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Presto News - 8th February 2010Debussy and the Prix de Rome |
 French composer Claude Debussy first entered the Prix de Rome in 1882 aged just 20. It was a very important competition for young French composers with the prize for the winner including a four-year residence at the Villa Medici (the French Academy) in Rome, where they could meet new people and develop their compositional style further. The competition rules required a series of compositions to be written but, as Debussy knew only too well, to win you had to compose within a rather formulaic style in order not to offend the tastes of the judges. Debussy took two years to master this ‘game’ (as he called it) with his winning piece in the 1884 competition L’Enfant prodigue winning enough of the votes to land him the prize. Ravel, incidentally, attempted and failed to win the Prix de Rome on five occasions, his last effort in 1905 with his String Quartet in F major, which is now of course one of the cornerstones of the chamber music repertoire. This shows perhaps more than anything the rather limited scope which the jury gave composers to venture outside the ‘expected style’.  Claude Achille Debussy It is worth remembering that Debussy was still very young when he arrived in Rome, and it wasn’t really until the early 1890s that he developed the unique musical language with which he is now associated (most notably with his Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894) which with its very loose grip on tonality and harmonic function, composer-conductor Pierre Boulez believes marked the beginning of 'modern music'). However, his compositional voice before and during his Rome period is still very individual and as I have discovered recently there are some fine works that date from these years which seem to have been unjustly neglected. It is thanks to Hervé Niquet and a new project from French record label Glossa that hopefully this neglect can now be redressed a little, as they have just released a new two CD set of these little known compositions. In addition to the winning 1884 piece L’Enfant prodigue there is also Debussy's 1883 effort Le Gladiateur and three shorter choral pieces which Debussy wrote for an earlier round of the competition. Also included are some of the pieces which Debussy wrote and sent back from Rome which was one of the requirements of winning the competition. The excellent booklet notes include some of the responses to these works from the Academy in Paris and they make quite entertaining reading describing his compositions with words like “bizarre”, “peculiar” and “unintelligible”, while it is thankful that he took absolutely no notice of their thoughts on his work Printemps!: "It is desirable that he should have his guard up against that vague impressionism which is one of the most dangerous enemies of truth in artistic works." The performances here are very good, with excellent soloists superbly supported by the Flemish Radio Choir and Brussels Philharmonic. Conductor Hervé Niquet, more generally associated with early music, clearly has a real passion for French music and achieves an excellent balance between the voices and the orchestra. I’ve given you a couple of samples below where you can hear a duet from Debussy’s failed 1883 attempt Le Gladiateur (which you’ll be unsurprised to hear that the jury found “overindulgent”) and the opening prelude to his successful 1884 attempt L’Enfant prodigue. Enjoy!
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 Debussy - Music for the Prix de RomeGuylaine Girard (soprano), Sophie Marilley (mezzo), Bernard Richter (tenor), Alain Buet (baritone) & Marie-Josèphe Jude, Jean-François Heisser (pianos), Flemish Radio Choir & Brussels Philharmonic, Hervé Niquet (direction)
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Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
listen - Debussy - Le Gladiateur - Duet 'Trop tard...'New Releases8th February 2010 |
This is just the pick of the recent releases. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances, Isle of the Dead & The RockRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily PetrenkoAvie’s fruitful association with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra yields its tenth release, and the third with Vasily Petrenko, the youngest Music Director in the RLPO’s illustrious history and winner of the Classic FM/Gramophone Young Artist of the Year award in 2007. A native of St. Petersburg, Petrenko appropriately continues his exploration of Russian repertoire with the first in a series of orchestral works and concertos by Sergei Rachmaninov. |
 The Forgotten KingdomHespèrion XXI, Jordi SavallThe Forgotten Kingdom refers, first of all, to the Cathars' cherished "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of Heaven", which is promised to all good Christians after the Second Coming of Christ; but in the present project it also recalls the forgotten kingdom of Occitania. This 3 CD recording does not only explore the "classical" period of the troubadour school around the turn of the thirteenth century, it also provides a comprehensive historical and artistic background of this Golden Age. It is time we remembered this “forgotten kingdom”, from which so much of Western culture emerged. |
 Bach, J S: Goldberg Variations, BWV988Andreas Staier (Anthony Sidey harpsichord after Hass)Andreas Staier waited nearly a quarter of a century to play the Goldbergs in public: his first performance of it was in Montreal at the end of April 2000. This is his first, long-awaited recording. Undoubtedly one of the most prominent harpsichord and fortepiano performers in the world, Andreas Staier embarked upon a solo career in 1986 and, since then, his indisputable musical mastery has made its mark on the interpretation of baroque, classical and romantic repertoire. |
 Pergolesi: Missa S. EmidioCoro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera & Orchestra Mozart, Claudio AbbadoHad Pergolesi not died young, his name would rank among the most stellar and influential of Italy’s 18th-century composers. Despite the brevity of his life – he died at 26 – Pergolesi created numerous deathless works. In this second album of Claudio Abbado’s Pergolesi Project, the renowned maestro conducts the Missa S. Emidio, Manca la guida al pie, Laudate pueri Dominum, and the Salve Regina in F minor. Abbado’s passion for this music meets these sacred compositions on the exalted level where they were composed. |
 Stravinsky - Pulcinella, Symphony in Three Movements & Four ÉtudesRoxana Constantinescu (mezzo soprano), Nicholas Phan (tenor) & Kyle Ketelsen (bass-baritone), Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre BoulezThe Chicago Symphony Orchestra gets a head start on the March 2009 celebration of Pierre Boulez’s 85th birthday with a true rarity: a recording of Igor Stravinsky’s complete ballet Pulcinella. Showcasing a stripped-down CSO and three endearing young vocal soloists, Boulez’s clean aesthetic brings this neo-Classical masterpiece to life. Also included are Stravinsky’s brash Symphony in Three Movements and jaunty Four Études, which demonstrate the orchestra’s astonishing variety of colours. |
 Fauré - Piano Quartets Nos. 1 & 2Kathryn Stott (piano), The Hermitage String TrioFollowing an invitation from Saint-Saëns, Fauré joined the Société Nationale de Musique in 1871. Here he became acquainted with Franck, D’Indy, Bizet and other prominent French musicians. The Society set itself the mission of promoting French music and offering a forum for the circulation of orchestral and chamber works. The Society was to have a great influence on Fauré. In an interview in 1922, he spoke “The truth is that, before 1870, I would not have dreamt of composing a sonata or quartet. Only when Saint- Saëns founded the Société did I set about doing so.” And in fact almost all Fauré's chamber works had their premieres under the auspices of the Société Nationale de Musique. |
 Prokofiev - String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2Pavel Haas QuartetThe Pavel Haas Quartet, one of the very finest chamber ensembles of the present time, earned for their first two CDs of the quartets of Janácek and Pavel Haas numerous prestigious accolades. With the Prokofiev pieces featured on this album the Quartet has for the first time entered the field of the Russian (or, if you will, international) repertoire. Prokofiev plunged into writing his first quartet in 1930 during his first sojourn in America on the basis of a commission from the Library of Congress in Washington DC. The “classical” sounding work blends the easily distinguishable inspiration by Beethoven’s quartets and the typically Prokofievian pungency and lyricism. |
 Rachmaninov - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini & Piano Concerto 3Denis Matsuev (piano), Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery GergievThe Mariinsky label’s fourth release features acclaimed Russian pianist, and Gergiev protegee, Denis Matsuev joining the Mariinsky Orchestra for recordings of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 3 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Since winning the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998 Denis Matsuev has established a reputation as one of Russia’s greatest and most dynamic pianists. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 6th February 2010 |
Building a Library - Berlioz: Te Deum, Op. 22 |
 First Choice - DVD(coupled with Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Overture)Jose Carreras (tenor), The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, The Concert Association Vienna State Opera Chorus, The Prague Philharmonic Choir & The Toelzer Boys’ Choir, Claudio Abbado |
 CD ChoiceKeith Lewis (tenor), Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choirs, Eliahu Inbal |
 CD Choice(as part of the 11 CD Berlioz Edition)Keith Lewis (tenor), Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choirs, Eliahu Inbal |
Disc of the Week |
 Strauss - Ein Heldenleben & Der Rosenkavalier SuiteCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons |
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