Gramophone – September 2019

60 GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 gramophone.co.uk

hard.Ilikethesmilingsolemnityhebrings
totheAdagioandtheeasyswingofthe
scherzo-likethirdmovement.TheSuisse
RomandeOrchestradon’tplayastautlyas
theUtahSymphonydoforThierryFischer
(Hyperion,1/19)–therustlingsemiquavers
intheopeningAllegromoderatoareabit
messy–but,ingeneral,Yamadaprovides
sufficientexcitement,delicacy,grandeur
andradiancewherethey’rerequired.
ChristopherJacobsonisverymuchan
ensembleplayerandthereedy,Cavaillé-
Coll-likesplendouroftheorganin
Geneva’sVictoriaHallisjustrightfor
thismusic.ItsuitsPoulenc’sGminor
Concerto,too;andevenifJacobson’s
performancelacksthevisionaryintensity
ofMauriceDuruflé’s(EMI/Warner,6/62),
recordedunderthecomposer’ssupervision,
it’spotentnonetheless.Thewayherevels
inthemassivesonoritiesoftheAllegro
giocoso(listenstartingat1'11")givesme
gooseflesh,forinstance,andIlovethe
sweetmelancholyheandYamadafindin
theTrèscalmesection(at3'01"ontrack8).
Asanencore,Jacobsontakesusona
leisurely,celestialstrollthroughWidor’s
well-wornToccatathat’sverymuchlike
thecomposer’sown 1932 recording–
though,ofcourse,indemonstrationsound.
AndrewFarach-Colton

Prokoiev.Tchaikovsky

ProkoievPianoConcertoNo2,Op 16
TchaikovskyPianoConcertoNo1, Op 23
HaochenZhangpf
LahtiSymphonyOrchestra/ DimaSlobodeniouk
BISFÍBIS2381(66’• DDD/DSD)

Thisisnotan
obviousconcerto
coupling;butinfact
thereareatleast
threeothers,twoofthemquiterecent:
RanaandPappano(WarnerClassics,
12/15),GersteinandGaffigan(Myrios,
2/15);fromthepast,thereisJoselsonand
Ormandy(Sony).Evenso,dowereally
needanotherTchaikovskyFirstConcerto
ondiscwithnofewerthan 447 availableon
differentcurrentCDs?Well,theanswerin
thisinstanceisanenthusiastic‘yes’.
HaochenZhangwonthegoldmedalat
theVanCliburnadecadeago.Hehasyet
tomakeitasaheadlinerinternationallybut
listeningtohiswaywiththisoldwarhorse
leftmeinnodoubtthathereisanartistof
raretalent.Listentothewayhehandles
theopeningpages–thosechordsabove
thestaveonthethirdbeatwiththeirtop
Fnaturals,EflatsandAflatsringout
emphatically,thosethatfolloware

extravagantlyarpeggiated,andhisphrasing

ofthesoloandcadenzabeforethereturn

oftheopeningthemeisnotjust(theusual)

emptybravurabutthoughtfullyshaped

asthoughpartofaconversation.Inshort,

Zhangtellstheintroductioninsuchaway

thatyoucannotwaittoheartherestofthe

story.Evenifyouinstinctivelyshyaway

fromyetanotherTchaikovskyFirst,Ithink

thisperformancewillcomeasarefreshing

surprise.Thefastpassageworkinthe

centralmovementandthefinaleis

thrillinglylightandswift,anditisonly

aslightlackofweightinthefinalpages

that,forme,fallsshort.

TheProkofiev,whichprecedesit,willdo

nothingtolessenthegrowingpopularityof

thisextraordinarywork.Again,itisZhang’s

articulationandphrasing,precisionand

powerthatmeritthehighestpraise.The

LahtiSymphonyOrchestraandDimo

Slobodenioukprovidespiritedsupport

andofferformidablecompetitioneven

totheincredibleYujaWang/Gustavo

DudamelliveperformanceinCaracas

(DG,2/14)–justlistentothewayZhang

andSlobodenioukpresenttheperorationof

thefirstmovement.Spine-tingling.Andall

credittoBISproducerMarionSchwebel

andengineerChristianStarkeforthevivid

soundpicture.LikemanyofBIS’srecent

releases,thedisc’ssleeveismadeofmaterial

fromsustainableforestmanagement,soy

ink,eco-friendlyglueandwater-based

varnish,andiseasytorecycle:noplasticis

used.Otherlabelstakenote.Anothertick.

