marks a return to the classical idiom. Others have got more darkness and tragedy from this score. See, for example, Karajan and Bernstein. Indeed, these two took an almost impressionistic account of the first movement. Abbado continues his genial approach which is rather superficial and uninspiring in this work. The coda of the third is taken with almost vulgar amounts of rhetoric. This is not in keeping at all with what preceded these closing passages.
The Fourth can be interpreted classically or romantically and here Abbado has much more success. This Symphony comes off much better in this set than the Third does. Abbado's Fifth wobbles between classicism and romanticism without firm decision either way. Much of the expression in the outer movements suggests a romantic conception but the inner movements seem to be decidedly classical while the final coda doesn't come off with the incisiveness and finality that Munch, Bernstein and Karajan brought.
Overall, this is a mixed set musically. There is some uncertainty as to how Abbado sees Mendelssohn but generally he opts for a classical approach, in line with Mozart or Haydn. There is validity in that as Mendelssohn drew greatly from both composers. Orchestras such as those of Bamberg, Vienna and Berlin seem more in touch with Mendelssohn's Germanic roots as well. This is a solid set, the stand outs being the Second Symphony, the Fourth and the eight shorter pieces. Indeed, the Hebrides receives a very strong performance. If Abbado's way appeals, you will enjoy this set more than I did.

Track List:

Disc 1:
1. Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op.11 - 1. Allegro di molto  10:39
2. Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op.11 - 2. Andante 6:40
3. Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op.11 - 3. Menuetto (Allegro molto)  6:45
4. Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op.11 - 4. Allegro con fuoco  8:14
5. Octet in E flat, Op.20 - Arr. for orchestra by the composer - 3. Scherzo 3:58
6. Overture "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Op.21 - Overture (Allegro di molto)  12:03
7. The Hebrides, Op.26 (Fingal's Cave) - Allegro moderato  10:24
8. Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, Op.27  13:08

Disc 2:
1. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 1. Sinfonia: Maestoso con moto  13:48
2. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 1. Sinfonia: Allegretto un poco agitato 7:00
3. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 1. Sinfonia: Adagio religioso 8:09
4. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 2. "Alles was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn" - "Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele" 5:30 

5. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - Molto più moderato ma con fuoco:"Lobe den Herrn,... meine. Elizabeth Connell  2:42
6. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 3. "Saget es, die ihr erlöst seid" Hans Peter Blochwitz 0:51
7. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 3. "Er zählet unsre Tränen" Hans Peter Blochwitz 2:20
8. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 4. "Sagt es, die ihr erlöset seid" Hans Peter Blochwitz 2:08
9. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 5. "Ich harrete des Herrn" Elizabeth Connell 6:46
10. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 6. "Stricke des Todes hatten uns umfangen" Hans Peter Blochwitz 4:14
11. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 7. "Die Nacht ist vergangen"  4:58
12. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 8. "Nun danket alle Gott" - "Lob, Ehr' und Preis sei Gott" London Symphony Chorus 4:13
13. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 9. "Drum sing ich mit meinem Liede ewig" Hans Peter Blochwitz 5:12
14. Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 - "Hymn of Praise" - 10. "Ihr Völker, bringet her dem Herrn Ehre und Macht"  6:32 

Disc 3:
1. Symphony No.3 in A minor, Op.56 - "Scottish" - 1. Andante con moto - Allegro un poco agitato - Assai animato - Andante come prima 16:55
2. Symphony No.3 in A minor, Op.56 - "Scottish" - 2. Vivace non troppo 4:04
3. Symphony No.3 in A minor, Op.56 - "Scottish" - 3. Adagio  11:28
4. Symphony No.3 in A minor, Op.56 - "Scottish" - 4. Allegro vivacissimo - Allegro maestoso assai  9:56
5. Overture "The Fair Melusine", Op.32 - Allegro con moto 10:48
6. "Trumpet Overture", Op.101 - Allegro vivace - Allegro vivace  9:10
7. Ruy Blas, Op.95 - Overture to Victor Hugo's play - Lento - Allegro molto 8:21 

Disc 4: 

1. Symphony No.4 in A, Op.90 - "Italian" - 1. Allegro vivace 10:30
2. Symphony No.4 in A, Op.90 - "Italian" - 2. Andante con moto  5:56
3. Symphony No.4 in A, Op.90 - "Italian" - 3. Con moto moderato  6:30 4. Symphony No.4 in A, Op.90 - "Italian" - 4. SaPltarello (Presto)  5:24 

5. Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.107 - "Reformation" - 1. Andante - Allegro con fuoco 12:13
6. Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.107 - "Reformation" - 2. Allegro vivace 5:48
7. Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.107 - "Reformation" - 3. Andante  3:45
8. Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.107 - "Reformation" - 4. Choral "Ein' Feste Burg ist unser Gott!" (Andante con moto - Allegro vivace - Allegro maestoso - Più animato poco a poco)  9:09
9. Overture for Wind Instruments, Op.24 (für Harmoniemusik) 9:46 

2 Sem 2012 - Part Three

Lang Lang

Live In Vienna

By James Manheim
This Lang Lang disc presents a live performance, a recital at the very citadel of musical conservatism, the Musikvereinsaal in Vienna. The pianist must have taken it as a special challenge, for he altered his usual repertoire somewhat and toned down his crowd-pleasing flamboyant ways. Not that they disappear entirely; the booklet is adorned with pictures of Lang lifting his arms above the keyboard, gazing skyward, and so on. But half the program is devoted to Beethoven, not Lang's usual style, and the two sonatas heard here, one of them the Piano Sonata No. 23 in F sharp minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata," are his first Beethoven sonata recordings. The pieces from Book One of Albéniz's Iberia are given rather restrained treatment, and only with the Chopin Polonaise, Op. 53, "Heroic," and Grande Valse brillante No. 2, Op. 34/1, does he really cut loose. Nothing about the Beethoven is going to shake either Lang's supporters or his detractors loose from their positions, but it must be said that he in no way overdoes the "Appassionata," and that the performance of the Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2/3, is fresh and quite distinctive; Lang uses his technical facility to breeze through the piece's spiky passagework and gives it a confident, breezy quality -- that, as it happens, is also the most attractive quality of Lang's playing in general. Lang's fans can feel confident that they'll enjoy his effort to conquer the stately old city of Vienna. Notes by James Jolly, in English only, consist largely of spoken commentary by Lang Lang himself.

