Delos Diary

Another valued Delos recording artist has passed away. Malcolm Hamilton, one of Southern California's favorite and most accomplished harpsichordists, died on Monday, November 10, at the age of 70. Although semi-retired for a number of years, Malcolm had recently resumed his performing career with considerable success. Those who knew him as an artist, teacher and friend can testify to his warm humanity, love of life and musical vitality. No harpsichordist of his generation excelled Malcolm in the baroque literature he knew so well and played so persuasively.
Examples of Malcolm Hamilton's art can be heard and enjoyed on Delos DE 1001 — Malcolm Hamilton - Scarlatti Sonatas / Handel Suite No. 7 & Chaconne No. 1, and searched out in the harpsichord solos and continuos on DE 3222 — Mozart TV. Here, in his stylish takeoffs on Vivaldi, Handel and Purcell, Malcolm's tongue-in-cheek contributions add a veneer of legitimacy to a project fraught with possible pitfalls.

Delos Diary

Beware all classical music lovers who play their favorite CDs in their cars at maximum volume. A news report in the Miami Herald details a recent relevant court case. A Miami man who violated a county noise ordinance by blasting his car radio in South Beach was judged guilty and given a choice of sentence. He could either pay a $456 misdemeanor fine or sit quietly in chambers and listen to a complete recording of La Bohème* — all 113 minutes and 35 seconds — in silence. This may have been misery for the guilty party, but it sounds like a pretty pleasant way to escape punishment to me. But there is a "what if."
What if I were caught by a zealous sheriff while blasting Strauss' Alpine Symphony or Respighi's Pines of Rome on my car CD player? In Miami I could be accused of violating the same ordinance as the man mentioned above. I might be assigned to a youngish judge brought up on Rap or Heavy Metal. He might sentence me, God forbid, to listen quietly to two hours of Tupac or Metallica. I'd never survive. I promise to monitor my volume control forevermore.

*(p.s.: The Bohème recording mentioned above was the recent one featuring Andrea Bocelli as Rodolfo. According to most reviews we've read, a dedicated opera fan might classify listening to this version as "extreme punishment" and prefer to pay the $456 cash fine.)

Delos Diary

The first thing I do on receiving a new copy of Opera News is scan articles, reviews and advertisements for any mention of current Delos recording artists. One item of interest caught my eye in the current December 2003 issue. The Concert Association of Florida is presenting a semi-staged concert version of Bellini's Norma as an Opera Gala in Miami Beach on Friday, January 16, 2004 and in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, January 20, 2004. The casting looks very promising with Maria Guleghina as Norma, Salvatore Licitra as Pollione and our own Marina Domashenko as Adalgisa. Those of you who know her Delos recordings and are anywhere near the venues mentioned should make haste to hear Marina's wonderful voice in this demanding role. With Marina's good looks it should be easy to believe in Pollione's infatuation. Maria Guleghina is also an attractive diva, so sparks should fly! Lucky (or should I say unlucky) Licitra who has to choose between the two beauties. Marina's Delos recordings are on DE 3285, Marina Domashenko sings mezzo-soprano arias, and DE 3289, Queen of Spades - Great Scenes.

