Category Archives: On record

On Record – Orchestre National de France / Cristian Măcelaru – Enescu: Symphonies nos.1-3; Romanian Rhapsodies 1 & 2 (Deutsche Grammophon)

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Orchestre National de France / Cristian Măcelaru with Choeur de Radio France (Symphony no.3)

Enescu
2 Romanian Rhapsodies Op.11: no.1 in A major, no.2 in D major (1901)
Symphony no.1 in E flat major Op. 13 (1905)
Symphony no.2 in A major Op. 17 (1912-14)
Symphony no.3 in C major Op. 21 (1916-18, rev. 1920)

DG 4865505 [three discs, 2h42m24s]
Producer Vincent Villetard Engineer Yves Baudry
Recorded September 2022 (Symphony no.1, Rhapsody no.2) June (Symphony no.2, Rhapsody no.1) and July 2023 (Symphony no.3) in Auditorium de Radio France, Paris

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Deutsche Grammophon continues its survey of those symphonic cycles ‘less well trod’ with this collection of the three numbered symphonies which Enescu completed, performed by the Orchestre National de France and its music director these past four seasons Cristian Măcelaru.

What’s the music like?

Although symphonies were a preoccupation of Enescu over almost 50 years, his reputation in the genre rests on those written during the earlier phase of his maturity. Numerous cycles have appeared that feature Romanian forces, but only three from elsewhere – Lawrence Foster with orchestras in Monte Carlo and Lyon (EMI / Warner), Gennady Rozhdestvensky with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Chandos) and Hannu Lintu with the Tampere Philharmonic (Ondine). Măcelaru thus enters a select but not uncompetitive field where his recordings generally hold their own.

Relatively compact as to its formal dimensions, the First Symphony gives a good overview of the relative strengths and weaknesses in Măcelaru’s approach. The initial movement is vividly launched with its proclamatory summons, but an increasing loss of focus means the climactic lead-in to the reprise is undersold and the coda lacks decisiveness. The slow movement finds the ONF woodwind at its most felicitous, though the beatific central span is more persuasively realized than the inward ambiguity on either side, while the finale seems more convincing in its purposeful opening than towards its close – when what should be among the most thrilling perorations in the symphonic literature of this period sounds almost offhand. Often performed in its early years, this is a work that could yet find its way back into the orchestral repertoire.

By contrast, the Second Symphony was a failure at its 1915 premiere then went unheard until six years after the composer’s death. Strauss replaces Berlioz as the primary influence, albeit with a fastidious instrumentation to which the ONF players do justice. That said, Măcelaru is no more successful than most others in maintaining momentum across the expansive opening Allegro, so that any impetus has dissipated well before the development unsuccessfully tries to regain it. Akin to a series of variations on a theme that the clarinet never quite defines, the central Andante is eloquently rendered while the finale’s martial introduction has the requisite stealthiness. Yet the Allegro fails to sustain itself to the most opulent of Enescu’s apotheoses, not least because orchestral sound lacks the weight and visceral force necessary in this music.

Composed during Romania’s torrid involvement in the First World War, the Third Symphony is among Enescu’s greatest achievements and the highlight of Măcelaru’s cycle. He paces the initial Moderato such that its questing and rhetorical elements are held in persuasive accord -building to a resplendent culmination from where the central Vivace surges forth; its alternate ebullience and ambivalence propelled intently towards a shattering climax which, as with the sinister coda, is seamlessly integrated into this movement overall. Never lacking for repose, the final Lento unfolds with intuitive if tangible poise – Choeur de Radio France effortlessly absorbed into a diaphanous music whose closing stages radiate an almost metaphysical aura. Whether or not Dante-esque as to its inspiration, this affords a transcendence rare in any era.

A pity no Enescu cycle has yet included the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies which, as realized in the 1990s by Pascal Bentoiu, make a logical and necessary continuation of his symphonic odyssey (they have been recorded by Peter Ruzicka for CPO). A pity too that, instead of the Third Orchestral Suite or the symphonic poem Vox Maris, Măcelaru opted for the ubiquitous Romanian Rhapsodies. The Second of these is more appealing here, for all that the fervency toward its centre and pathos at its close are under-projected, while the First is rushed early on and underwhelming thereafter. No match, then, for a host of previous readings – among these, Antal Doráti with the London Symphony (Mercury) and, especially, Constantin Silvestri with the Czech Philharmonic (Supraphon) retain their innate potency after more than six decades.