By A piano teacher
The entertainment world craves superheroes and villains, and Lang Lang is neither. His first recital CD on Sony, done live at the Musikvereinssaal, is a wonderful success, with a few instructive exceptions.
I first heard Lang Lang when he visited Reading, PA in March 2002. He played to a partially filled college chapel, but the mood seemed to suit him, and he played the most pearly Mendelssohn Caprices and electrifying Wanderer Fantasy (far better than at Carnegie or Verizon Hall) that I ever will hear. When he roared into the final fugue theme, little grey-haired ladies stared at each other with their mouths hanging open.
It is such playing that mesmerizes piano lovers as they listen to golden-age broadcasts from the 1930's. But Lang Lang does not like to play in that manner when the red recording light is on. Today everyone is labeled with permanent marker, and since his craft encompasses image as well as music (as he candidly admits), some listeners seem to just see and not hear him. Trying to please such people is a mistake.
It is for that reason that this set (which I merely "heard") is so welcome - amid the uproar Lang Lang continues to deepen his scope, leverage his technique, choose major repertoire, and widen the sound-palette of his recording persona.
The first CD contains his first recording (so what???) of two Beethoven Sonatas. It happens that these performances plumb every corner and raise them to the heights. The first (Opus 3 No. 2) is no "early" fluff piece. (It actually runs two minutes longer than the "Appassionata.") The playing is full of life and variety, with moods unfolding naturally and without exaggeration. When Beethoven challenges the listener (such as the tension in the "fake recap" of mvt. I) there is a sense of discovery. The third movement's varied articulations are meticulously observed, the flying fingers bringing out natural contrasts because no compromise in tempo is needed. Beethoven's touches of polyphony sound as fresh as when they were written.
What youth idol could resist milking the Appassionata? He does not do it. I was shocked by the tart, straightforward beginning. Then when Beethoven calls for fire, Lang Lang delivers in spades. His interview in the booklet acknowledges many influences (who do you know who loves BOTH Kempff and Rubinstein in this piece?) - and his choices are eclectic. He favors incremental growth rather than terraces in the second movement. His final movement tempo is brisk but not crazy, with a satisfying ending. Those who quibble over details should take a second look at the score. Overall, his Beethoven playing reaps continual benefits from sheer clarity, and these performances will endure as a result.
Skipping to the Prokofiev Seventh Sonata on Disk two: Another winner. I prefer to imagine this piece as riotous fun - absolute music that serves as a respite from war, not a portrayal of desolation and death. But I am in the minority, and Lang Lang's raw vignettes make an unnerving case for the sonata as political commentary. No punches are pulled. He did his practicing.
Then we have the Albeniz Iberia Book One, and three Chopin pieces.
I give the release five stars because if you take the Beethoven and Prokofiev, with mvt. two of the Albeniz to catch one's breath, you have an 80-minute disc (with applause trimmed) that is easily the best solo album he has done, and one to stand with the greats.
The Albeniz first two movements are smoky and decent. But the third dance movement, as well as the Chopin Etude, Polonaise and Waltz at the end, sag and lurch as if the driver snuck out for a beer while the car was still on the highway. Lang Lang can excel in Chopin, as his E-minor Concerto recording proves. These short pieces are fake and shapeless. They will come back to haunt him.
Sony has signed a major artist who chooses to make himself a teacher and a learner as well as a performer. We all could do likewise. His influence ought to be a source of happiness for those who want classical music to be appreciated at its true value.

Disc: 1
1. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2; I. Allegro con brio
2. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2; II. Adagio
3. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2; III. Scherzo (Allegro)
4. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2; IV. Allegro assai 5. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"; I. Allegro assai
5. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"; II. Andante con moto
6. Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"; III. Allegro ma non troppo

Disc: 2
1. Iberia, Book I; I. Evocación
2. Iberia, Book I; II. El puerto
3. Iberia, Book I; III. Fête-dieu à Seville
4. Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83; I. Allegro inquieto - Andantino - Allegro inquieto - Andantino - Allegro inquieto
5. Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83; II. Andante caloroso - Poco più animato - Più largamente - un poco agitato - Tempo I
6. Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83; III. Precipitato
7. Étude Op. 25, No. 1 in A-Flat Major
8. Polonaise No. 6 in A-Flat Major, Op. 53 "Heroic"
9. Grand Valse Brillante No. 2, Op. 34 No. 1 in A-Flat Major

2 Sem 2012 - Part Two

Artemis Quartet
Beethoven - Complete String Quartets

By Tom Pitsis
THE Beethoven Quartets for the next 100 years!
What an incredible, astounding achievement from The Artemis Quartet!
These virtuoso musicians (in technique AND feeling) have managed to make the whole bunch of these miraculous works by Beethoven sound like they were written today! From the earliest Opus 18 works to the final utterance - this set is in its entirety not only faultless, but revelatory to the highest degree. Beethoven has never sounded so witty, so soulful and so intelligent.
I don't know much about these musicians but I'm willing to bet there must be a leader who lays down the law when making performance decisions - I could very well be wrong, but a consensus or committee seldom come up with such consistently brilliant results.
Perfectly recorded - perfectly executed! The wit, drama, spirituality and passion all perfectly voiced.
The part-writing is also crystal clear - The playing of these great musicians has helped me discover inner voices in these great works that I've never noticed before - and I own and regularly listen to many complete sets of these works! The fast finales are as thrilling as roller-coaster rides - yet nothing is blurred - every note can be heard.
Beethoven's not even my favorite composer - Haydn, Bach and Mozart outrank him to my ears - but The Artemis Quartet have reminded me how great 4th place can be and make a strong case for Beethoven's promotion.
My highest recommendation and my heartfelt thanks to these great artists for all the work they must have put in - and for all the sensitivity, experience and wisdom they obviously possess and for their empathy in channeling Beethoven's soul! To have recorded such a stupendous cycle of these works at a time when the classical music recording industry is in dire straits is a tribute not only to the musicians themselves, but to Beethoven, Art, their teachers, the sound-engineers, *Virgin, and even us, the humble listeners. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU ARTEMIS and BUY! BUY! BUY! Classical Music Lovers!

By EMI Classics
This box set from the Artemis Quartet marks Virgin Classics’ first complete cycle of Beethoven String Quartets. Over the past two seasons, the Berlin-based Artemis Quartet has been performing Beethoven around the world, prompting reactions such as this one, from Die Zeit: “The members of the Artemis come as people who live life, and life is what they seek in Beethoven too.”
The first of the Artemis Quartet’s Virgin Classics CDs of Beethoven Quartets was released in Autumn 2005. Now, nearly six years later, the complete Beethoven cycle becomes available in a box of 7 CDs (TBC) which includes two previously unreleased items: the quartet No 10, op 74, known as the ‘Harp’, and a transcription for string quartet, proudly made by Beethoven himself, of the Piano Sonata No 9, op 14.
The 2010-11 season has seen the Artemis Quartet continuing with its two-year focus on live performances of Beethoven. By the end of the season, the ensemble will have recently performed Beethoven quartets in, among other cities, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, London, Paris, Brussels, Rome, Milan, Florence, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston and Los Angeles, and at the Schubertiade festival in Schwarzenberg (Austria).
Eckart Runge, cellist of the Artemis Quartet, expresses the players’ views on the composer’s quartets: “His music speaks to every era – it is a perfect dialogue between tradition and modernity, and between intellectual refinement and raw emotion … In relation to the time in which he lived, Beethoven is the most modern, provocative, experimental and boldest composer of all. Many have used the string quartet to experiment, to trial and develop their mode of composition … but none of them was more extreme than Beethoven. Even today, the Grosse Fuge remains one of the most incredible and most modern pieces of music ever written … No matter how complicated the form, one can always find essential human emotion in Beethoven, whether it is hopeful longing, apprehension, exuberant joy or shy affection.”
Beethoven’s extraordinary musical evolution is traced in the cycle, which remains the touchstone of the quartet repertoire. Die Zeit observed that the Artemis Quartet is: “An ensemble that, when compared to groups on a similar level of perfection, seems to approach the repertoire from another horizon. Many quartets convey an air in their playing of rarefied workmanship and detached refinement from the world. They explore the music within the notes. The members of the Artemis come as people who live life, and life is what they seek in Beethoven too.”
The Artemis’s debut release on Virgin Classics in 2005 comprised Beethoven’s op 59/1 and op 95, while the second release brought together op 59/2, the ‘Razumovsky’ Quartet, and the Quartet op 18/4. In France, the release was named CHOC of the Year by Le Monde de la Musique and was also awarded a Diapason d’Or; in Germany it became Chamber Music Recording of the Year in the ECHO Klassik awards of the Deutsche Phono-Akademie. In the UK, the Sunday Times praised the “fresh, positive responses” of the Artemis Quartet, saying: “ … their colours are vivid and they are alert to the music’s intent to push all sorts of boundaries to breaking point,” while BBC Radio 3’s CD Review suggested that the recording should go to the top of any list of recommendations

