Paul Cook's classical music reviews for amazon.com --- 1999

TITLE: Feldman: For Philip Guston
LABEL: Bridge
REVIEW: For Philip Guston (1984) is quintessential–and very essential–Morton Feldman. His studies of pitch and notational austerities under John Cage produced one of the most unique voices in late 20th century American music. Feldman, who died in 1987, had also befriended a number of New York art world luminaries and the painter Philip Guston was one. For Philip Guston is technically a “chamber” work for piccolo, flute, piano, celesta, glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba and chimes–and lasts well over 4 ½ hours. The work is a slow, deliberative, and ultimately meditative examination of just a handful of notes and limited pitches played with extreme slowness on usually one instrument at a time, with the flutes often balanced out by the piano or the celesta. This work demands a listener’s patience, but yields immeasurable rewards.

TITLE: Feldman: Rothko Chapel
LABEL: New Albion
REVIEW: Morton Feldman’s brilliant Rothko Chapel, composed in 1971, is generally considered to be one of Feldman’s masterpieces. It is also one of the few works he wrote for a large ensemble. Rothko Chapel is a meditative piece for his friend, the American artist, Mark Rothko who died in 1970. Though it has the hallmarks of Feldman’s (sometimes excruciatingly) slow pacing, it also has a wider palette of colors and sound textures than most of his works. It goes from near-silence, to lyric moods (especially on the viola), to more abstract statements on the percussion. Add to this the wordless soprano hovering here and there in the background and you come up with a brilliant work of emotional depth and power unparalleled in contemporary American music.

TITLE: Messiaen: Catalogue d’oiseaux
LABEL: Naxos
REVIEW: Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was one of a number of French post-modernist composers working at the end of the 20th century who characterized their music less in terms of Ravel’s or Debussy’s nostalgic Impressionism, opting instead for a ruthless exploration of music’s greater timbral--even mathematical--possibilities. His two-hour work for solo piano, Catalogue d’oiseaux (1955-56), is a catalog of bird-sounds that are in no way “impressionistic”. The Catalogue d’oiseaux is actually part of a three-work series with an ornithological theme and actually out-does Ravel or Debussy in conveying the more “natural” expression of birds in the wilderness. On this superb Naxos release, Hakan Austbo masterfully captures on the piano Messiaen’s “bird-songs” in the wild, dancing, and playful spirit that nature, not Ravel or Debussy, had intended them to be heard.

TITLE: Messiaen: Turangalia-symphonie
LABEL: Deutsche Grammophon
REVIEW: Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) lived in the shadow of Debussy and Ravel, but managed early on in his career to develop his own musical language that often embraced Hindu and Greek rhythms, bizarre mathematical arrangements, and palindromic notational clusters, giving his music its distinct (and sometimes humorous and playful) character. All of this is found in his masterpiece, his Turangalia-symphonie (1948), a mix of tonal and atonal statements framed by the insertion of massive chordal pronouncements, particularly in the first and last movements. Also, you can hear the odd sounds of the ondes martenot, a rarely-used electronic instrument that shoots seamlessly up and down the musical scale (this is where some of the work’s playfulness comes from), making it one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century.

TITLE: Asia: Symphony No. 1 and No. 4
LABEL: Summit Records
REVIEW: Conductor James Sedares, this time with the brilliant New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, brings us two more extraordinary symphonies by American composer Daniel Asia. Sedares’ previous outing with the Phoenix Symphony brought us Asia’s 2nd and 3rd symphonies (New World Records 80447-2), which was one of the finest releases of the 1990s. Asia’s 4th, a melodic masterpiece, is more in line with his 2nd and 3rd . The 1st Symphony (1987), however, draws it’s inspiration more from Weberian atonality (but not Second Vienna serialism) than anything particularly American; its structure, though, is pure Bartok. The 4th Symphony (1993) is more Romantic, more melodic, following closely in evolution from the 2nd and the 3rd. It’s full of perky salutes and colorful pirouettes, a wild delight. Very highly recommended.

TITLE: Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
LABEL: BMG
REVIEW: Bela Bartok originally wrote his masterpiece, the Concerto for Orchestra, in 1944, upon a commission request from Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Designed to highlight first-chair virtuosity and various orchestral sections, the Concerto for Orchestra far transcended the scope of its original commission. It became one of the masterpieces of 20th century music and the showpiece for the Boston Symphony. This disc is a remastering of a 1965 release also containing the Peacock Variations by Zoltan Kodaly, both of which are major show-stoppers. The engineering on the Concerto, however, is absolutely breathtaking. More nuances are revealed here than on any existing version of the Concerto out there. As much as the Bernstein (Sony 47510) still delights, this puppy is the one to take home.

TITLE: Bax: Concertante for Piano (Left Hand) and Orchestra; In Memoriam; The Bard of Dimbovitza
LABEL: Chandos
REVIEW: Presently Chandos of England is the only label giving Sir Arnold Bax any currency. They have published nearly all of Bax’s music, nearly all of it well done. Credit for this goes to conductors such as the late Bryden Thomson and Vernon Handley who helms the present collection. This disc contains the premiere recordings of a tone poem, a work for piano and orchestra, and a work for mezzo-soprano and orchestra–Bax in three wonderful dimensions. Handley brings a tad more warmth to Bax’s music than did Thomson (who deftly captured Bax’s darker aspects, especially in the symphonies); but the greatest credit must go to Chandos and their state-of-the-art recording technology. Bax enthusiasts will want this disc; newcomers won’t find a better introduction than this.

TITLE: Corea: Spain for Sextet and Ochestra; Piano Concerto No. 1
LABEL: Sony
REVIEW: Though Chick Corea has made his name mostly as a jazz pianist and as a member of the 1970s powerhouse group Return to Forever, Corea has never abandoned his interests in classical music. On this disc, those interests merge delightfully. Spain, one of Corea’s most popular works is a cool, synergetic display of Corea’s compositional mastery of every tool in the modern jazz toolbox. The knockout work here, however, is Piano Concerto No. 1. The broken riffs and quixotic moods of Spain give way in the Piano Concerto to some of the most beautiful and mesmerizing romanticism ever etched onto a CD. Credit must also go to the studio ambience; the sound is rich and detailed. A true end-of-the-decade surprise and very highly recommended.

TITLE: Daugherty: American Icons
LABEL: Argo
REVIEW: Michael Daugherty is one of a handful of contemporary American composers who is attempting to chart new musical waters, avoiding the shoals of Minimalism or the various reefs of the old schools of modern music. For the most part he is successful. His music is engaging, making careful use of jazz and other modes (and moods) of popular music. But for Daugherty these modes are only tools. American Icons is a brilliant collection of orchestral fictions celebrating (and sometimes berating) various American icons such as Elvis, Liberace, and Motown. Daughtery, though, isn’t ridiculing these things quite, as evident in his brilliant lament, “Jackie’s Song”, after the life of Jackie Onassis, and you’ll hear this man’s profound regard for both the music and its subjects.

TITLE: Shostakovich: The Piano Trios; Schnittke: Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano.
LABEL: Nimbus Records
REVIEW: Dmitri Shostakovich’s trios and quartets are among his most private--and in some ways purely cerebral-- musical expressions. They are much less tonal than his symphonies, his ballets, or his oratorios, and they can be quite forbidding. This is true of Shostakovich’s piano trios, with the first being quite remote. However, the Vienna Piano Trio invests this music with a refreshing warmth that clearly comes from understanding thesoul of this music. The big surprise is the way Alfred Schnittke’s Trio illuminates the two Shostakovich works. They seem as if they might have come from the same mind (such was Schnittke’s way of morphing all kinds of musical styles into something uniquely his own). This would make a fine addition to any collection of 20th century chamber music.

TITLE: Danzon
LABEL: Dorian
REVIEW: Anthologies of Latin American music seem to be a dime-a-dozen these days and tend to showcase the same coterie of Latin American giants. The joy of this Dorian release–beyond its stunning, full-bodied sound–is its inclusion of music from lesser-known composers, namely Arturo Marquez, Javier Alverez, Marlos Nobre, and Alejandro Garcia Caturla. Carlos Chavez, of course, is represented on this disc–which comes as no surprise–but his Chapultepec is a trivial parade-float miniature, a seven-minute effervescence that leads, thankfully, to Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez’s extraordinary Batuque, a colorful orchestral romp that is already a classic. Chavez fares much better on this disc with his orchestration of Dietrich Buxtehude’s Chaconne in E minor. Credit for this disc’s success goes to conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson and her firm command of this wonderful music.

