Music and Recording Reviews

Franck: Symphony In D Minor
Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande
Berlin Philharmonic/Daniel Barenboim
DG 486 6008 (CD). 2024. Marco Buttgereit, prod.; Gregor Schweiger, eng.
Performance **
Sonics ****½

I was rather hoping, given the Berlin Philharmonic, that this might improve on Barenboim's earlier Franck recording with the erratic Orchestre de Paris, which was afflicted by his faux-Furtwängler mannerisms. This one has a few ensemble problems characteristic of Barenboim's conducting, but the textures are consistently clear. Still, as Bernstein's Cunegonde sings, "Ah, 'twas not to be." The enterprise suffers from terminal sluggishness.

The first movement is promising. The wind entry has appropriate organlike fullness. But the Allegro non troppo is non troppo indeed, with an oozy second group and a stiff climax. At the start of the development, the wind chords lag conspicuously behind the strings; unwieldy punctuations further impede musical progress, and, despite Barenboim's best efforts, he can't get the wind back into its sails for the coda.

The Allegretto suggests spacious introspection, but at the cost of any real momentum. And the Finale, starting with an unclear attack, is massively arthritic. Tempi go from very moderate to even slower—the ritard between the main themes almost goes backward—and after the visit by the Allegretto's theme, the return to duple sounds lost in the woods. The first theme's "triumphant" recap positively lumbers, as the symphony staggers to a dogged finish.

Pelléas improves things a bit. Barenboim brings to the Prélude a delicacy not generally associated with him. The woodwinds add urgency, and the first climax is warmly expansive, though Barenboim bangs into the second one. But the other movements never realize their potential: Even the haunting flute-over-harp of the Sicilienne fails to build to anything more. The acoustic is pleasant, with solo and unison horns showing some depth.—Stephen Francis Vasta

L'Arpeggiata: Terra Mater
L'Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar, cond.; Malena Ernman, mezzo-soprano
Erato 5021732533753 (reviewed as 24/96 download). 2025. Mireille Faure, prod. and eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½

The liner notes to L'Arpeggiata's marvelous Terra Mater (Mother Earth) begin by summarizing a sobering speech delivered by Thomas Stocker, Professor Emeritus at the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, in 2022: "One of the greatest problems of the age is the climate crisis." That's an unusual lede for liner notes. But this maximally colorful recording, which until the final track, Eden Ahbez's "Nature Boy," plants its roots in 17th century Europe, sprouts from the endlessly inventive imagination of multi-instrumentalist Christina Pluhar. A dry treatise on climate change is the farthest thing from Pluhar's mind. This is, after all, the woman who fills Carnegie Hall with ecstatically cheering fans who frequently jump for joy.

Terra Mater's nature-related repertoire mixes works by Biber, Monteverdi, Arne, and others with traditional English ballads and dance tunes. Some pieces are named for animals, while others center on nature and the seasons. One huge feather in Pluhar's cap is her choice of mezzo Malena Ernman as soloist in 10 of the 20 selections. Ernman, who is the mother of climate activist Greta Thunberg and the author of a book on climate change, has a remarkably androgynous, endlessly fascinating voice of the type Pluhar favors. In some tracks, including Handel's "'Twas When the Seas Were Roaring," she sounds more like a countertenor than a mezzo-soprano.

The baroque instrument–sourced nature sounds L'Arpeggiata liberally adds to some tracks are equally delightful and hilarious. They go hog wild in Georg Caspar Schürmann's Sinfonia pour la tempête (Symphony for the Tempest) before eventually grounding with "Nature Boy," which Ernman sings in a bluesy style reminiscent of Cécile McLorin Salvant. Terra Mater is a wonder-filled delight.—Jason Victor Serinus

Robert Simpson: Chamber Music, Volume One
The Tippett Quartet; Emma Johnson, clarinet; Raphael Wallfisch, cello; others
Toccata Classics TOCC0701 (CD). 2025. Michael Ponder, Lorenz Lehmann, prods. and engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****

Much of Simpson's music was documented in a wide-ranging series on Hyperion. Now the intrepid Toccata Classics attempts to fill in some nooks and crannies.

Many of the pieces don't sound like the composer we know. The Quartet in D major, a student work predating the numbered quartets, opens with an unabashed Romantic theme. The injection of acerbic dissonance seems arbitrary. Sustained sonorities disintegrate into an all-pizzicato texture for the second theme, a novel transition. The middle movements are graceful and searching, respectively. The Presto's incisive theme brings a fugue, which ties things up well. The exemplary, astute Tippett Quartet sells the piece convincingly.

Eva-Maria Hartmann's tuning—now flat, now sharp—doesn't serve Tröcknet nicht well; she's more reliable in the linear British idiom of The Cherry Tree. Cornelis Witthoefft is the accomplished pianist.

The first movement of the clarinet Trio features sparse, "modern" textures; in the second movement, clear rhythmic patterns don't segue logically. Only the edgy, agitated finale works coherently. Clarinetist Emma Johnson displays fine control, but Raphael Wallfisch's vibratoless cello undercuts his lyric phrases. John Lenehan's ringy piano chords help.

The Quintet for Clarinet, Bass Clarinet and Three Double Basses works far better than the combination promises. In the ingenious opening, the basses enter one by one, with each of the clarinets working unobtrusively into a midrange texture; Peter Cigleris infuses clarinet lines with uneasy expression, while the bass adds resonant depth. Triplet curlicues in both clarinets dominate the central Allegro; the Adagio calms down, the clarinets blending in thirds, but the ending is unresolved.

The sound is fine.—Stephen Francis Vasta