Baker's Dozen Best Recordings 2011

My annual Baker's Dozen best recordings of the year is here. Since it is my list, I set the rules which are frequently broken. Most of these are new recordings or releases for the year. Some may be new to me or simply old wine in new skins. Whatever the case, here is what I have enjoyed and noted for the year in no particular order:

1) MAHLER: SYMPHONY # 10. ILLUSTRATED LECTURE BY COOKE, BERTHOLD GOLDSCHMIDT LONDON SO (1964) AND PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA (1960) TESTAMENT 1457

This 3 disc set was the Grammophone Magazine winner for Best Historic recording, and deservedly so.  Includes the 1960 BBC broadcast lecture by Deryck Cooke, illustrated with piano and orchestral examples, the full 1960 broadcast performance of the sketches as they had been compiled at that time by Cooke and finally the 1964 World Premiere of the 10^th by Berthold Goldschmidt and the London SO. All are recorded in decent mono and both orchestra performances exhibit somewhat scrappy playing, but what an incredible historical document.

2) IVES/BRANT: CONCORD SYMPHONY. COPLAND: ORGAN SYMPHONY. MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS SAN FRANCISCO SO  SFO 38

I first heard of Canadian Henry Brant (1913-2008) as a classical music crazed teen. I confess I wanted to write a piece for my High School auditorium based on his spatial music concepts. The high brass would sound out of the projector box, the tubas and trombones out of the vents in the floor, the strings on the stage, the winds in the isles.. the percussion in the hallway outside.. yeah I was nuts. His rendition of Ives’ Concord Sonata as a Symphony is all wrong; too modern and craggy for Ives, but an incredible and addictive listening experience. A bonus is a fine recording of Copland’s first symphony with the original organ part.

3) BRUCKNER: 9 SYMPHONIES. GUNTER WAND COLOGNE RADIO ORCHESTRA RCA/SONY 7776582

Budget priced reissue of these fine recordings of Bruckner’s major Symphonies, but does not include “Die Nulte” or the Symphony in F if you have to have those. Skrowaczweski/Saarbrucken is my standard, but for the price these can not be beat.

4) JOYCE DI DONATO: DIVA/DIVO. VIRGIN CLASSICS 41986   

Home town girl (I have a picture of me with Joyce to prove it) makes good in this wonderful collection of arias exploring gender bending trouser roles from Gluck to Richard Strauss.

5) CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR: PIANO CONCERTO # 1 OP 39, PIANO CONCERTO # 2 OP 77, FANTASIE, OP 62. MARKUS BECKER, PIANO. THIERRY FISCHER BBC NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF WALES  HYPERION CDA 67817. ROMANTIC PIANO CONCERTO SERIES # 55

A recording for those who think C-M. Widor only wrote a famous Toccata for Organ to be used at Easter or weddings. These two bravura concerti and the brilliant “Fantasie” are simply fabulous music. A second set has appeared on Dutton/Epoch but seems to be hard to find. With great sound and easy availability, this is the one to have for sure.

6) HAVERGAL BRIAN: SYMPHONY # 1 “GOTHIC”. BBC NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF WALES, BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA, SOLOISTS AND CHOIRS HYPERION CDA679712

Renowned for its listing in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest symphony, the Gothic is, of course, rarely performed. But on July 17 2011, over 800 musicians under the direction of Martyn Brabbins performed this monster at a Royal Albert Hall Proms Concert. This is a live recording in fine sound and likely the best performance we’ll hear in a lifetime. 

7) HAVERGAL BRIAN: ORCHESTRAL MUSIC VOL. 1. BURLESQUE VARIATIONS ON AN ORIGINAL THEME, ENGLISH SUITE NO. 5, RUSTIC SCENES, ELEGY, LEGEND: “AVE ATQUE VALE”. GARRY WALKER BBC SCOTTISH  SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC 00110

Every few years, Toccata Classics gives us some gems from the vast oeuvre of Havergal Brian, he of 32 symphonies and tons of unperformed and even lost works. In 2005 a recital of songs was well received and a welcome addition. This year Toccata seems to be embarking on an orchestral series, hopefully to include the symphonies, since the Naxos series seems to be abandoned. Volume 1 contains premiere recordings, first studio or professional recordings of works ranging from 1903 to 1968.

8)  HAVERGAL BRIAN: ORCHESTRAL MUSIC VOL. 2 MUSIC FROM THE OPERAS.  SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS ON ‘HAS ANYBODY HERE SEEN KELLY?’, THREE PIECES FROM ‘TURANDOT’, FAUST: NIGHT RIDE OF FAUST AND MEPHISTOPHELES, THE CENCI: PRELUDIO TRAGICO,  A TURANDOT SUITE (ARR. MALCOLM MACDONALD). GARRY WALKER BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC 00113

Long neglected Havergal Brian (1876–1972) is having a banner year. His music is interesting and always colorful, albeit frequently clunky and not always structurally sound. This disc features orchestral excerpts from some of his 5 unperformed operas.

