Gramophone November 2018

This feature article profiles German cellist Daniel Müller-Schott, who won the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at age 15 and has built a distinguished career spanning over two decades. The interview takes place just before his performance of Dvořák's Cello Concerto at the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall. Müller-Schott reflects on his formative year studying with the legendary Mstislav Rostropovich, recalling how his mentor's intensity and dedication to music left a lasting impression that still inspires his playing today. The article then turns to his new disc of Romantic Russian repertoire, centered on Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations alongside pieces by Glazunov, including his own cello transcription of Tchaikovsky's Souvenir d'un lieu cher. He discusses his philosophy on transcriptions, having also arranged Mozart's D major Flute Concerto for cello, arguing that musicians should feel free to interpret works through different lenses. Beyond performing, Müller-Schott is passionate about music education through the "Rhapsody in School" project, bringing live classical music to students who might otherwise never encounter it. He plays a 1727 Matteo Goffriller cello, formerly owned by American cellist Harvey Shapiro.

Julius Katchen was an American pianist who demonstrated extraordinary talent from a young age, making his concert debut at just 11 years old when he performed Mozart's D minor Concerto with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He later graduated first in his class from Haverford College in 1946, received a French government fellowship, and signed an exclusive contract with Decca Records. Known for his intellectual depth and comprehensive approach to the piano literature, Katchen became particularly celebrated for his interpretations of Bach and Brahms, representing the United States at the first international UNESCO festival before eventually adopting Paris as his permanent home base. The article traces several defining moments in Katchen's career, including the 1949 release of his recording of Brahms's Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5, which became Decca's first solo piano LP as the industry transitioned from 78rpm discs to long-playing technology. In 1964, he undertook the ambitious project of surveying Brahms's complete piano works over four recitals at London's Wigmore Hall. Notably, Katchen was known for his outspoken political views; in 1962 while touring East Germany, he publicly condemned the Berlin Wall, resulting in Russian officials forbidding Aram Khachaturian from recording his Piano Concerto with Katchen as soloist. Katchen's career was cut short when he died on April 29, 1969, at the age of 42. He had been recorded to appear on The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus television special in December 1968, which, though not aired at the scheduled time, was released on DVD in 2004. His legacy continues through his extensive discography and the posthumous sales of his renowned netsuke collection at Sotheby's and Bonhams, demonstrating the enduring respect for both his musical and artistic contributions.

This Gramophone article profiles Eggert, a German composer born in Heidelberg in November 1965. A dedicated champion of new music, Eggert co-founded the aDevantgarde new-music festival in 1991 while still studying in Munich, alongside fellow composer Sandeep Bhagwati. The festival continues to operate today, serving as a platform for contemporary and avant-garde music. Beyond his compositional career, Eggert maintains the 'Bad Blog of Musick,' where he writes on music industry topics with both depth and humor, including a popular series critiquing the American television drama 'Mozart in the Jungle.' Eggert articulates a distinctive compositional philosophy, rejecting the separation of his musical world from the surrounding environment. He expresses skepticism toward self-sufficient, self-contained musical systems, instead advocating for art that remains connected to broader contexts. His provocative maxim comparing artistic achievement to breaking rules—'In art one has to break the rules to win'—encapsulates his approach to creative work, drawing an analogy with the strategic rule-breaking found in games. The article presents Eggert as both an active contemporary composer and an engaged critical observer of the classical music scene.

Edward Gardner has served as Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra since 2015, bringing his extensive opera experience from ENO and Glyndebourne to shape this distinguished Scandinavian ensemble. Under his leadership, the orchestra has pursued an ambitious recording program with Chandos, documenting works ranging from Schoenberg and Bartók to Sibelius and Grieg. Gardner emphasizes the unique working conditions in Norway, where musicians enjoy four days of rehearsal time before performing the same program twice, allowing for deep artistic contemplation—though critics occasionally view this approach as overly complacent. The orchestra's distinctive sound, cultivated by generations of locally-trained musicians, reflects both Norwegian identity and international influences through guest conductors and American players. Gardner is particularly engaged with Berlioz's monumental Grande Messe des morts, which the orchestra performed live and recorded for Chandos, marveling at the work's extraordinary color palette and emotional depth. The article explores how this isolated coastal city, with its dramatic fjords and mountain landscapes, contributes to the orchestra's misty, serene string sound—evident in their signature encore of "Death of Åse" from Grieg's Peer Gynt.

This article from Gramophone magazine's November 2018 issue features a collector's review of recent recordings of Bach's solo violin sonatas and partitas. Rob Cowan examines four different recordings: Dénes Zsigmondy (recorded at age 73, alone in a church), Christoph Schickedanz, Gottfried von der Goltz, and Mie Kobayashi. Zsigmondy's recording stands out as the reviewer's clear favorite, praised for its profound emotional expressiveness and the sense that "Bach's solo violin music meant the world to Zsigmondy." The reviewer describes it as a "love letter to Bach from an elderly master" and notes that only Zsigmondy performs as if his life depends on it. Schickedanz offers imaginative interpretations with attention to Baroque performance practice, while von der Goltz, known for his work with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, provides a drier but solid approach. Kobayashi's recording is criticized for overly bent lines and exaggerated gestures. The article concludes by recommending other outstanding recordings, including those by Heifetz, Grumiaux, Milstein, and the remarkable 1948 Enescu recording, as well as more recent artists like Alina Ibragimova, Ning Feng, and Julia Fischer.

This Gramophone feature from November 2018 explores Haydn's 'Military' Symphony (No. 100, composed in 1794) as a starting point for a rich musical journey through Turkish-influenced and military-themed works. The article explains how the Ottoman-Habsburg conflict inspired a vogue for 'Turkish' sounds in 18th-century Vienna, with Haydn bringing this style to London in his celebrated symphony featuring glittering janissary percussion. The feature then expands outward to cover related operas by Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven's incidental music for 'The Ruins of Athens,' and even Tchaikovsky's '1812' Overture and Shostakovich's 'Leningrad' Symphony. A section on London symphonies includes Haydn's final Symphony No. 104 alongside Vaughan Williams's A London Symphony, while another explores symphonies in G major through Dvořák's Eighth and Mahler's Fourth. The article concludes with a contemporary offering: Fazıl Say's 2012 piano work '4 Cities,' providing a modern Turkish perspective to complement the historical exploration. Throughout, the author recommends specific recordings that showcase these works in exemplary performances, blending historical context with practical listening suggestions for curious music lovers.

This November 2018 Gramophone feature focuses on three notable classical recordings spanning Baroque and Romantic repertoire. The highlight is Víkingur Ólafsson's acclaimed Bach piano album, praised for balancing "noble beauty and infectious energy" with performances that are "individual but never mannered." Ólafsson combines original Bach works with transcriptions by Busoni, Rachmaninov, Kempff, and Siloti, demonstrating remarkable pianistic lineage while establishing his own distinctive voice. The disc features 35 tracks including the Aria variata, Well-Tempered Clavier Preludes and Fugues, and various transcriptions. The organ section presents two contrasting Bach organ recordings: Philip Rushforth's performance at Chester Cathedral and Colin Walsh's recording at Lincoln Cathedral. Walsh's interpretation of the Fantasia and Fugue in G minor is particularly praised for its architectural clarity and "flamboyant" phrasing. The Chopin section reviews Leif Ove Andsnes' Ballades and Nocturnes recording, noting technical mastery but finding the performances lacking in poetic generosity and emotional abandon compared to peers like Hough, Perahia, and Rubinstein.

Julius Katchen (1926-1969) was an American pianist born in Long Branch, New Jersey, who emerged as a distinctive voice among post-war international artists. Renowned for his 'big pianism'—a grand, unhurried style unencumbered by pedantic precision—Katchen studied with the demanding David Saperton, acquiring an all-encompassing technique capable of tackling the most demanding repertoire, from Balakirev's Islamey to Liszt's B minor Sonata. His robust, colorful sonority projected clearly even in the largest venues. Katchen relished marathon performances, famously presenting three concertos in a single programme or offering the entire Beethoven Appassionata as an encore. His four-recital traversal of Brahms's complete solo piano works remains legendary, balancing intellectual rigor with lyrical impulse. Among his most celebrated achievements was the 1958 Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 recording with Sir Georg Solti. Tragically succumbing to cancer in April 1969 at age 42, Katchen left behind a discography that includes pioneering recordings of Ned Rorem's Second Piano Sonata and a vivacious Prokofiev Third from his final sessions—work that belies any notion of terminal illness.

This Gramophone feature profiles German composer Moritz Eggert, highlighting his distinctive approach to contemporary composition that embraces eclecticism and the absurd. The article opens with a review of "The Collectors," a substantial work for piano and percussion duo performed by Konstantin Napolov and Eke Simons on the TRPTK label—an album that also features compositions by Jan-Peter de Graaff, Yannis Kyriakides, and Samuel Penderbayne. The feature's centerpiece is Eggert's participation in the "Musica Viva 30" project with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Robertson and Peter Rundel. This recording showcases two significant works: "Muzak" (2016) and "Number Nine VII: Masse" (2008), the latter posing the intriguing conceptual question of what would happen if every orchestral musician played continuously throughout an entire piece. The album is released on Neos (8/18). Eggert's versatility is further demonstrated in "Wide Unclasp," a jazz composition featuring vocalist Céline Rudolph and trumpeter Steven Bernstein on the Between the Lines label. The reviewers consistently praise the performances, with the jazz album described as "particularly stimulating proof of his versatility," suggesting Eggert defies easy categorization while maintaining artistic integrity across genres.

This article profiles German composer Moritz Eggert (b. 1965), a startlingly prolific artist based in Munich with over 250 works including at least a dozen operas. Described as possessing a 'cabinet of curiosities' approach to composition, Eggert collects and displays various musical styles and languages, with irony serving as a connecting thread in much of his work. However, his music can also be disarmingly sincere, as demonstrated in song cycles such as 'Wide Unclasp' (2002) and 'Neue Dichter Lieben' (2000). Key works discussed include 'The Collectors' (2017), featuring hypnotic piano-writing with diverse percussion; 'Ohrwurm' (2010), attempting to exorcise earworms including Alexandra Stan's 'Mr Saxobeat'; and 'Muzak' (2016), a 43-minute orchestral collage of popular music fragments for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. A prominent voice in German contemporary music, Eggert maintains dual careers as composer and pianist while serving as professor of composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. His influences include studies with Wilhelm Killmayer and Robert Saxton.

This article from Gramophone's November 2018 issue presents recommended recordings in the context of a feature on Ian Bostridge and the art of song. The piece highlights four diverse releases spanning from lieder to orchestral song, showcasing the breadth of the song repertoire. The recommendations feature legendary interpreters including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, a baritone renowned for his lieder performances, alongside Janet Baker in Elgar's evocative orchestral song cycle Sea Pictures. The selections demonstrate both the intimacy of piano-accompanied German lieder and the grandeur of orchestral song settings. The recordings span different periods and styles within the classical tradition. The Schubert Erlkönig represents the pinnacle of German lieder with its dramatic storytelling, while the Mahler Des Knaben Wunderhorn offers larger-scale orchestral song with folk-inspired themes. Janet Baker's Sea Pictures captures the English song tradition at its finest, with its evocative maritime imagery. The inclusion of Frank Sinatra's 'None but the lonely heart' suggests an exploration of how the art of song transcends genre boundaries, connecting classical traditions with popular music expression. These recommendations serve as exemplary recordings for enthusiasts of vocal music.

