Some records that impressed me in 1993

Some records that impressed me in 1993

As usual, I bought many records during the last year. I evaluate the interest they caused on me by the extent to which I listened to them.

The reasons they interested me may be quite different – a good interpretation, a repertoire I didn't know well before, a new instrument, or a novel performance.

Having said that, there were 6 records that stood out. In no particular order, they are:

Karl Böhm's 8th Bruckner Symphony.
The first recording of the renovated organ of Altenburg (probably the plans were devised by none other than J.S. Bach.
Serge Schönbrott recording of Sweelinks organ works in the Niehoff of St. Jacques of Liège.
Glenn Wilson's recording of the WTC I and II
Gustav Leonhardt's Fantasia chromatica
The interpretation of the b minor Mass by Cantus Köln.

BRUCKNER 8th

The funny thing about this is that I was searching for another version by Böhm, but at the store they could only find the DDG one. I brought it home and listened to it.

My previous reference was, perhaps, the Hamburg Wand recording. This one is quite different. Much more trenchant, more 'modern' if you will, but what I really think makes the difference is the fact that all the parts are relevant to the whole. It is a masterpiece of structure.

Now, Bruckner's structure is extremely difficult to render. This is because it is actually extremely complex and that the various threads are difficult to reconcile. This 8th Symphony is extremely complex.

I must confess I don't know enough of how he makes it work. My impression is that he doesn't characterize each episode very markedly, so that the relative neutrality of each one makes the synthesis easier.

But this is not to say it is a 'grey' version. It is extremely powerful, although not as colourful as, for instance, Karajan – who was, perhaps, too much of a colourist at the end of his life.

The tempo is rather upbeat, and a kind of dark concentration is ever present. This would lead to severity (as, for instance, in Boehm's celebrated last Symphonies of Mozart) were it not for the extraordinary grandeur of Bruckner's music and Boehm's perfect dosage of energy and relaxation.

In my opinion, perhaps the best version I have ever heard.

THE NAUMNBURG ORGAN

This organ is THE single most important organ to understand what Bach asked, in his later years, from an organ. He advised the work be given to Zacharias Hildebrandt, and there is every possibility that he actually planed the disposition (that is: the actual stops the organ has).

It is a 3 manual and pedal monster of an organ.

The great manual is a 16 foot affair (sounding an octave deeper than written) based in three stops – either a principal, a quintadena or a bombarde. In this it is reminiscent of a Schnitgner, but there the similarity ends. It is much more powerful, darker, has much more body but it is extremely bright at the same time.

The positive manual (the positive was becoming rare in Bach's region, and there is, again, every possibility that Bach actually asked for it) is brighter and has only a 16' stop – a Fagott, almost certainly suggested by Bach, who is known to have liked that particular stop. It is powerful and very bright; the sound is very present because it comes from nearer than the rest of the pipes.

The third manual is little explored in this record, but it seems to me to be both a complement to the main manual and also as a kind of timbric resource – you find many timbres there.

The Pedal is different from what I would expect from Bach, because it has no 32' principal (perhaps the case, which was built before Hildbrandt began the work, wouldn't accommodate it). Instead it has three 16' flues plus the trombone 16'. The 32' range depends only on a monstrously strong 32 Contra Posaune – sounding two octaves bellow what is written and overwhelmingly impressive. But it is powerful it is amply sufficient (I would have liked another, softer, 32', though).

The record (in fact it is a double CD was published by Calcante (one of the organ buffs clubs) and is played by Robert Clark. He plays well, and won't disappoint.

If you would like to know how Bach's music was meant to sound by Bach himself, I strongly suggest you buy this. And whoever likes an extremely powerful organ, with a bass that seems to come from Hell, this is the records to get.

The recording technique is one of the most realistic I have come across.

SERGE SCHOOBRODT'S SWEELINCK AT THE NIEHOFF

Niehoff organs are very important because they are, in a way, the forerunners of the big Schnitgers. They were built around 1600 and therefore are a very impressive testimony of the sound ideal of Northern European late Renaissance.

