Artistic

Exceptional free cover disc with this issue of BBC Music magazine.  J S Bach the Art of Fugue arranged by Mahan Esfahani.

Performers : Academy of Ancient Music directed from the harpsichord by Mahan Esfahani.

An arrangement of the piece for two violins, viola, cello, viola da gamba, violone, two flutes, recorder, three oboes, bassoon, cornetto and two harpsichords.

Secular Franck

Cesar Franck piano music. Prelude, Chorale et Fugue and Prelude Aria and Final plus other pieces.

Performer : Stephen Hough, piano.

Hough is currently including prelude, chorale and fugue in recital programmes, including a recital I attended at the Barbican. Though this recording is in fact 20 years old, it stands up with his current interpretation and the rest of the disc is equally good.

Exercises In Stasis

Piano music by Morton Feldman ( Intermission 5, Piano Piece 1952, Extensions 3 and Palais de Mari ) and George Crumb ( Processional and A Little Suite For Christmas )

Performer : Steven Osborne, piano.

How softly can you play a note ? Where silence and sound merge.

Virtuosity Serves the Music

Chopin piano concerto no 1 and Liszt piano concerto no 1

Performers : Martha Argerich piano, London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado.

Filling in a repertoire gap with these two after hearing Argerich at the proms.

One Out Of 99's Not Bad ?

Liszt, The Early Beethoven Transcriptions.

Performer : Leslie Howard piano.

Leslie Howard achieved a monumental feat with his traversal of the entire output of Liszt for piano, amounting I think to 99 discs. This is volume 44, a three CD set comprising transcriptions of Beethoven's 5th, 6th and 7th symphonies and the funeral march from symphony no 3. There are other snippets such as Adelaide transcriptions and Berlioz's march to the scaffold.

Blisztering !

Liszt : Etudes D'execution Transendante.

Performer : Dinara Klinton.

I saw Dinara playing last summer at a piano school week and it is a pleasure to see this new release garnering such favourable reviews.

Advocating Dvorak

Dvorak piano concerto, Schumann piano concerto.

Performers: Stephen Hough piano, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons.

Both composers linked to Brahms, both composers only piano concerto. One secure in the repertoire, the other less familiar. But with Hough's advocacy on this disc and in concert, the attractions of the Dvorak are becoming ever clearer.

Brighton ( or Hove's ) Finest

Martin Butler : Dirty Beasts and other chamber works.

Performers : Simon Callow narrator, New London Chamber Ensemble, Navarra String Quartet, Leon Bosch double bass, Martin Butler piano.

Setting of three macabre children's poems by Roald Dahl, pieces for wind ensemble and string quartet and combinations thereof plus solo piano works.

Another Take On Czech heritage

Martinu : The complete piano trios. Piano trios 1 to 3 and Bergerettes.

Performers : The Smetana Trio

Martinu's chamber music makes good counterweight to the symphonies and covers a longer span of his output than those do.

Folk Dance Movement

Smetana piano music. Czech Dances plus On the Seashore.

Performer : Garrick Ohlsson, piano.

Smetana aiming to do for Czech folk dance forms what Chopin did for Polish. Cohesive recital.

Early, Late and Middle Mozart

Mozart sonatas for keyboard and violin. Nos 5, 9, 15, 18, 21, 27 and 33 in a two CD set.

Performers : Alina Ibragimova violin, Cedric Tiberghien piano.

Judicious selection of juvenile and mature works, the former just having comping accompaniments from the violin which comes into its own in the latter works.

Neglected 20th Century Cycle

Box set of Martinu symphonies nos 1 - 6 inclusive.

Performers : Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Bryden Thomson. Leader Edwin Paling.

There may be better recordings of individual symphonies but a very serviceable and economically viable set.

Worthwhile Revival

Zemlinsky : Die Seejungfrau ( The Mermaid ), Sinfonietta op 23.

Performers : Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Storgards.

I saw a performance of The Mermaid at the Royal Festival Hall earlier this year and some critics were very sniffy about it, suggesting it was not a worthwhile revival. I find that mystifying, since it stands comparison with much of Strauss for instance.

War Time Sonatas

Elgar, Debussy, Respighi violin sonatas, plus Sibelius Berceuse.

