Elgar & Lalo Cello Concertos
Ofra Harnoy
Sony Classical 19658824342 (ofraharnoy.ca)

There’s a fascinating story behind the release of Ofra Harnoy Elgar & Lalo Cello Concertos. When Harnoy joined the international artists roster of RCA Victor Red Seal in 1987, she became the first Canadian classical instrumental soloist since Glenn Gould to gain an exclusive worldwide contract with a major record label. The Elgar was recorded with George Pehlivanian and the London Philharmonic Orchestra in April 1996 at the Abbey Road studios, but was never edited and released, apparently due to the ending of Harnoy’s association with RCA/BMG, now part of Sony Classical. 

After repeated enquiries and searches over the years the master tapes were finally located in 2022. Fortunately, notes from the sessions survived, and the original producer, Andrew Keener, was available to advise Harnoy’s husband and manager Mike Herriott, who edited the tapes in their own home studio. Ron Searles of Red Maple Sound in Toronto mastered the final edit, as well as remastering the Lalo Concerto in D Minor, a reissue of the 1995 recording with Antonio de Almeida and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

In an interview just after the recording sessions Harnoy said that the Elgar “is one of those pieces that just wrings me dry; I always end up crying.” It’s a truly beautiful performance, emotionally searching and full of warmth. There is also a direct link to Jacqueline du Pré, with whom the concerto is inextricably associated, through mutual teacher William Pleeth as well as Harnoy’s participation in a du Pré masterclass. 

Lalo’s Concerto in D Minor was recorded at the Poole Arts Centre in Dorset in May of the previous year. It’s a fine addition to a significant release.

Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra – The First Years (Accentus Music ACC70570 naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=ACC-70570). This elegant 4DVD- boxed set is titled such that one can only hope there will be more to come. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra began in 1938 under the baton of Toscanini and existed for 65 years. The musicians were culled from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, some members from the Berlin Philharmonic as well as from other leading ensembles. It went dormant for ten years but was resurrected in 2003 especially for Claudio Abbado. After his passing, Riccardo Chailly became the music director in 2016 and has recently had his contract extended through 2026, so this set of “early years” refers to a recording each year between 2016 and 2019. 

The 2016 recording is of the powerful Mahler Eighth Symphony, with which Chailly completes the cycle left unfinished by Abbado. This performance of enormous energy heralds the newly appointed conductor. Chailly was well familiar with Mahler having previously released Mahler: The Symphonies in 2005 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Radio Symphonie Orchestra Berlin, among other highly acclaimed recordings.

The second disc in this box contains Mendelssohn’s ever-fresh music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony. The Manfred is more thrilling than ever and suffice it to say that Chailly’s direction highlights the high qualify of the orchestra in excerpts from the Mendelssohn.

Disc three is the collection of performances of four of Ravel’s most popular works, Valses nobles et sentimentales, La Valse, Daphnis et Chloé (Suites Nos.1 and 2) and Bolero. Who could resist these, especially in these Romantic performances from 2018? 

Finally, this eclectic collection is rounded out with an all-Rachmaninoff disc recorded in 2019. These will be the versions to be remembered with dazzling performances by pianist Denis Matsuev. The program opens very gently with the deceptively difficult Third Piano Concerto. This piece begins with a very simple melody and builds to a vigorous and grand Rachmaninoff style tutti. The encores were equally impressive, Etude Tableau in A Minor Op.39/2 and the orchestral version of Vocalise Op.34/14. This live concert was rounded out with Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No.3 in A Minor Op.44, regarded as his more Russian symphony with its beautiful dance rhythms and lush orchestration.

Sviatoslav Richter plays Prokofiev – “War Sonatas” Nos. 6-7-8; Visions Fugitives; Gavotte from Cinderella (Alto ALC 1459 altocd.com) Richter surely recorded these works many, many times and undoubtedly all the transfers vary greatly in quality, but I can tell you that these performances are stunningly impressive. The recordings date from between 1956 and 1962 and you can feel the energy in each and every one of them. In fact, they are all startlingly real and fresh. As many readers might know, these sonatas can be aggressive and disturbing, certainly to be expected from “War Sonatas,” but there is also very beautiful melodic, lyrical music here and Richter understands and captures all of it. 

His relationship with Prokofiev is well documented and they had a deep and abiding friendship. In 1943 Richter performed the world premiere of the Piano Sonata No.7, and for Prokofiev’s 55th birthday, he performed all three of these sonatas for the first time in concert. To thank him for his dedication, Prokofiev inscribed Piano Sonata No.9 to Richter and it may be said that no one played these pieces with such great understanding. 

It is unfortunate that Richter did not record these sonatas in ideal studio conditions, but to the best of my knowledge he did not. There are so many recordings out there but to my ears, these are outstanding. So, without a doubt this CD should be added to your collection, no matter how many versions you may already own. 

Mieczyslaw Weinberg – String Quarters 7 and 8; Serenade for Orchestra; Sinfonietta No.2 (Alto ALC1458 altocd.com) Polish born Soviet composer and pianist Mieczysław Weinberg has been a favourite of mine for many years although I admit that I don’t know all his works. I was pleased to receive a new reissue, including several pieces with which I was previously unfamiliar.

The disc opens with Serenade for Orchestra Op.47 No.4 played by the USSR State Radio Orchestra under Alexander Gauk. This is a very happy and optimistic piece in four short movements and provides a great introduction to Weinberg for those not familiar with him. The two string quartets, No.7 in C Major recorded in 1957 and No.8 in C Minor recorded in 1959 are played by the Borodin String Quartet. These works are intense and reflect the tensions of the then “current times.” It is no surprise that Weinberg’s music was strongly influenced by one of his closest friends, Shostakovich, and that this fine ensemble who worked so closely with that master should take on the music of Weinberg too.  

Almost as a bonus, Sinfonietta No.2, Op.74 played by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra under Rudolf Barshai (recorded in 1960) is friendly and lyrical. All the transfers of these precious performances are immaculate and alive. These early rare recordings are a most welcome addition to my collection. 

Der Ring Des Nibelungen, Sofia Opera and Ballet, Dynamic, Blu-Ray 57964 | DVD 37964 (naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=DYN-57964). Although technically not “old wine in new bottles” as this is the first issue of these performances from a decade ago, I’ve repeatedly enjoyed experiencing them so much over the past few months that I wanted to share them with you. 

