Paul Lewis' Solid Schubert Program

This is a massive collection. Paul Lewis traverses the late piano sonatas of Franz Schubert. Each one is an epic odyssey. And each one is a challenge to the performer. 

Schubert's imagination ran unfettered in these works. The sonatas run between 30-40 minutes in length. There's an internal logic for each of these sonatas. But it's not as clear-cut as in, say, a Mozart sonata. Or even a Beethoven sonata. 

And that's where Paul Lewis shines. He seems to understand the underlying structure of these works. 

So we don't get a transition from one pretty section to another. Rather, there's a purpose to these performances. And there's a strong sense of direction. 

Lewis' technique has a wide range. He can play with fragile delicacy, delivering a simple melody with all its charm. And he can play cascading chords with power, intensifying the emotion of the passages.  

Also included are some of Schubert's other late piano works. The "Wanderer" Fantasie, D. 760 and Moments Musicaux, D. 780 are two examples. Lewis delivers superb readings of these works as well.  

I have to admit I wasn't completely taken by the piano's recorded sound at first. It seems a little dark to me. But I soon warmed to it. Lewis' playing completely won me over. 

Highly recommended.

Paul Lewis Plays Schubert
Harmonia Mundi HMX 2904091.96
6 CD Set

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalHumor Week 4

 This month's Classics a Day theme is a tribute to the late Peter Schickle. Schickle was a talented composer of both classical and film music. He's best remembered, though, for his alter ego, PDQ Bach.

PDQ Bach was the youngest and least talented of Johann Sebastian Bach's children. The music by him that Peter Schickle "discovered" is musical humor at its most sublime. The more one knows about classical music, the funnier PDQ Bach pieces are. The works reference virtually every aspect of classical music, from familiar themes to nomenclature. 

But Schickle wasn't the first composer to have some fun with "serious" music. The challenge this month is to post examples of musical humor in classical works. Although most of my posts are PDQ Bach, an equal number aren't. Here are my posts for the fourth week of #ClassicalHumor.

04/22/24 Franz Reizenstein "Let's Fake an Opera"

In 1949 Benjamin Britten wrote "Let's Make an Opera," an audience-participation play that turns into a one-act opera. Reizenstein's mash-up of grand opera references that work, and was a hit at the 1959 Hoffnung Festival. 

 

  

04/23/24 PDQ Bach: Knock, Knock Cantata, S4-1

Everyone knows the knock-knock joke is old. But until this late 1700s cantata by PDQ Bach was discovered, no one thought it was THAT old.

 

04/24/24 Malcolm Arnold: A Grand, Grand Overture

For the inaugural Hoffnung Festival in 1958, Arnold wrote this overture for an orchestra, three vacuum cleaners, and a floor polisher.

 

04/25/24 PDQ Bach: The Seasonings, S.1/2 tsp.

Franz Joseph Haydn's "The Seasons" is one of the greatest secular oratorios ever written. PDQ Bach's "The Seasonings" isn't even one of the longest (mercifully).

 

04/26/24 Joseph Horovitz: Horrotorio

For the 1961 Hoffnung Festival, Horovitz "rediscovered" this oratorio. Singing roles include Dracula's Daughter (soprano), Dowager Baroness Frankenstein (contralto), Edgar Allen Poe (tenor), Count Dracula (bass).

 

Next month:

Quatuor Hanson Explore Schumann's Journey

Three string quartets and a piano quintet (piano plus string quartet). Your first impression is that one of these things doesn't belong. But it does. 

Robert Schumann wrote his three string quartets in a white heat of inspiration. Within a few weeks in the summer of 1842, he had composed the three quartets, about an hour and a half of music. And then he immediately started on his piano quintet, finishing it soon after. 

All four works share commonalities, and all four can be seen as a single exploration of the quartet genre. The Opus 41 quartets were presented to Clara Schumann for her birthday in September 1842. The quintet was written with Clara in mind for the piano part. 

Schumann is at the top of his form here. These are well-crafted chamber works. There's a good variety of textures. And there's also a great deal of back-and-forth between instruments. That characteristic makes for pleasant playing -- and listening. 

