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ANDRIS NELSONS - CITY OF BIRMINGHAM ORCHESTRA CONCERTS PENDERECKI: Flute Concerto. REINECKE: Flute Concerto in D, Op.
283. Ballade , Op. 288. MOZART: Andante in C, K. 315. BUSONI: Divertimento
Op. 52. TAKEMITSU: I Hear the Water Dreaming. GABRIEL PROKOFIEV: Saxophone Concerto / Bass Drum Concerto The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1920, is a major element of England's musical scene. Their first conductor was Adrian Boult and other conductors were Leslie Heyward, Andrzej Panufnik , and Louis Frémaux. In 1980, Simon Rattle was appointed music director until 1998 when he left to become music director of the Berlin Phiihrmonic. when Sakari Oramo took over until 1998. Andris Nelsons succeeded Oramo as music director in 2008, staying until 2015. This superb 9-disk set contains many of his live performances during his tenure. Major orchestral showpieces re featured, in particular Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss, as listed above. The Orchestra shows it is one of England's best, and the audio is of highest quality. Most of these performances were issued before, but now collectors can get them all in this handsome boxed set at budget price. . Nelsons, one of toddy's star conductors, would record many of these works later with other orchestras, but these Birmingham live performances are worth owning. Franco-Swiss Emanuel Pahud is enjoying a remarkable career as a leading virtuoso of he flue and as a respected teacher. He was (like James Galway earlier) principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He has made numerous recordings of varied repertory, and now we have this disk called Dreamtime. Flowery program notes talk about the importance of the flute, and we hear a varied program of music for flute and orchestra highlighted by works of Reinecke along with more recent works by Penderecki and Takamitsu. Recordings were made March2019 in Munich's Bavarian Radio Studios, and engineers have provided an excellent audio picture. These are welcome additions to Pahud's discography. Gabriel Prokofiev (b. 1975) had an English mother and a Russian father; he is the grandson of Serge Prokofiev. Gabriel is very active on the contemporary music scene. His music is highly rhythmic, sensitively scored. He has composed profusely, his works including many ballets, symphonic works. chamber music - and he obviously has a sense of humor. One of his works is a Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra composed in 2007. Unfortunately little of his music has been recorded, and this fascinating new disk shows collectors what we have been missing. It features the Saxophone Concerto written for Branford Marsalis in 2016, and the Bass Drum Concerto written for Joby Burgess in 2012. Both are brilliant, imaginative works offering the soloists ample opportunity to show their virtuosity. Some years ago, percussionist Evelyn Glennie commissioned a Concerto for Snare Drum from Áskell Masson and there is a video of her performance on this site (REVIEW). So, why not a concerto for bass drum? Well, here it is! The Saxophone Concerto is a large-scale work in four movements: Largo, Scherzo, Largo Mesto, and Allegro Mechanico. Branford Marsalis plays it with varied sound and particular sensitivity to the jazz elements. Joby Burgess is a famous British percussionist, and it is amazing the variety of sounds he can coax from this unusual solo instrument. This is somewhat shorter than the saxophone concerto and has four movements: Lento Scuro (Bass War), Largo Mesto (in the Steppes), Allegro Moderato Leggiero (four to the floor), and Allegro Brilliante (May Speed). Fascinating throughout, and I'm sure both soloists had a great time performing this unusual, compelling music. CD notes give details of how Burgess produced the amazing variety of sounds from his instrument. The recordings were made in Russia's Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Hall, Yekaterinburg auditorium August 2018. From a sonic standpoint, this is a super-audio display disk, well-balanced stereo with vivid clarity and wide dynamic range, capturing all of the subterranean sounds of the percussion— your woofers will really get a workout!. This is a most welcome release; don't miss it! You can check out this uniue bass drum concerto — there is a performance of it bty Nikolaus Keelaghan on You Tube and you can see the unique performance techniques. R.E.B. (December 2019) |