Overtures & Dances - Impressive variety and virtuosity from the Mēla Guitar Quartet

The Mēla Guitar Quartet formed in 2015, graduates of the Guildhall School of Music & the Royal Academy of Music, and have established a reputation for interesting programming, combining clever arrangements (often their own) of works for other instruments, as well as commissioning new works. Following a change of line-up in 2023 (now comprising Matthew Robinson, George Tarlton, Michael Butten & Zahrah Hutton), they have now recorded a joyful album, entitled Overtures & Dances, including ingenious arrangements (by Tarlton) of two staples of the orchestral overture repertoire, Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila (which opens the disc) and Humperdinck’s Overture to Hänsel und Gretel. The Glinka sets off at a wild pace, with no concessions made when it comes to the racing string scales, the guitars adopting a kind of mind-boggling hocketing technique, alternating semi-quavers between instruments, which quite frankly, sounds even more demanding! As well as all of the rapid virtuosity, they bring out the lyrical melodies, make use of harmonics for lighter textures, as well as drumming effects, and build to an impressive climax of orchestral dimensions. The Humperdinck opens with a more gentle, fairytale atmosphere, but once again, it is those impressive running scales that build up the drama. The guitars bring a music-box feel to the sound world, adding to the sense of fairytale, and the more rustic dance in the latter sections provides spirited dynamic to the more peaceful, delicate conclusion.

Tarlton also arranged the Deux Arabesques for piano by Debussy that appear here. The first gives the cascades of the piano a harp-like flow, and they achieve effective dynamic contrasts here too, as well as an impressive lyrical line. A slight change to the melodic line towards the end of the central section aside, this is otherwise a very effective arrangement, and the use of harmonics in the final cascade is a nice touch. The second Arabesque is playful and dances along, achieving a smoothness that is actually hard to achieve on the piano. The pace is steady and rhythmic, and once again, harmonics provide percussive contrast. Staying with French repertoire, Saint-Saëns’ Bacchanale from Samson et Delilah is up next, in an arrangement by former member of the quartet, Daniel Bovey. Following a dramatic opening, the dance gets going, with similar energy to the Glinka. The eastern-infused melodic line is effective in octaves, and there is drumming along the way to add to the drama. The mood is then calmed for Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose), arranged by Robinson, opening with Sleeping Beauty’s sparse Pavane. Petit Poucet ('Tom Thumb') follows, with relentless repeating scales and a wandering intensity. In Laideronnette, the strumming guitars are harp-like, with also more than a hint of the gamelan. Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête ('The Conversations of Beauty and the Beast' features a glorious glissando across all four instruments, and a de-tuned low E string to replace the contrabassoon of the orchestral scoring. The suite ends with Le Jardin Feerique ('The Fairy Garden', with gentle poise and courtly strumming building to a joyous conclusion, once again conjuring up a band of harps. Moving away from the French repertoire, we then have the Polka italienne by Rachmaninov, with harmonics now giving us dulcimer vibes. Initially the dance has halting rhythms, but then it starts to run away with itself, building to virtuosic craziness, before dying away into a darkly lugubrious finish. In contrast, Holst’s A Fugal Overture has bluesy lines, with complex rhythms and textures and a driving pace, before the mechanical, angular fugue takes hold. The third of Elgar’s 3 Characteristic Pieces, Contrasts: The Gavotte - AD 1700 & 1900 receives an arrangement by Hutton here, the delicate, courtly dance gradually transformed into something more playful and complex, with effective use of harmonics to thin the texture.

The disc ends with a highlight for me, former member Daniel Bovey’s arrangement of Joe Hisaishi’s (b.1950) My Neighbour Totoro Suite. The music is from a Japanese animated film from 1988, about two sisters who move to an old house in the countryside and meet the forest spirit, Totoro. The music is great fun, with an opening playful romp, and tapping rhythms. There’s a joyful, magical feel here, as well as moments of wistful atmosphere, building with a kind of ragtime, jazz energy, providing a great conclusion to this highly enjoyable collection. For a whole album of just four guitars playing, there is great variety of mood and texture here, as well as highly virtuosic display in those fast overtures. 

