Surpassing old standards

Press, 1 June 1988, Page 28

Surpassing old standards

Records & discs

ALLAN FRANCIS

CANTELOUBE: Songs of the Auvergne, Jill Gomez, soprano with the Royal Liverpool P. 0., conducted by Vernon Handley. EMI CD EMX--9590. DDD.

. -Nobody seems to count I Netanla Devrath any V. more with these pieces, f. such is the excellence of ’ ' the combined talents of. Kiri Te Kanawa and Jill Gomez.. Between; these two, rests the best of the opposing views of the work, the opulence of the former and the clarity of the latter. Both are excellent in their separate ways. Kiri;' Te Kanawa brings all the" lushness that is part of the- - French countryside that Josef Canteloube arranged so graphically, Jill Gomez with a lighter and clearer quality, less con- ; cemed with the abundance of sugar-coating. Regardless of winners; and losers, it is clear that 1 .; the old standards set by; Netania Devrath have ‘ been surpassed.

The old Vanguard recordings on VSD7I3/14 contains the full measure of five books of songs, Kiri Te Kanawa likewise on the .■? Decca set SXDL76O4/4U 730-IDH with Jeffrey Tate, but the

Jill Gomez covers about half only of the total, with her 15 songs.

Still the unique quality of the Gomez-Handley recording on CD makes the review CD equally as attactive as the local singer, and, in some aspects, slighter superior.

MOZART: Divertimento No. 17 in D major, No. 7 in D major and March

No. 8 in D major K2W played by the Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, dh ~cted by Janos Rolla. WHITE LABEL CD HRC 880 ADD. This is ai fairly logical programme. A couple of popular divertimentos with a march added would seem to be the sort of thing performed by Neville Marriner, and one which is typical of Mozart’s youthful years in Salzburg. Accordingly, the predictability should have little effect on the end results. It is simply a matter of just how expansive the. writing is and how well played they turn out to be. Karajan and Toscanini used steam-roller tactics, but happily in this case Janos Rolla follows the example set by Neville Marriner. The light scor-

ing receives the appropriate treatment, and, although this 1988 recording is primarily analogue, the sound quality is excellent and performed in accordance with the composer’s intentions.

Mozart spun out these divertimentos to any length he felt was re-

quired at the time and in any order. The first of these, K 334, occupies six movements and the second, K 205 only five, with the overplayed Minuet from the former sounding less tired than normal. In fact, the whole programme is sensitively treated by the warm

strings of the Budapest Orchestra.

CARL ORFF: CarmJna Burans, played by the Halle Orchesta, ducted by Maurice Handford, with soloists and the Manchester Grammar School Boys' Choir. EMI CD CDB7 62005 2. ADD.

After the previous recording, Carmina Burana sounded grossly colourful, much in the same pattern as most modem recordings, and with so much competition it is relatively easy to name half a dozen, including Levine, Previn and Muti that are similar in treatment

Early standards were set with this work by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos two decades ago, perhaps still as fluid as any, .but sounding its age. The soloists here are carefully .adequate and the Boys’ .Choir, too, is a triflestudied, on the review disc.

The old Halle Orchestra,' now a rarity, makes a pleasing comeback at this 1982 session.

BYRD: MASSES for Five, Voices and Four Voices, sung by the St John’s College Choir, directed by George Guest. EMI CD CDM 7 62015 2.

The problems that become immediately apparent here are those relating to the raw quality of the youthful singers, with the lack of maturity that denotes lack of expert-

ence. With the emergence of the Tallis Scholars in the last year or these masses have become very competitive. Their Work in this field is hard to match, even by the more seasoned choirs than St John’s. ■ On the grounds of enthusiasm . and, at times, passion, the St John’s . Choir; rate highly, but for really top versions of the same works it would be wiser to look to Pro Cantione Antiqua or the Tallis Scholars.

FESTKONZERT Vol. 2: Vaclav Neumann conducts the Czec P.O. with a programme of marches, polkas and waltzes. ORFEO CD C 167 201 A. A programme of waltzes and polkas without a Strauss among them is indeed a rarity! Such is the case here. The entire session is made of Bohemian compositions and the accent is on the brass section of the Czec Philharmonic Orchestra.

Even John Georgiadas would have scarcely been confident enough to form a programme from such names as Labsky, Kaspar, Vackar, Nedbal, Fucik or other obscure composers and still hope to raise public interest. Yet these are entirely successful in their own way, with plenty of good .old-fashioned oompah and a minimum of Straussian strings that mark almost all of recordings of this nature. '

The toe-tapping elements here may just tip the scales, if the listener is not averse to the weight of brass involved.