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Lutoslawski: Preludes and Fugue for 13 solo strings / Three Postludes / Fanfares / Mini Overture
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Wit
Naxos 8.555270 Reviewed by SG
This is the seventh volume in Naxos' complete and highly regarded survey of Lutoslawski's orchestral music, and includes a number of rarely heard works. The CD opens with the Three Postludes, which are bizarrely disjointed pieces that stand between his folk-intoned creations of the early 1950's and the sequentially subjected music that would launch the composer's reputation later that decade. But it is the Preludes and Fugue for 13 solo strings that are the masterpiece here, being a superb illustration of the composer's ability to create an entirely original melodic composition and infuse it with authority and emotion. The final works are a group of the occasional pieces that he used to show his gratitude for the honours bestowed upon him, and reveal the proficient technique in his writing. The performances are more than satisfactory throughout, but lack a little of the flair that enlightens Lutoslawski's compositions, and the recording is very good, revealing a substantial, naturally presented soundstage. While this CD is not up there with some of the previous releases in the series, its is adequate enough to make it a recommendation to those interested in this important music of the 20th Century.

Franz Joseph Haydn: The Six Paris symphonies Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Sigiswald Kuijken
Virgin Veritas VBD 5 61659-2 Reviewed by JMH
Speaking as one who discovered the Haydn symphonies through Antal Dorati's neatly-played but for the most part rather careful and pedestrian Decca LP complete edition, I mistakenly thought Haydn a pleasant but bland composer. Hearing keen fiery authentic-instrument performances (like Kuijken's) always comes as a welcome if somewhat invigorating shock. Kuijken sets brisk tempi and makes sure rhythms are keenly sprung. This, plus the crisp attack and lean open textures produced by period forces, makes sure the music retains the power to shock and surprise. Of course, all six symphonies are justly celebrated and show Haydn at the height of his powers -imperious, witty, charming, inventive, and always able at a stroke to take the music in unpredictable directions. The use of original instruments creates some lovely sonorities -for example, the drone basses that open the finale of Symphony no 82, overlaid with chortling bassoon, rustic oboe, silvery luminous flute doubling strings, and delicate trumpets. It's a light forwardly-balanced orchestral sound, without much bottom-end, and may seem a touch overbright on some systems. However, that extra brightness helps reveal more detail, giving the music a crisper leaner presentation. But the upper strings may sound thin and edgy on some systems, with a touch of congestion during tutti passages.

Vivaldi: Sonatas for Violoncello and Basso Continuo
Bylsma / Galligioni / Zanenghi / Sbrogio / Marcon
Sony SK 51350 Reviewed by SG
These six sonatas are taken from a publication made in the Parisian Mercure de France, probably by a third party, in 1740. Despite their having been rearranged or even rewritten on occasions by those who may have been confused over their authenticity, they have received a number of commendable and authentic recordings. While both Wispelwey (Channel Classics) and Watkin (Hyperion) present proficient but distinct releases, this recording by the veteran Dutch cellist Anner Bylsma offers an authentic, period performance of even greater expression and imagination. The playing is full of enthusiasm and exhibits supreme proficiency, not only from Bylsma, but also from the excellent accompaniment that is always circumspect, yet never too indistinct. While there will always be a question over phrasing, these arrangements are totally credible, and never extend beyond the boundaries of accepted scholarly perception. Sony's engineering is rich in both detail and tone, with just the right amount of resonance, producing a result that sounds very natural. Despite the lack of historic proof that these works are a true collection, this CD offers beautiful playing and delightful interpretations of some of Vivaldi's most sophisticated sonatas, produced by those who clearly comprehend and value the composer's work.

Palestrina: Song of Songs
Magnificat / Cave
Linn CKD 174 Reviewed by SG
The Canticum Canticorum or motets from The Song of Songs are a collection of works dedicated to Pope Gregory XIII. Published in 1584, these motets are taken from the most erotic sections of the Old Testament, expressing "the divine love of Christ for... the Soul", as the composer described them. To 16th Century listeners they were also regarded as "more lively" than other sacred works by Palestrina, and while these differences may seem trivial there is certainly a prominent fullness to these passages. None of the 29 pieces is much over three minutes long, and Philip Cave acquires complementary presentations from his singers in each; from the truly sensual Duo ubera tua, to the lively rhythms of Vox dilecti mei. But there is also a notable cohesiveness to the entire CD, and despite a fairly insignificant problem with the challenging chord changes in Pulchrae sunt genae tuae, the performers' attentiveness and technical aptitude to tackle the elaborate stylistic effects is excellent. With a splendid assortment of vocal tones, this ensemble has a superbly balanced quality that creates wonderful shades of intensity. The recording is clear, with a natural ambience and superb detail, highlighting another beautiful recording by Magnificat.

