Norman Stinchcombe reviews the latest classical CD releases
Verdi ‘Simon Boccanegra’ original version: Alcántara, Nakamura, Thomas, Ayón-Rivas, Chorus of Opera North, RNCM Opera Chorus, Hallé / Elder (Opera Rara 2 CDs) ★★★★★
Composers have often revised operas and Verdi, ever the perfectionist, was no exception. Those revisions include minor dramaturgical ones caused by censorship (‘Un ballo in maschera’) and a change of language from performances in Italy to Paris (‘Don Carlo’ and ‘Don Carlos’) but also Verdi’s revamped versions were made to rescue works which had become unfashionable and bring them into line with his later very different style. In 2003 the Opera Rara label released a recording of Verdi’s original 1847 version of ‘Macbeth’, with different arias, giving fascinating comparisons with Verdi’s familiar 1865 version. In his excellent booklet essay for the new recording of the 1857 original version of ‘Simon Boccanegra’, Roger Parker raises the question “of whether Verdi’s revisions are, as well as re-imaginings, invariably improvements”. The answer to that must be a judicious ‘Sometimes’. A more pertinent question is whether this version stands in its own right as an operatic experience which will enthral, grip and delight the lover of Verdi’s music. Having listened to this thrilling performance the answer is an indubitable ‘Yes’. The studio recording was made in April last year to coincide with a concert performance under Sir Mark Elder at the Hallé Orchestra’s home at Bridgewater Hall which received uniformly glowing reviews. The four principals are young singers with fresh and vital voices and all rise to the occasion. Argentinian baritone Germán Enrique Alcántara is a Boccanegra of passion and dignity convincingly tender with his daughter Emilia and with the gravitas for the plot’s political machinations. Iván Ayón-Rivas is an ardent Gabriel Adorno with the necessary tenor spinto quality. William Thomas’s bass is authoritative as the nobleman Fiesco. Topping all this is Japanese soprano Eri Nakamura’s Emilia – with passion and fire, hitting notes with precision and purpose. She’s stunning vocally and totally believable emotionally. Elder uses his immense operatic experience to great effect with the Hallé Orchestra and Chorus – reinforced by students from the Royal Northern College of Music – making both intimate moments and spectacular ones, like the carnival scene, come to life. Luxury presentation as always from Opera Rara releases, adds to the attraction of this desirable set.
Ravel, Complete Works for Solo Piano: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (Chandos 2 CDs) ★★★★★
Ravel’s piano music has been well served on disc but since its release in 1992 Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s set on Decca has been the top recommendation and my own personal favourite. Now here comes a survey by the mercurial Jean-Efflam Bavouzet which equals Thibaudet. Both are superb technicians, masters of colour, shading, pellucid sound, convincing tempi and, when required, flamboyance. In ‘Gaspard de la nuit’ their differing approaches are revealed. Both dazzle in ‘Ondine’, magically transforming showers of notes into cascades of water, but in ‘Le Gibet’ Thibaudet makes the corpse swing hypnotically slowly while in ‘Scarbo’ both pianists observe Ravel’s ‘Toujours en accelerant’ direction but Thibaudet is marginally, and disturbingly, quicker. Both deliver ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ as full of delights with Bavouzet’s more sprightly Forlane particularly piquant. If in ‘Miroirs’ Bavouzet’s barque traverses the ocean a little more quickly, Thibaudet’s bells peal in the Valley with mesmerising slowness in line with Ravel’s Très lent direction. Swings and roundabouts then. Both sets are sonically excellent, Bavouzet’s Potton Hall studio acoustic has plenty of air and his Yamaha piano’s bright tone suits Ravel’s musical clarity. Bavouzet’s set has a splendid bonus in a tour-de-force ‘La Valse’ as a ravishing encore. I wouldn’t want to be without either set.
Schubert Symphonies Volume 4: Bevan, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Gardner (Chandos CD & SACD) ★★★★
This disc recalls a delightful concert last July with Birmingham Town Hall bathed in summer sunlight. It was recorded in the two days succeeding the concert and retains the feeling of a live occasion. Edward Gardner has been a sane and sensible guide through Schubert’s symphonies which means that listeners won’t be outraged by either the radical zeal of Mackerras and Norrington, or too much of yesteryear rhetoric, from his conducting of Schubert’s Symphony No.9. Familiar tempo changes are made – excised in historically informed performances – including slowing down the end of the first movement as a nod to the symphony’s epithet of ‘The Great’. The big attraction here is soprano Mary Bevan singing orchestral arrangements of Schubert’s songs by Britten, Brahms, Reger and Berlioz. Purists may blanch but Berlioz’s arrangement of ‘Erlkönig’ is amazing, the CBSO players hurling themselves into the orchestral maelstrom with Bevan effective both as the terrified child, his father and the sinister supernatural being.
Bach, The Complete Violin Concertos: Ehnes, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (Analekta 2 CDs) ★★★★
When I’ve seen James Ehnes in concert he seems, in the best possible way, a throwback to the violin virtuosi of the 1950s. No contemporary dress informality or platform antics, his playing as immaculate as his evening dress. For those who desire baroque violin style, as advocated by Faust, Manze and Podger this set is not for you, Ehnes will sound too fulsome, perhaps a trifle lush. He knows Bach though, having recorded the complete Sonatas and Partitas, the Everest of the solo violin repertoire. So did Nathan Milstein with similar acclaim and Ehnes’ Bach is likewise elegant and persuasive. The Concerto in A minor (BWV1041) is the set’s highlight with Ehnes’ light vibrato adding warmth and the performance is a joyous one. The slow movement of the Concerto for Two Violins, with Yosuke Kawasaki, is also sublime, heart-easing in its beauty while Charles Hamann is Ehnes’ excellent partner in the violin and oboe concerto adding some delicious touches. Ehnes directs from the violin and the Canadian band provides solid support. A very enjoyable package.
Walton: Lovell-Jones, Sinfonia of London / Wilson (Chandos CD & SACD) ★★★★
A new recording by conductor John Wilson and his hand picked orchestra of top freelancers is always something to celebrate and I hope that this is just the start of a series devoted to the music of Sir William Walton. It gets off to a cracking start with the Symphonic Suite from Walton’s opera ‘Troilus and Cressida’ a judicious four movement arrangement by film music expert Christopher Palmer. There’s pomp and circumstance, the dogs of war unleashed and doomed romance lushly orchestrated and lovingly played. Chandos recorded the Suite in 1990 with the London Philharmonic under Bryden Thomson but it’s totally eclipsed by this new recording with Wilson which is far swifter and where the high definition recording quality delivers Walton’s demands for “Maestoso triomfale” and “Tutta Forza”. The overture ‘Portsmouth Point’ is a jolly miniature and in between comes Walton’s Violin Concerto with Charlie Lovell-Jones, the 26-year-old leader of the orchestra, as soloist. It’s a swift performance, nearer to the great Jascha Heifetz (who commissioned it) in tempi than more expansive readings by Tasmin Little and Nigel Kennedy who both find more romance and shadows in the work but Lovell-Jones scores with a dazzling central Presto capriccioso.