Nominations, please! But please note, only one per person - plus reasons (very important)!
My nomination for 2012: Julius Beliczay Symphony in D minor, Op.45 (Pannon Classic).
Reasons: This is a large-scale Major Symphonic Statement. Its idiom is a cross between the classicism of Brahms and the New German School - perhaps the nearest symphony in feel is Dvorak 7, although one can discern echoes of Beethoven 9 in the first movement and the motto theme of the opening is perhaps downstream from Volkmann 1.
But it's the intense memorability of the music that really strikes one; there's the pent-up tension of the first movement, the relaxed, intermezzo-like mood of the second movement, the songful melancholy of the slow movement with its agonised climax (think Schubert 9) and the joyous release and excitement of the finale with its glorious coda, brass intoning in good, Wagnerian fashion.
A reissue of this (excellent) recording is surely a must...
If I may comment on that- having seen a work (possibly the accompanying serenade?) in score by Beliczay @ IMSLP and notes to the LP or CD of the symphony online (probably the CD, if it was available at the time I was looking) (if I remember) - I'm now even more intrigued and will try to hear that. Thanks! (I think there's (hopefully is, not was) a 2nd symphony in MS but have no idea if it will surface...)
(Ah, rereading I see that this isn't a Fanfare want list sort of thing (which I also do like) of subjectively-best CDs issued in the last year, and that the CD still hasn't been reissued. Was confused. And will think about my answer, after the good fortune of encountering so _much_ striking, good, new to me music in the last year, much though not all of it because of this forum.)
My discovery is not a musical opus, but rather a conductor whose name I'm known for decades, but somehow I never heard any recordings, until now thanks to EMI. And that's Carl Schuricht. I've heard a lot of Beethoven in my time and own many sets of the symphonies. But his EMI set is just astonishing! Does any orchestra anywhere have such colorful winds anymore? But the real excitement was the conducting: thrilling, unmannered, spot on perfect. There's not a dog in the nine. The 3rd is a knockout. Schuricht is certainly and unsung conductor who had a broad repertoire - both familiar and not. The bonus of the Bruckner symphonies (in more modern sound) was icing on an already marvelous cake. Too bad Schuricht didn't reocrd a lot more.
Marie Jaell's Piano Concertos 1 and 2
Sheer joy to listen to throughout both, piano well balanced with orchestra, interesting development, strong endings, everything I could want in a rich romantic piano concerto, and there are two of them!!
Alan requested that we keep to one composition per person, but as a new contributor, I think we can stretch a point for you, Matt, and accept the two concertos. ;)
I think your reaction is well justified.
I am still trying to narrow down my own list of discoveries to a single piece, and I am finding it very difficult indeed!
*sticks head in again (while still deciding :( ) - I didn't see "composition", just "discovery" - the difference in answer-scope could be considerable.
QuoteI didn't see "composition", just "discovery" - the difference in answer-scope could be considerable.
In order to illustrate this distinction, I am now going to give this vote for my
discovery of the year:
it has been this
UC forum - albeit in its previous incarnation!
(In its current state the downloadable content is almost negligeable for me - the discussions have some Raff here,
some Rufinatscha there, but an overall refreshing momentum and variety has gone since. I know, there are still
exceptions to this simplified impressions, so I'll keep my forum membership. And I don't want to reopen this kind
of discussion again, pardon :-)
I've been able to find recordings of so much music here which I couldn't find elsewhere.
Thank you all for your great contributions!
Quote from: mjkFendrich on Saturday 22 December 2012, 09:23
it has been this UC forum - albeit in its previous incarnation!...And I don't want to reopen this kind of discussion again, pardon :-) I've been able to find recordings of so much music here which I couldn't find elsewhere. Thank you all for your great contributions!
Thanks for your thanks - I think!
Of course, from our point of view the return of UC to its roots has actually saved UC from closure and the debate has been much more palatable. And no more lists and catalogues which were impossible to keep tabs on...
I'm glad you have retained your membership and trust that there will something of interest to you from time to time at UC.
Despite 2012 being a very good year for "new to me" music, including several Raff discoveries in Tra Nguyen's piano series for Grand Piano, my recorded discovery of the year is a very recent one: the broadcast performance of Massenet's opera Le Mage, which aired only a few weeks ago. I have loved Massenet's sometimes-perfumed, sometimes-Wagnerian music since I bought the Sutherland/Bonynge LP set of Esclarmonde decades ago and it has remained my favourite amongst his operas, closely followed by the very different pair of Thaïs and Werther. When I discovered decades ago that between Esclarmonde and those two he had written another large-scale opera, Le Mage, I was desperate to hear it but, although almost every one of his operas eventually became available, Le Mage seemed destined to go unrecorded and unheard.
Most of us have unsung "Holy Grails" and, inevitably, attaining them sometimes brings with it disappointment. I can certainly think of several of mine which fell well below my expectations. Not so this piece. It's sound world resembles those of Esclarmonde and Thaïs in many aspects (a huge bonus in itself), and his lyrical evocation of the exotic setting is just as full-blooded. The piece is written on an epic scale, including an 18 minute ballet in the fourth act, it has many spine-tinglingly grand choral moments, the orchestra has a strong presence throughout, and it has both meltingly intimate scenes and fiery dramatic confrontations. The work's finale is as dramatic and exciting as one could wish for. Throughout Massenet's wonderful melodic gift is to the fore. I'm not sure how well it would work in the theatre but as a listening experience for me it joins my trio of Massenet favourites as a worthy fourth in a string of incredibly enjoyable and satisfying operas. I'm still getting to know it properly, still getting more pleasure each time I listen to it but, for me, whatever the reverse of disappointment is, this was it.
Alan, I hope, will forgive me taking a leaf out of Martin's book and nominating a conducting discovery: Donald Runnicles. We were in Philadelphia for the first time recently and took the opportunity to go to a Philadelphia Orchestra concert in the Kimmel Center. If I'm honest I wasn't too excited by the programme: Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.1 (Lars Vogt the soloist), followed by "bleeding chunks" from Wagner's Ring. Unlike the Boston Symphony, which I've heard several times in recent years and has usually disappointed, the Philadelphia Orchestra isn't resting on its laurels. The sound was absolutely fabulous, but it was Runnicles' conducting of the Wagner highlights which impressed me most. Although I was a bit sniffy about hearing "bleeding chunks" in concert, I was utterly unprepared for the power and splendour of the orchestra's sound and the majestic integrity of Runnicles' interpretation. He began with the Ride of the Valkyries, then we had Forest Murmurs and finally, run together seamlessly and incorporating substantial passages not usually heard in such purely orchestral excerpts: Dawn, Siegfried's Journey Down the Rhine, Siegfried's Funeral Music and the end of Götterdämmerung. I have never, ever, been so utterly absorbed by music in a concert hall like that. Energised one minute, desolate the next, at the end I was completely drained by the power of Wagner's music, music which I thought I knew really well. Drained or no, like everyone else in that hall I jumped to my feet and cheered, something which this undemonstrative Englishmen doesn't do lightly. Runnicles is apparently a famed Wagnerian and has held a string of prestigious opera house and concert orchestra directorships. He has recorded hardly at all, though, so I just hadn't heard of him.
As I wrote to you privately, Mark, Runnicles is one of our unsung conducting heroes. His recording of Tristan is fabulous.
BTW my conductor discovery of the year is Rene Leibowitz: his set of the Beethoven symphonies recorded with Beecham's RPO in 1961 shows that HIP is actually old hat - except that Leibowitz allows the RPO strings some vibrato!!!
Has the "refreshing momentum and variety" of UC disappeared, as mjkFendrich suggests?
Not at all for me. Before the reins were tightened and the forum given a sharper and clearer focus I despaired that UC was fast becoming a shambles. True, the site positively throbbed as new postings came cascading in. But many of them took the form of mere lists of, for example, the orchestral works of Piotr Zak (Lilliput 2008-) and with no regard at all to his instrumental, chamber or choral works and - and this is the crucial bit - absolutely no discussion of these works. We come to the site surely to widen our knowledge and understanding of the works of unsung composers, test our own views, hunches and prejudices - and not to wade through innumerable shopping lists. Mere lists are for me a simple mug's game. We also got treated to supposedly authoritative statements promising enlightenment, but in fact which were nothing but thinly disguised bits of plagiarised text from elsewhere.
I was glad that all this got trimmed out, even though I regret the loss of a couple of previous contributors whose postings bristled with intelligence, knowledge and occasional good humour.
What remains is a site that often enables me to feel I've sailed into a safe harbour from the desolate seas outside. For years in my own private reading I've come across names like, for example, Algernon Ashton, Woldemar Bargiel, Frederic Cliffe, Albert Dietrich, Joseph Eybler, Eduard Franck, Theodore Gouvy, Henri Herz (and that's just one name plucked at random from each letter of the alphabet up to H) and have wondered if maybe I'm a quite solitary figure wanting to know more about them. And then on discovering the UC site a couple of years ago I've felt as if I've suddenly entered a crowded roomful of people busily talking about these names.