Wagner’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen, directed by Plamen Kartaloff is featured in an 8-DVD set of performances that were recorded between 2010 and 2013, one opera each year. Finally released in 2023, to the best of my knowledge this represents the first complete Ring Cycle from the Balkans. There was clearly no lack of talent as these performances attest. The cycle obeys Wagner’s music direction and libretto but uses technology unavailable to him, technologies that I believe he would have fully embraced and utilized given the chance. Pavel Baleff conducts the first three operas and Eric Wachter conducts Götterdämmerung. Although I am unfamiliar with either of them, this is world-class conducting.

Costuming, projections and powerful sets come together to create an extraordinary illusion. The fundamental circular ring motif is used to great affect and with the aid of projection and lighting they represent the magic ring of fire, the beautiful Rhine as well as the dragon’s lair. The other dominant staging component, the cones, are used to represent everything from horses to the spires of Valhalla and I thought the Ride of the Valkyries was among the most noteworthy. Lighting projections by Rumen Kovachev and Kartaloff were matched to the music and onstage drama.

At first I thought that the staging and costuming was a distraction and was quick to notice aspects that I didn’t like. However, once I gave myself permission to listen and watch, I discovered that, in fact, the staging truly serves the music and the story. It was strange not seeing the sets I was familiar with, but I came to realize that this staging told the story just as well and perhaps highlighted some facets of the libretto even more clearly or persuasively than I had experienced before. I have been immersed in these DVDs for weeks now and realize there is so much to be appreciated in every scene. Ultimately the costuming was a bit preposterous, it was the debut of Nikolay Panayotov as his first foray into costume design for opera. I imagine that some of them worked better on stage than the camera closeups afforded. Costumes were bright and colourful and at once futuristic, space-aged and retro.   

The majority of the singers save three Brünnhildes are Bulgarian and those three Mongolian Brünnhildes studied at the Conservatoire in Sofia. There was so much to admire in many of the voices. The Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung, sung by Iordanka Derilova was particularly noteworthy as was the Loge in Das Rheingold, Daniel Ostretsov. Yes, there were many more excellent voices. The acting was very convincing and the camera work did not disappoint.

CPE Bach – Württemberg Sonatas
Keith Jarrett
ECM New Series 2790/91 (ecmrecords.com)

Best known as a jazz pianist, Keith Jarrett’s musical career has encompassed a variety of genres, including numerous forays into classical music. This recording of Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach’s Württemberg Sonatas, made in May 1994 and unreleased until now, followed a period in which Jarrett had recorded J.S. Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Goldberg Variations, French Suites and the 3 Sonaten für Viola da Gamba und Cembalo, as well as Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues and Handel’s Keyboard Suites. 

The Württemberg Sonatas were dedicated to Duke Carl Eugen of Württemberg, who studied with the younger Bach at the court of Frederik the Great in Berlin. Published in 1744, these sonatas are now regarded as musical masterpieces of the era between the Baroque and the classical and are fascinating studies in the seismic shifts happening in music at the time, as the highly ordered music of J.S. Bach and Handel was overtaken by simpler, freer and less structured music that focused more on expressive impact and improvisation than internal organizational principles.

Jarrett’s approach to this music is rooted in his renowned understanding of improvisation, resulting in interpretations which are simultaneously surprising and delightful, though never ostentatious or imposing. Bach was a magnificent improviser and, while Jarrett does not often follow historically informed performance practices and presents this music on a modern piano, his ability to find colours, textures and affects within individual movements and depict the architecture of the whole is unparalleled.

A duo of musical polymaths, this recording is a fine testament to the musical genius of C.P.E. Bach and Keith Jarrett, rewarding listeners with the rare combination of brilliance from both composer and interpreter.

Michael Stimpson – Recorded Works
Various Artists
Various Labels (michaelstimpson.co.uk)

In the history of music sometimes important composers’ reputations can be diminished due to mean-spiritedness, through ignorance or due to that mysterious phenomenon called neglect. The British composer Michael Stimpson’s reputation seems to have taken an unfortunate hit due to a combination of both latter reasons.

This is a travesty for a composer known for lofty ideas, audacious compositions and the sheer breadth of his library of written works. Moreover, Stimpson’s work has been performed over the years by some of the finest European ensembles. To name a few: the Philharmonia Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of London Choir, the Allegri and Maggini String Quartets, and a plethora of stellar virtuoso instrumentalists and singers.

It is still never too late to catch up with a composer who stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest who have put pen to staved paper. And what better occasion than to celebrate Stimpson’s 75th birthday with Recorded Works, a long-overdue 7CD compendium, each with superbly written liner notes; a box including of some of his most celebrated compositions, with inspired performances by some of the finest artists of this generation. 

While Stimpson belongs to our 20th/21st-century era his voice sweeps across eras like a proverbial wind across the European soundscape, gathering momentum and musical voices from the past (Berg, Webern and others come to mind) heralding a breathtaking future for contemporary British music held aloft by artists and pedagogues across disciplines – from poetry to palaeontology and anthropology. Everywhere Stimpson allows his febrile brain to be immersed into stories of extraordinary human import, then turning his attention to transforming the ideas and great narratives of phenomena, and of extraordinary people – scientists, sportsmen and artists alike – who have done extraordinary things. Using his own unique brain Stimpson has transformed the lives and works of his subjects (and their unique achievements) into a one-man museum of the art history of our time. 

The recordings presented in this boxed set range from works for small ensembles, featuring piano and strings, large-scale works of symphonic proportions and operatic works. One of the most remarkable aspects of Stimpson’s being able to express his art and shape his craftsmanship to such a degree is the fact that he does it all not only being – like Beethoven – profoundly deaf, but he is also practically blind like the legendary British neurologist Oliver Sacks. It would seem as if – to compensate – Stimpson’s brain has afforded him rare insights into humanity. 

Like both historic figures, Stimpson has turned his disability to great artistic advantage. In an extraordinary twist of fate, for instance, the composer has a finely tuned sensibility for stringed instruments enabling him to recreate such human emotions as sorrow, anguish and unfettered joy in a truly vivid manner. This ability is superbly displayed in String Quartet No 1 (Robben Island) in which Stimpson tells the story of Nelson Mandela and the collapse of apartheid.

The way Stimpson overcomes hearing impairment is truly remarkable. The Dylan song cycle for baritone and harp is utterly breathtaking as Stimpson turns the dense lyricism of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’ poetry into a poetic work all its own, with the highly articulated baritone voice of Roderick Williams alongside the harp of Sioned Williams.  

Stimpson’s gift for the epic is manifest in the rugged elegance of his opera, Jesse Owens and in the tone poem, Age of Wonders, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin. Stimpson’s shorter works: Silvered Light for choir and orchestra and the trio Reflections (elsewhere in this set) are no less seductive.

