Well! Here we are again. It is time to
reflect on the past 12 months, review the defining events of 2014,
recall celebrities who have passed away and of course the best of
this and that. I concentrate on the latter, leaving the obits and
news analysis to the talking heads of the TV. So yes, the best
recordings of 2014 list is here. As usual, since the list is mine, I
make the rules. These are not always brand new recordings, sometimes
they are ones I heard for the first time in 2014 or dusted off my
shelf. No pop or jazz, since that is not really my thing, and I am
sure I have missed some “blockbusters” because the artists or
repertoire were not of interest to me. No “Dude” or Sir Simon Le
Rat (sic) or other “big names” recording more Mahler or whatever
they are into now. You are more likely to find recordings of Havergal
Brian (none this year though) or Morton Feldman (one this time
around) than Bach, Beethoven or Brahms. So with all that, here are my
baker's dozen favorite recordings, as usual listed in no particular
order.
Britten: Works for String Orchestra
Camerata Nordica, Terje Tonnesen, Director
BIS 2060
Britten tuned 100 in 2013 and of course
big box releases were plentiful. With all the big guns firing, this
2013 release escaped me until this year. I have been slow to
appreciate all of Britten's works; the “War Requiem”, “Peter
Grimes” and “Sinfonia da Requiem” are givens, but much of his
work long has baffled or left me cold. But this charming, well
performed and enlightening disc opened the string orchestra works to
my enjoyment. There is nothing “simple” about the “Simple
Symphony”, the Bridge Variations is a masterpiece and Lachrymae is
simply beyond description. Get this disc.
Yevhen (Yeven or Evgeny) Stankovych
(Stankovich): Symphonies 1, 2 and 4 Theodore Kuchar, Ukraine National
Symphony Orchestra
Naxos 8555741
These are actually 1995 Marco Polo
recordings re-released on Naxos. I enjoy exploring the vast unknown
of 20th century Russian/Soviet Bloc music. A lot of junk was produced
(even by the big names) but there are many, many jewels buried in the
trash heap. Ukrainian Yevhen Stankovych (seemingly the preferred
spelling) is prolific yet lyrical, dramatic and listenable. Unlike
many, the ghost of Shostakovich and Prokofiev is not overwhelming,
but still always there. One of the jewels hidden in the pile.
Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets
Joyce Yang, Piano/Alexander String Quartet
Foghorn Classics FCL2014
The talented Alexanders and brilliant
Joyce Yang take on two towers of 19th century chamber music, the
Brahms Piano Quintet in f Op 34 and the Schumann Piano Quintet in Eb
op 44. Frankly any recording that elicits a positive comment about
Brahms from me is worth noting. No stodgy, elegant (read dull and
technical) readings here, these are gutsy, lively, exciting and maybe
even a bit edgy performances. Excellent production, including concise
yet informative notes.
Bartók And Kodály Complete String
Quartets Alexander String Quartet
Foghorn Classics FCL2009 (3 discs)
While we have the excellent Alexanders
in front of us, mention must be made of this always intelligent,
intense, musical, satisfying and well recorded set. Add this to the
list of recordings that challenge and maybe surpass the classic
Julliard recording of the Bartók cycle. Combine the fine and less
well known Kodály quartets and you
have a special release indeed.
Troubadour Blue: Nils Bultmann Works
for Viola. Nils Bultmann, Hank Dutt violas, Parry Karp cello, Stephen
Kent, didjeridu.
Innova 851
Thanks to I Care if You Listen and my
fellow contributor Jarrett Goodchild, I had the notion to listen to
this disc of works by San Francisco based composer/violist Nils
Bultmann. Bultmann is one of the rare composers who can open your ear
while not assaulting it, his music is tonal but inventive, rhythmic
and visceral. The works on this recordings will both challenge and
please. One simply has to hear “From the Depths” an imaginative
and strikingly beautiful set of duos for viola and didjeridu and the
“10 Viola Duets” for 2 violas are as often amusing as they are
fascinating.
Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music
Center: Music by Babbit, Arel, Davidovsky, Luening, El-Dabh,
Ussachevsky.
Columbia/Sony 3268 (Available as an
ArchivMusic on demand CD)
I remember this recording, released in
1964, from my teen years as I explored classical music. I don't think
I ever owned a copy, but heard it at the library where probably most
of the copies ended up. But it, along with other trail blazing
recordings, led me to daydream about being an electronic music
composer, which of course did not come to pass. This disc was on the
cutting edge of the avant garde in the 60's, but now we giggle at the
almost absurd series of bleeps, buzzes, warbles and squeals that
comprise the works' electronic elements. The big names of the early
electronic era are here and the compositions are representative of
their time.... 50 years ago... seems like yesterday. Nostalgia for
the radicals out there.
