#morninglistening: Itzhak's Bartók-Outing

#morninglistening to #Bartok 2nd VC w/@PerlmanOfficial & @londonsymphony on @WarnerClassic… http://t.co/miKve4Mw9V pic.twitter.com/aczg9ak46X

— Jens F. Laurson (@ClassicalCritic) October 7, 2015

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What the NSO Told Me

Mahler, Symphony No. 3, A. S. von Otter, Vienna Philharmonic, P. Boulez (DG, 2003) Mahler, Symphony No. 3, A. Larsson, Berlin Philharmonic, C. Abbado (DG, 2002) [Other Recordings]

Charles T. Downey, Eschenbach and NSO find coherence elusive in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (Washington Post, November 6)

Christoph Eschenbach’s tenure at the National Symphony Orchestra is drawing to a close, with his term as music director set to end at the close of next season. The German conductor’s time in Washington has produced several significant achievements, but a great Mahler symphony cycle has eluded him. The season’s major opportunity in this area came Thursday night, with Eschenbach’s first performance of Mahler’s gigantic Symphony No. 3, heard in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

Mahler’s Third is a behemoth under the best of circumstances, a work of evening-filling length and often intractable proportions... [Continue reading]

National Symphony Orchestra
Mahler, Symphony No. 3
With Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

SEE ALSO:
Anne Midgette, Anne Sofie von Otter set to perform in D.C. in November (Washington Post, October 30)

Eschenbach's Mahler Symphonies:
No. 5 | No. 9 | Blumine | No. 4 | No. 5

Mahler 3:
Marin Alsop (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, 2015)
Gustavo Dudamel (Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, 2013)
Iván Fischer (Munich Philharmonic, 2012)
Esa-Pekka Salonen (Dresden Staatskapelle, 2011) | Mariss Jansons (Royal Concertgebouw, 2010)
Mariss Jansons (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, 2010) | Iván Fischer (NSO, 2008)
Claudio Abbado (Lucerne Festival, 2007) | James Conlon (Juilliard Orchestra, 2005)

Bach Collegium Japan

Bach, Brandenburg Concertos / Orchestral Suites, Bach Collegium Japan, M. Suzuki (BIS, 2009) Handel (attrib.), Gloria (HWV deest), E. Kirkby, Royal Academy of Baroque Music, L. Cummings (BIS, 2001)

Charles T. Downey, A triumphant return for Bach Collegium Japan
Washington Post, November 5

Many historically informed performance ensembles perform on original instruments. Some play with exceptional virtuosity; a few expand our understanding of a work by playing it. Bach Collegium Japan, which returned triumphantly to the Library of Congress on Wednesday evening, does all of these things. Beyond that, as demonstrated at this concert perhaps even more than on its last visit here, in 2006, the ensemble is never willing to sacrifice musical instinct and ensemble cohesion on the altar of authenticity.

At the heart of the program were two soprano blockbusters, both sung with limpid clarity and sensitive phrasing by Joanne Lunn... [Continue reading]

Bach Collegium Japan
With Joanne Lunn, soprano
Library of Congress

SEE ALSO:
Lawrence A. Johnson, Bach Collegium Japan makes intimate Chicago debut at Rockefeller Chapel (Chicago Classical Review, October 30)

Mark Swed, Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan's impeccable taste shows at Disney Hall (Los Angeles Times, October 27)

Jens F. Laurson, Bach Collegium Japan: Non nisi mota cano (Ionarts, March 28, 2006)

Briefly Noted: Suzuki Plays the Bach Organ Works

J.S. Bach, Organ Works, Vol. 1, M.Suzuki (released on October 9, 2015) BIS-2111 | 79'26" C. Wolff and M. Zepf, The Organs of J.S. Bach: A Handbook, trans. Lynn Edwards Butler (University of Illinois Press, 2012)

Most of the Baroque-heads of my acquaintance are already champing at the bit for tonight's performance by Bach Collegium Japan, at the Library of Congress (November 4, 8 pm). If, by some chance, you have not already reserved your ticket, they are all gone, but you have a good chance of still getting a seat if you show up early and wait on line for an unclaimed spot. (Next year, remember to read my Top 25 Season Preview, so you do not miss something like this.) The program features two major soprano showcase pieces, Handel's recently rediscovered setting of the Gloria (HWV deest) and Bach's solo cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, to be sung by Joanne Lunn, plus instrumental pieces by Bach and Vivaldi.

Masaaki Suzuki founded Bach Collegium Japan when he returned to his homeland after graduate studies in organ and harpsichord in the Netherlands. His recordings of Bach's cantatas and other choral works are acclaimed, and he has been slowly working his way through the instrumental works. This is the first installment of what will eventually be a complete recording of the organ works, and it is delightful listening. Suzuki has chosen to begin this odyssey on the beautifully restored historic organ of the Martinikerk (St. Martin's Church) in the Dutch city of Groningen, built by the German builder Arp Schnitger and enlarged by Albertus Hinsz, all during the lifetime of J.S. Bach. Although this instrument was disastrously altered in later periods, it has been put back to its historic dimensions by Jürgen Ahrend. It makes a gorgeous range of sounds, all captured beautifully on this disc.

As far as we know, Bach never had any connection with this organ or even played on it, although it is not that far out of the sphere of Bach's life. For an absolutely thorough guided tour of the instruments that Bach knew and played on, Christoph Wolff's magnificent study was translated into English a couple years ago and is well worth your time; for example, Bach certainly knew other instruments built by Arp Schnitger in Germany. A selection of works shows off the Martinikerk instrument's range, with a full registration in the G major fantasia, BWV 572; the buzzy tuning, sometimes hair-raisingly rural, of the reed stops in the F major Pastorella, BWV 590; some feather-light finger- and pedal-work in the monstrously difficult "Wedge" fugue, BWV 548. The registrations are all colorful and attractive, and the appeal is both purely musical and scholarly, with savant notes on each piece by Prof. Albert Clement, of the University of Utrecht. The only shortcoming, albeit a minor one, is the omission of translations of the German texts of the chorales set by Bach (O Gott, du frommer Gott and Vom Himmel hoch da komm’ ich her), after making a strong case for organists studying these texts to garner clues about how to play Bach's music derived from them.

#morninglistening: Grieg 'n' Grainger, Works for Cello & Piano

#morninglistening to #Grieg et al. with Christian Ihle Hadland and Andreas Brantelid. #cla… http://t.co/0pIXjh3zbQ pic.twitter.com/BRG5YhT7vI

— Jens F. Laurson (@ClassicalCritic) September 20, 2015

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Classical Music Agenda (January 2016)

Bass viol by Barak Norman, 1692 Metropolitan Museum of Art

The New Year is just around the corner, so it is not too early to start planning your concert schedule. Here are our Top Ten concert picks for the month of January.

EARLY MUSIC:
Some of the most beautiful music you have likely never heard was composed for the viol consort, a set of instruments rarely heard anymore. In its first concerts of the year, the Smithsonian Consort of Viols will perform music for the combination by John Dowland and William Lawes (January 9 and 10), in the unusual setting of the Smithsonian Castle National Museum of American History.

One of Europe's leading historically informed performance ensembles, Europa Galante, comes to Baltimore's Shriver Hall with their leader, violinist Fabio Biondi (January 17). They will perform their intriguing Diario di Chiara program, already reviewed on disc.

The Folger Consort's New Year concerts at Washington National Cathedral are pushed later into the month this year. The group shares the stage with Stile Antico and Arcadia Viols in a program marking the 500th anniversary of Shakespeare's death (January 22 and 23).

ORCHESTRAS:
The National Symphony Orchestra's parade of guest conductors continues in the New Year, with an appearance by Neeme Järvi, who will conduct Sibelius's second symphony and Eller's Five Pieces for String Orchestra. Violinist Baiba Skride joins for Prokofiev's first violin concerto (January 14 to 16).

Jakub Hrůša conducts the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in an unusual combination of Janáček's Jealousy and Brahms's fourth symphony, plus violinist Sergey Khachatryan in the Sibelius violin concerto (January 30 at Strathmore; January 29 and 31 in Baltimore).

Washington Performing Arts presents the Orchestre National de France, with Daniele Gatti at the podium for Dutilleux's Métaboles and Tchaikovsky's fifth symphony, plus Julian Rachlin as soloist in Shostakovich's first violin concerto (January 31), in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

Bach, Sacred Arias and Cantatas, D. Daniels, English Concert, H. Bicket (Virgin Classics, 2008)

CHAMBER MUSIC:
Washingtonians should take advantage of opportunities to hear pianist Brian Ganz. The next one is a solo recital of Chopin, the latest in the series sponsored by the National Philharmonic in the Music Center at Strathmore (January 9).

A cancellation by bass Alexander Tsymbalyuk on the series of Vocal Arts D.C. yielded an unexpected upgrade, a concert by countertenor David Daniels and pianist Martin Katz in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (January 31). Music by Purcell, Handel, Brahms, Hahn, and Vaughn Williams will be featured.

The Arditti Quartet returns to Washington on the same day, with a concert at the Phillips Collection (January 31). The program includes the Washington premiere of Pascal Dusapin's Quatour V (2004–2005).

DANCE:
The first major visit of the ballet season is American Ballet Theater's production of the historically renewed version of The Sleeping Beauty by Alexei Ratmansky, which will take over the Kennedy Center Opera House at the end of the month (January 27 to 31). The Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra provides the sounds of Tchaikovsky's score.

See the complete calendar after the jump.