Performers : James Ehnes violin, Andrew Armstrong piano.

Sonatas all contemporary with each other under the shadow of WW1. I saw them play this programme at a recital at Wigmore Hall in 2015. Exemplary playing.

No Longer Underrated

Rachmaninoff Symphony no 3, 10 songs ( arr Jurowski )

Performers : London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. Leader Peter Schoeman. Vsevolod Grivnov tenor.

Songs arranged by the conductor's grandfather, also called Vladimir.  Live recording from the Royal Festival Hall.

Rachmaninoff's orchestral works nor seem to be getting their recognition and place in the repertoire.

Magical Magyar

Bartok piano music. Suite op 14, Out of doors, Fifteen Hungarian peasant songs, Three Burlesques, Mikrokosmos book 6

Performer : Cedric Tiberghien

Hungarian folk influence, French impressionist influence, Bartok originality.

Stormy

Sibelius : The Tempest : Incidental music to Shakespeare's play.

Performers : Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vanska. Lahti Opera Chorus directed by Anna-Clara Groundstroem. Lilli Paasikivi mezzo, Kirsi Tiihonen soprano, Anssi Hirvonen tenor, Heikki Keinonen baritone, Paavo Kerola tenor.

I saw a concert performance conducted by Vanska at the Festival Hall but that had narration by Simon Callow and only the songs of Ariel by a mezzo.

Soviet Jazz

Nikolai Kapustin Piano Music.

Performer : Steven Osborne piano.

Sonatas nos 1 and 2 plus 24 preludes in jazz style. Notated jazz influenced pieces with a classical bedrock. Idiomatically played by Steven Osborne.

For The Library

Two CD set of piano trio music by Schubert, performed by Trio Wanderer. Top choice on BBC Radio 3 Building a library feature.

Piano Trio Nos 1 and 2, Notturno and Sonatensatz.

Repairing A Reputation

BBC Music magazine going heavy on Mendelssohn this month for no particular reason other than rehabilitation of his reputation. Free cover disc consequently featuring the 4th symphony ( Italian ) which I already have a recording of and the 1st symphony which I don't.

Performers : BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Matthias Pintscher ( No 4 ) and Otto Tausk ( No 1 )

Crystalline Miniaturism

Volodos plays Mompou

Performer : Arcadi Volodos piano.

Obviously of the time and place of Debussy, Ravel, Satie, de Falla. But distinctively Mompou and an original voice none the less.

Mass With Operatic Touches

Schubert Mass in E flat major D950.

Performers : Collegium Musicum 90 conducted by Richard Hickox.
Susan Gritton soprano, Pamela Helen Stephen mezzo, Mark Padmore tenor, James Gilchrist tenor, Matthew Rose bass.

Fine mass setting, illuminated by gloriously songful Et incarnatus est.

Russian Show Pieces Shown Off

Prokofiev piano concerto no 2, Tchaikovsky piano concerto no 1.

Performers : Beatrice Rana piano, Orchestra Dell'Academia Nazionale Di  Santa Cecilia conducted by Antonio Pappano.

Purchased for the Prokofiev, which is excellent. Did not really need another version of Tchaikovsky war horse but it is played with a fine chamber music sensitivity by soloist and orchestra.

Russians In Exile And At Home

Rachmaninov piano concerto no 1, Stravinsky Capriccio for piano and orchestra, Shchedrin piano concerto no 2.

Performers : Denis Matsuev piano, Mariinsky Orchsetra conducted by Valery Gergiev.

Russian works for piano and orchestra spanning the 20th century. But threads and developments are there.

Russia From The Inside And The Outside

Rachmaninov Symphony No 3, Balakirev Russia

Performers : London symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev

A work of exile looking back and a work rooted from within.

Full On Romanticism

Richard Strauss - Symphonia Domestica and Die Tageszeiten ( for male chorus and orchestra )

Performers : Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, male voices of Berlin Radio Choir. Conducted by Marek Janowski

Sleeve notes do not detail the full programmatic aspect of Symphonia Domestica and it is probably better listened to that way.

Apollo Of The Piano ?

Britten - Piano Concerto, Diversions, Young Apollo.

Diversions are for piano left hand and orchestra, Young Apollo for piano, string quartet and string orchestra.