Track listing: 
Disc 1:
1 String Quartet No.1 in F major Op.18 No.1: I. Allegro con brio 9:05
2 String Quartet No.1 in F major Op.18 No.1: II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato 8:50
3 String Quartet No.1 in F major Op.18 No.1: III. Scherzo (Allegro molto) & Trio 4:00
4 String Quartet No.1 in F major Op.18 No.1: IV. Allegro 6:31
5 String Quartet Op.18 No.4 in C minor: I Allegro ma non tanto 8:22
6 String Quartet Op.18 No.4 in C minor: II Andante scherzo quasi allegretto 7:05
7 String Quartet Op.18 No.4 in C minor: III Minuetto (allegretto) 3:50
8 String Quartet Op.18 No.4 in C minor: IV Allegro 4:15
9 String Quartet Op.18 No.6 in B flat major: I. Allegro con brio 8:37
10 String Quartet Op.18 No.6 in B flat major: II. Adagio ma non troppo 7:43
11 String Quartet Op.18 No.6 in B flat major: III. Scherzo. Allegro - Trio 4:00
12 String Quartet Op.18 No.6 in B flat major: IV. La Malinconia. Adagio - attacca 3:21
13 String Quartet Op.18 No.6 in B flat major: V. Allegretto quasi allegro 4:23
Disc 2:
1 String Quartet No. 2 in G major Op. 18 No. 2: I. Allegro 7:41
2 String Quartet No. 2 in G major Op. 18 No. 2: II. Adagio cantabile 6:25
3 String Quartet No. 2 in G major Op. 18 No. 2: III. Scherzo (Allegro) & Trio 5:09
4 String Quartet No. 2 in G major Op. 18 No. 2: IV. Allegro molto, quasi presto 5:07
5 String Quartet No.3 in D Major Op.18 No.3: I. Allegro 7:22
6 String Quartet No.3 in D Major Op.18 No.3: II. Andante con moto 7:48
7 String Quartet No.3 in D Major Op.18 No.3: III. Allegro 2:47
8 String Quartet No.3 in D Major Op.18 No.3: IV. Presto 6:03
9 String Quartet No.5 in A Major Op.18 No.5: I. Allegro 10:23
10 String Quartet No.5 in A Major Op.18 No.5: II. Menuetto & Trio 4:47
11 String Quartet No.5 in A Major Op.18 No.5: III. Andante cantabile 9:36
12 String Quartet No.5 in A Major Op.18 No.5: IV. Allegro 6:11
Disc 3:
1 String Quartet No. 7 in F 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 1: I. Allegro 9:52
2 String Quartet No. 7 in F 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 1: II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando 8:44
3 String Quartet No. 7 in F 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 1: III. Adagio molto e mesto 12:09
4 String Quartet No. 7 in F 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 1: IV. Allegro (Thème russe) 7:28
5 String Quartet No. 8 in E minor 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 2: I. Allegro 12:42
6 String Quartet No. 8 in E minor 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 2: II. Molto adagio 11:58
7 String Quartet No. 8 in E minor 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 2: III. Allegretto 6:08
8 String Quartet No. 8 in E minor 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 2: IV. Finale (Presto) 5:04
Disc 4:
1 String Quartet No. 9 in C 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 3: I. Introduzione (Andante con moto) - Allegro vivace 10:44
2 String Quartet No. 9 in C 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 3: II. Andante con moto quasi allegretto 9:05
3 String Quartet No. 9 in C 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 3: III. Menuetto (Grazioso) & Trio 5:28
4 String Quartet No. 9 in C 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 3: IV. Allegro molto 5:56
5 String Quartet Op.74: I. Poco adagio - Allegro 9:31
6 String Quartet Op.74: II Adagio ma non troppo 8:34
7 String Quartet Op.74: III. Presto 4:46
8 String Quartet Op.74: IV. Allegretto con variazioni 6:35
9 String Quartet No. 11 in F minor Op.95: I. Allegro con brio 4:02
10 String Quartet No. 11 in F minor Op.95: II. Allegretto ma non troppo 6:34
11 String Quartet No. 11 in F minor Op.95: III. Allegro assai vivace, ma serioso 4:08
12 String Quartet No. 11 in F minor Op.95: IV. Larghetto espressivo - Allegretto agitato - Allegro 4:21
Disc 5:
1 String Quartet No.12 in E flat major Op.127: I. Maestoso - Allegro 6:42
2 String Quartet No.12 in E flat major Op.127: II. Adagio ma non troppo, molto cantabile 14:50
3 String Quartet No.12 in E flat major Op.127: III. Scherzando vivace 8:07
4 String Quartet No.12 in E flat major Op.127: IV. Finale 6:32
5 String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor Op. 131: I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo 7:42
6 String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor Op. 131: II. Allegro molto vivace 2:48
7 String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor Op. 131: III. Andante moderato 0:47
8 String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor Op. 131: IV. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile 12:50
9 String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor Op. 131: V. Presto 5:08
10 String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor Op. 131: VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante 1:54
11 String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor Op. 131: VII. Allegro 6:54
Disc 6:
1 String Quartet Op.130 in B flat major: I. Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro 13:08
2 String Quartet Op.130 in B flat major: II. Presto 1:52
3 String Quartet Op.130 in B flat major: III. Poco scherzoso. Andante con moto ma non troppo 6:48
4 String Quartet Op.130 in B flat major: IV. Alla Danza tedesca. Allegro assai 3:03
5 String Quartet Op.130 in B flat major: V. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo 6:15
6 String Quartet Op.130 in B flat major: VI. Grosse Fuge Op.133. Ouverture. Allegro - Meno mosso e moderato - Allegro 15:00
7 String Quartet Op.14: I. Allegro moderato 6:56
8 String Quartet Op.14: II. Allegretto 3:37
9 String Quartet Op.14: III. Allegro 3:37
Disc 7:
1 String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132: I. Assai sostenuto - Allegro 9:32
2 String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132: II. Allegro ma non tanto 9:13
3 String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132: III. Molto adagio 16:27
4 String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132: IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace 2:02
5 String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132: V. Allegro appasionato 6:39
6 String Quartet No.16 in F major 'Muss es sein? es muss sein!' Op.135: I. Allegretto 6:25
7 String Quartet No.16 in F major 'Muss es sein? es muss sein!' Op.135: II. Vivace 3:20
8 String Quartet No.16 in F major 'Muss es sein? es muss sein!' Op.135: III. Lento assai e cantante tranquillo 6:29
9 String Quartet No.16 in F major 'Muss es sein? es muss sein!' Op.135: IV. Grave ma non troppo tratto - Allegro 7:06


Emerson String Quartet

Mendelssohn - The Complete String Quartets

By D. A Wend
Mendelssohn's string quartets are very appealing, tuneful works that engage the listener completely. Chamber music was an important part of Mendelssohn's output and one does not gain a full picture of his growth as a composer by only being familiar with his orchestral works. This 4-CD set by the Emerson String Quartet brilliantly explores not only the six numbered quartets but includes the shorter Op. 81 works (published after Mendelssohn's death), the student quartet (written when the composer was 14) and the stunning Octet for strings.
Naturally, the early quartets (written in 1827 and 1829 but published in reverse order in 1830) reflect the influence of other composers, most notably Beethoven. The movements of these quartets were linked by thematic ideas. The quartet in A minor uses Mendelssohn's song Frage (Question) as the musical link. The quartet in E-Flat (Op. 12) was composed during Mendelssohn's trip to the British Isles, which also inspired his Scottish Symphony and Hebrides Overture.
When Mendelssohn next turned to the form he was the director of the Gewandhaus and a famous composer. The composition of the three quartets Op. 44 (number 3, 4 and 5) occurred after his marriage to Cecile Jeanrenaud in 1837 and were composed during his two month long honeymoon. These quartets reflect the composer's maturity and accessible style. The sixth quartet was published after Mendelssohn's death and was written following the sudden death of his sister Fanny in May 1847. It follows that the quartet is darker than the others and is agitated and dissonant in tone; the first movement begins with dark tones from the cello then proceeds with a beautiful melody punctuated with tremolos. The scherzo is characterized by an unusual tempo that has a frantic quality to it. The Adagio allows Mendelssohn to fully express his grief and the Finale has the syncopated rhythm of the scherzo.
The five pieces collected as Op. 81 contain what probably are two movements for an unfinished quartet - a Theme and Variations in E major and Scherzo in A minor. It was reported by the composer Ignaz Moschelles that Mendelssohn was at work on a new string quartet before his death and of these two pieces the Theme and Variations is closest to the description of the work. The earliest of Mendelssohn's quartets appears last on the CDs and is a pleasant work written under the influence of Mozart and Haydn.
The Octet receives a marvelous performance with the Emerson playing all of the parts with each member playing different instruments and seated in different positions during the recording sessions.
The performances are impeccable with beautiful and clear sound. I purchased the set anticipating a performance of three of the quartets by the Emerson. As I have listened to the set the warmth and sensitivity of the playing makes this the Mendelssohn quartets to own. I have only become interested in chamber music in recent years and Mendelssohn was a natural choice for me because of his gift of melody. I think this music would appeal to someone getting to know chamber music.

