01-Eton-ChoirbookMusic from the Eton Choirbook
Tonus Peregrinus
Naxos 8.572840

The Eton College Choirbook is one of pre-Reformation England’s greatest glories. English composers rejoiced in their settings of music that were as joyful as the architecture in which they were performed was lofty. The Choirbook required the skins of “112 average-sized calves” to produce; none died in vain, as this recording proves.

Two composers included here, Lambe and Browne, probably had connections with Eton. Lambe’s Nesciens mater a 5 is so exhilarating it could be used at any modern service — and the Choirbook likely dates from 1500!

William, Monk of Stratford, gave his Magnificat a 4 an ebullient character. Tonus Peregrinus uses 13 voices, five upper and eight lower, initially alternating but ultimately combined. Occasionally William’s polyphony uses strange examples of either lost or extra beats — is the lost beat between “the rich” and “he hath sent away empty” a deliberate ploy?

A second Magnificat, by Hugh Kellyk, is not as strident as William’s. It is nonetheless very demanding on the higher voices. Tonus Peregrinus’ already high reputation is only enhanced by its interpretations of the Eton Choirbook.

The opening pages of Richard Davy’s St. Matthew Passion have been lost. Jesus stands before Pilate and the events leading to crucifixion are recounted. Davy uses the arrangement soprano, alto, tenor, bass for both Pilate and Pilate’s wife. The bass part for both characters is, perhaps strangely, sung by one singer, Nick Flower. This certainly does not detract from the sheer forcefulness of Davy’s interpretation.

John Browne’s Stabat mater also uses 13 voices. Emphasis is placed on the soprano voices in what is a very powerful setting; mention must be made, however, of the bass parts, which are omnipresent if somewhat overshadowed.

Naxos is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It describes this recording as “perhaps the jewel in the crown of its series of Milestones of Western music.” Only “perhaps?”

ChauvonChauvon – Les nouveaux bijoux
Washington McClean; Alison Melville;
Julia Wedman; Michael McCraw;
Charlotte Nediger
early-music.com EMCCD-7773
www.early-music.com

A virtual who’s who of North American early music specialists jump headfirst into the clever and charming world of French baroque composer François Chauvon, whose name may be unfamiliar to the reader. A student of Couperin, he composed a small number of chamber and vocal works between 1710 and 1740.

Tibiades (1717) is a collection of suites for baroque oboe and flute, with some suites including violin. Influenced by the Italian concertato texture style of the time, the instruments to be played were specified, but which line for each was not indicated. The performers are at liberty to choose their part, and when to play tutti and solo. Here, the performers not only choose their parts, but expand their choices by the addition of bassoon and continuo. The resulting instrumentation creates charming and distinct settings.

Eight suites are featured. Each is short in duration, with the occasional movement under one minute. The 44 second “Arpégement, le Pièche (gracieusement)” is a memorable harpsichord interlude from the Première Suite. Chauvon also dabbled with programmatic titles. The “la Mélancholique” movement from the Troisième Suite is slow and somewhat glum in notation and the selected instrumentation.

As to be expected, all the performers are spectacular. I especially marvel at Alison Melville’s breath control on recorders and traverse flute and harpsichordist Charlotte Nediger’s extraordinary continuo expertise. This recording is early music at its best.

01-Hamelin-HaydnHaydn – Piano Sonatas III
Marc-André Hamelin
Hyperion CDA67882

Few Canadian pianists have produced such an eclectic catalogue of recordings as Marc-André Hamelin. Ever since his first CDs featuring music by composers such as Claude Caron, Stephen Albert and William Bolcom, he has demonstrated a decided affinity for music a little off the mainstream. Yet this isn’t to suggest that the Montreal native has ever ignored the standard “old masters” either, and indeed, his latest offering on the Hyperion label is a case in point, a fine two-disc compilation of Haydn piano sonatas from the HobXVI series.

