CD Reviews - September 2013

The Brodsky Quartet have released ‘In the South’, a collection of works designed to evoke a sense of sun, passion and dance.  The largest work here, and central to the disc’s programme is Verdi’s (1813-1924) Quartetto, his only string quartet, in fact his only extant chamber composition.  Despite the fact that Verdi rather talked it down, it is a strong work, showing his excellent command of sonata form, as well as a more expected capacity for melodic invention, and ends with a triumphant fugal finale.  Prior to this, the Brodsky Quartet give us the Italian Serenade from Hugo Wolf (1860-1903), followed by Puccini’s (1858-1924) touching Cristantemi (Chysanthemums).  The Italian Serenade is full of joy and playful dance, in contrast to the heart-rending sadness of Cristantemi, and both are performed here with consummate ease.  After the Verdi, we have La oración del torero (The Toreador’s prayer) by Spanish composer Joaquín Turina (1882-1949), an enjoyable one movement programmatic work for string quartet, evoking the scene of a bullfighter praying and receiving the holy sacrament before entering the bull-ring.  Then comes a greatmature work, Four, for Tango by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), originally written for the Kronos Quartet. 

This shows how far Piazzolla took his own Nuevo Tango, with extremes of dissonance and rhythmic effect.  They end the disc with viola player, Paul Cassidy’s arrangement of two movements from the 24 Caprices for solo violin by Nicolò Paganini (1782-1840).  The slow, sixth caprice is followed by the famous final theme and variations.  The arrangements work remarkably well, although the virtuosity is diluted in the sixth, where the challenging multiple stopping is spread out between the instruments.  However, the range of effects on display in the finale is great fun, and this finishes off another enjoyable programme from these great players.

Various. 2013. In the South. The Brodsky Quartet. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10761.

Back in March, I was sent a wonderful CD of mezzo soprano Clare McCaldin singing music by British composer Stephen McNeff (b.1951) – you can find a review of this here.  On the back of this, I’ve been listening to a CD of his larger scale orchestral works, performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dominic Wheeler. Between 2005 & 2007, McNeff was composer in residence with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, during Marin Alsop’s tenure as Principal Conductor.  All four pieces on this CD were written then, and premièred in Bournemouth.  The first work, Sinfonia, is in three movements, with a mysterious opening (‘Quietly and oddly’), followed by a beautifully warm and lyrical slow movement, with touches of Copland or even John Adams.  The final movement, ‘Boisterous’ has a real sense of fun, making great use of the percussion section.  Apparently, the brief for this was to ‘make it lyrical and fun’, which this definitely is.  Heiligenstadt was composed to accompany Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in concert, and the title refers to the Heiligenstadt Testament, which Beethoven wrote at the height of his despair about his deafness.  McNeff uses brief, poignant and almost longing references to various Beethoven songs, which build to a climax, with jubilant horns claiming victory, before the work subsides into an uneasy close, almost in preparation for Beethoven’s Fifth to follow.  For Weathers, the BSO are joined by the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, in a work drawing on the poetry of Thomas

Hardy.  Sadly, the CD does not include the words – I had to look them up, as the words are not always clear from the otherwise proficient chorus (the text can however be downloaded from the Dutton website here).  This is a great showcase choral work, with some challenging moments for the chorus.  It’s good to know that composers such as McNeff, and notably others such as Jonathan Dove, are still composing ambitious works for large chorus and orchestra.  With only occasional tuning issues, mainly in the unaccompanied opening and quieter passages of the fourth section, this is a convincing and dramatic performance, and McNeff’s imaginative and varied orchestration add to an accessible yet engaging work.  The final work, Secret Destinations, was dedicated to McNeff’s friend, the poet Charles Causley, who died in 2003, and represents three places of significance to Causley – the Rocky Mountains, the Basilica in Assisi, and Eden Rock.  Once again, McNeff’s varied use of the orchestra creates constant interest, particularly his use of percussion and the brass section.  Overall, a great showcase for a British composer I would definitely like to hear more from.

