Recording of the Year and Chamber Category

Haydn Piano Trios

Beaux Arts Trio (Philips) 

'This is a remarkable and, indeed, invaluable box, unlikely to be challenged, let alone surpassed. Today, it's rare to hail a set of records as a 'classic' in the same way we might praise Schnabel's Beethoven sonatas or the Busch late Beethoven quartets. Few performances in the studio reach that level of artistic insight, and with the sheer volume of material released, records struggle to capture our attention. Yet, I believe this set achieves that status. Twelve of the 14 records in the set were released individually over the past decade, each receiving glowing reviews not only in our pages but everywhere else too. The Beaux Arts Trio's playing is of the highest musical distinction, and Menahem Pressler's contribution is little short of inspired. The recorded sound is astonishingly lifelike, and the repertoire is unfailingly fresh and inventive. The performances follow the Critical Edition prepared by HC Robbins Landon, whose tireless research has expanded the standard edition of Haydn's trios from 31 to 43. These are records to which I return with pleasure and profit. This music is sane, intelligent, and balm for the soul in a troubled world. The Dutch pressings are immaculate, and although the set is a bit costly, its rewards more than justify the investment. Indeed, it is a set that will last a lifetime.' Robert Layton

Read the review

Choral

Schoenberg Gurrelieder

Jessye Norman sop Tatiana Troyanos mez James McCracken ten Werner Klemperer speaker Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra / Seiji Ozawa (Philips)

'Seiji Ozawa's warmly eloquent account, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder wins the award in the choral category. It is a work that, until quite recently, was something of a byword for post-Romantic megalomania, decadent over-expressiveness, and a clogged density of sound that seemed virtually unrecordable. Without losing any of the plum-cake richness of the score's more grandiose pages, Ozawa, his orchestra (playing quite magnificently), and the Philips engineers have found a remarkable range of texture – delicate as well as massive, translucent as well as opaque – in this bewilderingly diverse yet fascinating work. It is a fine achievement, and Jessye Norman's glorious singing in the role of Tove makes it a memorable one. May it lead – as it surely must, if it is as widely heard as it deserves – to a more general recognition of the stature of this monstrous but moving and compelling masterpiece. I have to confess (there is no point in denying it: it was only a couple of months ago and memories aren't that short) that in my original review, I did not choose this recording as the best available Gurrelieder; I found it, in a word, insufficiently Schoenbergian. It is good for a reviewer to have the rug pulled from under his feet once in a while, and I am delighted that the great virtues of Ozawa's performance have been so enthusiastically recognised and signalled by a well-merited award.' Michael Oliver

Read the review

Concerto

Bartók Piano Concertos Nos 1 and 2

Maurizio Pollini pf Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Claudio Abbado (DG)

'Two of the most distinguished Italian musicians of our day collaborate in performances of Bartók's concertos, which, in their exuberance, sweep away any idea that this music might be forbidding. With the Chicago Orchestra in superb form, it goes without saying that both performances provide breathtaking examples of virtuosity. Yet what stands out above all in both works is a sense of spontaneity, with rhythms in fast movements freely and infectiously sprung, and rallentandos drawn out rather more than severe Bartókians might allow. The result is that both concertos, while conveying enormous power – and the forward, full recording quality helps – seem to have far more jollity in them than usual, with the bluff Bartókian sense of humour far outweighing Bartókian brutality. As I said in my original review, Pollini and Abbado "give performances with all the colour, warmth, and lack of inhibition that one associates with Italian music-making at its ripest." On the one hand, the folk basis of Bartók's inspiration comes out more compellingly, and on the other, the dance rhythms, with their syncopations, occasionally have an overtone of jazz. This is involving rather than detached Bartók, yet the Chicago strings in the pianissimo opening passage of the slow movement of the Second Concerto have a refinement and purity that make the non-vibrato effect ethereally beautiful. The recording is comparably vivid, with occasional spotlighting of individual instruments.' Edward Greenfield

Read the review

Contemporary

Maxwell Davies Symphony

Philharmonia Orchestra / Simon Rattle (Decca)

'It is still barely two years since Peter Maxwell Davies's Symphony was first performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London, and the event – on February 2nd, 1978 – was newsworthy enough to rate a short report on BBC2's late news that night. The 184-page study score was on sale at the premiere, and the recording (made in August 1978) was soon arranged. So far, so good. While it may have had more publicity than any new British work since Britten's War Requiem, its complexity and intensity are such that it can scarcely hope to become a regular repertoire piece under present commercial conditions. Any record company that makes available a major work by a major composer, which cannot easily be heard in live performance, deserves the highest praise. The admirable Decca Headline team – producer James Mallinson and balance engineer Stanley Goodall – have worked wonders to ensure that the elaborate colours and textures of the score are heard with maximum naturalness and clarity. As for the performance, Simon Rattle and the Philharmonia bring more than dedication to their task: there is a genuine sense of excitement and involvement. Even so, an award winner must have something more. Quite simply, this Symphony represents what is best in contemporary music. It shows a certainty of purpose, an originality that is the stronger for its basis in a personal response to certain traditional symphonic procedures and earlier symphonies. Even without frequent live performances, it will surely outlive the label "contemporary" to become a classic.' Arnold Whittall

