04_Berlioz_HaroldBerlioz – Les Nuits d’Été; Harold en Italie
Anne Sofie von Otter; Antoine Tamestit; Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble;
Marc Minkowski
Naïve V 5266

I was introduced to “Harold” by the Victor recording with William Primrose that Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony made in 1944. Hearing this was a thrilling discovery and repeated encores did not diminish its impact. Particularly winning was Primrose’s patrician elegance and focused performance that would define the role for me.

As it turns out, the genius of Berlioz benefits from a large, well oiled virtuoso orchestra, as the two Primrose recordings with the Boston Symphony in its prime, conducted by Koussevitzky and the 1958 Charles Munch (RCA 88697 08280, hybrid CD/SACD), so magnificently demonstrate. I have also heard many excellent European performances with different soloists, the most notable of which are conducted by Colin Davis.

This new recording with a somewhat smaller orchestra (about 50 players) would seem to lack the splendour and power we have come to expect in a worthy Berlioz performance. Minkowski and his group, however, have a thorough understanding of Berlioz’ musical essence and convey a persuasive enthusiasm, overriding any misgivings about size. Tempos in each of the four movements are well judged and unerringly balanced. Some unusual accents flavour a beautifully constructed performance played with immaculate ensemble. Acclaimed violist, Antoine Tamestit, delivers a compelling, deeply felt performance with a delicious viola sound throughout.

The Les nuits d’été (a work that contrasts with the hectic finale it follows) is one of the finest versions of this enchanting song cycle to come my way. The program concludes with the strange narrative “The King of Thulé” from The Damnation of Faust, with the viola intertwining with Anne Sophie von Otter’s voice in this haunting Gothic lullaby … a master stroke of programming. This disc is a treasure.

05_TournemireCharles Tournemire – Trinitas
Vincent Boucher
ATMA ACD2 2472

The organ music of Charles Tournemire (1870–1939) is a revelation. The youngest student of César Franck, Tournemire developed towards modernism with a mystical bent and was admired by Messiaen. The Triple Choral (1910) is a key work in his journey to individuality. Organist Vincent Boucher’s performance is well paced and his expressive rubato is tasteful. I was especially moved by the sense of growth in the stirring, ecstatic middle section, followed by the contrasting meditative ending. In conveying the tone-palette of Tournemire’s music, Boucher employs to full advantage the magnificent Casavant organ and acoustics of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Montreal; the sound on this recording is glorious.

The two other major works on the disc are Offices from L’Orgue Mystique (1927–1932), organ music for each Sunday in the liturgical year to be played between sung sections of the mass. In the first, for Trinity Sunday, Boucher handles confidently the final recessional with its colouristic wave-like opening and its working of three themes in the introspective mood characteristic of Tournemire’s later works. Boucher captures the improvisational feel of Tournemire’s style in the second­ — music that is unearthly at times, seemingly in-the-moment explorations conveying striking visions. Here tone-content, texture and timbre together produce myriad effects of light, of brilliant rays, glimmering pulsations, murky depths. Three brief Postludes for antiphons of the Magnificat round out this deeply reflective disc.

06_Canadian_BrassCanadian Brass Takes Flight
Canadian Brass
Opening Day Records ODR 7416
www.openingday.com

It’s yet another recording by the ubiquitous Canadian Brass, and as the title suggests, the Canadian Brass does take flight on this new release, departing from what we are used to in a number of ways. First, it is a new Canadian Brass. In 1970, over 40 years ago, with tuba virtuoso Chuck Daellenbach at the helm, the Canadian Brass began the journey of introducing the world to brass music. Now, with four new permanent members, and Daellenbach performing better than ever, we are treated to some oldies in new arrangements and some departures from what we have come to expect.

The Brass is as stunning as ever with such old favourites as The Flight of the Bumblebee and The Carnival of Venice in sparkling new arrangements. In particular, I enjoyed the versions of La Cumparsita and Mozart’s Turkish Rondo, works not usually considered part of the brass repertoire. Having played in a brass quintet for a few years, I was particularly humbled by their rendition of Scheidt’s Galliard Battaglia. Having attempted that arrangement in rehearsal, I now know how it should sound. The finale on this CD is their long-time favourite Just a Closer Walk with Thee.

The stunning sparkle is still there, but there is also a new warmth and mellow feeling in several of the slower numbers on this release. As for technique, this new young team of Daellenbach’s doesn’t have to take a back seat to anyone. It’s a top notch group to carry on the Canadian Brass name. For fans of brass, this one is a must.

Concert Note: The Canadian Brass is featured in three regional concerts this month. On April 11 they will be at the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts in Brantford, on April 12 at the Markham Theatre for the Perfoming Arts and on April 28 in a subscription only performance at the Hi-Way Pentecostal Church presented by Barrie Concerts (705-726-1181).

07_PiccoloPastoral
Jean-Louis Beaumadier; Various Artists
Skarbo DSK4117

As spring arrives and thoughts turn to the outdoors, Pastoral makes an apt musical counterpart. Above all it is French piccoloist Jean-Louis Beaumadier’s playing that is memorable for perfectly-tuned long tones, controlled dynamic changes and technical virtuosity. Two short chamber pieces on the disc specify use of the piccolo; otherwise, Beaumadier has assembled a group of pastoral 20th-century works originally written for the pipe or the flute. Of special interest are seldom-heard miniatures for pipe by such composers as Roussel, Poulenc and Milhaud, published in the volume Pipeaux 1934. I particularly enjoyed the Poulenc Villanelle which has a quality of quirky sentiment. A number of composers included have associations with Beaumadier’s native Provence. Henri Tomasi (1901–1971) wrote Le tombeau de Mireille for galoubet (tabor) and tambourin (pipe), evocative of the medieval Provençal world of troubadours and chivalry. (Note: the tabor’s rattle takes getting used to.)

In the flute works, the piccolo’s pure, focused timbre shows to advantage, conveying well the birdsong, whistle, outdoor piping, dance and amatory elements of the pastoral genre. The soloist moves assuredly through contrasts of melody and rapid filigree in Philippe Gaubert’s tender Andante pastoral. He captures the intimate and pensive feeling in Germaine Tailleferre’s Pastorale, with its gently rocking piano accompaniment. The best is saved for last: the Sicilienne et burlesque (1914) by Alfredo Casella reminding us of the significant accomplishment of this neglected modernist.

08_Storyteller08b_Seraph_Alison_BalsomStoryteller
Tine Thing Helseth; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; Eivind Aadland
EMI Classics 0 88328 2

Seraph – Trumpet Concertos
Alison Balsom; Scottish Ensemble
EMI Classics 6 78590 2

Having received, within days of each other, two CDs with much in common, it was decided to include them in a double review. The first is Storyteller, trumpet solos performed by Tine Thing Helseth with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Eivind Aadland, piano. The other is Seraph, trumpet concertos played by Alison Balsom with various accompaniments. The commonality is that both contain performances by young women trumpet players and both depart from the “traditional repertoire” usually associated with trumpets.

Storyteller is an apt title for the first CD. Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth takes a very different approach to the trumpet and her repertoire. As she describes her approach in the program notes, “My sound is my voice.” There are no “show off” selections here. You won’t find Carnival of Venice or similar traditional trumpet technical challenges to display the soloist’s virtuosity. Without exception, the works performed were not written for trumpet. Most were originally for voice by such composers as Rachmaninov, Dvořák, Delibes. Sibelius, Grieg, Mahler and Saint-Saëns. The soloist is singing her stories to her audience through her trumpet.

As I scanned the list of titles on the disc, one stood out above all others for me. Here was my all-time favourite operatic aria with a different voice: “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila. Ms. Helseth’s trumpet voice came as a surprise. Rather than the usual tone with an edge usually associated with the trumpet, her tone is warmer and mellow, more like that of a cornet. Most of the time her lyric passages are smooth and appear effortless, but on occasion her tonguing is assisted by the technique of a slight bit of valve flicking. For me this did not detract in any way from my enjoyment. In all, it is an excellent departure from the usual trumpet fare.

