Classical CDs
graham.rickson
Brahms: Symphonies 1-4 Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Robin Ticciati (Linn)Slimmed-down Brahms is more common than it used to be, and geeks will probably cherish a pioneering set recorded in the 1990s by Sir Charles Mackerras with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Robin Ticciati’s new cycle, taped in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall last May, is superb on its own terms, though his isn't the only way to play Brahms. Don't chuck out those Karajan LPs just yet. Who's to know exactly what these pieces sounded like when first performed, and how big a complement of strings Brahms preferred? The gains here Read more ...
graham.rickson
Lūcija Garūta: Music for Piano Reinis Zariņš (piano), Liepāja Symphony Orchestra/Atvars Lakstīgala (LMIC/SKANI)The Latvian composer Lūcija Garūta (1902-1977) reached maturity in the early days of Latvian independence, a supremely talented pianist, composer and polymath. Garūta was among the first Latvian women to drive a car, besides sailing a private yacht and pursuing an interest in science. She travelled to Paris and studied, briefly, with Alfred Cortot and Paul Dukas, identifying with Latvia’s musical “new romanticism”, a movement which sought to look forward rather than idealise Read more ...
graham.rickson
Axel Borup-Jørgensen: Marin Danish National Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Sôndergård (OUR Recordings)The physical effort involved in composing Marin was a huge strain on the Danish composer Axel Borup-Jørgensen (1924-2012). This ear-stretching musical seascape was made possible by its creator winning a prize in the mid-1960s, the reward including a commission for a large orchestral piece to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in 1970. Borup-Jørgensen delivered, in spades: a shaggy monsterpiece with the orchestral strings divided into 55 parts, using something Read more ...
graham.rickson
Visions of Prokofiev Lisa Batiashvili (violin), Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Yannick Nézet-Seguin (DG)Buried beneath the soft focus photos and waffly booklet are very decent performances of Prokofiev’s two Violin Concertos. Lisa Batiashvili enters the Concerto No. 1’s first movement imperceptibly, floating over a carpet of shimmering tutti strings. This is one of the great concerto openings, Batiashvili’s reticence melting away just before the two-minute mark. The quirkier middle section is a treat here, Yannick Nézet-Seguin’s responsive COE strings alert to every sharp accent. Read more ...
graham.rickson
Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses, Nobilissima Visione, Concert Music for Strings and Brass WDR Symphony Orchestra/Marek Janowski (Pentatone)Instrumentalists appreciate Hindemith (all those solo sonatas!), as do those orchestral musicians lucky enough to have played his stuff. Sadly, he’s still box-office poison, and it’s difficult to think of a 20th century composer whose stock has fallen so low. Leonard Bernstein described Hindemith as "a master of melody, of harmony and counterpoint and rhythm and form and orchestration, and everything that has to do with music". Wise words, and one of Read more ...
graham.rickson
Bach: French Suites Zhu Xiao-Mei (piano) (Accentus Music)The sheer perfection of Bach’s output can be unsettling, and faintly terrifying. So it's pleasing to find a musician who's so keen to highlight his friendlier, cuddlier side. Zhu Xiao-Mei approaches the six French Suites with palpable warmth and enthusiasm, emphasising what she sees as Bach’s childlike hope and optimism. There's a lot of light-footed, sprightly dancing here, aided by Zhu’s propensity for swiftish tempi. The slower movements unwind with serene confidence. I'm thinking of her sublime trot through Suite No. 2’s gorgeous “ Read more ...
graham.rickson
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony)There's a left field vintage recording of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique conducted by Otto Klemperer, a reading totally devoid of hysteria, complete with a laughably slow third movement march. It's interesting… and not an experience you’re desperate to repeat. But well worth dipping into before sampling this astonishing new Russian version – it's like moving from warm porridge to a bowl of fiery chilli. Everything's exactly as it should be, and more, helped by an interventionist production style which doesn’t aim to reproduce Read more ...
graham.rickson
Diethelm: Symphonic Works Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Rainer Held (Guild)Swiss composers? There's Honegger, and Frank Martin… add to that list one Caspar Diethelm (1926-1997), a prolific musical polymath and teacher who also dabbled in politics, botany and mineralogy. Somehow he found the time to compose, and this three-disc set collects four of his eight symphonies alongside other orchestral works. Encountering unfamiliar composers can be a fraught business: there's the worry that their neglect might be deserved. The Lucerne-born Diethelm doesn't fall into this category; the opening Read more ...
graham.rickson
Shostakovich: Symphony No 6, Sinfonietta (Quartet No 8, arr. Abram Stasevich) Estonian Festival Orchestra/Paavo Järvi (Alpha Classics)The one false note here comes in the form of Paavo Järvi’s description of Shostakovich's Symphony No 6, referring to its “air of peculiar lightness.” Hmm, hardly. He certainly doesn't conduct it as if that's what he believes. The lower strings of the Estonian Festival Orchestra lend the downbeat opening astonishing depth of tone, though you might feel that something's being held back. Rightly, Järvi keeps things on a tight leash until the eruption five or so Read more ...
graham.rickson
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2, Strauss: Burleske Joseph Moog (piano), Deutsche Radio Philharmonie/Nicholas Milton (Onyx)It's not you, it's me. That’s probably what I'd say to Brahms in attempting to explain why I generally prefer his craggy D minor piano concerto to its even longer sequel. That the two works are so different is a sign of Brahms's multifaceted genius, the B flat concerto's serene magnificence a happy reminder that growing older doesn’t necessarily mean becoming grumpier and terser. I've listened to this performance a lot over the past few days, and perhaps, at last, I'm Read more ...
graham.rickson
Beethoven/Liszt: Complete Symphonies Yury Martynov (Erard, 1837 and Blüthner, 1867) (Alpha Classics)These performances were recorded between 2011 and 2015 and originally released as single discs. If you missed them first time round, snap up this slimline box now. I'd hitherto failed to realise just how extraordinary Liszt’s Beethoven symphony transcriptions can sound, much of the fun coming from hearing what Liszt strips away and what he decides to highlight. You're continually struck by Beethoven’s harmonic boldness. And, having just one musician allows for thrilling rhythmic Read more ...
graham.rickson
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 1-6 Berliner Barock Solisten/Reinhard Goebel (Sony)This set’s arrival sent me scurrying back to listen again to Reinhard Goebel's 1985 DG set of Bach’s Brandenburgs with Musica Antiqua Koln: hyperactive, sharp-edged performances which still sound disarmingly fresh. The issue back then was Goebel’s propensity to adopt speeds on the edge of playability: I'm showing my age in remembering that I could squeeze his set onto a single C90 cassette. Happy days. The Third Concerto was the jaw-dropper, its second movement improbably, ludicrously swift. This new set Read more ...