Michael Dervanlistens to four new releases.
SCHUBERT: 25 SONGS
Bernarda Fink (mezzo soprano), Gerold Huber (piano)
Harmonia Mundi HMC 901991
This selection of 25 Schubert songs covers the years 1814-1826 and includes a mix of the well-known and the little-known. Constant throughout the entire collection is the beauty of Argentinian mezzo soprano Bernarda Fink's tone and the cushioned delicacy of Gerold Huber's piano playing.
Huber even gives the kid-gloves treatment to the stormy opening of Die junge Nonne, and Fink seems reluctant to kindle much in the way of fire and energy to contrast with the prevailing melancholy. The result is that any song or group of songs makes a much stronger impression than the recital as a whole.
If you have an allergy to excessively dramatised or operatic approaches to Schubert, this disc will have a high appeal.
MICHAEL DERVAN
MESSIAEN: TROIS PETITES LITURGIES DE LA PRÉSENCE DIVINE; COULEURS DE LA CITÉ CÉLESTE; HYMNE
Maîtrise de Radio France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France/Myung-Whun Chung
Deutsche Grammophon 477 7944
Myung-Whun Chung takes an almost impressionist approach to Messiaen's
Trois petites Liturgiesof 1943-1944. He not only tucks away much of the instrumental commentary that looms large in other recordings but also softens its
contours. The resulting stasis is utterly mesmerising, the young voices of the Maîtrise de Radio France often singing with a floating, seraphic calm (unexpected reminders of Fauré), and yet they also bring a child-like throatiness to the chanting of the third movement.
High contrast is provided in the birdsong-rich, percussive Couleurs de la Cité Céleste(1963) and the simpler passion of the early Hymne au Saint Sacrement(1932).
MICHAEL DERVAN
SHCHEDRIN: THE ANCIENT MELODIES OF RUSSIAN FOLK-SONGS; CELLO SONATA; IN THE STYLE OF ALBÉNIZ; QUADRILLE
Raphael Wallfisch (cello), Rodion Shchedrin (piano)
Nimbus NI 5831
***
The Ancient Melodies of Russian Folk-Songs(2007) - written for Raphael Wallfisch - are free treatments on songs from Rimsky-Korsakov's collection, handled in a spare, nostalgic manner. The Cello Sonata (1996) is ruminative and diffuse in a dryish post-Shostakovian way. The two light fill-ups are quirkily attractive.
www.wyastone.co.uk
MICHAEL DERVAN
MOZART: PIANO CONCERTOS IN D K175; IN B FLAT K238; IN C K246
Suedama Ensemble/David
Greilsammer (piano) Naïve V5149
**** Nothing is taken for granted in performances that studiously avoid the formulaic. It's the kind of high-risk approach that can easily come unstuck in Mozart. Here it's carried through with an energy and sensitivity that consistently illuminate and indeed elevate the music. Greilsammer's own light-fingered approach is matched every step of the way by the imaginative deftness of the orchestral playing. The 2005 recordings originally appeared on Vanguard. One can see why Greisammer's new label has chosen to reissue them. www.naiveclassique.com
MICHAEL DERVAN
Jerusalem-born, New York-based David Greilsammer and the Suedama Ensemble (Suedama is Amadeus backwards) provide exceptionally invigorating performances of three rarely heard early Mozart piano concertos.For nearly 20 years, Rodion Shchedrin was chairman of the Composers Union of the Russian Federation in the Soviet Union. His career weathered the political changes of the 1990s well, yet although Alexander Anissimov featured his work during his time with the RTÉ NSO, it's still for his strings-only ballet music after Bizet's Carmen from 1967 that he's best known in Ireland.
****
Nothing is taken for granted in performances that studiously avoid the formulaic. It's the kind of high-risk approach that can easily come unstuck in Mozart.
Here it's carried through with an energy and sensitivity that consistently illuminate and indeed elevate the music. Greilsammer's own light-fingered approach is matched every step of the way by the imaginative deftness of the orchestral playing. The 2005 recordings originally appeared on Vanguard. One can see why Greisammer's new label has chosen to reissue them.
www.naiveclassique.com
MICHAEL DERVAN
Jerusalem-born, New York-based David Greilsammer and the Suedama Ensemble (Suedama is Amadeus backwards) provide exceptionally invigorating performances of three rarely heard early Mozart piano concertos.For nearly 20 years, Rodion Shchedrin was chairman of the Composers Union of the Russian Federation in the Soviet Union. His career weathered the political changes of the 1990s well, yet although Alexander Anissimov featured his work during his time with the RTÉ NSO, it's still for his strings-only ballet music after Bizet's Carmen from 1967 that he's best known in Ireland.
