Tan Dun WATER PASSION AFTER SAINT MATTHEW

The 250th anniversary of Bach's death was marked by the appearance of newly commissioned Passion settings by Osvaldo Golijov, Wolfgang Rihm, and Tan Dun. I'm not sure what Bach would have made of the latter's eclectic, Asian-influenced Water Passion after Saint Matthew. For his part, given his upbringing and musical education in Communist China, Tan Dun didn't hear Bach's music until the late 1970s, when he was twenty.
As the title suggests, water plays an important visual and musical role in this work. Seventeen large transparent bowls of water, dramatically lit from below, form a cross on the stage. The water is needed to play some of the percussion instruments; Tan Dun has scored the Passion for what he calls a "Water-Instruments-Orchestra." For the composer, water is "a metaphor for the unity of the eternal and the external, as well as a symbol of baptism, renewal, recreation, and resurrection." The sound of water appropriately begins and closes the Passion.
Tan Dun asks the violinist and the cellist to emulate the sound of the Chinese, Mongolian, and other Asian instruments. The chorus and vocalists engage in overtone singing (in the manner of Tuvan throat-singing), styles derived from the Peking Opera, and chanting. One might ask what this all has to do with the Passion of Jesus Christ, but Tan Dun convincingly, movingly, and powerfully retells the familiar story, imposing his own unique, but devout imprint on it. The not inappropriate sensation of ritual is intensified – what was the Last Supper if not the creation of a now two-thousand-year-old ritual? – and the ancient, unfamiliar styles reinforce the universality and timelessness of the Passion. The Western world does not hold a monopoly on Christianity, after all. Much of the Water Passion is beautiful and spare, as one would expect, given the work's antecedents. On other hand, the crowd scenes, what Bach might have called the turbae, are made shockingly violent in the Water Passion, and some of the solo singing will seem harsh to many Western ears. (The Water Passion will show that Yoko Ono's ululations around the time of the Live Peace album were not just a personal fluke.) Tan Dun pulls no punches in the Water Passion; nor is this a tiresome exercise in Multiculturalism 101. Instead, this is an innovative, humanistic concept expertly realized, with no pandering and no self-indulgence. This recording was made in the presence of an audience, and their warm response, at the work's conclusion, is sincere and well-deserved. The Water Passion bids fair to be one of the best new works of 2000.
This recording was made in Stuttgart under the direction of the composer. Of course the work's visual component cannot be appreciated here, but the powerful theatricality of the Water Passion shines through. The only drawback is the German-accented English of the chorus. (Tan Dun wrote the Water Passion in English.) Sony's recording preserves the charged atmosphere of even the quietest moments, and the percussion and choral climaxes are captured with frightening accuracy.
This is a "don't miss" release. (Raymond Tuttle)

Water Passion after St. Matthew for Soloists, Choir and Instruments

1)Baptism

2)Temptations

3) Last Supper

4) Water Cadenza

5) In The Garden Of Gethsemane

1) Stone Song

2) Give Us Barabbas!

3) Death and Earthquake
4) Water and Resurrection

Elizabeth Keusch, soprano
Stephen Bryant, bass
Mark O'Connor, violin
Maya Beiser, cello
David Cossin, Martin Homann & Adam Weisman, percussion
RIAS-Kammerchor, Berlin/Tan Dun

Sony Classical

2 Compact discs DDD
S2K89927

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Carolin Widmann REFLECTIONS I

