The first thing I thought when I saw this disc was “not another Brahms violin concerto!” It is after all a rather saturated market, with so many recordings of the great violin concertos by Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Brahms and their ilk. I think it is easy to get rather jaded by the commerce-driven record industry, who can churn out recordings of established artists playing well-known masterpieces, seeing it as a risk free way of making money in today’s difficult record industry.

With this in mind it took me a while to get round to listening to this ‘war horse’ of a concerto. The main attraction for me was the soloist, Leonidas Kavakos, having been interested in his career since hearing his rendition of the Sibelius violin concerto on BIS. Right from his first entry my attention was held, and what followed was playing of miraculous technique and tone. Kavakos seems to bring so much insight to this work. His playing has an individual character and an acknowledgement of the gypsy idiom that Brahms was so keen to assimilate in this concerto. The disc is programmed very thoughtfully, with Joachim's arrangements of some of Brahms' Hungarian Dances for violin and piano (and also Bartok's two Rhapsodies for Violin and Orchestra, again in violin and piano arrangements), continuing the gypsy/folk aspect of the music. Kavakos is a remarkable musician and you would have to go far to find playing of similar calibre.

Brahms – Violin Concerto, Op. 77 (coupled with Bartok Rhapsodies and Brahms Hungarian Dances)

Leonidas Kavakos – violin

Gewandhausorchester/Riccardo Chailly

Decca 478 5342

Taneyev & Arensky: Piano Quintets

A marvellous new recording from Hyperion of Russian chamber music. The two composers featured came from the same stable, but were poles apart in many respects. The stable in question was the Moscow Conservatoire, and the composers: Taneyev and Arensky.  Both of them form an interesting link between the composers of the generation before (the brothers Rubinstein, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky) and after (Rachmaninov and Scriabin).

Listening to the G minor Piano Quintet on this new disc, I can see why Taneyev has been dubbed the ‘Russian Brahms’. It certainly has the heady mix of swagger and counterpoint associated with the German master, and is also music that is brilliantly constructed.  It has a dense texture, the music working through the motivic relationships in a tight structure, again much like Brahms. It treads the line between spontaneity and academia. Reading the liner notes I came away with the impression that Taneyev did not lack self confidence in his abilities - his teacher, none other than one Piotr Tchaikovsky, had to put up with his star pupil advising him on rewriting the variation section of his great Piano Trio in A minor!

By contrast, the Arensky Piano Quintet certainly sounds far more rhapsodic than the taut structure of the Taneyev quintet. Where Taneyev is constantly developing, Arensky writes with a more open, jovial feel; there is more space to breath in this music. You might say it is an ideal foil to the work of Taneyev. Indeed I think these two works perfectly demonstrate their respective approach to composition.

The recording by the Goldner String Quartet and Piers Lane is quite exceptional, but then again based on their previous productions on the Hyperion label I was expecting great things. This is really worth buying !! Get it !!!

P.S.  Congratulations to Hyperion for a wonderful choice of artwork ('Vasilisa the Beautiful' from Russian Fairy Tales (1899) by Ivan Bilibin). Icing on an already delicious cake I think.

Arensky & Taneyev: Piano Quintets

Piers Lane & Goldner String Quartet

Hyperion CDA67965

Offer Price: £11.99

Jason Hatton

October 2013

Transcendental Mahler from Christian Gerhaher

Mahler: Orchestral songs

with Christian Gerhaher; Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal conducted by Kent Nagano

‘A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything’.

When discussing Mahler this quote is never far from my mind. The quote comes from a conversation between Mahler and Sibelius, both of them great symphonists but different in so many ways. Sibelius viewed the symphony as the apotheosis of form, a concentration of organic unity and above all the music was about nothing but itself. By contrast, Mahler viewed the symphony as a grand statement, taking on huge philosophical ideas. His symphonies are all-encompassing and deal with many facets of life. However, the symphonies are only one aspect of Mahler’s genius; his complexity as an artist can only be fully appreciated when one listens the songs in addition to the symphonies. The songs help to explain the thematic origins of the symphonies and also deepen understanding of his symphonic works.

The three groups of songs appear on this new disc by baritone Christian Gerhaher, with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. One could hear the disc as a travelogue - it takes us on a journey turning from naïve sentimentality to cynicism in the first song cycle on the disc (lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, often translated as ‘songs of the wayfarer’). We then enter the realm of the morbid ‘kindertotenlieder’ (songs on the death of children). These songs are a reminder of Mahler’s preoccupation with mortality, and portray the anxiety of parenthood and the unconditional love of the parent/child relationship. This cycle is an internal journey from grief and doubt to comfort and eternal love. Finally, the disc ends with not a cycle but a group of songs inspired by the poetry of Friedrich Ruckert (1788-1866). These songs are contemporary with the fifth symphony, a period of great creativity in Mahler’s life. As is evident in the fifth symphony it was also a time when Mahler had been studying the scores of Bach, resulting in an increased density and contrapuntal complexity in his own music. One famous setting in this group of ‘Ruckert songs’ is ‘Um mitternacht’ (At midnight). It depicts the lonely nocturnal thoughts of a person in turmoil and deals with isolation and self analysis. The orchestration starts out very sparse, just a rocking, sighing motive in clarinets, then a deep brass descending scale. It sounds lonely, isolated. It eventually arrives at resignation and spiritual fulfillment. You may notice a common thread - Mahler is always travelling from one state to another, the listener is always taken from one place and ends up in a different place. In the symphonies it is a large scale, slow process. In the songs it is over a shorter time period and the process is far more explicit.

The performances on this new disc are very fine indeed. I think you would have to go back to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to find performances of a similar calibre. Gerhaher has a beautiful tone, made even more focused by his lack of vibrato. This results in a very expressive reading. Please listen to this and then try to resist buying it!

CD reference: Sony Classical 88883 701332

Jason Hatton (September 2013)

The Tallis Scholars' 40th Anniversary

What is the connection between a sixteenth-century mass setting and an instrumental work that was to continue for well over 150 years?

The answer is the words ‘in nomine’.

In the early sixteenth-century, John Taverner composed a mass setting based on the antiphon ‘Gloria tibi trinitas’. In the Benedictus section of the mass, Taverner scores the words ‘in nomine Domini’ for a reduced number of singers (four parts). This portion of the work became popular and instrumental arrangements emerged soon after. However these were more than just mere arrangements; the melody was used in numerous different ways and composers wrote free, imitative counterpoint around the melody. This is known as ‘cantus firmus’, literally ‘fixed song’. Music in England seemed to evolve in parallel with the latest trends in the rest of Europe. Instrumental groups made up of viols flourished in England whilst in Italy the violin had been invented and string writing was rapidly changing to a more virtuosic style. There was also a shift away from contrapuntal harmony writing towards functional harmony; florid counterpoint had lost its dominance and a more homophonic style had taken its place. By the early seventeenth–century composers had started a new chromatic style, and text was expressed in a very direct and sometimes radical way.       

Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) is perhaps one of the best known composers from this period. His music places the expression of the text at the forefront, making the music serve the text and not the other way round. Even to 21^st century ears his music can sound strange - Gesualdo connects distant harmonies with ‘pivot’ notes, sometimes resulting in highly chromatic passages. This highly expressive style previously associated with madrigals is also present in his sacred works. His music for holy week is full of beautifully expressive passages, reflecting the sombre nature of the text.

Over the past 40 years, the Tallis Scholars have produced a formidable number of high quality recordings, and on the 14^th August they will be celebrating this remarkable anniversary at the BBC Proms, with music by Taverner and Gesualdo.

Recordings are available from their back catalogue: The JohnTaverner ‘missa Gloria tibi trinitas’ CDGIM004 is from the early days of the choir. 

They have also recorded the Gesualdo pieces that  feature in the Proms concert on CDGIM015. Both are invaluable introductions to this glorious music.

Rachmaninov from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra

“Vengeance is mine, I shall repay…”

Rachmaninov’s first symphony had a far from auspicious premiere. From the beginning it received criticism from Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov (who would turn out to be the conductor on the rostrum for the premiere).

Rachmaninov had written a symphony before (The Youth Symphony) but it bore little resemblance to this new, dark and foreboding work. Despite its poor reception at the first performance (Glazunov is thought to have been slightly drunk at the time) this work has since become regarded as one of the finest symphonies of it time.

This symphony was written several years after Tchaikovsky had completed his ‘Pathetique’ symphony, and much like the last three symphonies of Tchaikovsky, it employs a ‘motto’ theme to draw the work together, uniting the symphony as a whole. This ‘cyclic’ form had been in use for decades in works by Berlioz, D’Indy, Franck and other composers wishing to bring thematic unity to a four movement symphonic structure.

Rachmaninov inscribed on the score “vengeance is mine, I shall repay” (Romans 12:19). These words from St. Paul echo through the mind as you hear the symphony progress from its oppressive opening right through to the closing pages of the symphony, drawing towards its inexorable climax.

This new recording on the BIS label by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Lan Shui completes arguably one of the finest of the recent Rachmaninov symphony cycles.

The market is certainly a crowded one, but this cycle has the bonus of pianist Yevgeny Sudbin; his superb performance of the first piano concerto makes this an even more desirable disc to add to any collection.

Rachmaninov: Symphony No.1 Op.13, Piano Concerto No.1 Op.18

Yevgeny Sudbin, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui

BIS2012 (Hybrid SACD)

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bathcds@btinternet.com
Written by Jason Hatton

A rumble from the timpani and a lonely clarinet solo… 

That is how Sibelius embarked upon one of the great symphony cycles. This modest opening contains much of the material of the first movement. Osmo Vanska takes this movement at a lively pace, which for me makes sense when it comes to the tempo changes that come at a later point. Vanska gives the scherzo an energetic bite, often missing from many recordings. In the finale Vanska really displays his flair for this music, taking the marking of Quasi una fantasia at its word.

The other work on the disc is the dark and brooding fourth symphony. Sibelius wrote this work during a health scare (throat cancer symptoms which turned out to be benign). Its fragmented nature has made this symphony the least performed of the seven numbered symphonies. Vanska is a great ambassador for this work as he seems to have a deep understanding of it. He makes the most of its thick string textures and dark orchestral hues.

This second release from BIS of this cycle is most welcome and compliments Vanska's previous cycle from the Lahti SO on the same label.

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bathcds@btinternet.com
Written by Jason Hatton

Sibelius - Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4
Minnesota Orchestra & Osmo Vanska

"Exceptional: incredibly tense and energetic, yet teeming with detail. The orchestral sound, lithe and sparse, suits Vanska's unsentimental approach" The Times, 27 April 2013

Sibelius - Symphony No. 2, The Oceanides & Pohjolas Daughter The Halle Orchestra & Sir Mark Elder

"The Halle strings conjure up wondeful dark hues in the opening of Pohjola, and a silvery lightness to underpin the dancing woodwing in The Oceanides. Elder's approach to the symphony is a measure, slow-burning one. He's careful no to ratchet up the drama too early." The Guardian, 16th May 2013

Summer Special Offers!!

Summer is here and with comes the release of the Bath Compact Discs Summer Newsletter. For the last 4 years we have produced a quarterly newsletter advertising new releases and back-catalog promotions. The launch of our website left many customers with the alarming impression that we would not longer be sending out our newsletters! But do not fear, the newsletter is still going strong, if you would like to receive a copy drop and email with your name and address to Bathcds@btinternet.com or give us a call on +44 (0) 1225464766.

We have many discounts on our website to coincide with the release of the summer newlsetter. In particular we have two exciting Labels on promotion in the way of Chandos Records and LSO Live, both available at 20% off for a limited time. We have also put the most exciting picks a selection from the newsletter in an easily accessible place to help make browsing our website for special offers easier for you.

Chandos Records was founded in 1979 and has become of of the world's premiere record companies, their focus is on "superb quality recordings. LSO Live recordings are owned by the London Symphony Orchestra itself. The musicians not only choose what should be recorded, but are also involved throughout the production process, ensuring only recordings they are happy with get released.


We have endeavoured to get as much of the available catalogue onto the website but there are a few gaps that we will continue trying to fill in. As usual if there is anything you can't find email us and we will do our best to help you!!

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Written by Matt Elson