Bach's Goldberg Variation, with Vikingur Olafsson

Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, are a manifestation of Bach's greatness as a composer. Along with works such as the Mass in B minor, the Goldbergs show Bach to be at the pinnacle of classical music composition. Lasting well over an hour, the work demands extreme virtuosity and keyboard dexterity, as well as the player's ability to hold the listener's attention for a long stretch of time.

Vikingur Olafsson has keyboard dexterity in spades. He also appears to have a real empathy with the keyboard music of the 18th century, and with the music of Bach. I have fourteen versions of the Goldbergs on my shelves, but Olafsson's is now my absolute favourite. His recording of the work lasts for 73 minutes; the recording by Beatrice Rana -- that I also greatly admire -- takes nearly 78 minutes. This is an indication that Olafsson takes the many fast, virtuosic variations at a very fast tempo indeed. One almost suspects recording technology trickery in places; surely eight fingers and two thumbs can't do all that at the same time? However, it's exhilarating to explore this work with Olafsson and his eight fingers and two thumbs. At times, he appears almost to be improvising rather than working to a set blueprint.

The DG recording is admirable, with an interesting essay by Olafsson on the work. Only black mark from me comes from DG's pretence that it is recording a pop artist, and plastering Olafsson's photo in every conceivable place. No picture of J.S.Bach, however.

Record(s) of the Year

This is the time of the year when I contemplate choosing my Record of the Year. A problem this year: there are just too many excellent candidates, and I do not want to have one of those competitions where everyone gets a prize, for something or other. So let me choose just three new recordings I have heard this year, and put them on the pedestal -- as equals.

First up is the Bennewitz String Quartet playing three highly-enjoyable Haydn quartets. Wonderful playing in the great tradition of Czech string playing, with a demonstration-class recorded sound and balance from Supraphon, including the first violin; all important in Haydn's quartets. It should be mandatory for all string quartet recordings to be made by the Supraphon team. The Bennewitz gets its place on the pedestal due to all-round excellence.

Second up is Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic in two of my favourite Shostakovich symphonies: numbers eight, and ten. Much-loved works, extremely well recorded and balanced by the Berlin Concert Hall team. Excellent playing, and conducted by someone who knows and loves the symphonies.

Third up is Marie Cantagrill, a completely unknown violinist (unknown to me) who plays the six Bach unaccompanied partitas and sonatas impeccably in interpretations that sound almost as if she is improvising the music. Ms Cantagrill also has a recording of the Brahms sonatas for violin and piano that are equally impressive; but I have to limit my places on the podium.

I am awaiting Bach's Goldberg Variations played by Vikingur Olafsson. But consideration of that will have to wait until 2024's selection.

More Mozart from Renaud Capuçon

Renaud Capuçon and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra have released an attractive set of Mozart's music for solo violin and orchestra, recorded in 2022. An elegant set of the young Mozart's five concertos. Solo violin and orchestra are integrated and reasonably well-balanced. Renaud Capuçon's slender, elegant sound is arguably right for this kind of music; young Mozart does not need a mega international soloist showing off in what is, basically, enhanced chamber music. On my equipment, I found Capuçon's violin often sounding somewhat thin in the upper reaches.

I enjoyed much of Capuçon's playing; I admired the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. I liked the well-balanced recording. An achievement in this somewhat over-familiar music. I used to play the solo part of the last three concertos, and I must have over 30 different recordings of each concerto on my shelves. No matter; if you want Mozart's complete music for violin and chamber orchestra, this set is a good addition, even going back seventy-odd years to Arthur Grumiaux and colleagues.

However, given the ferocious competition, these are just one of a large number of competing performances; my shelves hold 39 different recordings of the A major concerto K. 219 alone. For each individual concerto, I suspect I could delve into my collection and find performances more to my taste. Tempi are on the brisk side, and I often wish the musicians would relax a little and simply enjoy the music. The first movement of the D major concerto K. 218, for example, comes across as somewhat brusque, and the following slow movement could do with a more relaxed tempo. Sometimes one feels that "historical correctness" is getting in the way of the performances.

The many cadenzas are in good taste, but there are far too many of them for my taste. I know cadenzas are historically correct, but I prefer them to be short and confined to the first movement, as became traditional after the 18th century. Cadenzas in slow movements, such as the lovely slow movement of the G major concerto, find me scowling, however tasteful the interlude may be. There are appropriate times for the soloist to show off a little, but the end of a lovely slow movement is not the right moment (to my opinionated ears).

Also included in the set are two Mozart short works (that used to be favourites of Nathan Milstein): the Rondo in C Major K.373, and the Adagio in E major K.261. Well played and welcome additions. Young Wolfgang Amadeus certainly knew how to write attractive music.

Haydn, Bennewitz String Quartet, and Supraphon

Haydn's string quartets are not music to stir the soul. Nor do they tear at the emotions like much of the music of Mahler or Shostakovich. They are just music to listen to with enjoyment. I have been listening (with enjoyment) to the G major (Op 17 no.5), E flat major (Op 33 no.2) and C major (Op 54 no.2) string quartets in a new recording on Supraphon by the Bennewitz String Quartet, recorded during the past couple of years. I am an admirer of the string playing tradition of the Czechs, often heard at its finest in chamber music. The Bennewitz Quartet does not let the side down; this is warm, affectionate playing. For me: Haydn as he should be played, with no exaggerated dynamics such as one gets with quartets such as the Hagen Quartett.