This is actually the third volume of Haydn piano sonatas Hamelin has recorded, the first two appearing in 2007 and 2009. For this set, he chose 11 sonatas mainly dating from Haydn’s middle period of the 1760s and 70s. This was a time when the 30- and 40-something-year-old composer was prodigiously creating string quartets and full scale operas while in the service of the Esterhazy family. Not surprisingly, these sonatas are true models of classical form. While they present no huge technical demands on the part of the performer, Hamelin approaches them in an intelligent manner, his playing finely nuanced with the subtleties so integral in music from this period. Yet not all is rococo galanterie here. Many of the slow movements demonstrate a deep melancholia, clearly foreshadowing romanticism, and once again Hamelin has no difficulty in conveying the contrasting moods through his finely shaped phrases and sense of timing.

An added bonus in this set is the inclusion of two divertimentos, later published as Sonatas 1 and 6 in the Hoboken XVI catalogue, and also a short sonata in D major, now known as “#51.” The sonata was a product of Haydn’s second visit to London in 1794 and demonstrates a much greater sense of stylistic freedom, as if Haydn was by now attempting to go beyond the restrictions of traditional Viennese classicism. He was to live only 15 more years and by 1809 the European musical world had very much moved on.

This set of finely crafted music elegantly played is a wonderful addition to the catalogue, proof once again (if proof is needed), of Hamelin’s outstanding musicianship and ability to excel at anything he chooses to play.

03a-Mahler-Fischer03b-Mahler-AlsopMahler – Symphony No.1
Budapest Festival Orchestra; Ivan Fischer
Channel Classics CCS SA 33112

Mahler – Symphony No.1
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra;
Marin Alsop
Naxos 8.572207

The preliminary version of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony (described at the time as a Symphonic Poem in five movements) was premiered under the composer’s direction in Budapest in 1889. Its unfamiliar polystylistic collage and inexplicable programmatic elements utterly baffled the audience of the day. Conductor Iván Fischer, in his notes to this new recording with his elite Budapest Festival Orchestra, writes that ever since “at each performance we Hungarians have a moral duty to convince audiences that this is a perfect and exceptionally beautiful masterpiece.” Mission accomplished! This is a performance of remarkable sensitivity, ranging from the intimacy of chamber music to the most powerful, heaven-storming explosions, masterfully recorded in first class studio sound. The dynamic range is exceptionally vivid, tempos are flexible without ever becoming neurotic and the interpretation is thoroughly convincing throughout. The near doubling of the tempo in the closing pages provides a novel and exhilarating conclusion to a truly admirable performance, one of the very best I’ve heard in decades.

Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony paint this score with a much broader brush. In such grandiose music this blunt approach still works marvelously, thanks to the enthusiastic, gritty response from the orchestra and their equally feisty conductor who for the most part seems happy to be carried along with the tide. I take exception however to their use of a recent edition of the score that proposes, on extremely flimsy evidence found not in the score itself but in a set of contested orchestral parts, that the celebrated contrabass solo that so poignantly launches the funereal third movement was intended to be played by the entire bass section. It is known that Mahler evidently tried it this way just once in a rehearsal with the New York Philharmonic in 1909 but quickly abandoned the idea, describing their bass section as “just ONE bass player and seven cobblers!” While these infamously high pitched eight bars (to the tune of the well-known Frére Jacques) have now become standard audition material, to pull such a stunt simply because standards of bass playing have since greatly improved strikes me as a poetic crime of the highest order. I was bothered as well that the recording level has been audibly heightened for this movement, proof positive that the additional basses do not result in a richer tonal experience. This is a generally quite satisfying live performance from quite some time ago (2008), unfortunately marred by notably muddy sound and less than stellar production values.

01-Itai-ShapiraJust over a year ago I didn’t know of the Israeli violinist Ittai Shapira, but this month sees the third CD of his that I’ve reviewed in the past 15 months. American Violin Concertos, on the English nonprofit label Champs Hill, features reissues of the violin concertos of Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti with a world premiere recording of the violin concerto Katrina by Theodore Wiprud (CHRCD043). The Barber and Menotti were recorded in Moscow in 2001 with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra under Thomas Sanderling, and issued separately on the ASV label. The Wiprud was recorded in Liverpool earlier this year, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Neil Thomson.

