Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i BBC Music Magazine

Michael Beek Film music journalist ‘I’ll never forget the first time I sat in front of a live orchestra playing a film score. It was thrilling, dizzying and moving, a display of artistry, musicianship and technical prowess before my eyes.’ Page 42 Shirley Thompson Composer and artistic director ‘As a composer of orchestral music myself, I was intrigued to find that Florence B Price was the first African-American female composer to have a symphony performed by a major US symphony orchestra.’ Page 46 Anna Beer Author and lecturer ‘It’s been a real pleasure to return to the life and works of French composer Lili Boulanger and celebrate the joy and adventurousness of her (under-played) music and her (far too short) life!’ Page 68…

A time for Tippett After a period of neglect and even disparagement following his death 20 years ago, it is heartening to see the music of Sir Michael Tippett finally making a comeback – not least through the superb cycle of symphonies performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra recently. Indeed, I picked up my copy of BBC Music Magazine with its apposite Composer of the Month feature and pertinent cover question (‘The unsung genius of English music?’) on my way to hear the ‘lost’ Symphony in B flat in Glasgow in February. What we got was a remarkable glimpse into the early, Sibelius-influenced Tippett, full of gorgeously layered string writing and those bursts of unpredictable energy that came to characterise the different styles he inhabited throughout his compositional career.…

Dancing to music? That’s old hat. Here’s an instance of the music being created by the dance itself. At a concert in Hamamatsu, Japan, Kaiji Moriyama created Mai Hi Ten Yu, a new composition for piano and strings, simply by moving his body and letting technology do the rest. Sensors placed on parts of the dancer’s anatomy picked up signals that were converted into data – this data was then sent to a Yamaha player piano and translated into music. While Moriyama performed the solo dance/piano part, accompaniment was provided by the Berlin Philharmonic’s Scharoun Ensemble.…

A novel approach Stephen Hough certainly likes to put the hours between practice and performances to good use. An accomplished wordsmith, the British pianist has recently announced the launch of his first novel: The Final Retreat, published by Sylph Editions. Enjoy the noise Music venues and churches in the UK are to benefit from new laws that mean they will no longer face noise abatement orders brought by those who have just moved into their area. Church bells and late-evening concerts have been particular victims of uppity new neighbours, but will now have permission to play on. ‘I am pleased finally to have an opportunity to right this wrong,’ says housing minister Sajid Javid. Austrian Alsop Marin Alsop has been named as the new chief conductor at the ORF Vienna…

Here are a couple of quotations about basslines and their fundamental importance in musical culture. The bass part is ‘the groundwork upon which all musical composition is to be erected,’ wrote the theorist Christopher Simpson in 1667. A bit later, a member of a reasonably famous pop combo had something different to say: ‘None of us wanted to be the bass player. In our minds he was the fat guy who always played at the back’. Well, Paul, that ended up being you, in The Beatles. Not the ‘fat’ bit, and not even the standing ‘at the back’ bit, but the bass-playing part, at least. But those bass-ic foundations of our music – all of our music, whether it’s the drones of Indian classical music, the deep bells and gongs…

Nathan James Lewes I’m currently reacquainting myself with Gordon Jacob’s Flute Concerto. Twenty years ago I accompanied a friend playing it for his A-level recital. Time and life then got in the way, and I recently rediscovered it by chance, and the fantastic melodic lines, infectious energy, sparkle and colour came flooding back. The opening string writing is tremendously effective, though I remember my 18-year-old self getting in a bit of twist with some of what I then considered funky chords. Now as a composer myself, I feel a bit differently! Geoff Burke Rhos-on-Sea Whether working or relaxing, I always enjoy the music of Mozart, and especially the piano concertos (all 27 of them!), as performed beautifully by Mitsuko Uchida – and I particularly treasure her complete recordings of the…

A bouncing ball of fluff greets me at the door. It eventually slows to reveal itself to be a cockapoo puppy, as cute as it is boisterous. Its presence completes the picture of domesticity in a leafy suburb within sniffing distance of the London commuter belt. But, as the caricature on the wall featuring a musician with famously Rattlesque hair indicates, this isn’t just any other family home, it’s the residence of British pianist Paul Lewis. It’s unusual for a pianist to suggest doing an interview at their house – it’s usually in a studio, hotel lobby or favourite restaurant. But Lewis isn’t one for frilly public relations; besides, he’s an artist in demand, currently mid-tour, and convenience is imperative. LEWIS IS PERHAPS BEST known as a Beethovenian. Like many…

“Winterreise looks at the world in a very unflinching way. It is fantastic poetry” The first time tenor Mark Padmore and pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout performed Schubert’s Winterreise together, they were in Savannah, Georgia. The fortepiano they had planned to use was in such bad shape that they had to abandon it and switch to a modern Steinway – it changed the whole nature of their performance. But it was probably not the lack of a fortepiano that caused the local newspaper to print a less-than-rosy review. Apparently the critic had simply found Schubert’s song cycle boring. Oh well. Not the most auspicious start to the partnership that produced a Winterreise for Harmonia Mundi in January, recorded in New York after performances at Lincoln Center (alongside Die schöne Müllerin and Schwanengesang).…

Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra is his most famous, influential and worst book. In it, in a mixture of parody and prophecy, Nietzsche (above) aims to replace the Bible with his own teachings, on the Overman (often mistranslated as ‘Superman’), the eternal recurrence of all things and the glory of Earth; as opposed to what he regards as Christianity’s cowardice and life-hatred. His Zarathustra bears no relation to the historical figure, but is a prophet who encounters archetypical figures and mocks them. There is, for example, the Last Man, ‘who says “We have discovered Happiness”, and blinks’. What appealed to philosophers, artists, poets and composers was the book’s symbolism. Strauss, Mahler and Delius are the most famous creators to set his texts to music or, in Strauss’s case, what he conceived…