Molinaro: Fantasie, Canzoni e Balli
Paul O'Dette
Harmonic Mundi HMU 907295 Reviewed by SG
The lute was gaining far-reaching popularity by the later half of the sixteenth century, and the work of the great Italian master, Simone Molinaro, exhibits much of the beauty and refinement of the time. His continuous lines of counterpoint - evidently from the original vocal music from which the composers decorated transcriptions come - make many of these pieces exceptionally challenging to the lutenist. So it is particularly striking how effortlessly Paul O'Dette performs, in an almost continuous flow, revealing the poise and charm inherent in many of these pieces. His technique is superb, with playing beyond reproach, managing to demonstrate subtle and dynamic nuances without seeming to try. Also included in this collection of short works are a few pieces by Giovanni Battista dalla Gostena, Molinaro's uncle and tutor, whose murder deeply affected his nephew, and one by the Neapolitan lutenist Guilio Serverino, that are just as strikingly graceful, but also give the CD greater distinction. With sound that is intimate and detailed, but not too close, and exhibits wonderful acoustics that give the music superb life, this disc is a great example of Renaissance lute music, performed by one of the greatest modern virtuosos.

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No 2 'Resurrection'
Soloists and chorus, Robert Schumann Phil. / Caetini
ARTS 47600-2 Reviewed by JMH
To convincingly record and reproduce the vast forces Mahler calls for in his mighty Resurrection symphony has always been a stiff challenge, even for the best equipment. Technically, this live recording succeeds better than most, giving a real sense of the huge dynamic range involved. The hall acoustic is a shade dry, but clarity is good and the orchestra plays extremely well. Caetini (a Boulanger pupil) doesn't rush his fences, taking a measured, even at times slightly cautious approach to the music. Tempi are relaxed, but the big moments have plenty of impact - helped it must be said by the recording, which packs quite a punch. Caetini's performance is not a truly exciting sweat-drenched Bernsteinesque one; overall, the impression is more of scrupulous control rather than caution being thrown to the wind. But the mighty close is fervent enough, as if to say Resurrection is a pretty serious business and something not to be undertaken flippantly. The 'Audiophile' recording, made using 24bit/96kHz technology, sounds impressively clean and natural, encompassing the wide shifts of dynamic terrain with comparative ease. Not a first choice then, but goad fun and well worth sampling especially at budget price. Incidentally, the booklet says conductor/composer Igor Markevitch was Nadia Boulanger's father - shurely shome mishtake???

Schubert: Piano Sonatas, Nos. 14 and 19
Paul Lewis
Harmonia Mundi Les Nouveaux Musiciens HMN 911755 Reviewed by SG
On another excellent release in Les Nouveaux Musiciens series, Paul Lewis balances many of Schubert's musical characters with total success. The blend of the composer's elegant tones and the splendour of his supreme arrangements are handled with true artistry, and Lewis' technique is perfectly illustrated by a recording that is pretty much an ideal example of what a piano recording should sound like, with the Steinway sounding large, but not too close, together with wonderful textures and plenty of acoustic presence. Many performers are tempted to over-dramatise the power and vigour in these works, without fully understanding their refinement. This is entirely revealed in Sonata No. 19, with contrasting moods running through its four movements. Here, Lewis manages to reveal jollity and optimistic qualities amid those of dark polyphony, captivating the listener with the piece's reticence. Again, the earlier sonata is full of contradictory ideas, with sweetness and anxiety both conveyed by the pianist's sympathetic approach and awareness. Lewis, a pupil of Alfred Brendel, demonstrates that he is an accomplished performer, providing a delightfully instinctive disc of two of Schubert's most masterful works that would make his old mentor proud, without actually overshadowing the great pianist's own recordings.

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 2 (A London Symphony)
Original 1913 version LSO/Hickox
Chandos CHAN 9902 Reviewed by SG
Due to the composer's self-doubt, A London Symphony was withdrawn following its premier, with revisions made before the tighter, definitive version was published in 1936. With his widow sanctioning the original score, there will be no further performances of this version, either live or recorded, making this release a unique experience. The 1913 version is about twenty minutes longer, and while the opening Lento-Allegro risoluto is unchanged, the individual passions and compelling expressions of Vaughan Williams in that extra third, allow the work to flourish and develop. There are elements that delightfully echo Ravel, with perceptive shadows that envelop the second movement, but generally this version holds even darker, yet more poignant feelings and sentiments, making for a far richer experience. With the LSO probably the world's most suited orchestra to this music, and Hickox directing with both warmth and control, the performance is superb. There is a definite feeling of expression and prevailing contrast, and Chandos' superbly dynamic and detailed recording enhances these. George Butterworth's The Banks of Green Willow, is a lovely and valuable filler. It hardly matters that there can be no alternative release when this disc holds one of the most glorious performances of Vaughan Williams' work ever recorded.

