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2010
“Ein Heldenlebenwas always a favourite party-piece of Herbert von Karajan, so the challenge to his successor, Simon Rattle, is all the more formidable. It says much for Rattle's achievement in Berlin that the result in this live recording offers the keenest rivalry to the finest versions already in the catalogue. The heroic opening section already establishes Rattle's approach as a degree more flexible, more warmly expressive than Karajan's. Karajan is certainly warm, but he generally keeps his expressiveness within steady speeds, where Rattle is a degree freer, with rhythms subtly pointed. Typically, he treats the violinist, Guy Braunstein, as a genuine soloist, encouraging him to play with the sort of expressive freedom one expects in a concerto, while the equally brilliant Michel Schwalbe for Karajan tends to stay within the set tempo even in the most elaborate sections of the long solo representing the composer's wife. Braunstein is the more individual, and so are the various wind soloists in the piece, including those in the second section representing the composer's enemies, the critics. What remains a constant is the opulence of the Berlin Philharmonic sound. The 1974 EMI recording of the Karajan version remains impressive for its time but the modern digital recording is richer still, starting with the most resonant E flat in the bass at the very start and covering a formidable dynamic range, bringing out the subtlety of Rattle's control and the refinement of the orchestra's playing. The fine Kempe version dates from rather earlier than Karajan's and, quite apart from the less wide-ranging recording, his is a less forceful, rather more relaxed reading than either Rattle's or Karajan's. In his overall timing Rattle takes a couple of minutes longer than either, with the extra breadth due at least in part to the expressive freedom encouraged in a live performance, something that clearly adds to the magnetism of the finished recording. The fill-up is a generous one, bringing the overall timing of the disc to an exceptional 82 minutes. The engineers, though working in the Philharmonie as in Heldenleben, have rightly balanced the microphones to give a much more intimate result with the chamber ensemble of Lebourgeois gentilhomme. This time Rattle's performance is more relaxed than Kempe's, with speeds rather broader, making for a performance that delightfully captures the light-heartedness of this music, with delectable rhythmic pointing in the 18th-century pastiche.”
May 2006
“The heroic opening section already establishes Rattle's approach as a degree more flexible, more warmly expressive than Karajan's. Typically, he treats the violinist, Guy Braunstein, as a genuine soloist, encouraging him to play with the sort of expressive freedom one expects in a concerto.”
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Editor's Choice
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“Some found Peter Hall's staging… too dark and serious, but for me it was an invigorating evening. …Vladimir Jurowski… draws highly polished and brilliant playing from the LPO of one of Rossini's greatest scores. …presenting a down-and-out Don Magnifico - dirty to his fingernails - works well when you have such a strong singing-actor as Luciano Di Pasquale. Ruxandra Donose is winning in the title role…” BBC Music Magazine, May 2006 *****
“This is a truly marvellous performance on all counts - staging, conducting and singing. Sir Peter Hall… manages to breathe new life into the routines without ever slipping over into farce, while exploring each character in some depth. The sense of an ensemble on top form is underlined by Vladimir Jurowski's exacting, pellucid and vivid interpretation, so that the music, like the libretto, is presented afresh. The superb cast has no weaknesses and many strengths, Ruxandra Donose may not have the idiomatic Italian timbre of Cecilia Bartoli... but she is the more consistent singer, using her wide range and rich tone to startling effect. Her youthful (24-year-old) partner, Russian tenor Maxim Mironov, proves an ideal Ramiro, fluent in every aspect of his role and delivering its appreciable demands in a light, pliant voice of delicate beauty.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006
“This is a performance that meets the Glyndebourne gold standard… Hall has decided to keep it real and produced something understated, sensitive and thus deeply pleasurable.” The Telegraph
“She can shade her violin a thousand ways, and with lightning speed too… this is a CD crackling with excitement” The Times
“…the warmly recorded Berlin Philharmonic and Rattle provide a tangibly symphonic framework for the Shostakovich, highlighting much interesting detail and colour. Chang is in superb form projecting particularly high-voltage playing in the Scherzo and Finale of the Shostakovich and in the second movement of the Prokofiev.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2006 ****
