Best Recordings of 2018 (Re-Releases)

Time for a review of classical CDs that were outstanding in 2018 again! This lists the re-releases, the list with all choices, including the new releases, can be found here.

Preamble

For the usual preamble, go to the complete list. Here, meanwhile, are the links to the past iterations on ionarts and Forbes.com:

2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2008—"Almost" | 2009 | 2009—"Almost" | 2010 | 2010—"Almost" | 2011 | 2011—"Almost" | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017

# 10 - Re-Release

Joseph Marx, Orchestral Works v.1, Steven Sloane, Bochum Symphony, Naxos 8.573831

Joseph Marx, Orchestral Works v.1 (Nature Trilogy, Symphonic Night Music, Idyll, Spring Music) S.Sloane / Bochum Symphony Naxos

“To each instrument according to his ability, from each according to its timbre”, you might recall, was – famously – Joseph Marx’ mantra, when sitting in his Vienna office of the university, composing the colorful panoplies that are his orchestral works. There are those who say that his music, untimely then, outdated soon thereafter, lacking modernity or forward-drive, landed on the ash heap of history. But not so, thanks to a band of steady Joseph-Marxists, such as the American-in-Bochum Steven Sloane, who continued the fight and made valuable recordings of this lush whipped double-cream romanticism. These were made for ASV with his Bochum Orchestra – which brought the little band in the coal-mining West a bit of fame. But ASV is no more and the 1994 recordings out of print and scattered to the winds. But here cometh Naxos to the rescue, re-issuing these still very fine (albeit not perfect; just imagine the Vienna Philharmonic in engagement-mode or the Dresden Staatskapelle play these) recordings. For all these reasons, this first of three is most welcome, indeed!

# 9 - Re-Release

Antonio Rosetti, Symphonies & Concertos, Johannes Moesus, Hamburg Symphony, MDG 601 2056-2

Antonio Rosetti, Symphonies & Concertos J.Moesus / Hamburg SO mDG

MDG, that quintessentially Mittelstand-CD label from Germany, has been slapping single disc releases together as Twofers as re-releases for a while – all roughly twenty years after that practice was common with Philips DUOs and EMI double-fortes et al. That’s not to say that good things don’t come of that, especially as the original liner notes are fused and retained which is especially welcome when it comes to the lesser known composers MDG is known to highlight. In this case it was Antonio Rosetti who got that treatment, with MDG joining their symphony and concerto recordings of the Mozart contemporary. Such supremely charming music – to which this set is as fine (or better) an introduction as any. “It isn’t, strictly speaking, absolutely necessary to compare Antonio Rosetti (1750-1792) to Haydn or Mozart. But as soon as you hear a few bars of his D major symphony those two superstars of the classical-classical era will pop to mind. Not that the comparison is new; it was common enough even in the composer’s lifetime.” Full ClassicsToday review here.

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War-Time Wilhelm Furtwängler: Questionable Greatness

The conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler’s art has so imbued itself into the collective conscious of the music-loving public that, to this day, 65 years after his death, the name still evokes greatness. Sure, there are factions – especially the Arturo Toscanini-loving types – that dispute Furtwängler’s greatness. Or those who suggest that for every moment of incandescence there were two of crud. And a modern listener might hear scratchy old recordings that are a far cry from today’s technical standards in terms of sound and performance and wonder what the big deal is. But even for those who cannot ascertain his dare-not-be-questioned ‘wondrous amazingness’ (and if you admit as much, be ready to be painted an ignoramus), the point is probably not to determine Furtwängler’s greatness in terms of what we can glean today from his art but by how lasting a legacy he has left. In fact, it’s perhaps even more amazing for that reputation to be so lasting in face of evidence that doesn’t always support it in ‘conventional ways’.

For decades this mythical reputation has lived off relatively few official releases (which weren’t always the best ones) and an enormous amount of semi-pirated gray-market imprints (which were often of disastrous technical quality). Eventually the Audite label took its painstaking restoration process and has opened much of the Furtwängler vault to potential listeners with their standard-setting releases and sets (especially notable the Complete RIAS recordings box). Now the Berlin Philharmonic, Furtwängler’s own band, gets in on it, too, and delivers what might be reasonably considered the definitive collection of the wartime recordings.