The Wiprud concerto was written at Shapira’s request, and premiered by him just a year ago. The composer describes it as reflecting on the devastation that Hurricane Katrina wrought on the musical life of the whole Delta region, the cradle of so much American music, and as exploring the enduring nature of music, and of life itself, even when apparently crushed by such overwhelming events. It’s a strongly tonal and very effective work.

I don’t recall hearing the Menotti before, but again it’s an immediately accessible work with hints of the Barber in the slow movement – hardly surprising, given the two composers’ almost life-long relationship. Shapira is in his usual superb form – and boy, can this guy play! He certainly has something new to say with the Barber. He takes his time with a meditative and rhapsodic first movement, allowing it to build slowly, but never at the expense of the lyrical nature. Both here, and in the slow movement in particular, the sensitive orchestral balance allows many often unheard details to come through. The Presto finale, while fast, is never simply a headlong rush, with clear delineation of the solo line.

Shapira never puts a foot wrong in impassioned, committed and intelligent performances. One of my earlier reviews mentioned that the violinist had already had 14 concertos written for him; this latest CD makes it easy to see why composers want to write for him. It’s also just as easy to see why people want to listen.

02-Momentum-Cello-ConcertosMany years ago I worked for the Chester/Wilhelm Hansen music publishers in London, England, and we would receive a constant stream of new issue Scandinavian works from the Copenhagen office. Two of the leading composers were Denmark’s Per Nørgård (b.1932) and Norway’s Arne Nordheim (1931-2010) and both are featured on the new CD MomentumNordic Cello Concertos, featuring the Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg with the New Music Orchestra under Szymon Bywalec (Aurora ACD5075). The third work on the CD is Amers – Concerto No.1 for Cello, Ensemble and Electronics, by Finland’s Kaija Saariaho (b.1952).

I had difficulty back then trying to identify personal or national styles in the Scandinavian composers, and I find much the same problem now. It’s a challenge in any case to try to judge performances of contemporary works without the benefit of a study score; all you can really do is try to decide if the music communicates with the listener. The level of performance here is clearly very high throughout the CD, although the degree of communication will probably be a matter of individual taste.

Nørgård’s Momentum – Cello Concerto No.2 was written in 2009, and dedicated to Kullberg, who also gave the first performance; composer and soloist have enjoyed a close collaboration for the last 15 years.

Nordheim’s Tenebrae – Concerto for Cello and Orchestra was written in 1982 for Rostropovich and is performed here in a chamber orchestra version. It’s not a literal depiction of the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical service, but certainly addresses the same issues of shadow and pain.

Saariaho’s Amers – “sea marks” or “buoys” – was written in 1992, and was inspired by a collection of French poetry on the theme of the sea. The addition of electronic sounds possibly makes it a tougher first listen.

These are clearly works that must be listened to, and not approached casually; the result, though, will be worth the effort.

The Nørgård and Nordheim concertos – the latter apparently only in this chamber version – are premiere recordings. Both works are published by Wilhelm Hansen; the Saariaho, coincidentally, is published by Chester.

03-Schubert-String-QuintetLast month’s column featured an outstanding recording of the last string quartet that Schubert wrote, two years before his death, and this month there’s a CD of Schubert’s final string chamber work, the wonderful String Quintet in C Major, Op.163, D956, (harmonia mundi HMC 902106) that matches it in all respects. The ensemble in this performance is the German Arcanto Quartett with Olivier Marron on second cello.

The work was written in the summer of 1828, only a few months before Schubert died in November, and it’s one of the great masterpieces of the string chamber repertoire. Strangely, it wasn’t performed until 1850 and didn’t appear in print until 1853.

The lengthy booklet notes, somewhat awkward in their translation, present a complex, rather puzzling and not always convincing analysis of the nature of the contrasting elements in the music, but this is a work which needs no explanation, especially in performances like this one.

Recorded in the Teldex Studio in Berlin, the sound and balance are both exemplary.

04-Boiling-PointI still find it a bit strange having to use the term “21st century music,” but that’s what we have on the very interesting and appealing CD Boiling Point – Music of Kenji Bunch (Delos DE 3430) featuring members of the Alias Chamber Ensemble.