Jean Sibelius: Lemminkainen Suite - Pohjola's Daughter; The Bard
LSO, Sir Colin Davis
RCA 74321 68945-2 Reviewed by SG
With RCA having massively scaled down their classical recording activities, it was something of a surprise to get a further instalment in Sir Colin's superb cycle of Sibelius' orchestral music. I actually heard him conduct Lemminkainen with the LSO at the Barbican about three or four years ago, and it was absolutely fabulous. The orchestra plays brilliantly, and Davis has the measure of the work, bringing out its other-worldly mystery and dark brooding atmosphere. Tempi are measured, but crisp phrasing keeps rhythms taut and the music moving forward. At the time of the concert I wondered if he'd already taped the work, but actually the recording was made as recently as January 2000. Earlier Davis/LSO/Sibelius RCA CDs had impressively forward detailed sound - Tony Faulkner engineered the symphonies - but the present disc has a different Tonmeister, Ben Turner, who's gone for a slightly smoother more recessed balanced. Bass could be a touch firmer and deeper - those massive bass drum rolls don't quite shake the floor as they can and do in Segerstam's sensational Ondine recording. Pohjola's Daughter and The Bard are highly original works, and Davis brings out the strange haunting twilight atmosphere that only Sibelius could create.

Verdi: Requiem
Abbado / Scala Orchestra & Chorus
Speakers Corner/DGG 2707 120 Reviewed by RP
Great music; a beautiful transfer of an excellent 1980 Deutsche Grammophon recording; sumptuous gatefold artwork and text, but some less than wholehearted performances by an eminent cast of vocal principles. It's difficult to say exactly why Katia Ricciarelli, Shirley Verrett, Placido Domingo and Nicolai Ghiaurov are so uncommitted. This should on paper be a sweeping operatic, highly charged and lyrical account. Moreover, in Claudio Abbado at the podium, we have one of the finest Verdian exponents of the 1970s and 1980s. The ingredients were all present, yet something still went awry at the business end of proceedings. Even the choral entry on Te decet hymnus becomes infected with this lacklustre and frequently drowsy aspect that dilutes the tension throughout. Best not to get me started on the Dies Irae - suffice to say that while it's all there, present and correct, I yearned for the cutting edge excitement one might expect from massed choral forces, but this chorus just sounds too small and ineffectual. However, a Verdi Requiem was needed and until someone sees fit to recut either a breathlessly paced and unashamedly passionate Muti/Philharmonia account (EMI SLS 5185) or one of the Solti Decca or RCA recordings, where the soloists engage in more sensitive and characterful singing, then we will have to live with this modest offering.
Supplier: The Cherished Record Company - www.cherished-record-company.co.uk (44)(0)1579 363603

