Midlands Classical Music Making

NORMAN STINCHCOMBE REVELS IN MOZART AND MOSZKOWSKI CDs MOZART PIANO SONATAS VOL.3: Donohoe (Somm Recordings SOMMCD 0613) ★★★★★ The third volume of Peter Donohoe's Mozart piano cycle is as stimulating, provoking and sheerly enjoyable as its predecessors. Charm, elegance and poetry are not lacking in Donohoe's playing but they are not prioritized in the way they are in the sonata cycles of Pires (DG) and Uchida (Philips). Donohoe is quicker than them in every movement and not just by omitting repeats. Pugnacious, witty and sparkling, this Mozart is a young man in a hurry. In the Adagio in B minor K.540, Donohoe does not downplay the piece's proto-Romanticism but it's more austere and trenchant than Uchida's, which dreamily anticipates Schubert. Donohoe's preference for a Bechstein, lighter than Uchida's Steinway, contributes to his approach. The disc is programmed as a very satisfying recital, starting with K.330 in C Major and concluding with a fizzin...

THE MUSIC BEHIND THE E-CARDS MIKE HUGHES-CHAMBERLAIN AND JACQUIE LAWSON E-CARDS by Christopher Morley It's always a joy when an e-greetings card plops into your inbox, not least at festive times of the year. It's easy to understand why the sending of these cyber-messages has become so popular, given the huge cost of postage nowadays At the forefront of this trend are the e-cards produced by Jacquie Lawson, and in addition to the attractive artwork, witty and sensitive storylines, and interactive opportunities offered by these little gems, comes the input of music, atmospheric and appropriate. Whether specially composed or arranged from other sources, these sound-pictures are masterminded by Mike Hughes-Chamberlain, who has made the seamless connection between a musical education and Information Technology in order to create scores for these scores of delightful little gems. He was brought up in Hindhead in Surrey, where his mother founded a music school in 1975. ...

ETHEL SMYTH AND MENDELSSOHN CDs REVIEWED SMYTH SONGS AND BALLADS: Stevens / Marcus / Berkeley Ensemble / Martinez (Somm Recordings SOMMCD 0611) ★★★ Lucy Stevens is an actor and singer acclaimed for her one-woman shows including Grasp the Nettle based on the life of composer Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944). A fascinating life too: trained at Leipzig Conservatory and the first woman to have an opera produced at Covent Garden. A solid Victorian upbringing but a rebel; bisexual and a suffragette jailed in Holloway for her political activities. Stevens, with a powerful contralto voice, sings a wide variety of Smyth's songs accompanied in Four Songs, by the Berkeley Ensemble under Odaline de la Martine, and in the rest by pianist Elizabeth Marcus her musical partner from the Smyth stage show. I expect that was an entertaining evening but on disc it doesn't work – the musical material isn't strong enough. The early works are twee and the Lieder like diluted Brahms. Withou...

NORMAN STINCHCOMBE WELCOMES NEW BACH AND POULENC CDS BACH ST MATTHEW PASSION: Choir of King's College Cambridge / AAM / Cleobury (3 CD / SACD KGS0037-D) ★★★★★ This impressive new recording is a fitting epitaph to Sir Stephen Cleobury who was the Choir's director of music from 1982 until his death last November. It has the virtues we have come to know from his innumerable concert appearances, recordings and broadcasts: clarity, precision and passion in due proportion with the drama emerging naturally without the need for fussy interpretative point-making. The choir of around thirty, plus a similarly-sized ripieno choir for the opening and closing chorales of Part 1, live up to their world-class reputation, from the firm foundation of the basses to the pure-toned trebles. There is an excellent team of soloists with outstanding performances by bass Matthew Rose (Jesus) and tenor James Gilchrist (Evangelist), supported stylishly by the Academy of Ancient Music. The College...

