2 Sem 2014 - Part Five

Nelson Freire
The Complete Columbia Album Collection - 7 CDs

By Presto Classic
Called “one of the most exciting new pianists of this or any other age” in Time magazine, Nelson Freire celebrates his seventieth birthday on October 18th 2014. Sony Classical marks this milestone with a special original jacket collection. It contains some of the Brazilian pianist’s earliest and most coveted recorded performances, many of which have been out of print for decades. These include four celebrated concerto collaborations with the legendary conductor Rudolf Kempe, the “Prix Edison” award winning Chopin op. 28 Préludes, and large-scale sonatas by Chopin, Liszt and Brahms. Newly remastered from the best possible sources, the discs are presented in facsimile sleeves and labels corresponding to the original LP releases. 3 LPs appear here for the first time on CD, mastered from the original analogue tapes.
An enclosed booklet offers an essay by Jed Distler, a photographic retrospective, and full discographical information. Born in Boa Esperança, Brazil, Nelson Freire played his first recital at four. At fourteen he traveled to Vienna to study with Bruno Seidlhofer, and met his longtime friend and piano duo partner Martha Argerich. He began to concertize internationally, winning the first prize at the Lisbon Vianna da Motta International Competition in 1964 and the Dinu Lipatti medal in London. The list of world class orchestras and conductors with whom Freire has worked over the past four decades is a veritable who’s who of classical music luminaries.

Tracks:
Brahms:
Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5
Rhapsody in E flat major, Op. 119 No. 4
Capriccio in B minor, Op. 76 No. 2
Chopin:
Preludes (24), Op. 28
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
Impromptu No. 4 in C sharp minor, Op. 66 'Fantaisie-Impromptu'
Mazurka No. 25 in B minor, Op. 33 No. 4
Mazurka No. 23 in D major, Op. 33 No. 2
Mazurka No. 26 in C sharp minor, Op. 41 No. 1
Polonaise No. 6 in A flat major, Op. 53 'Héroïque'
Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31
Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15 No. 2
Waltz No. 6 in D flat major, Op. 64 No. 1 'Minute Waltz'
Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp major, Op. 36
Étude Op. 10 No. 5 in G flat major 'Black Key'
Grieg:
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Liszt:
Totentanz, S126 for piano & orchestra
Piano Sonata in B minor, S178
Schubert:
4 Impromptus, D899
Schumann:
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
Carnaval, Op. 9
Tchaikovsky:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23

Christopher Hogwood 1941 - 2014

By Gramophone
It has been announced that the conductor Christopher Hogwood has died at the age of 73. The official announcement on Hogwood's website reads,'Following an illness lasting several months, Christopher died peacefully on Wednesday 24 September, a fortnight after his 73rd birthday. He was at home in Cambridge, with family present. The funeral will be private, with a memorial service to be held at a later date.
Hogwood's Mozart symphony-cycle with the Academy of Ancient Music, which began in the late 1970s, won a Gramophone Award and changed the perception of period-instrument performance. Hogwood founded the Early Music Consort in 1967 with David Munrow, and the Academy of Ancient Music in 1973. He was awarded a CBE in 1989.
When Hogwood was interviewed by Gramophone in 2002 he looked back to the roots of Historically Informed Performance: 'I'm a Handel and Haydn man. But that's not where it all began. I'd come from playing medieval music with David Munrow. It was completely speculative, a sort of inspired circus, putting on a host of colourful works to entertain, very well run on the concert platform. But there were a number of worrying things about it; one was the impression it gave the world that most medieval music consisted of instrumental, secular music when 98 per cent was religious, sacred vocal music. And the other one was that there is so little surviving evidence of what really went on, what it actually sounded like.' So began an unforgettable musical journey.

2 Sem 2014 - Part Four

Valentina Lisitsa
Chasing Pianos - The Piano Music Of Michael Nyman



By James Manheim
Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa has taken an unusual path toward career development: she posted her Chopin performances to YouTube, gained a strong following there, and then hired the London Symphony Orchestra for a set of Rachmaninov concerto performances. The gambit seems to be working: Lisitsa's performances of late Romantic repertoire have been reasonably well received, and now she's earned the right to implement what one imagines was the point of the whole exercise in the first place: the pursuit of the crossover audience centered above all in Britain. There is no denying that Chasing Pianos works well. British composer Michael Nyman has made a long specialty out of minimalist music that shades in the direction of melodic pop. Although Nyman has stated that opera is his favored genre, the style is ideally suited to film scores, and his music for The Piano (1993) is a classic of the genre. That score, adapted for solo piano, is heavily featured here, along with music from other scores that is artfully chosen to give just enough contrast to avoid sheer repetitiveness without disturbing the basic calm surface. Lisitsa's style, flawlessly precise and slightly mechanical, fits this music in a rather eerie way, and fans of Nyman's music will doubtless find a fresh and exciting take on it here. Those coming to the music from the film The Piano or from one of the other soundtracks represented should also be pleased. The sound, from the concert hall at Britain's Wyastone Estate, is unusually well suited to the project: dreamy and soft without being overly gauzy.


By Classic FM
The Ukranian YouTube sensation plays the piano music of Michael Nyman. John Suchet's Album of the Week, 17 March 2014.
Valentina Lisitsa 's videos have been viewed on YouTube more than 50 million times. The Ukranian pianist has always admitted to having a special affinity for the works of Rachmaninov and Beethoven and continues to add to her vast repertoire each season. Her new album sees her exploring the piano music of Michael Nyman , on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
The album includes all ten solo piano transcriptions from the smash hit film The Piano , collected together on one album for the first time, along with complete recordings of his published music for solo piano.
Lisitsa plays with great sensitivity and fluidity and succeeds in bringing together a valuable collection of some of the most haunting and appealing piano music of our time.

2 Sem 2014 - Part Three

Ray Chen & Christoph Eschenbach
Mozart



By James Manheim
Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, and Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218, are so commonly heard and abundantly available on recordings that one may suspect a major reason for this Sony Classical release was that Taiwanese-Australian-American violinist Ray Chen and conductor Christoph Eschenbach are quite photogenic in the "cover image styled by Armani," as the credit has it. Indeed, Chen is all youthful elegance, and Eschenbach comes out looking a bit like Jean-Luc Picard. But don't hate them because they're beautiful. The performances come out distinctly above average, with a fresh take in which Chen avoids pouring on the standard sweetness for these works. The playing reveals a good deal of planning and cooperation between Chen and Eschenbach, who leads the rather oversized Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra, and the inclusion of the Sonata for piano and violin in A major, K. 305, at the end seems not an afterthought but a fully integrated part of the recital. The star of the show is Chen, whose consistently lively, imaginative detail work is enhanced by his own cadenzas. The church sound amplifies the excessive size of some of the orchestral sound, but he is undoubtedly an artist to watch even in a marketplace crowded with telegenic young violinists.


