Welcome to the 86th work in the Slipped Disc/Idagio Beethoven Edition

Looking down the list of 150 or so recordings of this mighty warhorse of western concert repertoire, it is striking how few women have been considered worthy by the music industry to engrave their interpretation of it on record.

Although Martha Argerich has played it, I find no trace of her making a studio recording. Likewise Harriet Cohen, Wanda Landowska, Maria Yudina, Ilona Kabos, Annie Fischer, Ingrid Haebler, Moura Lympany, Alice Sara Ott, Yuja Wang, Maria Joao Pires, Angela Hewitt and dozens more who, though noted for the unique qualities of their Beethoven recitals, have not been summoned to record this particular work. I draw no definitive conclusion from this observation, merely highlight it as an anomaly of inequality.

In some way the absence of female performers makes the handful who have tackled the work all the more interesting. Gina Bachauer, for instance.

Greek and Jewish, Bachauer performed heroically for Allied forces during the second world war and went on to enjoy a substantial career around the world without ever becoming recognised as one of the lionesses of the keyboard. Her 1962 recording of the Emperor with Stanisław Skrowaczewski and the London Symphony Orchestra has an unassuming grace and a conversational manner, understated to a fault but unfailingly beautiful. It must rank on any shortlist for this concerto, not just for Bachauer’s contribution but for the matching restraint of the excellent conductor and orchestra.

Two grand dames enter the hustings. Dame Myra Hess, who kept classical recitals alive in London through the Blitz, made two recordings in 1952 and 1953. The first, with Eduard Van Beinum and the Concertgebouw, has a kind of choral quality to the quieter orchestral passages, a whispered pianissimo that Dame Myra enters into with a governessy rustle of petticoats. Hess is not an artist of Edwin Fischer calibre, who can alter the orchestral timbre with a half-frown in one eye, but there is much nobility to her interpretation and a profound awareness of tradition. The New York Philharmonic, her recording partners a year later cannot summon a matching subtlety or depth.

The Soviet pianist Maria Grinberg is disgraced by possibly the filthiest orchestra sound of any 1950s Beethoven recording, plus some fingering mishaps of her own, ruling her 1957 smash-and-grab with Alexander Gauk and the USSR State Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra totally out of the reckoning, despite some utterly inimitable soloist phrases. What were the Russians using for tape machines – tractors?

Other female interpreters we ought to consider if time were not short and the competition ferocious would be the unfailingly ethereal Hélène Grimaud (2007), the transcendent and surreal Alicia De Larrocha (1986) with superb Berlin sound, and the dogmatically prosaic Marguerite Long (1945), dedicatee of the Ravel G major concerto but way out of her metier in German classicism. Charles Munch is pictured on the cover of this record with a finger on his lips; you can hear why.

Oh, and one other – Mitsuko Uchida, performing in 1999 with the veteran Kurt Sanderling, master of both German and Russian traditions and possibly the most sympathetic accompanist of any conductor that ever lived. Time stands still in the adagio movement, just as it should, and Uchida plays barely above a sussuration.

The performance I most admired when I began listening critically to this concerto was Arthur Schnabel‘s – not the much-hailed 1932 release with Sir Malcolm Sargent and the LSO at Abbey Road but the 1942 issue with Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony, an orchestra that had not yet acquired, or deserved, a world reputation. Schnabel, in this performance, bullies all around him – the piano, the conductor, the musicians – in the kind of gruff and bluff manner you’d imagine Beethoven might have adopted with his recalcitrant Viennese. By the finale, the soloist is happy with whatever’s going on and starting to enjoy himself. The wrong notes that creep in are now his own, and he’s not bothered. A great performance is not measured by the notes, and this one has many of the characteristics of immortality.

 

Arthur Rubinstein conducted by Daniel Barenboim in 1976 is another essential reference point, notwithstanding some plodding passages from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Rubinstein delivers a masterclass in concerto playing, pausing now and then as it to relight his cigar, or to take the phone number of the blushing page-turner. Splendid stuff.

Beyond 1980, the hustings are so crowded I have to limit the discussion to a select few before producing a longlist, something I have resisted until now in this series but which is unavoidable in this hotly jumbled field. Yefim Bronfman in David Zinman’s Zurich cycle of 2006 is exemplary not for any flashes of individuality but specifically for his subjugation of self to the whole. Few performances are so thoughtful and collegial.

