Gramophone October 2018

This article by Nicholas Kenyon, published in Gramophone October 2018, traces the evolution of Bach recordings from 1892 to the present day, examining how performance practices and recording technology have transformed our understanding of Bach's music. The piece begins by acknowledging that we can never truly know how Bach's music originally sounded, but argues that recordings provide a detailed guide to the seismic changes in Baroque performance over the past century. The article explores early recordings by figures like Jules Conus and Joseph Joachim, as well as the pre-WWI tradition of massive choral performances that dominated Bach interpretation. It highlights Arnold Dolmetsch's pioneering arguments for historically informed performance and discusses how individual virtuosos like Wanda Landowska, Edwin Fischer, and Glenn Gould shaped the recorded landscape. The piece particularly emphasizes Gould's 1955 Goldberg Variations as a watershed moment when Bach entered the musical mainstream. Additionally, the article covers the scholarly approach represented by Archiv Produktion and organist Helmut Walcha's complete cycle, while also noting the influence of popular transcriptions by conductors like Stokowski that made Bach accessible in the orchestral tradition.

This Gramophone feature article traces the evolution of Bach recordings from the mid-20th century to the present, highlighting landmark interpretations that shaped the Bach revival and changed performance practice. The article opens with Pablo Casals' historic Cello Suites recordings from 1936-39, which alongside Wanda Landowska's harpsichord work and the Busch Chamber Players' Brandenburgs, inaugurated the popular Bach revival on disc. The feature then explores how recordings like Helmut Walcha's organ works and Alfred Deller's cantatas with Leonhardt and Harnoncourt began the scholarly revival using period instruments. Glenn Gould's 1955 Goldberg Variations is described as a revelation and iconic recording of our time, while Karl Richter's 1958 St Matthew Passion showcased disciplined expressiveness. The article highlights Nikolaus Harnoncourt's revolutionary 1968 Mass in B minor recording that introduced period instruments, boys' voices, and transparent textures, followed by Joshua Rifkin's controversial one-to-a-part approach in 1982. The feature concludes with Reinhard Goebel's racy Brandenburg Concertos (1987), András Schiff's piano Partitas (2007) reasserting the piano's place in Bach performance, and John Butt's historically reconstructed St John Passion (2012) representing the latest developments in period performance.

This Gramophone feature article explores Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra (1943), tracing its significance as a mid-20th-century masterpiece that marked the composer's creative resurgence after years of illness and exile. Author Richard Whitehouse presents the five-movement work as a touchstone for artistic integrity, then guides readers through five categories of related music: personal precedents (Bartók's earlier Suite No 1), generic equivalents from other composers who adopted the concerto-for-orchestra form (Lutosławski, Gerhard, Holloway, Stucky), Hungarian connections (Kurtág's monumental Stele), European exiles (Enescu, Panufnik, Husa), and historical antecedents (Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No 1). The article positions Bartók's masterwork as a pivotal point connecting diverse musical traditions and compositional approaches across the 20th century. Iván Fischer's Budapest Festival Orchestra recording is singled out as the definitive version.

This feature article explores the Vienna Philharmonic's engagement with the music of Danish composer Rued Langgaard (1893-1952), whose symphonies have long been overshadowed by his compatriot Carl Nielsen. The article covers the orchestra's 2017 and 2018 recording projects with conductor Sakari Oramo for the Danish label Dacapo, capturing Langgaard's Second Symphony (1914) and Sixth Symphony (1920, revised) in performances at the Vienna Konzerthaus. The piece examines how this bastion of central European symphonic tradition has embraced Nordic repertoire, following an earlier successful collaboration on Per Nørgård's symphonies that earned a Gramophone Award. The author, Andrew Mellor, describes the thrilling performances, praising the orchestra's distinctive string sound and the resonant brass sections, while discussing how Langgaard's music—influenced by Strauss, Wagner, and Nielsen—found more success historically in German-speaking lands than in Scandinavia. The article also features interviews with conductor Oramo, Dacapo's Henrik Rørdam and Preben Iwan, and Vienna Philharmonic managing director Harald Krumpöck, all expressing enthusiasm for bringing this 'enigmatic' composer to wider attention through the prestige of the world's leading orchestra.