Muddy Waters - Folk Singer
Classic Records/Chess LPS 1483 Reviewed by RG
Oh well, it was going to happen sooner or later, and predictably its Classic Records, with a firm eye on the main chance, who have released yet another version of the Muddy Waters classic, Folk Singer. It's a record that featured heavily in our Records To Die From listings not so long ago, and unfortunately this is only likely to exacerbate the over exposure. The good news is that Classic have executed the pressing with their by now customary excellence. Utilising their Quiex SV vinyl, they've surpassed the performance of the highly touted Mo-Fi version, offering a more natural tonal balance, more coherent sense of acoustic and better tonal palette. Both the guitars and Muddy's voice have great shape and character, while the bass, indistinct to say the least, is both deeper and better defined. If you really must have this record and its appeal hasn't been totally destroyed by over exposure, then this is the version to have. Personally, I can think of hundreds of more worthy subjects for re-issue treatment. But then every cloud has a silver lining: Just think what this release does to the value of all those sealed Mo-Fis being hoarded by cynical opportunists!
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Classic Records Reviewed by DA
I can remember being somewhat disappointed by this album when it was first released. It seemed to me that most of the edges had been polished off the Genesis sound, added to which the LP was cut at a very low level in order to accommodate the 28 minute B side, reducing the sonic impact still further. Of course I'd been fooled by Genesis' substitution of the full on dynamic crashes of earlier material by the slow swelling to full power that was introduced here, and was later to become something of a trademark. The standout track here is 'Firth of Fifth', which highlights Steve Hackett's fantastically languid guitar, underscored by Tony Bank's huge mellotron backdrop. Despite this track, Selling England comes across as Bank's album, shot through as it is with major keyboard solos and inserts. Two firm live favourites emerged from the album, the aforementioned 'Firth' and 'Cinema Show / Aisle of Plenty, the latter maintaining the prog tradition of unusual time-signatures. This Classic re-issue is a great improvement over their previous, already good, Genesis releases, showing a lot less tape hiss and dynamically very crisp. The cut is still slightly bass shy to fit it all in, and would have benefited from diverging from the original format and being pressed as a double disc. However, it is a definite upgrade from my original pressing.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman
Island 842 352-1 Reviewed by RG
If ever there was an album deserving a quality 180g pressing, this has to be it. Cat Stevens' seminal 1970 recording has been re-released on countless occasions, often with sadly deficient sonics to match the flimsy vinyl. Only MFSL have ever done a decent job and their pressings are long gone, rare and expensive second hand, to the extent that I've always managed to avoid that particular temptation. Of the four various pressings I own, my original issue is still the best sounding. Until now that is. But why the fuss? Because this is one of those all too rare occasions when great songs meet a great performance and are captured in a great recording (monitored on Magnaplanars, believe it or not). Don't dismiss this as a hippy folk trip. There's real meat in the acoustic instruments and a seriously heartfelt delivery. This German re-pressing might not match the explosive dynamics of my original, but then the tape's got dynamics to burn and it's a trade I'll willingly make for the extra weight, solidity and tonal refinement that comes instead. No more brash top end when things get really exciting. Even the lyrics have worn better than you might expect, making this one of the best considered and welcome re-issues in quite some time. An essential purchase.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
Heifetz / Munch BSO
JVC JMCXR - 0010 XRCD Reviewed by RP

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D
Heifetz / Reiner CSO
JVC JMCXR - 0009 XRCDReviewed by RP
My personal XRCD bug-bears are the absence (unless you're Japanese) of meaningful biographical liner notes and miserly running times. The Tchaikovsky Concerto extends to a mean twenty nine minutes and thirty seven seconds. Yes, it is nice to retain the original LP artwork and match it to a single CD release, but at over twenty quid a time we perhaps deserve a little more. When Wilma Cozart-Fine supervised the Philips Mercury remasters, albums were spliced together without detriment to either aesthetics or sound quality, and then sold at mid-price. That said, musically, these Heifetz readings are electrifying. The Mendelssohn/ Prokofiev performances were reviewed as a 180gr vinyl release in Hi Fi + Issue 7, and can be summarised as dynamic, virtuoso displays, where the tempo is so rapid that only a violinist possessing Jascha Heifetz's stature, and an impeccable technique, could hope to carry off interpretations of such ambition. XRCD presentation of the violin in terms of focus, tone, body and through a terrific reproduction of the middle-register strings, is a translucent one, especially for the Prokofiev Second Violin Concerto that was cut on 24th February 1959. The Mendelssohn f minor Concerto was clearly a little more problematic. Initially recorded on February 23rd, all parties returned to Orchestra Hall, Boston on February 25th to again work on earlier takes. However, the outcome is another fleet-footed and exciting account which will appeal to lovers of red blooded music. Charles Munch and the orchestral accompaniment, here, have to be heard to be believed. Even if, sonically, the BSO players do not quite receive such generous help from the two Johns (Crawford and Pfeiffer) who can't quite deliver that last ounce of transparency. Recorded on April 19th 1957, at Orchestra Hall, Chicago, this nationalistic Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto that so obviously flirts with Slavonic folk music, has in some quarters gained a reputation for being Heifetz, yet Low-Fi. A shade harsh, I feel, on Pfieffer and Lewis Layton who spotlight our soloist and, in doing so, reveal the violin's fine detail, superb small-scale dynamics and a delicious timbral quality. These virtues extend into their reproduction of bass, horns and orchestral strings throughout. Nevertheless, the resolution of this new, multi-bit transfer cannot disguise the age or pedigree of an original, two-track recording. The focal point, however, is a dazzling, no, make that, phenomenal Heifetz exhibition of gorgeous lyrical playing. There are many facets to his bow work that make this tense and powerful reading a truly great one. Not least amongst them is an ideal marriage of tenderness and passion for the slow movement. Thoughtful and touching.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

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