By John J. Puccio - Classical Candor
Chen starts the program with the Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, which Mozart wrote along with all five of his violin concertos in Salzburg in 1775 when he was only nineteen years old. Mozart was more of a piano guy, so he didn’t take the violin concerto very far before he died. Nevertheless, because he died relatively young, who knows what he may have done with the genre had he lived another thirty or forty years. In any case, No. 3 is fairly typical of the form, with an Allegro, an Adagio, and a closing Rondeau Allegro. It is not particularly adventurous, but it is Mozart, which means it’s always charming. Besides, despite Mozart’s age when he composed these things, he was a prodigy, a musical genius who had been composing since his early childhood. In terms of their development and maturity, therefore, the violin concertos are more like the work of a man twice Mozart’s years.
Chen seems more in tune with the lyrical qualities of Mozart than he was in a previous recording I reviewed of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, where he seemed more relaxed than dramatic or exciting. In both instances, though, Chen shows a terrific command of the instrument, his virtuosity never in question. But in the present Mozart, his perhaps natural penchant for understatement serves the music pretty well. Chen maintains a light touch on the strings, helping the concerto to bounce along with plenty of vim and vigor, yet not so fast that it loses any delicacy. I still don't think he throws himself into the music with the passion and enthusiasm of Anne-Sophie Mutter, but he does display a good range of emotions. There is an especially deep sense of pathos in the Adagio, where Chen seems most at home. There is also a delightful spirit to the final movement, where Chen's lyrical treatment of the faster sections elevates it above the ordinary.
Probably the single most outstanding characteristic of all the music on the album, though, is the sound of Chen's violin, a 1702 Stradivarius, the "Lord Newlands." It has a rich, fresh, effervescent tone that combined with Chen's fluid playing is quite easy to like. Or love, as the case may be.
The Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218 is in the same fast-slow-fast structure as No. 3: Allegro, Andante cantabile, and Rondeau (Andante grazioso - Allegro ma non troppo). Despite its classical structure, the Fourth Concerto is more romantic and sinuous than the Third, and Chen makes the most of it. The Fourth may also be more familiar to listeners than the Third, which means listeners may have more predetermined conceptions about it. In any case, Chen retains the better part of the work's wit and sparkle, keeping the often capricious music flowing evenly. Still, I missed the degree of impetuosity found in some competing versions, leading me again to appreciate Chen's handling of the concerto's slow movement more than his work in the outer movements, as good as they are.
Now, call me an old fuddy-duddy (OK, you're an old fuddy-duddy), but I enjoyed the accompanying Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 22 in A major, K 305 best of all on the program. Here, Chen again shares the spotlight with Mr. Eschenbach, this time with Eschenbach on piano. Although this is primarily Chen's album, the Sonata rather favors the piano as much as the violin, particularly in the longer second movement. Even though the engineers appear to do what they can to emphasize the violin, Eschenbach's piano part is really what carries the piece. Be what may, the two performers together create a sweet, cheerful, bubbly concoction that foreshadows the work of Schubert a few years later.
The sound is ultra clear and clean due in part, I'm sure, to some relatively close miking. The clarity comes at the expense of some orchestral depth in the concertos, but for many listeners it might be a fair trade-off. The violin tone sounds natural enough, with a pleasant bloom on the strings, and the whole affair is reasonably smooth as well, with only the tiniest evidence of hardness on occasion.

2 Sem 2014 - Part Two

Mischa Maisky
10 Classic Albums



By David H. Bailey
This collection is an amazing deal -- most of the included CDs are available for sale separately but the total cost would be much higher than buying this collection. I ordered it for my wife for Christmas since there were 3 CDs of Mr. Maisky's that she asked for and they were all included in this set. She is ecstatic over the collection and has discovered even more excellent recordings that she had previously not known about. Buying this set was truly a no-brainer -- anybody who loves cello music should buy this set!
Tracks:
- CD 1 & 2
J. S. BACH: 6 Suites for Solo Violoncello
CD 1: nos. 1, 2 & 6
CD 2: nos. 3, 4 & 5
463 3142 (CD 1 & 2 only) Recorded July & August 1999
- CD 3
MEDITATION
Works by Bach/Gounod, Handel, Lully, Gluck, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, De Falla, Fauré, Massenet, Saint-Saens, Ravel, Anon, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Kreisler
Pavel Gililov, piano
431 5442
Recorded October 1987
- CD 4
ELGAR: Cello Concerto in E minor op. 85
TCHAIKOVSKY: Variations on a Rococo Theme op 33
Philharmonia Orchestra / Giuseppe Sinopoli
431 685-2 Recorded March 1990
- CD 5
SHOSTAKOVICH
Cello Concerto no. 1 op. 107
Cello Concerto no. 2 op. 126
London Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas
445 8212 Recorded August 1993
- CD 6
SAINT-SAËNS
Cello Concerto no. 1 in A minor op. 33
The Swan
Allegro appassionato op. 43; Romance op. 36; Suite op 16;
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Cello Sonata no. 1 in E minor op. 32
Daria Hovora, piano
457 5992 Recorded March 1997, January 1998 (Sonata)
- CD 7
SCHUMANN
Fantasiestücke op. 73; Adagio and Allegro op. 70; 5 Stücke im Volkston op. 102
Martha Argerich, piano
Cello Concerto in A minor op. 129
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra 469 524-2 Recorded March 1997 (Concerto), December 1999
- CD 8
APRES UN REVE
Works by Bizet, Chausson, Debussy, Duparc, Fauré, Hahn, Massenet, Poulenc, Ravel
Daria Hovora, piano
457 6572 Recorded May 1999
- CD 9
MENDELSSOHN
Cello Sonata no. 1 op. 45
Cello Sonata no. 2 op. 58
Variations op. 17
Songs without Words op. 109, op. 62 nos. 1 & 6; Auf Flügeln des Gesanges, Schilflied, Suleika, Die Liebende schreibt
Sergio Tiempo, piano
471 5652 Recorded February 2002
- CD 10
DVORÁK: Cello Concerto in B minor op. 104
R. STRAUSS: Don Quixote
Tabea Zimmermann, viola (Strauss) / Berliner Philharmoniker / Zubin Mehta
474 7802 Recorded December 2002 Live recording
- CD 11
VOCALISE - Russian Romances
Works by Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Dargomizhsky, Mussorgsky, Rubinstein, Rimsky-Korsakov, Arensky, Cui, Glazunov, Rachmaninov. Anon.
Pavel Gililov, piano
477 5743 Recorded January 2005
Live recording

