Penguin Guide Rosette Winners

‘This is conducting akin to genius, with insights and instincts that can’t be measured by any old yardstick. Rattle’s sense of drama, of apocalyptic events, is so strong that at the final chords one is awed. The CBSO emerges as an orchestra of world class and the CBSO Chorus is magnificent. The recording is superb.’ (The Gramophone)

“Where Simon Rattle's interpretation is concerned, we must go into the realm of a giant Mahlerian like Klemperer.
For we're dealing here with conducting akin to genius, with insights and instincts that can't be measured with any old yardstick. Rattle's sense of drama, of apocalyptic events, is so strong that at the final chords one is awed. None of this could have been achieved without the CBSO, which here emerges as an orchestra of world class. Such supple and rich string playing, such expressive woodwind and infallibly accurate and mellow-toned brass, could be mistaken as belonging to Vienna, Berlin or Chicago. Attention to dynamics is meticulous, and contributes immeasurably to the splendour of the performance.
A double pianissimo is really that, so when triple forte comes along its impact is tremendous.
Some outstanding features can be pinpointed: the haunting beauty of the portamento horn playing and the strings' sensitive and perfectly graded glissandos at fig 23; the magical entry of flute and harps just after fig 3 in the second movement; and the frightening eruption of the two fortissimo drum notes just after fig 51 in the same movement. Dame Janet Baker is at her most tender in 'Urlicht', with Arleen Auger as the soul of purity in the finale. The CBSO Chorus is magnificent. Indeed the whole finale is an acoustic triumph. This in a spiritual class of its own and the recording is superb.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Rattle's reading of Mahler Second Symphony is among his very finest records, superlative in its breadth and the vividness of its sound. The inspired orchestral playing and beautifully balanced choral singing are matched by the heartfelt response of the soloists” Penguin Guide, 2010 ****

“Harnoncourt attends to the subtler aspects of Dvorak's scoring, and his love for the music's unique sound world is abundantly clear...[he] relishes the music's mix of rustic dance forms and colouristic innovation.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2010

“Harnoncourt gives us a compelling account of 'The Water Goblin' savouring to the full both its lyric and its scary elements” International Record Review

“This Beethoven Fourth is one of the most perfect accounts (and perhaps the most perfect account) of the Concerto ever recorded. Poetry and virtuosity are held in perfect poise, with Ludwig and the Philharmonia providing near-ideal accompaniment. Gilels’s Emperor is also a masterful and compelling performance.” Gramophone Magazine

“Stokowski's orchestrations, as flamboyant and full of flair as his interpretations as a conductor, have increasingly been accepted and welcomed on disc, a good sign that rigidly purist attitudes have nowadays softened. This Naxos collection of Stokowski's arrangements offers outstanding performances by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, brilliantly recorded.
Few would claim that Stokowski's arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition matches, let alone outshines, that of Ravel. But with its weighty brass it is certainly more Russian. In fact – one of the most serious shortcomings – Stokowski omits two of the movements, 'Tuileries' and the 'Market Place at Limoges' on the grounds that they are too French. Yet Serebrier's new performance makes it very convincing with speeds well chosen and the brass wonderfully incisive.
The atmospheric qualities of the Boris Godunov Symphonic Synthesis come over superbly too, starting with a hauntingly rarefied bassoon solo, even if the recording catches the clicking of the keys. The mystery of the chimes in the Coronation scene as well as the Death scene are more evocatively handled. If A Night on the Bare Mountain finds the Naxos recording rather less immediate than in the other items, the weight of the arrangement comes over well, and the Khovanshchina Entr'acte has impressive weight and clarity.
The extra items also weigh in Serebrier's favour: an arrangement of a Tchaikovsky song that explores an astonishingly wide emotional range within a tiny span and the jolly Humoresque, a piano piece that Stravinsky memorably used in his ballet The Fairy's Kiss. Finally, a baldly effective piece, attributed to Stokowski himself, based not just on a Christmas hymn but on Ippolitov-Ivanov's In a Manger.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Serebrier's own imposing, heavyweight style yields different results to the volatile Knussen… but it's always absorbing. Something of the Stokowski sound is filtered through the refined texturing of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and further enhanced by the spacious concert-hall acoustic.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2005

“…outstanding performances by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, brilliantly recorded in sound if anything even more spectacular and more cleanly focused than that on the discs from Chandos and DG.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2005

“…Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic, resplendently recorded, capture the languorous sensuality of L'après-midi supremely well, with the flautist Emmanuel Pahud phrasing in huge spans, and with the most refined rubati. La mer is less tempestuous than it can be... but I find it more convincing and more evocative than when it is turned into a concerto for orchestra. Once again every last touch of colour emerges in this beautifully natural recording.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2005 ****

“Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic's perfumed, pictorial 1964 recordings of Debussy's Prélude à L'après-midi d'unfaune and La mer (see above) have come to be revered – and rightly so, as they possess a remarkable frisson. Rattle's interpretations, recorded live, are markedly less urgent; with nary a noise from the audience, one might even mistake them for studio recordings. Yet these new accounts, too, have the ability to engross and sometimes even astonish. Note, for example, the sinuous swoop of the flutes and clarinets at the beginning of 'Jeux de vagues' in La mer, or the shimmering rustle of strings at 1'00" in the Prélude – both almost tactile sensations.
Of course, one counts on Rattle to elucidate detail, and here the clarification of the music's intricately layered textures is revelatory. Karajan appears more intent on blending colours, creating a kind of sonic kaleidoscope that, coupled with a strong narrative thrust, can make Debussy sound a little like Rimsky-Korsakov. Subtlety may be part of the issue. Karajan, for example, heightens dynamic contrast whereas Rattle grades the dynamics as per Debussy's instructions (he's one of the few conductors who seems to have noticed that there's but one fortissimo in the Prélude).
The makeweights are especially valuable.
There aren't that many recordings of La boîte àjoujoux in the catalogue and this zestful, gracefully droll performance is among the best. As in the Prélude and La mer, the conductor's supple tempo manipulations convey a real feeling of spontaneity. Colin Matthews's scoring of three piano Préludes evokes Debussy's sound world with preternatural accuracy.
The turbulence of 'Ce qu'a vu le vent d'Ouest' and sparkle of 'Feux d'artifice' are most impressive, though 'Feuilles mortes', with its hauntingly desolate atmosphere, is perhaps finer still.
In short, a dazzling disc.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“the clarification of the music’s intricately layered textures is revelatory… In short, a dazzling disc” Gramophone Magazine

“Mendelssohn is clearly the guiding spirit here. But in movements like the delightfully capricious scherzo of the C minor Symphony, and in some of the striking modulations in the outer movements of both symphonies she shows she's no mere imitator. These fine performances certainly do her justice...” BBC Music Magazine, June 2005 ****

“what a fine work the C minor Symphony is, attractively tuneful throughout and with a fine grasp of orchestration and form...Shelley and the London Mozart Players are admirable advocates throughout, and this CD is most enjoyable.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“The pickiest Mozartians will appreciate his energy and lyricism…” (CD of the Week, The Observer, October 2004)