MOZART’S VIOLIN CONCERTOS MAX RICHTER We name the finest recordings of the composer’s teenage masterpieces King of the post-classical pioneers 110 reviews by the world’s finest critics See p84 60TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! Isserlis The iconic cellist looksbackonhis remarkable career Gabriel Fauré Our Composer of the Month Sean Shibe We interview the guitarist Zadok the Priest A masterpiece explored How two countries fought over one composer in WWII Are music students prepared enough for professional life? ACE CULTURAL TOURS OPERA IN VIENNA 22 — 27 November, 2018 Take your seats at Vienna’s glittering music venues for three operatic masterpieces Call now to book your place 01223 841055 [email protected] BACH MOZART VALLETTA FESTIVAL FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL IN LEIPZIG IN SALZBURG BAROQUE FESTIVAL 17 — 24 Jun, 2019 29 Jan — 3 Feb, 2019 14 Jan — 20 Jan, 2019 CAMBRIDGE WAGNER’S WAGNER’S CHURCHES, COLLEGE RING CYCLE RING CYCLE CHAPELS & ORGANS IN CHEMNITZ IN LEIPZIG 26 — 28 Feb, 2019 17 — 23 Apr, 2019 30 Apr — 6 May, 2019 www.aceculturaltours.co.uk '%@ )4 @5A#( @HT " $& %UDRT Ub`RF FTD``RFDT-Ub`RF.FWU 6W`a @QH HGRaWY2""#3b`RF3DPDgRVH2 @WdHY (Wb`H2 &DRYIDe 9aYHHa2 BHTFWUH "YR`aWT "9 "4 9A"9#8)6@)549 Looking back just 20 years, 9"!#1)99A%9 thecareerguidanceIgotafter my degree was no more useful @HT than Baz Luhrmann’s advice at %UDRT EEFUb`RFUDPDgRVH Ebf`bE`FYRXaRWV`.FWU the time to ‘wear sunscreen’. I 6W`a ""# 3b`RF 3DPDgRVH2 65 "We 2 seemtoremember my parents 7bHHV`EYRGPH24WYaQDUXaWV even forked out for one careers expert to recommend that I either become an actuary or a &WTTWd b` WV @dRaaHY @musicmagazine librarian. Not that Iknewwhat an actuary was. Today,however(andthankfully), things havemovedonalittle–faced with the complexities and 2RSHb`WV&DFHEWWS facebook.com/ challenges of a modern career, it’s essential that students classicalmagazine areatleastgiven a picture of what’s actually out there, even if they’re leftultimately to fend for themselves. The &RVG b` WVTRVH www.classical-music.com music world, far from becoming an impoverished desert of opportunity,needstalentinmany more waysthan even ten years agothankstotheproliferation of online media and changingfashions in live and recorded 9bE`FYREHaWGDfaW music. As John Evans reports on p60,studentshaveto learn to be adaptable,butinorderfor that to happen, they need their institutions to beswitched on to an 9DcH UWVHfWV VHd``aDVG XYRFH`D industry that changes with the direction of the wind. And if youcan’tmakeitasaperformer, you can always try your hand at being a magazine editor… Just beforeIgo,I’dliketodrawyourattentiontothis month’s freeCD–acollectionof choral works by Parry recorded exclusively for BBCMusic Magazine.The Carice Singersareatalentedgroup,andtheirperformances are spellbinding.Ido hope you enjoy them. OliverOli CondyC dy Editor THIS MONTH’SCONTRIBUTORS (HTHV BDTTDFH 0DUH` 4DbPQaRH 0H``RFD $bFQHV ‘I first heard Steven Isserlis play ‘Back in July I spent an inspiring ‘We all live ridiculously busy in 1990 and he made an indelible few days travelling to Romania lives these days, but just take impression. There’s been no with theCzechPhilharmonic a look at French composer let-up in the intensity of his focus whoweretakingagroupof Gabriel Fauré’s schedule – since–itwasgreat to catch up with him and young Roma singersonaboldjourneyto sometimesIwonderhowhemanaged to find him just as passionately engaged.’ Page 24 discover theirrich cultural roots.’ Page 40 write any music at all…’ Page 74 ""# 3A9)#3!'!C)4% Visit Classical-Music.com for the very latest from the music world 1%%0'!( $'%$)0$&") & 0!%!2$)$'& #$"#%$"#0) '&0!&0) OCTOBER 2018 FEATURES 24 Cover story: Steven Isserlis As the cellist approaches 60, he shares thoughts on Fauré, family and much besides with Helen Wallace 30 TheBBCMusicMagazineInterview Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe talks to James Naughtie 36 DvorÛák at war Erik Levi tells how, 100 years after his birth, the Czech composer became a political pawn in World War II 40 Road to joy In Bucharest, James Naughtie reports on a unique venturelinkingaRomachoirwithamajororchestra 46 A post-classical world Claire Jackson explores a hugely popular genre that merges classical and electro-ambient music 60 Key changes How, asks John Evans, are music colleges preparing students for the realities of a modern career? EVERY MONTH 6 Letters 10 The Full Score GattishowndoorinAmsterdam;Radio3launches 24 Steven Isserlis carol competition; the boxing bassoonist 23 Richard Morrison WhyIfearfortomorrow’suniversitymusicgraduates Cover CD editor Alice Pearson 72 Musical Destinations Bruch’s Kol Nidrei Jessica Duchen visits Townsville, Australia Listings editor Paul Riley Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 