Editorial T
he centre of gravity in the . world of period performance has definitely moved south in the past decade or so. For the first 15 years of tentative exploration and experimentation th e period performance world was dominated by the British , the Dutch, the French and the Germans. The fact tha t those nation s also play ho st to the majority of major recording companies meant the catalogue was perhaps disproportionately dominated by Northern European performers. Times have changed and the Southern Europeans are reclaiming large quantities of music that is, by rights, their s by birth. Italian groups, for exa mple, are si nging and recording - invariably very successfully music by Monteverdi just as Spanish musicians are exploring their early and extraordinarily rich musical her it age. The sunshin e that has been allowed to nood in and warm the cool Northern approach is paying rich dividends.
Over th e years we have featured on our covers successful generations of musical pioneers - Christopher Hogwood, John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Roger Norrington (to whom congratulations for hi s knighthood are in order), William Christie, Nik o laus Harnoncourt, Ton Koopman, Philippe Herreweghe - all have shown us ways of re-assessing the remarkable sound world of composers both familiar and less so. Now we turn our attention to the work of the Catalan lordi Savall. Rather in the way that Barcelona has always been with us but has only recently emerged as one of the most dynamic cities in Europe (though of course that has been a closely guarded secret for many people for decades), so SavalJ has been playing a major role in music-making for many years but has only stepped into the internation a l limelight in the past few years.
The fact that Auvidis can record a work lik e Beethoven 's Eroica with Savall - welcomed by RO last month - or, turning back the clock a few months, Philippe Herreweghe can record the Mozart and Brahms Requiems, hints at a fairly decisive shift of emphasis in the A&R policies of these large independent companies. I t is perhaps over simplistic - though understandable - to jump to the conclusion that the major companies are moving away from the central repertoire because they do not perceive th a t there is a market for it. The rea so ns are many, the saturation of the market by reissues not least of them. Can the independents step into the gap apparently left by the major companie> and start to record the core repertoire themselves, their considerably lower overheads allowing them the luxury of delving into this traditionally more expensive area? I t would be interesting to see the sales figures of a full-price recording of core repertoire made by a n independent company and compare it with those of a major company in the sa me music. Th a t the independents can record core repertoire from time to time and make a considerable s uccess of it is without doubt. The danger for the independents' exclusive liaisons with these highly talented artists - who invariably have built their reputations in more obscure repertoire - is that sooner or later their ambitions will lead them into the core repertoire where there is less guarantee of large sales. Musical hubris, or merely understandable ambition? Either way it has proved a thorny question for a large number of major record companies in developing exclusive contracts with their artists in recent years. It remains to be seen whether the independents can find fresh life in these apparently barren areas or whether they are destined to be prostrated by the ambitions of their a rti s ts.
Obviously it is the core repertoire remains the best-known and most widely appreciated th a t classical music has to offer. If the sales of all 110 versions of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony were ad ded together they would undoubtedly outsell even the most exciting example of rare repertoire many times over. Just as John Eliot Gardiner is DG's best-selling artist currently before the public so period - instrument interpretations rem a in the one approach to the centra l repertoire that does appear to sell and that is the route the independent companies take when embracing it into their catalogues. When an independent company attempts to record core repertoire on modern instruments in direct competition to the majors then a substantial sea-change will be under way ~
Editor's choice
James Jolly selects ten outstanding CDs from this month's reviews
Bart6k The Miraculous Mandarin etc
Budapest Festival Orch / Fischer Philips Orchestral reviews Page 48
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Britten Cello Symphony Walton Cello Concerto
Lloyd Webber; ASMF / Marriner Philips Orchestral reviews Page 50
Charpentier Sacred
Choral Works, Vol. 3 Le Concert Spirituel/ Niquet Naxos Choral and song reviews Page 7B
Grainger In a nutshell
CBSO / Rattle EMI Orchestral reviews Page 52
Rouse Iscariol. Gorgon.
Trombone Concerto. Alessi; Colorado SO / Alsop RCA Red Seal Orchestral reviews Page 58
Schubert Marches militaires. Variations.
Grand Duo Barenboim; Lupu Teldec Chamber reviews Page 70
Waltraud Meier sings Wagner Operatic scenes Meier; BRSO / Maazel RCA Red Seal Opera reviews Page 97
Gershwin Works for Two
Pianos Donohoe; Roscoe Carlton Classics Chamber reviews Page 68
Rutter Requiem . Choral Works Polyphony;
Boumemouth Sinf / Layton Hyperion Choral and song reviews Page 82
Weill Die sieben
TodsLinden. Symphony No.2 Stratas; Lyon Opera Orch / Nagano Erato Chamber reviews Page 92
Gramophone AuguSI 1997
