Adolf Busch and Schubert

By any standard of measurement, Schubert's G major string quartet D.887 is one of the great works of Western music (and also, in my view, one of the rare classical works where all four movements are equally desirable). The quartet's latest re-incarnation is on a molto, molto cheapo Regis 3-CD set that also includes the little D 112 quartet, the 'Death and the Maiden', the D 934 Fantasia, and the E flat piano trio. All played by Adolf Busch, with various colleagues.

What is it that sets these performances of 80 years ago on such an unrivalled plain? Listening to the Busch Quartet in the G major work, I noticed how my sole attention was focused on the music, not on the performance. I don't know whether the Quartet played beautifully; I don't know whether it underlined key moments; I don't know whether Adolf Busch had a beautiful old violin. All I know is that I was drawn into Schubert's music for 40 wonderful minutes, or so.

Interesting, in retrospect, that the Busch players never recorded the B flat major piano trio; probably it was felt that the 1926 Cortot-Thibaud-Casals recording was unassailable; and this was probably right. Great music making from those far-off days (the G major quartet was recorded in 1938) lives on and on and, at its greatest – as in this recording – it has never been beaten.

Jascha Heifetz

The latest Naxos Heifetz re-issue (Mark Obert-Thorn transfers) sees Jascha Heifetz playing 28 short pieces, recorded between 1946 and 1956. Nothing to say; with Heifetz in this kind of music you just sit back and marvel at the range of sound possible from one small violin. It's also good that, 60 years on and thanks to the 21st century technology, we can listen to this music again without having to make allowances for the age of the sound.

They don't play like this anymore, alas. Can you imagine listening to 28 short pieces played by Maxim Vengerov?

Shostakovich's Violin & PIano Sonata

Shostakovich's late sonata for violin & piano is a strange but magnificent work, one that reveals its deepest secrets only over time, and in a first-class performance. I first began to warm to the work on hearing it played by Leila Josefowicz and John Novacek, but a new recording by Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov has really made me consider this one of the great violin & piano sonatas, albeit one that will probably never be as popular as works such as the Franck or Ravel sonatas.

Melnikov really impresses, and he is in his Russian element in this music. Isabelle Faust is one of a long line of “classical” violinists from Central Europe that goes back at least to Schneiderhan, Suk and Kulenkampff and today boasts violinists such as Faust, Tetzlaff and Zehetmair – violinists who are at the opposite pole from their many media or commercialised colleagues. Neither Isabelle Faust nor Alexander Melnikov belongs to the “entertainment industry”. They are simply first-rate musicians. And their performance here of Shostakovich's opus 134 sonata goes right to the heart of this complex work.

Jascha Horenstein

I have a deep respect for Jascha Horenstein. A wandering figure, he never worked with any major recording company, and most of his available studio recordings come from Vox in the 1950s, or Reader's Digest in the 1960s. Horenstein went from Russia to Austria to Germany to the USA, to South America, back to Vienna, then England during the 1950s and 60s. Some of his better (sound-wise) recordings come from the archives of the BBC, but there must be other treasures lurking in the radio archives of Europe.

The Horenstein approach to music making I would characterise as: “right”. He had a special gift for taking minor orchestras and making them sound special. I have just been listening to his BBC recording (molto coughing from the restive audience) of Bruckner's fifth symphony, and it is “right”. I also have a special place for his recordings of Bruckner's 9th symphony, and also of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (BBC, again and, in my view, one of the best recorded performances ever of this work). Another special place for his 1959 performance in the Albert Hall in London of Mahler's eighth symphony; special because I was there in the audience, applauding away, and my father was on the platform with the London Symphony Orchestra. I don't much care for the work, but it was a special occasion, captured again by the valiant BBC.

And recently I listened to Earl Wild playing Rachmaninov's second piano concerto. The piano playing was fine, but it was the orchestral music that really caught my attention: the Royal Philharmonic was conducted by – Jascha Horenstein. Not often a conductor upstages a soloist in a Rachmaninov piano concerto!