This Gramophone feature article profiles the defining moments in the career of a remarkable violinist, tracing her journey from extraordinary childhood prodigy to internationally celebrated artist. Beginning at age six in 1935, she competed against legendary musicians including David Oistrakh and Ginette Neveu at the inaugural International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, having already claimed the Warsaw conservatoire's gold medal and Huberman prize through performances of Beethoven's Concerto. Her 1937 London debut under Sir Henry Wood initiated a lifelong association with the Proms, where she would eventually appear 68 times, earning her place among Britain's most beloved musical figures. The feature then follows her through nearly four decades of Canadian life beginning in 1952, during which she achieved considerable celebrity through collaborations with Montreal orchestras. Perhaps most significantly, in 1973 she became the first Western soloist invited to perform in China following the Cultural Revolution, symbolizing her role as a bridge between cultures. The article concludes with her 2006 performance for Pope Benedict XVI at Auschwitz-Birkenau, demonstrating her commitment to music as a force for reconciliation and remembrance.

This feature article from Gramophone magazine profiles Peter Dickinson, a British composer born in 1934 in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire. The article traces his distinguished career from his early years as an organ scholar at Queens' College Cambridge and graduate studies at the Juilliard School in New York, through his teaching positions at various institutions including Birmingham University, where he established the Centre for American Music in 1974. His compositional output spans multiple genres including vocal, instrumental, and orchestral works such as The Judas Tree, Satie Transformations, String Quartet No. 2, and his Piano Concerto. After serving as Chair of music at Goldsmiths College (1991-97) and Head of music at the Institute of United States Studies (1997-2004), Dickinson has become an influential figure in contemporary British music. The article concludes with Dickinson's own perspective on modern music, where he expresses enthusiasm for the cross-pollination of different musical styles, viewing the incorporation of various influences into new stylistic homogeneity as a positive and natural development in contemporary music-making.

This article profiles Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, exploring her deep connection with Chopin's music ahead of her recording of the complete nocturnes for Linn Records. Born in Buenos Aires in 1973 to Jewish immigrant parents from Lithuania and Odessa, Fliter was immersed in music from childhood—her father played Chopin waltzes and nocturnes by ear, while her mother possessed a remarkable singing voice. She began piano lessons at nine, driven by fascination rather than obligation, and credits Martha Argerich with transforming her life when the legendary pianist invited her to study in Europe. Fliter explains her selective approach to recording: she only commits when she feels she can offer fresh insight into a work. Regarding the nocturnes, she emphasizes Chopin's complex character—he was not merely a delicate melodist but someone with 'extremes, passion, blood in his veins.' She sought to capture this darker, more raw emotional dimension, avoiding a comfortable or smoothed interpretation. Fliter uses the Jan Ekier edition, which carefully studies all manuscripts and pupil writings, to access what she calls 'Chopin as a real person.'

This Gramophone feature pays tribute to Ida Haendel, the celebrated British violinist of Polish birth born in 1928, who turned 90 in 2018. Author Rob Cowan recounts conducting an onstage interview with her at London's Cadogan Hall in 2013, when she also performed Enescu's profoundly rhapsodic Third Sonata. The article traces her remarkable journey from picking up her sister's violin at age three, through competition victories including the 1937 Huberman Prize, to becoming a pupil of the legendary Carl Flesch and George Enescu. Cowan praises Haendel's distinctive artistry, noting her 'ecstatic control of melodic line' and 'holding fast to the harmonic thread,' describing her as 'a true individual in every musical sense of the term.' The piece surveys her extensive recording career spanning from shellac era 1940s recordings through to 1996, highlighting particular strengths in Baroque transcriptions, the Sibelius Concerto (which drew personal praise from the composer himself), and collaborations with conductors Karel Ancerl, Sir Adrian Boult, and others. The author argues that despite her significance, Haendel has been unfairly relegated to the sidelines in discussions of 'great' fiddlers on disc.