“ Florence Price was the first female symphonist of African-American heritage” Florence B Price, née Smith, was a composer, pianist and organist, thought to be the first female symphonist of African-American heritage. She composed over 300 works – symphonies, chamber works and songs noted for their lush orchestration and enchanting lyricism – that were performed by leading orchestras and performers, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and contralto Marian Anderson. So why has such a figure remained on the fringes of 20th-century music? In 1,000 years of classical musicology, there is barely a mention of composers of colour, even though these musicians have contributed significantly to the evolution of the genre. Florence Price is just one of a plethora of such composers that have been overlooked. Price’s life was typical of…

Voice: The work which won Boulanger the Prix de Rome, Faust et Hélène, uses a trademark combination of tenor and contralto, exploiting the large crossover in register between the highest male voice and lowest female voice, the two criss-crossing at times. Her setting of Psalm 130 Du fond de l’abîme, also with tenor and contralto soloists, has a similar moment. Modal lines: Boulanger was drawn both to plainchant and non-European motifs. Her Pour les funérailles d’un soldat, for example, is a military-style work in which male voices predominate, but in which the dominant tonal context is complicated by the presence of modal inflections. Not all serious: Boulanger’s work is predominantly quite dark, often preoccupied with death and doomed love. But her Marche gaie, for instance, makes use of a musical…

The older sister of Felix by just over three years, Fanny Mendelssohn’s own career fell victim of her living in an age that regarded women composers with suspicion – even her brother, while largely supportive, showed some scepticism over whether she should publish works under her own name. Fanny composed over 450 pieces in total, many of which featured the piano, of which she herself was a very accomplished player. Married to the artist Wilhelm Hensel, who encouraged her musical activities, she died of a stroke in 1847, aged just 41. Within just six months, her heartbroken brother was also dead. Building a Library is broadcast on Radio 3 at 9.30am each Saturday as part of Record Review . A highlights podcast is available at bbc.co.uk/radio3…

We’re celebrating International Women’s Day this issue, and it falls in a landmark year – the centenary of (some) British women first getting the vote. One composer, in particular, was right at the heart of the suffrage movement. Dame Ethel Smyth penned the anthem The March of the Women, which, her friend Sir Thomas Beecham recalled, she conducted from a window of Holloway Prison – with a toothbrush. Her courage as a suffragette paid off but her music has not fared so well. Yet times are changing, and more artists and labels are starting to record music by women. There’s still a long way to go, but this issue you can enjoy reviews of discs of Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Elizabeth Maconchy, Lucija Garuta, Onutė Narbutaitė, Andrea Tarrodi and…

The Bavarian players respond warmly toHaitink’s direction Bruckner Symphony No. 6 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/ Bernard Haitink BR Klassik 900147 55:15 mins This is very nearly my perfect Bruckner Six. Given how often this beautiful but enigmatic symphony defeats even the most insightful Bruckner conductors, that’s saying a great deal. So let’s get the (possible) reservation out of the way first. The slow movement is relatively fast-paced, and when I first heard it I couldn’t help wishing that it would expand just a bit more. But Bernard Haitink’s feeling for the way this music sings is so persuasive, especially in the ravishing, profoundly touching coda, that in the end I just surrendered and accepted it on its own terms. It’s well worth making that small mental adjustment. Among other things…

The Lithuanian composer Onut•e Narbutait•e was particularly influenced by her mother Ona, a musicologist who dedicated herself even in the face of Soviet repression to the historical research of Lithuanian music. After herself studying composition under Bronius Kutaviÿius and Julius Juzeliu¯nas, Narbutait•e wrote mostly chamber music in the 1990s. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, Narbutait•e’s music was increasingly performed in various festivals, particularly the Warsaw Autumn Festival. Since 2000 she has increasingly written symphonic-style music.…

Gianandrea Noseda handles the musical drama exquisitely Puccini La bohème (DVD) Irina Lungu, Giorgio Berrugi, Kelebogile Besong, Massimo Cavalletti, Benjamin Cho, Gabriele Sagona, Matteo Peirone; Chorus & Orchestra of the Teatro Regio Torino/Gianandrea Noseda; dir. Àlex Ollé (Turin, 2016) C Major DVD: 742608; Blu-ray: 742704 112 mins The voices could be more beautiful but it’s hard to think of a modern-dress production of La bohème that more perfectly captures the rhythm of the city in Puccini’s youthful Parisian romance. Designed by Alfons Flores for the 120th anniversary of the Turin premiere, Àlex Ollé’s 2016 staging is set in a modern suburb on the brink of gentrification. The high-rise housing stock is flimsy, the streets crowded with North African traders, streetwalkers and rough sleepers. There’s a 24-hour clinic and a boîte…

Both chorus and instrumentalists bring captivating freshness JS Bach Magnificat in D, BWV 243 JC Bach Magnificat in C, E 22 CPE Bach Magnificat in D, H 722 Joélle Harvey (soprano), Olivia Vermeulen (mezzo-soprano), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Thomas Walker (tenor), Thomas Bauer (baritone); Arcangelo/Jonathan Cohen Hyperion CDA 68157 76:48 mins Four decades. One family. Three settings of the same canticle. If you needed an aural demonstration of how the musical tectonic plates were shifting in the years spanning JS Bach’s arrival in Leipzig and the emergence of the young Mozart you would be hard pressed to find a more illuminating disc than this latest offering from Arcangelo. And as high Baroque glides seamlessly into the ‘sensitive’ style and into unapologetically Italianate ‘galanterie’, the Bach family DNA is not to be…

