Actual listening to the new Steinbacher and Abrami albums from last week

Classical Court

From Perotin to Prokofiev (and beyond), performed by Caruso to Khatia, it's all here.

When I saw the track timings for the Steinbacher/Gimeno Pentatone album of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, I have to admit that I was a little worried. I've heard a lot of recordings of this work where the performances just seem to settle into this gemutlich-like pleasantness without doing anything special. That is definitely NOT the case with Steinbacher's new release - I have never heard a more beautiful rendition of the work! Every phrase is caressed, yet without impeding the forward motion or disrupting the overall dimensions of the work. What makes it all the more amazing is that it's a "live" in-concert recording, a fact you'd never guess from the perfection of execution to be heard. The Luxembourg Philharmonic (don't call them the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg anymore!), while maybe not in the highest class of orchestras, is nevertheless alert and plenty expressive and under Gimeno's leadership.

For this recording, Arabella used a different violin for each work: for the Beethoven, she uses a 1744 Guarnerius (the "Sainton"), while for the Lentz Concerto, she uses the "Benno Walter" Stradivarius from 1718. Both of these instruments were made available to her, courtesy of "a private Swiss Foundation". As I've already suggested, I can't imagine a more beautiful rendition of the Beethoven, fully at one with the work's "Apollonian" evocations - and that includes the Kreisler cadenzas in the first and third movements. (Kreisler also wrote a "lead in" from the second movement to the third, but that's not used here.) Even Ms. CfL, who was listening from the next room exclaimed how moving and well done this performance seemed. And, as I mentioned in a previous post, the Dolby Atmos sound presentation is a fantastic bonus for listeners like myself. (BTW, according to Native DSD, the original recording format was DXD.)
Alas, I only made it through two of the six tracks of the Lentz Concerto - what I heard contains so much of what I hate in modern music, so I'll just stop there. ;-) Nevertheless, this recording needs to be heard just for the sublime Beethoven!
As for the Esther Abrami "Women" album, I don't have access to the booklet, since the official release date (at least on Amazon) isn't until this coming Friday. However, there's a three-paragraph blurb on Apple Music which contains some interesting information about some of the selections (none of which I'd heard before). I didn't listen to all the tracks, but I loved the first movement of Ina Boyle's Violin Concerto ("To the Memory of My Mother").

Who knew E-stat's foot fetish link would become so relevant? ;-)

In the blurb, Abrami says, "I love Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, and I felt some similarities in Boyle's Concerto. . . It features beautiful, peaceful melodies and is linked to nature. I felt that it could be a concerto that people want to play and feature in programs." I agree (the opening in particular is very striking and that whole first movement possesses an incredible beauty), with the possible caveat that, at 17-and-a -half minutes, the work is a bit on the short side. OTOH, Liszt's "Triangle" Concerto (i.e., the Piano Concerto No. 1) is about the same length, and it still survives well enough in the repertoire. BTW, a second listening of the second and third movements has increased my enthusiasm for those movements too.
Without the actual booklet for guidance, I'm not sure what to make of the first track, Ethyl Smith's "March of the Women". It's a very ravishing short work which sounds like anything except a march, and it's got some recordings of what I presume is a fiery suffragette speech superimposed on parts of it. Is that Ethyl Smith herself? I have no idea.
I also like the arrangement of "O Virtus Sapientae" by Hildegard von Bingen - how well her music takes to these new agey arrangements! OTOH, the arrangement of Miley Cyrus's "Flowers" kind of drifts over into Yanni territory and the "crossover" aesthetic, as do a couple of other tracks on the album. I suppose it's OK, but it's not really my thing.

I'd also like to say again what a knock-out cover this album has - but in this case, it did not pass the WAF, with Ms. CfL refusing to listen to any of the tracks, because she was so offended by the cover itself. Oh well. I used to be a follower of the "happy wife, happy life" dictum, but, yesterday, when I repeated this to my hair cutter, she replied in no uncertain terms, "NO! Don't ever let them get away with that! The saying should be, 'Happy SPOUSE, happy house!'. I think she may be right. ;-)

Edits: 04/30/25 04/30/25

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Topic - Actual listening to the new Steinbacher and Abrami albums from last week - Chris from Lafayette 13:09:44 04/29/25 (6)

I agree with your comments about Steinbacher and quoted you - Rushton 09:28:40 05/02/25 (2)

Wow! Thank you SO much, Rush! - Chris from Lafayette 11:52:10 05/02/25 (1)

:-) /nt - Rushton 12:48:10 05/02/25 (0)

Program book for Abrami/Women album - rkw 01:57:14 05/02/25 (2)

"Where do you usually look for program books online?" - Chris from Lafayette 11:29:20 05/02/25 (0)

That is a great program book. nt - srl1 10:45:45 05/02/25 (0)

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