2 74 Composer of the Month Subscriptions rates £64.87 (UK); £65 Art editor Dav Ludford Gabriel Fauré, 19th-century France’s great workaholic (Eire, Europe); £74(Rest of World) Kodály’s Sonata for Solo Cello ABCRegNo.3122 Designer Liam McAuley 80 Building a Library EDITORIAL Elgar’s Cello Concerto Plus our favourite cello work Picture editor Sarah Kennett ThefinestrecordingsofMozart’sviolinconcertos Editor Oliver Condy Saint-Saëns’s The Swan 118 Live events CHEADLE, GETTY JAMES CANNON, RICHARD Rachmaninov’s Cello Sonata Thanks to Ella Creamer, Daniel Jaffé Deputy editor Jeremy Pound MARKETING Your guide to opera and concerts across the country Mendelssohn’s Cello Sonata No. 2 Subscriptions director THIS PAGE: THIS Managing editor Rebecca Franks Jacky Perales-Morris 120 Radio & TV listings Fauré’s Elégie Direct marketing executive 130 Crossword and quiz Reviews editor Michael Beek Craig Ramsay JOHN MILLAR JOHN JohnWilliams’sElegyforCelloand Orchestra ADVERTISING Editorial assistant Freya Parr Advertising Sales Director 132 Music that Changed Me DvorÛák’s Cello Concerto Mark Reen +44 (0)117 300 8810 Composer and conductor Mike Batt COVER IMAGE:COVER " #$%&'&( La Serenissima’s Adrian Chandler 30 Sean Shibe 84 Recording of the Month Vivaldix2 La Serenissima ‘In theend,it’sthesheer heel-kicking, 60 The art of learning glad-to-be-alive effervescence of the playing that carries the project’ 86 Orchestral 90 Concerto 94 Opera Advertisement manager Ad coordinator Beth Phillips 98 Choral & Song 102 Chamber Louise Dunn +44 (0)117 300 8813 Addesigner Parvin Sepehr Salesand partnership manager Reprographics Tony Hunt, Chris Sutch, 106 Instrumental 110 Brief Notes Rebecca O’Connell +44 (0)117 300 8814 Rob Fletcher 112 Jazz 115 Books 117 Audio Senior account manager PUBLISHING Rebecca Yirrell +44 (0)117 300 8811 Publisher Andrew Davies Senior brand sales executives CEO Tom Bureau Katie Gibbons +44 (0)117 300 8812 Managingdirector Andy Marshall James McMahon +44 (0)117 300 8757 BBC WORLDWIDE Classified sales executive Director of editorial governance Stephanie Hall +44 (0)117 300 8535 Nicholas Brett Inserts Publishingdirector Chris Kerwin Laurence Robertson +353 876 902208 UK Publishing coordinator SYNDICATION & LICENSING Eva Abramik Tim Hudson +44 (0)20 7150 5170 EDITORIALADVISORYBOARD ! Richard Bentley +44 (0)20 7150 5168 James Stirling, Edward Blakeman, PRODUCTION Chi-chiNwanoku, Charles Peebles Production director Sarah Powell This magazine is publishedbyImmediateMediaCompany Production coordinator Louisa Molter Bristol Limited under licence from BBC Worldwide Ltter !"!#$ %& & ' (& )& *%%+ To sing or not to sing? ,$ In your September issue (Letters), Paul Wilson takes Jessica Duchen’s Building a Library on Schumann’s Dichterliebe to task for eliminating singers who ‘cop out of the top notes towards the end of “Ich grolle nicht”’. Intrerestingly, if you check the end of ‘Ich grolle nicht’ in its most reliable editions, you’ll find that the high notes are printed in small type – ie they are optional – which casts an interesting light on what should and should not be acceptable in performance. Certainly it makes me WORTH £170! queasy to think that singing them rather than the large-type version is now considered de rigueur, even for baritones who consistently seem to perform the song in its original ‘tenor’ key – which reminds me that, WIN ADIGITALRADIO! Every month the editor will for all his virtues, the award a Pure Evoke H4 (retail sound of Dietrich Fischer- value £170 – see www.pure. Dieskau roaring up to com) to the writer of the best that high A was not at letter received. The editor all pleasant! High-note horror: reserves the right to shorten even Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau letters for publication. Gareth Curtis, wasn’t flawless in Dichterliebe Manchester Sacred sax a modern transcription of Raschèrin1937.Ilistenedtoit concert that I attended, during I hope none of your readers has Chant sacré finelyplayed on78sasachildinthe1940s a recording of Stravinsky’s beensearchingforarecording on saxhorns. I think both and now have an excellent CD Orpheus amemberofthe of Berlioz’s beautiful Chant composer and inventor would played by Jack Brymer (mainly audience fell ill and signalled sacré in his own arrangement have enjoyed it too. famous as a clarinettist) on the for assistance. The conductor, forSax’sinstruments(Cover Julian Rushton, Huddersfield Classics for Pleasure label. John Storgårds, paused the feature, September), as the Ray Smith, Truro orchestra and the stewards, scorehasbeenlost.Berlioz’s I’ll get my Coates quicklyandwithaminimum fuller orchestration, however, Your September issue cover CD Fantastic Phil of fuss, assisted the gentleman usestwobassclarinetstogood featuringthesaxophonewas