Search - Picker, Gielgud, Atherholt :: Old & Lost Rivers / Encantadas

Great CD, but who's the real star, Picker or Schumann?

JJM Peters | Nijmegen, The Netherlands | 03/20/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As most people, I got to know Tobias Picker through his fabulous "Old and Lost Rivers". I was enchanted and looked a long time for this CD. I finally found it and it is, as I had hoped, great. This recording presents some of Picker's more accessible works, the record with the violin concerto (Composers Recordings - #589) being a totally different side of his output, with earlier and less approachable pieces (at least when you're not used to listening to modern classical music).This CD presents to different guises of "Old and Lost Rivers". The one for orchestra which has been recorded a number of times and one for piano solo (transcribed for and first recorded by Ursula Oppens on Music and Arts CD-4862-2). The orchestra version is very good, with just the right tempo and sense for rubato. Yet, I like the version on Williams' "The Five Sacred Trees" (Sony - #62729) better, just because the sound of the Houston Symphony can't compete with the London Symphony Orchestra (although Williams takes the tempo a bit too fast). The piano version is a nice addition, although I get the feeling Eschenbach tries to "do" too much with the music in stead of letting it speak for itself. Therefore, the tempo is sometimes dragging.The Encantadas for speaker and orchestra is really entertaining. Firstly, the texts are very well chosen and Sir John Gielgud brings them wonderfully with his sonorous, somewhat "mushy" voice and his British accent. The orchestral representation of the spoken words is delicate and very well composed, making the speaker more or less a part of the orchestra. The different moods in the texts are vividly painted by the orchestral colors and the use of instrumentation is great.The romances and Interludes for oboe and orchestra are possibly the finest compositions on the disc. Ironically, the romances (three in number) are really exact copies of the romances written by Robert Schumann for oboe and piano, with 20th century orchestration provided by Picker. The prelude and two interludes are distinctly Picker's own and also distinctly 20th century. The contrast between the different styles and periods is what makes this piece so attractive. The playing Robert Atherholt is very sensitive and clear and it opened my ears to the possibilities of this instrument.So, all by all, I like this CD very much, recommending it to everyone who wants to explore the lyrical side of Tobias Picker or really everyone enjoying accessible, but modern classical music."