CONTENTS
Volume 94 Number 1141 EDITORIAL Phone 020 7738 5454 Fax 020 7733 2325 email gramophone@markallengroup.com EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Martin Cullingford DEPUTY EDITOR Sarah Kirkup / 020 7501 6365 REVIEWS EDITOR Hugo Shirley / 020 7501 6367 ONLINE CONTENT EDITOR James McCarthy / 020 7501 6366 SUB-EDITOR David Threasher / 020 7501 6370 SUB-EDITOR Marija �uric´ Speare ART DIRECTOR Dinah Lone / 020 7501 6689 PICTURE EDITOR Sunita Sharma-Gibson / 020 7501 6369 AUDIO EDITOR Andrew Everard EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Libby McPhee LIBRARIAN Richard Farr THANKS TO Hannah Nepil and Charlotte Gardner EDITOR-IN-CHIEF James Jolly
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The October issue of Gramophone is on sale from October 12; the November issue will be on sale from November 9 (both UK). Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of statements in this magazine but we cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions, or for matters arising from clerical or printers’ errors, or an advertiser not completing his contract. Regarding concert listings, all information is correct at the time of going to press. Letters to the editor requiring a personal reply should be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope. We have made every effort to secure permission to use copyright material. Where material has been used inadvertently or we have been unable to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue. UK subscription rate £64-£106. Printed in England by Southernprint. North American edition (ISSN 0017-310X): Gramophone, USPS 881080, is published monthly with an additional issue in September by MA Business and Leisure Limited, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB, United Kingdom. The US annual subscription price is $89. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named Air Business, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Gramophone, Worldnet Shipping Inc. (see above). Subscription records are maintained at MA Music Leisure & Travel Ltd, Unit A Buildings 1-5, Dinton Business Park, Catherine Ford Road, Dinton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 5HZ, UK. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent.
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EDITOR’S CHOICE
The 12 most highly recommended recordings of the month
7
FOR THE RECORD
The latest classical music news
8
RECORDING OF THE MONTH 34 A double album of Liszt studies from our new Artist of the Year, pianist Daniil Trifonov
ORCHESTRAL
36
A perfect introduction to Peter Maxwell Davies; outstanding Mendelssohn from Sir John Eliot Gardiner; a focus on recent Berlioz recordings; Alexandre Tharaud shines in Rachmaninov
CHAMBER
54
Rachel Podger’s Art of Fugue; Itzhak Perlman and Martha Argerich join up for duos; Brahms from the Belcea Quartet; fin-de-siècle France
INSTRUMENTAL
68
Mahan Esfahani records the Goldberg Variations; two takes on Beethoven’s Hammerklavier; DG issues a vintage Emil Gilels recital from 1964
VOCAL
80
More fine Bach from Masaaki Suzuki; a survey of early-20th-century English choral music discs; Edward Gardner offers an impressive Gurrelieder
REISSUES
David Threasher gets to grips with Decca’s monumental 200-CD Mozart box-set
90
OPERA
92
Mozart’s Zaide from Ian Page’s Classical Opera; an enjoyable DVD of Rameau’s Dardanus; Christina Pluhar explores the Orpheus legend
REPLAY
102
Conductor Georg Solti across the decades, plus a fine tribute to violinist Christian Ferras
BOOKS
104
An examination of the impact of El Sistema; advice to musicians from Schumann via Steven Isserlis
GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION 110 Richard Wigmore recommends the recordings of Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn to own
NEW RELEASES
REVIEWS INDEX
132
136
THE MODERN MOZART 10 225 years after the composer’s death, we discuss how our approach to his music is ever-evolving
REICH MEETS JÄRVI
16
As Steve Reich turns 80, he joins Kristjan Järvi in the studio to record a celebratory album for Sony
RACHEL PODGER
20
The violinist talks about her new recording of Bach’s The Art of Fugue, its wit, humanity and fun
EVENT STREAMING
24
Our guide to the exciting world of live streaming from concert halls and opera houses worldwide
THE MUSICIAN & THE SCORE 52 Conductor Semyon Bychkov discusses Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony
ICONS
66
Igor Markevitch, a composer who went on to be much better known as an inspirational conductor
CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS 78 Sally Beamish and her creative spirit is the subject of this month’s modern composer focus
MUSICAL CONNECTIONS 101 Andrew Achenbach and James Jolly take Vaughan Williams as a starting point for a musical journey
CLASSICS RECONSIDERED 106 Giulini’s 1971 recording of Verdi’s Don Carlo has always been hailed a classic – but is that right?
THE SPECIALIST’S GUIDE 108 Andrew Farach-Colton sings the praises of some much-underrated American string quartets
PERFORMANCES & EVENTS 116 The best live music on radio and online
HIGH FIDELITY
The latest developments in audio equipment
119
LETTERS & OBITUARIES 128 MY MUSIC 138 David Bintley, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Director, on the joy of working with composers
4 GRAMOPHONE OCTOBER 2016
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