A long headnote - but
a short review. This is a SACD sampler
derived from a number of Capriccio’s
recent releases and packaged into Classic
Spectacular form to show this adventurous
company’s wares. I’ve reviewed a few
of them on this site – Rheinberger (coming
up), Chausson and Anderson – but the
remainder have escaped me.
Capriccio has an extensive
back catalogue of material and they
cover the repertoire well enough – though
obviously there are particular areas
of reportorial concentration and particular
artists who are associated with the
label. The Vienna Boys’ Choir crops
up for the first piece – yes, Messiah,
yes, the Hallelujah chorus – which they
sing in fine English and a crisp tone.
The Schwartzkopff is played in nicely
old school fashion by Ludwig Güttler
(trumpet) with the Neus Bachisches Collegium
Musicum Leipzig under Max Pommer. Végh
is here with his Mozart, albeit less
than three minutes of him, and in the
companion work by the composer there
are some bracing horns in the Menuetto
from Symphony No.29 (Concerto Köln/Werner
Erhardt).
There’s the expected
elegance from the ASMIF contribution
and Rheinberger’s entertaining Op.137
Organ Concerto finale (see my forthcoming
review for that disc). The Bulgarian
forces do well and warmly by Minkus
and the witty Anderson is represented
by The Typewriter (novelty wins out
over some of the other finer pieces
on that Anderson album). One of the
very best performances is the Chausson
(Banse et al). Very evocatively done.
There are other snippets, especially
of Shostakovich, a strong Capriccio
hand. As a promotional tool it does
very nicely and in SACD format as well,
which I was unable to sample.
Jonathan Woolf
CAPRICCIO
SACD 71 023 [62.37] SACD 