McNeff, Stephen. 2013. Heiligenstadt, Secret Destinations, Sinfonia, Weathers. Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Dominic Wheeler. Compact Disc. Dutton Epoch CDLX 7301.

(These reviews first appeared in GScene, September 2013).

Brighton Early Music Festival 2013

The Brighton Early Music Festival enters its 11th year.  This year the festival is entitled 'Passion', and runs from 25 October to 10 November, aiming to explore how our individual passions can be communicated through music of many kinds.  As ever, there is a great mix of established names, young professional soloists and ensembles, and local amateur performers.  In all, there are 22 events this year, and the return of Arts Council funding has helped to ensure the festival can continue to grow and develop in new and exciting ways.

Credit: Bill Cooper, from Hipployte et Aricie

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Glyndebourne join together in an education project, using local dancers and musicians, as well as instrumentalists from the OAE and the Brighton Early Music Live! project.  The project is inspired by work of Jean-Philippe Rameau, and is a response to Glyndebourne's recent production of Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie.  The music is composed by David Gordon, and the performance is choreographed by Christopher Tudor and designed by Bern O'Donoghue (Saturday 5 October, St George's Church, 3pm).  The OAE return later in the festival, bringing their ground-breaking Night Shift Pub Tour to Brighton, taking their performance of a Haydn String Quartet and a brand new work, to a central Brighton pub (Monday 21 October, 30 min sets at 8.30pm and 9.30pm - check here for the venue).

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

The successful Early Music Club Night is back on Saturday 26 October at St Bartholomew's Church, 8 until late.  You can come and go as you please, although the event is ticketed this year, and will be recorded by BBC Radio 3 for later broadcast.  Performers include the Little Baroque Company, Il Nuovo Chiaroscuro (sakbut quartet), the Borromini String Quartet, I Flautisti (recorder quartet), Flauguissimo (flute and guitar), Alison Kinder (viols and renaissance winds), Esther Brazil (soprano) and Greg Skidmore (baritone).

BREMF Consort of Voices

Chantage

BREMF Consort of Voices are joined by 2006 Choir of the Year winners, Chantage, for a concert of music by Tallis, Byrd and other sacred music from the period of Henry VIII to Queen Elizabeth I, and from both the Catholic & Protestant churches.  The concert has the title '40 Shades of Spem in Alium', and will include a performance of Tallis' famous 40 part work (Sunday 27 October, St Bartholomew's Church, 7.30pm).

Red Priest are back with 'Handel in the Wind', a new programme including their own unique take on the music of Handel (Friday 1 November, All Saints Church, Hove, 8pm).

The Marian Consort

The young ensemble that wowed the festival last year, The Marian Consort, return with 'Breaking the Rules', a concert-drama exploring the work and life of Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613).  They are joined by the Celestial Sirens, and an actor, with a script by BREMF Co-Artistic Director, Clare Norburn (Sunday 3 November, St Bartholomew's Church, 7.30pm).

Fellow BREMF Co-Artisitic Director, Deborah Roberts' group, Musica Secreta, with Sophia Brumfitt (soprano), Rosie Midgley (mezzo soprano), Lynda Sayce (lute & chitarrone) and Claire Williams (harpsichord) are joined by members of BREMF Consort of Voices for 'Passion and the Princess', a programme devised by Dr Laurie Stras, exploring marriage, murder and madness at the court of Ferrara (Saturday 2 November, The Old Market, Hove, 7.30pm).

Credit: Bibi Basch

The festival's ever-supportive patron, Dame Emma Kirkby also returns with a concert of music by John Dowland, with Jacob Heringman on the lute (Friday 8 November, St George's Church, 8pm).  They are joined by three young professional lute-song duos, who will also be appearing with Emma and Jacob in a public Masterclass the day before (Thursday 7 November, St George's Church, 7.30pm).