This organ is very linked with my youth. I lived in Liège for quite a while and there were two Niehoffs there: the Saint Jacques (the one on this record) and the St. Nicholas. I listened to what remained from the St. Nicholas – it was rarely played, but I got an impression that was impossible to forget. There were very little registration possibilities (because the organ was in a frightful bad state), but I will recall forever the small plenum based on a TerzZymbel (a very high and golden mixture).

Saint Jacques's was not playable at all, and the church, itself, was very seldom open. I never listened to it. I only knew Walcha had once given a recital there.

When I first listened to the CD I was extremely surprised – the sound wasn't what I was expecting: it was much stronger and less brilliant. Also, it is tuned to a pure mean tone temperament – and it starts with Fantasia Chromatica!!! – so the tuning truly sounded horrible.

But I persevered, and eventually found my TerzZymbel (more beautiful is not possible) and a marvellous principal 8' for the 3rd manual.

Even then, I was not convinced by the record. But I kept thinking about it. And eventually found out that I was listening to it all the time.

I just love Sweelink's music – it is modal, of course, and very spiritual but alive at the same time and the mean tone temperament suits modal music to perfection.

A friend of mine asked me to borrow the disk for a couple of days. I lent it, but missed it horribly. It is, without any doubt, the record I loved most this year.

Serge Shoonbrodt is a very poetic (but also an extraordinary virtuoso) but very sparing player. The label is Aeolus – another organ buff's label.

If you are interested in musical history, I urge you to buy it.

GLENN WILSON'S WTC I-II

I really wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary. I just bought it because I like to have as much versions of the WTC as I can. I was expecting a Mietke copy, sweet sounding and all. But I got a marvellous copy of the famous Christian Zell.

At first I was not convinced by the playing. But it makes sense, is congruent and sometimes quite beautiful. But the thing that really made it click for me was the beauty of the harpsichord and the way Wilson made it sound as beautiful as a harpsichord can get. Plain marvellous: a continuous sparkling golden glow. And it is rather cheap.

I found I listened to nothing else for about a week – it really impressed me.

GUSTAV LEONHARDT'S FANTASIA CHROMATICA

If I'm not mistaken, Leonhardt recorded the fantasia at least twice. His first version is rather boring. This one is available from Sony Classical, and I think its original label was Seon.

He plays the original Zell (the copy of which Wilson plays). I had listened to many extremely impressive chromaticas. Walcha's is unforgettably powerful and dramatic, Gilbert's is incredibly musical.

I wouldn't say Leonhardt's is better than these two. It is different, but, my God, is it impressive! For plain virtuosity I can't see how it can be beaten and in terms of expression it is unsurpassable. Your hair actually stands on while listening to it. A pure marvel, one of the most impressive cases of harpsichord playing I ever witnessed.

This one I strongly advise people to get. It is almost impossible not to like the Chromatic fantasy and this version goes to your guts with such a force you simply can't imagine.


BACH'S B MINOR MASS BY CANTUS CÖLN

I bought this one over Christmas, in one of the great book cum music stores. I wasn't expecting anything from it. I actually had to be pressed by my wife to get it. It was on display (you know, there are earphones and you can select about a minute of each track).

Cantus Cöln specialized in the one singer per part approach. I was rather doubtful that this would work with the Mass.

Of course, the Mass is so beautiful it is actually difficult to spoil it. After a cursory run over the Kyrie and the Gloria I went directly to the Dona Nobis Pacem: I felt at that speed they were going to spoil it. But somehow, I was impressed. Of course, polyphony is much easier to follow with fewer singers, but that was not why I liked it: it was the sheer emotion I actually liked, although it sounded frightfully odd.

Even so, I walked away: I wasn't going to buy something to which I was going to listen only once or thrice.

When we were queuing for paying my wife remarked I hadn't bought a single record. 'Wasn't there anything at all?', she asked. 'Well there was this Mass by Cantus Cöln, but I am not sure – we have spent a lot of many as it is'. But she pressed me to go get it. I did – I actually ran (!!!) which means I really was impressed.