Evenings at the Village Gate
John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy
Impulse BOO3784-02 (impulserecords.com)

One of the avatars in the transition to free jazz, multi-reedist Eric Dolphy died tragically at 36 in 1964. Besides his solo records, collaborations with Charles Mingus and John Coltrane are particularly prized. This hitherto unknown live date adds another significant session to the mere four discs available from Coltrane/Dolphy groups.

Recorded without forethought in 1961 to test a new mike with the New York club’s sound system, this CD captures a typical set including Coltrane’s ostensible hit My Favourite Things, all featuring extensive improvising. The disc is doubly relevant since the configuration – Coltrane on tenor/soprano saxophones, pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones and both Art Davis and Reggie Workman on basses – was rarely recorded.

Although the bassists with powerful rhythmic pumps and strums and Jones’ distinctive splatter and pops are featured on the extended Africa, crucially it’s Dolphy who gets protracted solo space. Whether its sax triple tonguing and spetrofluctuation on Africa, looping chalumeau bass clarinet patterns on Greensleeves or squealing skyscraper peeps on Favourite Things, Dolphy usually solos first. Coltrane follows with characteristic multiphonics, intense treble soprano saxophone runs, and with Tyner’s astute comping and tune elaboration and obbligatos from Dolphy, always states and restates the tunes’ characteristic vamps and head. 

Adding up its virtues, Evenings At The Village Gate is striking because it presents different, longer versions of Coltrane group classics, features a rarely recorded ensemble and most importantly, captures more precious instances of Dolphy’s ever-evolving skills.

Born on August 28, 1894 in Graz, Austria Karl Böhm was one of the most outstanding conductors of the last century. He made his first foray into conducting in 1917 in his hometown before migrating to Munich in 1921 at the behest of Bruno Walter. In 1933 Böhm debuted at the Vienna State Opera and in the same year was appointed GM of the Dresden State Opera. Upon his death in 1981 he left many recordings with different orchestras in a wide repertoire and is best known for his Beethoven, Brahms, R. Strauss, Wagner and of course Mozart. Some Torontonians may remember him guest conducting here in the 1960s. I attended a very memorable rehearsal and concert at Massey Hall. He was a strict disciplinarian with a very fine ear. 

SWR Classic has issued a six-disc CD set of live recordings from concerts with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart. This orchestra, as many believe, is a superior ensemble and better than many European philharmonics. The first disc contains two works from a live concert on September 18, 1974, Mozart’s Symphony No.40 K550 followed by the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4 with pianist Branka Musulin. This is the first performance and recording from the set and I found it movingly fresh and satisfying. It certainly gave me great expectations that were completely realized by the repertoire, performances and recordings that followed.  

The set continues with Symphonies Nos.2 and 7 by Beethoven, recorded in concert in Stuttgart on February 14, 1979. Disc Three contains Beethoven’ s Ninth Symphony recorded live in Stuttgart on November 12, 1959 with soloists of Ruth-Margret Pütz, Sibylla Plate, Walter Geisler and Karl-Christian Kohn, with the Sudfunkchor and Philharmonischer Chor Stuttgart. As I expected this is a dramatic and intense performance with no holding back in the many explosive tuttis that characterize this work. The choir and soloists complete a flawless cast. 

Johannes Brahms waited many years to write his first symphony. People were waiting for him to write a “Beethoven Tenth Symphony” as he was thought to be the logical successor to Beethoven and able to compose a work of this calibre no matter what he would call it. Of course, he had no intention to put himself in that position. He started his first symphony at the age of 22 but didn’t finish it until 1876 at the age of 43. If you don’t know the work, just know it is pure Brahms. Böhm understood that perfectly and his affectionate performance recorded in the studio reflects his deep admiration and understanding of the composer. Also on this disc is the well-known Schumann Piano Concerto Op.54, again with Musulin.

Disc Five opens with the beautiful Dvořák Symphony No.9 “From the New World.” A very animated approach to this popular work brings a more inspired performance than we are used to hearing. It is wonderful to hear the wind instruments in such balance with the orchestra. One can only imagine that this is what Dvořák intended. On the same disc is a vital performance of the Paul Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber. This performance is unusually translucent. Disc Six contains one work, the Seventh Symphony by Anton Bruckner recorded live on September 18, 1974 in Stuttgart. Böhm certainly knew his way around Bruckner as this live performance confirms. 

Karl Böhm The SWR Recordings
SWR 19123CD (naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=SWR19123CD)

From Rhine Classics we have an impeccable transfer of the Jascha Heifetz legendary New York concert of 1947 on two CDs. The Korngold Violin Concerto in D Major Op.35 broadcast performance is presented with the radio announcer’s introduction. He gives a brief history of Heifetz’ connection to the work as well as letting us know that Korngold himself is in the audience. 

After a little bit of tuning, we hear Heifetz and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Ephrem Kurtz. The recording is immaculate with neither click nor distortion belying its age. Clearly Heifetz is in position close to the microphone, as was his preference and the performance sounds authoritative. Also from the same March 1947 concert, we have the Mozart Violin Concerto No.5 in A Major K219, the “Turkish.” 

On the second disc we hear the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Paul Paray, this one from the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York City on December 9, 1959. After the brilliant Carnegie Hall acoustics this performance sounds rather dry but all together certainly worth another hearing. The Brahms Double Concerto with Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky with an unnamed orchestra from December 15, 1966 is clearly an amateur recording from the stalls. This recording was made by a member of the audience and wisely released for its historic value as this was the last time Piatigorsky and Heifetz were to play together. Finally, the Jules Conus Violin Concerto edited by Leopold Auer from Carnegie Hall with unnamed orchestra and anonymous conductor. All in all, a must-have disc for Heifetz fans, including me. 

Jascha Heifetz] – The Legendary New York Concerts
Rhine Classics RH-025 (rhineclassics.com/products/rh-025-2cd-jascha-heifetz-legendary-new-york-concerts).

English Decca has issued another collection from their vaults of unreleased masters of unique performances in their famous beautiful sound, the excellence of which may be well remembered from when they introduced Full Frequency Range Recordings. They were exceptional for their day and some of them are prized by collectors. One of these invaluable unreleased recordings is the three-CD set of the late soprano Jessye Norman. I’ve been looking forward to this since it was announced, and I’ve not been disappointed. Norman was well known in some circles as a “dramatic soprano” a title she resented as her range was far beyond that described in such a way. On the first disc we have excerpts from Tristan and Isolde recorded in Leipzig with the Gewandhausorchester conducted by Kurt Masur during March and April in 1998. In the cast are Norman and Thomas Moser, Hannah Schwartz (Brangäne) and Ian Bostridge (Seemann). There are arias and duets from each of the four acts. The performances are excellent as is the conducting under the sensitive direction of Masur. The Liebestod is heartbreaking. 