It is a quite wonderful feeling being here - so a heartfelt thank you to you all (and plentiful seasonal greetings!)
My nomination is the Piano Quintet in D flat major, op. 5 by the Dutch composer Dirk Schäfer (NM Classics, 1994).
I like the intimacy and warmth of chamber music. Schäfers Piano Quintet (1901) offers everything what I like about full-blooded romantic chamber music. It's all about powerful, energetic and well-developed themes in the faster movements, but also the striking tenderness of the adagio. The sparkling main theme of the 3rd movement is altered with a slow, delicate passage. Schäfer shows his craftmanship in the fascinating dialogue between the string instruments and the piano. To my ears wonderful music and it has become one of my favourites in this genre.
The Piano Concerto in d by George Frederick Boyle that was posted right here on the UC Forum. I had begun to think that Mrs. Beach's and MacDowell's 0Concertos were about the only significant American piano concertos written during the Romantic Period. Wrong. Boyle's concerto may not be quite up to MacDowell, but if not, he runs a pretty close second.....
Incidentally, Alan, I've looked high and low for the Beliczay Symphony - sadly without success. Now I feel even worse...... :(
Jerry
Re the Beliczay: I was extremely fortunate to pick up a second-hand copy via Amazon.com from a very helpful US seller. It seems there are no more copies around. Let's hope it is soon re-issued.
Quote from: Alan Howe on Saturday 22 December 2012, 11:02
BTW my conductor discovery of the year is Rene Leibowitz: his set of the Beethoven symphonies recorded with Beecham's RPO in 1961 shows that HIP is actually old hat - except that Leibowitz allows the RPO strings some vibrato!!!
Amen to that! That set I've known for 50 years - first on LP, now mercifully on CD. Leibowitz the composer is not so pleasant - but what a conductor he turned out to be!
He was also one of Allan Pettersson's main teachers.
Looking over the list of items I added to my iTunes folder in the last year I see there are quite a few I haven't even gotten to yet (!!), and a few of the many that I have, that want considering for "discovery of the year" for me. Musically it really was a fantastically good year for new discoveries, I think. (As with Fanfare's Want Lists I _want_ to mention the Honorable Mentions etc., but... maybe on my own site or somewhere...)
Restricting myself to the material of this forum's time/stylistic frame (so removing from consideration one item which, though I've listened to it in parts and all the way through its great length several times, was composed in the middle of the 20th century and, too, is not really "Romantic" exactly) - and to works I've heard more than once (- one more very excellent, serious contender alas) - hrm... that may still leave me with a few- from which I choose the (synthesized version of) Franz Paul Lachner's 6th symphony. Despite some oddnesses in intonation that may be from the score or may be from the sequencing (esp. in the first movement?), clear from the performance that this deserved all its contemporary praise and more, and deserves, I think, a real revival... strong, memorable, lovely stuff, carries me away.
(Again, there were several other things I heard on this forum, on IMSLP or elsewhere that satisfied e.g. one of my first criteria - "could I play this for a non-fanatic fan without making special pleading, explanations or excuses, just as some good music to hear" and were very good music besides - but better competition and too many works to choose between than a thin field :) .)
My personal discovery of the year must be Willem Andriessen's (Hendrik's brother; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_andriessen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_andriessen)) D flat piano concerto from 1908. Wonderful, lush yet tender.
Here's a link to a CD containing Willem Andriessen's PC:
http://oud.eptanederland.nl/publicaties/cd-andriessen.php (http://oud.eptanederland.nl/publicaties/cd-andriessen.php)
How might I order it, Ilja?
Alan, I'm afraid you can't since they only take Dutch bank transfers and don't ship out of the country. However, I'm happy to order it for anyone interested and ship it to them. If I estimate conservatively, it should come to about under 12-13 GBP or around 20 USD including postage.
I'll bear that in mind, Ilja - thanks. I've emailed them, so let's see what they say first...
For a listen, try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRkvPXQ3POU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRkvPXQ3POU)
A lovely romantic piece. For some reason, reminds me a bit of Arthur DeGreef.
Jerry
Wow, Ilja, what a discovery! Especially the slow movement is utterly gorgeous. Thank you for bringing this concerto to our attention.
Just chucking in my tuppence worth. Willem's younger brother (by 5 years), Hendrik, is a pretty good composer too. Try a 2CD set of his orchestral works (including Symphonies 1-4) on Etcetera performed by the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra with a number of different conductors. It was one of my 'best finds' from a couple of years ago.
Music runs in the family since Hendrik's son, Louis, is a prominent Dutch composer. (However my very prejudiced view is: don't go there! That which I've heard seems to me yet another contemporary cerebral racket without much musical interest - and I don't much care if someone tells me I'm wrong!)
How, Peter (the younger), are Willem and Hendrik regarded in your own country? Do their works appear in concerts?
I have come late to the Gernsheim symphonies, but they are certainly a major highlight of my 2012 listening. Gernsheim does sublimate his personal voice a bit in the last two symphonies, but they are extremely well written and big hearted. And for that matter, my favorite Dvorak symphony, no. 7, likewise pays homage to Brahms. Once again, the discerning listeners who frequent this forum have led me to a treasurable listening experience. Hooray for UC!
My conductor discovery of the year has to be Franz Konwitschny. His 1951 recording of Bruckner 2 has an elasticity, naturalness, and eloquence that makes me catch my breath. Also, Konwitschny uses the Haas edition, which eschews the inartistic cuts of the Novak (perpetuating Bruckner's sad albeit understandable attempts to trim his epic vision for the sake of performances).
Quote from: petershott@btinternet.com on Sunday 23 December 2012, 16:38
How, Peter (the younger), are Willem and Hendrik regarded in your own country? Do their works appear in concerts?
Not that I'm aware of, Peter. However, sometimes works of both brothers Jurriaan (1925-96) and Louis (b. 1939) are broadcast. Father Hendrik (1892-1981) was rather experimental with composing and his work is broadcast very occasionally. However, it seems that Hendrik's brother Willem (1887-1964) is completely forgotten, despite his wonderful piano concerto. This is classical music of the very best of its kind, which I cannot say from the other Andriessen composers, although I've never heard music by the founding father, Nico Andriessen (1845-1913). Are you still with me...? ;)
A search ""hendrik andriessen" site:concertzender.nl/programmagids.php" on google picks up a few thousand hits (mostly commercial recordings, mostly CDs- some are rebroadcasts of earlier programs also picked up by the search, etc.) (including in 2008 a program of Hommage to Hendrik Andriessen.) Could be better, could be worse.
Quote from: Alan Howe on Sunday 23 December 2012, 12:59
I'll bear that in mind, Ilja - thanks. I've emailed them, so let's see what they say first...
I am reasonably certain that is the same place I ordered my CD from and they accepted paypal.
Thal
Oh good. I've suggested Paypal...
I thought that I was an unsung composer addict, in that I'm interested in the likes of Marschner, Cornelius, and Spontini, but you people put me to shame. An additional limitation on my unsung composer credentials is that most of the composers I'm interested in are, somewhere or other, in the orbit of a very sung composer, namely Wagner. With these factors in mind, I nominate Lachner's Catharina Cornaro, the recording of which I discovered through this group. As is well known, Wagner entertained unjustified grievances against Lachner, and was particularly irritated when a performance of Catharina replaced a planned one of Rienzi. I was glad to have my curiosity about Lachner's work satisfied, and found it a serious and impressive work by a composer with an individual voice--distinctly superior to Donizetti's opera on the same subject.
Good choice Derek. I was at the recording and was impressed by the work, too. I'm not saying that Catharina is a better opera than Rienzi, but it is a good example of how wary we should be of accepting the prejudices of history without, if we can, testing them for ourselves. In music, as in everything else, history tends to be written by the victors.
Oh, and Happy Christmas, one and all!
Although not featuring in our forum, the unsung composer who has made the biggest impression on me during 2012, and was totally new to me, is without doubt the neo-romantic Canadian, Godfrey Ridout (1918-84). The delicate touch in his passionate orchestral songs, recalling that special pastoral English soundscape in the tradition of Elgar, Finzi, et al., is pure joy.
For me, the best discovery of music by a composer with whom I was reasonably familiar is probably the overtures by Raff, courtesy of UC. Romeo and Juliet in particular is wonderfully orchestrated, fresh and inventive (my order will go in for the Chandos CD as soon as available). Another Shakespearean piece - Othello by RK Hadley – came a very close second.
For the most unforgiveably neglected composer discovered through UC in 2012, my vote goes to Rudolf Zamrzla, on the basis of his Symphonic Suite for Large Orchestra, uploaded to the Czech music thread. It made an immediate impact on several members of the forum, and the sparkling invention, crisp orchestration, and sustained sense of logic suggest a remarkably talented composer, and yet there is almost nothing about him on the www.
Of course, these choices are liable to be quite different tomorrow! ;D
For me, it has to be Stojowski's Symphony, from the downloads section on this forum - a really powerful, excellent work which really deserves to be more widely heard.
I fully agree, Jonathan. And I'm surprised there is no recording available of this impressive symphony (at least not yet).