Feldman Trio hat[now]ART 155 (1996) 76:04 mins Heard here in an outstanding performance by the Ives Ensemble, Feldman’s Trio (1980) is deliciously confounding, full of formal ambiguity and a certain elusive playfulness. ★★★★★ Ustvolskaya Trio for violin, clarinet and piano; Piano Sonata No. 5; Duet for violin and piano hat[now]ART 194 (1992) 58:44 mins Pianist Reinbert de Leeuw and his fellow musicians give forceful and precise performances in this first recording of this deeply courageous and unrelentingly sombre music to be made outside Russia. ★★★★ Hindemith String Quartets Wergo WER 69602 (1995-97) 187:19 mins (3 discs) These accomplished recordings by the Juilliard String Quartet, tracing the intriguing musical development of Hindemith from student to musical master, won the 1998 German Record Critics Annual Award. ★★★★ Copland Before the LP Parnassus…

March round-up Not to be confused with Lonnie Liston Smith (though it’s often and easily done), B3 hammond organist Dr Lonnie Smith returned to Blue Note in 2016, after 45 years. On All In My Mind he continues to evoke the glory days with the classic organ-guitar-drums line-up, adding singer Alicia Olatuja on the funky title track. Recorded live, the session ranges from exciting workouts like ‘Alhambra’ and ‘Juju’ to sumptuous readings of Tadd Dameron’s ‘On a Misty Night’ and the lovely ‘Devika’. (Blue Note 672 1872 ★★★★ ) The disc 1970 is by the bass-player Avishai Cohen (not the trumpeter with the same name). Cohen made his international reputation with Chick Corea, worked with Bobby McFerrin, Roy Hargrove and Herbie Hancock among others, and had a fine group of…

Brahms and his Poets: A Handbook Natasha Loges Boydell Press 978-1-78327-236-5 480 pp (hb) £90 rrp As both an accompanist and a Brahms scholar, Natasha Loges would seem to be the ideal person to present this large-scale study of the poets Brahms set in his solo songs. Each has a section to himself, providing a list of the individual songs in chronological order (other settings – such as duets, quartets or choral pieces – are listed in lighter type), followed by a detailed biography that contextualises each writer in terms of his aesthetic and political views, his wider output, his location (surprisingly relevant in some instances) and his connection to the composer or other intimates. What could have been a dry-as-dust piling-up of information has been kept fresh…

6. Cadogan Hall Where: London Opened: 2004 Seats: 950 London’s Cadogan Hall is in the heart of leafy Chelsea, just a short walk from the Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park. The Grade II-listed building – a former Church of Christ, Scientist church – was designed by Robert Fellowes Chisholm in a Byzantine Revival architectural style and opened in 1907. Over the years, however, the congregation started to dwindle, and by 1996 the church lay disused. Salvation came in the form of Cadogan Estates, which bought the building, refurbished it to the tune of £7.5m and reopened it as a concert venue in June 2004. The ceiling and the floor had to be re-modelled to provide new lighting and a sound installation, and the Byzantine-style stained glass windows were also…

Alan Davey , the controller of BBC Radio 3, picks out three great moments to tune into this March International Women’s Day The centre-piece of Radio 3’s coverage of International Women’s Day on 8 March (see box, p118) is a special Live in Concert from LSO St Luke’s where five newly discovered works by women composers – including Florence Price and Marianna Martines – are being performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra. Jane Glover conducts. Radio 3 Live in Concert; 8 March, 7.30pm Free Thinking Festival A weekend of thought-provoking ideas, debate and music-making is on the cards for Radio 3 at the annual Free Thinking Festival. Among the highlights is a live In Tune performance of The Pankhurst Anthem , a work commissioned by Radio 3 to mark the…

Good news from the Ministry of Common Sense. It seems that if you’re daft enough (or lucky enough) to move next to a music venue or indeed a church with a weekly bell-ringing practice, you can’t now go off in a sulk and apply to the council for a noise abatement order. Complain all you want but, as housing secretary Sajid Javid says, the burden is now on you or the developer to either ensure your property is sufficiently sound-proofed or to simply find somewhere else to live/build your house. There has been an unacceptable abundance of cases where bureaucrats have far too easily caved in to pressure from new residents – sometimes a complaint from a single individual has been sufficient to silence centuries-old clock bells. One only has…

A brand new opera company in Ireland has launched its first season with promises both to promote Irish talent and to bring the artform to audiences right across the country. Operas by Mozart, Offenbach and Verdi are among the seven productions that Irish National Opera will be staging in 2018 (see list, right), as the company heads to towns and cities from Letterkenny in the north-west of the Republic of Ireland to Wexford in the south-east, plus an overseas visit to London’s Barbican. Originally announced back in 2010, Irish National Opera has taken some while to come to fruition but, says its artistic director Fergus Shiel, now presents ‘a fantastic opportunity to create something new. It is also about defining fresh parameters for what opera could and should be. We…