In the second disc there is outstanding singing in both the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss and Wagner’s Wesendonckl-lieder. Performances are meaningful with sensitive support by the Berlin Philharmonic under James Levine.

The third disc brings us arias from the Joseph Haydn Scena di Berenice and arias from Berlioz’s Cléopâtre followed by Benjamin Britten’s Phaedra. Haydn’s Beatrice and Benedict is very attractive as conducted by Seiji Ozawa with the Boston Symphony.

This is a wonderful set that has given me great pleasure hour after hour. I must admit then that the Four Last Songs has regularly found its way to my player, although perhaps not quite as often as the third disc. But who’s checking? 

Jessye Norman – The Unreleased Masters
Decca 4852984 (store.deccaclassics.com/*/CD/The-Unreleased-Masters/7MRD1YD8000). 

Many of you will be familiar with the epic series of operas, Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner. Also known simply as The Ring Cycle, it’s a spellbinding 15 hours that took Wagner over 25 years to compose. With inspiration derived from Norse legend and German mythology it is full of gods and goddesses, giants, dwarves, magic mermaids, a dragon, heroes and heroines. With these operas, we are gifted with some of the most beautiful music ever written. 

Four operas comprise the complete Ring cycle and while these operas are inextricably connected, they more than admirably stand alone as autonomous works. The first two of the newly remastered Solti Ring Cycle from Decca have now been released in Canada, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre and with Siegfried and Götterdämmerung to follow this summer.

The Solti Ring was recorded in Vienna between 1958 and 1965 and in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Sir Georg Solti’s death Decca has spared no expense and remastered the original recordings for this outstanding reissue. According to Gramophone Magazine in 1999 and BBC Music Magazine in 2011, the Solti Ring is “The Greatest Classical Recording of All Time.” The original recording was an immense undertaking; it was the very first studio recording of the complete set and represented the first stereo recording of the Ring Cycle. Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra completed the final recording in November of 1965.   

The cast was assembled by John Culshaw, a producer for Decca, and with the release of the first opera in 1958, it appeared that the Ring Cycle would be a commercial success. Each opera was well received and fueled the production of the next one until all four had been recorded. This amounted to a whopping 19 LPs meticulously produced by a team of sound engineers led by Gordon Parry. 

Contributing to the overwhelming success of Decca’s recordings was the stellar cast of singers. For Das Rheingold, Kirsten Flagstad was cast as Fricka, and Canada’s own George London as Wotan. They are joined by a cast of singers considered the very best Wagnerian voices of 1958. Each new opera that was recorded was newly cast with the most outstanding singers available at the time. Perhaps that is what is so appealing about these recordings. We are stepping back in time to hear extraordinary performances the likes of which are simply no longer feasible or possible. For Die Walküre, we have Birgit Nilsson as Brünnhilde and Christa Ludwig as Fricka among a stellar cast. This certainly contributed to the overwhelming success at that time and explains why this recording endures today.

The sound staging is a feat unto itself. I was fortunate enough to listen to a couple of the CDs through the Avantgarde Horn Speakers and tube pre- and power-amplifiers. I wanted to experience the music with the kind of gear that was considered the norm in the 50s and 60s. For my ears, this setup brought the singers right into the room and brought home what Decca was trying to achieve with these remastered recordings. Is the sound perfect? One cannot expect it to be, but it is as close as technologically possible based on the original recordings.  

It has been a wonderful week of listening and immersing myself in the incredible world Wagner created. We have love and loss, passion, betrayal, revenge, ambition and a little incest. From the lovely and mischievous magical Rhinemaidens to Wotan’s singing Brünnhilde to sleep in an enchanted ring of fire, the first two operas are spellbinding.

Many years ago I travelled to Bayreuth, Germany to hear the Ring cycle at the Festspielhaus, the opera house that was commissioned specifically for this work. Completed in 1876, to this day the Bayreuth Festspielhaus is used solely for annual performances of Wagner operas. But I digress. Wagnerians will have much to celebrate and look forward to there again this summer. 

Editor’s Note: I’m delighted to see that Bruce was so enthralled by the performances and pristine sound on these historic recordings that this was the focus of his review. However, I think it worthy to note the packaging of these Hybrid SACD reissues, which will also be available in limited edition 3-LP Deluxe vinyl pressings. Each edition includes lavishly illustrated booklets featuring technical information on the new HD remastering and the original recording techniques, an introduction to each opera by producer John Culshaw, synopses and libretti in English & German, plus many original session photographs and rare facsimiles. You can find full details at store.deccaclassics.com.

Decca Classics has also recently released Renée Fleming – Greatest Moments at the Met (store.deccaclassics.com). These are all live performances, some of her greatest moments packed into a 2-CD set. The incomparable Fleming formally retired from the Met in 2017 at 58 years old, and this CD includes many of the incredible highlights from her illustrious career. 

I’m not sure I understand how retirement works, as Fleming will sing Tosca at the Santa Fe Opera later this year and will return to the Met this spring in La Traviata. Her voice now at 64 sounds better than many sopranos half her age. But I digress again…

The chosen arias highlight her distinctive lyric soprano voice and spotlight some of her greatest vocal roles. It’s very exciting that some of these performances have never been previously released. The duets include Cecilia Bartoli, Samuel Ramey, Massimo Giordano, Susan Graham and Dmitri Hvorostovsky among others. Some 16 composers are featured including some of her best known and most beloved roles, Violetta in Act II of Verdi’s La Traviata from March, 2004 and Manon in Act III of Massenet’s opera of the same name recorded in 2006 and in 2008 accompanied by Massimo Giordano.   

I’m very partial to Franz Lehár’s Merry Widow recorded in January of 2016. Happily, I saw it in February of the same year through the Live from The Metropolitan Opera HD transmissions.  

I’d like to mention the outstanding performance as Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust. This recording from a performance at the Met in 1997 is one of the last times she performed this part despite it being one of her much-admired roles. In her own words, “I stopped singing Marguerite… it disturbed me that she was a victim from the first note – she never had a chance. It’s so much more interesting to me to portray women who have agency, some say in their own fate.”  

The results of the Met’s outstanding orchestra and chorus, the terrific acoustics and great conductors are definitely some of The Greatest Moments at the Met. Admittedly two CDs are not enough to capture the sheer number of Fleming’s outstanding performances, but this set is an excellent addition to her discography. 

