This document provides a summary of a recording of violin and piano works by Canadian composer Oskar Morawetz. It discusses that Morawetz's pieces, written over 40 years, are consistent in quality and character, with a modern romantic style informed by deep emotion. While the pieces may lack some melodic distinction and variety, the composer's craftsmanship and feeling are praised. The sensitive performances by Jasper Wood and David Riley are said to bring out the nuances and excitement in the music. The reviewer finds the pieces more satisfying each time heard.

1. where else—in his case, Czechoslovakia.
Though continuing to write in an out-of-fash-
ion tonal idiom after immigrating in 1940, he
gradually gained recognition, and a fair num-
ber of his pieces eventually came out on LP
and then CD. Glenn Gould recorded his Fanta-
sy in D minor, and the CBC label issued many
of his sonatas, quartets, concertos, and vocal
works. Currently available on CD are his Sec-
ond Quartet on Centrediscs 6600 (Nov/Dec
2000, p 261), his Fifth Quartet, Harp Concerto,
and Piano Suite on a two-disc set, Centrediscs
8702, and a program of orchestral and cham-
ber pieces on CBC 2027 (Mar/Apr 2003).
All of this music has earned respectful
notice from ARG’s reviewers (including me), as
does this new, nicely recorded compendium of
his complete works for violin and piano. Writ-
ten over the course of 40 years, these pieces
are nevertheless quite consistent in quality
and character: serious, thoughtful, well-made,
modern-romantic, informed by deep but never
excessive emotion. They sound rather like
Bloch minus the Hebraic and exotic elements,
making for a somewhat severe surface that
only gradually reveals its nuances, though
there’s plenty of excitement and drive in the
restless allegros (as in the brilliant finale of
Sonata 3). Whether what they lack in melodic
distinction and timbral variety is compensated
for by the composer’s conscientious crafts-
manship and authentic feeling will depend on
the listener’s aesthetic preferences—and will
decide if Morawetz is given not only respectful
notice, but also the love that Jasper Wood and
David Riley have generously poured into their
sensitive and well-judged performances of his
music. I find these pieces more satisfying each
time I hear them.
LEHMAN
MOSCHELES: Cello Sonata in E; 10 WTC
Preludes with cello
Ramon Jaffe; Elisaveta Blumina, p
Oehms 544—61 minutes
In September/October 2006 I reviewed a fine
recording of this sonata by Jiri Barta and
Hamish Milne on Hyperion 67521 coupled
with three of the Well-Tempered Clavier
arrangements and the Hummel sonata. I liked
the Bach arrangements so much that I put in a
request for the rest of them and the other
Moscheles sonata. Well, just in time for Christ-
mas, here is half of my wish granted. The
sonata is the one heard before, and none the
worse for wear, and the Bach arrangements are
quite fascinating.
The originals are altered considerably by
Moscheles. You would hardly recognize the
famous Book I:1 prelude; he has had much
more fun with it than Gounod did when he
turned it into his ‘Ave Maria’. The rhythms of
Book II:5 have been altered as well. So don’t
expect the expected and you may enjoy these
friendly improvisations as much as Moscheles
clearly enjoyed making them. The playing is
excellent and so is the music. This perfor-
mance has the advantage over the Hyperion of
giving us all 10 preludes.
D MOORE
MOUSSORGSKY: Pictures; see Collections
MOZART: Abduction from the Seraglio
Lois Marshall (Konstanze), Ilse Hollweg (Blonde),
Leopold Simoneau (Belmonte), Gerhard Unger
(Pedrillo), Gottlob Frick (Osmin); Beecham
Choral Society, Royal Philharmonic/ Thomas
Beecham—EMI 93261 [2CD] 146 minutes
This reissue of what our Mozart Overview (J/F
2002) called Beecham’s “most loved record-
ing” is very welcome indeed. It dates from
1956, but the reprocessed sound is quite
acceptable. Sir Thomas was one of the best
Mozart conductors of his time, and this per-
formance shows you why. His reading of the
brilliant overture is elegant but also bubbly
and a bit boisterous (no harm in that) and
never boring. He paces the work very well and
offers fine support for his sometimes hard-
pressed singers. He has been criticized for re-
arranging Mozart’s sequence of arias, but the
two instances here are quite logical. Kon-
stanze’s ‘Martern aller Arten’, which usually
follows her ‘Traurigkeit’ aria, has been placed
just after Osmin’s famous ‘O, wie Will ich Tri-
umphieren’ where he threatens all kinds of
tortures (martern) on her. And, as an added
benefit, Konstanze doesn’t have to sing her
most difficult arias one after the other. Also,
Beecham replaced Belmonte’s ‘Ich Baue
Ganz’, originally in Act 3, with ‘Wenn der
Freude Tränen Fliessen’. I like both arias so I
am glad that Simoneau sings ‘Ich Baue Ganz’
as one of the fillers on CD 2. The other fillers
are Tamino’s ‘Bildnisarie’ (Magic Flute), Tito’s
‘Se all’imperio’ (Clemenza di Tito), and
Idomeneo’s ‘Torna la Pace al Core’. This
excellent lyric tenor is also heard in the con-
cert aria ‘Misero! O Sogno!...Aura, che
Intorno’, all performed with stylish elegance
and smooth, beautiful vocalism. Simoneau
was without a doubt the finest lyric tenor of
the time.
He was surely the best Belmonte, not
equalled until Wunderlich. Unfortunately, Lois
Marshall’s singing of Konstanze’s arias, while
competent, doesn’t have the brilliance and
bravura of her partner. It doesn’t show the
character’s spunky personality; it’s too bland.
