CONTENTS Volume 96 Number 1168 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 Charlotte Gardner, Edward Christian-Hare EDITOR-IN-CHIEF James Jolly
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The November 2018 issue of Gramophone is on sale from November 7; the December issue will be on sale from December 5 (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 32 Violinist Hilary Hahn plays solo Bach with an expressive urgency, combining a distinctive personality with idiomatic flair in a way that is both compelling and deeply touching
ORCHESTRAL
34
Zefiro turn to Bach’s Brandenburgs; Adám Fischer’s latest Mahler instalment; Vasily Petrenko’s Norwegian Scriabin; Yuja on the road
CHAMBER
The Arcadia’s Bartók; Isabelle Faust plays Mozart; Steve Reich’s Drumming from Kuniko
52
INSTRUMENTAL
64
Chopin from Leif Ove Andsnes; Lugansky’s impressive Debussy; Jean Rondeau plays Scarlatti
VOCAL
78
Two accounts of Berlioz’s Grande Messe des morts; Josquin from The Tallis Scholars; Liszt songs
OPERA
Britten’s Billy Budd on DVD from Madrid; Wagner’s Götterdämmerung from Hong Kong
94
JAZZ & WORLD MUSIC 103 Reviews from our sister titles Jazzwise and Songlines
REISSUES
104
George Szell’s complete Columbia recordings; a celebration of Alicia de Larrocha
BOX-SET ROUND-UP
109
REPLAY
Some pioneering violinists; historic Rubbra
110
CLASSICS RECONSIDERED 112 Two critics discuss Karajan’s 1973 recording of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, and its classic status
BOOKS
114
Alan Walker’s abundantly detailed Chopin biography; personal reflections on Shostakovich
GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION 114 Lindsay Kemp surveys the available recordings of Couperin’s intimate and moving Leçons de ténèbres
REVIEWS INDEX
136
FOR THE RECORD
All the latest classical music news, and more
8
IAN BOSTRIDGE ON SONG 14 The tenor, acclaimed for his thoughtful insights and penetrating interpretations, describes what makes song such a powerful medium, how poetic text and musical voice can enhance one another, and the varied musical responses to war
BERLIOZ FROM BERGEN 20 British conductor Edward Gardner tells Andrew Mellor about the attractions of working in Norway’s second city, and his new recording of Berlioz’s Grande Messe de morts
DANIEL MÜLLER-SCHOTT 26 The adventurous cellist talks to Richard Bratby about exploring his instrument’s large repertoire, working with his mentor Mstislav Rostropovich, and his new recording of Russian music
MUSICIAN AND THE SCORE 50 Charlotte Gardner discusses the intricacies of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden String Quartet with the violinists of the Chiaroscuro Quartet
ICONS
62
Jed Distler reflects on the playing of Julius Katchen, the American pianist who died aged 42
CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS 76 Paul Kilbey explores the eclectic music of German composer Moritz Eggert
WHAT NEXT?
92
Haydn’s Military Symphony is the starting point for this month’s suggested listening journeys
PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS 122 HIGH FIDELITY 125 NOTES, LETTERS & OBITS 132 NEW RELEASES 134 MY MUSIC 138 The children’s author Cornelia Funke reflects on the relationship between music and her writing
4 GRAMOPHONE NOVEMBER 2018
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