A Survey of Nielsen Symphony Cycles

► An Index of ionarts Discographies

Continuing my discographies, this is a survey of — hopefully — every extant recorded cycle of the Carl Nielsen symphonies. They are listed in chronological order of completion. This should include all cycles, whether they were issued as such or not, including those where multiple conductors were at work on it. I have heard many of these and possibly at least some symphonies of most of them, but hardly all of them. Comments on what you like or dislike about any given cycle are very much appreciated — be it below (where they might take a while to be noticed) on Twitter, or best: in both places.

On a personal note: It has taken me long – far too long – to really get into Carl Nielsen’s music. Especially his symphonies. I have attributed this to taking the wrong approach, namely to think of Nielsen as a southern cousin of Sibelius (see also: A Survey of Sibelius Symphony Cycles), expecting his symphonies to do some of the same sort of magic, spell a similar, vaguely “nordic” web of enchantment. On this count, Nielsen fails. He is not “Sibelius 2.0”, in fact, he really isn’t anything like Sibelius. No more, anyway, that Richard Strauss is anything like Sibelius, despite also being a sumptuous romantic composer of the 20th century. Tempting so it may be to hope for it, there are no swans in Nielsen, figure-skating across frozen lakes on a winter’s daybreak. The most prosaic picture you’ll be lucky to wrestle from Nielsen might be – and I’m winging it here – a frog hopping away in the woods. Nielsen himself – allegedly – told Sibelius once Sibelius – allegedly – told Nielsen once: “I don’t reach as high as your ankles.” (If you can find a source for that quote, do let me know!)

The composer who paved my way towards greater, more intense Nielsen-appreciation happened to have been Bohuslav Martinů (see also: A Survey of Martinů Symphony Cycles). It turns out that his six symphonies have much more of a kinship with Nielsen’s than do Sibelius’… if for no more profound reason than both of them working off rhythm and propulsion as their main ingredients. Once I came to Nielsen thinking “Martinů”, not “Sibelius”, I found them far more intriguing and the listening-experience was no longer tainted by disappointment but by a newfound state of wonder at the many things Nielsen does offer. It speaks to the enduring qualities of the composer that he is so well served on record – quantitatively, at least. This survey currently lists 28 symphony cycles by the most liberal count and still 17 if you are stingy (counting only single conductor/composer cycles that are available boxed). Compare that to just seven for Martinů, 14 for Vaughan Willians (see also: “A Survey of Vaughan-William Symphony Cycles”), or 20 for Dvořák (see also: A Survey of Dvořák Symphony Cycles), even it can’t compare to the 50+ that Sibelius has to his name).

Qualitatively is another matter; Nielsen is hard to pull off, even to those ears that take more readily to him than mine did. For his symphonies to really grab you by the lapel and draw you in, a lot of ingredients need to be right. It’s hard to draw general conclusions about what works and what doesn’t, but I think it is fair to say that finesse and delicacy are not two ingredients on which the success of good Nielsen depends. Better a bit more brash than reticent in this music, bold rather than refined. As such, I like the gruff Ole Schmidt, the vividly-vital Bryden Thomson, the sumptuously grand Alan Gilbert, and the carefree abandon of Adrian Leaper. As you might imagine, Leonard Bernstein has a lot to bring to Nielsen – and indeed his Fifth (especially) is one of the great Nielsen-recordings there is. With the same sweeping gesture, I condemn high-profile cycles to the dustbin of civilized boredom. Among them Blomstedt (at least the EMI recordings), Davis, Saraste, Schønwandt (the cycle I started out with – and I might be wrong about it; others love it), and even Vänskä. [Actually, not so fast: Vänskä proved to have distinct merits, on third hearing.] If you are already into Nielsen, I am sure you have your favorites and “Mehs” already, yourself. Curiously, it seems like it is always the same labels that tend towards Nielsen: Chandos, BIS, and (understandably) the Danish Dacapo-label each have three cycles on offer and Chandos already has a fourth (Gardner) in the making. (The fact that DG now has two cycles is probably owed more to the Luisi-cycle having been offered for free to them, than DG having had any designs on adding to Paavo Järvi's cycle from the early 90s.)

I am sitting on the data for several new discographic entries under work. Ring cycles, Mahler, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven symphony cycles, Mozart Piano Concerto and String Quartet-cycles, among others. They take an awful lot of time to research, however, and even more time to put into html-presentable shape. And even then they are rarely complete or mistake-free. Neither will this one be, and every such post is also a plea to generously inclined readers with more information and knowledge of the subject than I have to lend a helping hand correcting my mistakes or filling data-lacunae.

I am explicitly grateful for any such pointers, hinters, and corrections and apologize for any bloomers. (Preferably on Twitter, where I'll read the comment much sooner than here, but either works!) Unlike some earlier discographies, this one does intend to be comprehensive. So I am especially grateful when I have sets that I have missed (such that only ever appeared on LP, for example) pointed out to me. I have not listened to them all, but favorites are indicated with the "ionarts choice" graphic. Ditto recommended cycles by ClassicsToday/David Hurwitz. Links to reputable reviews are included where I thought of it and could find any. With hundreds of links in this document, there are, despite my best efforts, bound to be some that are broken or misplaced; I am glad about every correction that comes my way re. those, too.

Enjoy and leave a comment in some form!


(Survey begins after the break, if you didn't land on this page directly)

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Dip Your Ears: No. 271 (Danish Choral Gems)

Carl Nielsen sung by Danish National Choral Ensembles Conductors: Michael Schonwandt, Phillip Feber, Susanne Wendt (dacapo 8.226112)

Easy-on-the-Ears Choral Nielsen

The song vocabulary of Denmark was created in large part by Carl Nielsen, who has some 300 songs and about 100 choral compositions to his name. It’s an occurrence that – in the listening and better yet in the singing! – fuses high art with popularity in the literal meaning of the word. If you like choral music, easy-on-the-ear tunes, then these 25 hymns and choral songs of Carl Nielsen’s in wonderful, mostly calm, occasionally bracing performances by the various Danish National Choruses, are just the ticket. The selections are evenly distributed between pieces for mixed, male, and childrens’ (including girls’) choirs. The adult ensembles are splendid; the kids are very good but not quite as exceptional. With “Kom Gudsengel, stille død (“Come, God’s angel, silent Death”) a more complex, particularly dark but exquisite and clouded gem, for alto, tenor and bass, is at the center of the program. The Nordic, ever so slightly wistful air, lingers amid these works as it does – albeit more subtly – with similar pieces by Grieg. Lightly stirring and gently swaying – with the mist of a nostalgic past, where singing still united congregations and generations wafting by – Carl Nielsen shows himself with a popular and deft touch that adds to the perception we may have of him as a symphonist.


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Briefly Noted: Luisi's Nielsen Cycle

C. Nielsen, Symphonies 1/3, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, F. Luisi (released on December 9, 2022) DG 00028948634781 | 1h13 Symph. 4/5

Fabio Luisi was appointed principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in 2017, and his contract in Copenhagen has been extended through at least 2026. The Italian conductor's first recording project with the ensemble, the principal orchestra sponsored by DR (the Danish Broadcasting Corporation), is a complete cycle of the six symphonies of Carl Nielsen. Ionarts has been delighted to take account of the music of Denmark's pre-eminent composer, including the string quartets, piano music, chamber music and even opera. In live performance one is most likely to encounter his symphonies, especially the Fourth ("The Inextinguishable"), last heard from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic in 2013 and the NSO in 2020, and the Fifth, heard from the NSO in 2011. Others, like the Second, are more rare.

Not surprisingly, the first installment of this cycle combined Nielsen's Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, released this past October. The dividing line between Nielsen's first three symphonies and his last three is World War I, with the first three symphonies composed roughly between 1890 and 1911, and the Fourth begun in 1914. While hardly juvenilia, the First Symphony was premiered around Nielsen's 30th birthday. It is already representative in some ways of his mature style, ending in a different key than it opens, a device eventually known as "progressive tonality."

With obvious influence from earlier symphonic composers, however, it is also rather conventional by Nielsen's standards: in four traditional movements with fairly standard orchestration. He completed it while working as a violinist in the Royal Chapel Orchestra (now styled the Royal Danish Orchestra), which premiered the First Symphony, with the composer playing in the second violin section. Luisi's interpretation of the First is more expansive than Neeme Järvi's version with the Gothenberg Symphony Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon), closer in pacing to Blomstedt's recording with the San Francisco Symphony (Decca) -- interpretations likely shaped by Blomstedt's tenure as the first to be named the Danish NSO's principal conductor, from 1967 to 1977 -- and Michael Schønwandt's classic cycle with the Danish NSO (Dacapo, re-released by Naxos). Even more luxuriant in the middle movements, Luisi's tempo choices bring out the best of the ensemble's woodwind and string sound. A brass player in his youth, among other instruments, Nielsen knew how to marshal a brass-fueled crescendo, and the Danish NSO responds to Luisi's sculpting with sensitivity.

Every symphonic composer after Beethoven had a different reaction to the incorporation of singers in their symphonies. Nielsen wrote parts for voices only in his Third Symphony, a brief section of the second movement for baritone and soprano soloists, although without any words and therefore more like instruments. (In fact, in the score, Nielsen specifies that these parts may instead be performed by a fourth clarinet and fourth trombone.) The orchestration is augmented from the First, with three of each woodwind type, including doubling players on English horn and contrabassoon, plus a part for tuba. The "expansive" first movement, whose tempo marking gives the symphony its moniker, sounds like it easily could have been studied by John Williams, who has always imitated the best. As with the First, Luisi opts for more space in the tempo choices, especially in the serene slow movement, with fine vocal contributions from Palle Knudsen and Fatma Said, parts intertwined over a long pedal note with touches of Wagner and Strauss.

This cycle is just one of several to appear in recent years, with Nielsen's star on the rise: Paavo Järvi with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony (RCA), Ole Schmidt and the London Symphony Orchestra (Alto), Colin Davis also with the LSO (LSO Live), and Osmo Vänskä with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BIS), among others. Perhaps the main competition could have been the cycle begun by Thomas Dausgaard with the Seattle Symphony, likely left incomplete following the Danish conductor's abrupt resignation from that orchestra early this year, before the Fifth or Sixth Symphony was released. Perhaps their new music director will complete the cycle, but no appointment has been announced yet. Luisi has the benefit of recording the symphonies with the orchestra that was the first ever to record a Nielsen symphony and has a long history with his music. The entire cycle will reportedly be released as a box set during the Carl Nielsen Festival this coming spring.

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Opens Nordic Cool

Diplomats and other officials from the Nordic countries gathered at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday night to inaugurate this year's geographically oriented cultural festival, Nordic Cool. The Kennedy Center's halls will host performances by Nordic theater troupes, dancers, and musicians through March 17, a series of events kicked off by a short program -- a sort of musical Smörgåsbord -- performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in the Concert Hall. On the outside of the building, the blue lighting -- which I took to be glacier blue when I first saw it -- was completed by green lasers imitating the shapes of the aurora borealis, a light installation called Northern Lights, created by Jesper Kongshaug. On the grounds out front, the majestic wooden sculptures of Juha Pykäläinen's Elk Towers stride towards the entrance.

Fresh off a concert at Carnegie Hall last weekend, music director Sakari Oramo led the RSPO in five pieces by composers representing the main Nordic countries. Finland received the most obvious choice, Sibelius's tone poem Finlandia, to open the concert with a bang. Oramo took time with the ominous opening brass chords, waiting until the fast section to let the piece roll, shaped into a to-the-hilt rendition of cinematic scope. Iceland was represented by the most unexpected selection, the Njáls Saga Scherzo, a movement from the first symphony by Jón Liefs (1899-1968, pictured above). The so-called "Saga Symphony," the piece is a programmatic evocation of characters and episodes from Icelandic epic poetry, and this movement depicts the quest of a hero, Kári Sölmundarson, to avenge the murder of his wife's family. In a rollicking 6/8 meter, the dance is unsettled by metric shifts, burbling winds (delightful bassoons, especially), col legno strikes in the strings, and metallic anvil or sword strokes -- a joyful slaughter.

Sweden and Denmark had more conventional fare, beginning with Hugo Alfvén (1872–1960), representing his native Sweden with his yearning, standard-Romantic song Så tag mit hjerte ("So Take My Heart"), and Edvard Grieg's Solveig's Song from Peer Gynt. Swedish soprano Inger Dam-Jensen brought an ardent and present tone to these lovely songs, only a slightly overactive vibrato not quite suited to floating the long melisma that ends each stanza of the Grieg song, especially its high, fragile final note. Our tour of the north ended in Denmark, with the most substantial piece on the program, Carl Nielsen's fourth symphony ("Det uudslukkelige"). I wrote about the piece extensively when Christoph Eschenbach Thomas Dausgaard brought it back into the repertory of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2011, and frankly was hoping to hear another of Nielsen's symphonies, heard too infrequently in these parts.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, Nordic Cool at Kennedy Center opens with potluck (Washington Post, February 21) Zachary Woolfe, A Grab Bag of Sound (New York Times, February 18)

If Asteroid DA14 had come 17,000 miles closer to us earlier this month, so this symphony's program assures us, life would bloom again out of destruction. Oramo's frenetic conducting style informed this somewhat jangling rendition, with its large outbursts, disjointed dotted-rhythm motifs, growling violas, but also super-soft string sounds and tender scherzo, leading to a slow movement that began with what seemed like an ancient incantation. Of course, the insect-buzzing textures that open the fourth movement lead to the most famous dueling timpani passages in the symphonic literature, which did not disappoint in this version. Only some occasional dolorous tuning in the woodwinds detracted from a fine outing for the RPSO. An encore of Alfvén's Vallflickans dans (Shepherd Girl's Dance) capped off the concert, played without intermission so that the well-heeled guests could proceed to enjoy another kind of Smörgåsbord at a white-tie dinner.

The Nordic Cool festival has too much on offer for one person to hear, but we plan to cover concerts by pianist Vikingur Ólafsson (February 25), violinist Pekka Kuusisto with the NSO (February 28 to March 2), and a recital by mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter (March 4), as well as the production of Hedda Gabler by the National Theater of Norway (February 26 to 27).

Briefly Noted: Nielsen's Piano Music

C. Nielsen, Complete Piano Music, C. Bjørkøe (2008, 2 CDs)

The music of Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) is always worth discovering, rare as it is. Nielsen made his musical living as a violinist, but he learned the piano from a young age and began most of his compositional work at the keyboard. Over the course of his life he composed enough solo piano pieces (see also the extraordinary Carl Nielsen Edition) to fill only two discs, presented in chronological order on this recent set from Danish pianist Christina Bjørkøe. Other pianists have recorded all or some of Nielsen's piano music, most famously Leif Ove Andsnes, but Bjørkøe's introspective, sometimes wild-hearted approach makes this an attractive option. Nielsen excelled at the charming miniature -- with examples collected together as the Five Piano Pieces, op. 3, Humoresque-Bagatelles, op. 11, and the Piano Music for Young and Old, op. 53 -- many of which could make delightful little encore pieces. His more substantial works are especially interesting as his harmonic idiom became more unusual, after about the Chaconne, op. 32, and the Theme and Variations, op. 40.

NSO Succeeds North by Northeast

Many thanks to Robert R. Reilly for this review from the NSO.

J.Sibelius, Violin Concerto et al, Kremer / Muti / Philharmonia O. EMI C.Nielsen, Symphony No.5 et al., R.Kubelik / Danish RSO EMI

The National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Finnish conductor John Storgårds covered itself in glory last Sunday, when it performed a program of Mussorgsky, Sibelius, Liadov, and Nielsen. Generally positive reviews of the Thursday-performance (see ionarts review) spoke of occasionally ragged playing, particularly in the Mussorgsky, but such was not the case at the Kennedy Center on Sunday afternoon. Whatever problems there may have been had been ironed out by Storgårds and players.

Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain was given a rhythmically sharp, full-bodied, and clearly delineated performance. Rimsky-Korsakov may have found Mussorgsky’s orchestration ragged, but the NSO's playing of Mussorgsky’s original version certainly wasn’t. Storgårds kept a tight grip in the piece and the NSO stayed with him for the entire, wild ride.

The Sibelius Violin Concerto featured soloist Gidon Kremer who produced a nicely nuanced, genially expressive, somewhat underpowered reading; not exactly meditative, but not driven either, and certainly not pyrotechnical. Sibelius—cliché or not—can do with a fair amount of detachment, but the concerto in particular shouldn’t be entirely devoid of fire. There was warmth here, but no heat. Perhaps my ears are still prejudiced from hearing Nikolaj Znaider in London three years ago, where he gave a charged and stirring performance with the LSO under Colin Davis. Incidentally, the powerfully accompanying NSO was not to blame; it was Kremer who did not fully match the band.

After these two high-powered pieces, Storgårds showed how well he and the NSO could handle subtlety. Playing with great finesse and refinement, they infused Liadov’s Enchanted Lake, a delicious piece of Russian impressionism, with magic and made it glitter. The Carl Nielsen's Fifth Symphony was the highlight of the afternoon. Storgårds and the NSO built the statement of the main theme in the first movement, before the main timpani attack, in a magnificent manner. The snare drum entered a bit too forcefully, though that may have been Storgårds’ interpretive choice, not an errant percussionist’s fault. Storgårds went on to capture the visionary essence of this music by building the climax toward the end of the first movement in a most persuasive manner. In media res, the second movement, starts in the center of a maelstrom—perfectly portrayed by the NSO’s exciting playing. Storgårds again demonstrated his superb ability at musical architecture with his handling of the giant fugue. There was detail in abundance without ever losing the long line. If it is impossible to single out one section of the NSO, then that’s only because they all deserve singling out; strings, winds, brass, and percussion performed exemplarily.

This was the debut performance of John Storgårds (chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra) with the National Symphony Orchestra and, based on musical evidence alone, it should not be his last. I, for one, would love to hear what he does with the Nielsen Fourth Symphony.

NSO Plays More Nielsen

John Storgårds, the Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic, made his debut at the podium of the National Symphony Orchestra on Thursday night, with an absorbing program of descriptive music set in northern climes. Suggestions by some to swap parts of the program with pieces planned for later in the month, to make more homogeneous nationalistic programs, would have destroyed the opportunity to compare Scandinavian and Russian composers, and particularly their orchestration, in varying degrees of crudeness and refinement. Storgårds brought incisive ideas and a driven, impelling beat to a program that, with the exception of yet another performance of Sibelius's violin concerto, combined pieces not heard from the NSO in a decade or so. Hopefully, with some more time to adjust to some brisk tempo choices by Storgårds, the NSO will sound more polished and united in the remaining performances this weekend.

Storgårds opened each half with a coloristic tone poem, beginning with Musorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, not the more refined arrangement by Rimsky-Korsakov, familiar from countless Halloween concerts, but the composer's original orchestration -- last played by the NSO under Osmo Vänskä in 2002. Musorgsky had nothing like Rimsky's skills as an orchestrator, but this version is more barbaric, folksy, and rustic (Rimsky and others made the work so cinematic), and Storgårds lashed the piece forward, in spite of struggles in the violins with the masses of notes (and for not always great effect, because of the weakness of the orchestration). Anatoly Lyadov's The Enchanted Lake, op. 62, had not been heard from the NSO since the 1990s: Storgårds led the NSO in a diaphanous performance, giving a sort of Debussy-esque transparency to the work's lush Wagnerian harmonies. David Hardy's cello solos warmed the opening sections, but the work was allowed to seethe gently, when it did stir, providing lots of watercolor washes of pale color.

