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Saturday, May 26, 2018

Samuel Barber - Violin Concertos; Piano Concerto (Isaac Stern; John Browning)


Information

Composer: Samuel Barber
  1. Violin Concerto, Op. 14: I. Adagio
  2. Violin Concerto, Op. 14: II. Andante
  3. Violin Concerto, Op. 14: III. Presto in moto
  4. Piano Concerto, Op. 38: I. Allegro appassionato
  5. Piano Concerto, Op. 38: II. Canzone. Moderato
  6. Piano Concerto, Op. 38: III. Allegro molto
  7. Adagio for String, Op. 11
  8. Second Essay for Orchestra, Op. 17
  9. Overture to The School for Scandal, Op. 5

(1-3) Isaac Stern, violin
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein, conductor

(4-6) John Browning, piano
Cleveland Orchestra
George Szell, conductor

Philadelphia Orchestra, cond. Eugene Ormandy (7)
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Thomas Schippers (8, 9)

Date: 1957-1965
Label: Sony Classical


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Review

Is there anyone who doesn’t have this classic concerto coupling (emails to the editor please)? Though they were recorded in the same year, 1964, the Violin and Piano concertos were issued separately and it was not until later that they became harnessed together, in which form many will have first encountered them, either on the classic CBS LP or subsequent reissues. This latest Sony Classical is a straight reissue of SMK60004, which came out c1998 and I don’t think it necessary to detain you long with the plaudits.

The Concerto is the classic Stern/Bernstein. Short of digging up Albert Spalding to reprise his premiere performance I’ve never wavered in my admiration for this disc, close-up CBS sound or not. It’s true that the dynamic ranges are not helped by the production, that the expressive pianissimi never quite register as they should, but that’s a small price to pay for the drive and drama of the opening movement and the double basses’ succulent theme at 5.40, Stern’s exceptional eloquence and touching soaring cantilena, and his leonine explosivity and bravura in the finale et al. Incidentally I’m not quite sure if Julian Haylock’s notes reprise those for the previous issue or if they were written specifically for this one, but surely an old fiddle fancier like Haylock knows the identity by now of the young violinist who commissioned the work and whose "identity remains something of a mystery"? Not to me – it was the presumptuous Iso Briselli, who has long since atoned via his charitable work in Philadelphia.

The Piano Concerto clearly has less of a hold on the public’s attentions, as is reflected in the volume of recordings and performances. This is the earlier of Browning’s two recordings and in terms of drive, power, concision and strength demonstrably, I think, the finer (the other was the 1991 RCA St Louis/Slatkin). Szell’s forces are more energised and Browning makes that much a convincing case for the solo part in 1964. This is not to imply technical or other concessions in the 1991 recording, or that Slatkin is any way flabby or negligent, rather that Szell is on frequently invincible form. It’s also fair to say that the sound accorded the Piano Concerto is slightly more amenable than that for its companion.

I’d hardly call the other works ‘fillers’; the Essay for Orchestra is the famous Schippers disc recorded in New York and sounding very well here. An incisive and powerful piece, though not superior to the first Essay (which you should try to catch in Ormandy’s Philadelphia recording) few recordings can match this one, nor the fizzy School for Scandal overture. The Adagio for Strings comes from the aforementioned forces of Ormandy and the Philadelphians. I’d not heard it in a long while and was prepared for a wallow – which shows how you should never prejudge things, because there’s noble expression quite without specious swellings and underlinings and a sense of free-flowing lyricism that stands as an admirable rebuke to more self-indulgent practitioners of the art.

This is self-evidently a disc that needs little more encomia from me – an Essential Classic that preserves performances of outstanding commitment and understanding.

-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Barber_stern_87948.htm
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/barber-orchestral-works-1
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/s/sny60004a.php
http://www.allmusic.com/album/samuel-barber-piano-concerto-violin-concerto-adagio-for-strings-etc-mw0001855573
http://www.amazon.com/Barber-Violin-Concerto-Adagio-Strings/dp/B00292BYQG

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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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Isaac Stern (21 July 1920 – 22 September 2001) was an American violinist. In 1951, he became the first American violinist to tour the Soviet Union. Stern was renowned both for his recordings and for championing certain younger players, such as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman. He has recorded concertos by Brahms, Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi and modern works by Barber, Bartók, Stravinsky, Bernstein, Rochberg, and Dutilleux. Stern's favorite instrument was the Ysaÿe Guarnerius. His collection of instruments, bows and musical ephemera was sold for over $3.3M in 2001.

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John Browning (May 23, 1933 – January 26, 2003) was an American pianist known for his collaboration with Samuel Barber. Browning studied at the Juilliard School in New York with Rosina Lhévinne. In 1962 he gave the premiere of Samuel Barber's Pulitzer Prize-winning Piano Concerto, which was written for him. Browning is remembered for his penetrating, intellectual interpretations of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Scarlatti, among others, and for his many recordings of the works of these and other composers. Browning recorded for RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Capitol Records, Delos and MusicMasters Records.

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