“Gone are the days when Shostakovich's First Concerto meant one or other frequently inaccessible David Oistrakh LP. Today's young virtuosi are queuing up to record the piece. In making the transition from wunderkind to mature artist, Sarah Chang and EMI have previously played it safe, setting down lesser known concertos to general acclaim. This live recording from Berlin moves into more demanding territory with results that invite comparison with established classics. The soloist is fortunate to be partnered by Sir Simon Rattle and his Berliners and this is a reminder of his unambiguous excellence as a concerto accompanist. Notwithstanding a sound-stage that feels overstuffed at high decibels, the effect is quite different from those rival accounts where the orchestral part is painted in shades of grey. The sophisticated sense of colour and control of line anchor the performance. What you might miss is that indefinable factor 'authenticity of experience'. Not that Sarah Chang lacks heart, courage or individuality. She plunges excitedly into climactic passages, determined to give her big dark sound a scorching edge. The technical control is mightily impressive. Chang's deployment of vibrato, perhaps a little wide and unvaried for some tastes, is unashamed; ditto the blood-and-guts bowing. Her ability to fine down her tone to a barely audible pianissimo is spellbinding in the opening Nocturne. So what if there's a momentary lapse of intonation; this is great playing, perhaps the best she has yet given us. While the Passacaglia third movement is somehow less eloquent, it's well worth sampling a recording which, like Repin's, ensures that the music can actually be heard as variations on a ground. The Prokofiev goes well, too, positively projected but never over-personalised.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
“The soloist is fortunate to be partnered by Sir Simon Rattle and his Berliners. …this is a reminder of his unambiguous excellence as a concerto accompanist. Sarah Chang… plunges excitedly into climactic passages, determined to give her big dark sound a scorching edge, The technical control is mightily impressive... this is great playing, perhaps the best she has yet given us.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006
Gramophone described her Bach album as “splendid stuff” and the pieces “showcase Balsom’s phenomenal technique and gleaming expressiveness”
“…as a showcase for this young artist's mesmerising virtuosity the disc does its job admirably, and presents some familiar and less familiar Bach in new guises at the same time. The supporting instrumentalists, especially organist Colm Carey, make a sterling contribution...” BBC Music Magazine, February 2006 *****
“A disc of arrangements which is impressive on every level. Beautifully mellow playing contrasting with virtuosic moments.” Classic FM Magazine, March 2006 *****
“Two transposed movements from BWV1008 and a mischievous solo take on the Badinerie (from BWV1067) showcase Balsom's phenomenal technique and gleaming expressiveness. Period-instrument practitioners Alina Ibragimova, Mark Caudle and Alastair Ross provide superb accompaniment in a charismatic version of the Trio Sonata. A surprisingly diverse range of textures and moods makes this disc a beguiling experience.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006
“Well, the Florestan Trio have done it again – a sure-fire Gramophone Award nominee. Indeed, such is the cumulative emotional impact of these performances that tears welled up during the wonderful fortissimo climax of the E minor Trio's first movement – that even before the astonishing intensity of the final, precipitous Allegro. 'Cumulative' because most of the time the Florestan prefer stealth and suggestion; they don't wear their hearts on their sleeves. Instead they offer, like Saint-Saëns's art, a filigree lightness and clarity that somehow twists itself into an ever-deepening pattern of turmoil. Listen to the underlying wistfulness in the F major Trio: how the élan of the first movement's final chords provides a springboard into a cheerful bucolic landscape that is nevertheless crossed with clouds – this brought about by a web of delicate rhythmic and tonal shading in the string-playing stretched over Susan Tomes's dancing, pellucid framework. Or the maturity and self-confidence in the E minor: nothing is forced, everything flows – from the stormy first movement through the lighter central movements (and here the languid descending phrases of the Andante con moto are beautifully sculpted by both Marwood and Lester) to the complex yet never turgid imitative writing of the last. Recorded sound and accompanying notes are, of course, impeccable. No argument: just buy it.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
“Well, the Florestan Trio have done it again… such is the cumulative emotional impact of these performances that, I don’t mind admitting, I wept during the wonderful fortissimo climax of the E minor trio's first movement - that even before the astonishing intensity of the final, precipitous Allegro.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006
