Berlin Philharmonic reported to be announcing their successor in May 2015

Sir Simon Rattle gave the Berlin Philharmonic plenty of time to appoint a successor when he announced in January 2013 that he will be leaving the orchestra in 2018. But according to Norman Lebrecht of Slipped Disc, the orchestra will be announcing his successor sometime in May 2015.

No other job in music is as coveted as the post at the Berlin Philharmonic, so no doubt rumors and speculation will be thrown around. In fact, there has already been considerable talk. Who knows what will happen? I think the orchestra would be wise to go with a conductor from the younger generation, such as Daniel Harding, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons, Vasily Petrenko, or Gustavo Dudamel. My pick right now would be Jurowski, but it's useless to stake too much hope on any one candidate. Christian Thielemann has been a favorite name from the beginning.

★★★★★ Welser-Most is captivating and vibrant in the Alpine Symphony with a skilled youth orchestra

Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie

After years of being one of Strauss's neglected masterpieces, the Alpine Symphony has gotten a number of very good recordings in the past decade, this reading from Franz Welser-Most and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra among them. I find the work memorable, so it's great to suddenly have a number of viable options.

Opening with the stillness of Night, Welser-Most builds naturally; the climax leading into the Sunrise is fresh and alive. We instantly hear that the youth orchestra is capable and inspired. Their individuality is unmistakable. They play with vividness, delivering a compact sound without aiming for bombast. It makes sense to view the Alpine Symphony as a more pastoral, searching work, and Welser-Most is wise to be fervent without constantly looking to deliver fireworks. The variety of careful beauty is remarkable.

After the natural display of color in the beginning of the work, it's refreshing to hear the Entry Into the Forest played with such tenderness. Yet Welser-Most shows no passivity; for all the attentive balance, there's a great feeling of freedom and spontaneity, a lilt, even. Proceeding through such numbers as On Flowering Meadows and On Alpine Pasture, there's just the right combination of delicacy and forward motion—the pace never drags.

★★★★★ A thrilling solo recital from the blossoming Weilerstein that's sure to please her many fans

Alisa Weilerstein Solo

I've found it thrilling to follow Alisa Weilerstein, the young American cellist who has suddenly come under the spotlight in the past few years. It makes sense that Decca is releasing her first solo album, since her charisma is thrilling all by itself. Earlier this year, she was galvanizing in the Dvorak concerto, only I found that she had several times more imagination than her conductor, Jiri Belohlavek. Her tone showcases an incredible warmth and richness, all delivered with the power of one of the rare greats.

I'm not a solo cello aficionado, so all the works on this disc were new to me. I'd dare to guess, though, that most prospective buyers will be enticed based on their satisfaction with Weilerstein's concerto discs, as I was myself. I found the most delight in the first work on the program, the Kodaly Sonata for Solo Cello. But there's plenty of interest in the Bright Sheng Seven Tunes Heard in China, which has a strong folk flavor. For me, the most important part of this disc is that Weilerstein plays everything with the same golden tone, the same variety, and the same concentration. She seems unable to play without inserting her own personality, which I find gripping and moving. Decca captures her with close-miking, a bit larger than life. It just adds to the impact, though. Her ability to plunge beneath the depths of these scores is penetrating. I only hope she doesn't lose her raw passion as she continues to grow. It's not an everyday phenomenon. 

Elgar and Vaughan Williams top a poll of favorite British composers

A poll was recently conducted by the BBC Music and Countryfile magazines. Readers were asked to choose their favorite British composer from a list of ten composers. Sir Edward Elgar won, but just by a hair. He received 22.5% of votes, with Ralph Vaughan Williams right behind with 22%. Third place was Benjamin Britten with 14.5%.

New BBC Radio 3 controller promises says he won't be "dumbing down" station

Right on the heels of debate about the accessibility of Classical music, the the new BBC Radio 3 chief has maintained the he will continue "wise up". Coming from the Arts Council, Alan Davey doesn't believe it's his job to change programming in response to falling listener figures. He disagrees with those who think making the music more accessible will fix the problem. "If you do complex culture properly, it makes sense to people", he says.

Like many others, I am concerned about the future of Classical music, though I must agree with Davey that the solution doesn't lie with tampering with the product. Classical music has survived the ages because of its originality and sacrificing that novelty to appeal to a wider fan base misses the whole point.

Galway is trying to save the Ulster Orchestra

Flautist Sir James Galway is among multiple musicians trying to save the Ulster Orchestra. The orchestra could be forced to close, as it was announced earlier this month that it will be losing 28% of its public funding. It has not been easy for musicians recently, and the dilemma of this orchestra mirrors the trouble multiple orchestras have faced. Let's hope the orchestra can be saved.

Applauding between movements and phones in concerts? Really?

The Swiss conductor Baldur Brönniman has just made a list of ten things he thinks should be different at classical concerts.  Apparently he wants to make classical music more accessible for a changing world.  I found the list disturbing on multiple points.  Do we really want to sacrifice the novelty of our music to appeal to a wider audience?  

Applauding between movements, as Brönniman suggests, would only take away from the magic of the music.  If in some cases it would be tolerable, there are other instances where it would be distracting and break the spirit.  The devoted admirers of the music in a concert are going to want to hear everything as clearly as possible with no interruptions.  

Going solo: why I think orchestras should have their own label

It seems more and more of the big labels are going under as it becomes harder for musicians to make money from recording.  This is unfortunate, but I'm becoming enamored with one development that has taken place.  Since the usual big labels no longer provide satisfactory contracts for most major orchestras, they are going solo, creating their own label.  The LSO Live is the most famous example, but there's a whole row of other orchestras also releasing their own CDs, including the London Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Chicago Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, and most recently, the Berlin Philharmonic.  

It was Sir Simon Rattle who hit on the biggest reason I like the idea.  Without the obligation to please a record company, the orchestra can literally release whatever it wants. They are no longer being restricted to the "surefire bestsellers", as Rattle calls them.  If the orchestra feels they have something unique to say, they can choose to release it.  And generally, we end up seeing more releases.  The LSO Live, for instance, has released over 100 albums since being founded back in 2000.  We all know nothing close to that output could have come from a regular record label.  

★★★☆☆ Chicago plays marvelously, but Muti is unsmiling and dogmatic

Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet

Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet seems inherently virtuosic to me.  The music has a wealth of marvelous orchestration, and thankfully we have masterful readings with the Berlin Philharmonic from both Salonen and Abbado.  The Chicago Symphony is in very good shape today, and it helps that the sound on the CSO Resound label is full and rich.  Ricardo Muti favors the big, brassy sound that makes the orchestra famous. At under fifty minutes, the timing is very stingy; couldn't they have recorded more?  Either way, I'm a great fan of the music, so I listened with anticipation.

From the beginning, one hears a powerful sound from the orchestra, very much in a heroic mood.  The Montagues and Captulets is fairly stolid, relying on a heavy bass feel.  Cold accuracy dominates, driving the music with solid blocks of rhythm.  From the start, however, a problem begins to surface: Muti is rather aloof.  This isn't desperate passion; it's more of a military march. Juliet as a Young Girl shows beautiful solos, but the tempo is slow and the color rather dark.  There's no blissful abandon here, and for all the crystalline attention to detail, there's a lack of grace. Although the sound of the orchestra is attractive, Muti seems to be admiring the music from a distance.  And one does hear a gentle building of emotion; it's just that romanticism is treated with caution.  Muti favors distinct thrusts of sound, so the Minuet feels deliberate and almost forceful. He seems a stranger to lilting energy, so the Masks is earthbound instead of mercurial and vivacious.

★★★★☆ Better than Gergiev's Brahms cycle, but still not back to greatness

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique and Waverly Overture

Perhaps in preparation for his upcoming post with the Munich Philharmonic, Gergiev has lately turned to the traditional romantic repertoire with the LSO.  He just finished his Brahms symphony cycle and now he's back to Belioz's Symphonie Fantastique, a decade after recording it with the Vienna Philharmonic.  Unfortunately, I found the Brahms set to be a great disappointment and I've worried that he is sacrificing too much of his own personality in an attempt to adapt with the romantic style.

The work opens with a soft hush, Gergiev almost tip-toeing his way through the opening lines.  Unlike Jansons in a thrilling recording earlier this year, Gergiev doesn't have an overriding air of spookiness.  He prefers a sense of classical refinement, with intrinsic sensitivity.  As the movement develops, Gergiev slowly warms up, although he's still surprisingly unaggressive, without taking advantage of the potential swirling, jagged sounds.  The execution is great, just rather timid.

