Raymond Lewenthal plays Alkan and Liszt (RCA)
Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-88) is one of the mystery men of music, a titan of the keyboard, a reclusive French Liszt. There is a mechanistic rigour to the working out of his ideas, which places him quite apart from other composers of his time. In a strange way, you could almost regard him as a forerunner of the American, Conlon Nancarrow, who worked out his intricate schemes on player pianos. Raymond Lewenthal was a key figure in making the case for Alkan. His 1960s recordings, including the Symphony and Le festin d'Esope, aren't always tonally sophisticated, but show a welcome fearlessness in the face of this most distinctive composer's outrageous demands. The performances capture the spirit (if not always the detail) of this most extraordinary music like few others.
Michael Dervan
American Dreams. Indianapolis SO/Raymond Leppard (Decca)
Barber's Adagio and Gershwin's Lullaby set the tone for an interesting collection in which the names are mostly unknown on this side of the Atlantic. The musical styles, however, are not at all unfamiliar. The Noel by George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931) calls to mind the Dvorak of the New World Symphony. The Hymn Tune Fantasy by Thomas Canning (1911-1959) echoes Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia. John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951), whose compositions include Ad- ventures in a Perambulator, Krazy Kat, and an urban ballet, Skyscrapers, shows French influence in his Sea Drift. Arthur Foote (1853-1937) knew his Tchaikovsky. Raymond Leppard wisely avoids overselling these minor resurrections.
Michael Dervan
Carl Stamitz: Clarinet Concertos Vol 2. Kalman Berkes, Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia (Naxos)
Mozart, writing to his father in 1778, was far from complimentary about the two Stamitz brothers, Carl and Anton. "They indeed," he reported, "are two wretched scribblers, gamblers, swillers and adulterers - not the kind of people for me." Carl (1745-1801) had such debts that, after his death, money had to be raised by auctioning his possessions. His music manuscripts were put up for sale in 1810, but, such are the vagaries of taste, were found too old-fashioned to attract a buyer. The four clarinet concertos recorded here have a breezy tunefulness and general lightness of manner that permeates even the slow movements. Kalman Berkes handles them with a fibre which avoids all prettiness and consistently casts them in a favourable light.
Michael Dervan