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Presto News - 28th June 2010Ronald Brautigam's Beethoven |
 This week sees the release of the final volume in Ronald Brautigam’s cycle of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas on a fortepiano. The period in which Beethoven wrote these sonatas was one of rapid development for the piano (or fortepiano as it was then called) and he more than anyone pushed the manufacturers by constantly writing music slightly beyond the natural capabilities of the instruments of the time. For this recording of four of the late sonatas, Brautigam uses a fortepiano built in 2007 by Paul McNulty modelled on an instrument by Conrad Graf of about 1819. Graf was an important maker of the time and in 1825 provided a piano for Beethoven. His instruments retained the thin soundboard and light hammers typical of the Viennese classical era and he was held in high esteem by a number of composers including Chopin, Schumann and Brahms.  Ronald Brautigam Although the fortepiano is in some respects a smaller version of a modern piano, there's nothing small-scaled about these performances. And while the fortepiano doesn’t have the same power and volume as a modern concert grand, it more than makes up for that in clarity and timbre. The fact that you can actually hear all the notes in the fortissimo low passages gives it a frightening ferocity. Indeed I think one of the big drawbacks of using a modern piano to play Beethoven is that the loud low passages often descend into a muddy haze. There is no such danger here and the rapid and repeated low notes build this music into a real frenzy of excitement. Other than the increased clarity, the other very noticeable thing on these recordings is that different registers on the fortepiano all have slightly different timbres. This gave Beethoven an extra reason to score passages in certain registers and gives Brautigam a much wider palette of colours at his disposal. It means he doesn’t need to use other techniques (like rubato and variety of attacks) in order to characterise phrases differently, and this increased simplicity is very much to the benefit of the music. In Brautigam’s hands the music sounds lyrical and perfectly phrased without in any way sounding mannered. Because the fortepiano doesn’t have the same sustaining power as a modern piano Brautigam’s tempos for the slower movements are often slightly faster than you might be used to. But they never sound rushed, and always feel natural, while giving him the opportunity for a little ebb and flow without danger of losing the musical line. The recording was made in Österåker Church in Sweden which has a rich and sympathetic acoustic. It suits the instrument well as it softens the percussive edge and makes it sound probably richer than it actually is. If I’m honest I might have preferred a more neutral acoustic (more akin to drawing rooms and small halls that one imagines Beethoven would probably have played these sonatas), but you can’t get away from how good it all sounds so it is very hard to complain. The recorded sound is otherwise vibrant and realistic and it sounds superb in SACD but equally marvellous in conventional two-speaker stereo. The mixture of Brautigam’s technique, insights and musicality combined with the clarity and excitement of the fortepiano makes a very strong case for this whole series. I’m told that although he has now completed the 32 numbered sonatas he plans to go on and record the Early Bonn Sonatas and the variations, dances and bagatelles. And while I certainly wouldn’t want to only ever listen to Beethoven on a fortepiano, I do think that to really understand his piano music you need to know something about the instruments he wrote for, and you’re missing out on something in this music if you have only ever heard it played on modern instruments. As usual I’ve given you a couple of samples to give you an idea. Enjoy!
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 Beethoven - Complete Works for Solo Piano Volume 8Piano Sonatas Op. 101, 109-111Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano)
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Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
listen - Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109: I. Vivace, ma non troppoNew Releases28th June 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. |
 Handel - Italian Cantatas Volume 7Roberta Invernizzi (soprano), Thomas E. Bauer (bass), Furio Zanasi (bass) & Fabio Bonizzoni (harpsichord & direction), La RisonanzaFor the final volume in Fabio Bonizzoni’s survey of cantatas written by Handel during his stay in Italy, the background scenery moves – like a reflection of the Grand Tour – from Rome to Naples; probably the troubled times in a Rome besieged by Imperial troops during the War of the Spanish Succession may have encouraged the young, itinerant Saxon musician to consider that heading down south was safer and more conducive to his overall career prospects. |
 Leighton - Symphony No. 1 & Piano Concerto No. 3BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn BrabbinsThis is the third volume in Chandos’ latest championing of the music of Kenneth Leighton, presenting two further premiere recordings. The previous volume, including Symphony No. 2 (Sinfonia mistica), received tremendous critical acclaim, earning a Rosette in the latest Penguin Guide to Recorded Music. It was a Critic’s Choice in the December 2009 issue of Gramophone, Andrew Achenbach writing: ‘Chandos’ most valuable exploration of Kenneth Leighton’s large-scale output continues with this exhilarating coupling… Miss at your peril.’ |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in Eb Major 'Romantic'Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo VänskäSymphony No.4 in E-flat major has been one of Bruckner's most popular works ever since its first performance, in Vienna 1881. It is often called the ‘Romantic', a nickname that Bruckner himself used, most probably in reference to the literary genre of the medieval romance. What was performed in Vienna in 1881 was a second, revised version of the symphony, which had actually already seen first light in 1874. In spite of the success of the revised version, further revisions took place before publication, resulting in the so-called ‘1888 version' recorded here. Although this remained the preferred version for several decades, it later became discredited, as it was assumed that the revisions it contained were the product of others than the composer himself. The rehabilitation of the 1888 version is to a large extent due to the efforts of the musicologist Benjamin Korstvedt, who in 2004 prepared the first modern edition of the 1888 version for the Bruckner Collected Works edition. In his liner notes to the present disc, Korstvedt discusses this background, giving a number of interesting illustrations of the differences between editions. |
 Bach - Cantatas Volume 46Hana Blažíkova (soprano), Robin Blaze (counter-tenor), Gerd Türk (tenor) & Peter Kooij (bass), Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki SuzukiAll four works in this volume of Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan's acclaimed Bach Cantatas cycle come from the second half of 1726. During this period Bach often chose works by other composers for his weekly performances in the St Thomas Church at Leipzig, and was therefore able to dedicate more time and effort to those cantatas that he did compose himself. In particular the introductory choruses of the cantatas included here demonstrate this, with their large-scale, almost symphonic conception. |
 Mahler: Symphony No. 7 in E minorResidentie Orchestra the Hague, Neeme JärviNeeme Järvi has been recording for Chandos for several decades now, especially with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, with which he has made more than 100 CDs. Many of these recordings have received tremendous critical acclaim and include several Gramophone Award Winners. This is his second Chandos recording with the Residentie Orchestra The Hague, of which he is chief conductor. The first, of Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony (CHSA5080) was released in April to excellent acclaim. Gramophone wrote: ‘Järvi is too good a musician not to take his players with him. Indeed the Dutch musicians display a certain daredevil nonchalance as they breeze their way through the epic 635-bar finale.’ |
 Strauss, R: Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bernard HaitinkHot on the heels of an Editor’s Choice for his Alpine Symphony, Bernard Haitink conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of the world’s greatest Strauss ensembles, in Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life) whose US première it gave in 1900. The CSO pours out a lush interpretation of Richard Strauss’s large and complex tone poem in their newest live recording. Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink leads with restraint and allows the strings and woodwinds to sing. In the famous Battle Scene, the brass and percussion roar, while concertmaster Robert Chen paints his violin solos depicting Strauss’ wife, Pauline, with tender beauty. |
 Le Concert Spirituel - At the time of Louis XVJordi Savall (bass viola da gamba & direction), Le Concert des NationsJordi Savall brings the magnificent evenings of the 18th century Parisian concert series back to life, thanks to an imaginary ‘concert spirituel’ programme featuring three major composers from Italy, Germany and France: Corelli, Telemann and Rameau. This album enables us to (re)discover the quintessence of the musical life during the reign of Louis XV. |
 Haydn: The Heart of Invention (Piano Trios)Trio GoyaTrio Goya plays classical chamber music on period instruments. Formed out of a collective fascination with the new colours and narratives that these instruments suggest, the group concentrates its repertoire on the trios by Haydn and Mozart and the Opus 1 set by Beethoven. A fortepiano by Paul McNulty after Anton Walter, Vienna 1795 is the centrepiece of their performances. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 26th June 2010 |
Building a Library - Delibes: Coppelia |
 First Choice(coupled with Sylvia suite & Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2)L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet |
Disc of the Week |
 Beethoven - Violin Sonatas Nos. 3 & 9Viktoria Mullova (violin) & Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano) |
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