CONTENTS

eviews

DEBUSSY. FRANCK. POULENC Music for Cello and Piano Anne Gastinel vc Claire Désert pf Naive V5259 ‘Gastinel is ideally matched by Désert; the recorded balance is judicious and there is a real sense of a performance being created in accord.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 54

FAURÉ Cello Sonatas Alban Gerhardt vc Cecile Licad pf Hyperion CDA67872 ‘Gerhardt and Licad sound as free as air, intellectually confident, full of verve…a convincing frame of colour, movement and sound in place for every movement, every piece.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 54

BACH Alto Cantatas Daniel Taylor counterten Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra / Jeanne Lamon Analekta AN2 9878 ‘John Abberger’s oboe d’amore and Jeanne Lamon’s violin double each other exquisitely…and Taylor’s gentle singing has perfect atmosphere.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 68

JOPLIN Treemonisha Soloists; Paragon Ragtime Singers and Orchestra / Rick Benjamin New World NW80720 ‘The subliminal impact of all Benjamin’s attention to various tiny details makes this Treemonisha feel instinctively right.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 76

DVD VAN DER AA Up-Close Sol Gabetta vc Amsterdam Sinfonietta / Candida Thompson Disquiet Media DQM04 ‘Gabetta moves with enviable dexterity between platform and film-screen without impairing her musicianship.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 53

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Reissue THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS Moriz Rosenthal pf APR APR7503 ‘It is Rosenthal’s oldworld charm, beguiling sound and almost conversational phrasing that make him unique and unforgettable. This is, quite simply, pianophile heaven.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 66

Number of works by living composers reviewed – 52 First recordings of new operatic works – 5

ORCHESTRAL

Nielsen’s first and last symphonies from the LSO; Vänskä’s American Sibelius cycle begins; Thielemann’s Beethoven on CD and DVD

CHAMBER

Two cellists play Fauré; Kronos Quartet explore the music of Vladimir Martynov; Juilliard Quartet gems reissued

INSTRUMENTAL

Granados from Spain and America; a fine Chopin player discovered; Jill Crossland plays Rameau; French Beethoven sonata cycle begins

VOCAL

Michael Gielen conducts Mahler; Mendelssohn from Equilbey’s singers; Telemann’s St Matthew Passion rediscovered

OPERA

New benchmark for Joplin’s opera Treemonisha; La traviata from Vienna and Graz; round-up of new contemporary opera recordings

BOOKS

Tomi Mäkelä’s Sibelius study now in English; Peter Dickinson on a new biography of versatile American composer William Schuman

REPLAY

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The magic of Günter Wand; Bruckner and Wagner from Knappertsbusch; symphonic treasures from Rome’s Santa Cecilia

THE SPECIALIST’S GUIDE TO…

A jaunt through the more rarified corners of Renaissance French chanson, courtesy of our early music critic Fabrice Fitch

THE GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION

Richard Osborne on the dark churnings and seamless contours of Brahms’s Third Symphony; which will be his top choice?

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