Violinist Carolin Widmann's album Reflections I centers around composers' contemplation of works past as they influence their own works. Her engaging program begins with Pierre Boulez's "Anthémes I for solo violin." Like many Boulez works, this one reflects one facet of his hypothetical single "master work" about which all his compositions revolve. The reflection in Eugène Ysaÿe's "Second" and "Fourth" sonatas for solo violin is less abstract. Written in honor of Jacques Thibaud and Fritz Kreisler, respectively, both pay homage to the solo sonatas and partitas of J.S. Bach, even going so far as several direct quotations in the "Second Sonata." Following in the footsteps of Paganini's great "24 Caprices," Salvatore Sciarrino's "6 Cappricci" again tests the mettle of the violinist with extensive modern techniques and technical demands. The program ends with a set of three etudes by Widmann's brother, Jörg Widmann, which again push the instrument's and performer's limits to the limit, even calling upon the violinist to simultaneously sing in quarter tones while playing. Widmann delivers marvelously on all of these technical demands with wonderful assuredness and confidence, immediately gripping the attention and respect of her listeners. Far from being a mere technical demonstration, Widmann also shows herself to possess a beautiful, velvety sound (brilliantly showcased in the Ysaÿe sonatas). Telos Music's recorded sound is clear and brilliant, while the unusual disc packaging seems quite clumsy. (Mike D. Brownell)

Pierre Boulez (*1925)

1) Anthèmes pour violon seul (1992)

Eugène Ysaÿe (1858 - 1931)

Sonate No. 2 à Jaques Thibaud

2) Obsession

3) Malinconia

4) Danse des Ombres

5) Les Furies

Salvatore Sciarrino (*1947)

6 Capricci per Violino à Salvatore Accardo

6) N. 1 Vivace

7) N. 2 Andante

8) N. 3 Assai agitato

9) N. 4 Volubile

10) N. 5 Presto

11) N. 6 Con brio

Eugène Ysaÿe (1858 - 1931)

Sonate No. 4 à Fritz Kreisler

12) Allemanda

13) Sarabande

14) Finale

Jörg Widmann (*1973)

Etudes I - III

15) Etude I

16) Etude II

17) Etude III

2005 telos music records

1 CD DDD

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Sarah Chang SWEET SORROW

An American violinist of Korean heritage, Sarah Chang was already a celebrity as a prepubescent soloist; unlike many child prodigies, she made the transition to adulthood painlessly, and remains a high-profile soloist on the international circuit.
She began performing in public at age 5; within two years, she had won the Starling scholarship to the Juilliard School, where she studied with Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. At age 8, after only two years of study at Juilliard during which she still regarded playing the violin as a hobby, she auditioned for conductors Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti and bowled them over. She made her professional debut in 1988 performing Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1 with Mehta and the New York Philharmonic. Soon she found herself playing Paganini, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius concertos with the world's greatest orchestras, with an EMI recording contract tucked into her frock. Initial features and reviews focused on the incongruity of such technical virtuosity coming from a cute little girl, and coverage during her teen years was similarly half awed, half patronizing.
As she approached her twenties, Chang began to enjoy more serious critical appraisal. One critic summarized her attributes as "consummate technical ease, a gorgeous, vibrant, flawlessly beautiful tone, and a heartfelt but unsentimental expressiveness." Conversely, some of her performances of Romantic repertory were sometimes criticized for being slightly emotionally disengaged.
Chang quickly became associated with concertos of not only Paganini but also Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius. She also advocated not-quite-standard concertos by Goldmark, Strauss, and Dvorák. But not until she was nearly 20 did Chang begin exploring chamber music with any frequency, initially playing in small festivals but also recording with other high-profile soloists on the EMI roster.
Less apparent from her discography is her interest in contemporary music. She has worked on new pieces with jazzman Eddie Karam, as well as Jack Elliott and Korean-American composer Donald Sur.
One area in which Chang has been slow to develop self-confidence is teaching. Feeling she was too young to be a credible authority, she didn't give her first master class until she was 22, and that was hidden away in Singapore. After that, she embarked on a small-scale series of recitals and educational events for rural and underserved populations in the United States.
Chang plays a 1717 Guarneri del Gesù; reluctant to expose it to hot lights, she uses a cheap but attractive stand-in violin for publicity photos. (James Reel)

1. Chaconne
2. Mélodie
3. Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G Minor
4. Symphonie Espagnole, Op. 21/4. Andante
5. Violin Concerto No. 5, Op. 37 in a Minor/2. Adagio L
6. Violin Concerto No. 5, Op. 37 in a Minor/3. Allegro Con Fuoco
7. Sonata No. 12, Op. 3 in E Minor/1. Canzonetta: Andante Innocentemente

