June 2012

Informed by our unrivalled panel of critics, we choose the month’s must-hear recordings hoice

TCHAIKOVSKY. MENDELSSOHN Violin Concertos Ray Chen vn Swedish Radio SO / Daniel Harding Sony 88697 98410 2

Recording of the Month ‘In his hands, the music is like a living thing; one senses that each performance will have its own individual character’

FOR THE REVIEW BY DUNCAN DRUCE, TURN TO PAGE 38

Hear every Gramophone Choice recording, including Recording of the Month, through the online Gramophone Player at gramophone.co.uk

HANDEL Six Concerti grossi, Op 3, HWV312 17 Concerto Copenhagen / Lars Ulrik Mortensen CPO CPO777 488-2 ‘The performances ooze abundantly with charm, wisdom and warmth…One of the most endearing artistic interpretations of Op 3 in recent years.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 43

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MAHLER Symphony No 7 Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Jonathan Nott Tudor TUDOR7176 ‘The Mahler we know and love resides in the central section, where the harp glissandos to tranquil heights in music that the Bambergers play and feel most affectingly.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 46

LANGGAARD ‘String Quartets, Vol 1’ String Quartets – No 2; No 3; No 6 Nightingale Quartet Dacapo 6 220575 ‘This young Danish ensemble throws itself into the music with a vehemence and sense of purpose that go far beyond the pioneering venture of the Kontras.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 59

POULENC Complete Chamber Works London Conchord Ensemble Champs Hill Records CHRCD028 ‘A factor that comes across clearly here is that Poulenc had a more or less infallible ear for tapping into the timbre and personality of different instruments.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 61

SCRIABIN Twelve Etudes, Op 8. Six Preludes, Op 13. Five Preludes, Op 16. Piano Sonata No 10, Op 70. Vers la lamme, Op 72 Olli Mustonen pf Ondine ODE1184 2 ‘Scriabin as you have never heard him before, played by one of music’s most formidable and compulsive free spirits.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 71

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‘FANTASIA’ Piano Works Yuja Wang pf DG 479 0052GH ‘Hear her in Rachmaninov’s A minor “Red Riding Hood” Etude, Op 39 No 6, where, opening with a ferocious growl, she sets the stage for playing of extreme virtuosity.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 73

‘GRANDEUR OF THE BAROQUE’ Guitar Works David Russell gtr Telarc TEL33223 02 ‘In the Toccata from Bach’s Partita, BWV830, the outer sections are boldly realised and ringing with campanelas, the fugue more reflective and dynamically complex’

REVIEW ON PAGE 73

BRITTEN Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, etc Roderick Williams bar Iain Burnside pf Naxos 8 572600 ‘Putting this new recording immediately up against the composer and Fischer-Dieskau is like going from hymns ancient to hymns modern.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 74

HOWELLS Choral Works Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge / Stephen Layton with Simon Bland, Jeremy Cole org Hyperion CDA67914 ‘The grand hymns and canticles are extrovert and focused, the intimate supplications such as Take him, earth sung with great poise.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 77

DVD VIVALDI Orlando furioso Soloists; Chorus of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris; Ensemble Matheus / Jean-Christophe Spinosi Naïve DR2148 ‘It’s a tour de force: I didn’t enjoy it much, but then I don’t “enjoy” King Lear either.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 87

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Reissue LISZT Tone-poems, etc Various orchestras / Georg Solti, Iván Fischer Decca Eloquence 480 4920 ‘Needless to say, Solti revels in the music’s generous drama, its soaring melodic lines and filmic narratives.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 93

Featured orchestras in this month’s reviews pages: German – 12; UK – 8; Polish – 3; Swiss – 2; Turkish– 1

ORCHESTRAL

Schubert’s Unfinished from Zinman in Zurich; Gergiev grapples with Rachmaninov and Stravinsky; Jonny Greenwood meets Penderecki

CHAMBER

The Brodskys celebrate their 40th anniversary; the Nash Ensemble turn to Turina; British clarinet music from Michael Collins

INSTRUMENTAL

Barry Douglas begins an ambitious Brahms survey; Bach on piano, harpsichord and organ; a 10-disc Sergio Fiorentino collection

VOCAL

Mark Padmore sings Britten and Finzi; Ashkenazy conducts Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius; Dutilleux and Messiaen from Renée Fleming

OPERA

Jonathan Harvey’s Wagner Dream; Rolando Villazón stars in Massenet’s Werther; Bernard Herrmann’s Wuthering Heights

BOOKS

An ambitious account of the history of singing around the world; a tribute to the British landscape and the composers it inspired

REPLAY

A homage to Fritz Kreisler; a new transfer for Furtwängler’s classic Tristan und Isolde; Beecham conducts Grétry’s light French opera

THE SPECIALIST’S GUIDE TO…

Jeremy Nicholas recommends 10 jaw-dropping recordings by the 20th century’s most gifted daredevil Romantic piano virtuosos

THE GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION

Bryce Morrison takes a musical trip to southern Spain to seek out the finest recordings of Albéniz’s piano masterwork, Iberia

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