Classical Notes: Iestyn Davies

'Purves’ physical fitness is also impressive, managing to run in circles around the whole stage at one point, before delivering faultlessly controlled and effortless singing'.

Iestyn Davies:

'Right from his extended first entry on a gloriously blossoming "O", it was clear that his voice and presence matched that of Purves'.

Christopher Purves (Saul) & Ru Charlesworth (Witch of Endor)
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photography by ASH

'The chorus were on tremendous form, and ... they clambered up and down from high tables, played dead on the battlefield, rising up briefly like zombies, and dramatically delivered choruses from the very front of the stage at full throttle'.

'Jonathan Cohen conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with tight energy throughout, and moments for harp, organ and carillon shone through (hats off to the spinning organist (Matthew Fletcher) at the opening of Part 2)'.

'A visual and musical delight, and it hasn’t lost its impact and energetic spark in the intervening ten years'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Iestyn Davies (David)
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photography by ASH

Thursday, 23 February 2017

CD Reviews - February 2017

Countertenor Iestyn Davies is joined by the early music ensemble Arcangelo, directed by Jonathan Cohen, for a showcase recording of solo alto Cantatas by J S Bach (1685-1750). These cantatas are the perfect vehicle to demonstrate Davies’ pure, even tone and Arcangelo’s range, from subtle continuo to full ensemble, always maintaining chamber intimacy. The first cantata on the disc, BWV170 ‘Vergnügte Ruh’, beliebte Seelenlust’, opens with a beautifully warm aria, with long notes expertly sustained by Davies underpinned by a slow descending bassline and a intertwining oboe line. Davies’ recitatives are suitably dramatic, within an overall contained aesthetic, with great attention given to the text. The closing aria here has an energetic pace, with some impressive organ playing. Cantata BWV54, ‘Widerstehe doch der Sünde’ is shorter, with just two arias and a central recitative, but the building repeated chords and suspensions of the opening aria is a highlight of the disc, with Davies delivering an even line over the pulsing accompaniment. The descending chromatic line of the second aria takes Davies into a lower register, yet there is no audible ‘gear change’, and the overall effect is as smooth as the instruments on the same fugue theme. Sandwiched between the alto cantatas, Arcangelo give lively performances of Sinfonias from two other cantatas, BWV52 and 174. Here, Bach reworked movements from his Brandenburg Concertos – with BWV52, he adds hunting horns, oboes and bassoon to the third Concerto’s opening movement, whereas BWV174 comes from the first Concerto. Arcangelo are spirited and energetic, and these provide a welcome lift amidst the more contemplative mood of the solo cantatas. The final Cantata, BWV82, ‘Ich habe genug’, was originally for bass, and then Bach rewrote it for soprano, with a flute replacing the solo oboe, before producing a version for alto. Here, the combination of warm oboe tones from Katharina Spreckelsen with the smooth, steady line of Davies in the opening aria is incredibly moving, and the central lullaby with its lilting accompaniment is equally touching. An impressive and highly moving recording.

Bach, J. S. 2017. Widerstehe doch de Sünde, Ich have genug,Vergnügte Ruh'. Iestyn Davies, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen. Compact Disc. Hyperion CDA68111.

Violinist Tasmin Little joins pianist Piers Lane for their second volume of British Violin Sonatas. The meat of the disc is John Ireland’s (1879-1962) wonderful Sonata No. 1. With it’s turbulent opening movement, a beautifully song-like central Romance, and a folksy Rondo to finish, this is a striking work, despite being less popular than Ireland’s Sonata No. 2 which followed some seven years later. Little is lyrical and sensitive in the touching Romance, and Lane rises to the challenges of Ireland’s weighty writing for the piano in the first movement, without allowing it to overpower the violin. Sir Arthur Bliss’ (1891-1975) early single movement Sonata is by contrast rather over dramatic and a little over-emphatic. It was part of a fuller Sonata that he was working on when his brother Kennard was killed in the First World War, and he abandoned the work, never completing it. The Sonata by Frank Bridge (1879-1941) that opens the disc is another incomplete work, with the second movement completed by Paul Hindmarsh. The opening is surprisingly brash for Bridge, but it settles down into a more recognisable style, with intriguingly unusual harmonies, and in the second movement, a galloping central scherzo surrounded by a beautifully subdued and lyrical slow section, and a subtle coda (composed by Hindmarsh, but drawing on ideas from the first movement, as Bridge would surely have done himself). A Romance and Pastorale from Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), both with wandering modal themes, and more than a hint of The Lark Ascending in the Romance, are beautifully performed here, with Little in particular enjoying Vaughan Williams’ meandering, rising lines for the violin. The disc ends with a brief piece by William Lloyd Webber (1914-1982) (father of Andrew & Julian), ‘The Gardens at Eastwell’, his final composition. It is a pleasant enough miniature, with a captivating tune, but rather inconsequential when compared with the other works on the disc. The highlight of the disc is their compelling performance of the Ireland, but overall this is a stimulating survey of some lesser-known yet striking British chamber works.

