Samuel Barber - Capricorn Concerto; etc. (Marin Alsop)

Information

Composer: Samuel Barber

1. Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21: I. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21: II. Allegretto
3. Capricorn Concerto, Op. 21: III. Allegro con brio
4. A Hand of Bridge, Op. 5
5. Mutations from Bach
6. Intermezzo from Vanessa, Op. 32
7. Canzonetta for oboe and strings, Op. 48 posth.
8. Fadograph of a Yestern Scene, Op. 44

Stéphane Rancourt, oboe
John Gracie, trumpet
Karen Jones, flute

Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor

Date: 2004
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559135

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Review

This fine series ends with a rival to the Adagio, and the opera is a charmer

This final volume of Barber’s orchestral works on Naxos sorts through souvenirs from Barber’s life. The scintillating neo-classical Capricorn Concerto – in a sparkling performance – is named after the house he shared with Menotti; the Intermezzo comes from the more successful of his two grand operas; the 10-minute mini-opera A Hand of Bridge is full of witty jokes for Menotti and his Spoleto Festival audience; and the Fadograph and Canzonetta reflect the composer’s declining years.

The Canzonetta was barely finished in short score at Barber’s death and his friend Charles Turner scored it with complete sympathy. It’s a reflective, elegiac piece recalling Elgar or late Strauss, admirably served here by the truly resplendent tone of oboist Stéphane Rancourt, the RSNO principal. In a performance like this the Canzonetta could become as popular as the famous Adagio. The neglected Fadograph is another retrospective piece, richly gloomy since Barber and Menotti had parted and ‘Capricorn’ was to be sold. But Barber was consistent in his expression of this mood, as the Intermezzo shows.

Mutations from Bach is an imposing arrangement for brass of various versions of a plainsong and A Hand of Bridge is a cynical scenario about two married couples as they play bridge. The stages in the game are indicated but the characters also fantasise – one wife dreams of buying a fancy hat while her husband is lusting after someone else. The performance is neat and the singers are convincing. Their diction is good but it would have been an asset if the libretto had been provided. And in the booklet-notes, the dates of works are usually missing. The recording is adequate but shrill at times.

-- Peter Dickinson, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: ***
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Nov04/Barber_capricorn_concerto.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/dec04/Barber_capricorn_Alsop.htm
https://www.allmusic.com/album/barber-capricorn-concerto-a-hand-of-bridge-intermezzo-from-vanessa-mw0001843430
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.559135&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Barber-Capricorn-Concerto-Intermezzo-Vanessa/dp/B000675OJ4

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Samuel Barber (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. He is one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. His Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: for his opera Vanessa (1956–57) and for the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1962). Also widely performed is his Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), a setting for soprano and orchestra of a prose text by James Agee. At the time of his death, nearly all of his compositions had been recorded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Barber

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Marin Alsop (born October 16, 1956 in New York) is an American conductor and violinist. She was educated at the Yale University and the Juilliard School. She was Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth SO (2002-2008), is currently music director of the Baltimore SO (since 2017) and the São Paulo State SO (since 2012), and chief conductor designate of the Vienna Radio SO. Highlights of Alsop’s recording collaboration with Naxos include a selection of works by Barber, several discs of music by Bernstein, a series of recordings of Dvořák and a Brahms symphony cycle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_Alsop

http://www.marinalsop.com/

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