TITLE: Paderewski: Symphony in B minor
LABEL: Hyperion
REVIEW: Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941) was a Polish composer who wore many hats. Besides being an expert concert pianist and music teacher, he also managed to become the first Prime Minister of the newly-independent Poland in 1919. His music is tonal and very Romantic, but it is also heavily influenced by the great European composers of the era. You will particularly hear shards of Elgar, Delius and Bax. Listen even closer and you’ll even hear Nielsen and Sibelius floating in the background. Paderewski’s Symphony in B minor owes much to the way Anton Bruckner structured his symphonies but there is much less aimlessness and wandering about here. Recommended, especially if you are following the evolution of the symphony as it enters the twentieth century.

TITLE: Dutilleux: Symphony No. 2; Metaboles; Timbres, Espace, Mouvement
LABEL: Finlandia
REVIEW: This disc of three of Henri Dutilleux’s most often recorded works suffers only in regard to the relative weakness of the orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Jukka-Pekka Sareste’s conducting skills are excellent and he gets right two important aspects of the Symphony No. 2–its brilliant imagistic spells and its occasional passages of homage to Stravinsky’s French years. An earlier disc on Philips (438 008-2), now out of print, with Semyon Bychkov and the Orchestre de Paris, takes the same three works and gives them a more aggressive and spatially lush reading. Problems also arise on the Finlandia disc in Metaboles where the Toronto group gets all the notes right, but can’t catch the work’s elusive spirit. Find the Philips if you can.

TITLE: Shostakovich: Symphony 13 “Babiy Yar”
LABEL: Chandos
REVIEW: This is the latest release in Chandos’ new Shostakovich symphony cycle. Conductor Valeri Polyansky is tackling the latter, less sexy symphonies first–the 12th and the 15th so far released–saving the greater symphonies for later. This release unfortunately is not a success. It falls considerably short in quality in both vocals and the overall orchestral performance than the earlier version of the 13th Chandos released in 1987 with Okko Kamu and the City of Birmingham Orchestra. Polyansky here indulges in a near-fatal laxity, especially in I, “Babiy Yar” and II, “Humor”, where a shrill chorus of unrestrained strings and closely-miked flutes threatens to create an air of self-pity or worse, bathos. And the voice of soloist Ayik Martyrosyan isn’t really robust enough to carry the work’s darker passages. A disappointment with few redeeming moments.

TITLE: Lutoslawski: The Complete Piano Music
LABEL: ASV
REVIEW: Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994) had a career that touched on nearly all modes of composition in the 20th century, ranging from tonal/neo-romantic works to atonal/serial and downright unclassifiable pieces. This compositional spectrum is contained on this release of his piano music–sonatas, works for two pianos, and works for voice. And depending on your familiarity with Lutoslawski’s music (and your taste) there is something here for just about anybody– which also means that there will be items that might be for anyone at all. His “Melodie Ludowe (Folk Melodies) for solo piano” of 1945 and “Bukoliki”of 1952 are quite appealing and part of the composer’s neo-romantic temperament, less so his discordant “Five Songs” of 1957. Regardless, all performances here are superb and would complement any Lutoslawski collection.

TITLE: Schnittke: Sonata for Violin and Chamber Orchestra
LABEL: Nimbus Records
REVIEW: A dazzling display! Conductor William Boughton and soloist Daniel Hope (along with the English Symphony Orchestra) put their spin on works for violin and chamber orchestra by Alfred Schnittke, Kurt Weil, and Toru Takemitsu. Soloist Hope’s intonation and control are nothing short of phenomenal; indeed, he seems bred for just this kind of music. It should be said, however, that these works are very much in the post-modern vein and will not appeal to the average violin-and-orchestra enthusiast. Everything here requires concentration, especially from the listener. But perhaps the greatest surprise presented by this release is that Boughton and the ESO seem no w to rival Pierre Boulez and groups such as Ensemble Modern for both competence and enthusiasm. This is a breathtaking achievement.

TITLE: Feldman: For Frank O’Hara; Bass Clarinet and Percussion; De Kooning; Instruments 1.
LABEL: Koch International
REVIEW: This is a superb collection of four of Morton Feldman’s more demanding scores–demanding at least for the listener. Yet these four offer excellent examples of what Feldman was so good at: spatial coherence to pure (and always discordant) tones while denying at the same time all sense of structure, harmonics, melodics, and thematic development so common to Western music, even post-modern Western music. For Frank O’Hara (1973) is one of Feldman’s masterpieces, a sound-painting of delicate yet clashing aural textures. Bass Clarinet and Percussion, written during the Sixties, does have a 3-note descending figuration (on the clarinet), but has all of the Feldman’s trademark dissonances. But what excels on this disc is the depth of the recording ambience and excellent performances by the New Millennium Ensemble. Highly recommended.

