The latest releases reviewed
THE JAZZ ALBUM - A TRIBUTE TO THE JAZZ AGE
Peter Donohoe (piano), Michael Collins
(clarinet), Jeremy Taylor (high tenor), Harvey & the
Wallbangers, London Sinfonietta/Simon Rattle
EMI Classics 388 6802
****
Simon Rattle's 20-year-old Jazz Album, now reissued in EMI's bargain-basement Encore series, takes a safer course than Quasthoff. It concentrates on classics that were influenced by jazz: Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in the Ferde Grofé jazz-band version (with Peter Donohoe as piano soloist), Milhaud's La Création du monde, Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto (with Michael Collins on clarinet) and Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs. The dryish recorded acoustic brings a sharp edge to the stylishly well-sprung playing, and the disc also includes a number of popular vocal numbers, in arrangements made for the Paul Whiteman Band. www.emiclassics.com MICHAEL DERVAN
SCHMITT: PSAUME XLVII; SUITE SANS ESPRIT DE
SUITE; LA TRAGÉDIE DE SALOMÉ
BBC National Chorus and Orchestra of
Wales/Thierry Fischer
Hyperion CDA 67599
***
Florent Schmitt's 1904 setting of Psalm 47 is at times almost barbaric in its raucous glorying of the Lord. French impressionism it certainly ain't. Thierry Fischer chose it for his debut as principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and also recorded it for Hyperion. His approach impressively marries grit and sensuality. Sadly, however, the contribution of soprano soloist Christine Buffle is not always appealing. The CD also includes Schmitt's best-known orchestral work, the moody La tragédie de Salomé (an orchestral suite from a 1907 ballet), and the much-later (1937), much lighter, punningly-titled Suite sans esprit de suite. www.hyperion-records.co.uk MICHAEL DERVAN
THE JAZZ ALBUM
Thomas Quasthoff, Deutsches
Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Nan Schwartz
Deutsche Grammophon 477 6501
**
Thomas Quasthoff, an estimable singer who's produced some treasurable recordings, here offers a jazz album, ranging from Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart and Duke Ellington to Michel Legrand and Stevie Wonder. He's backed by a good-sounding jazz ensemble and the appropriately smooth-sounding players of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. But, oh, the singing. He just can't get into the groove. The close-miking emphasises the care of his enunciation, the correctness and stiffness of the vocal delivery. The effect is just downright odd, like a car which someone has grown grass all over or covered with buttons, just not as entertaining. www.deutschegrammophon.com MICHAEL DERVAN
RICHTER THE MASTER, VOL 3
Sviatoslav Richter (piano)
Decca 475 8127 (2 CDs)
*****
The 10th anniversary of the death of the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter falls in August, and Decca are readying for the occasion with three two-disc sets culled from the Authorised Recordings set issued by Philips in 1994. The pick of the crop is Vol 3, which focuses on Russian repertoire, including pieces by composers Richter knew and worked with, Prokofiev (the Fourth and Sixth Sonatas, from the horse's mouth, as it were, plus some shorter pieces), and Shostakovich, six of the Preludes and Fugues, Op 87, rugged, raw, sometimes chilling, plus four pieces by Scriabin. The other volumes concentrate on Beethoven (Vol 1, 475 8124) and Mozart (Vol 2, 475 8130). www.deccaclassics.com MICHAEL DERVAN
