Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2023 i BBC Music Magazine

One hundred years ago this month, Maria Kalogeropoulos – later to become the megastar Maria Callas – was born in Manhattan. The life of the Greek-American soprano was marked by incredible highs and lows – she was the world’s most renowned and influential opera singer, but also the subject of constant speculation, from the strained relationship with her mother to intense scrutiny over her weight, a highly publicised rivalry with Renata Tebaldi, an affair and marriage to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, the breakdown of that marriage involving Jackie Kennedy and, perhaps most cruel of all, increasing comment over the ‘decline’ of her voice. Yet the quality and recognisability of the Callas tone, her immense technical ability and range, not to mention her phenomenal capacity as an actress, ensure that we…

38 …per cent of respondents described music as a positive medium for Black cultural expression in a recent survey. 20 …pounds to be set as the maximum ticket price for under-30s at any London Philharmonic concert this season. 450 …singers from across 40 countries are set to form a joint live-and-online choir for the world premiere of Karl Jenkins’s One World in Linz, Austria. 1 …tenor on the first tee, as Freddie De Tommaso (below) launched this year’s Ryder Cup in Rome with a dawn rendition of Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’.…

‘In The Mood’, ‘Moonlight Serenade’, ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’. The titles are familiar, the tunes indelible, and as the early rumblings of World War II emerged in Europe they catapulted Glenn Miller and his Orchestra to heady levels of celebrity in his native US. The Orchestra’s euphonious brand of big-band swing dominated the airwaves, and for its founder decades more of media celebrity seemed to beckon. Then Pearl Harbor happened. The Japanese bombing of an American naval base in Hawaii in December 1941 drew the US into the war, prompting Miller to offer his services to the military effort. Initially rejected by the Navy, by September 1942 he had persuaded the Army to offer him a commission. He would, he promised, ‘put a little more spring into the feet of our…

To mark the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas’s birth – much celebrated elsewhere in this issue – let’s talk about a word that, in her day, was still used as an accolade for women performers, especially opera singers, at the very top of their profession. Whereas today it has become an all-purpose term of abuse applied to just about anybody who exhibits haughty behaviour. The word is ‘diva’. It means goddess in Latin. And until our own era it meant goddess in showbiz too. In fact, Callas’s fans nicknamed her ‘La Divina’, the divine – the ultimate diva. It implied not just incredible talent but something perhaps even more powerful: a charismatic force that reached out and touched the hearts of millions. How to explain that? In his fascinating book…

The composer Born in Tbilisi in 1903, Khachaturian moved in his late teens to Moscow, where he studied with, among others, composer Nikolai Myaskovsky. Early works such his Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano (1932) and First Symphony (1934) earned the admiration of the likes of Prokofiev and Shostakovich before his Piano Concerto really propelled him into the limelight. With one brief blip in 1948, he managed to stay on the right side of the Soviet authorities as he pursued a composing career that included various filmscores plus the very popular ballets Gayane and Spartacus. He died in 1978. Building a Library is broadcast on Radio 3 at 9.30am each Saturday as part of Record Review. A highlights podcast is available on BBC Sounds. The work Bold, brash and bombastic…

Welcome It seems Goldberg Variations are like buses this month, with two recordings both deserving of attention. Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque, in Chad Kelly’s string arrangement of Bach’s keyboard classic, offer a fresh take, while Icelandic virtuoso pianist Víkingur Ólafsson releases his hotly anticipated recording of the work. Spoiler alert… both get five-star reviews. There are further star turns, with Miloš’s brilliant Baroque and countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński’s Beyond – our Choral & Song Choice. If you’re hungry for staple repertoire, look no further than mighty Fifths from Beethoven and Shostakovich; and if you fancy something more contemporary, check out our Recording of the Month featuring works by Dobrinka Tabakova. Michael Beek Reviews editor This month’s critics John Allison, Nicholas Anderson, Terry Blain, Kate Bolton-Porciatti, Geoff Brown, Michael Church, Christopher…

