The World's Leading Classical Music Label

David's Review Corner - May 2006

BERLIOZ: La Damnation de Faust. Marie-Ange Todorovitch (mezzo), Michael Myers (tenor), Alain Vernhes (baritone), Rene Schirrer (bass), Slovak Philharmonic Choir, Orchestre National de Lille/ Region Nord-Pas de Calais, Jean-Claude Casadesus (conductor). Naxos 8.660116-17. (2 CDs). (126' 44").

Berlioz's Damnation of Faust has enjoyed patchy success on disc with at least one element usually failing to live up to expectations and leaving the performance flawed. This new entry from Lille impresses with its innate French quality, the soloists singing with that special sound that leads to a more lithe if less weighty sound throughout. Rene Schirrer's Mephistopheles is sinister rather than the usual operatic villain that disfigures so many other recordings, his first entry carrying no more than a suggestion of evil. This logically is a Mephistopheles that has to first set a trap to catch Faust and for that he has to be likeable. Marie-Ange Todorovitch has an equally pleasing and unforced mezzo for Marguerite, her silvery tone particularly beautiful in the opening of Part Four. Michael Myers as Faust takes time to warm his voice in this 'live' performance, his character one of easy pray to Mephistopheles. Alain Vernhes is the outstanding warm voiced Brander and vocally is the strong member of the cast. The Slovak chorus blossom as the score progresses, female voices ideal in the final picture of the heavenly host. Casadesus is the key player, his approach never bludgeoning the score, but achieving the points he wants to make with subtle colours. He brings a carefully prepared nuance to every single note, the bluff and brash approach that often passes for Berlioz style avoided like the plague. Of course there is the requisite impact in the Hungarian March and the Descent into Hell, but turn to track 7 on the second disc, with the flutes dancing through the Dance of the Spirits, and you have pure joy. So it is that the Lille orchestra brings the performance its crowning glory, much helped by the limpid transparency the engineers have so successfully achieved, balance between the soloists and orchestra being exemplary.

FINZI: Intimations of Immortality, Op. 29. For St Cecilia, Op. 30. James Gilchrist (tenor), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, David Hill (conductor). Naxos 8.557863. (55' 54").

The music of Gerald Finzi has lived too long in the shadow of Elgar and Vaughan Williams, that period during his life when he enjoyed some success evaporating in the years that followed his early death. He left a catalogue of works that was not large, the death of his mentor and close friends in the First World War affecting his creativity, much of his life spent in the seclusion of the countryside. His scores were largely written on a modest musical canvas, Intimations of Immortality, with its demands for a tenor soloist, chorus and orchestra, being one of the few exceptions. Using words from William Wordsworth's ode lamenting the passing of childhood innocence, the work commenced in 1936 when Finzi may have been aware of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, influences seemingly from that work surfacing from time to time. There is much colourful and sturdy orchestral writing, mingling with pastoral aspects of rural England. Dynamic contrasts are strong, with an animated third section, while the fifth, Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting, contains some of the most beautiful choral writing in the English tradition. As with all great works it responds to many approaches, James Gilchrist's lyric response clearly mirroring the sadness of the score. His impeccable diction and focused intonation, together with the outstanding orchestral playing and singing, makes this in every way preferable to the two existing versions irrespective of price. The joyful festival mood at the opening of For St. Cecilia eventually gives way to a concentrated gracefulness of music's patron saint. With a lack of recordings it makes a much-desired coupling to a disc I fervently commend to you.

BRUCH: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26. Konzertstuck in F sharp minor, Op. 84. Romance in A minor, Op. 42. Maxim Fedotov (violin), Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Dimitry Yablonsky (conductor). Naxos 8.557689. (53' 27").

At the last count there were over sixty recordings of Bruch's popular violin concerto in the CD catalogue, almost all coupled with a well-known concerto from another composer. That fact alone makes the present release all the more important by offering two of Bruch's rarely heard works for violin and orchestra. The Konzertstuck came late in his life, Bruch already turned seventy when it was completed in 1911, his original idea of describing it as a concerto subsequently rejected in favour of a less ambitious title. By that time he was composing in a style long out of date, the result having made little impression on the violin repertoire. In the mode of the first concerto, it is cast in two movements, the first very attractive in its mercurial opening, and requiring a soloist of considerable dexterity. The Romance, the first of two with that title, dates from 1874 and places it in the era of the first concerto, its substantial length rather in the mood of the composer's popular Scottish Fantasy. Maxim Fedotov's approach to the concerto's opening movement is one of urgency, his fulsome tone and wide vibrato bringing an uncommon weight to the movement. He moves to a sweet tone for the central movement, with a fast and energetic finale. Yablonsky and the orchestra are happy to supply a backdrop, playing a more active role in the Konzertstuck. The balance is typically Russian with the soloist well forward of the orchestra, and if you fancy this coupling it is the only disc available.

BAX: Piano Trio in B flat. Clarinet Sonata. Folk-Tale for cello and piano. Clarinet Sonata in E major. Romance for clarinet and piano. Trio in one movement for piano, violin and clarinet. Robert Plane (clarinet), Benjamin Frith (piano), Gould Piano Trio. Naxos 8.557698. (76' 51").