Of two keyboard-led versions – Mahler Chamber Orchestra with Leif Ove Andsnes (2014) and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Jan Lisiecki – I find inspiration in the latter and calculation in the former; Lisiecki is full of unexpected elevations. I don’t buy into any of the period-instrument assaults, so don’t ask for JEG & Co. None of these worthies match the intensity of Emil Gilels in Cleveland with George Szell (1968) or Claudio Arrau with Otto Klemperer in 1957 – a pair of unflinching adult conversations. Another is Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli with Carlo Maria Giulini in Vienna (1979), acting like unruly Italian tourists with a flustered Austrian landlady – just lovely.

Who have I forgotten? Rudolf Serkin, Murray Perahia, Brendel, Ashkenazy, Solomon, Buchbinder, Glenn Gould, so many more. Time to draw the line. These 10 recordings of the Emperor are, in no particular order of merit, required listening:

1 Krystian Zimerman/Leonard Bernstein (1992)
2 Arthur Schnabel (1942)
3 Myra Hess (1952)
4 Gina Bachauer (1962)
5 Jan Lisiecki (2018)
6 Uchida (1999)
7 Bronfman (2006)
8 Backhaus (1927)
9 Edwin Fischer (1951)
10 Maurizio Pollini (1978)

Those of us who were there that night are still rubbing our eyes.

Violist Julia Adams decided to call time this season on the Portland String Quartet after 50 years, hoping to take her final bow in a round of farewell recitals.

But Covid has put paid to that and Julia has to go unbowed.

A sad tale of our times here.

 

In the thick of Covid mortality, we missed the passing of the distinguished German violinist Wolfgang Marschner on March 24.

A descendant of the opera composer Heinrich Marschner, he was ccepted as a student in the Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra school at the age of four. His later training with the Berlin Phil concertmaster Erich Röhn was interrupted by military service. Alongside a lively soloist career, he held a number of university posts, latterly at Freiburg. Among many recordings, he was an early performer of the Schoenberg and Berg violin concertos.

 

 

From an FT report today on the Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute, which puts young women on the career path:

…. After working for 20 years in Germany, (Anna) Skryleva says she benefited from the exposure to the American system. “In the US, you have to organise your rehearsal time differently, arriving at the podium exactly on the hour. Emmanuel Villaume [Dallas Opera’s music director] said I looked too strict, as if I had worked too long in Germany. He told me to relax. There was a lot about attitude, discussions around psychological issues with experienced counsellors. The message was ‘trust yourself and you can be a conductor’, and I immediately saw a result from that when I came back to Germany.”

The roll call of alumnae includes Welsh National Opera’s first female conductor-in-residence, holders of positions in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Seattle, Perth, Thessaloniki and Romania, and two of the top 20 women conductors of 2019 as listed on the music blog Slipped Disc.

Another who has risen to prominence is Lidiya Yankovskaya, also from 2015 and now music director of Chicago Opera Theater. “It was valuable to get advice on where my career trajectory stood at that time and insight into what my skills were,” she says. “You don’t often get honest feedback from top people in our industry, and this was important in showing me where to go next.”

Read on here.

 

The classical streaming service (with which Slipped Disc has a commercial relationship) has tied up the Vienna Philharmonic’s return concerts with Franz Welser-Möst and Daniel Barenboim:

We’re delighted to release an album, available only on IDAGIO, of the first concert after lockdown: Daniel Barenboim joins the orchestra as soloist and conductor in Mozart’s Piano Concerto in B flat KV 595 and Beethoven’s defiant Fifth Symphony.

Watch the Vienna Philharmonic live as they are joined by conductor Franz Welser-Möst in only their second subscription concert after a three-month silence imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Full details here.

 

It’s five stars on the Lebrecht Album of the Week:

…..  is as red-blooded as steak tartare and as rich as mousse au chocolat with extra chippings on top. You can smell from the opening phrase that the conductor really believes in the composer and the players will do what it takes to match his fervour. The great tune of the first movement is sing-out-loud-and-annoy-the-neighbours while the second-movement cor anglais solo is as catchy as anything Dvorak ever wrote (yes, even that one)…..

