The MOZART Album

The Perfect Mozart Team! Intuitive musical star-pianist Lang Lang meets the legendary pioneer of period performance practice and iconic Mozart authority Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

“Lang Lang makes his entrance with graceful tenderness, every note eloquently weighted, each phrases measured and expressive. There's a new maturity in his playing as he leads the orchestra with sweet suggestiveness...And his cadenza are models of their kind: exquisite displays of lyricism, but staying scrupulously within the bounds of Classical good taste.” --BBC Music Magazine, January 2015

“Of course the technique needs no comment; but the feeling is that Lang Lang has the measure of the music without approaching the impish playfulness of Brendel, the inwardness of Pires...He comes into his own, however, in the cadenzas. Here his touch is breathtakingly beautiful and, let off the leash, he is able to spin the same spells that make certain parts of his live performances so mesmerising.” --Gramophone Magazine, October 2014

“Lang Lang isn’t simply a showman. On The Mozart Album he actually seems almost too serious as he picks his way, often careful and reticent, through two famous concertos...But the ear adjusts and spirits rise, for overall these public performances convey much more of Lang Lang’s bouncy personality.” --The Times, 14th November 2014 ***

“At first sight, it’s an unlikely partnership, more a PR stunt than a meeting of minds. In fact, the 84-year-old Austrian Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the young Chinese virtuoso work together well...The performance of the enchanting, harmonically ever-startling G major concerto is a joy.” --Sunday Times, 16th November 2014

PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2, Violin Sonatas

“Viktoria Mullova's admirers will welcome this chance to hear her latest thoughts on a favourite concerto…don't expect the sweet unflappability of Guro Kleven Hagen in the main work; Mullova's interpretation is made of sterner stuff…[her] sound is as big and well-rounded as ever, not without that familiar touch of steel…competition is fierce, but then Mullova is in a league of her own.” --Gramophone Magazine, October 2015

“Mullova’s playing…is, at all times, utterly faithful to the score and is totally committed to the great Russian composer … the performances of both Sonatas could surely not be improved upon by any artist, and Mullova’s commitment here raises the stature of these works considerable.” --Musical Opinion, October-December 2015

Viktoria Mullova (violin)

Viktoria Mullova’s new ONYX album is an all Prokofiev affair recorded live, with the lyrical 2nd violin concerto joined with the solo violin sonata and the sonata for two violins. Robert Soetens premiered the Duo Sonata in Paris in December 1932, partnered by Samuel Dushkin, for whom Stravinsky had recently composed a Violin Concerto. Knowing of Prokofiev’s rivalry with Stravinsky, Soetens persuaded Prokofiev to write him a concerto. Composed in 1935 just before Prokofiev resettled in Soviet Russia, the Second Violin Concerto includes in its central movement one of his most celebrated long-arching melodies. The Solo Sonata was an official commission towards the end of Prokofiev’s life.

Originally intended for an ensemble of talented child violinists, Prokofiev so wrote the work that it could equally be played by a soloist. Paavo Jarvi and Viktoria Mullova have been close musical collaborators for many years.

“an immensely enjoyable release.” --MusicWeb International, September 2015

HALVORSEN Orchestral Works, Volume 3

“The Bergen Philharmonic under Jarvi respond with commitment throughout, relishing the challenges of the music as much as the opportunity to showcase it...Top-notch Chandos sound completes a splendid, jam-packed disc.” --Gramophone Magazine, June 2011

“Järvi, predictably, inspires splendidly alive and vibrant playing from the Bergen Philharmonic, and the Chandos team (Brian Pidgeon and Ralph Couzens) produce a first-class balance and lifelike sound to delight us. The booklet is highly informative and well produced.” --International Record Review, July/August 2011

Ragnhild Hemsing (hardanger fiddle) & Marianne Thorsen (violin)

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi

Neeme Järvi is back conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in the third volume in Chandos’ series devoted to the orchestral works of the Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen. They are joined on this recording by Ragnhild Hemsing on Norway’s national instrument, the Hardanger fiddle, and by Marianne Thorsen on violin.

Johan Halvorsen was a highly prominent figure in Norway’s musical life during the first decades of the twentieth century, and the works on this CD are all performed by the orchestra that he himself conducted in the 1890s.

Volumes 1 and 2 have both been CD of the Week on Classic FM radio, and of the latter, Classic FM said: ‘[Halvorsen’s] music is distinctive, expertly written, endlessly tuneful and thoroughly engaging… every phrase pulsates with charm and energy, making even the simplest of gestures feel like musical gold.’

Halvorsen wrote substantial amounts of music for dramas, but most of it was overshadowed by the success of Fossegrimen, which is one of the most performed dramas ever on the Norwegian stage. Described as a ‘troll-play in four parts’, Fossegrimen, by Sigurd Eldegard, had its premier in January 1905. On this occasion, Halvorsen was not just the composer and conductor, but also the soloist on the Hardanger fiddle, which for the first time in history was used as a solo instrument with symphony orchestra. Due to tight schedules, Halvorsen often reused earlier compositions when writing music for the stage. ‘Danse visionnaire’ – inspired by a poem by Arne Garborg and describing a dream vision of girls dancing in the moonlight – was one of these ‘recycled works’. The piece was originally included in Fossegrimen, but later abandoned when Halvorsen realised that this would over time be regarded as one of his main works and as such demanded exclusively original music. ‘Danse visionnaire’, here recorded with the Suite from Fossegrimen for the first time, later gained great success in its own right, not least as ballet music for Norway’s most celebrated ballerina in the 1910s, Lillebil Ibsen.

Symphony No. 3 was described by Halvorsen himself as a ‘lyrical symphony’. It includes the strong Grieg-motif in the first movement, and later scattered references to the First Symphony by Sibelius, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. Particularly unusual is Halvorsen’s original use of glockenspiel (campanelli) in the Finale, which creates a striking effect. Eventually he reconsidered and crossed out this entire part from the score, perhaps for fear of the critics’ reaction. However, for this recording, Neeme Järvi has chosen to restore the glockenspiel to the orchestra to recreate the sound of Halvorsen’s original idea.

SORABJI 100 Transcendental Studies, Volume 2

When Fredrik Ullén released the first instalment of Sorabji’s 100 Transcendental Etudes the excitement among reviewers was almost palpable. To take on this huge, near-mythic collection of super-virtuoso pieces in its entirety was described as ‘entering a snake pit’ as well as ‘a labour of love’. And the high expectations were met: in the words of the reviewer for American Record Guide, the disc gave ‘a taste of the incredible variety of music Sorabji can conjure up from the piano. It is to Ullén's credit that he can present each study on its own terms; whether in muted impressionist tones, sharp pointillistic flurries, or sheer demonic virtuosity.’

Sorabji composed the set of 100 Transcendental Studies, his second longest work with a total duration of at least seven hours, between 1940 and 1944. As Ullén remarks, with Study No. 26 Dolcissimo ‘we enter a different world. The first longer piece in the cycle is more of a fantasia or nocturne than an étude: a delicate piece of night music, with allusions to Debussy’.

The programme then takes in such varied pieces as the playful No. 29 A capriccio, the mysterious and eerie study in major sevenths, No. 30 Con fantasia and No. 36 Mano sinistra sempre sola – a grand étude for the left hand alone, which includes a fugue that, in Ullén’s own words, “in places borders on the physically impossible”.

DEBUSSY, PROKOFIEV & BARTÓK Études

Garrick Ohlsson has an unbeaten reputation as the master of the miniature. In this new recital he presents three sets of Études: the twelve by Claude Debussy (so ferocious in their demands they were shunned even by elite pianists for decades), as well as Prokofiev’s revolutionary opus 2 and three works by Bartók. In all Ohlsson excels.

“His powerful technique motors through Prokofiev’s four miniatures with tremendous confidence, relishing their naughty-boy dissonances, and he treats the Lisztian flourishes that occasionally surface in the modernist currents of Bartók’s three pieces with suitable flamboyance. There are some fine moments in the Debussy set, too.” --The Guardian, 23rd July 2015 ****

 

 "The wonder of this very varied programme is that in Garrick Ohlsson’s hands these 19 Etudes shed their functional aspect (or seem to) and instead emerge as beautifully crafted miniatures. Even the opening Debussy study 'for five fingers, after Monsieur Czerny' parades colour and a sense of play before all else, whereas the Fourth Etude ('Sixths') settles on the sort of focused atmosphere more associated with his Images or Préludes. By prioritizing mood and texture over technical display Ohlsson releases the musical value of these fascinating pieces. Prokofiev’s set of four Etudes approximate chippings from the workbench where the Sonatas were crafted, the first of them a choppy, medium-paced ostinato, the Lisztian second initially slow and dark (though it closes like the Toccata), both superbly played. And then there are Bartók’s three Etudes of 1918, masterpieces all of them, the second and third like cerebral improvisations, the first hinting at the world of boogie, though the fierce frown is unmistakably Bartók’s own. Highly recommended." --Classical Ear, July 2015

Album reviews

Madame et Monsieur DUSSEK

Contemporary of Mozart, Jan Ladislav Dussek died 200 years ago. He came to London in 1789 and in 1792 performed in a number of concerts and got married. His wife Sophia was a singer, pianist and harpist who became known in her own right. Works by both composers are performed by the expert harpist Masumi Nagasawa.

Masumi Nagasawa is one of the few harpists to perform on the modern Grand Harp, the singleaction harp (18th-19th century historical harp), the Irish harp and the kugo or Japanese ancient harp.

2012 was an anniversary year for the Bohemian composer Jan Ladislav Dussek, after 200 years of his death.

Besides his numerous pianoforte music and chamber music, Dussek has composed for the Single-action harp as well. His wife Sophia Corri was a well known harpist of the time and they have been performing together.

Single-action harp has been a favour of the musical gatherings in the time of Dussek. It's silvery light timbre evokes the atmosphere from the music from the age of Enlightenment to Romanticism.

TROTIGNON Piano Concerto 'Different Spaces'

Following the release of 12 jazz albums since the early 2000s, the love story between Naïve and Baptiste Trotignon is given a new impulse through an unexpected project that reflects the pianist s deep involvement in all sorts of music. Baptiste Trotignon s activity as a composer has been constant for 20 years, although it has reached a real maturity recently, marked by the first performance of 'Different Spaces' in Bordeaux in 2012 and that of his trio 'Subterfuges' at the prestigious London Wigmore Hall, by Philippe Cassard, David Grimal and Anne Gastinel.

Baptiste Trotignon s long friendship with internationally renowned Classical pianist Nicholas Angelich resulted in the astonishing adventure of his 4-movement Piano Concerto, full of colours and structured around several sophisticated musical ideas and influences. Commissioned by the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, it received an enthusiastic welcome and Baptiste Trotignon was selected as one of the three finalists of the Composer of the Year category at the 2014 Victoires de la Musique Classique.