Sokolov plays Beethoven, Scriabin, and Arapov

Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 7 in D major (Op. 10 no. 3)

Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 27 in E minor (Op. 90)

Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 32 in C minor (Op. 111)

Alexander Scriabin Piano Sonata no. 3 in F sharp minor (Op. 23)

Boris Arapov Piano Sonata no. 2 (1978)

Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Percussions with Chamber Orchestra (1973)

To say that the legendary Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov is somewhat under-recorded is to put it mildly. If you have the 10-CD collection put out in 2011 by Naïve Records in 2011 and the single DVD of the 2002 recital in Paris issued by Medici Arts in 2002, then you’ve got more than the lion’s share. This contrasts, for example, with the 318 recordings by Sviatoslav Richter available for purchase in Archiv Musik – or the 148 by Emil Gilels, who chaired the jury when Sokolov won the Tchaikovsky prize in 1966 at the age of 16.

So this double CD from Melodyiya is very welcome indeed. Sokolov is often compared (justly) to Gilels and Richter as a giant of the keyboard and there is nothing on these two discs that would make anyone rethink. The recording of Beethoven’s last sonata in particular is monumental.

I imagine that most people will buy this recording for the Beethoven performances. The exciting performance of Op. 10 no.3 shows Sokolov’s trademark combination of great power and delicate lyricism throughout, but particularly in the initial Presto. The slow movement is spell-binding. Flexible tempi work very well in both movements of Op. 90, with real profundity emerging from Sokolov’s searching exploration of the first movement.

Sokolov is almost an ideal match for the Op. 111 sonata, whose two movements display the two dimensions of his playing style. His incredible technical mastery is firmly on display in the tempestuous first movement, but clearly in service to his sure grasp of the movement’s architecture and never drowning out the expressiveness of the music. The theme, variations, and coda of the second movement are almost perfectly suited to Sokolov’s meditative and lyrical approach. He projects a clear sense of progression through the massive movement, not an easy thing to achieve given its structure. In all the performance is one of the greats.

The second disc contains Scriabin’s third piano sonata, fairly standard fare for Soviet/Russian pianists, and, more unusually, two pieces by the Russian composer Boris Arapov who died in 1995. Arapov’s piano sonata no. 2 is a workmanlike piece, but the Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Percussions with Chamber Orchestra is an intriguing piece, almost certainly unique in the line up of soloists!

The weak link in the chain is the presentation. The cover design and font is cheesy in the extreme and the program notes very breathless. But anyone concerned about that can purchase the download. The sound quality varies from fairly good (for the 1974 recording of Op. 10 no. 3) to good for the later recordings (Op. 111 was recorded live in Leningrad in March 1988). This is a must-buy.

Mario Venzago's Bruckner 8

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 8

Konzerthausorchester Berlin

Conducted by Mario Venzago

CPO 777 691-2 (CD)

Mario Venzago’s Bruckner cycle is nearly complete. Of the nine major symphonies all but the Fifth have been recorded for the CPO label. Each disc in the cycle is accompanied by an essay by the conductor in which he lays out his views on performing Bruckner and why he feels it necessary to add yet another cycle in a crowded market-place. The basic premise of Venzago’s approach is that, despite the lack of explicit direction in Bruckner’s own scores, an unjustified tradition of massiveness and solemnity has grown up around the nine symphonies. Against this tradition Venzago proposes a trimmer, more Schubertian tone, together with what he terms a “rubato-rich bar-line-free playing style".

It is hard to know what to make of the idea of a playing style that is rubato-rich but bar-line-free. The whole point of rubato is occasional and expressive divergence from the basic underlying tempo and in most forms of music you need bar lines to establish a tempo. But of course the real issue is not how Venzago articulates his approach, but how it works in practice. Venzago describes himself as impressed by what he sees as the “church opera” aspects of Bruckner’s music. He allows himself dynamic liberties to allow “the sensuous opulence of the music to come out”. The real question is whether those liberties add up to a coherent vision of the score.

The challenge for Venzago is that Bruckner’s music (in all his symphonies, but perhaps none more so than the Eighth) is built up a gradual progression through great blocks of sound. Venzago deliberately turns his back on the steady and disciplined tempi that many conductors use to impose order on Bruckner’s huge soundscape. Does he have anything to put in their place?

I don’t have a clear answer. Vanzago’s rhythmic fluidity works better in some movements than others. Of the four movements, the Scherzo and the Finale work best. The closing minutes of the Finale are very effective, despite some of the exaggerated accelerandos and ritardandi leading up to it. But the logic of the Adagio does not emerge and the build up to the grand climax of the movement lacks the architectural weight it deserves. Many listeners are likely to object to what they see as ghastly distortions of the musical line, particularly in the Adagio, but also in the opening movement.