Various. 2016. British Violin Sonatas, Volume Two. Tasmin Little, Piers Lane. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10899.

I recently reconnected with an old school friend, pianist Adrian Lord, discovering he has just released a recording of his own Twelve Romances for Piano, entitled Journey. As the name would suggest, this is a very personal set of solo piano pieces, some inspired by significant places, such as childhood holidays in the Peak District, and travels in Scotland. The album was recorded in the stunning setting of a studio at Crear in Western Scotland, overlooking the Paps of Jura. This is a highly enjoyable and atmospheric short set of miniatures, with a common thread of rhythmic momentum and interest over simple harmonic progressions. The result is often very effective and engaging. There are clear references to family roots in the Lancashire mills, with spinning rhythms in ‘Blaize’ and ‘Revolutions’, and a similar sense of perpetual motion in the hypnotic opening ‘Prelude’. The pieces are united by their use of repetition and arpeggiated patterns, yet variety is achieved in imaginative use of dynamics, such as in the fiery sections of ‘Wildfire’, and the moving concluding ‘Time to Remember’, written in memory of his recently deceased mother. Adrian performs this personal collection with conviction, and the quasi-improvisatory nature of his compositions makes for very engaging listen.

Lord, A. 2016. Journey: Twelve Romances for Piano. Compact Disc. Music Media MMC115.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, February 2017)

Monday, 22 June 2015

CD Reviews - June 2015

Agostino Steffani’s (1654-1728) operatic output has been overshadowed by his more famous ‘successor’ Handel, yet interest has been growing in recent years, perhaps on the back of the longstanding revival of attention for Handel’s operas. So much so that two recordings of Niobe, Regina di Tebe (‘Niobe, Queen of Thebes’) have come out almost simultaneously, one live recording from the Royal Opera House’s production in 2010, and another from the production at Boston Early Music Festival in 2011 (although recorded recently) on Erato. It’s a complicated story of Greek myth, with the usual themes of unrequited love, power, magic and tragedy. As is often the case with opera recordings, a good synopsis and texts is crucial if you are to have any chance of following what’s happening, which the ROH give us – I would have like to have seen a few more production pictures to get a sense of the design world (although there are pictures available online). In terms of the performances, Véronique Gens as Niobe and Iestyn Davies as Creonte (the love interest) stand out as exceptional, both infusing their singing with strong characterisation without being overly mannered. The male soprano Jacek Laszczkowski as Anfione, the King of Thebes certainly divides listeners. His incredibly high voice, and the vocal pyrotechnics he demonstrates are highly dramatic, and I suspect on stage this added power and presence to his role, but I found on disc his voice a little over-harsh and extreme in comparison to the other voices. However, it is the instrumental forces of the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock that shine out of this recording. Steffani’s instrumentation is always striking and never dull, despite the steady flow of so many relatively short arias and duets (over forty in this version, which already contains some significant cuts). The appearance of trumpets and drums straight away in the overture signposts Steffani’s daring and dramatic scoring to come. I enjoyed discovering this highly individual music and look forward to catching a production of this or another of Steffani’s operas in the near future, as I am sure more will follow on the back of this.

Steffani, A. 2015. Niobe, Regina di Tebe. Véronique Gens, Jacek Laszczkowski, Iestyn Davies et al, Bathasar-Neumann-Ensemble, Thomas Hengelbrock. Compact Discs (3). Opus Arte OA CD9008 D.