Of the 22 tracks on the CD, Kurt Weill’s Je ne t’aime pas and Grieg’s eight-movement The Mountain Maid are with piano accompaniment. All others are with full symphony orchestra.

In contrast, Seraph, with one exception, contains works written for trumpet by such 20th-century composers as James MacMillan, Toru Takemitsu, Alexander Arutiunian and Bernd Alois Zimmerman. The one exception is a slow haunting arrangement of the Negro spiritual Nobody knows. That latter selection is followed by, and contrasted with, a trumpet concerto by Zimmerman entitled Nobody knows de trouble I see based on the same spiritual theme.

These are definitely not your standard trumpet fare, and for me at least, will require repeated listening to determine my level of approval. From a performance standpoint, as with her other recordings, Alison Balsom excels. As a passionate champion of contemporary music, she highlights the many voices of her instrument that are not normally heard, and introduces them to her audience.

01_Schubert_Latitute_41Apart from the single-movement Sonatensatz written when he was just 15, Schubert’s works for piano, violin and cello all date from 1827, the year before he died. Two of the three works from that year — the E-Flat Major Piano Trio Op.100 and the single-movement Adagio or Notturno, also in e-flat — are featured on a new CD from Trio Latitude 41 (ELOQUENTIA EL 1129).

The Op.100 is a large, four-movement work that makes an immediate impression and clearly has a great deal of depth. The booklet notes quote Robert Schumann’s 1836 description of the trio as a work that “blazed forth like some enraged meteor,” with an opening movement “inspired by deep indignation as well as boundless longing.” The artists here — Canadian pianist Bernadene Blaha, violinist Livia Sohn and cellist Luigi Piovano — find all this and more in a memorable performance. A finely-nuanced and highly effective performance of the Notturno completes an excellent recital disc. Recorded at the Rolston Recital Hall in the Banff Centre, the balance and ambience are perfect.

02_Ray_ChenThe first thing that comes to mind whenever I receive a CD of the Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos is: do we really need yet another recording of these classic works? Well, yes, of course we do: established artists often find something new to say, and all new artists have to measure themselves against these cornerstones of the repertoire. For the young violinist Ray Chen, the choice of these works for his second Sony CD (SONY 88697984102) — his first with orchestra — was easy: he won the Menuhin Competition in 2008 playing the Mendelssohn concerto, and the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2009 with the Tchaikovsky.

The first words I wrote down while listening to the Tchaikovsky were “relaxed tempo/approach in first movement,” so it was interesting to read “relaxed and peaceful … that is also what Ray Chen demands of his interpretations of the two concertos” in the booklet notes. That’s very much how the works come across, although that certainly shouldn’t be taken to imply any absence of line or a lack of intensity when needed. Chen’s playing is expansive, warm and sympathetic, and he communicates a clear empathy for these works.

The conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra is the outstanding Daniel Harding, whose name on a CD virtually guarantees a top-notch accompaniment, and that’s certainly the case here. Great balance and a lovely recorded ambience make for an impressive CD that promises a great future for Chen.

03_RegerThe latest CD in the outstanding Hyperion series The Romantic Violin Concerto is Volume 11. It features the works for violin and orchestra by Max Reger in terrific performances by Tanja Becker-Bender and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Lothar Zagrosek (Hyperion CDA67892).

Reger, who was only 43 when he died in 1916, trod a highly individualistic road as a composer. As was the case with Mahler, who had died exactly five years earlier, his main exponents and interpreters left Germany in the 1930s, but, unlike Mahler, his music and reputation failed to gain a foothold on foreign soil after the Second World War.

The Violin Concerto in A Major, Op.101, from 1907, is a simply huge, melodic and immediately accessible work, almost an hour long, and clearly in the post-Brahms tradition. The Two Romances in G Major and D Major, Op.50, written in 1900 and scored for a smaller orchestra than the concerto, were a deliberate attempt to secure more concert performances in the major German cities. Wolfgang Rathert’s excellent booklet notes refer to their “fusion of contrapuntal texture and flowing melody,” which is a pretty good description of Reger’s music in general. They are simply gorgeous works, reminiscent of Brahms and Bruch, and they receive sympathetically beautiful performances by Becker-Bender and Zagrosek.

