Early, Classical and Beyond

Mozart – Piano Concertos 20 & 21
Jan Lisiecki; Bayerischen RSO;
Christian Zacharias
Deutsche Grammophon4790061

Canadian Jan Lisiecki is an incredible young artist who has recorded the Mozart piano concertos Nos.20 and 21 at the age of 16. I enjoyed his performance of the D Minor concerto for its dynamic contrasts and the dramatic intensity of the cadenza. His playing is clear, structured and without pretence. The emotions within the music were expressed honestly and not coated in pretty or exaggerated stylism. His technique is virtuosic with articulate scales and arpeggios cascading up and down the keyboard in a refined tonal palette. The interpretations are artistically thought through and mature enough to defy his age. His touch was lovely in a pure Mozart style. The second movement, Romance did not melt my heart as some other performances (Perahia, Uchida, etc.) but he captured the natural flow of the music and his phrasing was impeccable. The Rondo: Allegro Assai with the cadenza by Beethoven was brilliantly played with crisp trills and ornaments and the “dark energy” Lisiecki speaks of in the program notes is evident in the intensity of his playing.

Conductor Christian Zacharias is most sympathetic and supportive. A well-respected pianist himself he responds to every nuance of the soloist. The orchestra is brought into the performance with spontaneous conversational zest. I always think of Mozart’s piano works, solo, chamber or concerto, as opera for the keyboard. It is a singing conversation and I was pleased to read in Lisiecki’s notes that this was what he also thought of as a key to Mozart’s music. “With almost all the composers I play, I think of a human voice. If you play as you speak and sing, you will produce the most natural phrasing. Mozart’s piano concertos sometimes have positively operatic qualities. In the third movement, Allegro vivace assai of the C Major concerto, for example, one can imagine having different characters speaking with one another onstage.”

In the Piano Concerto No.21 in C Major K467, Lisiecki performs impeccably, light as air in touch, texture and mood but intense and deep in contrasting sections. Lisiecki wrote his own cadenza which was short but well-written and it fit into the concerto stylistically. The famous Andante was crystal clear and moved me with the singing line. Maturity will season this movement in time. Lisiecki has found the key to successful Mozart playing and seems to channel Mozart’s exuberance, humour and singing voice.

Schumann – Piano Concerto in A minor
Angela Hewitt; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Hannu Lintu
Hyperion CDA67885

Schumann – Chamber Music
Nash Ensemble
Hyperion CDA67923

Schumann – Piano Quintet; Piano Quartet
Alexander Melnikov; Jerusalem Quartet
Harmonia Mundi HMC 902122

Robert Schumann once wrote: “In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of.” If only it were as simple as that! Whatever mental afflictions Schumann may have suffered over the course of his lifetime, there is no denying his place among the great Romantic period composers, and three recent discs will surely please all those who delight in music by the master from Zwickau.

When Ottawa-born pianist Angela Hewitt made the world take notice back in 1985, it was for her interpretation of Bach. Since then, she has proven her talents extend much further, and this Hyperion CD featuring the Schumann Piano Concerto Op.54 plus two lesser-known works for piano and orchestra with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under the direction of Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu is a case in point. The concerto was completed in 1845 as a gift for Schumann’s wife, concert pianist Clara. It proved to be an instant success, with one critic noting the “beautiful alliance” between orchestra and soloist. Here, Hewitt and the DSOB comprise a formidable partnership, her technical brilliance pairing splendidly with the warmth of the orchestra’s strings and woodwinds. The inclusion of the Introduction and Allegro appassionato Op.92 and the Introduction and Concert-Allegro Op.134 are added bonuses, rounding out this most satisfying recording.

I’ve long been a huge fan of the London-based Nash Ensemble. As resident chamber ensemble of Wigmore Hall, it has rightfully earned a reputation for musical excellence, and this latest offering (also on Hyperion) featuring Schumann’s smaller chamber music, is no exception. All the music here was composed between 1849 and 1853, and includes the Märchenbilder Op.113 for viola and piano, the Märchenerzählungen Op.132 for clarinet, viola and piano and the Violin Sonata No.1 Op.105. The playing is elegant and intelligent, whether it be the elegiac opening to the Adagio and Allegro Op.70 for horn and piano or the cheerful optimism of the finale from the clarinet and piano Fantasiestücke Op.73.

Schumann had scarcely written any chamber music before 1842, but before that year was out, he had produced three string quartets, a piano quartet and a piano quintet. Both the piano quartet and quintet are presented on a recent Harmonia Mundi recording featuring the Jerusalem Quartet with pianist Alexander Melnikov. Now a major player amongst chamber ensembles, the Jerusalem recently won its third BBC Music Magazine award and together with Melnikov, has produced an exemplary recording. The playing is confident and exuberant without being bombastic (as is often the case in other recordings of these pieces), with Melnikov displaying a particular sensitivity to the demands of the score. Do I foresee another award for this ensemble in the near future? With this level of quality, it wouldn’t be surprising.