8. Cantabile in D
9. Belshazzar's Feast/Nocturne, Op. 51 No. 3
10. Nocturne No. 20 Op. Posth. In C Sharp Minor
11. Consolation No. 3 in D Flat
12. Violin Concerto, Op. 35 in D/2. Canzonetta: Andante

13. Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28

1999 EMI Classics

1 CD DDD

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THANKS TO NICK

Sarah Chang BRUCH - BRAHMS Violin Concertos

Sarah Chang records two of the most popular concertos of the violin repertoire, accompanied by the exceptional team of Kurt Masur and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. Sarah describes the Bruch as one of her favorite concertos. It was one of the first she played, and she presented it at her Juilliard audition at the tender age of five.

Max Bruch (1838 - 1920)
Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor, Op. 26
1)Vorspiel (Allegro Moderato)
2) Adagio
3) Finale (Allegro Energico)
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77
4) I: Allegro Non Troppo
5) II: Adagio
6) III: Allegro Giocoso, Ma Non Troppo Vivace - Poco Più Presto

Sarah Chang

Dresdner Philharmonie

Kurt Masur

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Thanks to Nick for this wonderful album

Amsterdam Guitar Trio BACH Brandenburgische Konzerte

In the wake of their Four Seasons the Amsterdam Guitar Trio offer four Brandenburgs on three guitars. Predictably it is Nos. 3 and 6 (transposed into C major), those written for homogeneous string sound, which come off best. The instruments have a total range of less than four octaves, requiring a certain amount of compression, but the music survives its transmutation happily, except in the Adagio ma non (onto of No. 6, taken on the brisk side—despite which the sublime melody cries out for an Instrument of longer sustain, as do the upper parts a few bars before the end. The final Allegro of No. 3 has a slower tempo than usual but the incisive sound of cleanly-played guitars makes it sound brisker than it is. The 55-second improvization separating the two Allegros of No. 3 sounds somewhat out of place, a square peg in a round, conjectured hole. The Second Concerto lacks the variety of instrumental colour that highlights the concertino conversations and emerges the blander for it. Though the sounds of the harpsichord and guitars are appreciably different, the contrast is less than with plucked versus bowed strings; some passages in No. 5 emerge with less clarity than one might wish. A curiosity is the replacement of the familiar, extended harpsichord solo in the first movement by the shorter version Bach first wrote, showing how right he was to have second thoughts. After the AGT's last London concert, The Times described it as an "enterprise zone", an apt term but one that would be better emphasized by encouraging (or permitting) it to record some of the extensive, original and contemporary repertoire it offers in concert. Still, the excellence of the performances and the quality of the recording may well be matched by the volume of the sales. (J. D. Gramophone, June 1986)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat major, BWV 1051
1) Allegro Moderato
2) Adagio Ma Non Tanto
3) Allegro
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
4) Allegro
5) Adagio
6) Allegro
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050
7) Allegro
8) Affetuoso
9) Allegro
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047
10) Allegro Moderato
11) Andante
12) Allegro Assai

RCA Red Seal

1 CD DDD

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Carlo Maria Giulini BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5