This recording of the Eighth is probably worth listening to, if only for the perspective it gives to the tradition of massiveness and solemnity. I’d be surprised if Venzago’s Eighth had many converts, but at least it makes us appreciate what we might otherwise have taken for granted!  

Karajan and Abbado recordings of Bruckner 9

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 9

Vienna Philharmonic

Herbert von Karajan

May 27 1962

Archipel Desert Island Collection  (ARPCD 0546)

(This disc also includes Bruckner’s Te Deum, from the same concert)

Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Claudio Abbado

August 21-26 2013

Deutsche Grammophon 4793441

Separated by just over 50 years, this pair of live recordings of Bruckner’s last symphony present a number of interesting contrasts. Herbert von Karajan’s performance from May 27 1962 is the first of his 12 recordings of the symphony. Claudio Abbado’s performance, recorded over a span of 5 days in August 2013, was his final ever recording before his sad death in January of this year. So we have two great Brucknerians, one at the very end of his career and the other at the beginning (at least of his recorded legacy). 

  

It would be hard to imagine two more different approaches. The timings tell the tale. Both conductors use the 1951 Nowak edition. Karajan comes in at a very brisk 53’45”. Abbado is much more expansive at 62’30”. Scanning John Berky’s Bruckner discography turns up very few recordings quicker than von Karajan (one of them being a justly celebrated Barbirolli live performance from 1966 with the Hallé Orchestra). Abbado’s timing is more mainstream.

Von Karajan attacks the first movement with great urgency and maintains momentum throughout. It is a very exciting performance, but not one that fully observes the Feierlich misterioso guidance – there is not much solemnity in the movement and the mystery really only comes in the coda. The second movement is much more in line with Bruckner’s concept, bringing out the menacing rhythms of the scherzo and trio. The third movement adagio is where it really all comes together. Karajan allows the lyrical dimensions of the movement to emerge in ways that he didn’t in the first movement. Here it really is Feierlich, building up to a very powerful climax and dissolving in the coda. 

A key to Abbado’s very contrasting interpretation comes in a remark from his assistant Gustavo Gimeno quoted in the booklet: “He conducted with broad, slow movements, with a long musical line, trying to create a form in which the musical discourse could develop. Slow, but flowing”. The great strength of Abbado’s conducting is his success in combining rhythmic urgency with expansiveness and an extraordinary clarity. There is a price to pay, though. The edge is taken off some of the more climactic and dissonant sections – certainly in the first movement and to a lesser extent in the scherzo. The Adagio is magnificent, however. The dissonant climax does not disappoint and the performance lives up to Simpson’s description of the movement – “though not his most perfect, it is his most profound”.

The sound quality is excellent on the Abbado and more than acceptable on the von Karajan recording (which, unfortunately, has no liner notes or recording details). For Bruckner enthusiasts the choice is easy. You need both!

Zemlinksy's First and Second Quartets (Escher Quartet)

Zemlinsky, Alexander

String Quartets Vol. 2

String Quartet No. 1 in A major (Op. 4)

String Quartet No. 2 (Op. 15)

The Escher Quartet

Naxos CD (8.573088)

This is the second CD in the Escher String Quartet’s rendition of Alexander Zemlinsky’s four string quartets. Confusingly, Volume 2 contains the first two quartets, while Volume 1 contains the third and fourth. In any event, this disc is a very worthy successor to the well-regarded first CD in the mini-cycle. The Escher Quartet is clearly very comfortable in all of Zemlinsky’s multiple voices and advocates powerfully for the chamber music of this unjustly neglected master of the string quartet.

Alexander Zemlinsky was truly a transitional figure, living from 1871 to 1942. He was born the year after Wagner moved to Bayreuth and died in the middle of the Second World War, the year that his brother-in-law Arnold Schoenberg wrote his piano concerto.  His string quartets are spread out throughout his composing career. The first was written in 1896. The others followed in 1913, 1924 and 1936. Each is stylistically different. The first clearly shows the influence of Brahms. The language of the second is closer to the Schoenberg of Verklärte Nacht. In the third quartet Zemlinsky is much more formal and restrained, while the fourth is a lament for Alban Berg and inhabits a similar musical universe.

But Zemlinsky did not simply soak up the musical landscape surrounding him. Within each of these musical personae he developed a distinctive voice, as is very clear in the two quartets recorded here. The four movement structure of the first quartet is fairly traditional and the voice of Brahms is clearly present, but the Allegretto is very much Zemlinsky’s own with a portfolio of Austro-Hungarian tunes, including a furiant dance from Bohemia that Brahms could never have written. The slow movement is very expressive and intense. The quartet as a whole is pushing at the limits of tonality, but clearly has a home key.

