The classical music business experienced an explosion when the CD era hit, that lasted well over a decade. The market was flooded with hundreds of new titles every week, as record companies virtually re-recorded their catalogs in digital for the CD market, and buyers eagerly repurchased their collections on the new medium. Driven by Karajan on DG, Solti on Decca, Haitink on Philips, Bernstein on Columbia - a mighty quartet - classical CD sales enjoyed a hugely successful decade, one that saw new digital recordings of warhorse repertoire fuel forays into previously neglected and even unrecorded territory. Without a doubt, the industry and music lovers reaped huge benefits from this period.
Then, it was over. When virtually everyone worth hearing, and all to many not, had done their obligatory Beethoven cycles, and Brahms, and Mozart, and all the Strauss operas and Verdi operas had received multiple competing readings, and there were multiple Ring cycles vying for top spot, it all collapsed under its own weight, a market that had become so saturated that it virtually caused its own implosion. Once buyers had rebuilt their LP collections on digital, and had had enough of rebuying CD version after CD version, sales plummeted. What the record companies didn't realize was that not only could the party not go on forever, and that they were cannibalizing their own market - the fact that there were so many versions available meant that buyers could quickly turn to the used CD market to fulfill their needs, given that at some point, some critical consensus emerges on relative merits of the many competing versions out there. Basically - ask the CD buyers to buy three or four 'latest and bestest' Brahms cycles and inevitably two or three of those will end up in a used CD store.
But at this stage, the majors are no longer driving the classical market, and a healthy balance has emerged - in fact, probably a more than healthy balance, as there are now a number of 'indie' classical labels that are offering either unusual repertoire of high merit, and/or readings of more conventional repertoire that has a compelling and unique artistic merit. It's actually a great era for classical recordings - the past has never been so accessible and good sounding, and a vibrant present is being recorded. Let's take a look at some that have hit my mailbox so far this year.
Havergal Brian's monumental Gothic Symphony from Martyn Brabbins, a fine British conductor. Brabbins and the BBC Concert Orchestra return to the Royal Albert Hall where Boult made a historic reading with the BBC captured on a Testament CD. With orchestral and choral forces this size (800 performers!), sound is critical, and Hyperion do it justice with a fine, spacious, open sound that never gets cluttered or murky - an amazing accomplishment with forces of this size. The 1966 Boult can't match it sonically, although it is far from inadequate, and has many merits. But Brabbins is now the go-to benchmark in this magnificent, unique music that is wholly captivating and unique. A massive recommendation.
Sir Colin Davis continues his Nielsen cycle with exemplary recordings of the 1st and 6th, the latter in particular being a superb reading. The sound on LSO LIve recordings has improved dramatically over the past couple of years, to near demonstration quality.
Pierre Boulez' Memoriale and Derive are essentially chamber works, woodwind based, and here conducted by Daniel Kawka with the Orchestral Ensemble Contemporain are given warm, vibrant readings that show an affinity with Messiaen - Derive 2, the major work here at over 50 minutes, is far removed from the cold, mechanical Boulez of his earlier works. It has more Bartok, and even more Diaghilev, than expected with it's elastic rhythms and percussive colors. Very highly recommended as a re-evaluation or introduction to Boulez, and surely a recording that will be one day used as a benchmark as Boulez becomes recognized as a major composer of the 21st century.
Another destined to become a major composer of the 21st is Thierry Escaich. "Les Nuits Hallucinees" - not terribly hard to figure out in English - is a cycle of essentially 3 tone poems for mezzo and orchestra. The title sums it up accurately - ethereal, mystical, shimmering hallucinogenic nights. Beautiful. The tone poem for organ and orchestra is masterful - the soundworld is modern tonal, echoes of Lutoslawski and Dutilleux, the organ not a bombastic solo player, but a color and tone partner. The third piece is a violin concerto that is fully of Escaich's tonal world, a shimmering, transportative piece that fits beautifully with the psychedelic colors of the other pieces on this well rounded disc. Here is a contemporary composer well worth hearing, with a unique voice, destined to be considered a major 21st century composer. You can be there now.
Chisholm's first two piano concertos are curiosities from a composer not so much neglected as relegated to the footnotes of musical history. The first, well played by Danny Driver, is of the early 20th century British character, pre-Elgar, fairly conventional, enjoyable, but hardly a major work. The second - here getting its debut on record - is a much better one, with an engaging eastern flavor and is very worthwhile. Hyperion sound is excellent.
A stellar series from Gergiev and the Marinsky Orchestra continues with the two piano concertos of Shostakovich, wonderfully played by Denis Matsuev, these must now be considered benchmark recordings fully in the idiom, and the sound - as has been the case on every Marinsky label recording - is beyond demonstration quality, it is simply stunning. The coupling is Shchedrin's 5th piano concerto, and although Shchedrin can be an insufferably derivative and lightweight composer, this concerto is superb, perhaps because of the passion and conviction of both the performers and the recording. A surprising bonus. Highly recommended, as are virtually all Gergiev/Marinsky recordings.
On Virgin, a collection of Debussy songs by a past her prime but still moving Natalie Dessay, whose vibrato can be a bit intrusive, yet still has the magical world these songs inhabit totally down, and the accompaniment of Philippe Cassard is beyond reproach, a real treat. Not perhaps a first reputation as Dessay's voice is past its prime, but worthwhile nonetheless.
Keeping on with Debussy, a new reading of La Mer and Images from Daniele Gatti who is quickly becoming a force in this repertoire. The readings are superb, and the recording has wide dynamic range and transparency, yet at the same time I had a sense that the production was a touch artificial sounding, trying too hard for audiophile spectacle. The disc was hugely assisted by my usual treatment of Extreme AV Liquid Resolution and the Nespa Pro toaster. Recommended, as the performances are first rate, and the sonic are spectacular, but may not be the most natural.
Natural sound is a hallmark of the new Adams disc from Michael Tilson Thomas and the SFS. Harmonielehre is not at all the older minimalist Adams, it is a shimmering, deep work of elegant complexity. The sound is superlative, wide dynamic range, texture and tone, power and delicacy. The Short Ride is an apt postscript to the main work. Highly recommended.
Anna Vinnitskaya deliver a fabulous disc of Ravel - Miroirs and Gaspard De La Nuit are the main pieces. On Naive, the sound is natural and beyond reproach. The playing also - Vinnitskaya delves into Ravel's sonic world, favoring atmosphere and spirit over technical display, and produces one of the finest Ravel interpretations in decades. Unique, and recommended without reservation. This is Ravel in the 21st century as it needs to be.
Also on the superb Naive label, a recording of Tchaikovsky's fifth by Tugan Sokhiev, another young conductor with a great future. This warhorse hardly needs a new recording, yet Naive only do something when there is a point of view that needs to be heard, and that is the case here - a thoroughly modern look at this work, by a young conductor with a fresh approach and a committed young orchestra going well beyond another 'by the numbers' auto pilot reading.
Finally, Rued Langgaard on DaCapo, the first three String Quartets which are hardly representative of the symphonic Langgaard, but hold up very well on their own, the Nightingale String Quartet give committed readings of these works which are far less abstract than typical Langgaard, more of the Nordic character, closer to Nielsen and Shostakovich in nature. I look forward to the series continuing with the later quartets.
