Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Liebeslieder Walzer Op.52 [22:54]
Stephen HOUGH (b.1951)
Other Love Songs [21:22]
Johannes BRAHMS
Neue Liebeslieder Op.65 [18:39]
The Prince Consort (Tim Mead (counter-tenor), Jacques Imbrailo (baritone),
Jennifer Johnston (mezzo), Andrew Staples (tenor), Anna Leese (soprano), Alisdair
Hogarth (piano))
Philip Fowke (piano: Brahms), Stephen Hough (piano: Hough)
rec. Potton Hall, Suffolk, 25-29 October 2010. DDD/DSS. stereo/surround
LINN CKD 382 [62:55]
This album has already garnered some impressive plaudits in the press, and
I'm happy to endorse most of what I have read about it. Brahms' two part-song
sets Opp.52 and 65 are masterly examples of the form, making full use of all
the colours and textures that the small vocal ensemble offers. But most of
all, they are really fun - light and cheerful, but without ever sounding frivolous
or trivial.
The music certainly sounds fun when presented by the Prince Consort.
Everything here is buoyant and propulsive, and the singers all share an understanding
of Brahms' phrasing that helps the textures to cohere without masking the
individuality of each of the performers. In fact, the relationship between
individual and collective here is interesting. All of the performers, I'm
sure, have busy musical careers away from this ensemble, and I have heard
two of them take major operatic roles in the last twelve months, both putting
in show-stopping performances: that's Jacques Imbrailo at Glyndebourne and
Anna Leese at Holland Park. In the Brahms, the vocal ensemble really sounds
like a group of soloists, each with his or her own vocal characteristics.
To be truthful, that makes the solo passages and duet sections more successful
than the full ensemble songs, and there are a few occasions when the tutti
sound could be a little more rounded and unified. Better that than the other
way round. The sheer musical interest that each of these accomplished singers
brings to the mix makes up for the occasional roughness round the edges.
The choice of Stephen Hough as composer for the companion piece to the Brahms
sets is a curious but ultimately successful one. Hough says that in the interest
of variety he made a decision to avoid waltzes. In fact, he has taken the
issue of variety a few steps further than that, and written a diverse collection
of part-songs, which bear little relation to the Brahms, bar perhaps their
genre and scale. "Other love songs", good as it is, is a bit of a mixed bag.
The best of them are the comedy numbers, "Madam and her Madam" and "The Colour
of Hair". Elsewhere, he does the plaintive, Britten-type thing in "Simon,
Son of John" and the declamatory, Ned Rorem-type thing in "All Shall be Well".
It is all good, clean fun, and only occasionally stretches the limits of the
material's potential. Writing music to go up against Brahms is a tall order,
and comparisons between the two composers are unlikely to put Hough's contribution
in a favourable light. It is to his credit then, that even when framed by
Brahms' two great masterpieces of the genre, such comparisons don't suggest
themselves, and the listeners find themselves appreciating Hough's little
songs on their own considerable merits.
The piano playing on this disc is excellent. The group's accompanist, is joined
by the composer for the Hough songs and by the equally eminent Philip Fowke
for the Brahms. The ensemble between the pianists is absolutely spot-on, and
the sensitivity of their accompaniments belies the number of hands and the
keyboard. The sound quality is good, I'd say very good by CD standards and
about average for SACD. All round, this is an attractive, fun and well executed
album, not to mention an adventurous programme. What sort of works we can
expect to hear on their next album is anybody's guess.
Gavin Dixon
An attractive, fun and well executed album, not to mention an adventurous
programme.