When listening to recordings of chamber music, I often despair of my loudspeakers, where the bass part booms and the violins sound thin, scrawny, and distant. Not so here; the Supraphon recording and balance are demonstration class for string quartet recordings, and the sound reproduces beautifully on my Spendor speakers, avoiding the need for my wireless headphones. Supraphon could give lessons to the sound contractors of music conglomerates such as Universal, or Warner, where one gets the impression that the contractor records a rock group on Monday, a string trio on Tuesday, a folk singer with back-up on Wednesday, and a violin and piano duet on Thursday. Recording classical music demands a recording team that understands balance, and understands acoustic space, and classical music. Haydn's music is wonderful here. The Bennewitz String Quartet is wonderful here. And Supraphon completes the trio for a really successful CD. It will go in my "keep near at hand" rack.

Violin & Piano Classics

Many years ago, I compiled a collection of "A personal and subjective selection of great violin playing 1926-98". The collection comprised 46 short works for violin and piano ("salon or encore pieces"). Such works are now rarely found in concerts, and even broadcasts and recordings favour more "weighty" works for violin and piano. A shame, since there is much really memorable music in these short pieces.

It was so good to listen again to so many favourite recordings: Kreisler in Mendelssohn's "May Breeze" (1926). Dinicu playing his "Hora Staccato" (1928). Bustabo in Paganini's 5th capriccio (1935). Hassid in Sarasate's "Playera" (1940). Elman in Dvorak's "Slavonic Fantasy" (1947). Roby Lakatos in "Ochi Chornyje" (1998). Elman in Espéjo's "Airs Tziganes" (1948). Seidel and Korngold in Korngold's "Gartenszene" (1941). Eudice Shapiro in Ravel's "Kaddish" (1956). Ricci in "Recuerdos de l'Alhambra" (1978).Taschner in Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" (1944). Enescu in a Largo by Pugnani (1929). Seidel in Brahms' first Hungarian Dance (1938). Rabin in Scriabin's "Étude in Thirds" (1959). Menuhin in Rimsky-Korsakov's "Song of the Bride" (1930). And so on, for piece after piece. A veritable cornucopia of enjoyable music. Interesting, also, to note how individual most of the playing came over, with an almost immediate identification of the violinist concerned. Play the pieces above with even the best of modern violinists, one would need notes to identify who was playing what. In the old days, vibrato was individual. Tempi were individual. Rubato was individual. Bowing was individual. Violin teachers have ironed out all these idiosyncrasies so that all violinists now play beautifully and accurately in exactly the same manner.

Mozart, with Renaud Capuçon and Kit Armstrong

Many major composers such as Wagner, Bruckner, and Mahler did not bother much about chamber music. When I was growing up, Mozart was mainly about his 41 symphonies, his concertos, and his operas. I have now realised that much of his genius is to be found in his vast library of chamber music. I have been sampling nine of his many sonatas for violin and piano and am considerably impressed with the quality of the music in these works. One marvels at the sheer inventiveness of the composer; music positively dripped from his fingers, whatever he wrote. Hardly any trace of routine, or composing by numbers.

Renaud Capuçon is turning out to be the 21st century's equivalent of Arthur Grumiaux in the 20th. He has long been one of my favourite modern violinists, especially in the classical music of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. He does not disappoint in these nine Mozart sonatas; he also appears to have a knack of picking excellent pianist partners: David Fray in Bach, Frank Braley in Beethoven, and Kit Armstrong in Mozart. I had never come across the Chinese-American pianist Kit Armstrong before, but he impresses greatly as Capuçon's partner in these Mozart sonatas. The sonatas are properly titled "piano and violin", since the piano has the dominant role in all of them. Armstrong and Capuçon play the works in a grand,18th century classical manner, with excellent rhythms. For a change, the recording engineers in Berlin in 2022 understand the balance between piano and violin and mainly get it right, something that does not always happen when a violin is pitched against a piano with the latter's superior dynamic range.

The DG-label set is highly recommended for the music, the playing, and the recording. Not too often all things go right. In the current phase of my musical life, I incline strongly towards chamber music, and to the music of the 18th century. For much of my life, Mozart was usually regarded by me as a precursor to the "great" 19th century composers. Sometimes, old age brings a more realistic evaluation. The music of Mozart will outlast me -- and any 21st century composers -- for more than the next millennium.

Shostakovich Ninth and Tenth, with Kirill Petrenko

I have always loved the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. His music is 100% Russian, and could not come from anywhere else. Shostakovich, in his orchestral works, uses the full orchestra, from double basses, to piccolos. Much of the tenth symphony, to which I have just been listening, is loud; much is almost chamber music. I have given up trying to follow the music's structure, and just sit back and enjoy, and be entertained.

