The snow storms in New York didn’t stand in the way of the New York Philharmonic last week. Together with Juanjo Mena on the podium, they gave four stunning performances of Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony. James Ehnes was the soloist in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, and his performance was one of “exemplary clarity”.
You can read the full reviews here:
Impressive in Chandos’s ongoing, very successful Spanish music series, the BBC Philharmonic and its chief conductor, Juanjo Mena, also explores the works of the Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera in three orchestral volumes. Not only acknowledged as a leading South-American composer of his day, Ginastera is also seen as one of the heroes of Latin-American music in general, whose enduring source of inspiration was Argentina itself: its pre-Columbian legacy on the one hand and the vast landscapes of the pampas on the other.
Indeed, if Ollantay is inspired by the former, and more especially by a dramatic poem of Inca origin, Ginastera turned to the latter for the setting of his second ballet, Estancia, based on the life of the gauchos who work in those wide open spaces. The essential genre of music in this piece is the malambo, an exclusively masculine, competitive traditional dance, far from the seductive tangos of Ginastera’s now more famous compatriot and pupil Astor Piazzolla. While the landscape is the same in Pampeana No. 3, the music is more abstract and contrasted, marking the transition from what the composer called a compositional period of ‘objective nationalism’ to a ‘subjective one’.
Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)
Pampeana Nº3, Op 24 (1954, revised 1967) 18:11
Pastoral Sinfónica en Tres Movimientos
(Symphonic Pastorale in Three Movements)
1 I Adagio contemplativo – Poco più mosso – Tempo I – A tempo ma pochissimo più lento 6:49
2 II Impetuosamente – Intermezzo quasi Trio. Un poco meno mosso [Tempo I] – 5:38
3 III Largo con poetica esaltazione – Piochissimo più lento 5:37
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena
Ollantay, Op 17 (1947) 13:30
Tres Movimientos Sinfónicos
(Three Symphonic Movements)
A Erich Kleiber, afectuosamente
4 Paisaje de Ollantaytambo (The Landscape of Ollantaytambo). Lento 4:25
5 Los guerreros (The Warriors). Allegro – Poco più mosso – Tempo I – Presto e agitato 3:02
6 La muerte de Ollantay (The Death of Ollantay) Andante – Adagio – Presto e agitato 5:53
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena
Estancia, Op 8 (1941) 34:17
Ballet in One Act and Five Scenes
Cuadro I (Scene 1). El Amanecer (Dawn)
7 I Introducción y escena (Introduction and Scene). Allegro – Andante – 3:15
8 II Pequeña danza (Little Dance). Allegro – Meno mosso 1:34
9 III Danza del trigo (Wheat Dance). Tranquillo – [ ] – Tempo I ma un poco rubato 3:12
10 IV Los trabajadores agricolas (The Farm Workers). Tempo gusto 3:05
11 V Los peones de hacienda (The Cattlemen). [ ] – Mosso e ruvido 1:58
12 VI Los puebleros (The Townsfolk). [ ] 2:32
13 VII Triste pampeano (Pampas Melancholy). Lento 3:24
14 VIII La doma (The Rodeo). Allegro molto 2:02
15 IX Idilio crepuscular (Twilight Idyll). Adagio 2:47
Cuadro IV (Scene 4). La noche (Night)
16 X Nocturno (Nocturne). Lento – Più lento – Tempo I – Più lento, quasi larguetto 4:24
Cuadro V (Scene 5). El Amanecer (Dawn)
17 XII Escena (Scene). Andantino – Lento 1:43
18 XII Danza final. Malambo (Final Dance. Malabo). Allegro – Tempo di malambo 3:43
Lucas Somoza Osterc speaker / baritone
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena
TT 66:18
Recorded at MediaCity UK, Salford
14 January 2014 (Estancia) and 4 March 2015 (other works)
Producers
Ralph Couzens (Executive)
Mike George
Sound Engineers
Stephen Rinker
Sharon Hughes (Assistant)
Owain Williams (Assistant, Estancia only)
Format: Digital CD 16Bit 44.1Khz
Originally recorded in: 24Bit 96Khz
This is the eagerly awaited second volume of orchestral works by Pierné, played by the BBC Philharmonic under Juanjo Mena and featuring Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. The first volume, released five years ago, proved ‘a delectable aperitif’ (American Record Review).
More successful than his older rival Debussy in the early twentieth century, the composer Pierné deserves to be better known nowadays. This recording features some of his most virtuosic and yet mysterious pieces, which place him at the frontier between romantic (Liszt, Saint-Saëns, Franck) and impressionist (Ravel, Debussy) influences.