Read on here.

And here.

 

From an interview in the Independent:

ALW: ‘I have seen a report, I don’t know what’s going to be in the report on theatre that’s coming out on Monday (22 June), but I sincerely hope it doesn’t contain some of the things that I’ve seen in some of their advice, one of which was a brilliant one for musicals – that you’re not allowed to sing.’

‘All one can do is try and be positive. I really believe that we in theatre must be positive and use everything we can to demonstrate that we can open. If having done that we fail, at least we’ve tried.’

More here.

 

 

From a correspondent:

Today the very first “normal” opera performance will take place at Sofia National Opera and Ballet: a full performance with normal sets and costumes, normal acting on stage and full orchestra and chorus. Of course social distancing in the public, but for the rest a “normal opera performance”.

Today they will show Verdi’s “Il trovatore” (https://www.operasofia.bg/en/repertoire/299.), as part of a “Tutto Verdi” mini festival in which the whole “trilogia popolare” will be shown: After “trovatore” today, “Rigoletto” on June 21 and “Traviata” in June 25:
Star of all three evenings is our fantastic Verdi baritone and Bulgarian opera star Vladimir Stoyanov!


Message from Stephen Langridge, artistic director:

Unfortunately the ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19 has forced us to cancel our visits to our touring venues this year.

To take Glyndebourne productions on tour requires months of planning and rehearsal. This week we reached a vital decision point and, with no clear guidance on when theatres may reopen or when social distancing measures will be removed, have had to accept that there are too many unknowns for us to continue with our plan to bring opera to Liverpool, Canterbury, Norwich, Woking and Milton Keynes this autumn. We have to place the safety of our audiences and artists first.

All affected ticket holders will be contacted by the venue they booked with. Thank you for your patience.

We’re incredibly disappointed and are already making plans for next year’s Tour. An update on autumn performances at Glyndebourne will be shared in mid-July. Until then, don’t miss the free world-class opera we’re offering online this summer – join us every Sunday at 5.00pm for Glyndebourne Open House, our series of classic full-length Glyndebourne productions available for everyone, everywhere.

With our best wishes to you and your loved ones,

Stephen Langridge
Artistic Director 

 

The Philharmonia Orchestra is putting together a summer programme of three socially distanced concerts, highlighted by Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing the first Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto. Details of how and where the concerts will be filmed have nor been disclosed.

Here’s the sketchy press release:
The Philharmonia Orchestra has today announced The Philharmonia Sessions – a summer programme of three world class free digital concerts, broadcast on YouTube and conceived and created especially for an online audience. Whilst live music remains almost entirely inaccessible due to COVID-19, globally renowned musicians will come together with the Orchestra to create bespoke concerts for viewers and listeners to enjoy at home with friends or family. The three concerts will each be 50 minutes long and performed and recorded in accordance with social distancing rules.

The first concert will be broadcast on Friday 17th July at 7pm and will see cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason join the Orchestra to perform Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1, in a programme that also includes Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, both conducted by John Wilson.

The international coloratura soprano Laura Aikin has just signed off for the last time as a shel-stacker at a Rewe store in Berlin.

She tells VAN magazine: 

I never even thought of applying for unemployment benefits because I thought that only permanent employees would get that. There is no such thing in America, nor in Italy. I never got any help from the state there. I thought the idea that Germany would do something like this was crazy….

When my daughter had her last riding lesson, I was shopping and saw the poster at Rewe that they were looking for employees. I worked there a few days later. They were just desperate because they needed so many people to keep up with the bulk purchases that were just starting.

There was chaos. The company … told us we should work quickly, quickly, quickly. On the other hand, of course, Rewe wanted everything to be properly arranged. And in between the many people who wanted to shop and sometimes needed advice. My job was only to clear shelves and clear away garbage. I have been moving non-stop. Sometimes I was really sweating. It was like my daily gym, I actually lost weight. But at some point the pain came. I wore a mask very early on before it became mandatory, which made everything difficult: when I had to walk, lift, carry a lot, I became dizzy and my blood pressure went very high. At some point my knees started to suffer.

Q Did people in the supermarket know you were an opera singer?

Yes, everyone knew, but they weren’t very impressed….

Read on here.