KLASSIKNET
Editors' Choice

SCHUMANN : Piano concerto
RICHARD STRAUSS : Burleske

Hélène Grimaud, piano
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
David Zinman, conductor
Erato : 0630-11727-2

One wonders why this recording was ever released. While the young French pianist Hélène Grimaud has a good set of hands, she fails to communicate anything of interest in the Schumann piano concerto or in the Strauss Burleske. David Zinman, at sixty, is easily the equivalent of Muti, Sawallisch, Haitink or Sanderling, but you wouldn't know that after hearing this disk. Readers interested in a recording of the Schumann concerto by a living artist should opt for Czech pianist Ivan Moravec on Supraphon. Byron Janis and Fritz Reiner on RCA, or Martha Argerich and Claudio Abbado "live" on Sony top the list in the Strauss Burleske.

RACHMANINOV : Piano Concertos 1 & 3

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
The Cleveland Orchestra Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor
Decca 448 219-2

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Vladimir Ashkenazy and The Cleveland Orchestra turn in effervescent performances of Rachmaninov's First and Third piano concertos. Unlike most pianists, Thibaudet concentrates on style and aesthetics rather than neurosis. The result is an elegant interpretation of both works and a welcome change from the usual psycho-drama played out elsewhere.

Bernard Herrmann : The Film Scores
(The Man who knew too much - Psycho - Vertigo - Marnie - North by Northwest - Torn Curtain - Fahrenheit 451 - Taxi Driver)

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Sony Classical SK 62700

Known the world-over as Alfred Hitchcock's cult composer, the American Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975) knew how to "stay" with the great British film director's wild and refined imagery (Decca). Herrmann recorded all the great themes from Psycho and Vertigo to name but some, in masterly fashion. While exalting their tremendous visual power, the young Finnish conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen (born 1958) looks at these scores in terms of pure music. The result is staggering, all the more so since the Los Angeles Philharmonic is to this music what the Vienna Philharmonic is to Johann Strauss waltzes. .

Schoenberg : Moses und Aron

Chris Merritt, tenor (Aron); David Pittman-Jennings, baritone (Moses); Gabriele Fontana, Yvonne Naef, John Graham Hall, Per Lindskog, Siegfried Lorenz, Michael Devlin, Laszlo Polgar.
Pierre Boulez conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Chorus of the Nederlandse Opera
(2 cds) DGG 449 174-2.

This recording, one of the most eagerly awaited this autumn, simply does not live up to its promises. Setting aside the relative, but foreseable, disappointment with Chris Merritt who remains totally aloof from his role as Aron, and David Pittman-Jennings's rather neutral and flat interpretation of Moses, the bad surprises come essentially from Pierre Boulez. He cruelly lacks body and rhythmic strength to the extent that even the sheer brilliance of the orchestra (none other than the Amsterdam Concertgebouw) is insufficient to make this version worth recommending. Arid, violent and lapidary like a Schütz passion though this work may be, others such as Herbert Kegel (Berlin Classics) and Michael Gielen (Philips) have produced wersions which demonstrate far greater commitment and precision.

Monteverdi : L'Orfeo

Victor Torres (Orfeo), Adriana Fernandez (Euridice), Gloria Banditelli (Silvia, Messagiera), Maria Cristina Kiehr (Speranza, La Musica)
Choeur Antonio Il Verso,
Ensemble Elyma
Gabriel Garrido, conductor
K617 K 617066

Now, here is the vocal recording event of the fall season. So far, the discography of History's first opera was dominated by three versions; those of Nikolaus Harnoncourt on Teldec, Jürgen Jürgens on Archiv and René Jacobs on harmonia mundi. Purists have gone on ad infinitum as to their respective merits and defects. Then suddenly, to everyone's surprise, a total outsider appeared on the scene : Gabriel Garrido. His reading has an uncommon rhythmic fire which produces the illusion of seeing the music and the drama coming to life before one's very eyes. And then, above all, his cast is the youngest, the most homogenous and the most convincing from a stylistic point of view (the singers are all Italian or Argentinian).