In a perceptive foreword, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts notes that it still isn’t easy “to write from the heart without fear of elitist backlash,” as Bunch does, and goes on to describe Bunch as a consummate musician who “can write effortlessly in a myriad of styles and languages, which he is able to juxtapose with elegance and humor.” All of which should give you a good idea of what this disc sounds like. It’s strongly – but not entirely – tonal music that reflects numerous diverse musical influences, and it’s beautifully crafted and always interesting.

Bunch, born in Portland, Oregon in 1973, describes the CD as a collection of some of his favourite and most deeply personal chamber works of the past decade.

Each of the five movements of String Circle for string quintet (with two violas) pays tribute to a particular kind of American string music: the highlight is a brilliant all-pizzicato movement evoking banjos and ukuleles.

Drift is a charming trio for clarinet, viola and piano; 26.2, for French horn and string trio, celebrates and depicts the composer’s first running of the New York City marathon with his wife – 26.2 miles is the official distance.

Luminaria, for violin and harp, drew its inspiration from the Mexican/Pueblo tradition of votive candles enclosed in coloured paper wrappings.

The final title track, for string quartet, string bass and drums, is a spirited full tilt romp that follows the development of water in a kettle as it gradually escalates to the boil; it’s performed with a live kettle on stage, the performance ending only when the whistle blows!

All in all, a delightful CD of solid, captivating pieces, beautifully performed and recorded. 

01-Gouts-AccordesLes Gouts Accordes
Esteban La Rotta; Jivko Georgiev; Margaret Little; Katelyn Clark
ATMA ACD2 2673

Louis XIV wanted to bring ethnic cohesion to his western European mini-empire. Realising culture would play a part in this, he brought Italian-born Giovanni Battista Lulli to his court and rebranded him as Jean-Baptiste Lully. This CD brings us Lully and Robert de Visée (who actually was French-born) and others such as Jean-Baptiste Barrière who composed in the Sun King’s wake.

Barrière’s second and sixth trio sonatas bring out a rich resonant quality in the theorbo. This continues in the allegro movements with a part for viola da gamba which plays the spritely gigue that ends both sonatas. The theorbo is, above all, given a chance to showcase itself with de Visée’s A Minor theorbo suite. Here, the incorporation of more lively dance-based movements, the gavotte and rondeau, enhance the enjoyment of the suite and Esteban La Rotta’s dexterity manifests itself.

Finally, there is a theorbo solo where de Visée arranges the “Ritournelles des Fées” from Lully’s opera Roland. In the hands of La Rotta the solo underlines just how versatile the theorbo was at a time when it was being challenged in every area of performance by the harpsichord. Indeed, it also demonstrates how effective the combination of Lully and de Visée was in forming a cohesive French musical tradition.

01-BusoniBusoni – Clarinet Concertino; Flute Divertimento; Rondo alecchinesco
Giammorco Casani; Laura Minguzzi; Gianluca Terranova; Orchestra Sinfonica
di Roma; Francesco La Vecchia
Naxos 8.572922

The Italian maestro Francesco da Vecchia, who favoured us last season with an ambitious new recording of Busoni’s gargantuan Piano Concerto, continues his championing of the music of Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) with a generous sampling of shorter orchestral works by this sorely underrated composer whose inimitable compositions have long been overshadowed by his towering reputation as a legendary performer. The centrepieces of the present disc are two single movement wind concertos. Giammarco Casani is the exceedingly suave soloist in the Clarinet Concertino while Laura Minguzzi provides an appropriately sprightly interpretation of the mercurial Divertimento for flute and small orchestra. My only grievance with these interpretations is that they are engineered with the soloists forced unrealistically forward in the sonic mix.

An additional quartet of purely orchestral works presents a broad chronological overview of Busoni’s stylistic development, commencing with the bustling neo-classical Comedy Overture of 1897, the moody, otherworldly Song of the Spirit Dance with its striking aboriginal references inspired by Busoni’s foray to America, followed by the sardonic Rondò arlecchinesco (both from 1915) and concluding with Busoni’s last orchestral work, the Viennese-accented Tanzwalzer of 1920.

In an unusual practice for Naxos, there are two different sets of liner notes, the usual prosaic English version by the ubiquitous Richard Whitehouse and, as best as I can tell, a considerably more insightful Italian essay by Tommaso Manera.

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