In the last few days we have heard of the sad news of the death of cellist Antonio Meneses at the age of 66. There is a fitting tribute to Meneses in an obituary by The Strad magazine, but we wanted to pay tribute in the form of a playlist of some of his finest recordings.
The sequence, which you can listen to below, includes solo Bach – the Solo Cello Suite no.1 – followed by Brahms‘s Cello Sonata no.1 and the MendelssohnSong without Words Op.109, with pianist Gérard Wyss. Meneses made some very fine recordings for the AVIE label, of which Gaspar Cassadó‘s Solo Cello Suite was one – and this is followed by a short illustration of his time as cellist in the Beaux Arts Trio, a lovely movement from Dvořák‘s Dumky Trio.
Finally we get to hear Meneses in the orchestral arena, with a recent recording made for Naxos of the Villa-Lobos Fantasia for cello and orchestra, and one of his most famous recordings, the Brahms Double Concerto with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Berliner Philharmoniker under Herbert von Karajan:
Harvey Tranquil Abiding (1998) [Proms Premiere] Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 (1918-19) Holst The Cloud Messenger, H111 (1909-10, rev. 1912) [Proms Premiere]
Jess Dandy (contralto), Senja Rummukainen (cello), BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo
Royal Albert Hall, London Saturday 3 August 2024
reviewed by Richard Whitehouse Photos (c) Chris Christoudoulou
Now approaching his 12th season as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo tonight gave his first Prom of the season with this typically well-balanced programme of British music framing unfamiliar pieces past or (relative) present with a classic of its genre.
First came a welcome revival for Tranquil Abiding – doubtless one of Jonathan Harvey’s most immediately appealing works and one where the rhythm of ‘breathing’ central to so much of his later output is afforded lucid expression. The degree to which its melodic content emerges out of then returns into the surrounding texture was duly conveyed by Oramo, who ensured a real sense of expectation as this music took on an almost tangible impetus towards its climax. A pity that some restless and inattentive listeners robbed the final stage of its ‘ultimate calm’.
Long before it had the eminence it now enjoys, Elgar’s Cello Concerto was a regular Proms item through advocacy from Beatrice Harrison, Anthony Pini and, latterly, Jacqueline du Pré. Senja Rummukainen (above) thus joined a distinguished roster of soloists and, in the first movement at least, seemed a little inhibited in this context. Her arresting lead-in to the scherzo brought playing of greater involvement, both here and in an Adagio whose autumnal eloquence never risked sentimentality. The relatively lengthy finale was securely rendered, its themes incisive then genial, and if the development culminated a little portentously, the reprise was tellingly subdued before a moving apotheosis and curtly inevitable coda. Rummukainen can be heard again in London in the Dvořák concerto, with the BBC Concert Orchestra, this October 4th.
In the 150th anniversary of his birth, and the 90th anniversary of his death, a major revival by Gustav Holst was almost mandatory. Setting his translation from the Sanskrit of a poem by Kālidāsa, The Cloud Messenger never quite recovered from its evidently disastrous premiere such that revivals have been occasional. At almost 45 minutes, it is a demonstrable statement of intent whose expansive choral gestures are assured but almost anachronistic given Holst’s chamber opera Sāvitri redefined his conceptual approach and musical idiom barely a year before. Yet the present work amply foreshadows much of what was achieved over the next two decades, notably a freely evolving melisma mostly unimpeded by rhythmic precedent and a harmonic subtlety such as only needed greater refinement in its handling to realize its fullest potential.
That much of this latter aspect was already in place is clear from those intimate passages for semi-chorus to the fore during its later stages, while the third of its five continuous section brought a confiding soliloquy that Jess Dandy (above) – contralto in the truest sense – realized with distinction. A pity she was not heard again, but the BBC Symphony Chorus was not found wanting beforehand or in that ethereal leave-taking with which the work evanesces, ‘Venus’-like, to its close. Whatever the stylistic inconsistencies, the best of it is Holstian to its core.
Now it is available in an expert reduction for chamber orchestra by Joseph Fort, The Cloud Messenger should attract more frequent hearings, but the Royal Albert Hall proved a fitting venue for this expansive original while Oramo’s perceptive performance did not disappoint.
This Sunday Arcana returns to the serenade, looking at an example from Sweden that has acquired something of a cult following. The music of Wilhelm Stenhammar is not as well known as it might be, but his attractive orchestral canon is headed by this tuneful and airy Serenade. Cast in five movements, the piece was inspired by a trip to Italy in 1909, and completed by the Swede in 1913. Here it is performed by the Gävle Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Koivula:
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Krononaut‘s Leo Abrahams (above, front) for the latest Arcana playlist guest turn. The improvisatory duo release Krononaut II on Palomino on 9 August, and Abrahams has generously given us an insight into the working process behind the album. Here is the playlist – and you can read below the detail on his choices:
Schneider TMFirst Of May Ingenious sonic investigations of the guitar from a studio master.
Mazz SwiftHidden In Plain Sight I met Mazz playing in Anohni’s band recently. Their record absolutely blew me away with its sincerity and erudition.
Ovalhmmm So playful and so detailed, all these years on I still have no idea how he did it, but it’s firmly lodged in my subconscious.
Spin MarvelTuesday’s Blues The record that first brought Martin France to my attention. Astonishing drumming – melodic, refined and furious.
John Hassell, Brian EnoDelta Rain Dream One of those records that is responsible for a whole new genre, it is tremendously free.
Sulton NazarOmaded Mehmoni Mo Recorded by Lu Edmonds in the mountains of Tajikistan in the early 2000s, this master of maddoh opened my ears to a whole new culture.
KrononautConvocation This track from the first record gets closest to the till-but-not-static feeling that we were reaching for on the second.
Morton FeldmanPalais de Mari A relatively concise piece from one of my favourite composers, this is deep, concentrated and compelling music.
Our very grateful thanks to Leo for his selection.
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.
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