Richard Hickox Haydn London Vol. 1

Hummel's choral music, like that of his rival Beethoven, lies pretty far down the list of his compositions in terms of overall renown. But some of it originated in a very famous spot: Hummel succeeded Haydn as a composer of large-scale choral works for the use of the noble Esterházy family at its vast palace. The Mass in D minor heard on this album was composed in 1805, when the "Lord Nelson" mass in the same key by Haydn would still have been very much in the air and ears at Esterháza. Faced with the unenviable task of trying to top it, Hummel turned not to Haydn as a model but, as liner-note writer David Wyn Jones points out, to Mozart: the Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor provides Hummel's mass with its tense general mood, its flexible shifts between the soloists and the larger group, and its flashes of lyrical light.

Richard Hickox continues his excellent Bruch cycle with warm-hearted and forceful readings of the First Symphony and the Third Violin Concerto. Compared with Masur's slightly ramshackle Leipzig performance, Hickox and the LSO provide an extremely fresh sounding performance of the First Symphony. Many opening horn calls and some delightful woodwind solos add to the charm of a work, which should have a firmer hold on the orchestral repertoire. As regards tempi, Hickox is akin to James Conlon and his expansive Cologne performance (EMI) but Chandos' bloom depicts some wonderful playing from the LSO especially in the irresistible Allegro guerriero.

This excellent recording was originally issued by Chandos in 1991… The terrific London Symphony Chorus is a real show-stopper. They sing with absolute clarity of texture and with amazing vocal effects. The tenor part was written for the idiosyncratic tone and agility of Peter Pears. Martyn Hill more than lives up to the challenge; he is absolutely perfect… Hodgson’s mezzo is rich ripe and mellow… Hickox moves the music along with a light-hearted drive, stressing the happy bucolic qualities.

Langridge is an inspired interpreter of the role of Aschenbach; his performance here is matched by Alan Opie’s sinister portrayal of the six characters who convey him to his doom. Michael Chance contributes an ethereally unsettling Voice of Apollo, and Richard Hickox coaxes out every bit of the score's morbid beauty.

Vaughan Williams had been interested in folk music since he was a boy. In December 1903, he noted down the tune of Bushes and Briars from a 70 year-old labourer who lived in the Essex village of Ingrave. Over the next ten years he collected more than 800 songs, and they had a profound effect on his development as a composer. Particularly significant was a week long visit to King’s Lynn in 1905, during which he collected some 30 songs. One was The Captain’s Apprentice as sung by the fisherman James Carter. This melody was used in the Norfolk Rhapsody No 1, the Sea Symphony and the Pastoral Symphony. Another was Ward the Pirate, used as a theme in both the first and second Rhapsodies.

A genuine tonic, this, and an auspicious start to Chandos’s ambitious Grainger Edition. Richard Hickox evidently has a deep affection for this intoxicatingly colourful repertoire and he draws a consistently alert and superbly stylish response from the BBC Philharmonic.

Benjamin Britten - War Requiem / Sinfonia da Requiem / Ballad of Heroes
Heather Harper, Philip Langridge, Martyn Hill, John Shirley-Quirk; London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox
2xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 567 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Chandos # CHSA 5007(2) | Country/Year: UK 1991
Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary, Sacred, Vocal, Oratorio

"…Hickox's set has achieved the status of a classic for Britten recordings." ~sa-cd.net

This important release follows Hickox and Collegium Musicum 90's award-winning recordings of the Masses of Haydn and Hummel. It continues the Esterházy theme since Beethoven's Mass in C succeeded ones commissioned by the prince from Haydn and Hummel. There are few recordings of this repertoire on period instruments, and with the addition of the two rare cantatas, this CD is especially important.

Lennox Berkeley wrote his Piano Concerto in B flat major in 1947–48 for his loyal interpreter Colin Horsley, who gave the first performance in the Royal Albert Hall in London. The solo part combines a good deal of bravura writing, including several passages of double octaves, with simple, lyrical melodies, sometimes over a Chopin-like arpeggio accompaniment and sometimes played by the two hands in octaves.
A convert to Roman Catholicism in his mid-twenties, Berkeley composed a good deal of music for worship, as well as several concert works on sacred or devotional texts. Among the best known of the latter is …….