The much admired jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal is now in his 82nd. year and his latest recording finds him still with plenty of know-how in a quartet setting. With a repertoire of standards and three originals that could indeed become standards, Ahmad is a lyrical improviser and has an inventive way with arrangements. This is a thoroughly likeable recording and an in-shop favourite.   Christine Hinton 2012.

7½/10

“Lotus Blossoming" is Ensemble Liaison's second disc in the last year, this time on Melba records, and branches out into less familiar territory; their previous CD was of Bruch, Brahms and Beethoven. This new disc features the early Clarinet Trio of Zemlinsky, and a masterpiece of the French chamber music canon, Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, featuring violinist Wilma Smith, concertmaster of the Melbourne symphony.

Zemlinsky is perhaps one of the most underrated figures of the development of 20th century German music—he is known mostly, at least musicologically, as the stylistic link between two of the great composers; Brahms, whom he revered and Schoenberg, for whom Zemlinsky was the only composition teacher. His music however (other than the Lyric Symphony) is seldom recorded. The Clarinet Trio (op.3) is an early work, clearly demonstrating the influence of Brahms in Zemlinsky's earliest music—the music is unashamedly romantic, in the style of the late 19th century, and could easily wallow in the wrong hands.  Ensemble Liaison keeps the work lean and tight, whilst still capturing all of the romantic spirit. Much like the trio's disc of Beethoven and Brahms, pianist Timothy Young (who has also released a CD of piano music of George Frederick Boyle is released this month) does exceptionally well to play with such transparency, allowing the clarinet and cello ample room to adopt extremes of dynamic without being overwhelmed. The lengthy first movement is particularly well crafted. Whether this work is a masterpiece is questionable, but it is well worth a listen as a direct comparison to the late Brahms trio of the same combination, and you are unlikely to find a better performance than the one presented here.

Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time is undeniably one of the great chamber works of all time—when performed live by the best of ensembles, this quartet is uniquely special for audiences. Seldom is the magic of this work, however, fully realised on disc; it relies so much on its more atmospheric qualities--the sound filling the venue space and the incidental sounds of a live performance--that the necessary antiseptic caution of a studio recording results in a significantly less powerful listening experience. Nevertheless, it is a compulsory requirement for anyone's CD collection and Ensemble Liaison are again extremely reliable exponents of the work, allowing the music to speak for itself but in an appropriately personal way.

Like all of Melba's output on disc, the disc is presented excellently, with interesting and approachable notes; it is an excellent addition to the recordings available, reliable as a reference recording but also as a distinctive reading.

8/10

“Arcadia Lost", on Melba records, is somewhat of an unusual 'highlights-reel' of the current Australian music scene featuring the Sydney Symphony Orchestra with soloists Michael Daugh (violin), Roger Benedict (viola), Cantillation, in live performances of Britten and Vaughan-Williams. Given that most discs are released with the aim of featuring a composer or artist, it makes the grouping of Vaughan-Williams The Lark Ascending, Flos Campi, and On Wenlock Edge (performed by the Hamer Quartet, Benjamin Martin and Steve Davislim) with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem an immediately unexpected program. What makes the disc work are the wonderful performances, and that, with the exception of The Lark Ascending, these are all works that need more recognition for the masterpieces they are.

The SSO are in fine form for this recording, with Mark Wigglesworth pacing each of the works beautifully to allow the orchestra time to make an excellent sound throughout—nowhere more evidently than in the Britten. The wind solos are radiant--especially the unusual saxophone--and really illuminate one of Britten's most colourful scores. The orchestra support the soloists wonderfully in each of the Vaughan-Williams works, particularly in Flos Campi. The oboe solo that begins the work is arresting, and Roger Benedict is given full opportunity to explore the solo lines that haunt the work. The sound is compelling throughout. This is, at least in my opinion one of Vaughan-Williams greatest, if not most confronting works—the orchestral scoring is masterly, and the combination with wordless chorus is truly unique.

The standard of performance throughout the disc is faultless, and it is a credit to Melba records that through putting these performances on disc that none of the immediacy of the live performance is lost—you feel like you are in the concert hall.

On Wenlock Edge is, however, a strange conclusion to the disc—a fine work, and a fine performance, but it is a sudden change in ensemble and it was recorded in a studio, making it lack the "edge" that was so impressive in the other performances presented. Still, on its own, the performance is very fine, and makes a compelling case for the merit of the music.

As a showcase of some of the best music talent within Australia, this recording is really hard to go past, and the repertoire is excellent.

9.5/10

"Welcome to my menagerie, voluptuous ladies, proud gentlemen. Sunk in pleasure and terror, you will gaze on the cruel creature tamed by human wit." 

In fact, this "menagerie" by director Olivier Py and co-presented by Grand Théâtre de Genève (where it was held) and Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu, was seen to contain such a degree of disturbing and graphic imagery, that the management felt it necessary to post warnings dissuading anyone under sixteen years old from attending. However, as the German playwright Wedekind discovered over a century ago, censorship (the plays on which Alban Berg adapted his opera, Lulu, were originally banned) and notoriety only fuels curiosity, and before long these plays were championed and performed in private to invited audiences. It was one of these clandestine performances in Vienna in 1905 where the twenty year old Berg first encountered his irresistible anti-heroine.