Read the review

Early Music

Mozart The Symphonies, Volume 3 – Salzburg Period

Academy of Ancient Music / Jaap Schröder with Christopher Hogwood hpd (Decca)

'How early is early? Or rather, how late is early? These were the first questions to which I and my colleagues (Denis Arnold and David Fallows) had to address ourselves in considering the early music award. We soon decided that earliness was not so much a matter of calendar date as of attitude: a Chopin record on a contemporary piano would be closer to qualifying than a Monteverdi one with modern trumpets and harps or a Dufay one with a bassoon or trombone. In short, we were seeking the record that best demonstrated how a close approximation to historical performing conditions could reveal truths about the music that otherwise would remain obscured. We shortlisted records of music by Dowland and Gabrieli, Vivaldi, and Mozart. The Mozart symphonies recording came out quite comfortably as the winner because of our feeling that it represented a major breakthrough. It showed that a thoroughgoing historical approach – not only authentic instruments but also authentic methods of direction, texts, and seating and balancing of the orchestra – could make us listen differently to familiar music and hear in it things we have not heard before. And this was only the start: L'Oiseau-Lyre plans that we shall have the opportunity to do so from the symphony Mozart scribbled as an eight-year-old in London to the Jupiter finale. This is a courageous venture, and the results seemed to us to justify the faith reposed in the Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood, and Jaap Schröder, who remove the century and more of would-be expressive accretions to let Mozart speak fresh, clear, and in a true voice.' Stanley Sadie

Read the review

Engineered

Debussy Images. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

London Symphony Orchestra / André Previn (HMV/Warner Classics)

'Our decision to add a "Best Engineered Recording" category to the Gramophone Record Awards is in direct recognition of the increased interest in recording quality on the part of record collectors in general. So too is our quarterly panel review of record quality, "Sounds in Retrospect". To this feature, we have recently introduced a "Quarter's Choice" of the best six recordings, and so this provided a ready shortlist for this award. The year 1979 might reasonably be dubbed ‘digital year,’ for though truly digital discs are still some way off, this was the year in which Decca and EMI, not to mention Unicorn, Telarc, and others, first launched gramophone records processed from digitally recorded master tapes. Decca was first past the post, but this EMI Debussy disc arrived just in time for our December "Retrospect" and immediately went to the top of the class. Even when overlaid by the inherent limitations of disc cutting and processing, for this is in other ways a perfectly normal LP, the benefits of digital taping are very apparent. The sound has vividness, immediacy, and realism. The balance engineer, Christopher Parker, has concentrated his considerable talents on a natural sound. He decided to go back to a basic crossed-pair microphone scheme and recorded straight to two-track stereo instead of multi-track, recognizing the greater potential of digital tape for accurate phase and frequency reproduction. He has also taken advantage of the digital recorder's practically unlimited dynamic range to capture the full impact of the orchestra with superlative fidelity.' John Borwick

Read the review

Historical

The Record of Singing, Vol 2

Various artists and accompaniments (HMV/EMI)

'EMI’s The Record of Singing, Volume 2, is a superb achievement, continuing the good work and high standards of Volume One. Its comprehensiveness is truly amazing, as it includes every singer of note from the period 1915 to 1925, and many who can hardly be known by any but the most intrepid and in-depth collector. As such, it is a historical document of some importance and therefore took precedence over many very worthwhile competitors in the historic field. If Volume One preserves for us the earliest generation of singers who recorded before the horn – the representatives of the so-called Golden Age, Melba, Caruso, and Battistini among them, not to forget the legendary Russians – this second volume shows little falling off in vocal virtuosity and perhaps a greater respect for the composer (a virtue much admired by Michael Scott in the book that is included in the price of the box). Singers such as Ponselle, Schipa, Martinelli, de Luca, Leider, and Melchior, all represented here by rarer items from their respective discographies, were notable musicians as well as being fine vocalists. As with the previous volume, this one does the invaluable service of recalling from oblivion many singers who would otherwise have been lost to the mist of forgotten history. It also enhances the reputation of such singers as Peter Dawson, who, because of the sheer number of discs they made, may not have received their due as great artists. The book places them in context and, in addition, gives us fascinating glimpses into their lives.' Alan Blyth

Read the review

Instrumental

Bach Organ Works, Vol 3

Peter Hurford (Argo)

