This week's classical releases reviewed
ERIK SATIE: AVANT-DERNIERES PENSÉES
Alexandre Tharaud (piano) Harmonia Mundi HMC 902017/18 (2 CDs) ****
French pianist Alexandre Tharaud's cleverly organised sequence of miniatures by one of music's greatest eccentrics devotes a disc each to solos and duos. The solos include La Piège de Méduse, with the buzzing sounds of a prepared piano, as well as the best-known pieces. The duos involve voice (the streetwise chanteuse Juliette and the highly adaptable tenor Jean Delescluse), violin (an almost ascetic Isabelle Faust), and trumpet (the brazen David Guerrier), with Éric Le Sage joining Tharaud for the piano duets. Tharaud rarely overplays his hand, and the strange, almost constructivist ironies of Satie's style – which have long been far more influential than their representation in concert programmes would suggest – communicate as well as his unfettered fondness for music-hall. www.tinyurl.com/ 6mchwb
JAMES MACMILLAN: ST JOHN PASSION
Christopher Maltman (Christus). London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Colin Davis LSO live LSO 0671 (2 CDs) ***
James MacMillan's 90-minute St John Passion, which premiered last April, has just a single baritone soloist as Christ, with a chamber choir taking on the narration and a larger chorus covering the other characters. Musically, the piece sounds like the work of an eclectic with excitable Gothic inclinations, an unusual readiness to disgorge eruptions of brass and percussion, and a fondness for polarised extremes of manner. It's all expertly done – and brilliantly performed under Colin Davis – and yet it's a highly problematic piece. The expressive responses sound just too generic and off-the-shelf. For all the regular outbreak of sound and fury, it's actually some of the quieter and more sentimental chorus writing that works best. www.tinyurl.com/ctth2r
DVORAK: CELLO CONCERTO; HERBERT: CELLO CONCERTO NO 2
Gautier Capucon (cello), Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra/Paavo Jarvi Virgin Classics 519 0352 ***
This coupling is an illustration of Dvorak, the Irish connection. It was the Second Cello Concerto by Dubliner Victor Herbert (now best remembered for his operettas) that inspired the Czech composer to write what has become the world's favourite cello concerto. It's actually the Herbert which comes off best in these performances by Gautier Capuçon. His live-in-the- moment approach is ably supported by conductor Paavo Järvi, and the work's best ideas are strongly projected. Järvi's searching approach to the Dvorak sets up expectations that are rather more than Capuçon can deliver on. His inflation of the big statements sounds just too overburdened, but he's altogether more successful when sounding less effortful. www.emiclassics.com
THE ART OF BERNARD HAITINK
Various Orchestras/Bernard Haitink Decca 478 1429 (7 CDs) ****
This 80th birthday set traces the work of Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink from 1959 (Dvorak's Seventh Symphony with the Concertgebouw Orchestra) up to the 1990s (Ravel's Ma mère l'oyeand Brahms's Third Symphony with the Boston Symphony). The most celebrated inclusions are of Mahler's First Symphony, Debussy's La mer(both Concertgebouw) and Bruckner's Third (Vienna Philharmonic), all composers and works with whom Haitink's affinity is very special. Robert Layton's booklet note includes a nice, unattributed description of Haitink's style as "attention-compelling but never attention-seeking". His Bartók, Liszt and Stravinsky may be more gentlemanly than many listeners will want, but there's always a fine detailing to compensate. Smetana, Schubert, Beethoven, Wagner, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich also feature. www.deccaclassics.com