A tragedy for us he wasn't captured in more recordings, with good sound. However the Horenstein recordings that are still available are almost all major examples of the art of a great conductor.

Beecham in Mozart's Requiem

One advantage of living in the 21st century is that transfers of recordings of previous eras just become better and better. I have just listened with admiration to Andrew Rose's transfers (Pristine) of Thomas Beecham in 1954 with Mozart's Requiem, and in 1958 with Schubert's fifth symphony. Even with perfect LP pressings and the best possible turntable, I doubt whether these recordings over half a century old have ever sounded better.

I enjoyed the Schubert. I wish I could enjoy the Mozart, but I suspect the truth is that I just do not like choral music very much (neither do I enjoy organ music). This is especially true when the music is sung by the mammoth choirs that were so in vogue during the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the twentieth. Which is not to say I advocate the substitution of a minimalist vocal quartet as favoured by many modern extremists. I admire Otto Klemperer's slimmed-down choirs (around 60 voices) that he favoured in Bach. Beecham's BBC Chorus in the current Requiem reminds me somewhat of dancing elephants.

The Lieder of Franz Liszt

Some weeks ago I ordered a CD of Liszt Lieder, sung by Diana Damrau accompanied by Helmut Deutsch. The disc lay beside my CD player for some time – too many other things to hear and somehow Liszt was always put back. A shame, it transpires. The songs are lovely. Diana Damrau is one of my favourite singers; intelligent, and with a beautiful voice and diction. And Liszt's piano “accompaniment”, as one might suspect, is quite as interesting as the songs. Nineteen highly enjoyable Lieder, a little to my surprise (I have always been ambivalent about Liszt's music). The CD goes in the "keep by the player" rack.

Spaghetti al ragù

The world's greatest “Spaghetti Bolognese” (as it is termed outside Italy) is found nella casa mia, in Malmesbury. Quite superb. A secret is to make a good quantity – enough for 4-6 generous helpings (that way all the ingredients blend together better). Use only first quality mixed steak. Use a good quantity of fresh tomatoes (puréed beforehand to form the basic sauce). Then olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, lots of pepper, salt, lots of herbs, especially fresh basil. Cook at least twice, leaving for 24 hours between heatings to allow the ingredients to marinate. The best.

Leila Josefowicz

11th January 2006, Birmingham (of all places). Leila Josefowicz played the first Shostakovich violin concerto with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo. The event was captured and the CD issued coupled with Josefowicz (this time with John Novacek) playing Shostakovich's violin & piano sonata. By any estimation, a Great Recording of the Century (which means, being issued by the American Warner group, it is probably now deleted). I have 42 versions of my favourite violin concerto (including several by Oistrakh, Kogan and Repin ... and even one other by Josefowicz). But this, to my mind, will always remain the greatest.

Why did not Josefowicz go on to make other truly great recordings? No answer. But at least we have here the two Shostakovich works in hors concours performances.

Telemann, and Nuria Rial

In some ways, the first half of the twentieth century was a golden age for recorded music. Great singers, pianists, string players and conductors bestrode the turntable. However, in other ways, today is a new golden age; we may not have Heifetz, Schnabel or Furtwängler, but we do have access to thousands of hours of recorded music that almost never existed in previous decades. Where, for example, would someone interested in exploring the 50 or so operas by Georg Telemann have started in 1935? Telemann wrote some 3500 works, most of them never available in recorded form (or featuring in concerts).

A new CD by the enchanting Catalan soprano Nuria Rial introduces us to arias from Telemann's operas – greatly admired by contempories including Handel and J.S. Bach. One of those CDs that is unalloyed pleasure from start to finish with the music, the singer, the conductor / violinist (Julia Schröder) and the band (Kammerorchester Basel) all creating a happy hour of music. Even the un-Germanic “Rrrs” of Ms Rial bring a smile to the face. A CD to keep near the record player. And thank goodness for the second Golden Age; you would never have found someone such as Nuria Rial singing Telemann operatic arias back in 1935. Come to that, neither would you have found the indispensable Harmonia Mundi label.