20 …years after first wielding the baton as music director, Robert Spano (above) is to leave the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The conductor says the 2020/1 season will be the last of his successful, if not always easy, tenure. 24 …hours of music. A day-long concert at St John’s Smith Square to mark conductor Stephen Montague’s 75th birthday will begin at noon, 9 March. 5 …of the 100 conductors with the most engagements in 2017 were female, says a survey. In 2013 the total was just one, so progress is being made, of sorts. 50,000,000 …dollars raised so far for the New York Philharmonic’s ‘Launch Fund’, set up to give its new music director Jaap van Zweden the best possible start.…

‘Today I was blissfully happy,’ wrote Robert Schumann to Clara Wieck in December 1839. ‘At a rehearsal they played a symphony by Franz Schubert. If only you had been there. I cannot describe it to you; all the instruments are like so many human voices, it is full of ingenuity, and what instrumentation… and the length, that heavenly length, like a novel in four volumes. I was utterly enraptured and only wished that you were my wife and that I could also write such symphonies.’ It is easy to see why Schumann was so excited. The symphony in question was Schubert’s ‘Great’ C major, a work whose original score Schumann himself had discovered lying in obscurity a year earlier. Realising its importance, he had made a point of championing it…

Angela Hewitt is made of tough stuff. When the Canadian pianist fell and twisted her ankle shortly before a concert in Oxford in January, cancelling was the last thing on her mind – taking to the stage at St John the Evangelist in a wheelchair, she transferred herself onto a stool to play Book One of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. In doing so, she joined a noble list of musicians to have performed in a state of disrepair. Soprano Birgit Nilsson was a formidable figure, and certainly not one to be put off the small matter of a dislocated shoulder. When thus afflicted as the curtain was raised on the first night of a new production of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1974, the indomitable Swede…

After his acclaimed Mozart opera trilogy, we hear from Teodor Currentzis that he is about to embark on another landmark cycle – Beethoven’s nine symphonies. The Greek-Russian conductor and his Perm-based ensemble MusicAeterna are recording these pieces in Vienna over the summer for Sony Classical. ‘It’s a huge project,’ he admits. Meanwhile, pianist Rebeca Omordia (above), whose ‘fiery account’ of Vaughan Williams was recently celebrated in this magazine, is turning the spotlight on several works that are largely unknown in the west. She has recorded a disc of Nigerian classical music, featuring Ayo Bankole’s Second Sonata, plus studies by Fred Onovwerosuoke and pieces by Christian Onyeji. There are two major new signings to the Pentatone label, with cellist Alisa Weilerstein joining from Decca Classics and tenor Piotr Beczata from Deutsche…

Oliver Condy Editor The Academy of St Martin in the Fields and its director, the America virtuoso Joshua Bell, dropped in to Bristol’s Colston Hall in late January for a terrific performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Bell as soloist. The highlight of the evening, however, was this wonderful orchestra’s spirited, Haydn-esque Beethoven Symphony No. 2 which Bell conducted from the leader’s chair with flair and poise. Jeremy Pound Deputy editor Sunday mornings for me these days largely consist of standing on a muddy pitch in the rain, taking in the various thrills and spills of Under 10s rugby matches. I don’t suppose it was this exact scene that inspired Honegger to write his Rugby in 1928 but, as it hares around energetically here and there, there’s undeniably…

Haydn’s piano sonatas are often overshadowed by Beethoven and Mozart. And with over 60 of them, choosing which ones to play is also a trickier task. And, with only a handful of recent major recordings – Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and András Schiff spring to mind – Haydn isn’t well represented in the studio, either. Many of his early sonatas were written for his students and as such are brief and understated. By the 1760s and 1770s his writing had become more passionate with his later sonatas more substantial and expressive. He wrote two of these virtuosic works for friend and celebrated pianist Theresa Jansen, who was also the dedicatee of pieces by other composers including her teacher Clementi. Haydn was particularly inspired by CPE Bach, whose motifs he often mimicked, including…

Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise (Winter Journey) was written in 1827, towards the end of Schubert’s life as he was dying of syphilis. The piece, therefore, was considered by his friends to be an expression of his inner turmoil because of its emotional depth and the fragile psychological state of the protagonist. The 24 poems were written by Wilhelm Müller (above), who was also the author of Die schöne Müllerin that Schubert set during 1823. Winterreise follows the journey of a rejected lover, who wanders away from his village into a desolate, snow-covered landscape. Nature is shown to be a cruel mistress, unsympathetic and unrelenting to his plight. The young man’s journey is a painful one as he is tortured by memories of his lover – as he passes a cemetery…

Symphony No. 1 (1931-2) This substantial piece, which brought Price acclaim, is peppered with spiritual melodies and includes a third movement ‘Juba dance’, instead of a minuet and trio or scherzo. Piano Concerto (1930) Reconstructed by Trevor Piston, this one-movement work features an intricate and challenging piano part, suggesting that Price was a formidable player. Symphony No. 3 (1940) Symphony No. 2 is lost, but No. 3 in C Minor is a mature and consummate work after the youthful First Symphony and contains lush orchestration and rich melodic framing. Violin Concerto No. 2 (1952) Price’s rich, lyrical style is in evidence in her two violin concertos. She completed the First in 1939 and the Second, a single-movement work, in 1952. Its melodic lines strongly reflect her American South heritage. Adoration…

1893 LIFE: Lili Boulanger is born into a musical family on 21 August. A bout of bronchial pneumonia at the age of two severely weakens her immune system. TIMES: Paris becomes the first city in the world to pass a law requiring that all car owners attach a metal registration plate to their vehicles for identification purposes. 1909 LIFE: She begins to study music seriously, taking harmony lessons with composer Georges Caussade, teacher of many of France’s most outstanding young musicians. TIMES: Louis Blériot is the first person ever to fly across the English Channel in an aeroplane, winning a prize of £1,000 from the Daily Mail for his achievement. 1913 LIFE: At the second time of entering, she takes the Prix de Rome for her cantata Faust et Hélène,…

Erato Quartett Basel The Erato Quartett places Fanny Mendelssohn’s Quartet as its main work in a hugely enterprising progamme of quartets by women composers from the 18th and 19th centuries. Like the Ebènes, this Swiss quartet delivers a full-blooded and intensely expressive account accentuated by a richly resonant recording. What perhaps is missing is a similar variety of timbre and nuance. Nonetheless, those wishing to explore Fanny Mendelssohn’s work in the context of other undeservedly neglected repertory will not be disappointed. ( CPO 999 6792 ) Lafayette String Quartet This Canadian group offers a more introverted approach to the first and third movements than the Erato Quartett and Quatuor Ebène, with purer timbres and less intense vibrato. On the other hand, the playing in the Scherzo and Finale is every…

1948 Russian works for cello and piano: Prokofiev: Cello Sonata; Shaporin: Five Pieces, Op. 25; Myaskovsky: Cello Sonata No. 2; Lyadov: Prelude in B minor, Op. 11 No. 1 Laura van der Heijden (cello), Petr Limonov (piano) Champs Hill Records CHRCD 136 70:42 mins From the first, richly resinous tone of the cello solo that opens Prokofiev’s Sonata, one senses that this album will be a treat. There are dozens of recordings of that work, several of them extremely good. Laura van der Heijden, winner of 2012’s BBC Young Musician competition, now joins forces with Russian pianist Petr Limonov in a performance that can hold its own, and on an album that is most imaginatively programmed. 1948 – the title of this recording – was infamously the year in which…

Riley reimagines a 1930s dance-floor on a cosmic scale Riley The Palmian Chord Ryddle*; At the Royal Majestic *Tracy Silverman (electric violin), Todd Wilson (organ); Nashville Symphony/Giancarlo Guerrero Naxos 8.559739 69:21 mins Nashville-based electric violinist Tracy Silverman, dedicatee of John Adams’s The Dharma at Big Sur, was the muse for Riley’s Palmian Chord Ryddle. Though an eight-part through-composed work for large orchestra, the impression given is of a mercurial improvisation by Silverman, an ideal narrator for what amounts to a kaleidoscopic musical autobiography. The ‘Palmian Chord’ is a mode that came to Riley in a dream, and forms the exploratory opening. Particularly poignant is ‘Slow Drag’, recalling his parents dancing the Charleston in the 1930s, heard through a bluesy filter. ‘Ghandi-Ji’s Danda’ kindles into a dynamic Indian dance, which rises…

Rossini Tancredi Sony 88985470352 (1985) 168:26 mins (3 discs) As with all these Sony reissues, there is only a sketchy plot summary. The recording of Rossini’s first grand tragic opera, composed when he was 20, is superb, with Marilyn Horne in staggering form, and a strong cast all round conducted by Ralf Weikert. ★★★★ Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor Sony 88985470392 (1954) 106:28 mins (2 discs) Lily Pons was the most celebrated Lucia of her time, but unfortunately that had passed when she made this recording, and her lovely moments are spoiled by unhappy ugly ones. The rest of the cast is excellent, especially Richard Tucker. ★★★ Donizetti Gemma di Vergy Sony 88985470342 (1976) 127:18 mins (2 discs) An uneven opera with wonderful passages, and perhaps Montserrat Caballé’s finest recording, with…

Mozart Litanies, KV 195 & 243 Decca Eloquence 482 5041 (1955) 70:12 mins Despite sedate tempos and plummy choral sound, these mono recordings with the St Anthony Singers give considerable pleasure, especially the tonally ripe contributions of soprano Jennifer Vyvyan. ★★★ Orff Catulli Carmina Sony 88985470322 (1967) 35:41 mins Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s recording of Catulli Carmina was the first made in America. Razor-sharp rhythmically and charged with energy, it remains a reference version. ★★★★ Poulenc Quatre Motets pour un temps de pénitence Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms, etc Decca Eloquence 482 8099 (1973/75) 74:10 mins In these classic Argo recordings, the boys from the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford add a cutting timbral edge, especially in Simon Preston’s punchy, highly empathetic performances. ★★★★ Schubert Nachtgesang; Chants nocturnes…

Mark Viner makes a wonderful case for an idiosyncratic idiom Alkan 12 Etudes dans tous les tons majeurs, Op. 35 Mark Viner (piano) Piano Classics PCL 10127 68:27 mins Charles-Valentin Alkan’s set of Twelve Studies in the Major Keys, first published in 1847, is not quite as appallingly demanding, in technical terms, as his even longer and more elaborate later set of Etudes in the Minor Keys. But those demands are extreme enough all the same, and Mark Viner responds to them in line with the Lisztian idea of keyboard ‘trancendentalism’ – the sense that any physical difficulties have been absorbed and then left behind, so that both the player’s and the listener’s awareness can be entirely on the music. Technically Viner is amazingly accurate, yet nothing sounds glib; he…

March round-up One by one, the producers of ethnographic records are giving up the fight for survival, and who can blame them? The shops won’t display their wares, and media support has largely dried up; expensive international tours are no longer on the menu; the ‘world music’ boom has gone bust. Yet ethnomusicology is flourishing and it’s good to see Smithsonian Folkways carrying the torch: Dan Sheehy’s Hermanos Herrera comes with all the paraphernalia of scholarship in its extensive track-notes. The son jarocho and son huasteco styles found in Mexico – and Mexican California – represent an ebullient musical success, with its roots in the post-revolutionary Mexican government’s determination to forge a national culture. And the Herrera siblings have inherited this music from their father, uncles and aunts. Powered by…