Lorin Maazel 1930 - 2014

By Martin Kettle at The Guardian
Lorin Varencove Maazel, one of the most high-achieving and highly paid orchestral conductors of the past half-century, died on Sunday at his home in Virginia in the United States, after suffering complications from pneumonia. He was 84.
Maazel was music director of a gallery of top orchestras in Europe and the United States – including Cleveland, Paris and Munich – for more than 40 years, and had been chief conductor of opera houses in West Berlin and Vienna too. His last major post was as music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 2001- 2009, during which he led the orchestra on a controversial and ground breaking visit to Pyongyang, North Korea.
In Britain his principal connections were with the Philharmonia Orchestra, of which he was an associate principal conductor from 1971. Maazel continued to conduct the Philharmonia until the end of his life. His last concerts with the orchestra were in London in March. The orchestra tweeted last night that it was "devastated" by the news of Maazel's death.
Born in France in 1930 to Jewish American parents, Maazel was brought up in the United States, where he became a famous child prodigy. By his 11th birthday he had already shared a podium with Leopold Stokowski, while the no less legendary Arturo Toscanini was responsible for getting Maazel his first steady conducting job in 1942, when Maazel was only 12.
A talented violinist, Maazel was briefly a member of the Fine Arts Quartet and of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He gave violin recitals throughout his career and wrote for the instrument. His conducting career was littered with firsts, most notably as the first American to be invited to conduct at the annual Wagner festival in Bayreuth, where he first conducted in 1960.
Maazel had a long association with Vienna, where he had a brief and stormy period in charge of the Vienna state opera, and with the Vienna Philharmonic, whose annual new years' day concert he directed regularly in the 1980s, returning for the last time in 2009.
Never a musician to hide his light under a bushel, Maazel tried hard to succeed Herbert von Karajan as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra when the long Karajan reign came to an end in 1989. The orchestra's choice of the late Claudio Abbado was a huge blow.
Maazel was a composer as well as a conductor, writing an opera based on George Orwell's 1984 that was performed, under his own direction, at Covent Garden and the New York Metropolitan, to generally lukewarm reviews.

