Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2022 i BBC Music Magazine

After far too many months of grey, sodden winter, the summer festival season is finally upon us, and with it the return of the BBC Proms. Following two years of Covid-induced restrictions, the full-length schedule returns with a bang in 2022 to capacity audiences, top-tier visiting ensembles and soloists, and large-scale performances of major works such as Verdi’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Alongside anniversaries for Vaughan Williams, George Walker and Iannis Xenakis, the Proms this year celebrates the centenary of the BBC with a special Public Service Broadcasting Prom on 30 August. On page 26, Jeremy Pound marks the occasion with a look at 100 standout Proms that have taken place since the BBC forged its association with the world’s leading classical music festival in 1927. From the first…

Cellist Antonio Meneses introduces us to a selection of his favourite recordings Guarnieri Cello Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano Antonio Meneses (cello), Celina Szrvinsk (piano) Avie AV2162 Camargo Guarnieri was the most important composer to come from Brazil after Villas-Lobos. He wrote three cello sonatas, and I played and recorded the first one back in 2008/09. It’s a wonderful piece, written in 1931, not very long and very polyphonic with wonderful melodies. The last movement is wild from beginning to end – it’s actually called Dança selvagem, which means ‘wild dance’. Villa-Lobos Fantasia János Starker (cello); Paraiba Symphony Orchestra/Eleazar de Carvalho Delos DE1017 Villa-Lobos wrote this Fantasy around 1945 and it’s very beautiful. The cello sings, especially in the first and last movements; it’s as if it were…

As the rather natty logo on the front of this magazine will tell you, the BBC turns 100 years old in 2022 – expect all manner of party poppers and hullaballoo when the big day itself arrives in October. For classical music fans, there is in fact quite a lot to celebrate, as the staging and broadcasting of performances has been at the heart of the Beeb’s activities right from Day One. And most famous of these is, of course, the Proms. While the famous festival founded by Robert Newman and Henry Wood has been in existence for 127 years, around three-quarters of that has been under the watchful eye of ‘Auntie’ – a period that has seen Proms that range from joyful to doom-laden, from sternly serious to splendidly…

The work The story of how Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 entered the world sounds a warning to all composers to ignore those fickle critics. Keen to persuade Nikolai Rubinstein to give its premiere, Tchaikovsky played the piece from start to finish in the company of the eminent pianist. Rubinstein remained quiet throughout – before dismissing the work in no uncertain terms. The snub stung Tchaikovsky, who conveyed the details of this disastrous read-though in a letter he wrote some three years after the incident. According to the composer, Rubinstein had expressed his opinion that ‘only two or three pages were worth preserving; the rest must be thrown away or completely rewritten’ because the concerto was ‘badly written as to be beyond rescue’. Rubinstein expressed his opinion that ‘only two…

Brahms Symphonies Nos 3 & 4 Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Herbert Blomstedt Pentatone PTC 5186 852 80:38 mins Even by the standards of a profession famous for its longevity, Herbert Blomstedt’s staying-power is a phenomenon: he conducted these recordings in April last year, aged 93. A former principal conductor of Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra (while merely in his seventies), he retains an honorary position with them, and the players’ respect for his brand of seasoned musicianship is evident at every point. And something of this orchestra’s fabled traditional sound – an emphasis on mellow shading, rather than the technicolor projection so widely favoured elsewhere – has survived unmistakably through recent decades. Exceptional recording quality, at once unexaggerated and hyper-vivid, captures these players’ circle-squaring ability to combine superb technical clarity with rounded warmth of tone.…

Richard Birchall • Mozart Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Clarinet Quintet; Richard Birchall: Clarinet Concerto Michael Collins (clarinet); Wigmore Soloists; Philharmonia Orchestra/Robin O’Neill BIS BIS-2647 (CD/SACD) 81:37 mins Until recently, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and Quintet were generally played on the ‘A’ instrument (rather than the standard B-flat clarinet). However, the works were originally intended for the basset clarinet, a member of the clarinet family favoured by Mozart’s friend Anton Stadler. Having already recorded the concerto using both the de-facto clarinet (DG) and the basset (Chandos), Collins gives the old war horse another trot around the paddock in this glorious new album, released to coincide with the clarinettist’s 60th-birthday celebrations. As clarinettist-conductor, Collins leads the Philharmonia in a particularly ravishing Rondo. In the Quintet, Collins is joined by newly formed ensemble Wigmore Soloists,…

