Haydn - 11 Piano Sonatas - Brendel

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A welcome reissue of a superlative recording

What a fantastic reissue this is! I have owned and loved the originals for many years, they are a real treasure of my collection and I am delighted to see them available at budget price.

Haydn's Piano Sonatas are very fine works - full of his characteristic invention, melody and sheer craftsmanship and in my view are at least the equal of Mozart's Piano Sonatas. Haydn's wit and twinkle are all well in evidence, there's real drama in places and also limpid beauty - the free-standing Adagio in F which closes Disc 2 is simply exquisite, for example. It's wonderful music which I return to again and again

Alfred Brendel, of course, plays it magnificently. It is almost redundant nowadays to praise his playing because it has been so reliably excellent for well over half a century, but it is still worth doing. Technical perfection allows Brendel really to allow the music's quality to shine out in all its variety and he captures every bit of it. If there is a flaw or misjudgement anywhere on these discs I've not found it in years of listening.

I simply cannot praise this set highly enough. I genuinely think it stands comparison with Brendel's classic Beethoven and Schubert sonata cycles, and my only complaint is that he only recorded these four discs of Haydn - a Complete Cycle would have been magnificent. It's is a superlative set, now at a real bargain price. If you like Haydn or Mozart, or just want great piano music played to perfection, don't hesitate. Recommended in the warmest possible terms.

Richard Strauss - Orchestral Works - Dresden Staatskapelle/Kempe

Rating: 5/5

Review: 
A fantastic set

This is simply fantastic 9CD set.  Strauss wrote some of the finest music of the 20th century in my view, and this is a wonderful collection of his entire orchestral output from his very well-known tone poems through the excellent but often under-rated concertos to works which were quite new to me. All of it is exceptionally well played: Kempe conducts brilliantly and brings really fine performances from the Dresden Staatskapelle and soloists including Paul Tortelier and Peter Damm.

The recording quality is excellent and the digital transfer has obviously been done very well - I have nothing but praise for the warmth and clarity of the sound. The box and individual cardboard sleeves are sturdy (if a little dull). There is a booklet of rather sparse notes in English only. They give adequate basic information about the works themselves and at this price and in slimline format I wouldn't dream of carping.

This is a terrific box and a monumental bargain and I recommend it very warmly.

The works:
Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 1 in E flat
Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 2 in E flat
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in D
Duett-Concertino
Burleske in D minor
Panathenäenzug: symphonische Etüden in Form einer Passacaglia
Parergon zur Symphonia domestica
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
Don Juan
Ein Heldenleben
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor
Symphonia domestica
Also sprach Zarathustra
Tod und Verklärung
Der Rosenkavalier
Salome
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
Schlagobers
Josephslegende
Metamorphosen
Eine Alpensinfonie
Aus Italien
Macbeth
Don Quixote
Tanzsuite aus Klavierstücken von François Couperin

Lawes - The Harp Consorts - Eilander/Les Voix Humaines

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Excellent Lawes

This is an excellent and hugely enjoyable recording of the Harp Consorts of Willam Lawes.  I have a number of very fine recordings of some of Lawes's other consort music, but this is the first time I heave heard the Harp Consorts.  They, and the performances here, stand very well beside those I already have.

The Consort of a diverse mixture of instruments had developed as an idea during the first half of the 17th Century and Lawes (who died during the Civil War) was one of its finest exponents.  The music here is original, diverse and extremely engaging to the listener.  He uses his combination of instruments - harp, theorbo, violin and two bass viols (violas da gamba) - very well so that there is real tonal as well as melodic and harmonic interest here and the whole effect is simply delightful.

The musicians are first-rate.  I have enjoyed the work of the gamba duo Les Voix Humaines for several years now since I began buying their excellent series of Sainte-Colombe recordings.  Stephen Stubbs, David Greenberg and especially harpist Maxine Eilander are also excellent and they play with a deep understanding of the music and excellent cohesion and precision in their ensemble playing.  It's a great performance of this music and really makes it shine.

The recorded sound is good - although the gambas are slightly under-recorded for my taste, Stephen Stubbs's notes are full of fascinating scholarly detail and the presentation is attractive.  I would recommend this very warmly to anyone with the slightest interest in music of this period - it's a really good disc.

Haydn - String Quartets Op.50 - Quatuor Zaïde

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Excellent Haydn

This is a cracking recording of a rather less frequently heard set of Haydn's quartets.  I've never been sure why these aren't as often performed or recorded as, say the Op.64 or Op.76 sets because they have all the same depth, charm and wit, which is fully brought out by Quatuor Zaïde.