This Gramophone article profiles Peter Dickinson, an English composer born in 1937, whose music exemplifies the integration of high art and vernacular elements. Arnold Whittall explores how Dickinson bridges various stylistic gaps, drawing from jazz, popular song, and musical traditions while remaining rooted in the serious symphonic tradition. His career spans from Cambridge organ scholar in the 1950s to academic positions at universities including Birmingham, Keele, and Goldsmiths in London. The article highlights Dickinson's three concertos (organ 1971, piano 1984, violin 1986) as his most important large-scale achievements, alongside works like The Judas Tree (1965), a 75-minute musical drama, and Larkin's Jazz (1989), which transforms a traditional song cycle into a continuous structure blending speech and song. Dickinson's approach challenges the distinction between elitist and populist music, drawing inspiration from both Ives's radical assertions about tonality and Satie's humanising immediacy. The article positions Dickinson as a composer who offers something to all audiences—whether highbrow, middlebrow, or lowbrow—embracing diversity and instability while maintaining a direct, unfussy musical language.

This feature article from Gramophone magazine's October 2018 issue examines recordings devoted to British composer Peter Dickinson, a contemporary composer whose work spans multiple genres and decades. The article highlights the compelling contrast between Dickinson's dramatic Mass of the Apocalypse, which juxtaposes liturgical texts with the Book of Revelation, and his secular approach exemplified by settings of Philip Larkin's jazz-influenced poetry, spoken rather than sung with musical backing reminiscent of Sidney Bechet. The Piano Music collection represents Dickinson's own definitive recorded anthology, spanning from 1957 to 2004, demonstrating his fascination with how ragtime and blues elements can coexist with and occasionally provoke the more serious conventions of classical concert music. The Three Concertos recording features violinist Chloë Hanslip, pianist Howard Shelley, and organist Jennifer Bate with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales under respective conductors David Atherton and Clark Rundell. This disc explores ear-teasing departures from generic conventions, with soloists questioning their independence from orchestral support while pondering the fluid boundaries between classical and popular musical styles, further exemplified by the Beatles-inspired Merseyside Echoes.

This article examines conductor Vladimir Jurowski's new Pentatone recording of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, focusing on his commitment to performing the original 1877 score rather than the more commonly performed 1895 revision. Jurowski, who was introduced to the ballet through his father conducting a 1953 version and later influenced by a 1980s Berlin production that returned to the original score, argues that the 1895 version "destroyed" the symphonic connections in Tchaikovsky's composition when choreography demands led to cuts, repositioned numbers, and added pieces orchestrated by Riccardo Drigo. The article explores specific examples where dance requirements have distorted musical intentions, such as the Dance of the Cygnets being performed too slowly and the Pas de deux with artificial tempo changes before repeats. Jurowski emphasizes Tchaikovsky's psychological depth, interpreting the work as fundamentally about "the impossibility of love" rather than romantic love, and traces the ominous "fate" motif associated with the four-horn climax that only appears from Act 2 onward. He also discusses the rejected alternative ending showing Odette's defensive reaction, the Russian Dance added at Reisinger's request, and notes that Tchaikovsky was "miles ahead of his time" in his exploration of the subconscious.

This Gramophone Essential Recording feature highlights a 1976 recording of Baroque Transcriptions performed by violinist Ida Haendel and pianist Geoffrey Parsons, released by Testament in 2002. The review celebrates Haendel as the archetypical practitioner of bel canto tone projection, praising her well-honed technique that brings elegance and expressive depth to the transcriptions. Parsons is described as an ideal collaborator, demonstrating sensitive partnership in interpreting these Baroque works arranged for violin and piano. The recordings, though made over two decades earlier, are noted for their superb sound quality, which Testament's reissue preserved admirably. This collection represents a significant documenting of how Baroque compositions—originally written for other instruments—can be effectively reimagined for violin and piano while maintaining musical integrity. The review suggests these transcriptions, performed with such artistry, reveal new dimensions in familiar Baroque repertoire through the intimate dialogue between violin and piano. Haendel's interpretive approach emphasizes lyrical singing tone, characteristic of the bel canto tradition, applied masterfully to these arrangements. The recording stands as a testament to the interpretative possibilities within the transcription tradition, offering listeners performances of historical works through a Romantic lens.