Today's traversal was with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Kirill Petrenko. A magnificent performance, with the orchestra sounding almost like real Russians, rather than Germans. The Berlin Digital Concert Hall recording is little short of miraculous; balancing the various parts of a large symphony orchestra where many individual instruments make solo contributions, is no joke. But the Germans have always been good at recording classical music, and its best sound engineers come from a long tradition. Listening through high-quality headphones is almost a must for enjoying the wide-ranging sound and extreme dynamics. Anyway: hats off all round. Along with the eighth symphony, the tenth is one of my favourites. Although in the current era most of my listening is to music of the 18th century, or chamber music and instrumental music; I always make an exception for Shostakovich. I have seven recordings of the tenth symphony, only two of which have gained my personal three stars: Vassily Petrenko with the Liverpool Philharmonic, and Kirill Petrenko (no relation) with the Berlin Philharmonic. I suspect Berlin trumps Liverpool with its superior recorded sound, though Liverpool is available on Naxos, whereas Berlin is hard to get hold of.

Written in 1945, Shostakovich's ninth symphony is in a popular mood; the music at times reminds me of Haydn, or Igor Stravinsky. Coming between the weighty and more complex eighth and tenth symphonies, it has a similar role to Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony between his fifth and seventh. In the recording with Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic, the Berlin woodwind really shines. Not my favourite Shostakovich symphony, but well played and well recorded, like the eighth and tenth from the same forces.

Marie Cantagrill and Fumiyo Goshima in Brahms

When it comes to recordings of violin and piano music, I am rarely satisfied. So it gives me great pleasure to welcome an excellent recording of Brahms three sonatas for violin and piano where the recorded balance between violin and piano is exemplary. Congratulations to the recording engineers (for a change). The violinist is Marie Cantagrill, and the pianist Fumiyo Goshima. No complaint about the pianist, and my admiration for Ms.Cantagrill is readily apparent. I listened over my Sennheiser wireless headphones and was blissfully happy. As usual, Ms. Cantagrill's violin makes a lovely sound, particularly in the lower registers. Her double stopping is exhibition quality, and I love the way she varies the dynamics, from ff to pp.

Op 78.1st movement (vivace ma non troppo) is taken at a more deliberate tempo than is usually heard. The 2nd movement (adagio) is a true adagio. The 3rd movement (allegro molto moderato) sounds just the right tempo, to me.

Op 100. Is this Ms. Cantagrill's least favourite of the three Brahms violin and piano sonatas? It certainly is my least favourite; the music never really settles down and has no real peaks or troughs. The performance here is excellent, of course, but some enthusiasm is missing in the playing, methinks. But I cannot think of a better recorded performance than here. Probably all my fault that I always find this sonata a little unsatisfying.

Op 108. Nice performance. The usual attributes: superb recorded balance, top-class playing, excellent dynamics, well-chosen tempi. The adagio is a true adagio, the presto agitato a true presto agitato. The adagio provides an excellent spot to sample the wonderful sound and playing of Ms. Cantagrill. In this sonata, as throughout all three, the duo playing is excellent, with both musicians listening to, and responding to, each other.

To sum up: a really satisfying performance of the three Brahms sonatas for violin and piano. The performances reinforce my doubts about always going to highly promoted and lauded international musicians on international labels. Ms.Cantagrill is only really available via YouTube or Spotify, I gather. All praise to those media for giving us access to musicians we would not normally know about.

Marie Cantagrill

Marie Cantagrill is an unusual artist. Born in 1979, she earlier won international prizes and studied in Paris and Brussels. She appears to eschew international travel, prestigious artist agencies, mainstream recording studios, and recording labels. She is based in the Ariège region of France, a mainly rural region in south-west France between Toulouse and the Pyrenees. The various recordings of her playing originate from the same region. "A local girl". But she is also a top-class violinist, with an impeccable technique and very remarkable musicianship. Not everyone wants to be a top international touring soloist; good for her. She plays on a violin made by Bernardus Calcanius, in 1748; hardly a name as well-known as Stradivari, Amati, Vuillaume, or Guarneri. But her violin makes a lovely sound. My guess is that her life is a lot happier and more satisfying than that of most super-stellar touring violinists.

A friend sent me recordings of her playing, made by a local company in south-west France. Recording dates unknown. I started listening with interest, and finished with great enthusiasm. I append to this entry a list of violinists on my shelves playing Bach's six unaccompanied sonatas and partitas for solo violin. Suffice it to say that, for me, no one is better than Marie Cantagrill in this music. There is an internal pattern and logic to much of Bach's music that you can only really appreciate when you play it. No amount of studying the score, or consulting musicologists, will tell you definitely how to phrase it, at what tempo, and how it should sound. Ms Cantagrill appears not to be obsessed with the score in order to try to divine Bach's wishes; nor does she appear to have consulted eminent musicologists in order to learn how the works may have been played in Bach's time. She simply puts her violin under her chin and plays the music as she feels it. Slower movements are sometimes very slow; fast movements are sometimes very fast. The dance movements really dance, and the Chaconne of the second partita, taken at a welcome deliberate speed, reveals Ms Cantagrill's incredible double-stopping. Throughout, we wonder at her incredible playing in pianissimo passages. Holding listeners' interest with a solo violin requires a wide repertoire of dynamics, and different bowings. We get all of that with Ms Cantagrill.

