Classical Editor: Rob Barnett   Founder Len Mullenger: Len@musicweb-international.com

PART 1	[Part 1 New]  [Part 2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L] [Part 4 M-R]  [Part 5 S-Y] [Part 6 Misc]
	Reviews for July 2001 Full list of reviewers and contributors here June Reviews May reviews April reviews March reviews February reviews January reviews	When you have finished reading our reviews David Hurwitz would welcome you at his review site
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NEW and RECENT ARTICLES

Arthur Butterworth Writes: The Amateur Orchestra
HOW I CAME TO KNOW THE MUSIC OF EDMUND RUBBRA by Gary Higginson
SOME THOUGHTS ON YORK BOWEN byJohn Lindsay

EMI ENCORE A new budget label is coming

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands: Nos 110-127 now completed

On-Line help sites: How do I do this, Where do I find this. Some free, some not

Did you know you could help sponsor a new recording for as little as £10 - a symphony for £25? Read on  such as this one  now reviewed here: GRAHAM WHETTAM  Sinfonia Intrepida   BBCSO/Sir Charles Mackerras.   Redcliffe Recordings RR016 (44' 11'') [PC]

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The reviews for July have been completed and are listed alphabetically. The reviews for August may be seen here

BOOK REVIEWS

MASSENET - A Chronicle of his Life and Times by Demar Irvine  Amadeus Press; 398 pages; paperback. First published in 1994.  ISBN 1-57467-024-7 $22.95

This important book languished in an unpublished special typewritten edition in American libraries from 1974 until the author of the Foreword, Reinhard G. Pauly, discovered it while investigating the existence of an English version of Massenet's memoirs, Mes Souvenirs.

Penguin Guide to Compact Discs
Yearbook 2000/1
By Ivan March, Edward Greenfield and Robert Layton
Penguin Books, London. Pp 706. PB, £14.99

Wagner and Philosophy By Bryan Magee.
Allan Lane £20.00 pp 398.

WIGMORE HALL : 1901-2001 - A CELEBRATION Ed. Julia MacRae Wigmore Hall Trust £15.00 ISBN 0-9539581-0-8 224pp. [CF]

This paperback history, lavishly illustrated with photographs and posters old and new, is a real bargain at fifteen pounds.

SCORE REVIEWS

EBORACUM CHORAL SERIES from BANKS MUSIC, YORK: Some recent publications

EDWARD ELGAR (1857-1934) An Anthology of Works from Boosey & Hawkes (The Masterworks Library) Sea Pictures (1899), Pomp & Circumstance Marches 1 - 5 (1901-1930), Cockaigne (In London Town) (1901) 265 pages of score ISMN M060110238 £19.99 229 mm x 305 mm [JC]

Nicholas MAW (b. 1935) Dance Scenes, Violin Concerto, Sonata for Solo Violin Faber Music [GK]  

RECORDINGS OF THE MONTH

Benjamin FRANKEL (1906-1973) Symphony No. 7 (1970) Symphony No. 8 (1971) Overture to a Ceremony (1971) A Shakespeare Overture (1956) Queensland SO/Werner Andreas Albert rec ABC Studio 420, Australia, April 1999 CPO 999 243-2 [70.27] [RB]

Together with the CPO disc containing number 4 this is the CD with which to start your Frankel symphony collection.

Andreas Hallén (1846-1925) Ett Juloratorium - A Christmas Oratorio (1904) Lena Hoel, soprano; Mathias Zachariassen, tenor Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Swedish Radio Choir B.Tommy Andersson, conductor. Rec live 19 December 1996, Berwald Hall, Stockholm STERLING CDS-1028-2 [Swedish Romantics] [58.20] [JF]

This is excellent choral music. Influenced, but not overwhelmed by the Wagnerian musical ethic, this piece deserves to be discovered. If it had been written by Richard Wagner and not by Andreas Hallén it would have a secure place in the musical canon.

HÄNDEL Dixit Dominus Anne Sofie von Otter, alto; Hillevi Martinpelto, soprano; Stockholm Bach Choir; Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble conducted by Anders Öhrwall.  Gloria (first recording; 05-03-2001)    Emma Kirkby, soprano; Royal Academy of Music Baroque Orchestra/Laurence Cummings  BIS CD 1235 [49 mins]  [PGW]

Emma Kirkby is in fine form and revels in the virtuosic demands of the youthful Gloria, the recent authentication of which caused a media furore.

