Ny Times: Top Classical Cds Of 2003

[DudeAsInCool]

The Best Classical CD's of 2003

Published: December 21, 2003

t is all too easy to kick the classical record industry when it's down, as it has been for several years. And it is hard to predict the future where it concerns DVD's, let alone downloading off the Internet. But there is much to appreciate in a present still dominated by CD's. In fact, the percentage of truly excellent new releases may well have risen, now that attrition has dispensed with so much of the vast middle range. In any case, there has been much to celebrate this year, and critics of The New York Times here list some of their favorite CD's of 2003.

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BACH: 'THE ART OF FUGUE'

Emerson String Quartet (Deutsche Grammophon) In too many performances, Bach's masterpiece is smothered in reverence or solemnity, or approached with a strangely antiseptic detachment that passes for period practice. These players dig in without sermonizing or pretense. The tone is rich, the tempos are brisk, and the music courses with life.

JEREMY EICHLER

• Audio: Clips From 'The Art of the Fugue': Contrapunctus I | Contrapunctus IX | Contrapunctus XIII: Rectus

BACH: CANTATAS NOS. 82, 199

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano; Orchestra of Emmanuel Music, conducted by Craig Smith (Nonesuch) Audiences might have been of several minds about Peter Sellars's staging of these works with Ms. Hunt Lieberson in Boston and New York in 2001. But there can be little dissent over Ms. Hunt Lieberson's vocal performances. Just listen.

JAMES R. OESTREICH

• Review (November 2)

BACH: KEYBOARD CONCERTOS (1-7); TRIPLE CONCERTO (BWV 1044)

Richard Egarr, harpsichordist; Academy of Ancient Music, directed by Andrew Manze (Harmonia Mundi France) The field is crowded in these works, yet Mr. Egarr plays their solo lines with elegance and zest, attributes fully matched by Mr. Manze and the expert London ensemble. Particularly ear-catching is the strong profile of the bass, a distinct departure from the more subdued period-instrument norm.

ALLAN KOZINN

BEETHOVEN: PIANO CONCERTOS (1-5)

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, pianist; Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor (Teldec; three CD's) Few recordings have grown on me more than these boldly conceived reinterpretations of Beethoven's piano concertos. Mr. Aimard's playing is articulate, exciting and full of character.

ANTHONY TOMMASINI

• Review (November 2)

BERGER: ORCHESTRAL WORKS

Boston Modern Orchestra Project, conducted by Gil Rose (New World) The Boston-based composer Arthur Berger died in October at 91, and this beautiful recording of his complete orchestral music makes a fitting testimonial. The five works range over 33 years, from the Neo-Classical "Ideas of Order" (1952) to the serialist "Perspectives II" (1985), and each abounds in pungent harmonic writing, transparent textures and urbane sassiness.

ANTHONY TOMMASINI

'BJÖRLING REDISCOVERED'

Jussi Björling, tenor (RCA Red Seal) May induce dizziness and palpitations: here's the 1955 Carnegie Hall recital for the first time on CD in its magnificent entirety (with nine previously unreleased tracks). If you want to understand the line in Schubert's "Ständchen" about silver tones that touch any soft heart, go immediately to Track 5.

ANNE MIDGETTE

BOULEZ: 'RITUEL IN MEMORIAM BRUNO MADERNA'; 'NOTATIONS' NOS. 1-4, 7; 'FIGURES-DOUBLES-PRISMES'

Orchestre National de Lyon, conducted by David Robertson (Naïve) Many listeners still think Pierre Boulez's music is dour and impenetrably difficult, but the development of a performing tradition has by now softened its edges. Led by Mr. Robertson, an accomplished young American, the Lyon orchestra taps the music's power, coloristic range and, of all qualities, gentleness and sensuality.

ALLAN KOZINN

DEBUSSY: 'IMAGES'; ÉTUDES

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, pianist (Teldec) Mr. Aimard, on a roll this year, offers an incomparable recording of these works. Though he applies myriad Impressionistic colorings and shadings, his lucid and bracing performances allow Debussy the cutting-edge modernist to come through.

ANTHONY TOMMASINI

• Audio: Clips From Debussy's 'Images' and Études: 'Poissons d'or' | 'Pour les Octaves' | 'Pour les Arpèges composés'

'DREAM OF THE ORIENT'

Concerto Köln; Sarband (Deutsche Grammophon Archiv) Abandon "authenticity," all ye who enter here. A Western period-instrument group jams with a Turkish band, setting off sparks and shedding delightful light on whole musical ages and cultures.

