CONTENTS
Volume 96 Number 11 63
EDITORIAL Phone 020 7738 5454 Fax 020 7733 2325 email gramophone@markallengroup.com EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Martin Cullingford DEPUTY EDITOR Sarah Kirkup / 020 7501 6365 REVIEWS EDITOR Tim Parry / 020 7501 6367 ONLINE CONTENT EDITOR James McCarthy / 020 7501 6366 SUB-EDITOR David Threasher / 020 7501 6370 SUB-EDITOR Marija �uric´ Speare ART DIRECTOR Dinah Lone / 020 7501 6689 PICTURE EDITOR Sunita Sharma-Gibson AUDIO EDITOR Andrew Everard EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Libby McPhee THANKS TO Hannah Nepil and Charlotte Gardner EDITOR-IN-CHIEF James Jolly
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The July 2018 issue of Gramophone is on sale from June 20; the August issue will be on sale from July 18 (both UK). Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of statements in this magazine but we cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions, or for matters arising from clerical or printers’ errors, or an advertiser not completing his contract. Regarding concert listings, all information is correct at the time of going to press. Letters to the editor requiring a personal reply should be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope. We have made every effort to secure permission to use copyright material. Where material has been used inadvertently or we have been unable to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue. UK subscription rate £64. Printed in England by Southernprint. North American edition (ISSN 0017-310X): Gramophone, USPS 881080, is published monthly with an additional issue in September by MA Music Leisure & Travel Ltd, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB, United Kingdom. The US annual subscription price is $89. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named Air Business, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Gramophone, Worldnet Shipping Inc. (see above). Subscription records are maintained at MA Music Leisure & Travel Ltd, Unit A Buildings 1-5, Dinton Business Park, Catherine Ford Road, Dinton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 5HZ, UK. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent.
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EDITOR’S CHOICE
The 12 most highly recommended recordings reviewed in this issue
7
RECORDING OF THE MONTH 38 Ian Page and his Mozartists offer a delightful insight into the youthful Mozart and the music he might have encountered on his London visit
ORCHESTRAL
40
Claudio Abbado’s farewell to Berlin; Denis Kozhukhin’s impressive Ravel; a rewarding and wide-ranging album from violinist Ayana Tsuji
CHAMBER
56
Ensemble Amarillis explore Handel; the Gould Piano Trio’s Saint-Saëns; percussion’s diversity
INSTRUMENTAL
68
Bach on clavichord by Menno van Delft; last month’s One to Watch Aimi Kobayashi’s album
VOCAL
78
William Mundy’s music from Edinburgh; Ian Bostridge’s Schubert series continues; Clare College, Cambridge reach Trinity Sunday
OPERA
Mark Elder conducts Das Rheingold; the first recording of Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers
90
JAZZ & WORLD MUSIC
99
Reviews from our sister titles Jazzwise and Songlines
REISSUES
100
A cappella stars The King’s Singers are celebrated by box-sets from both Warner Classics and RCA
BOX-SET ROUND-UP
101
REPLAY
Beecham in concert; Sargent conducts Elgar
102
CLASSICS RECONSIDERED 104 Revisiting Claudio Abbado’s 1977 La Scala recording of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra
BOOKS
106
A biography of critic Ernest Newman, and the history of French song from the 12th century
GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION 108 Jeremy Nicholas names his favourite recordings of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No 1
REVIEWS INDEX
128
FOR THE RECORD
8
The latest classical music news, and the second instalment of our new features: this month we tell the story of the Academy of Ancient Music, and in our focus on musical genres, we unpack the history of the prelude
PERCUSSION
18
Leading soloists tell Andrew Mellor how technical and musical developments have been igniting composers’ curiosities and attracting new audiences to this vibrant musical area
OPERA RARA
26
Richard Lawrence celebrates the pioneering label, whose fearless approach to little-known operas has resulted in many superb studio recordings
THE MARIAN CONSORT 32 The group’s director Rory McCleery talks about recording Allegri, James MacMillan and a new commission from Gabriel Jackson
THE MUSICIAN & THE SCORE 54 Joshua Bell on the challenges and joy of recording Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy for Sony Classical
ICONS
66
The legacy of Giuseppe Sinopoli, a conductor who remains an enigmatic and controversial figure
CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS 76 Jörg Widmann’s unique sound world is explored and explained by Peter Quantrill
WHAT NEXT?
88
A musical journey inspired by Mozart’s Requiem
PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS 114 What to watch, and when – both live and online
HIGH FIDELITY
117
Our monthly offering of audio news and reviews
NOTES & LETTERS
NEW RELEASES
124
126
MY MUSIC
Folk singer Sam Lee shares his musical roots
130
4 GRAMOPHONE JULY 2018
gramophone.co.uk
