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★★★★✩✩ In his later years as music director of the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa seemed to have lost interest and his relationship with the musicians seriously deteriorated. When Ozawa finally left, some major rebuilding was required and James Levine was hired to do it. Since his appointment in 2004 the quality of playing has improved enormously and by general agreement the BSO is now in great shape. This recording is the first BSO/Levine collaboration and it also inaugurates the BSO’s own label. The choice of repertoire is curious since the BSO has already recorded the complete Daphnis with Munch, Ozawa and Haitink. Perhaps it has become a rite of passage for BSO conductors. In any case the new recording, based on live performances from October, 2007 is superb. This score is a virtual master class in orchestration and Levine and his players are attentive to every detail. More than that, it is poetic too. But those of us who learned the music through Munch’s legendary 1955 RCA recording still cherish that album for its excitement and virtuosity. The trumpet double- and triple-tonguing that so thrilled us in the Dance of the Pirates in the Munch recording is simply part of the overall tapestry in the new version. PER Robert Schumann: Symphonies Nos 1-4 Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserlauten/Stanislaw Skrowaczewski Oehms Classics OC 741 (2 CD – 137 min 41 s) ★★★★★✩ $$$ On the basis of the scores, Robert Schumann’s symphonies should, in theory, not work. Gustav Mahler famously revised the orchestration to help the composer out. And yet in the hands of master conductors and accomplished orchestras, these works succeed sensationally in practice. Complete cycles recorded by Herbert von Karajan (DG), Wolfgang Sawallisch (EMI) and Daniel Barenboim (Warner) are prized by collectors. But at a stroke the highoctane octogenarian, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, leaps to the top of the stack. Oehms has boxed up his excellent Saarbrücken accounts. And these are of comparable quality to his outstanding Beethoven and Bruckner cycles for the same label. Conductors are supposed to mellow and become expansive in performance as they age. Toscanini is perhaps the best example of this notion. Skrowaczewaki contradicts it and conducts Schumann with admirable vigour and grip. Listen to his deft handling of tempo and dynamics in No 1 Spring and the cathedral-like grandeur of the Third Rhenish. In the absence from the DG catalogue of Giuseppe Sinopoli’s peerless Dresden cycle, Skrowaczewski will do nicely. May he continue to conduct and record for decades to come. WSH Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 “The Year 1905” Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko Naxos 8.572082 (57 min 37 s) ★★★★★✩ $ The young Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko has embarked on a Shostakovich symphony cycle with a stunning performance of the monumental Symphony No. 11 from 1957. Emotionally, this work concentrates on feelings of foreboding, despair and outrage almost to the breaking point. It starts with the massacre of peaceful protesters by Czarist soldiers in January 1905 but Shostakovich surely meant to eulogize similar events that have occurred over and over again throughout history. Petrenko perfectly captures the disquieting stillness of the opening Palace Square movement. His violas play their revolutionary lament “You Fell as Victims” with the utmost expressiveness in the third movement and Petrenko steadily ratchets up the tension to a climax of shattering intensity. The last movement is weaker. It seems to go on too long with thematic material that is not very memorable. Nonetheless, Petrenko plays it with complete conviction through to the very last chord. He is obviously an exceptional talent and under his direction the RLPO sounds like a virtuoso ensemble. Producer and engineer Tim Handley has too done his work well. This is a disc of demonstration quality. PER Telemann: Twelve Fantasies for Solo Violin Augustin Hadelich, violin Naxos 8.570563 (64 min 52 s) Those who regard Telemann’s concertos and cantatas as so many sausages might hear uncustomary depth in his multi-movement Fantasies of 1735. Or the illusion of depth: The booklet annotator insists they are easy student works designed to sound difficult, and indeed their brevity (only one is longer than seven minutes) suggests practical rather than probing motives on the part of the composer. But the music undoubtedly conveys an aura of thought and grace, even in purely melodic numbers, such as the opening of the Fantasy No. 7, to say nothing of the earnest dialogue of the Largo of this work or the quadruplestopped Grave of No. 4, which separates two particularly brilliant Allegros. Thumbs are up also for the echo-effect Largo of the eminently performance-worthy Fantasy No. 10. It is almost mandatory to compare Telemann unfavorably with Bach, but this music does not sound trivial and suggests itself as good an option for evenings when something less than celestial is desired. Augustin Hadelich, a young competition-winner born in Italy to German parents, obliges us with what might be the first wide-distribution modern-violin recording since Arthur Grumiaux’s. Technique