JAMES R. OESTREICH

• Audio: James R. Oestreich Discusses Selections From 'Dream of the Orient'

GLASS: ÉTUDES NOS. 1-10

Philip Glass, pianist (Orange Mountain Music) Mr. Glass, never a virtuoso pianist, wrote these pieces in the 1990's to extend his keyboard technique, and they overhauled his harmonic world as well. The Glassian trademarks are all here: notably, arpeggiated, repeating chordal figures and slow transformations. But this set moves into surprisingly varied, dramatic and even dissonant harmonic ground.

ALLAN KOZINN

'SUSAN GRAHAM AT CARNEGIE HALL'

Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano; Malcolm Martineau, pianist (Erato) Ms. Graham returns to CD with her memorable Carnegie Hall debut recital from April. It is a fantastic blend of German and French song with a lot of Graham trademarks, from French operetta and music of Reynaldo Hahn to just plain fine singing.

ANNE MIDGETTE

• Audio: Clips From 'Susan Graham at Carnegie Hall': 'Nacht' by Alban Berg | 'Avant le Cinéma' by Francis Poulenc | 'À Chloris' by Reynaldo Hahn

GRIEG, SCHUMANN: PIANO CONCERTOS

Leif Ove Andsnes, pianist; Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Mariss Jansons (EMI Classics) The popular Piano Concertos in A minor by Grieg and Schumann have seldom sounded as fresh, inventive and important as they do here. Mr. Andsnes's performances are incisive yet sensitive, lithe yet formidable. And the vibrant playing of the orchestra suggests that the Berlin musicians realized they were involved with something exceptional.

ANTHONY TOMMASINI

HANDEL: 'RINALDO'

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, conducted by René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi France; three CD's) Mr. Jacobs's output is so prolific you could almost believe he's improvising the music as he goes; indeed, opening up Handel to improvisation is one reason his recordings bring the composer alive. This performance is especially fine, with a strong cast (including Vivica Genaux in the title role) and vital playing.

ANNE MIDGETTE

• Audio: Anne Midgette Discusses Selections From 'Rinaldo'

• Review (August 31)

HARTKE: CLARINET CONCERTO; OTHER WORKS

Richard Stoltzman, clarinetist; Iris Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Michael Stern (Naxos) Many composers have foundered trying to incorporate elements of jazz into contemporary classical idioms, but Stephen Hartke pulls it off deftly in his Clarinet Concerto, "Landscapes With Blues," perhaps because he doesn't try so hard. This audacious, ingeniously complex work is steeped in Delta blues and West African folk music, and the other works are also exhilarating.

ANTHONY TOMMASINI

• Audio: Clips From Hartke's Clarinet Concerto: Senegambia | Delta Nights

• A Profile of Stephen Hartke (August 24)

JANACEK, LUTOSLAWSKI, SZYMANOWSKI: WORKS FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO

Isabelle Faust, violinist; Ewa Kupiec, pianist (Harmonia Mundi France) Ms. Faust, a German violinist little known in this country, makes another exciting foray into the 20th-century repertory she has claimed as her specialty. Her sound has passion, grit and electricity but also a disarming warmth and sweetness that can unveil the music's hidden strains of lyricism.

JEREMY EICHLER

KURTAG: 'SIGNS, GAMES AND MESSAGES'

Various performers (ECM New Series) This is a disc of pithy and profound sonic epigrams from a masterly Hungarian composer. In both haunting vocal settings and rugged instrumental works, Gyorgy Kurtag distills dark worlds of thought and emotion into small musical packets of stark expressive power.

JEREMY EICHLER

LISZT: PIANO SONATA IN B MINOR; OTHER WORKS

Yundi Li, pianist (Deutsche Grammophon) This Chinese player, born in 1982, is one to watch. His account of the sonata is shattering. The rest of the recital lives up to it, covering the full emotional and pianistic range — from dazzling, daredevil renderings of the "Tarantella" and the "Rigoletto" Paraphrase to the sheer, heart-stopping beauty of the "Liebeslied" after Schumann.

ALLAN KOZINN

MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO. 3

Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Pierre Boulez (Deutsche Grammophon) There are certainly more emotional versions of Mahler's Third, but Mr. Boulez brings to bear a commanding interpretive vision and an amazing transparency of detail. The recording quality is also exquisite, with the Vienna Philharmonic sounding as deep and luxurious as ever.

JEREMY EICHLER

'NINNA NANNA'

Montserrat Figueras, soprano; Hesperion XXI, directed by Jordi Savall (Alia Vox) The lullaby is a supremely practical form. Though simple enough to lure a child to sleep, it must also offer enough interest to a mother likely to have to repeat it many times. This thoughtfully sequenced, alluringly sung collection includes 18 lullabies from nearly as many cultures, composed from 1500 to 2002 and taking in everything from complex art songs to simple but memorable settings of nonsense syllables.

