MusicWeb Reviewer’s Log: June/July
2005
Reviewer: Patrick C Waller
This log covers two
months because I have been doing some
travelling. Many thanks to John Quinn
for posting a log last month (link
1).
My first trip was to
Jutland in Denmark and was mostly work
for me unfortunately. Meanwhile my wife
was shown around the countryside and
taken to Ribe Cathedral where the composer
Rued Langgaard was appointed
organist in 1940. She returned with
a splendid CD of Danish organ music
recorded in Ribe by Birgitte Ebert.
This is on the Danish label Paula (PACD150)
and features four short works by Langgaard
within a programme which starts with
Buxtehude and traverses
Hartmann and Gade
before concluding with Peter Møller’s
Forvandling which dates from
1973. An excellent disc which would
be worth tracking down – the company
don’t seem to have a website but their
details can be found at a site covering
independent Scandinavian labels (link
2). Alternatively, you could
get one step ahead of me and take a
trip to Ribe – the photos show that
the view from the top of the cathedral
was impressive.
Before leaving the
subject of Denmark I feel I should give
Langgaard a further plug. He often has
a rough time from critics and seems
to have been a maverick both musically
and personally. Nevertheless, on the
evidence of the CD cited above, and
a splendid Chandos disc of his 4th,
5th and 6th symphonies
(CHAN9064)
with Neeme Järvi at the helm, I
feel his music is worth investigating.
Whilst in Denmark I heard that his church
opera Antichrist has recently
been revived and recorded for DVD issue.
Back home and it was
hard to miss Beethoven
week on the BBC. What a pity I was quite
busy with other things – it must be
almost impossible to overdose on Beethoven.
Radio 3 was turned over to him lock,
stock and barrel for a week and it was
nice not to have to play guess the composer
when woken up by it in the morning.
Mostly I heard unfamiliar works and
soon realized how much Beethoven I didn’t
know. Despite having multiple recordings
of the major works and sets of all the
key genres, my Beethoven collection
started to feel a bit inadequate. The
pièce de résistance
was the television docu-drama of Beethoven’s
life shown on three consecutive Friday’s.
This was compelling stuff – bravo to
Charles Hazlewood who presented it and
particularly to Paul Rhys whose portrayal
of the composer was compelling.
Belatedly, I managed
to get to watch the Covent Garden Wagner’s
Das Rheingold which had been
languishing on the DVD recorder since
Easter Sunday. Now, if I had known that
they were reviving the idea of [initially]
naked Rhinemaidens ... I had heard the
production on the radio before, and
already watched Die Walküre
from this source and therefore knew
roughly what else to expect (including
Bryn Terfel’s imposing Wotan). Antonio
Pappano’s conducting continues to impress
and Siegfried is on the schedule
for the new season. Meanwhile Die
Walküre will be visiting the
Proms very shortly with Placido Domingo
taking over as Siegmund. I understand
that he and Pappano have just recorded
Tristan und Isolde – these are
good times for Wagnerites.
I have managed to fit
in reviewing a few discs and was particularly
impressed with Angela Brownridge’s complete
set of Kenneth Leighton’s
piano music for Delphian; Rob Barnett
was also enthusiastic (link
3). Discs of all Weber’s
Chamber Music on Hyperion (link
4) and Oboe Quartets and
Quintets by Krommer on
Regis (link
5) were other highlights.
Purchased singly, Naxos
discs come at a virtually giveaway price
and it is often possible to get a discount
for multiple purchases. Choice should,
naturally, be guided by reviews and
most Naxos discs have at least one review
on MusicWeb. Five for the price of four
seems to be the norm and a recent batch
was full of interest. First up, Ashley
Wass continuing his series of Bax
Piano Sonatas with Nos 3 and
4 (link
6). Then George Dyson’s
Symphony, a work I was unaware of until
I read Rob Barnett’s review (link
7). Nor had I even heard
of the Afro-American composer William
Grant Still until John France
wrote that his symphony is "one
of the finest pieces of crossover ever
written" (link
8). Certainly this disc
is unmissable. So too are the Piano
Concertos Nos 1-3 by the Brazilian Camargo
Guarnieri (link
9). Finally, Clara
Schumann’s Piano Concerto contains
a melting slow movement and is well
worth an airing (link
10).
The major trip was
a two week holiday in Ireland – far
from the madding crowd in Donegal. For
me there is no such thing as a holiday
from music but it was slightly disappointing
to miss out on traditional Irish music
in the pubs (Donegal seems to have less
of it around than, say, Dingle - the
one billed event we went to never happened).
Instead I took with me some Hamilton
Harty – a fine disc including
his Irish Symphony (link
11) and Amy Beach’s
Gaelic Symphony (links
12 & 13). The latter
disc also contains her Piano Concerto
which I particularly enjoyed revisiting.
Two sets went along
with me, Boult’s later Vaughan
Williams recordings (an EMI
bargain box – 573 294-2 – and a longstanding
favourite) and Stanislav Skrowaczewski’s
Bruckner Symphonies which
had been sitting in the reviewing pile
for a while (see
link 14). Whilst southern
mainland Britain baked in temperatures
of 30 degrees, we lit turf fires (not
kidding about this), dodged the showers,
visited empty beaches and golf courses
and listened to the major works of these
two contrasting composers. Perhaps not
"foie gras to the sound
of trumpets" (I have forgotten
who said that about Bruckner’s Third
Symphony see footnote)
but the nearest thing to paradise we
have in this part of the world.
Back to reality now
and I count myself very lucky to have
been in London on the 4th
rather than the 7th July.
Perhaps music provides some hope for
the world – Daniel Barenboim’s remarkable
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has just
released its first recording (Warner
Classics 2564 62190-5
to be reviewed).
Patrick C Waller
Links
1.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/June05/Reviewers_log_Quinn.htm
2.
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~chief/dklabels.html
3.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/June05/Leighton_piano_DCD34301-3.htm
4.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/June05/Weber_CDA67464.htm
5.
http://www.musicweb-
international.com/classrev/2005/May05/Krommer_RRC1201.htm
6.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/bax/sonatas3and4.htm
7.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/May05/Dyson_8557720.htm
8.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Apr05/Still_8559174.htm
9.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/May05/Guarnieri_8557666.htm
10.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Apr05/Clara_Schumann_concerto_8557552.htm
11.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Feb01/harty.htm
12.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Jun03/amybeachnaxos.htm
13.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/July03/BEACH_Naxos.htm
14.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/July05/Bruckner_Symphonies_OC207.htm
footnote
The
original was: “My idea of heaven
is eating pates de foie gras to the
sound of trumpets.”
Sydney Smith, English writer (1771-1845)
