Orpheus Chamber Orchestra: Three Classic Albums (CD review)

Mozart: Horn Concertos Nos. 1-4, Clarinet Concerto, Oboe Concerto, Bassoon Concerto, Flute Concerto No. 1, Flute and Harp Concerto, and Andante for Flute and Orchestra. Various soloists; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. DG 479 3082 (3-CD set).

Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (German Gramophone Company), better known as DGG or simply DG, has been around since 1898 when German-born United States citizen Emile Berliner established it as the German branch of his Berliner Gramophone Company. I mention this because as one of the world's longest continuously active record companies, the DG folks have an extensive back catalogue of recordings. So, when they decide to rerelease some of their older material, they have a ton of great stuff from which to choose. Currently, DG are re-releasing some of their past classics in three-disc boxed sets, such the Mozart set reviewed here with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Founded in 1972, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is among the best, most popular, and most widely recorded chamber orchestras in existence, taking a rightful place alongside the English Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and other such notable groups. They have been making records for DG for over forty years and seem at home with almost any genre or period of classical music. Their membership of about thirty players draws from the New York and New England area and includes musicians who also teach at major institutions or play in other orchestras like the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, etc. The Orpheus ensemble perform without a conductor, and their soloists (as on these recordings) usually come from within their own ranks.

The first disc in the set contains Mozart's Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A major, K. 622, with soloist Charles Neidich; and the Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 1 in D major, K. 412, and Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 4 in E flat major, K. 495, with soloist David Jolley. The standout on disc one is the opening Clarinet Concerto, with Mr. Neidich providing a superbly flowing, delightfully nuanced interpretation in perfectly judged tempos, and the Orpheus players offering him an equally accomplished accompaniment. Although I have a slight preference for Sharon Kam's recording on Berlin Classics, this would be my first alternative. For that matter, the Horn Concertos with Mr. Jolley are just as joyously infectious. Be aware, though, that competition among recordings of the Horn Concertos is pretty intense, and I'm not sure I would want these as my only choices. That said, I found a great deal of warmth and vivacious good cheer in Jolley's playing. Frankly, with a name like Jolley, how could it be any other way?

The second disc contains the Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 2 in E flat major, K. 417, and the Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 3 in E flat major, K. 447, with soloist William Purvis; the Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in C major, K. 314, with soloist Randall Wolfgang; and the Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra in B flat major, K. 191, with soloist Frank Morelli. I'm not sure why the orchestra or DG decided to change horn players for Nos. 2 and 3, and I can't say I liked Purvis's work as well as I liked Mr. Jolley's. While Purvis's playing certainly sounds fluid and effortless, it doesn't convey quite as much joy as Jolley's. On the other hand, one can hardly fault the oboe and bassoon works. They are delightful in every way, graceful and stylish.

The third disc contains the Concerto for Flute and Orchestra No. 1 in G major, K. 313, and the Andante for Flute and Orchestra in C major, K. 315, with soloist Susan Palma; and the Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra in C major, K. 299, with soloists Susan Palma and Nancy Allen. Ms. Palma's flute playing is another standout in the set. Her cheerfully elegant phrasing brings out all the pleasure and happiness of these pieces. Moreover, the Orpheus ensemble accompanies her as a complementary reflection, perfectly attuned to her every note. These performances are lovely and comforting, with an especially befitting conclusion in the way of the flute and harp piece with Ms. Allen.

One could hardly find disadvantages to this set. I suppose, however, that a dedicated grinch might complain that the Orpheus ensemble's playing sounds too polished, too sophisticated for Mozart's music or that DG's sound is too slick, too smooth for the audiophile's ear. Such grousing would be stretching a point, to be sure.

The three discs in the set come packaged separately in their own cardboard foldout containers, which include album notes and cover art. A light-cardboard slipcover further encloses the three discs, along with a bonus artist postcard.

DG recorded the albums at the State University of New York at Purchase, Performing Arts Center, in
March 1987, December 1987, and December 1988, and they re-released the recording in the present set in 2014. The sound is remarkably smooth, as I say, in all of these concertos and reasonably warm, yet admitting a goodly amount of detail and sparkle. The soloists sound well centered and well incorporated into the front of the group setting, not standing ten feet in front of them. Depth perception is only moderate, but object definition is quite good.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:


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

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"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa

"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa