Marimba music holds the spotlight in Marimba Spiritual, a collection of contemporary pieces played with verve and sensitivity by Katarzyna Mycka. Again, the pieces are friendly, fresh, and inviting. Many exemplify the recent trend toward fusions of African and European music, a natural in-between terrain for percussion music. Especially pleasing are Matthias Schmitt\'s \'Ghanaia\', an exploration of the marimba\'s African roots; Marcus Halt\'s \'Marimbasonic\', a more abstract and virtuosic work emphasizing the marimba\'s coloristic possibilities; and Ney Rosauro\'s amiable, pop-oriented Concerto for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble, where Ms Mycka is joined by half a dozen talented colleagues. The delicate, liquid sound of the marimba can be magic: listen to the quietly sustained repeated notes, like a floating organ, in David Maslanka\'s My Lady White, or the lyrical efflorescence of Keiko Abe\'s Dream of the Cherry Blossoms.

One thing is made delightfully clear in this disc: contemporary percussion music need not be bangy and in-your-face. With players as masterly as this, it can even be charming and poetic.

This fine recording offers works composed during World War II (Martin and Hindemith), in the early 1950s (Serocki and Defaye), and more recently (Denisov and Gunes). There is no humor in either of the WW II-era pieces. Swiss composer Frank Martin\'s Ballade (1940) is a subtle, jazz-infused work that has the trombonist crooning soulfully in the high register much of the time. It requires real strength and stamina, and given Thomas Storch\'s stature--former principal trombone of the Berlin Philharmonic and now principal of the Bavarian Radio Symphony--it comes as no surprise that he has plenty of both.

Hindemith\'s Sonata (1941) is the cornerstone of the trombone recital repertory. Calling for powerful playing by both soloist and pianist, the work can come across as brutal unless opportunities for nuance and warmth are explored. My favorite recordings, by John Kitzman (Sept/Oct 1998: 283) and Ben Haemhouts (March/April 1998), bear little resemblance to each other--except that both show warmth and lyricism. Storch\'s reading is powerful, driven by fast tempos. While he occasionally eases the intensity, he is too relentless for my taste.

The postwar works are light and playful. This may be the best recording of Kasimierz Serocki\'s Sonatine (1953), played with appropriate zest by Horch and spikiness by Walter-Lindqvist. Jean-Michel Defaye\'s Two Dances (1954) has been recorded more often than any other trombone piece. Why? Well, it is a pleasant foray into the pop realm--\'Danse Sacree\' is a soulful ballad, and \'Danse Profane\' is lively--and an opportunity to show off the player\'s high register: Horch plays it well, as has every artist who has recorded it.

Edison Denisov explores extremes of register, microtones, and sympathetic vibration in his spooky Choral Varie (1979). Horch\'s reading is similar to one by Christian Lindberg (Nov/Dec 1991: 193) and more leisurely than one by Benny Sluchin (Jan/Feb 1990: 125). This is the first recording of The Trombonite (1993) by Turkish composer Betin Gunes. Horch delivers the most remarkable display of alto trombone virtuosity I have ever heard; but the modernist, meandering, and rather dreary piece does nothing for me.

Impeccable technique, coherence, and sweep, propelled by crisp rhythm and tempos, bring excitement to these Liszt organ works played by Helmut Deutsch. Despite the romantic character of the organ and the resonance of the room, he is able to keep the fast passages clearer and better focussed than most organists do.

His registration for the great B-A-C-H is not especially pleasing. There is an over-reliance on the crescendo pedal and the swell pedal--devices not available to Liszt--for tonal variety. This might seem to be quibbling but it is not, for it means that the type of organ sound known to Liszt has not been achieved. Deutsch plays through this piece without much attention to distinctive colors, as many organists do, preferring a generic kind of sound. All of this produces an overbearing effect in the B-A-C-H, but less so in the Weinen, Klagen Variations, where there are more quiet passages, and in the Ad Nos, where he is more imaginative, even orchestral, in his registrational scheme. Thus the Ad Nos is the most captivating performance here, and it is further enhanced by its very fast pace (29:56). But Deutsch has a pronounced taste for ensembles based on 16\' manual tone, so he keeps us immersed in glutinous sound much of the time.

The organ, a 1930 Walcker of three manuals and 54 stops in Volklingen, is a felicitous choice for this music, and it has been skillfully recorded, with just the right amount of reverberation. Enthusiasts of hi-fi organ sound will be happy with this recording for its range of sonority and realistic quality. Such amplitude in the basses of an organ recording, powerful enough to rattle the speakers, is seldom encountered.

