Recent Releases No. 67 (CD Reviews)

by Karl Nehring

Tractus. Arvo Pärt: Littlemore Tractus; Greater Antiphons I-VII; Cantique des degrés; Sequentia; L’abbé Agathon;These Words…; Veni creator; Vater unser. Maria Listra, soprano; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Tallinn Chamber Orchestra; Tönu Kaljuste, conductor. ECM New Series 2800 485 9166

Recorded in Tallinn’s Methodist Church last year, Tractus extends the line of Arvo Pärt albums on the ECM label that began with Tabula rasa in 1984, the recording which first brought Pärt’s music to widespread awareness. I was in graduate school back then, working weekends as a security guard at a factory. Late one night as I drove from the main plant to check on an off-site location while listening to classical music on WOSU-FM, they played music from that album, which featured not only classical violinist Gidon Kremer but also jazz pianist Keith Jarrett. I was transfixed by Pårt’s music, becoming an immediate fan. I purchased the CD that very week and went on to acquire dozens more over the next four decades – and have never been disappointed. This latest Pärt album, Tractus, features an emphasis on works for choir and chamber orchestra, although there are also compositions for the orchestra alone as well as one for soprano and orchestra. The texts (all of which are included in the CD booklet) are all based on scriptural, liturgical, or other traditional Christian texts. Although there are passages where the music exhibits some drama, it is for the most part reflective and inward-looking, very much in keeping with the spiritual focus of the texts. The sound quality is warm, spacious, and inviting. This is an album to treasure.

Lise Davidsen: Christmas from Norway. Adolphe Adam: O Helge natt (O Holy Night in Swedish); Humperdinck: Weihnachten; Franz Xaver Gruber/Josef Mohr: Silent Night; Gustaf Nordqvist/Edvard Evers: Jul, jul, strålande julDeilig er Jorden (trad. folk tune, lyrics by Bernhard Severin Ingemann); Mitt Herte Alltid Vanker (trad. folk tune, lyrics by Hans Adolph Brorson); Julvisa (No. 4 from Viisi joululaulua Op. 1 by Sibelius, lyrics by Zachris Topelius); Bach: Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring (lyrics by Martin Janus); Reger: Maria Wiegenlied (lyrics by Martin Boelitz); Bach/Gounod: Ave Maria; Hugo Wolf: Schlafendes Jesuskind (lyrics by Eduard Mörike); The First Noël(trad.); John Francis Wade: O Come All Ye Faithful; Adam: O Holy Night. Lise Davidsen, soprano; Norwegian Soloists’ Choir (conductor, Simon Arlasjö); Norwegian National Opera Children’s Choir (conductor, Edle Stray-Pedersen); Norwegian Radio Orchestra; Christian Eggen, conductor. Decca 485 4358

 

“Christmas is how I got into music,” explains the Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen (b. 1987), one of the foremost opera stars of our day, “we listened to all kinds of music: choral music, popular music, and the Norwegian songs I sing on this album.” She remembers Christmas services at her hometown church in Stokke: “I remember getting my first solo there, and when I was older, singing O Holy Night for the first time. I was still singing it there on Christmas Eve in my late twenties, well into my career. They were happy I kept going back but for me it was an essential part of the spirit of Christmas.” She concludes her liner booklet note by remarking, “For Scandinavians, Christmas is the white light we need in the middle of a long winter. Perhaps that’s why we embrace it. And we really do embrace it.” She opens and closes the album with O Holy Night, first in Swedish and then in English – reflecting the special place that song holds in her memory of Christmas. What sets this album apart from many other Christmas albums  -- beyond just the wondrous quality of Davidsen’s voice, that is – is the variety of music. This is not just your typical collection of popular carols. Moreover, the musical settings vary; some with orchestra, some with choir, some with children’s choir. Even if, like me, you already have a number of Christmas albums in your collection, you really ought to give this one serious consideration.

Miracle of Miracles: Music for Hanukkah. Trad., arr. Robert Applebaum: Oh Chanukah/Y'Mei Hachanukah; Trad., arr. Steve Barnett: S’vivon; Trad., arr. Mark Zuckerman: O, ir kleyne likhtelekh; Gerald Cohen: Chanukah Lights: Applebaum: Haneirot Halalu; Trad., arr.  Elliott Z. Levine): Al HaNisim; Trad., arr. Applebaum): Al Hanisim; Joshua Fishbein: Al Hanisim (For the Miracles); Daniel Tunkel: from Hallel Cantata - I. Hal’luyah! (Psalm 113)II. B’tzeit Yisrael (Psalm 114)III. Adonai Z’charanu (Psalm 115, vv. 12-18)VI. Hodu (Psalm 118, vv. 1-4); Trad., arr. Applebaum): Maoz Tzur; Levine: Lo V’Chayil; Vladimir Heyfetz (Arr. Zuckerman): Fayer, fayer; Samuel E. Goldfarb (arr. Applebaum): Funky Dreidl (I Had a Little Dreidl); Mikhl Gelbart (Arr. Zuckerman): I am a Little Dreydl (Ikh bin a kleyner Dreydl); Jonathan M. Miller: Biy’mey Mattityahu; Chaim Parchi (arr. Joshua Jacobson): Aleih Neiri; Stacy Garrop: Lo Yisa Goy. Chicago a cappella. Cedille CDR 9000022

 

Over the years I have accumulated a number of Christmas recordings – so many, in fact, that a few years ago I felt compelled to cull through them, decide which one I really wanted to keep, and take the rest in for trade. I took quite a few in go the store for trade, but still have more left than I will ever play over the holidays. Some of those Christmas CDs were sent to me for review over the years – but in all my years of being a reviewer (roughly 35, counting my time at both The $ensible Sound and now at Classical Candor), I was never sent one single Hanukkah CD for review until this one recently arrived in my mailbox. Miracle of miracles indeed! But receiving this disc after all that time made me stop and wonder why I had never been sent – or even really noticed, to be honest (of course, the fact that I am not Jewish is obviously a factor) any Hanukkah CDs before. Fortunately, in the liner booklet, Jonathan Miller, Chicago a cappella artistic director emeritus, at least partially answered my question: “Why, you might ask, aren’t there more albums of Hanukkah music like this? Finding the music is a big part of the challenge. It’s hard to locate works that meet all of our criteria: superb musical craftsmanship, a Hanukkah text, and a setting for a cappella mixed choir… Jewish choral music is a recent phenomenon, begun in earnest only about 200 years ago in Berlin, so there’s a simple quantity issue: we have much less repertoire to peruse than in other choral traditions. Given all of this, we are especially grateful for the composers and arrangers whose persistence and skill have given us the works found here.”

So what do we have here? Chicago a cappella is an ensemble of ten singers from among the Chicago area’s most accomplished classically trained choral singers and soloists. The group was originally founded in 1993 and has performed a wide variety of music, ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century. Miracle of Miracles features a collection of songs from more than 25 years of the ensemble’s performances, arranged into a single program that replays the story of Hanukkah, from celebrations of the holiday itself through to its candles, miracles, religious observances, and traditional food and games. The music and the texts include a mix of both biblical and modern Hebrew, as well as Yiddish elements (and English) intertwined with American jazz and popular styles. The vocal styles and expressions represented on this album aim to capture fully the traditions of Hanukkah across the Diaspora and Jewish history. It’s a fascinating collection. One need not be Jewish to enjoy the skill and enthusiasm that these singers bring to these remarkable songs, such as the three versions of Al Hanisim or the energetic dreydl songs, perhaps the kinds of songs that might be most likely to strike a note of familiarity with some non-Jewish listeners. The liner notes include notes and texts for all of the compositions, and the engineering by Cedille’s audio wizard Bill Maylone is excellent as always, making this a fine production in every aspect, well worth a listen regardless of your faith or lack thereof.

Seasons (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

Max Richter: Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons; Philip Glass: Violin Concerto No. 2 “The American Four Seasons”. Delirium Musicum. Étienne Gara, violin and artistic director. Warner Classics 5054197401930

Delirium Musicum is a Los Angeles-based chamber orchestra of 21 musicians from nine countries including leader and founder Étienne Gara, a French-born violinist who says, “my aim in creating this group was to foster an artistic expression nourished by both diversity and the buzz of artists thirsting for uncompromising creativity and unbound musical interpretation.” There have been umpteen bazillion recordings of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons released over the years; it is often one of the first compositions first to capture the attention of listeners who are otherwise unfamiliar with classical music. Moreover, its melodies are familiar even to many people who are otherwise unfamiliar with classical music, so widely has it been played on various media. What Delirium Musicum have chosen to give us on their first recording are two compositions by composers of our time that build upon the foundation of Vivaldi’s composition: a “recomposition” by the German-born British composer Max Richter (b. 1966) and an “American version” by the American composer Philip Glass (b. 1937). 

 

The Richter is a work we have looked at before, when John Puccio reviewed a recording back in 2014 (you can read John's review here) and then again in 2022 when I reviewed another recording, this time featuring the Chineke! Orchestra playing on gut strings and Richter (pictured left) playing a vintage Moog synthesizer in what amounted to a different take on period instrument performance practice (you can find that review here). The Glass, on the other hand, is a work that has not yet been reviewed in Classical Candor although there have been previous recordings of the piece. Both Seasons radiate energy and enthusiasm as the musicians of Delirium Musicum play with both passion and precision. In the Richter, the synthesizer is blended in more seamlessly than in the version the composer himself recorded with Chineke!, the end result sounding more naturally flowing – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons reimagined for the 21st century. It’s delightful! 

 

Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 2, subtitled “An American Four Seasons,” was originally composed in 2008 and dedicated to violinist Robert MacDuffie, who gave the work its premier. It’s an unusually constructed concerto, with four movements rather than the typical three. Yes, you’d expect four movement for “An American Four Seasons,” but no, Glass (pictured right) did not give them titles, instead he just numbered them I-IV. More unusual than having four movements are the four small solo pieces that Glass composed in lieu of a cadenza. There is a Prologue before Movement I, and then each of the final three movements is preceded by a solo violin piece that Glass calls a Song. These songs serve as interludes of reflection rather than frenzied virtuoso showpieces for the violin soloist. The four movements themselves vary in tempo and mood but share the Glass trademark of a repetitive pulse underlying the melody of the soloist above. The overall effect is compelling, none of the movements overstaying its welcome as Glass continually varies the line. Personally, I’ve never been convinced by his symphonies, but this concerto, perhaps because of the smaller forces involved, the number of varied smaller movements, not to mention the sheer energy and enthusiasm of these young musicians – at any rate, this concerto is remarkably entertaining (and, like the Richter piece, great music to enjoy while driving).

The liner notes by Gara are a bit over the top; it would have been good to have some more background on the music along with more information about the group beyond just a listing of their names. The engineering is clean and clear, although mixed in such a way to sound more immersive for headphone/earbud/car stereo listening rather than sound like musicians in a hall through loudspeakers in your listening room. Overall, though, Seasons is good, clean, recommendable twenty-first century musical fun for any season. 

 

Recent Releases No. 66 (CD Reviews)

by Karl Nehring 

Amazônia. Villa-Lobos: Suite Floresta de Amazonas; Glass: Metamorphosis I (from Aguas da Amazonia). Camila Provenzale, soprano; Philharmonia Zürich; Simone Menezes, conductor. Alpha Classics ALPHA 990

This release pairs two works infused with the energy and exotic sounds and colors of the Amazonian jungle, brought to you courtesy of the creative imaginations of two composers of different times and hemispheres, the Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) and the American Philip Glass (b. 1937). Villa-Lobos wrote this music in 1958, late in his career, originally conceiving it as “a symphonic poem, a long, abstract narration that nevertheless stimulates visual echoes,” according to the CD booklet essay, which goes on the explain that the music was intended to accompany a film titled Green Mansions. Not surprisingly, the film’s producers brought in a team of Hollywood arrangers who effectively destroyed Villa-Lobos’s music. As a result, “Villa-Lobos took back his music, and made an independent concert work out of it, increasing the role of the chorus and solo voice in order to create an immense oratorio to texts by the poet Dora Vasconcelos.” What we have on this recording is not the “immense oratorio,” however; rather, conductor Simone Menezes has gone through the original score and constructed an orchestral suite in 11 movements for soprano and orchestra. It lasts about 45 minutes and is exuberant and powerful, with rich harmonies and energetic rhythms. Soprano Camilo Provenzale has a richly powerful voice with a tonal color that seems just right for this music.