The set of 22 hybrid SACDs, striking a less marshal tone, is actually titled “The Radio Recordings 1939-1945” – and collects every surviving broadcast recording from that time – covering 21 concerts (partially, some) that Furtwängler gave in those years. The relatively good 77cm/s magnetic tape reels, which had been in Soviet custody until after the Cold War, were newly digitized on a custom tape machine of Radio Berlin-Brandenburg’s.

On paper, some of the most interesting ingredients are of course Furtwängler war time Beethoven symphonies: Complete performances of the Fourth (once with and once without an audience present), Fifth (twice), Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Symphonies. (There are also the Coriolan Overture and the Violin and Fourth Piano Concertos with longtime Berlin Philharmonic concert master Erich Röhn and Conrad Hansen as soloists, respectively.) There is some repertoire that has since fallen by the wayside, like Heinz Schubert’s Hymnic Concerto, Furtwängler’s own Symphonic Concerto (with Edwin Fischer as the pianist!), or Ernst Pepping’s Second Symphony. A complete Fifth and Ninth lure the Bruckner lover and Richard Strauss is well presented with tone poems and orchestrated songs. It’s also a pretty one-sided slice of the repertoire that the listener gets: Short pieces by Handel, Gluck and Mozart’s Symphony No.39 are the only earlier-than-romantic works and Ravel and Sibelius are the only non-Germanic entries.

As is typical of the coffee-table vanity sets of the Berlin Philharmonic’s own label, they are luxuriously packaged and shaped exactly so that they won’t fit into a single shelf – CD or book – of human devising. Previously, the CD/Blu-ray releases in that format have, after some time, been re-issued slightly less luxuriously but in conventionally shaped SACD boxes. Given the commemorative nature of this set, that might be less likely. The 180 page bilingual book is terrific, brimming with great photos and many excerpts from Furtwängler’s letters… especially to his record producers, which are telling especially when the conductor talks about his dissatisfaction with the end results.

Also among these excerpts is one snippet that shows that the Toscanini-Furtwängler rivalry was not just a figment of their respective follower’s imagination. Decrying to EMI their lack of interest in recording his performances, Furtwängler wrote them in May of 1953: “While in the past you had mentioned from time to time that I should record the IX. [Beethoven] symphony, I haven’t heard anything about that as of late. Instead I see the IX. Symphony of Toscanini’s praised beyond all measure (even in Germany) in a propagandistic way that stands in gross contrast to the quality of that record.” Furtwängler would be happy to know that he’s been the beneficiary of nearly as much propagandistic praise, since. Whether in gross contrast to the quality of the record, that is yours to decide.

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(More pictures below.)

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Twitter comments: "#pompous, ill judged & tone deaf"

I do love a good argument!

Rarely have I read such a #pompous, ill judged & tone deaf review. What an utter #MoronInChief @ClassicalCritic is. "106 Years #Mahler Eighth: The Best Recordings" via @forbes https://t.co/HyVENdQRzX

— ✍️ Alexander Beck 🎯 (@AlexBeckWriter) January 22, 2019

On ClassicsToday: Peter Gregson Banalizes Bach (CD from Hell)

CD From Hell: Peter Gregson Banalizes Bach

by Jens F. Laurson

I like re-orchestrations, transcriptions, and re-compositions as much as the next guy. In fact, more than the next guy. Max Richter’s re-composed “4 Seasons” is terrific in its way; Hans Zender’s “composed interpretation” of Die Winterreise can be endlessly fascinating. Uri Caine’s Mahler is supremely... Continue Reading [Insider content]

Caro Claudio Abbado, Who Died Today - Five Years Ago

Claudio Abbado's recorded legacy is already undergoing a more critical reception than it had been during his last decades and immediately since his death. The fawning subsides and even in polite society one can point out that he was capable not only of some truly thrilling peaks of interpretation but also of braod swaths of boredom. But on his fifth deathiversary, let's celebrate the good and the great and the marvellous by poiting back to this remembrance of George A. Pieler's and mine for Forbes.com:

The 13 Best Recordings of Claudio Abbado: A Remembrance

...and this portrait of Abbado's I made for the lovely but now defunct European edition of Auditorium Magazine.