Czech Sonatas

An enjoyable evening having dug out a CD sent to me by Carlos many moons ago. Violin and piano sonatas by Vitezslav Novak, Oskar Nedbal and Jozef Foerster; not names you see on many recital programmes nowadays. Expert performers were Josef Suk and Jan Panenka. The Novak sonata is a bit heavy – beetroot, bison and dumplings – but the other two are well worth hearing from time to time in place of the inevitable Beethoven Kreutzer or Ravel Sonata. I frequently deride myself for having so many CDs I almost never listen to; but sometimes it does pay off. And, even though a bit of a late convert to the Josef Suk fan club, I now find he is a violinist to whom I really enjoy listening.

Handel: Magdalena Kozena, Lucy Crowe

Handel had an incredible gift for melody, and a CD by Magdalena Kozena might well be entitled "Handel's Golden Hits". The music is remarkable and lovable; Kozena is one of my favourite singers, since she is able to "live" each song and communicate her identification with the feelings being expressed. Almost all the music here suits her mezzo-soprano voice perfectly; and Andrea Marcon and his Venice band make a thoroughly satisfactory contribution and it is glory all round -- especially to Georg Frederic.

I then re-sampled Lucy Crowe in her Handel CD. She certainly has a lovely voice but, as many violinists could well learn, a constant stream of golden beauty can pall; unlike Ms Crowe, Magdalena Kozena isn't afraid of breaking the flow and using a different voice to emphasise more violent emotions. A big disadvantage of the Crowe disc, however, is that she is balanced forward and Harry Bicket and the English Concert relegated to the background, not helped by somewhat anaemic playing from the band. A bit more zest and energy all round would not have come amiss, and most speeds in the slower music could have gone up a couple of notches.

Grumiaux and Suk

Started another weed-out of unwanted, or duplicated, recordings. After digesting all the various versions of X, one is usually left with two or three recordings that will be good for the next ten years, or whatever. I had just finished listening to Joseph Suk playing all the Mozart violin concertos, kindly sent to me by Ronald. Quite frankly, with all the Mozart violin concertos played by Arthur Grumiaux or Joseph Suk, there is no real need for alternative versions.

Whatever the “experts” may say, my ears tell me quite unequivocally that the so-called 6th and 7th concertos are not by Wolfgang Amadeus. They are gifted works in his style, written no doubt during his lifetime. But not by him, say my ears.

Klemperer & Mahler

I have embarked on a re-read of Peter Heyworth's two-volume biography of Otto Klemperer. What a long, interesting and turbulent life he had! I was particularly interested in Heyworth's information that Klemperer -- who knew and worked with Gustav Mahler and admired him enormously -- only really took enthusiastically to Mahler's second, fourth and ninth symphonies, and to Das Lied von der Erde, all of which he programmed and recorded often. After fifty years acquaintance with Mahler's major works, this is also my impression. Good to have Otto as an ally; I sometimes thought there must be something deficient in my musical make-up.

Mr Händel

For late night listening, Handel takes a lot of beating. His is probably amongst the least neurotic or angst-ridden music of the great musicans. I settled back happily this evening to 64 minutes of Duetti Amorosi sung by Lawrence Zazzo and the always admirable Nuria Rial. I felt quite sad when the 64 minutes were up. The conductor, Laurence Cummings, impresses less; Handel's music needs to flow, and Cummings seems to have too heavy a foot on the brake. Still, we are left with Zazzo, Rial and Handel which, in the end, is all one needs apart from a glass of J&B scotch.

Suk, and Petrenko

Dvorak's third and fourth piano trios played by the Suk Trio are highly enjoyable. As the saying goes: they don't play like this any more. The playing has a sense of intimacy and enjoyment.

Less pleased with Vasily Petrenko and the highly capable Liverpool Philharmonic in Rachmaninov's third symphony. I am not an uncritical admirer of Rachmaninov but can greatly enjoy the second and third piano concertos, the second symphony, and a few other bits and pieces. If I don't once again enjoy the third symphony very much, I think the fault probably lies more with Rachmaninov than with Petrenko. It is also unfortunate that, whereas Petrenko's superb Shostakovich recordings with the same orchestra were on Naxos, the Rachmaninov is on EMI. The price has doubled, the recording is not as good nor as vivid. You pays more and gets less. The EMI has two unwanted fill-ups: yet another Vocalise, and a somewhat forgettable Caprice bohémien. Not a CD I should have bought – especially at that price. I hope Petrenko and the Liverpool Phil return to Naxos.

Masaaki Suzuki

After a recent heavy diet of Rachmaninov, Bruch, Bruckner, Brahms and Achron, I reached serendipitously this evening for a disc of three Johann Sebastian Bach cantatas -- and alighted on Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan. The complex music was a breath of fresh air. Suzuki seemed to me admirable in these three works: tempi quite acceptable, balance between instrumentalists and vocalists absolutely fine, singing and playing of a high standard. I chanced upon Volume I and was so pleased I went online and ordered the latest issue - Volume 50. A Bach series that is sane, serious and avoids all the various extremists.

And the other good news is that I found a new and superior source of neck of lamb (a butcher in Cirencester). I slightly over-salted the lamb stew this time round (new and unfamiliar salt pot). But very high quality meat.

Klemperer in Bruckner

As a teenager, I treasured a recording of Bruckner's 9th symphony (Horenstein) and Mahler's 4th (Kletzki) – both somewhat exotic repertoire in the 1950s. Mahler has faded considerably in my esteem, whereas Bruckner has kept on growing. There is a nobility and sincerity in Bruckner's music that comes over powerfully in good performances.

Judging by current performances, however, it would seem that Bruckner's music is difficult to conduct. If it is not to become a series of linked episodes, it needs a conductor with an iron sense of architecture and a refusal to become side-tracked or to wander off down by-ways. Delving back into my recent 10-CD box of Otto Klemperer's public performances from the 1950s, I was much taken with Bruckner's 4th symphony from 1954 (Cologne Radio Orchestra). A variable conductor, Klemperer is here heard at his best; interestingly, he takes nearly six minutes less over the symphony here than with his Philharmonia studio recording in 1963. Cologne is better.

The secret of conducting Bruckner seems to have withered after the passing of the great German repertoire conductors of the period 1920-60: Furtwängler, Klemperer, Böhm, Mengelberg, Knappertsbusch and a few others. My already high opinion of Otto Klemperer has risen a few more notches after listening to this Bruckner 4th; thank goodness the various radio studios in Europe have faithfully preserved so many tapes of major artists caught on the wing – which is usually better than in the often sterile environment of the recording studio. And the 1954 mono recording can be listened to with few allowances for imperfect sound.

Joseph Achron

Since Paganini, there have been many virtuoso violinists who wrote attractive short pieces of music for their instrument: Ernst, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Ysaÿe, Sarasate and Kreisler spring to mind, though there are many others. After Kreisler, the spring mainly dries up, reflecting the decline in popularity (at least among critics) of encore pieces in favour of heavy sonata recitals. Heifetz (especially) and Milstein produced many excellent arrangements, but few original pieces. So I was curious when Hyperion released over two and a half hours of encore and salon pieces by Joseph Achron, born 1886 in Lithuania – same country as Heifetz. After living in Russia and Germany, he ended up in America in 1925 and gravitated to the Hollywood area (again, like Heifetz).

What is claimed to be all of Achron's music for violin and piano is played by Hagai Shaham, with a typical “Russian-American” warm, even sound and seamless bowing. Like so many of the current era, he takes sentimental pieces too slowly (he should have listened to Heifetz or Hassid in the Hebrew Melody; it drags along endlessly as played here by Shaham). However, the violin playing is up to Shaham's usual high standard. I wish I had found the two and a half hours of short pieces a revelation. But it appears that the much-recorded Hebrew Melody and Hebrew Lullaby are by far the best pieces; most of the other bits on these two CDs are somewhat mundane and nowhere near the standard of people such as Sarasate and Kreisler. So no great new discovery, alas.