Classical CD roundup - 2011 so far...

Rounding up briefly the highlights so far in 2011, on the classical side. There is still lots of life left in the classical CD business, even if it's been pretty much over 5 years since I have bought anything from DG, Decca, Philips or EMI!

Valery Gergiev has been recording Shostakovich symphonies at quite a clip lately, here we have numbers 2 and 15. The sound in the series, with his Marinsky Orchestra, is outstanding and of demonstration quality - deep, warm, analog like, zero string

harshness, a realistic acoustic and dynamics in spades. Gergiev's readings are definitive. I love Haitink's earlier readings on Decca, but that sound is nowhere in the class on offer here, and Gergiev is perhaps more idiomatic, and much more dramatic. Highly recommended.

Naxos is a label that has come along way from it's roots as a deep budget label that offered a wide range of repertoire from third and fourth rank orchestras with no-name conductors in serviceable, bland sound. For sure, they still do some of that. But recent cycles of Bax, Vaughan Williams, Rousell, Stanford and others feature first rate orchestras, up and coming conducting stars, and first rate sound typically from displaced former Decca and EMI engineering teams. Case in point - the Sibelius symphony cycle from Inkwan in Helsinki. Here we have symphonies 1 and 3 in outstanding interpretations - easily the most fresh, insightful readings in decades - that eclipse totally modern recordings from Ashkenazy, Oramo, Vanski, Jarvi and others - even perhaps Berglund. The sound is glorious - not quite reference class, but extremely good.

And it costs under $10. I have the entire cycle, and there is not a single mis-step, and not a single one that I would not place right beside Berglund, or Karajan, or any other favorite. Inkwan's Naxos 2nd in my opinion is right up with Karajan's Philharmonia account.

Pierre Boulez conducts the magnificent Lucerne Festival Orchestra in a brisk, dry

reading of Mahler's 6th, as well as Webern and Stravinsky's Chant Du Rossignol. The Mahler is likely the main attraction here, and listeners' feelings about Boulez overall will likely be the deciding factor. The recording is quite good, and far superior to Boulez' DG version, sonically it is not demonstration quality, but is admirably transparent and natural, if lacking a bit in weight and body. Boulez can seem cold and clinical, and this version certainly has greater passion and feeling that his earlier Mahler for DG. It is not sentimental,yet it can frequently be exciting, and often I find Mahler's 6th (and 5th) to be conducted with an eye on having the adagio sliced out to go on those endless, cheesy romantic compilations for the easy listening classics crowd. Boulez will never be one for that, and his reading places Mahler squarely where he should be, in the modern, neo-classical tradition. It's worth hearing, and the Stravinsky in particular is very good. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is young, highly committed, and never plays by the numbers. They eschew vibrato, and are highly individual. Perhaps not recommended as a first choice, or for all listeners, but recommended nonetheless.

I haven't picked up hardly and BIS titles in a couple of years, as none have really interested me, but for some reason, there have been quite a few excellent titles released by BIS this year. The label always produces exemplary, natural sound with full dynamics, and lately, pretty much all are being released in dual layer SACD format.

A disc of Eino Tamberg orchestral music from Neeme Jarvi - the ballet suite Joanna Tenata is rather abstract, tonal, challenging - highly charged, dynamic music making full use of

the orchestra's colors, particularly brass and percussion. Beautiful music. The Symphonic Dances and Concerto Grosso are a different matter, largely concertos for saxes and woodwinds, the Estonian folk elements less at the fore, showing greater influence of Bartok, Prokofiev and obviously Tubin.

Thomas Dausgaard is one of the best conductors around today. Consistently interesting, fresh and honest, and willing to take chances. He offers a fine Swedish Chamber Orchestra reading of Schubert's 8th and 9th, the smaller chamber orchestra (on modern instruments) bringing a freshness and vitality to music which, with traditional orchestras, often seems hackneyed and overwrought. The same forces bring a reading of the 1877 version of Bruckner's 2nd that just blows the doors off early Bruckner, it's briskness aided by the opening and unravelling of textures brings an entirely new, fresh view to this work, placing it far closer to middle Beethoven than to Brahms, and bringing it out of the reverberant church context Bruckner is typically placed in, out into the open with a dry, open sound.

Both these are totally, highly recommended.

Now we have Owain Arwel Hughes conducting his father's works,

including Anatiomaros, the Suite For Orchestra and Glyndwr legend. This is exemplary British music, very much coming out of Vaughan Williams, Holst, Bax and so on.

In many ways, unknown and/or long neglected composers like Arwel Hughes (and Tamberg, Tubin, and many others) offer flawed, but far more adventurous and unpredictable experiences than their more celebrated contemporaries. It's the flaws that prevented them from achieving greater popularity, as well as the slightly more challenging or offbeat aspects of their music. They didn't write for the mainstream, they wrote what they heard in their minds, and that's what makes them so interesting, and in many cases, much more relevant today. If you are into British music at all, and I have to say that I am as much a lover of British music as I am of Nordic and Scandinavian composers, you should hear this very fine disc.

Typically at an industry or products end of life, price is lowest and quality is at it's peak. Also typical of many product life cycle end periods, the niche manufacturers come to dominate as the larger players have abandoned the business as their need for economies of scale can no longer be met.

That is largely what we see in the classical segment today - almost universally the sonic quality is at an absolute peak, and more 'niche' or less mainstream repertoire is dominant, and this is what we are seeing in these excellent new releases. It's never been better.

Hans Werner Henze is a perfect example of a composer for whom the leaps in CD sonics benefit massively. Here is a new Wergo recording of his 3rd and 5th symphonies, beautifully conducted by Marek Janowski. Earlier digital did not do Henze any favors, it made his music sound hard and cold, yet here, it is deeply human, reaching music, affecting deeply, and this I can attribute largely to the very involving, human sound. I had ignored Henze for a long time, and now I hope for more.

The Naive label, out of France, is doing some wonderful contemporary things to bring classical music to a broader, younger market. One disc, out of many recently from this fine label, is of Ravel and Prokofiev piano concertos from the outstanding pianist Anna Vinnitskaya - who, from what I hear in these works, is a major, major new star. She's not at all one of those young Asian technical but soul-less virtuoso kids that the major labels trot out regularly. She has chops that dance all around those players, but has an intelligence and fresh point of view that they totally miss.

Here, the Prokofiev sounds less of a hard, technical showpiece and far more of an organic, introspective conversation with orchestra. There are obviously technical fireworks on display, but they seems also to have a deeper inner quality, and a humanity that is often (usually) missing. The Ravel is also a wonderful performance - light, bluesy, jazzy, dancing, human. These readings instantly become first choices in both cases. They are fresh, unique, and completely of their time. This is an artist to watch, big time. Fine, fine recording. Highly recommended.

So there you have it. a long one, this time, and plenty of off the main road recordings to check out. As I think back to the first decade of CD, where dozens upon dozens of new classical recordings flooded the stores every week, I can't help but thinking that the state of the classical industry today may be desperate from a major label economic point of view, but as a cottage industry, it really has never been better.