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On ClassicsToday: An Audiophile Bach-On-Guitar Delight

An Audiophile Bach-On-Guitar Delight

Review by: Jens F. Laurson

Artistic Quality: ?

Sound Quality: ?

There is no dearth of discs of arrangements of Bach for guitar (Barrios, Segovia, and Tárrega most famously)–nor recordings thereof. Even the Sonatas and Partitas have been covered–by Eliot Fisk, Francesco Teopini, Mats Bergström, and others. But it is rare that a Bach guitar recital of such immediately arresting quality comes along, as this one from Bin Hu on the slightly obscure, Spanish Eudora label.

Bin Hu opens with the Bach-on-guitar evergreen, the Prelude from the Sixth Partita for Solo Violin BWV 1006, before taking on the first and third sonata en gros... continue reading

Record Label BIS Goes Green (You Had Me at "Turtles")

The Swedish record lable BIS, known for its pioneering work in publishing the complete works of Jean Sibelius, dedication to the SACD format, and home to the superb Bach Cantata Cycle under Masaaki Suzuki's, is now setting an example of ecologically conscious CD packaging. Later this month, a press release announced, the label's owner Robert von Bahr will release a Super Audio Compact Disc in an 'ecopak', a 100% recyclable sleeve made of certified cardboard, printed on with soy ink, gummed up eco-friendly glue and water-based varnish. Once they are through their inventory, all of BIS' recordings will use the new sleeves.

Alan Hovhaness, And God Created Great Whales, Concerto No. 8 for Orchestra, Anahid et al. D.Amos, Philharmonia Orchestra Cyrstal Records

In tune with the Zeitgeist, Bahr comments: “The use of plastic is doing enormous harm to the environment. No one can walk away from the pictures of whales, fish and turtles full of plastic without feeling horror.”

While it is safe to say that no BIS jewel-case has ever come in contact with a whale (the products have a considerable longevity and literal shelf life and are consumed in countries with robust recycling and garbage incinerator systems), there is something to be said for the symbolism of reducing the use of plastic and, down the line, potential waste. Aside there is a genuinely green aspect, after all: Although the sleeves cost about 20 percent more to make than a standard plastic CD jewel box, it weighs a third less. This reduces the energy used to ship the product and therefore transport costs, showing that good economic sense is usually also environmentally sound. Naturally, in this day and age, this is marketed in pseudo-scientific bright green colors as "reducing the carbon emissions associated with transport costs..." (surely "carbon dioxide emissions"?), underplaying the perfectly sound and actually ecolocial and economical energy-savings.

"Von Bahr is taking the loss", suggestes the press release, quoting the man himself: “If this helps the recording business move away from plastic packaging in favour of more ecological alternatives, I will be happy,” says the veteran record industry executive. "I have rarely been so inspired by anything. Everything about this is right - the need, the timing and the solution". Admirable, indeed, and with any luck, the public relations side-effect might even make up for some the projected losses when the sales of BIS’ first ecopak, namely a SACD of the Dutch composer Joel Bons' 2019 Music Composition Grawemeyer Award winning work 'Nomaden' - go through the roof. Whales, fish, turtles and consumers are cheering him on.

Recommended listening to reading this item is, quite naturally, Alan Hovhaness' "And God Created Great Whales" from 1970, for orchestra and the taped songs of whales (including humpback [timpani], bowhead [strings], and killer whales [sopranos]). Alas, not available on BIS records.

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In the News: A New Home For Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra

Previously, when the musicians of “The World’s Best Orchestra” – a.k.a. Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – wanted to practice outside the scheduled orchestral rehearsals at the actual Concertgebouw (Amsterdam’s famous shoe-box 1888 concert hall), they had to find their own place to do it; often renting space nearby... [read the full item over on ClassicsToday]

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On ClassicsToday: Loving Langgaard, Chamber Music Edition

Loving Langgaard: Chamber Music Edition

Review by: Jens F. Laurson

Artistic Quality: ?

Sound Quality: ?

