The Music Pages | December 2009


	Cat. No.: 480 2320 Barcode: 0028948023202 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: December			Pascal Rogé; Kyung Wha Chung; Iona Brown; Chantal Juillet BARTÓK: The Piano & Violin Concertos · Two Portraits ARTISTS Pascal Rogé, piano; London Symphony Orchestra / Walter Weller [Piano Concertos] Kyung Wha Chung, violin; Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Sir Georg Solti [Violin Concerto No. 1] Iona Brown, violin; Philharmonia Orchestra / Simon Rattle [Violin Concerto No. 2] Chantal Juillet, violin; Orchestre symphonique de Montréal / Charles Dutoit [Two Portraits] TRACK LISTING BARTÓK Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3* Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2* Two Portraits * FIRST RELEASE ON CD This well-filled 2CD set – nearly 2 hours and 40 minutes long – presents Bartók’s major concertos (the Viola Concerto appears on another Eloquence CD released this month). The three Piano Concertos appear in muscular and sumptuously recorded performances (one of the finest examples of Decca’s 1970s engineering at the venerated Kingsway Hall) by Pascal Rogé and Walter Weller. Likewise, the Second Violin Concerto resurrects a long-buried 1980 Argo recording by the late Iona Brown, with none other than Sir Simon Rattle conducting. The First Violin Concerto, the result of an ultimately called-off love affair with Stefi Geyer, found its music rechannelled into the Two Portraits and in Kyung Wha Chung and Chantal Juillet, respectively, find two of the composer’s most persuasive advocates. “Iona Brown gives a clean-cut and stylish performance, superbly recorded” Penguin Guide RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0713 Barcode: 0028948007134 Label: DG CD Release Date: December			Rafael Kubelik; Daniel Benyamini; Daniel Barenboim BARTÓK: Concerto for Orchestra; Viola Concerto ARTISTS Boston Symphony Orchestra / Rafael Kubelik [Concerto for Orchestra] Daniel Benyamini, viola; Orchestre de Paris / Daniel Barenboim [Viola Concerto] TRACK LISTING Concerto for Orchestra, Sz 116 Viola Concerto, Op. posth.* * FIRST RELEASE ON CD One of Bartók’s most popular symphonic works is his Concerto for Orchestra; Rafael Kubelik’s fabulous recording of it has long been out of the catalogue and is now restored to circulation at budget price. What’s more, it’s the first recording of the piece made by the orchestra for which it was written. Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony premiered the work in December 1944 and it wasn’t until nearly 30 years later, in November 1973, that the orchestra recorded it for the first time – in Boston’s Symphony Hall, with Kubelik conducting. The Viola Concerto was commissioned by William Primrose, who did much to advocate the piece. Sadly, Bartók died before he could complete the work or meet with Primrose at a sufficiently advanced stage of the concerto’s composition in order to discuss it. Tibor Serly completed the work and Primrose premiered it in 1949. This is the first release on CD of the Deutsche Grammophon recording of the piece with Daniel Benyamini, for long leader of the viola section of the Israel Philharmonic as soloist, and Daniel Barenboim conducting. ‘This is a performance to keep making you smile with delight … Kubelik presents a relaxed view with the rhythms pointed to bring out the wit, above all the peasant-like jollity … The DG recording is warm and atmospheric but equally has good inner detail’ Gramophone [Concerto for Orchestra] ‘the committed performance here by soloist and conductor shows the concerto in the best possible light; and the slow movement is really touching’ Gramophone [Viola Concerto] RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0127 Barcode: 0028948001279 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: December			Ernest Ansermet \| DEBUSSY: Orchestral works ARTISTS Robert Gugholz, clarinet L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING DEBUSSY: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (1951 recording)* La Mer (1951 recording) Nocturnes (1951 recording) Jeux (Poème dansé) (1953 recording)*** Clair de lune Petite Suite Rapsodie pour clarinette Printemps Images pour orchestre (1949 recording)* * FIRST RELEASE ON CD FIRST INTERNATIONAL RELEASE ON CD * FIRST RELEASE ON DECCA OF STEREO VERSION This volume of Debussy’s orchestral works under Ernest Ansermet brings together all of the composer’s acknowledged masterpieces together with some of the shorter pieces. The rare 1951 recording of Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and the 1949 recording of the Images make their first appearance on CD. Ansermet’s second recording of La Mer – he also recorded the piece for Decca in 1947, 1957 and 1964 – his first of the Nocturnes, and the early stereo version of Jeux are, likewise, all rarities. The anthology is completed with an authentically French-sounding Rapsodie pour clarinette as well as a lush Clair de lune and a delectable Petite suite. RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0130 Barcode: 0028948001309 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: December			Ernest Ansermet DEBUSSY: Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien; Six Épigraphes Antqiues; Khamma; La Boîte à joujoux; Marche ecossaise; Danse ARTISTS Suzanne Danco, soprano ? Nancy Waugh, contralto · Marie-Lise de Montmollin, contralto Union Chorale de La Tour-de-Peilz L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING DEBUSSY Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien Six Épigraphes antiques Khamma La Boîte à joujoux Marche écossaise* Danse (Tarantelle styrienne) (orch. Ravel) FIRST RELEASE ON CD This volume of Debussy’s dramatic works and ballet music is dedicated, by and large, to ‘rarities’ by the composer. Few of Debussy’s works have divided critical opinion more than Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien, banned as it was by the Archbishop of Paris six days before its premiere. The beautiful, rarefied Six Épigraphes Antiques* were orchestrated by Ernest Ansermet himself and both the Egyptian-based Khamma and La Boîte à joujoux, a ballet based on the secret life of toys, are very rare indeed. Trifle though it might be, the Marche écossaise receives its first release on CD – significant, given the conductor recorded it only once. RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0133 Barcode: 0028948001330 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: December			Ernest Ansermet \| DEBUSSY: Pelléas et Mélisande ARTISTS Suzanne Danco Mélisande Pierre Mollet Pelléas Heinz Rehfuss Golaud André Vessières Arkel Hélène Bouvier Geneviève Flora Wend Yniold Derrik Olsen A shepherd / The doctor L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING DEBUSSY Pelléas et Mélisande (1952 recording) This was the first of two recordings by Ernest Ansermet of Pelléas et Mélisande, a work he conducted several times on stage. This recording was made in April 1952 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere. In his liner notes, Juan Pons observes: ‘In this recording we can hear Ansermet’s best qualities: subtlety, clarity, a well-blended orchestral sound, constant support, and a respect for the real rhythm of the music. We can hear a warmth which is never ill-considered and the desire for utterly natural instrumental colour.’ Pelléas was a cornerstone in the careers of most of the soloists on this recording. Many performed it with Ansermet who himself conducted the work nine times with his Suisse Romande Orchestra. The booklet includes a track-by-track synopsis, an overview of the recording by Juan Pons, as well as a probing essay on the opera by Ansermet himself which was printed with the first LP issue of this recording. RETURN TO THE TOP