OPERA CHOICE A deft portrait of Puccini’s leading men Alexandra Wilson enjoys Jonathan Tetelman’s distinctive take on classic arias The Great Puccini Arias from Il Tabarro, Manon Lescaut, La bohème, Madam Butterfly etc Jonathan Tetelman (tenor); Prague Philharmonia/Carlo Rizzi DG 486 4683 51:09 mins This album, released ahead of the composer’s centenary next year, features all the predictable Puccini tenor standards (plus a few less-well known arias from La fanciulla del West, La rondine and Le villi), as anyone buying a recording called The Great Puccini would expect. The fact that standalone recordings of ‘Nessun dorma’, ‘Che gelida manina’ and ‘E lucevan le stelle’ must run well into the hundreds makes it challenging for any tenor recording this repertoire for the first time to make an original statement. Carlo Rizzi…

INSTRUMENTAL CHOICE Angela Hewitt is meticulous in Mozart The pianist’s second volume of sonatas really sparkles, says Rebecca Franks Mozart Piano Sonatas, K310, K311, K330-333; Fantasias Angela Hewitt (piano) Hyperion CDA68421-2 148:20 mins (2 discs) Mozart made use of the sounds offered by the new fortepianos of the time, writes Angela Hewitt in her engaging booklet notes that accompany her latest recording. ‘The delicate, singing, but precise touch needed to play the fortepiano can and should be carried over to the modern piano,’ she says. And on this album, the Canadian pianist does just that, playing on one of her beloved Fazioli pianos with the sort of nimble and sensitive articulation that brings this music to life. Hewitt’s nimble and sensitive articulation brings this to life Take the sparkling account…

Beethoven Cello Sonatas Gary Hoffman (cello), David Selig (piano) La Dolce Volta LDV111.2 (2-discs) Here, Beethoven’s five cello sonatas, spanning his early, middle and late periods, are joyfully sinuous – and even the thorny later works benefit from a clear musical purpose that only supreme technical competence and years of committed partnership can bring. Outstanding. (CS) Richard Cameron-Wolfe Telesthesia Antwerp Cello Quartet Antarctica AR055 This intriguing work is inspired by the memory of a close friend. The subtitle – ‘13 episodes/deliberations on multi-planar syzygy’ – refers to post-death ‘sightings’ of that friend, and like those near-encounters, the piece features an array of ‘almost’ melodies, frustratingly interrupted. (CS) Chausson • Ravel Piano Trios Trio Metral La Dolce Volta LDV122 From the wistful Romanticism of Chausson’s Pas trop lent first movement…

DECEMBER’S RADIO 3 LISTINGS Schedules may be subject to alteration. For up-to-date listings see BBC Sounds and iPlayer 1 FRIDAY 6.30-9am Breakfast 9am-12pm Essential Classics 12-1pm Composer of the Week Rorem 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-4.30pm Afternoon Concert 4.30-5pm The Listening Service 5-7.30pm In Tune plus Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 In Concert live from Barbican. Alice Mary Smith Jason: or The Argonauts and the Sirens – Overture, Ravel Shéhérazade, Beethoven Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica’. Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano), BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo 10-10.45pm The Verb 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-1am Late Junction 2 SATURDAY 7-9am Breakfast CHOICE 9-11.45am Record Review Maria Callas 11.45am-12.30pm Music Matters 12.30-1pm This Classical Life Felix Klieser (horn) 1-3pm Inside Music CHOICE 3-4pm Sound of Cinema Maria Callas 4-5pm Music Planet 5-6.30pm J to Z CHOICE 6.30-10pm Opera on…

Gift subscriptions FROM JUST £26.99! GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE Gift subscriptions from just £26.99! • Free delivery direct to your door • Fantastic Christmas savings YOUR TWO EASY WAYS TO ORDER Visit ourmediashop.com/xmas23 Call 03300538660 quote code X23OMHA This offer closes on the 31st December 2023 and is valid for UK delivery addresses only. The discounts shown are savings calculated as a percentage of the full shop price. For overseas rates visit www.ourmediashop.com. All Christmas gift subscriptions will start with the first issue available in January 2024. Should the magazine change in frequency, we will honour the number of issues and not the term of the subscription. †UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any…

Described as a ‘one-in-a-million voice’ by conductor Antonio Pappano, Lise Davidsen came to international attention in 2015 when she won the Operalia, Queen Sonja and Hans Gabor Belvedere competitions. The Norwegian lyric-dramatic soprano has since made her name in the world’s major opera houses, particularly in Wagner, Richard Strauss and, most recently, Verdi. She has recorded three solo albums for Decca, and this year releases Christmas from Norway on the label. I grew up in Stokke, a tiny little town in the countryside in the south of Norway. I didn’t have a typically musical family. There wasn’t music all around. But I do remember Christmas being a big thing. We went to the church, and everyone would sing in the nativity play, and my sister and I were part of…