Performers : Steven Osborne piano, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov.

Early works by Britten and the only ones for piano and orchestra in any form in his output.  

More than a Neo-Classical exercise

Shostakovich - The Preludes and Fugues.

Performer : Alexander Melnikov, piano.

24 preludes and fugues, some instantly recognisable as Shostakovichian, others more surprising in style, all interesting.

Four Hands Make An Orchestra

Transcriptions for two pianists. Jeux - Debussy, The Rite of Spring - Stravinsky, Two Pictures - Bartok.

Performers : Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Francois-Frederic Guy, pianos.

All transcriptions work well and show hidden details.

Year Of Song

The latest BBC Music magazine free cover disc. Schumann Ruckert Songs. Settings by both Robert and Clara Schumann of works by the poet Friedrich Ruckert.

Performers : Mary Bevan soprano, Katie Bray mezzo, Robert Murray tenor, Roderick Williams baritone, Sholto Kynoch piano.

Celebrating a Ton

BBC Music magazine free cover CD celebrating the 100th anniversary of Yehudi Menuhin.

Bartok violin concerto no 2 : BBC symphony orchestra conducted by Gunther Herbig, Mehuhin on violin.

Brahms violin sonata no 3 : Menuhin with his sister Hepzibah on piano.

Tcherepnin violin sonata : Menuhin with Alexander Tcherepnin on piano.

Parisian Style

BBC Music magazine free cover disc. French Piano Works. Solo piano pieces by Satie, Hahn, Honegger, Poulenc and , although not French, Mompou. Performer Anne Queffelec.

Also Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos with Queffelec and Frank Braley and the BBC NOW conducted by Grant Llewelyn.

Off The Cuff

Schubert Four Impromptus D899, Four Impromptus D935

Performer : Radu Lupu piano

What must now be regarded as vintage recordings from 1983 but illustrating the artistry of the reclusive pianist.

A Mere Bagatelle

Lieder & Bagatellen - Beethoven

Performers : Werner Gura tenor, Christoph Berner fortepiano

Selection of Beethoven lieder including An die ferne Geliebte, with the six bagatelles for solo piano interspersed between songs. A concept that works very well since the bagatelles, though related, are not thematic.

Because The Night

In The Night - Stephen Hough, piano.

Nocturne themed recital with Schumann In der Nacht, Beethoven Moonlight Sonata, Chopin Two Nocturnes op 27, Hough Piano Sonata no 2 and Schumann Carnaval.

Hough's own sonata makes a very interesting centre piece bookended by the more familiar material which is also sensitively performed.

But They Only Wrote For The Piano ?

Rachmaninov Cello Sonata, Vocalise transcription.

Chopin Cello Sonata, Etude transcription and Introduction and Polonaise Brillante transcription.

Performers : Alisa Weilerstein cello, Inon Barnatan piano.

Two composers not noted for chamber music other than the piano but an outstanding disc.

I Came To Dance

Dances : Benjamin Grosvenor piano.

Recital of disparate pieces, ostensibly all with a dance theme. Though I can not imagine leaping around the room to it. For several the only dance element is in the title ( mazurka, polonaise, waltz ) But that does not take away from the quality of Grosvenor's playing. Works by Bach, Chopin, Scriabin, Granados and rather more disposable pieces by Schukz-Evler, Albeniz and Morton Gould's brief boogie woogie etude.

Surveying Brahms

Brahms : The Violin Sonatas

Violin sonatas 1, 2 and 3 plus Scherzo in C minor and Wiegenlied.

Performers ; Leonidas Kavakos violin, Yuja Wang piano.

A starry duo sublimating egos at the service of the music.

Not Sure About Classical Guitar

BBC Music magazine cover CD. Malcolm Arnold guitar concerto, Villa-Lobos guitar concerto, plus transcriptions for solo guitar of pieces by Bach, Dowland, Mompou and Albeniz.

Performers : Sean Shibe guitar. BBC NOW conducted by Pablo Gonzalez ( Arnold ) and Michael Seal ( Villa-Lobos )

With my background, I still tend to associate guitar with blues, rock and folk and so struggle with classical guitar. I even struggle with jazz guitar. But this disc has good moments and is well played.