To all classical music fans: It's time to explore the new and unknown.

Another approach I've taken is pick up CDs at performances of the BT Scottish Ensemble chamber group, who aren't big on playing things everyone knows backwards. Check out their Tavener release on Linn, which is gorgeous, and being rather recent certainly isn't in the "standard" repertoire.

Pete.

Second, and more impressive yet: Ligeti's Etudes and Musica Ricercata on Sony. I can't remember the French pianists name, but this disc is great. The playing is beyond reproach. The sound is wonderful. The music, well, let's say that the term "masterpieces" can probably be applied here. I recommend this disc to fans of contemporary, complex, avant garde piano music without reservation. And I recommend it enthusiastically to everyone else. I will be unable to post any more Ligeti's titles in this or similar posts. Bottom line is that Ligeti is clearly one of the greatest living composers and deserves far wider recognition.

Gerhard is really excellent, especially the Concerto for Orchestra. I remember tring to buy this in Leeds once, about ten years ago, after hearing it on R3. Blank looks all round.

Chandos put it out about six months ago. Even better than I remember.

Another current fave is Finnish composer Rautavaara (sure I've spelt that wrong...). His 'Angel of Dusk' is a mesmeric concerto for double bass and orchestra.

Tim J

Next are Ginastera’s three string quartets played by the Cuarteto Latinoamericano on Elan. The first and second quartets are quite compelling, the third decidedly less so. The playing on this disc is masterful, the recording a bit bright. Overall, I rather enjoy Ginastera’s somewhat Bartokian approach, so a definite thumbs up from me. For cheapskates out there, I believe that Arte Nova has a disc of the first two quartets.

Last but certainly not least are Paul Creston’s symphonies 1 – 3 on Naxos American Classics. Yet another good disc. Creston will not supplant Beethoven or Mahler as a symphonist, but he ain’t half bad. The second symphony is definitely the best of the lot. It is an excellent work, and I can only hope that a major conductor and orchestra take it up. The first symphony is good, and the third is okay. I think the disc is worth six bucks just for the second.

Thomas Tallis, William Cornyshe or William Byrd have all been able to prove that the peak of vocal art had been reached during that period - simply because there WAS actually nothing else there there than the human voice and a couple of ill-sounding instruments.

Other works by Campra, by Pierre de la Rue or, somewhat later, Zelenka are equally gorgeous - the vocal arrangements are just stunning and, on top of that, represent a hard test for any hi-fi component.

Bernard.

The 1st is also excellent, at least, and for me that is an odd thing to say since it includes a solo part for (in this recording) a mezzo-soprano. I usually do not like such works, with a few exceptions, but I do enjoy this.

The concluding work Misarae is kind of a let down after the symphonies, but I've heard worse.

The sound on this disc is also noteworthy. Telarc outdid itself, and Tony Faulkner achieved a new level of CD playback greatness. Detail and clarity are stunning, and if you have big speakers, this disc will reveal the bass output they are capable of. My little VA Bachs shocked me with their output. Some DBLs could cause foundation damage.

Very highly recommended for fans of modern music.

I did a search in the All Music Guide and found the following: Homenaje a Antonio Machado.

Good luck!

Willem

I also snagged the more substantial piano concertos of Alberto Ginastera on Naxos. (I can't remember the performers.) Both works are exceptional. The first is the "lighter" of the two, though you wouldn't know that listening to it. You can only tell after listening to the even better and more challenging second. Both are most definitely in the modernist vein, and are thus best suited to fans of quite complex and dense music - no fun and catchy phrases here. I hesitate to use the adjective "great" to describe these works, though I do very, very highly recommend these works. They may not quite reach the lofty levels for modern piano concertos that Bartok and Prokofiev established, but they come reasonably close.

First up, the dud. I picked up a disc entitled “Brasil” that includes (obviously) Brazilian influenced music by Ernesto Nazareth and Darius Milhaud (“Tis an Olympia Explorer series disc.) A young pianist by the name of Marcelo Bratke does the honors. Yawn. It’s not that the music is terrible or that the playing is sub-par, because that is certainly not the case, the latter, especially. It’s just that the music does not get me excited. I don’t know if I’ll keep or sell it to a resale shop. Maybe one more listen . . .

