Volume 23 Issue 3 - November 2017

are extremely musical, especially in My Love
is a Light Attire where the subtle piano introduction
leads to straightforward singing
about the splendours of love, setting the stage
for an emotional wash of strings and shifting
harmonies. Greenberg seems to be the most
in her element in the jazzier O Cool, which
features an extended piano solo and nice
doubling of voice and clarinet against the bass
line. It is great to hear Greenberg vocalize at
low pitches against low instrumental timbres
in Sleep Now, about insomnia and betrayal.
Though not as dense as Jerrom’s, Greenberg’s
song cycle is moving, smart and lyrical.
Tiina Kiik
CLASSICAL AND BEYOND
Beethoven: Piano Trios Vol.5 – “Archduke”
Trio, Kakadu Variations
Xyrion Trio
Naxos 8.572343
!!
Just like the
Emperor Concerto,
Beethoven’s Piano
Trio in B-flat,
Op.97 is also aptly
named. Apart from
Archduke Rudolf,
Crown Prince of
Austria to whom
it was dedicated, it is also the grandest, most
noble of the six works in this genre, a real
Archduke of trios. It has an unforgettably
beautiful opening theme that Beethoven
breaks down into small fragments with everchanging
instrumental combinations and
moods so they become sources of further
surprises. My love affair with it began in my
youth after hearing the legendary Cortot/
Thibaud/Casals recording on EMI; it reverberated
in me so much that I resisted listening
to any later version. Until now that is, when
I came across this new recording by three
young women from Germany who have
recorded all of Beethoven’s trios as their
debut with Naxos, winning some prestigious
prizes and world acclaim thereafter.
I was immediately surprised by the upbeat
tempo, a bit faster than I remembered, and
quite taken by the youthful, exuberant and
fresh spirit, where the strong personalities and
virtuosity of the individual artists add a new
insight, achieving a “vibrant and glowing”
(Fono Forum) and intense performance.
The Archduke Trio is flanked by two lesser
works. First is the earlier (1803) Kakadu
Variations, where Beethoven’s sense of
humour is evident with its long, gloomy slow
G-minor introduction that abruptly bursts
into a popular ditty and a set of bravura variations.
At one point one can even hear the
kakadu (cockatoo) shrieking on the violin.
The even earlier Trio in E-flat Major, WoO 38
from 1790 closes and adds further richness to
this delightful recording.
Janos Gardonyi
Programs 13 & 14; Programs 15 & 16
All-Star Orchestra; Gerard Schwarz
Naxos 2.110561 and 2.110562
!!
It’s been three
years now since
the American
conductor Gerard
Schwarz embarked
on an ambitious
project: assemble 95
leading musicians
from top orchestras
across 22 states and
record an annual
series of concerts
without an audience
over a brief four-day period using highdefinition
video cameras. The undertaking
has garnered considerable critical acclaim,
and since 2014, the All-Star Orchestra has
made a significant name for itself both
through television performances on PBS and
WNET and by means of a series of DVDs on
the Naxos label. The recording sessions made
during the third season have been captured
on two DVDs – programs 13/14 and 15/16
respectively – and together they present
eclectic programs of music from the late
Romantic period to the 20th century.
The first of these, subtitled “Russian
Treasures” and “Northern Lights,” features
Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition,
excerpts from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo
and Juliet and the Symphony No.2 by Jean
Sibelius. Prior to each performance, Schwarz
provides an informal commentary, while
various members of the orchestra offer their
thoughts on the music as well, all of which
makes for an engaging personal touch –
and the myriad of effective camera angles
throughout gives the ensemble a strong sense
of presence. The performances of all three
works are uniformly excellent. The individual
movements from Pictures are finely crafted,
while the familiar segments from the ballet
– Capulets and Montagues, Portrait of the
Young Juliet, Minuet and Death of Tybalt, are
in no small way aided by the warm strings,
a full and well-rounded brass section and
woodwinds with impeccable clarity. Sibelius’
grand and expansive symphony from 1902 is
treated with much aplomb, from the gentle
opening movement to the jubilant finale.
Programs 15 and 16 take the viewer from
Northern Europe to England and America of
the 19th and 20th centuries. “British Enigmas”
presents Elgar’s noble and dignified Enigma
Variations and Britten’s Young Person’s
Guide to the Orchestra. Less well known are
the ethereal Symphony No.2 “Mysterious
Mountain” by American composer Alan
Hovhaness and the Jubilee Variations, a
collaborative work by English composer
Eugene Goossens and ten American composer
friends. The final movement of the variations,
written by Goossens himself, is a true tour de
force requiring the ensemble to pull out all
the stops, thus bringing the work – and the
DVD – to a fitting
conclusion. The
viewer is left almost
wishing there was
a live audience
present to offer
a round of welldeserved
applause!
So to Gerard
Schwarz and the
ASO, a big bravo –
here’s hoping this
ambitious undertaking
will be around for many years to come,
bringing fine music-making to home audiences
around the world.
Richard Haskell
The Tchaikovsky Project – Manfred
Symphony
Czech Philharmonic; Semyon Bychkov
Decca 483 2320
! ! This CD is
the second
release in Decca
Classics’ orchestral
Tchaikovsky
Project that
features the Czech
Philharmonic and
conductor Semyon
Bychkov. For a lonely Romantic symphony
needing advocacy, this loving version of the
much-criticized Manfred Symphony (1886)
is the answer. An hour long and very difficult,
the work here receives extraordinary
endorsements in both performance and
program notes. In the Lento lugubre movement,
action begins with Manfred’s gloomy
descending theme in B-minor, a key associated
with tragedy (as in Swan Lake). The
drama is well-paced, with the orchestra
holding nothing back. The music of Manfred’s
beloved Astarte is an abrupt contrast, delicate
strings in delightful interplay with enticing
woodwinds. But the mood is temporary;
through a controlled build-up, brass forceful
but not blaring, Bychkov ushers in her
climactic death.
In the accompanying booklet, Bychkov’s
rebuttals to criticisms of repetitiveness and
episodic structure emphasize the work as
drama. While he compares it to opera I think
of ballet, for example in the light-on-its-feet
second movement where grieving Manfred
spots a water spirit; tremendously fast woodwind
runs precede strings of supernatural
virtuosity. In the following movement the
ländler’s dance rhythm along with instrumental
drones portray the Alpine people’s
rustic life, Manfred looking on sadly. The
Czechs’ idiomatic playing makes me want
to get up and dance! The orchestra’s energy
and aplomb through the bacchanal and
ensuing fugue are remarkable, though only
in heaven are the lovers reunited. Strongly
recommended.
Roger Knox
thewholenote.com November 2017 | 75