A very important release for Bax enthusiasts with three world premiere recordings that take us back to music from his early years. He left London's Royal Academy of Music before he had completed his studies, thinking he could earn a living in the arts, but found it more difficult than expected. Maybe he thought easy acceptance would come by following in the footsteps of others, much of his early music influenced by Ravel and Debussy, a mood he even returned to in the delightful Piano Trio, his last completed chamber work dating from 1946. With every ingredient to please audiences, its three substantial movements are well contrasted and its relative neglect is unforgivable. The much better known Clarinet Sonata comes from 1934, and marked the end of the period of his major output. Opening with the clarinet in its silky smooth mode, the second and also its last movement tax the soloist's virtuosity. Folk-Tale, from 1918, marks the beginning of his great symphonic period, its quiet and cool rhapsodic nature of continuing pleasure. The disc then arrives at the first of the world premiers, the early Clarinet Sonata in which Bax combines so many moods within its one movement. The charming Romance is pleasing but at a lower degree of inspiration, the piano having as much to do as the decorative clarinet. The ambitious Trio for violin, clarinet and piano dates from 1906, completed in the year after leaving college. Here lasting almost 18 minutes, it is a vivid and often virile score with some unexpectedly pungent harmonies, and passages with the repose of the English rural scene. Robert Plane is the admirable clarinettist, with Benjamin Frith as one of the Naxos regulars adding exceptionally fine accompaniments. Add exemplary sound engineering and we have a splendid addition to the growing Bax catalogue.

BERIO: Sequenzas I-XIV. Nora Shulman (flute), Erica Goodman (harp), Tony Arnold (voice), Boris Berman (piano), Alain Trudel (trombone), Steven Dann (viola), Matej Sarc (oboe), Jasper Wood (violin), Joaquin Valdepenas (clarinet), Guy Few (trumpet), Pablo Sainz Villegas (guitar), Ken Munday (bassoon), Joseph Petric (accordion), Darrett Adkins (cello), Wallace Halladay (soprano and alto saxophone). Naxos 8.557661-63 (3CDs). (181' 58")

Maybe this release will not hit the music media's headlines, but it is a very, very special release and adds - if there is still room - yet another jewel in Naxos's crown. In the 1950's Luciano Berio's name had became synonymous with experimental and progressive music, and formed part of the central European group that was driving music into a world of total atonality. Though by now we have surely passed through those days when his name would empty more concert hall seats than it would fill, it is still adventurous to find his extensive and complete series of Sequenza's issued for the first time on a budget price label. The first of the group appeared in 1958, with the following fifteen composed through the rest of his life, each piece for a solitary soloist, and though the first for solo flute was to last little over five minutes, they were later to grow to substantial length. Atonality can have its own distinctive appeal even to unaccustomed ears, the second Sequenza for harp possessing a quality that seems to have been passed down from the wash of sound we find in Debussy, its mood moving from aggression to the quiet and withdrawn. Taking an 'instrument' far from convention comes in the Third for female voice and dating from 1965. Here it is no longer used to sing but to create and imitate sounds often more related to orchestral instruments. To continue with an analysis of each Sequenza will make for boring reading, the music producing increasing demands on the performer, often taking them to the edge of possibility, the Sixth for solo viola being horrendously difficult. Strangely I find the later pieces, with their potent virtuoso elements, become progressively easier to listen to, the guitar in the Eleventh a score of absorbing complexity. 'How does he do that' is the immediate response to the long slow bassoon glides in the lament that characterises the Twelfth? To give myself a benchmark I returned to the previous release that contained all but the final Sequenza on the DG label. I found myself preferring this new release on almost every track, apart from the Ninth where DG are more successful in picking up the called for trumpet/piano resonances. It would be wrong to name any single soloist on this new release as they are all equally remarkable, making so light of technical demands, and the mind boggles at the thought of assembling them for this recording. I hope anyone interested in Berio, or those simply wanting to experiment, will snap up these three budget priced discs.

ROREM: Flute Concerto. Violin Concerto. Pilgrims. Philippe Quint (violin), Jeffrey Khaner (flute), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Jose Serebrier (conductor). Naxos 8.559278. (62' 42").

Born in the United States in 1923, Ned Rorem studied with Virgil Thomson and David Diamond before moving for almost a decade to live and work in Paris, where he absorbed into his music a European idiom. He has been highly productive throughout his career in most genres, though his output has been particularly strong in the field of song. Now an octogenarian his creativity is undimmed, and he is presently working on a group of commissions to write works for the principal musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra, of which the Flute Concerto is one of the most recent. Though passing through a number of phases he has been successful in mixing tonality with atonal concepts, the resulting music readily attractive to audiences. In seven short movements the Flute Concerto has been described as an 'imaginative fantasy for flute and orchestra'. A degree of impact exists in the third movement, Sirens, and quirkiness in the Fast Waltz movement, but Rorem concentrates on the quite and lyric quality of the instrument, the whole work ending in peace with a final Prayer. The earlier Violin Concerto from 1985 follows a similar pattern, each of the six movements given a title upon which Rorem paints a picture. Mahlerish ghosts flit by in the Toccata-Rondo and there are passages for a more flamboyant display of solo virtuosity. Acting as the disc's overture, Pilgrims is a forceful piece for strings excellently played by the Liverpool orchestra. In its world premiere recording the Flute Concerto is played with silky smoothness by its dedicatee, Jeffrey Khaner, and together with the violinist, Philippe Quint, and expert direction of Jose Serebrier, Rorem could hardly be better served. In short this is the ideal introductory disc to a most interesting and likeable American composer speaking in a very personal way. Excellent sound quality.