Heinz Holliger Lunea Christian Gerhaher, Juliane Banse, Ivan Ludlow, Sarah Maria Sun, Annette Schönmüller; Basler Madrigalisten; Philharmonia Zürich/Heinz Holliger ECM 485 6322 97:33 mins (2 discs) Swiss composer and oboist Heinz Holliger (b1939) has long been fascinated by visionary artists who developed catastrophic mental disorders – among them, the Austrian Romantic poet Nikolaus Lenau (1802-50). In 2013 Holliger explored Lenau’s feeling of Weltschmerz in a song cycle for baritone and piano (later ensemble), Lunea, setting 23 vivid, despairing sentences with searing concision. Titled the same, the 2017 ‘dream opera’ incorporates these to shattering effect alongside further fragments from his personal papers, tautly assembled by librettist Händl Klaus into 23 ‘leaves’ from the pages of Lenau’s increasingly desperate life. Conventional narrative is eschewed for a series of through-composed episodes which leap…

Beethoven Cello Sonatas Nos 1-5 Alisa Weilerstein (cello), Inon Barnatan (piano) Pentatone PTC 5186 884 110:32 mins (2 discs) Inon Barnatan neatly sums up the pleasure of these works by pointing out that they reflect the whole span of Beethoven’s musical life, redefining the relationship between piano and cello as they go along. Quite so: the initial challenge of this artform – which Beethoven invented – lay in the fact that the powerful singing voice in the cello’s middle register tended to overwhelm the soft tone and limited sustaining power of the late-18th-century piano. It’s ironic that piano technology has now tipped the balance the other way. Alisa Weilerstein’s sound has a generous warmth, and Barnatan’s has a delicate malleability, so these players complement each other nicely. They announce themselves…

Beethoven Diabelli Variations Mitsuko Uchida (piano) Decca 485 2731 53:38 mins When Mitsuko Uchida recorded the mighty Hammerklavier Sonata, her album won Recording of the Year at the 2008 BBC Music Magazine Awards. Yet it has taken since then for the Japanese pianist to return to Beethoven on disc. Has the wait been worth it? The answer is a resounding yes. Her Diabelli Variations are a triumph of wit and character, revelling in the humour that the composer took in turning the unassuming ‘cobbler’s patch’ theme into an expansive solo piano work that, when played at its best, seems to encompass all human life. Over 33 variations, Beethoven juxtaposes contrasting moods and musical styles with endless invention and kaleidoscopic vision. Uchida manages to bring out the individuality of each variation…

Mason Bates Philharmonia Fantastique – The Making of the Orchestra Chicago Symphony/Edwin Outwater Sony Classical G010004751141I This short-ish concerto for orchestra introduces the woodwind, string, brass and percussion families with dashes of jazz and techno. It’s a noble enterprise, with deeper ideals about human diversity and unity. Bates is, as ever, an engaging musical storyteller. (MB) ★★★ Brahms • Schumann Ein deutsches Requiem etc Jan Michiels (piano) et al Evil Penguin EPRC0046 Brahms’s Requiem is one of the more docile of its type, so interweaving its movements with Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood works rather well as a concept, creating a benign musical narrative between the two ends of life’s journey. (JP) ★★★★ Bruhns Cantatas and Organ Works, Vol. 1 Yale Institute of Sacred Music/ Masaaki Suzuki BIS BIS-2271 With the…

Your complete guide to what’s on Radio 3 this month, plus TV highlights COTW = Composer of the Week 1 FRIDAY 6.30-9am Breakfast 9am-12 noon Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week (COTW) Billy Strayhorn (rpt) 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-4.30pm Afternoon Concert 4.30-5pm The Listening Service 5-7pm In Tune 7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Walton Scapino, Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2, Elgar Symphony No.1. Lise de la Salle (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Thomas Søndergård 10-10.45pm The Verb 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-1am Late Junction 2 SATURDAY 7-9am Breakfast 9-11.45am Record Review 11.45am-12.30pm Music Matters 12.30-1pm This Classical Life 1-3pm Inside Music 3-4pm Sound of Cinema 4-5pm Music Planet 5-6.30pm J to Z 6.30-10pm Opera on 3 Wagner Parsifal. Opera North/Richard Farnes…

