Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (CD review)

Also, Nielsen: Symphony No. 5. Paavo Jarvi, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Telarc CD-80615.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I can’t help thinking when I see the name Paavo Jarvi of his father, Neemi Jarvi, as well as his fellow maestro, Paavo Berglund. Once I’ve sorted all of this out, I remember the younger Jarvi was the principal conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony when he made this 2004 release. Anyway, Jarvi followed up his Telarc disc of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka and The Firebird Suite with the composer’s Rite of Spring. That isn’t the news, though. It’s the new disc’s coupling, the Nielsen Fifth Symphony, that makes the papers.

The pairing works in several ways. First, it must be a difficult decision for a conductor and a record company to choose whether to produce a disc of familiar music with an enormous amount of marketplace competition or a disc of relatively unfamiliar music with the risk of nobody buying it. By providing both a seasoned warhorse like the Rite and a well-liked but lesser-known symphony like Nielsen’s Fifth, Jarvi can have it both ways. Second, the two pieces of music have a lot in common, their composers writing each of them in the early part of the twentieth century (1913 and 1922 respectively) and each piece being unusual, somewhat radical, in its own way. They make good companions on CD.

The Rite of Spring, of course, became the most controversial work of its time, causing a riot during its première. But today it all seems pretty tame, revolutionary or not, and even school children know it well through Disney’s Fantasia. Jarvi takes the first part at a most leisurely stride, preferring to build atmosphere at the expense of utmost excitement. He does, however, finally build up a head of steam by the closing moments, though nothing that might induce one to think that a young woman was literally dancing herself to death (you can hear a few brief excerpts from the work’s closing sections below). Nor does Telarc’s sound help unless it’s turned up quite high. Perhaps because Telarc realized there is a wide dynamic range involved and some deep bass drum thumps, they chose to keep the average playback level low. The opening notes are so quiet, you’ll hardly know the piece has begun unless you set the gain up a bit more than usual, and if you do, you’ll later regret it.

But the Nielsen Fifth is quite another story. Here, the conflicting forces of nature or whatever that Nielsen portrays are always at perfect odds with one another, the ominous, gutsy, staccato gestures of the snare drum in the first movement finally, hopelessly, giving way to the repose of the Adagio. Jarvi brings out these contrasts fairly well, with tempos that ensure that a listener is probably not going to nod off.

Jarvi’s Fifth is still perhaps not so convincing as Blomstedt’s (Decca or, older, EMI), Bernstein’s (Sony), Horenstein’s (Unicorn), or Jarvi’s own father’s (the older account on EMI, vinyl only, I believe), but at least this Fifth has more energy than the Telarc disc’s accompanying Rite. Moreover, Telarc’s sound, again lower in level than normal, is smooth and natural in the extreme, with a realistic sense of breadth and depth to the sonic stage. The Nielsen is a fine production all the way around and alone, it’s worth the price of the disc.

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

JJP

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (CD review)

Also, Concertos 8 and 9 of Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione. Giovanni Antonini, Il Giardino Armonico, Milano. Teldec Classics/Warner Classics 2564 64763-0.

You can find recordings of Vivaldi’s Le Quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons) performed on period and modern instruments in arrangements for chamber orchestras, full orchestras, guitar ensembles, wooden blocks, tin drums, and glockenspiels. My own preference is for period instruments and a number of players that approximates what Vivaldi had in mind when he wrote it, so this release from Warner Classics of a 1993 recording by Giovanni Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico nicely fills the bill. The fact that they do it up quite inventively helps, too.

That said, let me continue by saying that while Il Giardino Armonico play the Seasons splendidly and while I like period instruments, I’m not entirely sure any orchestra in Vivaldi’s day would have performed the concertos this way. Armonico’s way with them is, to say the least, unusual by today’s standards. Of course, they represent probably what any modern listener would want in a recording, considering that there are already hundreds of other, more conventional versions available. However, in the long run I’d consider the rendition of things by Il Giardino Armonico (“The Harmonious Garden”) primarily an addition to one’s other recordings of The Four Seasons rather than being one’s only recording.