Gidon Kremer, last heard in this area with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2005 (and not with the NSO since 1982), gave an odd but still satisfying rendition of Sibelius's ever-present violin concerto. Known for his idiosyncratic interpretative style and outspoken views, Kremer is unlikely to give a performance that does not defy expectations. In spite of some minor technical shortcomings -- Kremer rather consciously used sheet music as he played, and barely scraped his way past some of the more demanding passages, especially the virtuosic codas of the outer movements -- there was much to admire in his Sibelius. Kremer gave a gypsy flavor to some of the themes, adding little slides and unusual tone color, and the sound of his low playing on the G string of his gorgeous and full-throated Amati violin, made in 1641, was vibrant and elemental, at times more like a viola (in a good way, of course). For the most part, Storgårds was sensitive to keeping the orchestral level out of the way of his soloist, allowing them to surge volcanically at one point in the second movement.

Other Reviews: Robert Battey, Storgårds at NSO: A mixed performance (Washington Post, October 7) Robert R. Reilly, NSO Succeeds North by Northeast (Ionarts, October 11)

One of the highlights of the last season from the NSO was a performance of Carl Nielsen's fourth symphony, led by Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard. How fortunate then to hear, so soon after, an equally rare and equally inspiring performance of the Danish composer's fifth symphony -- Leonard Slatkin was the last to conduct it, in 1998. Where the "Inextinguishable" features a pair of dueling timpani players, the un-subtitled fifth symphony is driven by the martial beat of snare drums, one of which is heard from off stage. It is an austere work, its pulse animated by minimalistic ostinati: for example, the violas harp on a very Philip Glass-like minor third through much of the first movement, which passes briefly into the woodwinds, part of a cranking up of tension. The blast of the snare drum, which crashes into the movement more than once and with little subtlety, heralds a shift into a sardonic march, with the grotesque flavor of Shostakovich. The uneasiness abates only momentarily, amid avian swirling in the woodwinds, as the horns and trombones call to one another, echoing off cliff sides. Another anxious theme, all repeated notes like the chirping of a cricket, unsettles the conclusion of the first movement. Although the work is unfamiliar, the NSO players played with cohesion and precision, giving an almost Mahlerian surge of shining Romantic strings to the fugal passages of the transcendent second movement. After these performances of the fourth and fifth symphonies, one can only hope that the NSO follows through with a complete Nielsen symphony cycle in the coming seasons.

This concert will be repeated on Saturday night (October 8, 8 PM) and Sunday afternoon (October 9, 3 PM), in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

UPDATE:
Charles T. Downey, Concert Review: John Storgårds’s National Symphony Orchestra Debut (The Washingtonian, October 10)

NSO: The Inextinguishable

See my piece on the NSO's first season with Christoph Eschenbach at Washingtonian.com:

National Symphony Orchestra Review: Guest Conductor Thomas Dausgaard and Pianist Nikolai Lugansky (Washingtonian, May 25):

Since the meltdown of the world's financial markets began, classical music institutions have been dropping like flies, freezing or cutting salaries in the case of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, declaring bankruptcy like the Philadelphia Orchestra, or folding altogether in the case of the Baltimore Opera. The National Symphony Orchestra seemed poised to founder, too, having gone through a couple years of wandering without a strong leader when the economic crisis hit.

In 2008, generous patrons Roger and Vicki Sant stepped in with a major donation -- call it a classical-music golden parachute -- to fund the salary of the NSO's music director. Suddenly, the NSO found itself with Christoph Eschenbach, a veteran conductor with an international reputation and with whom the musicians had a good rapport, taking the helm. The end of Eschenbach's first season as music director is approaching, and it has been a grand success. The latest evidence of this was this past weekend's concerts, with guest conductor Thomas Dausgaard and pianist Nikolai Lugansky, heard on Saturday night.

Dausgaard, a respected Danish conductor, made his NSO debut with a program not unlike his 2008 appearance with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra -- it opened with the same Sibelius tone poem, "En Saga." Dausgaard kept this short symphonic piece, reportedly describing an episode in Sibelius's own life, unmannered, almost plain, a square, driving voyage marked by crisp articulations and an insistent theme in the violas. [Continue reading]

National Symphony Orchestra
With Thomas Dausgaard (conductor) and Nikolai Lugansky (piano)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

The other paradigm through which Nielsen's music is often defined is nationalism. Richard Taruskin once defined nationalist symphonies as "colonialism in disguise": the ideal of absolute music in the symphonic tradition, in that sense, could be interpreted as an extension of German nationalism. Writing about this possible interpretation of Nielsen's fourth symphony, Raymond Knapp wrote that national or other collectives have to judge the value of these musical statements made on their behalf, adding that for all the transcendentally minded symphonies composed since Beethoven's ninth, "there is no evidence (so far) that the cosmos actually appreciates any of the symphonies that have been offered up to it" (Raymond Knapp, "Carl Nielsen and the Nationalist Trap, or What, Exactly, is Inextinguishable?", in Carl Nielsen Studies, ed. Niels Krabbe).

OTHER REVIEWS:

• Anne Midgette, With Beethoven, Dausgaard’s NSO debut is a curious letdown (Washington Post, May 20)
  
• Alex Baker, NSO in NIELSEN! and also perhaps Beethoven and Sibelius I guess (Wellsung, May 20)

Ionarts-at-Large: Colin Davis & Radu Lupu at the Barbican

Robert R. Reilly once again lends Ionarts his roving ears, this time from London.

Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra opened their concert on Thursday evening, October 1^st, with the Mozart Symphony No. 34. The warm glow of the Barbican acoustics perfectly matched the warmth of Davis’ rendition in which Mozart’s music was leisurely savored. This was mellow Mozart, quite at the opposite interpretive pole to that of, for example, Charles Mackerras’ speedy, if not frenetic renditions with the Prague Chamber Orchestra on Telarc. Yes, I know the Mackerras is exciting, but I grew especially to love Mozart’s later symphonies through the approach of Josef Krips (in the venerable recordings with the Concertgebouw Orchestra on Phillips), in which the singing lines are emphasized—almost as if the works were really instrumental operas. In this respect, the LSO sang beautifully, with every shade of nuance finely expressed. Davis was so leisurely in the Andante that it conveyed a kind of delicious sleepiness. This brush with somnolence made the contrast with the spiritedness of the Finale: Allegro vivace all the more pronounced, and Davis brought the celebration to a joyous close. The audience reaction made it clear that I am not alone in appreciating this style of Mozart playing.

Radu Lupu joined Davis and the LSO for Mozart’s Piano concerto No. 20 in D minor, certainly one of the most exquisite and touching things Mozart ever penned. Davis’ approach was generally the same, i.e., plenty expressive, though slightly less leisurely. At first, Lupu seemed to be playing from inside the orchestra instead of in front of it. Didn’t he know this was a concerto? Yes, in fact he did, as was evident in his later exchanges with the orchestra and in the exquisitely executed cadenzas. No doubt, my impression came from the quality of interiority at which Lupu aimed and which he achieved. His subtle playing has a kind of purity to it, or something akin to childlike innocence, which is also frequently the essence of what Mozart is expressing, even when that innocence is burdened with the sadness of this world, as is the case in this concerto. In short, no showmanship, simply musicianship from these two masters, Lupu and Davis.

Carl Nielsen, Symphony No.5 & Concertos et al., Kubelik / Danish RSO EMI .com .co.uk .de .fr

The second part of the program consisted of Carl Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony. Davis, of course, has a huge reputation as a Sibelian. However, I had never heard him in Nielsen, and he is apparently working his way through all 6 symphonies for the LSO Live label. From what I heard Thursday night, this is something to look forward to with high anticipation.

Nielsen’s’ Fifth is, in certain respects, a reprise of his Fourth Symphony, the Inextinguishable. Some of its themes are variations of what is heard in the Fourth, and the story line is familiar: the forces of life gently dawning; the forces of life getting tromped on by the anti-life forces; the forces of life fighting back and emerging triumphant. Nielsen follows this scenario a couple of times in the two-part 5^th. The Inextinguishable is one of the greatest symphonic expressions of this theme, and the Fifth Symphony does not quite achieve the same stature. However, whatever the similarities, it does distinguish itself from the Fourth with its unconventional shape. In the program notes, Davis is quoted as saying “Nielsen is obsessive, almost relentless…” This particularly applies to the Bolero-like movement in the strings in the first part of the work that meets with marital interruptions from a nasty side drum. Many have referred to the Fifth as Nielsen’s “war symphony.” If so, he must have reflected upon the ugly trench warfare of WW I. (I wonder what Shostakovich’s reaction was to this work. He must have admired Nielsen’s mastery at creating a sense of menace.) Timpani assaults disturb but cannot overcome the development of the triumphant theme. The side drum physically moves toward stage right and then, while the rest of the orchestra fights for and achieves a climax almost as magnificent as the one at the end of the Fourth, moves off stage completely, as if exiled from the musical community (I find this bit of extra-musical theatricality distracting). Only the faintest echo of the defeated side drum is heard. The second movement bolts forth in media res in one of Nielsen’s most vigorously developed and exciting pieces of music. The fugal writing in the Presto and the gorgeous Andante in the second part is staggering good, and the playing of the NSO in these parts was particularly beyond praise, as it was when Nielsen reaches for another life-affirming culmination at the end.

It is hard to single out sections of the LSO for special praise in the Fifth because it was so outstandingly superb in all departments. This is great symphonic music that makes maximal demands, and it was played by an orchestra that met them in exactly the kind of triumph that Nielsen was trying to express.

(The program repeats on Sunday, October 4.)

Jens Elvekjaer at Dumbarton Oaks

Jens Elvekjaer, pianist

This review is an Ionarts exclusive.

Jens Elvekjaer gave his American recital debut this weekend on the Friends of Music series at Dumbarton Oaks. Washington audiences have heard this Danish pianist before, in his appearance with Trio con Brio Copenhagen this past February at the Clarice Smith Center (the group will be back again on February 18, at the Library of Congress, with violist James Dunham). For his first exposure as a soloist, Elvekjaer played a challenging and alluring program extremely well, if there were not quite enough superlative moments to add up to a complete rave.

The concert opened with Danish music, Carl Nielsen's Tema med variationer, a set of fifteen more or less continuous variations on a gentle neo-Baroque theme with unexpected harmonic shifts, composed in 1916-17. Elvekjaer is something of a Nielsen specialist, as his only recording, to my knowledge [See correction below--Ed.], is the first volume of a complete Nielsen chamber music set from Dacapo (the second volume will be released later this month). He will hopefully record the variations, which he played from the score, turning his own pages (which required him to drop a few notes in the demanding fifteenth variation). The variations were alternately devilish (no. 6), playful (no. 5), and gentle (the interweaving lines of no. 10), evoking flavors redolent of Schumann (the crossing hands of no. 1), Chopin (the mournful inner voices of the mazurka-like no. 8), and Debussy (the cascading tolling of bells in no. 15, reminiscent of La cathédrale engloutie). Elvekjaer gave a range of finishes to the different genres referenced, a gloomy funeral lament for the homophonic no. 7, flashing sparkle for the toccata of no. 11, soft pedal and whirring tremolos in the music box-like no. 12, and obsessive harping on the ostinato half-step in the top voice of no. 13.


Pianist Jens Elvekjaer playing Nielsen in the Music Room, January 12, 2009
(photo courtesy of Dumbarton Oaks)
The rest of the first half was devoted to one of the autumnal last three piano sonatas of Schubert (C minor, D. 958 -- see online score). Played from memory, the piece again showcased the range of Elvekjaer's touch, which impressed especially by its strength in the weighty passages. Some of the lighter moments, like the second theme of the first movement, could have been a little more feathery, although that may have been partly due to the Dumbarton Steinway, which is a little crunchy. The often bleak mood fit well with the numerous references to Schubert's own Winterreise song cycle. It was gutsy to conclude this recital with Musorgsky's daunting Pictures at an Exhibition, and Elvekjaer played it with considerable technical polish, a few clunky moments in Baba-Yaga aside (hey, even William Kapell didn't get all the notes). Here Elvekjaer's work at the forte end of the spectrum maxed out the instrument a bit, as in the Bydlo movement, but the lighter movements were fluffy and fun, like the gently teasing children of Tuileries and the pointy, scratching Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks.

Nielsen Chamber Music, Vol. 1, J. Elvekjaer et al.

An accidentally dropped cane marred the opening of the Schubert, something that promised to spoil the recording of this concert, made for broadcast on NPR and WETA's Front Row Washington, for the first time at Dumbarton Oaks. Happily, when Elvekjaer appeared for his second encore (the first, hitting exactly the right tone, was Schubert's G-flat major impromptu), he informed us that he was going to play the opening of the sonata again, to patch into the broadcast. That fixed the cane noise, but not the obtrusive snoring toward the end of the third movement. We'll have to see if that can be heard on the radio.

The next concerts on the Friends of Music series at Dumbarton Oaks will feature Concertino Palatino with Dutch soprano Johannette Zomer, in 17th-century music by Heinrich Schütz, Samuel Scheidt, Johann Rosenmüller, and Daniel Speer (February 8 and 9).

CORRECTION:
Jens Elvekjaer's manager informs me of the following: "Mr. Elvekjaer does indeed have another recording out: his début CD of Ravel, Franck and Debussy, which was nominated for two Danish Music Awards." Thanks for the information!

Ionarts at Large: Notes from the ARD International Music Competition (Day 12)

If you hear “Clarinet Concerto” and immediately think “Mozart”, then the dogged Nielsen Concerto can change that, in one way or the other. Either by taking care of the notion that a clarinet concerto need necessarily sound conventionally beautiful as said Mozart (or Spohr). Or because you fall in love with Nielsen in the rare case of a grand romantic performance with vision and extreme lyricism amid the spikes.

Neither of the three performances in the Clarinet Finale of the ARD International Music Competition will have provided for the latter, though one came very close. The others, performed by Marcos Pérez Miranda (Spain) and Taira Kaneko (Japan), provided instead for some of the former.

Even if I account for an unreceptive mood and ears that were not properly attuned for the Nielsen on a strange day, weather-wise, there was no denying that Mr. Miranda, impressive when I saw a bit of him in the first round, was not at home at all in the Nielsen. Neither familiar with the music (which was on a stand in front of him) nor the idiom, he struggled to make sense of the work and find its long lines. His tone was strong, but the effect to which he used it wasn’t well thought out.

Notes from the ARD Intl. Music Competition: Day 2: Viola Competition, Round 1 (2) (September 2) Day 3: Viola Competition, Round 1 (3) (September 3) Day 4: Viola Competition, Round 1 (4) (September 4) Day 5: String Quartet Competition, Round 1 (1) (September 5) Day 6: String Quartet Competition, Round 1 (2) (September 6) Day 7: String Quartet Competition, Round 1 (3) (September 7) Day 8: String QuartetCompetition, Round 2 (1) and Viola, Semi-Finals (September 8) Day 9: String Quartet Competition, Round 2 (2) (September 9) Day 10: Viola, Finale (September 10) Day 11: String Quartet, Semi-Finals (September 11) Day 12: Clarinet, Final (September 12) Days 13 & 14: String Quartet & Bassoon Finals (September 13th & 14th)

To be fair, the orchestra that he played with, nominally the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (or at least their summer subs) did not help him one bit. Choppy and out of sync, they stumbled from one vertical phrase to another, never finding the long lines, either. Vertical Nielsen, sadly, sounds like second rate Shostakovich – not like a Nordic romantic. And his concerto for clarinet and snare drum, not necessarily a lovable work, is more susceptible to this than, say, his symphonies.

Taira Kaneko benefited from the BRSO’s on-the-job learning as well as his stubborn intent to go for those longer lines, not beauty of tone. But still, this was such dreary stuff, enough to make one throw the concerto out with the mediocre performance’s bathwater. My ears were listening to Nielsen, but my heart yearning for Finzi.

Shelly Ezra had opted for a different of the four possible works for the finale. Instead of Nielsen, or Carter, or Hindemith, she chose Toshio Hosokawa’s strangely agreeable “Metamorphosis”. Ka-chinging bells and percussion, glissandi and crescendos, pizzicato spikes and percussion blows, high-pitched string twittering, snaps, and sudden silences: it’s a sea of sounds washing ashore our ears. I don’t know what or who metamorphosed, or what into, but the combination of the unpredictable with the eclectic made it easy to stay alert and listen. And that despite a distinct similarity of the orchestral sound (replete with an “Echo-string orchestra”) to the Asian volume of an ethnic meditation music CD have. I was half expecting to hear water-falls or a voice, suggesting I let something go or breath in or out. Speaking of breathing: Mlle. Ezra navigated through the solo part with astounding breath control and the purest, leanest tone of any of the four finalists. She calmly explored the extremes of the concerto, was steadily paced, and secure even in the most hushed of pianissimos.

Last to play was Sebastian Manz, a Sabine Meyer student at Lübeck like Mr. Kaneko. And this was the performance that redeemed the ears to Nielsen’s work, showing that it’s not just a fragmented, rickety variance of expressive swoops and a squeaking old sawing machine. Manz took the work by the horns with faster tempos and greater momentum right off the bat, and a very brawny clarinet sound. And if the conductor wouldn’t seek out the long lines, then so would he. Standing alone, it might not have been a superb performance. But the improvement to the two earlier attempts was so notable that the audience price was his, before he had even reached the Poco Adagio section where he virtually sang through the music marked espressivo.

Cynics might wonder aloud why the orchestra played so very notably better for their countryman… And even if the musicians simply needed those two ‘in-concert rehearsals’ before intermission, was this not distortion of competition? It probably was, though given Manz’ own performance, he’d not have been bested by the other candidates had the orchestra floundered equally with him. Still, it surely helped him win that first - not just a second - prize on top of the audience award. Shelly Ezra, meanwhile, received a third prize which she shared with Taira Kaneko.

Tomorrow comes this year’s crowning event of the competition, the finale of the string quartet competition with lots of Bartók (3^rd and 4^th quartet), Beethoven (Razumovsky no.2 and op.132) and Schubert’s Death & the Maiden. A five hour concert worth looking forward to.

Recommended recording of the Nielsen concerto played in the Clarinet final:

Nielsen (& Aho), Clarinet Concerto, Fröst / Vänskä / Lahti SO

Carl Nielsen's String Quartets

Nielsen, String Quartets, Vol 2, Young Danish String Quartet (released May 27, 2008) Dacapo 6.220522 Vol. 1

Dacapo Records continues its mission to raise awareness of the music of Danish composers, with the Young Danish String Quartet's set of Carl Nielsen's string quartets. The first volume, from 2007, combined the first and fourth of the numbered quartets with the string quintet, for which the YDSQ was joined on second viola by their teacher and mentor, Tim Frederiksen, first violinist of the (Old) Danish String Quartet. The second volume brings together the remaining two of Nielsen's numbered quartets, no. 2 in F minor and no. 3 in E-flat major, both composed in the 1890s. These are certainly not the only recordings of the Danish composer's string quartets, but it is the first time they have made their way into my ears.

The good news is that they make for good listening, especially when played with the kind of vigor and attention to color and dynamic range as in these performances. The E-flat quartet (no. 3, op. 14) has a particularly striking, somber second movement, which incorporates some daring dissonance and adventurous harmonic progressions. Nielsen later recounted the story of how he lost his first version of this quartet, while he helped a driver who was struggling to get one of his horses up from where it had fallen in the mud. The composer, riding his bike to take the score to the music copyist, left his manuscript with a boy standing by, who ran off with it. If that score is still out there somewhere, it would be very interesting to compare it with the final version of the quartet heard here, which Nielsen had to reconstruct from memory and his sketches.

Other Reviews: New York Times (Anthony Tommasini)

One could probably pass off the F minor quartet (no. 2, op. 5) as a Brahms quartet, which depending on your inclinations could be a good or a bad thing. The similarity is not surprising as Nielsen composed most of the work while on a government travel grant in Germany in his 20s. The hemiola patterns in the first movement, for example, are somewhat if not exactly Brahmsian, and there is a similar tendency toward deeper registers. Its second movement is also noteworthy for its gloomy beauty, and the outer movements pulsate with a restlessly Romantic agitation. The quartets are not far enough along in Nielsen's compositional development to rank with his more daring orchestral scores, for example, but they have remarkable appeal. The sound of this disc, captured in the Danish Radio Concert Hall last summer, is warm and mellow.

63'59"

Ionarts at Large: Neeme Järvi, Tubin, and the BRSO

When substitute soloist Johannes Moser wished the indisposed Truls Mørk a speedy recovery from whatever had kept the Norwegian Grammy winning cellist from appearing with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Neeme Järvi last Friday, it was met with a cynical chuckle in Munich’s Philharmonic Hall. Then Moser thanked Mørk for a “lovely evening” and regaled the grateful audience with the Sarabande from Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 as an encore.

Five numbers from Carl Nielsen’s Aladdin Suite and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto had preceded this – both of fine quality but far from either special or memorable. The opening “Oriental Festival March” of the Suite was an unrelenting and weighty affair with a surprisingly fat and dense sound from the usually refined BRSO. Entertaining was, as should be, the skip in the violins’ step that probably connotes the oriental nature, in case the overt triangle and extra percussion didn’t already give it away.

After the onslaught came the deft delicacy of “Aladdin’s Dream” before the “Dance of the “Morning Mists” tip-toed to the “Hindu Dance” where the BRSO winds shone. The “Chinese Dance” offered swinging Chinøiserie coaxed along by Järvi before the “Negro Dance” (“Isaphan Marketplace” and “Prisoner’s Dance” from Nielsen’s posthumously published seven-part suite were skipped ) made its odd exclamation mark with puffed cheeks, stomping around the campfire. This part is visual to the point of camp – rambunctious and untamed, a fun ride of a charmingly(?) outdated sort... certainly miles away from Nielsen’s strangely age-eschewing, even modern symphonies.

The Cello Concerto – the last work Dvořák composed in New York – never quite took off with Järvi and Moser, even though the latter added a fine slow movement to an otherwise tedious performance. The first movement inelegant and brash, the soloist with a restricted sound, a harsh edge to his tone whenever things got fast or loud, and lacking a confident pianissimo for the Allegro Moderato finale. Mr. Moser has an impressive vitae – performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez, New York Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel, and Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst stand out among his American engagements. And he is the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition winner. But perhaps this concert was on too short a notice? (Certainly the beautiful double stop studded duet with the flute hinted at greater possibilities.)

E.Tubin, Symphony No.5, Kratt-Suite, N.Järvi / Bamberger SO

All in all not worth expanding even this many words on – because they should have all been saved for what followed after intermission: Neeme Järvi brought out all the great qualities of the BRSO in a performance of Eduard Tubin’s Fifth Symphony. Järvi has tirelessly promoted the music of his fellow Estonian Tubin (1905 – 1982) for nearly three decades. We cannot thank him enough for this Tubin-evangelism because he really has­ brought us the good word (or music, rather). In "Surprised by Beauty", Robert R. Reilly writes "[t]here is no [mention of] Tubin in my handy musical dictionary -- or in any other book I have on 20th-century music. [He has] slipped down the same memory hole that swallowed his native Estonia after it was occupied by the Soviet Union along with the other Baltic states in 1940. But like Estonia, Tubin’s music is back, though the composer unfortunately did not live long enough to see his country liberated. [...] The Fifth Symphony(1946) is the first product of Tubin’s exile. It shows that Tubin had cast aside anything inessential to symphonic form."

So it does, indeed. It's a three movement example of Shostakovich-meets-Sibelius with a pounding opening Allegro energico that ratchets up the tension akin to the Shostakovich’s style, but arranged in blocks upon which I feel Bruckner to smile knowingly from above. The whole movement hurls itself to an open-ended question mark of a climax.

Beauty askew abounds in the searing slow movement where similarities to Shostakovich recede in favor of something more Carl Nielsen-ish. It is marked by chorale-like elements, a beautiful solo violin passage, and extremely dense textures from which the string sections are released into (temporary) freedom. A freedom followed immediately by melancholy. This is a movement as touching as any of the best moments in 20^th century symphonism.

The Finale opens with cellos and basses marching beneath the violins playing a circuitous holding pattern while the heavy-booted brass snarls and exclaims. Tubin, who found refuge in Stockholm when his Estonia was overrun by the Soviets in 1944, made a meager living by arranging baroque music at the Drottningholm Theater. The spirit of Drottningholm is far, far away from this Allegro assai. The strings turn to a chilling, icy, eerie orchestral exhalation before trumpet fanfares ring in a last climax. The symphony ends in gut-wrenching procession over unforgiving figures of two timpanists (the principal timpanist of the Munich Philharmonic helped out) who are busy making the finale of Nielsen’s “Inextinguishable” seem meek in comparison.

Stirring and enthralling stuff, at least for all music lovers who are ready to embrace the symphonic works from Nielsen to Schnittke, Sibelius to Rubbra, Shostakovich to Rautavaara. The small but hardy bunch among the audience that refused to let Järvi go got treated to Sibelius’ Andante Festivo, a wholly moving nightcap from the BRSO’s glowing string section.

The concert was broadcast live on Bayern 4.

Best Recordings of 2006

Other Reviews: Bob McQuiston / Classical Lost & Found Marc Geelhoed Alex Ross Jessica Duchen Steve Smith Russell Platt Opera News Billboard Other Best-of Vintages: Best Recordings of 2012 Best Recordings of 2011 2011 – “Almost” List Best Recordings of 2010 2010 – “Almost” List Best Recordings of 2009 2009 – “Almost” List Best Recordings of 2008 2008 - "Almost" List Best Recordings of 2007 Best Recordings of 2005 Best Recordings of 2004

2006 was not the year for classical music in Washington. Tower Records, for all its faults, was the best source for the classical recording lover; an invaluable resource for browsing and finding new or old, great or just plain lovely, music. Then, just in time for the holiday spirit, WGMS seemed about to be bought out by Dan Snyder and turned into a sports-talk radio station. (Update: This looks much less likely, now... but WGMS' future as a classical station is still uncertain. We will keep you posted on important, verifiable changes.) The Washington Post reduced its arts coverage from ~45 to 20 reviews a week. Ionarts is not amused. We expect the National Symphony Orchestra to declare bankruptcy any time and the Washington National Opera to branch out into Broadway shortly.

CDs, however, have been issued at the same incessant rate as they have been now, for some years. More and more exotic, neglected, forgotten composers are recorded, issued, and rediscovered. Repertoire sidelined soon after inception is being given the second and third chances it needs. Untold overgrown paths are being made accessible to the curious classical connoisseur again. CPO and Naxos stand out in 2006. Back catalog continues to be deleted by some major companies, but as much and more is being re-issued; both by those majors and inventive small companies that find their niches in the market. Testament would be a prime, if expensive, example of that… Profil Hänssler, with its novelty re-issues, another. Next to this activity, there is the rampant issuing of live performances by (self-)recording symphony orchestras like the LSO (who started that trend), the LPO, the San Francisco Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra (with Ondine), the Orchestre National de France (with naïve).

If you need any help rationalizing the money spent on CDs around this time of the season, get that help through Robert R. Reilly’s article on that topic. This list doesn’t claim to be exhaustive, because four ears can’t possibly keep up with every release. And it is, of course, rather subjective. But it is assembled from nearly a 1000 new and re-issued recordings listened to and should hopefully be helpful and, maybe, inspiring for some new musical discoveries. Our previous lists, 2004 and 2005, can be read here.)

In what I hope is becoming a little tradition, I list my ten favorite new recordings and my ten favorite reissues.

F.Chopin, Waltzes, A.Tharaud Harmonia Mundi

#1 (New): Chopin, Waltzes - A. Tharaud - Harmonia Mundi

First place was not as clear cut a choice as 2005… call it convenience if Alexandre Tharaud shows up in the Top Spot again. Last year it was his Bach recital (not the kind of disc that you can expect to come along every year) that shone in glorious orange. His follow-up disc of Chopin Waltzes is a delight, too. Very different musical territory, for sure, but sheer musicality shines through. “Brilliant by way of understatement”. (Reviewed in Dip Your Ears, No. 70)

R.Wagner, Das Rheingold J.Keilberth Testament R.Wagner, Die Walküre J.Keilberth Testament R.Wagner, Siegfried J.Keilberth Testament

#1 (Reissue): Wagner, The Ring - Keilberth - Testament

Is it a re-issue or is it a new release? That might be the most difficult question about the 1955 Keilberth Ring Cycle from Bayreuth. Technically it’s both. It had been recorded by Decca – but never released when John Culshaw pulled the plug on it, favoring an ambitious studio produced project with Georg Solti to be Decca’s Ring project. The recording had been completed, though, and because of copy-right restrictions went on to languish in the vaults for half a century. Along comes Testament and negotiates the release of this monument to post-war Wagner singing in – and that is perhaps what makes the release stand out so much - stereo! I have not reviewed it yet, because I have yet to receive Die Götterdämmerung and Das Rheingold to get the complete picture. But having heard Siegfried (the first issue – very nice, indeed) and Die Walküre (extraordinarily impressive), it is all but clear that this will be the historical ring cycle of choice and a competitive challenge to any live cycle, including the prime Karl Böhm cycle on Philips (which has just been re-issued in the U.S. as a budget edition and, too, deserves mention in this list.) Die Walküre makes the point extremely well: you can hear the orchestral splendor of the finale in high quality stereo that belies its age and defies all expectations of what a recording from 1955 can sound like. Comparison to other Ring Cycles from the time (Krauss ’53, Keilberth ’52, Knappertsbusch ’56) show a little less sonic improvement upon a quick listen. It is not until you hear a whole opera from start to finish that the difference becomes really striking: It takes much less concentration to follow the Decca/Testament recordings than it does with the various mono (and monaural) issues on Melodram, Archipel, or Music & Arts. If money is not an issue (the list price for the tetralogy’s four installments is almost $300), this is the historical Ring to have. (P.S. Yes, I am aware that that is the third Ring Cycle I recommend in as many years. What can I say other than it's been a good time for Wagner...)