Rachel Rowntree Violinist and writer ‘Talking to Llinos Owen about combining her playing and sporting activities was hugely inspiring. Few people could go through such trauma and come through it with not one, but two glittering careers!’ Page 48 Elizabeth de Brito Podcast founder and presenter ‘I’ve long been familiar with George Walker’s music, but delving deeply into his work has given me an almost reverential appreciation of this great composer. What a thrill to write about this genius of precision.’ Page 60 Claire Jackson Writer and editor ‘Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto has it all: dazzling virtuosity, tender introspection – and a dramatic backstory. It’s a work I never tire of, which is lucky, as there is a thicket of recordings to explore.’ Page 64…

Isha Crichlow Clarinettist Born: London, UK Career highlight: Playing alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra as part of its Foyle Future Firsts development scheme. It has really cemented my love of orchestral collaboration and performance. Musical heroes: I’ve been a keen birdwatcher for even longer than I’ve played the clarinet, and I’ve always loved the way Messiaen weaves birdsong into his music. I particularly love his Catalogue d’oiseaux, a musical ‘field guide’ complete with his written descriptions of the birds’ unique personalities. Dream concert: I’d love to perform somewhere totally wild – in the middle of a forest or on a clifftop – where the sounds of nature provide relief from the awkward silences between movements! Harry Sever Conductor Born: London, UK Career highlight: Bizet’s Carmen at Opera North this season…

Sony Classical recently signed Miloš Karadaglić. The popular guitarist has recorded for DG and Decca until now, but says he is ‘very excited to be joining Sony Classical and building a future together’. His first project as part of the partnership is set to be a recording of Baroque repertoire, scheduled for release early next year. Taking Miloš’s place at Decca is up-and-coming Brazilian classical guitarist Plínio Fernandes. The 27 year-old, whose hero is Andrés Segovia, says his signing to Decca Gold is ‘a dream come true’. His debut album, titled Saudade, is set for release on 8 July and features guest artists Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Brazilian vocalists Maria Rita. Chineke! Orchestra have also announced a major new partnership with Decca, which will see the label release all future recordings…

Classical crossover. A term that makes purists recoil, that defines a genre-less genre that has classical musical culture up in arms even while it has non-specialist charts in its thrall. Yet crossover’s essential philosophy isn’t as separate from classical ideology as purists might like to think, and neither is it as genuinely open-hearted in its crossing of genres as its fans might suppose. Crossover is about turning the ambition of the operatic into the glamour of the poperatic, fusing the emotional scale of classical music with the marketing and soundworld of pop. The result ought to be records, performances and careers that appeal to the biggest possible audience with the greatest possible impact. And it works: it’s not only that Ludovico Einaudi, André Rieu, Katherine Jenkins, Michael Ball and Alfie…

Charlotte Smith Editor Last month I had the great pleasure of attending a concert by South African cellist Abel Selaocoe (below) and the Manchester Collective at London’s Southbank Centre. The programme, called The Oracle, was an intoxicating mix of core classical works by Vivaldi and Stravinsky, music inspired by the Afrofuturism movement and improvisations and compositions by Selaocoe himself. Equally adept as a cellist and singer, he was perfectly matched in virtuosity by the Collective – and in enthusiasm by the audience. Jeremy Pound Deputy editor Until recently, my familiarity with Chausson had not stretched much beyond his Piano Trio. A couple of concerts on Radio 3 plus some guidance from one our reviewers as to where to turn next has helped to change that, and I’m now particularly smitten…

Composer of the Week is broadcast on Radio 3 at 12pm, Monday to Friday. Programmes in July are: 27 June – 1 July Billy Strayhorn 4-8 July Tour de France: Rameau 11-15 July Tour de France: Montgeroult 18-22 July Tour de France: Ravel 25-29 July Beethoven George Walker boasts one of the longest compositional careers in history, writing well into his 90s. In his prolific career, he produced over 90 works, an enviable array of masterpieces including concertos for trombone and piano, five piano sonatas, five sinfonias, brass quintets, wind quintets, song cycles and more. He wrote most extensively, though, for stringed instruments, with a Violin Concerto and Cello Concerto, sonatas for cello, violin and viola and two string quartets to his name. But as well as being an extraordinary…