Even though Italian violinist and composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) wrote hundreds of pieces of music, most folks probably only recognize him for his Four Seasons violin concertos, those little tone poems with their chirping birds, galumphing horses, barking dogs, dripping icicles, and howling winds. Meant to accompany four descriptive sonnets, they make up the first four sections of a longer work the composer wrote in 1723 titled Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest between Harmony and Invention). People hardly remember the other concertos in the set.

I recall reading years ago that in Baroque times orchestras usually played fast movements slower than they do in subsequent eras and slow movements faster. Later, I read just the opposite. In any case, Baroque orchestras would probably have emphasized tempo contrasts among movements more vividly than we do today. If that’s the case (and it’s a case still debated), then Il Giardino Armonico must stand firmly behind contrast because they definitely fill their Seasons with differences and deviations from the norm. What’s more, they tend to overplay Vivaldi’s descriptive elements, making this an entertaining but decidedly unusual Four Seasons, one that will delight some listeners and infuriate others.

We hear from Spring onward that the Il Giardino Armonico players not only emphasize tempo changes from movement to movement but practice a volatile rubato within movements with their extreme ritardandos and accelerandos, often along with magnified dynamics. The effect is dramatic, to be sure, and fun, but Antonini and his team never convinced me that this is the way Vivaldi or his contemporaries might have performed things.

Anyway, Armonico’s two most persuasive movements are in the Summer and Fall concertos, the former because the playing is the most creative, the latter because the slight hyperbole seems best to fit the occasion of drunken peasants, baying hounds, fleeing animals, dancing, and singing. Armonico’s most traditional reading is of the first, Spring Concerto, wherein the players take things easy. Compared to the other concertos, it actually sounds a little mundane.

Where Armonico’s style works least best is in Winter. Here, ensembles over the years have interpreted the opening moments of the first movement either by following the accompanying sonnet to the letter, that is, first slowly shivering in the cold and then quickly running and stamping to keep warm, with abrupt tempo changes between the two; or maintaining a more consistent tempo throughout. Obviously, the Armonico group elect the first option, making the shivering very slow and deliberate and the running fast and exuberant. But it’s the slow, second movement that may seriously annoy some listeners. It’s one of Vivaldi’s most amiable, most comforting tunes, a warm, cozy number suggesting folks sitting inside a cottage by the fire, free from the wind and snow. Vivaldi intended it as a Largo and marked it “peaceful and content.” With Il Giardino Armonico the music sounds like another Allegro, racing along pell-mell and losing most of its charm in the process.

We get some fine playing from the members of Il Giardino Armonico but especially from first violinist Enrico Onofri. Moreover, the disc’s two other pieces, Concerto No. 8 in G minor and Concerto No. 9 in D minor, also from Il Cimento dell-Armonia e dell’Inventione, make excellent couplings because we don’t hear them often enough, and their creativity is boundless. Then, too, without having to compare them to a ton of other recorded interpretations, they seem just right. These certainly come off as spirited realizations.

So, in the end, for whom might Teldec/Warner Classics have intended this rerelease? It’s not my business to make guesses or to tell people what to buy, but if pressed I’d say the two primary audiences are (1) folks who already have 800 copies of The Four Seasons on their shelves and are looking for something unique to break the monotony; or (2) folks who have never cared much for The Four Seasons and need something as captivating as this one to get them excited. Still, as I said before, I wouldn’t want Il Giardino Armonico’s interpretation as the one-and-only album in my library but as a supplement to period-instruments recordings by the likes of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBP), La Petite Bande (Sony), the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble (BIS), the English Concert (DG Archiv), or Tafelmusik (Sony). I think these other recordings are safer bets than Il Giardino Armonico, just as entertaining, and at least as well or better recorded.

Producer Wolfgang Mohr and engineer Lucienne Rosset recorded the music for Teldec at Lugano, Radio della Svizzera Italiana (RTSI) Studio 1 in 1993. Warner Classics released it 2013. There is some discussion in the booklet notes about Il Armonico’s choice of pitch, suggesting that if they had followed Venetian practices, the result would have been too “brilliant and aggressive.” Fair enough, except that the sound still appears to favor the high end slightly and might still appear too brilliant and aggressive depending on one’s speakers. It’s not excessively bright, though, just a little light, and this small degree of brightness may even contribute to the overall clarity of the sonics.

The miking is fairly close-up, providing good definition, if not the most entirely realistic perspective. The recording doesn’t offer a lot in the way of room resonance or ambience, either, but, as I say, it does supply good, clean, clear playback. Additionally, the small number of Il Giardino Armonico players (about ten) contributes to the sound’s transparency, as do the recording’s quick transient response and taut impact.

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

JJP

Beethoven: String Quartets (SACD review)

No. 3, Op. 18; No. 5, Op. 18; No. 16, Op. 135. The Hagen Quartet. Myrios Classics MYR009.

No doubt I’m showing my age when I still think of the Hagen Quartet as a young, new ensemble of Austrian players. In fact, the siblings first began performing as a group professionally in 1981, making them today among the oldest string quartets around. But, then, for me 1981 seems like yesterday. Since the quartet’s formation, second violinist Rainer Schmidt has replaced sister Angelika Hagen, joining first violinist Lukas Hagen, violist Veronika Hagen, and cellist Clemens Hagen. Together, they have recorded over forty albums for Decca, DG, Myrios Classics, and other labels. Following up a highly successful and internationally celebrated thirtieth season devoted to the Beethoven string quartet cycle, the Hagens offer the present album of three Beethoven string quartets, an album that illustrates the group’s virtuosity, sensitivity, and versatility.

The Hagens begin the program with Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 18, which was actually the composer’s first string quartet composition, probably written around 1798. This quartet’s most salient feature is its second-movement Andante con moto, a piece of music that is not only beautiful in anybody’s hands but especially so given the expertise of the Hagens. It flows gently along, and even in its most energetic moments the group keeps the tone relaxed and charming. Another unique aspect of the quartet is a concluding Presto for which Beethoven indicates a speed of some ninety-six beat per minute. That’s a heck of a fast pace, and the Hagens try to emulate it while still keeping the tempo as flexible as possible. Remarkably, they never make it appear breathless.

Next is the String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18, a lighter work than No. 3, with greater lilt.  Beethoven patterned it more closely than No 3 on the quartets of Mozart, and the Hagens play it with great felicity. It’s delightful in every way, particularly in the Minuetto with its halting rhythms and in the Andante Cantabile with its melancholy overtones.

The disc closes with the last quartet Beethoven ever wrote, No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 from 1826, composed nearly three decades after his first quartet. There is quite a difference in style, with No. 16 being far more creative, inventive, and mature than his previous quartets, more completely “Beethoven” if you will. Here, it is again the slow movement that stands out, one the composer marked “cantante e tranquillo.” Beethoven would die shortly thereafter, making it, indeed, his final tranquil song. The Hagens afford it all the sweet peace the music deserves.

A most generous playing time of almost eighty minutes, pretty much the upper limit of a compact disc, puts the icing on the cake.

Myrios Classics recorded the music in 2012, No. 3 at Siemens-Villa, Berlin, and Nos. 5 and 16 at Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal. Although the disc is an SACD with the possibility for multichannel playback, it’s also a hybrid with a regular two-channel stereo layer to which I listened (albeit from an SACD player). I found the sound in both recording venues very wide for so small an ensemble, so expect the stage to spread across your two front speakers. It’s not quite as realistic an image as I’d like, it’s a tad bright in the lower treble, and the balance tends slightly to favor the left side of the stage. Otherwise, we get excellent definition, and certainly we hear a big, open, airy sound, with a a more than ample dynamic range.

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

JJP