A TRIUMPHANT FAREWELL COULL QUARTET Helen Martin Studio, Warwick Arts Centre ***** It was a sad privilege to be part of a packed audience for the last-ever concert from the Coull Quartet as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Warwick. Though there have been some changes in personnel over the 43 years of this relationship, the Quartet has built for itself an enviable sense of empathy and trust. These musicians make this sense of four playing as one look easy, but indeed it is not, and comes from years of attunement and mutual understanding. And even after all these years the Coull plays with a bright-eyed enthusiasm, obvious from the very opening of an incisive and alert account of Beethoven's F major Quartet. Op.18 no.1 The approach to the first movement's recapitulation had inexorable momentum, the adagio flowed, never overladen with spurious significance, and the turns and flourishes of the finale were accomplished with unflashy unanimity. Then came a...

SCHUMANN: London Symphony Orchestra / Gardiner (LSO Live CD / SACD LSO0844)★★★ If you want Schumann weighty, grand and imposing with romantic horn calls heralding the era of Wagnerian amplitude then Sir John Eliot Gardiner's not your man. Instead we have music of immense vigour, energy coursing through every quaver, sharp ensemble and characterful playing in these live takes on Schumann's symphonies No.1 and No.3. The recordings, detailed but very close, match the executive approach. Listen to the opening of No.3 where Gardiner takes Schumann's Lebhaft (lively) at face value – at this speed Klemperer (EMI) by contrast seems to be conducting in slow motion. No.1 bursts into life, burgeoning with the return of Spring and carrying all before it and the conclusion is certainly animato – but is is also grazioso? Occasionally velocity outweighs expression: the fourth movement of No.3 shouldn't drag but Schumann's Feierlich demands something more splendidly solemn than ...

A WONDERFUL BRUCKNER 6 FROM CBSO CBSO Symphony Hall ***** Omer Meir Wellber was certainly high on the shortlist when Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla pipped him to the Music Directorship of the CBSO four years ago. Last night he stepped valiantly into the breach, covering for an indisposed Mirga, who is early into her second pregnancy. This was no easy, bread-and-butter run-through of a programme, but one featuring one of Bruckner's lesser-played symphonies, the Sixth, a captivating if strenuously demanding work in terms of concentration and flexibility of response from the players. Its morse-code opening, high in the violins, was if anything too understated, but the music soon developed into huge, organ-like layers of sound, articulation now flexible, now tight, building to a natural climax which seemed like a huge affirmation, the underlying momentum bringing melodies riding nobly over throbbing accompaniments. The deeply-felt delivery of the adagio had moments of introspec...

FULL FLOOD OF SOUND KING EDWARDS SCHOOL, KING EDWARDS HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS Ruddock Hall, Edgbaston **** Large school halls are difficult spaces in which to suit needs of eager numbers of performers. Such is the case with Ruddock Hall, King Edwards Boys fine Performing Arts Centre, used for numerous and varied events. This Sexagesimal performance celebrated sixty years of music-making by young people from both distinguished schools, but one suspects that not enough time was given for individual practice or indeed, listening to the massive sounds whirling around. Possibly more input from conductor Martin Leigh would have helped (inspired?) throughout this challenging programme, well familiar to a large majority of the audience. Not the starter however, Sixteen year old Christopher Churcher's special celebratory Sexagesima! delighted listeners and challenged players. Balance a problem, however, (i.e. inaudible marimba) – more listening and rehearsal time please. The true star...

A SEARING ELEKTRA AT SYMPHONY HALL BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA IS BRINGING ELEKTRA TO SYMPHONY HALL by Christopher Morley Home to the CBSO, Symphony Hall hosts another of the country's great regional orchestras when the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra visits later this month, bringing a semi-staged performance of Richard Strauss's Elektra. This presentation of the searing one-act opera follows the BSO's highly successful production of the composer's Salome in 2015, the last time the orchestra played in Birmingham. "We were really delighted with Salome and received an incredible audience reaction -- and critical reaction -- to the performances both here and in Birmingham," Dougie Scarfe, Chief Executive Officer of the BSO tells me when I visit him at the orchestra's base at the Lighthouse in Poole.. "And like Salome, Elektra is a powerful work which works well in the concert-hall. All of the psychological drama is there in the music; the ...