There are very, very few minor fluffs in the playing; much as you would get in a live performance of challenging music lasting nearly two hours. My guess is that the local recording studio did not do twelve takes of the same track, as many studios would have done. No wonder Ms. Cantagrill's playing sounds so spontaneous and almost improvised at times. The files came to me from a friend; the recordings are out there somewhere on the web, but may be difficult to find easily. No matter: finding them is a real joy (and an eye-opener as to the playing of "non-celebrities"). As a dessert, I have just received from the same source Ms Cantagrill's recordings of the three sonatas for violin and piano by Brahms. More on that in a future blog entry.

Comparison - the Six Works

Barati, Kristof. 2009

Cantagrill, Marie. [2020]

Enescu, George, 1948

Faust, Isabelle. 2011

Feng, Ning. 2016

Fulkerson, Gregory. 2007

Grumiaux, Arthur, 1960

Hadelich, Augustin. 2020

Heifetz, Jascha, 1952

Ibragimova, Alina. 2008

Kavakos, Leonidas 2020

Milstein, Nathan, 1973

Schayegh, Leila 2020

Shumsky, Oscar. 1978

St. John, Lara, 2007

Suwanai, Akiko. 2021

Suk, Josef. 1970

Tetzlaff, Christian. 1993

Weithaas, Antje. 2012-17

Fernando Palatin

"Auch kleine Dinge können uns entzücken.

Auch kleine Dinge können teuer sein."

Italienisches Liederbuch (Hugo Wolf)

For my coming birthday, a kind friend sent me a CD of violin and piano pieces by Fernando Palatin. Palatin -- of whom I had never heard in my entire life -- was born in Seville in 1852, and died in 1927. He was a touring virtuoso whose music is of the same genre as that of his compatriot, Pablo de Sarasate, and of Fritz Kreisler. Of the 14 pieces for violin & piano, most are not overtly "Spanish", nor overtly virtuosic, and will appeal to lovers of the short violin pieces by Kreisler and Sarasate, though the style is further west than Kreisler's Austro-German accent. The CD was recorded in 2020 by Rafael Munoz-Torrero (violin) and Julio Moguer (piano). The violinist, like Palatin, is from Seville. I had never heard of Munoz-Torrero either, but he plays elegantly and has an enchanting manner with the music. Franco-Spanish in playing style, rather than German or Russian.

Since everyone concerned (apart from Georges Bizet) is from Seville, we get a Carmen Fantasia. Palatin's is at least as good as Sarasate's, and infinitely better than that of showy Franz Waxman in Hollywood. Those with the facility, may want to use "shuffle play" to avoid always playing the fourteen pieces in the same order. I love especially the first piece: Adios al Alcázar. The piano parts are intelligent and interesting, and the recording well-balanced. This is a CD to listen to, sit back, and enjoy. Why have we never met composer nor violinist before?

Shostakovich's 8th Symphony

Dimitri Dimitriyevich Shostakovich was born in 1906, and died in 1975. After his death, I say goodbye to music composed after him, crowning around 300 years of music that outlives all fashions. I can think of nothing composed after Shostakovich that appears again and again on concert or recital programmes, though there is an abundance of "new music" that appears once or twice, then vanishes. I have just been listening to Shostakovich's 8th Symphony, a work with many very noisy episodes and full of the composer's constant paranoia. It is important to get the volume right when listening to a recording; the works ends pianissimo. If the volume is set too low, you won't hear it. If the volume is set higher, the very loud passages will blow you out of your chair.

Shostakovich always speaks to me, unlike Harrison Birtwistle and a host of others.

I listened to the work this morning in a Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall recording, with the BPO conducted by Kirill Petrenko. Wonderfully played, and with a demonstration-class recording (the 8th symphony needs both). I don't know much about Kirill Petrenko who, unlike many others of his ilk, appears to keep a low profile and just gets on conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, with occasional guest appearances elsewhere. But he and the orchestra take to Shostakovich like ducks to water; fortunately, since I have the 9th and 10th symphonies from the same source lined up on the listening ramp, completing my cannon of the three Shostakovich symphonies I most enjoy.

Handel Duets with Rosemary Joshua and Sarah Connolly

Serendipity saw me pluck an old (2009) Handel recording from my shelves, with Rosemary Joshua (soprano) and Sarah Connolly (mezzo) regaling me with twelve Handel duets (Harry Bicket and The English Concert). 62 minutes of delightful music.

Handel's music always puts me in a good mood. Remarkably, from his very early 20s in Italy until his death in England at the ripe old age (for that time) of 74, there is little difference in the quality of the music. Handel's music is "pure", unaffected by personal moods or circumstances; personal ingredients were to come later, starting with Mozart. And what an incredible gift for melodies!