ALLAN KOZINN

• Audio: Allan Kozinn Discusses Selections From 'Ninna Nanna'

• Review (February 16)

REICH: 'THREE TALES'

Steve Reich Ensemble, Synergy Vocals, conducted by Bradley Lubman (Nonesuch; CD and DVD) For those who think art has to be about something, "Three Tales" offers satisfaction on many levels, using words as both sound and meaning, political statements backed up by Mr. Reich's driving rhythms. It stands just fine as an aural experience, but Nonesuch's package includes a DVD, so the work can be seen as conceived: with Beryl Korot's visuals, a video opera.

ANNE MIDGETTE

SALIERI: ARIAS

Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Adam Fischer (Decca) Ms. Bartoli does here what she did for Gluck and Vivaldi, mining unsuspected veins of repertory in imaginative, utterly committed and often gripping performances. And this composer, having been scurrilously if entertainingly cast as Mozart's murderer in "Amadeus," needs rehabilitation more than most.

JAMES R. OESTREICH

• Audio: Clips From 'The Salieri Album': 'Vi sono sposa e amante' | 'Voi lusingate invano . . .' | 'Dopo pranzo addormentata'

• Review (November 2)

SCHUMANN: STRING QUARTETS NOS. 1, 3

Zehetmair Quartet (ECM New Series) As a violin soloist, Thomas Zehetmair plays with a keen and provocative musical intelligence. Here, as a quartet leader, he inspires his ensemble to do the same. These readings ripple with energy and virtuoso discipline, bringing fresh ideas to two underrated quartets that can use the attention.

JEREMY EICHLER

• Review (May 4)

SCHUMANN: SYMPHONIES (NOS. 1-4); OTHER WORKS

Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch (Philadelphia Orchestra; www.klaritymusic.com; three CD's) The effulgent awakening outburst of the "Spring" Symphony is especially poignant in light of the health problems Mr. Sawallisch was suffering last season, when these performances were recorded live. And against worsening odds, the verve and vitality carry right through a glowing account of the Second Symphony, recorded last, in April.

JAMES R. OESTREICH

SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONY NO. 7

Rotterdam Philharmonic, Kirov Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev (Philips) In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, orchestras from two cities ravaged in World War II (the Kirov hailing from St. Petersburg) combined to perform a Russian master's great wartime symphony, the "Leningrad," under a fiery director. In this belated documentation, resonances flow wide and deep.

JAMES R. OESTREICH

• Audio: Jeremy Eichler Discusses Selections From 'Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7'

• Review (June 15)

TORKE: ORCHESTRAL WORKS

Various performers (Ecstatic Records; www.michaeltorke.com; six CD's) What a midcareer retrospective at the Whitney Museum is to a visual artist, Michael Torke's six-CD set of orchestral music is for a composer. When his recordings for the Argo/Decca label went out of print, Mr. Torke bought up the rights and reissued them himself in a handsome package of vibrant, appealing and well-wrought music.

ANNE MIDGETTE

[Guest .::BeatFactory::.]

Expand your mind and open your ears and take a few minutes out of your day to enjoy some of the masterpieces. It's like music to your.... oh wait... it is music to your ears! :D

[ASUmusicMAN]

For people looking to get into some reaaaaaally good classical I recommend two of the pieces

SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONY NO. 7 - This is an AMAZING piece that is about the battle of Leningrad during WWII. My first time hearing it, I got to see the Seville Symphony play it in Spain...and whooooa. In the piece there is the typical orchestral instrumentation, and then I believe two auxiliary brass and percussion sections, so when the battle starts raging...its quite amazing. The one thing I remember about this piece is if you really focus on what its about and go listen to it you can hear things like tanks rolling into the city and gunfire portrayed through the music...positively spectacular.

I also recommend

MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO. 3

You can't really go wrong with Mahler...he'll always leave you impressed and humming some tune for the rest of the week. Just listen to the first minute of the first movement and I guaranteed you'll be hooked!!! What better way to open up a symphony than with a massive horn fanfare? Mahler is usually the first composer I recommend to people who want to try and listen to some classical but don't know where to start and don't wanna get stuck with Mozart or Bach right off the bat...this music WILL hold your attention, and is quite explosive. Definitely check it out!

[DudeAsInCool]

Both mentions are excellent--I think it would be a good idea to start a separate thread on both of the artists you mention, asu...