From the MusicWeb International Listening Studio: July 2024 Report
by John Quinn
Discs auditioned
Mahler – Symphony No 9 & Das Lied von der Erde. Philharmonia /Klemperer (details here)
Mahler – Symphony No 3 – Minnesota Orchestra / Vänskä (BIS-2486 SACD)
Janáček – Káťa Kabanová Vienna PO /Mackerras (details here)
Janáček – Káťa Kabanová London SO/Rattle (details here)
Brahms – Symphony No 3 London SO / Haitink (details here)
Elgar – The Dream of Gerontius Gabrieli / McCreesh (details here)
Vaughan Williams – The Future. BBCSO / Yates (details here)
On the day after the British General Election, David Dyer, Len Mullenger and John Quinn got together for a summer session in the MusicWeb International Listening Studio. After six weeks of wall-to-wall media reporting of the Election campaign, we turned with some relief to music and to sampling some recent releases.
We began with a substantial helping of Mahler. Warner Classics have just reissued all of the Mahler recordings which Otto Klemperer made for EMI in the 1960s. The recordings have been newly remastered by the French company, Art and Son Studio who have used the original tapes. JQ reviewed the set, comparing the audio side of things with the previous remastering, made in 2013. He brought along both boxes to enable us to compare and contrast. We sampled two works, beginning with the first movement of the Ninth symphony. The 2013 remastering is impressive; the recording is clear and present; lots of inner detail comes through. Unlike some conductors, such as Karajan, beauty of sound was not Klemperer’s priority – not that this comment is made as a criticism of him, still less of the excellent Philharmonia; rather, the rugged directness of the performance is well captured by the EMI engineers. When we turned to the 2023 remastering by Art & Son Studio, the clarity of detail was still there but we all noted a greater warmth in the sound; DD commented that the recording seemed “smoother”, while LM thought the sound seemed “more relaxed”. We felt that the latest remastering added depth. In both cases, the benefit of a left-right division of the violins is very apparent. We turned our attention to Das Lied von der Erde and, specifically, to the opening of ‘Der Abschied’. By sheer coincidence, JQ’s 2003 review of this recording, in its original CD incarnation, was republished just a few days earlier as one of MusicWeb’s ‘Déja review’ selections. Klemperer’s account of Das Lied is one which all of us have long admired. The 2013 remastering reveals the clear, transparent orchestral textures that Klemperer obtained; the orchestral playing is marvellous. Christa Ludwig’s voice is very present. When we heard the same music in the 2023 remastering, LM’s reaction was that the new incarnation offers even more focus; JQ agreed, noting the greater clarity of the deep, tolling harp notes at the start of the song. We felt that the work of Art & Son Studio puts greater bloom on Ludwig’s voice. There’s also an improved dynamic range. DD described the 2023 sound – and, of course, the performance – as “just glorious”. We think the 2023 remastering is a conspicuous success, showing these classic Mahler readings in the best possible light. But we also feel it’s appropriate to remind readers that the original records were made in 1967 (the symphony) and 1966 (‘Der Abschied’). That they sound so terrific now is a tribute to the excellent work of the EMI engineers; they certainly knew what they were doing.
Staying with Mahler, we turned our attention to a new release of the Third symphony. This is the final instalment in the complete symphony cycle by the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä. JQ has been listening to the recording for a review which will be published shortly. At his suggestion, we listened to the third movement because he was keen to hear the distant posthorn episodes on the Studio equipment. Listening to the movement occasioned an interesting variety of views. JQ felt the BIS sound is open, clear and natural. He also noted a good left-to-right spread. The definition of the recording allows Mahler’s intricate and colourful orchestration to make its mark, while the distant balancing of the posthorn works a treat. Those posthorn episodes are, arguably, paced too slowly but the nostalgic atmosphere comes across well. LM was less convinced. He described the performance as “mellifluous but dispassionate”, which he attributed to Vänskä’s way with the music. He didn’t much care for the sound. He felt there was an insufficient left-to-right spread, nor was the front-to-back perspective as good as he would have wished (JQ agreed on the latter point); the impression was given that the orchestra seemed physically compressed into a fairly small space. Oddly, though, LM thought the sound improved in the second half of the movement. He could hear lots of detail but didn’t find either the recording or the performance exciting. DD felt that that the recording suggested a “shallow sound stage” but was more impressed by the performance, which was “quite compelling”. JQ suggested we try the opening of the first movement. Of course, this is very different music; it’s much stronger and bolder in character than the intimate third movement. But even allowing for that, LM’s immediate response to the opening unison horn proclamation was that this sounded like a “different day”. We were much more impressed with the recorded sound; the dynamic range of the engineering is most impressive and the orchestral sound has genuine presence. Indeed, it was with some regret that, conscious of time constraints, we curtailed our listening after a few minutes.
We moved, as it were, from the concert hall to the opera house, with two recordings of the same Janáček opera, made nearly 50 years apart. We wanted to experience the recent (2023) LSO Live recording of Káťa Kabanová but we decided to whet our appetites by listening also to a Decca version from the 1970s. JQ had brought along his copy of the Decca recording of Káťa Kabanová conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. This recording was part of the series of Janáček operas which Sir Charles recorded for Decca with the Vienna Philharmonic. This particular recording was made in 1976; like all the Mackerras series, the venue was the Sofiensaal in Vienna. Mackerras had an almost exclusively Czech cast, though the title role was sung by the great Swedish soprano, Elisabeth Söderström. Peter Dvorský took the role of Boris. At the suggestion of our colleague, Mike Parr, who recently reviewed the Decca set and subsequently reviewed the Rattle account, we listened to the love scene between Katya and Boris which closes Act II. The Decca sound is excellent and, in many ways, it belies its age. JQ noted that the engineers have given a good sense of the hall’s acoustic. The voices of Dvorský and Söderström are very vivid – they’re quite forwardly balanced; Dvorský’s voice has an ardent ring to it, while Söderström is tremendously involving. The Vienna Philharmonic plays splendidly; under Mackerras’s direction Janáček’s uniquely colourful scoring and punchy rhythms are expertly and idiomatically presented. DD, who knows this particular recording well, was once again greatly taken by the “exultant rapture” of the music. He felt the recorded sound seems just a little congested but he could forgive that because the main impression is of “such a glorious noise”. LM agreed with JQ about the forward balance of the singers – he wasn’t quite as admiring of Söderström’s singing as the rest of us. However, in general he liked the Decca sound, approving of the firm bass, the way individual instruments can be heard and the width of the recording.
Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO have given concert performances of a couple of Janáček operas in recent years – with more to come, we believe – and these performances are reaching a wider audience because LSO Live are issuing them on disc. The most recent release in this series is Káťa Kabanová which Rattle performed in the Barbican Hall in January 2023 with a strong cast led by Amanda Majeski in the title role and Simon O’Neill as Boris. We listened to the identical passage which we’d just experienced in the Decca set. It was immediately apparent to us that the orchestra is much more prominent than was the case with the Decca recording, though we hasten to say that the orchestra doesn’t overpower the singers. We suspect that the prominence given to the orchestra is not just a question of engineering; we feel sure Rattle wants the music to come over in this way. LM liked this approach and felt that the balance of the LSO Live sound was preferable to the Decca – JQ agreed. O’Neill and Majeski are excellent. The former yields nothing to Dvorský when it comes to ardent singing; JQ felt that Majeski suggests a vulnerability in Katya’s character rather more than Söderström achieves. The instances of distant singing are well managed by the engineers. We concluded that what we heard of this performance was compelling, not least because the superb playing of the LSO brings out so much of the wildness and passion in the score. We had wondered if the acoustic of the Barbican Hall might be a limiting factor, but this is not the case. LM suggested that the LSO Live recording (which has been issued on SACD) was better balanced than the Decca (on CD), while DD found the LSO Live sound to be the more open of the two.
We stayed with the Barbican and the LSO Live label for our next selection. In the last decades of his long career Bernard Haitink was a regular and honoured guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. LSO Live issued a good number of the performances they gave together, including complete cycles of the symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms. A little while ago, the Brahms recordings were reissued in a boxed set and this time they appeared as SACDs; Roy Westbrook reviewed that box. JQ bought the original CDs individually when they were first released. On his home equipment, the SACD appears to offer enhanced sound, especially at the bass end, which has more depth and richness on SACD. We listened to the last movement of the Third symphony, which was recorded at concerts in June 2004. First, we listened to the first three or four minutes on CD; we thought the sound was very good. Then we listened to the entire movement on SACD. In this instance, we listened to both discs using the Meridien CD player, even though this meant that we were not getting the full SACD effect. As JQ had found at home, it seems that the SACD sound is fuller, with the bass a bit firmer. DD described the sound as “refreshed”. We liked the performance too. JQ has always admired these LSO/Haitink performances and was pleased to find that, in this limited extract from the cycle, LM and DD were also impressed. LM commented that this was “a more feisty and incisive performance than I would have expected from Haitink”. The main Allegro is dynamic and Haitink handles the warm, glowing coda really well. It’s good that LSO Live now offer this Brahms set with the benefit of SACD.
Apparently, the Brahms Third was a work much admired by Elgar – one can hear echoes of the end of that Brahms symphony in the closing pages of Elgar’s Second – so it was a pleasing juxtaposition that brought us next to a major work by Elgar himself.