Canciones Argentias, Bernada Fink Harmonia Mundi

#2 (New): "Canciones Argentinas" - Bernada Fink - Harmonia Mundi

“Canciones Argentinas” was one of the first wonderful surprises for me this year (“Dip Your Ears, No. 59”): songs by Carlos Gustavino, Astor Piazzolla, Carlos Lopez Buchardo, Luis Gianneo, Abel Fleury, Angel E. Lasala, Manuel Gómez Carrillo, Floro M. Ugarte, and Alberto Williams make for wonderful listening individually or as a program – sung by Bernarda Fink and her bass-baritone brother, Marcos (who surprises with a very pleasant voice – faintly reminiscent of a low-register Domingo), this is humble fair – but certainly not of modest quality. Being far away from main-stream repertoire, it is one of those little gems that hops into the CD player when the ears need a break from all the more ‘high-brow’ music listening.

The Messiaen Edition, O.Messiaen, Y.Loriod, K.Nagano, P-L.Aimard, et al. Warner

#2 (Reissue): Messiaen Edition - various artists - Warner Classics

It’s not quite a cube like the complete Scarlatti Sonatas with Scott Ross, but at 18 discs, the Warner Classics collection of the important Messiaen works in all genres - dating from the early 1960s to 2000 with most recordings having been supervised by Messiaen himself - is nearly as impressive and just about the same format. The Box is largely a re-issue of the mid-80s Erato Messiaen box (17 CDs, the 18th in the new edition is an interview with Messiaen in French) but strengthened in specific points – like with Kent Nagano’s Turangalîla with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Berlin Philharmonic, a terrific, if not likely definitive recording.

But then, few of the recordings in this collection are “definitive” (a description I dislike, anyway), while many are essential to the Messiaen lover. Take Yvonne Loriod’s (Messiaen’s second wife for whom most of his piano music was written) performances of Petites esquisses d’oiseaux, the Préludes, Quatre Études de rythme, Poèmes pour Mi, Chants de terre et de ciel (with Maria Orán), Harawi (with Rachel Yakar), La Fauvette des jardins, Révail des oiseaux (along with Nagano and the Orchestre National de France), and most importantly the Catalogue d’oiseaux and Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jésus. Stephen Osborne, Håkon Austbø, or Aimard offer different, equally valid, and every bit as enchanting versions of all or some of these works (don’t forget Peter Hill or Peter Serkin, either) – and sometimes of greater technical proficiency. Still, if you are into Messiaen’s music (it ain’t necessarily easy), you will need to hear Loriod’s playing – just like you will want to hear Messiaen’s own of Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte-Trinité on the Cavaillé-Coll organo of La Trinité, Paris – ‘Messiaen’s organ’. The Huguette Fernandez - Guy Deplus - Jacques Nielz - Marie-Madeleine Petit Quatour pour la fin du Temps may not immediately push your favorite version off its pedestal (I like Loriod – Poppen – Fischer-Dieskau – Meyer / EMI, DG’s all-star Jian Wang – Myung-Whun Chung – Shaham – Meyer recording, and the classic Sherry – Stoltzman – Serkin – Kavafian on RCA), but its good to have in the collection, not the least for Deplus' clarinet playing and Loriod's authority with all things Messiaen.

Beethoven, Piano Sonatas, M.Kodama Pentatone SACD

#3 (New): Beethoven, Piano Sonatas 16-18 - Kodama - Pentatone

For a while I thought of including Mitsuko Uchida’s first Beethoven-Sonata traversal (opp.109 – 111) in here. After all, she has proven the first player to whose op.111 I've listened without secretly thinking about Pollini all along. Her op.109 with those dreamy touches of Debussy, too, is worth hearing. But unlike other discs, this one did not make a greater and greater impression upon (oft!) repeated listening. It started to sound oddly common, despite all its great qualities. I’d rather point to a less starry Beethoven sonata recording here: Kent Nagano’s wife Mari Kodama is recording a Beethoven cycle for the Pentatone label – and volume three (Nos.16-18) is a stupendous example of her art and her recording label’s craft. Seldom will you have Beethoven chords rollick so thunderously and thick into your living room; or heard such satisfying pianissimos. Mari Kodama “employs masculine power towards feminine-sensitive ends” is what I said in “Dip Your Ears, No. 61” and revisiting this recording was a little Christmas present of its own. Among the four Beethoven cycles currently under way (Schiff, Bräutigam, Lewis being the other three) this might well be the most intriguing.

L.v.Beethoven, Cello Sonatas & Variations, P.Fournier / F.Gulda DG

#3 (Reissue): Beethoven, Cello Sonatas - Fournier/Gulda - DG

One of my favorite cellists is Pierre Fournier, whose Bach Suites are my touch-stone, and whose patrician tone I can’t get enough of. I’ve said elsewhere that the man could play “Three Blind Mice” and still send chills down your spine. There are three cycles of Beethoven Cello Sonatas with Fournier, each with one of the absolute Greats of pianism. Schnabel, Kempff, and Gulda. Friedrich Gulda is the least famous of the three, although he might well be the finest among them. A technique that outshines either (especially Schnabel, who did not overly emphasize that aspect of interpretation), an unaffectedness that rivals Kempff. (Gulda’s second Beethoven Sonata Cycle reissued on the super-budget Brilliant label would be listed here, were it not for its December 2005 release date – it’s the most pleasing complete survey of these works I have heard yet.) The Fournier/Schnabel set is marred by its age and bad engineering (at least in the version I know, the balances are blatantly manipulated); the Fournier/Kempff set only by its unavailability on the North American market. Fournier adored the playing of Gulda and tried to lobby Herbert von Karajan into taking Gulda ‘back into his graces’ (apparently Gulda pulled some stunt during rehearsals with HvK once that ‘his Excellency’ was unwilling to forgive), telling Karajan that he knew he had had a problem with Gulda at some point, but that not collaborating with him was “his loss”. Nothing came of that, but Fournier’s own collaboration with Gulda is happily caught on record here. The sound is very good (the piano, at times, a little distant), the playing noble but with warmth, Fournier’s sonorous tone being a thing I can only marvel at. Gulda’s contribution is a treasure chest of musical ideas, tasteful touches, and confident engagement. The Beethoven Sonatas for Cello and Piano have enjoyed three wonderful new recordings in the last few years (Perényi/Schiff – ECM, Brendel père & fils – Philips, Wispelwey/Lazić – Channel Classics), but even if you have one of them, this classic recording is very worthy joining it on your shelf.

L.v.Beethoven, Symphonies 3 & 8, O.Vänskä / Minnesota O. BIS SACD

#4 (New): Beethoven, Symphonies #3 & 8 - Vänskä / Minnesota - BIS

Last year, Osmo Vänskä's recording of symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 of his current Beethoven cycle on BIS held this place. There is no reason not to give the 2006 spot to his second issue of symphonies 3 and 8. If perhaps neither are as – literally – outstanding as his Fourth (at the top of my list of Fourths, by all means), the combination of recorded sound, vigor, and orchestral perfection make it worthy of inclusion in this list. Under Vänskä the Minnesota Orchestra play, well, perfect: Not a note, not an accent, not the tiniest detail is out of place. All that might not impress too much if it were not for the liveliness that is, thankfully, not given short shrift. This is perfection serving a higher purpose, rather than being a goal in itself. Suggesting width, even in crisp tempos, the Eighth brings a heft to the work I have not heard in any ‘modern’ interpretations (Barenboim, who has plenty of that in all of the symphonies of his superb second cycle (Warner Classics) does that, too, but his Beethoven is an altogether more old-fashioned animal, compared to Vänskä’s). The Third is as crisp as a starched white shirt and has as much bite as a Granny Smith. Like Pentatone’s sonata cycle, this is recorded in the Super Audio format. Although the SACD may die a slow death yet, without having taken off as much as the format deserved, issues like these are worth getting into the technology, all the same. But even in standard Red-Book CD sound (all the discs are hybrids, playable on any CD player) this is more than worth trying to get your stocking stuffed with!
(Vänskä’s Ninth is out already and on Alex Ross' "Apex 2006" list.)

Debussy, Études, M.Uchida Decca Originals

#4 (Reissue): Debussy, Études - Uchida - Philips

Mitsuko Uchida’s Debussy Études were never out of the catalog – and they were a bargain, even at full price. It may well be Uchida’s best album; the playing is astonishing on an interpretive and technical level. You can more or less cover your entire Debussy piano needs with four albums: Gieseking for everything (EMI), Zimerman for the Preludes (DG), Michelangeli for Children’s Corner (DG), and the Uchida Études which are part of Decca/Philips’ new “Originals” series, which follows the success of the “DG Originals” and has already brought back several gems at mid-price. If you don’t have this performance already, get it.

G.Mahler, Symphony No.2, P.Boulez / WPh DG G.Mahler, Symphony No.6, C.Eschenbach / Philadelphia Ondine SACD

#5 (New): Mahler, Symphony #2 - Boulez / WPh - DG

It was Mozart’s and Shostakovich’s year – but it has been particularly good to Gustav Mahler. Four CDs stood out. The Eighth on Naxos with Anton Wit conducting largely unknown forces to great effect…, Christoph Eschenbach’s recording of the Sixth with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and two recordings of the Second Symphony. First came Pierre Boulez’ penultimate recording in his Deutsche Grammophon cycle (presuming he will record the Eight for them, also) – then Ivan Fisher’s second Mahler recording with his Budapest Festival Orchestra, recorded in their glorious sounding, new hall. (Fischer, coincidentally does not intend to record a cycle as he told me recently – in particular the Eighth is not one he would see himself committing to record.) If I restrict myself to one Mahler recording in this ‘Top 10’ – and that’s difficult – I must give the nod to Pierre Boulez. Somewhat controversially received by critics (unlike the Fischer, which was universally hailed), there is so much sweep and warmth (yes – warmth with Boulez! It’s possible) in this interpretation (at least from the second movement on), that I am all caught up in the music every time I listen, even if I only mean to give it a ‘casual ear’. It is this intangible force that Boulez creates that puts his second above Fischer’s (whose Sixth I find even more outstanding than this Second – also available as an SACD from Channel Classics) which impresses me on a somewhat less visceral level.

I would be remiss not give at least an extended nod to Eschenbach’s (SACD – again) Ondine recording of the Sixth, though. Not only did Eschenbach get the Philadelphia to record on a major label again, as one of the first US Orchestras in some time, but he has now issued three superb sounding recordings. I can’t be bothered with another Tchaikovsky Fifth, no matter how great it sounds (aside, the Gatti SACD recording on Harmonia Mundi would be difficult to beat) and I didn’t like his interpretation of the Bartók Concerto for Orchestra. But right in the wake of his announced departure from Philadelphia (he and the Orchestra never really gelled) he fires a parting salvo of grand proportions. The first ‘aggressive’ Sixth to be issued since Benjamin Zander (Telarc) and like Zander also taking the Scherzo before the Andante (but only two ‘Hammerblows’) this interpretation bites the head off the Abbado (DG SACD) reading and competes on the same level (if, interpretatively on a rather different plane) as the Fischer Sixth. It is heavy and heavy hitting, sometimes slow to get its own weight moving in the first movement – but rarely ever to its detriment, usually to the benefit of its ransacking, pillaging quality. The dainty, ‘Nutcrackery’, interludes and gentleness in the same movement sound all the more like false calm. Coupling it with the Mahler Piano Quartet (filling out the second disc) was a great idea, too, especially when the playing is as good as here.

(See also: Ionarts Gustav Mahler Survey)

C.Nielsen, Sys. #4 & 2, J.Martinon & M.Gould / CSO RCA

#5 (Reissue): Nielsen, Symphonies #4 & 2 - Martinon, M.Gould / CSO - RCA

RCA’s “Classical Library” mid-price line includes some real treasures (Wand’s Schubert and Bruckner among them) and some more questionable releases. The 2006 reissue of Nielsen’s Second and Fourth Symphonies is surely among the ones most looked forward to. Especially the Martinon-conducted Fourth (Det Uudslukkelige), which had been out of print for a long time... apparently due to copyright uncertainties. Robert R. Reilly kindly pointed me into its direction, having this to say about it: “This music relies on a sense of overwhelming forward drive to express "The Inextinguishable." No one propels it as convincingly as Martinon and the members of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who capture all the symphony's terrifying and exhilarating progress. Music simply does not get better than this.” My former colleague and audiophile Bob McQuiston (who runs “Classical Music Lost & Found” at www.CLoFo.com) feels the same way about it and has the following to say about the Morton Gould conducted performance of the Second: “Most think of Gould as a composer, but he was also a very gifted conductor, as you'll discover when you hear this disc. In fact, prior to this recording many considered Nielsen's second was kind of a yawner, but he changed all that by making its movements the musical epitome of their markings as choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine respectively. If there was ever a temperamental performance, this is it!” In short: ‘unmissable’.

W.A.Mozart, La Clemenza di Tito, C.Mackerras et al. DG

#6 (New): Mozart, La Clemenza di Tito - Mackerras et al. - DG

There was plenty from René Jacobs this year that was wonderful (his Saul occupied this spot last year) – but it wasn’t his La Clemenza di Tito that took the prize in a year that proved heavier on ‘Clemenzas’ than any innocent Mozart lover could have expected (or would want to listen to, for that matter). It was the Mozart Grand-Master Charles Mackerras with his Magdalena Kožená-fortified DG / Archiv recording who rolled out the finest ‘Clemenza’ production currently on the market. (Davis, Hogwood, Gardiner, Böhm are the other mainstream issues.) If it is going to be a CD for you, not a DVD, this remarkable performance can really sell the sub-par Mozart opera as if it were the masterpiece that some conductors or commentators periodically make it out to be. Perhaps it is Mackerras’ moderate pace that makes the difference: He doesn’t take the ‘HIP’ Mozart style to the extreme and gives the opera just the right amount of gravitas that sets it apart from just being a late, retrogressive Idomeneo copy. If you like opera on DVD, though, skip the CD and go straight to the Harnoncourt conducted production from Salzburg: You’ll get singing that is as great (the conducting is more ‘retro’ and broader than Mackerras’) in a staging that achieves the impossible: it makes La Clemenza a dramatically convincing story!

A.Berg, Lulu / Wozzeck, K.Böhm, E.Lear, D.Fischer-Dieskau, F.Wunderlich et al. DG

#6 (Reissue): Berg, Lulu / Wozzeck - Böhm et al. - DG

Universal, the parent company of Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv, Decca/London, Philips has proved to be the best of the ‘old majors’ among recording companies… and by far. EMI seems content to recycle schlock and spice it up with the occasional Simon Rattle album (all of which are decent, none horrible – pace Mr. Hurwitz, none outstanding – pace Gramophone Magazine). Warner has ceased to produce classical music recordings altogether and will only re-issue existent material under their Rhino label. The Sony/RCA-BMG behemoth still records Yo-Yo Ma and Yevgeni Kissin, but not much more… notable are only Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s recordings on RCA and Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (not to be mistaken with Harmonia Mundi) – and, to their credit, they have taken over the Arte Nova label (distributed by Allegro) which, a couple bucks cheaper than even Naxos discs, is currently the best budget label to explore new repertoire on.

DG and its company-siblings stand out not only for their relatively broad range of new releases (only the Naxos and HMU distributed labels’ offers merit equal excitement in looking forward to) but also their open ears to customer demands. Earlier last year, the regional representatives were told to ask their clientele, the music buyers, to report what Opera releases, currently out of the catalogue, they and their customers would like to see back. A cute effort, I thought. Half a year later, there they were: just about all of the recordings on my wish-list back on the North American market. Among them the Böhm Ring Cycle mentioned above, Rameau and Lully with Minkowski (reviewed earlier this year), Anatol Dorati’s complete Haydn Operas, and Karl Böhm’s recordings of Lulu (without the third act completion) and Wozzeck. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Evelyn Lear are, apart from the conductor, the common denominator in the operas. DFD is a particularly good Wozzeck; Lear (whose husband Thomas Stewart just passed away this September) a delight as Marie. Fritz Wunderlich as Andres and Gerhard Stolze as the Hauptmann round out the cast that makes this such a desirable release, even next to DG’s Abbado recording. The same goes for Lulu, where Pierre Boulez (also DG) offers the completed third act but Böhm does not. As a double set, this pack is unbeatable, though… at least for those who can open their ears to the harbinger of 20th century opera.

W.A.Mozart, Piano Sonatas, M.Pletnev DG

#7 (New): Mozart, Piano Sonatas - Pletnev - DG

A disc I didn’t suspect would make this list is Mikhail Pletnev’s of Mozart Sonatas. There is the issue of the works themselves: Slight and plenty available in more or less definitive versions as part of excellent complete sets. (Uchida, DeLarrocha, Schiff et al.) But his quirky, personal way with these works exudes such joy and good humored attitude that I could not resist listening to it over and over – and ultimately could not resist including here, either. “It’s just damn enjoyable” I surrendered to it, in “Dip Your Ears No. 55”. It’s a dose of ditties (although Sonatas, K. 330, 331, 332, and 457 are the most substantial of Mozart’s piano sonata ‘ditties’) that does not ask questions like “how many versions of these works do I already own?” or “is this the ‘best’ recording available?”. The answers would, in any case, be “too many” and “no”. And yet it ought to be given a chance to delight. Broad smile just about guaranteed upon purchase.

E.Elgar, Cello Concerto, J.du Pré / J.Barbirolli Testament

#7 (Reissue): Elgar, Cello Concerto - du Pré - Testament

The vigorous, almost aggressive way that Jacqueline du Pré had with Elgar’s Cello Concerto isn’t the only way to play this work (a more loving, gentle opening – think Lynn Harrell - suits it rather well, too), but it is mesmerizing all the same and her EMI recording has become the standard bearer on disc. Testament now has issued another version (like above Ring, also for the first time) with [Ed. almost] the same team: Barbirolli, Du Pré, BBC Symphony Orchestra. [On the EMI recording, as I was reminded in the comments, it is the LSO.] This live recording from Prague (coupled with two Bach Cello Suites, du Pré recordings of which are few and rare) sounds nearly as good as the EMI studio effort and is, if anything, even better, interpretively . Particularly the opening captured me immediately: With the notes set apart, like fleeting touches, I have never heard the concerto in a more modern light. For those who don’t already have the EMI recording – or those who simply can’t have enough Elgar or du Pré, this is worth the (hefty) Testament price tag.

HK.Gruber, P.Eötvös, M-A.Turnage, Music for Orchestra & Trumpet, P.Eötvös / H.Hardenberger / Gothenburg SO DG N.Rorem, Flute Cto. & Piano Cto., J.Serebrier / Royal Liverp.PO Naxos

#8 (New): Gruber, Eötvös, Turnage - Hardenberger / Eötvös - DG

Contemporary music always gets a spot on this list – not out of ideological concern (although finding great recordings presumes taking a liking to the music) but because there is plenty of really good music being issued. DG’s Gruber-Eötvös-Turnage CD of recently composed works or orchestra and trumpet is an excellent example… not only because of Håkan Hardenberger’s tremendous contributions (regular trumpet, Flügelhorn, piccolo trumpet etc.) in Aerial (H.K. Gruber), Jet Stream (Peter Eötvös – who also conducts the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on this disc), and From the Wreckage (Mark-Anthony Turnage) – but because of the quality and innovativeness of the music itself. Whether I allow the music to waft by me without engaging with it or whether during concentrated listening, the variety and craftsmanship hold my attention and nurture my goodwill. From distilled Sibelius (Gruber) to a visit at “The Blue Note” (Turnage), from moments of sheer loveliness to torn-apart fragments of musical space (Eötvös) this is a bag full of great surprises that might delight even those who bulked at Peter Maxwell Davies’ string quartets (recommended in 2004) and will find friends with all those who liked Thomas Adès’ Piano Quintet (the "modern" 2005 choice).

The disc that I cannot not mention here is José Serebrier’s Naxos recording of Ned Rorem’s Flute and Violin Concertos. Philippe Quint (violin) and Jeffrey Khaner (flute) work with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra to superb effect. The music always intrigued me, the playing always impressed me – but I had somehow not gotten to write about it. Finally, in listening to it on headphones for this End-of-Year summary (alas, after I wrote about Gruber & Co.) it has done for me what it needed to do: fascinate me. The 2002 Flute Concerto could restore your believe in modern music as being new and appealing (not to conservative ears, perhaps, but to all open minded ones), ditto the firmly tonal 1985 Violin Concerto. The 1958 Pilgrims that march before either are a splendid aperitif that gets the ears ready for what follows. Of many excellent Serebrier releases I’ve heard this year (Mussorgsky’s Pictures in his own orchestration, Bach à la Stokowski, William Schuman, Shostakovich) this is the one dearest to me.

D.Shostakovich, Symphonies, M.Jansons et al. EMI

#8 (Reissue): Shostakovich, Symphonies - Jansons et al. - EMI

This is another creative interpretation of “Reissue”: Three of the recordings in this Shostakovich Cycle were issued this year – and the cycle as a whole is brand new, too. It may not beat out the Kitajenko cycle (Capriccio SACDs) as a whole, but it contains so many wonderful interpretations that it demands high praise. Jansons once said that with Shostakovich, it’s the conductor who matters more when it comes to idiom, and less so the orchestra. It isn’t surprising he should have said something along those lines: His cycle is almost as international than the Kubelik's Beethoven traversal that was given the moniker of "International Cycle" (Kubelik recorded the nine Beethoven symphonies for DG with nine different orchestras.) Jansons uses the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 14), the Berliner Philharmoniker (No. 1), the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra (No. 7), the London Philharmonic Orchestra (No. 15), the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (Nos. 6 & 9), the Philadelphia Orchestra (Nos. 10 & 11), the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (No. 8), and the Wiener Philharmoniker (No. 5).

I am not being partial when I single out the Bavarian RSO recordings for extra praise. Symphonies 13 and 14 have rarely sounded so good; the Fourth with the same forces is the finest recording of that symphony I know. The sound is excellent throughout and best again in those, the most recent, recordings of the cycle. Although the Eighth continues to elude me as a work, his Philadelphia recording must be among the finest on the market. His Petersburg Seventh is much edgier than the soft-cornered recording with the Royal Concertgebouw he recently turned in on RCO live SACD – a style that suits it better, I find.

A.Vivaldi, Griselda, J.C.Spinosi / Ensemble Matheus et al. Naïve

#9 (New): Vivaldi, Griselda - Spinosi et al. - naïve

Many new operas delighted me – and apart from above mentioned La Clemenza and the Ring, there were Abbado’s swift, delighting Zauberflöte on DG, Thielemann’s superbly conducted live Parsifal on the same label, and – somewhat further off the beaten path – Ruud Langaard’s Antikrist (Dacapo) – a short opera by the wonderful, sourly neglected, Danish 20th century romantic that strikes me as a spiritual brother (or antipode) to Parsifal with its mystically incense laden atmosphere. But it is the latest issue of the naïve / opus 111 survey of Vivaldi’s operas that should make this list: Griselda, which Ionarts reviewed earlier this year, is the most immediately appealing issue in this series to date, together with La Verità in cimento which I prefer by some margin over the more written and raved about Orlando Furioso. Jean-Christophe Spinosi (here with the Ensemble Matheus has a tendency to exaggerate and accentuate far beyond what the music calls for, which can be tiresome but is more likely to inject the music with energy that we would not suspect in it. Compared to Orlando he seems more even tempered in Griselda (and Verità), making either of these issues a perfect starting point for the Vivaldi Opera journey. Depending on how much of a journey you want it to be, that could be quite an undertaking. I can’t blame anyone stopping after one or two stops or steps, but those do deserve to be experienced, even by listeners who don’t put baroque opera on the top of their ‘favorite genre list’.

W.A.Mozart, Complete Piano Concertos, M.Perahia / ECO Sony

#9 (Reissue): Mozart, Piano Concertos - Perahia - Sony
Murray Perahia is unfortunately not likely to play again in concert or record (a hand injury has sidelined him – perhaps permanently), but it is wonderful to have his Mozart Piano Concertos on Sony/BMG back as a complete set (the individual discs had still been available, the box only as an import from France or Germany). Now on 12 CDs (unlike the bare bones Import, the US version includes the concertos for two and three pianos [except no third pianist is actually needed] with Radu Lupu which explains one of the additional discs, the other stemming from rearranging the concertos) this is one of the classic renditions of the complete works, and considered the best – over-all – by many. The English Chamber Orchestra, which also plays on the Barenboim and Uchida cycles, is impeccable, delectable, dependable. Schiff/Vegh (oop/Decca), Uchida/Tate (Philips), and Buchbinder/himself (Hänssler) are the main rivals, but after holding up Uchida for years as the set against which to compare all others, I am now turning to Perahia for that purpose. Concertos Nos. 12, 14, 26 can’t be bettered, anyway, and if you have some selected Pires (17, 21), Curzon (23, 24), Haskil, Gilels, Gulda, and Schiff in your collection, you’ll be set.

Foulds, Tryptich et al., P.Donohoe / S.Oramo /BirmSO Warner

#10 (New): Foulds, "Dynamic Tryptich et al. - Oramo / Donohoe - Warner Classics

Warner’s second issue of John Foulds’ music is one of that label’s parting gifts. I want to include Folds, even if it means passing over Andrew Manze’s Mozart Concertos or his CPE Bach recording. (Manze's Mozart - Concertos 3-5 - especially, stuck out in a year in which we were inundated with Mozart.) But back to Foulds: This British (sometimes very British) composer (1880 – 1939) has been plenty neglected, even compared to neglected-but-revived British composers of his time like Alwyn, Arnold, Bainton, Bax, Brian... but should now receive some deserved attention through these recordings (the first volume has aroused all kinds of different passions – negative and positive), because the music is terrific in all its conventional and all its modernish guises. Dynamic Triptych is the main work; a piano concerto (Peter Donohoe, piano) that comes across like a British Gentleman trying to sound like Stravinsky with an accent of Prokofiev. Even after just a few hearings, it sounds like an old acquaintance; the written-out orchestral portamenti (call them quarter tones, if you wish) throw in a sense of the modern that goes beyond what the rest of the work offers. Some of the rhythmic hammering in the work borders the repetitive – but it all comes together: not just pleasantly, but as quality music, possibly ahead of its time. Not ahead of its time is the Keltic Lament, but in its film-score like beauty it shows a side of Foulds that could produce the very best in British ‘Light Music’. This issue follows on the heels of Three Mantras, the first Foulds CD of Warner’s which was a Gramophone Magazine choice of the year in 2005. Both discs were recorded with Sakari Oramo and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra where he succeeded Simon Rattle.

F.Schmidt, Sy. #4, F.Welser-Möst EMI J.S.Bach, Complete Decca Recordings, C.Rousset Decca

#10 (Reissue): Schmidt, Symphony #4 - Welser-Möst - EMI

Christoph Rousset and Pierre Hantaï are two of my favorite harpsichord players in Bach (Rondine Blandeau has joined them upon discovery of her English and French Suites) – but it has been Rousset’s recent recordings on Ambroise that have me impressed more than the earlier Decca disc of the Concerto Italiano and other miscellany. But in the package that includes his other Decca recordings – the Goldberg Variations and the Partitas – it becomes part of a very attractive set of performances, indeed, with virtuoso playing and a surprisingly resonant sound. A delicious bargain for the Bach-lover.

On second thought (and because I am running out of space and can’t not include it), I’ll give the nod to EMI’s budget-reissue of the Fourth Symphony of Franz Schmidt with Franz Welser-Möst and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Schmidt is known – to the extent he is known at all – for his large Oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (“The Book with Seven Seals” – the best recordings are the historical Mitropoulos / Sony and Welser-Möst / EMI), and possibly for this symphony. Yakov Kreizberg has added a wonderful version to it on the audiophile Pentatone label, but unless you need SACD and surround sound, the humble $8 EMI disc “will do”. In fact, it is by any account the finest interpretation and the most inspired playing in that symphony I’ve heard (Mehta and Järvi being the other recordings I know). The music sounds like that of a conservative romantic with a Wagnerian sensibility. You can hear elements of Tristan and Parsifal in the slow movement; other ears might find traces of Bruckner (his teacher, along with Robert Fuchs), Liszt, and Reger. Perversely it was Brahms who came to my mind – even if the sound is distinctly more modern. Modern, however, is relative, because the symphony can’t be said to sound much like its 1933(!) tag might suggest. Maybe Schmidt’s Fourth isn’t a “masterpiece”, but under Welser-Möst it sure sounds like one.