264. Gaetano Donizetti - Anna Bolena (1830)

Recording

Title: Anna Bolena
Performers: Maria Callas, Gianni Raimondi
Conductor: Giandrea Gavazzeni
Year: 1957
Length: 2 hours 20 minutes

Review

I sometimes get annoyed at the album selection in this list and never more so than when it is a really bad sounding recording of a cut opera just because it is sung by the insufferable Callas.

That is what happens here, while the opera is actually pretty great, Donizetti having managed to make the plot flow perfectly throughout with some great music attached to it, the recording recommended here is pretty bad. It is not even Callas' voice which annoys me much but the fact that the opera is missing some 40 minutes and the sound quality is terrible as is natural from a radio recording from the 50s.

I have watched the opera in its uncut form and it is a really great one, so I think that this is a great disservice to a great piece of music. You'd be better served with pretty much any other big name recording, Joan Sutherland's version being one example. Do watch and get this opera if you have the chance, but give this recording a miss.

Final Grade

10/10 (the opera itself)

6/10 (Recording)

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Anna Bolena was performed infrequently during the latter half of 19th century and early 20th century, but it was revived with more frequency in the post-war years. On December 30, 1947, the opera was performed at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, celebrating the centennial of this theatre, which opened in 1847 with Anna Bolena. The cast was Sara Scuderi as Anna Bolena, Giulietta Simionato as Jane Seymour and Cesare Siepi as Henry VIII.

Here is Callas Singing Giudici, Ad Anna! You can see the poor quality of the recording:

263. Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique (1830)

Recording

Title: Symphonie Fantastique
Performers: Boston Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Charles Munch
Year: 1954
Length: 46 minutes

Review

Now this is something completely different from anything else on this list until now. It is a programmatic symphony, but there is nothing particularly new about that, Beethoven had done it before with the Pastoral, its originality lies in its psychological depictions.

This might be the first piece of truly psychedelic music, composed under the influence of opium, this symphony follows the changing mental states of an artist culminating in a nightmarish hallucination set at a witches Sabbath.

The music is extremely evoking throughout, caring much less about harmonious beauty than depicting altered mental states, but achieving both at the same time. A truly original piece of music which is a joy to listen to attentively throughout.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Leonard Bernstein described the symphony as the first musical expedition into psychedelia because of its hallucinatory and dream-like nature, and because history suggests Berlioz composed at least a portion of it under the influence of opium. According to Bernstein, "Berlioz tells it like it is. You take a trip, you wind up screaming at your own funeral."

Final Movement:

262. Giochino Rossini - Guillaume Tell (1829)

Recording

Title: Guillaume Tell
Performers: Monserrat Caballé, Nicolai Gedda, Mady Mesplé, Gabriel Bacquier
Conductor: Lamberto Gardelli
Year: 1972
Length: 4 hours

Review

It is hard to argue with the idea that this is Rossini's operatic masterpiece. If for nothing else he has to be commended for effort, four hours of music is very long for non Wagnerian standards. Surprisingly for Rossini these four hours sound much less recycled than in his previous operas, he actually put some effort into this one.

Now, this is an opera that you are probably better not watching, not only is it very long but the plot is pretty dull... it is set in Switzerland after all. Too much time is lost in the middle of the play, with ballets and the romantic side-plot, only to have it finish in a confused and too fast way. I have only watched the Italian version of the opera, and this recording is of the original French version, which actually sounds better. One of the few occasions when it is a better experience to listen to the opera without being particularly aware of what is happening.

So this is really a CD set you should get, as a piece of music it is pretty exciting, never more than in the "Lone Ranger" overture, but often exciting in less obvious and more rewarding passages which are seldom heard. So it is the best music that Rossini composed for an opera, pity that as a piece of theatre it is so dull.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Other, political, concerns have contributed to the varying fortunes of the work. In Italy, because the work glorified a revolutionary figure against authority, the opera encountered difficulties with the Italian censors, and the number of productions in Italy was limited. The Teatro San Carlo produced the opera in 1833, but then did not give another production for around 50 years. The first Venice production, at the Teatro La Fenice, was not until 1856. By contrast, in Vienna, in spite of censorship issues there, the Vienna Court Opera gave 422 performances over the years 1830-1907.

