Latest releases reviewed
FOULDS: THREE MANTRAS; LYRA CELTICA; APOTHEOSIS; MIRAGE
Susan Bickley (mezzo soprano), Daniel Hope (violin), CBSO/Sakari Oramo Warner Classics 2564 61525-2
****
What British composer explored quarter tones in the 1890s, and borrowed additive rhythmic techniques from Indian music before Messiaen? The answer: Manchester-born John Foulds (1880-1939). He also studied conducting with Mahler and Nikisch, but is now mostly remembered for his light music, especially a Keltic Lament of 1911. He was an adventurous, eclectic spirit, and the music here - Three Mantras, Lyra Celtica (an incomplete concerto for voice), Apotheosis for violin and orchestra, and Mirage - are full of unexpected touches as well as a wide range of blatant influences. Think of a more adventurous Holst, or the more avant-garde orchestral gestures of Percy Grainger, or straightforward post-Straussian indulgence, and you'll have some idea of what to expect. Sakari Oramo and his Birmingham orchestra play it all with the utmost persuasiveness.
BEETHOVEN: COMPLETE WORKS FOR CELLO AND PIANO
Adrian Brendel (cello), Alfred Brendel (piano)
Philips 475 379-2 (2 CDs)
*****
Of the two sets of Beethoven's music for cello and piano to come my way recently, this one by the father-and-son pairing of Alfred and Adrian Brendel seems to me far the finer. The rival ECM recording is by the Hungarian duo of Miklós Perényi and András Schiff, who knock sparks off each other as they plough quite distinct paths through the music. The Brendels' approach is much more soft-spoken and altogether more successfully integrated. Cello and piano, they seem to be saying, may be a problematic combination, but partnership and unity of musical vision are possible. The manner appears inwardly-directed, as if they were playing to and for each other in a slightly ruminative way. The effect is both rich-textured and strangely touching. www.deccaclassics.com
Maurice Ohana (1913-92) was born in Casablanca, but his parentage entitled him to a British passport, and although he spent most of his life in France, he didn't become a French citizen until 1976. His music, which tried to avoid all contact with Austro-German serialism, embraced a wide range of influences from Spain, Africa, and, naturally enough, France. The early works here show an indebtedness to Falla, but Ohana's colouristic concerns soon led him into new paths, developing music using third-tone scales (and instruments to play it), and finding much atmospheric use for the human voice and the harpsichord. The orchestral Livre des prodiges (1978-79) brings Messiaen to mind, but mostly the mature Ohana sounds to be his own, distinctively-eared man. A valuable reissue, at sub-Naxos prices, of 13 works by a composer little appreciated outside France.
www.warnerclassics.com
Stephen Kovacevich was still in his twenties in 1968, when he made one of the finest recordings of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. Philips subsequently recorded him in all five Beethoven concertos, eight of the sonatas (including the Pathétique, and four of the late sonatas, Op. 101 and Opp. 109-11) and the three sets of Bagatelles. His later recordings of the complete sonatas for EMI are actually brasher and more young-mannish. Kovacevich has always been responsive to the drama in Beethoven, but in general he pressed the music (and stressed his pianos) rather less when he was younger. This collection of the Beethoven he recorded for Philips still has an engaging freshness and the Diabelli Variations are very special indeed.
www.deccaclassics.com