I spent most of the Christmas holydays listening to it. It is beautiful, touching, and the one voice per part really works well. You don't miss the huge choral effects at all – at least not with these singers. A very wonderful surprise, then.

Would someone care to comment on their best acquisitions this year?

 

I assume you mean 2003, rather than your post having been lost in the depths of the Internet (and any of its previous incarnations!) for the last 10 years!

OK fave CDs from this last year?

I finally found a recording of Ravel's D minor ("left hand") piano concerto to compete with the fading cassette recording I made over the radio from the 1978 Proms of Gavrilov. This is Krystian Zimmerman's recording on DG with the LSO (DG 449 213-2). I'd not previously investigated this one (I also have Collard and have been unimpressed by several others) as I consider this a supremely powerful and emontional concerto, rather than an academic and intellectual exercise - and that latter's what you get with the conductor, Pierre Boulez, isn't it - WRONG! This has all the clarity and accuracy you expect from Boulez - but it rocks too. OK, there's not quite the frisson at the end that Gavrilov got, and I miss the explosion from the audience at the last note - but it's not far off.

John Adams' "El Nino", which I saw at the Barbican in June. I wasn't going to see this after not being very impressed by a TV relay the previous year (I was probably Adams'ed out at that time - it wasa past midnight and I'd been to "Klinghoffer" the night before), but it's mostly wonderful - and the CD set is superb (Nonesuch 7559-79634-2). The CD does of course miss Peter Sellars' staging along with its video backdrop, and the always exhilarating sight of Adams in front of an orchestra - but that was really sensory overload in performance. The end of Act (and Disc) 1, waiting for Christ's birth, has the most 'expectant' music I've ever heard, and the euphoria in the following number (following the birth) is just overwhelming. The trio of counter-tenors acting as a sort of Greek Chorus throughout does seem to be a bit of a modern cliche now (Reich uses the same in his recent "Three Tales"), but really works here. Maybe some of the English-Spanish mix doen't work for me quite as it should, but that's probably because the English diction is so superb there's no need for the accompanying libretto, and I suddenly get hauled out of the rapture to find out what they're singing about in the Spanish bits. I do wish though that Adams would actually finish a piece (e.g. with a perfect cadence or something) rather than just stopping!

Osmo Vanska's Sibelius 3 from his Lahti set (BIS-CD-862). I'd grown up with Colin Davis' Boston recording, which always seemed to me to have so much more about it that anything else I'd heard - too many conductors (e.g. Saraste) just turn it into a pleasant conversation piece, but his Proms performance this year was an absolute revelation, and the CD is just as good. Some of it's very slow (particularly the slow movement - he does seem to like giving slow Sibelius a LOT of space), but each note is shaped beautifully, both individually, within the phrase and within the greater architectural plan. He actually makes it dance and sing, whereas Davis goes more for elemental drive.

Antal Dorati's 1959 Firebird with the LSO (Philips Mercurcy Living Presence 432 012-2). Again, not a note is routine - something I've not always been able to say about this piece - there's always anticipation of what delight is around the corner, rather than just hang in there until the famous bit comes up. The couplings are pretty special too (Fireworks, Tango, Scherzo a la Russe, Chant du Rossignol - all from 1964).

I've also been quite captivated by Rachel Podger's double CD with Arte Dei Suonatori of Vivaldi's "L'estravaganza" concerti (Channel CCS 19598). While there's a couple of routine concerti, these are mostly quite wonderful (particularly nos 11 and 12), and are played with such panache and bravura in the lively movements and melting simplicity and tenderness in the slow movements. The continuo section is particular fun, with the regular harpsichord/cello being filled out as appropriate by organ, archlute, theorboe and even a baroque guitar - which could give a few lessons in rhythm guitar to a rock group or two!