If you don't know it do treat yourself to the Suite for Orchestra - that together with the late 'Prayer for Poland' is available on an excellent Dux CD. 'Suite' normally suggests something lesser (and less noisy) than a fully fledged symphony. But Stojowski's Suite is a real masterpiece - beautifully orchestrated. (And this Dux CD is overall a gem of a disc.)
There are also two Hyperion discs - Jonathan Plowright with the piano concertos and then some very good music for solo piano.
The Violin Concerto also sounded to me an interesting work, but loath as I am to say it, its sole recording is a bit of a dud on account of the performance. A pity since that might make others less inclined to take up the work.
There is also plenty of Stojowski yet to be revealed - so let's hope this time next year you have another Stojowski 'discovery of the year'.
2012 has been a surprisingly good year for the collector of unsung music. I honestly didn't expect that many recordings of the unsung being released. Keep them coming!
Choosing one work is of course always difficult, but looking through the pile of Cd's I have purchased, the highlight for me is John Foulds' Cello Concerto. Over a hundred years before the first recording!? A very melodious and impressing work, with the beautiful second movement being a highlight.
In April, I was fortunate enough to hear James Conlon and the Oslo Philharmonic performing Zemlinskys' Die Seejungfrau. First time ever in this country. Not a new discovery for me, but still a magnificent work.
Morten
*looks to see if there's a "Rediscovery of the Year" thread here, have already been thinking about that - for quite some time. That strong returning-anew-as though (somewhat) new feeling, several times this year...
For me, the discovery of the year was easily Saint-Saens' Henri viii. Thanks to online scores and several cd and even 2 dvd recordings, I was able to really prepare myself in advance of the Bard festival performance, and the work was well worth the effort. This is a marvelous piece of musical theatre: sophisticated in melody, vividly characterized, brilliantly orchestrated. The advance it represents over Samson et Dalila is considerable...Samson, delightful as it is, seems almost cartoonish by comparison. Saint-Saens' use of Renaissance dance music is surely without precedent for the 1880s, even if the style chosen is rather later than the Henrician period. My only caveat is that every performance I have access to, even the one I saw, omits Henry's big scene preceeding the Synod. Including this would make the evening a long one, but surely we need more from Henry after his big aria in Act I, non?
For those interested, the most musically effective performance, IMO, is the one led by Sir John Pritchard, taken live from a French Radio broadcast in 1989. It appears on Ebay from time to time, or on various live opera sites. The under-rated Alain Fondary is a commanding Henry, and only the tenor really disappoints.
Not to mention that, for once, the critics of the New York Times fully recognized the work's quality. No sniffing at all.
David
My discovery this year was a composer previously unknown to me, Estonian composer Artur Lemba (1885-1963). Thanks to fr8nks, who uploaded several of his piano concertos. It appears that the Piano Concerto No. 1 (of 5) is the only one ever issued on CD. I managed to track down more of his works, including his Symphony in C sharp minor.
If I had to choose one piece of his that is my discovery of the year, it would be his Piano Concerto No. 2, a delightfully and unabashedly romantic concerto. Not as virtuosic as some others, perhaps, but pure listening pleasure. Unless I listen to his 3rd, which then becomes my favorite. Oh well.
As for the Andriessen piano concerto, I agree, but I had been familiar with that piece for years. The recording is 55 years old. It can be heard/downloaded from YouTube and the MP3 from other sources. (The hard to acquire CD might be the same recording and have been remastered, I don't know.)
Can't resist adding the comment that although I admire Neeme Jarvi greatly I'd admire him even more if, in his long and distinguished career, he had devoted more attention to recording the works of his once fellow countrymen rather than, for example, Tchaikovsky ballets. After all there is a second symphony by Lemba (although I don't know it), and, as you say, four other piano concertos. Not to mention four operas! Those two 'Music from Estonia' CDs that Jarvi did for Chandos quite a few years ago are fascinating - but frustrating because one wants to hear more of the composers featured.
Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon!
I don't think you can really complain about Järvi's discography. But we've been here before. So, back to the topic...
I doubt I'd be able to make a choice because I can't even remember what was FROM this year (be it newly released or me simply buying it) in the first place outside the most recent ones....I know there's been a whole bunch of stuff though, from clarinet music by Muller and Magnani (and Standford) to the orchestral music of Halvorsen to Liadov and of course Raff piano music. I mean, would a fantastic disc from 2002 of George Templteton Strong count too?
Anything discovered this year - whenever it was issued - was the intended subject of this thread.
My nomination for unsung discovery of the year is Leoncavallo's Memeli. As with several of Mascagni's later operas, this last opera amply demonstrates that he wasn't simply a one-off opera composer as the operatic world has condemned him (ad Mascagni) to be.
