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Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Kees Bakels – Rimsky-Korsakov: Orchestral Works (2007)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 05:00:26 minutes | 2,21 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS Records
Two recent collections of Russian orchestral music – the Symphonies of Glazunov (BIS-CD-1663/64) and of Rachmaninov (BIS-CD-1665/66) – are here followed by a boxed 4-disc set of orchestral works by Rimsky-Korsakov. The recordings were all made between 2000 and 2002 with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra under their founding principal conductor Kees Bakels, and received much praise at the time of their original releases. The generous selection, at a very advantageous price, contains the composer’s ‘greatest hits’ – the rendition of Sheherazade was called ‘a particular joy’ by International Record Review – as well as the less commonly-heard three symphonies, in performances which to the reviewer of web site Classics Today proved ‘the Malaysian Philharmonic members fully immersed in the composer’s unique sound world.’ Another rarity is the Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, in which eminent pianist Noriko Ogawa makes an appearance.
The collection also includes a broad sample of the music for the theatre, a field in which Rimsky-Korsakov had some of his greatest successes. Indeed, the disc particularly dedicated to the theatre music caused particular joy to the reviewer on the web site klassik.com who claimed that the performers ‘painted the imaginary musical canvas with a truly wonderful array of highly sophisticated colours’. Besides praising the orchestra and conductor, most reviewers found cause to commend the sound quality of the recordings, as here, on Classics Today: ‘The brilliance and realism are simply breathtaking, with a full dynamic range, ideal depth and breadth of soundstage, firm bass, open highs, and a panoramic splendor unrivaled on disc.
Liza Ferschtman, Het Gelders Orkest, Kees Bakels – Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, Op. 64 / String Octet, Op. 20 (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/352,8 kHz | Time – 58:17 minutes | 2,98 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Challenge Records
Liza Ferschtman:….slowly, as my musical path kept unfolding, I got to the point where more and more I was able to let go of my preconceived notions about the Violin Concerto and more clearly start to see and hear my own voice in it. Over the years I got to know so much more music by Mendelssohn, from the inside out, and I felt the language become more fully my own. When working with Kees Bakels on it a couple of years ago things started to really fall into place, and last May when performing it with the Arnhem Philharmonic I really was all of a sudden struck by a distinct feeling that I can only describe as falling in love all over again with this magical piece. Certain details in the score seemed to appear completely new to me and the idea of approaching the work with the same collaborative energy as in chamber music made me experience it completely afresh. The combination of passion, grand emotions and at the same time lightness and elegance, such characteristic traits for Mendelssohn, fell completely into place. To feel this way about such a familiar piece was revelatory and I knew I wanted to share these discoveries, if you like, with many more people.
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Liza Ferschtman, Het Gelders Orkest, Kees Bakels – Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, Op. 64 / String Octet, Op. 20 (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 58:17 minutes | 1,80 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Challenge Classics
One of the leading Dutch violinists, Liza Ferschtman is especially known for her passionate performances, and here she pairs Mendelssohn’s famous masterpieces – the Violin Concerto and Octet for strings – in lively and highly communicative accounts.
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Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Granada City Orchestra, Kees Bakels – Lalo: Works for Violin and Orchestra (2009)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:09:39 minutes | 630 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
In 1878 Édouard Lalo wrote to the Spanish violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate: ‘Your arrival in my life has been my greatest artistic opportunity… without you, I would have continued to write insignificant odds and ends’. The three works gathered here all spring from this arrival, beginning with the Violin Concerto, composed in 1873. The melodious and charming concerto held a great significance for the composer, who regarded it as his first work truly worthy of the name. In the eye of the public it was soon to be overshadowed, however. The première of Symphonie espagnole, in 1875, was followed by performances all over Europe, always in the expert hands of Sarasate. Neither a symphony nor a concerto, it is rather a five-movement suite in which the soloist and orchestra converse as equal partners. First in a long line of Spanish-themed works by French composers (including Bizet’s Carmen, Chabrier’s España, Debussy’s Iberia and Ravel’s Rhapsodie espagnole), it may be regarded as a composer’s tribute to his violinist’s country of origin. Three years later the Scandinavian accents of Fantaisie norvégienne were possibly the result of an encounter with the Norwegian composer and violinist Johan Svendsen. There is no doubt that Lalo was once more composing with Sarasate in mind, however. He wrote to the violinist: ‘I believe that I have succeeded in being amusing without being common… Feel free to add violinistic devilishness if you like.’ Whatever liberties Sarasate may have taken with the solo part, the première, conducted by Max Bruch, was again a great success. So great, in fact, that Lalo soon transformed it into a purely orchestral work, without soloist, giving it the title Rapsodie norvégienne. Standing in for Sarasate on the present disc is Jean-Jaques Kantorow, whose recording (on BIS-CD-1470) of Saint-Saëns’ Third Violin Concerto – incidentally another work dedicated to Sarasate! – was nominated for both a Gramophone Award and a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2008. Here he receives fine support from the conductor Kees Bakels, his collaborator on the Saint-Saëns disc, and the Granada City Orchestra, of which he himself was the artistic director during the years 2004-2008.
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