THIS MONTH: DIGITAL-TO-ANALOGUE CONVERTERS MID-RANGE CHOICE Chord Mojo £399 & Chord Poly £499 The Chord Mojo’s design may be a little strange, and it’s certainly got its quirks, but it’s still my favourite digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) thanks to its portability, versatility and wonderfully real musicality. With DSD256-compatibility – allowing it to access Direct Stream Digital technology – and the ability to handle high-resolution files up to 768kHz, the Mojo is also future proof (for now) and its amplifier will drive most headphones. Whether you use it as a desktop or portable DAC, you won’t be disappointed. Thanks to the new Chord Poly streaming device, you can upgrade the Mojo and turn it into a fully-fledged high-resolution wireless (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) network music player, streamer and Micro SD card playback device.…

London Concert Choir: In Every Corner Sing! On 20 March at Holy Trinity Sloane Square the choir will perform Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs and his G minor Mass, together with a new commission by Alison Willis, A light not yet ready to go out: Affirmation, which celebrates life, love, togetherness and hope, in aid of Breast Cancer Now. Call them or go to the website (below) for tickets. 020 7730 4500 www.cadoganhall.com Leeds International Orchestral Season This spring Leeds International Orchestral Season, one of the finest orchestral programmes in the country, continues to bring remarkable orchestras and astounding soloists from across the globe to Leeds Town Hall. Highlights of the coming months include the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, Maxim Vengerov and many more. 0113 376 0318…

Glock watching It was surely unworthy of Paul Spicer to refer to William Glock’s tenure as Radio 3 controller as ‘the dark ages’ (Choral revivals, January issue), as it perpetuates the myth that Glock only promoted the avant-garde and, to quote, ‘alienated many music lovers’. Even a cursory study of the details in Radio Times of that period (1959-72) will show that the vast majority of the BBC’s music output was still from the early, Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods. There was, to be sure, some Schoenberg and Webern as well as Maxwell Davies and Birtwistle, but certainly not at the expense of the standard repertoire; it is inaccurate to demonise Glock in this way. The excellent British choral music Paul Spicer refers to was to be heard in the…

Thomas Adès Powder her Face 24 February – 9 March Mozart Marriage of Figaro 13-21 April Gluck (left) Orfeo ed Euridice 23-29 July Dennehy The Second Violinist 6-8 September (London) Offenbach The Tales of Hoffmann 14 September – 6 October Bartók Bluebeard’s Castle 12-14 October Verdi Aida 24 November – 1 December Those world-class artists include the Dublin-born mezzo Tara Erraught, who will be singing the role of Susanna in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro in April and who as one of six INO ‘artistic partners’ will help develop and promote the company. Other singers include soprano Orla Boylan and baritone Ben McAteer (above). As with this season, INO will be staging some future productions in partnership with other organisations, not least the hugely successful Northern Ireland Opera in Belfast. ‘We’re…

Francesca Chiejina Soprano Born: Lagos, Nigeria Career highlight: I was one of 16 soloists singing at the Last Night of the BBC Proms in 2016. It is to date simultaneously the most terrifying and exciting two hours of my career. It was a big lesson in letting go and surrendering to the moment. Musical hero: The soprano Leontyne Price has been a phenomenal role model. She rose from humble beginnings in Mississippi to singing on important stages all over the world, during what was a difficult time for artists of colour. And she always performed with integrity, discipline and grace. Dream concert: I would love to sing Puccini’s Tosca. She’s a character that gets to ask all the big questions about love, art, faith and the meaning of life.…

5th: In a case between Niccolò Paganini and the directors of his own Casino Paganini in Paris, the court finds in favour of the latter. Accused of having failed to fulfil his contract to perform concerts at the venue, the Italian violinist is ordered to pay damages of 20,000 francs by the Tribunal de Première Instance. 8th: Depressed by his declining mental and physical health, the French opera tenor Adolphe Nourrit takes his own life by hurling himself from his hotel window in Naples. A gala performance, in which he believed the enthusiastic audience was mocking him, proved the final straw. At Nourrit’s funeral in Paris, Chopin plays an organ transcription of Schubert’s song Die Gestirne. 9th: Led by Richard Cobden and John Bright, the Manchester Anti-Corn-Law Association changes its…

Ives Violin Sonatas Gregory Fulkerson (violin), Robert Shannon (piano) Bridge BCD9024 The Ives Violin Sonatas are a bit more Romantic than a lot of his works. They are a lot about hymns, childhood musical experiences, camp meetings, places where people were singing and marching, communal experiences of music. There’s something very truthful about the way Gregory Fulkerson and Robert Shannon play this music, the way they absorb themselves into Ives’s various styles. He is often in quotation marks, with many references and switches from one voice to another. Stucky Piano Sonata Xak Bjerken (piano) Open G Records 191924162841 US composer Steven Stucky deserves far more attention. I worked with him on a silly vaudeville opera about Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, which ends with a beautiful, heartfelt farewell to the classical…

Nearly every cathedral in Britain, with a couple of glaring exceptions, has a girls’ choir too Justifiably or not, it’s still the world’s most famous Anglican choir. So there was bound to be a flutter in the organ lofts last month when Stephen Cleobury announced he was finally stepping down as director of music at King’s College, Cambridge. I write ‘finally’ not in any pejorative sense, but because by the time he leaves, in September 2019, he will have made music for 37 years under that magnificent fan-vaulted ceiling. Not a bad way to spend a large chunk of your life. And with typical astuteness he has extended his tenure so that his last Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols will be on the 100th anniversary of the first held…