Van Cliburn (piano) RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra/Kirill Kondrashin RCA G010001770065I With bravura fanfares and tender reflections – all requiring pristine technique – it’s no wonder that Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto has long been a competition favourite. Beatrice Rana’s flawless performance of the work at the Montreal International Music Competition in 2011 won her first prize; her follow-up performance in 2014 at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition led to a Warner Classics recording with Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia that was a strong contender for this category. Rana has followed in the footsteps of Van Cliburn, the Texan pianist who gave his name to the quadrennial competition, and who also gave a career-changing performance of the Tchaikovsky Concerto. Van Cliburn takes the opening big chords…

Mahler Symphony No. 4 Chen Reiss (soprano); Czech Philharmonic/Semyon Bychkov Pentatone PTC 5186 972 56:49 mins Alchemy has been working wonders in Prague. In the case of the Czech Philharmonic it’s simply an adapted sound building on magnificent traditions. But I always thought Semyon Bychkov, now one of the greats, was more a creature of earth and fire than air. A perfect Barbican performance of Dvořák’s Eighth, floating and gleaming so gorgeously, told me otherwise; and its counterpart in Mahler’s symphonies, the Fourth, is cast in the same golden mould. In both interpretations, every tempo choice seems perfect. Bychkov doesn’t make an adagioesque meal of the radiant song that frames the innocence-versus-experience third movement. He also makes sure that soprano Chen Reiss, poised and enchanting in the ‘child’s view of…

Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2; Valse-Caprice, ‘Wedding Cake’; Allegro appassionato, Op. 70; Rapsodie d’Auvergne; Africa, Op. 89 Alexandre Kantorow (piano); Tapiola Sinfonietta/Jean-Jacques Kantorow BIS BIS-2400 (CD/SACD) 85:02 mins This is very special. The previous disc of Saint-Saëns’s piano concertos from the father-and-son team of conductor Jean-Jacques and pianist Alexandre Kantorow featured exceptionally impressive performances of the Third, Fourth and Fifth concertos. This jam-packed and equally outstanding second volume includes the first two concertos along with the composer’s shorter works for piano and orchestra. From the fervent Allegro appassionato via the frolics of the Rapsodie d’Auvergne and ‘Wedding Cake’ Valse-Caprice to Africa’s extraordinary travelogue and, of course, the concertos, musicality is to the fore. The virtuosity is breathtaking, yet nothing is hard-pressed, for the younger Kantorow has that hallmark…

JS Bach Mass in B minor Robin Johannsen (soprano), Marie-Claude Chappuis (mezzo-soprano), Helena Rasker (alto), Sebastian Kohlhepp (tenor), Christian Immler (bass-baritone); RIAS Kammerchor; Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin/René Jacobs Harmonia Mundi HMM 902676.77 96:14 mins (2 discs) For his recording of Bach’s opus ultimum, René Jacobs explains his conception of the work as a vocal concerto grosso, in which alternating juxtapositions of full choral sonority, or ripieno, occur with smaller groups of soloists, or concertino. The idea is a development of one by Wilhelm Ehmann, a noted scholar and performer of Bach’s vocal music during the 1950s and 1960s. Readers familiar with Jacobs’s performances will not be disappointed by the graceful phrasing and light rhythmic pulse which characterise his approach to Bach’s music. His soloists are thoughtfully chosen and make…

Schoenberg String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7; String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30 Gringolts Quartet BIS BIS-2567 (CD/SACD) 79:31 mins When, in 1924, Alban Berg wrote an article called ‘Why is Schoenberg’s music so hard to understand?’ he illustrated it not with one of his teacher’s recent 12-note works, but with a piece that had been composed 20 years earlier – the String Quartet No. 1. With its unrelentingly complex contrapuntal textures, and the manner in which it unfolds in a single span of fully three-quarters of an hour, Schoenberg’s D minor Quartet offers a formidable challenge to players and listeners alike. Although it does contain the outlines of a fourmovement plan, the music of String Quartet No. 1 is in such a continual state of evolution…

July round-up Scottish singer/composer Karine Polwart also makes a stellar return to this column, having last appeared in July 2019 with her heartfelt masterpiece Laws Of Motion. However, her new release Still As Your Sleeping is a beautifully accomplished genuine duo album with pianist Dave Milligan, who lives in the same Midlothian village of Pathhead as she does. The songs are an intimately sequenced mix of familiar traditional material such as ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ and interpretations of Kate McGarrigle and fellow Scot Alasdair Roberts, alongside original songs such as highlight ‘Siccar Point’, which epitomises Polwart’s gift for storytelling and her deep feel for the Scottish landscape – here a seascape. (Hudson HUD025CD) ★★★★★ A sharp contrast in both feel and content is the nightclub atmosphere of L’Anniversaire, by French accordionist…

July round-up Prolific trumpeter, composer Dave Douglas is a restless soul. His latest music, Secular Psalms, was commissioned by Ghent’s Handelsbeurs Concert Hall to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Ghent Altarpiece painted by Jan van Eyck. His response – a suite of 10 pieces – is as multidimensional and intriguing as the storied masterpiece itself. Tapping into Latin Mass, medieval folk songs, the early renaissance composer Guillaume DuFay, as well as improvised music, and making use of lute and serpent plus electronics, vocals and conventional jazz instruments, Douglas has produced an unearthly epic that’s pure genius. (Greenleaf GRE1090) ★★★★★ American guitarist John Scofield has been making hip, small-group jazz music for nearly 50 years and this eponymously titled album is his debut as a solo artist. It took an…

New Music Biennial Southbank Centre, London, 1-3 July Web: southbankcentre.co.uk From electronic Middle Eastern rave-jazz to a meditation on breathing uniting Armonico and saxophonist Amy Dickson, the tenth-anniversary edition takes the pulse of contemporary music in all its diversity. The National Youth Orchestra immerses itself in Errollyn Wallen’s Mighty River, and there’s anarchy from the London Sinfonietta. Opera Holland Park Ilchester Place, London, 1-3 July Web: operahollandpark.com Delius’s Margot la rouge and Mark Adamos’s Little Women fly the operatic flag over London W8, but a parallel song series includes a three-day Schubertiad devoted to the song cycles, sung by baritones Roderick Williams (Winterreise) and Julien Van Mellaerts (Die schöne Müllerin) and mezzo Ema Nikolovska (Schwanengesang, coupled with the premiere of Errollyn Wallen’s The Lake). Academy of Ancient Music Barbican, London,…

The Proms First Night of the Proms Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra tackle Verdi’s mighty Requiem with a line-up of rising star soloists, including Freddie de Tommaso and Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha in what promises to be a spectacular start to the season. BBC Two: 15 July, 7.15pm Prom 16: Sea Sketches – Andrew Manze and BBC National Orchestra of Wales In an ode to maritime majesty, the BBC NOW and a double chorus are joined by Elizabeth Llewellyn and Andrew Foster-Williams for Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony to mark his 150th anniversary year, alongside two other vivid seascapes by his pupils Grace Williams and Doreen Carwithen. BBC Four: 29 July, time TBC Prom 19: Puccini’s Il tabarro Mark Elder conducts the Hallé Orchestra in a concert performance of…

The first correct solution of our crossword picked at random will win a copy of The Oxford Companion to Music. A runner-up will win Who Knew? Answers to Questions about Classical Music (see oup.co.uk). Send answers to: BBC Music Magazine, Crossword 374/July 2022, PO Box 501, Leicester, LE94 0AA to arrive by 12 July 2022 (solution in Oct 2022 issue). ACROSS 1 Scottish dance is an illicit affair (5) 4 Allegretto ma non troppo? Chance engaging in error (8) 8 Unexpectedly needing to secure a forte – or quadruple forte? (9) 9 Songs: duets without piano (4) 11 Ukrainian composer, student, one Sky broadcast (7) 12 Cited a finally revolutionary Beethoven overture (4,3) 13 Ukrainian composer worked hard, mostly in pursuit of a lot of money? (10) 16 Down a…

Write to: The editor, BBC Music Magazine, Eagle House, Bristol, BS1 4ST Email: music@classical-music.com Social media: contact us on Facebook and Twitter LETTER of the MONTH Victorious adaptations I enjoyed Andrew Green’s investigation of the origin and rise of our National Anthem (June issue). While I admire Beethoven’s Seven Variations on ‘God Save the King’ which he mentions, in my view a far better and more dramatic use of it is in the second part of his battle symphony, Wellington’s Victory (or the Battle of Vitoria) Op. 91. This theatrical orchestral showpiece predates Tchaikovsky’s ubiquitous 1812 Overture, but like it celebrates the defeat of Napoleonic forces with cannon and musket effects. It starts with two marching bands: one English, playing part of Rule Britannia; the other French, bizarrely to our…