BREMF's other Co-Artistic Director, Clare Norburn, performs with her group, The Telling, with Yvonne Eddy (Soprano), Jean Kelly (harp) and Clare Salaman (vielle & hurdy gurdy).  Their performance, called 'Tall Towers, Husbands - and other Obstacles to Love' includes troubadour and trouvère music, poetry and dances (Saturday 9 November, St Mary's Church, Rock Gardens, Brighton, 1pm).

Rachel Podger

Internationally renowned baroque violinist Rachel Podger performs Bach, Tartini, Matteis and Pisendel, as well as Biber's Guardian Angel from his Mystery Sonatas (11am, Sunday 10 November, Brighton Dome Corn Exchange).  This concert is a joint collaboration with Brighton Dome and the Strings Attached Coffee Concert series.  The day before, Rachel is also holding a public Masterclass at Brighton College (4.30pm, Saturday 9 November).

John Hancorn

The festival closes on Sunday 10 November, St Bartholomew's Church, with a performance of J S Bach's St John Passion.  The BREMF Players, lead by Alison Bury are joined by the BREMF Singers, and the performance is conducted by John Hancorn.  Andrew Griffiths is the Evangelist, and George Humphreys is Christus, with Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Esther Brazil (mezzo soprano), Nick Pritchard (tenor) and Robert Davies (bass) in the other solo roles.


Other events include a workshop with Belinda Sykes and Joglaresa, hosted by BREMF Community Choir (12 October), followed by 'Songs of Sinne & Subversion' from Joglaresa on 25 October.  Emma Murphy from Philomel is also running a workshop on 19 October, and Philomel follow with 'Passion, Body & Soul' on 26 October.  Leah Stuttard (harp and voice) performs in 'The Wool Merchant and the Harp' (27 October), Trio Goya perform Haydn & Beethoven in 'Instruments of Passion' (2 November), and L'Avventura perform passionate love songs from Portugal and Brazil in 'Profane Deliriums' (9 November).

For booking details of all these events, visit the BREMF website.  And do consider joining as a Friend - you'll have advance booking until 4 September, and some events are sure to sell out!

CD Reviews - August 2013

Pianist Peter Donohoe has begun a cycle of Prokofiev’s (1891-1953) Piano Sonatas with the first five, out of a total of nine.  They range from an early student work, unashamedly romantic in the style of Tchaikovsky, through to the fifth, a rather introspective and refelective work, and the only one of the nine to be composed outside Russia.  Whilst the Sonatas 6-8, his ‘War Sonatas’, are widely considered to be his greatest piano works, these first five show a remarkable journey from the early romantic work through to the lively challenges posed by the Fourth Sonata, and the strange expressive harmonic world of the Fifth Sonata.  Donohoe recorded the ‘War Sonatas' no fewer than 23 years ago, to great acclaim at the time.  Now he has returned, this time to record the full set.  He is a great British pianist, with a remarkably sensitive approach to even the most virtuosic of repertoire, and this combination makes this recording particularly enjoyable.  Prokofiev certainly needs virtuosic command, but the expressive side of his music, most notable here in the slow movement of the Fourth Sonata, is often given less careful attention.  Donohoe brings this first volume to a subtle and enigmatic close with the final movement of Fifth Sonata’s surprisingly quiet conclusion – almost as if in anticipation of the next volume to follow soon.

Prokofiev, S. 2013. Prokofiev Piano Sonatas, Volume I : Nos. 1 to 5. Peter Donahoe. Compact Disc. Somm SOMMCD 249.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet continues his survey of Haydn’s (1732-1809) Piano Sonatas, with Volume 5 once again containing 6 sonatas spread across the composer’s output, with the earliest, No. 15 from 1760, through to Nos. 54-56 from 1784.  No. 12 is also here, although its authenticity as a genuine Haydn sonata is under considerable doubt – but whoever composed it, it probably originated even earlier in 1755.  However you look at it, though, this disc once again shows the extraordinary range and constant flow of invention that Haydn demonstrated over such a long period.  Highlights here for me are the lively finale of No. 37, a dance-like minuet and trio of variations, the startling harmonic jump in the finale of No. 54, and the strangely unsettling and destabiliising rhythmns of No. 56.  Once again, Bavouzet demonstrates incredible precision and command, at the same time as bringing this music alive with a sense of fun and enjoyment throughout. 