By Deutsche Grammophon
2004 has been a great year for the Emerson Quartet. Sold-out concerts, rave reviews and excellent CD sales apart, they were recipients of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize in April (bestowed by New York's Lincoln Center), the first ensemble, as opposed to solo artists, to be given this great honour.

Today the Emerson Quartet's exclusive recording catalogue on DG covers music from Bach to Edgar Meyer, and they have won numerous prestigious awards, including six Grammys and two Gramophone Record of the Year awards.
Now they return with a big 4-CD set, this time the complete Mendelssohn quartets. Like their Beethoven and Shostakovich complete cycles of 1997 and 2000 respectively, here is a set of recordings that will set new standards.
The Mendelssohn quartets - seven in all, plus individual movements - form an immensely engaging and exhilarating body of work. They range from the passionate utterances of the young composer (opp. 12 & 13) to the anguished outburst of a man devastated by the death of his beloved sister (F minor, op. 80). In between there are the chamber-music equivalents of works like the famous Italian Symphony (the D major op. 44 no. 1).
On the special bonus CD that comes in the package there's an absolute treat: the Emerson's recording of Mendelssohn's delightful Octet, a work brimming with energy and lyricism. How do four players play eight parts? Find out on the CD-R track, "Recording the Octet", a witty and enlightening eleven-minute documentary of eight Emersons in action - also included on the bonus CD.

Track List:
CD 1:
String Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op.13
1 1. Adagio; Allegro vivace [7:40]
2 2. Adagio non lento [7:53]
3 3. Intermezzo; Allegretto con moto [4:44] 

4 4. Presto [8:59]

Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op.81
5 4. Fuga [4:58] 

String Quartet No.1 in E flat, Op.12
6 1. Adagio non troppo; Allegro non tardante [7:54] 

7 2. Canzonetta: Allegretto [3:55]
8 3. Andante espressivo [3:57] 

9 4. Molto allegro e vivace [7:52]

CD 2:
String Quartet in E minor, Op.44, No.2
1 1. Allegro assai appassionato [10:34]
2 2. Scherzo. Allegro di molto [4:06]
3 3. Andante [6:05]
4 4. Presto agitato [6:20] 

String Quartet in E flat, Op.44, No.3
5 1. Allegro vivace [12:35]
6 2. Scherzo: Assai leggiero vivace [4:05]
7 3. Adagio non troppo [8:12]
8 4. Molto allegro con fuoco [8:23]

CD 3:
String Quartet in D, Op.44, No.1
1 1. Molto allegro vivace [12:55] 2
2. Menuetto. Un poco allegro [5:33]
3 3. Andante espressivo ma con moto [5:25]
4 4. Presto con brio [6:58]

Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op.81
5 3. Capriccio [5:52] 

String Quartet No.6 in F minor, Op.80
6 1. Allegro vivace assai [7:25] 

7 2. Allegro assai [4:24] 

8 3. Adagio [6:43]
9 4. Finale: Allegro molto [5:23]

Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op.81
10 1. Tema con Variazione [5:45]
11 2. Scherzo [3:26]

CD 4:
Octet in E flat, Op.20
1 1. Allegro moderato, ma con fuoco [13:43]
2 2. Andante [6:47]
3 3. Scherzo (Allegro leggierissimo) [4:14]
4 4. Presto [5:39] 

String Quartet in E flat major o. op.
5 1. Allegro moderato [8:49]
6 2. Adagio non troppo [5:15]
7 3. Minuetto - Trio - Minuetto [5:51]
8 4. Fuga [4:02]
9 Video Documentary: "Recording the Octet" [13:00]

2 Sem 2012 - Part One

Maria João Pires
The Piano Sonatas - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

By Orpheus "a wayfarer" (on the road)
I agree completely with the above reviewer. Maria Joao Pires is one the world's most influential and admired Pianists, her interpretations of Mozart, Chopin, Schumann and Beethoven have been lauded and her concerts are sold out within days. Throughout her career though, she returns again and again to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Mozart Sonatas lack the pathos and gravity of Beethoven's, but reveal a beauty more etheric and elusive. It is not for nothing that most pianists do not dare to touch them, as they represent a world that seems simple and one-dimensional, but is in fact the complete opposite. Mozart' inclination to simplicity reveals, when played by someone with a kindred soul, his Incomparable Genius. Maria Joao Pires does just that.
Her tone is a delicate and lyrical one: warm, soulful, clear and adept to Mozart's subtle and intricate compositions. What I most like about her is her sense of timing and flowing momentum that expresses the essence of a Mozartean Sonata.
You could say this is the most rounded and soulful collection of Mozart's sonatas . But that would not give enough credit to Maria Joao Pires Artistry. Each and every piece is played with an almost unassuming elegance and clarity; no manierisms, ideosyncracies, just a springing forth of the Music.
She creates an atmosphere of delicate intimacy and tranclucent beauty, I have never heared before. She expresses it all: the elegance and lyricism of Mozart love for Opera, his ability to summon a sense of heartbreaking joy and splendour, longing and humour, deep agony and elusive freedom...the whole gamut of the highest of human sentiments and capabilities.
Of course there are other great boxes such as Brendel, Uchida, De La Rocha, Gould. But Pires' unique empathic sensitivity capture something which surpasses just a great performance but touches the heart of Mozart's music.

Track List:

CD 1:
Piano Sonata No.1 in C, K.279
1.1. Allegro 6:59
2.2. Andante 8:58
3.3. Allegro 5:28
Piano Sonata No.2 in F, K.280
4.1. Allegro assai 6:33
5.2. Adagio 8:48
6.3. Presto 4:36
Piano Sonata No.3 in B flat, K.281
7.1. Allegro 6:48
8.2. Andante amoroso 8:16
9.3. Rondeau (Allegro) 5:06

CD 2:
Piano Sonata No.4 in E flat, K.282
1.1. Adagio 7:16
2.2. Menuetto I-II 4:02
3.3. Allegro 3:23
Piano Sonata No.5 in G, K.283
4.1. Allegro 5:31
5.2. Andante 6:31
6.3. Presto 6:13
Piano Sonata No.6 in D, K.284 "Dürnitz"
7.1. Allegro 7:37
8.2. Rondeau en Polonaise (Andante) 5:31
9.3. Tema con variazione 17:04

CD 3: 
Piano Sonata No.7 in C, K.309
1.1. Allegro con spirito 8:49
2.2. Andante, un poco adagio 6:37
3.3. Rondeau (Allegretto grazioso) 7:07
Piano Sonata No.9 in D, K.311
4.1. Allegro con spirito 6:58
5.2. Andantino con espressione 5:56
6.3. Rondeau (Allegro)6:53
Piano Sonata No.8 in A minor, K.310
7.1. Allegro maestoso 8:01
8.2. Andante cantabile con espressione 9:11
9.3. Presto 2:49

CD 4:
Piano Sonata No.10 in C major, K.330
1.1. Allegro moderato 9:08
2.2. Andante cantabile 6:54
3.3. Allegretto 7:48
Piano Sonata No.11 in A, K.331 -"Alla Turca"
4.1. Tema (Andante grazioso) con variazioni 14:12
5.2. Menuetto 5:42
6.3. Alla Turca (Allegretto) 3:42
Piano Sonata No.12 in F, K.332
7.1. Allegro 9:17
8.2. Adagio 4:44
9.3. Allegro assai 9:58