Various. 2025. Overtures & Dances. Mēla Guitar Quartet. Compact Disc and Download. trptk TTK 0145.

CD Reviews - December 2022

Johannes Pramsohler (violin) and Ensemble Diderot are back with an intriguing collection of so-called ‘Travel Concertos’, centred around the assertion that some of these virtuoso works may have been designed to be taken ‘on tour’ as opportunities to show off their instrumental and compositional talents. They begin with a blistering performance of an earlier version of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050a. There is lively pace in the two outer movements, with sliding chromatic harmonies in the first's harpsichord cadenza, and spiky articulation over joyful double speed harpsichord playing from Philippe Grisvard on harspichord. In between, there is real delicacy and stylish ornamentation from both flute (Alexis Kossenko) and violin. There are also three violin concertos, two from Johann Georg Pisendel (1688-1755) and one from Johann Jakob Kress (1685-1728), allowing Pramsohler to shine as ever here. The Kress is unusual as the solo violin is tuned a semitone higher, giving a brightness to the sound, ringing out from about the other instruments. The Pisendel concertos are full of invention, with triplets adding an edge against the four square rhythm of the opening movement of the Concerto da camera in B flat Major, which also has its beautiful arioso solo line emerge out of the texture and then intertwine with the second violin in the central movement. In the Concerto da camera in F major, Pisendel gives the bright opening a slight side swerve into the minor, and the ornamented solo line increases in virtuosity as the movement progresses. Pramsohler is particularly dazzling in the dancing final movement. There is also a wonderful Concerto by Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729), with solo lines for violin, flute, oboe, theorbo and cello. The ensemble strings are muted, allowing the various solo lines to burst out of the unusual timbre, with dramatic string crossing for the violin and some rattling, deep twanging from the theory's lower registers. Finally, there is a Concerto by Carlo Paolo Durant (1712-1769), for harpsichord, lute, cello and strings, with some great rippling textures from the solo instruments, concluding with delicate bounce from the soloists contrasting with the more bombastic textures of the ensemble in the finale. All in all, some delightful and striking works on offer here, four out of the six being premiere recordings, and all performed with such virtuosic expertise and sensitivity, making this a joy to listen to again and again.

Various. 2022. Travel Concertos. Ensemble Diderot, Johannes Pramsohler. Compact Disc. Audax Records. ADX 11204.

Organist Tom Wilkinson has recorded the six Trio Sonatas, BWV 525-530 by J S Bach on the organ of the Reid Concert Hall at the University of Edinburgh. These Sonatas are unusual in that Bach took the format of the trio sonata, with its three individual lines, and transplanted that onto the organ. Of course, it is not unusual for there to be three ‘voices’ in organ music - the right hand, the left hand and the feet on the pedals - but the degree to which Bach made these three voices independent and used them almost as separate instruments is very different, even from the rest of his own organ compositions. The organ used here has a beautifully soft sound, and Wilkinson selects carefully the stops used for each movement (these are all listed in the notes for organ specialists) to give variety of timbre. So for example, there is a bright, bell-like sound in the right hand for the Allegro of Sonata No. 1, which dances along, contrasting with the lyrical darkness of the Adagio which precedes it. The Adagio of Sonata No. 3 has a gentle, reedy quality, contrasting with the walking bass and intertwining top lines, then rapid articulation of the outer movements. That bright, ringing right hand features again in the Allegro of Sonata No. 5, and there’s a moody, tremulous sound to Sonata No. 6’s Lente. Overall, this is a very pleasing disc, and for a non-organ fan, Wilkinson’s effortless and even articulation of the complex three-part lines really brings out Bach’s daring use of the Trio Sonata form.

Bach, J. S. 2022. Trio Sonatas, BWV 525-530. Tom Wilkinson. Compact Disc. First Hand Records. FHR138.

