Hunter Johnson - Letter to the World & Vaughan Williams - Flos Campi

An interesting disc that I happened to save from the trash. Concert Hall 1151 featuring music of Vaughan Williams and Hunter Johnson. Longtime Director of Choruses at Cornell University, Robert Hull, leads the "Concert Hall Society" Chamber Orchestra, the a Capella Chorus of Cornell, and distinguished violist Francis Tursi in Flos Campi and Letter to the World.

North Carolina born Hunter Johnson is a composer new to me. A quick scan of his biography shows that his career was centered around the university where he served as a professor in composition. Interestingly, he was the first ever composer named as composer laureate of his home state. Though a composition teacher, Johnson does not appear to have been especially prolific and most of his works were for smaller ensembles. However, "Letter to the World" is for full orchestra and it was a commissioned ballet for the illustrious Martha Graham and company. The ballet itself was designed to reflect upon the life and works of Emily Dickinson. The music is accessible and closely resembles the language of Piston and Sowerby. An interesting listen but do not expect an "Appalachian Spring" type score.

The Vaughan Williams is, of course, a known entity by all. The performance here is solid with exceptional contributions by violist Tursi and the wordless a capella chorus from Cornell. The presumably New York pickup orchestra plays sensitively and Hull provides good leadership, among stiff, mainly British, competition. I love Vaughan Williams' music and any new recording peaks my interest as this one did.

Admittedly, this is an odd program, a coupling of two disparate pieces. Yet, it is a pleasant reminder of a nearly forgotten composer, the high quality of musicianship at our colleges and universities and, that vibrant musical scene of New York City. Enjoy the mono FLACs.

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Erno Balogh plays the music of J S Bach

A while back, my fine colleague Larry at Vinyl Fatigue prepared and posted an exquisite recording by Hungarian born pianist Erno Balogh playing the the Italy portion of the Années de Pélerinage by Ferenc Liszt. Lucky me was able to pick up this superb Bach issue by Balogh and his playing, like that in the Liszt, is utterly incandescent. It's a damn sahme that he is all but forgotten, except perhaps by his many students from the Peabody Conservatory.

Unpretentious playing like this is all too rare these days. Phrasing, dynamics, timing and technique are impeccable. I consider this recording indispensable.

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The Casadesus Duo performs Mozart and Schubert

Greetings from Mt Snow, Vermont! The band participated in the annual Oktoberfest and it was the usual great time, inspite of the cold wind blowing down the mountainside on Saturday. However, with ample quantities of fine, local microbrew and the elixir known as Jaegermeister, we were able to stay sufficiently warm and give the masses the show they expect....and deserve.

Here's another of those fake stereo, Columbia Special Products reissues this morning. I've dissed the fake stereo and in its mono excellence is the Casadesus Duo performing Mozart and Schubert. And, as a fill we have a little more Hambro and Zayde, from a Command Classics record, thrown in for good measure.

I really love the playing of the Casadesus couple. Both Robert and Gaby were superb solo artists and unlike some soloists who have difficulty collaborating in "committee," this husband and wife instinctively support and value each other's unique contribution. With the Casadesus, the playing is aristocratic, and when I say that I mean, beyond reproach. It is unfailingly elegant, precise, and deferential to the composer, without being slavish. I hope I'm clear here! Mozart and Schubert with delicacy, power when needed but always properly controlled and lucid. This is the real deal!

Hambro and Zayde offer another type of playing, more muscular and with a different palette of color. It is a "larger" conception, less intimate, however striking in its own right. If I was to sum it up simply, I would say that the Casadesus are best enjoyed in a salon setting while Hambro and Zayde are Concert Hall listening.

Hope you enjoy two distinctive styles of Four Hand piano music. As I have said before, I've grown to really love and appreciate this kind of collaborative art form. As a side, I picked up Brendel and Klien in Brahms' Hungarian Dances and I hope to get that up here within the near future.

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Pierre Monteux, Beethoven and the San Francisco Symphony

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of reading John Canarina's illuminating biography of Pierre Monteux. Titled "Maitre," French for maestro, the book lovingly reminisced on the great musician's life and the impact he had on countless musicians and the public at large. My takeaways from the book were: 1. Monteux was a diligent worker and thorough man with impeccable taste and manners and,  2. Monteux absolutely hated, fumed at really, the notion that he was a specialist in French music. Given that Monteux was so darn authoritative on "French" music from Gluck to Honegger, it is not at all difficult to understand why the public, and orchestral management pegged him into this hole.