BLOCKBUSTER BEETHOVEN VIOLIN SONATAS LANA TROTOVSEK AND MARIA CANYIGUERAL Conway Hall, London **** Holborn's Conway Hall is a little gem of a venue, its auditorium cosily wood-surrounded, its atmosphere welcoming, and its loyalty of audience-members heartening, not least in its regular series of early evening Sunday recitals. Violinist Lana Trotovsek and pianist Maria Canyigueral had a packed audience not even dropping a pin during this meaty all-Beethoven programme bringing three of the composer's violin sonatas, including the two most famous, the 'Spring' and the 'Kreutzer'. The lesser-known Sonata no.8 made a huge impression here, bringing a wonderful interplay between violin and piano, Trotovsek and Canyigueral so attentive and responsive to each other, shaping phrases subtly and arrestingly. Unfortunately the power of the hall's Bosendorfer piano (such a sturdy bass), its lid open on full stick, sometimes overwhelmed the delicate pianissimo...

ALERT SUPPLENESS IN BRAHMS' GERMAN REQUIEM BRAHMS GERMAN REQUIEM CBSO and Chorus at Symphony Hall ***** It was a clever idea to precede Brahms' Requiem with Mozart's C minor Wind Serenade for, like the Brahms, this piece is a masterful synthesis of 'the old style' with the new. Scored for an ensemble traditionally employed for light entertainment, this carefully crafted piece, cast in Mozart's favourite key for intense dramatic works, and bristling with contrapuntal ingenuity was defiantly dark in its character, and practically a symphony for wind octet. The performance was a delight. The CBSO wind section played standing, allowing us to savour each individual's contribution, whilst enjoying the felicities of the ensemble. Mozart's formal symmetries were echoed in the mighty construction of Brahms Requiem. The main impression of the evening was the absolute command that Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla had of the large forces involved, the certainty with wh...

PERFECT SHOWCASE -- "BE OFF!" CBSO Symphony Hall ★★★★ Vaughan Williams' A London Symphonyis is criticised for its pictorial elements – Westminster Chimes, jingling hansom cabs and street sellers' cries. The Edwardian-theme-park conceit is a partial view of a symphony whose brooding, melancholy is more important. While the opening movement's fortissimo march strutted along full of bumptious vulgarity, snappy brass to the fore, the CBSO's associate conductor Michael Seal also laid bare its brittle, febrile quality – just one step from the jingoism that led to the war to end wars. The lento second movement was achingly sad with the poignant solo contributions from horn (Elspeth Dutch), viola (Adam Römer) and cor anglais (Rachael Pankhurst) small gleams of light in the crepuscular gloom. No pomp and circumstance big finish, just a hushed barcarolle as the Thames laps into the darkness to come. John Foulds' overture April – England was a refreshing...

A VARIED ALL-ENGLISH PROGRAMME CBSO Symphony Hall ***** Barely two decades span the composing of the three works we heard in this all-English programme, but they are all markedly different in effect. The CBSO and Sakari Oramo led the mini-revival of interest in the neglected composer John Foulds, producing two CDs of his music, and here we began with a return to his April-England. The piece is an example of his Celtic belief in the creative influence of equinoxes, and this tone-poem, originally for piano, gives us what exactly it says on the tin. It begins with a sense of awakening in the countryside which is obviously English (perky, lively woodwind to the fore here) and embraces some deeply portentous chords reflecting Foulds' belief in pantheism. The CBSO under Michael Seal gave a willing, generous performance, and there was some particularly interesting timpani-writing. In the interim between the initial conception of April-England and its orchestration, Willi...

THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION PROKOFIEV WAR SONATAS: Steven Osborne (Hyperion CDA 68298) ★★★★★ Prokofiev composed his piano sonatas Nos 6, 7 and 8 between 1939 and 1944 and their anger and ferocity reflect the events of what Russians call "The Great Patriotic War". That Prokofiev, who made his reputation as a keyboard virtuoso, premiered the sixth and left its successors to Richter and Gilels indicates the exalted level of technique they require. There can be no compromises, fudges or smudges. The concluding Precipitato movement of the seventh batters soloist and listener alike. Steven Osborne's fiery and supremely articulate performance matches the young Ashkenazy's legendary 1967 recording (Decca-deleted) – and is even faster. There are also moments of nostalgic tenderness such as eighth sonata's andante second movement, a delicately tripping minuet marked sognando, which is suitably dreamy under Osborne's tender hands. The sonatas were recorded in an air...

SOME WELL-MEANT ADVICE ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN Stratford Play House *** This is difficult, but these remarks are well-meant, and I hope constructive. Lauren Zhang is a brilliant pianist, more than able to play the notes of every work she tackles (her Prokofiev Second Piano Concerto with the CBSO which won her the BBC Young Musician accolade a couple of years ago was jaw-dropping). She has a wide dynamic range, and a fluency and muscle-memory which are truly enviable. Her performance of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with the Orchestra of the Swan was technically remarkable, but there were aspects of her presentation, however, which now need urgent attention. This account came over as aloof, the soloist engaging not at all with the orchestral players (it is always so heartening to see the soloist turning to savour orchestral tuttis), nor with the audience. A soloist should own the audience, not keep them at arm's-length, and however much the packed audience applauded...

FRESHNESS AND MATURITY CBSO YOUTH ORCHESTRA Symphony Hall ***** Every member of the CBSO Youth Orchestra plays with a technical skill way beyond their years; that's a given. Add that expertise to an unjaded freshness of approach, and the result is performances of extraordinary vitality and exhilaration. And add to the podium Kazuki Yamada whose enthusiasm is infectious, and whose respect for his young charges is palpable, and the outcome is something very special. Yamada is the popular Principal Guest Conductor of the parent CBSO, whose players devotedly coach these rising stars during an intensive week-long residency, and the chemistry between him and these youthful instrumentalists brought about a memorable concert on Sunday afternoon. Dreamtime, by Yamada's Japanese compatriot Toru Takemitsu, is an absorbing work originally written for dance, and indeed shows the influence of the composer's great role model Debussy's Jeux.. Its reflections on barely-for...

AURAL SPECTACLE CBSO Symphony Hall ***** Vilde Frang had the cruellest of rewards after delivering Thursday afternoon's knockout performance of Shostakovich's fearsomely difficult First Violin Concerto: she missed her flight from Birmingham Airport. Her taxi had been unable to battle through stationary traffic in the underpass, she told me when I bumped into her as she returned to her hotel, and she thought it would be a good idea for me to write a review of the Birmingham traffic situation. So I am. Her response to the Shostakovich, a work searching technically, physically and emotionally, had gripped us all, right from its eloquently sustained opening, Frang's grieving lines, muscularly accented, supported by a weight yet flexible CBSO under principal guest conductor Kazuki Yamada. She interacted particularly sensitively with the orchestral strings here. Following a skittish, skeletal scherzo we had further evidence of Frang's ability to trace long-s...

NO ROMANCE OR MYSTERY CBSO at Symphony Hall ★★★ The gear change required between the opening andante and subsequent allegro sections in the first movement of Schubert's Symphony No. 9 is notoriously difficult to navigate. Start with the famous solo horn theme too slowly and portentously and when it returns triumphantly in the coda it'll sound like a speeded-up record. Juanjo Mena avoided this pitfall; the tempi matched seamlessly and there was no need for an old-school ritardando. There was a price to pay though as Mena's relentless briskness gave it a Rossini-like lightness and banality. Elspeth Dutch's horn call was perfect for Mena's approach but never suggested the promise of romance and mystery that left Schumann awe-struck. As we raced onward the symphony was gradually stripped of its majesty with only small pockets of beauty as compensation. Mena used a large body of strings but, in not doubling the wind section, left much of their music inaudible. ...