Like much of Alban Berg's music, tonality isn't completed eschewed in favour of serialism. Tonal vestiges remain, and meander back and forth between harmonic centres, providing a perfect complement to the enchanting complexity of Lulu's mercurial character. And it's this character that coloratura soprano, Patricia Petibon captures with utmost rawness and sexualised dominance. The role of Lulu is monumental, carrying the intensity of the entire drama, and Petibon delivers with startling virtuosity and equanimity (she is often required to perform nude, merely clothed in transparent stockings). Her sometimes brazen tone and sybaritic high register, only to suddenly shift to tones of enchanting sweetness, suit the malefic temptress who has capricious power to seduce and destroy the hearts of men. Yet somehow, Petibon's multi-dimensional and surprisingly nuanced performance transforms Lulu into a human being of eerie poignancy. One grows to pity her, this "exterminating angel", the "hangman's noose" around the neck of all the men she encounters.

Skulls and breasts... a blood-stained sofa... sex and death... a circular wheel of neon lights, labeled "Mort en color'" inexorably rotates. The references to sex are abundant and constantly reinforced by the staging and background action, but these perhaps hyperbolic approaches allow the audience to delve deep into Lulu's ambiguous and complex soul, all lasciviousness and darkness made explicit. The interlude in Act 2 where we see Lulu's trial, conviction and imprisonment, only to contract cholera (deliberately) and escape in Countess Geschwitz' clothes, juxtaposed as a tableau vivant against the action of Scene 2 behind a blood red veil, is a particularly arresting sequence. The colourful approach to costume design is not without its idiosyncrasies, and Petibon's voluptuous Marilyn Monroe-inspired sequin dress and make-up in Act 3 is a truly a sight to behold.

The rest of the cast are equally remarkable. Ashley Holland's menacing Dr. Schön delivers assertive strength, and Dr. Schön's son, Alwa, is performed with moving discomposure by a robust Paul Groves. Julia Juon as the lesbian Countess Geschwitz who is infatuated by Lulu, captures her enfeebled role with pitiable yearning. The ambiguous Schigolch, delivered with startling ease by Franz Grundheber, is appropriately ominous and foreboding. 

The Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu delivers a strikingly powerful performance under Michael Boder, revelling in the heady romanticism that makes Berg such a beguiling and fascinating composer. The video direction by François Roussillon is a careful balance between wide stage shots and dramatic closeups, from the excessive kaleidoscopic spectacle accompanied by neon signs with text such as "Mein Herz ist schwa", "Liebestod", "Joie ads asters", to Petibon's plush eyelashes and murderous glances. 

This is a breath-taking production of a brilliant and important opera which is too infrequently recorded with such meticulousness and artistry. Lovers of Berg's music and 20th century opera will undoubtedly adore this production, but it's also a worthwhile consideration for anyone even remotely interested in opera at large.

8/10

Berlioz boldly asserted in his Treatise on Instrumentation: "The oboe is above all a melodic instrument; it has a rustic character, full of tenderness, I would even say timidity". With this debut album with Harmonia Mundi, French oboist Céline Moinet delivers a beautifully crafted program of solo oboe music spanning from around 1718 (JS Bach) to 1992 (Carter), which questions and challenges this anachronistic statement.

It's worth noting that the three 20th century works by Berio, Britten and Carter, are in fact the only works on the album which were written specifically for the oboe. The pieces by the Bach family were both originally written for the flute, though Moinet shows that they also work rather charmingly for her instrument. Her time at the Paris Conservatoire, working with the likes of David Walter, Maurice Bourgue and Marcel Ponseele, has clearly equipped Moinet with wonderfully dexterous technique and an exquisite approach to tone production. The Bach works which effectively sandwich the program are approached with welcome clarity and a sweet timbre. Her use of rubato in these works has been criticised as being perhaps "self-conscious", but I find myself more attracted to her brave choices in this regard, which I view as an attempt (and a successful one) at effusing more lyricism and a personal intimate touch.

Perhaps it's due to the added virtuosity and timbal flexibility, but I find myself substantially more convinced by Moinet's renditions of the three 20th Century works on the CD. Her performance of Berio's Sequenza VII captures the mercurial spirit of the piece with striking assertiveness. The work is characterised by a continual state of being "trapped" on a single pitch (B) and attempting to escape, only to be inexorably drawn back again. Moinet captures this capricious journey with a truly remarkable palette of timbres and startling control of the extremes ends of the oboe's register. In Britten's substantially more subtle and understated Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Moinet's beautifully crafted tone truly sings. When listening through the fifth "metamorphosis" titled 'Narcissus', Caravaggio's own evocation of Narcissus transfixed by his reflection in the water suddenly came to mind, and I found myself utterly enchanted by the plaintive yearning and echoic gestures Moinet so carefully sculpts. Despite the ostensible simplicity of Elliott Carter's Inner Song, Moinet infuses a hyper-expressive intimacy into what is effectively a six and a half minute long cantilena. With long-arching phrases, interjected by the occasional manic angularity, and introspective multiphonic, Moinet's precise control of timbre and shaping of melodic line proves to be quite arresting.

A real strength of the CD is the perspicacious approach to the program, from the "virtual polyphony" that draws together the Bach Partita and the Berio Sequenza, to the haunting monodies of the CPE Bach Sonata and the Britten and Carter works. For this reason I feel it transcends a limited appeal to students and oboe enthusiasts, and offers a rewarding listening experience to a much wider audience.