Sibelius: Paavo Järvi

For some conductors, Sibelius' vast and seemingly uncharted soundscapes can be difficult to navigate. Add to that a non-Finnish singer tackling Luonnotar, Sibelius' tone poem for soprano and orchestra, and it might be advisable to proceed with caution. Not so here. While one or more of the three masterpieces which make up this fascinating program have received excellent performances on disc by great conductors such as Ormandy, Sanderling, and Segerstam, it is important to take note of this brilliant effort by the 34-year-old Estonian conductor, Paavo Järvi (son of Neemi). In the Lemminkäinen Suite, Järvi demonstrates a remarkable gift for musical narrative through his carefully delineated and subtle use of color and dynamics. His Sibelius is dark and at times even menacing despite the sometimes calm exterior of the score. What can strike the ear as impenetrable or long-winded gives way to almost story-book entertainment, notably in his treatment of the Nightride and Sunrise. Norwegian soprano Solveig Kringelborn makes an admirable contribution in the strange tale of Luonnotar, joining the ranks of such colleagues as Phyllis Curtin, Gwyneth Jones, Elizabeth Soederstrom and Taru Valjakka.

Joseph E. Romero

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Hommage à Andrei Tarkovsky: Wien Modern II

Inspired by Luigi Nono's "No hay caminos, hay que caminar ... Andrej Tarkovskij", Abbado commissioned the three additional works featured on this CD, all of which were preformed at a Tarkovsky Festival in Vienna in 1991.

Fragmentation plays a central role in all four of the works. Nono's last orchestral work uses percussion attacks to interrupt sustained quiet chords. Giovanni Morelli has suggested a connection between this piece and Tarkovsky's last movie The Sacrifice. Wolfgang Rihm's and Beat Furrer's works, on the other hand, feature more traditional modernist fragmentational techniques

The high-point of this disc is Hungarian composer Kyörgy Kurtág'sSamuel Beckett -- What is the Word. The title refers to a message from Beckett to Hungarian actress Ildiks Monysk, who was struggling to learn how to speak again. The use of "Sprechgesang" (a mixture of speech and song) gives this piece an expressive and fearful atmosphere.

Per F. Broman

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Shostakovich:The Dance Album

Riccardo Chailly, a remarkable technician, leads the Philadelphia Orchestra in high-spirited performances of extracts from the colourful, playful and entertaining ballet, film and operetta scores of the Russian composer. This is a fun CD and an excellent opportunity to discover a more upbeat, self-mocking and less tortured Shostakovich.

Joseph E. Romero

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Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante for Violincello and Orchestra op.125
Miaskovsky: Concerto for Violincello and Orchestra

What better coupling for a cello concerto program than Prokofiev's rarely heard Sinfonia Concertante and Nikolai Miaskovsky's obscure concerto for cello and orchestra. Life-long friends with a published correspondence over 43 years and their own best critics, Miakovsky (1881 - 1950) and Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) managed to produce important scores under Socialist Realism in the Soviet Union and survive Zhdanov's famous 1948 purge. Cellist Misha Maisky and conductor Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra are hardly strangers to Prokofiev's quirky, musical ironies and thus make a strong case for a work which was poorly received by the Soviet government and public at its première (the earlier incarnation as the Concerto for Cello, op. 58). In the Miaskovsky, the Russian musicians' alert but nuanced dialogue offers an attractive solution to the problem of how to remain aesthetically credible without the slightest trace of cynicism in a work whose musical essence tends toward nostaligia.

Joseph E. Romero

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Beaux Arts Trio plays Turina, Granados Beaux Arts Trio

If you are not familiar with the Spanish composer Joaquin Turina (1882-1949), this is a good place to start. Whether alone or over cocktails with friends, it will be difficult to resist Turina's seductive combination of Andalusian sensuality and the turn-of-the-century formalism he inherited from the Paris Schola Cantorum as a student. Both trios for piano, violin and cello as well as Turina's Circulo are given stylish and insightful treatments by the Beaux Arts Trio. In short, this release is an absolute delight.

Antoine du Rocher

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Pfitzner/StraussChristian Thielemann

Currently music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the 36-year-old German Christian Thielemann has chosen an off-beat programme which offers an astute comparison of Pfitzner and Strauss. Thielemann's well-judged tempos and dynamics, more in service to the music than to any apparent eagerness to make statements, result in an attractive début recording and it will be interesting to hear what follows.