Seventeen years later, the second quartet is very different. It is certainly not atonal but Zemlinsky does not give it a key signature. The structure is unusual – a single extended movement made up of 5 distinct episodes. This is Zemlinsky’s weightiest quartet (and also by some way the longest, at a shade under 43 minutes).  It is deeply melancholy and expressive, with a particularly memorable Adagio (episode 2) complemented by the final episode (Langsam). This is a quartet of the first rank and badly deserves to be better known.

Naxos is to be congratulated for putting out this disc and for championing the music of Alexander Zemlinsky, whose quartets will hopefully reach a wider audience. Recommended.  

Charles Munch conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra 1958-1962 (Boxed DVD set)

Boston Symphony Orchestra: 1958 - 1962

Charles Munch, conductor

ICA Classics ICAB 5130 (5 DVDs)

The Boston Symphony Orchestra was a television pioneer. More than 150 live concerts were broadcast by the Boston TV station WGBH between 1955 and 1979. ICA has taken on the task of making many of these performances available on DVD. This box collects a series of performances with Charles Munch at the podium, all recorded at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater. The sound quality is variable and not all of the performances are equally satisfying, but the best performances here are truly memorable and the collection as a whole is an important historical document.

Charles Munch, who was himself French, is probably best known today for his recordings of the French orchestral tradition, with a particular affinity for Debussy, Ravel, Berlioz, and Saint-Saens. But on this disc we have something completely different, with a range of composers who do not typically come to mind when one thinks of Munch. The collection features a Haydn symphony (No. 98), two Mozart symphonies (No. 36, the Linz, and No. 38, the Prague), two Beethoven symphonies (Nos. 4 and 5), Schubert’s No. 5, and Schumann’s No. 2, in addition (stunningly) to Bruckner 7 and Mendelssohn 4 and 5 (the Scottish and the Italian).

Brisk conducting is a common thread through all of these performances. Bruckner’s Seventh is dispatched in a little over 50 minutes, for example. For comparison, relatively few performances come in at over 60 minutes. At its best this can be exhilarating. Munch’s tempi are very successful in Schumann’s Second, where Munch and the BSO deliver a blistering performance of the first movement and a rousing finale. The Allegro vivace first movement in Beethoven’s Fourth is vivace indeed and the searching and well-paced finale in that symphony is an excellent bridge to the scherzo and finale, which are taken at a racing pace. The two Mendelssohn symphonies lend themselves to Munch’s pace.

But at times Munch’s addiction to speed is his undoing. The Bruckner 7 performance is really rather disappointing (although the orchestra and audience seemed pleased enough). It would have been interesting to hear how a conductor as rhythmically precise and sensitive to details of orchestral color as Munch is could perhaps shed new light on the symphony. But there’s little time in the sprint to stop and smell the roses.

To my ear the finest performances here include Haydn No. 98 , which Munch takes in a more Romantic vein than we would now be used to – an approach that pays dividends in the luscious string sound in the Adagio. Munch is ideally suited to the playful finale. The two Beethoven symphonies are also very successful, particularly the Fifth where Munch’s driving momentum is strengthened not undermined by flexible tempi. The performance of Schumann’s Second is very memorable.

Anyone interested in the history of conducting should think seriously about this set. It documents a powerful and exciting performer in a relatively unfamiliar repertoire (as far as Munch recordings are concerned). There are highs and lows, but from a purely musical point of view some of the performances are stand-outs. I would certainly encourage buying the set, but all of the DVDs are available separately and if funds are limited then I would recommend DVD 1 (the two Beethoven symphonies ), followed by DVD 4 (Schubert 5 and Schumann 2).

Coming up on the Digital Concert Hall (Berlin Phillharmonic 2014-2015 season)

With just over 3 weeks to the opening of the 2014-2015 Berlin Philharmonic season, here are some of the upcoming concerts on the Digital Concert Hall likely to interest readers of this blog. Simon Rattle will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of Sibelius's birth with a complete cycle of the 7 symphonies in 2015 (on the nights of February 5, 6, and 7). He will also be conducting a parallel Brahms-Schumann cycle in four evenings. The two first symphonies will be performed on September 18, with the next concerts on September 19, 25, and 26. This is an interesting idea. I look forward to a parallel Bruckner-Mahler cycle!

In the meantime Mahler enthusiasts will be able to enjoy Rattle conducting the 2nd Symphony on January 31, 2015 and several high profile guest conductors: Kirill Petrenko performing the 6th on December 6; Andriss Nelsons with the 5th on 25 April 2015; and Gustavo Dudamel conducting the 1st on 12 June, 2015. .

2014-2015 is a light season for Bruckner, but the mighty 8th on January 10 with Herbert Blomstedt will get 2015 off to a great start. 