At the beginning of 2022, Supraphon released a 15CD box set of Karel Ančerl Live Recordings with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (supraphon.com). Unearthed from the Czech radio archives, this collection includes some previously unpublished recordings making this set a must-have for collectors of one the 20th century’s greatest conductors. All will recognize the orchestra’s signature sound and be thrilled with this collection of music from well-known names and many little-known Czech composers.  

Ančerl was born into a prosperous family in Czechoslovakia in 1908. Very well educated, after graduating from the Prague Conservatory he pursued conducting under the tutelage of Hermann Scherchen and Václav Talich. His career was halted for World War II. He and his family were sent to a concentration camp in 1942, and ultimately to Auschwitz. Tragically his wife and young son did not survive.  

After the war he became artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic where he stayed for 18 illustrious years. While there, he established the orchestra as one of the world’s premier ensembles and won them international fame with frequent extensive concert tours abroad and numerous recordings on the Czech Supraphon label. He is still credited with establishing the distinctive Czech sound. He was well known as a great champion of the music of his homeland as well as for his broad repertoire of modern music. 

The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 resulted in his emigration to Toronto. He had been a guest conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra the year before, in 1967. He was immediately appointed permanent music director of the TSO and remained there until his death at age 65 in 1973. His death was attributed to illnesses resulting from his time in prison camps in WWII. 

Now to the music! Many of you will already be familiar with some of his many studio recordings but this collection of concert recordings, wonderfully remastered, offers us music, from a wide range of composers including the conductor’s contemporaries, that was never recorded in the studio. There is one exception, Ma Vlast which Ančerl did record in studio. These concerts were recorded between 1949 and 1968 including the Prague Spring Festival concert in May 1968 just prior to his departure to Toronto. 

I’ve been happily making my way through these discs and have found that there were many outstanding performances.  

I particularly enjoyed Vítězslav Novák’s (1870-1949) Pan (Symphonic Poem), Op.43. It’s a very exciting and dramatic piece of music written in 1910. His Autumn Symphony for chorus and orchestra is also included. Both pieces I have not had the pleasure to enjoy until now. 

This new collection manages to fill gaps left in Ančerl’s studio recordings. Dvořák Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 as well as world-renowned repertoire of the 20th century, notably Debussy, Ravel, Strauss and Prokofiev. One is left wondering if there was anything that Ančerl couldn’t do, conducting such diverse composers all with a profound understanding of the music. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is joined by the orchestra’s choir as well as numerous admired soloists. 

This box set comes with very richly detailed annotations, much thanks to Petr Kadlec. Although the sound quality varies, this is to be expected of detailed mono concert and radio recordings.

I cannot remember my first encounter with the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams but through the years his music has never failed to speak to me. SOMM Recordings has issued Volume 1 of a proposed series of Vaughan Williams Live, commemorating the 150th anniversary of his birth (somm-recordings.com/label/Ariadne) with performances conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. This first volume contains Symphony No.6 in E Minor, played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1964) and a brilliant Symphony No.9 in E Minor played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded in Royal Festival Hall in 1958. As expected of Sargent, this is a scintillating and definitive performance. This is the premiere of the Ninth Symphony written not long before Williams’ death in 1958. The cover photograph is of Sargent and the composer discussing the performance during rehearsal. It gives me chills knowing that Vaughan Williams was so intimately involved in this recording.

The opening work on this disc is a wonderful performance of a very exciting The Wasps Overture, recorded live in Royal Albert Hall by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1957. Once again kudos to Lani Spahr the American musician and award-winning audio engineer whose astonishing true-to-life restorations really capture the sounds of the dynamic original audio.

Many years ago, when Decca completed The Golden Ring, Wagner’s mammoth Ring of the Nibelungen with the Wiener Philharmoniker under the direction of Sir Georg Solti, there was some concern about just how many copies they would sell. The story goes that the Americans’ first order saved the day. Decca need not have worried as The Golden Ring was ultimately “the big hit” and has been selling well for them ever since. The original analogue master tapes were remastered in 2022 with engineers using all the technological advancements to extract more information from the original tapes and using the latest noise reduction software they have been able to achieve the truest possible sound. For this we are eternally grateful. If this single disc is any indication of the anticipated complete Ring Cycle we are in for some incredible listening. Decca has produced a beautifully packaged single disc of Great Scenes from Der Ring des Nibelungen (deccaclassics.com/en/catalogue/products/the-golden-ring-solti-12797) with choice pieces from each of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. The complete Wagner Ring Cycle is being released as individual operas on SACD and vinyl as well as in complete sets on both platforms.     

The cast really is golden, with too many names to list. I would single out Birgit Nilsson as Brünnhilde, James King as Siegmund, Christa Ludwig as Fricka and Wolfgang Windgassen as Siegfried. Don’t come after me if I have failed to mention your favourite. The entire cast of all four operas is really first class.

Listening to these well-chosen excerpts has whetted my appetite for the complete set! [Editor’s note: At time of publication both Das Rheingold and Die Walküre are available from deccaclassics.com with Siegfried and Götterdämmerung to be released in the coming months.]

A new set of live performances recorded between 1953 and 1972 of Christian Ferras has been issued on four CDs by SWR Recordings (SWR 19114 prestomusic.com/classical/products/9329040--the-swr-recordings-christian-ferras-plays-violin-concertos-and-chamber-music). Ferras was renowned as the finest violinist of his day. He was an artist who seemed deeply in touch with the composer and profoundly felt the music beyond just the score. 

I remember seeing a video of a live performance and as he played the tears rolled down his face. 

These discs are all recordings of Ferras with the SWR Orchestra of Baden-Baden and Freiburg. Whether with orchestra or in chamber music his playing reflects his wonderful musical sensibilities. Ferras plays with beauty and harmony. I admit to being very moved listening to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.61, however, all pieces are played with incomparable musicality and thoughtfulness. The set includes Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Enescu, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Berg. The chamber music for violin and piano is with Pierre Barbizet. Again, the remastering has been done from the original tapes and sounds as if it were recorded yesterday. 

