Beethoven Cello Sonatas Volume One

Philadelphia Inquirer
11/26/06
New Recordings

Beethoven
Cello Sonatas (Op. 5, No. 1-2, and Op. 69)
Zuill Bailey, cello
Simone Dinnerstein, piano

(Delos ****)

There's the sign of a promising Beethoven cello sonata cycle when the early works don't make you want to skip to the later ones. So it is in this first in a two-volume set of Beethoven cello/piano works - partly because Zuill Bailey and Simone Dinnerstein are able to access the music's youthful energy, partly because the performers have true charisma in their surface sound and a hyper-alert way with a phrase.

And once you do get to the great Op. 69 cello sonata, Bailey and Dinnerstein show themselves to be one of the most fascinating chamber-music duos anywhere, in performances that are practically bursting with heart and soul. They take chances at every turn, with results that consistently take you deeper into the music. Those who have heard Dinnerstein's local concerts, sponsored by Astral Artistic Services, could mistake her for having a miniaturist's temperament. Not here. Sound and gestures are big; the vision is even bigger.

— David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer

Moscow Chamber Orchestra's Magical Woods

Washington Post
Monday, October 10, 2005; C09

There was celebration aplenty Friday night at the Barns at Wolf Trap: The Moscow Chamber Orchestra is marking its 50th season, the Barns its 25th.

The 17-member MCO retains almost the precision of a well-drilled string quartet. Yet it sounded as resonant as a much larger ensemble, thanks to the acoustics of Wolf Trap's 1731 barn-turned-concert-hall. Conductor Constantine Orbelian brightened the evening immediately with Grieg's "Holberg Suite," which featured warm sound, unusually clear pizzicati and especially fine cello playing.

Principal cellist Alexander Zagorinsky brought great warmth and richness of tone to Tchaikovsky's Pezzo Capriccioso in B Minor, handling its dramatic opening and difficult scurrying runs with equal ease.

Shostakovich's anguished Chamber Symphony in C Minor, an arrangement of his String Quartet No. 8 by MCO founder Rudolf Barshai, darkened the mood considerably. This is taut, dour music, filled with self-quotations and bits of Wagner and Tchaikovsky -- assembled as autobiography, not pastiche. The MCO's precise playing perfectly suited this compressed, angular work.

Barshai's arrangement of Prokofiev's five pianotrifles, "Visions Fugitives," opened the second half with fine ensemble work and more excellent pizzicati. Then came an amazingly lush Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings. The waltz was played with wonderful lilt and delicacy, the cellos' sound had the richness of melted butter in the "Elegie," and the precision of the speedy finale was remarkable. It was as if there were magic in the wood -- both the wood of the instruments and that of the Barns.

-- Mark J. Estren

Galina Gorchakova and Moscow Chamber Orchestra

Constantine Orbelian, conductor
October 6, 2005 • George Weston Recital Hall • Toronto

Alive Music in Weston Recital Hall
by Stanley Fefferman
The Live Music Report.com

The 'Prelude' opening Grieg's Holberg Suite is sweetly lyrical with some hoppy and swirly bits and, like a lot of Grieg's music, has a grand anthemic sweep. The Moscow Chamber Orchestra, conducted barehanded by Maestro Constantine Orbelian, let the dynamics flow responsively between the delicate and firmer tones, setting a standard for impeccability that never faltered during the evening.

The succeeding 'Sarabande' gave a different kind of pleasure with the swelling strings propelled by the throbbing bass; the 'Gavot', oh so familiar as the theme of some CBC Radio show, is a catchy tune. This was followed by the gorgeous 'Aria', slow and stately, sailing by like a flock of swans on a moonlit lake. Although no faults had registered in my ear thus far, by the closing 'Rigadon, that fling-like dance, the orchestra had warmed up and seemed to be breathing like a single creature creating lots of breathing space for the audience.

Enter Galina Gorchakova, a creamy, statuesque brunette, sheathed in black velvet and extravagantly draped in purple raw silk. This legendary dramatic soprano from Valery Gergiev's Kirov Opera began her performance with Rubenstien’s "The Night", the rich, heavily coloured tones of her voice, full of power, yet somehow conveying intimacy as well.