Paul McCreesh’s recent recording of The Dream of Gerontius was very much admired by JQ when he reviewed it recently. The recording was made under studio conditions at Croydon’s Fairfields Halls, though the important organ part was recorded separately using the organ of Hereford Cathedral; the organ sound has been very successfully integrated. McCreesh’s recording is notable for several reasons. One is that the excellent chorus is comprised mainly of young singers from the UK and Poland. Another is that the orchestra (the Gabrieli Players) use instruments of Elgar’s time; indeed, the principal trombonist plays on Elgar’s own instrument. This is the first time that Gerontius has been recorded using such instruments. We debated which passage to hear in order to sample the recorded sound and we settled on the ensemble ‘Proficiscere’ for bass solo, chorus, organ and orchestra which closes Part I. The soloist, Andrew Foster-Williams, is well placed so that his voice registers very clearly, as LM noted. The choir makes a terrific impact at its first entry and thereafter sings splendidly. The recording gives a fine impression of the full ensemble. LM commented that the recording has “height”; one has a distinct impression that the chorus is positioned above and behind the orchestra. JQ, who has once sung in that hall, confirmed that the choir seating is at quite a height above the orchestra and he agreed that the engineers have reproduced that effect faithfully (rather as one used to get on the best choral/orchestral recordings in London’s Kingsway Hall, when the choir would be positioned in the balcony). DD was interested to hear an example of Nicky Spence as Gerontius, so we decided to listen to ‘Take me way’. In fact, there aren’t enough tracks on the Signum Classics CDs and the nearest we could get was to start at the point where Gerontius sings ‘I go before my judge’. The excellent recording enhances the suspense and awe that Spence, McCreesh and the orchestra impart to this short passage. The brass chords that lead up to ‘Take me away’ and then the great percussion crash sound tremendous on the period instruments – “amazing!” LM exclaimed – after which we greatly admired Spence’s eloquent and expressive delivery of his last solo. Though we had intended to stop there, the gentle orchestral timbres before the Angel’s Farewell encouraged us to listen on; we heard the work right through to the end, enjoying the dedicated singing of Anna Stéphany. Her voice is very well caught by the engineers. JQ commented that the multi-layered closing ensemble, involving Ms Stéphany, the chorus and semi-chorus, organ and orchestra has been beautifully recorded – DD agreed. The warmth and tonal richness of the last two or three minutes of the work are very satisfying here. “Lovely”, was DD’s comment as the final chord ended. Sonically as well as artistically, this new Dream of Gerontius strikes us as a great success.
The Dream of Gerontius is a standard repertoire piece and familiar to all three of us. The same definitely can’t be said of a work by Vaughan Williams which has just been given a first recording by soprano Lucy Crowe, the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra and conductor Martin Yates. This is The Future, which DD and LM have never before experienced; JQ had a slight advantage because he’s listened to the disc in question for a recent review. The work is a setting for solo soprano, chorus and orchestra, of a poem by Matthew Arnold. It is thought that VW worked on this piece in around 1908 – which means it’s contemporaneous with Toward the Unknown Region and A Sea Symphony. However, he abandoned work on the score and conductor Martin Yates has completed and orchestrated the piece from the incomplete manuscript which is held in the British Library. JQ details the background more fully in his review. We were running short of time and so we could only listen to roughly the first half of this piece which, as completed by Yates, here runs for a total of 33:01. The music that we heard is by VW himself, though Martin Yates has done a lot of work to flesh out the short score which the composer left and the orchestration is by Yates. (VW’s manuscript runs out about halfway through and the music thereafter has been pieced together intuitively by Yates.) Our verdict on what we heard is that the orchestration is very convincing and the music itself chimes in with what VW was doing in those two contemporaneous scores, Toward the Unknown Region and A Sea Symphony; however, LM and DD agreed with JQ’s contention that those two completed works are musically stronger than The Future. LM’s verdict was that, based on what he’d heard, The Future is “very forthright, very VW”. He considers it to be quite a discovery. There’s no doubt that the recorded debut of The Future is excellent in every respect. The performance itself is committed and expertly prepared while Dutton have produced a full-bodied recording which allows the listener to appreciate to the full the inner detail of all the work that Martin Yates has done in order to bring this score to completion.
This fine Vaughan Williams disc brought our listening session to an end. The music, performances and engineering we’d experienced had all been of the highest quality and had provided a welcome, if brief, diversion from the serious business of news concerning UK politics. As we packed away the discs, though, it was back to reality.
Equipment used
Meridian 808i Digital preamp + Series 5 CD player
Bowers and Wilkins Nautilus 802D speakers
Tellurium Black Diamond speaker cables
Bryston 14B3 power amp (Power output: 600 watts/channel into 8 ohms)
Oppo BDP-105D DVD / Blu-ray player
Audioquest Interconnects. Pre to Power Audioquest Water XLR.
Chord Co. ‘PowerAray Professional’
Chord Co. PowerHAUS M6 mains cleaner
Chord Co. Power Block