Of the many recordings of Liszt\'s organ music recently heard, none has seemed to me entirely satisfying. Two notable exceptions, and these are from years back, are the old LP recordings of the B-A-C-H by E. Power Biggs and the Ad Nos by John Weaver, neither reissued on CD. Among newer releases, Edgar Krapp in the Tonhalle, Bamberg (Calig) is the finest all around.

The Czech composer Jan Novak (1921-84) was deeply interested in Latin literature and poetry. For him Latin was still a living language, and he even wrote poetry and prose in Latin. In 1983 he founded the Latin music festival Ludi Latini. Born in Moravia, Novak studied in America with Martinu and Copland. In 1948 he returned to Moravia, but the political turmoil and violence of the "Prague Spring" in 1968 forced the composer and his family to flee Czechoslovakia, moving to Denmark, then Italy, and finally Germany. As an ex-patriot Czech and a Latin humanist Novak found little acceptance. His catalog of compositions lists settings of many of the great traditional Latin masters: Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, Seneca, Cicero, and Caesar. Perhaps the oddest of his compositions is a setting of recipes from the "Cook Book" of Apicius! From the play Dulcitius by Germany's first poetess Hrotsvitha von Gandersheim, Novak constructed a comic opera. Modern Latin texts included ones by Josef Eberle and Harry C Schnur . To teach children to enjoy Latin Novak even composed music for children with Latin texts.

Novak's cantata Dido gets its text from the fourth book of The Aeneid of Virgil. The cantata covers much the same territory as Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas. It was first performed in 1967 in Brno. A mezzo-soprano (voce media) portrays Dido as a narrator (recitans) tells the tale with commentary by a men's chorus (here the Choro virorum symphoniacisque stationis radiophonicae Bavaricae adstrepentibus). The work bears some resemblance to Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, with a similar use of a men's chorus and a major role for mezzo-soprano. Novak's narrator plays a much more important role than Stravinsky's. The two works also have a similarity of propulsive rhythms, but in general Novak's music is much more romantic sounding, less detached, less acerbic.

This 1982 performance is a fine one, with Kubelik in firm command, driving the work to its dramatic conclusion. Schmiege may not have the most attractive voice, but she sings most musically, with a warmth and breadth of vocal power combined with dramatic insight. Fiedler was the first to perform the sprechstimme role of Moses in Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron (1954) and he performs here with immense dignity and expression.

The 13-minute Mimus Magicus (1969) is a setting of portions of Virgil's eighth eclogue, Bucolica. Like Dido it deals with love, but instead of seeking death as a remedy for love, the heroine here tries to win back her unfaithful lover through the use of magic spells. Here the musical forces are much reduced, requiring only a soprano soloist (voce acuta), a flute (calamo traverso), and a piano (clavibus pulsatis). Novak does less with these lesser forces, but it isn't quite fair to judge the work on the basis of this inadequate 1986 performance. Soprano (voce acuta) Kurokouchi should be voce acerba! Pitches are woefully misplaced, particular in the higher range, and an acidic quality colors the entire voice. Enjoy the Dido, but this is "Minimus Magicus".

A libretto in Latin, English, and German is included. Even the program notes and performance-recording credits are in Latin!

This 1982 concert performance is not to be confused with Kubelik\'s 1969 studio recording with the same orchestra, chorus, and soprano.

The interpretations are quite similar. Both stick closely to the score, though in both versions, Kubelik ignores many of Mahler\'s detailed notations: caesuras in I, long-held horn notes in V, etc. The only significant changes in tempo are in I, III, and V. The 1982 I is about a minute longer than the 1969; the 1982 III is about 1:20 longer, and the 1982 V is about two minutes longer. The total for 1969 is 76:18, for 1982 80:00. Both are well played and rather straightforward and earnest rather than exciting.

Soprano Edith Mathis is excellent in the 1969, and a shade less so in the 1982. Both contraltos are excellent, with Norma Procter more angelic (1969) and Fassbaender more ardent. In 1969 Kubelik has the basses slow down somewhat and then accelerate in the fourth measure of I. He does not repeat that sin in 1982. The bells at the end of the symphony are reasonably audible in 1982, but next to inaudible in 1969. Sonics in both are good; the 1969 crisper and brighter, the 1982 warmer, with better low frequencies. There is a production slip in this one: Mahler wanted III, IV, and V played without pause. That is impossible here, because III is on one disc and IV and V on the other. The timings are such that III, IV, and V could have been accommodated on one disc.

If you have the 1969 recording, I do not think you need to acquire the 1982. If you like Kubelik\'s way with Mahler and do not have his Second, the 1969 seems to be deleted.