In her CD booklet essay, Menezes explains that Metamorphosis I “is part of his Aguas da Amazonia, originally composed for the Brazilian group Uakti… It was orchestrated in 2017 by Charles Coleman.  Metamorphosis takes a minimalist, poetic look at the waters traversing the Amazonian forest, a journey by boat along the Amazon, marked by diverse rhythmical pulses… The rhythms become more dominant and more varied, and the tension gradually mounts up until the final sigh of relief when then destination is reached.” This is a shorter work than the Villa-Lobos, running 12:55 here and 12:35 on the Uakti recording. As those familiar with Glass  might expect, the music has an underlying pulse, a repetitive phrasing that underlies the music, much in the way that the river underlies that boat that rides upon it. Those that enjoy Glass will enjoy it, those that hate Glass will hate it. Personally, I enjoy the Uakti version much more – it simply has a more colorful sonic palette. That is not to say I am one of the Glass-haters – although neither am I a die-hard fan (except of his piano music). And in his defense, I must point out that he did not write piece this for orchestra; instead, it was orchestrated by someone else. Glass’s original version as performed by Uakti sounds much different – much more vibrant and involving.

The engineering is excellent. The booklet includes some notes on the music, biographical information about the musicians,  texts for the Villa-Lobos lyrics, and some striking B&W photographs of the Amazon. Overall, this is another of those recordings of music a bit off the beaten path but certainly well worth an audition by those looking to expand their musical field of vision.

 

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13; Prince Rostislav; Symphonic Poem after Aleksey Tolstoy. St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor. Vox Audiophile Edition VOX-NX-3029CD

 

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44; Symphony in D minor “Youth”; The Rock, Op. 7. St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor. Vox Audiophile Edition VOX-NX-3028CD

 

How gratifying it is to see Naxos completing its release of conductor Leonard Slatkin’s traversal of Rachmaninoff’s (that’s the currently accepted English spelling) three symphonies, which he recorded for the budget Vox label back in the mid-1970s with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. We reviewed the first of these recordings to be released back in February, 2023, a release that contained Symphony No. 2 along with the haunting Vocalise (you can read that review here). Most classical music lovers of a certain age are no doubt familiar with Vox, a budget label that produced some real gems over the years. Even though Vox was a budget label, the sound quality on some of their releases could be excellent, especially those recorded by the production team at Elite Recordings, led by engineer Marc Aubort and producer Joanna Nickrenz. There is an article at the PS Audio website discussing the fine-sounding Ravel box set Vox released in the 1970s that provides some insight into Elite’s recording process, which you can find here. The main sonic drawback back in the LP days of yore was the often substandard quality of Vox’s vinyl pressings). But in the past few years, there have been some significant advances in digital technology, allowing the good folks at Naxos (who now own the rights to the Vox treasure trove) the opportunity to give us truly elite versions of the Elite recordings.

 

Appearing on the back cover of these new “Vox Audiophile Edition” versions is a highlighted statement affirming that “The Elite recordings for Vox legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be among the finest sounding orchestral recordings.” For these reissues, Naxos engineers have taken those tapes from the vaults and carefully prepared these CDs for release, the end product of their labors being what they describe as “new192 kHz / 24-bit high definition transfers of the original Elite Recordings analogue master tapes.” Of course, all that work would not mean much if the performances captured by Aubort and Nickrenz were no great shakes to begin with; however, these Rachmaninoff recordings by Maestro Slatkin and the SLSO were excellent when they were released and they are excellent now. Earlier this year, we reviewed their recording of the Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2(you can read that review here). These new recordings exhibit the same virtues: confident, expressive playing from the SLSO under Slatkin’s leadership captured in transparent, dynamic sound that captures the sense of an orchestra playing in a hall. There are many excellent versions of these symphonies on the market; in fact, Slatkin himself later recorded an excellent set with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Still, these are excellent performances, excellently recorded, making them eminently recommendable for fans of these gorgeously tuneful symphonies.

Meet the Staff

Meet the Staff
John J. Puccio, Founder and Contributor

Understand, I'm just an everyday guy reacting to something I love. And I've been doing it for a very long time, my appreciation for classical music starting with the musical excerpts on the Big Jon and Sparkie radio show in the early Fifties and the purchase of my first recording, The 101 Strings Play the Classics, around 1956. In the late Sixties I began teaching high school English and Film Studies as well as becoming interested in hi-fi, my audio ambitions graduating me from a pair of AR-3 speakers to the Fulton J's recommended by The Stereophile's J. Gordon Holt. In the early Seventies, I began writing for a number of audio magazines, including Audio Excellence, Audio Forum, The Boston Audio Society Speaker, The American Record Guide, and from 1976 until 2008, The $ensible Sound, for which I served as Classical Music Editor.

Today, I'm retired from teaching and use a pair of bi-amped VMPS RM40s loudspeakers for my listening. In addition to writing for the Classical Candor blog, I served as the Movie Review Editor for the Web site Movie Metropolis (formerly DVDTown) from 1997-2013. Music and movies. Life couldn't be better.

Karl Nehring, Editor and Contributor

For more than 20 years I was the editor of The $ensible Sound magazine and a regular contributor to both its equipment and recordings review pages. I would not presume to present myself as some sort of expert on music, but I have a deep love for and appreciation of many types of music, "classical" especially, and have listened to thousands of recordings over the years, many of which still line the walls of my listening room (and occasionally spill onto the furniture and floor, much to the chagrin of my long-suffering wife). I have always taken the approach as a reviewer that what I am trying to do is simply to point out to readers that I have come across a recording that I have found of interest, a recording that I think they might appreciate my having pointed out to them. I suppose that sounds a bit simple-minded, but I know I appreciate reading reviews by others that do the same for me — point out recordings that they think I might enjoy.

For readers who might be wondering about what kind of system I am using to do my listening, I should probably point out that I do a LOT of music listening and employ a variety of means to do so in a variety of environments, as I would imagine many music lovers also do. Starting at the more grandiose end of the scale, the system in which I do my most serious listening comprises Marantz CD 6007 and Onkyo CD 7030 CD players, NAD C 658 streaming preamp/DAC, Legacy Audio PowerBloc2 amplifier, and a pair of Legacy Audio Focus SE loudspeakers. I occasionally do some listening through pair of Sennheiser 560S headphones. I miss the excellent ELS Studio sound system in our 2016 Acura RDX (now my wife's daily driver) on which I had ripped more than a hundred favorite CDs to the hard drive, so now when driving my 2022 Accord EX-L Hybrid I stream music from my phone through its adequate but not outstanding factory system. For more casual listening at home when I am not in my listening room, I often stream music through the phone into a Vizio soundbar system that has tolerably nice sound for such a diminutive physical presence. And finally, at the least grandiose end of the scale, I have an Ultimate Ears Wonderboom II Bluetooth speaker for those occasions where I am somewhere by myself without a sound system but in desperate need of a musical fix. I just can’t imagine life without music and I am humbly grateful for the technology that enables us to enjoy it in so many wonderful ways.

William (Bill) Heck, Webmaster and Contributor

Among my early childhood memories are those of listening to my mother playing records (some even 78 rpm ones!) of both classical music and jazz tunes. I suppose that her love of music was transmitted genetically, and my interest was sustained by years of playing in rock bands – until I realized that this was no way to make a living. The interest in classical music was rekindled in grad school when the university FM station serving as background music for studying happened to play the Brahms First Symphony. As the work came to an end, it struck me forcibly that this was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard, and from that point on, I never looked back. This revelation was to the detriment of my studies, as I subsequently spent way too much time simply listening, but music has remained a significant part of my life. These days, although I still can tell a trumpet from a bassoon and a quarter note from a treble clef, I have to admit that I remain a nonexpert. But I do love music in general and classical music in particular, and I enjoy sharing both information and opinions about it.

The audiophile bug bit about the same time that I returned to classical music. I’ve gone through plenty of equipment, brands from Audio Research to Yamaha, and the best of it has opened new audio insights. Along the way, I reviewed components, and occasionally recordings, for The $ensible Sound magazine. Most recently I’ve moved to my “ultimate system” consisting of a BlueSound Node streamer, an ancient Toshiba multi-format disk player serving as a CD transport, Legacy Wavelet II DAC/preamp/crossover, dual Legacy PowerBloc2 amps, and Legacy Signature SE speakers (biamped), all connected with decently made, no-frills cables. With the arrival of CD and higher resolution streaming, that is now the source for most of my listening.

Ryan Ross, Contributor

I started listening to and studying classical music in earnest nearly three decades ago. This interest grew naturally out of my training as a pianist. I am now a musicologist by profession, specializing in British and other symphonic music of the 19th and 20th centuries. My scholarly work has been published in major music journals, as well as in other outlets. Current research focuses include twentieth-century symphonic historiography, and the music of Jean Sibelius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Malcolm Arnold.

I am honored to contribute writings to Classical Candor. In an age where the classical recording industry is being subjected to such profound pressures and changes, it is more important than ever for those of us steeped in this cultural tradition to continue to foster its love and exposure. I hope that my readers can find value, no matter how modest, in what I offer here.


Bryan Geyer, Technical Analyst

I initially embraced classical music in 1954 when I mistuned my car radio and heard the Heifetz recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. That inspired me to board the new "hi-fi" DIY bandwagon. In 1957 I joined one of the pioneer semiconductor makers and spent the next 32 years marketing transistors and microcircuits to military contractors. Home audio DIY projects remained a personal passion until 1989 when we created our own new photography equipment company. I later (2012) revived my interest in two channel audio when we "downsized" our life and determined that mini-monitors + paired subwoofers were a great way to mate fine music with the space constraints of condo living.

Visitors that view my technical papers on this site may wonder why they appear here, rather than on a site that features audio equipment reviews. My reason is that I tried the latter, and prefer to publish for people who actually want to listen to music; not to equipment. My focus is in describing what's technically beneficial to assure that the sound of the system will accurately replicate the source input signal (i. e. exhibit high accuracy) without inordinate cost and complexity. Conversely, most of the audiophiles of today strive to achieve sound that's euphonic, i.e. be personally satisfying. In essence, audiophiles seek sound that's consistent with their desire; the music is simply a test signal.

Mission Statement

It is the goal of Classical Candor to promote the enjoyment of classical music. Other forms of music come and go--minuets, waltzes, ragtime, blues, jazz, bebop, country-western, rock-'n'-roll, heavy metal, rap, and the rest--but classical music has been around for hundreds of years and will continue to be around for hundreds more. It's no accident that every major city in the world has one or more symphony orchestras.

When I was young, I heard it said that only intellectuals could appreciate classical music, that it required dedicated concentration to appreciate. Nonsense. I'm no intellectual, and I've always loved classical music. Anyone who's ever seen and enjoyed Disney's Fantasia or a Looney Tunes cartoon playing Rossini's William Tell Overture or Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 can attest to the power and joy of classical music, and that's just about everybody.

So, if Classical Candor can expand one's awareness of classical music and bring more joy to one's life, more power to it. It's done its job. --John J. Puccio

Contact Information

Readers with polite, courteous, helpful letters may send them to classicalcandor@gmail.com

Readers with impolite, discourteous, bitchy, whining, complaining, nasty, mean-spirited, unhelpful letters may send them to classicalcandor@recycle.bin.

"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa

"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa