Classical CDs
graham.rickson
Franck: Psyché, Le Chasseur maudit, Les Éolides RCS Voices, Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Jean-Luc Tingaud (Naxos)Franck by Franck: Symphony in D Minor, Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France/Mikko Franck (Alpha Classics)You bemoan the lack of decent modern recordings of César Franck’s orchestral music, and then these two discs appear in succession. Rather than choose between them, I’ll to cover both. A few seconds’ exposure to Franck’s Le Chasseur maudit should have you wondering why this punchy short work isn’t a repertoire standard. Jean-Luc Read more ...
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Chopin: Études Sonya Bach (piano) (Rubicon)Chopin’s solo piano études helped push the genre into uncharted territory. He would have practiced examples by Czerny and Clementi in his youth, but his own Op. 10 and Op. 25 sets make far more extreme demands on any pianist. I’m not a keyboard player, and a few minutes’ exposure to the more flamboyant numbers can leave me feeling dizzy. Performing the whole collection in sequence is a tall order, and I’d suggest that listening to them is best done in small doses. Sonya Bach attacks the more extrovert études with a near-reckless abandon. She’s Read more ...
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Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Rêverie et caprice, La mort d'Ophélie, Sara la baigneuse Utah Symphony/Thierry Fischer, with Philippe Quint (violin) (Hyperion)Just two big symphonies by French composers can be counted as standard repertoire. Having recorded the current box office favourite as part of their excellent cycle of Saint-Saëns symphonies, Thierry Fischer’s Utah forces now tackle the other one, Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. A few of Fischer’s interpretative decisions prompted me to look at the score to see if he’d changed anything. I’m used to the horn and woodwind snarls at Read more ...
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Korngold: Violin Concerto, String Sextet Andrew Haveron (violin), RTÉ Concert Orchestra/John Wilson, Sinfonia of London Chamber Ensemble (Chandos)Erich Korngold began writing his String Sextet in 1914, when he was just 17. Listeners immune to the pleasures of Korngold’s late Violin Concerto and Symphony in F Sharp might reconsider if they listened to the Sextet first. This is a big, four-movement work, technically brilliant and emotionally rich, largely devoid of the showy flamboyance that can thrill or irk in the orchestral works. Your attention is grabbed at the outset; it’s as if Read more ...
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Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 1, Symphony No. 1 in C, Gounod: Petite Symphonie Scottish Chamber Orchestra/François Leleux (Linn)Initial impressions are disconcerting, the bass thwacks at the start of the first suite extracted from Bizet’s Carmen by Ernest Giraud almost too polite, but the ears adjust quickly; what we get is what you’d hear in an orchestra pit. I’d forgotten how good this music is in its original form, having spent too much time recently marvelling at Rodion Shchedrin’s offbeat string transcription. François Leleux’s Scottish Chamber Orchestra are superb, flautist Silvia Read more ...
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Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck (Reference Recordings)I’m midway through exploring a cycle of symphonies by Heinz Winbeck, a German contemporary composer very much in the Bruckner tradition. I’ll report back next week, but, as a stopgap, here’s an incandescent live recording of Bruckner 9. The recent Berlin Philharmonic box set includes Rattle’s second account of the piece, including the completed finale. I find it pretty convincing, but Manfred Honeck’s Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra opt for the standard three-movement version. The playing is Read more ...
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Rachmaninoff in Lucerne – Rhapsody, Op. 43, Symphony No. 3 Behzod Abduraimov (piano), Luzerner Sinfonieorchester/James Gaffigan (Sony)I’m the only person I know who rates Walton’s Symphony No. 2 as highly as his first, and I’m probably also out on a limb in enjoying Rachmaninov’s concise 3rd Symphony as much as its heftier predecessor. (Best not to get me started on the joys of his Piano Concerto No. 4.) Rachmaninov’s language continued to evolve in the 1930s: the big tunes are still there in abundance, married with a rhythmic punch and harmonic piquancy. Completed in 1936, the 3rd Read more ...
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Beethoven Symphonies 1-3 – arrangements by Ries & Ebers Compagnia di Punto (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi)Just Beethoven’s first three symphonies in this two-disc set, so you wonder whether he’d still be described as a genius had he stopped after the Eroica? Of course; Symphony No. 1’s well-behaved façade conceals a wealth of radical detail, but the leap from there to No. 3 is enormous. Do we really need more Beethoven symphony recordings? Yes, if they’re like these, the eleven-piece Compagnia di Punto (named after a celebrated horn player) performing them in chamber arrangements by Read more ...
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Mike Block: Step into the Void (Bright Shiny Things)The packaging and art design are deceptive; two-thirds of this release is actually a classy set of Bach’s Cello Suites (“... attempting to comprehend all of the Cello Suites as a single entity is truly like stepping into the void.”) . Cellist Mike Block has form in this repertoire. He’s the creator of the Block Strap, “the first product designed so that you can stand/move/dance while playing the cello,” using his invention to help make video recordings of individual Bach movements in the bathrooms of famous concert halls. Block Read more ...
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Carl Davis: Intolerance Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra/Carl Davis (Carl Davis Collection)You’ve probably heard a Carl Davis film score without realising it, this versatile composer’s prolific career taking in Thames Television’s iconic series The World at War and scores of newly written soundtracks for silent films. Abel Gance’s five-hour epic Napoleon is one example, and recent work includes a superb score for Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. This is a reissue of Davis’s music for DW Griffith’s Intolerance, recorded in 1986 for a Channel 4 transmission. Intolerance’s four Read more ...
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Bach: St Matthew Passion The Choir of King’s College Cambridge, Academy of Ancient Music/Sir Stephen Cleobury (King’s College Cambridge)Bach Collegium Japan/Masaaki Suzuki (BIS)Both Masaaki Suzuki and the late lamented Sir Stephen Cleobury have recorded Bach's St Matthew Passion before. I struggled to choose between these two new versions, so thought it best to include both. Overall timings for both sets are, amazingly, just a few seconds apart, though BIS manage to squeeze Suzuki’s version onto just two discs. His account was taped under studio conditions in Japan last April, and Read more ...
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Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas Fazil Say (Warner Classics)“This is a 605 minute piece containing 32 sonatas.” There's some bewildering verbiage from pianist Fazil Say near the back of Warners’ booklet, Say describing the creation of his ‘Fazil Say Beethoven Orchestra“, and practicing the piano sonatas in front of an ‘imaginary Beethoven’, “brimming with boundless energy and musical spirit.” It's easier to understand the relief felt by Say when 11 months of recording sessions came to an end in May 2019: “…a strange weight lifted from me. I felt like I was in a huge void.” Predictably Read more ...