Haydn, F. J. 2013. Piano Sonatas, Volume 5. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10763.

Clarinettist Michael Collins is back with Volume 2 of British Clarinet Sonatas, once again joined by Michael McHale on the piano.  Here are five works, ranging from 1949 to 2010.  The earliest is Arthur Benjamin’s (1893-1960) Le Tombeau de Ravel, a ‘tombeau’ (memorial tribute) in itself to Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin.  This sequence of miniature waltz time sections ends with a wonderful climax reminding one of Ravel’s La Valse.  Sir Malcom Arnold (1921-2006) is perhaps finally gaining the status he deserves, after a lifetime of battling against being seen as a ‘light’ film composer.  His Sonatina is not a hugely substantial work, but contains delightful jazz infusions, a beautifully lyrical slow movement, and a wildly virtuosic finale.  Edward Gregson (b.1945) has written five Tributes to particular composers (including Poulenc and Bartók), composed for specific clarinettists, including Emma Johnson, and Collins himself.  The other works here are Arnold Cooke’s (1906-2006) Sonata, a substantial four movement work with influences of Hindemith evident, with whom Cooke studied, and finally, a delightful Sonatina by Joseph Horovitz (b. 1926), full of lyricism and bouncy syncopation.  Collins, ably accompanied by McHale, is the ideal advocate for works that sadly seldom receive an airing.

Various. 2013. British Clarinet Sonatas, Volume 2. Michael Collins, Michael McHale. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10758.

Violinist Arabella Steinbacher has combined an old favourite, the Violin Concerto No. 1 by Max Bruch (1838-1920), with Erich Korngold’s (1897-1957) Violin Concerto, and the Poème for Violin and Orchestra by Ernest Chausson (1855-1899).  These are all full-on romantic works, and a whole disc of such music could be rather overpowering, were it not for the fact that Steinbacher takes a cleaner, more measured approach than one might expect.  That is not to say that she is at all reticent in her playing – on the contrary, in the slow movement of the Korngold, for example, she extracts every ounce of romantic lyricism, with a beautifully singing tone throughout.  It’s just that somehow she saves the high romanticism for the ‘right’ moments, rather than wallowing throughout.  Interestingly, if you listen to just one of the works here (perhaps the Bruch in particular), you might be left wanting more, but listening to the disc as a whole the end result is just right – satisfying without feeling like you’ve over-indulged on too much dessert. The Orquestra Gulbenkian, conducted by Lawrence Foster, provide tasteful and solid support.

Various. 2013. Korngold - Violin Concerto, Chausson - Poème, Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 1. Arabella Steinbacher, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Lawrence Foster. Hybrid Super Audio Compact Disc. Pentatone PTC 5186 503.

Finally, more piano, this time Brahms, from Irish pianist Barry Douglas.  He’s on the second volume of Works for Solo Piano by Brahms, with three of the Ballades, three Intermezzi, a Rhapsody and the Sonata No. 3.  He is taking the approach of splitting and mixing up Brahms’ sets, creating interesting programmes as a result.  I have to say I am so used to hearing the Intermezzi in their respective sets, that it takes a little getting used to hearing them separated in this way.  However, once I got used to not hearing what I expected on the next track, I actually really enjoyed the juxtopositions here – particularly the sense of building towards the great Sonata at the end of the disc.  Douglas plays with great sensitivity, and avoids a heaviness that can creep in with Brahms at his most dramatic.  In fact this whole disc builds beautifully to the heart-stopping Rückblick before the joyous chorale-like closing finale of the Sonata.  The sign of a great pianist is being able to say something new with familiar repertoire, without resorting to distorting interpretations, and that is what Douglas achieves here.

Brahms, J. 2013. Works for Solo Piano, Volume Two. Barry Douglas. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10757.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, August 2013).