Reger still tends to be criticized for the complexity and turgidity of his compositions, but it’s really more a case of an overabundance of creative ideas making it difficult for the listener to discern the overall shape and form. It’s quite beautiful writing, however, and if you don’t know any of his music then the three lovely works on this terrific CD offer the perfect opportunity to put that right.

04_Angele_DubeauIt’s really difficult to know what to say about Silence, on joue! A Time for Us, the new CD from Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà (ANALEKTA AN 2 8733). It’s a collection of movie themes quite clearly aimed at a mass market — and, sure enough, it’s already being enthusiastically played on a certain Toronto FM radio station.

Film music is an extremely important area of contemporary composition, of course, and the big names are here in force: John Williams, James Horner, Howard Shore, Erich Korngold, Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, John Barry. The problem is that there seems to be little of any real substance: of the 20 tracks, 12 are under four minutes in length, and only one exceeds five minutes — just. It’s unrelenting easy listening, with no real “bite” anywhere, although this may well be due to the fact that virtually all of the 15 basic tracks (there are five “bonus” tracks from previous Dubeau CDs) are – hardly surprisingly — transcriptions, adaptations or arrangements.

Tracks include My Heart Will Go On, Over the Rainbow, Smile, the Love Themes from Romeo and Juliet and Cinema Paradiso, and music from The English Patient, Lord of the Rings and Dances with Wolves. The bonus tracks include the “Cavatina” from Stanley Myers’ The Deer Hunter and the main themes from Schindler’s List and The Mission.

Dubeau, clearly a top-notch player, is apparently the only Canadian “classical” musician to have earned two gold records for album sales exceeding 50,000 in one year. This CD will probably do equally well, although one may hopefully be excused for pondering the relationship between quantity and quality, and wondering whether or not Dubeau’s undoubted talents could be put to better use.

Strings Attached continues at www.thewholenote.com with the latest from the New York orchestra The Knights with works by Schubert, Satie and Philip Glass among others.

Flute_KingThe Flute King - Music from the Court of Frederick the Great
Emmanuel Pahud
EMI Classics 0 84230 2

The programme of this two-CD set of music from the court of the flute-playing Prussian emperor Frederick the Great provides an intriguing snapshot of a significant time and place in the flute’s repertoire. The first disc features concertos by C.P.E. Bach, Benda, Frederick II himself and his flute teacher Quantz, in which flutist Emmanuel Pahud is accompanied by the geographically appropriate Kammerakademie Potsdam. The playing from everyone involved is pleasant enough, though a sameness of musical character and lack of nuance pervade the performance of these pieces, some of which require extra imaginative “juice” to bring them completely off the page. On the other hand, the inherent dynamic theatricality of CPE Bach’s Concerto in A Minor isn’t exploited well enough.

Disc Two presents us with J.S. Bach’s Musical Offering trio sonata and sonatas by Frederick, his sister Anna Amalia, J.F. Agricola and C.P.E. Bach and here the playing is imbued with greater creativity of spirit. Pahud, perhaps inspired by his colleagues, harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock, cellist Jonathan Manson and violinist Matthew Truscott, plays with increased variety of colour and articulation. J.S. Bach’s inestimable trio sonata receives an affectionate and thoughtful rendition, and of special note are Anna Amalia’s Sonata in F Major and the opening Siciliano of Frederick’s Sonata in B Minor.

Although it’s unfortunate that this recording doesn’t take more of Quantz’s own interpretive advice into account, it’s still a worthy compilation of music from 18th century, flute-focused Potsdam.

Concert Notes: Alison Melville curates and performs in “A Musical Bestiary” featuring vocal and instrumental music about creatures of earth, sea, sky and myth for the Toronto Consort at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre March 23 and 24. Melville is also involved in “The Bird Project” which will be featured in a noon-hour multi-media presentation at Walter Hall, University of Toronto on March 15.

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