Ashutosh Khandekar Journalist and critic ‘Writing an article that celebrates Maria Callas’s centenary made me look beyond the vast accumulation of myth and controversy, and listen afresh to an exceptional artist who put heart and soul into her singing.’ Page 26 Owen Mortimer Journalist and critic ‘It is inspiring to see the Symphony Orchestra of India’s success in training young musicians and commissioning cross-cultural work. I’m delighted to showcase these initiatives and introduce the orchestra’s UK tour.’ Page 46 Alexandra Wilson Musicologist and author ‘Bellini was one of those unfortunate musicians who didn’t reach middle age. Delving into his life and career brought it home to me what an astonishing amount he managed to achieve in such a short time.’ Page 58…

1st: Conducted by Serge Koussevitzky, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gives the world premiere of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra at Boston’s Symphony Hall. The work was commissioned by Koussevitzky himself, who the year before had visited the composer in hospital to make his request. 3rd: With the tide of World War II turning decisively against Germany, the British Home Guard is stood down. Set up in 1940 to provide a first line of defence in the event of a German invasion, the force was made up of those who were otherwise ineligible for military service. It will be formally disbanded in 1945, but will live on in the TV comedy Dad’s Army three decades later. 13th: The Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky dies aged 77 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Embracing various styles over…

Pianist Peter Jablonski on the profound impact the Polish composer Wojciech Kilar had on his career In 1997, Wojciech Kilar wrote me a piano concerto, which I premiered at the Warsaw Autumn Festival, receiving the Orpheus Polish music critics’ prize for the performance. Kilar’s name was already well known to me – in 1985, aged 14, I met him at a concert in Kraków, where I played Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1. I decided to listen to the second half of the concert, where Kilar’s symphonic poems Krzesany and Kościelec 1909 were performed. I was immediately struck by the power of the music. I met Kilar several times to discuss his concerto. He was polite, quiet and deeply dedicated to his work. This collaboration taught me how important it was…

Xiayin Wang (piano) Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Peter Oundjian Chandos CHSA5167 Hamelin and the LPO’s 2014 Southbank performance was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and, while not currently available as an official recording, curious listeners can easily find it online. (Perhaps an enterprising producer could add it to the Hyperion Records catalogue, as the work appears to be missing from the label’s otherwise extensive piano concerto collection.) Hamelin’s energy, flair and technical precision is rarely matched, which makes Xiayin Wang’s recording for Chandos all the more significant – the American-Chinese pianist’s 2016 version with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) is never less than thrilling. Conductor Peter Oundjian sets a restrained pace, allowing the swell of sound to develop at a moderate speed and leaving space for the music to breathe.…

ORCHESTRAL CHOICE Mozart’s ‘Paris’ leads an exhilarating set of readings The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin plays with clarity and sophistication, says Sarah Urwin Jones Mozart Symphonies Nos 31 (‘Paris’) and 35 (‘Haffner’); Oboe Concerto* *Xenia Löffler (oboe); Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin/Bernhard Forck Pentatone PTC 5187 059 64:50 mins There can be no denying that Mozart’s second stay in Paris was a somewhat tumultuous period. At 21, he was no longer the child prodigy of his successful concert tour some 15 years earlier and Parisian reception was cool. Ever-canny, and despite his frustration at this new state of affairs, Mozart adapted his writing to Parisian taste. The ‘Haffner’ is played with an invigorating bounce by the orchestra The Symphony No. 31 in D Major (‘Paris’) was his first real…

CHORAL & SONG CHOICE Jakub Józef Orliński digs deep for 17th-century gems The countertenor is graceful and agile in this creative playlist of arias and more, says Kate Bolton-Porciatti Beyond Works by Monteverdi, Caccini, Frescobaldi, Kapsberger, Saracini, Netti, Jarzębski et al Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor); Il Pomo d’Oro Erato 5419772645 51:30 mins As its title suggests, this album ventures ‘beyond’ the leading composers of 17th-century Italy – Caccini, Frescobaldi, Monteverdi and Barbara Strozzi – to set them alongside their shadowy contemporaries: Bernabei, Moratelli, Netti, Pollarolo, Saracini, Sartorio… the list goes on. Featuring a string of world premieres, the creative and attentively researched programme knits together musical and textual threads into a fast moving sequence of cantatas, songs, opera extracts and sundry instrumental pieces that blur boundaries been pop and art…

