In Memoriam: Hearing Sir Colin Davis (1927 - 2013)

Tippett, Midsummer Marriage Lyrita UK | DE | FR

Britten, Peter Grimes Philips/Decca UK | DE | FR

To pick a dozen recordings from Sir Colin Davis’ discography that do his life, work, and art justice is either terribly easy (because there are so many) or terribly difficult (because twelve are so few). Davis was one of the most prolific, and most recorded conductors, rivaled only by Sir Neville Marriner, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, Neeme Järvi, Daniel Barenboim, and Claudio Abbado—to mention only peers that are still active.

Although Colin Davis did much to generate interest in composers like Michael Tippet and James MacMillan, shaped our impression of Benjamin Britten on account of a stunning account Peter Grimes, and conducted a vast repertoire during his sixteen years heading Covent Garden, decade with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and twelve years as Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, he will be remembered primarily for two composers: as the foremost champion of Berlioz, and

Read more »

Christophe Rousset, Musical Journeys

Charles T. Downey, Christophe Rousset on the harpsichord
Washington Post, April 15, 2013

J.-P. Rameau, Les Indes Galantes, C. Rousset (Naïve, 2009)

In the right hands, the harpsichord can be a mesmerizing instrument. Christophe Rousset, in two concerts over the weekend, took listeners on unforgettable musical journeys: through two centuries of French music for the harpsichord, through musical depictions of world cultures, through the portal of life and death.

At La Maison Française on Friday night, which happened to be Rousset’s birthday, the French harpsichordist began with music of the 17th century, in a concert called “In Praise of Shadows.” The shades of the giants of the French harpsichord school were headed by a stately, pensive pavane by Jacques Champion de Chambonnières. The three suites that filled out the program, played without intermission, each ended with a “tombeau,” a musical tribute by one composer to another composer who has just died, like a sculpted portrait placed upon a tomb. To the dances of Johann Jakob Froberger’s 19th suite, Rousset appended Froberger’s tombeau for the lutenist Charles Fleury de Blancrocher. This cerebral piece ended with a crashing minor scale down the bass keys, a reference to Blancrocher’s death after falling down a flight of stairs, where he died in the arms of his best friend, Froberger. [Continue reading]

Christophe Rousset, harpsichord
La Maison Française (April 12)
Library of Congress (April 13)
[See my preview article]

Sir Colin Davis (1927 - 2013)

See our Colin Davis Appreciation here: In Memoriam: Hearing Sir Colin Davis (1927 - 2013)

In Brief: Tax Man Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.)

• The Opéra de Lyon gives the world premiere of Thierry Escaich's opera Claude (watch video embedded at right), based on Victor Hugo's novel Claude Gueux from 1834. [France Musique]


• You can also listen to Philip Glass's new opera Spuren der Verirrten (The Lost), premiered in Linz. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• Listen to the production of Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable from Covent Garden, recorded last December, starring Bryan Hymel (Robert), Patrizia Ciofi (Isabelle), John Relyea (Bertram), and Marina Poplavskaya (Alice). [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• Ionarts favorite Alexandre Tharaud plays a recital at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, with music by Grieg, Schumann, and Beethoven, plus his own transcription of the Adagietto from Mahler's fifth symphony, which we had hoped to hear him play here in Washington but which he removed from the program. [France Musique]


• Another Ionarts favorite, Christian Gerhaher, performs a program of folk song arrangements by Haydn, Beethoven, and Britten, in a program that also included Shostakovich's second piano trio. [BR-Klassik]


• Watch Mariss Jansons conduct the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on the 125th anniversary of that august ensemble, with soloists Janine Jansen, Lang Lang, and Thomas Hampson. [Medici.tv]


• Listen to a performance by the young singers of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Paris. [France Musique]


• Jordi Savall conducts Le Concert des Nations in excerpts from operas by Lully, Marais, and Rameau, in a performance recorded in February at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• Daniel Harding conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Mahler's fourth symphony, with soprano Anna Prohaska as soloist, plus Britten's Les Illuminations and The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. [BR-Klassik]