'The fact that a set of organ records has won the instrumental category award for the first time is a remarkable event for two reasons. First, it has firmly vindicated Peter Hurford's crusade by precept and practice over many years to win critical recognition for the organ as a musical instrument in its own right – and not just an amorphous background to coughs and shuffles in church. Secondly, it has confirmed Hurford's place as today's foremost interpreter of Bach's organ works. All four sets so far on offer are of rare distinction. I picked the third as my prime choice because of the cornucopia of riches poured out in dazzling profusion. When I played some of the movements at the St Albans International Organ Festival in July, I described Hurford as "the inimitable sparkler, a consummate performer who stimulates parts of the musical anatomy other players do not reach – and does so without ever descending to showbiz gimmickry". Indeed, this set demonstrates to the full Hurford's unique ability to delineate the interplay of complex contrapuntal lines with transparent yet exciting quality – from the Vom Himmel hoch variations to the lush B minor Prelude and Fugue, with a concerto curiosity thrown in for good measure. He is well served by two organs of exceptional clarity, one in Canada and one in Australia, and is the first to acknowledge the outstanding contribution made by Argo producer Chris Hazell to the finished product. Now for the forthcoming fifth set, which will feature a large Rieger organ in Germany of dramatic power and intensity.' Stanley Webb

Read the review

Operatic

Berg Lulu

Teresa Stratas, Yvonne Minton, Franz Mazura, Kenneth Riegel; Paris Opera Orchestra / Pierre Boulez (DG)

'Some highly distinguished complete operatic sets were issued on record in 1979, and will have caused much heart-searching and reappraisal with panellists for this award. The verdict, I am sure, has been the correct one, for three reasons. Berg’s Lulu, in its hitherto fragmentary form, has been known, increasingly admired, and latterly even loved, over a period of more than 40 years. To witness, for the first time, the whole three-act structure, complete and on stage at the Paris Opera last February, was nevertheless an artistic revelation. The symmetrical structure of Lulu, much prized by the authors, was well known: what I had not suspected was the vital importance of Berg’s music for the third act, completing and crowning what we had heard before. Television confirmed that first impression for opera lovers the world over, a momentous, serious occasion in the history of opera. The credit was due, not only to Cerha and to Boulez, who conducted it, but to the almost ‘ideal cast’ for Lulu. The set’s three supreme virtues are: (1) prompt, timely capture, with remarkable expertise, (2) a scrupulously prepared cast and musical performance, recorded at just the right moment for artistic superiority, and (3) an operatic masterpiece being fully experienced by the public for the first time ever, now able to be imbibed at leisure until it is as familiar as the supreme achievements of Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Mussorgsky, et cetera. Lulu belongs among them, and that is why I am glad the set has been voted the operatic award for the year.' William Mann

Read the review

Solo Vocal

Gretchaninov Five Children's Songs, Op 89 Mussorgsky The Nursery Prokofiev The Ugly Duckling, Op 18

Elisabeth Söderström sop Vladimir Ashkenazy pf (Decca) SXL6900 (7/79).

'1979 was a splendid year on records for Elisabeth Söderström, witness Janáček’s Vec Makropulos (Decca, 10/79), my favourite of all witches in Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel (CBS, 10/79), and the completion of Rachmaninov’s songs in partnership with (inspired choice) Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca, 2/79). To this last, they added the mixed Russian sequel which crowns all that achievement and is properly crowned itself with our award for the best record of song to appear in 1979. Mussorgsky’s set of songs about children, The Nursery (a portrait gallery rather than a cycle), has long been a Russian repertory favourite. In recital, Söderström’s virtuoso account of it has seemed to depend much on facial expression, other bodily movement, and not least, her spoken introductions. None of that is on this record, but it is just as brilliant, just as endearing, just as musicianly. To occupy the other side, she and Ashkenazy chose Prokofiev’s The Ugly Duckling, another vivid, marvellously sung character portrayal, again partnered at full strength. Gretchaninov’s settings, spirited in the tradition of the "Mighty Handful," might not make much impression in another performance, but here they are irresistible, grown-up sensuousness allied with lively pictorial invention and good tunes, or catchy fragments, such as children gladly seize and repeat. Another virtue is the sympathetic acoustic, really clear yet fairly spacious. The songs were immaculately recorded in two London churches.' William Mann

Read the review

Orchestral

Debussy Images. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

London Symphony Orchestra / André Previn (HMV)

'Much has already been written about the excellence of the recorded sound on this disc. When Bernard Haitink's version with the Concertgebouw Orchestra appeared earlier in the year (Philips, 2/79), no one had expected it to be challenged, let alone surpassed, in terms of sonic realism – or not for a very long time indeed. Yet this is exactly what happened, for detail registers here with more clarity and body than ever before, with no highlighting or interference in the natural perspective one would expect to encounter in reality. The sheer physical impact of this record makes it an outstanding issue and greatly enhances the effect of the performance. There are many sensitive aspects in André Previn's Images – unfailingly intelligent and musical phrasing, felicitous playing from the LSO winds, and carefully observed dynamic nuances. This is repertoire in which atmosphere and feeling count, and Images is not a particularly easy work to bring off. Readers will recall that my first review noted some reservations when comparing this with Haitink's interpretation, but this is not the place to dwell on them. Rather, we should recognise the very real achievements of this issue.' Robert Layton

Read the review