It’s seldom that you see the words “bassoon” and “superstar” in the same sentence, but there you have it. Klaus Thunemann was internationally famous and a familiar presence to classical music radio listeners of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and beyond. Thunemann was principal bassoonist of the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra of Hamburg from 1962 to 1978, but it was a recording contract with Philips Records that gave him a world platform as he was partnered with Neville Marriner, Alfred Brendel, Heinz Holliger, and the chamber orchestra I Musici. His recordings for Philips and Deutsche Grammophon were guaranteed crowd-pleasers, and I played them fairly frequently on my morning radio shows. Against the monotony of endless new releases of “The Four Seasons,” Thunemann’s recordings of Vivaldi’s bassoon concertos were bracing, hypnotic, and amusing. Klaus Thunemann died on Friday at the age of 88. R.I.P.
Tag: Neville Marriner
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Neville Marriner’s Centennial Top 10 Recordings
In case you missed Saturday’s broadcast of “Sweetness and Light,” on which I celebrated the artistry and legacy of Sir Neville Marriner, today marks the centenary of the prolific English conductor’s birth.
With the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the chamber orchestra he founded in 1958, Marriner made over 500 recordings, most of the them for major labels, ensuring wide dissemination of his work. Ever-reliable, Marriner served up interpretively middle-of-the-road performances with elegance and polish. Occasionally, he would even surprise by turning out a world-beater.
At the time I first encountered so many of his recordings, I was just learning the repertoire, and they were being played all the time on the radio (before the internet, the most efficient way to expand one’s musical horizons). So for me there is an added patina of nostalgia surrounding his work for a Golden Age when all was light and love.
Here are 10 Neville Marriner recordings that have brought me joy. Keep in mind the images or record info I post pertains to the original albums. Much of the material has been reissued or repackaged over the years, often in greatly expanded programs. Great, as far as being able to hear and store more music, but there was an art back then to designing a concise album, in which all the elements complemented one another perfectly, so that there was a sense of balance, making for the optimal listening experience. I’d rather be served an exquisitely-planned 50-minute meal than belly-up to an 80-minute all-you-can-eat buffet.
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS – As far as I’m concerned, everything on this album is benchmark. Concertmaster Iona Brown in “The Lark Ascending” is unalloyed bliss, the “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” is transporting, and the “Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus” is transcendent.
GABRIEL FAURÉ – An enchanting blend of beauty and melancholy. “Masques et Bergamasques” may be my favorite (I actually prefer the “Pavane” in the version without chorus), but “Pelléas et Mélisande” is also achingly gorgeous. I could only find it posted as a YouTube playlist, so you’ll have to let the movements play through.
DAG WIRÉN – Serenade for Strings – From the first CD I ever purchased off a clearance rack. I remember being confused as to why it had been priced so low, as the industry treated CDs like they were gold back then. The Serenade is part of an all-Nordic program that also features music by Grieg, Nielsen, and Sibelius. Sometimes all music has to do is be pleasant to keep you smiling and sane. I would have loved had Sir Neville included Lars-Erik Larsson’s “Pastoral Suite.” But the disc is a winner, as is. Since someone posted the entire album as a single file, I’ve cued the music to the appropriate start time.
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN – Symphony No. 6 “Le Matin” – Marriner’s Haydn is full of grace and good humor. The Symphony No. 6 opens with a musical sunrise and seems to convey the cheer and promise of a new day. It’s part of an early trilogy of symphonies subtitled for the different day-parts. Even the evening storm in No. 8 is so pleasant. May all your days be as full of delight!
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL – Zadok the Priest – Benchmark! Especially for days when you are about to be coronated.
JOAQUIN RODRIGO – Concierto Andaluz – My favorite of Marriner’s recordings with members of Los Romeros, the “Royal Family of the Guitar.” Spanish music for four guitars and orchestra? Give it!
OTTORINO RESPIGHI – The Birds – You have a hard heart, sir or madam, if you cannot enjoy this. Marriner recorded it at least twice, but my allegiance is with the earlier release on EMI, with the “Three Botticelli Pictures.”
