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ALFANO: Symphony No. 1 "Classica"(sic). Symphony
No. 2. HANDEL: Solomon. Love in Bath. RAVEL: Gaspard de la Nuit (orch. Marius Constant). Le
tombeau de Couperin. Menuet antique. Pavane pour une infante défunte.
Alborada del gracioso .Ondine (piano version). GRIEG: Cello Concerto (after Cello Sonata, Op. 36). Eight Songs arranged
for Cello and Orchestra. GRIEG: Homage March. Norwegian Dances, Op. 35. Lyric
Suite, Op. 54.
Symphonic Dances, Op. 64. In Autumn, Op. 11. Two
Elegaic Melodies, Op.
34. Suite: From Holberg's Time, Op. 40. Old Norwegian Romance
with Variations,
Op. 51. Lyric Pieces from Op. 12 and 38. Franco Alfano (1875-1954) is best-known for his completion of Puccini's
Turandot, and often criticized for it—I have no problem
whatever with his work on the opera; it uses Puccini's music and surely
shows
off the singers.
It's far superior to the ill-advised Luciano Berio ending (which can
be seen
in
a poorly-sung
2002 Salzburg Festival production conducted by Valery Gergiev (REVIEW) cpo is
doing their part for the Alfano cause—they already have issued
a new recording of Cyrano de Bergerac with tenor Roman Sadnik
in the title role. There's
a recent
EMI DVD
of Roberto
Alagna's
Montpellier
performance, as well as an audio recording of a 1975 Italian Radio production
with William Johns. Cyrano was revived at the Met this season
for Placido Domingo but it's unlikely this will appear on audio or video
recordings. Here is what apparently are the first recordings of Alfano's
Symphony No. 1 (premiered in 1912, considerably revised later when he
gave it the title Sinfonia classica), and Symphony No. 2 written
about two decades later. The first begins in pedantic
fashion
but improves considerably and you'll hear traces of Richard Strauss and
Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Much use of made of harps, and there are several
poignant oboe solos in the first symphony. Performances are fine, and
the label's sound is of its usual high level. Collectors will welcome EMI's budget reissue of two of the most famous
Sir Thomas Beecham Handel recordings. Solomon was recorded in
early stereo in 1955/56, Love in Bath in 1959. Beecham has drastically
edited and reorchestrated the score, eliminated much of it, and
changed the main role from a countertenor to a baritone. Love in
Bath is Sir Thomas's arrangement of various Handel works, mostly
from operas, to be used for a ballet called The Great Elopement. Delightful
music wonderfully played, with soprano Ilsa Hollweg beautifully singing
the three-minute Serenade before the finale. Fine sonics, but no texts. June 30, 1964 Mercury recorded Gina Bachauer's performance of Ravel's
Gaspard de la Nuit with Sir John Gielgud reading Christopher
Fry's English translation of the poems by Aloysius Bertrand, a recording
still available
at mid-price. Now from Ondine we have another performance of this music,
this time orchestrated by Marius Constant with Carole Bouquet reading
the original French texts. This was recorded May 4, 2004 during a concert
in Théatre Mogador in Paris before a very quiet audience. Constant's
orchestrations
are superb and it is a pleasure to hear this music with the expanded
coloristic possibilities of an orchestra (you can hear Sir Eugene Goossens'
transcription of the second movement, Le gibet, performed by
Geoffrey Simon and the Philharmonia Orchestra on CALA 1005). This new
Ondine CD
is a very special release for the company commemorating their
20th anniversary this year. Managing director Reijo Kiilunen
explains he
chose Ondine as the name for his company because of his love
for Ravel's piano masterpiece. Appropriately, the CD also includes the
piano original of the work, played by Tzimon Barto. Grieg's Cello Concerto? Hardly. He didn't write one, but Joseph Horovitz
orchestrated Grieg's 1883 Cello Sonata which is heard here with additional
orchestration by Benjamin Wallfisch (who wrote the CD notes as well).
No question at all—it sounds like Grieg and you'll hear traces of other
works, particularly the piano concerto, but the three-movement work is
a pleasure to hear as are the 8 songs arranged for cello and orchestra,
six of which were arranged by B. Wallfisch, 2 by Michael Freyhan. Raphael
Wallfisch is the superb cellist in all with Vernon Handley conducting
the London Philharmonic, and the recorded sound is a model of clarity.
A lovely disk! EMI's Gemeni series includes a welcome 2-CD set of "real"
Grieg featuring Sir John Barbirolli's 1969/1970 Hallé recordings of
the Homage March, Norwegian Dances and Lyric Suite (superb sound!),
and Sir Thomas Beecham's famous 1955 recording of the concert overture
In Autumn. We also have Pavo Berglund's 1981 recordings of Symphonic
Dances and Old Norwegian Romance with Variations. A fine
set, and at budget price. Of extraordinary interest to collectors is a private issue of performances
by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony. Featured are two symphonies
by Siberian-born Alexei Haieff (1914-1994) who made his career in the
United States before settling in Rome in the '70's. Haieff, influenced
by Boulanger and Stravinsky, worked with
two major choreographers of the past century, won two Guggenheim
Fellowships,
was
awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, had his music
performed by major conductors, and was a conductor himself
(he led the first broadcast of Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto).
Yet today his music is virtually forgotten (nothing by him is listed
on the
ArkivMusic site). Critics of his time considered him to
be a very skilled composer and a very good craftsman. Munch conducted
music of Haieff carrying on Serge Koussevitzky's tradition of championing
American works, and made this recording of Symphony No. 2 for RCA (issued
on LSC 2352, coupled with Easley Blackwood's Symphony #1), out of print
for many years. Symphony No. 3 is heard in a broadcast of the premiere
performance. There's a good reason why Haieff's orchestral music isn't
heard today—it doesn't have much to say, in spite of the craft displayed
in its composition. Surely these vivid performances by Munch and the
Bostonians do what can be done for this music, which often shows traces
of Stravinsky, whose Jeu de cartes fills out this CD (a dazzling
performance!), from the RCA stereodisk where it was incongruously
coupled with Poulenc's Organ
Concerto (LSC
2567)—also deleted. This is a private CD issue; for information contact:
roppenheim@satx.rr.com R.E.B. (June2005) |