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Antonin Dvorak: Legends; Notturno; Miniatures; Prague Walzes
Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Philips 464 647-2 Reviewed by JMH
It's probably fair to say Dvorak's Legends do not rate among his very best works; certainly, they're not played or recorded very often, and could justifiably be described as neglected. Yet Brahms thought highly of them, and so too did the critic Hanslick. They were originally written for piano duet, like the popular Slavonic dances, but lack the latter 's bright primary colours and catchy appeal. Nevertheless, given a sensitive and intelligent interpreter like Ivan Fischer, the music is actually much better than one might previously have thought - fresh, natural, and often inspired. Certainly, Fischer makes a convincing case for Dvorak's Legends, bringing out their changeable moods and shifting quixotic colours. Rhythmically he's very flexible, making sure the music is crisply inflected and kept moving in the faster more animated passages, while broadening out for the more expansive lyrical sections. He treats the work as though it were a masterpiece, and the result is extremely impressive and convincing. The other works are also lesser-known Dvorak, but attractive well-crafted music nonetheless, and made to sound engaging when played with such insight and conviction as here. The Philips recording is smooth, clean, and very well balanced. Clarity is excellent, allowing lots of inner detail to be heard, but there's no sense of instruments being spot-lit or balances being artificially manipulated by the engineers.

Telemann: La Bizarre
Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin
Harmonia Mundi HMC 901744 Reviewed by SG
Georg Philipp Telemann brought alight-hearted essence to Eighteenth Century German music, interspersing his works with his humour and wit, and using his sharp and satirical imagination to often write contrary to the trends of the time. But he has also long been pigeonholed as an undemanding composer, rather than a creative, innovative one, discouraging many from exploring his more challenging side. Telemann was drawn to the fantasy world of opera, so it was a natural progression for him to write Ouverture and Orchestral Suite. This release contains one Suite, two Ouverture and a Violin Concerto, and is an inspired programme to end the "light" composer stereotype. The performances are exceptional, featuring spirited playing that can become quite boisterous during Les Nations, with prominent contrasts and thrilling tempo changes. The Ouveture "La Bizarre", although subtler, is no less appealing, but it is in Les Rainettes that we are treated to the highlight of the disc. Midori Seller's violin screams and shrieks, providing an extraordinary experience, and with Harmonic Mundi's engineering also sounding superb, this essential, spirited release should make the most lethargic classical music listener take note, hopefully motivating them to investigate this accomplished composer further - a remarkable achievement.

Gustav Mahler: Symphony Nr 10 (completed Joe Wheeler)
Olson, Polish NRSO
Naxos 8.554811 Reviewed by JMH
With the Naxos Mahler cycle still awaiting a recording of the eighth symphony to complete it after nearly ten years, getting a disc of the reconstructed tenth symphony is an unexpected bonus. Especially as conductor Robert Olson has chosen the previously unrecorded Joe Wheeler completion. The orchestration is leaner than the more familiar final version by Deryck Cooke, who revised his first completion by scoring the music for a larger orchestra in order to create a more authentic Mahlerian sound. Wheelers faithfulness to Mahler's original is commendable, but Mahler himself would have expanded and enlarged the score when finalising it for publication. Alas, no one knows precisely what Mahler would've done - so, whether sticking to the specifics of what he left, or attempting to second-guess his possible revisions, you're left in a no-win situation. Speaking personally, I find the two scherzo movements less and less convincing the more I hear them, but do prefer Cooke's extra winds because they make the music sound more like authentic late Mahler. Still, at just under £5, the new Naxos is worth hearing; the performance is committed and mostly well-played, though the conception is small-scaled. The recorded sound is a bit thin, but I think that's down to Wheelers orchestration, not the engineers. Some sections sound very undernourished and 'exposed' compared to real Mahler.

Gustav Holst: The Planets
Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra
Steinberg, BSO
DG The Originals 463 627-2 Reviewed by JMH
Had ill health not curtailed his activities, William Steinberg might've had a long and distinguished career with Deutsche Grammophon. As things turned out, he made only 3LPs for the yellow label; an all Hindemith disc, plus the two works coupled on this CD. Apparently it was DG's idea for Steinberg to record Holst's Planets- he'd never conducted the work before. Yet his performance is masterly, if faster and glossier than (say) Boult's more typically English interpretation. Steinberg's gives a crisp virtuoso account of the score, helped by immediate forwardly-balanced sound. Most of DG's early '70s Boston recordings sounded spacious and reverberant, with the orchestra set back at a nice distance. Here, the impression is of a closer seat in the hall, almost 'conductors rostrum' close at times. The sound varies from Planet to Planet, and there are some odd details - for example the glockenspiel pitch sounds slightly 'flat' in the first half of Jupiter, but not the reprise. Zarathustra, sounds beautifully rich and spacious - technically one of DG's best Boston recordings - witness the marvellous opening. Steinberg's performance is brilliant and exciting, if without the intoxicating opulence and dramatic splendour of Karajan's celebrated 1974 Berlin account on DG.