• An archival performance of Verdi's Aroldo, recorded live with the Oratorio Society of New York and the Opera Orchestra New York in 1979, starring Montserrat Caballé (Mina), Gianfranco Cecchele (Aroldo), Louis Lebherz (Briano), and Juan Pons (Egberto), and conducted by Eve Queler. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• Listen to Antonio Pappano conduct the Orchestra dell’'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Tchaikovsky's sixth symphony, plus music by Elgar and Chausson, with mezzo-soprano Marie-Nicole Lemieux as soloist. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• Kent Nagano has his first concert as principal guest conductor of the Göteborg Symphony, in music by Stravinsky, Berlioz, and a new arrangement of Stenhammar songs by Paula Af Malmborg Ward, with Anna Larsson as soloist. [GSO-Play]


• From the Opéra de Limoges, a recital by pianist Roger Muraro, with music by Debussy, Liszt/Wagner, and Berlioz. [France Musique]


• A recital by flutist Daniela Koch and pianist Oliver Triendl, with music by Mozart, Schubert, Enescu, and others, recorded this month at the Wiener Konzerthaus. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• Listen to pianist Rudolf Buchbinder in a recital at the Kulturzentrum Eisenstadt, recorded last fall, with music by Haydn, Beethoven, Liszt, and others. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• Musicians from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France perform unusual music by Robert Fuchs (Quintet in E-flat Major) and Ferdinand Thieriot (Octet in B-flat major). [France Musique]


• An all-Mozart program from the Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester, with Zubin Mehta conducting and pianist Rudolf Buchbinder as soloist. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• A performance of Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin from tenor Daniel Johannsen and pianist Christoph Hammer. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• In this concert from 2006, Kurt Masur leads the Orchestre National de France in Schubert's 8th symphony and Shostakovich's 13th symphony, with baritone Sergei Leiferkus. [France Musique]

Dip Your Ears, No. 133 (Bach Motets)

J.S.Bach, Motets J.E.Gardiner / Monteverdi Choir SDG 716

John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach recordings on his label, Soli Deo Gloria, are gorgeous in every way. The packaging is a joy to behold; the artwork, the notes, the choice of fonts… everything exudes thoughtfulness. The same is true for their live performances—here the six Motets of Bach which not only Gardiner considers among the cantor’s “most perfect… most hypnotic… works”. With minimal continuo accompaniment, the Monteverdi Choir (its second recording) excels in a felt, taciturn way. But the competition is tough: The Nederlands Kamerkoor’s even purer, voice-focused rendering (Channel), for example, the persuasive, determined Suzuki (BIS) shines brighter, or Sigiswald Kuijken’s riveting 20-year-old account (Accent) with added instrumental texture easily brave Gardiner’s challenge.

Samples from each of the six Motets below the break:

Read more »

Christophe Rousset in Concert

Froberger, Suites de clavecin, C. Rousset (Naïve, 2010) L. Couperin, Suites de Clavecin, C. Rousset (Aparte, 2010) J.-P. Rameau, Les Indes Galantes, C. Rousset (Naïve, 2009)

We are big fans of the harpsichord playing of Christophe Rousset around here. The French harpsichordist and conductor has a vast discography to his name, with discs of music by a startling range of composers, some largely unknown, most of them excellent. As much as we love his playing and have savored so many of his recordings, we have yet to review him in concert, with only a near-miss when he played on the Estate Musicale Chigiana during my summer in Siena a few years ago. That is all about to change, as Christophe Rousset will play two concerts in Washington this weekend: first at La Maison Française this evening (April 12, 7:30 pm) and tomorrow afternoon at the Library of Congress (April 13, 2 pm), with two completely different programs. At the French Embassy Rousset offers a concert called Éloge de l’ombre (In Praise of Shadows), which opens with a pavane by Jacques Champion de Chambonnières (c. 1601-1672), followed by three suites that all end in a tombeau (a tribute by one composer to another, dead composer), by Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667), Louis Couperin (c. 1626-1661), and Jean-Henry d'Anglebert (1628-1691), the last one ending with a tombeau to Chambonnières. At the Library of Congress, Rousset plays a program he describes as a "keyboard travelogue," with dances and other pieces by François Couperin (1668-1733) and Jean-Philippe Rameau, all representing exotic locations and nationalities, "from Peru to China and the Far East."

Rousset recorded some of these pieces a while ago, but at left are a few of the recent recordings that include music to be featured on his Washington concerts. Rousset will play a Froberger suite from his earlier CD of that composer's music, but he has recently released a disc of more suites from Froberger's extensive output. Froberger was from Stuttgart, but because he worked much of his career at the imperial court in Vienna, musicologist Guido Adler featured his music prominently in the collection of music he edited, Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österrreich. His distillation of the French style brisé kind of dances into a suite -- Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, [Optional], Gigue (although Froberger did not always have all of these slots, or have them in this order) -- had a major influence on subsequent composers in German-speaking countries. One part of the appeal of Rousset's recordings is that he has made them on a series of interesting historical instruments -- on the Froberger disc and others, instruments now in the museum of the Cité de la Musique in Paris (in this case, a 1652 Couchet harpsichord here). The result is playing that is not only pleasing, musical, diverting, and affecting -- but with lessons to be learned by matching historical music to an instrument like that for which it was likely destined. The 12th suite is especially moving, with the first movement given over to a lament on the death of Ferdinand IV (eldest son of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III), who died of smallpox in his 20s. At the end of the lament, Froberger has the right hand rise up the keyboard in a C major scale, ending at the highest C, where he drew a bunch of heavenly clouds in the manuscript.

The harpsichord music of Louis Couperin, the uncle of François Couperin who was mentored by Chambonnières himself, is becoming more familiar to audiences, heard recently in concerts by Blandine Rannou and Mitzi Meyerson, for example. At La Maison Française, Rousset will play this composer's F major suite, and his recorded performance of the work is embedded below. The "travelogue" program at the Library of Congress will conclude with a section of one of the strangest pieces in the Baroque repertoire, the fourth suite from Rameau's own transcription of the music from his own opera-ballet Les Indes Galantes. This arrangement has been recorded before, but some of the pieces in the fourth suite appear impossible to play on the harpsichord -- especially the Ritournelle, written on three staves, and the Adoration au Soleil (Adoration of the Sun), written on four staves. Rousset plays everything, except one tiny introductory piece, on a mostly unaltered 1761 Jean-Henri Hemsch harpsichord.

Parsifal and the Tree of Life

My first Wagner opera was Parsifal at the Bavarian State Opera. Around Easter, twelve years ago, I managed to snag a standing room ticket for a performance with Waltraud Meier and Kurt Moll (John Keyes was Parsifal, Christof Prick conducted). At the time, Peter Konwitschny’s production was already six years old, and it fascinated me, right through my enthralled incomprehension.

I might not have been quite as enthralled, had I not managed to finagle my way onto a seat, front row, from which to follow acts two and three… and in the end, the Wagnerian glow I carried away from the experience was 46% pride of not having fallen asleep.

I revisited that particular Parsifal seven years later, and again this year… still the same production with its vast, stage-dominating tree and little else. It is one of Konwitschny’s more sparse productions, his first great Wagner-splash, and when compared with the multi-layered Stefan Herheim interpretation (see: “Bayreuth 2012: Parsifal, a Gift of Greatness”), it genuinely comes across as an entirely different opera. Where Herheim engages in story-telling and centers (one can’t properly speak of “focus”) the story around Gurnemanz and Kundry, Konwitschny zooms in on

Read more »

American Ballet Theater at the Kennedy Center

Marcelo Gomes and Julie Kent in The Moor's Pavane, American Ballet Theater (photo by Gene Schiavone)

American Ballet Theater is back in town for a week-long visit to the Kennedy Center Opera House, a company we last reviewed in their charming Nutcracker a couple years ago. The distinguished touring company, established to bring the best ballet to the citizens of the Unites States and once led by Mikhail Baryshnikov, is now under the artistic direction of Kevin McKenzie, with the talented, envelope-pushing choreographer Alexei Ratmansky serving as Artist in Residence. Its first program, a triple-bill of shorter, more abstract ballets, opened last night, with Anna-Marie Holmes's revision of the classic Marius Petipa choreography of Adolphe Adam's Le Corsaire to open tonight.