Well, here is ample, rather profound evidence, that Monteux was indeed more of a generalist,  a man with a catholic taste and understanding that bridged national borders. This Beethoven 8th from San Francisco circa 1950 is superbly paced and wonderfully effervescent. Phrasing is the way it should be and detail, especially from the woodwinds is immaculate. What we have here is natural, unfussy and right. This Beethoven is a document that is textbook on how the great composer should be approached - with awe, careful preparation and respect. This is a great listen in spite of sonic limitations, make no mistake!

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French Music for Piano and Violin with Fistoulari conducting

Another MGM record that sparked my interest. Interesting repertoire featuring a fine conductor, two excellent orchestras, and two rather less famous soloists.

Elizabeth Lockhart, the Scottish born violinist, was actually Anatole Fistoulari's second wife. A web search turned up a few reviews of performances dating from the 1940's but little else. From the evidence here, she is a self assured player, technically sound but, not someone that I would easily remember. I suppose Ms Lockhart had a rather provincial career of teaching and playing - she passed on in 1995.

Fabienne Jacquinot is new to me too, however there is recorded evidence that she collaborated frequently enough with Fistoulari. Again, not much to find on her though she was a judge at the International Piano Competition in Andorra as recently as 2008. Jacquinot's playing is very good though not top tier. However, as with the Lockhart pieces, a conductor of Fistoulari's stature can make all the difference and it does! The Milhaud and Honegger are delightful and a pleasant treat for the ears.

Anatole Fistoulari is too often earmarked as a ballet specialist and this recording does its job to cause us to rethink that assumption. Obviously, Fistoulari was a multitalented man with a healthy repertoire whose time for reassessment is long overdue. A retrospective by Decca or EMI would be nice.

Not sure of the exact date of these recording but I'd say mid to late 50's. 

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A grab bag of sorts - Mozart, Mahler, Vivaldi and Bach led by Reiner and Schneider

Reiner and Schneider..it rhymes! Busy last couple nights. Oktoberfest season is in full swing and between the beer, brats and brewhaha....the band had a great time last night (my lips are shot!), thousands at the Harpoon Brewery in Boston and oh, how I love taking those pictures with the younger crowd! Anyway...

Here are two short lps that I'm offering as a grab bag of sorts. We have Alexander Schneider leading Mozart and Vivaldi with the the Dumbarton Oaks Chamber Orchestra  and then Carol Brice singing Mahler's Wayfarer Songs with Reiner and the Pittsburgh SO and selected Bach arias with Daniel Saidenberg leading the Columbia Broadcasting Orchestra.

Though Dumbarton Oaks is outside of Washington DC, the music was recorded in 1949 in NYC if memory serves me right. This leads me wondering if Dumbarton Oaks is just a name for a NYC based pickup orchestra. Whatever the case, Schneider proves the experienced and vital leader and the Vivaldi and Mozart pieces come off marvelously. You know, my fear is that we are fast forgetting the immense contribution of Alexander Schneider to the American musical scene. Soloist, conductor, teacher, editor, impresario, the man did everything and did it so well. In my book, perhaps his single greatest achievement was to force the great Casals from retirement. No one else had the stature, or "balls" to do this and we all benefited beyond belief from Schneider's chutzpah.

I know not much of Carol Brice though her voice has at times a Ferrier quality to it. Primarily a musical theatre performer, Brice did record several times with Reiner, noting down a rather well regarded El Amor Brujo. A performer of African American background, Brice was one of those brave and focused individuals who laid the groundwork of integration and made possible the later successes of Leontyne Price, Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman, to name a few. Her Mahler and Bach are thoughtfully performed and I especially hold her diction in regard. I do love it when I can hear the pronounciation of words! This must have been one of Reiner's first Mahler recordings and he shapes everything quite nicely. The same goes for Saidenberg and his studio orchestra - Brice performs the selected Bach arias flawlessly. Recorded dates are from the late 40's, give or take.

So, here's my "mono FLAC" grab bag for the day....Prost!

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Artur Rodzinski and the Pathetique

A few weeks back,  I offered Dean Dixon conducting Tchaikovsky's Pathetique. That version is a fine performance but admittedly falls short to the absolute splendid take here under Artur Rodzinski. From a "Columbia Special Products" release, this performance is simply one of the finest, if not the finest, interpretations of this over recorded classic that I know of. It is too, a rather melancholy reminder of what should have been and, alas, what did not become of Artur Rodzinski as his career in the United States was self destructing on account of his severe personality disorder.

No doubt that Artur Rodzinski was a man of considerable gifts and high expectations. Respected by Toscanini and Stokowski for his supreme orchestral training skills and infallable ear, Rodzinski during the mid 1930's through the mid 40's acquired a reputation as one of the most brilliant orchestral leaders anywhere. Within a short period of time, he took a provincial Cleveland ensemble and raised its standards to close to the very best. George Szell would dispute that last statement but the proof exists in the excellent recordings that came out of Cleveland during Rodzinski's tenure.

From Cleveland, Rodzinski moved to the dangerous waters of New York to head the Philharmonic Symphony. This was the beginning of his psychological meltdown though moments of brilliance were captured, like this Pathetique. Recorded in 1947, shortly before Rodzinski fled to Chicago, the PSONY play like men possessed. Detail, phrasing, sense of "line" are magnificent. This is a Pathetique for the ages, much like I would say of Mravinsky's anguished, and rather polar opposite, 1960 recording. Rodzinski's entirely unemotional approach works superbly.

If Rodzinski had been able to maintain focus, his career would not have shattered, only to resurrect late in life as he approached his end on earth. No, he most likely would have assumed the mantle of the leading orchestral conductor in the US, probably succeeding Toscanini as a household name. Well...speculation I know but what if?

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Bach's Musical Offering in the Vuataz edition - Hermann Schechen conducting

I'm going to say very little here. Scherchen, Bach, you either love it or hate it. Simple as that.

I was most fortunate to locate this Musical Offering, recorded in 1951, this past week - it was in the plastic sleeve without jacket, located on the bottom of a pile of junk records. And! Surprise, surprise! the lp turned out to be in a splendid condition. This recording features 9 members of the Vienna Symphony in Scherchen's second take on Bach's highly original, at least I think so, work. This is the Roger Vuataz edition; Scherchen would call upon Vuataz's edition of the Art of the Fugue at a later date.

For this recording, Scherchen dispensed with a fuller string complement and opted for a minimalist approach, really the first of its kind. By adopting this approach, Bach's lines and textures are cleanly presented  and the listener is able to clearly hear the beauty of the polyphonic writing. The results are striking and for my hears, immensely pleasurable.

As a filler, I have included the Brandenburg Concerto No 5 from Karl Haas' traversal of the cycle for Westminster. Unfortunately, I possess only 3, 4 and 5. At some point, I would like to be able to present the integral set.  As for the fifth concerto, it is extremely well done by forces that are not much bigger then Scherchen's chamber ensemble. Again, detail is laid bare and as with the Scherchen, the recording by Westminster is very well done for its day, most excellent monophonic results.

Rather pleasant listening for a Sunday..at least until the Patriots - Bills game commences!

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Sir Adrian Boult and Berlioz

Here's another of those Westminster Gold reissues, this time Sir Adrian Boult and the "Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra" in Berlioz. This lp features some familiar, Beatrice and Benedict and Rob Roy with some not so often heard, Les francs-juges and King Lear.

Boult really scores a home run here. I don't think that Boult is one person that comes to mind as a conductor of Berlioz but based on this 50 minutes, he demonstrates a firm grasp and understanding of Berlioz's sound world. The PPO, really the LPO, plays extremely well with precision and flair and this record proves to be one of the better Berlioz recordings to come across my plate in quite a while.

Regarding Boult: only within the last year or so have I come to fully appreciate the art of Sir Adrian Boult. I find that Boult's records are, for the most part, consistently well prepared, intelligently interpreted, and scrupulously performed. In other words, buying Boult is a pretty good bet that you will get your money's worth and that a composer's intentions will be realized honestly and professionally. What is a shame is that for many today, Boult is pegged as a specialist in English composers when in reality, his record speaks strongly that he was persuasive in many idioms, styles, and genres.

Enjoy these mono FLACs of Boult and Berlioz!


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