The Art of Duo-Piano Playing is the title of a box of four CDs from Marston Records devoted to the recordings of one of the most esteemed duos of their era, that is the late 1930s and beyond, Luboshutz and Nemenoff (marstonrecords.com/products/luboshutz-nemenoff). They were, of course, not pioneers of the art but they were a little different from their immediate predecessors: the public would have been familiar with Bartlett and Robertson, also Vronsky and Babin and others. With Luboshutz and Nemenoff we have a superb classical pianist with an enviable background in chamber music and an experienced accompanist. Pierre Luboshutz was born in Odessa in 1891 to a Russian-violinist father who taught him to play. Although his first instrument was the violin, he eventually focused on the piano, becoming a pupil at the Moscow Conservatory where he studied with Konstantin Igumnov. His debut performance at the Conservatory was Brahms’ Piano Concerto No.1 conducted by Serge Koussevitzky. As a pianist he toured 50 cities in Russia, also touring notably with the American dancer Isadora Duncan. He toured the United States with violinist Efrem Zimbalist, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and double bass virtuoso Koussevitzky (one and the same as the conductor). While teaching in Paris at the Conservatory he met his future wife who was among the participants attending a piano masterclass he was giving.  He married Genia Nemenoff and they settled in New York City. Nemenoff, born in Paris, spent her years before Luboshutz primarily as an accompanist to singers. On January 18, 1937 they began their duo concert debut tour under the name of Luboshutz-Nemenoff. The duo began recording in 1939 for RCA Victor, and it’s easy to hear why they enjoyed such popularity and praise from both critics and colleagues. Included in The Art of Duo-Piano Playing are 37 complete works by a miscellany of composers from Bach to Khachaturian. 

We can’t possibly go through each performance, as much as I’d love to. The essence of their playing is that they clearly enjoy playing together; they are seamless. You never get the sense that they are waiting for their turn, or even taking turns, it’s simply beautiful music. Their playing reflects how wonderfully in sync they are with each other, and that through the music, they are adhering to the simple yet profound beauty of musical dialogue between instruments. The box set includes most of their commercial recordings but also some recently discovered live performances.

In no particular order, here are some highlights from this box set. On September 8, 1939 they recorded a transcription by Luboshutz of the Danse Russe from Petrushka. It’s dynamic and exciting and well worth listening to. The Bat, a fantasy from Strauss’ Die Fledermaus is really captivating. 

We hear absolutely gorgeous playing from this duo throughout, including the Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major K448 by Mozart and Robert Schumann’s Andante and Variations in B-flat Op.46. There’s also a performance of the Ritual Fire Dance from de Falla’s El amor brujo, once again in a Luboshutz arrangement in which they capture all the excitement and romanticism of the work. 

What would a progra of this kind be if it didn’t include the Tambourin Chinois by Fritz Kreisler? It is joyous and playful. We are also treated to a mighty impressive transcription of the Coronation Scene from Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. An important contribution to the third disc is Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Haydn; and the Liebeslieder Waltzes are perhaps the most beautiful I’ve ever heard. 

While trying not to mention everything, I can’t leave out Saint-Saëns’ Variations on a theme of Beethoven Op.35. The alternating chords and the playing and waiting nature of the piece make it a very exciting performance. Three Pieces for Two Pianos by Khachaturian offer something different from the other repertoire in this set and they are certainly worth hearing. The Scaramouche Suite of Milhaud is played with a jaunty rhythm and is very convincing. The duo plays it like they believe it and are moved themselves by the piece. The 4CD set culminates with Harl McDonald’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. This is especially good, played with the Philadelphia Orchestra and conducted by the composer (1944).  

Included in this little box from Marston, is a 46-page booklet and appreciation of the duo. There are lots of photographs of the artists at various stages of their career. Marston, well known for issuing such valuable performances, does us a service and deserves our thanks for undertaking this venture. Marston is very highly regarded in the business of reissues and has certainly excelled in this one. I cannot overstate the satisfaction and pleasure of hearing these performances so famous and popular in their day. Truly, this is the art of duo piano playing. 

If you search YouTube, you can find Ward Marston’s channel, called Past Forward, where he introduces the release of this new box set and plays Luboshutz’s marvellous transcription of Mozart’s overture from Le Nozze di Figaro. While listening we are treated to photos from the booklet, and even a few that appear not to have been included.

Romanian pianist Clara Haskil (1895-1960) was a close friend and admirer of Herbert Von Karajan; sadly they never formally recorded together despite their deep mutual admiration. However, there is a recording of live performances from Salzburg made during a 1956 tour in celebration of Mozart’s bicentenary, Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20, Symphony No. 39 & Nine Variations on a Minuet by Duport (ICA Classics arkivmusic.com/products/mozart-piano-concerto-no-20-symphony-no-39-9-variations-on-a-minuet-by-duport). The collaboration of the two in this live concert is quite a unique experience. Karajan conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra and lucky for us, one of the compositions on which they collaborated was the Mozart Piano Concerto No.20 in D Minor K466. What do we hear in this recording? Do we hear Karajan or do we hear Haskil? The fact is, we hear both of them and they are, together, far greater than the sum. The Philharmonia Orchestra under Karajan’s direction play with incomparable precision as was his style at the time. The orchestra was very familiar with his conducting and were certainly up to the mark. As a bonus, there is solo recording of the Nine Variations on a Minuet by Duport K573, also a live performance, taken from a recital in Besançon in September of that same year. For many, this little gem will be worth the price of the whole album, mono only, but in rather good sound.

Anyone looking for an incredible biography might want to pick up Jerome Spycket’s Clara Haskil (Lausanne, 1975). Haskil’s story begins in Bucharest in 1895 and ends in Brussels in 1960. In between there is every element imaginable of a compelling and powerful life story.  

As for Mozart’s Symphony No.39 which provides the heart of this CD, we have a great example of Karajan’s obsession with precision, highlighting the excellence of the orchestra.

Live at Room at the Top
Pepper Adams; Tommy Banks Trio
Reel to Real Recordings RTR CD-008 (cellarlive.com)

Undoubtedly the best – if not the only – exceptional jazz session featuring a member of the Canadian Senate, this set includes pianist Tommy Banks, who was in the Upper House from 2000-2011. While this date took place in 1972, Banks (1936-2018) exhibits the supportive and organizational skills that made him one of Alberta’s most accomplished musicians for years.

Of course the adaptive skills of Banks, bassist Bobby Cairns and drummer Tom Doran were stretched to the maximum on backing baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams (1930-1986), then a sometime visitor to Edmonton’s clubs, arguably the U.S.’s pre-eminent hard bopper on his instrument. Making the most of the trio’s rhythmic and improvisational talents, Adams elevates this program of two originals and five jazz-songbook standards to ferocious extended interactions. During Oleo, for instance, his unbroken line of earthy and empathetic variations is an object lesson in how to make the familiar exclusive. Banks’ speedy bop timing with blues underscoring keeps the piece moving. Here and elsewhere, excitement is torqued by thumping bass and crashing drum breaks, with both trading fours with the soloists. Sticking to mid-range tones, Adams uses squeaks and glissandi to advance his parts with the brightness of a higher-pitched instrument. The few times he emphasizes the baritone’s glottal rasp are during stop-time sequences. The resulting excitement gets added oomph when Banks’ solo slyly interjects song quotes.

