Mona and Rica Bard jumpstart Bruch double piano concerto

This release features two live recordings from a Max Bruch Jubilee Concert. The recorded sound and the performances are first-rate. The Staatskapelle Halle directed by Ariane Matiakh has a warm sound that's still richly detailed. The audience is so well-behaved that this could pass for a studio recording. 

For many, Buch is a one-hit-wonder. His first violin concerto has overshadowed the rest of his catalog. The Jubilee Concert seems to have addressed that. 

The Suite on Russian Themes shows Bruch as a master orchestrator. He doesn't do much more than present the folk songs as-is. Interest is maintained through his inventive use of tonal color that varies greatly throughout the work.

Bruch's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra was commissioned by sister pianists to play together in concert. Here, sisters Mona and Rica Bard are the soloists.

The story of the concerto is far too complex to relate here. Suffice it to say that the Bards perform the original four-movement version. Their playing is wonderfully expressive, and at times they perform as one. 

Parts of the work reminded me of Brahms and other parts of Mendelssohn. And while this won't replace Bruch's violin concerto as his greatest composition, it's still an enjoyable piece. There are plenty of well-crafted melodies. And the overall structure of this four-movement work plays against audience expectations time and again.

An excellent recording of some exciting live performances. Recommended.

Max Bruch: Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Op. 88a
Suite on Russian Themes, Op. 79b
Mona and Rica Bard, pianos
Staatskapelle Halle; Ariane Matiakh, conductor
Capriccio

Florent Schmitt release balances the familiar with the unknown

This release mixes Florent Schmitt's most recorded work --La Tragédie de Salomé -- with some receiving their world recording premieres. But it's all Schmitt, so it's all good.

Maestro JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra do well with late Romantic/early Post Romantic repertoire. Their previous Schmidtt recording of Antoine et Cleopatre was outstanding. As is this.

Falletta draws out the essence of Schmidtt's "Salomé" score. She goes beneath the superficial orientalisms to bring out the overripe decadence of Herod's court. This performance would be ideal accompaniment the 1923 Nazimova silent film, "Salomé." 

Of equal interest are the other works on this release. The ballet suite from "Oriane et le Prince d'Amour" is a wonderful example of French Impressionism. The music seems to ebb and flow, telling its story through a soft-focus lens.

Schmitt's "Légende" was originally composed for saxophone. But it works quite well as a showpiece for violin, especially as presented here. Nikke Chooi's performance is expressive without being sentimental, forceful without being harsh.

If you're not that familiar with Schmitt, this release is a great place to start.  

Florent Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé
Musique sur l'eau; Oriane et le Prince d'Amour; Légende
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano; Nikki Chooi, violin
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor 
Naxos 

Carl Reinecke: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 show influences

Carl Reinecke studied with Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt. And those influences can be heard in various works. For his piano concertos, it's Liszt. For his symphonies, it's more Mendelssohn/Schumann.

At least, that's what I heard in this first installment of Reinecke's orchestral works from CPO. It includes two of Reinecke's symphonies, plus music from his opera   König Manfred

The 1858 Symphony No. 1 in A major shows the strongest Mendelssohn influence, particularly in the middle movements. The scherzo especially has some of Mendelssohn's playfulness to it. The outer movements, though, reminded me more of Schumann in motivic development. 

Reinecke's third and final symphony, written in 1894 is a different matter. The material is more substantial, and the methodical working-out of motifs. The organization may be inspired by Brahms, but Reinecke has plenty to say on his own. 

König Manfred (1867) may have been Reinecke's most successful opera, but it's virtually unperformed today. The various segments presented here (Overture, Romanze, and Act V Prelude) are all fine works. They're stirring and dramatic. I can't speak for the whole opera, but these orchestral excerpts are both tuneful and entertaining. 

Henry Raudales and the Münchner Rundfunkorchester deliver some good performances. The orchestra has a mellow warmth to it that seems to suit Reinecke's music. I look forward to future installments.

Carl Reinecke: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1
Münchner Rundfunkorchester; Henry Raudales, conductor
CPO 555 114

New England Trios make a solid program

Joel Pitchon, Marie-Volcuy Pelletier, and Y-Mei Wei had a very specific program in mind for this recording. In the liner notes, they state that they wanted piano trios that that "spoke with an American, and even more narrowly, a New England voice." In the end their focus waw even tighter.

The four piano trios on this release are all indeed from New England. In fact, they're all tied to Harvard University. Walter Piston was on the Harvard faculty when Lenard Bernstein studied with him. Ronald Perara also attended Harvard, studied with Leon Kirchner. 

Three of the four works presented receive their world premiere recordings. 

These trios are all finely crafted, but it's the craft of the musicians that animate them. Pitchon, Pelletier, and Wei perform organically, playing as with one accord. This was the music they sought out to record, and they own it.

Walter Piston's first trio was composed in 1935; his second in 1966. The two works frame the program, providing a certain amount of context. 

Bernstein's piano trio is a student work, written just a few years after his teacher's. There's a distinctive difference, though. Knowing what Bernstein would late compose, one can hear traces of popular music embedded in the trio.

Ronald Perara's 2002 trio is the most recent on the release. And yet it has strong connections with the others. Perara's work is, like Piston's trios, an exercise in pure music. And tonally based music at that.

I think the musicians succeeded in their goal. These are works of great artistry and individuality. While there is a commonality to them, the voices of each composer take each trio in slightly different directions. 

Harvard's music composition program could use this release as a recruiting tool.

New England Trios
Music by Walter Piston, Leonard Bernstein, Ronald Perara
Joel Pitchon, violin, Marie-Volcuy Pelletier, cello; Yu-Mei Wei, piano

Bridge Records 9530

Christian Friedrich Ruppe cantatas have broad appeal

Handel wrote "Messiah" to benefit the London Foundlings Hospital and it's now a holiday standard. Christian Friedrich Ruppe wrote his cantatas to benefit an orphan's home in Leiden. After their initial performances, they remained unheard for 250 years.

Ruppe wrote the Christmas and Easter cantatas on this release for the Holy Spirit of Poor Orphans and Children's Home. 

The works were not only to be performed to raise funds for the home but were sung by the orphanage choir founded by Ruppe. After the concerts, the music was stored away, only to be rediscovered in 1987.

These cantatas have a directness and simplicity I found charming. The limits of the orphanage's choir may have constrained Ruppe technically, but not melodically. Each chorus is just one beautifully turned phrase after another. 

The solo voices also have somewhat simple music. Simple, and attractive. I'm reminded of Haydn's choral writing (for his operas, that is). 

Jed Wentz leads his assembled forces in elegantly balanced performances. The Musica ad Rhenum, performing with historically accurate instruments, create a full, warm sound in line with the character of Ruppe's music. 

The Ensemble Bouzignac has more than enough talent to handle Ruppe's choruses. And they use that to make them beautifully mellifluous. 

OK, it isn't "Messiah," or even "The Seasons." But these cantatas are straight-forward and direct in their appeal. And I think that's quite appealing. 

Christian Friedrich Ruppe
Christmas Cantata; Easter Cantata
Francine van der Heyden, soprano; Karin van der Poel, mezzo-soprano; Otto Bouwknegt, tenor; Mitchel Sandler, bass
Ensemble Bouzignac; Musica ad Rhenum; Jed Wentz, conductor
Brilliant Classics, 96108