"New" Music Log

[Todd A]

The next disc from the Savall box is a themed grab-bag. Pieces by various composers, ranging from well-ish known (Cabezón) to anonymous, the twenty-three tracks are divided into six categories, with different instrumental combinations and solo instruments taking their turn. The music is all attractive and well played, but the concept aspect of it doesn't hold together spectacularly well. It more than occasionally sounds like one nifty piece transitioning to the next. That's fine. Early 70s sound is excellent, but dynamic range and clarity is not up to the better sounding earlier discs. When a middling disc in a box is this good, you know you've got a good box.

 

[Todd A]

Another Amazon Add-on purchase. The disc contains one work each by five composers, with Aram Khachaturian the only one I've heard a lick from in the past, though not the work offered here. So this disc sort of has it all: bargain basement price, new repertoire, great sound.

The disc opens with Arno Babadjanian's Piano Trio. It is no minor work. Intense, romantic, emotional, and not hiding its "eastern" (ie, Russian) nor its local influences at all. It is conservative given its time of composition - 1952 - but it is undeniably effective, whether the music is impassioned or sorrowful. It's good enough to make me think I might want to hunt down other works by the composer.

Next is Canadian-Armenian Serouj Kradjian's Elegy for Restive Souls for what amounts to a Clarinet Quartet. Mr Kradjian, who also wrote the liner notes and plays piano on the disc, composed the piece in 2009 on commission from the Amici Chamber Ensemble. The work commemorates the 1988 Armenian earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people. The brief work starts off with the violin playing ticks of a clock, the clarinet playing a recurring theme of destiny, and the piano playing eleven tolling chords. (The quake struck before 12:00, so only eleven tolls are to be heard.) After a brief pause, the clarinet slowly starts in, and the strings follow, and then the piano, in a chamber music Requiem. The music slowly becomes less somber, more disjointed, almost like a tragic folk dance version of Ravel's La Valse. And since the music doesn't really sound especially energetic and intense until around eleven minutes in, it sounds almost ghostly for much of the time after the requiem portion ends. The last third is more chaotic, with some superb effects, as when the clarinet doubles the violin occasionally before they split into different swirls of chaos, only to do it again. All the while, the piano lays the foundation for the work, but it is not a solid foundation. It is unsteady, it is sometimes rambling. This, too, is no minor work, and I dare say it could make for a daunting piece in recital if the ensemble really digs in.

The brief central work is an arrangement of Parsegh Ganatchian's Oror for soprano, clarinet, and four cellos. Mr Kradjian arranged the piece, no doubt with his wife, the soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, in mind. She sings her part splendidly, fluidly, and beautifully. Apparently, the original is a very popular work in Armenia, and its intrinsic beauty makes it obvious why.

Khachaturian's 1932 Clarinet Trio follows. It is very much a piece of its time, dissonant but tonal, astringent but lovely, folk-infused yet mostly formal. Ample energy is evident, and the clarinetist displays his chops in almost all registers.

The final piece is the 1992 Suite for Clarinet Trio by Alexander Arutiunian. The somber Dialog apart, the piece is brief, light, energetic, and often just plain fun, making for a much lighter close after some heavier going early on.

While I doubt I spin this disc a lot, it offers yet another perfect example of why I like to explore new repertoire. There's some extremely fine music on this disc, and it gives me new ideas for music and composers and performers to explore.

 

[Todd A]

I enjoyed the disc of Armenian chamber music enough that I figured I might as well spend a musical (business) week in Armenia, if not a real one. To that end, I opted for something even more serious on this Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

Armenian-born, Canadian-domiciled composer Petros Shoujounian wrote four string quartets, collectively named Noravank, named after a 13th Century Armenian monastery, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The music is based heavily on medieval Armenian chants, and each movement is named after an Armenian river, so the very core of the music is Armenian. The Quatour Molinari, they of blockbuster Schnittke quartet recordings, play the works, thus ensuring world class playing.

The first movement of the first work immediately calls to mind the quartets of Shostakovich, but shorn of irony, hidden messages, and bitterness. In place of those are forthright sorrow, devout faith, and tempered hope, and maybe hints of joy. This is not angry, biting music, and it never simply copies DSCH, and indeed it veers away from his sound world, but it shares enough traits that the connection is there, along with other inspirations obvious and less obvious.

Partly due to the source material, the music does not sound as complex as most 20th and 21st Century string quartets. There is a simpler, more direct feel most of the time. None of this is to say that the music is simplistic, because it most certainly is not. The music often sounds lovely, with melodies flowing one after the other. Even the dissonant music avoids undue harshness. Other times, it sounds solemn and deeply contemplative, and devoid of artifice. The frequent pizzicati fall easily on the ear. The folk music inspired writing, with its eastern feel, becomes more prominent in the last two quartets, but it never sounds alien; it sounds familiar. And the music effortlessly and effectively exposes its spiritual heart. While obviously one could choose to listen to the music one quartet at a time, in any order, they really do work together as a whole quite nicely. An excellent recording that also verifies the Molinari's talent.

 

[Todd A]

Isabel Bayrakdarian's brief contribution to the Armenian Chamber Music disc was enough to entice me to listen to this recording of sacred music of the Armenian Church. The first word that popped into mind as Bayrakdarian's voice materialized was WOW! As recorded here, her voice possesses almost overwhelming beauty. Now, having heard her in MTT's Mahler 2 and that chamber music disc, this was not entirely surprising. (I generally try to forget her involvement with Lord of the Rings.) This recording spotlights her magnificent voice and the chamber orchestra accompaniment is light and transparent and cedes the spotlight to her. Even when joined by some additional singers, it's about her, and it should be. The best moments of the disc are when it is just her. Pesky instruments cannot sound as beautiful as her voice. Sometimes the music hints at eastern exoticism (to western ears), but everything sounds both sumptuous and devout. The music is truly mesmerizing. This music has the same stop-me-in-my-tracks, all-consuming gorgeousness and depth as Cristóbal de Morales and Marie-Luise Hinrichs. I'm not certain I can say that the music is of the same ultimate quality as Morales' original works or Hinrichs' transcribed ones, but qualitative quibbles dissolve in the face of singing so beautiful that even Kathleen Battle would take notes. Ms Bayrakdarian does use vibrato liberally, and some may find that a quibble, but for me it doesn't rate a quibble. If I could be assured of hearing singing of this quality every Sunday, I might start attending church. Bayrakdarian must record Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder.

I streamed this. I am going to purchase it. Right now. It will be a purchase of the year.

 

[Todd A]

Next up, I found this 90s ASV disc devoted to the Piano Concerto of Loris Tjeknavorian and the Heroic Ballade and Nocturne from Armen Babadzhanian. Loris Tjeknavorian serves as conductor for the disc. The Piano Concerto opens the disc, and the first movement Allegro sounds very, very much like Bartok in the faster, more barbaro passages, though the orchestral writing and rhythmic complexity is less pronounced and sophisticated. The quieter passages fare a bit better. The Andante is vaguely oriental-ish and laden with brass and some angular piano playing in the cadenza. The concluding Pesante is sort of Bartok-meets-Khachaturian and lighter than the opener, with a hefty dose of nice wind writing. The work is decent. Babadzhanian's Heroic Ballade is a pot-boiler exuding gigantic wafts of Rachmaninoff. Some of the slow music sounds like it could have been taken from discarded drafts of the Russian's works, though one can hear traces of Gershwin, too. The piece is so stirring that it would make people who heard it in concert downright proud to be Communist! (It was written in 1950.) Well, it would, if it didn't go on for what seems like five hours. The Nocturne from the same composer offers something of a musical shock. No heady, brooding, atmospheric piece here, no sir. Starting with prominent double bass, it expands to become backing music for a bloated, over the hill, out of tune lounge act. A few years ago or so, I encountered Ragna Schirmer's jazzified treatment of some of Handel's keyboard concertos and found them awful. (That shocked, too, given the exceedingly high quality of Ms Schirmer's work otherwise.) They are works of towering genius compared to this crap.

Armen Babakhanian tickles the ivories well and band and conductor all do good work. There's a zero percent chance this recording becomes oft listened to by me.

 

[Todd A]

I decided to end the classical music portion of my exploration of Armenian music with something all but guaranteed to be superb: Esprit d'Armenie as conducted by Jordi Savall and played by Hesperion XXI. It's superb! This disc is a collection of eighteen miniatures based on traditional pieces and more recent compositions based on or influenced by traditional pieces. Joining Savall and crew are joined by four Armenian musicians who play Armenian instruments. The music generally sounds old or traditional or very heavily folk music influenced throughout. It effortlessly evokes exotic eastern sounds more than the prior discs in this mini-survey, but in its earnestness and exquisite delivery, this is not gimmicky world music, this is the good stuff. No piece really stands out as significantly better than the others. That written, the music may be at its most compelling when the dark-ish overall timbre of the ensemble produces dark music. The brevity of the pieces actually works to enhance the experience, in that the listener eagerly looks forward to what the next track brings.

Even via streaming, audio quality is obviously superb.

 

[Todd A]

Next from the Savall box, music from 15th and 16th Century Naples, when it was ruled by Spanish kings - Alfons I, Ferdinand I, and Chucky Number Five. A hodgepodge of short instrumental and vocal pieces for various ensembles by various composers, it listens like a sort of Olde Tyme Greatest Hits. Each work is quite delightful, with very fine playing and singing. It doesn't have the same impact as the troubadour disc and sort of becomes ultra-high-end background music. Don't get me wrong, it makes for a most enjoyable listening session, it just ends up another case where Savall and crew deliver a middling disc by their standards, which means basically outstanding by most other performers' standards.

 

[Todd A]

From the DHM long box, a collection of mostly traditional and anonymous works from the 13th and 14th Centuries mixing Ottoman, Spanish, Italian, Arab works. The works are obviously influenced by or rely solely on non-western traditions, and the sung texts are in different languages, including Arabic, and the instrumentation is almost exclusively Eastern. I have no other recordings that use the zarb, for instance. The music doesn't conform to western music norms, which of course makes sense. The music sounds like the type of thing that one hears in travelogue shows or movies, unless, perhaps, one travels to regions of the world where this type of music or its current variants might still be played. Some of the music is very vibrant, festive, and has irregular dance rhythms, while some other music is slower and more contemplative, in a playing to the crowd kind of way. This is the type of disc that I would never buy on its own, but it's captivating in its rare (for me) sound, and the playing is obviously expert level and in SOTA sound. I'll never listen to this frequently, but I will definitely listen again for something outside the (western) ordinary, and I may just explore other recordings by the ensemble.

 

[Todd A]

The next Savall box disc is the first dedicated to a single composer, here Antonio de Cabezón. The disc is billed as yet more music from the time of Chucky Number Five. I've got some exposure to Cabezón from this set, some other collections, and a five disc Brilliant Classics set, though this particular compilation has some fresh material. While not necessarily presented in an especially coherent thematic way, the music is stylistically similar throughout, is played stylishly and expertly, and partly through tunes and partly through intriguing instrumental combinations, entertains from first note to last. The playing may not be to everyone's taste in that it is often of the laid back to the point of sounding languid. Cabezón can be played with more pep. I dig Savall's approach. That the disc is in top shelf early 80s sound that doesn't really cede much to today's recording helps matters. Superb.

 

[Todd A]

From the DHM long box, another compilation I almost certainly would never have purchased on its own. Los Otros, a HIP trio consisting of Hille Perl, Lee Santana, and Steve Player, combined various string instruments - viola de gamba, theorbo, baroque guitars, etc - to play multiple works from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries by six composers. I've not heard anything from any of them to the best of my recollection, and the only name I recall seeing is Girolamo Kapsberger. The music mostly has a folksy feel to it and sort of blends Renaissance and early baroque styles quite deftly. There's a definite Spanish flavor to much of the music, with its somewhat distinctive rhythm. The aforementioned Kapsberger is represented by eleven short pieces, ending with one named Villa di Spagna, which sounds as though it served as inspiration for Tejano music. The three instrumentalists all play splendidly, and sound is essentially SOTA. The venue used is not soundproof as one can hear birds in the distance on multiple occasions. Most enjoyable.

 

[droodzilla]

What is the DHM long box?

 

[Todd A]

What is the DHM long box?

100 discs for 126 pounds.

 

[droodzilla]

100 discs for 126 pounds.

Thanks Todd, that's quite a beast. I already have a couple three HM box sets so I will need to compare contents and check for duplicates before I splash out on another.

 

[Todd A]

The next grab-bag disc from the Savall box, this time of music from the time of Cervantes, and collected into four groups. This disc succeeds more than a couple earlier discs by just jelling better. There's some pep to a lot of the pieces, though some are more languid. Ultimately, all sound just right. Montserrat Figueras does her thing again, and superb sound again makes the whole thing a real joy to listen to. A true Savall release.

 

[Todd A]

Another all-Spanish disc. Albert Attenelle was the main draw here. I discovered his pianism via streaming, decided I had to listen to his playing in proper sixteen bit, and so snapped up all but one of his recordings. (That's his Granados; I will be getting that at some point.) Here, he is joined by Spanish violist Agustín León Ara in a recording of works by Spanish musicians better known as performers: there are world premiere recordings of the Violin Sonatas by cellists Pablo Casals and his student Gaspar Cassadó, and Sis Sonnets by conductor Eduard Toldrà. León Ara not only performs on these first recordings, he resurrected the works in the 1970s, including partaking in the first performance of the Casals.

The Casals starts the disc. It's a lengthy work at just over 33' - and it doesn't include a finale. Casals stopped with the Lento third movement. While listening to the opening Allegro, French Violin Sonatas of the Franck or Faure variety, updated with a 1920s Paris vibe (though it was written in 1945) came immediately to mind. The opening movement lasts for over seventeen minutes, and it's multi-sectional, with the end of each section sort of offering a false ending. The music is nice, but it does seem a bit long. The Scherzo is more robust, infused with some fast and slow quasi-dance like elements, and the Lento, save for a quick and robust coda, is lyrical and almost liturgical much of the time, with some stormy outbursts. Overall, it's a nice work.

The Cassadó work comes in at under sixteen minutes, and it starts off with ample energy and sounds unabashedly romantic, belying its 1926 composition date. The opening Fantaisie is very free flowing and at times passionate, and sounds sort of French with hints of generic Spanish and/or Italian influences. The Pastorale is sheer delight, all fun or tender beauty. (Cassadó dedicated the work to his brother, who died in 1914, so perhaps it transmutes memories to music. Or not.) The Finale is vibrant and fantastical, like the opener. This compact work is really quite good and, though not groundbreaking, deserves a wider audience and more recordings. It's the best thing on the disc.

Toldrà's Sis Sonnets has received other recordings, and it is easy enough to hear why. Like Cassadó's piece, it was penned in the 20s (1922, to be exact), and it is quite romantic and conservative. While big portions of the music are vibrant and extroverted and of the playing to the gallery sort, good portions are more intimate. It's quite good. Some fun Spanish music trivia: Toldrà himself debuted the piece playing violin, along with Federico Mompou's teacher Ferdinand Motte-Lacroix.

Sound for the 2002 recording falls just shy of SOTA, but it's fully modern and superb and offers a realistic representation of two musicians playing in what sounds like a modest sized venue.

 

[Todd A]

Next from the Savall box, the second single composer disc. Three quarters of an hour of Savall front and center, sometimes solo, but mostly with a keyboard accompanist in twenty-seven tracks of Renaissance chamber music. Savall plays his instrument superbly, sometimes as lyrically as one could hope for, which is not at all surprising. His fellow musicians - Genoveva Galvez on harpsichord and positive organ, and Sergi Cassademunt on tenor viola de gamba - likewise play splendidly. While every piece sounds superb, I particularly like the combination of viola de gamba and positive organ, with its at times piquant upper registers and generally small scale and light sound. It's something either new or very rare in my collection and listening experience. Ortiz's music lacks the same pop as Cabezon's, but it's nonetheless enticing. Sound is excellent for its time (1969), but is not as good as the in the later recordings in the set. This is another one of those discs one expects from Savall.

 

[Todd A]

Prior to buying the DHM big box, I'd heard only one disc of music by Heinrich Schütz, Paul McCreesh's recording of the Christmas Vespers. I liked it and figured I should try some more Schütz, but I failed to do so until now. Fortunately, the DHM set has three Schütz recordings, and I opted to sample Anthony Rooley and The Consort of Musicke's recording of the madrigals first. The disc offers fifty-three minutes of irresistible counterpoint. The music doesn't exhibit the same beauty as Renaissance polyphony, and while the music is often quite attractive, that's not the most striking or appealing part. No, the most appealing part of the music is the astonishing clarity of the vocal parts. Mostly limited to five voices, or fewer, it doesn't matter how many parts there are: each part is always perfectly clear and superbly sung. Listening offers more of an intellectual exercise than an aesthetic or emotional one. I literally perked up to listen, sat up straighter, and focused on a point in between the speakers much of the time. The headphone experience is less satisfactory here since the spatial presentation of the voices offers part of the appeal. Superb sound adds to an immensely appealing disc. It's something.

 

[Todd A]

The box closer from the Savall box, El Barroco Español. Another mid-70s kick-ass disc from Savall and crew. Fourteen tracks by seven composers, all new to me, mostly anchored by Montserrat Figueras belting out tunes, and including superb work from Ton Koopman and Christophe Coin, this is another of those discs that one expects from Savall. Nary a bum track is to be heard.

The set overall is a humdinger, especially at its price. Even the weakest discs are excellent and worth repeated listens. Some are just plain stupendous.

 

[Todd A]

From the DHM long box, more Purcell and more Hengelbrock. Turns out this is a nice pairing. This disc includes suites drawn from The Fairy Queen, Dido and Aeneas, King Arthur, and Abdelazer. Some of the pieces are vocal pieces stripped of vocal parts, which may not be to everyone's taste. What's left is music where a young Hengelbrock most effectively deploys his rhythmically incisive, super-precise conducting to often very exciting effect. Even the slow music, while very lovely, maintains a just right degree of musical and dramatic tension. All of the movements and all four works are just splendid. Here's some Purcell that I can enjoy without reservation. The disc reinforces what I already knew: Thomas Hengelbrock is one of the great living conductors.

 

[Todd A]

After getting the delightful free disc The Wandering Lutenist last year, I kind of figured I didn't need a new lute disc for a while. Well, the DHM long box has a few, including this one of music new to me by composer new to me (to the best of my knowledge) Esaias Reusner. This is a really rather nice disc, with generally relaxed sounding music that is nonetheless painstakingly crafted. The instrument used sounds quite beautiful and DHM provides lute sound bested only by BIS in my limited experience. Konrad Junghänel plucks with the best of them. A delightful treat of a disc.