THREE WONDERFUL CD’s: Soirée: Magdalena Kožená & Friends…Sibelius’ violin concerto in D Minor with Christian Tetzlaff…New Hudson Saxophone Quartet

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

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Listening to Soirée: Magdalena Kožená & Friends, a handsome new album from Pentatone I was struck by how youthful and fresh-voiced the 56-year old Czech mezzo-soprano sounds in this entertaining collection of songs by Chausson, Ravel, Stravinsky, Brahms, Strauss and her Czech compatriots Antonín Dvořák and Leoš Janáček.

The silvery lyric mezzo is very much there, as is Kožená’s gift for spinning a phrase with flawles legato. It goes without saying that she is at her very best in the folk-rooted songs of Dvořák and Janáček, several of them new to this listener, although that is not to say that her renditions of Chanson perpétuelle and Chansons Madécasses are nothing but lovely and idiomatically French.

A very fine ensemble that includes Sir Simon Rattle at the piano accompanies Lady Rattle in all but one of the songs, Richard Strauss’ Morgen, which brings the album to a peaceful, heartfelt ending.

**** Excellent

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With top of the line recordings by heavyweight violinists Sara Chang, Maxim Vengerov, Hillary Hahn, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Gil Shaham, and Pinchas Zukerman, and with Oistrahk’s and Heifetz’ vintage LP’s casting their long shadows on this unreasonably difficult masterpiece, it is no wonder that every fiddler worth his resin will succumb to the temptation to take on Sibelius’ one and only violin concerto.

A Mount Everest of a composition, it took several failed attempts to deliver a satisfying premiere of Sibelius’ violin concerto in D Minor, Opus 47. So it is not surprising that the formidable Christian Tetzlaff took up the challenge, pairing it with the Beethoven violin concerto in D Major, Op. 61. He recorded it with the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin for the Ondine label, with the meteorically-rising Robin Ticciati at the helm.

The splendid results evidence careful attention to Sibelius’ precisely annotated and fluctuating tempo markings and time signatures. Beyond all that, depth of feeling and keen intellectual insight separate this recording of both the often heard Beethoven and the somewhat rare Sibelius from many in the pack.

**** Excellent
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We received an intriguing CD – New York Rising. It features the New Hudson Saxophone Quartet in a recital of music by American and English composers Joseph Trapanese, Aaron Copland, Robert Sirota, Percy Grainger and David Noon.

Four formidable musicians: Paul Cohen, Avi Goldrosen, David Demsey, and Tim Ruedeman respectively on soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones play as one with extraordinary blending, flawless precision, and elegant musicality, with guest players Christopher Brellochs and Ulrich Krieger in works that range from the evocative New York Rising by Joseph Trapanese, to Copland’s moving and deeply American Suite from Our Town, to Robert Sirota’s whimsical, jazzy and hunger-inducing Diners, to Percy Grainger’s fado-like Lisbon, to David Noon’s intricately compelling Saxophone Quartet #1, to an exquisite rendition of Copland’s Simple Gifts.

The CD is available directly from Paul Cohen (paulcohen.saxo@gmail.com)

**** Excellent

Rafael de Acha     http://www.RafaelMusicNotes.com

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”