“You might speak of ‘the divine Rossini.’ You can also speak of ‘the divine Mozart.’ But you cannot say ‘the divine Beethoven.’ That does not sound right. You must say ‘the human Beethoven.’ It is in this way that he is great…. With Beethoven humanity enters into music for the first time as the principal argument in the place of interplay of figures.”
So mused Busoni in 1920, comparing Beethoven’s uniqueness in music to that of Shakespeare in literature. The particular terms in which Busoni characterizes both artists have been echoed more recently in literary critic Harold Bloom’s assertion that Shakespeare actually invented the modern human. Like many of Shakespeare’s lines, the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony has become a cultural cliché – so embedded in our collective consciousness that we hardly recognize its radical stance. Rather than a furious assault on aristocratic sensibility, the music cannot help but evoke in the modern listener curious echoes of Muzak and Saturday morning cartoons. It is a testament to the work’s power – in Busoni’s words, to its humanity – that its adamant sincerity falls so convincingly on our jaded ears. Sketches for the work date back as far as 1800, the beginning of the intense period of personal crisis in which Beethoven faced his progressive deafness. It was premiered in December 1808 in an all-Beethoven concert that also included the Sixth Symphony, the Fourth Piano Concerto with the composer as soloist, the Fantasy in C minor, and miscellaneous vocal works. (Susan Key)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67

1) 1. Allegro con brio [7:20]

2) 2. Andante con moto [11:21]

3) 3. Allegro [5:34]

4) 4. Allegro [12:02]

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

Carlo Maria Giulini

1982 Polydor International GmbH, Hamburg

1 CD DDD

410 028 - 2 GH

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Anne-Sophie Mutter CARMEN - FANTASIE

It is unashamedly a fun record, and even Mutter has rarely played with such freedom and warmth, obviously enjoying these display pieces every bit as much as the repertory concertos and new works that are her staple diet. The gipsy flavours of the two Sarasate pieces, as well as of Ravel's "Tzigane", sound even more exotic than usual, and rarely have I heard the brilliant sound section, with its Hungarian fire, sound quite so exciting with a stunning accelerando at the end. The tender repose which she then brings to the Massenet ''Meditation'' is thus all the more affecting.
Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy, which provides the whole disc with its title, is as high-powered as the Ravel [...].
[...] with James Levine and the Vienna Philharmonic providing Mutter with comparably weighty and committed accompaniment, I have to say her performance thrusts home [...] powerfully."
Record Review / Edward Greenfield, Gramophone (London) / 01. December 1993

Pablo de Sarasate (1844 - 1908)
1 Zigeunerweisen, Op.20 [8:43]
Henryk Wieniawski (1835 - 1880)
2) Legende, Op.17 [7:41]
Giuseppe Tartini (1692 - 1770)
3) Sonata for Violin and Continuo in G minor, B. g5 - "Il trillo del diavolo" [16:32]
Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)
4) Tzigane [10:01]
Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912)
Thaïs
Acte Deux
5) Meditation [6:42]
Pablo de Sarasate (1844 - 1908)
Carmen Fantasy, Op.25
6) Introduction. Allegro moderato [3:22]
7) 1. Moderato [2:27]
8) 2. Lento assai [2:11]
9) 3. Allegro moderato [2:07]
10) 4. Moderato [2:31]
Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
11) Berceuse, Op.16 [4:30]

Anne-Sophie Mutter
Wiener Philharmoniker
James Levine

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The Hilary Hahn COLLECTION

Violinist Hilary Hahn, recently named Gramophone magazine's Artist of the Year, is a two-time Grammy Award-winning soloist celebrated for her probing interpretations, technical assurance and compelling stage presence. For a decade and a half, extensive international performances and recording activities have made Hahn one of the most sought-after artists of this era.
In the dozen years since she began recording, Hahn has released eleven solo albums on the Deutsche Grammophon and Sony labels, in addition to three live performance DVDs, an Oscar-nominated movie soundtrack, and various compilations. Covering a repertoire as diverse as Bach, Stravinsky, Elgar, Beethoven, Vaughan Williams, Mozart, Schoenberg, Paganini, Spohr, Barber, Bernstein, Korngold, and others, her recordings have received every critical prize in the international press and have been met with equal popular success, with each collection spending weeks on Billboard's Classical Albums Top Ten list.
Hahn's 2008 recording which paired the violin concertos of Schoenberg and Sibelius debuted at Number One and subsequently spent twenty-three weeks on the Billboard classical chart. The album brought Hahn her second Grammy: the 2009 Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra. Her first Grammy win came in 2003 for her Brahms and Stravinsky concerto album. At the age of 18, she had received her first Grammy nomination for her recording of the concertos of Beethoven and Bernstein.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
PARTITA No. 3 IN E MAJOR, BWV 1006
1) I. Preludio (3:34)
2) II. Loure (4:47)
3) III. Gavotte en Rondeau (3:16)
4) IV. Menuet I (1:53)
5) V. Menuet II (3:04)
6) VI. Bourée (1:39)
7) VII. Gigue (1:53)
PARTITA No. 2 IN D MINOR, BWV 1004
8) I. Allemande (5:13)
9) II. Courante (2:09)
10) III. Sarabande (4:44)
11) IV. Gigue (3:23)
12) V. Ciaccona (17:47)
SONATA No. 3 IN C MAJOR, BWV 1005
13) I. Adagio (4:55)
14) II. Fuga (11:45)
15) III. Largo (3:57)
16) IV. Allegro assai (4:38)

Hilary Hhan, violin

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Ludwig van Beethoven
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61
1) 1. Allegro, ma non troppo (24:25)
2) 2. Larghetto (9:47)
3) 3. Rondo. Allegro (9:43)
Leonard Bernstein
Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion (after Plato's "Symposium")
4) I. Phaedrus. Pausanias (Lento - Allegro) 7:00
5) II. Aristophanes (Allegretto) (4:19)
6) III. Eryximachus (Presto) (1:29)
7) IV. Agathon (Adagio) (7:10)
8) V. Socrates: Alcibiades (Molto tenuto. Allegro molto vivace) (10:33)
Hilary Hahn, violin
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
David Zinman

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Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 77
1) I. Allegro non troppo (23:17)
2) II. Adagio (9:31)
3) III. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace (7:43)
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra (1931)
4) I. Toccata (4:59)
5) II. Aria I (4:27)
6) III. Aria II (6:06)
7) IV. Capriccio (5:32)
Hilary Hahn, violin
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble
Conducted by Neville Marriner

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Patricia Petibon ROSSO Italian Baroque Arias

One of the great pleasures of attending the theatre is to see a singer come out onstage when the curtain rises and to know that the mere fact of her appearing will put you in a good mood, even if you can already sense from the orchestra that she will be singing something sombre, moving or emotionally charged. Strange though it may seem, sadness, too, can be a source of pleasure in this way. And that pleasure increases as soon as the singer opens her mouth. Life's difficulties are all swept away and forgotten.
Patricia Petibon achieves this marvellous feat: she makes you happy even when what she is singing brings tears to your eyes. But the most astonishing thing of all about the present programme is the exceptionally close correlation between her own very special qualities and the music that she performs.
Patricia Petibon sings all kinds of music from Lully and Handel to Mozart, Debussy and Bernstein but is particularly fond of Baroque music. Even so, it was not with this that she began her career. “When I arrived at the Paris Conservatoire and studied with Rachel Yakar", she recalls, “I worked on all sorts of music with her. At that time I also sang Zerbinetta in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. I continue to love all kinds of music: to sing the part of a nun in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites is as moving as lending my voice to all the lovers I've recorded." As for the Baroque period, it was her meeting with William Christie which, as she herself acknowledges, “pointed me in the right direction".
The music that Patricia Petibon sings on this new recording is a distillation of early opera, a genre that began in Italy before spreading to the rest of Europe. Baroque sensibilities, coupled with the tastes and pleasures of the time, could hardly be satisfied with a style ofmusical declamation that contemporaries described as spianata - plain and simple. They needed an element of surprise: they needed emotion and wonderment. Composers, audiences and, above all, singers wanted a sense of the marvellous, a magical aspect that even suggested folly: in short, a style described as fiorito. The poetry became the servant of the music, which sought to characterize the affetti, or affections, giving rise to a new, closed form, the da capo aria, which allowed the emotions to find lyrical expression, whether that expression was dramatic or more lightweight, and allowed the singer to develop that emotion through his or her vocal virtuosity. Emotion was in this way combined with wonderment. The Baroque world is deliberately located in a world of unreality, vocal marvels reflecting a staging filled with apparitions, flying machines and clouds. Itechoes the lyricism of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Saint Teresa, just as the architectural virtuosity of Francesco Borromini showcased that of the singers in the churches that he designed.