9) MARTINU SYMPHONY # 4, TRE RICERCARI, PIANO CONCERTO # 4

TURNOVSKY CZECH PHIL APEX 0927498222

Almost everyone first heard this wonderful Symphony via this old Turnabout LP that has seen several iterations over the years. Now available in a budget CD with great sound and couplings.

10)  MICHELLE BREEDT, SOPRANO NINA SCHUMANN, PIANO: “SHAKESPEARE INSPIRED”  TWO PIANISTS RECORDS 1039077

South African-born Michelle Breedt is featured in this innovative Shakespeare-in-song collection from Two Pianists Records, also from South Africa. Just about every English composer of note from Arne through Coates, Parry, Delius, Vaughan Williams and on to Britten and Rubbra is included. Most entertaining and enlightening.

11) ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK: SYMPHONIE ELEGIACA (NO. 2), SINFONIA SACRA (NO. 3), SYMPHONY NO. 10.  KONZERTHAUSORCHESTER BERLIN. LUKASZ BOROWICZ CPO-777 683-2

These works have all received fine performances before, especially the popular Sinfonia Sacra. But this finely played and recorded disc from the Polish Radio Symphony is especially sweet since Panufnik was exiled from and his music banned in his native Poland for so long. Volume 4 of an ongoing series of his symphonic works.

12) ALLAN PETTERSSON: SYMPHONIES NOS. 1 (ARR. LINDBERG) SYMPHONY #  2 NORRKÖPING SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHRISTIAN LINDBERG BIS-1860 (PLUS DVD)

When I am depressed and ready to jump off a bridge, I listen to the music of Pettersson and suddenly I realize I am not as bad off as I thought. Pettersson’s music, from his first symphony to his last works, is relentlessly gloomy, dark, mysterious and angry; much like the man himself. Yet it is sincere and well written which is what makes it so interesting. The early, incomplete first Symphony is a performing edition by Lindberg receiving its first recording.

13) IVES: 4 VIOLIN SONATAS HILARY HAHN VIOLIN, VALENTINA LISITSA, PIANO DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON  001608202

Amazing that an Ives recording has been at the top of the Classical Music charts for a good part of the year, displacing the usual “crossover” glorp. Maybe the boys are buying the album because of the two pretty ladies on the cover. Whatever the motive, finest performances we can expect in a long time of these quirky and even fun pieces.

Russian Muse

Alexander Ringer, my most influential music history professor at the University of Illinois, felt strongly that one must study the educational pedigree, so to speak, of a composer to really understand their music. Who were their teachers? Who were their teachers’ teachers? For example, one of Bohuslav Martinu’s favorite students was songwriter Burt Bacharach. I don’t know about you, but I can hear the same quirky, rhythms, shifting meter and bright colors in Bacharach’s “Promises, Promises” as I can in Martinu’s charming works.

Thus in the Thanksgiving weekend’s “Russian Spectacular” concert led by guest conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto we get a rare chance to hear this concept illustrated by three works from composers who were students and mentors to each other. I challenge you to listen to the works as they progress from mentor to student across three generations. So, let’s look a bit at these three Russian giants and see how a Russian Imperial Navy officer influenced a child prodigy who then mentored one of the 20^th century’s most important composers.

Born in 1844, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov strove to develop a characteristic Russian nationalist style of classical music. This involved frequent use of Russian folk melodies and folklore tinged with the harmonies and rhythms of Asia rather than the traditional Western European forms and harmonies. Eventually Rimsky-Korsakov settled into a career as a professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (where Glazunov later mentored Shostakovich) and began infusing Western forms and conventions with a characteristic, yet almost indescribable Russian “soul”.

And what better example of that than the opening work in this concert; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture. Here is a work written for a typical western orchestra and in a common western form that literally lives and breathes the unique Russian Orthodox musical tradition. Many of the melodies used in the overture are from the Orthodox liturgy and Rimsky-Korsakov even includes several biblical quotations in his manuscript. While in a recognizable western form, Rimsky-Korsakov used some unusual time signatures to capture the melismatic flow and improvisation of the Orthodox chant. Opening in 5/2 (5 beats to a measure and each beat is a half note long), the work closes in a flowing 2/1, something you do not hear often for sure. But listen to how perfectly these “stretched” time signatures recreate the passionate call and response liturgy straight from a candle lit St Basil’s Cathedral.

Rimsky-Korsakov opened up this Russian soul to new and bright orchestral colors. Since Orthodox churches usually do not use any instruments in their music, Russian music tended to be dark and big, like the basses in the choir. Rimsky-Korsakov, trained as a military band leader used his skill with winds and percussion to expand and brighten the palate. Hear the touches of color from the harp and percussion, the clanging bells, the chanting trombone, exuberant brass fanfares as the faithful celebrate the Easter feast.

