Classical Music Roundup – G Roald Smeets – NYTimes.com

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London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 2

London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 2 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

¶ So much for the death watch on the major classical record labels, and on the CD itself. If the New York Times classical music writers’ choices for records of the year are any indication, at least one of the traditional majors scored a significant comeback this year: Deutsche Grammophon, which claims 6 of the 25 places. Harmonia Mundi, which has become a major player in recent years despite a generally more specialized repertory, comes in second, with 4. But excellent recordings keep coming out from smaller sources as well, and they dot the list that follows. JAMES R. OESTREICH

¶ ANDRES: ‘SHY AND MIGHTY’ Timothy Andres and David Kaplan, pianists (Nonesuch 522413; CD); $16.98. Eclecticism is the lingua franca of young composers now, so it is not surprising that Timothy Andres lists Brahms, Ligeti, Ives and John Adams among his influences, as well as Brian Eno, Sigur Ros and Radiohead. Their traces show in this melodic, richly contrapuntal, often muscular 10-movement work. But what comes through most clearly is the inventiveness and originality of Mr. Andres’s own compositional voice. ALLAN KOZINN

¶ BACH: SOLO VIOLIN SONATAS AND PARTITAS Sergey Khachatryan (Naïve V 5181; two CDs); $19.99. This young violinist avoids the lean, fleet-fingered approach to Baroque music now in vogue, favoring an unabashedly Romantic and passionate take on Bach’s three sonatas and three partitas for solo violin. Mr. Khachatryan plays with rich and beautiful tone; his interpretations are vividly rendered, detailed and potently expressive. VIVIEN SCHWEITZER

¶ BRAHMS: PIANO WORKS Murray Perahia, pianist (Sony Classical 88697794692; CD); $11.98. It is hard to keep up with the fortunes of Murray Perahia’s hands, apparently as trouble-prone as they are gifted. Mr. Perahia, with problems in his past, canceled a Carnegie Hall recital recently because of a hand injury. But everything was obviously working superbly in June, when he recorded these works: the Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, the two Opus 79 Rhapsodies and two sets of Klavierstücke (Opp. 118, 119). You can only hope for his quick recovery and, selfishly, a Brahms sequel. JAMES R. OESTREICH

¶ BRAHMS: VIOLIN SONATAS Anne-Sophie Mutter, violinist; Lambert Orkis, pianist (Deutsche Grammophon B0014767-02; CD); $18.98. For most violinists in these works, Romantically soaring lyrical lines are an automatic assumption. For the thoughtful Anne-Sophie Mutter here, nothing seems automatic; those qualities have to be worked at intensely and achieved. She does so triumphantly, and though hers is the marquee name, Lambert Orkis proves an equal partner, an essential in Brahms. JAMES R. OESTREICH

¶ IVES: PIANO SONATAS NOS. 1, 2 Jeremy Denk, pianist (Think Denk Media TDM2567; CD); $14.99. An Ives disc might seem an unlikely choice of repertory for a debut solo album, but then, there is nothing predictable about Jeremy Denk, whose intellect is manifest in both his playing and his lively blog, Think Denk. Here he vividly conveys the humor, mania, invention and tenderness of Ives’s fascinating sonatas. VIVIEN SCHWEITZER

¶ MARTIN: ‘GOLGOTHA’ Vocal soloists; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Reuss (Harmonia Mundi HMC 902056.57; two CDs); $31.98. Though the Swiss composer Frank Martin was considered conservative in his day, this remarkable recording of “Golgotha,” his 95-minute oratorio about the Passion and death of Jesus, completed in 1948, makes Martin’s place on the modernist spectrum seem irrelevant. A bittersweet melancholy pervades this poignant, distinguished score, with its hints of Renaissance polyphony and ancient mysticism. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

¶ MAZZOLI: ‘CATHEDRAL CITY,’ OTHER WORKS Victoire (New Amsterdam NWAM025; CD); $11.99. Missy Mazzoli’s idiosyncratic quintet, Victoire, embraces an intoxicating blend of sensibilities in this set of eight consonant, dark-hued and sometimes eerie meditations. Most striking are the title work, “Cathedral City,” with its low-tech electronic beats and appealing, nuanced vocalise, and “Like a Miracle,” a study in fluttering, electronically processed vocal sounds, arresting violin lines and brash, retro electronic timbres. ALLAN KOZINN