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 9 and 25
Brendel / Scottish chamber Orchestra / Mackerras
Philips 470 287-2 Reviewed by SG
Alfred Brendel has developed since his Mozart recordings of the 1970s. These performances are still full of character but are more affable and poetic, rather than the more impulsive, rather mischievous earlier readings. The tempi are a touch slower, revealing more colour, and there is a certain correctness and authority to Brendel's playing, allowing each piece to flow in a broad but simple line, rather than forcing the issue. In Piano Concerto No. 9, the first movement is the model of polished expressiveness, with Brendel simply listening to the orchestra, shaping each phrase accordingly, and indeed it is this exceptional relationship between pianist and orchestra that is at the heart of these performances. In the C major Concerto (No. 25), Brendel contributes embellishments in the Andante, balancing sophistication and eloquence in a performance of sympathetic refinement. Despite this he stiff manages to promote each work from new perspectives, with the composers themes occasionally twisted into new forms. Mackerras and the SCO also perform to a high standard, with the strings and woodwind particularly impressive. While there are a number of rival versions available, this release may just have a performance edge, with Brendel supplying performances of great intelligence and proficiency.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Antar
Ansermet, OSR
Decca Legends 470 253-2 Reviewed by JMH
The recording of Antar, taped in June 1954, was Decca's very first stereo recording. They could hardly have chosen a more brilliantly scored and colourfully orchestrated piece. Agreed, Scheherazade has always been more popular and celebrated, but Antar is every bit as impressive musically and technically - the exotic and exciting third movement, for example, contains one of Rimsky's best tunes. Apparently, when Ansermet heard a playback of Antars first movement in stereo, he was utterly amazed - declaring the result '...magnificent' and 'wonderful... Just as if I were standing at the rostrum: Even today, the recording impresses; there's a faint hum audible from time to time, but tape hiss is low and tonally the sound is full-bodied and surprisingly rich. Yet this is the first time the stereo tapes have been issued commercially - the previous LP re-issue on Decca's Eclipse label being pseudo-stereo from the mono tapes. Ansermet's performance is enthusiastic but sensitive, bringing out the gorgeous orientalism in the music. Scheherazade dates from 1960 and remains one of Ansermet's (and Decca's) most famous LPs, prized by audiophiles for its brilliant sound. It still sounds great; tonally, early SXL copies of the LP could be a shade 'hard' and closed-in, but here the sound is crisp and open.

Words of the Angel - Trio Mediaeval
ECM New Series 1753 461 782-2 Reviewed by SG
The repertoire here may worry some, comprising mainly anonymous pieces in Latin, without translation, and with little overall perspective to the collection. The title of the CD comes from the 1998 composition by Ivan Moody; a beautiful example of how ancient part-writing can be combined with modern ideas on harmony. The female Norwegian vocal group, Trio Mediaeval, sing with verve and rhythmic drive, causing much of the music to resemble the contemporary, despite its Fourteenth Century origins. The performers appear as three clear voices, as opposed to the vocal quartet, the Anonymous 4's more unified sound, creating more timberal colour and unmistakable expressions. These more noticeable gestures are most evident in the songs that are interspersed between the movements of the Messe de Tournai, ranging from the dance-like In excelsis gloria to the curiously delightful Benedicta es celorum. The sound could reveal more of the vibrant timbres and dynamic poise of these singers, but is still clear and precise, in the best ECM fashion. While some may prefer a recording with a single context, and notes that include English translations of the text, this excellent display of measured fervour and technique should appeal to anyone simply looking for a beautiful musical experience.