Moving up the ladder of quality quite a bit, I got the Dohnanyi piano concertos on Hyperion, from that much-vaunted Romantic Piano Concerto series. Much better. I started with the second concerto in the belief that Dohnanyi, like most composers, would have written his better work later in life. Well, that’s not true here. The work is good, but it kind of left me cold. I then moved “backward” to his first concerto, and, well, that’s got what I was looking for. What I heard was Brahms’ Third Piano Concerto. Monstrously proportioned, opulent in the extreme, and written with such skill – and, of course executed that way, too – that I just have to say this is a (near) great work. It certainly exceeded my expectations. Overall, quite a good disc. If you like Brahms (and who doesn’t, really?), get this disc. The first concerto is worth the price of admission.

Next, more string quartets by Villa-Lobos. As I have expressed before, the more I hear of this work, the more impressive it is. This time around it’s the quartets numbered 2, 12, and 16. Undeniably excellent. The 12th is great. The Cuarteto Latinoamericano does a fantabulous job. Now I know I will definitely be completing this series. Two big thumbs up from me.

Who can’t live with a little more Bedrich Smetana in one’s life? Certainly not me. I picked up Andras Schiff’s traversal of some of Smetana’s polkas from a couple years back and must simply write that this is delightful music, filled with charm and wit, not to mention some good old-fashioned, high-grade idiomatic writing. And though Hungarian, who better to play Bohemian polkas? No one, that’s who. Schiff does a characteristically great job. The sound is among the finest of all piano recordings I have heard. You need a musical bon-bon? Here’s one.

Enough of the time filler, it’s time for the masterpieces. First up, Elliot Carter’s 5th string quartet as rendered by the Arditti. Whew-weee. Good? No. GREAT! This is yet more evidence that Carter is possibly the greatest living composer. Hard listening, to be sure, but more rewarding than most contemporary writing. Considering this disc also has the light-hearted (for Carter) Cello Sonata, and a couple other works on it, one wonders why this disc did not go gold. I do not believe I will be able to mention Carter in this thread again.

Nor Boulez. Whatever one may think of his conducting (incredible in Daphnis et Chloe, abominable in Symphonie Fantastique, etc), it would be nearly impossible to claim he is not a great composer. I grabbed his complete piano sonatas as played by Claude Helffer as well as Sur Incises, Messagesquisse, and Anthemes 2 on the latest DG 20/21 disc of his music. More truly great music. The piano sonatas are among the greatest of the genre in from the last century, and that is saying something, what with Scriabin, Bartok, Prokofiev, and Berg having added so much. The second is possibly the greatest of all modern piano sonatas. Truly astonishing, and Helffer reveals himself to be a formidable pianist. All the same, I now feel impelled to hunt down Pollini’s version. Oh, the first and third sonatas are damned good, too, though the third is a little barren.

Let me just write that Sur Incises is great. Best description of it. No more need be written. Listen, absorb, revel in some of the finest chamber music since the death of Shostakovich. The other two works are also outstanding. Just buy this one.

And now the last two discs. You know you love Haydn. If you do not, please have your head examined. But, of course, you may be asking why would Haydn be in this thread? Well, it’s because I picked up Mozzafiato and L’Archibudelli’s rendition of his quite wonderful Eight Notturni for the King of Naples. Eight delightful little gems. All this disc does is show just how great Papa was. The first few of the Notturni are just a delight. The last two are absolute masterpieces of the classical era. They are mini-symphonies and deserve more playing time. Now keep in mind this is late Haydn (about 1790) so all those masterful Haydn traits are there: perfect structure and form, wit, complexity hidden behind simplicity. The oboe peeks out from behind the other instruments as with a number of his London symphonies; the interplay of the dozen or so instruments on the last couple of works is so perfect that one can just listen in rapt – and near rapturous – attention. So great, all I can say is great. (Can you tell I like Haydn?)

And the grand finale: Korngold’s Symphony in F sharp minor. Here is a twentieth century masterpiece to stand alongside the other great orchestral works of that musically rich century. Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. Mahler’s 9th Symphony. Shostakovich’s 8th Symphony. Debussy’s La Mer. Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe. These are the works that Korngold’s symphony deserves to be grouped in with. I got Welser-Most’s version with the Philadelphia and I have already listened to it several times, a real rarity in such a short time with long orchestral works. This work shows just how talented the Viennese Wunderkind was. Truly masterful orchestration, complex structure, a sweeping line. Stunning. Well, that’s it for now folks. Hope I piqued someone’s interest.

