Category Archives: On record

On record: Vasks: Orchestral Works (Wergo)

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“I consider empathy for the sufferings of the world to be my works’ point of departure”. This quotation from the Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks sums up his approach to his music, making a specific reference to the horrors endured by the Latvian people in the wake of the Second World War.

It also infuses the orchestral music on this disc, played by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra conducted by Atvars Lakstīgala.

What’s the music like?

These three orchestral pieces are certainly borne from Vasks’ statement, to the extent that his music incorporates both the suffering and paranoid trepidation of Shostakovich and the national pride of Sibelius. Crucially there is room for his own style too, and as Sala begins there are beautiful solos for clarinet and flute. That said it is the one assigned to the cor anglais that really sets the mood of contemplation, being the most substantial and leaves a lasting impact.

The show of strength from the strings to open Musica appassionata illustrates just why Vasks’ music has achieved its popularity, for his prowess in orchestration is immediately clear, as well as a capacity for instantly setting a scene and generating emotion.

Perhaps not surprisingly the spiritual aspects of Vasks’ writing are at their most concentrated in the Credo, which harnesses a massive battery of percussion at its climax points. This is relatively slow moving music but at these points the amount of energy unleashed is truly impressive, and would work especially well in the concert hall. Here it is very well played by Latvian forces.

Does it all work?

Largely, yes. For those who want a route into tonal contemporary music, Vasks is a good way to start, for he writes in a direct manner that makes an immediate if not wholly lasting impact. These orchestral works capture the deep feeling of pieces by Shostakovich and Sibelius, as mentioned above, if not quite containing the memorable melodies those composers were capable of writing.

Is it recommended?

Yes. For the age in which we live, Vasks captures the mood of appreciating strength and beauty in the face of adversity and atrocity.

Listen on Spotify

You can hear this disc on Spotify here:

On record: James Taylor – The Rochester Mass (Cherry Red)

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Ever felt the need for a ‘funk mass’? Well James Taylor has, and this year The Rochester Mass received its premiere at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in April, before a performance in the cathedral of its home city in June. It was the South Bank who commissioned the work, which James wrote in memory of his late father Clive. The recording features choristers from Rochester Cathedral, as well as the fulsome organ.

What’s the music like?

Rather curiously, Taylor opts to present the mass in reverse order, so we begin with the jerky motif of the Sanctus, working through the Agnus Dei (complete with flute cadenza) to the Benedictus, Gloria and finally the Kyrie.

There is more than a passing reference to Leonard Bernstein’s setting of the Mass, a much bigger work but one that also operates with a policy of musical freedom. James Taylor doesn’t let his music go in quite the same way Bernstein did, preferring to opt for a little more ecclesiastical control. This means he is not self-indulgent in the way so many of these adaptations can be (remember Rick Wakeman’s The Gospels?!) but that he still pushes a boundary or two.

Part two of the Sanctus shows that Taylor can achieve a really grand sound with choir and organ – there is an impressive climax – and the response is a kind of joyous wig-out that sounds a lot better than it reads on paper.

Does it all work?

More or less. It is quite difficult to work out what gives this piece a special connection with Rochester, other than the performers being from the Kent town – and it is not quite clear why Taylor felt the need to reverse the order of the movements. But these are perhaps over-fussy points, because the music itself is meaningful and direct, and achieves the difficult balance of bringing funk into more classical structures without losing its identity. It also has the obvious emotion generated by the passing of Taylor’s father.

On occasion the music can sound forced – the Agnus Dei Duet being a good example – but that is balanced by music of fresh spontaneity, such as the unexpectedly gorgeous Flute Cadenza linking Parts One and Two of the Agnus Dei. In the closing Kyrie you get the feeling Taylor has mastered the unusual blend of cathedral choir and funk group. A unique sound indeed!

Is it recommended?

Yes, if you want to hear something different – and if you want to hear a creative way of taking on one of music’s most traditional forms.

Listen

The Rochester Mass can be heard on Spotify here:

On record: Alessandro Scarlatti – Con eco d’amore

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The extremely promising young soprano Elizabeth Watts delivers a stunning disc of arias from operas and cantatas by Alessandro Scarlatti, in the company of The English Concert and Laurence Cummings. The disc is released by Harmonia Mundi

What’s the music like?

Elizabeth Watts and Laurence Cummings deliver a well-chosen selection of arias here, representing the many and varied moods the Italian baroque composer Alessandro Scarlatti can conjure up in his vocal works.

We move from the high energy bout between soprano and trumpet, Se geloso è il mio core, to the dreamy Mentr’io godo in dolce oblio, in arias tending to last between three and five minutes. Scarlatti is a very expressive composer, responding to the words with music that taxes his performers.

Does it all work?

Without question. The levels of musicianship here are uncommonly high, and that’s before we even get to talking about Elizabeth Watts. Trumpeter Mark Bennett is outstanding in his role as the soprano’s opponent in Se geloso è il mio core, the sort of work in which composers of Scarlatti’s day specialised. Violinist Huw Daniel is then exceptionally good in his role as soloist in the cadenzas of Esci omai.