Does it all work?

Swings and roundabouts. In the context of those cycles mentioned earlier, Măcelaru’s take on the Third Symphony ranks with the best – but, in the First, Lintu or Foster and, in the Second, Foster are to be preferred. The quality of playing cannot be denied, and if the recording lacks a degree of definition and impact in more demonstrative passages, it presents this orchestra to advantage. Rob Cowan essays a personable booklet note, but to claim that these symphonies ‘‘…emerge more as extended tone poems clothed in symphonic dress’’ is simply not the case.

Is it recommended?

Yes, taken overall. Enescu’s symphonies are still on the periphery of the orchestral repertoire, so making the undoubted advocacy a high-profile conductor such as Măcelaru gives them the more admirable. Hopefully he will be continuing his exploration of a singular musical vision.

Buy

For purchasing options, visit the Deutsche Grammophon website and for more information on the artists, click on the names for more on Orchestre National de France and conductor Cristian Măcelaru. For dedicated resources on the composer, you can visit The International Enescu Society

Published post no.2,258 – Friday 2 August 2024

On Record – Tristan Perich & Ensemble 0 – Open Symmetry (Erased Tapes)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Open Symmetry is the first release on Erased Tapes from New York-based composer Tristan Perich.

As the commentary for the album describes, ‘Open Symmetry pares the ensemble down to just three musicians playing the resonant metal bars of three vibraphone accompanied with a glistening ensemble of 20 speakers, each playing their own separate musical part of the composition.”

Open Symmetry was the result of a meet-up in 2014 between Perich and Ensemble 0‘s Stéphane Garin, who commissioned the piece. Writing for three vibraphone and 1-bit electronics, Perich soon realised it would be a large-scale piece, and the piece occupied him until its premiere in 2019. This is the first recording.

What’s the music like?

Hypnotic is an oft-used word in musical descriptions, but it applies perfectly to the effect this epic piece has on its listener.

Perich’s treble-rich writing creates a rarefied atmosphere, and as the scope of the piece becomes clear there is a sense of assurance, the listener able to kick back and enjoy the piece on two levels.

The first and most immediate level is the short term, and the energetic loops Perich packs together for the vibraphones. Then, as the sections unfold, there is a long-term contentment, the music progressing naturally through each stage without losing any of its momentum.

After a bright introduction, Section 2 is where the pulsing qualities of the music really take hold, before Section 3 opens out beautifully into oscillating figures. Section 4 pulses with warmth and light, initially slow but ultimately powering through. Section 5 becomes like a shower of silvery rain, before Section 6 adopts a more percussive profile of chimes.

A buildup of energy ensues, emphatically released in Section 7 with a thrilling flurry of staccato chords that power to an ecstatic finish.

Does it all work?

It does. Perich writes with impressive conviction and creates vivid colours through motifs that dance in the half light.

Is it recommended?

Yes, enthusiastically. This is a highly impressive achievement, a substantial piece of minimalist music that is both original and effective. Like a long session of bell ringing, Open Symmetry will leave its listeners transfixed.

For fans of… Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley

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Published post no.2,257 – Thursday 1 August 2024

On Record – Matthew Bourne: This Is Not For You (The Leaf Label)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Matthew Bourne returns to first principles, with his first solo piano album since the 2017 release Isotach.

The press release reveals that there are, however, some restrictions around the recording of the album, “born from an off-hand comment by one of Matthew Bourne’s confidants. His instruction, “Do not delete,” provided Bourne with a commission of sorts, an ideal restriction to work within. Everything on the album was given a chance to shine in the studio, to be worked on amongst the freedom of that no deletion diktat – new inspirations now lie beside deep-mined remembrances. Cello and Dulcitone have been added sparingly for colour, but this is Bourne playing for his own enjoyment. Intimate. Reserved even. The real Matthew Bourne?”

What’s the music like?

There is a stillness about Matthew Bourne’s playing on this album that proves to be rather moving. Every note is carefully considered and weighted, and delivered in a conversational manner that makes the listener feel they are the only person in the room with him.

The titles give this away too, personal reflections like To Francesca, Dissemble (for Brian Irvine), Only When It Is (In Memoriam Bill Kinghorn) and Dedicated To You, Because You Were Listening (In Memoriam Keith Tippett) The first of these uses rich cello and crystalline Dulcitone beautifully to complement its lightly questioning phrases. The Bill Kinghorn and Keith Tippett tributes are stately, the latter with a mournful, tolling motif that gathers power before subsiding to near silence.

By contrast The Mirror And Its Fragments has an eerie undertone, with low cello again in the mix.

Does it all work?

It does – being a completely unforced way of making music. The emphasis is on communication of feelings and meanings more than anything else, with the result that the ‘less is more’ approach winds hands down.

Is it recommended?

It is. While Matthew Bourne’s exploits on the big screen should be encouraged, and his more experimental workings with keyboards and other instrumental groups, it is great to hear him go back to where it all began. With new insights, this is a piano-led album to savour.

For fans of… Yann Tiersen, Dustin O’Halloran, Zbigniew Preiser

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Published post no.2,254 – Monday 29 July 2024

On Record – NightjaR – Mala Leche (Lewis Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

NightjaR is described as ‘the nom-de-plume and smudged rainbow constellation of collaborative copy-and-paste sound-wrangling and hip-hop from Jimi Goodwin’. The Goodwin in question is the frontman and singer of Doves, whose considerable popularity as a guitar-led band over the last two decades has rather masked the fact that their members are pretty prolific in their solo concerns.

For Mala Leche Goodwin has used his contact book and social media to book an intriguing set of collaborators, picking hip hop artists that he likes. These include an intriguing pairing of UK (SonnyJim) and US (Quelle Chris), Pan Amsterdam, Homeboy Sandman, Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson, Pruven, Vast Aire & Burgu all together on one track, and Guilty Simpson.

What’s the music like?

This is a big melting pot of styles, put together in a way that feels low budget and home made but which makes for an expansive and logical concept album, as Goodwin explores a huge variety of beats, thoughts and moods.

On occasion the anger spills over, like the observation from Pruven, Vast Aire and Burgu on Piano Heights that “Joni Mitchell never lied…and Boris Johnson’s a motherfucking Russian spy.” Jason Williamson, never one to hold back, delivers a cameo of typically descriptive storytelling in Blood Red Dead. Baby Don’t explores a compelling chemistry between SonnyJim and Quelle Chris, while Mala Leche takes a ‘leak’ at the news with roughed up chimes from Big Ben and Guilty Simpson in tow.

Meanwhile Sylvester sounds like an offcut from a detective movie, and Smashing Little Boat casts the musical net far and wide in its magical mystery tour. Finally Glove Department, the second cut to feature Pan Amsterdam, is a mere eight-and-a-half minutes of jazz-infused beatmaking and storytelling.

Does it all work?

Pretty much. Some of the loose ends are pretty ragged but to be honest it is part of the album’s lasting appeal, that it keeps some rough edges and a patchwork feel.

Is it recommended?

It is, enthusiastically. Goodwin’s album rails with anger against some elements of today’s society, but makes sure to have a lot of fun while doing so. With grooves aplenty, and fresh lyrical insights to match, it should go far.

For fans of… The Streets, Audio Bullys, Jamie T, Plan B, Sleaford Mods

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Published post no.2,251 – Friday 26 July 2024

On Record – George Lloyd: The Piano Works – Solo & Duo (Anthony Goldstone & Caroline Clemmow, Kathryn Stott, Martin Roscoe (Lyrita)

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George Lloyd
Aubade (1971)a; Eventide (1989)a; The Road Through Samarkand (1995)a; The Lily-leaf and the Grasshopper (1972)b; The Transformation of that Naked Ape (1972, rev. 1987)c; Lullaby ‘Intercom Baby’ (1975, arr. 1987)c; An African Shrine (1966)c; The Aggressive Fishes (1972)c; St. Antony and the Beggar (1972)c. The Road Through Samarkand (1972)c

Kathryn Stott (b), Martin Roscoe (c) (pianos)
Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow (a) (piano duo)

Lyrita SRCD.2423 (two discs, 70’16” and 77’55”)
Producers bcHoward Devon, aAnthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow with George Lloyd Engineers bcHoward Devon, aAnthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow with George Lloyd

Recorded b2 June 1987 at Henry Wood Hall, London; c18 & 19 June 1987 at St. Barnabas, North Finchley, London; a4 & 5 November 1996 at St. John the Baptist, Aldeburgh

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Lyrita continues its ‘Signature Edition’ of music composed (and conducted) by George Lloyd with his works for one and two pianos, admirably performed here by a line-up of international stature including those pianists who recorded his concertos for this instrument (SRCD.2421).

What’s the music like?

As Lloyd himself recounted, training as a violinist rather prejudiced his writing for the piano, despite his wife’s prompting. It was hearing the young John Ogdon in the early 1960s that led to Scapegoat, this first piano concerto being followed by three others and several other works for piano over the ensuing decade. For all their diversity of inspiration, they have in common a determination to avoid wanton virtuosity in favour of a technical precision as never inhibits their composer’s aim to realize his musical intentions – whether idiomatically or individually.

This is evident in Lloyd’s earliest and arguably finest work for solo piano, An African Shrine. Written for Ogdon, who played it regularly and recorded in his 1970 EMI anthology Pianistic Philosophies, this takes in several sections – the vividness of whose expressive contrasts are balanced by the seamlessness with which they merge into an unbroken formal continuity. As an evocation of mindless violence, it is highly affecting and its cohesion as a one-movement ‘sonata’ makes for an indispensable addition to British piano music during the post-war era.

Lloyd followed this with the even more expansive Aubade, composed for Ogdon and his wife Brenda Lucas. Described as a ‘fantasy’, its eight sections outline a dream-like scenario which takes in charcoal burners, tin soldiers, a song then dance for two lovers, a medley of bells and chants, then moths; framed by an Introduction and Finale as set the scene thematically then sum it up unerringly. Enticingly realized for its medium if too diffuse overall, this would likely enjoy wider exposure if it were shortened and orchestrated as the ballet it cries out to become.

The year 1972 saw Lloyd immersed in the solo piano. Among these shorter pieces, The Road Through Samarkand is the most directly appealing with its amused if never sarcastic send-up of Krishna adherents in central London with many taking the journey from Calais to Calcutta, though whether the outcome is one of utopianism or disillusionment is left unanswered by the peremptory close. St Anthony and the Beggar is a direct corollary to the Biblical parable, here with an outcome of demonstrable catharsis, while The Aggressive Fishes evokes the allure yet danger of certain tropical species in music alternately atmospheric and ominous. Inspired by a citing from the banks of the Avon, The Lily-Leaf and the Grasshopper is a subtler interplay of contrasts – the insect’s quizzical demeanour emerging out of then back into a rapt waterscape.

The most substantial of these later pieces is The Transformation of the Naked Ape. Taking its cue from Lloyd’s consideration of the essential difference between animals and humans, these six movements (each longer than the last) deftly outline a progression from external to internal properties – hence from Her Hair, via those of Tongue, Eyes, Brain and Mind, to Her Soul – though any inference of increasing spirituality is scotched by the capricious final number of this highly diverting sequence, in which pleasure and provocation have been pointedly elided.

Lloyd wrote little more for piano in either medium, though his arrangement of the violin-and-piano Intercom Baby 12 years on as Lullaby turned one of his most ingratiating shorter pieces into this ideal encore – wistful and playful by turns. Drawing on a carol written when he was just ten (then used extensively in his opera John Socman), Eventide emerges as a fantasy on this tune such as adumbrates a journey from innocence to experience of deceptive simplicity and has enjoyed greater exposure in a no less effective arrangement for brass band two years on. Finally, The Road Through Samarkand makes its reappearance arranged for two pianos – the inherent virtuosity of its writing more equably realized in this medium if, as is suggested here, those elements of struggle and assumed repose more potently realized by the original.

Does it all work?

Almost always. There is a sense of this music (rather its composer) fighting against precedent as regards idiomatic piano writing, for all that the outcome feels never less than effective and often much more so. The performances are highly sympathetic and often inspired – particularly Kathryn Stott with her contributions, though Martin Roscoe affords no mean insight and lucid pianism with his larger selection. The duo of Anthony Goldstone (much missed) and Caroline Clemmow is heard to impressive effect, but sound here could do with rather greater definition.

Is it recommended?

It is. Paul Conway’s annotations feature many pertinent observations, while the solo items are recorded with ideal clarity and spaciousness. Not the first port-of-call for those new to George Lloyd, maybe, but a collection where several items warrant inclusion in the modern repertoire.

Listen & Buy

For further information visit the dedicated page for the George Lloyd Signature Series. For more on the composer himself, head to the George Lloyd website, while for more on the artists click on the names to read about Martin Roscoe, Kathryn Stott and the Anthony Goldstone & Caroline Clemmow duo.

Published post no.2,248 – Tuesday 23 July 2024