Infact,fullmarksallround.JeremyNicholas

Richter.Pärt.Vasks

‘RecomposedbyMaxRichter’

PärtFratresVasksVientuļaiseņġelis(Lonely

Angel)RichterTheFourSeasonsRecomposed

FenellaHumphreysvn

CoventGardenSinfonia/ BenPalmer

RubiconFRCD1015(64’• DDD)

MaxRichter’s

recompositionof

Vivaldi’sTheFour

Seasonsmaynothave

beenmetwithunanimouscriticalapproval

whenitspremiererecording,featuring

DanielHope,wasreleasedin2012,yet

itisprovingtobeanincreasinglypopular

choiceamongsomeoftoday’stop

violinists,withMariSamuelsen,Dalia

Sima≈kaandnowFenellaHumphreys

embracingthework’spostmoderntwist

onthepast.

GivenRichter’sestablishedreputation

asafilmcomposer,it’sperhapsatadironic

thatwhatattractedhimtoTheFourSeasons

inthefirstplacewasadesiretoreclaim

Vivaldi’sfamousconcertosetfromits

fetishisedexistenceasamedia-constructed

commodity,usedbyadverts,jinglesand

televisionprogrammes.Richter’sactof

musicalreconstructiondoesdrawfromthe

filmcomposer’stoolkit,however,withsolo

violin,stringorchestraandharpsichord

replicatingtechniquesandprocessesmore

obviouslyassociatedwithelectronicpop

music,suchastime-stretching,sampling,

loopingandfiltering.Its 12 movements

takeshortearworm-likemotifsfrom

Vivaldi’soriginal,spinningthemoutusing

minimalist-stylepatterningandlayeringor

throughambientwashesofsound.

WhileRichter’screscendo-likecurves,

cyclicchordpatternsandabruptendings

replaceVivaldi’sterraceddynamics,

harmonicmotionandbalancedphrases,

thisrecordingactuallycomesclosertothe

spiritofBaroquemusicthanHope’son

DG.Humphreys’ssoloviolinblendswell

withtheCoventGardenSinfoniaunder

BenPalmer,whoretainasubtlelightness

oftouchthroughout.Theirapproachin

generalresemblesthatofaBaroque

concerto–withitscontrastsbetweensolo

concertinoandtuttiripieno–anditwould

actuallybeinterestingseehowaperiod-

instrumentperformanceofRichter’spiece

mightsound.Humphreys’sdelicatetouch

andexpressiveplayingisespeciallyevident

duringthemiddlemovementsofSpring

andSummer,whichisalsocarriedacrossin

herrenditionofPe ̄terisVasks’sLonely

Angel,althoughArvoPärt’sFratresdoes

notpossessquitethesamepower,thrust

andpresenceofViktoriaMullova’srecent

recording(Onyx,A/18).PwyllapSiôn

Schurmann

‘TheFilmMusicofGerardSchurmann’

AttackontheIronCoast– MainTitle.TheLong

Arm– TailingtheSuspect.Suites– The

Ceremony;Claretta;DrSyn,aliasTheScarecrow;

TheGambler;HorrorsoftheBlackMuseum;

Konga

BBCPhilharmonicOrchestra/ RumonGamba

ChandosFCHAN10979(78’• DDD)

Three cheers to

Chandos and their

house team of

conductor Rumon

Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic for

fl ying the fl ag for this venerable fi gure who,

at 95, has put together the suites for the

eight titles on this CD covering subject

matter way beyond the assignment of

horror movies with which Gerard

Schurmann has been long associated.

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