Classical

The latest releases reviewed

MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO 9
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Simon Rattle
EMI Classics 501 2282
*****
The Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle are in top form in this new set of Mahler's final, completed
symphony. The recording, taped at concerts last October, is much clearer in sound than the conductor's 10-year-old version with the Vienna Philharmonic. And the music-making has characteristics to match. The approach is unusually rich - explicit yet reserved, fiery yet tender, sinewy yet sensuous. It's the kind of performance that wants to have things every way. In a piece renowned for valediction, the music-making here is never shy of assertive energy. The tapestry of contrasts, whether in the musical argument or the communication of emotional undertow, is unusually rich.
www.emiclassics.com
MICHAEL DERVAN

GOSSEC: SYMPHONIES OP 8; SABINUS
Les Agrémens/Guy van Waas
Ricercar RIC 263
****
François-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829) is one of those 18th-century musical giants who has been reduced to a pygmy by the passing of time. His Messe des Morts of 1760 anticipated elements of Berlioz. He wrote about 50 symphonies, and was the first composer to use clarinets in France. His symphonies don't sound particularly French, and, even when  the gestures are at their most forceful, are not strongly argued. Full credit, then, to Guy van Waas and the period instrument players of Les Agrémens for so successfully managing to bring a real sense of musical traction to the three symphonies of his Op 8, which were first published in 1765. The disc also includes the colourful ballet music from the 1773 tragédie lyrique Sabinus.
www.harmoniamundi.com
MICHAEL DERVAN

KNOTWORK
Fell Clarinet Quartet
Delphian DCD 34065
***
Composers have often been inspired by the great clarinettists of their day. But only one tie-up - Steve Reich and Richard Stoltzman - ever resulted in a popular work for an ensemble of clarinets. Yet, as the Fell Clarinet Quartet show in their opening work, Graham Fitkin's Vent, there's plenty of scope for  dreamy swirls and jagged honking with just four players. They've resurrected earlier works by Pierre Max Dubois (Quatuor, 1964) and Alfred Uhl (Divertimento, 1942), added contrast to more recent pieces by Eddie McGuire (Celtic Knotwork and Chinese Knotwork), Lenny Sayers (For Four), and Nicholas Simpson (Mardale Changes). And they've added a fun arrangement of Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango. Decent rather than spectacular performances.
www.delphianrecords.co.uk
MICHAEL DERVAN

THE COMPLETE DECCA RECITALS
Marilyn Horne (mezzo soprano)
Decca 478 0165 (11 CDs)
****
American mezzo soprano Marilyn Horne, who'll be 75 or 80 next January, depending on who you believe, married the qualities of a stentorian contralto with the agility of a coloratura soprano. Her singing
was rock-solid, yet remarkably agile, the vocal character both arresting and beautiful. In the early Italian romantic repertoire - there's plenty of Rossini here - she commanded attention the moment she opened her mouth, there was no need for attention-seeking or exaggeration, and there's a pleasing firmness, too, in the baroque music. Beyond the arias there are song cycles by Mahler and Wagner, as well as German, French, Spanish and American songs. The recordings, made between 1964 and 1985, offer the layout and artwork of the original LPs, but no texts or translations are supplied. www.deccaclassics.com
MICHAEL DERVAN