A CONCERTO FOR TEN THUMBS DVORAK, MARTINU: Kahánek / Bamberg Symphoniker / Hrusa (Supraphon SU 4236-2) ★★★★★ Stephen Hough sees Dvorak's piano concerto as a "glorious lyrical work" yet as "a concerto for ten thumbs". The soloist's part is amazingly awkward, Dvorak was no piano virtuoso, but without the reward of exciting keyboard fireworks – its not an adversarial work. The pianist is a first among equals and the Czech pianist Ivo Kahánek, like Hough, plays it that way and reveals its many felicities. The Andante sostenuto movement has one of Dvorak's irresistible melodies – sample it and doubts will be overcome. Kahánek's teamwork with the Bamberg players, under his attentive countryman Jakub Hrusa, is ideal. Hough, live with the CBSO on Hyperion, paired Dvorak with Schumann but Kahánek's choice of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu's two-movement Piano Concerto No.4 "Incantation" (1956) is a more illuminating...

NORDIC FRESH AIR ICELAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Symphony Hall ***** Making its first-ever UK tour, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra brought a breath of clean Nordic air to Symphony Hall, playing with a freshness and enthusiasm which made all of us in a well-filled auditorium feel warmly embraced. These charming players responded with delight to the hall's qualities (their own magnificent Harpa hall in Reykjavik was designed by the same Artec company), and Yan Pascal Tortelier, who previously conducted here with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, relished the opportunities to nuance phrasing and dynamics. Movements from Bizet's L'Arlesienne, scored for large orchestra now instead of its original pit band, made a sturdy opener, gorgeously coloured, followed by an absolutely stunning account of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. Soloist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet relished the sheer physical aspects of delivering this masterpiece, sweeping across the keyboard, bal...

800 RECITALS AND STILL COUNTING THOMAS TROTTER Symphony Hall ***** Only seven people have been in the Birmingham City Organist saddle since 1834, and Thomas Trotter, the current occupant, has been in the loft since 1983, overtaking in longevity all his predecessors (even the great George Thalben-Ball) bar one -- James Stimpson, who presided for 44 years. Given the very young age at which Trotter was appointed, I anticipate (and hope to be there at) an event in 2027 which marks his overtaking this milestone. Meanwhile, this present recital was a joyous affair, Trotter's 800th in his role, attended both by royalty and a multitude of schoolchildren, and presented by the organist with both modesty and elan to a warmly appreciative audience. The recital was dedicated to the memory of Tom Caulcott, Chief Executive of the City of Birmingham during the years in which the International Convention Centre housing Symphony Hall was conceived, and who indeed had the casting v...

REMARKABLE NEW TUBA CONCERTO BIRMINGHAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Elgar Concert Hall, Birmingham University **** The Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra is right up there among the country's top amateur orchestras. It is also a very friendly one, and nowhere was that more apparent than in this heartwarming concert built around dedications to recently-departed members. Bassoonist Mike Syrett was remembered in a stunningly moving account of John Williams' Hymn to the Fallen (from the film Saving Private Ryan), voices from the City of Birmingham Choir joining the BPO (and what crisp snare-drum contributions) in an account under conductor Michael Lloyd of Brucknerian gravity. Another bassoonist, Sue Peters, was commemorated one of her favourite pieces, Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody no.1, woodwind exotically interweaving, the central viola solo eloquently given, and everything well driven in this orchestral showpiece, Lloyd producing some delicate dynamic engineering. The Adagiet...