2 Sem 2014 - Part One

Duo Concertante
Beethoven: Complete Sonatas For Violin and Piano

By Anthony Kershaw at audiophilia.com
The ten sonatas for violin and piano by Beethoven are a string of beautiful pearls composed during the early to middle years of his life. All but the last were completed before the Eroica Symphony (1805), but many portend the markers of Beethoven’s coming greatness — wide dynamic range, syncopation, arching melodies and complex harmonies. Under the guise of what some consider Beethoven’s salon music, especially in the earlier sonatas, there are indications of deep soil.
Duo Concertante has recorded all the sonatas in this new Marquis CD set. Based at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, this married and musical partnership has spent many years developing their interpretations and performing the sonatas in concerts. Duo Concertante is Nancy Dahn, violin and Timothy Steeves, piano.
The Beethoven Violin Sonatas would seem to be the perfect repertoire for the Duo. The pair perform music that utilizes both instruments as equal soloists and accompanists. The Beethoven Violin Sonatas are most definitely an equitable division of labour — they are sonatas for two solo instruments, just one of the many original details that Beethoven would introduce in his chamber music, symphonies and solo works.
Both Dahn and Steeves are expert instrumentalists. I’ve heard them in concert and they have serious chops. Dahn is Juilliard/New England Conservatory trained and Steeves studied in Germany. Additionally, they are both very musical — they consistently make beautiful music together. As such, my interest never waned, even after three CDs of Beethoven sonatas.
So, expertise, great training, lots of time developing interpretations, musical, etc. How does that list measure up as complete musicians against the masters who have recorded these works? Dahn and Steeves are placing their performances against Mutter, Kremer, Stern, Menuhin, Grumiaux, Dumay, Szeryng, Perlman, Heifetz and every other stellar fiddler of this century and last. What makes pedagogues from Newfoundland have the courage to stand with giants?
I’m not sure of the answer to the last question, but stand they do, and stand confidently in and among them. This is a wonderful new set to add to the list.
First, we get consistency. I love consistency in large sets. So many sets are performances plucked from hither and thither. Not, Duo Concertante. The interpretations, recorded over a twelve month period, are no fuss, no muss. Nothing like the Romanticism that Anne Sophie Mutter brings to her highly regarded DGG set. Sure, Mutter’s playing is beyond reproach, but there’s a lot of syrup in the sound. Dahn eschews this approach and lets the beautiful melodies sing, adding even more tasteful vibrato when things get intense. And, Steeves matches her with a clear technique all the way.
Compare the glorious second subject of the Kreutzer Sonata’s opening movement. Dahn and Steeves allow the melody to breathe and sing, without adding affectation. Kremer’s guilty of a lot of affectation, but fiddle devotees would know that before plonking down the cash for his set. If you like your Beethoven fresh, clean and inspiring, this new Marquis may well be for you. If you are a fan of the Perlman and Grumiaux sets, try Duo Concertante.
As for the recording, it’s an absolute beauty. For pure audiophilia, no other Beethoven Violin Sonata recording I know comes close — even the famous Perlman/Decca takes second place. Natural music making in a natural space. The Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto is a gem of a hall, and engineer Dennis Patterson has captured it perfectly. Clinically, even. That, of course, can bring a few problems. Bow arms at the ends of phrases and piano pedals under a microscope can be problematic. The resolution from my reference system uncovered one or two minor blemishes but nothing that hindered my enjoyment and my admiration of this set in any way.
Duo Concertante took their name from the Kreutzer Sonata’s inscription: ‘in stile molto concertante’. It was the first piece this musical couple played together. And, their musical devotion to ‘two equal and dynamic voices’ is perfectly highlighted in this superb new recording. Very highly recommended.
Track Listing:
CD 1
Sonata in E flat major, op. 12, no. 3
1. Allegro con spirito
2. Adagio con molt’ espressione
3. Rondo: Allegro molto
Sonata in A minor, op. 23
1. Presto
2. Andante scherzoso, piu allegretto
3. Allegro molto
Sonata in D major, op. 12, no. 1
1. Allegro con brio
2. Tema con variazioni: Andante con moto
3. Rondo: Allegro
Sonata in G major, op. 30, no. 3
1. Allegro assai
2. Tempo di menuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso
3. Allegro vivace
Total Playing Time: 1:10:02

CD 2
Sonata in F major, op. 24, “Spring”
1. Allegro
2. Adagio molto espressivo
3. Scherzo: Allegro molto
4. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo
Sonata in A major, op. 12, no. 2
1. Allegro vivace
2. Andante piu tosto allegretto
3. Allegro piacevole
Sonata in A major, op. 47, “Kreutzer”
1. Adagio sostenuto–presto
2. Andante con variazioni
3. Presto
Total Playing Time: 1:12:54

CD 3
Sonata in C minor, op. 30, no. 2
1. Allegro con brio
2. Adagio cantabile
3. Scherzo: Allegro
4. Finale: Allegro
Sonata in A major, op. 30, no. 1
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Allegretto con variazioni
Sonata in G major, op. 96
1. Allegro moderato
2. Adagio con espressivo
3. Scherzo: Allegro–Trio
4. Poco allegretto
Total Playing Time: 1:14:55