The Quatuor Hanson gives these quartets thoughtful and sensitive readings. Schumann was an emotional person -- perhaps too much so. The quartet pours emotion into their playing. 

They heighten the contrast between loud and soft passages, especially when they're abrupt. It gives the works a nervous energy that seems very Schumann, indeed.

Pianist Adam Laloum joins the quartet for the Opus 33 Piano Quintet in E-flat major. Laloum specializes in the German Romantic composers. His catalog includes two solid recordings of Franz Schubert's piano music. That Romantic sensitivity serves him well here.

Schumann wrote this work for his beloved Clara, and he knew her strengths. The quintet sparkles with virtuosity, especially in this performance. The gestures are big, but they were meant to be. 

I recommend listening to this album straight through. It's almost like experiencing one large work in four major sections. The quintet grows out of the quartets. It's a connection that's easy to hear, and one these performers were careful to make. Well done. 

Robert Schumann: String Quartets; Piano Quintet
Quatuor Hanson; Adam Laloum, piano
Harmonia Mundi HMM902778.27

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalHumor Week 3

 This month's Classics a Day theme is a tribute to the late Peter Schickle. Schickle was a talented composer of both classical and film music. He's best remembered, though, for his alter ego, PDQ Bach.

PDQ Bach was the youngest and least talented of Johann Sebastian Bach's children. The music by him that Peter Schickle "discovered" is musical humor at its most sublime. The more one knows about classical music, the funnier PDQ Bach pieces are. The works reference virtually every aspect of classical music, from familiar themes to nomenclature. 

But Schickle wsn't the first composer to have some fun with "serious" music. The challenge this month is to post examples of musical humor in classical works. Although most of my posts are PDQ Bach, an equal number aren't. Here are my posts for the third week of #ClassicalHumor.

04/15/24 Franz Reizenstin: Concerto populare (A piano concerto to end all piano concertos)

This work was premiered at the first Hoffnung Festival, dedicated to humorous classical music. The pianist and orchestra engage in a contest of wills, Grieg's concerto vs. Tchaikovsky's, each playing their preferred work.

 

04/16/24 Paul Hindemith: Flying Dutchman Overture as Played by a Bad Spa Orchestra at 7am by the Well

Hindemith's humor has two subjects in this one work. Superficially, it makes fun of the lesser musicians many spa towns employed. But it's also a dig at Wagner. Even the title pokes fun at his portentous operas.

 

04/17/24 PDQ Bach: Missa Hilarious (S.NO2)

Bach had briefly converted to Catholicism but wasn't a member of the church long. This mass, for example, earned him an excommunication. This mass, like his other religious works, was placed on the church's index of proscribed books.

 

04/18/24 Florence Foster Jenkins: Queen of the Night Aria

Jenkins was a society matron who wanted to be an opera singer in the worst way -- and she was. And she was wildly popular. While the audience came to hear her mangle arias, it was never clear if Jenkins herself was in on the joke.

 

04/19/24 PDQ Bach: Konzertshtick for Two Violins Mit Orchestra (S 2+)

Normally a concert piece for two instruments provides a balance between the two soloists. But in this case, it's hardly a fair fight.

 

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalHumor Week 2

This month's Classics a Day theme is a tribute to the late Peter Schickle. Schickle was a talented composer of both classical and film music. He's best remembered, though, for his alter ego, PDQ Bach.

PDQ Bach was the youngest and least talented of Johann Sebastian Bach's children. The music by him that Peter Schickle "discovered" is musical humor at its most sublime. The more one knows about classical music, the funnier PDQ Bach pieces are. The works reference virtually every aspect of classical music, from familiar themes to nomenclature. 

But Schickle wsn't the first composer to have some fun with "serious" music. The challenge this month is to post examples of musical humor in classical works. Although most of my posts are PDQ Bach, an equal number aren't. Here are my posts for the second week of #ClassicalHumor.

04/08/24 Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 "Classical Symphony"

Prokofiev wrote this work not as a joke, but as an exercise in composing without a piano. He predicted that critics would say he was "contaminating the pure classical pearls with horrible Prokofievish dissonances." But he also thought audiences would "just be content to hear happy and uncomplicated music."