Overture in it's most famous incarnation:

261. Feliz Mendelssohn - String Quartets 1 & 2 (1829,1827)

Recording

Title: The Complete String Quartets
Performer: Pacifica Quartet
Year: 2004
Length: 54 minutes

Review

I really like Mendelssohn, his music always seems to have an extrovert quality to it that really shines through. These two early string quartets are no exception to that rule.

Even if they are clearly influenced by Beethoven's works they are also considerably brighter than Beethoven, reflecting Mendelssohn's personality. Interestingly Quartet number two was actually composed first, and it is in this one that Beethoven's presence is more apparent, in the first but later quartet Mendelssohn's own style is more in evidence.

All in all pretty enjoyable recording of these two string quartets, which also have the advantage of not being too well known, unlike much Mendelssohn music, which suffers from overexposure.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Quartet number 2:

Mendelssohn wrote the quartet two years after Ludwig van Beethoven published his last quartets, and months after his death. Beethoven's late quartets received a lukewarm reception at best, and many — including Mendelssohn's own father — agreed with composer Louis Spohr that they were an "indecipherable, uncorrected horror". Mendelssohn, however, was fascinated by them. He studied the scores, and included many quotes from Beethoven's quartets in opus 13.

Quartet no. 1 First movement:

260. Frédéric Chopin - Waltzes (1829-47)

Recording

Title: 14 Waltzes, Impromptus, Bolero
Performer: Arthur Rubinstein
Year: 1960s
Length: 50 minutes

Review

I have said before that Classical music often suffers from over-exposure and Chopin's waltzes are a perfect example of that. Despite them all being consummate works of art, we have heard them all so many times that the ear is completely jaded to their more subtle characteristics.

Waltzes, seen now as style of music for entertainment and dancing are particularly affected by this over popularisation. While this might be fair in the works of Strauss for example, Chopin's Waltzes are very clearly not made for dancing. Listen to any of them and imagine the scene. The Waltzes are, like everything Chopin did, too emotionally complex to serve as utilitarian music for dancing.

When a composer pushes a popular genre beyond its traditional boundaries the utilitarian aspect of it is often lost, look at Piazzolla's Tangos for example, undanceable as well. All the pieces here are too popular for their own good, but they are also fantastic.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Classical composers traditionally supplied music for dancing when required, and Schubert's waltzes were written for household dancing, without any pretense at being art music. However, Chopin's 19 waltzes (five he wrote as a child), along with his mazurkas and polonaises, were clearly not intended to be danced to. They marked the adoption of the waltz and other dance forms as serious composition genres.
Rubinstein Plays Op.64 No.2:

259. Frédéric Chopin - Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (1829,1830)

Recording

Title: Piano Concertos Nos. 1&2
Performer: Murray Perahia, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Zubin Metha
Length: 1 hour 20 minutes

Review

Chopin's piano concertos combine his usual piano brilliance with quite competent orchestration. Frankly Chopin is all about the piano, the orchestral accompaniment does, however, work exceedingly well with the piano solo.

In the orchestral sections of the concerts Chopin is considerably more bold in sound than he often is with his piano compositions, this does serve to contrast with the exceedingly delicate sections on the piano.

It is in these delicate piano sections where the true brilliance of Chopin comes to the top. The orchestral sections are good but not recognisably Chopinesque, while the piano is unmistakably his. Still a pretty amazing pair of concerts, with maybe number 1 being slightly superior to the second one.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

About the first concerto:

Classical critics usually fall into one of two schools of thought concerning the piece. The first of these says that given that Chopin was a composer for the piano first and foremost; the orchestral part of this piece acts more as a vehicle for the pianist, with the individual instrumental parts being uninteresting to perform. The second suggests that the orchestral backing is carefully and deliberately written to fit in with the sound of the piano, and that the simplicity of arrangement is in deliberate contrast to the complexity of the harmony.

First movement of first concerto:

258. Frédéric Chopin - Nocturnes (1829-1847)

Recording

Title: The Nocturnes
Performer: Maria João Pires
Year: 1996
Length: 2 hours


Review

After a long interval we come back to Chopin, now that Schubert has left us. And we come back to some of his most famous pieces in a truly great recording by my countrywoman Maria João Pires. These are pieces meant to invoke the night, and the feeling that they give is actually quite homogeneous.