VICTOR HERBERT – Cello Concerto No. 2 – The concerto that’s said to have inspired Dvořák to undertake his own cello masterpiece. Lynn Harrell is the soloist. The companion pieces may require a little bit of a sweet-tooth – this is the same Herbert responsible for all those operettas your grandmother loved – but personally I find the whole disc a delight. The highlight for me is the second movement of this concerto.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART – Overtures – Whenever I needed a solid recording of a Mozart overture for radio broadcast, I knew I could count on Sir Neville. It’s not for nothing that he was hired as music director for the film “Amadeus.” He also recorded all the Mozart piano concertos with Alfred Brendel and contributed significantly to Philips Classics’ Complete Mozart Edition.
SIR WILLIAM WALTON – Marriner made a series of recordings for Chandos Records of the film music of William Walton. Some of them feature spoken contributions by venerable Shakespearean actors. The complete “Henry V” he did with Christopher Plummer is superb, but I also enjoy the charming suite he documented (on a separate CD, so I’m cheating) of Walton’s early score for “As You Like It.” Again, I could only find “Henry V” posted as a YouTube playlist, so you’ll have to let it play through and probably skip some ads.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kB3AXa2gS18AxjzY5uaoDcmMJXuXiE-Ok
I know, I’m a dinosaur; I still consume physical media. If you do too and you want the most bang for your buck, again, many of these albums have been expanded or repackaged over the years on compact disc. In whatever form, the important thing is the music. So if you’re curious, do try to experience these performances in whatever way you can.
Cumulatively, they’re the very thing to keep you sane, should you be one of those people (like me) who are always pulling out their hair to complete their tax forms by deadline and standing on line at the post office at 11:45 p.m.!
Happy 100th, Sir Neville Marriner, and thank you!
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Sir Neville Marriner A Centenary Celebration
Monday may be Tax Day, but much more pleasantly, it also happens to mark the centenary of Sir Neville Marriner, who was born on April 15, 1924.
This morning on “Sweetness and Light,” we’ll honor the prolific English conductor, who died peacefully in his sleep on October 2, 2016, three days after giving his last concert in Padua, Italy. The next day, he was scheduled to begin a tour of Austria, Germany, and Belgium, with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the orchestra he founded in 1958. At the time of his death, he was 92 years old.
Hardly gone, then, and certainly he left so many recordings, that he’ll continue to be remembered, with gratitude, for quite some time.
Under Marriner’s direction, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields became the most-recorded chamber orchestra in the world, the partnership yielding over 500 recordings.
Too many, obviously, to survey in an hour, so I’ll focus on four, which have meant a great deal to me, personally.
Marriner could always be counted on to deliver solid, interpretively, middle-of-the-road performances. Occasionally, he would even surprise by turning out a world-beater. He was the perfect choice to supervise the soundtrack for Milos Forman’s “Amadeus.” He was also a sensitive collaborator, in concerto and opera.
It seems there wasn’t much Marriner couldn’t accomplish in the studio, in the days when the major labels still dominated the classical music recording industry and, by extension, radio air time. Rare was the morning or afternoon drive that didn’t feature at least one recording by “Sir Neville and His Marriners,” as one host in the Philadelphia area memorably dubbed them.
There will be nothing taxing about the music this week, as we celebrate Sir Neville Marriner on “Sweetness and Light.” Start your day with a smile, this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 EDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Stream it, wherever you are, here:
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Vaughan Williams Special on WPRB
It’s still days away at this point, but I wanted to let you know that, because Yom Kippur falls on a Wednesday this year, I will be swapping mornings with Marvin Rosen next week at WPRB 103.3 FM. That means that Classical Discoveries will be heard on Thursday, from 5:30 to 11 a.m. EDT, and that Classic Ross Amico (who needs his beauty sleep) will muddle through on Wednesday from 6 to 11 a.m.