And the last disc(s) I bought - Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert (Sony/Columbia C2K 65143). This was apparently the first time jazz had been performed at Carnegie Hall, and they sure made the most of it. The best though is the full 12 minute 2 seconds of "Sing, Sing, Sing" - easily now my favourite jazz track. With a spot on orchestral contribution, perfectly judged solos by Goodman et al (and particularly a captivating piano solo fading away to virtually nothing by Jess Stacy), underpinned and driven on throughout by Gene Krupa (who, from what little I've read about him, appears to have been the Keith Moon of his generation) on the drums. The remainder of the discs is pretty good too (e.g. 16 minutes of Honeysuckle rose with Goodman, Basie, Lester Young, Johnny Hodges etc) - although there's a huge amount of background "snap, crackle, pop" left in in order to keep the room ambience too; sometimes it's tough to hear through all that hash.

Ok so that's my 6 (well actually 9 as I cheated by having three double CDs).

(I got my 2nd Bruckner 8 last year, Wand's live Berlin one - to go along with the famous Karajan. I must say I find Wand's structural vision pretty impressive, myself)

 

Nice reply. I'll post on Bruckner's 8th as soon as I can find the time. I have the wand/Berlin one. It is outstanding. But Böhm has been such a revelation!

 

I am including Christophe Rousset's Engish suites in my list. If you'd like to know why see the thread on Bach's English Suites.

 

I can't really remember which records impressed me most in 1993. However I feel this puts me at liberty to laud, at this particular juncture, all those wonderful Artur Rubinstein recordings from the RCA mono era that were rereleased in the (late nineties) Artur Rubinstein Collection.

Most notably the 1952-55 Mazurkas, the 1949-50 Nocturnes and the 1953 Waltzes have been a real addition to my life.

The other major thing is the Artur Benedetti Michelangeli box on Aura-Music, with a wildly exciting Schumann Carnaval and scintillating bone-dry Debussy.

And that's all.

I don't need that much.

 

Looking back on 2003, it seems there weren't so many releases that really impressed me. But I have to add that 1) I did not buy as many classical CDs as in the years before and 2) I mostly lived on my existing collection – there are so many CDs I should listen to more often, I guess in fact there must be some I never ever listened to.

Still, indeed some do stand out.

J.S. Bach – St Matthew Passion – McCreesh
I'm not really a friend of the one singer per part approach and and thus wasn't prepared to really like this recording. As it has been mentioned before (also by others, I think), I'm 1) still doubtful that this really is what Bach had in mind and 2) usually find that with one singer per part you cannot really get a well blended choir or the dynamic range of a larger ensemble. But somehow I found this interpretation to be working quite well. I really do enjoy it – and that's what counts.

J. Haydn – Heiligmesse, Missa in tempore belli, Insanae et vanea curae – Gardiner
The third and last volume of Gardiner's set of Haydn masses has been in the player quite frequently. Great works, great choir, great soloists, great playing: not one weak link.

Debussy – Mélodies – Sandrine Piau / Jos van Immerseel
I always liked the Ariettes oubliéees and the Mallarmé settings of Debussy. As this disc had received rave reviews in every magazine, I thought another version (my other versions being by Upshaw and Schäfer) would do me no harm, especially as this CD also contains five Mélodies de jeunesse I did not know and Mr. van Immerseel is playing an Erard grand from 1897 – obviously the type of instrument favoured by Debussy himself. I didn't know Ms. Piau before, but as being a native speaker always pays in lieder singing I thought I couldn't go wrong with this one. Besides I have a weak spot for naive recordings. And indeed – a charming recording this is. Now I only wonder how Ms. Piau's Mozart arias (also on naive) do sound like...

Couperin – Keyboard music (vol. 1) – Angela Hewitt
I have to admit that I think very highly of Ms. Hewitt anyway. What astounded me most in the past was how she played Ravel – until then I only knew her different Bach interpretations, which – in my opinion – are just marvellous throughout. Her Ravel is sort of breathtaking – but not in the sense of Argerich or Michelangeli playing Ravel are breathtaking. In fact her approach to Ravel is quite a different one – but that's another story... Couperin: If you do prefer works like this being played on the harpsichord you may of course well have difficulties with Couperin on a Steinway. If you have no objections however, this is another wonderful example of thought- and tasteful playing on a modern concert grand (another example I can think of would be Ms. Pires playing Bach Partitas).