By the last quarter of the 19^th century, Rimsky-Korsakov was Czar as far as Russian music was concerned. Since he devoted a lot of time to teaching, his influence was deeply felt.

Enter the son of a wealthy St Petersburg publisher, Alexander Glazunov. From all accounts a child prodigy, Glazunov was introduced to Rimsky-Korsakov in his teens, around 1882. Given a score for a symphony (his Symphony #1) Rimsky-Korsakov recognized his obvious talent and arranged a performance. The audience, composer Alexander Borodin among them, was astounded when a 16 year old school boy took his bows on stage. Rimsky-Korsakov took Glazunov as a student shortly thereafter.

Young Glazunov absorbed all the influences his sudden fame afforded him. From Rimsky-Korsakov he learned to skillfully orchestrate; his admiration of Tchaikovsky led to his romantic lyricism, combined with a sense of counterpoint hitherto not realized in Russian music. When he was elected director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1905, he was at the height of his international fame. His best works came from this period as well, including the Violin Concerto in A minor of 1904.

Listen to the very beginning of this one movement work, with everyone in their lower or middle ranges, and you will hear the Russian Soul that Rimsky-Korsakov nourished. Yet Glazunov took that “soul” and stretched it into a technically brilliant concerto, full of double stops, skittering runs and luscious melodies. Glazunov is often dismissed as being solely a conservative academician, yet in the Violin Concerto he uses a one continuous movement form, which is unique for the period. The orchestration, while not as brassy and bright as Rimsky-Korsakov, is colorful and evocative. Nowhere in this charming and perfectly proportioned work does one encounter the dry academicism which often sapped inspiration from his music.

If Glazunov did not advance Russian music, his students certainly did. Living well into the 1930’s, Glazunov had to cultivate and maintain his conservative style so he could make a living in Revolutionary Russia. A revered composer, pedagogue and a stabilizing force as director of the conservatory in St Petersburg, Glazunov was a musical father to a generation of grateful Russian musicians, who tended to dismiss his music but revere him for his service.

Dmitri Shostakovich came along, total child of the revolution, and built a musical legacy on the firm foundation of Rimsky and Glazunov. His command of orchestral color, while not brilliantly flashy as Rimsky, perfectly fit his often dark and moody music. Like Glazunov, he felt at ease with the familiar and frequently strict forms of the sonata, symphony and concerto, even when he stretched the forms into new shapes.

Shostakovich’s Russian soul was a wounded one. Struggling to maintain his soul, he often hid his thoughts and emotions deep in the music. Many feel his work culminated in the magnificent Symphony # 10 Op. 93 of 1953. Shostakovich said the work “portrayed human emotions and passions”, but one soon realized these human emotions and passions are really the soul of a nation and of its people trapped in misery and darkness. Stalin may have been dead, but his ghost lived on in a country still reeling from war and political oppression. The sardonic and frenetic scherzo, all of 3-4 minutes long, can only represent a monster.. Stalin? It is said that was the composer’s intentions. Yet, in the subdued, dark hued mood of the Symphony, one can hear echoes of Russian and ethnic dances and even some hollow rejoicing.

The 10^th Symphony is Shostakovich’s most personal symphonic utterance. Possibly written before 1953, it was held back until Stalin was dead and his oppression of musical ideas relaxed somewhat.  To further personalize the symphony, he uses the notes D Eb C B which roughly recreates his monogram of D SCH.

This was the first use of this monogram which the composer used from time to time to mark his work in a faceless, soul-less society. Listen for it especially in the 3^rd movement, a Mahler-like nocturne.

From the glory of the Czars to keeping traditions alive in a revolutionary time to surviving and hiding ones emotions in an oppressive society,  we have progressed through three generations of Russian masters, each cultivating the soul of a vast and complex nation in their music. The “Russian Spectacular” theme for this concert is no mere marketing tool: these three works are spectacular examples of the long and glorious Russian muse.

HRH Olive, The Princess Royal

Royal Announcement

Puggingham Palace

From the Lord Great Chamberlain:

We joyously announce the arrival of The Princess Olive at Puggingham Palace on 11/5/11

The Princess arrived in the Royal limo around 7:30PM and immediately toured the Palace Garden. After greeting Palace staff, HRH settled in to her new Royal Apartment soon after.

HRH has received greetings from King Pip in which HM Pip has proclaimed that she shall immediately be Styled and Titled HRH Olive, the Princess Royal and is to receive all the benefits and honours due her.

HM King Pip further decreed 3 days of Festival Celebrations beginning Sunday November 5^th and continuing through Tuesday November 8^th.  He has commanded treats for all, plus parties and fireworks are ordered.

Her First Royal Portrait: