CD Reviews (The Straits Times, April 2015)

ST PETERSBURG

CECILIA BARTOLI with

I Barocchisti / Diego Fasolis

Decca 478 6767 / *****

The indefatigable Italian mezzo-soprano Ceclia Bartoli’s latest concept album explores the little-known world of the Russian baroque. Within is the story of three empresses, Anna, Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, who presided from 1730 to 1796, bringing into their courts composers from Western Europe in an effort to “modernise” feudalistic Russia. Contemporaneous with expanding architectural developments of St Petersburg, the Russian capital became the “Paris of the East”. The Italian Francesco Araia and German Hermann Raupach were the first court composers, later followed by Vincenzo Manfredini and the better-known Domenico Cimarosa.

The slow arias have the simplicity and cantabile of aria antiche, such as Araia's Vado a morir (from La Forza dell'amore e dell'odio) and Raupach's Idu na smert (Altsesta), the latter being sung in the vernacular Russian, with libretti by Alexander Sumarokov. When it came to vocal acrobatics, some are more than a match for Handel's sweeping brilliance. Raupach's Razverzi pyos Gortani (Altsesta) or O Placido il mare (Siroe, Re di Persia), with vehement proclamations and scintillating runs, are right up in coloratura territory.

The elaborately decorative baroque soon gave way to simpler classical lines. Manfredini's Fra' lacci tu mi creda and Non turbar que' vaghi rai (Charlemagne) are Mozartian in their beauty, the latter with a theme reminiscent of the slow movement from Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. Bartoli's breathtaking performances and the vivid accompaniment on period instruments are infectious in their zealous quest for authenticity. One becomes convinced that every song in this anthology is a masterpiece.

OTTO KLEMPERER

Concerto Recordings

EMI Classics 40434827 (6 CDs) / *****

The great German conductor Otto Klemperer (1885-1973) was known to be notoriously difficult to work with, as soloists found out to their expense, but the few concerto recordings he made in the 1960s with The Philharmonia Orchestra (and its successor The New Philharmonic) on the EMI label have deservedly become classics. Credit goes to the legendary India-born recording engineer Suvi Raj Grubb for uniting 82-year-old Klemperer with the rising 24-year-old Daniel Barenboim in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.25, Beethoven's five piano concertos and Choral Fantasy. The usually stolidity in Germanic repertoire is absent as the performances bristle with brio and vitality, as if the spark of an unlikely collaboration had reignited some latent inner fire.

Just as satisfying are the Hungarian pianist Annie Fischer's performances of Schumann's Piano Concerto and Liszt's Piano Concerto No.1, demonstrating she could barnstorm with the best of men. The two violin concertos in this set come no less from Yehudi Menuhin (Beethoven) and David Oistrakh (Brahms), which are easily among the greatest recordings in the catalogue. British hornist Alan Civil completes the line-up of greats with breezy yet emphatic accounts of the four Mozart horn concertos. The sound is generally excellent and this box-set deserves to be in any self-respecting library.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, May 2014)

BELLINI Norma

CECILIA BARTOLI et al

Orchestra la Scintilla / Giovanni Antonini

Decca 478 3517 (2 CDs) / *****

Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma, arguably the greatest bel canto opera ever written, has often been associated with dramatic sopranos like Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland in the title role. Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli’s extraordinary portrayal of the ill-fated Druid priestess has historical precedent. The part was written for the great 19^th century diva Giuditta Pasta (1797-1865), legendary for singing the great mezzo roles of today. This recording, accompanied on period instruments by the Zurich-based Orchestra la Scintilla, thus returns to the opera’s original conception. More than just convincing, it is an artistic triumph.

The indefatigable Bartoli lives and breathes the conflicted world and double lives of Norma, and her famous aria Casta Diva has an otherworldly feel despite sporting a darker tonal colour. Opposite her, the virginal Adalgisa is served by no less than Korean coloratura soprano Sumi Jo. Together, they are spectacular in the ecstatically charged duets Ah! Si, fa core e abbraciami and Mira, O Norma. Joined by tenor John Osborne’s Pollione (Norma’s lover) and Michele Pertusi’s Oroveso (father), the ensemble conjures up a near-definitive reading of enterprise and spirit that is pleasure from start to end. 