And finally I came across a reissue on Brilliant Classics. 4 or 5 CDs for the price of one CD...
Early recordings (dating from the 1980s and 90s) of Hélène Grimaud. The set includes Schumann's Kreisleriana and sonata no. 1, Brahms' Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3 as well as his Klavierstücke op. 118, some Liszt, Chopin and Rachmaninoff. The funny thing with this set is that I think I like some of her playing back then much better then what she did later (for Erato). In fact I found some of it being quite remarkable. And it's a true bargain (though the presentation visually is poor... why not taking advantage of the fact that Ms. Grimaud probably is the most attractive female piano soloist around??? – oh yes, and the booklet notes are almost none existent). But still, absolutely worth getting.

 

Could you expand a little more on that box? Or on your views on Michelangeli? I'm very interested.

 

MTL:

I have the McCreesh version. I did not like it, but I must find the time to listen to it again.

All people seem to think so highly of Hewitt I'll be forced to get her records - I only know her first recording of the c minor Tocatta. I will not get her Couperin to start with though. His music was written with a very specific instrument in mind, and the trills and arpegios come off rather badly on the Steinway (I don't mean her reecords, I mean pianos in general). Nevertheless, I'll try and give it a listen.

And I agree with you: Hélène Grimaud is indeed a beautiful woman - the wolf woman she is called.

 

RdS:
Your description of Christophe Rousset's Engish suites reads as if this indeed is a must buy...
I quite like his playing of the Bach partitas. Maybe it's the same instrument he uses for the English suites?

Would be interesting to have your views on Hewitt once you've actually listened to one of her CDs.

 

Hi, MTL.

Yes, I definitely thing they are a must have. The harpsichord is not the same as the one he used in the partitas. They sound differently, the one in the Partitas being a little mellower (it is a Hemsh). The one used in the English Suites is a little brighter (a Rückers modified in the French style), but it is also much better recorded. I personally prefer the Rückers, chiefly because it has a very sonorous bass and a very crisp sound. It won't aggress, though.

About Hewitt: I am trying to get her WTC1, but every time I go to the shop they tell me it's just out, or is bound to come in in a few days… I think I'll get it from the Net. So many people seem to like it I'm sure it must be very good.

I'll report latter.


P.S.: I like your motto. Or rather, I hate it, but it is only too true!

 

Hi RdS,

sorry for not replying to yr query sooner.

During one of our Paris sojourns in 2003 I purchased a box of unofficial recordings by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (ABM), modestly entitled The Seven Wonders. The label is called Aura Music; they have a website. (To be totally complete, the Paris store is across the St Michel statue, and it's called the Dream Store. Lots of ancient opera and piano music.)

These seven discs feature material from Swiss and Vatican radio broadcasts, mostly from the seventies and eighties, although one of the two JSB items is an Italian Cto from 1943, and it's lovely.

One of my favorite pieces in this box is the wildly exciting Schumann Carnaval from 1973, which I massively prefer to the DG / BBC account. And I am a total slave to the Debussy disc which features a virtually complete Preludes Book One (1977) and Children's Corner; but the best stuff are the two books of Images from 1987. This is sixteen years later than the official DG recording, and somehow I think one can tell the difference. There is a kind of melancholy way ABM keeps emphasizing those three blue notes in Reflets dans l'Eau (Ab F and Eb as far as I know; I just picked them on the piano; obviously I don't own a score of this virtuoso stuff).

The other difference with the official recording is those radio venues are apparently much drier than the DG studios, and I can't help thinking this bone-dry sound suits ABM much better. Added to the way ABM had his instruments prepared (in Piano Notes Charles Rosen remarks that he once encountered a piano that had been prepared for ABM and it was virtually useless) this makes for a sound that at times approaches a toy piano in the upper range; there's no resonance whatsoever. The way I describe it, it sounds terrible, but it is actually absolutely right for this kind of music.

I believe these discs can be ordered seperately too, for virtually no money. Maybe you should give the Debussy a shot. I love this disc badly.

Herman

 

Thank you Herman, for the very interesting post.

But I gather they are vinyl discs. And I have no way to play them...

Fronm what you say, they are a must have. That bit on the ABM pianos is fascinating.