Joseph E. Romero

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Oswald von Wolkenstein: Knightly Passions : The Songs of Oswald von Wolkenstein

Although these are fascinating examples of the German Minnesinger tradition, Oswald von Wolkenstein's (1377 - 1445) songs are also largely autobiographical. They chronicle travels throughout Europe including his native South Tyrol, Portugal, Morocco and as far away as Turkey. The lively performances on this recording communicate Wolkenstein's colorful existence as diplomat, Holy Land pilgrim and lover resulting in imprisonment, torture and litigation. They also convey a wide variety of song, dance and poetry styles of the period.

Antoine du Rocher

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Oliver Knussen: Horn Concerto; The Way to Castle Yonder; Flourish with Fireworks; Two Organa; Music for a Puppet Court; Whitman Settings;..."upon one note"

The Anglo-American composer Oliver Knussen is an immensely skillful orchestrator. This is true irrespective of his musical language: atonal modernism or his more diatonic style. Knussen's short, brilliant Flourish with Fireworks (1988) resembles Stravinsky's early orchestral work Fireworks in terms of orchestration and form.

The other works on this CD present a broad view of Knussen's instrumental oeuvre, ranging from the dense Horn Concerto (1994) to the light and playful Music for a Puppet Court (1983). This is a wonderful CD.

Per F. Broman

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Xenakis, Dusapin

East meets West in an excellent recital program of music for solo flute composed by Xenakis and his French student Pascal Dusapin. Cécile Daroux turns in consistently well-spun performances of these scores written between 1952 and 1989.

Antoine du Rocher

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Chopin: The Nocturnes

There is some beautiful playing in Maria João Pires' new recording of the Chopin Nocturnes. The performances are highly personal, emotionally charged and reflect a long-standing and nostalgic relationship with the music. Although the cycle shows promise, notably in Pires' ability to elicit the drama beneath the surface, or her frank exposure of contrast and light within a given nocturne, her delivery of narrative is at times incoherent. There are also disappointing moments such as the right hand double note dialogues in opus 37 No. 2 where the Portuguese pianist falls short on style and poise or simply fails to communicate Chopin's Parisian sense of "genre". While this version might please those looking for a passionate, fatalistic vision of some of Chopin's most sublime music, it is less likely to appeal to those who prefer the intense drama of Claudio Arrau, the cosmopolitan elegance of Arthur Rubenstein, the Gallic improvisations of Samson François or the suave, patrician humour of Ivan Moravec.

Joseph E. Romero

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Schubert: Songs without Words

Were it not for Mischa Maisky's fine playing, this release would be a bit of a gimmick. After all, it is difficult to imagine Schubert lieder without the texts. Still, if Schubert's melodies are a priority, then this recording will appeal.

Antoine du Rocher

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Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet - Scenes from the ballet

Liberated from the straitjacket of the concert suite - an unworthy fate for such a great ballet score - this music once again sounds like it was written to be danced. This is due in large part not only to Thomas' dramatically astute selection of scenes, but also to his skillful use of colour and meter. Moreover, there are moments such as the duel between Tybalt and Mercutio which seem to leap from the stage to the screen thanks to the excitement and the heightened dramatic atmosphere created by 50-year-old American conductor and the San Francisco orchestra players. Especially recommended for dance and movie buffs.

Joseph E. Romero

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Gounod: Requiem; Ava Maria, Marche solennele pour orgue

If you ever wondered what Gounod could have possibly written as a sequel to the miraculous assumption of Marguérite into heaven in the final scene of Faust, look no further. Gounod's Requiem, with its blend of spiritual and sensual melodic writing, receives an admirable performance by French musicians. However, Forlane's claims to a first recording are inaccurate.

Antoine du Rocher

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Wagner: Tannhäuser : Overture & Venusberg; Parsifal : Prelude & Good Friday Spell; Rienzi : Overture; Das Liebesverbot : Overture

Giuseppe Sinopoli is very much a special case. A doctor of psychiatry, the Ventian orchestra conductor is capable of the best and the worst. However, with this recording Sinopoli ranks with Furtwängler, Karajan, Böhm, Reiner or Klemperer. The result is petrifying in its over-all beauty. It is difficult to imagine a more sensual and deadly Prélude to Parsifal, a more wildly baroque Tannhäuser Overture, or a Rienzi Overture so exquisitely shaped. The Dresden Staatskapelle delivers enough sorcery (the strings in Parsifal!) in these performances to make their colleagues in Berlin and Vienna grow green with envy.

Huges Mousseau

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