CD 5:
Piano Sonata No.13 in B flat, K.333
1.1. Allegro 9:58
2.2. Andante cantabile 12:16
3.3. Allegretto grazioso 6:35
4.Fantasia in C minor, K.475 11:59
Piano Sonata No.14 in C minor, K.457
5.1. Molto allegro 8:14
6.2. Adagio 7:28
7.3. Allegro assai 4:37

CD 6: 
Piano Sonata "No.18" in F, K.533/K.494
1.1. Allegro, K.533 10:02
2.2. Andante, K.533 10:12
3.3. Rondo (Allegretto), K.494 6:42
Piano Sonata No.15 in C, K.545 "Facile"
4.1. Allegro 4:15
5.2. Andante 6:04
6.3. Rondo (Allegretto) 1:38
Piano Sonata No.16 in B flat, K.570
7.1. Allegro 8:38
8.2. Adagio 8:42
9.3. Allegretto 3:43
Piano Sonata No.17 in D, K.576
10.1. Allegro 5:02
11.2. Adagio 6:17
12.3. Allegretto 4:48

1 Sem 2012 - Part One

Sergio Monteiro
Heitor Villa-Lobos - A Prole do Bebê I e II



By SMonteiro
"This is the first time that the two "Proles do Bebê"(Baby's Family) are recorded in the same CD by a Brazilian pianist. According to the distinguished Brazilian composer Almeida Prado, the Baby's Family n. 1, from 1918, "has the French influence of Debussy and Ravel associated with a very ingenious use of Brazilian rhythms." Three years later, in 1921, V. Lobos wrote the second cycle of "Prole do Bebê". "This time", says the critic, "the change in style is astonishing. A very different pianism, agressive- sometimes even brutal- is combined with a highly sophisticated harmony (bitonal, atonal), and new rhythms coming from the Sacre du Printemps are enriched by the originality of V. Lobos.":

PROLE DO BEBÊ Nº 1
01 Branquinha2m40s
02 Moreninha 1m38s
03 Caboclinha 2m57s
04 Mulatinha 1m21s
05 Negrinha 1m17s
06 Pobrezinha2m07s
07 Polichinelo 1m28s
08 A Bruxa 2m08s

PROLE DO BEBÊ Nº 2
09 A Baratinha de Papel 2m45s
10 A Gatinha de Papelão 2m45s
11 O Camundongo de Massa 2m55s
12 O Cachorrinho de Borracha2m35s
13 O Cavalinho de Pau 2m13s
14 O Boizinho de Chumbo 4m44s
15 O Passarinho de Pano 3m19s
16 O Ursinho de Algodão 2m23s
17 O Lobozinho de Vidro 4m41s


Dan Tepfer
Bach/Tepfer - Goldberg Variations/ Variations



By Robert Carraher "The Dirty Lowdown"
Dan Tepfer is one of the most formidable jazz pianists on the international stage and hailed as such by press on every continent you can keep a piano in tune (Antarctica does not qualify). He has owned the spotlight the world over, from his solo work to full orchestra performances, and his improve skills are awe inspiring. His style is more melodic, he's not one to display his technical prowess through big blasts of dissonance and drama. This comes to the listeners ear as playful, fun, sexy and just beautiful. There is such a rainbow of musical colors that it takes you away before you even knew you were packed.
He has chronicled his talents on the solo disc Twelve Free Improvisations in Twelve Keys (2009) as well as the trio sessions Before the Storm (2005), Oxygen (2007) and Five Pedals Deep . Here, he brings that melodic lyricism to JS Bach's Goldberg Variations. To tackle the masters iconic work is a pretty ambitious ideal, but Tepfer is more than equal to the task. This is no popular music take on Bach, so don't expect A 5th Of Beethoven or Hooked On Bach. This is a masterful pianist, a classically trained pianist and a young man who has been praised wherever he has graced the ears of jazz and classical fans giving us a respectful and affectionate interpretation of the complete "Goldbergs" and interspersed are his improv variations on Bach's Variations...did that make sense?
For Tepfer, this was no "romp" through the play ground, no playful process for showing off. He disappears into the music and I am told that he even engineered this disk himself to further immerse himself in the pieces and the project. In between Bach's own variations are Tepfer's improvisation and though true to the original you can feel the kiss of jazz. Wonderful stuff. My advice to you. Grab a good book, and put this album on and get lost in a marvelous disk.


Jacques Loussier Trio
Schumann/ Kinderszenen - Scenes From Childhood



by Alex Henderson
Over the years, third stream music has been criticized in both the jazz and Euro-classical worlds. Jazz snobs have argued that if a jazz musician is playing something by Beethoven or Chopin, he/she can't possibly maintain an improviser's mentality; classical snobs will argue that great classical works need to be played exactly as they were written, and that jazz artists can't possibly do the compositions of Schubert, or Debussy justice if they improvise. But thankfully, Jacques Loussier hasn't paid attention to the naysayers in either the jazz or classical worlds, and after all these years, the French pianist (who turned 76 in 2010) is still taking chances. This 2011 release finds Loussier putting his spin on "Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood)," which German romanticist Robert Schumann (b. 1810, d. 1856) composed in 1838. Schumann turned 28 that year, and he wrote that nostalgic, 13-song work in memory of his childhood. Loussier (who forms an acoustic piano trio with bassist Benoit Dunoyer de Segonzac and drummer André Arpino) performs "Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood)" in its entirety, and he approaches it not as European classical music, but as acoustic post-bop jazz. Thankfully, "Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood)" is appropriate for Loussier, who maintains the 13 songs' nostalgic outlook but does so in a consistently jazz-oriented fashion. Loussier sounds like he is fondly remembering his own childhood, which came about long after Schumann's. Indeed, Loussier was born in 1934, which was 96 years after "Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood)" was composed and 78 years after Schumann's death; Loussier grew up surrounded by a lot of music and technology that didn't exist when Schumann was a kid. But the more things change, the more they stay the same and nostalgia continues to inspire musicians today just as it did in Schumann's pre-jazz, pre-electricity, pre-records time. This 49-minute CD is among Loussier's creative successes; his experimentation hasn't always worked, but it works impressively well for him on this imaginative interpretation of "Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood)."


Evgeny Kissin
Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition



By Stephen Wigler
Any recording of Busoni's transcription of Bach's mighty organ Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C will inevitably be compared with the Vladimir Horowitz performance that opened his "comeback" recital in 1965and the 78-rpm-era version of Arthur Rubinstein (resurrected on Volume 8 in BMG's Rubinstein Collection). Kissin gives us Horowitz's brilliance, without the nervous affectations and missed notes, and Rubinstein's healthy athleticism and grandeur, without the occasional inattention to detail. In a performance such as this, Kissin convinces us that he is at once the Horowitz and the Rubinstein of our era--and perhaps superior to either. In Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Kissin almost never falters in evoking the inherently Russian quality of the tableaux: the heartbreak of unrequited passion in the "Old Castle"; the lurching to and fro of "Bydlo"; the mimicry of "Tuileries"; the helter-skelter bargain-seeking of "Limoges"; and the spooky depths of "Catacombs" and "Con mortuis in lingua mortua." Perhaps "The "Hut on Fowl's Legs" and "The Great Gate of Kiev" have only been surpassed in live recitals by Kissin himself and, of course, by Sviatoslav Richter--the best of whose live performances, recorded at a 1958 recital in Sofia, is still available on a Philips disc. Kissin's encore, Balakirev's transcription of Glinka's "The Lark," demonstrates that, when it comes to creating a singing line, with sensitive phrasing and exquisite textures, he has no equal among pianists alive today.