Beethoven Piano Sonatas Lewis’s set of the 32 sonatas attracted widespread acclaim, many calling it a ‘benchmark’. Harmonia Mundi HMX290190211 Beethoven Piano Concertos ‘These accounts score strongly on extroversion, combativeness… and even mischief.’ Harmonia Mundi HMC902053/55 Beethoven Diabelli Variations ‘Lewis has the full measure of the work’s epic scale, creating a real sense of cumulative growth as he navigates us through its extraordinary narrative.’ Harmonia Mundi HMC902071 Schubert Piano Sonatas D840, 850, 894 & Impromptus D899 ‘Model accounts in which Lewis, clearly a modest man, is intent on keeping himself out of the picture.’ Harmonia Mundi HMC902115/16 Schubert The Late Sonatas ‘It goes withouth saying that this is piano playing of the highest calibre, to which the recorded sound does full justice.’ Harmonia Mundi HMC902165/66 Schubert Piano Sonata D845, Wandererfantasie…

Raiders of the Lost Ark Czech National Symphony Orchestra/Ben Palmer 5 April Colston Hall, Bristol 21 September Symphony Hall, Birmingham Jaws Czech NSO/Ben Palmer 6 April Bridgewater Hall, Manchester 7 April Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool 8 April York Barbican 10 April Cliffs Pavillion, Southend 11 April Symphony Hall, B’ham 12 April Brighton Dome 13 April The Anvil, Basingstoke 14 April Colston Hall, Bristol Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets BBC Concert Orchestra/ Justin Freer 27-29 April Royal Albert Hall, London 2001: A Space Odyssey Philharmonia/ André de Ridder 28 April Royal Festival Hall, London Planet Earth II BBC Concert Orchestra/ Jessica Cottis 13 May Royal Albert Hall Vertigo RLPO/Anthony Gabriele 24 May Philharmonic Hall, L’pool Star Trek/Star Trek Beyond Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra/Ernst Van Tiel 2 & 3 June Royal…

‘We no longer look like a church with doors closed – we’re somewhere inviting’ On a murky January morning you need more than a hard hat and wellies to penetrate the building site that is the latest instalment in the ambitious translation of St George’s Bristol from church to state-of-the-art concert hall. A wheelbarrow full of imagination doesn’t go amiss if you want to envisage the vista-capturing glazing that will afford stunning views down to the twin towers of Bristol Cathedral and up to the neo-Gothic splendours of the Wills Memorial Building; the audacious glass sculpture set to dominate a vast floating space flooded with light; and a crowning oculus that references the cupola atop Sir Robert Smirke’s adjacent ‘Greek Revival’ style church completed in 1823 – the same year…

Founded in 1957 by 13 European competitions, The World Federation of International Music Competitions today comprises a variety of members spread across 40 countries. Our member competitions all seek to reward complete artists. However, we want to celebrate much more than a perfect performance and prize money. Through competitions, musicians build stamina, prepare vast quantities of repertoire and learn to handle public interest. WFIMC competitions provide young competitors with the opportunity to hear one another and to find their place among their peers. Entering the right competition at the right time with sufficient preparation and a strong artistic statement can open doors that would otherwise remain closed. Benjamin Woodroffe Secretary General, World Federation of International Music Competitions…

Boulanger understood that her behaviour and appearance would be the keys to success Maurice Ravel serenading at the piano; dinner with Gabriel Fauré; a note of encouragement from Charles Widor: Lili Boulanger was born, on 21 August 1893, into an astonishingly privileged Parisian musical world. An aspiring composer could not fail to thrive in this environment, even with only a fraction of her talent, but that talent – allied to hard work and a canny professionalism – ensured she became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, France’s most prestigious music prize. To reduce Boulanger’s story to her Prix de Rome triumph and her tragic early death at 24, as so often happens, distracts from a serious consideration of her at times groundbreaking music, and an honest appreciation…

Fanny inevitably invited direct comparison with Felix Mendelssohn The work Because Fanny Mendelssohn was never allowed to pursue a career as a professional composer, her creative activity was focused almost exclusively on writing music for the Berlin salon concerts which she hosted alongside her painter husband Wilhelm Hensel. For this reason, she poured much of her energy into composing small piano pieces and songs, and only very occasionally tackled larger genres. Nevertheless, her relatively slender output of chamber music includes some remarkable works, including a Piano Quartet from 1823 and a Piano Trio dating from the last full year of her all-too-brief life. No less impressive is her only String Quartet, which was composed within the space of only three months in 1834. It was presumably performed for the first…

Why did you decide to wait a while after winning BBC Young Musician before recording? There was quite a lot of expectation for me to start recording immediately after the competition, but I feel that recording is such a special and specific thing – the CD is around forever. I felt I needed to develop as a cellist, and I wanted to find a programme that really meant something to me. That’s what has happened. I feel very passionately about the music on this disc. What is the appeal of Russian music in particular for you? I started studying with the Russian cellist Leonid Gorokhov when I was 11, and my teacher before that was Marina Logie, whose father was an amazing Romanian-Russian cellist, so perhaps I feel close to…