Having the duets sung by a soprano and mezzo is much to my taste, and worth 20 counter-tenors and castrati. Sometimes one strikes lucky with serendipitous selections although, for me, Georg Frideric Händel never fails. An interesting and much-travelled man who spoke German, English, French and Italian, he was someone I would have loved to have met in his Brook Street house in London. After 250 years, his music lives on giving immense pleasure. All twelve duets taken from his operas and oratorios on this CD are 24 carats.

Kerson Leong in Britten and Bruch

Like Beethoven, Brahms, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Elgar --and many others -- Benjamin Britten wrote only one violin concerto, a youthful work dating from the years 1938-9. The concerto was revised subsequently but never really took off until the past twenty years or so when it has been "discovered" by a new generation of violinists and listeners. It is a mournful work, written in the shadow of the Spanish Civil War. For many violinists of that generation, Heifetz's advocacy of the concerto by William Walton was more persuasive. Britten's work's first recording was not until 1948 (Theo Olof, playing the original version of the work; interestingly, Olof's compatriot, Simone Lamsma, also played the original version in 2018 -- off-air recording).

The concerto is highly virtuosic. I currently have eighteen recordings, all but a handful dating from the past twenty years or so. The latest comes on a CD (recorded 2021) with Kerson Leong as the soloist (with the Philharmonia conducted by Patrick Hahn). I had never heard, or heard of, Leong before, but am highly impressed by his playing of the Britten. As well as being virtuosic, the concerto demands a wide variety of moods and dynamics from the soloist. Leong copes admirably on all fronts. The recording captures the full range of the orchestra and the violinist, though perhaps the violin is recorded just a little too forward. No matter; an excellent performance and recording of a work that, at last, appears to be taking its place within the standard repertoire (viz also the first Shostakovich violin concerto with which Britten's has a lot in common). A shame Britten wrote only one violin concerto (his Opus 15). He is not a composer to whom I often relate, but his violin concerto is an exception.

I thought I knew every piece of music ever written for the violin, but Max Bruch's In Memoriam Op 65 for violin and orchestra is an exception: never heard of it before. It now features on Leong's CD and thus enters my repertoire of known works. An adagio that falls between two stools: too short to be a concert item (cf. Saint-Saën's Havanaise). Too long at just under 15 minutes to be an encore. It is technically undemanding, and I suspect that some years ago I could have played it with ease. Leong has no competition and I can make no comparisons, but he appears to play the piece admirably. Like much of Max Bruch's enormous output, the music is somewhat bland; workman-like, rather than inspired.

Max Bruch's main claim to fame has always been his first violin concerto, in G minor opus 26. This is also on Leong's Alpha CD. One of those works -- like Beethoven's 5th symphony -- that I always feel I have by now heard once too often. Leong gives a warm, romantic performance of the concerto; his violin makes a lovely sound (a sound and style that made me think of the violinist Nai-Yuan Hu) and I greatly enjoyed his playing. Yet another modern violinist to be reckoned with. A slight regret that he did not choose a less hackneyed concerto to add to the Britten; the Glazunov concerto, or those by Goldmark, or Julius Conus?

Josef Hassid

A sensitive boy, an only child, loses his mother when he is ten years old. His domineering father uproots him from his native Poland and brings him to England in 1938. He makes recordings of eight pieces of music, lasting a total of 30 minutes, at the EMI studios in 1940. He breaks down under all the pressure, refuses to play the violin in his late teens, then dies in his 20s after a failed brain operation. In the world of the early 1940s in Europe, yet another tragedy. But the boy's name was Josef Hassid, and the eight pieces of music he recorded have lived on to this day.

Hassid was a superb, natural technician -- like so many. But, listening to his playing, what makes him so special was his empathy for the music he played. He played the music from the inside, so to speak, with each note speaking personally to him. His playing of Sarasate's Playera, and of Joseph Achron's Hebrew Melody almost bring shivers down the spine, as if listening to playing from beyond the grave.

I have cherished the Hassid recordings for many decades. They have been reissued and often remastered, best up to now by the old EMI Testament label. The latest reincarnation is from a company called Parnassus, and the remasterings are the best yet. The recordings may date from 1940, but the playing lives on vividly. Of all the many losses of truly great musicians; the loss of Josef Hassid is probably one of the most tragic.

Cecilia Zillliacus: Camille Saint-Saëns

Camille Saint-Saëns. Born in Paris in 1835. Died in 1921. 86 is not a bad age for a composer. I've always had a soft spot for his music, particularly his chamber music, and his violin concertos. A recent CD features the Swedish violinist Cecilia Zilliacus with, varying, Christian Ihle Hadland (piano) and Stephen Fitzpatrick (harp). I have rarely encountered the playing of Zilliacus in the past, but I really admired her in these Saint-Saëns works. Her husky tone suits the music admirably, and she plays with a wide variety of bowings and dynamics. The first sonata is well known (it was a favourite of Jascha Heifetz). The second sonata is rarely played, but it makes for relaxed and enjoyable listening, so typical of the music of Saint-Saëns who was completely devoid of any Mahler-like Angst and anguish. The Fantaisie Op 124, and the Berceuse Op 38, both with harp accompaniment, make me wonder why there is so very little music for violin and harp. The gentle sound of the harp complements a violin so much better than the more masculine and domineering sound of a piano.