¶ MELTZER: ‘BRION,’ OTHER WORKS Cygnus Ensemble, conducted by James Baker; other performers (Naxos 8.559660; CD); $8.99. The American composer Harold Meltzer’s “Brion,” a runner-up for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in music, is a haunting, quirky and continually inventive chamber work for a small ensemble including guitar and mandolin. It receives an elegant, colorful performance on a splendid recording of four fascinating chamber and vocal works by Mr. Meltzer. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

¶ MOZART: KEYBOARD MUSIC, VOL. 1 Kristian Bezuidenhout, fortepianist (Harmonia Mundi HMU 907497); $19.98. The South African fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout has a lively interpretive imagination, razor-sharp technique and fresh ideas about how to use the coloration of the fortepiano — a 1987 replica of a Mozart-era Anton Walter instrument — to bring the music to life. If you doubt that the fortepiano can sing, listen to his plaintive readings of the Adagios from the Sonatas in F (K. 533/494) and B flat (K. 570). ALLAN KOZINN

¶ MOZART: PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 14, 15, 21 Christian Zacharias, pianist and conductor; Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (MDG 940 1646-6; CD). Christian Zacharias has long been performing as both conductor and pianist. Maybe that is why his entrances seem especially organic in these crisp, unsentimental readings. The Lausanne players are remarkably precise. Maybe they are listening to one another with extra care while Mr. Zacharias plays the piano, as he does with intelligence and grace. DANIEL J. WAKIN

¶ PERGOLESI: ORCHESTRAL, CHORAL AND VOCAL WORKS Vocal soloists; Coro Della Radiotelevisione Svizzera, Orchestra Mozart, conducted by Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon Archiv 477 8464; three CDs); $39.98. Much of what we know of Pergolesi’s music comes from Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella,” and much of that, it turns out, is not by Pergolesi. Here, in the “Pergolesi Collection,” is a crash course for the composer’s tercentenary, which begins with the familiar Stabat Mater but ventures far beyond. JAMES R. OESTREICH

¶ RACHMANINOFF: PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 3, 4 Leif Ove Andsnes, pianist; London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antonio Pappano (EMI Classics 6 40516 2; CD); $16.98. Leif Ove Andsnes’s new recording of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, with Antonio Pappano conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, is just as rippling and brilliant as his 1995 live recording with the Oslo Philharmonic but even more rhapsodic and searching. This welcome release includes a bracing account of Rachmaninoff’s enigmatic, experimental Fourth Concerto. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

¶ SCHUBERT: PIANO SONATAS IN A MINOR (D. 784), B FLAT (D. 960) Diane Walsh, pianist (Jonathan Digital Recordings JDR-1009; CD); $16. Diane Walsh, an underrated pianist (even after her Broadway stint in “33 Variations”), plays an underrated Schubert work, the smaller of the A minor sonatas, a personal favorite. The first movement’s second theme is one of Schubert’s most melting inspirations even before he sweetens it with triplets in the recapitulation. Ms. Walsh plays it beautifully and gives a fine account of the posthumous B flat Sonata, which is rated right about where it should be: at the top. JAMES R. OESTREICH

¶ SCHUBERT: ‘DIE SCHÖNE MÜLLERIN’ Jonas Kaufmann, tenor; Helmut Deutsch, pianist (Decca B0014133-02; CD); $18.98. Schubert’s song cycle about the lovely miller maid, wreathed in innocence, stirs the young person in love in all of us. Jonas Kaufmann, recently turned 41, said he wanted to record the songs before it was too late. He scales down his operatic instincts to bring subtle drama to the interior life of the lovesick protagonist, showing exquisite vocal control. Helmut Deutsch is a sensitive partner. DANIEL J. WAKIN

¶ STRAUSS: OPERA SCENES Christine Brewer, soprano; Eric Owens, bass-baritone; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Donald Runnicles (Telarc TEL-31755-02; CD); $15.98. Christine Brewer, a superlative Strauss singer, wields her sumptuous voice to impressive effect in the recognition scene from “Elektra,” the imprisonment scene from “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” and the final scene from “Salome.” She is beautifully supported by Eric Owens, Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta musicians. VIVIEN SCHWEITZER

¶ SZYMANOWSKI: SYMPHONY NO. 3, VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1 Christian Tetzlaff, violinist; Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Pierre Boulez (Deutsche Grammophon 477 8771; CD); $32.98. Pierre Boulez leads richly textured interpretations of two shimmering works by Szymanowski that reflect the composer’s interest in Sufism and Impressionism. Christian Tetzlaff spins out the exotically tinged melodies of the violin concerto with sensual tone. VIVIEN SCHWEITZER

¶ WAGNER: ‘PARSIFAL’ Vocal soloists; Chorus and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater, conducted by Valery Gergiev (Mariinsky MAR0508; four CDs); $56.98. This distinguished “Parsifal,” recorded at the concert hall of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, shows Valery Gergiev and his orchestra at their best, in a glowing, spacious, near-flawless performance. The solid cast, headed by the tenor Gary Lehman as Parsifal, includes the greatest Gurnemanz of our time: the bass René Pape, in resplendent voice. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

¶ ‘THE CHERRY TREE: SONGS, CAROLS AND BALLADS FOR CHRISTMAS’ Anonymous 4 (Harmonia Mundi HMU 807453; CD; $19.98). For those allergic to Christmas music, here is the antidote. The repertory and performance styles are as unhackneyed as they are varied: here Latin chant from 14th-century Ireland sung with utter purity, there an American Southern folk hymn delivered with a demure and fetching twang. So are the four women of Anonymous 4 definitively back together? The booklet notes say nothing of their hiatus. In any case, it’s great to have them, for however long. JAMES R. OESTREICH

¶ ‘FRITZ WUNDERLICH: LIVE ON STAGE’ Fritz Wunderlich, tenor; other performers (Deutsche Grammophon 477 9109; CD); $18.98. How cruel and arbitrary the fates were in allowing Fritz Wunderlich to die at 35 after a fall on a staircase. Prominent on anyone’s list of great tenors, Wunderlich displayed refinement and musical intelligence through a voice of ardor and tonal beauty. Deutsche Grammophon offers excerpts of live stage performances from 1962 until two months before his death in 1966. The sound quality and orchestra playing are dicey at times, but no matter. Wunderlich is here in all his glory. DANIEL J. WAKIN

¶ KIRILL GERSTEIN: PIANO RECITAL Kirill Gerstein, pianist (Myrios Classics MYR005; CD); $17.99. The superb Russian-born pianist Kirill Gerstein, who received the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award this year, pairs Schumann’s mercurial masterpiece “Humoresque” with Liszt’s visionary Sonata in B minor, each played with exquisite technique, refined musicianship and engrossing imagination. Between these formidable works Mr. Gerstein offers the English composer Oliver Knussen’s fantastical “Ophelia’s Last Dance.” ANTHONY TOMMASINI

¶ ‘MY MEXICAN SOUL’ Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, conducted by Alondra de la Parra (Sony Classical 88697755552; two CDs); $13.98. Alondra de la Parra, an entrepreneurial young Mexican, has wisely sought to carve an identity for her orchestra by promoting Latin American composers. She does a real service with this beautifully performed survey of works from the late 19th century to the present. For many, the music will be a real find, from the sunny and infectious “Huapango” of José Pablo Moncayo to the unabashedly lush Intermezzo from Ricardo Castro’s opera “Atzimba.” DANIEL J. WAKIN

¶ ‘PUER NATUS EST: TUDOR MUSIC FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS’ Stile Antico (Harmonia Mundi HMU 807517); $19.98. A large body of choral works from 16th-century Britain forms a particularly transcendent strand in the rich history of Western sacred music. Stile Antico brings delicious balance and otherworldly beauty to this recording of music by Tallis, Taverner, Byrd, White and Sheppard. Listening will restore meaning to the holidays amid the retail onslaught. DANIEL J. WAKIN

¶ ‘RHAPSODIC MUSINGS: 21ST-CENTURY WORKS FOR SOLO VIOLIN’ Jennifer Koh, violinist (Cedille CDR 90000 113; CD); $16.99. Jennifer Koh brings both a formidable technique and considerable warmth to this varied set of contemporary violin works. Her reading of Elliott Carter’s “Riconoscenza per Goffredo Petrassi” (1984), notable for its plush tone and evocative portamento, is a highlight, as are her expressive, vibrato-rich account of Augusta Read Thomas’s “Pulsar” (2003) and her thoughtful performance of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “Lachen Verlernt” (2002). ALLAN KOZINN

¶ ROSSO: ITALIAN BAROQUE ARIAS Patricia Petibon, soprano; Venice Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Andrea Marcon (Deutsche Grammophon 477 8763; CD); $18.98. The fiery soprano Patricia Petibon highlights the emotional extremes of selections ranging from little-known works by Antonio Sartorio and Nicola Porpora to popular Handel arias. Ms. Petibon sings with spontaneous abandon, impressive coloratura and distinctive ornamentation. The Venice Baroque Orchestra, led by Andrea Marcon, adds to the tempest with vibrant playing. VIVIEN SCHWEITZER

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