Judging from their protracted applause the audience was impressed by the music. You can be too.

Music from Two Continents: Live at Jazz Jamboree ’84
Cecil Taylor
Fundacja Słuchaj 16/2021 (sluchaj.bandcamp.com)

The cataclysmic pianist and composer Cecil Taylor frequently worked with large bands, his activities with student ensembles and workshop groups shaping generations of improvising musicians. His 1968 recording with the Jazz Composers Orchestra was a key event in large-scale free jazz, while his 1988 Berlin orchestra fed his own development as well as European free improvisation; however, there may have never been a band quite as apt as the compact, shifting Orchestra from Two Continents with which he performed in Europe in 1984. This performance from Warsaw presents an 11-member version, assembling many of the most distinguished members of the international free jazz community of the era. 

Like many of Taylor’s works, this hour-long piece had a ritualistic character, incorporating chanting and shouting. Here, movements with cries, hollers and snippets of song, hinting at mysteries and suggesting primordial rites, alternate with longer instrumental passages of motivically organized improvisation. These segments touch on Taylor’s deep roots. With the reeds loosely assembling around a blues-drenched riff, a passage gradually matches the loose, swarming intensity of a Charles Mingus band; a keening balladic segment spontaneously expands to the harmonic richness of Duke Ellington’s orchestra.

As with Mingus and Ellington bands, this orchestra thrives on singular instrumental voices, including the improbably sweet tone of alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons; the brooding, blues-drenched roar of tenor saxophonist Frank Wright; the dense, forceful sound of bassist William Parker; and the brassy splendour of trumpeters Tomasz Stańko and Enrico Rava.

Unreleased 1974-2016
Tony Oxley
DISCUS MUSIC 129 CD (discus-music.co.uk)

These previously unreleased tracks by veteran British drummer Tony Oxley contain sounds that not only expand improvised music history, but also reveal early adaptations of today’s electroacoustic interactions. Newly edited and mastered, the tracks from 1974 and 1981 find Oxley using percussion crashes and sweeps to cinch the rhythm at the same time as his processed pings, cackles and buzzes add a contrasting dimension to the other instrumentalists’ work. Considering that those challenged extensions include the output of other master improvisers such as trombonist Paul Rutherford’s lowing snarls, trumpeter Dave Holdsworth’s portamento flutters and pianist Howard Riley’s rambles and sweeps, is it surprising that a two-part ensemble piece ends with a literal waving fanfare?

More dazzling though is Frame from a few years later with a different band. Here the electronics’ irregular jiggling timbres and equivalent live drum processing easily make common cause with the spectacular spiccato jumps and sprawling glissandi from violinist Phil Wachsmann. Dominant, while accompanied by Larry Stabbins’ rugged sax smears and Riley’s pounding piano rumbles, the fiddle-drums intersection projects commanding irregular textures at supersonic speeds, but not without revealing an ever-widening spectrum of sonic colours.

Remastered with full-spectrum, 21st-century sound, these heirlooms of an earlier era easily justify their unearthing and prominent display.

Salome Bey
Salome Bey
Independent (li.sten.to/salomebey)

The commemorative stamp recently issued by Canada Post is indicative of the cultural, societal, musical and artistic contributions that Salome Bey (1933-2020) made to Canada – and to the entire Globe, for that matter. An American-born, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress, Bey first emerged on the international scene as part of Andy Bey and the Bey Sisters along with her sister Geraldine and brother Andy. With the trio, Bey embarked on a long recording and performing career and soon became known as “Canada’s First Lady of the Blues.” It was 52 years ago that this stunning, eponymous recording was released under the auspices of the Canadian Talent Library. Now in re-issue, everyone can finally experience the thrillingly wide range of Bey’s musical and interpretive talent, which embraces material as far flung as Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust and Gilles Vigneault’s Mon Pays. Also included in the collection is original material from Rick Wilkins and Russ Little.

The ten choice selections include Rick Kardonne’s Hit the Nail Right on the Head, which is a delightful pop/jazz tune, firmly rooted in the early 1970s tradition, replete with a beautiful arrangement involving a complete orchestra. Bey swings, bobs and sails throughout this thoroughly delightful number. One of the absolute stunners here is Bey’s intimate rendition of Stardust, enhanced with a sumptuous, string-laden arrangement and gorgeous piano and guitar work. Also, the soulful Underground Railroad Station is a bluesy tribute to the fathers and mothers of abolition, who led so many to freedom in Canada. 

Other highlights include the sunny, swinging, upbeat love song, Muy Caliente No! (Love Our Lives Away),  the clever, stirring medley of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse’s Once in a Lifetime and Dory Previn’s You’re Gonna Hear from Me. Additionally, Gershwin’s But Not For Me boasts a magnificent guitar accompaniment, and Bey’s voice at her most lyrical, moving and sumptuous.

Fans of Polish violinist Ida Haendel (1928-2020) will be very pleased with the four-CD set of reissues of live concerts with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester-Stuttgart conducted by Hans Müller-Kray recorded between 1953 and 1967 (SWR Classic SWR19427CD naxosdirect.com/search/swr19427cd). These were well received upon their initial issue and are more than appreciated now by those hearing the superb and characteristic playing so happily recognized by those who knew Haendel and her unique presence.  

The first disc is the Brahms and I must confess, upon hearing just the opening, to feeling quite nostalgic. Her playing shows such affection for the music, it’s positively heartwarming. Although this is a mono recording, we can hear every nuance from both the soloist and the orchestra. This is about listening to the music and Haendel’s playing, not the way it was recorded. She’s so present that you can hear every note.

After the Brahms, we would not be surprised to hear the Mendelssohn E Minor played with such delicate balance between the soloist and winds. The recordings include six composers in all, each with a different tempo and style; Haendel’s playing in every instance is flawless. 

Haendel played the Tchaikovsky to great acclaim starting from when she was a young prodigy in the late 1930s and throughout her career. By the time of this recording, she was recognized as playing this piece with incredible skill and interpretation. Known for her “impeccable intonation,” critics’ praise has always been unequivocal. 

As a five-year-old it is reported that Haendel played her first Dvořák, one of the Slavonic Dances. By the time she was 13, she played the Violin Concerto before thousands for Dvořák’s 100th anniversary celebration. She made a recording of it in 1947, but this live performance from 1965 highlights the great strides and development in her playing. 