There are some bleeding chunks of Wagner coming up – extracts from Götterdämmerung on October 25, conducting by Daniele Gatti, and Rattle conducting the Tristan prelude to close out the year on December 20.

Finally, Rattle conducts Beethoven's 9th on November 9 (in an unusual pairing with Szymanowski's Stabat Mater). 

It should an excellent year. At 149 euros for an annual subscription, this is one of the best values in classical music, particularly since all concerts can be downloaded for subsequent viewing on almost every device currently known to humankind. The audiovisual quality in the Digital Concert Hall is excellent. Get your subscription before the folks in Berlin work out how much this is really worth!

Sinopoli's 1998 Parsifal on Blu-Ray

Richard Wagner, Parsifal

Falk Struckmann – Amfortas

Matthias Hölle – Titurel

Hans Sotin – Gurnemanz

Poul Elming – Parsifal

Ekkehard Wlaschina – Klingsor

Linda Watson – Kundry

Choir and Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival

Giuseppe Sinopoli – conductor

Unitel Classica/C major (Blu-Ray: 715804)

Also available as DVD (705908)

This Blu-Ray disc from C major is both a fascinating historical document and a first-rate performance of Parsifal. From a historical perspective it gives a unique insight into Wolfgang Wagner’s final Parsifal production and is one of the few testaments we have of Giuseppe’s Sinopoli as a Wagner conductor (the only other complete Wagner performances that I can find are a Flying Dutchman from 1998 and two Tannhauser, one from Bayreuth). From a musical point of view, there is powerful conducting and some very good individual singing, in addition of course to the habitually high standards of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus. Overall this is a strong performance, and definitely one of the best available on Blu-Ray.

Giuseppe Sinopoli succeeded James Levine as Bayreuth’s Parsifal conductor. Levine’s reign lasted from 1982 to 1993 (with Daniel Barenboim taking over for a year in 1987). Sinopoli conducted Parsifal for six years from 1994 through 1999. The staging by Wolfgang Wagner seen here made its first appearance under Levine in 1989. The performance seen here comes from 1998 and was released for the first time on DVD in May 2011. This review is of the Blu-Ray, released in 2014.

Sinopoli’s conducting is expansive. The Prelude comes in at 13’47”, which is slow but not super-slow. But the drama as a whole takes 4 hours 39 minutes, several minutes slower than Levine’s famously slow 1990 recording – and just a couple of minutes quicker by Toscanini’s 1931 Bayreuth performance. The Prelude to Act III show’s Sinopoli’s approach to good effect. It is measured, but not slow for the sake of slow. The tempi set the forward movement for Act III. Sinopoli’s conducting is commanding where it counts (particularly in the two great choral scenes in the outer acts) and he brings out many details of the score that remain buried in other performances. Each of the two transformation scenes is very effective. The Good Friday Music, in particular, flows naturally from the pacing of the act, rather than emerging as a set piece.

Wolfgang Wagner’s production is appealingly simple, clearly looking back to the Neue Bayreuth productions of the 1950s and 1960s. In Act I the forest is suggested by backdrop structures of stacked green polygons, which eventually part to make way for a vaguely Egyptian-looking Temple with a floor abstractly patterned in octagons. The patterned floor is a constant through the other two acts, and the abstract structures return for Act III. Variation comes with the lighting, which is used to very good effect (as in Wieland’s productions). In Act III the glowing grail casting a luminous red light on the costumes of the knights is particularly memorable.

There is one truly outstanding performance here – Falk Struckman’s Amfortas. Struckman captures Amfortas’s declining authority in Act I without making him seem decrepit and he certainly steals the show in Act III. Not only is he in very fine voice, he is the only member of the cast who could really be described as acting. The others typically stand and sing. In some cases they sing well. Hans Sotin is a magisterial Gurnemanz, with “Titurel der fromme held” approaching Hans Hotter’s level (helped by Sinopoli’s luminous conducting). Poul Elming portrays the boisterous and confused Act I Parsifal well. But although he sings powerfully in Acts II and IIII (particularly after baptizing Kundry) Parsifal doesn’t seem to have acquired much depth or wisdom. This is partly a problem of acting, but also reflects shortcomings in characterization. The same can be said of Linda Watson, here making her first Bayreuth appearance. She has a fine voice and sings well, but does not really get to grips with the complexities of the role. During the Parsifal-Kundry encounter in Act II the real drama takes place in the orchestra pit. Ekkehard Wlaschiha is a forceful Klingsor (despite wearing what looks rather like a Stanford PhD gown!) and Matthias Hölle’s off-stage Titurel is effective.

This performance is more than good, although not quite great. The Blu-Ray picture is very impressive (despite the disclaimer on the box), as is the sound quality. This disc should be in every Parsifal enthusiast’s collection.