  

04/09/24 PDQ Bach: The Stoned Guest S.86 proof

Although it seems a parody on Dargomyzhsky's opera The Stone Guest, this half-act opera actually follows many Classical Era conventions -- including grafting a happy ending onto a depressing tragedy. 

 

04/10/24 Charles Ives: Symphony No. 2

Ives once told someone who was hissing in the audience, "When you hear music like this, sit up and take it like a man!" For Ives, this symphony wasn't a joke, but rather a poke at the pretentiousness of the classical world. 

 

04/11/24 PDQ Bach: The Abduction of Figaro (Act 1, Scene 1)

PDQ Bach wasn't the only composer to write sequel to Mozart's operas. Just the least qualified to do so. 

 

04/12/24 Luigi Russolo: Serenata per intorarumori

Russolo invented a family of musical instruments in 1913. They were classified as crackers, bubblers, rumblers, buzzers and so on.

 

New Bach Series from Les Arts Florissants

This is the first release in a new series. According to director Paul Agnew, he wants to "understand the life and the personality of Johann Sebastian Bach through his music." Each volume presents music composed during a particular phase of Bach's life. 

The goal isn't to do a complete survey of Bach's music. Rather, it's to present representative compositions that illustrate Bach's personality.

Volume one starts with Bach's first post as an organist and composer. In 1706, at age 22 he became the organist at the Blasius Church in Mühlhausen. Selections include "Christ lag in Todes Banden" BWV 4, which he submitted with his application.

Agnew and Les Arts Florissants perform this work with modest forces. The musicians available to Bach in Mühlhausen were limited. It was a factor in the music he wrote. These performances provide context by matching the forces Bach had available. 

Benjamin Alard provides some interludes. He plays Bach's organ settings of the hums used in the cantatas. These also inform. At this time, Bach was better known for his performing abilities than his compositions. These give us an idea of just how advanced his playing technique was at the time. 

Also included is a setting of "Christ lag in Todesbanden" by Johann Kuhnau. Agnew does a little foreshadowing here. Kuhnau was kapellmeister at Thomaskirche, Leipzig. Bach would succeed him in 1723. Kuhnau held his position for over 20 years, and was considered almost irreplaceable. 

Hearing this work, written around 1720 is enlightening. Kuhnau's textures are more transparent. His counterpoint is a little simpler than Bach's. But it's not an inferior work. Kuhnau was one of the most respected composers of his generation and with good reason. Kuhnau's work gives us the state of music at the time. Bach's music hints at what was to come.

I'm very much looking forward to Volume 2. 

Johann Sebastian Bach: Early Cantatas, Anrstadt & Muhlhausen (1703-1708)
A Life in Music, vol. 1
Les Arts Florissants; Paul Agnew, conductor
Benjamin Alard, organ
Harmonia Mundi HAAF 8905364

Gustavo Gimeno Superb with Dutilleux

Jean Guihen Queyras has amassed an impressive catalog of recordings. What impresses me is its lack of the same-old-same-old. Queyras is interested in music of the 20th and 21st centuries. His recordings include works by György Kurtág, Gilbert Amy, and Benjamin Britten, to name a few.

This recording features Queyras performing Henri Dutilleux's "Tout un monde lointain..." This 1970 cello concerto's five movements are to be played without break. It ensures a strong forward motion (Dutilleux's goal). But it requires more from the performers. Especially the soloist. 

There's no taking a breath before moving into that difficult movement. Queyras is more than up to the task. He plays with a focused intensity that never seems to waiver. His bow strokes are energetic and assured. 

The Luxembourg Philharmonic under Gustavo Gimeno also has an impressive catalog. Their recordings include choral works by Puccini and Rossini and Igor Strvinsky's ballets. But they're right at home with this material. 

Dutilleux wrote Métaboles for George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra in 1964. The Luxembourg Philharmonic gives an intense performance that satisfies this listener.

Gimeno and his ensemble also deliver a stellar performance of Duitlleux's First symphony. IN 1946 Dutilleux was just beginning to develop his style. This work straddles the traditional and the innovative. And Gimeno and the Luxembourg Philharmonic make it all work. 

Henri Dutilleux: Métaboles
Tout un monde lointain…; Symphonie No. 1
Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
Luxembourg Philharmonic; Gustavo Gimeno, conductor
Harmonia Mundi HMM 902715

David Starobin Plays Guitar Music By Guitar Virtuosi

I thought David Starobin released his farewell album a couple of years ago. But I'm not complaining. Starobin is a masterful performer. And his releases are always well-recorded. 

Most of the works on "Virtuosi" have been previously released -- but not all. Three selections by W.T. Matiegka. Matiegka was a friend of Franz Schubert, and their styles are very similar. If Schubert had written guitar music, this is probably what it would have sounded like. 

Also premiered her are Five Anecdotes by Andres Segovia. He's the only 20th Century composer on the album. The others all date from the early Romantic Era. But his music isn't out of place. These works explore the possibilities of the guitar while remaining tonal and tuneful.

Starobin plays with remarkable control. He plucks the strings with precision -- even the fasted runs sound clean and accurate. And his left hand technique is flawless. There's never even the hint of a finger slide. 

But most important is what Starobin does with these skills. He plays expressively, giving shape to the music. It doesn't matter how demanding the music is, one only hears the beauty of the sound. 

This is a collection of virtuoso guitar music written by virtuoso guitarists. And it's played by a virtuoso guitarist. 

Virtuosi: Guitar Music by Giuliani, Matiegka, L'Hoyer, Coste, Regondi, Sor, Segovia
David Starobin, guitar
Bridge Records 9600

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalHumor Week 1

 This month's Classics a Day theme is a tribute to the late Peter Schickle. Schickle was a talented composer of both classical and film music. He's best remembered, though, for his alter ego, PDQ Bach.

PDQ Bach was the youngest and least talented of Johann Sebastian Bach's children. The music by him that Peter Schickle "discovered" is musical humor at its most sublime. The more one knows about classical music, the funnier PDQ Bach pieces are. The works reference virtually every aspect of classical music, from familiar themes to nomenclature. 

But Schickle wsn't the first composer to have some fun with "serious" music. The challenge this month is to post examples of musical humor in classical works. Although most of my posts are PDQ Bach, an equal number aren't. Here are my posts for the first week of #ClassicalHumor.

04/01/24 PDQ Bach: Twelve Quite Heavenly Songs S.16

One of PDQ Bach's more ambitious song cycles is this set of twelve lieder based on the signs of the Zodiac (sort of).

04/02/24 Lord Berners: Funeral March for a Rich Aunt

Lord Berners was Gerald Hugh Tyrwitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners. Although he was a early 20th C. avant gardist, he could never quite suppress his sense of humor.

 

04/03/24 PDQ Bach: Cantata Blaues Gras

Bach composed this work while at Wein-am-Rhine. It was commissioned by Tommy Mann and the Magic Mountain Boys, a roving group of musicians playing instruments from the American colonies.

 

04/04/24 Dmitri Shostakovich: Gallop, from "The Nose"

Shostakovich's 1927 opera involves a nose who runs away from its face and causes mayhem. The music matches the absurd plot, which features a human-size dancing nose.

 

04/05/24 PDQ Bach: Iphigenia in Brooklyn, S.53162

The title of this cantata plays off a couple of things. The Schickle  number of this work references the cantatas written by Gerog Philipp Telemann and Christoph Graupner. They number in the thousands for each composer. Second, several composers set the stories of Iphigenia in Aulis and Iphigenia in Tauris. So having her land someplace else seemed only natural.

 

Cesar Guerra-Peixe: More Brazilian Treasures

 I don't know how the average Brazilian feels about their government. But they should be proud of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry has joined forces with Naxos to bring the classical music of Brazil to the world. 

And the world's a better place for it. Heitor Villa-Lobos may be the most famous Brazilian composer outside the country. But he has plenty of rivals inside it. Rivals in terms of quality, imagination, and innovation. 

This release features three works by Cesar Guerra-Peixe. He was a composer who comfortably lived in the worlds of classical and popular music. He produced music for radio broadcasts, documentaries, and feature films. His work as an ethnomusicologist was unparalleled. 

His book on northeastern Brazilian music, Os Maracatus do Recife, is still a primary source for the subject. And that knowledge of native Brazilian music permeated his own work. 

The Concertino for Violin and Orchestra is his most famous and popular composition. In it, the violinist mimics the sound of the rabeca (fiddle). It's an earthy sound, and one violinist Abner Landim delivers convincingly. 

The Concertino was written in 1972, and this release features two other works from that time. A Retirada da Laguna (1971) is a multi-movement tone poem. It depicts the battle of Laguna, a turning point in the Paraguayan War of 1864-70. Not to worry. You don't need to know Brazilian history to get caught up in the drama and pageantry of this piece. 

The Museu da Inconfidencia (Museum of the Inconfidência) also has historical references. Each movement depicts a museum exhibit. Collectively they document the failed 1789 rebellion for independence.

Guerra-Peixe doesn't just recycle folk melodies. Rather, the elements of Brazilian music are an integral part of his style. That gives his music an unusual sound, and one I found quite appealing. 

Goias Philharmonic Orchestra; Neil Thomson, conductor delivers some inspired performances here. So well done, Ministry!

Cesar Guerra-Peixe: A Retiada da Laguna
Concertino; Museu da Inconfidência
Abner Landim, violin
Goias Phiharmonic Orchestra; Neil Thomson, conductor
Naxos

Sinfonia of London and John Wilson Continue Fine Series

When I first received this release, I tried to guess the theme. Grażyna Bacewicz was Polish, George Enescu was Romanian. So an album of Eastern European music, then? But Eugène Ysaÿe was Belgian, so no.

As the liner notes point out, all three composers were also virtuoso violinists. And all three were part of the Franco-Belgian school of string playing. While they may have all had common training, they had very different ideas of how to use it.

Ysaÿe's "Harmonies du Soir" seems a celebration of string sounds. With resonant harmonies supporting beautifully-turned melodies. The work demonstrates just how emotive strings can be, and how much joy that can give the listener.

The string orchestra version of the "String Octet in C major, Op. 7" was authorized by Enescu. It has a more full-bodied sound than the original, of course. But there's more to it. The extra instruments allow a greater contrast between melody and harmony. This makes the work a more dynamic piece, especially as played here.

Bacewicz's "Concerto for String Orchestra" is just that. Big demands are made on the players (especially the first desks). And the Sinfonia of London delivers. 

This is an SACD release. If possible, listen to this through an SACD player. Or choose the highest resolution digital files available. It will make a difference. You'll hear greater detail. And you'll also have a better sense of space.

That three-dimensional sound stage really makes these works come alive. It also highlights the interplay between instruments, something key to all three works. 

Top-flight recording, and top-flight performances.

Bacewicz, Enescu, Ysaÿe: Works for Strings
Sinfonia of London; John Wilson, conductor
Chandos CHSA 5325
SACD

David Johnson Solo Piano Music: Unfamiliar and Appealing

David Johnson was an important figure in Scottish music. He did ground-breaking research into 18th Century Scottish folk music. His work established links between folk and classical music of the period. 

Johnson was responsible for reviving several early Scottish composers of the era. And as an instrumentalist and concert promoter, he brought this music to the public. 

Johnson was also a prolific composer, although his music isn't well-known. This album collects the twelve preludes and fugues Johnson wrote in the 1990s. He was a research fellow at the time. The initial pieces were written as one-offs. 

But as time went on, Johnson came to think of them as a series. He composed the later installments with that concept in mind. The pieces all share a common four-note motif. -- B-flat, B natural, E and A. In Germanic spelling, B natural is "H." It allowed Bach to spell out his name musically. And it allowed Johnson to reference Bheatha -- the Gaelic word for life. 

This is a fascinating collection of pieces. Some are quite simple. Others sound challenging to play. Johnson writes in a primarily tonal style. But that doesn't limit him to simple harmonies. 

Christopher Guild has a strong background playing Scottish classical music. And that experience informs his playing here. Johnson often referenced Scottish music in these pieces. Guild ensures they're played with the proper phrasing and rhythmic bounce.

Charming, witty, and thought-provoking. 

David Johnson: 12 Preludes and Fugues for solo piano
Christopher Guild, piano
Divine Art