Taking into account the fact that the pieces were written through a long period of time, it is only natural that the listener will catch Chopin's evolution through the years, as each op. number changes so is the listener aware of a jump in Chopin's language.

This evolution does not, however, harm Chopin's congruity, the whole recording sounds like a unified piece. The merit if also of the pianist of course which is presenting these Nocturnes as consistent works. In the end, each of the 21 pieces, is pretty amazing in its own right, immensely expressive, sometimes almost to the level of being overly-emotional, but this is Chopin after all. Beautiful.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

He took the new salon genre of the nocturne, invented by Irish composer John Field, to a deeper level of sophistication. Three of Chopin's twenty-one Nocturnes were only published after his death in 1849, contrary to his wishes.

Op.32 no.2 :

257. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in B flat, D960 (1828)

Recording

Title: Mitsuko Uchida plays Schubert
Performers: Mitsuko Uchida
Year: 2004
Length: 45 minutes

Review

So we come to the end of the very strong Schubert presence on this list. One of the greatest composers of the beginning of the romantic era, one of the most honest depicters of emotion in musical history. Never maudlin or exaggerated, he managed to bring just the right amount of mood to his works.

This last piano sonata, one of the last things he composed before his death is a perfect example of this. The very long first movement is a slow one, but peppered with mood shifts, the work is not, however, without its lighter moments.

The last two movements have a kind of bittersweet happiness to them which is quite endearing. It is a great pity that, like so many great composers, Schubert died so early. His style is constantly sharpening itself, even now, in the end. We can only imagine what he would have gone on to do. Oh well.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schubert's last sonatas mark a distinct change of compositional style from his earlier piano sonatas, with several important differences. The typical movement length has increased, due to the use of long, lyrical, fully rounded-off, ternary-form themes, the insertion of development-like passages within expositions, and the lengthening of the development section proper. Texturally, the orchestral grandeur of the middle-period sonatas gives way to a more intimate writing that resembles a string ensemble. New textures appear in the last sonatas – scale-like melodic elements, free counterpoint, free fantasia, and simple accompanimental patterns such as Alberti bass, repeated chords, and ostinati; the orchestral unison texture, abundant in the preceding sonatas, has disappeared. The harmonic language has also changed: more distant key relationships are explored, longer modulatory excursions, more major/minor shifts of mode, and more chromatic and diverse harmonic progressions and modulations, using elements such as the diminished seventh chord. In general, the last sonatas seem to enact a return to an earlier, more individual and intimate Schubertian style, here combined with the compositional craftsmanship of Schubert's later works.

Brendel plays the sonata:

256. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in A major, D959 (1828)

Recording

Title: Klaviersonate D959
Performers: Leif Ove Andsnes
Year: 2001
Length: 39 minutes

Review

We come to Schubert's penultimate work on the list and to one of his most interesting sonatas. If there is a Schubert sonata where his internal turmoil is very clearly expressed, this is that sonata.

It starts off with a constantly shifting first movement only to give us one of the saddest slow movements of any of Schubert's sonatas. Now this slow movement explodes towards its end with what can only be the musical representation of frenzied frustration.

Schubert is perfectly aware of his imminent death, and has been for quite a while, syphilis being a long, drawn out disease. It is almost painful to listen to him, who started his career with such cheerful bonhomie as expressed by his earlier works, suddenly go deeper and deeper into depression. Well, maybe if he wasn't so cheerful he wouldn't have contracted syphilis in the first place.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Schubert had been struggling with syphilis since 1822–23, and suffered from weakness, headaches and dizziness. However, he seems to have led a relatively normal life until September 1828, when new symptoms such as effusions of blood appeared. At this stage he moved from the Vienna home of his friend Franz von Schober to his brother Ferdinand's house in the suburbs, following the advice of his doctor; unfortunately, this may have actually worsened his condition. However, up until the last weeks of his life in November 1828, he continued to compose an extraordinary amount of music, including such masterpieces as the three last sonatas,

Alfred Brendel, Andantino: