ORCHESTRALREVIETT/S

, andsplashesoffiguration Elgar i himself might well have introduced. - ; It really sounds like Elgar but does RniewedfuDanie[ffi : it sound like the Elgar ofthe : Quinret?For me somethingof the MUSORGSKY.SCHULLER i music's reticenr, haunted quality . RSTRAUSS ' is lost. Vriting these last chamber Musorgsky: Picturesat an Exhbition ; works clearlyprepared the way (orch.Ravel); Khovanshchina - , for therpare, radically thinned- excerpts;Schuller: Seven Studies on I out orchestral style ofthe Cello Themesof PaulKleei Strauss: Don Juan i Concerro.I can'rhelp feeling rhar MinneapolisSymphony/Antal Doriti Minuet428411(1958-60) 78:42 min: : Fraser'ssound world, gorgeousas it I is, is closer to the pre-war opulence of Polishedplaying, i the Second Symphony, and as such it Picturesbrisk and ratherrelentless, i partly obscuresthe extent to which and Kbouanshchina , Elgar had moved away from his marginally more : earlier grand manner. sympathetic.The Schuller- a I On iti own terms, though, it's tongue-in-cheekcompendium of i beautifully realised,performed with modernistsryles - isengaging, as is , warmth and understanding, and theStrauss despite airless sound. i sympathetically recorded. Sametoo PERFORMANCE *** i with the SeaPictures,and Fraser's RECORDING *** : chorus-plus strings version should , make this lovelycycle a lot easierro STRAVINSKY programme in concert - : and, best of Petrushka;The Rite of Spring i all, accessibleto amateurs. It saysa ParisConservatoire / and Aragon' rounds offan enjoyable the transition to rhe third movement : lot for Fraser'sskill as an orchestrator PierreMonteux disc with elan. ChristopherDingle - which, for all its expansiveness, : that for awhile one hardlynotrces Eloquence4S08903 (1'956)68 mins PERFORMANCE - **** never wallows is beautifully judged. : the absenceofwoodwind, brass,harp A virtually complete RECORDING **** In the finale, again,Barenboim i and percussion,and the four-part recording of pushessome passagesclose to the i opening out ofthe original solo vocal Penushha,thotgh edge; the fugato halfway through : writing is on the whole well judged, omitting the is a maelstrom. \7hen the march i though one or two details take abit drummed links, and theme finally returns it seemsto surf : ofgettingused to. StephenJohnson a Rlle that's fascinatingly detailed in, transformed inro somerhing hale PERFORMANCE **** yet mutes the more visceral thumps and heartyrather than something RECORDING **** and crashes.Rat her boxy sound. that might savethe world. Is that ?ERFORMANCE **** ETGAR enough?That's arguable - but whatt RECORDING *** for certain is that Barenboim has SymphonyNo.1 STRAV.INSKY StaatskapelleBerlin/Daniel Barenboim here made this symphony his own. Decca478 9353 5l :26mins EricaJeal t lgor Stravinskyin US5R:Apollon PERFORMANCE ***** MusagEte;Orpheus; Ode; Fireworks LeningradPhilharmonic/Mravinsky; Daniel Barenboimt Elgar Symphony RECORDING ***** W USSRSymphony, Moscow No. 1 - so eagerlyexpected on disc HENDERICKX Philharmonic/lgorStravinsky after his recording ofNo. 2 two years ProgaDigitals PRD25O 33O (1962/65) - Aiih; ;;;; ;;ih; w;;;il;; ago doesn't sound quite like anyone 'Empty 79:26mins Concerto Mind l'; Groove!; elset. This is particularly the case Empty Mind | ( & electronics) Most attractiveof in the first movement, a 20-mrnute PietVan Bockstal (oboe), Pieterjan theselive recordings music-drama in itself; as Barenboim Vranckx(percussion); Royal Flemish is Mravinsky's heavesback the reins just before the Philharmonic/EdodeWaart, airborne and graceful first reminiscence of the march, one ELGAR MartynBrabbins ApollonMusaghe. halfexpects to hear a Wagner . re RoyalFlemish Philhormonic RFP 011 Stravinskyhimself conducts PianoQuintet (orch. Fraser); The opening march is a coiled ll/ mtns characterfulaccounts of Orpheus 5ea Pictures*(orch. Fraser) spring;once the Allegrobeginsithas and Ode rnd alively Fireworks. a EnglishSymphony Orchestra; *Rodolfus Visitors to the Turbine Hall ar PERFORMANCE surging, somedmes explosiveenergy. Choir;.EnglishChamber Orchestra/ London's Tate Modern in 2003 **** RECORDING Barenboim setssubtly different KennethWoods were envelopedbyAnish Kapoor's *** tempos for passagesrhar ofren run AvieAV236260 mins vast scsllture Marsyas. Like At the TCHAIKOVSKY directiy on from each other, but he Of Elgart three major late chamber Edgeof tbe'Vorld, tLeKapoorwork ;;;; i;k.