Orchestral reviews

Orchestral

Tedesco . Rodrigo

Bacarisse Concertino, Op 72a Castelnuovo-Tedesco Romancero gitano, Op 152b Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjueza

Karin Schaupp gtr bCantillation / Philip Chu; aTasmanian Symphony Orchestra / Benjamin Northey

ABC Classics F ABC476 3627 (68’ • DDD)

Karin Schaupp delivers a great Concierto de Aranjuez

The title of this disc (“Great Guitar Concertos”) is a misnomer. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s

Romancero gitano for

chorus and guitar isn’t a

guitar concerto; Bacarisse’s Concertino isn’t great. But the Concierto de Aranjuez is both – and all three certainly receive great performances from an equally great bunch of Australian musicians. While I’ve not always agreed with Schaupp’s

choice of repertoire (the Bacarisse being a case in point), I have never doubted her ability to make the guitar sing unlike any other Australian guitarist I know. By combining the lapidary precision of Williams with the expressiveness of Bream, Schaupp here brings us an Aranjuez fit to stand alongside the best of them, while the TSO under Benjamin Northey again show why they are one of Australia’s finest orchestras. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Romancero gitano sets

texts from Federico García Lorca’s 1921

collection Poema del cante jondo. Colourful,

picturesque and full of deep feeling, it draws on flamenco and non-flamenco traditions to animate Lorca’s often dark poetry. Schaupp, herself also a fine stage actress, is as attuned to the texts as Cantillation, who under the astute direction of Philip Chu sing with clarity and conviction. Born in Madrid, composer, conductor and

critic Salvador Bacarisse Chinoria (1898-1963) spent the last quarter-century of his life in Paris, where in 1951 he completed the four- movement Concertino for guitar and orchestra, today his most popular work. Beautifully crafted and unfailingly tuneful, it is nevertheless too derivative of 19th-century idioms for its own good. However, in the hands of Schaupp and Co it comes as close to sounding like a masterpiece as you’re likely to hear.

16 GRAMOPHONE MAY 2010

Fantastique Berlioz • Anniversary Elgar from Znaider • Norrington’s Mahler Ninth

Bacarisse . Castelnuovo-

As can often be the case with ABC Classics,

the recorded sound is not as detailed as one might wish. However, their booklet-notes are always extensive and informative; such is the

case here. William Yeoman

Bach

Brandenburg Concertos, BWV1046-1051

Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig / Riccardo Chailly

Decca F b 478 2191DX2 (94’ • DDD)

A rare modern-instrument set that is often stylistically trapped

How quickly our ears have become attuned to the pitch, gestures, speeds and textures of the “period” revolution. Even

when a young orchestra of such remarkable flexibility as the present Leipzig Gewandhaus perform Bach’s Brandenburgs, we imagine an underlying motivation of reclaiming territory for a famous old Bach house orchestra (often with the Thomanerchor) returning to its roots with its own “restoration” agenda. This forms, however, only a very small

part of the story. There can be no question that these players are comfortable to be performing Bach on modern instruments – and, for that alone, bravissimo – combining an unselfconscious love of the tonal possibilities in their natural environment with the sophisticated and immersed sense of style, balance, scale and nuance one associates with a “period” ensemble. Vibrato is selective or negligible, and thankfully not just the latter. The best of this happy mélange is heard in a

boisterous and suave Concerto No 1, which is ripe, warm and controlled, but the horns still cluck (as Baroque horns do, so charmingly) with personality in the mini-divertissement which is the fourth movement. The oboe and violin in the second movement intersect each other in mellifluous dialogues largely absent in the neo-baroque world of the formal, slightly stiff and glamorous solos of Münchinger, Richter and even Marriner. The contrast is especially strong when one revisits the demoralised-sounding Gewandhaus in their copious Bach recordings of the post-war period. How much Chailly actually directs these

works is a moot point. The Second and Sixth Concertos sound like self-led chamber

performances with the conductor choreographing rather than leading. The former is a remarkably lithe affair. Perhaps only the motoric (brilliant if occasionally sharp) trumpet and a pushed tempo – which rather strips the ensemble of its true colour – reveals the more unyielding side of orchestral musicians operating in the Baroque arena. The Third and Fourth Concertos appear

more gripped by Chailly in their careful placement, terraced dynamics and often wearingly detached, light and regulated string articulation. This seems a shame since it’s the joy of playing these pieces naturally and unapologetically on modern instruments which ultimately wins over the listener, not paying lip service to current orthodoxy (or worse still, what it’s thought to be). The Fourth takes time to get going and the outer movements are disappointingly uninflected. This is where, in comparison, the joie de vivre and new-found freedom of the best period bands becomes all too apparent. The most successful concerto is the Fifth

(the Sixth, robust but unsettled) and for all Chailly’s containment, the concertante trio thrive on each other’s filigree, despite a manic harpsichord cadenza from Michael Schönheit in the first movement. The second movement is a gorgeous essay in unalloyed lyricism, one of several isolated moments of abandon in a fascinating but only intermittently satisfying

project. Jonathan Freeman‑Attwood

Beethoven . Brahms

Beethoven Triple Concerto, Op 56a

Brahms Double Concerto, Op 102b

a

Trio Poseidon (b

Sara Trobäck Hesselink vn bClaes Gunnarsson vc Per Lundberg pf)

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra / Neeme Järvi

Chandos F CHAN10564 (70’ • DDD)

Beethoven – selected comparisons: Oistrakh, Knushevitsky, Oborin, Philh, Sargent (11/57R

) (EMI) 381487-2

Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter, BPO, Karajan (9/70R

) (EMI) 566954-2

Brahms – selected comparisons: Oistrakh, Fournier, Philh, Galliera (7/59R Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Cleveland, Szell (3/70R

) (EMI) 381487-2 ) (EMI) 566954-2

It seems like an obvious coupling but this Brahms upstages the Beethoven

There is much to be said for this purposeful yet agreeable Gothenburg recording of the Brahms Double Concerto. Soloist Sara Trobäck

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