TITLE: Feldman: For Samuel Beckett
LABEL: cpo
REVIEW: An earlier version of Morton Feldman’s For Samuel Beckett exists on a 1992 hat ART CD 6107 performed by Ensemble Modern. Their take on this eerie, meditative study in slow, dissonant pulses and atonal moods was somewhat more muted than the disc under review here. The timings are virtually the same (about 43 minutes and change), but the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin gives a more assertive role to the piano’s out-of-sync declarations, betraying the work’s skeletal underpinnings. This is not a transparent work, however. Feldman’s music flows measure-by-measure, each with their own timing and key notations–and very demanding for player and listener alike. This isn’t the place to start with Feldman, but Feldman fans will want this en lieu of the hat ART disc.

TITLE: Gerhard: Symphony No. 4 “New York”; Pandora Suite.
LABEL: Chandos
REVIEW: Roberto Gerhard (1896-1970) is one of just a handful of 20th century Spanish composers to have successfully emerged from the imposing shadow of Manuel De Falla. Gerhard’s four symphonies have none of De Falla’s romanticism and all of the post-modern gadgetry available to any composer daring enough to use them. No languorous, moody themes; no comfortable–or comforting–structure to lull the listener: just a concatenation of brilliant expressions and marvelous conflicting ideas, chaos and noise to some, enchantment to others. Conductor Matthias Bamert puts the BBC Philharmonic through its chops–as he has done for the other entries into this series–with astonishing results. Fans of Henri Dutilleux, Leif Segerstam, and Alfred Schnittke will go crazy for the pure intelligence of this absolutely riveting music.

ARTIST: Philip Glass
TITLE: Koyaanisqatsi
REVIEW: Of the reigning American Minimalists, Philip Glass has the strongest visual character to his music. Its shifting textures are highly colorful and hypnotic, perfect for the 1983 documentary film, Koyaanisquatsi. The film (if you haven’t seen it) choreographs a cascade of rapid-fire images of an out-of-sync industrial world–but the music itself stands on its own. Or it used to. Glass wants this nonetheless superbly performed version to replace the earlier, truncated version of the suite, but the result is not quite satisfactory. This version of the film score highlights the weaknesses of Glass’ particular brand of Minimalism. On occasion, as here, it can overstay its welcome. Section 5, “Vessels”, tends to drone and is over-long by at least 2 minutes; section 6, “Pruit Igoe” seems facile and, curiously, bathetic. Lengthening the suite to Koyaanisqatsi is clearly a miscalculation.

TITLE: Glazunov: Symphony 4 & 5
LABEL: Chandos
REVIEW: The current catalog has not done well by the symphonies of Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936), one of the great Russian romantic composers (and one of the great Russian teachers as well–Shostakovich was a pupil.) In many ways Glazunov’s symphonies evoke comparison to Dvorak’s–filled with haunting suggestions of folk melodies and sweeping lyricism. One could wish for better performances on this disc, however, especially of the Fifth Symphony (1895), Glazunov’s greatest. It’s hard to say who’s at fault here, but Valeri Polyansky must take the blame for an over-long opening movement that sags in all the wrong places and the awkward, under-rehearsed ending. The Fourth (of 1893) fares much better, making excellent use of the Russian State SO’s limited abilities. Overall, however, this Chandos release is a disappointment.

TITLE: Dohnanyi: The Veil of Pierrette; Variations on a Nursery Theme; Suite
LABEL: Chandos
REVIEW: Ernst von Dohnanyi (1877-1960) produced only a small catalog of works during his lifetime and for much of that time as a concert pianist he was largely regarded to be the successor of Franz Liszt–he was that good. These works are in the tradition of late 19th century European romanticism but they have their own rich character. Dohnanyi’s compositional forte is the theme-and-variations. The three works on this disc are exemplary in this regard, especially the exuberant Suite in F sharp minor. His exposure to Liszt also had the benefit of appreciating the piano’s playful side as in the Variations on a Nursery Theme--the nursery theme here being “Twinkle, twinkle, little star”. Matthias Bamert and the BBC Philharmonic are in superb form here (with Howard Shelley on piano), a typical–and topically very good–Chandos release. –Paul Cook

TITLE: Gerhard: Concerto for Orchestra; Symphony No. 2
LABEL: Chandos
REVIEW: Spanish composer Roberto Gerhard (1896-1970) is one of the most underappreciated composers of the 20th century whose music is only now, thanks primarily to this new series by Chandos, coming into major recognition. Gerhard’s music transcends any easy categorizing. Suffice to say that it’s a rigorous (almost radical) post-modernism that employs extreme musical textures and sonic embellishments of surprising complexity. However, this music is not for everyone, especially those expecting Bartok when listening to Gerhard’s Concerto for Orchestra (1965) or anything like Manuel De Falla’s brand of romanticism in the astonishingly breathtaking Symphony 2 (1955). What is even more astonishing is the pristine and frighteningly exact performances that Mathias Bamert gets out of the BBC Symphony Orchestra here. This will knock your teeth out.

TITLE: Harris: Symphonies 8 & 9; Memories of a Child’s Sunday
LABEL: Albany Troy
REVIEW: The symphonies of American composer Roy Harris (1898-1980) are really essays in the symphonic form rather than the traditionally-structured vehicle we’re often so used to. This allows Harris’ ideas to appear more as declarative statements (usually in the brasses), ideas which are subsequently buoyed (or molded) by strings underneath. Motion and mood govern Harris’ works–as well as playfulness. The last three movements of Symphony 8 (1962) employ several delightful piano obbligato passages that reveal how much joy there is in Harris’ work. Perhaps the real surprise on this disc is Memories of a Child’s Sunday, a three-movement work evoking the world of a child at play on a Midwestern Sunday afternoon. The Albany Symphony and conductor Alan Miller have grand feel for Harris’ magic. Let’s hope more Harris will follow soon.

TITLE: Holst: The Wandering Scholar; Suite de Ballet; A Song of the Night
LABEL: Chandos
REVIEW: Chandos’ ongoing Holst series hits another bright spot with this release of works that happen, on this disc, to span Gustav Holst’s entire musical career. The Suite de Ballet (of 1899) is an unabashed array of “light-music”, typical of fin de siecle England. Its youthfulness nearly risks comparison to the music of Eric Coates or Gilbert and Sullivan, but this robust reading by Richard Hickox and the Northern Sinfonia allows the composer-to-come to peek through now and again, especially in II. “Valse”. The main work here is the comic operetta The Wandering Scholar. It’s based on a Clifford Bax (brother to Arnold) libretto and has the more familiar Holstian flourishes based on an original use of orchestral color and remnants of English folk melodies. Top job.

TITLE: Harrison: Suite for Violin with String Orchestra; Piano Pieces; Suite for Cello and Piano; Suite for Cello and Harp
LABEL: Koch International
REVIEW: A new disc of music from American composer Lou Harrison is always an occasion for joy. Harrison, perhaps more than any other American composer, has made the freest use of this century’s many conflicting styles and modalities–including those from the Pacific Rim nations. The resultant polystylism is both idiosyncratic and infectious. This disc contains some of Harrison’s best melodic writing, mostly for piano and solo strings with the standout being the winsome Suite for Violin and String Orchestra (1993). Maria Bachmann is the soloist on the Suite with James Sedares and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in superb form. The Suite alone is worth the price of the disc and without a doubt, these delicate, graceful works provide an excellent introduction to Harrison.

TITLE: Tower, Joan: Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman
LABEL: Koch International
REVIEW: The title to this extraordinary collection of orchestral gems suggests both parody of and homage to Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. But Joan Tower, as always, has her own artistic vision and nothing here is either a parody of or homage to anyone. There are five Fanfares and a tasty Duet for Orchestra. The main work here is a Concerto for Orchestra (1991), a dazzling exhibition of energetic exchanges between various orchestral groups and seems designed, like Paul Hindemith’s Concerto for Orchestra (but not Bartok’s) for smaller forces. This way the instrumental pairings stand out. But give credit here to Marin Alsop, the conductor, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for making these works both lucid and vibrant. This disc clearly belongs in any collection of late 20th century music.