Delos Diary

Saturday evening, November 15 2003, was a night to remember for the fortunate several hundred vocal aficionados who attended the Ewa Podles' recital in Sherwood Auditorium, La Jolla.
Originally scheduled for the end of last season's San Diego Opera series, the recital was postponed because of serious injuries Ewa Podles' sustained in an automobile accident last May as she was leaving a recital engagement in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Any unfortunate consequences of that incident were certainly not visible last Saturday night. Madame Podles' not only sang gloriously, but looked radiant. The legendary "force of nature" was definitely in full force, once more.
Accompanied sensitively at the piano by her frequent collaborator Ania Marchwinska, Ewa Podles' blazed through a widely varied program of Vivaldi, Rossini, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff. On full display was the gorgeous Podles' velvety contralto voice with its amazing ability to cope with all the virtuosic coloratura challenges either Vivaldi or Rossini could dream up. In the Chopin and Rachmaninoff selections, other facets of her talent dominated. Her rich identification with the emotional content of each song and her intensity in projecting every word of the texts made for a cumulative impact not often felt at any recital. The only two singers in my own experience who shared this wonderful ability to connect so directly with their audiences were Lotte Lehmann and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, both very different artists but both mistresses of their art. One felt that if Ewa were not a great singer she could be a great actress. No recording can give you the full effect of this artist's presence. A well-produced DVD with lots of close-ups might come near.
By the end of the evening the audience was in near ecstacy, standing and brava-ing. Ewa sang two encores, both delivered as freshly and exuberantly as if it were the beginning of the evening. After a rousing "Cruda sorte!" from Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri (a Marilyn Horne specialty), she concluded with Rossini's enchanting "Canzonetta spagnuola" (a Cecilia Bartoli specialty). Needless to say, she held own against all past and present competitors.
Thus far Delos is privileged to offer two CDs, both outstanding examples of Podles' art: Ewa Podles' - Handel Arias from Rinaldo and Orlando (DE 3253) and Ewa Podles' - Russian Arias (DE 3298).
Let's hope there will soon be more to follow.

Delos Diary

Not all the news we bring you is happy. We just recently learned that esteemed organist Catharine Crozier passed away last September 19th at the age of 89. She had hoped to celebrate her 90th birthday this coming January 18th, but one of her final statements was, "I just can't wait."
Lovers of great organ playing will have to wait a long time to hear her equal in the organ literature she loved best — 19th century romantic and 20th century contemporary.
Most recently Catharine Crozier was organist-in-residence at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, site of the Opus 11 Rosales Organ we spoke of in a diary entry just the other day.
The New York Times said of her "…an honored veteran among organ players [who] can still run rings around much of her younger competition, not only in interpretive style but in sheer technique as well."
Catharine Crozier's artistry is well represented on five Delos recordings. Most recent is her recording Great Organ Works of Cesar Franck (DE 3272). I was completely seduced by her playing of the Prelude, Fugue and Variations, Op. 18 … a spiritual epitaph for her if there ever was one. Other available CDs include Things Visible and Invisible … Messaien, Langlais, Alain (DE 3147); Catharine Crozier at Grace Cathedral - Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt and Reubke (DE 3090); Catharine Crozier plays Organ Music of Leo Sowerby (DE 3075); and Organ Works by Ned Rorem (DE 3076).

Delos Diary

One of Delos' most distinguished recording artists has reentered the live performance arena after months of involuntary absence. The great Polish contralto Ewa Podles' was severely injured last May 2003 when the car taking her to the airport from a recital in Santa Fe was involved in a collision.
After a long period of healing and recuperation she is again concertizing and very successfully judging from recent reviews. Just a few days ago she sang in a recital at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. The Chronicle reviewer, Joshua Kosman, seemed mesmerized by her "gloriously outsize brand of vocalism" and bestowed lavish praise on her entire program which, in typical Podles' fashion, ranged from the dramatic coloratura of Vivaldi and Rossini to the romantic warmth of songs by Polish composer Stanislaw Moniuszko and a set by Sergei Rachmaninov.
We plan to be present at her recital in La Jolla this Saturday evening, November 15th, and will report on it soon after.
If you're not lucky enough to be able to attend a "live" recital by this "force of nature," Delos can offer you two spectacular CDs which give fine examples of what the excitement is all about: Ewa Podles' - Handel Arias from Rinaldo and Orlando (DE 3253) and Ewa Podles' - Russian Arias (DE 3298).

Delos Diary

Halloween has passed and we're well into the month of November with the holiday season just ahead. Movie theaters are still showing lots of "scary" films replete with phantoms, ghosts, goblins, murderers and assorted terrors of the kind young moviegoers associate with autumn releases. A little late I have searched the Delos catalog for recordings which contain "scary" themes or musical narratives which might make ideal listening during this season or for next Halloween.
Three come to mind immediately. Two of the three feature Zdenek Macal, the New Jersey Symphony and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. The first, appropriately titled Heaven and Hell, Macal Conducts Mussorgsky (DE 3217) starts off with The Dream of Peasant Gritzko, the original choral and orchestral version of Night on Bald Mountain, with enough ghosts, devils and goblins to satisfy anyone.
The second, Dvoràk's Spectre's Bride (DE 3314), is even more macabre. Macal, the New Jersey Symphony and Westminster Symphonic Choir (plus three soloists) lead us on a wild and adventurous journey in which a dead warrior seeks to persuade his prospective bride to join him in a graveyard marriage. She escapes just in time, leaving shards of her bridal garments scattered among the tombstones.
Most eery of all are the Mussorgsky (him again!) Songs and Dances of Death sung by Ewa Podles' in her album of Russian Arias (DE 3298). In four masterful songs, Death appears as an overwhelming presence: singing a deadly lullaby to a sick child; a fatal serenade to a lovesick maiden; a ghostly trepak to a drunken, freezing peasant; and a triumphant proclamation of victory to dead warriors on a battlefield. The total effect is shattering.
Any of these discs will enable you to spend a pleasantly grisly evening in relative safety, even though you might not want to go into the next room until the lights are turned on.

Delos Diary

About two and a half months ago I began an item with the words, "We never delete a recording, well almost never." I then proceeded to list seven Delos CDs of various vintages which I thought outstanding and which I believed had retained their validity as musical statements. I concluded with the words, "More choices later."
Consider this later.

Portraits of Freedom: Great American Music in Praise of Freedom with James Earl Jones, speaker, and Gerard Schwarz conducting the Seattle Symphony (DE 3140).
The text of Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait has been declaimed by everyone from Eleanor Roosevelt to Mickey Mouse, but never more eloquently than by James Earl Jones. One hearing will turn the most diehard cynic into a rabid patriot.

L.A. Guitar Quartet - Dances from Renaissance to Nutcracker (DE 3132).
The first of this group's breakthrough albums with guitar ensemble playing as good as it gets. The Nutcracker Suite arrangement is enchanting.

Tchakovsky Symphony No. 5 - Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra (DE 3015).
Ormandy's final recording of this work, one of his favorites, with the great orchestra he had nurtured for so many years, is a must-hear version and a testament to the talents of this great conductor of the recent past.

Mozart Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet - David Shifrin, Gerard Schwarz, Mostly Mozart Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest (DE 3020).
Delos' Perennial best-seller in which Shifrin's artistry and sheer virtuosity in these works has never been surpassed.

Once again I conclude, "More choices later."

Delos Diary

News has filtered through that Neeme Jarvi, most recently conductor of the Detroit Symphony, has been designated to succeed Zdenek Macal as music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Good news for the NJSO; we'll have to see what happens in Detroit.
Although it has had a long and distinguished history under conductors ranging from Ossip Gabrilowitsch to Paul Paray, the Detroit Symphony seems to attract less national attention than some others, perhaps reflecting the unsettled conditions in the city it serves. Occasionally, and usually late in the evening, I catch a Detroit Symphony broadcast taped at a live concert syndicated though NPR stations. The MC has usually been Dick Cavett and the principal sponsor General Motors. The orchestra sounds good and we wish them well.
As for New Jersey, Maestro Jarvi will be faced with a new group, an extensive concert schedule playing all over the state, and a string section recently gifted with a lot of superlative string instruments. In his long and distinguished career Jarvi had recorded virtually every standard piece in the concert repertoire with many orchestras in Europe and America. It will be interesting to see what he intends to do with his new band. We'll keep you posted!