Since Wednesday happens to be October 12, the birthday of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and since Vaughan Williams happens to be one of my very favorite composers, the morning will be devoted to a good number of RVW gems and rarities from my own extensive collection. These will include historic recordings, some featuring the composer himself, archived radio broadcasts, and at least one LP that was issued in 1977, now long out-of-print, which to my knowledge has never been reissued in any form. If you love Vaughan Williams, have affection for English music, or hunger for curiosities, you will not want to miss this show!
Of course, I may be tossing in one or two favorites most everyone will recognize, in luminous performances from one of my favorite Vaughan Williams albums, in honor of the late Sir Neville Marriner, who died last week at the age of 92. But most of what you hear will be off the beaten path, of historic interest, or just plain beautiful and underexposed.
Eight hours after Marvin concludes his special edition of “Classical Discoveries,” WPRB will commence a week-long Autumn Membership Campaign, on Thursday night at 7:00. The station conducts one pledge drive per year, so this will be your only chance to step up and support the music. It’s a little-known fact that WPRB, though housed in the belly of Princeton University’s Bloomberg Hall, receives no funding from the university. The hosts are all volunteers, given just about complete artistic control over their programs, and the playlists are assembled with love, passion and personality.
If you care about classical music on WPRB, and in particular, if you like what I do on “Classic Ross Amico,” I hope you will consider taking your penny jar down to the financial institution of your choice and then pledging your commitment to thoughtful programming of unusual and neglected repertoire, all presented under the umbrella of vast, unwieldy themes.
Please call 609-258-1033 on the morning of October 20, between 6 and 11 a.m. to pledge your support of the show. It will be the last day of the drive, so don’t think that your pledge won’t make a difference! I expect it’s going to be a tough row to hoe, since by then everyone will have supported their favorite shows of the previous six days, including “Classical Discoveries” and “Sunday Morning Opera.” So set aside a bone for “Classic Ross Amico,” if you are able. Mentioning that you like what I do when you call in to support somebody else’s show is nice, but in the end, if you really want to send a message to anyone who is not answering the phones, it is the tallies that do the talking.
Do not think that $10 or $20 is not enough. Every little bit counts. But if you are able to pledge at a level of $45 or over, I will be happy to send you a very nice CD as a token of my thanks. All the CDs I will be offering will be hand-selected by me and sampled during the show on October 20. So you’ll have a chance to listen before you pledge, but please understand that copies will be limited, in some cases to a quantity of one!
“Classic Ross Amico,” now in its second year, is but a blink in WPRB’s 75-year history. With your support, I’m hoping two years will turn into three, and three into ten. Who knows how far this thing will go. Yours is the juice that can fuel classical music’s heavy Chevy, the wind beneath the wings of “The Lark Ascending.” Thank you for your consideration. I’m sure RVW would concur!
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Marriner Reich & Rosh Hashanah on WWFM
This afternoon, we’ll remember Sir Neville Marriner, who died yesterday, peacefully, in his sleep, at the age of 92. Impressively, Marriner conducted his final concert in Padua on Thursday. Tomorrow, he was scheduled to begin a tour of Austria, Germany and Belgium with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the orchestra he founded in 1958. We’ll honor this indefatigable musician with a number of his cherished recordings, as well as one or two which are perhaps not so well known.
We’ll also look to American composer Steve Reich, who is 80 years-old today. We’ll hear his Pulitzer Prize winning “Double Sextet,” performed by Eighth Blackbird. If you’re a Steve Reich fan, you’ll want to join David Osenberg for another “Celebrating Our Musical Community,” tonight at 8:00 EDT. He’ll introduce a concert of Reich’s works presented by gifted students and artists-in-residence at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, including members of Eighth Blackbird and Nexus Percussion.
Finally, we’ll include some music in observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, including a work for string quartet by Darius Milhaud, based on tunes from High Holy Days liturgies indigenous to the composer’s native Provence.
That’s a lot to cover in only three hours. We’ll do our best to make the New Year sweet, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.
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