BEETHOVEN : Piano Sonatas Op. 109, 110 & 111

Alfred Brendel, piano
Philips 446 701-2

Avoiding emotional excess, but clearly having grasped the psychological essence of characterization and mood found at the core of each of the three late sonatas on this disc, Brendel delivers his texts with all the figures of articulation, voice modulation and language. His recording of Beethoven's op. 106 in B Flat "Hammerklavier" was released several months ago. Although carefully delineated his "Hammerklavier" remained academic and a less exciting affair than Sviatoslav Richter's performance on Praga or distinguished recordings by Rudolf Serkin, Wilhelm Kempff, Peter Rösel, Claudio Arrau, or Emil Gilels. Still, Brendel's latest recording is a major release and a fitting close to the Moravian-born musician's third complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle on disc.

BRUCKNER SYMPHONIES

BRUCKNER : Symphony No. 3 in D Minor (1889 version; Novak Edition)
BRUCKNER : Symphony No. 4 in E Flat Major "Romantische" (1887-1880 version; Novak Edition)
Wiener Philharmoniker
Karl Böhm, conductor
Decca : 2 CDs 448 098-2

BRUCKNER : Symphonien I Symphony No. 0 in D Minor "Nullte" (Wöss Edition) (Scherzo)
Orchester der Berliner Staatsoper
Fritz Zaun, conductor
Symphony No. 1 in C Minor (Schalk Edition) (Scherzo)
Orchester der Berliner Staatsoper
Fritz Zaun, conductor
Symphony No. 3 in D Minor (Schalk Edition) (Scherzo)
Wiener Symphoniker
Anton Konrath, conductor
Symphony No. 4 in E Major "Romantische" (Haas Edition) (complete)
Sächsische Staatskapelle
Karl Böhm, conductor
Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major (Hass Edition) (complete)
Sächsische Staatskapelle
Karl Böhm, conductor
Symphony No. 7 in E Major (Löwe Edition) (complete)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor
EMI 3 CDs 7243 5 66206 2 9 (Mono) ADD

BRUCKNER : Symphonien II
Symphony No. 6 in A Major (Haas Edition) (movements 2, 3 & 4)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor
Symphony No. 7 in E Major (Löwe Edition) (complete)
Münchner Philharmoniker
Oswald Kabasta, conductor
Symphony No. 8 in C Minor (Haas Edition) (complete)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor (Löwe Edition) (complete)
Münchner Philharmoniker
Siegmund von Hausegger, conductor
EMI 3 CDs 7243 5 66210 2 (Mono) ADD

There is nothing like Bruckner, Wagner and Richard Strauss to unmask the raw and sometimes ruthless ambition of a conductor. So, as major conductors in Europe and America scramble to make their mark on musical performance history with Bruckner symphonies, record companies continue to burrow into their vaults to provide younger generations of listeners and musicians with great Bruckner performances - and an even greater means of comparison. Important new reissues include a double-CD in Decca's twofer series with Karl Böhm at the head of the Wiener Philharmoniker in Bruckner's Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (1971, 1974). These are splendid readings despite Böhm's use of the Novak Edition in the Third Symphony.

More rare still and of immediate interest to connoisseurs and music historians, is an EMI Germany mid-price historical 3 CD double box set of Bruckner symphony performances covering the years 1928 - 1949 in Germany and Austria. A word of warning : only scherzo movements of Symphonies Nos. 0 - 3 are included. Most notable are the complete symphonies 4 & 5 with the Sächsische Staatskapelle under Karl Böhm; movements 2, 3 & 4 from Symphony No. 6 with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Wilhelm Furtwängler in a 1943 performance in Berlin; Furtwängler and his Berliners in a complete Symphony No. 7 from 1949. It should be said however, that in view of the wealth of pre-war recordings of complete symphonies by the leading conductors of that time which have already been published by Dante-Lys, Philips, Music and Arts, Preiser, Deutsche Grammophon, Orfeo, Berlin Classics..., hearing movements of Bruckner symphonies out of context is not always especially enlightening. Excellent notes.