These may not be the finest piano concertos around, but they are very satisfying to listen to. I would place them near the top of the second rank works. I may not listen to them often, but I will definitely listen to them many times in the future. A definite recommendation if you enjoy piano concertos. I was pleasantly surprised. The works far exceeded my expectations.

First is a disc of Robert Schumann's three string quartets played by the Eroica Quartet on Harmonia Mundi. I know, I know, Schumann is a "great" composer, but upon my last visit to my local classical specialty shop, there were only two versions available. That qualifies it as a rarity.

Let me just write they are quite enjoyable quartets, and I have no idea why there are not more recordings of them. Do they match up against quartets by Beethoven, Haydn, Shostakovich, or Bartok? Um, well, no. But then, that is a tall order that most composers simply cannot match. Schumann's works are filled with some nice invention and interesting tonal colors, and are quite energetic. The third is the best of the bunch, but all are worth a listen. The Eroica Quartet play more than admirably. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of period-instrument performances, but these work exceptionally well. The sound quality ain't too shabby, neither. Overall, I'd suggest buying this disc, or another recording of the same works.

The other disc is another disc of music by Karl Amadeus Hartmann. I got the ECM recording of the Concerto Funebre (with Isabelle Faust), the Fourth Symphony, and the Chamber Concerto. This disc is in another class. This is magnificent stuff. The Concerto Funebre is very well played technically and is captured in excellent sound, but I found it a little to aggressive at some points, and not quite elegiac enough. I own another version of this work on Vox (I cannot remember the performers) that, though not as well played and recorded, conveys the music better.

The Fourth Symphony is an outstanding work. A work of accessible modernism. I very highly recommend this work.

The best piece on the disc is the Chamber Concerto. Paul Meyer does the clarinet part and the Petersen Quartet do their thing along with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Auf Deutsche: Wunderbar! This is a (near?) masterpiece. The whole work is enthralling and enchanting. The variation section is extremely enjoyable and the sheer beauty of some of the passages is astounding. A very high recommendation, indeed!

Now I am contemplating getting that complete set of Hartmann's symphonies on Wergo.

[This message was edited by Todd Arola on TUESDAY 21 August 2001 at 01:04.]

However, I really think Adams rules as a contemporary composer and I'm more than a bit pissed off that his symphony "Naive and Sentemental Music" that has been recorded is being held up. The same with his oratorio "El Nino" What's up with Nonsuch? it's been two years for N&S. I heard it premiered here in Los Angeles and it really was an amazing event with boos, walkouts and the rest of us cheering as best we could for a long time. Wow! what an experience.

In fact I used Adams' Violin concerto by Gidon Kremer, the middle slow movement , to evaluate my Naim gear before I bought it. Of course, one hearing and I was plunking down my plastic, just like it was free money.

C'est la vie!

I’ll start with the clunker: Mauricio Kagel’s string quartets played by the Arditti Quartet on Montaigne. Now I’m all in favor of experimental, or avant-garde, or modernist music – or whatever label you prefer – but sometimes it fails. This is one of those times. The short of it is that the string quartets sound to me to be just noise. Indeed, the first two quartets were written with that in mind based on what I could make out from the notes. The third quartet isn’t quite so noisy but it is not very good. In fact, I couldn’t sit through the 37 minutes of this boring attempt at chamber music. The best piece of music – by far – is Pan, a five minute divertimento (well, not actually) of string quartet and flute. It’s actually enjoyable. But five minutes do not make for a good CD. The Arditti play admirably, as one would expect, but even their formidable playing cannot save this disc. I’m thinking I need to visit my local resale shop. Avoid this one.

My other two titles are much more impressive. The first clue that they are better comes from the composers involved: Alexander Scriabin and Olivier Messiaen. If you like these composers, you’ll probably know what to expect and may even have the discs in question.