★★★☆☆ 1/2 Dudamel is refined and subdued overall, but the finale is thrilling

Mahler: Symphony No. 7

I've been a fan of Dudamel's Mahler in the past; both his 5th with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra and his 9th with the Los Angeles Philharmonic were telling successes.  Although the "youth" part of his Venezuelan orchestra has been dropped, it's been a joy to see the level of talent Dudamel has encouraged.  A few years ago, it might have seemed a stretch to imagine the orchestra being prepared to tackle the massive Mahler 7th, but now they are fully up to the challenge.  In fact, by now it's a bit outdated to view them on a separate scale than the world's best orchestras.  They play with astonishing virtuosity.

But has the increased level of playing threatened to take away the orchestra's exuberance?  Opening the symphony, Dudamel is a little deliberate, stressing lyricism and focused lines.  Sonics are great, and climaxes ring with impact. Dudamel is more inward than spontaneous, and his flow is gentle and natural.  In a blatantly elusive symphony, however, is it wise to aim for a seamless feel?  The absence of jagged edges threatens to remove some of the originality.

Joshua Bell back in the subway

Joshua Bell is very much the people's violinist, with more publicity than most of his colleagues.   Back in 2007, he made an unusual experiment, playing in the Washington Metro subway station.  Over a thousand people walked by, but only seven stopped to listen, and his total tip money wasn't more than the usual ticket cost to one of his concerts.

With a sense of good humor, he decided to repeat the subway gig at D.C.'s Union Station, only this time it was announced ahead of time.  Predictably, the turnout was more impressive.  Read his thoughts here. He's quite an interesting violinist, and he stays busy conducting the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, where he succeeded the prolific Sir Neville Marriner.

★★★☆☆ Dutoit is polished and sophisticated, with detailed playing, but where's the drama?

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet excerpts

Listeners are spoiled for choice with Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, especially if you're looking for highlights instead of the whole ballet.  There are sumptuous, virtuosic accounts with the Berlin Phil under both Abbado and Salonen  The work is such an orchestral blockbuster that it almost plays itself now, but I remain a believer in the greatness of the work, and still find it emotionally moving.

Despite acclaim from multiple critical circles, this reading sounds dispassionate to me.

★★★☆☆ Gergiev is tame and detached in these Brahms symphonies--a surprising misfire

Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4

I've been enthusiastic about most of Valery Gergiev's output with the LSO Live, and when it was announced he would be leaving the orchestra in 2015, I was disappointed. It was intriguing to hear he'd be moving to Munich, since he has recorded very little of the standard Germanic repertoire. So his Brahms cycle with the LSO seemed a toe-dipping experiment before he acclimates to his upcoming post.

I respect Gergiev enough that even with no prior familiarity with him in this music, I looked forward to the cycle with high expectations. But when the first two symphonies were released last fall, I was disappointed to hear conducting that was unremarkable and withdrawn.

I had hopes that with this concluding disc, Gergiev would find himself back in his element, but I'm sorry to report that this is simply more of the nondescript conducting that defined the first release.

★★★★☆ Karajan is intense and the Berliners immaculate, but is this really Schubert?

Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9

As superhuman as Karajan was in his day, all musicians have their limits, their blind spots. So it's hard to know how to approach this disc, one flawless in execution and full of incredible sounds, yet seemingly removed from the sound world of the composer. Karajan seemed to miss the wistful, tuneful qualities in Schubert's music, perhaps one of the rare side effects of his incomparable intensity.

Now that the authentic movement has had significant influence in the early romantic repertoire, Karajan's thick, wholly romantic way in the Schubert "Unfinished" Symphony would be a shock to more than a few ears. It's devoid of charm, but the power is overwhelming. Since the Symphony is rather darkish anyway, one can make an argument for it. The intensity is weltering, and the cumulative effect of the orchestra's tone chilling in its translucency. This approach works best if you close your eyes and imagine you're listening to an orchestral interlude from Tristan und Isolde.

A new venture in Classical criticism

Welcome to my blog!  After years of reviewing on Amazon, I have decided to embark on a solo venture.  I intend to use this site as a way of publicizing my reviews, which I will post here with a special emphasis on new releases.

But I also intend to use this platform to regularly follow news in Classical music.  I feel I have a unique voice in the classical world and want to share my thoughts with the world.  I am young, not yet twenty, yet my passion for Classical music is strong, and I trust others will catch my enthusiasm. I will attempt to listen with a critical ear and convey that in my reviews, as I have for years on Amazon.  But I wish to avoid the pitfalls of snobbery and cynicism, two traits in the critical musical world that I find off-putting, and I believe I am not alone.

So welcome, and thanks for your patience as I get used to the blogging format, as this is my first blogging venture.