“The Merseyside strings tuck into Alwyn’s deft writing with relish, and once again Lloyd-Jones adopts a more linear, less heart-on-sleeve approach than do either of his rivals (notably so in the last movement). A compelling conclusion to another notable survey from Naxos and confidently recommended.” Gramophone
“The playing of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under David Lloyd-Jones is as impressive on this disc as anywhere else in this Naxos cycle…” BBC Music Magazine, March 2006 *****
“Masterfully scored and lucidly argued, it's cast in three movements, the passacaglia-like finale movingly recalling and developing material from earlier in the work as well as from the First Symphony. The orchestral playing… is wholly admirable, full of vitality and, where required, infectious rhythmic snap (the the Holstian outer portions of the Scherzo). The coupling is Alwyn's rewarding Sinfonietta for strings... A compelling conclusion to another notable survey from Naxos and confidently recommended.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006
“Elina Garanca is a Latvian mezzo who is equally happy as a Dorabella or a Fiordiligi. The Camerata Salzburg is her accompanist; and that superb Mozartian Louis Langrée makes a diva of every woodwind soloist within that band.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2006 ****
“Elina Garanca's voice is warm and ample, its quality enriched in the lower register but still full-bodied, pure and resonant on the top B flats. Her legato and fluency are alike well schooled, her intervals exceptionally clean and her feeling for light-and-shade at any rate aware that it exists. Room for developments lies principally in this area: she is not inexpressive but there is more to be made of the emotions and the part words play in their communication. The selection of arias, concert and operatic, makes for a satisfying programme. Much is on the grand scale: injured women cry out against malign fate and determine to confront it. This includes, we note, both the mezzo and soprano leads in Così fan tutte: essentially sung in the same voice (she does not audibly 'turn soprano' for 'Come scoglio') and, one might well conclude, by the same character. The lighter, more intimate tone used in Ch'io mi scordi di te is welcome, and welcome too are some lesser known concert arias, most of all Ah, non lasciarmi, which has a melody almost as lovely as the now-famous 'Ruhe sanft' from Zaide. The longest is the profoundly set Misero me!, where the intricacies of the implied dramatic situation form something of a barrier, but where the sustained powers of the music and the singer impress deeply. Thinking of comparisons, she is richer and warmer than Teresa Berganza, less imaginative and personally involved than Cecilia Bartoli, but also free of mannerisms. With lively accompaniment by the Salzburg Camerata, this is an exceptionally successful debut recital.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
“Elina Garanča is a mezzo-soprano from Latvia… Her voice is warm and ample, its quality enriched in the lower register but still full-bodied, pure and resonant on the top B flats. Her legato and fluency are alike well schooled, her intervals exceptionally clean... Thinking of comparisons, I would say she is richer and warmer than Berganza, less imaginative and personally involved in Bartoli, but also free of mannerisms. With lively accompaniment by the Salzburg Camerata, this is an exceptionally successful debut recital.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006
‘What more could you want in these works than a soloist who places every note with joyous precision, moves from one to another so cleanly, and demonstrates at every turn such intelligent but unfussy musicianship? This is a sunny and unpretentious disc which deserves to be among the successes of the Mozart year’ (Gramophone)
“Though clearly designed as a showcase for a young British singer who seems to be getting better by the minute – the presence of a number of excerpts and a double-tracked duet are evidence of that – it is nevertheless strongly focused on Mozart's Salzburg church music, offering in addition to some of the usual suspects a few relative rarities. It is also a reminder of how, even in works which make no attempts at great depth, the young composer was a marvel of fluency, grace and freshness. There are times in his teenage music when you can really feel the enjoyment he took in his own ability; on this disc you can sense it being transferred to the performances. Emma Kirkby recording some of these pieces a few years back (likewise doing Exsultate, jubilate in the alternative 'flute' version), and while Carolyn Sampson's singing does not sound like Kirkby's, her rounder voice gives the listener much the same kind of pleasure. What more could you want in these works than a soloist who places every note with joyous precision, moves from one to another so cleanly, and demonstrates at every turn such intelligent but unfussy musicianship? She also has wonderful control of dynamics, beautifully demonstrated in the restrained cadenza of Exsultate's slow middle section, or the hushed reprise of the Agnus Dei from the Coronation Mass. The orchestral accompaniments are ably conducted by Robert King, and if the choral singing is not the most polished you will hear, its lusty commitment certainly adds to the honest pleasure of the performances. This is a sunny and unpretentious disc which deserves to be among the successes of the Mozart year.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
