The Word "Great' Chael Schopper (Baritone), Nireno
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FALLA: Nights in the Gardens of Spain(see almost twenty years before Chopin's first pub- me in Miss Boehm's performance here than in SAINT -SANS: Concerto No. 2) lished nocturnes, three pieces by Field had Noel Lee's recording for Nonesuch. I was been published under that name. By 1834, struck by the decided element of Irish folksong FIELD: Nineteen Nocturnes. MaryLouise when Chopin's first three had come off the in No. 8, and No. 11 is an unexpected exercise Boehm (piano). TURNABOUT TV -S 34349/ press, some twenty of Field's were extant (ti- in Schubertian major -minor contrasts. The 50 two discs $5.96. tled variously as nocturnes and romances), long -lost No. 19, subtitled The Troubadour, Performance: Neat though currently available standard editions in- excites more than usual interest for the polo- Recording: Intimate clude only eighteen. In this first integral re- naise -style fanfare that opens and closes its ini- cording of the Field Nocturnes, the American tial section and also serves as a coda. John Field (1782-1837), the Irish-born corn- pianist Mary Louise Boehm has been able to Miss Boehm's performances are clear and poser -pianist, is bracketed neatly with Hum- add a No. 19 in C Major from a score at King's neatly articulated from the rhythmic stand- mel and Weber-he was two years older than College, Cambridge. Numbers 8 in A and 16 point, but not as nuanced in phrasing as Noel one and two younger than the other. He in F are also firsts for the American catalog. Lee's. I cannot resist the feeling that a warmer served his apprenticeship as a salesman -demon- The field Nocturnes are characterized by the acoustic ambiance combined with a more ro- strator at Muzio Clementi's London piano em- elaborate ornamentation of melodic line that mantic phrasing could make these pieces more porium; but by 1804, while touring with we associate with Chopin, but it cannot be said interesting than they sound here. But students Clementi in Russia, he parted company with that they are endowed with Chopin's harmonic and piano -music fanciers at least can be grate- his employer and mentor, having by then made magic. And the relatively bold harmonic pro- ful that this integral recorded version is at a sufficient reputation of his own. By 1814, gressions of No. 15 made less impression on hand. D.H. GODOWSKY:Passacaglia inBMinor(see MOSZKOWSKI) HANDEL:Giulio Cesare.Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau (baritone), Giulio Cesare; Tatiana Troyanos (mezzo-soprano), Cleopatra; Franz Crass (bass), Tolomeo; Julia Hamari (mezzo- 5 albums that re -define soprano), Cornelia; Peter Schreier (tenor), Sesto; Wolfgang Schone (baritone), Curio; Ernst Gerold Schramm (baritone), Achilla; Mi- the word "great' chael Schopper (baritone), Nireno. Munich Bach Orchestra and Choir, Karl Richter cond. DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON2530028/29/ It's admittedly an overworked word. Shostakovich plays Shostakovich. 30/31 four discs $23.92. But these new Seraphim "Great Re- cordings of the Century" will help you A revealing insight in- Performance: Respectable to the composer's in- Recording: Good rediscover its true meaning. And in the tent in his piano con- process, to hear incomparable music. Giulio Cesare All for a mere $2.98 per record! certos. For in this has long been regarded as the 1958 performance, he Handel opera perhaps most generously laden Furtwangler at the 1951 is the soloist. And he with musical riches, if not with the greatest Bayreuth Festival. obviously enjoyed the stage possibilities for modern audiences. The When the cornerstone opportunity. Andre brilliantly imaginative Rudel-Capobianco stag- Cluytens conducts the ing at the New York City Opera has laid for the Wagner theatre French National Radio Orchestra. was laid in 1872, the doubts about its stageworthiness to rest: that event was commemo- Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 version was an outstanding success. Julius Ru- rated by a notable and 2 Danses Fantastiques del went through the score with an audacious performance of the hand, simplifying, ornamenting, altering se- BeethovenChoral More from the black -diamond basso of Kipnis. quences, reorchestrating, and the like. What Symphony. For the emerged from all this was a daring but surpris- theatre's re -opening, Arias from Don Gio- Wilhelm Furtwangler presented that vanni, Der Wildschatz, ingly acceptable staging of a Baroque opera for same work, with a cast to match its and Die Walkare, plus modern audiences. It is reasonably well pre- monumental passion: Elisabeth 16 songs of Hugo Wolf. served on records (RCA LSC 6182), setting a Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Hangen, Hans A stunning showcase standard that DGG's new version must be Hopf, Otto Edelmann. High Fidelity forthis seldom - measured against. noted, "This recording's amazing in- equalled, never -sur- The comparison is not simple, for these are tensity must have been influenced by passed basso oro- two very different editions. Unlike Rudel, who its environment and the memories at- tund°. These were was primarily concerned with creating a practi- tending it." recorded between 1926 and 1935. cal work for today's operatic stage, DGG's Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 The Art of Alexander Kipnis Album 3 Karl Richter appears to have wanted to re-cre- Eurtwangler Bayreuth 1951 2 discs ate a version closely approximating Handel's Heifetz and Beecham together. Toscanini at his height. original text (a highly changeable text, by the Two consummate way, as Winton Dean's accompanying notes ex- 611AThis collection of 5 fa- orite overtures comes masters join forces plain in detail). Though the Barenreiter score from Toscanini's final lip with Mozart and Men- on which the performance is based was not pre-war visits to Lon- delssohn in these re- available to me for confirmation, this version cordings from 1947 ought to be complete enough to satisfy the don. The B.B.C. Sym- and 1949. The orches- phony gave him every- tra is the Royal Phil- most ardent Handelian: nearly four hours of thing he wanted. And harmonic. Deryck music,da caposcarefully observed, long secco Toscanini himself en- Cooke in The Gramo- recitatives left intact or, in any case, more gen- joyed the matchless erously retained than in any previous version. combination of full maturity and phone: "There's no doubt aboutit. youthful vigor. Heifetz is really in a class of his own." On the other hand, there is little evidence of Mozart: Concerto No. 4 in D and Men- that improvisational feeling which did so much Overtures ToscaniniB.B.C. delssohn: Concerto in E minorJascha to enliven Rudel's production. The extra harp- Symphony Orchestra Heifetz Sir Thomas Beecham sichord, so imaginatively used in the RCA set, is not employed here, and there are noda capo 140- embellishments. These factors will discourage many .a Baroque aficionado. But of course a crSERAPHIM major undertaking of this kind cannot be dis- missed on such grounds alone. Great Recordings of the Century (Continuedon page 98) CIRCLE NO 4 ON READER SERVICE CARD STEREO REVIEW.