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Presto News - 29th August 2011BIS - Maxim Rysanov, Sibelius and a special offer |
 Being a cellist, part of me thinks I should be slightly grumpy about viola players stealing our repertoire. Furthermore when someone like Maxim Rysanov comes along and makes it sound so natural on the viola, I’m not sure whether that makes it better or worse! For his second disc for BIS (his first was transcriptions of three of Bach’s ‘cello’ suites!) he is performing his own transcription of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations.  Maxim Rysanov Some people may remember that he performed it at last year’s ‘Last Night of the Proms’. He doesn’t change Tchaikovsky’s orchestration and simply shifts the solo part sometimes up an octave. His rich warm tone is common throughout, but with brilliance in the high passages, agility in the faster ones and joy and cheekiness in the quirkier movements it is entirely convincing, and I think far more successful than some of the other cello repertoire which violists have tried to steal in past (for example the Elgar Concerto). It is paired here with another work which is most often heard on the cello – Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata – but with the instrument Schubert wrote for (a sort of cross between a guitar and a cello) becoming obsolete a few years after composition, it has a long history of also being performed on the viola. Not so in this version though, with solo viola being accompanied by string orchestra rather than the normal piano. As far as I know this is the first recording of Dobrinka Tabakova’s orchestration and while sceptical at first I have to say it has been very sensitively done with lovely instrumental colours and simple, yet effective, melodic distribution. The final piece on this disc is the lovely Romance by Bruch, which has one of those gorgeous melodies which you never tire of hearing. Rysanov is accompanied throughout this disc by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra under Muhai Tang, who are sensitive and supportive throughout and clearly relishing performing with a soloist as gifted as Rysanov. You can listen to the usual sound samples below and it is a good time to buy it as it is currently included in out 25% off BIS special offer (which only runs until 7th September). While mentioning the BIS special offer I must also mention the final volume of the New Sibelius Complete Edition. No other label has done more for the cause of Sibelius than BIS, and volume 13 (released 12th September but still at the 25% off price) completes the series of box sets begun four years ago to present for the first time a uniform edition of all the composer’s works. Comprising over 60 CDs, it is a monumental effort but full of terrific recordings it is undoubtedly the first choice place to go. But just because BIS have recorded all the composer’s works (sometimes two or three times) doesn’t mean they’re stopping and indeed one of the pick of the new releases this week is a disc of music from the Tempest, the Bard and Tapiola from the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Okko Kamu. The Lahti Symphony Orchestra became synonymous with the music of Sibelius under their previous Principal Conductor Osmo Vänskä, and it is a tradition which Okko Kamu is very much building on. These are exciting, vivid recordings, wonderfully played and superbly recorded, which if you have the SACD option sound even better. You can browse full details of the BIS special offer here, or explore the three discs mentioned above in more detail via the links below.
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 Maxim Rysanov plays Schubert, Tchaikovsky & BruchMaxim Rysanov (viola), Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Muhai Tang |
 Sibelius: The Tempest Overture and SuitesLahti Symphony Orchestra, Okko Kamu |
 The Sibelius Edition Volume 13 - Miscellaneous WorksVolume 13 of the Sibelius Edition focuses on the Masonic Ritual Music for tenor and organ and the complete music for solo organ, but also includes orchestral fragments and a recording of the bells from Helsinki’s Kallio Church, for which Sibelius composed the melody in 1912. |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
Listen - sound samples available for this itemNew Releases29th August 2011 |
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. |
 The Romantic Piano Concerto 54 - Somervell & CowenMartin Roscoe (piano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn BrabbinsThe three world premiere recordings featured here comprise the complete works for piano and orchestra by both composers (an early student concerto by Cowen appears lost). Martin Roscoe and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra are on scintillating form throughout. An entertaining addition to the renowned Romantic Piano Concerto catalogue. |
 Bartók: Violin Concerto & Viola ConcertoJames Ehnes (violin / viola), BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea NosedaHailed as ‘the Jascha Heifetz of our day’ (The Globe and Mail, Canada), the violinist James Ehnes is widely considered one of the most dynamic and exciting performers in classical music, appearing regularly with the world’s finest orchestras and conductors. Accompanied here by the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda, Ehnes is the soloist in Bartók’s two violin concertos in which he plays the ‘Marsick’ Stradivarius of 1715, as well as in the viola concerto, performing on the ‘Rolla’ Giuseppe Guadagnini viola of 1793, on loan from the Fulton Collection. |
 Clara and Robert Schumann: PortraitsMiah Persson (soprano) & Joseph Breinl (piano)Women in love, in pain and in emotional turmoil – such is the subject matter of most of the songs that Swedish soprano Miah Persson and pianist Joseph Breinl have chosen for this recital of works by Robert and Clara Schumann. The year of Robert and Clara’s wedding is often called Schumann’s Liederjahr; during this ‘year of song’ he composed more than 150 songs, and his wedding gift to Clara was in fact a song cycle, Myrthen, Op. 25. Sixteen songs dated 1840 can be found here, including the Frauenliebe und Leben cycle, the crowning achievement of the year. |
 Ross Edwards & Sibelius: Violin ConcertosAdele Anthony (violin), Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Arvo VolmerOf particular interest here is Ross Edward’s Violin Concerto, Maninyas. The original inspiration for Maninyas came from a Houston Ballet commission created by Stanton Welch. This recording is currently the only available commercial recording, and is one of the great modern day violin concertos. |
 Haydn: Piano Sonatas Volume 3Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)The multi-award-winning pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet continues his great survey of Haydn’s piano sonatas. This is Volume 3 in a series, of which The Times wrote: ‘Who is the best composer for refreshing the spirit and making you laugh? Haydn, of course, especially when in the hands of a pianist like Bavouzet, another master of delight.’ |
 Johann Christoph Bach: Welt, gute NachtJulia Doyle, Katharine Fuge, Clare Wilkinson, Jeremy Budd, James Gilchrist, Nicholas Mulroy, Matthew Brook & Peter Harvey, The English Baroque Soloists, Sir John Eliot GardinerThe live concert was billed “Six funerals and a wedding”: the pieces evoke the dark theme of grief, as was fashionable in 17th century Lutheran Germany; though the last track “Meine Freundin” is a lighter amorous dialogue. The music on this album is in turn dark, poignant, humane and witty. It features choral music (motets) as well as solo arias and laments, and two dialogues. Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703) – not to be confused with Johann Christian Bach – was Johann Sebastian’s older cousin. A respected composer in his lifetime, he greatly influenced J S Bach’s music making. |
 Busoni: Doktor FaustDietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Faust), Richard Lewis (Mephistopheles), Ian Wallace (Wagner), Heather Harper (Duchess of Parma) & John Cameron (Duke of Parma), London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Sir Adrian BoultBusoni’s opera, Doktor Faust is unquestionably one of the experimental operatic masterpieces of the twentieth-century. The composer wrote his own libretto and worked on the composition for nearly two decades, although it remained unfinished on his death in 1924. Doktor Faust was completed the following year by Busoni’s pupil, Philipp Jarnach. This recording of a 1959 BBC broadcast is of a shortened concert version created by Sir Adrian Boult, in consultation with baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. |
 Berlioz: Harold in ItalyDavid Aaron Carpenter (viola), Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir AshkenazyFor his second CD release, 25-year-old New York-born violist David Aaron Carpenter is joined by Vladimir Ashkenazy who leads the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Together they perform the Symphony with Viola obbligato, “Harold in Italy,” which Hector Berlioz originally wrote on a commission from Paganini. The present recording features, for the first time, an unpublished more virtuosic soloist part written for Paganini. |
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