HINDEMITH Piano Sonatas

MARKUS BECKER, Piano

Hyperion 67977 / ****

The German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) wrote sonatas for every instrument of the orchestra, but he held a great affection for the piano. His three piano sonatas (all composed in 1936) are definitely more than Gebrauschmusik, or “utility music” written for the purpose of didactic study or exercise. Despite a tendency to astringency on the surface, all three are gifted with thematic coherence that makes them rather listenable. The First Sonata, the longest and in 5 movements, may seem the toughest to crack, but its lyricism gradually comes through.

The Second Sonata, also the shortest, falls within the hands of gifted amateur pianists. It is the Third Sonata, a bona fide concert piece, which taxes the virtuoso most. Its fugal finale is true contrapuntal paradise, topped by subversive humour with a wink in the eye that looks forward to Shostakovich’s more riotous fugues. German pianist Markus Becker gives very good performances, even if he misses out on Glenn Gould’s manic edge and mischief-making. As a bonus, a discarded set of variations from the First Sonata have been included. Lovers of counterpoint should not be hesitant.    

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, January 2013)

MISSION

CECILIA BARTOLI

I Barocchisti / Diego Fasolis

Decca 478 4732 / *****

This new release confirms Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli’s legacy as one of opera’s greatest voices and minds. The intelligence and adventurousness of her concept albums now takes her to the operas of little-known Baroque composer, Roman Catholic bishop and polymath Agostino Steffani (1654-1728), who for many years served as a diplomat in the royal courts of Germany. The copiously illustrated accompanying book has Bartoli costumed as a priest and stereotypical movie spy, the shadowy envoys get into, including attempting to reconvert the Protestant Germans back to Catholicism.

What about the music? Bartoli sings 24 arias and duets (with countertenor Philippe Jarrousky) from twelve operas, selected for their virtuosity, variety and dynamic range. Just savour the vertiginous runs and gravity-defying feats from Tassilone, Il Trionfo del Fato, La Superbia d’Alessandro and La Liberta Contenta, to hear how he might have influenced Handel’s own operas. On a more subtle note, there is great beauty in Amami, e Vederei (Love Me, and You Will See), accompanied by just a lute, and the duet Serena, O Mio bel sole (Tamper, My Beautiful Sun), both from Niobe. Was Steffani the greatest Italian composer between Monteverdi and Vivaldi? With Bartoli’s amazingly vivid and irrepressible proselytising, he might very well have been.

RESPIGHI Violin Sonatas

TANJA BECKER-BENDER, Violin

PETER NAGY, Piano

Hyperion 67930 / ****1/2

The Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) is justly celebrated for his Roman Trilogy and sumptuously orchestrated works. In his less exposed chamber music, he sounds like a totally different creator. In this collection of violin and piano works, only the Violin Sonata in B minor of 1917 bears some familiarity, having been recorded by Jascha Heifetz and Kyung-Wha Chung. A dark, smoky aroma and Straussian opulence lend the music much beauty and poignancy. The nocturne-like slow movement radiates much warmth as it works to a climactic high, while the finale is a well-written passacaglia, a contemporary tribute to the Baroque form and finale of Brahms’s Fourth Symphony.

Rather more influenced by Brahms is the early Violin Sonata in D minor (1897), an attractive student piece of late Romanticism that is not particularly distinctive. More memorable are the Five Pieces (1906), which are well characterised and include a Romance, Berceuse and Humoresque. Almost out of character are the salon charms of Valse Caressante and Serenata, which are totally disarming. The German violinist Tanja Becker-Bender and Hungarian pianist Peter Nagy are most sympathetic advocates, lavishing the music with much needed colour and vitality. Recommended listening. 

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, April 2011)

SOSPIRI

CECILIA BARTOLI, Mezzo-soprano / Decca 478 2558 / *****

This is a compilation of selections from several earlier albums. Sospiri is Italian for “sighs” and most of the arias here are of the slower lament-like variety. Those bedazzled by Cecilia Bartoli’s vocal acrobatics will still enjoy her superb control, perfect phrasing and enunciation. Handel’s Lascia La Spina (from Triumph Of Time And Truth) has the same music as Lascia Ch’io Pianga (Rinaldo), and Bartoli conjures a beseeching quality which go beyond mere words. Further arias by Vivaldi, Giacomelli, Caldara and Mozart confirm that excellent impression.

The bel canto selections are no less fine, typified by Bellini’s Casta Diva (Norma) and Ah! Non credea mirarti (La Sonnambula), where her silky, seamless tone passes like a dream. There is one previously unreleased track, Rossini’s Una voce poco fa (Barber of Seville), which fizzles like sparkling champagne. Three sacred pieces, Mozart’s Laudate Dominum, Franck’s Panis Angelicus and Pie Jesu from Fauré’s Requiem complete this very fine and highly enjoyable profile disc. The absence of texts or translations is however regrettable.

SONGS OF YESTERDAY

DAN LAURIN, Recorder with Anna Paradiso, Piano & Harpsichord / BIS 1785 / ****1/2

The humble recorder is often regarded a relic of the Baroque or much-maligned pedagogical instrument played by bored primary school children. This unusual collection explores a narrow niche of mid-20th century British recorder music, commissioned by Carl Dolmetsch, considered the “Father of the Modern Recorder”. The seven works span from 1939 to 1965, eschewing atonal and serial trends of the era, instead looking back at past traditions. The typically English pastoral sound lives on in Sonatinas by York Bowen, Edmund Rubbra and Walter Leigh.

The Leigh work is particularly poignant, written just a few years before his death in battle during the North African campaign. Cyril Scott’s Aubade, the longest single track here, is an impressionist meditation recalling Debussy’s atmospheric soundscapes. Early music is also relived, in Herbert Murrill’s short Sonata and Rubbra’s Passacaglia Sopra Plusieurs Regrets. In this company, Lennox Berkeley’s 11-minute-long Sonatina is arguably the undisputed masterpiece of this anthology. Swedish recorder virtuoso Dan Laurin draws an astounding mileage from the beguiling simple instrument and a sequel is keenly awaited.

A HONG KONG DIARY (20-22 February 2011) / Part III

Tuesday, 22 February

I have a lunch appointment with Dr Anabella Freris of the Chopin Society of Hong Kong, but it was more bargain CD hunting in Central before that. Naxos CDs are the cheapest when you buy them in Hong Kong. At HKD 45-49 (just about eight dollars and below) per disc, its about half the price of that you find in Singapore. 

My favourite little shop is Percival Records (35 Wing Kut Street), another thoroughly disorganised (but in a neat way) hole in a wall tucked in a tiny alley filled with pushcart stalls and shops. Run by a family, establishments like this in Singapore have long gone the way of the dodo. Remember the friendly Sing Music in Lucky Plaza? I have patronised Percival Records since 1990, when it was distinctly musty but had the cheapest classical discs in town. It is still very competitive (compared with the behemoths of HMV, HK Records and Music Warehouse), and credit cards are now accepted. No guilt in blowing a thousand dollars (HK currency) here.

If HK and Singapore are competing on the subject of which is the more vibrant city, the former still leads. Lunch at IFC at a bistro overlooking Kowloon’s new skyline (soon to resemble Manhattan’s after the height restriction was removed) was a case in point. Everthing seemed so “happening”, a buzz which I’ve never felt at home. Maybe I’m biased, as I have yet to have lunch at the Marina Bay Sands.

Trying to look optimistic in making a sale.

Now what do I do with that extra Cecilia Bartoli ticket? Fortunately the concert is fully sold out. I approached the Arts Festival Counter, and the girl says: leave the ticket with us, and we’ll let you know tomorrow if its been sold. Tomorrow? And with no guarantee of a sale? No thanks. I try my luck and stand in front of the booth, in the hope that some poor desperate soul might want to part with HKD 1280 right now. The irony is striking. Two days ago, I was that desperate soul in search of a single spare ticket. Now I’m a different desperate soul trying to recoup the expense of that ticket.

A Brit looks interested but he buys from a young Hongkonger who has a spare HKD 300 ticket. At any rate, he does not have the cash, only plastic. A PRC sniffs around, complains its too expensive, and then says he’ll try and get a complimentary ticket from the sponsors HSBC. “Good luck to you, and sod off!” I thought. Just as I was about to be resigned to having the singular most expensive ticket (HKD 2360) in the house, a Frenchman pops up to the counter and inquires. I step forward and “voila!” a swap is effected, your money for my ticket. And he does not attempt to bargain me down. He didn't appear that desperate either. Didn't I say that all Frenchman were classy?