Singing in Igor Stravinsky’s (1882-1971) Symphony of Psalms in last year’s Brighton Festival (Brighton Festival Chorus, the Philharmonia Orchestra and John Wilson -review here) reawakened my interest in perhaps one of the most individual and significant composers of the twentieth century. So pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet performing his complete works for piano and orchestra, with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra under Yan Pascal Tortelier, promised much, and certainly did not disappoint. The first thing that stands out is the diversity of this one composer’s output, from the youthful exuberance of Pétrouchka, through the neoclassical Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, and the Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, right up to Movements. The Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments comes first, and in its neoclassical style, there are also nods to the Baroque and Bach in the middle slow movement in particular. Yet this is pure Stravinsky, and the driving final movement, as well as the challenging yet precise writing for piano throughout, is given a rousing performance from Bavouzet and the combined wind and brass players here. The Capriccio, composed some five years later, is somewhat less intense in style, and the presence of strings here almost smoothes out the textures, although the dazzling piano part has plenty of life, and Bavouzet has great fun with this. We jump forward thirty or so years for Movements, a serialist work of five short movements, influenced by Webern, entirely based on a single tone row first heard on the solo piano before its serialist manipulation. Cerebral perhaps, yes, but by no means inaccessible. The piano tends to lead small chamber groupings rather than taking a central solo role, and although the piece goes by in just under ten minutes, Bavouzet and the orchestra perform with intensity and tight ensemble. Stravinsky’s ballet score, Pétrouchka is there to complete the disc, not being technically a piano ‘concerto’, the piano being more a part of the orchestra than a solo instrument – and Bavouzet describes in the notes how much he enjoyed being part of the orchestra for a change. This lively ballet score from 1911 still sounds fresh and innovative, combining simple tunes with quirky scoring, bitonal harmonies and dramatic balletic use of rhythm throughout, and the performance here is full of spirit, yet precise and sharp, a great conclusion to an exceptional disc.

Stravinsky, I. 2015. Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Capriccio, Movements, Pétrouchka. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Yan Pascal Tortelier. Hybrid Super Audio Compact Disc. Chandos CHSA 5147.

Czech born composer and violinist Johann Stamitz (1717-1757) was influential in the development of the Classical symphony, writing around 50 of them, and primarily establishing the conventional four-movement pattern. He was also the director of the renowned orchestra of the day, the Mannheim Court Orchestra. So, whilst not a household name today (and often confused with his two sons Karl & Anton, also violinist/composers), he is known predominantly for this influence on orchestral works and performance. Yet he also composed a fair amount of chamber works, concertos and some choral works, as well as his set of six Violin Sonatas, Op. 6, which violinist Stephan Schardt has recorded with harpsichordist Michael Behringer. The works are problematic in terms of source material, with the printed edition published after the composer’s death containing errors in both parts. Schardt and Behringer have researched the available sources, as well as other works by Stamitz to establish a performing edition, and this has proved very successful, with characterful yet appropriate articulation from the violin, with tasteful and sympathetic accompaniment from the harpsichord. The structure of the six sonatas is the same – a slow movement, followed by a fast central allegro, and ending with a minuet – a standard approach at the time, as the conventions were still developing and becoming established. The allegros are perhaps where the most technically demanding music comes, although harmonically they are not necessarily very advanced. The adagios however contain some highly ornamental writing, and the fifth sonata has the violin playing two separate lines throughout. The minuets are elegant, with more adventurous harmonic interest in their central trio sections. The sound on this SACD recording is clear as a bell, and the two performers prove the strongest of advocates for these sonatas, and their pivotal position in the development of early Classical style and form.

Stamitz, J. 2014. Violin Sonatas, Op. 6. Stephan Schardt, Michael Behringer. Compact Disc. MDG 903 1862-6.

(Edited versions of some of these reviews first appeared in GScene, June 2015)

Classical Notes

Tuesday, 10 June 2025

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Thursday, 23 February 2017

CD Reviews - February 2017

Monday, 22 June 2015

CD Reviews - June 2015

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