Gustav Holst: The Planets; The Mystic Trumpeter*
Claire Rutter, soprano*, RSNO, David Lloyd Jones
Naxos 8.555776 Reviewed by JMH
Released to celebrate 15 years of Naxos, this new version of Hoist's popular orchestral showpiece includes Colin Matthews' extra movement Pluto, plus Hoist's Scena for soprano and orchestra The Mystic Trumpeter. The Planets gets a good solid straightforward performance, one firmly in the English tradition as laid down by the work's first interpreter Sir Adrian Boult. Tempi are well-chosen, not too fast or too slow, and Lloyd Jones commendably keeps the music moving. Colin Matthews' extra movement Pluto (Hoist died shortly after Pluto was discovered) makes an interesting appendage - though Hoist made things difficult here by writing a 'fade-out' ending to Neptune- most inconsiderate. Matthews' movement does not sound like anything Hoist would've written, but it's an effective atmospheric piece - that is, if music describing the outer regions of space can be called 'atmospheric'! It also gives Hoist's off-stage choir a bit more work to do. The Mystic Trumpeter, with its heady intoxicated text by Walt Whitman, breathes a very different air. How strange that someone shy and introverted like Hoist should've been attracted to such a bold and outgoing poem. Then again, perhaps it's not so strange! The Naxos 24bit recording has an extremely wide dynamic range, but needs to be played loudly for full impact. The spacious balance suits The Mystic Trumpeter better.

Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Works
Angela Hewitt
Hyperion CDA67341/2 Reviewed by SG
Ravel was not the greatest of pianists, but his colourful and rhythmic compositions for the instrument demand perfect technique. Angela Hewitt possesses such musicianship but, while her acclaimed Bach recordings are fabulously poised and fluid, here she can sound a tittle too deliberate at times, with Pavane pour une infante defunte being far too measured, lacking sparkle and verve. Ironically, it is in the more substantial, less Bachlike, works where she is generally more successful, with her tremendous ability allowing some beautiful interplay between the left and right hands. In her recent Wigmore Hall recital, Hewitt performed Gaspard de la nuit with notable panache, and so too here, although she does not quite let herself go as she did then, attaining more control, yet revealing some exquisite phrasing. Le Tombeau de Couperin includes some wonderfully varied articulations, especially in the Toccata, while Jeux d'eau flows delightfully, and Miroirs is performed with great intelligence, revealing Ravels layering of tones. Hyperion's engineering is clear and detailed, without entering the demonstration class. The set is complete, including the relatively recently discovered Serenade grotesque, and Hewitt's performances are intelligent and full of contrasts, yet never quite attain the exhilaration found in the greatest performances.

Richard Strauss: An Alpine symphony; Rosenkavalier-suite
Thielemann, VPO
DG 469 519-2 Reviewed by JMH
This CD documents Christian Thielemann's impressive debut with the Vienna Philharmonic in Strauss' massive Alpensinfonie. Recorded live in the Musikverein, the performance is beautifully paced and meticulously balanced. Tempi are a shade broader than usual, but the music never drags. Any worries that the acoustic of this famous hall might be a little too cramped and dry for Strauss' mighty forces turns out to be groundless; the sound is impressively clean and detailed, without becoming dense and opaque during climaxes, and there's a proper feeling of scale to those room-shaking climaxes. Clarity is excellent, and you can hear lots of detail. Indeed, listening to Thielemann's performance, one realises that much of Alpensinfonie consists of orchestral chamber music - so much of it is delicately scored and finely shaded in terms of tonal colour and instrumental balance. As a result, one fully appreciates that the musical content of Alpensinfonie is actually very high - it's more than ' just a compendium of grandiose orchestral effects strung together. The disc is completed by a sumptuous account of the suite from Der Rosenkavalier. Again, the playing is beautifully shaped and refined without becoming effete, In other less expert performances, the more rumbustuous parts of the suite so often sound 'noisy', but not here; even Strauss' vulgar Oom-Pah finale remains outstandingly clean and precisely articulated.