and style are comparably assured. Only in a few spots (such as the Siciliana of No. 6) does the playing seem earthbound rather than lofty. AK ‘Venezia 1625’: Sonate, Symphonie, Ciaccone, Canzone & Toccate Maurice Steger, recorder & dir. Harmonia Mundi HMC 902024 (67 min 30 s) ★★★★★✩ $$$ Le sous-titre du programme, «Sonate concertate in stile moderno», renvoie à l’apport vénitien du XVII e siècle à la musique occidentale, à savoir une écriture capable d’exprimer les émotions humaines «vraies». La date, 1625, paraît arbitraire, la plupart des pièces retenues ici, principalement de Fontana, Merula et Uccellini, ayant été publiées bien après cette date. Sans pouvoir être tenus pour des chefsd’œuvre, ces morceaux ne manquent pas d’invention. Leur réalisation, due à Maurice Steger, accorde le beau rôle à la flûte à bec dont il est un virtuose acclamé. Les limites de l’instrument donnent toutefois à croire, par moments, qu’il eût pu être remplacé avantageusement par le violon. La qualité de l’interprétation d’ensemble et la prise de son sont quand même louables. AL DVD Amor, vida de mi vida: Zarzuelas with Placido Domingo and Ana Maria Martínez Plácido Domingo, tenor; Ana Maria Martínez, soprano; Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg/Jesus Lopez Cobos Medici Arts 2072478 (101 min) ★★★★✩ $$$$ This live performance from the 2007 Salzburg Festival was to have starred Plácido Domingo and his protégé, Mexican tenor sensation Rolando Villazón. But Villazón was at the start of his widely publicized vocal crisis, so Martínez was called upon days before the event. If audiences were disappointed by his absence, they were amply compensated by the replacement, the Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martínez. Both Martínez and Villazón were prizewinners in Domingo’s 1999 Operalia. Martínez has a beautiful lyric soprano backed by a solid technique and a charming stage presence – her Fiordiligi and Donna Elvira I saw some years ago were truly lovely. Both singers were completely at home in the program of popular zarzuelas – many of the pieces are warhorses to anyone familiar with this genre. Domingo at 66 may look grey, but the voice, with its burnished tone, is still in remarkable shape. He oozed Latin charm and his gallant stage manner was on full display with Martínez. I only wished the soprano weren’t so ladylike and 24 Juin 2009 June
eserved, allowing herself to feel the rhythm – her aria from Maria la O cries out for a bit of swaying of the hips! They sang four encores, with the last, “Lippen schweigen” from Die lustige Wiitwe the only non-Latin piece, a concession to the largely Austrian audience. The two drew huge ovations when they danced to the Lehár tune, never mind that Domingo looked more like a man dancing with his daughter at her wedding then two lovers waltzing the night away – a truly delightful end to an evening of music making. JKS Leoš Janáček : La Petite Renarde rusée Elena Tsallagova (la Renarde), Jukka Rasilainen (le Garde-forestier), Michèle Larange (sa femme/une chouette), Hanna Esther Minutillo (le Renard); Choeur et Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris/Dennis Russell Davies Metteur en scène : André Engel Réalisateur DVD : Don Kert Medici Arts 3078388 ★★★★★★ $$$$ De plus en plus présents sur les scènes lyriques, les opéras de Leoš Janáček sont en voie de s’imposer comme des incontournables du répertoire du XX e siècle. À juste raison, car ces œuvres profondément originales renouvellent le genre, explorent des chemins dramatiques surprenants et offrent à l’auditeur une musique irrésistible et riche en émotion. Créée en 1924, La Petite Renarde rusée est décrite par son compositeur comme un «opéra-comique qui se termine mal». Il s’agit en fait d’une magnifique fable sur la vie, l’amour et la mort, où les humains et les animaux se côtoient et cherchent le bonheur. Le metteur en scène André Engel propose à l’Opéra de Paris une relecture fantaisiste et vivante. L’idée que la vie humaine n’est pas si différente de la vie animale lui inspire une certaine dose d’anthropomorphisme (particulièrement dans les costumes, inventifs et amusants, mi-animaux, mi-humains) qui sied bien à la conception panthéiste du compositeur. De la distribution vocale, en tout point parfaite, on retiendra Elena Tsallagova, qui offre une interprétation pétillante et agile de la Renarde. La direction de Dennis Russell Davies est claire et aérée, entièrement au service de l’expressivité vocale et des magnifiques et chatoyantes couleurs orchestrales. Un pur plaisir! EC Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3/Strauss: Burleske for Piano/Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite Rudolf Buchbinder, piano; Wiener Philharmoniker/Christoph von Dohnányi Medici Arts 2072208 (82 min) ★★★★✩✩ $$$$ This is another film from the vaults of Unitel, a Munich-based company that pioneered highquality films of classical music concerts and put most of its resources into performances featuring Karajan and Bernstein. But other conductors and soloists were represented too. This film was made in 1977 when Dohnányi was fortyeight. At the time he was best-known as an opera conductor and had just taken over the Hamburg State Opera. It would be six years before he succeeded Lorin Maazel as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. Dohnányi, a