ARTIST: John Blackwood McEwen
TITLE: Hymn on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity
REVIEW: Sir John Blackwood McEwen (1868-1948) is part of an extraordinary generation of composers that established the Romantic tradition in England. McEwen draws on the same sacred and secular sources as Charles Villiers Stanford and Charles Hubert Parry, and it should come as no surprise that Chandos has been aggressively promoting the works of all three men over the past decade. McEwen’s Hymn on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity is a 1905 oratorio, more secular than sacred, that has survived only in an unperformed final draft version. Based on Milton’s famous ode, Hymn lacks the stodginess of your typical fin de siecle church hymn. Instead, Alasdair Mitchell and the Brighton Festival Chorus invests the work with buoyancy and unexpected cheer. Chandos has scored once again.

TITLE: Nielsen: Symphony 4 & 5
LABEL: Finlandia
REVIEW: Conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste takes the Finnish Radio Symphony through some of Nielsen’s trickiest compositional territory: the opening bars of the explosive Fourth Symphony and the “dueling percussion” sequence in the first movement of the Fifth Symphony. Nielsen’s music was at first difficult to perform, but as orchestras evolved and more difficult works were practiced and mastered, Nielsen almost seems tame by today’s standards. But this makes him more accessible to audiences today who might be unfamiliar with his work. At the very least, Saraste invests the Fifth–arguably Nielsen’s greatest symphony–with an eerie, even spectral moodiness that is nearly unrivaled on disc and should be heard for that reason alone. But then the orchestra and the conductor are Scandinavian and they, if anybody, ought to know how this music should be played.

TITLE: Thomson: Symphony 3, etc.
LABEL: Citadel
REVIEW: This excellent anthology of mainstream American Romanticism leads off with Virgil Thomson’s Third Symphony, a 1972 orchestration of his Third String Quartet. Other works here include Norman Dello Joio’s heartfelt New York Profiles of 1949, Ulysses Kay’s melancholy Fantasy Variations of 1963 and Jack Beeson’s robust 1959 Symphony 1. These works came from earlier CRI and Bay Cities releases and represent the best of the kind of music created in the 1930s by composers such as Roy Harris and Howard Hanson. Indeed, each composer here spent some time, either as student or teacher, at the Eastman School of Music where Howard Hanson taught. This music was popular once and may be again. Time will tell. It is certainly worth anyone’s acquaintance right now. Highly recommended.

TITLE: Nielsen: Symphony No. 3 “Sinfonia espansiva”; Symphony No. 5
LABEL: Dutton Laboratories
REVIEW: The music of Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) did not receive wide currency outside his native Denmark until after World War II. At the time Jean Sibelius was the most famous and oft-performed Scandinavian composer, particularly in Britain. However, the appearance of Nielsen’s Third Symphony on 13 (!) 78 rpm vinyl discs in England in 1949 changed all that, propelling Nielsen to the status of a world-class composer. Dutton Laboratories has given us here the original Forties recordings of Third and Fifth Symphonies performed by the Danish State Radio Symphony, brilliantly remastered for the digital age. The overall sound has a muted quality to it, but nothing detracts from these poignant performances. This is the way Nielsen was meant to be played. Highly recommended for absolutely everybody.

TITLE: Rautavaara: On the Last Frontier
LABEL: Ondine
CATALOG: 921
REVIEW: During the last decade Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928) has proven himself to be one of this century’s greatest composers and he stands shoulder to shoulder with Jean Sibelius in the annals of Finnish music. But while Sibelius relied more on melodic structures and thematic development, Rautavaara’s musical ideas are advanced more through atmospherics. This particular release contains a brilliant flute concerto, a ghostly tone poem (Anadyomene) and a beautiful fantasy for chorus and orchestra (On the Last Frontier). Conductor Lief Segerstam pilots the Helsinki Philharmonic (and flutist Patrick Gallois) through some of Rautavaara’s best music here, particularly the flute concerto. Without a doubt this is a major release of classical music this year–and not a bad introduction to this astonishing composer. Very highly recommended.

TITLE: Schnittke: Cello Concerto #2; (K)ein Sommernachtstraum
LABEL: Chandos
REVIEW: Alfred Schnittke’s extraordinary–and now legendary–compositional adroitness is brilliantly displayed in the two pieces on this new Chandos release. The Cello Concerto #2 (1990) contains some of this (or any) century’s most difficult writing for the instrument. (Indeed, it’s almost as if Schnittke wants to see just how far he can push the cello as an instrument.) The soloist here is Alexander Ivashkin whose ability to traverse this demanding landscape mirrors that of Mstislav Rostropovich, on Sony 48241, the only other performance of the concerto in print worth mentioning. The Chandos recording ambience–also legendary–has never sounded more full-bodied and expressive. It clearly supercedes the Sony recording. Schnittke fans will also like the satirical (K)ein Sommernachtstraum--or (Not) A Midsummer Night’s Dream–of 1985, a kitschy masterpiece.

TITLE: Segerstam: Deluge
LABEL: Ondine

REVIEW: Leif Segerstam’s most recent symphonies have been large-scale post-modern experiments with free tonalities and flowing, expressionistic images, rife with polystylistic sound clusters and shifting (and shifty) moods. It’s also about as far as you can get from the romanticism of Jean Sibelius, the godfather of all Finnish music. This disc contains two symphonies that are themselves experiments: In both Symphony 21 (“Deluge”) and Symphony 23 (“Afterthoughts Questioning Questioning”) there is no conductor. The orchestras are directed only by notations in the score; but since this music works only when well-rehearsed (and it does work) it hardly matters who is at the helm. These are rugged, enthralling symphonies that will appeal only to the extremely adventurous. But with Segerstam, one thing is clear: there’s never a dull moment.

TITLE: Shostakovich: Symphony 1 & 6
LABEL: RCA
REVIEW: This disc contains a surprise and a disappointment. The surprise is Yuri Temirkanov’s jaunty run through Shostakovich’s youthful Symphony 1, written when the composer was just 19. The St. Petersburg Philharmonic seems to take great delight with the diverse pallette of orchestral colors the First Symphony presents; it also takes well to its sudden mood changes. However, the Sixth Symphony here is a botch. Everyone here seems to be having an off day. The pacing of the magnificent opening movement is much too fast and the sound dynamics of the recording studio allows for too much shrillness in the woodwinds and flatness in the percussion. Adrian Boult’s take on the Sixth (Everest 9005) is still the best; the First still belongs to Bernstein (Sony 47614).

TITLE: Shostakovich: Piano Concertos No. 1 & 2; Quintet for Piano and Strings
LABEL: Sony
REVIEW: Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, soloist Yefim Bronfman, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic turn in brilliantly realized performances of Shostakovich’s only two piano concertos. Salonen has proven to be a master of 20th century Romanticism and has a non-intrusive conducting style that allows the spirit of the music to shine. He is helped here by soloist Yefim Bronfman, whose feel for this music exudes both sympathy and excitement, particularly in the first Piano Concerto. Both works, regardless who performs them, have little contained in them that reflects Shostakovich’s life-long melancholia toward Stalin and his brutal regime. As such, these concertos have always been concert favorites, avoiding the private darkness of Shostakovich’s symphonies and his quartets. The robust Sony sound should also be mentioned here; it’s practically unbeatable. Highly recommended.

TITLE: Thomson: Symphony on a Hymn Tune; Symphony No. 2 in C major; Symphony No. 3 - Pilgrims and Pioneers
LABEL: Naxos
REVIEW: Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) was, during his long creative lifetime, one of the major voices in 20th century American music. He was a noted critic, teacher and, above all, a skilled composer. Typical of the American Romantics of the 1930s (Roy Harris, Howard Hanson, and Samuel Barber to name a few), Thomson drew from many sources, but mostly from 19th century American folk music and dance theater (as did Aaron Copland). Captured on this disc are four of Thomson’s better known works, played with sympathy, warmth and charm by the New Zealand SO with American James Sedares at the helm. It’s also part of Naxos’ dynamic American Classics series that, so far, has yet to stumble. And since this is at mid-price, it’s also a steal.

TITLE: Yoshimatsu: Symphony 3; Saxophone Concerto
LABEL: Chandos
REVIEW: Takashi Yoshimatsu (b. 1953) is Chandos’ composer-in-residence and this is the third release of his music on Chandos. Yoshimatsu’s music has tended to be in direct opposition to the music of Japan’s greatest composer Toru Takamitsu. Yoshimatsu’s music is a mixture of tonalities, but tends to have a romantic heart regardless how far he pushes his ideas. His Saxophone Concerto is a good example of this. The music has elements of jazz and blues, but Yoshimatsu allows the soloist (Nobuya Sugawa) room to explore newer sonic territory. The Symphony 3 is much more cantankerous and moody, but still retains a melodic, tonal core with hints of American minimalism here and there. This is engaging, interesting music, decidedly more Western than Eastern. Highly recommended.