This article explores the Chiaroscuro Quartet's new BIS recording of Schubert's String Quartet No. 14 'Death and the Maiden' paired with No. 9 in G minor. Interviewing violinists Alina Ibragimova and Pablo Hernán Benedí over brunch in Peckham, the feature reveals the quartet's distinctive approach: performing standing up with gut strings and period bows. Ibragimova describes Schubert's world as 'ambiguous, very subtle, very happy and sad, like smiling through tears,' praising the responsiveness of gut strings that allow character changes within a single note. The ensemble worked with Sir John Eliot Gardiner before recording, who pushed them to new extremes. The discussion covers detailed interpretive points: the importance of silence after the famous opening five notes, the treatment of accents in Schubert versus Beethoven, dynamics creating tension in the development, and debates over tempo in the second movement's spiritual character. Benedí recalls Gardiner's metaphor for chord passages: 'as though we're dryads fighting each other.' The article concludes with reflections on the finale's tarantella challenges and the work's distinctive contrasts between joy and sadness.

This feature from Gramophone's "Ian Bostridge on Song" series presents William Soutar's powerful poem "The Children," a stark meditation on the innocence of childhood destroyed by violence and conflict. Originally published in the late 20th century, the poem's stark imagery—children lying in blood beside broken stones, death descending from a bright afternoon sky—creates a haunting critique of war's devastation. The poem progresses through scenes of tragedy, corruption, and ultimately a resigned silence, before concluding with the accusatory image of children's fearful faces watching humanity. Ian Bostridge, the celebrated English tenor, discusses this song setting as part of his ongoing exploration of the English art song repertoire, highlighting how Soutar's work captures both the horror and moral weight of innocent suffering. The poem's structure moves from immediate violence through cosmic indifference to a final pointed observation about charity and complicity, suggesting that humanity bears responsibility for the fate of its children. This piece exemplifies the Scottish poet's characteristic ability to distil complex emotional and ethical concerns into concise, memorable verse that continues to resonate with performers and audiences.

This feature from Gramophone's 'Essential Recording' series highlights Julius Katchen's Decca recording of Brahms' Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1. The article notes that despite being relatively overlooked within the Brahms piano repertoire, this sonata receives exceptional treatment from Katchen. The author emphasizes that Katchen brings both energetic ambition and technical mastery to the work, navigating its unwieldy textures and problematic passages with a combination of virtuosic precision and orchestral-inspired mass. This recording is presented as a cornerstone recommendation within what is described as Katchen's great Brahms cycle, suggesting it stands out as a particularly distinguished interpretation in a comprehensive survey of the composer's piano works. The feature serves as a curated recommendation for listeners seeking a definitive version of this challenging but rewarding early Brahms composition.

In this feature article, acclaimed tenor Ian Bostridge explores the profound power of the human voice, tracing his personal musical journey from childhood songs to the depths of German Lieder. He opens by examining the voice as a central metaphor for artistic individuality since the Renaissance, reflecting on how the larynx evolved to create the world of language. Bostridge recalls his earliest musical memories, from inappropriate folk songs sung to his infant children to the Beatles' 'Yellow Submarine' and the popular singers who influenced him, including Frank Sinatra. His discovery of German Lied at age 14-15 came through Fischer-Dieskau's recording of Schubert's 'Erlkönig', an experience that challenged the conventional emphasis on text over vocal sound. The article delves deeply into the tension between studio recording and live performance, arguing that these represent fundamentally different art forms requiring distinct approaches. Bostridge reflects on recording his own live Wigmore Hall performances with Julius Drake, acknowledging the compromises inherent in documentation. He explores how the gramophone has simultaneously increased demands for perfection while potentially discouraging the risk-taking essential to electrifying live performance, ultimately celebrating the multiplicity of interpretative approaches within the rich Lieder tradition.