We keep hearing about the decline of classical music, and that people are just not buying CDs anymore. Well, if you look closely at the numbers you will find that more people are going to concerts, in more different venues, and in more cities around the world than ever before. And while technologies are certainly changing, more people are listening to music on stereo systems, computers, iPhones, etc. than ever before. The big record companies are not what they used to be but they are adapting too, and lots of smaller labels are popping up to respond to the demand for recordings by a vast range of fine musicians.
CDs make great Christmas gifts, and the quality is better than ever. And Canadians – both composers and performers – are well represented among my top recommendations.
1. VIVALDI: The Four Seasons. James Ehnes, violin. Sydney Symphony. Onyx 4134.
Canadian violinist James Ehnes has been recording all the major concertos to great acclaim, and now he has come to perhaps the most popular of all: the four concertos that make up Vivaldi’s perennial favourite, the Four Seasons. As usual, he plays with sumptuous tone and effortless virtuosity. The approach is decidedly old-fashioned, but the quality of the playing is timeless. Available here.
2. RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé. Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra/Yannick Nézet Séguin. BIS-1850.
Canada’s superstar conductor regularly records with all three of his orchestras in Montreal, Philadelphia and Rotterdam. This latest release from Rotterdam showcases another authoritative performance with demonstration-quality sound. Available here.
3. RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Variations on a Theme of Chopin. Variations on a Theme of Corelli. The Philadelphia Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin. DG 479 4970.
Our man Yannick at the helm in Philadelphia in collaboration with Daniil Trifonov, the hottest young pianist on the circuit. But while the performance of the Rhapsody is dynamite, the Chopin Variations for solo piano may be the more impressive performance. Available here.
4. SUK: Asrael Symphony. The Ripening. A Summer’s Tale. Tale of a Winter’s Evening. Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin/ Kirill Petrenko. CPO 555 009-2 (3 CDs).
We’ll have to wait a few years until Kirill Petrenko takes the reins of the Berlin Philharmonic from Simon Rattle but in the meantime don’t miss these superb performances of unjustly neglected music by Dvořák’s son-in-law Josef Suk. Petrenko has made only a handful of recordings, and this one is not to be missed. Available here.
5. SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphonies (complete) Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko. Naxos 8.501111 (11 CDs).
The other Petrenko is a fine conductor too. As music director in Liverpool, Vasily has been impressing a lot of people and gradually putting together an excellent Shostakovich symphony cycle. Here is a boxed set of all 15 symphonies in world-class performances at a bargain price. Available here.
6. SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10. Boston Symphony Orchestra/Andris Nelsons. DG 479 5059.
Nelsons just recently took over as music director of the Boston Symphony and on the basis of this exceptional performance one might wonder if we are in for a Golden Age in Boston. Great conducting, glorious playing and warm and detailed recorded sound. Available here.
7. JIMMY LÓPEZ: Perú Negro. Lord of the Air. Synesthésie. América Salvaje. The Norwegian Radio Orchestra/Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907628.
Jimmy López is a young Peruvian-American composer who has been attracting attention everywhere. His opera Bel Canto is being premiered this month by Chicago Lyric Opera with Andrew Davis conducting. This CD of orchestral works shows a strong Peruvian folk music influence but also an imagination that is consistently appealing. Available here.
8. CHRISTOS HATZIS: Going Home Star: Truth and Reconciliation. Tanya Tagaq. Steve Wood and the Northern Cree Singers. Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra/Tadeusz Biernacki. Centrediscs CMCCD 22015 (2 CDs).
This is a full-length ballet score with a story about abuses by clergymen in Indian reservation schools in Western Canada. The stories are shocking, but the ballet is ultimately about survival and reconciliation. Canadian composer, Christos Hatzis has written an eclectic score that combines Inuit throat singing, Indian drumming, popular and symphonic music – there is even a quotation from Swan Lake – that is compelling. Hopefully, we’ll have a DVD of the ballet one day. In the meantime, don’t miss this unique artistic realization of an important and disturbing part of Canada’s history. Available here.
9. PABLO NERUDA: THE POET SINGS. Settings of Neruda poems by Ratcliff, Kirchner, and Grantham. Conspirare/Craig Hella Johnson. Harmonia Mundi HMU 807637.
Chile’s foremost poet has inspired numerous composers. Conductor Craig Hella Johnson created a program based on three such works by American composers. The results are revelatory in themselves and also serve to illuminate Neruda’s words. The chamber choir Conspirare sings magnificently. Not surprisingly, when the Grammy nominations were announced this week, this CD was chosen in the “Best Choral Performance” category. Available here.
10. ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER: THE CLUB ALBUM. Encore pieces by Gershwin, Debussy, Benjamin, Brahms, Vivaldi, etc. Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin. Lambert Orkis, piano. DG 479 5023.
For this recording Mutter performed in a Berlin night club before an audience of young people. She didn’t attempt to play ‘their’ music, but they seemed to like it all the same. Mutter’s conservative program could have been played by Heifetz or Milstein 60 years ago but no matter; her playing is full of energy and love of the music. Available here.
11. WAGNER: Der Ring des Nibelungen. Birgit Nilsson, etc. Vienna Philharmonic/Sir Georg Solti. Decca 478 8370 (16 CDs).
This was the first-ever complete recording of the Ring – it was completed in 1964 – and after its latest remastering it sounds better than ever. This massive box set includes Deryck Cooke’s invaluable introduction to the Ring with musical examples. An incredible bargain! Available here.
12. WAGNER: Das Rheingold. Mathias Goerne, etc. Hong Kong Philharmonic/Jaap van Zweden. Naxos 8.660374.
The beginning of a new recorded Ring cycle from an unexpected source. In a few short years, the Hong Kong Philharmonic has become a crack ensemble under Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden. With Matthias Goerne as Wotan and van Zweden on the podium, this is stellar music-making. Available here.
13. BRAHMS: The Piano Concertos Daniel Barenboim, piano. Staatskapelle Berlin/Gustavo Dudamel. DG 479 4899.
At the age of 73, Daniel Barenboim is at the height of his considerable powers as both pianist and conductor. These may be his last words on the Brahms piano concertos, and they reflect a lifetime of hard work and serious thought. Barenboim’s protégé Gustavo Dudamel makes an ideal partner on the podium, and the Staatskapelle Berlin, Barenboim’s own orchestra, glows from within. Available here.
14. MAHLER: Symphony No. 5. Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra/Myung Whun Chung. DG 481 154-0.
Classical music has been taking Asia by storm in the past 20 years, and this impressive CD from South Korea is a good example of how much standards have improved. Chung has had a long international career and with his Korean colleagues produces some exciting Mahler. Available here.
15. MAHLER: Symphonies 1, 2, 6 and 8. London Philharmonic/Klaus Tennstedt. LPO – 0100.
These are live performances given over a period of ten years (1981-1991) by the London Philharmonic under the legendary Klaus Tennstedt. Nearly every Tennstedt concert was a memorable occasion and his Mahler was rarely matched in intensity by any other conductor. There are not one but two performances of the Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection.” It was typical of Tennstedt that each performance was unique in its tempi and phrasing, and it would be difficult to say which one was better. But that is not the point. The point of it all was the truth of the experience. Available here.
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