Tag: Romantic

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Swedish Radio Choir, Robin Ticciati
94:00 (2 CDs)
Linn CKD 521

[dropcap]N[/dropcap]either on the grounds of period nor performance style does a review of this issue strictly speaking qualify for inclusion in EMR. Yet when the editor offered it to me, my reaction was ‘why not?’; after all Berlioz has played a major role in my concert experience over many years, having grown up alongside Colin Davis’ unforgettable performances of a composer who was to become for me very special. And there is the added interest that the conductor of this set is a protégé of Sir Colin.

Just as Monteverdi stretched the form of the madrigal beyond breaking point, so Berlioz did the same with his three symphonies. In the Symphonie fantastique, Harold en Italie  and Romeo et Juliette, Berlioz changed our perception of what a symphony might or could be. That applies particularly to Romeo with its seven movements, vocal sections and series of descriptive scenes more akin to an operatic scenario than a symphony. At its best – the Scène d’Amour or Queen Mab Scherzo – the work contains some of the greatest music Berlioz (or anyone else, for that matter) ever wrote, and even if we Berlioz enthusiasts would find if difficult to argue against a claim that it also has its weak moments (the final Serment, for example) it remains overall an extraordinary work.

The recording is taken from live performances given in Stockholm in November 2014, the audience being very well behaved. There is much to commend it. Ticciati’s direction is sympathetic, fervent when required and notable for its admirably sensible pacing, observation of Berlioz’ meticulous dynamic demands, and orchestral balance, though I do have a problem hearing the string harmonics in the central section of the Scherzo. Though not the world’s greatest, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in general copes well with Berlioz’s often-cruel demands, though there are places where string ensemble could ideally be better. The opening fugato is just one case in point among a number that might be cited. But there is some lovely playing in the ravishing Love Scene, which builds to a pulsating, tremulous climax. The Swedish Radio Chorus is quite good – more than that in the wonderful in lontano  exchanges between the revellers that preface the Love Scene – but their diction is often poor; they might be singing anything in ‘Jetez des fleurs’ (Juliet’s funeral procession, no. 5). Of the three soloists tenor Andrew Staples is pointed and characterful in the Mab vocal scherzetto, but mezzo Katija Dragojevic’s diction is also poor, while I’m sure Berlioz would not have expected so much continuous vibrato. Alastair Miles is a splendidly stentorian and authoritative Father Laurence, but the voice sounds rather worn and excessive vibrato is also a problem.

This recording has given me considerable pleasure and if, in the final analysis, it cannot compete with Colin Davis’ 1968 Philips version, that may partly be because I’ve now been wedded to that great recording for so long that I’m past conversion.

Brian Robins

Capella Savaria, Nicholas McGegan
58:19
Hungaroton HCD 32794

[dropcap]A[/dropcap] much-loved symphony plus three shorter lesser-known works for violin and orchestra which have in common dating of 1816-17 make for a more than usually interesting Schubert collection.

The Symphony No. 5 in B flat of course needs little introduction, a near-perfect work of Classical poise and elegance that has frequently lead to it being termed the most Mozartian of all Schubert’s symphonies. Yet what particularly struck me listening to the present performance is the young Schubert’s skill as a contrapuntist, perhaps an aspect of his writing that we don’t always sufficiently appreciate. That my attention should be drawn to this aspect of the composer’s writing is in itself a tribute to the poised and finely balanced performance Nicholas McGegan draws from Capella Savaria, the Hungarian period instrument orchestra with which he has worked for 30 years. Listen, for example, to the way in which the imitative writing is so clearly yet unobtrusively laid out after the first double bar in the Andante. I like, too, the way in which McGegan gives the cellos and basses real presence. Add to that sensible tempos throughout and a truly affectionate approach to this most lovable of symphonies and the result is a performance that needs no further recommendation.

Of the three works for violin and orchestra the most appealing to my mind is the least known, the Polonaise in B flat, D.580, a work of great charm here given with spirit and elegance by Zsolt Kalló, Capella Savaria’s leader, who produces some especially delicious playing in the central trio section of this brief work. Both the other pieces, the Concert Piece in D, D.345 and the Rondo for Violin and Strings, D.438 are more ambitious, the latter, the only one of the three for which a full manuscript has survived, in particular aiming high. It opens promisingly with a portentous theme that gives way to allow the soloist to steal in with a lovely lyrical melody replete with arabesques and roulades, but once the main dance-like rondo theme is introduced there is insufficient interest to sustain the 14 minutes or so of its duration. That is certainly no fault of Kalló, whose playing both here and in D.345 is exemplary.

Brian Robins

Benvenue Fortepiano Trio with Carla Moore violin  and Jodi Levitz viola
59:48
Avie AV 2365

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] really wanted to like this recording of some of my favourite Schumann chamber music – indeed I have been looking for a fine period instrument recording of the piano quintet. This recording has much to recommend it. The Märchenbilder  for viola and piano are given passionate and lyrical accounts by Jodi Levitz and Eric Zivian while the less familiar Fünf Stücke im Volkston  are revealed by Zivian and Tanya Tomkins to be works of colourful and evocative imagination. However in both these works I was aware of the rather uncomfortably close and slightly dead recording, and this proved to be more of an issue with the piano quintet, perhaps simply because of the involvement of more players. However there also seemed to me to be a slight lack of lustre to the actual playing, and it perhaps due to this that I was also aware of some slightly uncomfortable intonation. I am at a loss to account for these shortcomings in a CD from Avie, a company usually at the forefront of recorded quality, although I note that the recording was made in the USA by an independent recording company. This is a pity, as I feel that in a more supported recording environment this would have been a recording I would have felt very differently about.

D. James Ross