-;;.;;pl' also pushesround corners at which works, the Piano Quintet is the that gives Belgian composer \Wim LSO/PierreMonteux other conductors linger. Then there one whose textures most often Henderickxt symphony its name, 'orchestral'. Eloquence4S08907 (1962) 59:11mins are the big, intense passagessuch as sound After hearing Marsyas took over and redefi ned Glossyorchestral the brassclimax towards the end of a performance that brought out the spaceit occupied. Despite - playing, but cutting the movement this is stretched out precisely that quality, Donald its richly variegated,constantly all the repeatsin the almost to breaking point, but the Fraserdecided to take things a step shifting textures, the same could be Actlwaltz-perhaps StaatskapelleBerlin's playerssustain further and recreatethe music in full saidof Henderickx'smusic, for it to fit the music on LP it convincingly. The detail is always Elgarian orchestral dress.The result thoroughly fills the acoustic space - makesit appearmore discursive audible.even through the glowing is pretty remarkable. Fraserhasn't and has at heart an elegant, simplicity than usual. Hugh Maguire plays full orchestra- the harp especiallyis just translated Elgart notes into of gesture. the violin solosbeautifully. a pleasure. rich and powerful orchestral terms, In addition to the symphony, PERFORMANCE **** The second movement goesat a he has added (discreetly, it must be this impressivetwo-disc set from R-ECORDING **** lick but the orchestra is crisp, and said) the kind oftouches ofcolour rheRoyal Flemish Philharmonic

BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE 75 REVIEWS ORCHESTRAL

under Edo de'Waart and Martyn Second'World'War.Hammarstriim Brabbins also incltdes Grooue!, balancesthe orchestral sound for percussionand orchestra, and judiciously, with wind lines and the Empty Mind I, in both the oboe all-important percussion coming and electronics original and a through clean and ciear against reimagined version with orchestra. lean, expressivestrings. Koch's Henderickx's deep fascination with 1964 Impulsiis tn a similar vein to non-S7esternculture is apparent, not the symphonies, openingwith an just in ragalike melodies, Afrrcan ambiguous major-minor chord that drdmming or metallicpercussion, colours the whole piece; while the but alsothe layeringofsounds. folk-inspired Na rdi c Cap r i ccio b owls There arejuxtapositions between by with joyous glee. RebeccaFranhs delicately perfumed murmurings PERFORMANCE **** and incessant,whirligig textures, RECORDING ***** but this does not come acrossas musical tourism . Grooue!isabsolutely gripping, percussionsoloist Pieterjan Vraackx conveying poetry aswell aseffervescent power, while oboisr Piet Van Bocksralis mesmerisingin borh versionsof Enpry Mind I, and the surround sound recording makes LINDBERG this a truly immersive experience. i Al largo;Cello Concerto No.2; Era ChristopherDingle : AnssiKarttunen (cello); Finnish Radio A historic moment for Haydn PERFORMANCE ***** : SymphonyOrchestra/Hannu Lintu RECORDING ***** I OndineODEl2gl5 66:28mins CDReuieu.r's Andrew McGregoris u;onover by the first completeHaydn symphony cycle on period instruments opens his not- quite tone poem frawith deep, stern It'sthe bestpart Briiggen's1990s recordings add sounds, deliberately recalling the ofhalfacentury the Stilrmund Drangsymphonies opening of Sibelius'smajestically sincethe with the Orchestraof the Ageof austereFourth Symphony. But in historically- Enlightenment,then the Parsand terms ofsound and expressionthat informed LondonSymphonies in concert KOCH turns out to be a false lead. Soon all specialistsbegan with hisOrchestra of the 18th svrpr,o"in". i; sinioniai"ria; is surging ardour, saluting Debussy, the early Schoenberg,with a recordingHaydn