Her song, Glinka’s "Ya Zdes Inezilla," a lively arioso-serenade in bolero style portraying a Russian Don Juan allowed Gorchakova to convey shifting attitudes of seduction, bravado, energy, and a bit of satire. The rest of her program consisted of three songs by Rachmaninoff, very Russian, very emotional. Her interpretation of his "Spring Waters", sounding kind of Broadway, brought the largely Russian crowd to its feet.

Maestro Orbelian, a warm but contained man who resembles Rob Reiner, kissed Gorchakova’s cheeks and hand, the concertmaster kissed her hand, she gave two encores, and after a brief intermission, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra showed it's virtuosity and passion in performances of Prokofiev’s "Visions Fugitives," and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, Op. 48.

Orbelian’s ace, in my opinion, is his power to maintain a sense of delicacy in the midst of ecstatic flights, as in the Walzer movement of the "Serenade," a waltz which, by the way, outStrausses Strauss. One instance of Orbelian's control of occurs towards the end of the "Elegie" movement where he arrests a robust passage with infinite gradations of tone till it lands on a silence like a butterfly.

The pleasure to be had from such a world-class ensemble rekindles a sense of optimism about just being alive. You could see that in the audience streaming out of the hall towards their transportation. We have Show One productions and producer Svetlana Dvoretskaia to thank for this.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky at Carnegie Hall

Here are a few excerpts from what can properly be called a rave review in the March 21, 2005 issue of the New York Times by Anthony Tommasini, following Delos artist Dmitri Hvorostovsky's March 18, 2005 recital at Carnegie Hall:

"…the splendid recital at Carnegie Hall on Friday night by the Siberian-born baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky…was a reminder that for some artists being a Russian singer really means something.
"… in sets of Russian songs by Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff, the charismatic Mr. Hvorostovsky sang peerlessly, bringing to his performances an authoritative feeling for the style, a deep sense of culture and an instinctive ability to match vocal and linguistic colorings.
"…the high point was the performance of Mussorgsky's "Songs and Dances of Death." … Mr. Hvorostovsky was lost to himself, caught up in every moment of the music and the stories, singing with such conversational power that you would have thought he was speaking.
"…with his final encore, he was back on message, singing a hauntingly beautiful solo performance of a soulful Russian folk song. He didn't say what it was or what it was about. It didn't matter."

Shanghai Quartet's ChinaSong

MusicWeb has a nice review of ChinaSong, the Shanghai Quartet's last release. Here's an excerpt:

It should have been obvious all along that folksongs tend to be folksongs wherever encountered, and the human desire to sing beautiful tunes should be, and is, a universal. Beautiful songs is what we have here…

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Eva Podles' Russian Arias Review

Music & Vision has an in-depth review of the great contralto's latest CD -- Russian Arias. Here's an excerpt:

'The Young Maiden's Song' describes the musings of a girl walking among the corpses lying on a battle field. Podles handles this emotional situation with great vocal intensity and gives a spirited interpretation to the words of this young woman who announces her decision to marry a man of courage and valor rather than one who is merely handsome.

Complete review
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Paul Shoemaker Reviews ChinaSong

If you're not aware of this wonderful recording, check out Paul Shoemaker's review on MusicWeb and please listen to some musical excerpts! You'll be glad you did.

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Tony Duggan Reviews Litton's Mahler 10th

Tony Duggan has a interesting review of this new release at the "Music Web" site. You'll read a very in-depth discussion of the merits or lack thereof of the Carpenter version of this symphony.

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Paul Shoemaker Reviews Kotova

Paul Shoemaker of LudwigVanWeb.com has written a very nice review of cellist Nina Kotova's latest recording:

Nina Kotova is the most beautiful cellist in the world, and, simply, she is also the finest cellist I have ever heard. She has the rich depth of tone of Starker, the intelligence and variety of phrasing of Rostropovich, and, even when compared to Casals, does not come up short on power of expression. She achieves cantorial sadness and ecstasy in Schelomo and the Prayer equal to anything I have heard in any other recording...

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