The Tippett Quartet have added to the 150th celebrations of Vaughan Williams’ (1872-1958) birth with a strong recording of his two String Quartets, alongside Gustav Holst’s (1874-1934) Phantasy on British Folk Songs, Op. 36. Vaughan Williams’ String Quartet No. 1 was composed in 1909, after his time studying with Ravel in Paris, but he didn’t publish the work until after the First World War, in 1922. The influence of Ravel can certainly be heard in the opening movement, in its slithering chromatic lines and shifting harmonies. The second movement has more elements of folk-like melody, but that sense of fluid tonality is still present. The unsettling 5 beat metre of the Romance is striking, undermining the seemingly calm melodic lines and more straightforward harmonies. Following its subdued ending, the Finale bounces along with energetic propulsion, although there are glassy textures, contemplative reminiscence and an angular fugue before the final showy race to the finish, with rushing scales down through all four instruments. The String Quartet No. 2 was composed during the Second World War, in 1942-43, and was dedicated to violist Jean Stewart, and the viola features heavily throughout. Lydia Lowndes-Northcott on viola here sets the tone for an expressive reading of the work. The viola sets off in the opening movement, which is full of nervous energy, before the bleakly stark (coldly, and with no vibrato, as written, from the Tippett players here) opening to the Romance. The first warmth comes from the viola, and the violins’ pentatonic meanderings are reminiscent of The Lark Ascending, whilst the richly surging chords recall the Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. The viola is again to the fore in the nervy, darkly shimmering Scherzo, as well as starting off the contrasting mood of the finale, full of meandering serenity and calm. Holst’s Phantasy was written in 1916, and performed the following year, but he withdrew the work, and it was only following his death that his daughter Imogen published a version for string orchestra. The version for string quartet used on this recording was edited by Roderick Swanston.   It begins with another viola solo, with ethereal violins joining in pentatonic mode, before the first violin leads off with a sprightlier version over meandering accompaniment. The viola then takes over again with a jauntily swinging melody over a drone. Gradually the complexity of the textures builds, with weighty octaves and spread chords, before the intensity falls away at the end. The Tippett Quartet’s performances here are exemplary, but it is the String Quartet No. 1 that sets this recording alight with energy and variety of expression.

Various. 2022. Ralph Vaughan Williams String Quartets 1& 2, Gustav Holst Phantasy Quartet Op. 36 (ed. Swanston). Tippett Quartet. Compact Disc. SOMM Recordings SOMMCD 0656.

Finally, two discs from Convivium, with Christmas in mind. The Silver Swan is a disc of songs by two lesser known contemporaneous English composers, Eric Thiman (1900-1975) and Michael Head (1900-1976), Emily Gray (mezzo-soprano) and Nicole Johnson (piano) do a great service in bringing their songs to our attention. Both composers taught at the Royal Academy of Music, as well as having extensive careers as examiners and adjudicators at festivals. There are a few Christmas works from both composers, including Head's more well-known Little Road to Bethlehem, and an effectively simple setting of In the Bleak Midwinter from Thiman. Amongst the other songs on offer here, highlights from Head include the nostalgic Sweet Chance, and the passionate Nocturne, Johnson particularly impressive with its challenging piano part. From Thiman, The Silver Swan setting is strong, as are Sleeping and Song of Farewell, both full of lyrical expression and subtlety of setting. Gray’s command of the range required here is impressive, and her pure light tone can be contrasted with power at the extremes of the register when required. 

Moving into unashamed Christmas territory, the Celestia Singers and Celestia Brass, conducted by David Ogden, with Rebecca Taylor on piano, have recorded Christmas Tidings, an album of choral pieces by Brian Knowles (b.1946). Knowles spent many years as touring musical director for Roger Whittaker, but many of the works stem from his time as teacher and composer in residence at The Royal School, Haslemere. Some of the 'swingier' numbers are less to my taste, but would be effective in a school setting, and they are performed with gusto by the singers and brass players. The more contemplative works here work better for me, such as the gentle setting of I Sing Of A Maiden, and Twelfth Night. Soprano Lucy Hughers also deserves mention for her touching solo in The Promise. The jollier numbers move more into John Rutter territory – so it depends whether you are a fan of that Christmas style or not. The performances here cannot be faulted, and the recorded sound is clear and warm throughout.

Various. 2022. The Silver Swan: Songs by Eric Thiman & Michael Head. Emily Gray, Nicole Johnson. Compact Disc. Convivium Records. CR075.

Knowles, B. 2022. Christmas Tidings. Celestia Singers, Celestia Brass, Rebecca Taylor, David Ogden. Compact Disc. Convivium Records. CR077.

 

Karabits and the BSO journey beyond the moon in a fast machine - BBC Prom 4

Kiril Karabits
© Chris Christodoulou

Nemanja Radoluvić (violin)
Trinity Boys Choir
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Kiril Karabits (conductor)

Sunday 21 July, 7.30 pm

BBC Prom 4

Royal Albert Hall, London

★★★★




Adams, John (b.1947): Short Ride in a Fast Machine - fanfare for orchestra

Barber, Samuel (1910-81): Violin Concerto, Op.14

Encore:
Traditional: Pašona kolo

Holst, Gustav (1874-1934): The Planets, Op. 32

Adams:
'The BSO were on top of the complexities, the woodwind fizzing and the brass soaring'.

Radoluvić:
'Great presence and involvement with the orchestra, giving Barber's generous melody warm tone, yet maintaining lightness of touch'.

Nemanja Radoluvić & Kiril Karabits
© Chris Christodoulou

Encore:
'Radulović brought the front desk strings to their feet for a blistering performance of a traditional Serbian circle dance'.

Holst:
'Karabits ... achieved a sense of awe and calm ... giving tight attention to dynamic control'.

'A Planets with considerable insight, dynamic variety and atmospheric contrasts'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

O Magnum Mysterium - The Baroque Collective Singers with the Lewes Festival of Song

The Baroque Collective Singers

The Baroque Collective Singers are performing in a Christmas fundraiser concert to support the Lewes Festival of Song at St. Anne’s Church, Lewes on Friday December 14th at 8pm.

John Hancorn

Following their successful festival finale last July, The Baroque Collective Singers are once again conducted by their Director, John Hancorn.  They will be performing 'O Magnum Mysterium', a candlelit, radiant seasonal programme of familiar and unfamiliar music, with some beautiful carols for the audience to join in. The programme includes highly contrasting settings of O Magnum Mysterium by Victoria, Poulenc and Ola Gjeilo.  There will be music by contemporary composers such as James MacMillan, Judith Weir and Ed Hughes, as well as works by Holst, Britten and Tavener.  

Guest cellist Sebastian Comberti and pianist and festival director Nancy Cooley will be playing too.  Tickets are £15 (under 16s £7.50) with proceeds going towards a new piano for the festival. Mulled wine and refreshments by donation. Get tickets here.

Sebastian Comberti

Nancy Cooley

  

Endings and beginnings: choral classics and a new commission from BBC Singers and Oramo - Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 6

© Benjamin Ealovega

BBC Singers
Sakari Oramo

Monday 20 August 2018

Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 6

Cadogan Hall, London

★★★★




Frank Bridge: Music, when soft voices die

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Rest

Gustav Holst: Nunc dimittis

Laura Mvula: Love Like a Lion

Hubert Parry: Songs of Farewell -
1. My soul, there is a country
2. I know my soul hath power to know all things
3. Never weather-beaten sail
4. There is an old belief
5. At the sound earth's imagined corners
6. Lord, let me know mine end

'Oramo conducted with big gestures, shaping the dynamics and flow of the text with confidence'.

'Mvula draws on a variety of styles, yet combining them in a skilfully coherent way'.

'More choral compositions from Mvula must surely follow'.