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#morninglistening: Itzhak Paganini Caprices

#morninglistening to #itzhakperlman scratching some #Paganini on @WarnerClassics can’t he… http://t.co/kk5jAGSq51 pic.twitter.com/dvxTq5jMYO

— Jens F. Laurson (@ClassicalCritic) October 6, 2015

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Perchance to Stream: Toussaint Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio and online video from the week gone by. After clicking to an audio or video stream, you may need to press the "Play" button to start the broadcast. Some of these streams become unavailable after a few days.

• Watch a production of Verdi's Aida from the Teatro Regino in Turin, directed by William Friedkin and conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. [ARTE]


• Listen to a performance of Gounod's Faust, starring Charles Castronovo (Faust), Ildar Abdrazakov (Méphistophélès), and Irina Lungu (Marguerite), recorded last June at the Teatro Regino in Turin. [ORF]


• From the Klara Festival in Ghent, a performance of Wagner's Tannhäuser, recorded in September at the Vlaamse Opera under Dmitri Jurowski. [RTBF]


• A production of Boito's Mefistofele, from the Bayerischen Staatsoper in Munich. [BR-Klassik]


• Watch Thierry Escaich inaugurate the new organ at the Philharmonie de Paris, in a concert by the Orchestre de Paris, including the world premiere of Jörg Widmann's new viola concerto. [ARTE]


• Christina Pluhar conducts L'Arpeggiata and Voces8 in a performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, starring Mariana Flores (Dido), Céline Scheen (Belinda), and Marc Mauillon (Aeneas), recorded at the Utrecht Early Music Festival. [ORF]


• Italian countertenor Carlo Vistoli stars in a concert performance of Handel's Tamerlano, recorded at the Poznań Baroque Festival in Poland, with the ensemble Les Ambassadeurs directed by Alexis Kossenko. [ABC Classic]


• Florian Boesch sings Lieder by Schubert, Liszt, and Schumann, accompanied by pianist Malcolm Martineau. [BR-Klassik]


• Cellist Edgar Moreau plays the first cello concerto by Saint-Saëns with the Orchestre National de France, conducted by Nikolaj Znaider, plus music by Falla and Dvorak. [France Musique]


• Soprano Emma Pearson stars in Opera Queensland's production of Verdi's La Traviata. [ABC Classic]


• Music for organ and orchestra by Rameau, Corrette, and Rebel performed by organist Yves Rechsteiner and the ensemble Les Surprises at the Abbaye de Saint-Michel en Thiérache. [France Musique]


• Works of Sibelius, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Selim Palmgren, and Toivo Kuula performed by the Male Chorus YL of the University of Helsinki, recorded in the Collégiale Saint-Martin de Montmorency during the Festival d'Ile de France. [France Musique]


• From the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the Belcea Quartet performs string quartets by Beethoven, Britten, and Brahms, at a concert recorded last May. [ORF]


• Listen to Luciano Berio conducts his own music, Sinfonia (with the Swingle Singers and the Orchestre philharmonique de l'ORTF) and other works with the Orchestre National de France, at concerts recorded in 1969 and 1976. [France Musique]


• The Clemencic Consort, under René Clemencic, perform music from Le Roman de Fauvel, performed last month at the Wiener Musikverein. [ORF]

• Mark Elder leads the Australian Youth Orchestra in music by Mahler and Debussy. [ABC Classic]


• François-Xavier Roth conducts Les Siècles, the Wiener Singakademie, and soloists in Gossec's Missa pro defunctis. [ORF]


• Soprano Felicity Lott and pianist Graham Johnson perform a recital of songs by Schubert, Brahms, Wolf, Poulenc, Barber, and others, recorded at the Auditorium du Musée d'Orsay. [France Musique]


• Bernard Haitink leads the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in music of Schubert and Mozart's A major piano concerto with Maria João Pires as soloist, recorded last August at the Proms. [ORF | Part 2]


• Simon Rattle conducts a performance of Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, starring Sally Matthews, Mark Padmore, Kate Royal, and others, recorded last January at the Barbican Hall. [ORF]


• Compare that with Philippe Herreweghe's version of the same Schumann oratorio, with soprano Carolyn Sampson, the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, and the Collegium Vocale Ghent. [RTBF]


• From the Lucerne Festival, Bernard Haitink conducts a performance of Haydn's 60th symphony ("Il distratto") and Mahler's fourth symphony, recorded in August. [ORF | Part 2]


• The ensemble La Rêveuse performs devotional songs for three male voices by Henry Purcell. [France Musique]


• A composer portrait of Unsuk Chin recorded during the Festival d'Autonme in Paris. [France Musique]


• Daniil Trifonov plays Rachmaninoff's first piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Semyon Bychkov. [CSO]


• Daniil Trifonov plays Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, to mark Myung-Whun Chung's departure as music director, at a concert recorded last June. [France Musique]