Buxtehude - Seven Sonatas, Op. 1
Convivium
Hyperion CDA67236

Buxtehude - Sonate a due, Op. 1
Kraemer/Quintana/Roberts/Börner
Harmonic Mundi HMC 901746 Reviewed by SG
These two alternative new releases of Buxtehude's Seven Sonatas, Op. 1, contain music of profound personality, intrepid ingenuity and wonderful articulation, with the composer achieving all this through freedom of compositional constraints. They are full of passionate virtuosity and were very unorthodox works for their time, a fact that the members of Convivium obviously understand, breathing much life into each sonata, while the Harmonic Mundi disc includes the addition of a second violin. This soliciting an extra instrument was common practise during the Baroque, enabling the ensemble more freedom to improvise, embellish and develop. The results here are a heightened atmosphere of spontaneity and a tremendous depth of tonal textures that give an even greater sense of verve. Manfredo Kraemer's first violin's energetic tempos also give the performance greater momentum than the Hyperion disc. With such directions as con discretione and stylus phantasticus, Buxtehude encouraged players to freely express their own musical ideas. Kraemer and his colleagues seize the opportunity to give a breathtaking performance, with Kraemer's violin struggling with the rest of the group for principal position. In the Sixth sonata his virtuosity is a marvel, alternating from leading the charge to subordinate as each movement dictates, without the slightest wavering. It is only in the final poco presto that some kind of alliance is found, but only because the composer treated each instrument independently, rather than signalling a truce between them. Alternatively, Convivium are a little more restrained and polite, lacking a little of the quartet's freedom of expression, resulting in a slight lack of tension, but only when directly compared to the Harmonia Mundi disc. While the Hyperion recording is very good, being smooth with beautiful, accurate tones, Harmonic Mundi's presentation is first rate and even more detailed, fully revealing the textures and energy in each piece, and supplying more depth to the performance. The Hyperion disc also includes a cover note that implies that Richard Tunnicliffe plays the cello, while he actually performs on the composer's specified instrument, the viola da gamba, with its distinctive timbre. The Hyperion disc is a lovely account of these unfairly neglected masterpieces, but it is the more consistent display of sensitivity and attention to detail, as well as the broader presentation of the Harmonic Mundi release that make it the first choice. This is a truly exceptional recital, enthusiastically performed, and which finally realise the full potential of these extraordinary compositions.

Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue
UDSACD 2002

Patricia Barber - Modern Cool
UDSACD 2003

Patricia Barber - Nightclub
UDSACD 2004

MOBILE FIDELITY Reviewed by RP
Resurrected, in name at least, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs have re-entered the audiophile arena with a significant statement of intent. In the past it was Mo-Fi who were synonymous for cutting edge recording techniques. Half-Speed Mastering from the original tapes delivered LPs like the astounding Sinatra box set. Two hundred gram anadiscs (Joe Cocker's Sheffield Steel amongst them) gave vinyl a new lease of life with a requisite Nineties heavyweight makeover, while gold ultradisc CDs embraced the digital medium through a reassuring presentation of classic material such as Billie Holiday's Body and Soul. Now relocated (or reborn if you will) in Chicago, the new generation of Mobile Fidelity releases does not abandon those central ideals, it's primary colours having been firmly hitched to a flagship format in these SACD recordings. The focus upon an industry darling in Patricia Barber also reveals a degree of commercial acumen that was perhaps not so obvious in the old days. Frankly, I was always rather mystified by the repressing on an album like the Bee Gees Trafalgar or Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Pictures At An Exhibition. Give me Modest Mussorgsky under Refiner's baton ahead of this every time. Which is not to say that I wholly approve of a Miss Barber triple-decker. In private I have intimated that the unbridled adulation originally heaped upon Cafe Blue and its descendants did over state her abilities. She is a good singer, whose strong delivery feeds an interesting variety of shapes and improvisations, which do enliven songs - especially familiar covers. This, in tandem with, her own writing and piano playing talents, makes these albums praiseworthy but surely not peerless. To a degree, like many performers, Barber has benefited from being in the right place at the right time. May good fortune continue to shine: I wish her no ill. However, I was intrigued to hear what SACD exposure would bring to the table on these already sweetly engineered Jim Anderson recordings. Undoubtedly, Cafe Blue is a self-consciously clever immersion in jazz styles, though Barber, when ladling on the melancholy in this dark reverberate acoustic chamber for 'Morning Grace', simply overstays her welcome. SACD resolution reveals that fine dividing line between "smartly done" and "smarty pants". Barber here steps beyond that mark. Too much skating on 'Manha de Carnaval' and irritating vocal overlays for 'Woods Is A Pleasant Thing To Think About' are further black marks. Yet, when she drops the facade and does the slow steamy number 'The Thrill Is Gone' or a machine gun 'Yellow Car III', the revealing SACD Direct Stream Digital process functions to her advantage. Bass, piano, sticks, guitars and rich, full-bodied vocal textures are beautifully defined right down to the precise decay of individual notes. Moreover, this disc conveys better than the original a notion of interplay. It transcends individual musicianship to deliver that seamless sense of an ensemble. Cut through a fashionable contemporary post-modern veneer and you hear Barber's 1998 release, Modern Cool, ratchet up this sense of a togetherness and common purpose inherent amongst these players. Popular standards 'Light My Fire', 'The Fool On The Hill' and Paul Anka's 'She's A Lady', which normally came fully clothed in preconception, shed their constrictive hair shirts too, instead, wrap themselves in finery tailored from that moody and often chilling fabric of Barber's own designer label. Thematically, though, these familiar covers still retain those distinctive piquant qualities at their core, while astute arrangements and a far less intrusive acoustic overcoat amplifies moments of passion and sadness but does not exaggerate them. Even darker shades of melancholia, which echo Barber's take upon the late Twentieth Century condition, flow freely from her pen in an opening 'Touch of Trash' and throughout the ambiguous 'Silent Partner' and literal 'Postmodern Blues'. Spin Nightclub (Barber's offering to a new millennium) and one could perhaps be forgiven for expecting a spontaneous, atmospheric and intimate affair. In truth, I believe it's the opposite that plays out here. A very carefully considered selection of songs, the precisely held or clipped phrase and, of course, supremely accurate engineering iron flat the humanity present within tracks like 'Autumn Leaves' or 'I Fall In Love Too Easily: This album cries out for a touch of frailty and genuine emotion. Not the distance and this coldly analytical sense of objectivity which Barber places into our hands like a magnifying mirror. I understand the lesson - confront an audience with what it has become using every available tool. Clever, clever, clever stuff: But surely too smug, self-regarding and guileless in its' acts of deliberacy. Ultimately even what should be a fleet footed 'Summer Samba' complies with Barber's grand design. Sacrifice pace and leach all the joy from these normally infectious rhythms and you get music that is as charmless as the target of her wrath. Perhaps, in certain quarters, this will be considered a harsh criticism of the Barber discography, but I believe it to be a valid one.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue

Patricia Barber - Modern Cool

Patricia Barber - Nightclub

Moussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition
Reiner, CSO
RCA/JMC XR-0016 Reviewed by RG
Pictures might never have been the recording that Scheherezade was, but it's still pretty impressive by less exalted standards, carrying a heavy dose of the Living Stereo gene pool. It predates its more illustrious stable mate by a couple of years and could almost have been written for the sumptuous, disciplined power of the Chicago under Reiners baton. Assuming your interest in the work survived (or was maybe sparked by) Emerson Lake and Palmers pomp rock excesses, then this is the version to own. The brass is as excellent as expected, while those rumbling bass belches that signal the opening of Gnomus give fair warning of what's to come. Wide and sudden dynamic shifts, full of orchestral weight and colour make this exactly the musical showpiece it was intended to be. It might lack the immediacy, focus and transparency of the Rimsky-Korsakoff recording, but it's still pretty spectacular. Anybody finding the sound a little too rounded for their tastes should compare 'The Hut On Fowl's Legs' to the Gladiator OST., An illuminating exercise in more ways than one. Looks like nothing's changed there then!
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Sarah Vaughan - The Lonely Hours
Classic/Roulette Birdland SRS2104 Reviewed by RP
Effective and well-matched Benny Carter arrangements for this orchestra-backed 1963 recording do distance Vaughan from those earlier classic EmArcy jazz albums in favour of a more commercial emphasis which did rather typify her Roulette label releases throughout the Sixties. Perfect intonation, eloquence, phenomenal range and a subtle control of Walter Donaldson's 'You're Driving Me Crazy' or Irving Berlin's 'If I Had You' still showcases her vocal brilliance, but the throaty counterpoint or nasal variations in pitch are far less in evidence on their warm, lightly touched harmonies. The presence of a Clifford Brown or Cannonball Adderly would have helped to pierce a dreamy soft-focus speculation on loves lost, distant or unrequited. However, drawing out Sassy's most poignant and piquant qualities for 'Always On My Mind', 'These Foolish Things', So Long My Love' or 'Solitude' was never really part of an agenda where all parties are content to pour on the syrup. Quite clearly this is a record for the sweet-toothed. A matching set of acoustic properties -rich ambient midrange, strong vocal resolution and complimentary space and separation - sit comfortably in this context.
Supplier: The Cherished Record Company - www.cherished-record-company.co.uk (44)(0)1579 363603

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