ARCHIVE CHOICE Dynamic ’50s Dvořák Over 60 years on, these Hallé recordings of the composer’s late symphonies pack a punch Dvořák Symphony No. 7 in D minor; Symphony No. 8 in G major; Symphony No. 9 in E minor ‘From the New World’; Scherzo Capriccioso; Legends Nos 6 & 7 Hallé Orchestra/John Barbirolli Urania WS121112 133:54 mins (2 discs) Originally issued on Pye Records, these classic versions of Dvořák’s last three symphonies, recorded in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall well over 60 years ago, have really stood the test of time. The performances have a freshness, spontaneity and high level of adrenalin that is quite insatiable. Admittedly, the playing of the Hallé Orchestra may not be as manicured as that of its Central European rivals, and on this particular transfer, some…

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 Plucky spirits It’s fortuitous that Sean Shibe (cover, October) decided to be a guitarist. Undoubtedly, he’s changing the trajectory of the instrument and its repertoire, one that really had come to a dead end. Yes, since Julian Bream there have been many fine players, many of whom have eclipsed Bream’s virtuosic but essentially self-taught, rather torturous technique, but none of whom would have had the chutzpah as Bream did to go up to Stravinsky during an orchestral rehearsal and offer to play Dowland on the lute in the hope that he could be persuaded to write something for the guitar. OK, Bream was unsuccessful…

Liam Bonthrone Tenor Born: Perth, Scotland Career highlights: Performing at the Bavarian State Opera as a member of the Opera Studio. I’ve been so lucky to work alongside casts and creative teams I could only have dreamed of, learning so much in operas from Mozart’s Idomeneo to Brett Dean’s Hamlet. Musical heroes: My biggest tenor inspiration is Fritz Wunderlich. As a teenager I was instantly captivated by that distinctive rich timbre. I’m also borderline obsessed with pianist Victor Borge. He possessed a staggering musical talent, complemented by pinpoint physical-comedy timing. Dream concert: To sing with the John Wilson Orchestra at the Proms – all things Broadway, film and American Songbook! Büşra Kayıkçı Pianist/composer Born: Istanbul, Turkey Career highlights: My new album, Places. It was written during the lockdowns, out of…

Jack Liebeck has been busy working on his next release. The violinist was at St Jude’s Hampstead with Michael Waldron and the London Choral Sinfonia to record a Vaughan Williams programme including the Violin Concerto, Silent Noon, In Windsor Forest and Vaughan Williams’s own transcriptions of pieces by JS Bach. The recording is scheduled for release on Orchid Classics in June. Russian cellist Marina Tarasova recently presided over a pair of world-premiere recordings in Moscow: firstly, Yuri Levitin’s Sonata for Cello and Piano with pianist Ivan Sokolov; and then a solo cello sonata by Vladimir Komarov. The latter, titled ‘Uncertainty’, was dedicated to Tarasova in 2022. Northern Flowers will release the album early next year. Ekkozone Records is a relatively new label from the percussionist/conductor Mathias Reumert and it has…

Poulenc hoped his religious music might atone for personal sins, but the compassion of his works served as a lesson for the church, says Tom Service In 1962, Francis Poulenc had composed his last sacred work, his Sept répons des ténèbres, a piece he wouldn’t live to hear when it premiered in New York the next year. ‘I have finished Les Ténèbres,’ he said. ‘I think it is beautiful. With the Gloria and the Stabat Mater, I think I have three good religious works. May they spare me a few days in purgatory, if I narrowly avoid going to hell.’ Ah Francis! It wasn’t you who needed saving from a hellish afterlife thanks to the strictures of the Catholic church. In fact, it’s just the other way round: Poulenc’s sacred…

Charlotte Smith Editor Writing an introductory piece on the woodwind family for our website prompted an exploration of solo music for the bassoon. Among a myriad concertos by Vivaldi and Mozart’s famous Concerto in B flat, I discovered Saint-Saëns’s Sonata, Op.168, an early Romantic work that makes full use of the bassoon’s expressive capabilities. There’s a wonderful live performance by Theo Plath at Wigmore Hall in 2019 on YouTube. Jeremy Pound Deputy editor One of my few achievements of 2022 was to win a raffle prize of tickets to The Sixteen’s Choral Pilgrimage concert in Tewkesbury Abbey this September. In the near-perfect acoustic, a beautifully thought-out programme of Byrd and works related to him – from his predecessors and contemporaries to a couple of stunning new commissions by Dobrinka Tabakova…