This release by Bongiovanni (GB 2457-2)(see CPO for sound bites) may not be a perfect studio recording but the main singers command the long stretches of high tessitura that the composer demands. I find its dynamic drive almost riveting and as with the recent release of I Medici, it's hard to believe why it's not been more successful. I suspect, as with mature Mascagni operas, the vocal writing has proved too daunting for many a singer.
The Azione storica in due episodi, as Leoncavallo titles the work, concerns particular events of Italy's Risorgimento crusade. Verdi wrote Risorgimento operas but none of them dealt with the real events of the days as this opera does, albeit retrospectively. The hero of the title is Goffredo Memeli who dies fighting for his cause at the end. Of course there's a love affair – between Goffredo and Delia Terzaghi – that allows Leoncavallo some romantic respite in the midst of the almost headlong gallop of the revolutionary episodes.
Equal in length to I pagliacci, the opera is almost an ideal partner for the ubiquitous Cavalliera rusticana!
Well done Bongiovanni and now, please, give us Maia!
Konrad Dryden in his biography describes Maia as being Leoncavallo's 'last successful attempt at creating a verismo opera that is both charming and compelling. Act 1 contains some of the composer's most inspired vocal writing. Although the work is handicapped by Choudens' poor libretto,(which opera isn't?) the sheer beauty of Leoncavallo's music generously compensates for any of its shortcomings.'
Let's hope Signore Frontalini will find his way to it as he has done with other Leoncavallo operas and some by Ponchielli.
What I find with so many of these productions is that the singing just isn't up to scratch - and that the orchestras used are simply too provincial. I really want to like the new recording of Mameli, but I'm frankly scared of buying it - the excerpts at jpc sound pretty awful to me.
The review at Classics Today...
http://www.classicstoday.com/review/loud-patriotism-from-leoncavallo/?search=1 (http://www.classicstoday.com/review/loud-patriotism-from-leoncavallo/?search=1)
...is probably fair - and it's the comment here about the quality of the singing that would rule it out as a purchase for me. As far as I'm concerned if the singing's below par, I'm very unlikely to listen to it more than once.
I don't doubt the quality of the music, by the way...
I'm enjoying Le Mage too, Mark - very much so, in fact. Just one thing, though - it lacks Massenet's customary melodic memorability. But it strikes me that he might have been striking out in a new, more dramatic direction - it has a lot of heavy Wagnerian brass writing, doesn't it? Marvellous stuff, though. And very well played and pretty well sung. If a recording is issued it'll be a must-buy.
It will be issued on CD I believe - or at least so said the St Etienne festival web page. As for melodic memorability, it has its moments, I think, but maybe they are fewer than in Thaïs or Werther for example. For me, it is pretty much a twin of Esclarmonde, which is equally Wagnerian and isn't as suffused with melos as some of Massenet's productions. But I love Esclarmonde, so that's OK!
QuoteWhat I find with so many of these productions is that the singing just isn't up to scratch - and that the orchestras used are simply too provincial.
If a recording gives me the opportunity to hear something I'd otherwise never get to know, then I'm quite willing to accept a poorer recording/interpretation so that I can determine whether any particular piece of music has fallen into obscurity or disrepute justifiably or not. There are numerous instances of initial public reaction to a piece or its critics condemning it to the history books when a modern re-appraisal can help us to verify the original viewpoint or not, as the case may be.
Please don't be too disapproving of provincial theatre, Alan, – here in Germany at least it often produces a more acceptable interpretation of a piece without the triple A stars that the heavily subsidised houses often foist upon us to no artistic avail. Without the provincial opera in Germany we wouldn't have recordings of works that would otherwise have gone unheard in our lifetime; e.g. D'Albert's Die schwarze Orchidee from Augsburg, Gounod's La nonne sanglante from Osnabrück and Gomes' Il guarany from Bonn to name but a few!
Whatever the recording's shortcomings I'm immensely grateful to listen to an opera that isn't even mentioned in my 1980 New Grove!
Below-par singing and orchestral playing severely compromise the enjoyment to be had from recordings of unsung opera, in my view. OK, it's handy to find out whether a certain piece is any good or not, but too often the result is simply not good enough for repeated listening.
As for the provincial theatres in Germany, I agree - the standards are often very high. I myself lived in Germany in the seventies and can testify to this; however, with the recording of Mameli, we're not talking about a provincial German performance, but one emanating from the Ukraine.
I'm glad that Mameli turns out to be a rather good opera, but I want to be able to enjoy the singing and playing...