By Vidar Palsson
I have spent the latest week listening to Kissin's newest CD. And here are my thoughts:
- Bach/Busoni:
Kissin's clear tone suits the work perfectly. His tone is sharp and the pedalling is held to moderation. The toccata is virtuosic at times and Kissin rses to sound as a whole organ. The adagio is slow and beautifuly colored by Kissin. Each phrase has weight and you sink in your chair listening to it. But the best is yet to come, the fugue. I wish Kissin would play more poliphonic music like fugues because he is a master at dragging forward inner voices. His fingers seem to have individual life and the lines eash gain their own existance. Listen to the beginning of the fugue, such clarity, focus and calm. The breath of tone in this work displayed by Kissin shows clearly his capability to make the piano sound like any other instrument he likes, organ, orchestra or what ever.
- Glinka/Balakirev:
Small work I haven't heard elsewhere. Melancolic, slow and beautiful. An ok break between the two major works on the disc.
- Mussorgsky:
Listening to Kissin led me into yet one Pictures-mania. So, there has been a lot of comparisons this week. I must say it straight out: genius! This is what I call a high class performance. In his last CD (Chopin: 2nd sonata, preludes) his tone got a bit to hard at times, and I was curious is he would try the power-path of Horowitz or the poeticism of Richter. I am glad he choose the latter, although I love Horowitz's version(s). Take for exaple the Bydlo. Yes, Horowitz is funny and exiting when he unleashes a thunderous left in the high climax. But such a force makes the bydlo more of a crasy bull than a slow, fat and lumpish ox, making heavy steps. Kissin hold back the banging and portraies the bydlo as slow but powerful force. The fast sections, like the market or the ballet of the chickens, sparkle with life. The grand gate of Kiev is magnificent, truly grand and noble.
Conclusion: A CD to treasure as it contains a stunnig Bach/Busoni and one of the very best pictures ever, arguably the best pictures for a long long time. Kissin is the successor to Richter and Horowitz in Mussorgsky, no doubt in my mind.

Opera Divas & JAZZ: The Previn/Hersch/Mehldau Project

Anne Sofie Von Otter Meets Elvis Costello

For The Stars

Anne Sofie Von Otter & Brad Mehldau

Love Songs

Kiri Te Kanawa/ André Previn/ Ray Brown/ Mundell Lowe

Kiri Sidetracks: The Jazz Album

Brad Mehldau & Renée Fleming

Love Sublime

Renée Fleming with Fred Hersch and Bill Frisell

Haunted Heart

Dawn Upshaw with Fred Hersch
Sings Rodgers & Hart

Sylvia McNair with André Previn/ David Finck

Sure Thing: The Jerome Kern Songbook

Sylvia McNair with André Previn/ David Finck

Come Rain or Come Shine: The Harold Arlen Songbook

By Leonardo Barroso

  Opera Divas are always celebrated and praised for their beautiful voices and performances on/off stages through out the World.

   I'm not a fan of Opera at all, but those sopranos and mezzo-sopranos, really moves me, I don't know why. Tried for more than twenty years, to find the reason for this strange attraction, and no clue by now.

It all started at my JazzGuru, Mr.Bob Barroso, house in 1992, when at some point into that always wonderful jazz nights, he did put the recent André Previn's Jazz CD with a singer we all should guess who it was. Half through the CD and I had no clue of who the singer was, but at that point Bob showed me the cover album....I could not believe that the sweet and poweful voice I was delighted with, was the Grand-Diva Kiri Te Kanawa. From Mozart, Puccini and Verdi to Arlen, Mercer, Van Hausen, Mandel, Rodgers and Hart.....has the world gone crazy, I did recall back then. Her singing at "It Could Happen To You" was just breathtaking.

   When the record finished I was just amazed. I thought to myself: this is a once in a lifetime thing.

    Two years later, André Previn must have loved Kiri's album too, because as I was looking for some new releases I saw this CD with Diva Sylvia McNair having a great time, and she really did. A great album again with Previn on piano (always great playing) and bassist David Finck. Oh my God ! Lighting did strike twice, what a great CD...you should hear Sylvia singing "Remind Me" (Peggy Lee's rec.also great).

    I was truly satisfied with both great cd's, mixing the jazz world with opera divas has been great.

    1996 saw a new Previn/McNair/Finck cd, again just as good as their last one, but with H.Arlen songbook. Also in'96 another Diva, Dawn Upshaw, came with a Rodgers/Hart cd with Fred Hersch on piano, and in the song "Why Can't I ?" with his Trio, just great. These were great time for JAZZ !

    Enough of Sopranos, in 2001, Mezzo Anne-Sofie Von Otter came with a release with Elvis Costello and a swedish group jazzin' through 18 songs: Bacharach,Beatles,Tom Waits, Costello and ABBA's Benny Andersson. Recorded on HDCD-encoded, this a favorite of mine. A great surprise !

     Then my heart almost stopped, it was 2005, a new Diva/Jazz album was released, Amercan soprano-Diva Renée Fleming was giving her shot in Jazz. Well nothing new there, Fred Hersch was up again now with guitarist Bill Frisell. Not my guitar pick, but okay, let's start..........well........she started with one of my all-time best song "Haunted Heart"! This is just eargasm !!! Fred's Steinway-piano and Renée's dark, down-bottom voice was just amazing! EARGASM ! MUST HEAR !

      Now Brad Mehldau has recorded with both: Von Otter and Fleming, recording opera-like songs and jazz arrangements. Just great !

      Well these are my thoughts on this strange musical mix, great voice and great playing couldn't go wrong. At least on these cases. This is what music is all about, JAZZ is all about freedom, and playing whatever you feel like, not knowing what the results are going to be.

      Go on and hear it !!! Enjoy and Eargasm for all !!!!!

      THIS IS THE PREVIN/ HERSCH/ MEHLDAU PROJECT !

WorldClassical Top 10 All-Time CD's

John Eliot Gardiner & Orchestre Révolutionnaire Et Romantique
Beethoven 9 Symphonies

By HC Robbins Landon, BBC Music Magazine [1994] Reviewing DG 439-900
‘It seems almost incredible,’ writes John Eliot Gardiner in the press handout accompanying this set, ‘that these, the most celebrated symphonies ever composed, are performed regularly from texts that correspond neither to Beethoven’s first nor last wishes, as evinced by the autograph scores or by the first printed editions with corrections in Beethoven’s hand.’
These new recordings have used Clive Brown (Fifth Symphony) and Jonathan Del Mar (all the others) to re-examine all the extant source material and to correct the ‘standard’ texts of Breitkopf & Härtel which, everybody assumed, transmitted the Urtext of Beethoven’s symphonies. The results are spectacular, like the recent cleanings of the Sistine Chapel or the Cappella Brancacci in Florence. Beethoven’s symphonies have emerged cleansed of wrong notes, wrong phrasings, wrong dynamic marks and even wrong tempi. The most glaring wrong tempo comes in the finale of the Ninth, with the alla marcia tenor solo, where the metronome marking which Beethoven dictated to his nephew, Carl, was misread so that the passage has always been taken far too slowly. (Details may be consulted in the exemplary booklet.) The most interesting, large-scale textual change concerns the Scherzo/Trio of the Fifth, now restored to its original form: scherzo/trio/scherzo/trio/transition to finale (this is the form in a set of manuscript orchestral parts corrected by Beethoven, now in the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde).
But a large part of the cleansing process must be attributed to the remarkable Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and the clear, incisive, taut readings it gives under Gardiner’s guidance. Again and again I felt as if I were hearing these warhorses for the first time. Never have Beethoven’s brilliant timpani parts seemed so aggressively original – even violent. Never have the woodwind and brass meshed so effortlessly with the strings: the balance of these CDs is impeccable.
On all accounts, therefore, this set is a triumph and certainly the most important Beethoven recording since the arrival of CD: important for getting the texts right (something we now regard as obvious in Haydn’s and Mozart’s symphonies); important for the revelatory sound of these original instruments; and especially important for the clean, unsentimental, brilliant readings by Gardiner and his orchestra. Not least, DG has given us a marvellously rounded, yet detailed sound, despite the fact that the nine symphonies were recorded at different times and places. Never was the advent of CD more triumphantly vindicated.
Performance: 5 (out of 5); Sound: 5 (out of 5)

