Johann Joachim Quantz - Sonata in D Major for 3 Flutes Year: unknown
Jihye Kim / Sojeong Son / Yu-cheng Hsu
Rating: 4 Stars
Johann Joachim Quantz was a late baroque composer with an affinity for flute, composing hundreds of works for the instrument, mostly concertos. Here there's no accompaniment for the flute except other flutes. Loving both the flute and baroque music, I'd expect to like this, and Quantz and these performers do not disappoint. This five part sonata brings a good deal of variety across its parts, but all five parts display the interaction between parts indicative of baroque counterpoint mastery and its all delivered by instrumentalists who are both skilled and very much into what they are doing.
It turns out that Wilhelm Stenhammar, whose symphonies I love, also enhances my love for string quartets. While these look back more than forward relative to their dates, they are melodically engaging and full of clever counterpoint (a huge bonus for my ears, especially in quartets).
Dvorak's 12th quartet, dubbed "American," seems to be the perfect chamber music parallel to his 9th Symphony; a brilliant, melodic set of four intriguing and related movements with old world roots and a new world spirit. It is the ultimate combination of artistic expression and listenability.
The 13th is more overtly Eastern European, slightly more stern, and a little more of a challenge, but ultimately very rewarding. These two make a dynamic pairing fully displaying the skills and gifts Dvorak had at his disposal late in his career.
These were not published for two decades after their composition. Apparently, they then sparked a wave of concerto grossi composing in both France and Germany (Handel even devoted his own Opus 6 to Corelli). I can see why. These are pleasant works, quite refined for their day, and expertly composed.
Arnold Bax - Symphony #2 Year: 1926
Vwenon Handley / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Rating: 3.75 Stars
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This early 20th Century symphony is generally traditionally tonal, but that doesn't mean it's free of gutwrencing power. There is clash here and there is struggle, all expertly written and solidly delivered via a larger than usual orchestra that includes not only piano, but also organ, lots of extra low brass, timpani,tuba, tambourine, cymbals, xylophone, glockenspiel, celesta, and not one, but two harps. The third movement is marked Poco largamente - Allegro feroce - Molto largamente. Allegro feroce? What could be more descriptive than that? And it's accurate. A powerful listen for sure.
Victor Herbert - Cello Concerto #2 Year: 1894
Kurt Masur / New YorkbPhilharmonic Orchestra
Rating: 3.75 Stars
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This Herbert Cello Concerto is a very nice find. It is rather inventive and takes the listener through an impressive sequence of moods, from intense angst in the first movement to more pleasant lyricism ijln the second, and finishing with a Jolly good ride in the third. Ma is, of course, well up to the task of bringing out the best if all three.
I thank Mr. Herbert for this fine work. It is said that Dvorak learned a thing or two about soloist/orchestra balance from this work which he then applied in his own cello concerto. If so, we all owe Mr. Herbert additional thanks for this work as Dvorak's is the pinnacle of the form.
An excellent postmodern symphony with vocals! Berio's most famous work is given an excellent treatment here. Berio didn't really see the vocalists as soloists, but rather wanted them to be an integral part of the overall sonic landscape, and that is executed perfectly. This is compelling work.
Henri Vieuxtemps - Violin Concerto #5 Year: 1858 - 1859
Sarah Chang
Philharmonia Orchestra/Charles Dutoit
Rating: 4.5 Stars
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This is one truly gorgeous romantic era violin concerto. Full of lovely melody without being overly sappy or too sentimental, and the orchestration is lush without being overly so. Every note is perfectly placed and the musical message is clear and captivating without pandering. It's just brilliant, really. But the astonishment doesn't end there with this recording. Violinist Sarah Chang was but 15 years old when this was recorded. 15! The world is full of child prodigies who achieve almost incomprehensible (to the rest of us) technical skill, but Chang has an astonishingly mature emotional delivery to accompany that amazing technical facility. Just astonishing, really. Love this.
Malcom Arnold - Symphony #1 Year: 1849
London Symphony Orchestra/Richard Hickox
Rating: 4.00 Stars
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Malcom Arnold kicked off his symphonies with this wonderful piece. There is drama aplenty, but also some delightful whimsey and comforting gentility along the way as well. The Hickox performance is more professional and polished, and brings out every bit of gravitas the piece has to offer, but at the same time, that relentless seriousness robs the piece of the whimsical element of fun that really gives it breadth of experience. My mood will dictate which one I reach for at any given time, but both will get played.
William Alwyn - Symphony #1 Year: 1949
London Symphony Orc hestra/Richard Hickox
Rating: 4.25 Stars
I'm often amazed at how hard artists judge their own capabilities sometimes. William Alwyn sad "I was 45 before I felt technically competent to write my first symphony." Shades of Johannes Brahms! Like Brahms's first, I think this symphony is so good that had the composer gave us somethin earlier which had maybe been a something a little less, it still would have been a worthy inclusion in their canon. Also like Brahms, this is a marvelously Romantic symphony, delivered now through a nicely focused neoclassical lens.
I find it interesting that an adjective is added to the marking of the fourth and final movement, "Allegro jubilante."It is indeed a jubilant finale! But if he's going to put an adjective there, I'd say the opening movement, marked "Adagio," should have had one as well. Call it "Adagio serioso" or something similar, because Alwyn throws us into the deep drama right from the get-go. Markings aside, I do love the overall tragedy to triumph arc, with the myriad paths encountered along the way, of this very English sounding 20h Century inaugural symphony.
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