Works: Nights in the Gardens of Spain† / The Three-cornered Hat* / Homenajes
Artists: †Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano), *Raquel Lojendio (soprano), BBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena
The works for stage and concert hall by Manuel de Falla starts off our new Spanish series with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Juanjo Mena.
Nights in the Gardens of Spain is among Falla’s most impressionistic and poetic works, full of shimmering textures that recall Debussy, but with a hard-edged precision brought to the forefront by the piano. Each of the three movements is imbued with a strong sense of location. The first evokes the Generalife gardens of the Alhambra in Granada; the second, and most animated, displays a strong North African quality; and the third is inspired by the gardens of the Sierra de Córdoba. Here Falla’s lustrous and voluptuous writing is contrasted with a dramatic refrain full of energy, colour, and savagery, and the work offers one of the most sensuous endings in all music. It was performed by the BBC Philharmonic and Juanjo Mena, as part of the conductor’s debut performance at the Proms in 2011. On this recording, they are joined by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, the exclusive Chandos artist and multi-award winning pianist.
Based on the novel by Alarcón, The Three-cornered Hat was commissioned in 1916 by the impresario Diaghilev for his Russian ballet company, the Ballets russes. Centred round sexual jealousy, possessiveness, mistaken identity, and deception, it tells the story of the failed attempts by an elderly local magistrate (whose three-cornered hat is a symbol of authority) to seduce the miller’s lovely wife. The music is exuberant, the principal characters wittily characterised, and the original production itself boasted an incredible wealth of talent: choreography by Léonide Massine, set and costume designs by Pablo Picasso, and the star ballerina Karsavina dancing the part of the miller’s wife. It was one of the company’s greatest successes, and put Falla on the international map as a composer.
Also on this disc is the Homenajes, in which Falla pays tribute to fellow musicians and composers. ‘Fanfare sobre el nombre de Arbós’ was written for the seventieth birthday celebrations of the conductor Enrique Fernández Arbós, while ‘Pedrelliana’ pays posthumous homage to Falla’s teacher Felipe Pedrell, who had informed so much of his musical thinking.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was one of the most astonishing prodigies in the history of western music, admired by Mahler, Strauss, and Puccini. His compositions were regularly performed by renowned musicians from around the world.
Korngold composed his Sextet for Strings between 1914 and 1916, at the same time as his opera Violanta, and for this reason perhaps, it takes on some of the theatrical elements of that work. The first movement presents some highly intricate counterpoint among the different voices. In the Adagio the mood shifts to one of intense sensuousness. The third movement brings relief to the highly charged atmosphere. Here Korngold plays – sometimes with an air of irony, sometimes jokingly, sometimes more straightforwardly – with that most Viennese of genres, the waltz. The finale, in typical Korngold fashion, is high-spirited and good-humoured.
The highly successful premiere of the Quintet for Two Violins, Viola, Cello, and Piano took place in Hamburg in 1923 with the composer at the keyboard. The work is in three elaborate and complex movements, with a piano part of considerable difficulty, and string writing on a virtuosic scale. With good humour and charm aplenty, the quintet displays the composer’s sunny disposition. In the work Korngold incorporated a musical code that he had developed to send secret, loving messages to his fiancée during concert performances.
Described by the magazine Gramophone as ‘one of the finest young string quartets’, whose members are ‘musicians with fascinating things to say’, the Doric String Quartet has received rave responses from audiences and critics across the globe. The Quartet’s recent recording of Korngold’s string quartets was a 2010 Critics’ Choice in Gramophone, and the group’s most recent recording on Chandos (CHAN 10692), of Schumann’s three string quartets, was ‘Recording of the Month’ in BBC Music. The Quartet is joined on this recording by Kathryn Stott on piano, Jennifer Stumm on viola, and Bartholomew LaFolette on cello.
‘Instinct, intelligence and passion combine in this landmark performance’ Schumann, Doric String Quartet CHAN10692, BBC Music Magazine Disc Of The Month
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) Clarinet Concertos, Michael Collins
CHAN10702 CD
Johan Svendsen (1840-1911) Orchestral Works Vol 1 Neeme Jarvi
Works: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73 (J 114) Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 74 (J 118) Clarinet Concertino in E flat major, Op. 26 (J 109) Horn Concertino in E minor, Op. 45 (J 188)
Artists: Michael Collins (clarinet) Stephen Stirling (horn)
City of London Sinfonia, Michael Collins
On this disc, the exclusive Chandos artist, Michael Collins, plays the clarinet in three works for clarinet and orchestra by Weber, as well as conducting the City of London Sinfonia. The disc also includes Weber’s horn concertino, featuring the soloist Stephen Stirling.
The two concertos and the concertino for clarinet and orchestra are considered among the repertoire cornerstones for today’s clarinettists. Weber wrote the works for his personal friend Heinrich Bärmann, the principal clarinettist of the Munich court orchestra, whose own embellishments of the works (changes of articulation, extra grace notes, and even an added accompanied cadenza in the first concerto) have been incorporated in the performances recorded here. Michael Collins suggests that these changes ‘do not make the music any easier to play, but they do make it more thrilling’.
Each of the works displays a well-balanced mix of virtuosity, daring, humour, and sheer beauty, and throughout, the role of the orchestra is much more than a mere accompaniment. The woodwind solos, a trio of horns, blaring trumpets, and dashing violins contribute greatly to making these works so captivating.
Written in 1806, when Weber was just nineteen years old, the virtuosic Horn Concertino pushed known horn techniques to new limits, requiring the soloist among other feats to produce a ‘four-note chord’, the technique known as multiphonics. The work is today considered a gem in the horn repertoire, and our soloist, Stephen Stirling, is ‘a player gifted with the utmost sensitivity and imagination, which is shown through the beautiful way he shapes musical phrases and the extraordinary range of colours he employs’ – in the words of the late Richard Hickox.
Works:
Festival Polonaise / Romeo and Juliet / Carnival in Paris / Träume from Wesendonck / Zorahayda / Norwegian Rhapsody No. 1 & 2 / ‘Ifjol gjett e gjeitin’ for strings / *Romance / +Sœterjentens Søndag
Artists: *Marianne Thorsen (violin)
+Melina Mandozzi (violin)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
This is the first volume in a projected series of four, dedicated to the orchestral works of the Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen. As a composer, Svendsen was intrigued and inspired by the new trends in music represented by Wagner, Berlioz, and Liszt, a fascination which is evident in the works on this disc: programme music and rhapsodies. They are performed by the same strong partnership that brought us the highly acclaimed Halvorsen series: the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and Marianne Thorsen on violin under Neeme Järvi, a conductor noted for his recordings of Nordic repertoire.
Svendsen experienced a defining moment in his career in Bayreuth in 1872, when he played in the first violin section of Richard Wagner’s own orchestra. He and Wagner met and struck up a close friendship. It was during this time in Bayreuth that Svendsen completed Carnival in Paris, the ‘Episode for Orchestra’, Op. 9. When Wagner one day looked over the score, he hummed delightedly and said, ‘It looks amusing!’ – a fitting description of this festive work which shows the influence of Berlioz in its colourful orchestration and clear contrasts. Humour, joy, and breathtaking virtuosity are contrasted with moments of pure romance and lyrical beauty. The premiere was a great success, Edward Grieg, who was present, being overwhelmed by the orchestration.
The Festival Polonaise, Op. 12 was composed in honour of the Coronation of the Swedish-Norwegian King Oscar II and Queen Sophie, and brims with a sense of pomp and ceremony suitable for the grand occasion. The work strikes a vivid contrast to Ifjol gjett e gjeitin (Last year I was tending the mountain goats), a charming set of variations for strings on a Norwegian folk tune. It became one of the composer’s great successes, as did the orchestral masterpiece about ill-fated love, Zorahayda, described by the composer as a ‘Legend for Orchestra’
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