MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Liaisons Vol. 3
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH (1714-1788)
Sonata in D minor, Wq 69 (H53) [18:06]
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976)
5 Waltzes, Op. 3 (1925, rev, 1969) [10:10]
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH

Fantasia in D major, Wq 117/14 (1762) Allegro [1:45]
La Böhmer (Murky), Wq 117/26 (1754) Prestissimo [2:58]
Benjamin BRITTEN
Holiday Diary, Op. 5 (1934) [17:22]
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH
Sonata in E flat major, Wq 65/42 (H189) (1765) [11:27]
Benjamin BRITTEN
Night-Piece (1963) Lento tranquillo [6:05]
Dejan Lazic (piano)
rec. September 2008, Muziekgebouw Frits Philips, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
CHANNEL CLASSICS CCS SA 28511 [69:02]

Experience Classicsonline



New releases from this Dutch-based label are always worth waiting for. Most recently one of harpist Lavinia Meijer’s discs made my list of picks for 2010 – review – and since then I’ve been won over by Channel’s reissue of the Dvorák Slavonic Dances, from Iván Fischer and his Budapest Festival band (review). The driving force behind these recordings is Jared Sacks, who seems to have a knack for combining the right repertoire with the right performers. The highly regarded Fischer project is evidence of that and, I suspect, this Liasions series with Croatian pianist Dejan Lazic will do equally well.
 
That said, a large part of Channel’s reputation rests on the substantial crossbeam of superior sonics, their Super Audio discs among the most sought after in the catalogue. The three Meijer recordings certainly belong in that category, a fine complement to good programming and first-rate artistry. Lazic is new to me, but I’m aware the earlier discs in this series – pairing Scarlatti/Bartók and Brahms/Schumann – have had good notices. And in line with the overarching theme, Lazic now seeks to ‘connect’ the music of C.P.E. Bach and Benjamin Britten; an intriguing prospect.
 
The Bach D minor sonata trips off the keyboard with disarming ease, combining poise and precision. Indeed, articulation is the hallmark of this collection, and there’s no doubting Lazic’s technical prowess; every phrase is beautifully fashioned, each voice granted a hearing. The Andante is especially elegant, the trills tastefully done, but for all its charm there are moments when Lazic’ is self-conscious, dynamic contrasts too deliberate and, in the Allegretto, a giddying surge and retreat that’s not to my tastes. Just listen to Danny Driver in this repertoire (Hyperion CDA67786) and one hears the same clarity, but without the expressive excess.
 
The D major Fantasia is similarly afflicted, Lazic cultivating a bold, rather Romantic sound that’s undoubtedly arresting, if not entirely apt. Sonically, this SACD is well up to the standards of the house; the RBCD layer is very revealing too, especially in the mercurial La Böhmer. Listening to the latter it seems almost churlish to criticise, for this is a pianist of formidable talent, but then his E flat major sonata brings out those attention-seeking qualities once more. A pity, as in the mIdst of all these distractions there’s playing of rare concentration and finesse, notably in the sustained loveliness of the Adagio assai.
 
The Britten works, from the early Waltzes to the later Night-Piece, are much more successful, the restive, roaming energy of the latter in marked contrast to the contained form and brilliance of the E flat major sonata that precedes it. Initially I was a bit puzzled at the alternation of composers here, but it soon becomes clear that the juxtaposition is deliberate. Indeed, Britten’s precocious little waltzes (revised in 1969) sit very comfortably alongside the Bach D minor sonata, the second waltz – ‘Quick, with wit’ – a miracle of touch and temperament. Add to that the delicious, harp-like swirls of ‘Dramatic’ and this really is pianism of a high order, beautifully caught by Sacks and his team.
 
Speaking of precocity, the bright angularity of Britten’s Holiday Diary is incredibly assured for an Op. 5. Lazic brings splendid breadth and attack to the shiversome notes of ‘Early Morning Bathe’, the piano’s lower, resonating registers caught with fidelity and strength. ‘Sailing’ is a lovely little Andante, exquisitely formed and executed, ‘Fun-Fair’ a heady mix of sea-side sights and sounds. Lazic has a commanding style here that’s most impressive, giving the impression that he’s much more at ease in this multi-layered music than he is in the Bach; just sample his rendition of Britten’s nocturnal coda, rendered so tactile in the manner of Hopkins’ ‘fell of night’.
 
The Bach/Britten pairing is a useful one, and it does throw up some interesting similarities and contrasts, but the real pleasure resides in Lazic’s magical readings of the Britten pieces. Indeed, as so often with this composer, one is left quietly astounded by his originality and range. So, despite misgivings about the Bach and the booklet’s overweening promotion of Mr Lazic – complete with tricksy, light-filled visuals and typographical cleverness – I’m sorely tempted to seek out his other discs.
 
An intriguing get-together, made worthwhile by some fine Britten.
 
Dan Morgan
http://twitter.com/mahlerei

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.