The Scriabin disc in question is Gordon Fergus-Thompson’s traversal of all of the Russian’s mazurkas on ASV. Tremendous stuff. One can definitely hear the influence of Chopin in these little gems, particularly in the earlier works, but that is only to be expected. I mean, really, have any composers who wrote mazurkas after Chopin been able to escape his influence? Would they want to? At least Scriabin has some interesting things to say. The second set of mazurkas improves on the first and begins to sound a little more like the mature Scriabin, that is, mysterious, complex, and refined, and the last two are late Scriabin, so you get all of those qualities in full measure. The degree of virtuosity is, at times, spellbinding, and the music is compelling. This one’s a keeper and I give it two big thumbs up.

The remaining disc is the third volume of Hakon Austbo’s survey of Olivier Messiaen’s piano music on Naxos. Here’s another keeper. Definitely. All of the works are exceptional. The Preludes offer over a half-hour of wondrous keyboard magic. The Four Rhythmic Studies are something to marvel at, and Cantyodjaya is a rather enjoyable if sometimes hard to follow 12-minute marvel. I write “hard to follow” as praise. This music makes you think. Oh, sure, there is some of that proto-minimalist droning in these works that one can associate with Messiaen, but that is a good thing. It nearly results in one being truly mesmerized. This would easily be worth full price. At the Naxos price, you simply must buy it.

Let me just write that the music on this disc can be summarized in one word: Stravinsky. The overwhelming influence of the Russian is everywhere apparent. Now the Ballet Mecanique itself was definitely worth the wait. It’s a short 15-minute work that proves strings aren’t always needed and it emphasizes rhythmic elements over other elements. I rather wish that the more “radical” version as first performed in Paris were also included rather than just this tamer revision. And from what I can gather the true first version may not have even been recorded. (The work was for player pianos and synchronized percussion.) Overall, this work makes the disc and is worth hearing. An enthusiastic recommendation.

I’m not so impressed with the accompanying works. The Symphony for Five Instruments is a yawner, the Serenade for Strings a mildly entertaining short work, though I must admit that the last work on the disc – the Concert for Chamber Orchestra – is quite good. It cannot match up to the Ballet, but it is certainly a notch above the other two works. It certainly shows the enormous influence of Stravinsky. Fortunately the sound quality for all of the works is very good.

Of the two, the Schuman is truly outstanding. This is one of the Great American Symphonies. The writing is assured and demanding, challenging and gratifying. The fugue and chorale portions contain some truly inspired writing and the end of the work is breathtaking. This is a masterpiece, there is no doubt.

I'm not so hot on the Harris work, though it, too, has its charms. Some passages reach nearly the same heights of the Schuman.

The sound is quite impressive. It's "live" and from the mid-80's, yet it sounds much better than a number of discs recorded as much as ten years later. A little bit of spotlighting occurs, but nothing too outrageous.

If you are a BMG member, and if you don't have this disc, buy it now!

I finally got around to buying a 10 year old disc of music by Elliot Carter, Gunther Schuller, Milton Babbitt, and John Cage with James Levine leading the Chicago Symphony. This disc is really a tale of two halves, at least in number of works. The first two works are definitely the strongest, the Carter qualifying as a post-war masterpiece. Enough said about that. The Schuller is also excellent. I might even rate that work a masterpiece. The other two works are decidedly less compelling. The Babbitt is actually a boring mix of orchestra and tape. I guess electronic music just need a little more time to develop so that Boulez could give us something like Repons. The Cage is really quite a bore, as well. I’m all for experimental music and even for randomness in music but this just didn’t do it for me. I’ll take his prepared piano sonatas any day. The plating and sound are excellent. I am somewhat surprised to hear such strong advocacy from Levine in such material. Overall, the disc is worth it for the first two works.

Next up are some more romantic concertos from that big ol’ Hyperion series. This time around I opted for Marc-Andre Hamelin playing Korngold’s Concerto for the left hand and Joseph Marx’s Romantisches Klavierkonzert. Again, a tale of two halves. The first half – Marx’s work – is basically a snoozer. Yes, there is some fine piano writing played perfectly by Hamelin and yes, there are some lovely orchestral passages, but it is too long and too mundane. The Korngold piece, on the other hand, is inspiring. I won’t proclaim it a masterpiece, but it deserves a wider audience. The piano part, if for just one hand, fully matches Ravel’s in complexity and inventiveness. The orchestration is rather dark and propulsive compared to other Korngold fare and though not as expert as in his grand symphony, it presents a nice, challenging listen if one wants to make it so. Not a masterpiece, but at the top of the second rank.

How about some Penderecki? That’s what I asked myself before picking up Anne-Sophie Mutter’s rendition of his Second Violin Concerto dedicated to her. The first statement is that the solo playing is masterful. That was expected. And that’s the strong suit of the performance. The work as a whole is very good and is extremely accessible for a modern piece, so for those seeking an entry into more modern fare, here’s a good one. Some of the passages pique one’s interest while others just meander too long over some ideas. It is far better than the Marx in this regard though. Like the Korngold, this is a top-rank second-tier work. I recommend the disc for this work. The accompanying work? None other than Bartok’s Second Violin Sonata with Lambert Orkis as Mutter’s accompanist. The playing is beyond reproach technically, but the playing is so aggressive that at times I nearly cringed. Not the best version, but one to hear.

And now for the last place finisher. I finally bought a Paul Hindemith disc. First one ever. I have heard the stray piece here or there on the radio and was not especially impressed, and from just about everything I have read I have divined that he is somewhat, well, boring. Alas, I can report that here. The disc in question displays Herbert Blomstedt leading the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in version of the Symphonia Serena and Die Harmonie Der Welt. The playing and sound are both superb but the music just makes me yawn. The Symphonia is the worst offender. I often looked up at the track number and then the timing and was stunned out how little time had passed. Die Harmonie Der Welt is better and has some more dramatic moments, but even it goes on too long. The criticism written, I can report that the music does have some clearly excellent structural aspects to it and displays fine part writing. If only it weren’t so boring. I’ll keep this disc and take it up later. Maybe I am being too hard on old Paul. Perhaps I should buy some more of his music to see if there is something more there.

So is Reger sufficiently unknown to fit in this category? In that case I'd like to propose two chamber works of his: the Piano Trio op 103 from 1908. Dark, moody stuff with a great 1st and 2nd mvt. The later mvts get a little turgid, perhaps. (jecklin 604-2). A truly great piece is his 2nd Piano Quartet op 133 from 1914 - a worthy successor of the Mozart, Schumann and Brahms works in the genre. And the way it's recorded on MDG by the Mannheim String Quartet seems designed to make Naim gear sing, esp in the hymnlike Largo.

I mentioned pianist Peter Serkin before (yep, son of Rudolf S). He's recorded a couple of cd's with stuff by contemporary composers he's friends with, and the Takemitsu pieces are fascinating music. Like, what would it sound like if Debussy woke up from the Long Sleep to write some more Preludes? There's two 'Rain Tree Sketches on the cd titled 'The Ocean that has no West and no East (Koch Int), and on the cd titled 'In Real Time' (RCA Victor Red Seal) there's a piece called 'Les Yeux Clos'.

I'm not too hot about Takemitsu's orchestral works, not yet, but these piano pieces are mesmerizing music.

Bye now

Herm

I can very much recommend "Der Schwanendreher", a concerto for viola and small orchestra, based on old German folk songs. Hindemith wrote this for himself (he was a virtuoso viola player), and it is a wonderfully original and colorful piece, with a wide emotional range. Not boring in the least! Beside the Bartok viola concerto, this is
the standard piece of the viola repertoire.

The essential Hindemith piece for orchestra is the symphony "Matis der Maler" (based on paintings by Matias Grunewald). Especially the mystical second movement is wonderful. And the symphony is not that long, either!

Then there is the F-major "Fantasie" sonata for viola and piano, and the sonata op.11 for viola alone... The Kim Kashkashian set of the Hindemith sonatas is really good.

That's it for now, time to do some work...

Rainer Staringer wrote:

Beside the Bartok viola concerto this is the standard piece of the viola repertoire.

-----------------------

So what about Walton's viola concerto? I'm sure you're familiar with it, if you're a violist yourself. (Are you in chamber ensembles or in an orchestra, if may ask?)

Beside the obvious Nigel Kennedy recording (viola cto + violin cto) I have a recording by Yuri Bashmet, perhaps the single most exciting violist right now (but that's your call).

It's no surprise the Walton is not quite idiomatic; Bashmet is a moody, flamboyant player. However the other work on this (RCA) disk is the Bruch Concerto for Violin and Viola (op 88) and that piece is a real success. Anyone familiar with this Cto?

Bye now

Herm