Berlioz Symphonie fantastique; Overture: Le carnaval romain; La damnation de Faust Decca Eloquence 482 5569 (1951-52) 67:37 mins Expertly played and transferred, Eduard van Beinum’s early 1950s Berlioz possesses an eloquence, dignity and emotional immediacy almost in the Paul Paray (Mercury) class. ★★★★ Liszt Symphonic Poems (II) Praga Digitals PRD 250 384 (hybrid CD/SACD) (1958-89) 75:21 mins A vibrant collection of symphonic poems in which fervent advocacy compensates for any lack of orchestral sophistication, with the RPO and Thomas Beecham’s Orpheus and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Ernest Ansermet’s Hunnenschlacht leading the way. ★★★ Mahler Symphonies Nos 1 & 3 Decca Eloquence 482 7177 (1964-68) 148:06 mins (2 discs) These 1960s LSO recordings represent – alongside his classic Chicago account of the mighty Eighth – the very best…

Dvořák Cello Concerto; Silent Woods, etc. Cugate Classics CGC029-2 (1995) 66:24 mins Marc Drobinsky is over-deliberate in Dvoÿák’s Concerto, but finds real depth in the Adagio. A leaden Silent Woods gives way to caprice in the Rondo and Polonaise. ★★★★ Korngold Cello Concerto; Suites etc Alto ALC 1390 (2003) 67:05 mins Some of Korngold’s most lovable music, from the joyous Much Ado music to the absorbing prelude to Act II of Die Tote Stadt, in warmly expressive performances. Zuill Bailey gives a superb account of this intense Cello Concerto. ★★★★ Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto; Meditation Sibelius Violin Concerto Alto ALC 1354 (1961/74) 64:76 mins When did David Oistrakh perform the Tchaikovsky Concerto and not conjure magic? From the first penetrating note, it’s impossible to tear oneself away. His Sibelius is equally…

Born in Dalmatia of Belgian descent (he was christened Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo Cavaliere Suppé-Demelli), Suppé learned to play the flute as a boy. After his father’s death, he went to Vienna with his mother and studied at the Conservatory. He was a conductor at various theatres, and himself sang in opera, making his debut at Ödenburg in 1842 as Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore. He composed several serious works, including a Requiem (1855), but is most remembered as the composer of tuneful operettas.…

Take two artists at the top of their game and stand back to admire! Mendelssohn Variations concertantes, Op. 17; Sonatas Nos 1 & 2; Romance sans paroles, Op. 109; Assai Tranquillo (Albumblatt) Christian Poltéra (cello), Ronald Brautigam (piano) BIS BIS-2187 (hybrid CD/SACD) 60:26 mins Begin with a Stradivarius cello of 1711 and Paul McNulty’s fine copy of an 1830 Pleyel piano, add two artists at the top of their game and stand back to admire! I cannot imagine these Mendelssohn pieces played with a deeper understanding, not just of their supreme logic, but of the opportunities within that logic for expressive freedoms, always bearing in mind that these demand the utmost tact and accuracy of timing. Christian Poltéra and Ronald Brautigam take as their basis the belief that performances of…

JS Bach Ein feste Burg, BWV 80; Mass in G minor Soloists; Stuttgart Chamber Choir; Stuttgart Baroque Orchestra/Bernius Carus 83.282 Invigorating, richly-textured performances of one of Bach’s most joyous cantatas in an ideal acoustic. The balance sometimes raises eyebrows. (OC) ★★★★ Bloch Violin Sonatas Nos 1 & 2; Piano Sonata Stark (violin), Pescia (piano) Claves 50-1705 Nurit Stark’s sound is raw and agitated in the violin sonatas, but strangely rustic and effective, while Pescia’s Piano Sonata is pure in tone with superb voicing. (FP) ★★★★ Britten • Hindemith Violin Concertos Arabella Steinbacher (violin); Berlin Radio Symphony/Vladimir Jurowski Pentatone PTC 5186 625 Steinbacher’s lithe playing, alive to both concertos’ volatilities, is matched by orchestral playing of depth and heart. (OC) ★★★★★ Chopin Etudes Opp. 10 & 25 Krzysztof Jabloński (piano) The Fryderyk Chopin Institute…

LONDON Handel’s Rinaldo Barbican, 13 Mar Tel: +44 (0)20 7638 8891 Web: www.barbican.org.uk Before it heads to New York via Spain, there’s just one UK opportunity to catch Rinaldo, the latest instalment in The English Concert’s Handel opera-in-concert series. Countertenor Iestyn Davies takes the title role; Harry Bicket conducts. The Mozartists Cadogan Hall, 15 Mar Tel: +44 (0)20 7730 4500 Web: www.cadoganhall.com The four cardinal virtues of Temperance, Prudence, Justice and Fortitude are celebrated in Haydn’s seldom-performed cantata Applausus, composed in 1768 for an ecclesiastical Golden Jubilee. Given as part of Classical Opera’s ongoing survey of Mozart and his world 250 years ago, it’s directed by Ian Page, and paves the way to June’s Mozart La finta semplice. Ensemble Intercontemporain Wigmore Hall, 19 Mar Tel: +44 (0)20 7935 2141 Web:…

There wasn’t much classical music in my parents’ house at first, although my father loved big bands and my uncle, a painter and art teacher, owned many LPs. The first piece I remember being hooked on was MOZART’s Piano Concerto No. 27 – I must have been about eight – and I played it so often that my mother bought me a score. It was for two pianos and I wondered when and how I might be able to perform it one day. I had an enlightened piano teacher, Ruth Weiss, at the music school in Düren, and every week she brought me a tape of a pianist or a singer she thought I ought to know. She told me that when she met me she could tell that I…