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, who is often praised for his expressive power and fine technique, here takes on the challenge of bringing such mercurial inventions as the Fantaisie-Ballet or Poème Symphonique to much-deserved recognition.
Les Cathédrales and Paysages franciscains are later works (1915 and 1919, respectively), and while the former evokes scenes of devastation during World War IMaría Espada (soprano), Martin Roscoe (piano), BBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena, the latter offers more airy and impressionist music, with obvious signs of ‘modern’ influences.
Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937)
Paysages franciscains, Op. 43 (1919) 18:41
1 I Au jardin de Sainte Claire (Couvent de Saint Damien). Andantino – Très calme 4:33
2 II Les Olivaies de la plaine d’Assise (Crépuscule d’automne). Modéré – Tranquillo – Tempo I – 5:21
3 III Sur la route de Poggio-Bustone (La Procession). Modéré 8:37
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena
4 Les Cathedrales (1915) 9:41
Prélude pour le poème dramatique de M. Eugène Moraud
Version without Chorus
À Camille Chevillard
Lento non troppo – [ ] – Tempo I (calme, mais sans lenteur) –
Andante – Allegro vivo – Un poco menos vivo – Allegro vivo
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena
5 Scherzo-Caprice, Op. 25 (1890) 8:00
Valse symphonique
for Piano and Orchestra
À Madame Caroline de Serres (C. Montigny-Rémaury)
Tempo di Valse – Meno vivo, ma pochissimo – Vivamente –
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena
6 Poeme symphonique, Op. 37 (1901) 12:52
for Piano and Orchestra
À Édouard Risler
Allegro moderato – Andante molto tranquillo – Allegro –
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena
7 Fantaisie-Ballet, Op. 6 (1886) 11:24
for Piano and Orchestra
À Madame Caroline de Serres (C. Montigny-Rémaury)
Andante maestoso – Allegro moderato – Allegro vivo –
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena
8 Nocturne en forme de valse, Op. 40 No. 2 (1903) 7:33
from Trois Pièces formant suite de concert
À Joh. Wyman
Mouvement de Valse lento – Tempo un poco animato –
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano
9 Etude de concert, Op. 13 (1887) 3:53
À Louis Diémer
Vivace – Un poco meno presto – Tempo I –
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano
TT 72:58
Recorded at MediaCity UK, Salford
17-19 July 2014
Producers
Ralph Couzens (Executive)
Mike George
Sound Engineers
Stephen Rinker
Chris Hardman (Assistant)
Format: Digital CD 16Bit 44.1Khz
Originally recorded in: 24Bit 96Khz
In the week of the 25th anniversary of his death, Juanjo Mena and the BBC Philharmonic celebrated Leonard Bernstein with a concert drawing on repertoire from his final performance.
Read the full Bachtrack review here.
The public were treated to “playing of abundant finesse and color throughout” in Juanjo Mena’s return to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, with a programme of Prokofiev, Glazunov and Beethoven.
You can read the full reviews here:
Juanjo Mena’s busy 2014-15 season came to a close last week with Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony at the BBC Proms, which was “exhuberantly performed” by the BBC Philharmonic. You can listen to John Foulds’ “Three Mantras” here, and Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony here.
You can read the full online reviews here:
“The sheer energy generated by this exciting conductor in Estancia’s final dance was one of the most exhilarating orchestral experiences in my recall”
(Robert Croan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
“Mena was wonderfully evocative…. taking time for swells of sound to carry the audience along.”
(Mark Kanny, Trib Total Media)
The Pittsburgh Symphony received favourable reviews following their recent performances conducted by Juanjo Mena, which conclude the busiest North American season of his career to date.
You can read the full reviews here:
Juanjo Mena led the BBC Philharmonic in a high-voltage performance of Beethoven’s only opera at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, and the concert was greeted with highly favourable reviews. You can listen to the performance on BBC Radio 3 at 14:00 UK time on Thursday 21st May, and it will be available here until 21st June.
You can read the full reviews here:
The Guardian, Tim Ashley
Manchester Evening News, Robert Beale
Bachtrack, Andrew King
In May 2016 Juanjo Mena will make his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, in a programme featuring Debussy’s ‘Iberia’, Ginastera’s Harp Concerto with Marie-Pierre Langlamet and Falla’s ballet ‘The Three-Cornered Hat’. You can read more information here.
“Something happened at the Maison Symphonique on Thursday evening…. the musicians [of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra] were in the hands of the Basque conductor Juanjo Mena, who commanded a dionysian vision of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony that everyone seemed to be waiting for.”
“I can honestly say that I’m unable to remember a comparable performance by the OSM at the Maison Symphonique.”
(Christophe Huss, Le Devoir)
You can read the full review in French here.