If you draw a squiggly line between Brahms, Sibelius, and Einojuhani Rautavaara and put down your palm flat in the middle, you’ll have arrived, more or less, at Rued Langgaard’s idiom–or slightly north of it. If that eschews a concrete definition, well, so does the composer: Langgaard (1893-1952) was the quintessential oddball composer of the 20th century, although he may never have meant to be. He was either well ahead of his time, stylistically, or purposefully behind. You might find him looking for Wagnerian sounds, coupled with some of the colorful strangeness of Scriabin, and the lushness of Richard Strauss. Elsewhere he bumps up against the boundaries of form and tonality in the most kaleidoscopic, imaginative ways... continue reading 

On ClassicsToday: Zelenka Goodness from Stuttgart

Zelenka Goodness From Stuttgart

Review by: Jens F. Laurson

Artistic Quality: ?

Sound Quality: ?

Jan Dismas Zelenka is one of the most consistent sources of delight: A major late-baroque composer known well enough to be performed but still so unexploited as to bear constant surprises and discoveries. Case in point, this Missa Sancti Josephi, a Mass, like the Missa Divi Xaverii (Accent), that skips the Credo. Two Psalms–De profundis ZWV50 and In exitu Israel ZWV84–round out the disc. Frieder Bernius and his Stuttgart forces deliver the goods, aided by a vocal cast led by the superb (except for one dodgy exposed top note in the Sanctus) Julia Lezhneva. Daniel Taylor, vocally on the way out, does well on this occasion... continue reading [Insider content; your support is immensely, keenly appreciated.]

On ClassicsToday: A Lady Macbeth From Hell

A Lady Macbeth From Hell

by Jens F. Laurson

The idea of Verdi’s Macbeth (in the original, dramatically taut 1847 version) performed by a period instrument ensemble is, generously viewed, intriguing–at least when Europa Galante and Fabio Biondi are involved, with all their creditable expertise in Italian music. Granted, Verdi is not Vivaldi and... Continue Reading [Insider Content]

#morninglistening to #Elgar’s #CelloConcerto &...

#morninglistening to #Elgar’s #CelloConcerto & #Bloch’s #Schelomo on @LaDolceVolta

Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/3rFIqnS

Great, gruff, brooding recording of the #ErnestBloch in particular.

#GaryHoffman (cello) #LiègeRoyalPhilharmonic Orchestra #ChristianArming

#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #englishclassicalmusic #germanromanticism #RobertSchumann #ladolcevolta #noFilter #EdwardElgar
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#morninglistening to early #Schumann #PianoMusic...

#morninglistening to early #Schumann #PianoMusic w/#PhilippeBianconi on @LaDolceVolta

Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/3rFIqnS

#Papillons op.2 🐛
#Davidsbündlertänze op.6
#Carneval op.9 🎡 🎪

#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #solokeyboard #germanromanticism #RobertSchumann #ladolcevolta #noFilter
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Favorite Recordings from 2018

The number of excellent new recordings only seems to multiply at a dizzying rate. I cannot say I listened to everything that came out in 2018, but here are the ones I most enjoyed. Click on the image to order through Amazon.

1. Prokofiev, Music for Two Pianos. M. Argerich, S. Babayan (Deutsche Grammophon) Martha Argerich is an electrifying musician under any circumstances, but this collaboration with pianist Sergei Babayan blew my mind. The astounding arrangements for two pianos are also by Babayan, and there is much to discover, especially in the excerpts from the ballet Romeo and Juliet.

2. Bach, Lute Suite (inter alia). Thomas Dunford (Alpha) Thomas Dunford's work on the theorbo with Opera Lafayette was one of Washington's ten best concerts in 2017. His album of music by Bach proved a highlight of 2018. On this disc he plays Bach's gorgeous Lute Suite, but his arrangements of other Bach works are even more alluring, especially the grand D Minor Chaconne.

3. Josquin des Prez, Miserere mei deus and other sacred motets. Cappella Amsterdam, D. Reuss (Harmonia Mundi) Josquin is the Beethoven of his era, although he may in fact eclipse all other composers of all eras. This disc is among the best work heard from Daniel Reuss and his chamber choir Cappella Amsterdam, with an especially low-pitched, fast-paced rendition of Absalon fili mi that is sunk in darkness. Sadly, the group lost its grant from the Performing Arts Fund in 2016.

4. Alexander Kastalsky, Memory Eternal to the Fallen Heroes (inter alia). The Clarion Choir, Steven Fox (Naxos) Conductor Steven Fox took over the leadership of Washington's Cathedral Choral Society last fall. He took part in the performance of Kastalsky's World War I oratorio here, one of the year's top ten performances. These pieces for choir alone are perhaps even more satisfying, in beautifully sculpted performances from Fox's other group, the Clarion Choir.

5. Olivier Messiaen, Catalogue d'Oiseaux. Pierre-Laurent Aimard (Pentatone) Few pianists understand the piano music of Messiaen as profoundly as French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. In his top-notch Shriver Hall recital this year, one movement of the Catalogue d'oiseaux, “Le Courlis cendré,” was a highlight. The whole set, also released in 2018, is mesmerizing, like a walk through desolate landscapes with the bird-loving composer.

6. Music by J.S. Bach. Víkingur Ólafsson (Deutsche Grammophon) I was not much taken by this Icelandic pianist when he made his local debut the first time I heard him in 2013, but the artistry on this disc has proved me utterly wrong. The eclectic selection of music combines mostly miniatures and unexpected arrangements, marking Ólafsson as one of the growing field of accomplished Bach interpreters on the modern piano.

7. Martinů, Madrigals. Martinů Voices, Lukáš Vasilek (Supraphon) Martinů is a composer who keeps giving and giving. The symphonies, the chamber music, the piano works, and now the choral pieces: composed over a period of twenty years and completed only just before his death, this set encapsulates much of his fascination with folk music and poetry. The group Martinů Voices, founded in 2010, has made an exceptionally beautiful rendition of them.

8. A Rose Magnificat. Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (Signum) Can there be possibly be a Christmas CD that hasn't been done before? After years of making excellent recordings of choral music with orchestra, Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort have turned out this top-notch recital of unexpected sacred music, mostly from the Christmas season. The repertory is half early Renaissance (Tallis, White, Shepherd, et al.) and half contemporary (Leighton, Warlock, MacMillan), with not a chestnut or a dud in the mix.

9. Mahler, Symphony No. 6. MusicAeterna, Teodor Currentzis (Sony) I had been wondering when Teodor Currentzis might turn to Mahler. With his orchestra MusicAeterna, based at the opera theater in Perm, Russia, since 2011, Currentzis has, perhaps not surprisingly, started with the Sixth Symphony. It is a piece of blood and guts, froth and spittle, and Currentzis delivers. Currentzis has recorded the middle movements in the Scherzo-Andante order Mahler first chose, which meets with the approval of our Mahler expert, but with only two hammer-blows instead of three.

10. Beethoven, Diabelli Variations. Martin Helmchen (Alpha) Count me a fan of German pianist Martin Helmchen, winner of the Clara Haskil Competition in 2001. Already a favorite interpreter of Schubert, it was no surprise that he has made a delightful recording of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. For such a monumental piece, the work is, as scholar Jean-Paul Montagnier once described it, something akin to a series of bagatelles. Helmchen mines the piece for a bewildering range of moods, understatement piled on understatement.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

	Nocturnal. Jakob Lindberg (BIS) More lute music, if that is your thing. A beautifully constructed recital for the instrument, pairing famous pieces by Dowland with obscurities by Renaissance composers and Benjamin Britten.
	Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake. State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia "Evgeny Svetlanov," Vladimir Jurowski (Pentatone) When this legendary ballet score premiered, it was a failure, and the work most of us know now has been heavily revised and altered. Incredibly, this year saw the world premiere recording of Tchaikovsky's original 1877 version.
	Arvo Pärt, Music for Violin. Viktoria Mullova, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi (Onyx) Viktoria Mullova has impressed me in such a wide range of music, from HIP-inspired Baroque to contemporary. She even does beautiful things with the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.
	Johann Strauss, Aschenbrödel, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Ernst Theis (CPO) Johann Strauss wrote a full-length ballet at the end of his life, but he did not finish it. While known in some versions before this recording, this disc is the first ever to present a reconstruction of the original form of the score, made by Michael Rot.