'The BBC Singers agility in the winding lines and frantic entries was impressive'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Blissful daydreams on a hot afternoon: lullabies and dreams from Connolly and Middleton - Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 4

© Jan Capinski

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)

Joseph Middleton (piano)

Monday 6 August, 2018

Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 4

Cadogan Hall, London

★★★★★





Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924): A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster, Op. 140 - 'A soft day'
Hubert Parry (1848-1918): English Lyrics, Set 4 - 'Weep you no more, sad fountains'
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): The House of Life - 'Love-Sight'
Ivor Gurney (1890-1937): Thou didst delight my eyes
Arthur Somervell (1863-1937): A Shropshire Lad - 'Into my heart an air that kills'
Frank Bridge (1879-1941): Come to me in my dreams
Herbert Howells (1892-1983): Goddess of Night
Frank Bridge: Journey's End
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): A Sweet Lullaby
Benjamin Britten: Somnus, the humble god
Gustav Holst (1874-1934): Twelve Humbert Wolfe Songs, Op. 48 - 'Journey's End'
Benjamin Britten: A Charm of Lullabies, Op. 41
Lisa Illean (b.1983): Sleeplessness ... Sails
Mark-Anthony Turnage (b.1960): Farewell

'Connolly and Middleton held the audience’s interest ... through a strong sense of communication and commitment to the texts'.

'Connolly, in her Proms recital debut, and Middleton delivered their programme with assurance and conviction throughout'.

'Connolly always delivered the text with intensity and passion, without ever becoming mannered in delivery'.

Middleton:
'His rippling watery accompaniment to Parry’s Weep you no more, sad fountains, and the beautifully placed delicacy of the opening to Vaughan Williams’ Love-Sight are just two small examples of the subtlety of his touch throughout'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here. 

CD Reviews - March 2014

Violinist Tasmin Little and the BBC Philharmonic, under Sir Andrew Davis, have gone for some canny programming with their latest disc of works for violin and orchestra by British composers.  Getting top billing is the ever-popular The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams, and it receives a beautifully sensitive performance from Little and the orchestra, without a hint of routine – a remarkable achievement in itself.  We are also treated to expanded arrangements of three popular Elgar salon pieces – the two Chanson (de matin & de nuit), and Salut d’amour.  Once again, these are lovingly yet not over-indulgently performed.  However, they head the disc with what could be regarded as the real ‘meat’ here – E J Moeran’s (1894-1950) Violin Concerto.  This is definitely a work that demonstrates how the performing canon often persists in ignoring works that deserve better exposure.  Moeran gives the solo violin plenty to do, and there is some really demanding material here.  However, the Irish tinges throughout, the lively dancing middle Scherzo, and a particularly beautiful slow final movement make this a very enjoyable and accessible piece that surely could be more regularly performed.  Here’s hoping Little’s advocacy, and clear love of the music, brings it greater recognition.  Delius’s (1862-1934) Légende was published in the composer’s lifetime as a work for violin and piano, and although the composer himself produced an orchestral version, it was only published in 1985.  This short single movement work is delightful, with singing lines for the violin, and skillful orchestration, particularly in the use of the wind section.  This is placed next to a similar length, single movement from Holst (1874-1934), A Song of the Night.  Unfortunately, this work suffers from the juxtoposition, and despite some interesting writing for brass, and a striking opening cadenza for the violin, it didn’t hold my interest – the performance cannot be faulted, however.  Throughout the disc, Little manages to combine a consistently smooth and sweet tone with an easy command of the considerable demands these pieces place on the soloist.  A well crafted programme of winning performances, highly recommended.  Little performed The Lark Ascending with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under David Hill in Brighton on 8 March 2014 - my review here.

Various, 2013. The Lark Ascending, E. J. Moeran Violin Concerto and works by Delius, Elgar, Holst. Tasmin Little, BBC Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10796.

