Australian HiFi - March-April 2016_

Australian

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By Audiophile Audition

100

Henri Herz | Piano Concerto No. 2 | Howard Shelley/Tas Sym. Orchestra | Hyperion CDA68100

Mendelssohn, Gade | Violin Concertos | Thomas Albertus Irnberger | Gramola SACD 9905

Borodin | Symphony No. 2, 3 | L’Orch. de la Suisse Romande/Ernest Ansermet | ORG (2LPs)

Concierto | Jim Hall, guitar | CTI PPAN 6060 (2LPs)

John Adams | Absolute Jest, Grand Pianola Music | SFS Media 821936-0063-2

Simon & Garfunkel | The Concert In Central Park | Sony Legacy 88875048741 (2LPs)

Probably the most important large-scale work

by Borodin, the Second Symphony is considered

one of his greatest, and Ansermet’s version the

best recording of it. The Scherzo movement is

a Russian Barcarolle with lilting rhythms, and

the third Andante movement was intended to

depict a Slavic minstrel accompanying himself

on a type of zither. It has one of the composer’s

most serene melodies.

Jim Hall was known for his lyricism,

soft textures and harmony-oriented

improvisational skills and Don Sebesky was

one of the finest arrangers in jazz. Many jazz

performers in the ‘70s were assailing the ears

with high-energy, distorted, rock-influenced

music, but not guitarist Jim Hall or the rest

of the A-teamplaying on these LPs, including

Chet Baker and Paul Desmond, that back him

An old work and a new one from America’s most-

performed living composer. Both are captured in

5.0 hi-res surround (96/24 for the first work and

192/24 for the second) by the San Francisco

Symphony under the baton of both Michael

Tilson Thomas and Adams himself. Absolute Jest

was inspired by Adams’ listening to Stravinsky’s

Pulcinella Suite. Instead of working with snippets of

Pergolesi, Adams used various bits from a couple of

I can’t think of two more divergent musical

views of the romantic than the styles of Felix

Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Niels Gade. The

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, heard here, is

one of the most popular concertos in the

world; Gade’s works are not nearly as well-

known or as popular and his Violin Concerto in

D minor on this disc is the only one he wrote.

It’s a fine work. Gade was a violinist himself,

This is the third volume from Hyperion devoted

to the piano concertos of Henri Herz (1803–

1888), who spent his long life touring the

world as a highly successful virtuoso pianist

but was thought by some to be superficial.

Robert Schumann called him a stenographer

rather than a composer, and wrote his Phantasie

Satyrique (nach Henri Herz) to poke fun at what

he perceived as worthless playing. A lot of Herz’s

When New York City decided to host a benefit

concert in Central Park, in 1981 there was

only one choice for the headliner. Throughout

their twenty-one song set, the crowd was

deliriously happy with the nostalgic reunion.

Sony Legacy has released a re-mastered 180-

gram vinyl double LP of the original album.

The re-mastering is excellent. The voices are

captured with clarity and tonal richness.

The stereo mix is balanced and the instrumentation

is subtle, never in front of the vocals or Simon’s

guitar. All the famous Simon & Garfunkel songs

are here, Mrs Robinson, Homeward Bound, America,

Scarborough Fair, April Come She Will, The Boxer, Old

Friends, 59 th Bridge St, Sounds of Silence, along with

solo Paul Simon material but with Garfunkel helping

out on vocals: Me And Julio, Fifty Ways to Leave Your

Lover and more...making it a must-have vinyl.

writing for piano is fiendishly difficult and highly

delicate, more filigree than barn-storming keyboard-

bashing, requiring sensitive handling. Howard Shelley

shows all this off very successfully indeed, the light and

bright-toned piano making the rapid, lithe passage-

work crystal-clear, especially heard through the 24-bit

download. The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

contributes a lean clear sound in a credible concert-

hall balance, all captured in fine sound. Bravo!

and his affinity with the instrument is obvious.

The performances on the disc are excellent, and

soloist Thomas Albertus Irnberger has an obvious

connection to both works. He plays with precision

and deep emotion. The Jerusalem Symphony under

the baton of Doron Salomon also serves the music

well. The recording, a 5.1 and 2.0 disc, was recorded

at the Henry Crown Auditorium in Jerusalem, and it

has a nice balance between the orchestra and soloist.

The Finale-Allegro of the symphony is more free than

the opening movement, and is a bright scene of great

celebration, using Slavic dances with syncopated

downbeats. This November 1954 recording by

Ansermet was the first stereo version and nothing

in the analogue or digital realm matches the sound

quality of these 45 rpm pressings. There’s no surface

noise whatever, and the massed strings are especially

gorgeous and natural-sounding.

up on these sides. The album title comes from

his (and Sebesky’s) 19-minute take on Rodrigo’s

lovely Concierto de Aranjuez that provides Side 2

of this four-sided album. The original album was

a single LP, but Pure Pleasure has spread out the

grooves onto two 12-inch vinyls. The fidelity is

gorgeous and a huge improvement over the CD

version. Hall’s lyrical guitar sound comes across in

a most masterful way.

Beethoven’s string quartets, plus a bit of his Seventh

Symphony. There aren’t many works pegging a

string quartet against a symphony orchestra, so

Absolute Jest is a welcome contribution. Grand

Pianola Music also has tongue-in-cheek allusions to

the Emperor Concerto of Beethoven. The two-piano-

based work is most enjoyable and the vocal parts

are my all-time favourite types of vocal parts—

wordless voices. [www.audaud.com]