In all, these are three fine additions to the catalogue — great music, superbly performed. We can hardly ask for more.

Liszt – The Concertos
Daniel Barenboim; Staatskapelle Berlin; Pierre Boulez
Deutsche Grammophon477 9521

This live performance of the Liszt piano concertos is an interesting listening experience. The first revelation for me is Boulez conducting music that he had once thought of as empty, virtuosic fluff. The second is Barenboim’s deep, dark, dramatic, yet poetic interpretation. He brings an operatic and devilish Faustian edge to the music.

Boulez is known as one of the 20th century giants in contemporary music as both composer and conductor. Barenboim is acclaimed for his fine Beethoven and Mozart playing. Together the two masters have created a palette of astounding orchestral and pianistic colors emulating a wide range of conflicting emotions. These performances are not simply a showcase for virtuoso technique. I admire the control and attention to the structure of the music. Every detail is carefully nuanced and articulated in both piano and orchestra. We have to remember that Franz Liszt was not only a great pianist, a rock star in his time who had an immense technique and repertoire, but also a successful conductor and a prolific composer.

Alan Walker in his biographies of Liszt has called his piano piece Nuage Gris the gateway to modern music. Liszt pushed chromaticism to the limit in his orchestral tone poems and used the piano pedals to create exotic soundscapes. He was the new music composer of his time. In this performance I found myself listening to the orchestra as much as the piano. Boulez has always been known for his keen ears and his remarkable ability to clarify complex orchestral sounds. He doesn’t disappoint here. I heard lines and details in the orchestra that sounded very fresh and convincing. Barenboim plays the piano with an edge that is aggressive at times but so focused and intense that it became hypnotic. He also articulates the melodic line with passion but tenderness as well.

These are very personal and unique interpretations and maybe not for everyone. The tone of the piano is sometimes too harsh and the tempos are slower than in other performances. The ensemble in the first movement could be tighter. However, I find these performances masterful and exciting, brimming with new ideas and swirling emotions. The encores, Consolation No.3 and Valse oubliée No.1 are a real bonus, exquisitely performed with a deep sensitivity that will melt your heart.

Mahler – Symphony No.1
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden and Freiburg; Francois-Xavier Roth
Hänssler ClassicCD 93.294

Mahler – Symphony No.7
Bamberger Symphoniker; Jonathan Nott
Tudor7176

Mahler – Symphony No.3
Michaela Schuster; Gurzenich-Orchester Koln; Markus Stenz
Oehms ClassicsOC 648

Though the double anniversaries of Gustav Mahler’s birth (1860) and death (1911) have now drawn to a close the hits keep on coming. A new Hänssler disc of the First Symphony commemorates the inaugural concert of French conductor François-Xavier Roth, recently appointed chief conductor of the Baden-Baden based radio orchestra, a highly accomplished ensemble well known for its expertise in contemporary music. Roth’s approach to Mahler is typically rigorous and hard-driven, a strategy well suited to the bucolic Scherzo and sure-fire finale but one which gives short shrift to the emotive plasticity and elegant phraseology a true Mahlerian such as the late Rafael Kubelik brought to the other movements. The album includes a bonus performance of a rarely-heard early work by Anton Webern, In Sommerwind (1904), notable for its surprising French influences and sprawling episodic structure.

Sad to say, there is some question as to whether this radio orchestra will survive much longer in light of austerity measures recently proposed by the state broadcasting authority. Petitions are flying to ensure its continuation and contemporary German composers are in a panic. Let us hope they have more of an impact than we observed here in Canada some years ago.

Though we have not received their discs at The WholeNote, I feel compelled to mention the ongoing Mahler cycle by another financially challenged orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony under the direction of Manfred Honeck on the Japanese audiophile Exton label, available from the orchestra’s website. Honeck’s visceral interpretation of the First symphony deeply impressed me when I first heard it (the Pittsburgh orchestra boasts a fabulously lusty sounding horn section, an essential component in this work); superlative performances of Symphonies Three, Four and Five are also available.

British conductor Jonathan Nott, director of the Bamberg Symphoniker for the past decade, has passed the halfway mark in his cycle of live performances of the complete Mahler symphonies with the release of the Seventh Symphony. I’ve not heard the others, but on the present evidence his is a no-nonsense, objective approach, more intellectual than passionate. Much depends on the orchestral musicians in such a case; thankfully, the Bamberg artists do not disappoint and the recorded sound is decent enough. Yet one has to ask of this conductor, where is Mahler? Nott’s novice shortcomings (this is evidently his first ever performance of this work) are painfully evident in the Finale, which flies by in a blur, missing the many textural details and eccentric mood swings of Mahler’s mock triumphalism. You might almost think this is the black sheep of the cycle, as the contentious liner notes suggest. Try any performance of this work by Abbado (preferably the most recent Lucerne Festival DVD) and you’ll become convinced otherwise.