On 29 July, 1826, a young man climbed up to the hillside ruins of Castle Rauhenstein in Baden, a spa town 20 miles south of Vienna. Arriving at his destination, he drew two pistols from his pocket. Aiming one at his head, he pulled the trigger, but the bullet either missed or misfired in the chamber. The second pistol, however, partially found its target. The bullet gouged the left-hand side of the shooter’s skull without entering his brain, leaving him slumped and barely conscious. Who was the unfortunate individual? It soon emerged his name was Karl van Beethoven, nephew of the famed composer Ludwig, and that his attempted suicide was anything but a spur-of-the-moment decision. Just days earlier Karl’s landlord, Schlemmer, had warned Beethoven that the 19-year-old ‘intended to shoot…

When orchestras aren’t doing what the world expects them to do – dressing in formal black and playing symphonies in concert halls – they are often doing rather more exciting things. For instance, sending musicians, like missionaries, into schools, hospitals, factories and shopping malls. Or pioneering new sounds by young composers in disused warehouses. A lot of that goes on, but it’s often below the radar, unreported by the press. Well, I hope the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s latest ‘different’ project makes a huge splash – locally, nationally and internationally – because it could transform musical life. The CBSO hasn’t stopped being a ‘proper’ orchestra, of course. But it will soon take on an additional role in Sandwell, one of the poorest boroughs in the West Midlands. The CBSO…

In February, the Latvian violinist celebrated his 75th birthday. In conversation with Charlotte Smith, he talks about his dedication to modern composers, especially Weinberg ‘As interpreters we are obliged to serve the music, regardless of how tempting it is to dazzle large audiences’ Gidon Kremer hasn’t always been an advocate for Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Despite dedicating much of his time and energy to performing and recording the Polish composer’s works in recent years, the celebrated Latvian violinist wasn’t entirely convinced of Weinberg’s genius initially. ‘I recognised the power and weight of his music much too late,’ he admits ruefully. ‘I attended some of his performances and was presented with the possibility of speaking to him while I was studying in Moscow, but I didn’t use that opportunity, as at the time…

Martha Argerich (piano) Martha’s Argerich’s third recording of the concerto, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Claudio Abbado in 1994, has the edge on her previous version with Kirill Kondrashin. There’s no messing about with the big tunes, those early chords are perfectly placed, the second movement is subtle and luxurious, and the final Allegro is spun like silk. Without imposing her personality, Argerich manages to make it seem like Tchaikovsky intended this piece for her all along. (Deutsche Grammophon 449 8162) Daniil Trifonov (piano) Daniil Trifonov won the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011 and the Concerto was recorded as part of a compilation album shortly after. Joined for the occasion by the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, Trifonov gives a sublime performance that earns him a place in the top…

Before you immerse yourself in the BBC Proms, there’s plenty of time to take in some of the very fine recordings shared in the following pages. Leading the way this month is another dazzling Handel recording from Harry Bicket, The English Concert and an all-star cast (see opposite), while countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński presents a brilliant recital of Polish folksong with pianist Michal Biel. Keeping it in the family, we’ve turns from the Labèque sisters, the Bevan sisters and father-and-son Kantorows, Jean-Jacques and Alexandre, while Mitsuko Uchida has made a triumphant return to Beethoven – our Instrumental Choice. Finally, if you feel like taking a trip, we present a selection of the very best international fare in our World music round-up. Come with us! This month’s critics John Allison, Nicholas…

Handel/Hasse Caio Fabbricio Anna Gorbachyova-Ogilvie, Fleur Barron, Miriam Allan, Helen Charlston, Jess Dandy, Hannah Poulsom, Morgan Pearse; London Early Opera/Bridget Cunningham Signum SIGCD713 142:00 mins (2 discs) In this worldpremiere recording, performing artists shine brightly in a pasticcio opera that was compromised at least partly by its first cast. In 1733, Handel wanted to arrange airs of Johann Adolf Hasse’s Caio Fabbricio; his vocalists, however, insisted on inserting their favourite numbers, by whomever, at key moments. As a result, the music doesn’t sweep the story along as in operas Handel wholly composed himself. That said, Bridget Cunningham directs Caio Fabbricio brilliantly, leading from the harpsichord to energise the other players, and to give them space to exploit juicy passages. The singers’ virtuosity and rich characterisations are delightful; particularly good are…