MOZART : Piano Concertos K456 & K459

Robert Levin, fortepiano
The Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood, conductor
L'Oiseau-Lyre 452 051-2

Despite the apparent scholarship behind these performances, Messrs Hogwood and Levin tend to tie up Mozart in a straight-jacket of good taste. Their letter perfect music-making is pretty, like a plate of nouvelle cuisine---leaving one hungry and undernourished.

Scarlatti : Sonatas K. 1 - 60

Carlo Grante, piano
Dante PSG 9642-44, (3 CDs) specially priced

The young Italian pianist Carlo Grante, 36, recently astonished audiences at London's Wigmore Hall and Milan's Teatro Piccolo with his ambitious recital programs of virtuoso compositions including twelve of Godowsky's treacherous Twenty-four Studies on Chopin Etudes and works by Busoni. Little known to mainstream classical publics, Grante's recordings of Godowsky, Sorabji, Clementi and Scarlatti on Altarus and Dante are already being snapped up by pianophiles in Europe and America. Volume 1 of an eventual recording of all 555 sontatas (Kirkpatrick classification) was a remarkable achievement. The tempi are sometimes extreme, but the performances are fresh, dynamic and at times even thrilling. Volume 2 will be released in early December and includes sonatas K. 61 - 120 on 4 Cds.

Haydn : String Quartets op. 76 n°2, 3 & 4

Alban Berg Quartet
EMI 5561662

Here is a record which will not bring a feather to the Alban Berg Quartet's cap. In this instance, the well-known Austrian group which can sometimes be a little liberal in its readings, delivers a rather academic performance which verges on boredom. Haydn's quartets, which are more inspired if less glamourous than Mozart's, cannot weather a routine approach.

Schütz: Geistliche Chormusik (sélection)

Schein : Israelis Brünnlein*
Collegium Vocale, Ghent
Ensemble Vocal Européen*
Philippe Herreweghe, conductor
harmonia mundi HMC 901534 & HMC 901574

Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) and Johannes Hermann Schein (1586-1630) are the two leading early German baroque composers. Their works, essentially vocal and sacred in nature, draw their inspiration from Italian, and more particularly Venetian, music creating a profound, tormented sonic universe, whose visionary power only Bach would equal. At 50, Flemmish conductor Philippe Herreweghe has (almost) no competition in this repertory. The two recordings which he has made in rapid succession are like an uncanny journey inside the Protestant soul.

Romances for violin and orchestra

Elgar, Kreisler, Dovrak, Beethoven, Sarassate, Svendsen, Tchaikovsky
Gil Shaham, violin
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Deutsche Grammophon 449 923-2

In Warner Brothers classic film "All About Eve" , the late American film star Bette Davis buried forever poor old Liszt's Liebesträume with her immortal line : I detest cheap sentiment. At first sight violinist Gil Shaham's new recording could elicit the same remark. After all, Kreisler's Liebesfreud and Schön Rosmarin, not to mention Tchaikovsky's Sérénade mélancoloque or Dvorak's Romance can really be "de trop" in the wrong hands. Not so here. Shaham's guileless, albeit infectious, charm in these pieces is natural, entertaining and devoid of the overly-cosmopolitan image often associated with this music, popular in Europe between the two world wars. As partners, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is nothing less than top-drawer. Great cocktail party record.

Liszt : Dante-Symphonie - Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne - La Bataille des Huns - Du Berceau jusqu'à la Tombe - Ideale

Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig
Kurt Masur, conductor 2 CDs EMI "forte" 5685982

If you have not heard Kurt Masur in Liszt's Dante-Symphonie, you've heard nothing. No work in the entire repertory creates as much noise. Masur and his Leipziger band attack the work with joyful ferocity to produce one of the great orchestral raves in the history of recorded music. Horror movie buffs are just delighted. The neighbours perhaps less so.

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