George Balanchine's choreography to the music of Georges Bizet's Symphony in C goes back to a 1947 production for the Paris Opera Ballet called Le Palais de Cristal. The more abstract version danced by ABT, premiered in 2001, has no set (staging by Merrill Ashley and Stacy Caddell, lighting by Mark Stanley), just a neutral gray screen as backdrop. The women, who open the work in a group of ten, are costumed in shiny white tutus, with the men in black, further enhancing the sense of a sort of abstract painting set in motion. Balanchine hewed closely to the music, bringing in his soloist in the first movement, here the lively Paloma Herrera, with the theme presented by the solo oboe, for example. She was paired with James Whiteside, who made her glide about elegantly in many lifts. The prettiest dancing was in the second movement, which begins with six women floating in en pointe, with Balanchine again delaying the entrance of his soloist (here Hee Seo) until the oboe solo. The six dancers stood motionless until the fugue, when the music activated them to follow the entrances of Bizet's contrapuntal subject. (For a student work, composed when the 17-year-old Bizet was studying with Gounod at the Conservatoire de Paris, it is a remarkably put-together piece.) Among the dancers Daniil Simkin, male soloist in the third movement, stood out for the height and ease of his leaps and turns and the overall litheness of his movement. The fluttery choreography of the fourth movement matches the agitation of the fourth movement's music, with a group of dancers appearing with each return of the rondo theme, ending up with a large corps at the conclusion.

Other Reviews: Sarah Kaufman, American Ballet Theatre works at Kennedy Center attest to a company in fine fettle (Washington Post, April 11) Alastair Macauley, Swirls and Shifts in a Kaleidoscope (New York Times, October 20, 2012) Brian Seibert, For the Love of Shostakovich, the Destroyer (New York Times, October 12, 2012)

José Limón's ballet The Moor's Pavane was next, loosely based on the story of Othello and using appropriately courtly music by Henry Purcell (including Abdelazer, The Gordion Knot Untied, plus a pavane). It is not exactly Shakespeare's Othello but quite similar, a story of a jealous moor like that in the play The Moor's Revenge, for which Purcell wrote the Abdelazer music. Again there is no set, and the overall atmosphere is dark, a black background against which the tall, brutal Moor of Marcelo Gomes, in a rich burgundy robe, is turned against his wife (the white-clad, innocent Julie Kent) by the poisonous friend (danced by Cory Stearns with an almost predatory, homoerotic twist), in a trick that does involve a stolen handkerchief. Ballet's roots in courtly dance, which was the origin of Purcell's music, is continuously evoked by Limón as the four characters more often face one another, in approximations of court dances, than the audience.

While the playing of the small ensemble, with harpsichord, for the Purcell selections was quite beautiful, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra sounded off-kilter in the Bizet symphony, with far too many splatted notes in the trumpets and horns especially. Perhaps more of the rehearsal time went to the closing work, Shostakovich's peppy ninth symphony, in a new choreography created for ABT by Alexei Ratmansky, which sounded forceful and fun. Shostakovich originally planned to write his ninth symphony as a celebration of Soviet victory in World War II, a work "about the greatness of the Russian people, about our Red Army liberating our native land from the enemy," as scholar Laurel Fay has quoted him. The struggle had been, he wrote, "a war of culture and light against darkness and obscurantism, a war of truth and humanism against the savage morality of murderers," but his plans for a massive work with chorus and solo singers were never realized. After the dreamed-of victory had actually been achieved, with official celebrations in Red Square in May 1945, Shostakovich abandoned what he had completed up to that point and produced a small-scale symphony -- five movements in 25 minutes -- "lacking all pretensions to gravity and majesty, [...] almost the antithesis of expectations," as Fay put it.

The very lightness of the work, its occasional grotesque turns, brought the composer all sorts of trouble from Soviet cultural authorities in the years after its premiere, but it is precisely that giddy wit that Ratmansky seized on in his striking choreography. He plans to integrate this choreography into a trilogy of Shostakovich ballets, to be premiered this spring in New York. Ratmansky told an interviewer that what draws him to Shostakovich is that "You can learn the history of the country from his music." This vigorous, often mysterious choreography, with its stark blacks and whites, its curious gestures -- dancers lying down and falling asleep mechanically, leaping and twisting, large groups in conflict -- holds great promise for the entire project.

The visit by American Ballet Theater continues this evening, with performances of Le Corsaire in the Kennedy Center Opera House, through April 14.