CONTENTS
eviews
BRAHMS Piano Sonata No 3. Handel Variations Jonathan Plowright pf BIS BIS2047 ‘In the Scherzo – a true dance of the gods – his performance is eloquent and direct, quite without impediment or undue idiosyncrasy yet musical to the core.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 79
JS BACH Leipzig Cantatas Soloists; Collegium Vocale Gent / Philippe Herreweghe PHI LPH006 ‘This latest recording represents the first cantata disc on the PHI label and is arguably the finest in Herreweghe’s recent Bach output.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 82
R STRAUSS Complete Songs, Vol 6 Elizabeth Watts sop Roger Vignoles pf Hyperion CDA67844 ‘My pleasure in this latest volume is without any reservations. Elizabeth Watts sings gloriously, rising fluently to the high tessitura of Strauss’s melodic lines.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 89
‘CANCIONES ESPAÑOLAS’ Songs by Falla, Rodrigo and Granados Bernarda Fink mez Anthony Spiri pf Harmonia Mundi HMC90 2133 ‘This recorded set effectively provides a history of the classics of 20th-century Spanish song in less than 70 minutes.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 90
DVD/Blu-ray BRAHMS. MENDELSSOHN Orchestral Works Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Sir Georg Solti ICA Classics ICAD5089 ‘There’s an irresistible sense of a conductor and orchestra both acutely mindful and deeply proud of their distinguished heritage.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 59
gramophone.co.uk
Reissue/Archive BRAHMS Symphonies Nos 1 and 3 LPO / Klaus Tennstedt LPO LPO0068 The account of the Third Symphony is quite wonderful, the finest live account to be preserved on disc since Furtwängler’s celebrated 1949 Berlin performance.’
REVIEW ON PAGE 59
Reviewed this month: 16 concertos for violin; 6 concertos for cello; 1 concerto for viola
ORCHESTRAL
Schwarz’s Seattle Dvo∑ák Sixth; Temirkanov’s Khachaturian ballets from St Petersburg; David Greilsammer’s Mozart from Geneva
CHAMBER
Les Ombres take on Couperin’s Les nations; Michael Nyman’s piano trios; piano quintets by Poles Zare˛bski and Z ˙ elen´ski
INSTRUMENTAL
Bach, arranged for guitar and organ; a Brahms album from Jonathan Plowright; Aldo Ciccolini’s Mozart and Clementi
VOCAL
The anniversary War Requiem on screen from Coventry; a seldom-heard Mass by Schumann; Roderick Williams in recital
OPERA
JC Bach comes in from the cold; Giulini’s 1960 Covent Garden Il barbiere; Janowski’s Wagner series arrives at Tristan und Isolde
BOOKS
A chronicle of the creative life of the British composer Lennox Berkeley; a study of piano performance during the age of recordings
REPLAY
Two sets celebrate the trailblazers of European modernism; Masur’s Bruckner; Kondrashin’s Mahler; Toscanini in London
THE SPECIALIST’S GUIDE
This month’s specialist Duncan Druce picks 10 of his favourite recordings of forgotten violin concertos from the 19th century
THE GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION
Richard Fairman surveys available recordings of Benjamin Britten’s breakthrough work, the tale of the ‘sadistic fisherman’, Peter Grimes
GRAMOPHONE FEBRUARY 2013 5