I greatly enjoyed this Saint-Saëns CD. It makes for highly comfortable listening; a bit like a French Haydn, with no stress. Given his long life, Saint-Saëns wrote a very great deal of music. A greater part of it is now rarely played. Our loss. I enjoyed the sound and playing of Cecilia Zilliacus; I know nothing about her, except I have an old CD of her playing Bartok and Dohnanyi. To my surprise, I already have a recording of the "unknown" Fantaisie for violin and harp -- played by Arnold Eidus and E.Vito in 1960. The BIS recording is excellent (BIS is a good company) and well-balanced. I suspect BIS has engineers who know about classical recording, unlike many companies who just seem to use pick-up free-lance recording specialists who may record a pop group on Monday, a jazz band on Tuesday, and a string quartet on Wednesday.

Bach Cantatas, and Beethoven Quartets

Recently I embarked on a mini-marathon of listening to nine or ten Bach cantatas, conducted by a mixture of Philippe Herreweghe and Maasaki Suzuki. Herreweghe uses mainly Flemish / Dutch forces; Suzuki uses mainly Japanese instrumentalists and choir, but usually European vocal soloists. One forgets that Bach often had to compose on autopilot, especially when his job description in Leipzig obliged him for a time to compose, rehearse and perform a new cantata every week. Even Bach couldn't do that for years on end without occasionally resorting to what might be called "composing by numbers". My attention flagged in some of the cantatas, and a few movements made me frustrated that the "skip to next track" button on my remote control does not work.

From Bach cantatas I switched my listening to Beethoven's late string quartets. These works -- starting with Op.127 in E flat major -- show what a great composer can do when roaming free and relieved of having to establish a reputation, please a patron, or earn much-needed money. I have always loved the late Beethoven quartets, including Op.130 in B flat major with its original grotesque Grosse Fuga finale. That original finale is Beethoven gone wild, just as he did, much less to my taste, in the equally grotesque choral finale to his ninth symphony. For me, the late Beethoven string quartets stand on a musical pinnacle with masterpieces such as Bach's Mass in B minor, and the Saint Matthew Passion.

I discussed -- and praised -- the performances of the Beethoven quartets by the Quatuor Mosaïques a few years ago, so I won't repeat my then-review except to confirm that I still enjoy these recordings very much, despite a myriad of rivals. As then, I greatly appreciate that the Mosaïques reinstate the original Grosse Fuga finale of Op.130 instead of the routine get-you-home-safely finale Beethoven was persuaded to substitute by the Schuppanzigh Quartet, and his friends. Beethoven's first thoughts were best, with the sublime Cavatina followed by the fugue. The cellist, Christophe Coin, underpins all the performances in an exemplary fashion.

The C sharp minor quartet Op 131 is where I started my Beethoven late quartets odyssey many, many decades ago when I bought a second-hand LP of Op 131 played by the Busch Quartet. Op 131 sees Beethoven breaking away from the classical quartet form of Haydn and Mozart and writing what, in some respects, is an elaborate fantasia nearly 40 minutes long. I have often felt this is the kind of music Beethoven would have preferred to write had he not had to worry about publishers, patrons, and sponsors.

Beethoven was only 57 years old when he died. As with Mozart, as with Schubert: what would he have written given another 15 years or so of life? I am not an uncritical fan of Ludwig van Beethoven; I have had his one opera "Fidelio" on my shelves for at least 20 years, but have yet to hear it. Much of his music, however, is truly "great", and this includes the late string quartets.

Sandrine Piau and David Kadouch

In the world of classical music, songs are an amalgam of music and poetry. In listening to songs, language is a limiting factor; if the words mean nothing to you, half the magic is gone. For that reason, serious collections of songs appear to be limited to Germany, France, and Russia (though why the Italians or Spaniards do not have serious song collections beats me). My knowledge of the French and German languages is reasonable. I don't speak Russian, so my song listening centres on French and German. I was at ease with a new CD from Sandrine Piau, accompanied by David Kadouch. The 19 songs are partly in German (Liszt, Wolf, Schubert, Clara Schumann) and partly in French (Duparc, Lili Boulanger, Debussy -- and the cosmopolitan Liszt again).

Piau sings like an angel, and her diction is good -- so necessary in these songs. I also liked Kadouch as her partner (he plays two solos during the CD). Recitals mixing languages are strangely rare, but I greatly welcomed this one. Recommended.

A round-up of little-known artists: Abel, Chen, Holthe, Ebène Quartet

I recently received a welcome deluge of CDs by artists of whom I had never heard. Most welcome: too often "famous" artists are the product of wealthy sponsors or backers, be the backers families, individuals, governments, or support groups. It has always been thus, and I am conscious there must have been thousands of really first-class artists out there without backers or sponsors. So welcome to the unknowns who also never had the leg-up given in the past by the (few) international recording and distribution companies.

