Search
Special Offers
Awards
Online Payment
Visit us
Presto News - 22nd March 2010Robin Ticciati and Brahms' Choral Works |
 Last week I extolled the virtues of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Mozart performances under their Conductor Laureate, Sir Charles Mackerras. Well this week I’d like to tell you a bit about their new Principal Conductor, Robin Ticciati, who has just made a fabulous recording of Brahms’ choral works with the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the Bamberger Symphoniker (an orchestra with whom he will also be principal guest conductor from the autumn). Aged just 27, Ticciati’s rapid rise in the classical music world has been remarkable. As a teenage timpanist and violinist in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, his conducting skills were spotted by Sir Simon Rattle, and since then both he and Sir Colin Davis have taken active roles in Ticciati's musical development. Equally comfortable with opera as he is with orchestras, Ticciati is the youngest to have ever conducted at the Salzburg Festival and at La Scala and last summer made his New York debut.  Robin Ticciati I’ve read a few commentators who have compared him to Gustavo Dudamel – both very young but already with impressive résumés, powerful supporters, boyish looks and even dark curly hair, but while Dudamel clearly has remarkable communication and inspirational gifts, and is clearly well suited to the intense media attention marketing people love to direct at him, Ticciati seems much quieter and thoughtful. Their repertoire is quite different as well, as while Dudamel seems to prefer the high-octane symphonies of Mahler and Shostakovich, Ticciati seems to prefer late romantic and classical repertoire, which in my view is actually much harder to make a really strong impression with, especially when you’re still very young. Ticciati’s comments to the Los Angeles Times last week about what qualities make a good conductor are also encouraging to read in that he clearly has his head firmly sewn on: "The only thing that makes one a good conductor is if the notes are in your body, they're in your soul... The thing we mustn't forget is that music is hard. I'm convinced of this." Anyway, back to the new Brahms disc I mentioned at the outset. When you think of Brahms’ choral works, the German Requiem is such a towering musical achievement that I sometimes think that his other compositions suffer by comparison, particularly as all being about 15 minutes long they’re more difficult to programme in concerts. Just like the Requiem though they all contain some absolutely sublime music. This disc contains four of Brahms’ choral works, the most famous undoubtedly being the Alto Rhapsody, in which soloist Alice Coote sings beautifully and with a lovely honeyed voice. The other three - Nänie; Gesang der Parzen and Schicksalslied - all reveal Ticciati’s impressive ear for style, detail and musical shape. These performances are wonderfully alive and dramatically sensitive, but I’d say the most impressive aspect of Ticciati’s conducting (especially at such a young age) is his control and restraint. He keeps complete control over the dynamics, and there is some wonderful and magical quiet singing and playing. The music is overwhelming only because of its beauty and power, never volume alone, which sets this recording apart from many others. The Bamberg orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Choir know this music backwards, and there is a wonderful Brahmsian glow throughout. I can’t give you a whole movement to listen to as they’re all too long, so instead I’ve opted for the opening four or five minutes of the Schicksalslied with its wonderful subdued opening and long flowing themes (and also my personal favourite amongst them). Enjoy!
|
Share
|
 Brahms: Choral WorksAlice Coote (mezzo-soprano), Chor de Bayerischen Rundfunks & Bamberger Symphoniker, Robin Ticciati“Ticciati's performances are wonderfully alive and dramatically sensitive...while the Bamberg orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Choir have this music in their bones.” The Guardian, 25th February 2010 ****
|
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
listen - Brahms -Schicksalslied, Op. 54 (Song of Destiny): openingNew Releases22nd March 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. |
 Dvorák - Symphonic PoemsCzech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles MackerrasDvorák composed his Symphonic Poems shortly after the American triumph of his “New World Symphony” and after completing his beautiful final string quartets (Opp. 105 and 106). The first three poems were first performed in1896 in London, while The Wild Dove was premiered in March 1898 in Brno by Leoš Janácek. The recordings on this CD are interpreted by the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, a paramount musician and connoisseur and champion of Czech music. |
 Via CrucisPhilippe Jaroussky (counter tenor) & Nuria Rial (soprano), L’Arpeggiata & Ensemble Barbara Fortuna (Corsican Choir), Christina PluharMediterranean passion - of a religious nature - inspires L’Arpeggiata’s new collection, an encounter between works by the 17th century Italian composers Sances and Merula and traditional music from Italy and Corsica. L’Arpeggiata, the French-based ensemble directed by Austrian-born harpist and lutenist Christina Pluhar, releases its second Virgin Classics album, following Teatro d’amore, a programme of Monteverdi which blended instruments and voices, score and improvisation in a kind of sublime Baroque jam session. |
 Rimsky-Korsakov - Orchestral SuitesRussian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev"What's not to like? The music is gorgeously tuneful and atmospheric, the orchestration amazing, the playing excellent, the sonics vibrant. Pletnev's crisp briskness works quite well in music that thrives on rhythmic precision, elegance, and immaculate phrasing." ClassicsToday |
 Brahms: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3 (complete)Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) & Lambert Orkis (piano)On this recording, Anne-Sophie Mutter, accompanied by pianist Lambert Orkis, shares her up-to-date thoughts on the Brahms Violin Sonatas that have been central to her repertoire from the start of her career. These sonatas are among the most intense, emotionally penetrating works composed for the violin. |
 Johann, I’m Only Dancing - Masterworks by J.S. BachRed Priest: Piers Adams (recorders), Julia Bishop (violin), Howard Beach (harpsichord), Angela East (cello)A dynamic presentation of music by the greatest genius of the baroque era, performed with Red Priest’s legendary blend of creativity, wit, and virtuosity! The program includes epic transcriptions of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and the great Toccata and Fugue in D minor, alongside a host of dazzling allegros, whirling dances, and some of the most sublime adagios ever composed. |
 The Complete Butterworth SongbookMark Stone (baritone) & Stephen Barlow (piano)This is the first complete recording of all thirty songs by George Butterworth, which are performed by devoted English song advocates Mark Stone and Stephen Barlow. The CD includes all 11 of the settings from A Shropshire Lad and the first complete edition of his Eleven Folk Songs from Sussex, 8 of which are world premiere recordings as are Haste on my Joys and Love Blows as the Wind Blows. |
 Bach - Cantatas and Sacred MasterpiecesThe acclaimed readings of the major Bach choral works - “Primary choices for these works” - The Penguin Guide - are among the greatest recordings of our time. Here they are joined by 12 CDs of equally distinguished recordings of Bach cantatas, from Gardiner’s famous “pilgrimage” in 2000, plus the Magnificat and Cantata no. 51 (originally recorded for the Philips label) |
 Australian Eloquence5 new re-issuesThis month's Australian Eloquence issues feature three discs of the great virtuoso violinist Ruggiero Ricci, including the 1952 recording of the Beethoven Concerto with Boult which I think sees its first release on CD. Also this month is a disc of the great Arthur Grumiaux in the concertos of Berg Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, and one of the German conductor Karl Münchinger who died twenty years ago in 1990. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 20th March 2010 |
Building a Library - Bach: Cantata BWV56 ‘Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen’ |
 First Choice(Volume 10 of the Gardiner Bach Cantata series)Joanne Lunn (soprano), William Towers (alto), James Gilchrist (tenor), Peter Harvey (bass), The Monteverdi Choir, The English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner |
Disc of the Week |
 Beethoven: Incidental Music to ‘Egmont’, Op 84Madeleine Pierard (soprano), Soren Meyer-Eller (narrator), New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd |
Your details will be used only in accordance with our Privacy Policy. |
Copyright © 2002-13 Presto Classical Limited, all rights reserved.