“Robert King and his choral and orchestral forces give clean and direct performances in sound that is nicely balanced and benefits from the mellow acoustic of London's Cadogan Hall. The soprano focus of interest is Carolyn Sampson, whose musical sensibility and personality are exceptional. Unreservedly recommended.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2006 *****
“What more could you want in these works than a soloist who places every note with joyous precision, moves from one to another so cleanly, and demonstrates at every turn such intelligent but unfussy musicianship? She also has wonderful control of dynamics, beautifully demonstrated in the restrained cadenza of Exsultate's slow middle section, or the hushed reprise of the Agnus Dei from the Coronation Mass. ... a sunny and unpretentious disc which deserves to be among the successes of the Mozart year.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006
“a hugely impressive disc, testifying to the versatility and range of a singer who has already drawn comparisons with Janet Baker” The Guardian
“A national treasure” Evening Standard
“Connolly's lovely singing reaches to the sensuous core” The Telegraph
“Almost seven years ago we went to the Wigmore Hall expecting to hear a well known soprano only to find that she had been replaced by a less well-known mezzo. Sarah Connolly had already appeared with the English National Opera in major roles such as Handel's Xerxes and Donizetti's Mary Stuart. Disappointment at missing the scheduled artist vanished with the completion of the substitute's first phrases. Delight took its place and increased steadily throughout the recital. It was a clear, fresh and powerful voice, used with intelligent assurance, and by the final groups (Duparc and Falla) she had established with the audience the rapport of a much more experienced artist. What was true at the Wigmore holds for this concert at St John's, Smith Square, where her success with the audience is again unmistakable and fully merited. Again, her choice of programme contributes to the success: a judicious mixture of the familiar and out-of-the-way, and well suited to voice and style. The Brahms group is particularly satisfying, with Die Mainacht broadly phrased, Nachtwandler imaginatively hushed and Von ewigerLiebe warmly felt. The Hahn songs are equally (if contrastingly) delightful, the two pastiche pieces, A Chloris and Quand je fus pris au pavillon charmingly in period. Weill's Speak Low and Ireland's Her Song are winning encore pieces. That leaves Haydn's Arianna a Naxos, the long and demanding concert aria which opens the programme. Here we find a substantial achievement and a limitation. The style is admirably clean and the emotional range well probed, but the whole remains a little impersonal and one is driven to comparisons. Janet Baker brings warmer humanity and a more memorable timbre while Cecilia Bartoli is more vivid – hear her intense 'Tradita io sono' for instance, or the pale 'Già più non reggo' or the furious final 'Barbaro ed infedel'. That comparison does, however, throw into a very favourable light Eugene Asti's accompaniment: where András Schiff (for Bartoli) is over– assertive, Asti is sensitive and keeps proportion. And indeed he does so throughout: a constant pleasure and a major contribution to the recital's undoubted success.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
“Connolly woos her audience with the calling-card for any and every mezzo: Haydn's dramatic cantata, Arianna a Naxos. And every second of its nervous and emotional life - its hopes, fears and final despair - are uncovered in Connolly's superbly observant voice and imagination.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2006 *****
“…a clear, fresh and powerful voice, used with intelligent assurance… The Brahms group is particularly satisfying, with Die Mainacht broadly phrased, Nachtwandler imaginatively hushed and Von ewiger Liebe warmly felt. The Hahn songs are equally… delightful, the two pastiche pieces, A Chloris and Quand je fus pris au pavillon charmingly in period. ...Weill's Speak Low and Ireland's Her Song are winning encore pieces.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006
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BBC Music Magazine