I'm in two minds here. On the one hand I agree with Alan that no-one much wants to devote precious money to acquiring a recorded performance of an opera that is below one's expected standard in terms of performance or recording. Such things, in my experience, tend to get played once and then languish on the shelves unplayed for years. And one never discards them if they happen to be the sole recording of the work in question. One simply can't, as Alan says, enjoy them.
But then we've only got into this position because of the very superior audio equipment that has become available to us after the demise of the 78. The LP was wonderful, but I can recall my amazement with the introduction of the CD that the whole of an act could be fitted onto a CD and that one no longer had to leap from the chair to turntable in the middle of an act and even perhaps remove the fluff from the stylus before resuming one's listening. We now demand the 'best' possible performance and have lost the capacity to enjoy anything that isn't of the same standard. The whole business of comparative reviews and awarding of ratings and stars in the magazines encourages this. And, most obvious of all, we listen to our operas in our comfortable living rooms and not in the theatre. True enough, it is quite marvellous not to trudge through the rain to the opera house and then to sit two rows behind an overweight lady constantly stuffing chocolates into her face (my last experience at ENO). But at the same time we have irretrievably lost a huge amount in no longer being able to, as it were, smell the greasepaint and engage with an actual performance.
To illustrate: a good number of years ago I was lucky to catch three different productions of Die Meistersinger within a six month period. One took place in the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. The theatre was (astonishingly) half-empty, and one was often conscious of the sound of the trains rumbling below ground coming into Lime Street station. All the hallmarks of a 'provincial' production perhaps, and doubtless if a recording company had been there I dare say the discs issued would have got a proper drubbing. However in terms of a musical production in a theatre it was unquestionably the most moving performance of the opera I have ever seen - it completely knocked sideways the two other star-studded and prestigious productions I saw in the same period.
Moral: through the availability of high standard performances straight into our living rooms via high standard reproduction equipment we've become trapped, and can no longer enjoy or even tolerate anything below that. And that's a relatively recent phenomenon and, sadly, it results in us losing so much.
By chance I've just been re-reading Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality. Rousseau's complaint is that we over-fed, disease and pain free citizens might well yearn for the natural life where all was apparently good and wholesome. But we've now become so accustomed to property, hospitals, schools, policemen, transport systems and so forth that we've got to a point where we can no longer go back through history to the time before we put up fences around our patch and invented meum et tuum. The apparent benefits of civilisation have corrupted us and we have rushed headlong into our chains. Likewise because of our reliance upon excellence in performance and our superior hi-fi we've become trapped into a situation where the enjoyment to be had from opera recordings is severely compromised if we've confronted by below-par singing and orchestral playing ...and especially if such recordings emanate from the Ukraine!
I've also got a friend working in the (in my view pretty dubious) area of cognitive psychotherapy. She tells me that many of her well-heeled clients have become so habituated to pornography that when confronted by the real thing they curl up in horror and dismay. Fortunately I can manage quite well without my porn. But perhaps, says me with impish grin, a lavishly produced boxed set of an immaculately prepared, studio bound, star-studded, triple A rated recorded opera performance is the new kind of porn. Blu-Ray as opposed to blue film?
But, ahem, both moderator and commentator have wandered quite away from the thread.
Methinks you over-complicate, Peter. I just take no pleasure from listening to unpleasant-sounding voices and scratchy orchestras. Put simply: the point of a recording is to perpetuate a performance. So the performance needs to be worth perpetuating in the first place. I'm not after perfection (otherwise my collection would be pretty small), but opera recordings in particular require a lot of skill to pull them off; a couple of microphones and some recording equipment brought to some third-rate theatre just aren't good enough...
It would have to be Waghalter, for me. Although I've done some relistening of the Karlowicz Violin Concerto, and the structural similarities are striking (although there are some variances as well).
Do I over-complicate things? I think you're probably right, Alan. Sometimes a simple task such as tying up the bootlaces can present itself as a major conceptual minefield. Maybe it is having a background in philosophy, where nothing can be taken for granted, all notions have to be dissected, and every step has to be carefully thought through.
No matter. But I think my claim that (in Rousseau like language) we have been 'corrupted' by repeated exposure to top notch recordings still holds true. For example, nothing now can quite match the sheer thrill and excitement of a 13 year old boy trapped in a glum boarding school listening to a Ring cycle with an exceedingly grotty little transistor radio under the bedclothes and following the libretto with his torch. Those were the days, but then not for anything would I go back to them!