I have reviewed live recordings from the annual Heimbach Festival which takes place in an Art Nouveau style Hydroelectric Power Station.  Despite this unlikely setting, it draws some great chamber performers, and the recordings have real excitement and energy, and the latest, a collection of chamber works from the early 20^th century, is no exception.  The disc opens with Two Pieces for Piano Trio by Lili Boulanger (1893-1918).  She was the first female winner of the prestigious composing award, the Prix de Rome, at the age of 19.  Sadly, she died just 5 years later, and her life was blighted by illness.  Her older sister, Nadia (1887-1979), is better known, as she went on to become the the most celebrated composition teacher of the last century, with students including Copland, Philip Glass, Piazzolla and even Quincy Jones.  In fact, she composed a limited output herself, as the tragic death of her sister led her to vow to stop composing, devoting herself to teaching, conducting and to promoting the work of Lili.  Here, her early Three Pieces for Cello and Piano are already more challenging harmonically, in contrast to the more lyrical soundworld of Lili’s work.  Debussy is represented on this disc by an early Scherzo for Cello and Piano, and his more substantial Violin Sonata.  The Violin Sonata is performed here by Alina Ibragimova (violin), with Lars Vogt, the Artistic Director of the festival, on piano.  Ibragimova produces a slightly more rounded sound for me than cellist Gustav Rivinius, who plays the Debussy Scherzo, as well as the Nadia Boulanger pieces.  At times, I find his tone a little brittle – although to be fair, this is perhaps more suited to the astringency of Boulanger’s writing.  The final work on the disc is Paul Hindemith’s (1895-1963) Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello.  This is certainly a terbulent work, reflecting the times (the German composer wrote this in 1933) as well as the shifting styles in Hindemith’s work.  Sometimes his music can be almost unbearably dry and cerebral, yet here there is real energy and life, and the live performance from Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Volker Jacobsen (viola) and Bartholomew LaFolette (cello) communicates this well.  A fascinating insight into lesser known twentieth century chamber repertoire here.

Various, 2013. Boulanger, Hindemith, Debussy. Wanzhen Li, Gunilla Süssmann, Alina Ibragimova, Lars Vogt, Gustav Rivinius, Anna Rita Hitaj, Christian Tetzlaff, Volker Jacobsen, Bartholomew LaFolette. Compact Disc. Avi 8553295.

French pianist Jean Efflam-Bavouzet enters the middle period of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas in his second volume set for Chandos.  The ‘biggies’ here are perhaps the ‘Tempest’ (Op. 31 No. 2), the ‘Moonlight’ (Op. 27 No. 2), the ‘Grande Sonate’ (Op. 26), and of course the ‘Waldstein’ (Op. 53), which heralds the final period sonatas which will presumably form the final volume in due course.  As with Volume 1, Bavouzet’s playing is commanding, and following his ongoing Haydn cycle, it is interesting to hear him bring the articulation and joy of that repertoire into his Beethoven playing, whilst also having the power and gravitas required for the increasingly extreme writing in Beethoven’s sonatas.  I particularly like his ‘Tempest’, and the slow/fast contrasts in the first movement are especially senstively judged.  I personally like a darker, more menacing ‘Moonlight’ than Bavouzet gives, and the finale here could be wilder and less tamed.  However, his ‘Waldstein’ is a towering performance, particularly throughout the incredibly challenging Rondo finale.

Beethoven, 2014. Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Volume 2. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. Compact Disc (3). Chandos CHAN 10798(3).

Finally, chamber music by Heinrich Hofmann (1842-1902).  Previously unkown to me, this German Romantic composer was apparently one of the most frequently performed German composers of the day, and yet is almost completely forgotten today.  Works such as his Sympnohy in E flat and his cantata, Märchen von der schönen Melusina, were widely performed in England and the USA too.  Having listened to this new CD from the Berolina Ensemble of three of his chamber works, I can see why the music was very popular, but I can also perhaps understand why it hasn’t stood the test of time.  The String Sextet is lively, with lyrical tunes and a rousing finish.  The Serenade for Flute and String Quintet has great writing for the flute, with a touching slow movement and dance-like finale.  The Octet, for the unusual line-up of flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon and string quartet, is the most interesting piece here, with greater complexity of ideas – yet there are still no great surprises.  And therein lies the crux – music that doesn’t surprise may be popular in its day, but it is unlikely to achieve longevity.  These are convincing performances, and the wind players in the Octet particularly deserve mention for their lyricism.  But I am not inspired to seek out more of Hofmann’s work on the back of this.

Hofmann, 2013. Chamber Music - Octet, Serenade, Sextet. Berolina Ensemble. Compact Disc. MDG 948 1808-6.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, March 2014)