#morninglistening to #Mahler on @ChannelClassics...

#morninglistening to #Mahler on @ChannelClassics w/@BudFestivalOrch & @fischer_ivan

Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/5XYv3da

in #Symphony No.1

He once told me he’d never conduct/record a full cycle because he didn’t like the 8th, for one, and because others could do that better. I wonder if the @budfestivalorch will record it eventually - and then with which conductor. 😈😀

#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #GustavMahler #frerejacques #orchestralmusic #symphonies

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#morninglistening to #LeonardoBalada (*1933) #concertos on...

#morninglistening to #LeonardoBalada (*1933) #concertos on @NaxosRecords w/@carnegiemellon #WindEnsemble

Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/29HM5Vs

Found the concertos creditable but distinctly disliked the Sonata for Ten Winds.

#classicalcdcollection #classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #contemporaryclassical #20thcenturyclassical #Spanishclassicalmusic #orchestralmusic #violaconcerto #americanclassicalmusic #Balada
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#morninglistening to #Birtwistle’s Angel Fighter et al. on...

#morninglistening to #Birtwistle’s Angel Fighter et al. on @nmcrecordings w/@Ldn_Sinfonietta + @BBCSingers

Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/2gmqImD

Angel: countertenor @A_Watts1

#classicalmusic #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection
#21stcenturyclassical
#contemporarymusic #contemporaryclassical #InBrokenImages #Virelai #BachFestival #cantata
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#morninglistening to @EmanuelAx in v.fine #Eroica Variations by...

#morninglistening to @EmanuelAx in v.fine #Eroica Variations by #Beethoven on @sony_classical

Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/2pr1GMZ

also #JosephHaydn f-minor #Variations & #Schumann
#SymphonicEtudes

#classicalmusic
#classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #solokeyboard #pianomusic #transcription #SonyClassical #EmanuelAx #RobertSchumann
#Haydn #LudwigVanBeethoven #LudwigVan
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On ClassicsToday: References Revisited - Bernstein’s Vienna Beethoven Cycle

References Revisited: Bernstein’s Vienna Beethoven Cycle

Review by: Jens F. Laurson

Artistic Quality: ?

Sound Quality: ?

Some performances age like 80s fashion. Case in point: Leonard Bernstein’s second cycle of the Beethoven Symphonies, recorded live with the Vienna Philharmonic in the late 70s and released to great fanfare and overwhelmingly positive responses in 1980, and which I loved on first exposure. Lavishly re-issued as a CD/Blu-ray (and LP) set, it now looks like an asymmetrical sweater exposing one shoulder with the sleeves hanging down all the way to the leg-warmers: a strangely sexy kind of hideous, outlandish to the point of admirable. It’s the musical equivalent of a Cecil B. DeMille film. Epic, with showmanship left, right and center: Entertaining; exacerbating. Read full review on ClassicsToday [Insider Content] / Six audio samples below

Beethoven: Bernstein / VPO Symphony No. 1 in C-Dur, 4. Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace (excerpt)

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#morninglistening to #Schmelzer on...

#morninglistening to #Schmelzer on #Epiphany
W/@FreiburgBaroque’s #BarockConsort on @pias_usa / @harmoniamundi

Amazon: http://a-fwd.to/3noPeK7

#BarockesWelttheater

I’ll be danged if the Sonata a due Violini scordati isn’t a variation on LOBE DEN HERREN.

Much of it sounds so upbeat, it could just as well be a 60’s folk pop tune.

#classicalmusic #JohannHeinrichSchmelzer #classicalmusiccollection #classicalcdcollection #renaissancemusic #EarlyMusic #HarmoniaMundi #PetraMüllejans @freiburgerbarockorchester #Germanclassicalmusic
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On ClassicsToday: Splendid Flotsam From Till Fellner

Fellner In Concert: Splendid Liszt, Less Impressive Beethoven

by Jens F. Laurson

If you favor pianism over star-power, Austrian Till Fellner should be right up your alley. Although the one-time Alfred Brendel-protégée is generally well regarded among connoisseurs, he strikes as perennially underrated. At his worst, Fellner’s style can appear straightforward, neat, and well behaved, making extremes... Continue Reading

A little #morninglistening to #Martinů #symphonies as I finished...