O mia Cecilia! Whatever you have heard on disc or seen on TV, Cecilia Bartoli is exactly that plus some more. Larger than life and donning a stunning red gown, she looks every bit the diva, artist and entertainer all rolled up in one. The programme was straight forward – Italian and French songs accompanied by Sergio Ciomei’s piano. No opera, just art songs from the pens of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. Love lost and found, flora and fauna, and the pleasures of a simple peasant life, were all encompassed in these numbers. Bartoli sounded fresh and each song sparkled with life. Her vividness of articulation, which ranged from the most quiet and intimate of moments to full-blooded roars, was just as impressive.

From bel canto to can belto, Bartoli has the full measure of every number. From Donizetti’s tender Amore e morte (Love and death), which certainly must have influenced the most melancholy of Chopin’s Nocturnes, to the presti-ululation of Rossini’s tarantella La Danza, equal satisfaction was to be had. She was equally at home in French, with songs by Rossini, Bizet and Viardot. There was an insectoid song, Bizet’s La coccinelle (The Ladybird), where her buzzing nasal imitations brought out guffaws from an otherwise staid and respectful audience. Closing with Maria Malibran’s drummer-boy inspired Rataplan, she brought the house down. Three encores, by de Curtis, Montsalvatge and Handel’s Laschio la spina, were the icing on the cake.

Will Cecilia Bartoli ever come to Singapore? We’ll have to persuade the powers that be that a proven act such as this is worth presenting, alongside all those new collaborations which are hit or miss at best. While Singapore waits, HKD 1280 was more than well spent.

In Hong Kong, the sky's the limit.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, January 2010)

MOZART Violin Sonatas K.301-306
GIL SHAHAM, Violin
ORLI SHAHAM, Piano
Canary Classics CC01

****1/2

The violin sonatas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were designated as sonatas for piano with violin accompaniment. The composer, who was adept in both instruments, often referred to them as duets. For much of the music, the violin doubles what the piano is already playing although he does allow some degree of independence. The grouping of six such sonatas in a single opus from 1778 was common at the time, and this half dozen make for very pleasurable listening.

The best known of these is the Sonata in E minor (K.304), which displays a palpable pathos, a reaction to his mother’s miserable demise in Paris. It is refreshing to witness Gil Shaham so comfortable from his usual virtuosic persona, partnering his excellent pianist sister Orli in music that is liberating as it is relaxing.

SIMPLY DEBUSSY
Simply CD 046 (4CDs)
****1/2

This super-budget anthology of the music of Claude Debussy (1862-1918) is well-balanced if not comprehensive. The first disc houses his greatest orchestral works, including La Mer (The Sea), the three impressionistic Nocturnes, Prelude to The Afternoon of the Fawn and two Ravel orchestral transcriptions. The French and Japanese orchestras from Lyons and Tokyo give close to excellent performances.

The next two discs cover Debussy’s most representative piano music – all 24 Préludes, six Images, Children’s Corner Suite, Suite Bergamasque (including Clair de lune) and shorter pieces. The pianists read like a Who’s Who of Debussy playing, including Frenchmen Michel Beroff, Jacques Rouvier and Alain Plaines. 

The final disc is devoted to chamber music both great and obscure. The rarity is an early Piano Trio in G minor, influenced by Fauré, Saint-Saëns and the Belle Epoque. The String Quartet (from the Carmina Quartet) and Violin Sonata (with Chee Yun) leave one without doubt of Debussy’s greatness. At under $20, this collection picks itself.

SACRIFICIUM
CECILIA BARTOLI, Mezzo-soprano
Il Giardino Armonico
Decca 478 1521

*****

Forget the bizarre cover art grafting Cecilia Bartoli’s head onto a marble statue of a nude male. It’s ridiculous but the music, all written for the castrati (young men surgically emasculated to retain their high voices), is revelatory. There is a short bonus CD with three established castrati classics – including Handel’s Ombra mai fu (better known as his Largo) – but it is the main disc with 11 world premiere recordings that is the prize. 

