MusicWeb Reviewer’s Log: May 2005
Reviewer: Patrick C Waller
Whenever Naxos issue
a record by the Maggini String Quartet,
they will certainly recoup a fiver from
me unless I get lucky and Len sends
me a review copy. This ensemble is becoming
quite prolific in the studio in the
cause of English chamber music. The
standard of playing is invariably high
and recent offerings have been as compelling
as ever. Frank Bridge’s
Second and Fourth Quartets complete
that series in fine style (link 1 and
2) whilst the "Naxos" Quartets
of Peter Maxwell Davies
have reached Nos. 3 and 4 (link 3).
As with the first two, these make for
interesting listening and they are a
highly contrasted pair. This series
won’t be completed for a while; he is,
I understand, still writing them and
ten are planned.
After reading Evan
Dickerson’s review, it was impossible
for a Scarlatti sonata
addict to resist buying Yevgeny Sudbin’s
recent disc (link 4). Even though the
warm approach here is very different,
I enjoyed this just as much as the marvellous
Andreas Staier set (played on the harpsichord)
that I reviewed earlier this year (see
link 5). The Gramophone rated
Sudbin’s Scarlatti alongside Pletnev
and Horowitz – discs that I treasure
despite the metallic sound of the latter,
and I wouldn’t argue with such comparison.
I have been continuing
to explore the music of Rutland
Boughton, in particular
a wonderful bargain on the Hyperion
Helios label featuring two string quartets
from the 1920s (with Welsh and Greek
programmatic overtones) and his first
oboe quartet (see link 6 for a full
review). Sarah Francis is the excellent
soloist and the Rasumovsky quartet make
a strong case for these neglected works.
Very gradually, I have
also been getting to know Britten’s
operas. Peter Grimes and Billy
Budd have been favourites for some
years - I find it hard to choose between
the composer’s and Colin Davis’s versions
of the former. Daniel Harding’s recording
of the Turn of the Screw was
a quite recent acquisition. The Decca
recordings of the composer’s readings
have since been issued in big bargain
boxes. I was tempted but duplication
was involved and, with some more modern
recordings competing, decided against.
The one opera Britten didn’t record
was his last - Death in Venice
– he was too ill and Steuart Bedford
conducted for Decca; Pears, of course,
took the leading role. Bedford made
a suite of music from the opera which
is well-worth hearing (there is a recording
on Chandos which has been recently reissued
– link 7) and I recall hearing his excellent
complete version of the opera some years
ago. Richard Hickox has just made a
new version with Philip Langridge as
Aschenbach (Chandos CHAN10280) and,
having decided to invest in that, I
have been highly impressed. One might
wonder whether opera on CD is dying
out (in favour of DVD) but hopefully
not. There are times when it is preferable
just to listen in the best possible
sound. One feature of this set novel
to me was the use of a slimline box
for an opera – a space-saving but still
superbly presented package. I have only
listened to it once so far but I doubt
that anyone buying this set will be
disappointed.
Talking of watching
opera on the "small" screen,
in my last log I mentioned the BBC’s
screening of just Act I of Wagner’s
Die Walküre over Easter
– the remainder being scuppered by Bryn
Terfel being indisposed. As promised,
they have just made amends by screening
the whole opera with Terfel’s Wotan,
and superb it was too. His assumption
of this role is awesome, both visually
and vocally, but there are other stars
too – Lisa Gasteen’s Brünnhilde
and Rosalinde Plowright’s Fricka – and
the cast hardly has a weak link. The
orchestral playing and Pappano’s vivid
conducting are impressive too. The sets
and production are uncontroversial.
Siegfried is on the way and a television
screening promised next year. Somehow
I haven’t yet got around to watching
the companion recording I made at Easter
of Das Rheingold yet – must do
so soon.
Last month I spent
a few days relaxing in Cornwall. For
reading material I took Malcolm Arnold:
Rogue Genius by Anthony Meredith
and Paul Harris (recently published
by Thames/Elkin), which seemed appropriate
given the time Arnold spent in Cornwall.
This is an authoritative and beautifully
illustrated take on a fascinating subject,
perhaps the best biography I have ever
read. Subtitled "The life and music
of Britain’s most misunderstood composer"
there is good content on both the musical
and medical front, with many insights
into the musical consequences of Arnold’s
mental illness. Overall I was struck
by the objectivity of this book. Given
the difficulties between Arnold’s family
and carers in latter life it would have
been easy to take sides but Meredith
and Harris seem to be scrupulously fair.
I enjoyed a recent television documentary
on Arnold’s life but this book makes
a much deeper impression and will be
essential reading for anyone interested
in the composer.
Unfortunately, I omitted
to take any of Arnold’s
music with me, slotting a couple of
discs of the music of Cornishman George
Lloyd into the bag - the Fourth
Symphony (conducted by the composer
TROY 498) and Fourth Piano Concerto
(played by Kathryn Stott AR004). Both
these discs are on the Albany label
and they are among the highlights of
their recordings of all the composer’s
symphonies and concertos. Unfortunately
the first three piano concertos don’t
seem to be available at the moment and
the company haven’t yet collected the
symphonies together in a box.
I also took along a
set of Elizabeth Maconchy’s
String Quartets (Forum FRC 9301). There
are 13 in total, written over a span
of more than 50 years (between 1933
and 1984), all relatively concentrated
but powerfully expressed. For light
relief there was Benjamin Frith playing
John Field’s Nocturnes
(two Naxos discs 8.550761 and 8.550762)
and some very pleasant guitar music
by Llobet (see links 8
and 9 for reviews) that had been gathering
dust on the shelves since I reviewed
the disc last September.
Finally, Arthur Butterworth’s
article on élitism and classical
music (link 10) is worth pondering.
Responding to comments made by Sir Peter
Maxwell Davies suggesting the danger
of extinction, he argues that we should
treasure classical music’s elitism.
I don’t have a problem with that but
it had better not die out!
Patrick C Waller
Links
1. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Apr05/Bridge_Q2and4_8.557283
2. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Mar05/Bridge_Quartets_8557283.htm
3. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Apr05/Naxos_Quartets_8557397.htm
4. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Mar05/Scarlatti_Sudbin_BISCD1508.htm
5. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Mar05/Scarlatti_Staier_82876673752.htm
6. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Apr05/boughton_quartets_HeliosCDH55174.htm
7. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Jan05/Britten_cello.htm
8. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Aug04/llobet.htm
9. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Sept04/llobet.htm
10.http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/May05/elitist_Butterworth.htm
