Banister, David. 2005. Unsustainable Transport

Saul is one of Handel's most action-filled, fast-moving oratorios; an opera in everything but name only. It has been lucky on disc–both Paul McCreesh (Archiv) and John Eliot Gardiner (Philips) have led superb readings, and Joachim Carlos Martini leads a good performance on Naxos, which is a bargain. Now René Jacobs and his remarkable Concerto Köln come along and offer a truly majestic reading, filled with real drama and beautiful, precise singing and playing. Tenor Jeremy Ovenden sings Jonathan with nobility and faces down Saul in Act II with style and power. David is sung by countertenor Lawrence Zazzo, and he's as good as the best-recorded competition (Andreas Scholl, Derek Lee Ragin). Emma Bell is ravishing as Merab; Rosemary Joshua makes a fine Joshua.

The Matangi Quartet's 2005 release Scandinavia has one slight problem: while two of the composers, Edvard Grieg and David Monrad Johansen, were Norwegian, the third, Julius Röntgen, was Dutch! His presence is explained by his close friendship with Grieg, and the Matangi Quartet's decision to include his attractive two-movement Quartettino in A minor as filler is barely justifiable through that connection. Grieg's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27, and Johansen's String Quartet, Op. 35, both deserve their place here, not only due to their creators' nationality but because they are solid examples of quartet writing outside the German tradition, and demonstrate the Norwegian proclivity to incorporate folk-inspired melodies in looser, more sectionalized developments than are found in Classical, motivically integrated models.

Dark, emotional, and exquisitely beautiful, David Lang's new CD, Elevated, has premiere recordings of 3 recent works. Taken together, these pieces create a world in which consonance fights dissonance, hope struggles against hopelessness, and simple melodies are constantly beset by gravity, weight, and decay.

This release was an "Editor's Choice" in Gramophone Magazine (12/05) and features the world premiere recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams's "Willow-Wood" as well as the return to the catalog of his "The Sons of Light." Both are cantatas dating from 1909 and 1951 respectively. The former is a passionate outpouring for baritone, women's voices and orchestra that's not to be missed. Drawn from Dante Gabriel Rossetti's The House of Life, it consists of four interlinked sonnets, which describe a dreamlike, amorous encounter by a rustic well.

The performance of Leonore Overture No. 3 tells you what to expect: the wonderfully flowing introduction, organically related to the tempo of the ensuing allegro, establishes a chamber-music-like balance between strings and winds. Brass and timpani cut through clearly, but never forcefully. The main body of the movement is fleet and graceful, yet also lacking in rhetorical emphasis and the kind of grandeur that many listeners prefer. David Zinman clearly takes his cues from the period-instrument crowd, but he also takes advantage of modern timbral smoothness to achieve singularly beautiful results. While you may not like the comparative dearth of weight, there’s no question that the orchestra fully realizes his approach, and it is excellently recorded to boot.

Recording from David Gilmour's concert in London, Hammersmith, Odeon 1984. A mesmerising live performance featuring songs from Pink Floyd and his solo albums, "David Gilmour" and "About Face".