Farewells Songs by T Baird, Czyż, Karlowicz, Łukaszewski, Moniuszko and Szymanowski Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor), Michał Biel (piano) Erato 9029626971 57:14 mins Jakub Józef Orliński’s new album of Polish songs – his first recorded venture away from Baroque music – takes its title from a remarkable group of Pushkin settings by Henryk Czyz. Singing translations by Julian Tuwim, himself a great poet, Orliński sounds super-engaged with words and music, and any notion the listener may have about wanting to hear such repertoire sung by a mezzo with more amplitude soon evaporates. Instead, the rare beauty of Orliński’s countertenor makes the whole recital an unusually introspective experience – and by any standards of Polish song recitals, this is an extraordinarily wide programme, one equally shaped by the excellent pianist Michał Biel.…

Albéniz Iberia, Books 1-4 Nelson Goerner (piano) Alpha Classics ALPHA 829 82:41 mins Never judge a work by its title – musically, Iberia owes more to France than its Spanish namesake, although glimpses of composer Isaac Albéniz’s beloved homeland are ever on the horizon. The collection comprises 12 pieces, split equally into four books, created between 1905 and 1908. Both the structure and harmonic language has much in common with Debussy’s Images (1901-07) but Albéniz’s style is entirely his own, featuring the folkloric flavour imbued into his earlier works combined with a Lisztian virtuosity that he, quite reasonably, worried made it unplayable. Not for pianists like Nelson Goerner. Having produced several excellent Chopin recordings, the Argentinian now demonstrates that he can handle Albéniz’s magnum opus. There is a whisper of…

Benedicte Maurseth Hárr Benedicte Maurseth (Hardanger fiddle), Rolf-Erik Nystrøm (saxophone) Hubro HUBROCD2645 Norwegian Hardanger fiddler Benedicte Maurseth first featured in this magazine with her 2010 debut Alde. Since then, she has collaborated with other neo-folk luminaries such as David Rothenberg, who invited her to join him in several musical projects involving the sounds of unique birds from around the world. Following this experience, her latest album Hárr is an exquisite musique concrete sound portrait of Maurseth’s native Hardangervidda region, making canny use of samples of local wildlife and a small ensemble featuring double bass, vibes, marimba and electronica. It takes off with a typically forlorn sounding golden plover and sleepily twittering passerines before the appearance of irked or startled common cranes and arctic loons out on their own astral plane.…

Critical Lives – Sergei Rachmaninoff Rebecca Mitchell Reaktion Books 240pp (pb) £11.99 The conventional view of Rachmaninov as a dyed-in-the-wool purveyor of late-Romantic musical nostalgia is strongly challenged in this enthrallingly written book. Far from being completely out of step with the drastically changing cultural environment of the first half of the 20th century, Rachmaninov’s music, according to Rebecca Mitchell, was entirely modern, its dark harmonies and brooding nature echoing ‘a widespread sense of melancholy, uprootedness and “sickness” that seemed to define contemporary urban existence.’ This argument particularly holds water for the works Rachmaninov composed between 1910 and 1917 in which tonal boundaries are extended or deliberately obscured, demonstrating how far the composer had travelled from the post-Tchaikovskian luxuriance of his Second Piano Concerto or Second Symphony. Even after he…

1. Whose Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major is rounded off by a wellknown rondo ‘Alla turca’? 2. Who wrote the play Peer Gynt for which Grieg composed his incidental music in 1875? 3. An early version of which famous work was first heard in public at the funeral of architect Joseph Lesoufaché in La Madeleine, Paris on 16 January 1888? 4. On a standard piano keyboard, how many of the keys are black? 5. Invented in c1893, what is the instrument pictured above? 6. Familiar as the setting of ‘All My Hope on God is Founded’ which composer’s 1936 hymn tune ‘Michael’ is named after his son, who died aged nine the previous year? 7. Which composer’s purchases of – often very expensive and exclusive – cars began…

The marriage of stories and music is at the heart of almost everything Neil Brand does. His popular series on BBC Four allow him to share his passion for musicals and film music, while audiences around the world enjoy his live-to-picture piano performances and original silent film scores. He appears at the East Neuk Festival on 29 and 30 June. We didn’t have a record player until I was in my teens, but we did have a piano. I had this extraordinary gift of playing by ear, and I got up to Grade 5, but gave up formal lessons when I was about 16. RICK WAKEMAN was someone I vaguely knew about; I wasn’t interested in his band Yes, but he produced this extraordinary album The Six Wives of Henry…