I'll do a Googkle search and try to find one - you've been very eloquent on the merits of the recordings!

More, I could never understand Debussy really well, so that is a further reason to buy them.

Again thanks.

 

They are just plain compact discs. So you do have a way to hear this stuff.

And yeah, the way various pianists manage to create totally different sound worlds from their instruments is absolutely fascinating. ABM with his dry brittle sound, Ashkenazy with his drooping resonance (as if the pitch goes down after being struck), Horowitz with his lion roar left and his papery dry right hand etc etc

Herman

 

Herman:

Would it be this?

In which case, may I bother you to ask to point out to which it is?

Yes, piano preparation is a fascinating subject. The bright - almost Bösendorfer-like (I think) sound of Brendel, the incredible sound Kempff manages to get - almost ethereal -, the black and white Pollini, or the deep, cavernous Arrau...

Also the different makes of pianos. I remember well that in my youth I attended to 'Concurso Vianna da Motta' and they had three pianos ready: a Bechstein, a Steinway and a Steinway and sons.

The Bechstein was teutonic (I don't mean the weight of the keys, I mean the sound), dark and powerful. The Steinway was a pure marvel. Almost black and white, but very versatile. The Steinway and Sons was a technicolour version of its father, rather coloured and, well, vulgar (all is relative!!).

Organological questions always fascinated me as you well know.

 

This is the Debussy disc I mentioned:

http://www.aura-music.com/english/dettagliocd.asp?Id=352&att=32

This is the Schumann disc:

http://www.aura-music.com/english/dettagliocd.asp?Id=349&att=37


The JSBach is the €7.70 disc which also has Scralatti and Galuppi.

Etc

Herman

 

Thanks!

I'll buy them and if I can get away from my harpsichord (Oh, my God!!! - pity there isn't a smily with angel wings - that's how I feel) I'll listen to them and perhaps even report back!

 

Graham:

I did not find the time. But I agree that Wand's is extremely good. What I like about Böhm is that he manages to take away the slightly banal innocence of Bruckner's second themes.

I will certainly report later if I survive this month's monstruous intray.

 

Favourite recent(ish) acquisitions:

Ravel Piano Concertos / Boulez / Zimerman: as noted above - absolutely superb playing and the uncannily transparent recording typical of modern DG releases.
Schoenberg Gurrelieder / Rattle: hair-raisingly exciting and agonisingly beautiful by turns, again with demonstration-worthy sound.
Brahms Orchestral Works / Sawallisch: 7CDs, all DDD, £15 in the HMV Sale, thank you very much Symphonies fairly unremarkable and not preferable to either of the other sets I've got (Haitink / Boston SO and Harnoncourt / Berlin PO), but still worth having at the money, and the set includes the F-P Zimmermann and Kovacevich concerti - the first piano concerto alone is worth the price of admission.
Rachmaninov Orchestral Works / Jansons: 6CDs, all DDD, £14 in the HMV Sale, thank you very much Terrific performances pretty much throughout, especially the first symphony, and the piano concerti with Mikhail Rudy are good too (though not outstanding). Sound quality is a little tinny and unconvincing in places though, with a rather jangly piano in the concerti. Have to commend EMI's generosity for reboxing recent full-price issues and selling them for next to nothing though, even if it's a slightly scary indication of the state of the market.
Bach Sacred Choral Works / Gardiner: 9CDs, all DDD, £15 in the HMV Sale, thank you very much The pinnacle of my recent bargain hunting, including the Matthew and John Passions, the B Minor Mass and the Christmas Oratorio. Gardiner's unfailingly superb standards throughout - and it's a real pleasure to sit down and listen to recorded choral music in the knowledge that the choir's not going to be gratingly flat all the way through as is usually the case.

 

Oh I would also be interested in this box. Did you get it from Internet?
I looked up HMV-Sites but didn't find this box

 

Titian, it's available here (DG Archiv), but it costs CHF109. I got mine relatively cheaply at a sale in Hug, Basel, but not for £15! I conform it is excellent - Gardiner's Passions are excellent and his B Minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio are, in my opinion, the best on record.