FRANKEL: Curse of the Werewolf. So Long at the Fair. The Prisoner. The Net (Love Theme). Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Carl Davis (conductor). Naxos 8.557850. (74' 39").

One of the surprising aspects of film scores is the acceptability of an extreme contemporary nature that audiences would find difficult if they met with it in the concert hall. That much is made abundantly clear in this first recording of the complete score used as the backing for The Curse of the Werewolf, a 1960 film that achieved a massive international cult status. It came from the English composer, Benjamin Frankel, who during a long career wrote over a hundred scores for the silver screen. Partially self-taught he found employment as a jazz violinist in night-clubs using the income to finance formal musical education at London's Guildhall School. At first working in orchestration and conducting musicals, he wrote his first film score in 1934, its success placing him in great demand, and funding a life composing a mass of classical music in every genre from opera to chamber music. Curse of the Werewolf contained almost 30 minutes of music in twelve sections, the mood mainly chilling and suitably atmospheric. He was equally to become associated with dramatic films, including the highly charged The Prisoner, its extensive 11 tracks musically disturbing. Two short extracts from So Long at the Fair and the love theme from The Net offers a brief respite from doom. One of the leading conductors of film music, Carl Davis, teams up with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in a suitably graphic presentation, the many garish colours - which sometimes have a hint of Janacek - forcefully projected. Solo passages indicate the present high quality of the RLPO, which is fast taking a place among Europe's elite. Good sound quality, but play back at a higher volume setting than your norm. The disc enjoys the market to itself.

HAYDN: Symphonies No. 14 in A major; No 15 in D major; No 16 in B flat major; No. 17 in F major. Toronto Camerata, Kevin Mallon (conductor). Naxos 8.557656. (68' 42").

This being volume 30 we must be coming to the end of a Haydn symphony cycle that Naxos has shared between several orchestras over the sixteen years since it began. I have to confess I would have liked the Northern Chamber Orchestra, who contributed much to the series, to have been entrusted with them all, as they have the ideal blend of modern instruments and period approach. The Toronto Camerata lean towards early instrument pungency, as you will find by turning to track 2 for an unusual approach to the second movement of the Fourteenth. The four symphonies come from the mid-1760's, by which time Haydn was well into his thirties and beginning to experiment with orchestral textures. Lacking in the immediately memorable material we find in his later symphonies, they are genial works, horns - here sounding very bold - adding a touch of drama to outer movements. Generally the Irish-born conductor, Kevin Mallon, employs fast tempos for the Presto movements, testing the Toronto strings in the opening to the Fifteenth, though elsewhere the pulse of the music is unhurried. The acoustic is that of a large empty church, Mallon still retaining the quality of a small group of musicians. This is the only disc that couples these four works, there being little alternative for any of the works on CD.

BACH: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080a. Sebastien Guillot (harpsichord). Naxos 8.557796. (68' 33").

I am not going to get myself lost in the performing history of The Art of the Fugue, the fact that the composer's death came before it was engraved in a completed score having provided Bach scholars with plenty to discuss. Even today they cannot agree on the order in which the pieces should be played or whether it was intended as a work for performance or simply academic exercises on fugal subjects. Naxos has opted for the basic idea that it was simply a quality work for solo keyboard, and from the duration of the disc you will garner that it does not contain everything the composer had written, which would add around 30 minutes of music. Neither does it fudge the incomplete nature of the work by completing the Nineteenth Fugue, here ending abruptly where the composer left off. There are recorded performances that by manipulation produce lyric elements in the music, but that option plays no part in Sebastien Guillot's strict rhythmic approach, the fugues constructed brick by brick. Whether that would have been the case in Bach's day is another point for discussion, but by employing basically differing tempos for each of the fugues there is a degree of contrast as the work proceeds. It was, however, with gratitude that I reached track 12 where Fugues become interspersed with Canons, as I find a series of fugues uninteresting. Guillot's playing is a model of neatness and lucidity, his instrument sounding to have emerged from a museum rather than a modern copy, the quality rustic and peppery, and I would guess of Spanish origin. One edit has caused a change of tempo in midstream, but that apart the engineers have come in close to keep the sound crisp and clear.

VIVALDI: Laudate, pueri, Dominum in C minor, RV 600. Stabat Mater in F minor, RV 621. Canta in prato, ride in monte, RV 623. Clarae stellae, scintillate, RV 625. Tracy Smith Bessette (soprano), Marion Newman (contralto), Aradia Ensemble, Kevin Mallon (conductor). Naxos 8.557852. (60' 52").