Composer of the Week is broadcast on Radio 3 at 12pm, Monday to Friday. Programmes in December are: 27 November – 1 December Rorem 4-8 December Christmas in the Middle Ages 11-15 December Humperdinck 18-22 December A Vaughan Williams Christmas 25-29 December Greatest Showstoppers Like so many successful composers before and after him, the young Vincenzo Bellini found music to be a golden ticket – the passport out of a restricted life to travel opportunities, wealth and a broadening of cultural horizons. There was no family money: Bellini’s immediate forefathers were musicians too, but of the jobbing kind, more craftsmen than artists. Playing the organ, teaching and, in his grandfather’s case, composing music in the service of a local nobleman gave them an influence that extended no further than the…

CONCERTO CHOICE Assured Beethoven from Alice Sara Ott There’s delicacy, wit and colour in this First Piano Concerto, says Martin Cotton Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1*; ‘Moonlight’ Sonata; Für Elise etc Alice Sara Ott (piano); *Netherlands Radio Philharmonic/Karina Canellakis DG 486 4898 56:17 mins The clarity and realism of the recording in the concerto are what first impress, with detail in all parts of the orchestra, from high winds down to timpani and double basses, coupled with stereo separation that has depth as well as breadth. Of course, such an achievement would be meaningless if the performance was not at the same level, but the orchestral tutti combines energy and sensitivity, before Ott enters in an almost improvisatory fashion, then takes off with delicacy and rhythmic wit. And there’s a…

CHAMBER CHOICE An enticing slice of early and late Fauré Roger Nichols delights in this album from Xavier Phillips and Cédric Tiberghien Fauré Cello Sonatas; Élégie, Berceuse, Op. 16; Romance, Op. 69 etc Xavier Phillips (cello), Cédric Tiberghien (piano) La Dolce Volta LDV102 61:50 mins As a lead-in to the centenary of Fauré’s death in 1924, here is another recording (see my review of his Nocturnes and Barcarolles in the November issue) that mixes works from early and late in his life, and in which the same pattern of easily accessible music in the early examples and more taxing fare in the late ones – most notably in the two sonatas of 1917 and 1921 – is audible. If one is going to give prizes among the earlier works, surely…

Great Reasons To Subscribe Today ✓ Receive your first 3 issues for only £5* ✓ After your trial, continue to save over 20% on the shop price when you pay by Direct Debit ✓ Build a library of expert family history advice and tutorials ✓ Never miss an issue of the UK’s bestselling family history magazine SUBSCRIBE ONLINE www.buysubscriptions.com/WHHA23 BY PHONE 03330 162120† QUOTE CODE WHHA23 *All savings are calculated as a percentage of the Basic Annual Rate. The UK Basic Annual Rate is £68.25 which includes event issues (issues charged higher than standard cover price) published in a 12-month period. This special introductory offer is available to new UK residents via Direct Debit only and is subject to availability. Offer ends 31 December 2023. The magazine used here is for…

The Life and Music of Elizabeth Maconchy Erica Siegel Boydell 352pp (hb) £75 The core of ‘true music’, the Irish-English composer Elizabeth Maconchy said in 1940, was ‘impassioned argument’, something certainly true of her magnificent cycle of 13 string quartets and sundry other works beside. Maybe it’s partly the urgency and grit of her music that make this first full-length study of her life and output both valuable and frustrating. Erica Siegel, an American music historian, couldn’t have been more assiduous in her collection of available data (we’re almost drowned in information about Maconchy’s mixed relationship with the BBC) or her analyses of key works, each taking up to eight pages with bountiful musical examples. Yet for all the juggling necessary to sustain the roles of 20th-century modernist composer, mother…

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 392/December 2023, PO Box 501, Leicester, LE94 0AA to arrive by 28 Nov 2023 (solution in Feb 2024 issue). SEPTEMBER SOLUTION No. 389 SEPTEMBER WINNER Katy Nicolson, Hamilton Immediate Media Company Limited, publisher of BBC Music Magazine, may contact you with details of our products and/or to undertake research. Please write ‘Do Not Contact’ if you prefer not to receive such information by post or phone. Please write your email address on your postcard if you prefer to receive such information by e-mail. We abide by IPSO’s rules and…