First up on my player were David Abel and Julie Steinberg. Beethoven's last sonata for violin and piano, Opus 96. The sound is 30% violin and 70% piano. Someone should have told the engineers that the sound of the violin and piano should be balanced. When the piano plays softly, we hear everything clearly; when the violin plays softly, we have to strain our ears to try to make out whether Abel is playing, or not. Abel's violin (when you can hear it) makes a smooth, cooing sound with little evidence of bow changes; a kind of permanent son filé. A sound not to my taste in Beethoven. Then on to George Enescu's third sonata for violin and piano, heavily inflected with Romanian folk music with its strong influences from gypsy music (from North India) and Turkish-North African idioms. Here the balance engineer knew his job a little better and we are in an improved sound world. Abel's sound is more appropriate to Enescu's music here than it was to Beethoven's world.

Onwards with Abel and Steinberg, this time on a CD with Brahms' Op 78 sonata for violin and piano. The bad balance engineer is back, though maybe someone told Abel that, when playing the German classics, always to use a mute, and to play with a soft, cooing sound. Whatever: It didn't sound like Brahms to my ears, and I did not enjoy it. Even after the recent purges of my collection of recorded music, I still have 46 recordings of this sonata. And Abel and Steinberg are certainly not among my favourites. It just ain't Johannes Brahms as we know and love him. I've always had a soft spot for Debussy's one and only sonata for violin and piano, and I enjoyed the duo's playing here more than in Brahms or Beethoven. But I wish Abel would leave his mute at home, and give his bowing arm a little more work to do rather than playing with a constant all-so-smooth sound. This second CD ends with a short selection of Romanian Folk Dances (as arranged initially by Bartok). Abel sounds like a well-scrubbed and freshly manicured Californian gypsy, rather than a folk violinist such as the great Grigoras Dinicu.

The Americans redeem themselves with a 2019 Queen Elisabeth prize winner, Stella Chen, playing with Henry Kramer. An all-Schubert programme, including the lovely D 934 Fantasia, the B minor Rondo D 895, and a couple of short pieces. Chen obviously loves Schubert's music; and it shows in her playing. And no problem with the balance between piano and violin, here. Chen knows how to vary her bow strokes, and to shade her dynamics. First-class.

Then off to Norway, with Kolbjørn Holthe and Tor Aspen Aspaas. On offer is Richard Strauss's early sonata for violin and piano, plus another recording of the Enescu third sonata. The two Norwegians make an excellent duo, and -- for a change -- the balance between the recorded sound of the two instruments is of demonstration class. It is difficult to record a violin playing pianissimo when competing against the sound of a piano; this is particularly true in the Enescu sonata, with many passages in the second movement where the violin plays pianissimo in harmonics high up above the stave. All too often one has to hear these passages from memory (as with the Abel recording above). But not in this recording. And the dramatic ending of the Enescu really makes a major impact with this impressive recorded sound.

Finally, a group that was not unknown to me, but has been overlooked. I have a 2008 recording of the Ebène Quartet playing the string quartets of Debussy, Fauré, and Ravel; hardly the greatest collection of string quartets. But I was given a recent recording by the Ebène, with Antoine Tamestit playing two of Mozart's string quintets (K 515 and K 516). Really excellent performances that bring out the best in all five instruments. This all-French group rivals the old Grumiaux set of the string quintets. The Mozart string quintets (two violins, two violas, one cello) have to be up there with some of the greatest music ever written. I was so impressed with the playing and recording here that I ordered a CD of the Ebène playing two Beethoven quartets.

Ning Feng and Zhang Zuo play Brahms

I have often had doubts about violinists of the Russian school playing Brahms. Too often, Johannes Brahms is made to sound a bit like Tchaikovsky, or Dvorak. So I was curious when a friend sent me a new CD of the three Brahms sonatas for violin and piano played by two Chinese musicians: Ning Feng, and Zhang Zuo. If I have doubts about Russian Brahms, how about Chinese Brahms? Well, listening to the CD, I am won over and full of admiration. I know Ning Feng especially as a virtuoso violinist playing Paganini and Ernst. In Brahms, he plays with sensitivity and a true sense of the music, not laying the paint on too thickly as often happens with Brahms players. He has a wonderful sense of light and shade, of varied dynamics all allied, of course, to a perfect technique. Tempi flow well, and the music does not bog down as can happen with Brahms' thick textures. Feng's Stradivarius violin sounds wonderful, and his passages in double stops are particularly memorable; almost Fritz Kreisler standard.

I was worried that Zhang Zuo, the pianist, might turn out to be a Chinese equivalent of Emanuel Bay, Heifetz's all too subservient accompanist in duo sonatas. Zuo is not as impressive as Ning Feng, but she does not rock the boat and joins in a convincing partnership. She does not have the personality or authority of Julius Katchen (with Josef Suk) or Edwin Fischer (with Gioconda de Vito), or Yuja Wang (with Kavakos): but who does? Zuo does, however, show her fangs in the scherzo from the F.A.E sonata to which Brahms contributed; here the piano has a more dominant role. Listening to these three Brahms violin and piano sonatas, the musical interest is 70% violin and 30% piano. Which may be about right, though it would not work in the violin and piano sonatas of Mozart, or César Franck, amongst others.

It is difficult to talk of a "golden age" of violin playing, since only a minute percentage of top violinists were ever recorded in previous ages. All I know is that, at the present time, we are spoilt for choice with top violinists from every quarter of the globe. For me, Ning Feng is one of many top violinists of the present age. I recently greatly admired his playing of the Bach unaccompanied sonatas and partitas. After nearly 70 years of listening to, and playing, the three Brahms sonatas, they are almost too familiar. It's a long time since I enjoyed them as much as this time round, thanks to Ning Feng, Zhang Zuo -- and Channel, the CD publisher.

Leonid Borisovich Kogan. 1924-82

If three major musicians are going to play together in chamber music, they need to have played together often for pleasure, and not just meet up in a recording studio, or at an international festival. The twentieth century saw two major trios: Cortot, Thibaud and Casals, and Gilels, Kogan and Rostropovich. All friends, until politics tore them apart.

I have just been listening to Tchaikovsky's Trio for piano, violin and cello Opus 50. One of my evergreen favourite works. Inevitably, the recording I listened to (superbly re-furbished by the French company Diapason) was that recorded in Moscow in 1952 by Kogan, Gilels and Rostropovich; an all-time classic, and as Russian as caviar, icy winds, and vodka. One of the few works I can only ever listen to with the same recording: no competitors after 71 years.

Leonid Kogan was, for me, the primary Russian violinist of the twentieth century. Unlike Kreisler or Heifetz, he also excelled in chamber music (the French company Doremi issued a 5-CD box of Kogan, Gilels and Rostropovich in various piano trios by Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Shostakovich, Schumann, Borodin, Saint-Saëns, et al). His many recordings are classics, with the violin concertos of Paganini, Khachaturian, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms still supreme. Being now well outside the international copyright convention of 50 years, his recordings are reissued and reissued by a multitude of companies with wildly differing success results. Transfers range from unacceptable to not too bad at all. In the West, Oistrakh was preferred because many sniffed at Kogan's politics (Shostakovich always called him "Comrade Kogan"). However decades after his death, all that is left are recordings of his violin playing. One of my all-time favourite violinists and musicians.

Finghin Collins and Trio in Mozart

There are a few great classics of recorded music: Kreisler playing Kreisler, the Busch Quartet playing the Beethoven string quartets, Maria Callas singing Tosca, Otto Klemperer conducting Beethoven's Eroica symphony, Clara Haskil playing Mozart .... and several others. Then there are the top "brand names" who became top partly from talent, partly from adroit PR and slick marketing and sales promotion. Much like the choice of your breakfast cereal or toothpaste: major brand name, or little-known store name at half the price. After around 70 years of buying music recordings, I had never heard the name of the Irish pianist Finghin Collins. And here he was playing with an assembled trio of violin, viola and cello in two Mozart piano quartets (K478 and K493). Apparently Collins won 1st prize at the 1999 Clara Haskil contest, and I can quite believe it. His playing in Mozart has the elegant simplicity that Haskil brought to this music. In music such as this, one can often forget big brand names and go for real quality. Nicely recorded in an Irish church, to boot. Sometimes musicians of whom you have never heard, can turn out performances that are really top class. Such is the case here.

Schubert's Die Winterreise with Hans Hotter and Michael Raucheisen

I grew up in the 1950s with Schubert's Die Winterreise, sung at the time by Hans Hotter with Gerald Moore at the piano; three sides of 12 inch LPs. Today, on a snowy morning, I listened again to the work, this time sung by Hans Hotter in 1943, with Michael Raucheisen as the pianist. An impressive performance that, for me, brought out all the angst in Schubert's 24 songs, with no little thanks to Raucheisen's piano playing. What an impressive work this is! The constant harmonic changes show what Schubert might have written had he lived beyond the age of 31. A classic for all time.

Capuçon and Argerich at Aix-en-Provence

Live recordings ain't what they used to be. In the old days, you had coughs, shuffling, the occasional bang as a trumpet was dropped, dubious balance. I have just been listening to Renaud Capuçon and Martha Argerich recorded live in Aix-en-Provence on 23rd April 2022 and, apart from applause at the end of the CD, you would never guess the recording was live. Well done the engineers (and the audience). All well-balanced, to boot (balancing a piano and a solo violin is not plain sailing). The recording illustrates one of the advantages of live, versus studio.

Capuçon has always been one of my preferred modern violinists (which is why I broke my rule and added this new CD to my collection). I have not been a fan of Argerich; too tigerish for me (can you imagine her pleasing in music by Mozart or Debussy?) This Aix-en-Provence CD assembles Schumann's first violin and piano sonata, with Beethoven's Kreutzer sonata, and César Franck's sonata; all beefy 19th century works that suit Argerich's piano playing. I greatly enjoyed Capuçon's playing, and the duo balance with Argerich, though I would have preferred a less flamboyant pianist. Not a CD I really needed, having innumerable recordings of the Schumann, Kreutzer and Franck on my shelves; and the Kreutzer is not my favourite violin & piano sonata, since I rarely enjoy Beethoven in macho mode. Probably not a CD I should have bought, though I do enjoy Capuçon's violin playing here, so I'll keep the recording.