CONTENTS
eviews
BYRD. DE MONTE ‘The Word Unspoken’ Gallicantus / Gabriel Crouch Signum SIGCD295 ‘The ensemble’s view is delivered with such intelligence and rhetorical persuasiveness that the cumulative weight of their Byrd, in particular, is well-nigh symphonic in effect.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 88
G JACKSON ‘Beyond the Stars – Sacred Choral Works, Vol 2’ Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh / Duncan Ferguson Dephian DCD34106 ‘The harmonies are dazzlingly luxurious – Jesu, Rex admirabilis is so ecstatic that it probably ought to carry a health warning.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 91
‘FERNE GELIEBTE’ Songs by Beethoven, Schoenberg, Haydn & Berg Christian Gerhaher bar Gerold Huber pf Sony 88691 93543 2 ‘The Beethoven cycle immediately reacquaints us with Gerhaher’s familiar virtues of a beautiful, even voice and unforced clarity of diction.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 95
SHOSTAKOVICH Orango – Prologue. Symphony No 4 Soloists; LA Master Chorale, LA Philharmonic / Esa-Pekka Salonen DG 479 0249GH2 ‘Salonen turns his musical intellect on the extraordinary Fourth, achieving the kind of skewed logic that some merely hint at.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 99
DVD/Blu-ray PUCCINI Il trittico Soloists; Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Antonio Pappano; Richard Jones dir Opus Arte OA1070D; OABD7102D ‘This set marks a high point for live opera on DVD.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 98
gramophone.co.uk
Reissue/Archive R STRAUSS Songs Felicity Lott sop Graham Johnson pf Champs Hill CHRCD037 ‘Lott’s voice and phrasing are still at their glorious finest and so is her partnership with Johnson. The result is a magical recital, naturally recorded.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 94
Reviewed this month: 6 Russian string quartets; 3 German string quartets; Polish string quartet
ORCHESTRAL
‘New’ Brandenburgs; Gustavo Dudamel’s Eroica; Freddy Kempf’s Gershwin; Marin Alsop’s Mahler First; the works of Wolfgang Rihm
CHAMBER
The Goulds record Dvo∑ák’s complete piano trios; the Doric Quartet tackle late Schubert; Martha Argerich live in Lugano last year
INSTRUMENTAL
Iberia encore; Feltsman’s fine Chopin Waltzes; Rousset’s Rameau on a 1716 harpsichord; Gabriel Prokofiev’s multi-layered cello tracks
VOCAL
A War Requiem from Utrecht; Orlando’s son Christopher Gibbons; a pair of period Creations; Christian Gerhaher’s Austrian song recital
OPERA
Shostakovich’s Orango prologue resurrected; Elektras and Falstaffs old and new; Bayreuth’s Lohengrin and Janowski’s concert Parsifal
BOOKS
Jussi Björling’s legacy on record explored and analysed; Tom Service’s travels with a sextet of conductors
REPLAY
Forgotten treasures from the archives; Fistoulari in Russian repertoire; the Borodin Quartet’s Tchaikovsky; Karel Šejna
THE SPECIALIST’S GUIDE
This month’s specialist Andrew Lamb picks 10 of his favourite recordings of British light orchestral music
THE GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION
Geraint Lewis travels with Schumann down the River Rhine in search of the finest recording of the Rhenish Symphony
GRAMOPHONE OCTOBER 2012 5
