as the director of the
as the director of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig. Soloists Julia Wedman (from Toronto’s Tafelmusik) and Jessy Dubé (with Wedman in the solo concerto) deliver stylish and spirited performances, the phrasing always thoughtfully articulated, while the ensemble provides a solid partnership. The Concerto BWV1055 is most often performed on a keyboard instrument, but scholars indicate that it was probably originally scored for oboe d’amore as is heard here. There is much to admire in oboist Matthew Jennejohn’s bright and clear tone both in this concerto and in BWV1060 where he’s joined by Wedman. Milnes takes his place at the harpsichord for the Concerto in D Major BWV1054, the third of seven Bach wrote for solo keyboard. Here, soloist and ensemble are a formidable pairing with Milnes playing with a solid assurance and the slow movement particularly well rendered. Fine sound quality further enhances a fine performance of some familiar repertoire. Bien fait, one and all – let’s hear from you again. Richard Haskell Mozart – Complete Piano Sonatas Vol.2 & 3 Orli Shaham Canary Classics CC21 (canaryclassics.com) ! For trumpeters studying and performing Western Art Music, at a certain point the extant literature of canonic repertoire gets somewhat thin. “How many times,” a classical trumpeter may ask themselves somewhat frustratedly, “do I need to perform the Brandenburg?” This is not so for pianists who have what seems like a bottomless pit of challenging, crowd-pleasing and technically instructive repertoire to mine as part of their studies or professional concertizing. As such, it is inspiring when you encounter a pianist, such as the talented and newly minted Juilliard faculty member Orli Shaham, who has taken on the yeoman’s task of releasing multiple-disc Mozart recordings in order to put her own stamp on this well-known and beloved music, and establish herself, as The Chicago Tribune noted, as a “first-rate Mozartean.” With her latest double-disc release, Complete Piano Sonatas Volume 2 & 3 on the Canary Classics label, listeners find the gifted musician in fine form, picking up from where she left off with volume one and setting the stage for the remaining recordings to be released next year. Exhibiting a deft touch and the sort of keen eye for specific nuance and detail that these piano sonatas require, fans of top-shelf-piano performance and solo classical repertoire will find much to enjoy here. Particular mention should be made to the beautiful sound, acoustic purity and recorded 24-bit capture of Shaham’s Steinway at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. Andrew Scott Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective Chandos CHAN 20256 (chandos.net/ products/catalogue/CHAN%2020256) ! The sting of Richard Wagner’s bitter anti-Semitic missive had a numbing effect on the true appreciation for Felix Mendelssohn’s music. It was probably worse so for Fanny Mendelssohn who had to also deal with the patriarchy of European society, not dissimilar to the lack of recognition for Clara Schumann among other women of the period. The repertoire performed by the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective proffers a snapshot of filial Mendelssohn genius. Think then of this recording of chamber works as the most recent delectable musical presentation of Mendelssohnian hors’d’ouevres; the suggestion also being that (hopefully) there is much more to come. Kaleidoscope give a touchingly emotional account of Fanny’s String Quartet in A-flat Major H-U 55 whose harmonic richness and subdued melancholy reveal both a debt and contrast to her brother’s exquisite way with form and structure. Her later Trio in D-Minor Op. 11 H-U 465 displays a remarkably wide range of touch and timbre especially magical in the whispered delicacy of its Lied movement. Felix Mendelssohn’s Sextet in D Major, Op. post. 110 MWV Q 16 came a whole year before his revolutionary String Octet in E-flat Major. Like its worthy successor, what clinches the greatness of this sextet is the buoyant jubilation and tight fugal construction, which gives it a power equalled by few other finales in chamber music. This is beautifully fresh and energetic music-making from a quite extraordinary ensemble. Notebook – Chopin & Janáček Domenico Codispoti Eudora Records EUD-SACD-2203 (eudorarecords.com) Raul da Gama ! As a teenager, when I was doing my best to convince myself that I liked to smoke clove cigarettes, wear vintage secondhand clothing and watch the “artsiest” of art films at the Revue, Fox or Carlton Cinemas, I remember liking Philip Kaufman’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being with Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche. Upon initial viewing, I subsequently rushed out to get my hands on Czech beer and a well-thumbed copy of the original Milan Kundera novel, released a few years before the film. And while much was memorable about that movie, I remember being particularly struck by how effectively the film used music (almost exclusively Leoš Janáček’s On an Overgrown Path). Accordingly, it is nice to rediscover Janáček’s haunting cycle of piano pieces, paired here with the 24 Preludes of Frederic Chopin, for a satisfying new release on Eudora records. Although their lives almost overlapped briefly – Chopin died in 1849 while Janáček was born in 1854 – they did not. That said, the extraordinary compositions and musical talents of the more famous Polish composer and those of the Czech composer and theorist are united here in the capable hands of Italian pianist Dominico Codispoti. If, as the liner notes to this terrific new recording suggest, Codispoti views himself as a kind of earthly vessel through which the music and composer intentions flow while guided by Chopin’s ghosts and demons, as well as, one supposes, Janáček’s spirit leading him down a silent street in Moravia, 2022 auditors are encouraged to listen in on these two master composers presented in this most excellent translated form. Andrew Scott Franz Liszt – Rhapsodies, Etudes and Transcriptions Sophia Agranovich Centaur Records CRC 3955 (centaurrecords.com) ! Now here is a disc I would listen to over and over again, never wanting it to end. An awardwinning very talented Ukrainian- American pianist, Sophia Agranovich plays Liszt as it should be played, totally imbued in Romantic spirit and with “interpretation daring to be different” and “superior musicianship” (American Record Guide). Funny, I remember British critics around the 50s who poo-pooed Liszt, held him second rate and overtly emotional. They should eat their words when they hear this performance. This is her tenth release and entirely devoted to Liszt showing the many sides of the composer’s genius and all devilishly difficult pieces. Imagine a Budapest cafe with an ever present gypsy (Roma) band and the lead violinist coming to your table and playing 52 | November 1 - December 13, 2022 thewholenote.com
his heart out for your wife or girlfriend. This is what we hear when Agranovich plays the slow middle section of Hungarian Rhapsody No.6. The style is unmistakeably Hungarian with the rubatos, hesitations, sudden eruptive accelerandos and syncopations and we even hear the tremolo of the cimbalom in the background. It’s interesting that then she chooses the slow, quiet, melodic No.13, seldom performed but in her hands probably the most beautiful of all the Hungarian Rhapsodies This is followed by three Schubert Transcriptions, (Ständchen, Erlkönig and Die Forelle); when I was listening to the famous Ständchen (Serenade) I was so transported that I felt like exclaiming “wow, this is soo beautiful!” Agranovich’s astounding technique is further evident in the dramatic and exciting Mazeppa of the Transcendental Etudes based on the story of a Ukrainian nobleman punished by being dragged by a wild horse across the steppes. We hear the lightning flashes of the whip and the syncopated galloping rhythm in this immensely difficult piece, which provides a fitting end to this unique, opulent and rewarding new issue. Janos Gardonyi Maurice Ravel – Concertos pour piano; Mélodies Cédric Tiberghien, Stéphane Degout, Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth Harmonia Mundi HMM902612 (store. harmoniamundi.com/release/305358) ! This interesting new recording of Ravel’s piano music has already earned Gramophone magazine’s Recording of the Month. It includes Ravel’s two piano concertos as well as that composer’s rarely heard songs showing his all-encompassing genius. Not only a composer for orchestra, opera, ballets and the piano, he was also a brilliant orchestrator, pianist and even a songwriter par excellence. The journey begins with the “marvellous” Piano Concerto in G Major (so described by Francis Poulenc, who actually played the orchestral part when the concerto was first performed on two pianos at a private salon), one of the first truly modern 20th-century concertos. Sparkling and buoyant with jazzy elements, it is superbly performed by pianist Cédric Tiberghien who is already having a brilliant career here and in Europe. The conductor is the very busy Francois-Xavier Roth, by now a very important musical figure in charge of two orchestras and guest conductor of several others. Noteworthy is the fact that the piano is an authentic Pleyel from 1892! In the dark-hued Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, it’s amazing how much bravura and complexity a single hand can accomplish. Its single movement begins in a mysterious atmosphere, moving from darkness into light (à la Liszt), with one incisive and versatile theme that develops with a strong rhythmic drive, literally exploding triumphantly at the end. The two concertos serve as bookends for three song cycles, including one which I find as a curiosity, Deux mélodies hébraīques. The Kaddisch with its emotionally charged Hebrew text, but music entirely by Ravel, is a prayer of mourning usually heard in the synagogue; the other, in Yiddish, L’énigme éternelle, posits the question of existence (!), an enigma for which there is no answer, that finds beautiful expression in baritone Stéphane Degout’s moving interpretation. Janos Gardonyi Mahler – Symphony No.4 Sabine Devieilhe; Les Siecles; Francois- Xavier Roth Harmonia Mundi HMM905357 (store. harmoniamundi.com) ! The French conductor François- Xavier Roth is in great demand these days, and for good reason. Recently appointed music director of the peerless Gürzenich- Orchester in Cologne and principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, among his notable accomplishments was his founding of the Les Siècles orchestra in 2003, featuring instruments appropriate to the period of composition of a given era. Their 2013 rendition of the original version of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring garnered immense praise. They now turn their attention for the second time to the music of Mahler. The excellent program notes include an interview with Roth, an overview of the work, and a scrupulous listing of the exact models of the wind instruments employed. The piercing sound of the wind instruments and the beefy sound of the period Viennese horns are particularly impressive, much more assertive and biting than our homogenized contemporary models. The string section employs gut strings and plays without vibrato, bringing an unaccustomed serenity to the slow third movement. Combined with Roth’s Apollonian interpretation, the complex counterpoint of the work benefits greatly. The mixing of the album is superb and Sabine Devieilhe’s interpretation of the vocal finale is admirable. My only reservation about this performance concerns an occasional lack of nuance, noticeably so in the uncanny second movement scherzo, which struck me as more of a generic waltz as opposed to the idiomatic micro-adjustments of the authentic Ländler What we're listening to this month: thewholenote.com/listening VEER Quartet Sarah Bernstein The tracks on VEER Quartet flow easily between composed and improvised material, with each player bringing a different palette to their improvisations. A Series of Indecipherable Glyphs NakedEye Ensemble On their new release, A Series of Undecipherable Glyphs, Lancaster, Pennsylvania based NakedEye Ensemble focuses on mixed ensemble works influenced by rock music. All Roads Anthony Cheung Cheung draws on broad sources of inspiration and filters them through an incisive and discriminating compositional process to produce substantial, structurally airtight works. The Astrud Project Anne Walsh The music of "The Girl From Ipanema" (Astrud Gilberto) reimagined. From simple to orchestrally complex. thewholenote.com November 1 - December 13, 2022 | 53