Evgeny Kissin & Valery Gergiev - London Symphony Orchestra
Rachmaninoff Concerto No.2 Op.18 in C Minor/Etudes-Tableaux Op.39

By Joseph W. Hyink (Woodinville, WA)
This review is from: Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2; Etudes-Tableaux (Audio CD)

Because Rachmaninoff's music mirrors the Russian culture, I have often noted that no one plays Rachmaninoff like a Russian. Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Etudes-Tableaux, played by the Russian Evgeny Kissin, is unparalleled in mastery, beauty, and power. The album begins with one of the most sensitive interpretations of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto that I have heard (on par with Vladimir Ashkenazy's, a fellow Russian). Kissin understands the flow of the piece from beginning to end. As a result, he builds the tension by accentuating the rich chord progressions that fill the piece. He then resolves that tension with the precision of a story-teller and the sensitivity of a master artist. Though the music stretches the ability of even the greatest pianists, Kissin plays through the difficulty in order to paint a landscape of musical progression. He hears and invites his audience to hear the intricate sub-plots that recur all throughout the work. Perhaps Rachmaninoff's most famous composition is married with a true master artist.
The album ends with six powerful Etudes-Tableaux. Once again, Kissin hears and emphasizes both the predominant theme as well as the innumerable sub-themes, often overlooked by lesser musicians. My favorite is Etude-Tableau No. 5 in E-flat minor. This extremely difficult piece builds tension through increased dissonance until a lofty climax. That dissonance almost becomes unpleasant to the ears, creating an atmosphere of extreme melancholy. I imagine that tension mirroring the inner turmoil that an individual experiences through a difficult time of life. But when that tension and internal cacophony can get no greater and the person is at the point of breaking, grace comes! The beauty of the resolution is far more beautiful against such a dark backdrop. And any person who has been through difficulties can fully enter into the emotion of the music. And anybody who is currently experiencing pain and suffering can take hope, even from this music, that resolution will come.

Jan Garbarek & The Hillard Ensemble

Officium

by Richard S. Ginell
Fearlessly searching for new conceptions of sound and not caring where he found them, Garbarek joined hands with the classical early-music movement, improvising around the four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble. Now here was a radical idea guaranteed to infuriate both hardcore jazz buffs and the even more pristine more-authentic-than-thou folk in early music circles. Yet this unlikely fusion works stunningly well -- and even more hearteningly, went over the heads of the purists and became a hit album at a time (1994) when Gregorian chants were a hot item. Chants, early polyphonic music, and Renaissance motets by composers like Morales and Dufay form the basic material, bringing forth a cool yet moving spirituality in Garbarek's work. Recorded in a heavily reverberant Austrian monastery, the voices sometimes develop in overwhelming waves, and Garbarek rides their crest, his soprano sax soaring in the monastery acoustic, or he underscores the voices almost unobtrusively, echoing the voices, finding ample room to move around the modal harmonies yet applying his sound sparingly. Those with nervous metabolisms may become impatient with this undefinable music, but if you give it a chance, it will seduce you, too.

Glenn Gould

J.S. Bach-Goldberg Variations, BWV 988(Aria & 30 Variations)

By Rupert Stone
This review is from: Bach: The Goldberg Variations (Audio CD)
Glenn Gould had recorded two Goldbergs prior to this release: a digital effort from 1955 and a live Salzburg performance in 1959. Both are stunning, bursting with wit and vivacity - but there is something about his testamentary final version (finished just before his premature death, aged 50) that defeats not only his own efforts but those of every other pianist too. Gould himself was an odd fish, to say the least - he never slept (the Goldbergs were written by Bach for the insomniac Goldberg), ate little and was a chronic hypochondriac. Admirable was his love for animals - he had many dogs throughout his life - and his love of solitude (he conducted almost every relationship through the telephone). Such qualities are very important when considering the unmeasurable profundity of this recording - the love of innocence, the aversion to brutality, the childike playfulness are coloured by a deathly weariness and stoicism (hence the beautiful final aria, transcendentally slow, or the tired stubborness of number 1). This is one of those recordings that demands endless relistening - one discovers new things every time amidst the mass of detail and complexity (the diversity of articulation in number 25, the so-called 'black pearl' variation is a good example). His tone is otherwordly, sometimes akin to the sound of a xylophone, sometimes an organ - the glittering textures of Variation 6 or 13 are wondrous. Bach purists will perhaps hate this disc, but wrongly - it is a marvellous realisation of the score combined with a highly original personal vision. Brendel chides Gould for his Bach playing, on the grounds that he fails to bring out the composer's intentions. Well, listen to Brendel's feeble recording of the first two books of Liszt Annees de Pelerinage - as far from the pyrotechnics and thunderous sonorities of the score as one could possibly imagine. Take no notice of these critics - this is surely one of the finest recordings in the entire catalogue, a true marvel of human achievment. It is complex, beautiful and relentlessly profound.

Gidon Kremer & Academy of St.Martin In The Fields

Double Concerto BWV1043 and The Violin Concertos BWV1041,1042 

By John Borwick
BACH. Violin Concertos—No. 1 in A minor, * BWV1041; No. 2 in E major, BWV1042. Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV1043. Academy of St Martin in the Fields / Gidon Kremer (vIns). Philips digital ® 411 108-1; CI 411 108-4; Compact Disc 411 108-2.
This is among the most vigorous of Bach playing, of superlative quality within its chosen style. The quality extends both to the soloist and the strings of the orchestra. It probably would have done, too, to the harpsichordist if he had been audible; but only one or two distant chords in the finale of the Double Concerto suggested, without certainty, that indeed there was one there at all. The deficiency is not wholly decisive in these particular pieces; and anyway the ear is riveted by the propulsive style and strong, rich tone of all the string-players. The propulsive rhythm survives the absence of a separate conductor, and the ritardandos at cadences are mostly managed very well: just once, perhaps, the ritardando seemed a trifle tentative. And just once, perhaps, the strings seemed actually too strong, with overpowering accompanying detached chords, in F, in the middle movement of the A minor Concerto. But where, in this concerto and elsewhere, the cadences needed decorating Kremer leaps into action most effectively, with stylish, short amplifications of Bach's outline.
The recording is also of splendid quality, matching the strong string tone ideally. Yet in spite of this marvellous sound two questions should be raised before unreserved recommendation is made. One is that the vigour itself, applied pretty impartially throughout, might better have been modified, given way to a more lyrical style in some passages, some movements even. "Twice too fast," some will say of the Double Concerto's first movement; the arithmetic will be exaggerated, but the reaction will be quite a natural one. The other question is more a psychological one; it is whether, in this Double Concerto, the performance (however good) of both solo parts by the same player is not antipathetic to the spirit of the conversation between two living, human beings envisaged by Bach. Music is a marvellous release of the human spirit, for musician and listener alike; and it may be that in an increasingly mechanical world a few rearguard actions in favour of humanity, may here and there be in place.
For those still, very reasonably, in doubt about a decision, it should perhaps be added that the E major Concerto is split between the two record sides. M . M .
The Double Concerto is here making its fourth appearance on CD (itself some kind of record) but this is the first version in which the same soloist uses overdubbing techniques to perform both parts. Gidon Kremer is thus able to match phrases and 'dialogue' passages with precision; yet we do lose a sense of interplay between two individual artists. More to the point are the fast tempos and full-toned sound throughout all three works. Our reviewer MM describes the performances above as "vigorous" and there is indeed little relaxation even in the slow movements. Overall sound, however, is of high-fidelity standards with the bright acoustic contributing to a recording of exceptional clarity.