One reason may be that Marshall’s stage expe-
rience was limited because she was partly par-
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2. alyzed by polio. Ilse Hollweg and Gerhard
Unger sing and play their roles very well, and
Gottlob Frick is a mean, not a comic Osmin—
an outstanding actor.
Hollweg and Unger are also heard in their
spoken dialog; for the others, German-speak-
ing actors are used. That only bothered me in
the case of Osmin—Frick himself would have
been better at it.
No texts, only a brief synopsis of each
track. Still recommended!
MOSES
MOZART: Concert Arias, all
Francine van den Heyden, Miranda van Kralin-
gen, Annemarie Kremer, Antonia Bourve, Maraile
Lichdi, Yuka Matsuoka Limacher, Anna Haase, s;
Marcel Reijans, t; Ezio Maria Tisi, b; European
Sinfonietta/ Ed Spanjaard; European Chamber
Orchestra/ Wilhelm Keitel; European Chamber
Soloists/ Nicol Matt
Brilliant 93408 [6CD] 330 minutes
The CD collector these days can acquire the
complete works of a composer (Bach, Mozart,
Beethoven) or a collection of a specific genre
(piano concertos, piano sonatas, cantatas, etc).
Brilliant has been active in such a publishing
scheme. And this sells for a good price as well.
This brings together all of Mozart’s concert
arias—arias written as substitutions in other
composer’s operas, substitutions in his own
operas, or as individual concert selections.
There are 49 of them.
They are divided here into logical group-
ings. Disc 1 has seven arias for soprano and
orchestra with Francine van der Heyden,
soprano, and the European Sinfonietta direct-
ed by Ed Spanjaard (50 minutes, recorded
August 2002 at the Nieuwe Kerk, The Hague).
These are the higher tessitura pieces and Hey-
den does well by them, with a delicate, bright,
tight voice. Disc 2 brings on Miranda van Krali-
hgen (65 minutes, same forces, venue, and
time) for nine of the lower register, more dra-
matic arias. Kralihgen pushes for the drama.
There is an uncomfortable feel to many of the
savagely attacked high notes. But when she
lightens up in the less dramatic pieces (‘Nehmt
menen Dank’) she sounds better. The accom-
paniments are solid, but not particularly
happy.
Disc 3 improves the accompanying situa-
tion to a considerable degree. Wilhelm Keitel
leads the European Chamber Orchestra with
much more brilliance and excitement. This
approach suits the eight arias for tenor and
orchestra very well (recorded June 2002 in
Bayreuth). Tenor Marcel Reijans sings with a
happy grit and grin; his voice is hard-edged—
no silk here—but he has lots of personality and
vitality. For ‘Misero! O Sogno’ he summons up
a fine degree of drama. In the brief ‘Clarice
Cara mia Sposa’ he gleefully races through the
patter song with all the agility of an Italian
buffo. He is joined in the selection by an
unidentified Italian basso buffo, who does not
get to patter—and is presumably Ezio Maria
Tisi, who will be heard on the next disc for
nine bass arias.
Tisi buffos with the best, but I would not
like to hear him as Sarastro. The merry (and
hardly known) ‘Ich Möchte Wohl den Kaiser
Sein’ is particularly well sung and jolly. Cym-
bals clash and rhythmic strings gaily bounce
along. Think Osmin in Abduction. ‘Per Questa
Bella Mano’ taxes his lower depths and his
pitch higher up. For a double aria (K 479-480—
really a scene) he is joined by Reijans, mezzo-
soprano Caroline Vitale, and bass Christian
Tchelebiev. Rounding out Disc 4 is the “big”
soprano recitative and aria ‘Popoli di Tes-
saglia’. Annemarie Kremer acquits herself well
enough, but with more than a bit of hard edge.
Keitel and the ECO continue their excellent
accompaniments.
For discs 5 and 6 Nicol Matt takes over
leading the ECO in more mellow accompani-
ments with a touch of period-instrument acid-
ity. Both discs are arias for soprano and
orchestra, but it’s impossible to tell which
soprano sings what. Disc 5 lists Antonia
Bourve, Maraile Lichdi, and Yuka Matsuoka
Limacher, with mezzo-soprano Anna Haase
joining in. Disc 6 has only Lichdi and Limach-
er. Under such circumstances I hate to point
the fickle finger of fate, but, having eliminated
the mezzo and Bourvé, who sound good, this
leaves Lichdi or Limacher as the weak link. I
think it may be Lichdi, if the women sing in the
order they are listed in the credits. Even so,
this is a good, representative collection of
Mozart’s concert arias. All of the texts in their
original language are included, but without
any translation.
PARSONS
MOZART: Don Giovanni
Roger Soyer (Giovanni), Antigone Sgourda (An-
na), Heather Harper (Elvira), Helen Donath (Zer-
lina), Geraint Evans (Leporello), Luigi Alva
(Ottavio); English Chamber Orchestra/ Daniel
Barenboim—EMI 93256 [2CD] 157 minutes
This is Don Giovanni for Dummies. The origi-
nal 1991 CD release of this 1975 performance
was of the entire show, but the back cover of
the present set has the following caveat: “Some
recitatives have been omitted in order to
accommodate this recording on two compact
discs.” One of the omissions is the entire
cemetery scene up to the Giovanni-Leporello
duet! Perhaps that’s all to the good, given Peter
Lagger’s tentative, unmenacing, woolly sound
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