As Patricia Petibon says, she tries to “act out what the music says". The Handel arias that she has recorded here are in themselves enough to provide a cross-section of all the musical and emotional possibilities of Italianate opera of this period.
At one extreme we have “Lascia ch'io pianga" from Rinaldo, a classic example of the complex blend of voluptuous sweetness and desperate love which, however oxymoronic, sums up the Baroque exuberance that brings together everything that music is capable of expressing: a pure and, if one may say so, voluptuously platonic love combined with a despair that is none the less filled with charm.
At the other extreme is “Volate, amori" from Ariodante, in which the text - a mere pretext - allows the music to conjure up a picture of little winged cupids similar to those favoured by Baroque painters. As such, the aria gives the performer a chance to ornament the vocal line with as much freedom, invention and imagination as she can.
Between these two extremes are all the arias in which the words require the music to establish a lively, sometimes violent contrast between wilfully conflicting emotions. And once again Handel, who is able to explore every possible emotion, is happy to express Alcina's despair and anger when she is abandoned by Ruggiero. By the same token, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare finds that her anguish, too, is transformed into rage.
But violence is sometimes enough on its own: in Dalinda's aria from the third act of Ariodante, anger explodes and spreads to every corner of its domain, just as we can imagine Queen Christina of Sweden exploding with rage. It is at points like this that the singing must make the score explode, as it were, and it is up to the singer to go beyond the notes on the written page, just as anger sanctions every breach of the rules of propriety.
Handel, singularly successful in combining his Saxon genius with the music he discovered in Italy, was by no means alone in his achievements. Although little known today, Antonio Sartorio, Benedetto Marcello and Nicola Porpora allow us a glimpse of the incredible range of Italian operas at this period: in Venice alone, some 440 operas were premièred in the space of 40 years. In Griselda, Alessandro Scarlatti presents us with an even greater degree of violence and at the same time a freedom that Italian opera, not yet straitjacketed by Metastasian rules, could still permit itself, while Marcello depicts the lamentations of Arianna who, inevitably perhaps, has been abandoned to her fate. In the very specific genre of sacred opera, Alessandro Stradella allows us to hear the delightfully lascivious entreaties of Salome before she dances.
As for Vivaldi, his operas - many of which survive in manuscript form in Turin - were long overshadowed by his concertos. He was one of the composers who gave his singers the greatest opportunities to escape from the notes on the printed page. Whether it was his own bravura violin playing, his work with the young female singers at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice or his close relations with Anna Girò that allowed him to achieve this freedom, it is difficult to say. But there is no doubt that he dazzles us, as does Patricia Petibon. (Philippe Beaussant)

Antonio Sartorio (1630 - 1680)
Giulio Cesare in Egitto
1) Quando voglio [2:41]
Alessandro Stradella (1642 - 1682)
San Giovanni Battista
2) Queste lagrime e sospiri [4:42]
George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759)
Alcina
3) Tornami a vagheggiar [4:58]
Rinaldo
4) "Lascia ch'io pianga" [5:38]
Ariodante HWV 33
5) "Volate, amori" [3:49]
Giulio Cesare
6) "Piangerò la sorte mia" [6:59]
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660 - 1725)
La Griselda
7) Se il mio dolor t'offende [2:40]
George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759)
Alcina
8) Ah, mio cor [12:24]
Ariodante HWV 33
9) Neghittosi, or voi che fate [3:19]
Nicola Porpora (1686 - 1768)
Lucio Papirio
10) Morte amara [4:30]
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)
L'Olimpiade
11) Siam navi all'onde [7:18]
Antonio Sartorio (1630 - 1680)
L'Orfeo
12) Orfeo, tu dormi [5:17]
Benedetto Marcello (1686 - 1739)
Arianna
13) Come mai puoi vedermi piangere [5:14]
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660 - 1725)
Il Sedecia, Rè di Gerusalemme
14) Caldo sangue [5:55]