American Masters: Violin Works by
Mason Bates, John Corigliano and Samuel Barber. Anne Akiko Meyers,
Violin, Leonard Slatkin London Symphony Orchestra
eOne 7791
Three works for violin and orchestra
from three American masters who share much more than is obvious.
Barber (Violin Concerto 1939) was a mentor to Corigliano (Lullaby
for Natalie 2010) who was Mason Bates' (Concerto for Violin “Archeopteryx” 2012) teacher. I reviewed this disc for I Care if You Listen in November and frankly I think I was too hard on the Bates
Concerto. Further listening reveals a finely crafted, tuneful work
that fits and compliments the other two works. The Barber is an utter
masterpiece so maybe the others pale in comparison, but in that case,
so do many others. Fine, fine recording. A keeper for sure.
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski: The
Complete Oehms Classics Recordings. Music of Bruckner Brahms,
Beethoven, Berlioz, Schumann, Skrowaczewski and others. Saarbrücken
Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio
Chorus, Saarbrücken Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Oehms
Classics 90
The great Stanislaw Skrowaczweski
turned 90 in 2013 and Oehms released this wonderful set of his
recordings for them late last year. Complete Beethoven, Brahms, and
Bruckner and Schumann Symphonies plus some Bartok, Berlioz, the two
Chopin Piano Concerti and some of Skrowaczewski's own excellent
compositions. I first heard him when he was the Music Director at
Minnesota and always find his performances suave, exciting and
musical. My conducting god, I drove 4 hours one way to hear him do
Bruckner 8 and would do it again in a heartbeat. Lucky the
performance here is first rate so I can stay in tonight.
Organ Polychrome: The French School.
Jan Kraybill, Organ. Casavant Organ, Kauffman Center for the
Performing Arts, Kansas City, MO Reference Recordings RR133
Morton Feldman String Quartet #1, Three Pieces for String Quartet, Structures for String Quartet. Flux String Quartet Mode 269 3 discs and DVD
At a mere 90 minutes instead of the 6 hours required for String Quartet # 2, # 1 is a trifle. But what a trifle; serene, glowing, glacial, energetic, softly ringing.... one incredible sound after another. Feldman is an acquired taste, but like that of scotch, anchovies or whatever... it is worth it for those in the know. The recording perfectly captures all the subtle changes in dynamics and harmonics. The DVD allows you to hear the whole quartet without interruption. Three Pieces and Structures are also vintage Feldman and are much, much shorter. It is a cold, misty dark December evening as I write this... I think I will pull this disc out... it fits.
Miraculous Metamorphoses: Bartok, Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Prokofiev, Love for Three Oranges Suite, Hindemith, Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber. Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern.
Reference Recordings RR132
Performances that can stand with the best of them and sonics that sound fabulous even on my computer speakers combine for another Reference Recordings/Kansas City Symphony “hit”. One also has to give the Kansas City Symphony, Reference Recordings and all involved great credit for daring to record major standard repertoire pieces that often have some very heady competition.
Shostakovich Symphony # 14 (1969)
Gal James, Soprano, Alexander Vinogradov Bass Vasily Petrenko Royal
Liverpool Philharmonic Naxos
8.573132
Overall, an excellent performance but I
still can not live without the Barshai led performances with
Vishnevskaya/Reshetin or with Simoni/Vaneev in the Cologne
recording. Barshai was there at the beginning and had the music in
his veins. The Curtin/Estes Ormandy is a sentimental favorite, with
some of the most impressively ghoulish cover art ever devised. I
thought the Liverpool strings were a bit weak and James less
impressive than Vinogradov, but other critics disagreed. Overall a
fine addition to the Shostakovich canon.
If the 14th was a fine recording, then the powerful 13th was perfection. Vinogradov is dark, brooding, frightening and frightened with deep voice that is still clarion clear. The chorus is not as idiomatic as a fine Russian ensemble, but is clear and present, well blended with the other forces. This is also one recording that does not let down after the long and dramatic first movement, the other four are equal in their drama and pathos. Great performance and a fitting end to a fine cycle. Petrenko is just 38 so he may yet have an even finer cycle in store some day.
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