Gustav MAHLER Das Lied Von Der Erde Peter Schreier (Tenor), Birgit Finnila (Alto) Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester/Kurt Sanderling Berlin Classics 0094022BC [62.01] [TD]

This is one of the finest recordings of this inexhaustible work. No Mahlerite should be without it.

Nikos SKALKOTTAS (1904-49) Thirty-Two pieces for piano (1940) Four etudes (1941) Suite no 1 (1936) Nikolaos Samaltanos (piano) rec 1998-2000 at Eglise Saint-Marcel, Paris BIS CD 1133/34  2CD [119.22] [PGW]

A landmark release and essential purchase, a recording which is 60 years overdue. The Thirty-Two Pieces (1940) are of limitless variety and represent one of the great piano cycles of the century.

VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959) Chôros XII for orchestra (1929) Chôros VII for flute, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, bassoon, violin, cello and gong (1924) Bachiana brasileira I for eight cellos (1930) Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège cond. Pierre Bartholomée (Chôros XII) cond. Georges-Élie Octors (Chôros VII) Cello Octet Conjunto Ibérico (Bachiana brasileira I) rec: (Chôros XII): Conservatoire Royale de Liège 9-10 Sept 1980; (Chôros VII): 22 Dec 1986; (Bachiana Brasileira I): l'Abbaye de la Byloke, Ghent, 5 Sept 1999 DDD CYPRÈS CYP 1623 [63.24] [RB]

This is music by which to warm your heart and your hands. Treasurable stuff.

John VEALE Violin Concerto Benjamin BRITTEN Violin Concerto. Lydia Mordkovitch/BBC Symphony Orchestra/Richard Hickox rec 1999? (DDD)CHANDOS CHAN 9910 [69.57] [DW]

Apart from the Britten, beautifully played and executed though it is, this is the 'disc of the year' It sets a standard of sound quality and performance that will hardly be beaten.

Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) Phantasy Quintet, String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Maggini Quartet, with Garfield Jackson (viola) Rec 13th-15th June 2000, Potton Hall, Suffolk  NAXOS 8.555300 [66.29] [TB] [HC]

At the bargain Naxos price, this disc represents quite extraordinary value, and adds something special to our awareness of RVW's achievement.

The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 5
CD1:-Medtner: Piano Concerto No.3, Op. 60 (1943) Balakirev: Piano Concerto in E-flat Major (1909-11) Liapunov: Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes for Piano & Orchestra, Op.45 (1908) CD2:- Sinding: Piano Concerto in D-flat Major (1889) with Ronald Keller (piano) Goetz: Piano Concerto in B-flat Major, Op. 18 (1867) Michael Ponti (piano) is soloist for all but the Sinding concerto; Westphalian Symphony  Orchestra/Landau,  Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg/Cao, Berlin Symphony Orchestra/Faerber Rec. 1973/78 VOXBOX CDX5068 [CD1 78.20; CD2 55.48] [RW]

Michael Ponti and Roland Keller play with skill and energy, and handle both the powerful and tranquil passages sympathetically. The analogue recordings of the '70s are clear and are pleasantly balanced though with dryish acoustics.

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[Part 1 New]  [Part 2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R]  [Part 5 S-Y] [Part 6 Misc]   

Classical Editor: Rob Barnett,  Reviewers: Rob Barnett, Ian Lace, Len Mullenger, and:  Richard Adams, Colin Anderson, Arthur Baker, Grace Barber, Terry Barfoot,  Peter Bates, Marc Bridle, Arthur Butterworth, Frank Cadenhead, Colin Clarke, Paul Conway, Jim Cooke, Gary Dalkin, Andy Daly, Tony Duggan, Harry Downey,  Christopher Fifield, Lewis Foreman, Simon Foster, John France, Julian Hellaby, Christopher Howell, Simon Jenner, Stephen Lloyd,   Kirk McElhearn, Gwyn Parry-Jones, John Phillips, John Quinn, Ailís Ní Ríain, Humphrey Smith, Philip Scowcroft, Adrian Smith, Colin Scott-Sutherland, Andrew Seivewright, Paul Serotsky, Christopher Thomas, Richard Walker, Richard Whitehouse, Jonathan Woolf, Peter Grahame Woolf, David Wright. A complete list of contributors can be seen here

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