There are five arias by Neapolitan Nicola Porpora (1680-1768), the great vocal teacher who taught Farinelli and Haydn. His 10-minute long Parto, ti lascio, O cara is a portrait of beauty and restraint, contrasted with mellifluous nightingale imitations of Usignolo sventurato, and the quickfire raves in In braccio a mille furie.

His rival Leonardo Vinci (1696-1730) is not outdone in Chi temea giove regnante, Berenice’s fiery aria of thunder and lightning, with orchestral sound effects to match. There are no castrati alive today, only countertenors who use falsetto voices, but they are no match for mezzo-soprano Bartoli’s natural vocal range, stunning coloratura runs and amazing athleticism, which have to be heard to be believed. The handsomely produced album also houses an encyclopaedia on the castrato phenomenon, including pictures of nasty ancient surgical instruments, graphically explaining the title Sacrificium. Ouch!

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, March 2009)

RACHMANINOV Symphony No.2 / Vocalise
Singapore Symphony Orchestra / LAN SHUI
BIS SACD-1712 / Rating ****1/2

Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony has been a staple of the SSO since the Choo Hoey era. Its Slavic melancholy, melodic wealth and surging climaxes have always suited the orchestra to a tee, and with Lan Shui’s direction, the music takes on added lustre and visceral excitement. SSO’s recent success in its tour to China and Taiwan were founded on this hour-long blockbuster, performed without cuts. One however needs to get past the many portamenti, slurs of intonation or what singers call “scoops”, which often connote cloying sentimentality, particularly apparent in this reading. Do these enhance or detract from the music? Can these withstand repeated listening? You be the judge, but do not ditch your favourite Previn, Ashkenazy or Pletnev recordings just yet.

In commemoration of SSO’s 30th anniversary, the cover art captures a decorative pillar from Victoria Concert Hall by Singaporean photographer Collin Tan – a very appropriate symbolic touch.

MARIA
CECILIA BARTOLI, Soprano
Orchestra La Scintilla / Adam Fischer
Decca 475 9077 / Rating *****

Maria Felicia Garcia (1808-1836), better known by her married name Maria Malibran, was the world’s first diva, a singing superstar who attracted adulation and scandal in equal measure. This magnificent (and copiously illustrated) tribute by mezzo Cecilia Bartoli reflects an extraordinary versatility from a time when there were no distinctions between lyrical or dramatic roles, sopranos or mezzos. Bel canto reigns supreme here, with arias from Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula, I Puritani and Norma. From the latter opera, Bartoli’s intimate and sensuous take on Casta Diva seems a world away from the searing intensity of Maria Callas. Elsewhere, Bartoli delights in the flamenco rhythms of a song by her father Manuel Garcia, yodels effortlessly in Hummel’s Tyrolian Air and Variations, and simulates a one-woman band in her own onomatopoeic Rataplan. Malibran was certainly a character, and Bartoli gloriously relives a bygone era.

PROKOFIEV
20th Century Classics
EMI Classics 2068602 / Rating ****

The name of Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), once considered Russia’s enfant terrible of music, should no longer send shivers down the necks of concert-goers. His penchant for shock effects like grinding discordances and percussiveness is only matched by a rare gift of melody. This 2-CD budget-priced compilation of full-length works performed by a host of classical music’s luminaries attests to this fact.

The loud and violent Scythian Suite (conducted by Sir Simon Rattle) is soothed by the Haydnesque propriety and wit of the Classical Symphony (Efrem Kurtz) This propensity for lightness continues in the rarely heard Sinfonietta (Riccardo Muti) and the quirky sextet which is the Overture on Hebrew Themes (Michel Beroff et al). For a combination of instrumental virtuosity, lyricism and dissonance in equal measure, little comes close to the scintillating Violin Concerto No.1 (Franz Peter Zimmerman) and coruscating Piano Concerto No.1 (Martha Argerich), both early works. Another rarity: the Cello Concerto in E minor (Janos Starker), albeit in a much-excised version. Although Peter and the Wolf does not figure here, this introduction to one of the 20th century’s most approachable composers goes down as easily as ABC.