March 2012

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

BEETHOVEN. BERG Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust vn Orchestra Mozart / Claudio Abbado Harmonia Mundi HCM90 2105

Recording of the Month ‘Faust brings a suggestion of gaiety that renders more poignant the effect of the dark , complex harmony – a bright memory rendered sad and bitter’

FOR THE REVIEW BY DUNCAN DRUCE, TURN TO PAGE 40

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

SCHUMANN Symphonies Nos 1 & 3 Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen / Paavo Järvi RCA 88697 96431 2 ‘The resourceful orchestra is evidently manned by players who listen very closely to one another. An unreserved recommentation.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 47

TCHAIKOVSKY. MUSSORGSKY Orchestral Works Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Kirill Karabits Onyx ONYX4074 ‘Most ignore the metric ambiguity and place those two thwacks firmly on the beat – but Karabits savours the unruliness of the gesture.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 49

4 GRAMOPHONE MARCH 2012

BEETHOVEN Late String Quartets Brentano Quartet Aeon AECD1110 ‘What is so satisfying is the overall warmth of the playing, with speeds ideally chosen and never forced, with natural rubato and shading and with wonderfully sustained pianissimos.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 52

BACH. PISENDEL Solo Violin Sonatas Amandine Beyer vn Zig-Zag Territoires ZZT110902 ‘Beyer never plays on the listener’s emotions but instead maintains a sliver of detachment that, in the context of her stylish performances, seems appropriate.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 60

LISZT Années de pèlerinage Bertrand Chamayou pf Naive V5260 ‘In the three Petrarch Sonnets Chamayou’s soaring sense of ecstasy is complemented by blazing eruptions of passion, everything engulfed as it were in restless and romantic enquiry.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 61

gramophone.co.uk CONTENTS

eviews

RACHMANINOV Piano Sonata No 1, etc Vladimir Ashkenazy pf Decca 478 2938DH ‘These may be Ashkenazy’s first recordings of these works but they sound as though they have been in his fingers for a long time. A notable adjunct to the recordings of his youth.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 63

MacMILLAN Who are these Angels? Capella Nova / Alan Tavener Linn CKD383 ‘Illuminating performances which capture MacMillan’s profound sense of the sacred, but here the sense of looking back over the centuries is especially strong.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 70

MAHLER. PFITZNER. R STRAUSS Songs Christianne Stotijn mez Joseph Breinl pf Onyx ONYX4075 ‘Sung not just with her customary mastery but always with something significant to discover. Stotijn’s performances make you examine the texts anew.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 72

FALVETTI Il diluvio universale Namur Chamber Choir; Cappella Mediterranea / Leonardo García Alarcón Ambronay AMY026 ‘The rehabilitation of a composition bursting with imagination and gripping drama. Frankly, it is hard to believe it has lain unheard for so long.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 78

DVD LULLY Atys Les Arts Florissants / William Christie; Jean-Marie Villégier & François Roussillon dirs FRA Productions FRA006 ‘The reputation of Christie and Les Arts Florissants dates from their 1987 production of Atys.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 78

gramophone.co.uk gramophone.co.uk

Reissue BEETHOVEN Early Quartets Budapest Quartet Bridge BRIDGE9342 ‘David Starobin and his colleagues have achieved a dazzling overview of the legendary Budapest Quartet’s Beethoven style during its latter years. ’

REVIEW ON PAGE 87

Italian concertos –27 Russian concertos –9 British concertos –6 German concertos –2 Japanese concertos –1

ORCHESTRAL

Roussel’s musical insectarium, a second outing for Reger’s mammoth Violin Concerto, rare Saint-Saëns ballet music from Australia

CHAMBER

Trio Zimmermann play Beethoven, exploring York Bowen’s string sonatas, Stravinsky head to head with Shostakovich

INSTRUMENTAL

Martin Roscoe’s Dohnányi project begins, Liszt from France and Germany, Mahler’s Sixth Symphony resounds on an organ

VOCAL

We compare two new St John Passions, a feast of orchestral songs from Europe and America, Mark Stone begins his Delius cycle

OPERA

ENO’s 1981 Pelléas revived on disc, latest from Janowski’s Wagner odyssey, the ‘Hockney’ Rake’s Progress on DVD from Glyndebourne

BOOKS

Our verdict on Charles M Joseph’s study of Stravinsky’s work for the ballet and a major new survey of the music of György Ligeti

REPLAY

A big box of Tchaikovsky, Elgar’s fascinating early recordings, the Budapest Quartet with Beethoven in Washington

THE SPECIALIST’S GUIDE TO…

Rob Cowan on 10 vintage violin virtuosos who languish unknown today but deserve exploration and can bring enjoyment aplenty

THE GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION

Guy Rickards makes his way through the musical rainforest that is Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras and recommends a top choice

GRAMOPHONE MARCH 2012 5