Classical Notes

BY NICK BOSTON

PREVIEWS

) Live from London – Spring. Voces8’s spring festival continues, with a performance of Fauré’s Requiem on Friday, April 2 at 7pm.

Voces8, conducted by Barnaby Smith, are joined by the English Chamber Orchestra, with soloists Andrea Haines (soprano) and Jonathan Pacey (bass), and the programme also includes Barber’s Adagio, Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine, Bach’s O Jesu Christ and Mein’s Lebens Licht. Then on Sunday, April 4 at 7pm, Voces8 perform Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Academy of Ancient Music. Violinist Rachel Podger is the guest leader, and soloists include Carolyn Sampson (soprano) and Iestyn Davies (countertenor). You can join Robert Hollingworth and his ensemble, I Fagiolini, for one

of their successful Sing the Score sessions, this time singing Byrd’s Deus Venerunt Gentes, on Sunday, April 18 at 7pm. And finally, I Fagiolini perform the Byrd, along with music by Victoria, Leighton and Vaughan Williams, as well as world premiere commissions to mark Earth Day on Thursday, April 22 at 7pm. Concerts are streamed live online then available on demand until the end of April. Tickets and info at voces8.foundation. ) London Symphony Orchestra Online. The LSO has teamed up with Marquee TV, and you can catch concerts via the platform for free (with registration). John Wilson conducts the orchestra in Ravel’s Valses Noble et Sentimentales, as well as Bennett’s arrangement of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess – A Symphonic Picture (from Thursday, April 8), then Gianandrea Noseda conducts Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Pathétique, and the premiere of Mark Simpson’s Violin Concerto, with Nicola Benedetti (from Thursday, April 22). On YouTube, you can also catch repeats of their earlier Beethoven Piano Concertos Marathon, with Krystian Zimerman, and Sir Simon Rattle conducting. These are available free for 48 hours only, from Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25 - check for times at www.lso.co.uk.

REVIEWS

) Edward Gardner Verklärte Nacht (Chandos CHSA5243). Arnold Schoenberg’s (1874-1951) Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) is inspired by a poem by Dehmel, in which a woman walks with her lover in a moonlit forest, and confesses she is pregnant by another man. Her lover ultimately forgives her, and the intensity of their love and the beauty of the moonlight brings them together. On this latest recording, Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra have cleverly explored some lesser-known works from the same period, notably Oskar Fried’s (1871-1941) setting of Verklärte Nacht, Op.9, for mezzosoprano, tenor and orchestra (with

NICOLA BENEDETTI Christine Rice and Stuart Skelton the soloists here). Fried’s setting is lush and atmospheric, with warm narrative duets contrasting with more emotionally charged solos from both characters. Rice and Skelton are beautifully matched, and Skelton shimmers at the top of his range on Glanz (glow). It is perhaps a little more obvious than Schoenberg’s intense instrumental interpretation, which here receives a wonderfully mysterious and atmospheric reading, contrasting the full weight of strings at the climactic moment, with an incredibly light touch for the lilting night music and glassy solos. The disc begins with another surprise – Fieber (Fever) by Franz Lehár (1870-1948), for tenor and orchestra. This is highly episodic – perhaps understandable when expressing the delirium of an injured soldier in hospital, flitting between calling for the nurse, thinking of his girlfriend, remembering battle and even an image of his mother,

before finally succumbing to death. Skelton is bold and emphatic, yet he also captures the sense of confusion and anguish. Skelton returns in the four Lieder des Abschieds, Op. 14, (Songs of Farewell) by Erich Korngold (1897-1957). Full of yearning, the songs employ frequent yearning vocal leaps, and Skelton’s placing is impeccably tender. Korngold’s orchestration is rich and sumptuous, and here as throughout, Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra is on top form. ) Alexandra Papastefanou Tunder Appreciated (First Hand Records FHR112). Greek-born pianist Alexandra Papastefanou has performed all of Bach’s keyboard works, and to date, her recordings have also focused on Bach, as well as her own compositions. Now she turns to Robert Schumann (1810-1856), covering all the works for piano written in 1839. The following year, 1940, is known as his Year of Song, in which he wrote over 160 vocal works. It was also the year he finally married Clara, after the extended and embittered battles with her father. While not as prolific a year, 1839 did generate a considerable number of works for the piano, and in many ways, they reflect the turbulent time of that year before he was finally able to marry the love of his life. Papastefanou has coined the term Year of Piano for her survey of this output, which she plays with clarity, avoiding overindulgence in the more romantic, expressive passages. So the Humoreske, Op. 20, is suitably boisterous and playful to begin with, yet the stuttering rhythms of the second section have a subtle unease, followed by darker, expressive then tender and lilting third and fourth sections. Schumann said when writing this “I have been sitting at the piano, composing and writing, laughing and crying all at once”, and there are certainly a lot of moods to capture here. The same might be said of the 4 Nachstücke, Op. 23, with a slightly pacy, agitated funeral procession, and swirling, darkly turbulent night revelry. Papastefanou takes some freedom with the tempi in the Arabeske, Op. 18, yet could perhaps take a little more time in the expressive recitative-like moments, but the rippling repeating rhythms have a real flow. The Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26, (Carnival Jest from Vienna), is fascinating, with its embedded reference to La Marseillaise, at that time banned in Vienna, and lively dances, rippling textures and central sad Romanze. Again, Schumann’s moods change from moment to moment, yet Papastefanou makes sense of these transitions, making coherent sense of the contrasts. A fascinating collection of lesser performed works here, and Papastefanou performs throughout with virtuosic command and sensitivity to the constantly changing moods.

More info

For more reviews, comment and events, visit: n nicks-classical-notes.blogspot.

co.uk

T @nickb86uk E nbclassical@hotmail.co.uk