Tír Na HiFi

Mozart - Piano Concerto No.26 Coronation (Mitsuko Ichida/Jeffrey Tate, English Chamber Orchestra, Philips)

Mozart composed Idomeneo for the Mannheim Orchestra that had just moved to the Munich Court. That orchestra was considered by many the finest in the XVIII Century, so it´s only fitting that René Jacobs uses the fabulous Freiburger Barockorchester for his recording. The singing is mostly fine, especially Bernarda Fink as Idamante, but a more Italianate soprano for the role of Illia is needed.

Sibelius - The Oceanides, Scenes historiques - Suite No.1, Tapiola, Finlandia, Serenade No.1 & No.2 (Ida Haendel/Paavo Berglund, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, EMI)

Copland - Appalachian Spring (Leonard Slatkin, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, EMI)

Arnold - Symphony No.6 (Andrew Penny, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Naxos)

Prokofiev - Violin Sonata No.2 (Pekka Kuusisto/Raija Kerppo, Warner Apex)

Cavalli was most likely a pupil of Monteverdi and certainly replaced him at San Marco after Monteverdi’s death. There are, therefore, loud echoes of Monteverdi’s style as well as the Gabriellis but Cavalli does have a voice of his own. This is a very nice CD all round.

Matt: with the recent Sibelius 5 listening project and your comment and clips about birds and bird sounds I was reminded of the CD below which I have listened to again as a result. I am not sure if you know the work or not but if not I have tried to give you a flavour of it below and, as you have access to the Naxos library, perhaps you would find it an interesting listen if you are unaware of it....





Cantus Articus is described by Rautavaara as a Concerto for Birds and Orchestra. The mood and musical language of the opening movement are quite stark and bleak. It opens with solo flutes which are gradually joined by other wind instruments before the strings and birds finally enter. The strings are to represent a person walking in the wild. All of the bird sounds were recorded in the Artic.
The second movement features the (adjusted) song of the shore lark played with a melancholy theme which gradually builds to a crescendo before it finally fades and the shore lark closes out the movement just as it introduced it.
The final movement is based around migrating swans. The movement opens with the sound of the swans and the woodwinds both of which are intertwined. This is then joined by an expansive theme played on the strings which gradually supersedes the woodwinds. The texture changes again as the brass section come to the fore. Strings then dominate once again with the migrating swans still in the background. The textures and dynamics change and rise to a crescendo and as this dies away so too the sound of the swans disappears into the distance and the work concludes.

bombasticDarren wrote:Arnold - Symphony No.6 (Andrew Penny, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Naxos)

Love that cd Darren. Especially the 5th symphony. There is a theme on the first movement of the 5th symphony that I find remarkable.

Matt.

fergus wrote:Matt: with the recent Sibelius 5 listening project and your comment and clips about birds and bird sounds I was reminded of the CD below which I have listened to again as a result. I am not sure if you know the work or not but if not I have tried to give you a flavour of it below and, as you have access to the Naxos library, perhaps you would find it an interesting listen if you are unaware of it....





Cantus Articus is described by Rautavaara as a Concerto for Birds and Orchestra. The mood and musical language of the opening movement are quite stark and bleak. It opens with solo flutes which are gradually joined by other wind instruments before the strings and birds finally enter. The strings are to represent a person walking in the wild. All of the bird sounds were recorded in the Artic.
The second movement features the (adjusted) song of the shore lark played with a melancholy theme which gradually builds to a crescendo before it finally fades and the shore lark closes out the movement just as it introduced it.
The final movement is based around migrating swans. The movement opens with the sound of the swans and the woodwinds both of which are intertwined. This is then joined by an expansive theme played on the strings which gradually supersedes the woodwinds. The texture changes again as the brass section come to the fore. Strings then dominate once again with the migrating swans still in the background. The textures and dynamics change and rise to a crescendo and as this dies away so too the sound of the swans disappears into the distance and the work concludes.

Hi Fergus,

I sure do own this cd and it has a special place in my collection for many of the reasons that you mentioned. It is among my favorite modern work. I always thought that if one was to take just the orchestral part, you would still get an amazing piece. Oh and although none of the species recorded can be found in Canada (at least in the southern part like where I live) many of them are closely related to some north american species so their songs are similar.

A pure delight to my ears that I would strongly recommend to all. I also really the Piano Concerto and the symphony on that recording.

Thanks for pointing that out Fergus.

Matt.