I’ve saved the best for last: a real winner of a disc from Markus Stenz and the wondrous Gürzenich orchestra in a compelling performance of the Third Symphony featuring contralto Michaela Schuster and an ensemble of children’s voices from the Cologne Cathedral and Opera choirs. The first five of the symphonies and a disc of vocal works have been recorded in the Stenz cycle so far; all are excellent, but this one in particular has a surpassing beauty. Stenz has a deep understanding of Mahler which shines through and the admirable sonic engineering is spectacularly transparent. Tempi are refreshingly nimble in the inner movements, lending a delightfully Shakespearian sense of fantasy to Mahler’s symphonic cosmos; there’s nary a dull moment over the course of this mighty, six movement double CD performance. From the opening depiction of summer’s awakening to the deeply felt, amorous conclusion, Stenz and his magnificent orchestra bring us sheer delight from first to last.

— Daniel Foley

The Danish composer Rued Langgaard (1893–1952) is a new name to me, but if the music on String Quartets Vol.1 (DACAPO 6.220575) is anything to go by then I’ve really been missing something. Denmark’s Nightingale String Quartet is simply superb in this first volume of a series of all nine quartets by a composer described in the excellent booklet notes as an eccentric outsider who was virtually ignored by the Danish musical establishment in his lifetime. The works are essentially in the late romantic style, but mixed with a startling modernity: listen to Train Passing By, the short second movement of String Quartet No.2, written in 1918 and revised in 1931, and you could swear you were listening to two minutes of Philip Glass or Steve Reich; the following slow movement, Landscape in Twilight, is a simply beautiful pastoral episode. The String Quartet No.3 from 1924, the quite lovely single-movement String Quartet No.6 from 1918 (Langgaard’s numbering system is quite confusing!) and the variations on the chorale melody Mig hjertelig nu laenges complete a revelationary CD.

Beautifully recorded at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and issued on Denmark’s national record label, these performances are as close to definitive as you can get. Wonderful stuff, and I can’t wait to hear the rest of the series.

The chamber music of the Irish composer Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty (1879–1941) is featured on the 2-CD set Hamilton Harty String Quartets & Piano Quintet, performed by Australia’s Goldner String Quartet and pianist Piers Lane (Hyperion CDA67927). Dating from the opening years of the 20th century, all three works — the String Quartets in F Major (1900) and A Minor (1902) and the Piano Quintet in F Major (1904, revised 1906) — are virtually unknown today, the second string quartet and the piano quintet apparently remaining unheard from the year of their premieres until the present recording. Like so much British music of the period, these are highly competent and really lovely works, given absolutely beautiful performances here. There are the expected hints of Mendelssohn and Brahms, but it’s Harty’s love of Russian music that seems to predominate, particularly with the echoes of Borodin in the quartets. The faultless recording quality and the excellent booklet notes make this a very attractive set.

The Jasper String Quartet is back with another volume in their excellent series of string quartets by the American composer Aaron Jay Kernis, this time pairing Kernis’ String Quartet No. 1 “Musica Celestis” from 1990 with Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” quartet in The Kernis Project: Schubert (Sono Luminus DSL-92152). I enthusiastically reviewed the earlier volume pairing a Kernis quartet with a Beethoven quartet some time ago, and have no hesitation in being just as enthusiastic this time around. The performances are top-notch, and the recording quality is equally good. If you don’t know this series, then you’re really missing something; apart from anything else, it is all the proof you could ever need that there are contemporary composers adding magnificent and significant works to the string quartet repertoire.

The Brilliant Classics label lives up to its name once again with a 2-CD reissue of the excellent 1990 recordings by The Britten Quartet of the String Quartets Nos. 1-4 by the English composer Sir Michael Tippett (2CD 9257). Tippett’s life (1905–1998) spanned almost the entire 20th century, and his quartets come from both ends of his creative career: Quartets Nos.1-3 are from 1934–1946; Quartet No.4 was written in 1977–78. The composer’s early obsession with Beethoven’s quartets can be discerned, but it is Tippett’s characteristic emphasis on line and counterpoint — especially in the earlier quartets — that stands out.

The six string quartets of Bela Bartók comprise arguably the most significant series in that genre since the Beethoven quartets, and the Dutch mid-price label Newton Classics, distributed here by Naxos, has reissued a 2-CD set of Bartók: String Quartets Nos.1-6 in the 1975 recordings by the Guarneri Quartet originally issued by Sony (8802111). The Guarneri Quartet was in top form in these performances of works which span Bartók’s entire career, and the set — especially at the price — can be recommended without reservation. The original recording and transfers are all excellent.