A little #morninglistening to #Martinů #symphonies as I finished up the #Martinu #Symphony Cycle #Discography on @ionarts
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A Survey of Martinů Symphony Cycles

An Index of ionarts Discographies

Martinů, A Love Affair

When getting a little better acquainted with Bohuslav Martinů, most people will start with the symphonies. They are his most prominent works and, apart maybe from the Second Violin Concerto and the neo-classical La revue de cuisine, the least seldom performed. Like so much music, they have an easier time communicating during a live event, but with a bit of concentration and a nice Scotch or other imbibement of choice at hand, they will yield their beauty, excitement, and vigor on record. As a group of symphonies, they are among the best the 20^th century can offer; think Nielsen, Prokofiev, Honegger; even Shostakovich. (If you are missing Sibelius in this list, that's because I consider him a step above, still… perhaps the finest symphonist of the 20th century and in any case an unfair comparison to just about any other symphonist either side of him.)

The symphonies are also a good entry point, because they are all late works, which is, as Robert R. Reilly notes in Surprised by Beauty, “Martinů’s last magical period”. This way one avoids the heterogeneous previous styles for the introduction and, Reilly continues, “once captivated, [you can] work back through his earlier periods, which each contain masterpieces.” That is certainly true for the jaunty and lighthearted, piano-assisted de-facto Scherzo (“poco allegro”) of the Second Symphony. This is a most easily appreciable corker, even as some of the jolly ease seeps out a little before the finale (itself bright and merry) enters to carry this short crowd pleaser to its rambunctious end. The Third Symphony also has all the makings of an audience pleaser – if only an audience showed up when Martinů, too obscure for average concert-goers, is on the bill. The highlight-filled first movement – full of swinging rhythmic complexity – ends with a terrific bang. There’s a strong, timpani-motored lyrical surge in the middle movement, and the colorfully wily finale rouses even the drowsiest patrons. And, as if it needed another selling point, it’s no longer than a late Haydn Symphony! The touches of Janáček (i.e. Cunning Little Vixen) in the opening of the Fifth Symphony or the resolving chords of the Sixth that communicate the sun rising and spreading its fingers benevolently above all and sundry are musical equivalents of a wide smile.

American Symphonies

Martinů – a functional Asperger sufferer – was 51 when he wrote his first symphony in 1942 and around that time told his biographer “From now on, I’m going all in for fantasy.” To make the point unmistakable, he subtitled his Fourth Piano Concerto Incantations and his Sixth Symphony Fantaisies Symphoniques. The symphonic flowering of his last decade-and-a-half produced such masterpieces as the six symphonies, The Parables, Toccata e due Canzone, Les Fresques de Piero Della Francesca, and Estampes, all of which qualify as orchestral fantasias.” (Reilly, Surprised by Beauty) They are American Symphonies in the sense that they were all written in the US and – except for the Fifth – premiered by the Boston, Cleveland, and Philadelphia orchestras. For more on Martinů, see the chapter in Surprised by Beauty. See also the SBB Recommended Recordings section and this SBB CD review of Martinů’s Bouquet of Flowers.

Considering that all six symphonies amount to only about three hours of music (thereby fitting easily on three CDs), and that they are such major works, it might seem surprising that there are only seven complete cycles to-date (and none on the 'major' labels) – whereas there are already 12 (and more under way) of Vaughan Williams’ cycle of Nine or 21 of Shostakovich’s cycle of 15. As such, this discography took considerably less time to research and put together. Nevertheless, it's not likely to be mistake free. Hence my plea to generously inclined readers with more information and knowledge on the subject than I have to lend a helping hand correcting my mistakes or filling data-lacunae or broken links or oversights.

Almost-Cycles

There are several “Almost-Cycles” of Martinů’s symphonies; collections of most but not all the symphonies by one conductor. Since there are only seven complete cycles, it made sense to gather and introduce some of these, too. They all seem to have had at least vague intentions of becoming a cycle but for one reason or

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