Khachaturian wrote “I cannot write anything other than Armenian Music.” He did it rather well. The famous Sabre Dance became a universal hit. His Violin Concerto in D Minor is also a first-rate work. The first movement Allegro con fermezza is to Western ears both exotic and Romantic. The second Andante sostenuto is another fine dance tempo and the third is Allegro vivace; a colourful and joyful celebration with the violin. You can recognize immediately that it is Haendel playing, her signature evident throughout these jaunty rhythms.   

The final work is Bartók’s Violin Concerto No.2. It is quintessential Bartók and is brought to life in this performance. The composer described the first movement as a typical 12-tone theme with a decisively tonal leaning. The original version did not have a virtuoso part for the soloist but Bartók was persuaded by violinist Zoltán Székely and conductor Willem Mengelberg to include such a part. We are grateful that he did and Haendel really does it justice.

The performances in this little box are a tribute to both the soloist and composers and of course the orchestra. The SWR as usual delivers effortless reproduction of these truly classic works.

As her many admirers may probably know, the DOREMI label has released four volumes of live Ida Haendel solo and chamber performances recorded in concert by the CBC while she was in Canada.

DOREMI also has some interesting new releases. Firstly, we have Leon Fleisher (1928-2020) in a live recording of the Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 with Pierre Monteux conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra (Leon Fleisher Live Volume 2, DOREMI DHR-8160 naxosdirect.com/items/leon-fleisher-live-vol.2-579037).This was recorded on May 14, 1962. Fleisher identified this piece as his “talisman.” In his autobiography, My Nine Lives, he writes that his parents gave him a recording of the concerto performed by his teacher Artur Schnabel, conducted by George Szell and he wrote that “for weeks, I ate, slept and breathed that piece.” He began learning it and eventually played it in 1944 at his debut with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Monteux. Happily, he eventually recorded it with Szell as well. In this DOREMI recording we have a live performance recorded with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The world-renowned acoustics of the hall in Amsterdam where this live recording took place are unique. In my opinion, shared by many, this is one of the best recordings of this Brahms concerto ever! It should be noted that both the sound quality and the execution are both perfection in this live recording. 

This was recorded before any hint of the soon-to-come issues with focal dystonia that Fleisher experienced in his right hand in 1964. This condition necessitated a break in two-hand playing and the beginning of a 60-year career as a teacher at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and various other teaching venues including the RCM in Toronto where he gave master classes over a period of three decades. He was eventually able to return to two-hand playing in 1995.

The second piece on this recording is Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23 recorded live with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Bruno Walter, the legendary Mozart conductor, at the Hollywood Bowl on June 12, 1959. Fleisher’s playing is sensitive and compassionate. What a combination, Fleisher, Walter and Mozart! 

Another very impressive release from DOREMI is Rudolf Serkin Live Volume 1 (DHR-8161/2 naxosdirect.com/search/dhr-8161-2), featuring the Brahms Piano Concertos Nos.1 and 2. 

Serkin is considered one of the finest pianist scholars of the German tradition. This muscular and authoritative playing is perfect for Brahms and Serkin has played the repertoire hundreds of times to rave reviews. Comparing live performances to studio recordings, the difference is quite tangible. If possible, the live performances are even more exciting; his playing vibrates with energy. 

George Szell (1897-1970) is one of the most admired conductors in history and is regarded, even 50 years after his death as one of the most influential and revered conductors both by music lovers and critics alike. Szell was known to have been a perfectionist when it came to his recordings and he would definitely have approved of this one featuring Serkin with the Cleveland Orchestra in the Piano Concerto No.1 recorded in Severance Hall on April 18, 1968.

Leonard Bernstein brings a very different sensibility to the Piano Concerto No.2. As an accomplished musician, philosopher, composer and conductor, this was one of his favourite concert pieces and it shows here in this performance with Serkin and the New York Philharmonic from January 25, 1966. 

As a welcome added bonus, not mentioned on the CD cover, we have Brahms’ Four Pieces for Piano and Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy in C Major, in live solo performances from Massey Hall, Toronto in 1974. 

Mingus – The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s
Charles Mingus Sextet
Resonance Records HCD-2063 (resonancerecords.org) 

Between 1956 and 1965, composer and bassist Charles Mingus stretched the range of jazz composition with the tumult and keening lyricism of LPs like Pithecanthropus Erectus, Mingus Ah Um and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, simultaneously putting the civil rights movement on the jazz-club stage. This three-CD set presents him a few years later, leading his sextet on the last two nights of a two-week run at Ronnie Scott’s eponymous London club in 1972. Originally intended for release on Columbia, that possibility died with the label’s 1973 purge of acoustic jazz greats: Mingus, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Ornette Coleman.

1972 wasn’t Mingus’ happiest hour. He had been concentrating on extended compositions, including a string quartet and the massive orchestral work that would become Epitaph, during an era dominated by the knotty creativity of free jazz and the commercial juggernaut of fusion; however, the band here still pulses with life when reworking Mingus’ earlier masterworks, stretching them to a half-hour and beyond: the dense, yearning harmonies of Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk, extends Duke Ellington’s influence into a new expressionism; Fables of Faubus adds fresh dissonances while remaining a seething yet comic refutation of segregation. Two new works have similar dimension: Mind-Readers’ Convention in Milano (AKA Number 29) is kaleidoscopic, while The Man Who Never Sleeps is imbued with a lustrous lyricism by trumpeter Jon Faddis, then a brilliant teenager. Alto saxophonist Charles McPherson is consistently good, improvising fleet and fluid lines across Mingus’ insistent shifting rhythms. Bobby Jones, another regular, was a journeyman saxophonist who could stretch toward greatness on those turbulent undercurrents.

For all of Mingus’ raging assaults on the bar culture of jazz (he once began a studio recording, Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus, by admonishing imaginary waitstaff and customers to cease glass clinking, cash register clanging, etc.), he was (even in that double-edged comedy) an entertaining jazz musician (he began his career as sideman to Ellington and Louis Armstrong), but one who had brought uncomfortable truths to the stage. Some of the humour here is satiric, like the bass solo that concludes Fables of Faubus by collaging minstrel songs and anthems, including Turkey in the Straw, Dixie, My Old Kentucky Home and the Star-Spangled Banner, but there’s also low musical humour. Pianist John Foster, otherwise unmemorable, contributes cliched blues vocals and an imitation of Louis Armstrong on Pops. Roy Brooks, the drummer, plays an extended solo on musical saw. One leaves with an uneasy sense that in his later years, Mingus’ art, designed to make audiences uncomfortable, might backfire, making the audience comfortable and Mingus the opposite. In history’s hall of mirrors, that might again make a contemporary audience uncomfortable.