The Beaux Arts Trio

Arensky - The Piano Trios No.1 Op.32 & No.2 Op.73

By John Warrack
Selected comparisons - coupled as above:
Beaux Arts Trio (6/95) (PHIL) 442 I27-2PH Borodin Trio (2/98) (CHAN) CHAN7048
Arensky's First Piano Trio has been recorded quite frequently, and with good reason. The melodic and some of the harmonic manner may lie close to Tchaikovsky, but Arenslcy has his own highly engaging individuality within a similar Russian romantic idiom, and his ear for scoring is no less acute: indeed, he never allows himself the hefty piano textures that can make such a problem with Tchaikovslcy's own Trio. The Second Piano Trio is less immediately appealing, though it, too, has its pleasures, and deserves a better hearing in the West. Among the couplings of the two works are those by the Borodin and Beaux Arts Trios. The Borodin Trio's recording is not one of their most successful. Vigorous as they are, especially in the First Trio, they can sometimes overplay the intensity when a gentler lyricism might yield more. The Beaux Arts' performance is less strenuous, and in its warmth of feeling and its quick-wittedness with the fleet-footed Scherzos lies closer to the new Dussek version. The Dusseks are highly accomplished and sensitive players, responsive especially to the First Trio's Elegia and the Second Trio's Romanza: in these gentle slow movements Arensky's gift is at its most affecting. There is really little to choose between these two intelligent, sensitive performances of some very attractive music; if choice there has to be, it would go to the Beaux Arts and a performance of delightful individuality.

Lilya Zilberstein & Neeme Järvi-Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Grieg - Piano Concerto Op.16, Op.54, Op.11

By Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com
Neeme Järvi's survey of Grieg's orchestral works always has been highly regarded, combining idiomatic interpretations and vibrant sound from Gothenburg's splendid orchestra and acoustically inviting concert hall. The most substantial works, the complete Peer Gynt and Sigurd Jorsalfar, formed a full-priced DG box. Now they're the backbone of this new mid-priced 6-CD set from DG's Collectors Edition. The recordings, made between 1986 and 1993, are all largely self-recommending. The only minor caveats apply to the shorter, small-scale pieces. There's a Holberg Suite that might have been more convincing had smaller forces been employed instead of what sounds like a scarcely reduced full string section. Järvi leads assertively, and his players follow his nicely tailored rubatos carefully enough, but everything sounds too big to be properly intimate as Grieg intended, especially in the Sarabande and Air.It's a pity that Järvi doesn't make more of the subtle colors of the Lyric Suite, or demonstrate more affection for the lovely Elegiac Melodies. One point of interest is that in the Lyric Suite he restores the bell-ringing ("Klokkeklang") effects that Grieg omitted from the final version, effects that add a particularly evocative aspect here. But sometimes the performances seem fussy and businesslike, lacking the flow and flexibility that smaller forces could provide, and you'll probably find Neville Marriner's 1994 Hänssler Classic accounts more pleasing. Järvi's readings of the more rugged and folksy Norwegian Dances and Symphonic Dances are another matter. Both are superlative--thoughtfully directed and again excellently played.
There remains the outstanding complete Peer Gynt, with a strong vocal cast led by Barbara Bonney (Solveig), Urban Malmberg (Peer Gynt), and Marianne Eklof (Anitra), with attractive instrumental solos by Knut Buen (Hardanger-fiddle) and Paul Cortese (viola). Järvi can be rather mannered, though, and there are moments of stiffness in "The death of Ǻse" and other slower, more reflective passages. There's simply no better recording of Sigurd Jorsalfar than this one, but Virgin's 1991 version of the rarely heard C minor Symphony with the Bergen Philharmonic under Dmitri Kitaenko is more lyrical and lucid than Järvi's. This set also includes Lilya Zilberstein's accomplished account of the piano concerto along with Grieg's orchestral songs. The concerto brings some truly inspired moments (the slow movement is beautifully atmospheric) and some horribly bombastic ones too;, but if you go for this set, its value lies in its completeness, which is unmatched at the price.

Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax

Brahms - Sonata For Piano & Cello Opp.38, 99 and 108

By Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States)
This review is from: Brahms: Sonatas for Cello and Piano (Audio CD)
Many place Brahm's Cello Sonatas as his most personal music while others feel that Brahms is best in the bigger works. The two sonatas of cello and piano - E minor, Op. 38, F major, Op. 99, and and for violin and piano D minor, Op. 108 - cover the course of Brahms' musical career and the variations in his approach to melody, but all three of the works are some of the more introspective, radiantly beautiful works from his chamber pieces.
Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax have performed together and have been close musical comrades for many years so it comes as no surprise that their collaboration is as glued as any other duo work. They seem to sense each other's presence in a most respectful and admiring way. The result is Brahms played with not only technical finesse but with the love that comes from such superb collaboration. Ma's lush cello tone is matched by Ax's subtle phrasing. This is a recital to cherish.

Gidon Kremer & Martha Argerich

Beethoven - Violin Sonatas Nos.6-8 and Sonatas Op.30 Nos.1,2,3

By MR WT MAKHATHINI "thando" (Durban, South Africa)
This review is from: Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 6-8 / Kremer, Argerich (Audio CD)
I bought this from Amazon last few weeks back. I was actually looking for Beethoven Violin Sonata No.5 "Spring" I dont know why I eventually ended up purchasing this CD but Im glad I did. This is one of the most thrilling perfomance by Argerich & Kremer.Kremer's violin sounds very much authentic in sound & performance by the masterful Violinist is great.So is Argerich with her tilting fingers on her piano wow! this is an essential recording indeed.The fact that Im the 2nd person to review this recording is unbelievable to me, Amazon should be calling for a halt to the avalanche of reviews to this recording. For me things started hitting up from Sonata no.1 's "Allegretto con Variazion(1-vi) and then to the end. Violin's movement causes sparks to fly. Needless to say my colleagues at work now love the sound of a violin even though some will not admit to love this music.The understanding between the two instruments & co-ordination is simple out of this world.Musically i would not be able to express the actual movements i.e. in musical terminology since im not a musician but I know when something is not only great but deserves to be appluaded. You buy this one without any inhibitions its a must have for any serious collectors item. By the way I also purchased Perlmans No. 5 "spring" Beethoven violin concerto its also thrilling as well but this one comes tops.

Fabio Biondi & Europa Galante

Vivaldi-Il Cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione / Le Quattro Stagioni

by Uncle Dave Lewis
The four concerti in The Four Seasons of Antonio Vivaldi have probably earned the distinction of being the most frequently recorded classical works in the digital era. Originally published as part of a set of 12 concerti as Vivaldi's Opus 8, the other eight concerti also get some attention, particularly La tempesta di mare, but the set as a whole is comparatively seldom recorded. In Europa Galante's Virgin Classics release, Vivaldi: Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, violinist Fabio Biondi, who has recorded The Four Seasons at least once before for Opus 111, leads his expert ensemble in the whole of the Opus 8 set. The 12 concerti fit comfortably onto two CDs, with some reshuffling of the pieces into a different order than that assembled by Vivaldi, though not through splitting up the "big four."
The very first thing that comes to mind in listening to Biondi on this Virgin recording is how restrained and natural this interpretation sounds versus some other, and perhaps more highly publicized, recordings by others. Biondi is not auditioning for the Kronos Quartet here; his tone is sweet, finger work fleet, and he makes sparing, but expressive use of vibrato. Europa Galante is in a relatively small configuration in this outing, but Virgin's excellent recording conveys the impression of a bigger band. Some tempos are zippy indeed; the fast-moving parts of L'inverno threaten to catch fire, whereas certain movements, such as the final Allegro in La primavera, are given plenty of room to breathe and thus, are a little longer than most performances. Elasticity is the key to Biondi's interpretation, but it is never employed in a manner that causes the music to sag, as in some older, modern instrument recordings.
The band does a great job of coordinating some of the special effects used in these works -- the driving accents in La caccia are marvelously tasty and point up Vivaldi's revolutionary approach to rhythm in instrumental music. Europa Galante's Virgin recording of Vivaldi: Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione should please all but those who have zero tolerance for period instrument performers, and is so charismatic that even some among the latter might make an exception for it.