symphonies, yet Century,with a generallydarker, lmpulsi;Nordiskt Capriccio Strauss, there'sbeen no completecycle on edgiersound, and a satisfying SwedishRadio Symphony Orchestra/ Tristanesquelanguishing four-note periodinstruments... until now. senseof liveadrenaline. PerHammarstrom figure lighting the path through Therehave been noble attemDts Fourof the latersymphonies BISBIS-2169 62:48 mins luscious thickets. Ravel joins the meldein the more to scalethisEverest; Derek wereduplicated. But there was 'Composing symphonies is hard economically scoredAl largo (the Solomonsand l'Estro armonico stilla gap:Nos 78-81, two of work and lessthen lucrative,' wrore name translatesas something like barelymade it beyondbase camp; whichhad never been set down 'they 'all the composer Erland von Koch, at sea'),but the effect is strikingly RoyCoodman's Hanover Band on periodinstruments. So we arerarely played, especially ifthey similar. Lindberg may protest post- andChristopher Hogwood with get new recordingsfrom Ottavio are Swedish.' Harsh, but probably modern post-Romanticism, and Academv the of AncientMusic Dantoneand Accademia Bizantina true: Stenhammar, Atterberg, may knowingly referenceStrauss's (AAM) climbed (reviewedMay Berwald and Pettersson,all key ironic prankster Till Eulenspiegel; further,without 2016),which Swedish symphonists, are dwarfed but although some of his musical summiting.Then complementthe by Finlandt Sibeliusand Denmark's rhinking feelsdreamlike, free- Deccahad the olderdiscs nicely. Nielsen. And itt only more than half associative,more often the effect isn't brainwaveof So,here a century on from rheir composirion really'post' at all - more Central takingHogwood's we haveit: that Koch s Third and Fourth European late Romanticism with a recordingsand filling most gaps thecomplete Haydn cycle on Symphonies- he wrote six in total- 21st-century accent.And none the usingFrans Br0ggen's catalogue. periodinstruments, all 107 are being given a first airing on disc. worse for that, especiallyin these Perhapsthe best surprise is Symphonies-yes, three extras Still, they are given a good showing sumptuous, sweepingperformances. howfresh and invigorating the included:the early Partitas by the Swedish Radio Symphony Having a single solo voice in the AAM'sfirst Haydnfrom 1983still knownas Symphonies A and B, Orchesrraand Per Hammarsrrcim. spodight in the Cello Concerto No. 2 sounds.Back then afterThomas andthe SinfoniaConcertante Dark undercurrents swirl in both enablesLindberg to draw his lyrical Beechamand Antal Doriti's in Bflat.Some maythinkthe symphonies, moments of unsettling thread tauter, to think in longer Haydn,this was a bravenew approachis cheating, butfor me beautyjuxtaposedwith passagesof arching melodic paragraphs;but after fidgety rhythmic Era Al worldof smallerensembles, the delightof a completecycle in energy.Hints of the riotous profu sion ol and other composers'languages echo in Largothatcan feel a bit restricting. a cleanathletic string sound, suchstimulating performances, Koch's soundworld:snare drum in Also the otherwise superb recordings plangentbut well-tunedwinds, elegantlypresented and at the Allegro Modtrato (No.3) suggests slightly let the cellist down: in one andexciting hand-stopped horns. budgetprice, far outweighsany Shostakovich, a propulsive motif or two ofLindberg's richer cello and UnlikeGoodman, Hogwood reservations.And it's surely better hints at Sibelius; anguished strings orchestratextures even the excellent wasagainst routinely using a thanwaiting another 33 years to in the Thirdt,4 dagio espressiuo Anssi Karttunen strugglesto make continuokeyboard, although the seeif anyother period ensemble point to Bart6k, while the music's himself heard. Still, this is a sensuous distincttimbre of afortepiano is isallowed to reachthe end. unsentimental character in general feast.StephenJohnson z detectablein that first session. Decca-47996O4(35 CDs) brings to mind Hindemith, with PERFORMANCE ***** whom Koch nearly studied before the RECORDING ****

76 BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE