BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - June 2021 Choices
Sir Antonio Pappano's 'absolutely magnificent' accounts of Vaughan Williams's Fourth and Sixth Symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra (the latter recorded on the eve of the first UK lockdown) occupy pride of place in this month's issue, with reviewer David Nice observing that 'Rostropovich’s live performance of [Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8] with the LSO is one of the great recordings; now Pappano’s Vaughan Williams joins it'.
You can read our full review of the recording here, and do look out for David Smith's interview with Pappano next week...
Recording of the Month
'They’re both electrifying, and they sound absolutely magnificent...Pappano makes sure [the Fourth] sings as often as it can...This is a terrible beauty, energetic, Satanic, utterly spellbinding, keeping enough in reserve to make the biggest climaxes truly shattering...The opening bars of this Sixth, a cry of anguish that’s also passionate bel canto song, promise the very best recording of the work.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Orchestral Choice
'Blomstedt takes a decidedly autumnal view of Brahms’s Second Symphony – and he has every right to do so...His lingering account of the first movement alone occupies well over 20 minutes...With glowing playing throughout from the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra it’s hard not to enjoy this affectionate and superbly recorded new version.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concerto Choice
Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Lutoslawski: Cello Concertos
Andrzej Bauer (cello), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jacek Kapszyk
'Three contrasting cello concertos cast fresh light on each other in performances by Polish cellist Andrzej Bauer, whose cultivated, singing tone is a constant virtue...With the conductor Jacek Kaspszyk and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, he captures a quintessentially Schumannesque mood of pensive intimacy.'
Available Format: CD
Opera Choice
'Her voice reminds me now of Birgit Nilsson’s at the same stage, an Elsa and Sieglinde who is a Brünnhilde in waiting, with the same thrilling edge to her top register, though she isn’t lacking in her lower notes either. As the Ave Maria from Verdi’s Otello makes clear, she can also scale her voice down.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Choral & Song Choice
'The luxuriant bloom of Tokar’s voice is perfectly matched by Gryshyn’s old-fashioned, elastic piano accompaniments. Tempo choices are generous and unhurried...Tokar and Gryshyn fully inhabit the joys, passions and pains of this music. The recorded sound evokes the intimate and warm chamber setting to which this music belongs.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Chamber Choice
'In terms of their dramatic rethinking of texture, balance, articulation and expression, these performances form a vital part of the bracingly fresh interpretative emphasis on this music evinced by the likes of Faust/Melnikov (Harmonia Mundi), Ibragimova/Tiberghien (Wigmore Hall) and Sepec/Staier (Harmonia Mundi).'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumental Choice
'The playing is elegantly poised with remarkable expressive range. A prime example is Alessandrini’s performance of the Prelude and Fugue in A minor from the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier: the Prelude has genuine humour, while in the long succeeding Fugue the structure is beautifully articulated with no hint of didacticism...Altogether this recording shows off much of what is best about contemporary harpsichord playing.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Historical Choice
George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra: The Forgotten Recordings
Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
'Szell later re-recorded almost all the repertoire, but it’s fascinating to hear the partnership when their much-vaunted precision was well in progress, if not immaculate...Best of all are Schumann’s Fourth Symphony, which gets the kick it needs, especially in the scherzo and finale, and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, colourful and balletic.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Jazz Choice
'His gigs have caused a stir for some time, including when he won the solo piano award at the Montreux Jazz Festival. This album shows why. His work is informed by a broad range of jazz and classical influences which, together with elements of Eastern European and Arabic traditional music, pervade his work.'
Available Format: CD
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