Yet it is nonetheless Watts who steals the show, because she can go from the high register bravura of Figlio! Tiranno! O Dio! to the withdrawn, sensitive singing of Nacque, col Gran Messia and the sparing use of vibrato for the opening strains of Ombre opache, a lament from the cantata Correa Nel Seno Amato, which contains arguably the most powerful music here.

The real technical showstopper is D’Amor l’accesa face, from the serenata Venere, Amore e Ragione, where Cupid warns against showing too much desire. Watts’ performance suggests the opposite is in fact the case!

Cummings and The English Concert are very fine image painters, and their dramatic orchestral response in the recitativo from Erminia, Qui, dove al germogliar, is illustrative of the power they have at their disposal – and Cummings secures from them particularly careful attention to detail on the volume of their contributions.

Is it recommended?

Unreservedly. With performances of great enthusiasm and technical command, you will find few if any discs of the Baroque era to better this one in 2015.

Listen on Spotify

You can hear Con eco d’amore on Spotify here:

On record: Purcell – Twelve Sonatas of Three Parts (Vivat)

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The King’s Consort play Purcell’s collection of twelve sonatas published in 1683. In the words of the Vivat label website, they ‘combine French elegance, Italian vigour and delicious English melancholy with harmonic daring, extraordinary contrapuntal technique, ravishing dissonances and unique melodic ingenuity’. Clearly Purcell was anticipating a united Europe!

What’s the music like?

Purcell is one of the most obviously expressive composers of the Baroque period, and even his instrumental music has strong vocal qualities. His music here also experiences relatively rapid mood swings, the individual movements of the sonatas capable of switching quickly from grave, browbeaten music to melodies that are full of the joys of spring.

There are dances too, such as the one a minute or so into Sonata no.8, or the enjoyable repeated-note motif that closes out the first movement of Sonata no.2.

When the English melancholy does make itself known the results are rather special, such as the sumptuous beginning to Sonata no.6, where the strings make a sweet sound. By complete contrast the start of Sonata no.4 is relatively stark, bringing Purcell’s daring discords to the surface – before moving into a resolute faster section.

Does it all work?

Yes. There is some beautifully poised playing on this collection, as the staged entries in Sonata no.8 confirm. Violinists Cecilia Bernardini and Huw Daniel are blessed with beautiful, penetrating tones, and the continuo section – bass viol, theorbo and organ or harpsichord – alternates its colours sensitively and effectively, a prime example being the wonderful organ sound half way through the first movement of Sonata no.3. The fugue halfway the first movement of Sonata no.12 sums things up very nicely.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Purcell’s vocal music tends to get the headlines but this disc shows just how imaginative and effective his writing for instruments could be.

Listen

You can get a preview of each track from this disc on the Vivat website

On record: Poulenc – Works for piano and orchestra

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Featured recording: Poulenc – Works for piano and orchestra (Chandos)
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Louis Lortie, a French-Canadian pianist, teams up with conductor Ed Gardner and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra for a disc presenting Poulenc’s complete music for piano and orchestra, as well as some of his works for two pianos. Here he is joined by regular duet partner Hélène Mercier.

What’s the music like?

Poulenc is well-loved among 20th century composers, often for his gift of writing bittersweet melodies that make the listener smile – such as the oboe theme that dominates the Rondeau section of the Aubade for piano and orchestra, the second work on this disc.

Poulenc is a cheeky composer, thumbing his nose behind your back in a sense, and as with most French composers the imaginative and colourful orchestrations bring the music to life. Every so often Poulenc throws in a turn of musical phrase that makes the listener smile, with an exaggerated gesture here or a knowing chord progression there.

This new collection from Chandos brings together an impressive range of writing. The Piano Concerto is perhaps not as popular as it might be, for it often sparkles in this performance, and that label certainly applies to the entertaining and multi-faceted Aubade from 1929. This work, Roger Nichols informs us in his authoritative booklet note, was written in one of the composer’s depressive bouts, and it tells the story of how the huntress Diana is driven to suicide by her own ‘love that the gods forbid’.

The brief works for two pianos included here are greatly affecting – the doleful Élégie and the free-spirited L’Embarquement pour Cythère especially – while the concise Sonata packs an energetic punch. When writing for two pianos and orchestra in the Concerto Poulenc must have had great fun, for this is full of frolics – but with the customary cautionary notes just beneath the surface.

Does it all work?

Yes. This collection is consistently entertaining, played with great enthusiasm and affection and recorded in such a way that the light and shade of the composer’s writing is fully revealed.

The Aubade is at times po-faced but has an almost ever present glint in the eye, as though it can’t resist cracking a joke amongst the downward thoughts. In the double concerto, Mercier and Lortie enjoy sparkling and spiky exchanges between pianos and orchestra, and in the finale there is what sounds like a clockwork mechanism towards the end.

The tender second movement of the Sonata for two pianos is beautifully done, before the finale scurries away.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Poulenc is a charmer on record, and can be enjoyably brash too. The performers here do him proud.

Listen on Spotify

This particular recording is not on the streaming service, but samples from each track can be heard here