Karl Ristenpart conducts Brahms and Wagner

There's been a little Karl Ristenpart festival going on at Symphonyshare the past couple weeks and I thought it would be a great idea if I make a small contribution. Ristenpart is mostly remembered for performances of music from the baroque and classical periods but here we have him in music which is most definitely 19th century and romantic in spirit.

Wagner's Siegfried Idyll is a masterpiece of phrasing and gentle lyricism. This is proof that Wagner was a master away from the stage and could draw great inspiration from intimate, personal events, in this case the celebration of the birth of his son Siegfried. Brahms' second serenade is a gentle, bucolic piece of wonderful melodies and strong contrasting harmonies. This serenade and the first one were steps on the path that would lead to Brahms' magnificent first symphony. In these serenades, Brahms is becoming accustomed to larger ensembles and mastering the fine art of orchestration. A methodical man, Brahms would perfect those tools that he would need to create his large scale orchestral masterpieces some years in the future.

Karl Ristenpart's careful and studied approach yields fine readings of these two marvelous works. Though others might impart more urgency or directness in their approach, Ristenpart offers sunny readings that are well, very much in the relaxed South German way. The orchestra, the South German Philharmonic, is probably a pseudonym for the Stuttgart RSO, the Stuttgart PO or maybe even the great Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Whoever they are (the recording was made in 1967 in Stuttgart), they play well for Ristenpart.

I have enjoyed the "series" of recordings, that others have transferred from lp, made by this wonderful conductor. Whatever can be said of Ristenpart must include the words "consistent." "quality," and "honesty." It's good that we are remembering this excellent musician.

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Modern French Orchestral Miniatures conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky

I've been looking for this elusive Westminster Gold lp for some time now. As my introduction to the music of  "The Six," I recall playing this over and over again during my teens. For my money, Rozhdestvensky scores a homerun in this repertoire. (I consider Satie the "father" of Les Six)

The "little" symphonies of Milhaud and the Paris Suite of Ibert are the "big" pieces on this lp. Both of these composers wrote in a similar style and both excelled at exploiting the colors of smaller ensembles. I think the interplay of strings and winds in the "little" symphonies is among the most imaginative and stimulating listening that I've ever encountered. However.....it has to be done right and when I say right, I mean the ensemble has to be listening carefully to one another in order to understand the logic behind the compositions. Milhaud's own recording with Radio Luxembourg does not come close to the dynamic that Rozhdestvensky caresses out of these exceptional musicians, the cream of the famed Leningrad Philharmonic.

This record was released by Melodiya in 1964, at the end of the Khrushchev years and the thaw that helped break (at least for a short time) the stranglehold on Soviet arts and artists. This music would have been decidedly bourgeois by Soviet standards and I'll bet that many of these musicians were seeing this fare for the first time. And, early on Rozhdestvensky's career, he was an innovator, an experimentor and a friend of the avant garde. In my opinion, the forces came together well here for an inspired recording session of terrific music.

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Luciano Sgrizzi and Sins Of My Old Age

A request was made to me by David on Symphonyshare to transfer this lp. Here's a selection of the pieces that Rossini composed and referred to as "Sins of my old age." They are performed by one of the great early music specialists of his time, Luciano Sgrizzi.

These salon type pieces are interesting because they are mostly theme based (meaning based on a subject, person or idea) and they contain striking ideas that at times point to the "music of the future" as Liszt might have put it.  I find these brief vignettes full of neat melodies which cement the proposition that Rossini was one of the greatest melodists ever to grace the planet. This is clever, witty and thoroughly enjoyable fare.

I believe this original Cygnus recording (here released by Nonesuch) dates from the early 60's - it is stereo.

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Early Mozart Quartets with the New Music Quartet

A delightful album here. Up today is the 1977 Columbia Special Products reissue of one of the Mozart Commemorative Celebration of 1956 series that was released by CBS/Epic. This particular lp features Mozart's early quartets K.155 - 158 in performances by the shortlived New Music Quartet whose members were Broadus Earle, Matthew Raimondi, Walter Trampler and David Soyer.

I won't write much today - returned from a business trip and I'm under the weather. What I will say is that the playing here is sensitive, glowing and impeccable. This is music making where the phrases just flow out naturally and the pieces unfold without forced effort. What strikes me about these artists is that one does not dominate another, here is a true partnership where a collaborative effort yields beautiful music by the most remarkable prodigy in the history of music.

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The Art of the Baroque Trumpet with Edward H Tarr

Sacqueboutier over at Symphonyshare has been posting the mother lode of brass music recently so I thought I'd make a long overdue contribution. This stereo Nonesuch album is the first record that I ever bought some, gosh 32 years ago maybe?? The Art of the Baroque Trumpet with renowned trumpeter and scholar of the baroque period, Edward H Tarr.

Edward H Tarr is one of the greatest name in the history of trumpet performance and scholarship. Spending many years combing the libraries of Europe, Tarr almost singlehandedly resurrected an entire ouevre of music that had all but disappeared. A very fine trumpeter to boot, Tarr "premiered" scores of works for trumpet alone, trumpet and organ and, trumpet and ensemble to audiences in a directed effort to preach the rich history that the modern day trumpet and its predecessors has played in musical performance, ceremony and innovation. His legacy was to take the trumpet out of the modern orchestra and employ it in surroundings that best captured its initial purpose in the cultural life of a bygone age.  For more on Maestro Tarr, please see his website here.

The works on this record  are richly varied, from Altenberger's wonderful Concerto for 7 Clarini and timpani to Handel's Suite for trumpet and strings (from the Water Music). Tarr, and colleagues perform on both valved instruments and the ancient clarino trumpet which has has neither keys or valves but is a hollowed instrument with holes and a "trumpet" type  mouthpiece. The performances are lively and spirited though allowances need to be made for intonation. Trumpet playing on original instruments has progressed  light years since these records were cut in the late 60's and early 70's. Again, I stress that we own Tarr a great deal or gratitude for his herculean efforts and, Nonesuch for releasing a veritable treasure trove of lps dedicated to the wonderful instrument that I happily call my own.

Enjoy this fine anthology. Listening today is every bit as enjoyable as when I first put it on my dad's Zenith console turntable in 1979!? I am old!

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Robert Veyron-Lacroix plays Cimarosa

Something a bit on the unusual side today. The eminent French harpsichordist Robert Veyron-Lacroix performs the 32 Sonatas for keyboard by Domenico Cimarosa. I'm not sure of the date of this mono recording but I'd venture somewhere during the early 60's.

These sonatas do not adhere to sonata form as it would have been known, accepted, and employed during the late 18th century. In fact, these miniatures belong more to the model of sonata set forth by Domenico Scarlatti some 50-60 years earlier. And, though forte piano had pretty much displaced harpsichord, Cimarosa had harpsichord in mind when he wrote them and that makes it all the more fascinating to the ear. These are melodically interesting and do not require a lengthy attention span however that does not diminish the fine musical qualities of each of the pieces.

Robert Veyron-Lacroix is a well known name as he made scores of records, usually as an accompanist or chamber performer, and as a longtime member of the Orchestra Jean Francois Pailliard. His long, and fruitful, association with Jean Pierre Rampal is particularly notable since it yielded a treasure trove of excellent recorded performances of masterworks from the 17th and 18th century. Veyron-Lacroix is a sensible and sensitive artist and his scholarship and playing pretty much set the standard for future harpsichordists to aspire to.

Again, pleasant listening here, very suitable for a long day where te desire to listen is great but the nature of the listening should be..let's say "gentle."

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Dvorak performed by the Berkshire Quartet

Wonderful music by Dvorak today. From a VoxBox, early 60's issue, comes the Berkshire Quartet in Dvorak's Double Bass Quintet and Twelve Cypresses.

I love Dvorak so much because his music has the strength to transport me to his homeland and smell and see the beauty of Bohemia.  Such is the case here with these two(actually there are 12 Cypresses but I am counting them as "1" whole piece) seldom heard works. The Double Bass Quintet, of course, augments the quartet by adding a double bass and it is a novel and refreshing idea. The Twelve Cypresses are arrangements of songs for quartet and these delightful miniatures capture brief moments and emotions from the composer's life with intimacy, warmth and directness.

The Berkshire Quartet plays with an authentic and idiomatic sound. I admittedly was not familiar with this ensemble and thought them to be a "Tanglewood" based ensemble that was briefly here and now gone. Interestingly it was the first incarnation of the Berkshire Quartet by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge that was based in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. The group on this recording was the successor group to the Gordon Quartet who, after the founder Jacques Gordon's death, found themselves in dire straits. Ms Coolidge offered to rescue them with the priviso that they become the "new" Berkshire Quartet. As part of the bargain, the quartet spent the school year at Indiana University and returned east to Music Mountain Connecticut for the annual summer chamber music festival which Gordon had founded.

One frustration I have is that these VoxBox sets, especially from the late 60's into the 70's were pressed on inferior vinyl and the records often ended with lots of extraneous noise. Such was the case here and after running the sides through ClickRepair several times, I achieved better results then the vinyl but still surface noise does remain. Please do not let that interfere with gorgeous music performed by top flight artists.

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Paul Badura-Skoda and Felix Prohaska in Mozart

A very nice record today, from 1951. Paul Badura-Skoda and Felix Prohaska come together for fine performances of Mozart's 24th and 27th piano concertos.

Couple things I'd like to mention. First, I am dazzled by the maturity and strength of these recordings from quite early in Badura Skoda's career. This man was blessed with inate good taste and a surehanded technical mastery of the keyboard.  Incredibly sensitive and collaborative musician. Second, Felix Prohaska was both an underrated conductor and  pioneer in presenting the baroque and classical period composers without varnishing their intents in romantic excess. In these performances, you hear details that are often buried beneath a keyboard's fight with a bloated orchestra of strings and winds. Not here - its all neat, clean and complimentary. In short, lovely and riveting.

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