Patricia Petibon
Venice Baroque Orchestra
Andrea Marcon

2010 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg
1 CD DDD
477 8763 1 GH

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Anne-Sophie Mutter PENDERECKI Violin Concerto No. 2 "METAMORPHOSEN"

The Bartok Sonata was recorded at the same time as the works on the Mutter/Orkis Berlin recital which DD found prone to "interpretative extravagances" (12/96). Given the heavyweight competition - in particular, the stunning performance by Gidon Kremer and Oleg Maisenberg - it would be difficult to hail this new account as an outright winner. But it's also hard to imagine a finer one, not least because the particular technical and interpretative challenges of one of Bartok's finest works suit these players down to the ground. This is a reading informed from first to last with a perfect sense of style, and the recording has the ideal blend of clarity and atmosphere.
I approached Penderecki's Second Violin Concerto, completed in 1995, with some trepidation, having found so many of his later works overlong and underinspired. As a 38-minute single movement, it is undoubtedly diffuse in form, and the quality of the musical thinking is also vanable. Nevertheless, the predominant tone of direct and impassioned lament, occasionally recalling the powerful austerity of the composer's earliest works, is strongly projected in a performance which benefits enormously from Anne-Sophie Mutter's charisma and virtuosity. The faster episodes are often derivative (I'm sure I heard the "DSCH" motif), but there is sufficient variety of texture, and rhythmic pattern, to ensure that the music never stagnates. Above all, the hauntingly understated ending reinforces the impression of a work that, warts and all, deserves to be heard and especially in this supremely authoritative and excellently recorded version. (Gramophone, April 1998)

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933 - )
Metamorphosen, Konzert für Violine und Orchester Nr. 2
1) 1. Allegro ma non troppo [14:22]
2) 2. Allegretto [3:21]
3) 3. Molto [4:33]
4) 4. Vivace [2:06]
5) 5. Scherzando [5:07]
6) 6. Andante con moto [8:34]
Anne-Sophie Mutter
London Symphony Orchestra
Krzysztof Penderecki

Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945)
Sonata No.2 for violin & piano, Sz.76
7) 1. Molto moderato [8:03]
8) 2. Allegretto [11:44]
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Lambert Orkis

1998 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg
1 CD DDD
453 5072 1 GH

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Anne-Sophie Mutter BARTÓK Violinkonzert No.2 - MORET En rêve

Anne-Sophie Mutter's first entry in Bartok's concerto No. 2 asserts her conjugal rights in no uncertain terms, with huge vibrato and formidable projection, enhanced (hardly necessarily) by close-up balance and a very high recording level. This is the star quality approach and no mistake, though you may find the flavour of the music so smothered with paprika it makes you sneeze. This turns out to be not unrepresentative of the performance as a whole. It's the kind of playing which can sweep you off your feet, provided you don't worry too much about subtleties of pointing, colour and interchange with the orchestra. It's all dazzling stuff, it would surely be overwhelming in the concert-hall, and I'm sure violinists will find it thrilling. But dazzling is not necessarily the same thing as 'illuminating', and on repeated listening I found the overall sense of direction uncertain and much of the rubato artificially applied.
En rêve certainly has a goodly stock of attractive, soft-core, ex-avant-gardisms, but I cannot discern a personality of the distinction of a Lutoslawski, a Takemitsu, a Berio, or a Crumb (to name four composers whose styles are not entirely dissimilar). Moret seems overly concerned to keep the attention of its audience by attractive surface gestures, rather than clarifying what it is he really wants to say. (D.J.F. ,Gramophone, November 1991)

Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945)
Violin Concerto No.2, Sz.112
1) 1. Allegro non troppo [16:15]
2) 2. Andante tranquillo [9:58]
3) 3. Allegro molto [12:12]
Norbert Moret (1921 - 1998 )
En reve
4) 1. Lumière vaporeuse [7:12]
5) 2. Dialogue avec l'Étoile [5:44]
6) 3. Azur fascinant (Sérénade tessinoise) [6:38]
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa

1991 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg
1 CD DDD
431626-2 GH

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Hélène Grimaud THE PIANO COLLECTION

Hélène Grimaud made her first five CDs for the Denon label, when the pianist was in her mid-teens through early 20s. Brilliant Classics has reissued them as a super-bargain boxed set. Even in her formative years, Grimaud's world-class pianism and first-rate musical mind seemed fully sprung. Listen as she fearlessly tears through Rachmaninov's Second Sonata, or notice the way she brings out the symphonic underpinnings of the same composer's Op. 33 Etudes-Tableaux and Liszt's Dante Sonata and you won't doubt that a mature artist is at work. She makes Chopin's G minor Ballade colorful and exciting by playing it as the composer intended, rather than re-writing his dynamics, phrasings, and ritards. Sonically, her 1992 Rachmaninov Second scores over her later traversal on Erato, while fans of her terrific Erato Ravel Concerto should find the earlier Denon version equally incisive and commanding.
But Grimaud's heart and soul lies in the German repertoire, evidenced by her lean, powerful accounts of Brahms' Second and Third Sonatas and Op. 118 Piano Pieces (the latter, again, compares well to her Erato remake). There are more demonic and mercurial Schumann First Sonatas and Kreislerianas around (Andsnes in the former, Argerich in the latter), but Grimaud's direct, uncluttered style and ideal tempo choices command your full attention. In sum, this is a collection that will do any piano library proud. (Jed Distler)

CD 1:
Sergey Rachmaninoff (1873- 1943)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
1) Moderato
2) Adagio sostenuto
3) Allegro scherzando
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Piano Concerto in G major
4) Allegramente
5) Adagio assai
6) Presto
Hélène Grimaud
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Jesús Lopez-Cobos

CD 2:
Sergey Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36

1) Allegro agitato
2) Non allegro
3) L'istesso tempo-allegro molto
Etudes-Tableaux, for piano, Op. 33

4) No. 1 in F minor
5) No. 2 in C major
6) No. 3 in C minor

7) No. 4 in A minor
8) No. 5 in D minor
9) No. 6 in E flat minor
10) No. 7 in E flat major
11) No. 8 in G minor
12) No. 9 in C sharp minor Listen
13) Prelude for piano No. 12 in G sharp minor, Op. 32

CD 3:
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
1) Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

2)Aprés une lecture du Dante II, fantasia quasi sonata, for piano (Années II/7)

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Piano Sonata No. 1 in F sharp minor ('Grosse Sonate'), Op. 11

3)Introduzione: un poco adagio-allegro vivace
4) Aria
5) Scherzo e intermezzo: allegrissimo
6) Finale: allegro un poco maestoso

CD 4:

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies for piano, Op. 16

1) Äusserst bewegt Listen
2) Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch
3) Sehr aufgeregt
4) Sehr langsam
5) Sehr lebhaft
6) Sehr langsam
7) Sehr rasch
8) Schnell und spielend

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Sonata No. 2 in F sharp minor, Op. 2

9) Allegro non troppo, ma energico
10) Andante con espressione
11) Scherzo, allegro
12) Finale: Introduzione-allegro non troppo e rubato

CD 5:

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5

1) Allegro maestoso
2) Andante espressivo
3) Scherzo, allegro energico
4) Intermezzo, andante molto
5) Finale, allegro moderato ma rubato
Klavierstücke, Op. 118

6) Intermezzo in A minor
7) Intermezzo in A major
8) Ballade in G minor
9) Intermezzo in F minor
10) Romanze in F major
11) Intermezzo in E flat minor
Hélène Grimaud

1985 / 1992 Brilliant Classics
5 Compact Discs
92437 DDD STEMRA

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