Re: Leoncavallo's Mameli - a small clarification
The recording wasn't made in the Ukraine, but in Sondalo, Italy. As far as I can gather from the Italian press it was the conclusion of a tour with concert performances in at least Messina, Palermo and Monaco. The main orchestra is Ukrainian with supplementary musicians from an Italian orchestra. One choir is Italian and the other Albanian. The singers are mostly Italian as is the conductor. The performances were billed as the first since the première in Genoa in 1916.
Thanks for that useful clarification, Colin. I only had scant online info to go on, although I can hear enough of the performance from the excerpts at jpc to have a pretty good idea what it's like - i.e. not very good. I repeat: opera is very hard to do on a shoestring and it really needs to be done well.
Ah, Peter. Those were the days. I too listened to many an opera performance on a transistor radio; and I bought the odd pirated set of LPs of something exotic when I lived in Germany - usually in terrible sound. However: the Wagner I heard broadcast was usually from somewhere like Bayreuth or Covent Garden or Sadler's Wells, so it was often brilliantly sung and played. I can't say I remember listening to Wagner from Sondalo or somesuch. And the pirated LPs at least preserved something worth preserving - such as Sutherland, Corelli et al. in Les Huguenots from La Scala - even if the sound was terrible.
I realise that poorly-sung opera is a problem for me. I was always of the John Steane school of vocal appreciation - i.e., although I admire singers who are great interpreters (e.g. Callas, Pears), I find their vocal flaws excruciating to listen to. To this day I still cannot stand anything sung by Pears and I find much of Callas' singing post the mid-fifties a trial. Give me Tebaldi or Price any day. And so, when it comes to provincial recordings of opera, the results can be really terrible - as so much of Bongiovanni's catalogue demonstrates, I'm afraid. So I'll be giving Mameli a miss - with great regret, of course.
Maybe I come too late.
My choice is Rabaud's Symphony n.2. Since a longish time I didn't hear a "new" (for me) fine late French romantic symphony (the last had been d'Indy's Italian Symphony).
Alberto, you beat me to it! I had already posted re- the Rabaud symphony in the New Recordings thread, and was thinking that I would nominate this symphony as my discovery of the year when I read your post. I must say that this symphony made a striking impression on me!
The Rabaud is an exciting find, of that there is no doubt.
The Ribaud Sym 2 is not yet released in the U.S. So maybe it will be my discovery of the year for 2013. :)
For me it was finally getting to listen to Christmas Eve by Rimsky-Korsakov. A gorgeous, magical opera which would be more ideal than anything I can think of as Christmastime opera for families, instead of the inevitable Hansel, masterpiece though it is. Hansel simply has nothing to do with Christmas, while the Rimsky has everything to do with it. I would live to see the Met put it on.
Off topic, Alan, but I agree. And Beverly Sills used to drive me crazy with her warbly, off pitch vibrato.....
Jerry
I agree, Jerry. I couldn't listen to Sills either. Far too much vibrato.
Without trying to be twee or 'cute', I will join a few others here and say the discovery of the year has been this group! Many thanks to Alan and everyone else.
Richard
I'm sure we appreciate the high level of debate which has been the result of new members joining UC. Keep the contributions coming!
Crikey.... makes it sound as if the older members seriously let the side down!!
And congratulations on your 4000th post, Alan. That's a case for another crikey!
It's the mix of senior and newer members that makes for such good debate, I'm sure. (Thinks: hope that's sufficient to satisfy everyone... ;) ;)!!)
As for my posts - well, I'm still over 200 behind the indefatigable, nay indomitable and irrepressible Eric!
Yes, congratulations, Alan! My apologies for missing that momentous milestone, which is testimony to your commitment to giving the unsung composers, whether great or forgettable, a fair hearing. Like so many others, I continue to benefit enormously from your knowledge and erudition. Thank you. :)
I'm flattered. But I just rely on my ears and whatever experience I have gained. There are others on this forum far more knowledgeable than me, I'm sure.
My discovery of last year has to be the beautiful Symphony in C Minor by Blumenfeld on Dutton. Simply wonderful and the Catoire isn't bad either, but as I want to choose only one work it has to be the Blumenfeld. I will probably wear the CD out and everyone in my house will be fed up with the piece soon!
Based on a no longer available recording of that same symphony, I sympathize- it's lovely and _really_ memorable (I think).
Quote from: eschiss1 on Monday 07 January 2013, 22:08
Based on a no longer available recording of that same symphony, I sympathize- it's lovely and _really_ memorable (I think).
Totally in accord. It is a beautiful work, and I hope nobody takes offence if I say that it reminds me at times of certain classic Hollywood film scores, which many regard as the ultimate in what the ABC here in Australia calls "swoon"! ;D