somewhat pedantic and inflexible conductor, can be, at his best, a strong leader and authoritative in music of great complexity. He is old-school, one might say, a Kapellmeister in the best sense of the word, in the tradition of other German conductors such as Böhm and Sawallisch. The Bartók is vivid and exciting and the Strauss with Buchbinder is one of the most interesting performances of this slight work I have ever heard. It captures much of the charm and playfulness of the piece. About this time Dohnányi and the VPO made audio recordings of all the Mendelssohn symphonies for Decca. The Scottish is beautifully played and lively without being hard-driven. PER WA Mozart: Don Giovanni Simon Keenlyside (Don Giovanni), Kyle Ketelsen (Leporello), Eric Halfvarson (Commendatore), Marina Poplavskaya (Donna Anna), Joyce DiDonato (Donna Elvira), Ramón Vargas (Don Ottavio), Miah Persson (Zerlina) Robert Gleadow (Masetto); Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House/Sir Charles Mackerras Stage Director: Frances Zambello Video Director: Ferenc van Damme Opus Arte OA 1009 D (2 DVD – 202 min) ★★★★★✩ $$$$ Don Giovanni is officially designated a Drama giocoso – but not at the ROH, apparently, as the title page of the booklet proclaims it as an Opera buffa in two acts. The distinction may be a slim one but Frances Zambello pursues a pure buffa line of development here and she always knows what she is doing. This artfully original and communicative theatrical director has given us the most entertaining performance of this opera encountered so far on the medium of DVD. The outstanding septet of vocal soloists, a truly stone-faced Commendatore, and no less than Sir Charles Mackerras (by general consent, the leading active interpreter of the orchestral and opera music of Mozart) in the pit, combine to render the perfect production of the perfect opera. It is also very funny in all of the right places. It is clear from his exquisite performance that Simon Keenlyside has inherited the mantle of Sir Thomas Allen in the title role, at least within the British opera fraternity. His Don is an agile, athletic sociopath, a man in a constant state of predatory arousal. In the opening scene, Zambello makes clear that the Commendatore has been disarmed when Giovanni brutally stabs him. Reclining beside the prostrate victim, Don Giovanni cynically caresses the dying man and kisses his cheek – and then exults over another conquest. Minor details perhaps, but all part of a collage of impressions that comprehensively depicts the blackness of a villain’s heart. Donna Elvira’s arrival in town with a musket slung over her shoulder also serves notice that this is a Don Giovanni which merits, and will reward, the closest attention. This production has everything except a ‘parental guidance’ advisory. WSH The Met Player To inveterate opera fans, the recent announcement that the Met is making its incredibly rich archive of performances available on demand over the Internet is welcome news. Imagine—we can now relive performances that we heard over the radio or saw on TV with a few mouse clicks on the computer—it’s like Christmas in springtime! I decided to give the new Met Player a test drive. It should be noted that only a small fraction of the performances is available at this time. The website claims there are more than 200 full operas. I counted a total of 219 performances, of which 64 are telecasts. A random check reveals that many of my favorites are missing, such as the wonderful Stratas-Carreras-Zeffirelli Bohème, the 1983 Centennial Gala, or the 1996 Levine Gala. Let’s hope that the Met will slowly add these and others to the catalogue. A crucial factor of streaming video is connection speed. With my DSL connection, streaming of other sources such as Youtube often suffers from starts and stops—it makes for a very frustrating experience. So it is a minor miracle that the Met Player, with its “new technology,” plays flawlessly. I tested it at different times of night and day, and there is no hesitation—for this I give the Met Player full marks.The web interface is easy to navigate, and it provides all the relevant information. A performance is divided into tracks and they play seamlessly. If I were to nitpick, there are a few little things that need improvement. The search engine can be inaccurate—I typed in “Bartered Bride” under “Advanced Search,” knowing that this opera is not available. Instead of coming up empty, it came up with the 1967 broadcast of Madama Butterfly. Huh? Also, the Met Player does not allow for multi-tasking.When listening to a performance, if I click the button “Browse Catalogue” the streaming comes to an abrupt stop and I am taken to another screen. Why can’t the catalogue information open in a new window? These quibbles aside, the Met Player is an absolute boon for opera fans and is worth every penny of its subscription price. metopera.org JKS Juin 2009 June 25
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Page 6 and 7: Le retour de MARIE-NICOLE LEMIEUX C
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Page 10 and 11: ÉDITORIAL Vivant depuis des année
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Page 38 and 39: MIXING BUSINE$$ WITH (MUSICAL) PLEA
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