Classical CDs
graham.rickson
Bach: St John Passion Berliner Philharmoniker, Members of the Rudfunkchors Berlin, Soloists/Sir Simon Rattle, with staging by Peter Sellars (Berliner Philharmoniker)You'd happily settle for an audio recording of Sir Simon Rattle's version of Bach's St John Passion, but director Peter Sellars' input makes its presentation as a DVD essential. Daniel Finkernagel and Alexander Lück's stylish, unfussy video direction is only mentioned in small print on the booklet's last page – a pity, as their work adds hugely to this issue's success. Sellars' ritualistic, spare conception is undeniably Read more ...
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Bruckner: Symphony no 2 Wiener Symphoniker/Carlo Maria Giulini (Wiener Symphoniker)No apologies for reviewing a reissue, as this disc is fabulous. Originally a 1974 EMI recording, it's now released on the Wiener Symphoniker's own label. Carlo Maria Giulini was their Music Director between 1973 and 1976. The orchestra apparently loved him, and there's an affectionate sleeve note penned by Robert Freund, principal horn during his tenure. Giulini's professionalism and quiet humility shine through, and Freund rightly alludes to the conductor's spontaneity. Giulini's few Bruckner recordings Read more ...
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Brahms: The Violin Sonatas Corey Cerovsek (violin), Paavali Jumppanen (piano) (Milanollo)Listening to Brahms's chamber music in hefty doses is good for the soul. The symphonies and concertos are weighty, rich creations – magnificent in their own way, but easily rendered cumbersome and indigestible when performed badly. Whereas it's hard to think of a single Brahms chamber work that doesn't tick all the boxes. Listening to the three mature violin sonatas should be an inspiring, enjoyable experience. And so it is on this disc. Corey Cerovsek's warm sound suits this music to perfection, Read more ...
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Britten, Weinberg: Violin Concertos Linus Roth, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Mihkel Kütson (Challenge Classics)“I am a pupil of Shostakovich. Although I have never had lessons from him, I count myself as his pupil, as his flesh and blood.” Mieczysław Weinberg's close, complex relationship with his senior mentor continues to affect how we perceive his own music. Which is maddeningly inconsistent, and the jury's still out as to whether he's one of the great Soviet composers. But, when Weinberg is on form he can be terrific, and this 1959 Violin Concerto is a magnificent beast. It Read more ...
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Mahler: Symphonies 1-3 Philharmonia Orchestra/Lorin Maazel (Signum)These are expansive, weighty performances, but they work. Mostly. Listening to this first instalment of Lorin Maazel's latest Mahler cycle is an occasionally frustrating experience, but more often than not you're won over and convinced by the interpretative quirks. It's the broad approach which may daunt some listeners. These are Mahler readings on an epic scale, but Maazel's control and pacing make them work. Most satisfying is the huge Symphony no 3, its first movement stretched out to 37 minutes. The tension doesn't Read more ...
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Prokofiev: Works for piano 1908-1938 Roger Woodward (Celestial Harmonies)You don't often hear this music articulated with such steely power and intensity. Recently I've spent too much time listening to Prokofiev's more romantically-inclined later output; a few minutes' exposure to this disc will remind you of this composer's ability to dazzle and shock. Many of the early works bristle with demonic energy – I'm thinking of the Suggestion Diabolique, or the four Sarcasmes. But the aggression always seems positive and open-hearted – this is music which demands to be liked, every grimace Read more ...
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Sean Hickey: Cello Concerto, Clarinet Concerto Dimitry Kouzov (cello), Alexander Fiterstein (clarinet), St Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra/Vladimir Lande (Delos)Sean Hickey’s 2007 Cello Concerto solves the problem of balancing soloist with orchestra by keeping the accompaniment spare and light. The brazenly tonal language can’t help recalling several well-known 20th century cello concertos - those by Walton and Shostakovich come to mind. Like them, Hickey enjoys unusual sound combinations – the concerto’s slow movement contains a beguiling, quirky duet for cello and bass clarinet Read more ...
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Debussy, Poulenc, Ravel, Françaix: Piano Concertos Florian Uhlig (piano), Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern/Pablo González (Hänssler Classic)I salivated when I read the tracklisting on this immaculately produced disc. I wasn’t disappointed; you’d need a heart of ice to resist Florian Uhlig’s playing. Debussy’s three-movement Fantaisie pour piano et orchestre, completed in 1890, is a concerto in all but name. The first performance was heavily cut; Debussy withdrew the piece in a huff and it was only heard in full after his death. This is delectable music, firmly Read more ...
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Goossens: Orchestral works vol.2 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis (Chandos)British conductor and composer Sir Eugene Goossens achieved major fame leading the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the 1950s. Previously he'd given the first British concert performance of Stravinky’s Rite in 1921 and had moved to the US shortly afterwards to take up a sequence of conducting posts. His Sydney tenure ended abruptly in bizarre circumstances, and he returned, disappointed to London, dying in 1962. Goossens’s expertise as an interpreter of contemporary music undoubtedly influenced his own Read more ...
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Beethoven: Symphonies 4 and 7 Academy of St Martin in the Fields/Joshua Bell (Sony)Nothing to shock here – no period timbres, no radical speeds and no indulgence. If you’re hoping for a sense of the epic, the self-consciously profound, you might want to look elsewhere. These classically-tinged Beethoven performances aren’t even part of an upcoming cycle. However, Joshua Bell, conducting and leading, delivers performances of sublime grace and wit. He gets so much right, such as the hushed anticipation at the start of No 4 and the disarming simplicity of the movement’s main material. Read more ...
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Britten: Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata and Cello Suites Alban Gerhardt, Steven Osborne, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Manze (Hyperion)This is a brilliant anthology, wonderfully performed and beautifully recorded. Britten’s cello music was written for Mstislav Rostropovich, whom the composer had met in 1960 at the UK premiere of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto no 1. The Sonata was completed shortly afterwards. The reading by Alban Gerhardt and Steven Osborne is refreshingly extrovert, and Britten’s tricksy piano writing has enormous impact. Gerhardt’s boldness makes the work feel Read more ...
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Volodos plays Mompou Arcadi Volodos (piano) (Sony)This is excellent, and a brilliant introduction to an under-appreciated composer. Frederic Mompou spent most of his long life in Barcelona, dying there aged 94 in 1987. The piano pieces collected on Arcadi Volodo’s handsomely recorded disc are consistently electrifying – in a very low-key way. Mompou rarely shouts; the melodic lines tend to be spare and unadorned, occasionally suggesting Satie. He was a master of compression and concision, a composer able to express himself with the slightest of gestures. Several of the later pieces Read more ...