Abbie Conant is known (perhaps unfairly) as a cause celebre for woman brass players. She won the principal trombone job in the Munich Philharmonic in 1980 and was awarded tenure a year later by her colleagues. New conductor Sergiu Celibidache tried to overrule the orchestra--"...we need a man for solo trombone", he reportedly said--before moving her to Second Trombone. Conant fought the action in the German courts, winning reinstatement in 1993. She then resigned, took a position at a German conservatory (Conant is American) and to my knowledge has never returned to orchestra playing. Today she teaches in Germany, performs solo (including electronic) works, and appears in pieces by her husband, composer William Osborne.

Conant is a fine player on this 1987 recording. Her technique is not flashy, but it is polished, and her legato is smooth and clean. She has a dark, Teutonic sound whose emphasis on lower overtones gives it a warm upper register and a slight burr and spread in the middle. Its contour is more flat than round and focussed, but it nicely complements her earthy, human approach to the instrument. I suspect Barry Kilpatrick (July/Aug 1995) likes her sound better than I do, but I essentially agree that "her golden tone, combination of lyricism and power, and heartfelt expressiveness--is present in everything she plays".

These qualities are especially present in the romantic works, and it's great to have them available in such fine performances. The Guilmant is a compact, rewarding bit of Franckian romanticism whose sharp structural changes Conant handles effectively while making the piece soar. The darker, more abstract Robert Helmschrott work varies from elegiac to declamatory to jubilantly technical. Conant introduced it in 1984, and its mysterious, yet heroic quality suits her well. Schnorr's Ives arrangement assigns melodic lines to the trombone, effectively adding the instrument as a stop to the original organ scoring. It too fits Conant's style. The Giovanni Cesare is said to be the first solo work for trombone (c 1621), and Conant's broad, extroverted approach is just right.

I am not quite as fond of her Handel and Marcello. The playing is solid and fluid, especially in the high register, and the ornamentation (mostly trills) is well executed and judicious. I just prefer a rounder, sleeker tone and a sweeter, more baroque style. I would like more lyrical shaping of the rhythmic figures in the Allegros and in the Larghetto of the Handel. There is also too much smoothing of the dotted rhythms in that Larghetto and a few crass measures in the first Allegro of the Marcello. Despite these quibbles, I enjoyed both performances. The only one I don't like is the Johann Krebs, where the trombone supplies a tenor cantus firmus to a vigorous chorale prelude. This calls for a round, noble sound, particularly given Schnorr's (fittingly) dynamic playing. Conant's flatish tone makes the part seem vestigial.

The recorded sound is good, though we are reminded that church acoustics favor organs at the expense of other solo instruments. The soloist is slightly distant to the point where Schnorr's fine organ playing sometimes threatens to push even the powerful trombone of Abbie Conant aside. Neither this nor the other minor problems detract seriously from a fine recital.

Thomas Horch, principal trombone in the Berlin Philharmonic during Herbert von Karajan's final years as conductor, is now principal of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra. This is his second recording in only a few months. Many aspects of his first one impressed me, though his Hindemith Trombone Sonata was way too forceful for my taste (Nov/Dec 2000: 281). Here, on alto trombone, he plays transcriptions by 18th-Century composers Vivaldi, Pepusch, Boismortier, and Loeillet, as well as two 18th Century-style works by Hannes Meyer (b 1939). One is a sonata based on themes by Pergolesi. The other, Love Play Suite, is the most interesting piece on the program. The last of its five movements is an amusing 'Chorale-Bolero' that sets a familiar tune over the bolero rhythm.

Horch delivers pleasant, moderately expressive, technically polished recitations, but I am not moved or inspired by his playing. Nor am I impressed by his decision to include Vivaldi's Spring concerto from Four Seasons. The notes say Horch played it "with a twinkle in his eye", but it doesn't sound like he included it as a little joke. We all know how this piece sparkles when played on violin; this does not sparkle.

Horch's wife Ruth Vollert accompanies ably on the organ at Maria Konigan Church of Baldham near Munich.

The Night Music recording is not bad as "novelty" albums go, and I am betting I will be listening to it whenever a relaxed mood and a glass of wine are called for. Lencses is pretty much a known quantity--though somewhat variable depending on what company he happens to be recording with. His sound is sweet and secure, and Gisele Herbert gives angelic support when not soloing on her own (Faure Impromptu and Satie Gnossiennes). The music is wonderful, of course, and I would rank this as good or better than similar albums--and they are legion. Excellent sound.

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Johannes Wildner erobert mit deutschen Orchestern ungewöhnliches Repertoire...