The cover photo looks rather like a selfie taken by four young women heading for a big night on the town – and the music sounds rather as though that's what they're doing.  It's full of youthful zing and joy, but never lacks delicacy or emotion where appropriate.  What really comes across here is Haydn's wit and twinkle, and the verve in much of the music is a real pleasure.  Those repeated notes on the cello in the opening movement of the first quartet, for example, aren't just a measured base for the rest of the quartet to work around; they almost swing, and that sheer joy in the music and the playing of it together sparkles throughout.  Technically the quartet are excellent with impeccable intonation to my ears and a real precision when it matters, so this is proper music-making but with real flair.

I have a couple of other recordings of the Op.50 Quartets by The Angeles Quartet and The Lindsays.  Both are very good in their different ways, but I prefer Quatuor Zaïde to either.  The recorded sound is very good and the performance a pleasure from the first note to the last.  Very warmly recommended.

Stile Antico - Song of Songs

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Another fine disc from Stile Antico


This is Stile Antico's third disc and the first in which they have moved outside English repertoire. It is well up to the excellent standard of their first two.

The programme is a selection of settings of verses by various composers from the Song of Songs, which the sleeve notes describe as the most "profane" (for which read "erotic") book of the Bible. Used by composers to represent the love of God and of Mary, the texts are often intense, often passionate and speak of beauty, all of which is represented in the magnificent music presented here. It is a rich and varied programme, and the variety of composing styles makes it a really rewarding disc.

The performances are very good indeed. Stile Antico are increasingly regarded as among the top ensembles for this repertoire and their quality is well in evidence here: flawless intonation, a real empathy with music and text and a lovely, rich vocal blend. The acoustic is quite resonant which gives a rounded sound in which individual lines are not always completely distinct but whose overall effect is very lovely. Quite a few of these motets have been recorded by truly great ensembles like the Tallis Scholars and the Hilliard Ensemble; these versions stand up very well beside them, which is high praise indeed.

Harmonia Mundi's recorded sound is excellent and the packaging and notes are very good. It's a really cracking disc and recommended in the warmest terms.

Lully - Petits Motets - Les Arts Florissant/Christie

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Decent music and performances but rather unexciting

This is a disc of Lully's "Petits motets," a group of small scale settings for three voices and continuo.  Presented here are the eleven motets which have been firmly established as being by Lully, excluding a number which were probably wrongly ascribed to him.

The music is enjoyable although to me not truly great.  There is a fluency and deftness in Lully's handling of his small forces and the effect is pleasing, so individually these motets are quite rewarding.  They vary in scale from the nine-minute Omnes gentes to the sub-two-minute Dominum salve regum - but I have to say that as a programme it does begin to get a bit samey rather quickly.  This may be a personal thing, because I do find that, with a few noble exceptions, I often find Lully's music rather stodgy.  This, I'm afraid, is not one of the noble exceptions.

Les Arts Florissants under William Christie are an excellent ensemble and these days have a world-wide reputation.  This recording dates from 1987 and although the performances are good (of course they are from Christie), to me they lack some of the bounce and inner glow which marks their more recent work.

A qualified recommendation, then.  The music and performances are both good if not great and they are well recorded.  If you want a recording of these rather out-of-the-way works this will serve you well, but for a disc of Lully which is an unalloyed pleasure I'd recommend Jordi Savall's L'Orchestre du Roi Soleil.  It's different repertoire but for me a much more enjoyable experience.

Schubert - Piano Trio in Bb, D898, Noturno, etc. - Florestan Trio

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Superb Schubert

This is a terrific disc.  The music is simply wonderful; it is full of charm, beauty, thoughtfulness and the most brilliant melodic and harmonic invention.  For me, the Notturno in particular is the most fabulous miniature with its sublimely beautiful opening and closing passages and the darker, more dramatic middle section, but it's all chamber music of the highest order.

The Florestans play it superbly.  There is a real feeling of life and depth in the music throughout and their technical excellence allows them to really bring out the meaning and feel of the music while sounding completely at ease with it; it's exemplary playing.  I have the Beaux Arts Trio's recordings of these works which I have loved for many years and I think this is better – and I can't think of any higher praise than that.

This really is one of the finest and most enjoyable discs of Schubert's chamber music that I know (which is really saying something) and I can recommend it very, very warmly.