Vivaldi was above all a commercial composer, and though he owed his education to the church and was subsequently ordained as a Priest, it is evident that he did not see a musical debt to sacred establishments. That shows in the paltry amount he wrote for the church in the context of his vast output. Yet what he did offer was usually of considerable beauty, though whether that was out of diffidence to the church or simply a desire to add further to his reputation can be held in conjecture. Often simply adapting his operatic style to a sacred text, the Laudate, pueri, Dominum, is a virtuoso motet for solo soprano and orchestra, Vivaldi requiring a singer of considerable vocal agility. Much more frequently performed is the Stabat Mater for two solo voices, a short piece in just four sections, but containing some of Vivaldi's most attractive writing, the harmonies in the second section unusual for that time. Two more works of substance complete the disc, though the Canta in prato is not a standalone piece, but intended as an introduction to more lengthy liturgical choral works. The two solo voices are here very different, the soprano silvery, the mezzo earthy, that fact bringing a nice contrast. The Arcadia Ensemble sound suitably Baroque in quality, and if none of this is great Vivaldi, you cannot but enjoy it.

WILLAN: In the Heavenly Kingdom. Hymns – St. Osmund; Sun of Righteousness; How They So Softly Rest. Hymn – Anthem on “Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones”. Missa Brevis No. XI, “Missa Sancti Johannis Baptistae". I Looked, and Behold A White Cloud. Preserve Us O Lord. O King All Glorious. Hymn - Anthem on “Picardy”. Christ Hath a Garden. Hymn - Anthem on “O Quanta Qualia”. O How Glorious. O Praise the Lord. Rise up, my Love, my Fair One. Joseph Schnurr (tenor), Matthew Larkin (organ), The Elora Festival Singers, Noel Edison (conductor). Naxos 8.557734. (67' 07").

Last December Naxos brought to our attention the organ music of Healey Willan, and now we have a welcome disc of his hymns, anthems and motets. Born in London in 1880, his early employment as a church organist brought insufficient financial rewards to support a young family, and he grasped the opportunity to become head of the theory department at Toronto Conservatory in 1913. He was soon offered the major appointment as organist at Toronto's St. Paul's, Bloor Street, where a formidable Casavant Organ was installed the following year. It was in that environment that his sacred output was to blossom, and though his British background persisted throughout his music, he was to become one of Canada's leading composers.

He remained essentially a pastoral composer, his music pleasing and devoid of angst, the gentle quality that permeates the whole of this disc typical of his output. Many of his hymn tunes passed into the standard repertoire of the Christian church, Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones being his most frequently performed. He was also to compose a number of Missa breves, the gentle and flowing eleventh being cast in the appropriate four sections. Here, and throughout the disc, the singing of the Elora Festival Singers, with sopranos soaring on high - in place of boy trebles - being very appealing though different. Intonation is squeaky clean, the balance between voices always immaculate. The church acoustic is appropriate, but does sacrifice absolute clarity of diction. A disc to hear in sections rather than as a whole.

BERTALI: Sonata a 4 in D minor for 2 violins, viola da gamba and bassoon. Ciaconna in C major for solo violin. Sonata a 3 in G major for 2 violins and bassoon. NICOLAI: Sonata a 2 in A minor for violin and viola da gamba. Sonata a 2 in C major for violin and bassoon. ANON: Ciaconna a 3 in C major for 2 violins and viola da gamba. SCHMELZER: Sonata variata in D minor for violin and viola da gamba. DRESE: Sonata a 3 in A minor for 2 violins and viola da gamba. Sonata a 2 in A minor for 2 violins and viola da gamba. CAPRICORNUS: Ciaconna in D major for violin and viola da gamba. SCHNITTELBACH: Ciaconna in for solo violin. Ensemble Echo Du Danube, Christian Zincke (director). Naxos 8.557679. (62' 28").

As I live in a part of the world where performances of music from the 16th and 17th century becomes part of your everyday life, you quickly realise that much we hear today has all been done before. That certainly is the case when you hear minimalist composers who draw so much from the music you hear on this disc, the repetition of rhythm and melody driving itself into your memory. Nowhere is that more evident than Bertali's jolly Ciaconna in C major for solo violin, a wonderful piece of musical manipulation. Tough described as 'Instrumental Music at the Courts of 17th Century Germany', Bertali is the odd man out having been born in Italy. It is good that his music opens the disc, as he is the most inspired of the composers, though I much enjoyed Adam Drese's Sonata, the rusticity of the viola da gamba offsetting the lyric quality of the violins. The jazzy rhythms of Samual Capricornus are bound to bring happiness to the listener, and there is much to admire in the extensive workings of Johann Heinrich Schmelzer's Sonata variata. All are played excellently by the Ensemble Echo Du Danube, one of many outstanding groups performing this period of music. The recording comes quite close to the musicians adding impact and ensuring clarity.

KRAUS: An das Klavier. Die Henne. Schweizer Rundgesang. Anselmuccio. Die Mutter bei der Wiege. Der Mann im Lehnstuhl. An – als ihm – die – starb. Das Rosenband. Der Abschied. Die Welt nach Rousseau. Daphne am Bach. An mein Madchen. Ein Lied um Regen. An den Wind. Das schwarze Lieschen aus Kastilien. Der nordische Witwer. Seht doch das kalte Nachgesicht. Ich bin vergnugt. Hans und Hanne. An eine Quelle. Phidile. Ich bin ein deutscher Jungling. So schlafe nun, du Kleine. Rheinweinlied. Gesundheit. Birgid Steinberger (soprano), Martin Hummel (baritone), Glen Wilson (fortepiano). Naxos 8.557452. (62' 55").

Naxos has been rehabilitating the long forgotten composer, Joseph Martin Kraus, equally claimed by Germany and Sweden. He was born in 1756 and in the hope that his modest talents would find less competition in Sweden he moved there when he was twenty-two. For a time things did not quite work out as he intended, until he had the bright idea of writing an opera based on a text by King Gustav. That did the trick, and he was soon sent on a grand tour of Europe at Gustav's expense, his return marked by top ranking court appointments. His life span was directly contemporary with Mozart, Kraus surviving him by just one year. He was active in many genres, this disc including all of the songs he composed to German texts. On his grand tour he probably heard music of Mozart, for we hear many similarities, Kraus certainly moving on from the time and style of Haydn. He used German texts in many moods, often quite whimsical, and at times the accompaniments look forward to Schubert. The two singers strongly characterise the words, Martin Hummel's baritone voice well suited to the songs of a rustic quality. Though my information sheet gives Glen Wilson as playing the piano, it is obviously a fortepiano that pronounces its passing years. If the songs do not reach any great heights of inspiration, they never fail to please.

KHANDOSHKIN: Violin Sonata Nos. 1-3; Six Old Russian Songs for Violin: Along the bridge, this bridge; Is this my fate, this fate? Anastasia Khitruk (violin); Dimitri Yakubovski, (viola), Kirill Yevtushenko (cello). Naxos 8.570028. (70' 17").

Ivan Khandoshkin was born in 1747, nine years before Mozart and a generation before Paganini, two important facts to remember as you listen to this disc. He has been described as the first great Russian violin virtuoso, and he enjoyed a life working in the court of Catherine the Great as Kapellmeister. He was apparently a composer of quality though few works have survived, the three unaccompanied violin sonatas composed around 1800 being his major existing scores. Using Bach as the basis, they explore the soloist's technique with outgoing virtuosity, and Paganini may well have been frequented with his music, as the sonatas are the parents of much that the Italian genius was to composer later. Stylistically it came after Mozart, for while there is no evidence here that he had a similar gift for melody, we equally find nothing of comparable difficulty in Mozart's violin scores. The other works that have survived are largely arrangements of Russian folk songs where the emphasis is on pleasing music rather than showy virtuosity. This is my first encounter with Anastasia Khitruk, an obviously gifted exponent in the art of death defying pyrotechnics played with an accuracy that is quite stunning. Maybe Kirill Yevtushenko's cello tone is rather wooden and recorded too close, but it is a minor point in an absolutely stunning disc.

WEISS: Sonata No. 15 in B flat major. Sonata No. 48 in F sharp minor. Robert Barto (baroque lute). Naxos 8.557806. (60' 05").

On his death in 1750 Sylvius Leopold Weiss left to the world the most extensive catalogue of lute music attributed to one composer with more than six hundred scores, many in the form of Sonatas (or Serenatas). Meant for his own performance, and to display his technique, each was constructed mainly from dance movements, the total work being of substantial length and very varied in mood. Combining his French influences with the brilliant sounds experienced during the years he lived in Italy, their use as concert pieces was also intended to extend the technique of lute playing that had stagnated by the time Weiss appeared. Always at his most engaging in the fast sections - the Courante of the Fifteenth (track 2) being one of this disc's great joys - the two works contained on this disc were among his most extensive scores, the F sharp minor lasting well over half an hour. Sustaining the architecture over such extensive periods is not easy, the disc part of a monstrous task to record the complete sonatas being undertaken by the American lutist, Robert Barto. The massive technical demands placed on the left hand do result in some jerky rhythmic moments, but they are passing moments in highly persuasive performances recorded rather close to his magnificent instrument.

SESSIONS: String Quintet. Canons to the memory of Stravinsky. Six Pieces for Solo Cello. String Quartet No. 1 in E minor. The Group for Contemporary Music. Naxos 8.559261 (62' 55").

Around the world the name of Roger Sessions is probably better known than his music, his work as a teacher and writer influencing a whole generation of American composers. Born in 1896 he was entirely educated in the States, but for eight of his formative years lived in Europe at a time when the rapid changes that were taking place in composition. By the time we reach the 1950's he had became a devoted disciple of atonality and serialism, deserting the influences of Stravinsky and his teacher, Ernest Bloch. Though he was to write eight symphonies his output was not large, the present disc containing a large portion of his chamber music. The disc drops us into his music at the deep end with the 1958 String Quintet, the additional instrument being a second viola. Astringent, dramatic in the outer movements, this is certainly not music that asks you to love it. Canons to the Memory of Stravinsky lasts little over a minute before we move to the Six Pieces, a score than offers cellist, Joshua Gordon, scope for a display of utter brilliance, and it would be this score I would direct you to for a first taste of Sessions. Completed in 1936, the First String Quartet, belongs to the first period where tonality is pushed to its outer limits, the influences of Bartok ever present but never clearly stated. The playing throughout is superb, with an infinite amount of detail in the most demanding and complex passages. The sound matches the performances in excellence.

GIANNINI: Dedicatory Overture. Fantasia for Band. Preludium and Allegro. Symphony for Band. Variations and Fugue. Moores School of Music Wind Ensemble. Naxos 8.570130. (59' 45").

Though spending almost all of his life in the States, the first part of Vittorio Giannini's adult studies was spent at the Milan Conservatory between the years 1911 and 1914. He had early success as a composer and in 1939 was appointed to teach composition and orchestration at the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools, ending his career as Director at the North Carolina Schools of School of the Arts. The time in Milan was to colour his music, the works tonal and immediately attractive as a continuation of the Italian opera traditions. The four works for Wind Band were all written over the period 1959 to 1964 and were from the final years of his life that ended early at the age of 63 in 1966. His writing is resourceful and belonging to mainstream early 20th century composers, angst absent and drama at rather low-key, though there is plenty to test the skill of the musicians. As a sampler try track 8, the Variations and Fugue with the colourful use of percussion. The college band smudges a few notes and intonation is not without its dubious moments, but as an introduction to Giannini's music it is very persuasive. Wind band enthusiasts are strongly commended. Do check availability with your retailer, as the release is in a Limited Edition, and probably aimed at the North American market. Internet sales are a wonderful thing.

MACHE: Styx. Areg. Mesarthim. Lethe. Nocturne. OHANA: Soron - Ngo. Martine Vialatte, Clotilde Ovigne, Leonor Lopez Cossani, Christine Chareyron, Helene Bellanger (pianists). Naxos 8.557988. (65' 15").

The fact that you don't get many notes to the minute at the beginning of Styx indicates we are deep into the modernity that was sweeping across the world during the bright new tomorrow following the Second World War. Born in France in 1935 Francoise-Bernhard Mache has embraced serial techniques and the much-loved idea of the French, Musique Concretre, in which any sound can be interpreted as music. His output has been quite large in modern terms, his piano scores often complex with Styx and Lethe being for eight hands on two pianos, Nocturne scored for solo piano and pre-recorded tape and the remaining two pieces for piano duo. They date from 1977 through to 1987 and that barren opening is not indicative of music that at times becomes quite frenetic. With such a personal voice I cannot draw a comparison to give you a reference point, though his teacher Messiaen does surface in the moments I can understand and appreciate. Maurice Ohana had a very colourful life both in and outside music, having been born in Casablanca in 1914 and spending most of his life in France, he arrived in the UK to serve in the British Army from 1939. His musical language goes more readily down the accepted Contemporary route, though he did try to establish a school of composers where musical form no longer existed. Soron-Ngo dates from 1969 and is scored for two pianos, its content presenting plenty of ensemble problems. Without sight of scores I can but comment that the performances have a deep commitment, and must have presented the pianists with many co-ordination problems. To simplify the heading I have omitted the permutations of the mainly French pianists, all obviously of high quality and though the piano sound is good, the basic volume does alter between tracks. This is one of Naxos's Limited Editions and no doubt mainly aimed at the French market.

DORMAN: Piano Sonata No. 1 'Classical'. Piano Sonata No. 2. Piano Prelude No. 1. Movements Musicaux Nos. 1 & 2. Danse Suite. Azerbaijani Dance. Eliran Avni (piano). Naxos 8.579001. (62' 35").

The Israeli-American composer, Avner Dorman, was born in 1975, and started out his life as a concert pianist while still a teenager. In his early twenties he won a number of major composition awards. Since then he has received prestigious commissions from leading orchestras and soloists. His earliest score is the First Piano Prelude, a short piece dating from 1992 and coming before he received formal composition training. It is, like the First Sonata, working in the realm of tonality, the Sonata a happy and vivacious piece you cannot but like. The Second Sonata relies on jazz influences, but is now moving towards atonality, the mood very different to the earlier youthful scores. Eliran Avni gave the premiere of the Second and it was for him that Moments Musicaux were composed in 2004, the content taking Dorman towards the modern sounds he brings to the Arabic inspired Dance Suite from 2005, music that falls less readily on the ear. Virtuosity is explored in the biting piano colours of the Azerbaijani Dance completed last year. The disc's sum total sends out very mixed messages on Dorman, but he is certainly a composer to watch. Born in the same year as Dorman, Eliran Anvi demonstrates a technical skilled technique, and an obvious enjoyment for the music he is performing. Realistic piano sound, the disc comes as part of the Naxos Limited Edition and is obviously aimed at the North American and Israeli market where both composer and soloist are best known.

BACH - GODOWSKY: Cello Suites Nos. 2, 3 & 5. Konstantin Scherbakov (piano). Marco Polo 8.225267 (72' 56").

Those following Marco Polo's series of music by Polish-American virtuoso pianist, Leopold Godawsky, will have come to expect virtuoso music that challenges the performer with feats of technical brilliance. This new release will therefore come as a surprise, not least by the fact that the music is well within the scope of a competent amateur pianist. The arrangements of Bach's three Cello Suites are literal, Godowsky simply filling in the texture to bring it into pianistic terms. Whether you feel inclined to that treatment is a matter of personal taste, though Godowsky's arrangements were well intended at a time when the composer's music was enjoying little widespread popularity. For a towering giant of the keyboard, Scherbakov treats the music in an admirably uncomplicated manner, and the recording quality is excellent.

WAGNER: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg. Paul Schoeffler (Hans Sachs), Hilde Gueden (Eva), Gunther Treptow (Walther), Karl Donch (Beckmesser), Otto Edelmann (Pogner), Anton Dermota (David), Else Schurhoff (Magdalene), Alfred Poell (Fritz), Harald Proglhof (Night Watchman). Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111128-31 (3CDs). (265' 33").

Hans Knappertsbusch's Meistersingers was the first complete studio recording of the opera made in the LP era, its release in 1952 arriving inconveniently at much the same time as Karajan's performance captured 'live' at Bayreuth. At the time the detailed critical comparison of singers in the various roles sent out completely the wrong message, as it was the overall concept that was so different. Knappertsbusch had for so long been regarded as a unhurried Wagnerian, it was almost automatic that this stigma would be tagged to this performance, particularly when his release was spread over one complete disc more than Karajan. In truth, as you will see from the heading, Knappertsbusch was quite quick, and far more lithe than Kubelik in his fated Bavarian Radio version. In fact it is an ideally paced performance, allowing the singers just room to sharply characterise their parts. He also had in Paul Schoeffler the finest Hans Sachs of the era, a singer of secure and well-focused voice who could bring a worldly-wise atmosphere to the role while still sounding virile. The real snag came with Gunther Treptow's Walther, certainly wobbly and of questionable intonation early in the first act, but sounding so rejuvenated in the final act as to provide one of the most lyrically beautiful Prize Songs ever recorded. The Eva of Hilda Gueden I love, the voice at first of a timid young girl eventually flowering into a person filled with passionate love. The remaining cast has its barren moments, but so does every recording I have heard, and with an excellently young-sounding David from Anton Dermota, I have no hang-up on accepting them as a team. The Vienna Philharmonic was set well behind the singers, but we hear sufficient to recognise the warmth and detailed participation. Naxos's press release describes this as a 'remastered and restored' version, and while unaware of what that involves, it does not hide the fact that for some reason the sound in Act 3 is so superior to the first two it could have come from a different generation. Act 2 was in fact made almost a year before the other two, and if my ears and memory are not deceiving me, the Naxos people have managed to bring added impact to the sound. I love so much of this performance I will take the rough with the smooth and commend it to you.

MOZART: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550. BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61. Yehudi Menuhin (violin), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwangler (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.110996. (69' 46").

We return to the days when full symphony orchestras used to bludgeon their way through Mozart's symphonies, the saving grace to Furtwangler's Fortieth being the happiness he brings to the music and his urgent tempos in the outer movements. That is contrasted to his tender approach to a slow movement graced by mellifluous woodwind. The Vienna Philharmonic was, however, not in good shape in 1949, the general quality of playing hardly comparable with today's modest provincial outfits. The Beethoven with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra had been recorded two years earlier and finds Menuhin in fine form, with generally well focused intonation. It is an uncommonly lightweight account that concentrates on the lyric aspects rather than the jagged turmoil we find in many present day performances. The orchestral part is nicely detailed, tempos tending to be leisurely, with the central movement especially spacious. Fortunately the sound is a big improvement on the Vienna engineering, and comparable to more recent releases. Although at the time of issue the critics were not kind, in hindsight this would be my first choice among Menuhin's Beethoven concerto recordings.

BACH: Prelude in C minor BWV 999. Cello Suite No. 3, BWV 1009 - Courante; Lute Suite No. 2, BWV 996 - Sarabande. Lute Suite No. 2, BWV 996 - Bourrée. Cello Suite No. 6, BWV 1012 - Gavotte. Fugue in G Minor BWV1000. Partita No. 4 for Solo Violin, BWV 1004 - Chaconne. Lute Suite No. 4 in E major, BWV 1006a: - Gavotte. VILLA-LOBOS: Twelve Etudes: No. 8 in C sharp minor; No. 1 in E minor. TORROBA: Suite Castellana: Arada & Fandanguillo. TURINA: Fandanguillo. PONCE: Sonata Meridional. CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO: Tarantella in A Minor Op. 87a. Guitar Concerto no.1 in D major, Op. 99. Andres Segovia (guitar), New London Orchestra, Alec Sherman (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111088. (76' 47").

A couple of months ago I was welcoming the first in a series of the complete recordings of Andres Segovia, the father of modern guitarists, and commenting on the limited range of original guitar music available when he arrived on the scene. His solution was to arrange music for other instruments, the first part of the disc given over to Bach performances that will be a matter of personal taste. I welcomed the point where we move to real guitar music, his Villa-Lobos Etudes are magical; Torroba redolent of the warm Spanish sun, while the Ponce pulsates with Latin passion. When first issued Segovia's playing of the Castelnuovo-Tedesco concerto was described as 'little short of miraculous'. It is good but not quite in the class of Norbert Craft's recording on Naxos, and the New London Orchestral sound very British. Even Naxos's transcription team have not found a way around some of the distortion embedded onto the originals of the solo discs made between 1946 and 1949, mainly caused by having microphones too close to the instrument. Still as a historical document of a great guitarist this is a most desirable release.

MOZART: Das Veilchen, K. 476. GODARD: Jocelyn - Caches dans cet asile (Berceuse). HERBERT: Naughty Marietta: Ah! Sweet mystery of life. MOYA: Song of songs. CALDARA: Come raggio di sol. La Costanza in amor. Selve amiche. DURANTE: Vergin, tutto amor. CESTI: I casti amori d’Orontea - Intorno all’idol mio. MAZZIOTTI: Mattinata siciliana. MONTEVERDI: Arianna - Lasciatemi morire. GIORDANI: Caro mio ben. SCARLATTI: Il Pompeo - O cessate di piagarmi. L’onestà negli amori - Già il sole del Gange. ALFANO: Don Juan de Manara - Tu vedi in un bel ciel. MASCAGNI: L’amico Fritz - Ed anche Beppe amo… O amore, o bella luce del cor. GIBILARO: Quattro miniature siciliane - ‘Carrettieri’ No. 3 Tango notturno. HANDEL: Atalanta: Care selve. BONONCINI: Griselda - Per la gloria d’adorarvi. CESTI (arr. PARISOTTI): Tu mancavi a tormentarmi. FASOLO: Cangia, cangia tue voglie. Beniamino Gigli (tenor), Various orchestras. Naxos Historical 8.111102. (64' 11").

Regular readers will know that at the end of the 1930's we had reached my favourite Beniamino Gigli years, but by the late 1940's critics were savaging his recordings, accusing him of little more than crooning. Certainly he would take no high notes off the chest during those final years on the concert stage, scoops and sobs becoming part of his singing. The present disc is derived from recordings made in London between 1947 and 1949, most subsequently appearing on a single HMV long playing disc. It comes from the time he was seen touring the UK's concert halls to packed and adoring audiences, the emotional Carrettieri fashioned to send them into near hysteria. Those appearances, like this recording, mixed ballads with opera arias chosen so as not to stress his voice. Maybe on disc it is not an ideal mix, but for those living a life of nostalgia it will be a 'must have' release. The orchestral parts are played more like a theatre than a classical orchestra, the overall sound coming close to our present expectations.

SAINT-SAENS: Toccata d’apres le 5e concerto (Monique de la Bruchollerie). PHILIPP: Feux-follets (Guiomar Novaes). PALMGREN: Evening Whispers (Iris Loveridge). ARENSKY: Etude de concert in F sharp major (Marie Novello). COUPERIN: Le Carillon de Cithere (Gaby Casadesus). PICK-MANGIAGALLI: La Danza di Olaf (Sari Biro). DEBUSSY: Poissons d’or (Myra Hess). GUION: Country Jig in D major (Jeanne Behrend). VIANNA: Corta-Jaca (Reah Sadowsky); PROKOFIEV: Valse, Op. 65 No. 2 (Ray Lev). HANDEL: Passacaglia in G minor (Maryla Jonas). FALLA: Andaluza (Aline Isabelle van Barentzen). BAX: Paean (Harriet Cohen). STAVENHAGEN: Menuetto scherzando (Eileen Joyce). MILHAUD: Alfama (Marguerite Long). RACHMANINOV: Prelude in G minor (Ruth Slenczynska). GRUNFELD: Soiree de Vienne (Hilde Somer). CHABRIER: Bourree fantasque (Emma Boynet). LISZT: Feux Follets (Jeanne-Marie Darre); PIERNE: Etude de concert (Lucette Descaves). PADEREWSKI: Cracovienne fantastique in B minor; (Una Mabel Bourne). LISZT: Les Jeux d’eaux a la Villa d’Este (Moura Lympany). Naxos Historical 8.111120. (77' 28").

Thankfully female pianists did not face the male chauvinism suffered by their composing counterparts, and audiences would flock to Eileen Joyce's concerts as much to see her stage appearance as to hear her playing. Still in the second quarter of the 20th century, which is covered by this release, employing that type of female sexuality was not yet in fashion. Hopefully I have eased a confused heading by showing the name of the pianist involved after each piece, though to give a detailed commentary on the pianists included would take more room than I have available. Some names, such as Guiomar Novaes and Moura Lympany will be well recognized as they played well into the second half of the century, while others, such as Marguerite Long, have gained legendary status. I would like to say there are some revelations here, but the disc is more pleasing than significant, the short pieces hardly allowing soloists room to express anything profound. Hess's shimmering Debussy; Aline Isabelle van Barentzen's idiomatic Falla; Harriet Cohen's forceful Bax and Moura Lympany's rippling Liszt remain small treasures. The quality of the original recordings is variable, but Naxos has thankfully balanced the volume so that you can listen to the whole disc without the irritation of adjustments.