Gramophone November 2021

This Gramophone article explores Josquin's Missa Hercules dux Ferrarie (1503/4), one of the most remarkable Renaissance masses, written for Duke Ercole I d'Este of Ferrara. The mass derives its title from an eight-note ostinato that encodes the syllables of the Duke's name and rank ('Hercules dux Ferrarie' = re ut re ut re fa mi re). Author Fabrice Fitch describes how this severe, geometric construction—reminiscent of Ercole's castle facade—houses music of extraordinary invention and subtlety. The article then traces the legacy of such musically encoded homages through five thematic sections: 'Josquin, before and after Hercules' examining his other ostinato masses; 'Renaissance homages' featuring works by Cipriano de Rore and Escobedo that consciously emulate Josquin's technique; 'Baroque reminiscences' including Frescobaldi's capriccio and Bach's Musical Offering; 'Modern echoes' with Berg's Kammerkonzert and Boulez's Messagesquisse; and a 'Wild card' section on the Brahms/Schumann/Dietrich 'FAE' Sonata. The Hilliard Ensemble's recording is highlighted as the pick of countertenor performances.

This Gramophone article presents a retrospective of soprano Anna Netrebko's prolific career, highlighting five standout recordings that showcase her remarkable versatility across the operatic repertoire. The feature traces her artistic journey from early bel canto roles to her triumphant advancement into heavier spinto territory. The first recommendation is her 'Russian Album' with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra—a truly outstanding showcase of Russian arias and songs from Rimsky-Korsakov operas that demonstrates her at her finest. The 'Verdi' album with Gianandrea Noseda marks a significant milestone as Netrebko conquers the heavier Italian repertoire with knockout performances of Leonora, Elisabetta, and Lady Macbeth. The feature also celebrates her iconic performance in Willy Decker's Salzburg Festival staging of La Traviata, highlighting both her artistic achievement and her long professional partnership with tenor Rolando Villazón. The article ultimately portrays Netrebko as an artist of extraordinary range and vocal brilliance, whose career choices reflect both strategic artistry and deep musical commitment.

This feature article from Gramophone magazine (November 2021) examines the rediscovered legacy of Florence Price (1887-1973), the pioneering African American composer who became the first woman of African descent to have her symphony performed by a major American orchestra in 1933. The article explores how Price's work has been brought out of historical obscurity thanks to artists and scholars championing her music. It highlights the crucial role of Maude Roberts George, a black arts administrator and music critic who worked behind the scenes to support Price and personally underwrote the Chicago Symphony's premiere of her First Symphony. The article also discusses Price's compositional style, examining influences beyond the commonly cited Dvořák, including Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and the Fisk Jubilee Singers' transformation of negro spirituals into concert art. Musicologists praise Price's innovative approach to symphonic form, particularly her use of call-and-response phrases, African drums, and her ability to incorporate distinctly African American musical soundscapes within the traditional European symphonic framework. The article notes the recent DG recording of her First and Third Symphonies by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra as a significant contribution to bringing Price's music to wider audiences.

This article profiles cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, siblings from the renowned Kanneh-Mason family of seven musician children, discussing their debut duo album 'Muse' released on Decca. The album features Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata and Barber's Cello Sonata (1932), along with arrangements of songs by both composers. The project originated from a 2019 US tour where they performed both sonatas; when pandemic cancellations halted live performances, they decided to record the repertoire they'd invested in. The siblings discuss the challenges of Barber's harmonically and rhythmically complex work, particularly the demanding Presto section of the slow movement, which they managed to capture successfully in just one or two takes. Sheku expresses his admiration for historical recordings and artists like Piatigorsky, while Isata shares influences including Schnabel, Horowitz, Ashkenazy, and Argerich. The interview reveals their musical household with four pianos where siblings practice simultaneously, and touches on their family background with Sierra Leonean heritage through their mother Kadiatu.

This Gramophone magazine feature from November 2021 profiles Russian soprano Anna Netrebko in an article titled "Soprano On The Edge." The piece marks her first solo album in five years, titled "Amata dalle tenebre" (Beloved by the Shadows), which represents a dramatic departure from her earlier repertoire. The album features arias by Wagner, Purcell, Strauss, and others—works centered on themes of death and mortality, including Elisabeth from Tannhäuser, Elsa from Lohengrin, Isolde's Liebestod, and Dido's Lament from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Netrebko reflects on how her voice has evolved from the light, soubrette roles of her early career (Zerlina, Adina, Norina) to the heavier dramatic repertoire she now inhabits. She discusses the impact of motherhood on her vocal development and how moving to heavier repertoire actually improved her breath control and expanded her artistic capabilities. The article explores how the pandemic influenced the album's creation, with parts recorded live at La Scala under conductor Riccardo Chailly and other portions recorded without audiences due to lockdowns. Netrebko shares personal reflections on being hospitalized with Covid after performing at the Bolshoi, and her perspective on the opera world's struggles during the pandemic. Regarding her Wagnerian ventures, she cites studying great interpreters like Waltraud Meier, Nina Stemme, and Birgit Nilsson as she prepared the challenging Liebestod. The album cover, depicting a woman covered in shadow with only her eyes visible, symbolically represents the album's themes of desperation, death, and the "shadows" the world has lived through.

This Gramophone article commemorates the 150th anniversary of Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg's birth (1871), profiling him as a legendary 'icon of icons' whose recordings continue to inspire. Author Rob Cowan describes Mengelberg as 'a Napoleon of the orchestra'—physically small but magnetically commanding on the podium—who collaborated closely with Mahler and became a ceaseless promoter of contemporary music. The article chronicles his remarkable 50-year tenure (1895-1945) leading the Concertgebouw Orchestra, his tenure with the New York Philharmonic alongside Toscanini, and his controversial conduct during the Nazi occupation, which led to his post-war exile from the Netherlands. The piece focuses primarily on Mengelberg's recorded legacy, praising his dramatic, emotionally charged interpretations of Mahler, Bach's St Matthew Passion, Tchaikovsky's symphonies, and Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben. Cowan particularly admires Mengelberg's ability to deliver performances 'rich in charisma and imagination,' noting how his recordings—from Bach to Brahms, Handel to Wagner—remain emotionally impactful decades later. The article concludes by recommending Pristine Audio's transfers of Mengelberg's recordings and directing readers to the comprehensive online archive at willemmengelberg.nl.

This Gramophone feature from November 2021 spotlights Ysaÿe's Violin Sonata No 2 in A minor, a late-Romantic showpiece composed in July 1923, through an interview with British violinist Jack Liebeck. Liebeck discusses his lifelong obsession with Ysaÿe's six unaccompanied violin sonatas, contrasting their lyrical, violin-friendly writing with his admitted discomfort with solo Bach — a view he acknowledges as "practically heresy," especially given that Ysaÿe's Second Sonata opens with a quotation from Bach's Partita No 3. The article explores the sonata's dramatic architecture: the first movement "Obsession" begins with a Bach reference that disintegrates into anger; the second movement "Malinconia" requires a mute to produce a gothic, otherworldly tone; the third movement "Danse des ombres" features a pizzicato theme and variation; and the finale "Les furies" erupts with dazzling double stops and sul ponticello effects. Liebeck describes Ysaÿe's music as the violin equivalent of Jimi Hendrix — raw, cutting-edge, and slightly kitsch, yet wonderful — a "conjuring show" of fireworks, mystery, and magic. The feature also notes Liebeck's approach to interpreting the work independently, avoiding listening to other violinists' recordings.