Reissues round-up
A35-CDsetfromWarnercovers
(almost) all the Beethoven recordings
made by Daniel Barenboim
throughouthislongcareer.Itbegins
withhisfirsttraversalofthePiano
Sonatasfromthelate1960sandearly
‘70s and continues with chamber
musicsuchastheviolinsonataswith
PinchasZukermanandthecello
sonataswithJacquelineduPré.Also
included are the nine symphonies,
recorded in the 1990s with the Berlin
Staatskapelle. Barenboim’s music
makinghasremainedstylistically
consistent:previousgiantslike
Schnabel influenced his playing
inthesonatas,andhisconducting
ofthesymphoniesowesalotto
Furtwängler.Onfirstrelease,the
symphonicrecordingswereregarded
asBarenboim’s‘answer’tothe
historically informed movement.
Theyarebigandunhurriedand
thesoundislush,butthey’re
rarely stodgy as rhythmic drive
is always maintained. Bad news
for completists: Barenboim’s later
performances of the five piano
concertosareincluded(heconducts
from the keyboard), but not his
fascinatingearlysetwithKlemperer.
I’dhavelikedboth.Hisrecordingof
Fideliowith Plácido Domingo
is here, sans libretto.
Zukerman turns up
withhisownboxof22
discsfromDeutsche
Grammophon, mostly
recorded in the ‘80s.
The Israeli violinist
played the primary
concerto repertoire for other
companies(althoughhislater
recordings of the Mendelssohn,
Brahms and Beethoven are here),
so this set contains much music
offthebeatentrack:sonatasby
Saint-Saëns, Prokofiev and Richard
Strauss, Berlioz’sHarold in Italy
(where Zukerman plays viola) and
SchuberttrioswithAshkenazyand
Lynn Harrell. Zukerman, currentlyArtistic Associate with the Adelaide
Symphony Orchestra, once said in
an interview that ancient music was
“disgusting and complete rubbish,
and(soare)thepeoplewhoplay
it”. Considering that, it is ironic
tonotetheamountof
old music in this set:
Pachelbel, Handel,
Vivaldi, Telemann
concertos (with
Micaela Petri), and
Bach’s sixBrandenburg
Concertos,conducted
by Zukerman with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic
playing idiomatically on modern
instruments.Myfavouritediscisa
delightful collection of Romances for
violin and orchestra by Beethoven,
Schubert and Dvorˇák.
AusefulMendelssohncollection
bringsusthefivesymphoniesin
spacious performances by the Leipzig
Gewandhaus Orchestra under Kurt
Masur. (Mendelssohn himself was
the Music Director of this orchestra
from 1835 till 1847.) The coupling is
the set of 13 string sinfonias, which
young Felix composed between the
tenderagesof12and14forfamily
andfriendstoplay.Thesearetightly
performedbyConcertoKöln.
TheEnglishpianistGordonFergus-
Thompson (b. 1952) is known for his
complete recordings of Ravel, Scriabin
andDebussy.In1991herecordeda
selection of Bach transcriptions, now
reissued by Eloquence. It contains
thoseBach/Busonifavourites,the
ChaconnefromtheViolinPartita
No2andtheToc c ata and F ug u e in D
Minor,plusMyraHess’soft-recorded
arrangement ofJesu, Joy of Man’s
Desiring,butisnotableforrare
transcriptions by Liszt, Rachmaninov
and Lord Berners (whose unusual
arrangement ofIn Dulci Jubilois truly
virtuosic). Fergus-Thompson takes
afull-blooded,romanticapproach,
producing some lovely pianissimos.BARENBOIM’S BATON ON BEETHOVEN
A 35-disc box captures a master pianist’s conducted survey of the great composer
Zukerman once
said in an interview
that ancient music
was “disgusting and
complete rubbish”THE MONTHREISSUE OFThis month’s
reissuesDaniel Barenboim...withPhillip Scott
Beethoven
Daniel Barenboim
WA R N E R CL A S S I C S
0190295922580 (35CD)Zukerman
Complete DG Recs
Pinchas Zukermanv
DG 4795983 (22CD)Mendelssohn
Five Symphonies
Gewandhaus/Masur
WC 0190295974909Bach
Transcriptions
Fergus-Thompsonp
ELOQUENCE 482489984 LIMELIGHT MAY 2017 http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au
OREVIEWS