Ernest Bloch Howard Hanson Harold Lawrence - Howard Hanson Conducts Bloch (9 tracks) +Album Reviews

A supreme recording

Jeffrey P. Katz | Somerset, NJ United States | 08/26/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard this as vinyl many, many years ago. Its re-release on CD was like hearing from an an old friend. This is the greatest performance of these Concerti Grossi I have ever heard. From the spiky first movement of #1 to the lyricism made new in #2, the music reveals Bloch's authority and majesty. If you think Concerti Grossi must be from the Baroque era, this music, written in the 1920s and 1950s, respectively, will be a delight."

Wings across the years

Jeffrey P. Katz | 07/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These extraordinary performances recorded at the Eastman Theatre, Rochester, in the late 50s, show no sign of fading. In aesthetic, presentation and sound, they are as fresh and vital as when they first came out...and I remember when they did, about 1960.The greater part of the accolades, of course, go to Howard Hanson, whose tenacity and talent changed how the USA and the world looked at and listened to American music. Here he is in top form before the outstanding ensemble he built. In the concerti, the point and attack so necessary in Bloch is there, the virtusoity is there, the songfulness and emotion most definitely there. What's remarkable is that Hanson doesn't make a point of it...his Bloch aesthetic is by now so ingrained in our collective conscience that imagining a slack performance of any Bloch piece is brainwork, indeed.The outstanding Miquelle works into the scheme very well, too. His Schelomo is the meditative king that eschews the rhetoric, bluster, bounce and noise we often get in the work. His Gallic tone is intimate, pure, on point, and even diminuitive at times without in any way being retiring or pusilanimous. He and Hanson stick very close to the music and by doing less, they express more. Miquelle and Hanson's way won't appeal to those who seek "virtuosismo", but will reward those who seek Bloch's creative thought and compositional process. In that way, it's a unique and extraordinary performance.If you don't know Bloch, this is a superlative way to start (my third grade music teacher played these performances on a Magnavox console for us kids and we immediately loved the music). Thanks to Wilma Cozart for refurbing her own sessions so effectively, and Mercury for bringing back these historic performances for more generations to experience."

Excellent.

J. Leitch | Baltimore, MD, United States | 11/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These are the definitive Bloch Concerti Grossi, as far as I'm concerned.

All of the performances are absolutely perfect, and the transfers are spectacular."

Great American Music

W. Glenn Jamison | Rochester, NY | 08/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Both Hanson and Bloch are great American composers who were once more widely appreciated. Howard Hanson was born in Wahoo, Nebraska to Swedish parents, and Ernst Bloch was an immigrant from Switzerland. Bloch was so deeply appreciative of his adopted land that later he wrote "America - An Epic Rhapsody" (conducted by Stokowski with chorus and orchestra).

The "Mercury Living Presence" feature of this recording antedates the development of stereophonic sound, but its effect brings the sound amazingly real and close. Under Hanson's baton the string orchestra is precise and trenchant.

The first movement of the Concerto Grosso No. 1 is one of the most committed musical segments ever written. It is completely purposeful and decisive. The second movement is like a retrospective, or thoughtful hesitation, with minor and major keys alternating rapidly, and sometimes coinciding. The minor theme is like a review of the sadness, perhaps of a life, with the coincidence of major and minor representing cognitive and emotional dissonance and pain previously endured. Then in the third movement happy little tunes start to emerge, almost like folksongs, as though the composer had been given permission to enjoy, or discover happiness. The fourth and final movement is one of the most impressive five-part fugues anywhere in music. J.S. Bach would have been proud. It weaves the four string voices together with the piano as a fifth voice, and emerges as a triumph of integration. And isn't that what a fulfilled life is all about? To me, the piece sounds tremendously vital and life-affirming.

The other pieces on the CD will take longer to appreciate - don't expect to like them until several listenings. But the first Concerto Grosso is a masterpiece. Occasionally I listen to the Concerto Grosso No. 2, which is good composition, but not as persuasive or powerful. Lastly, the Hebraic melody, Schelomo, is far too sad to bear much listening, unless one is actively grieving."

Definitive, No Doubt.

David Schwan | Chicago, IL United States | 02/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These pieces by Ernest Bloch have been available on various recordings over the years, but these performances with Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra have surely ranked among the best. When the Concerti were issued on a "Mercury Golden Imports" LP some 35 years ago, a reviewer in Time Magazine wrote that "...Hanson reads them with snap and vigor." That "snap and vigor" shines through on this CD in all three works and the crisp, vivid Mercury Living Presence sound is instrumental in making that happen.

Like others who have written reviews on MLP CDs, I, too, am dismayed by the fact that they're disappearing. This includes the multi-disc sets released a few years ago as well as the SACD versions of selected recordings, all of which sounded terrific. The SACD reissue program, which had a dedicated Website, was stopped several years ago as well. So, as a few people have mentioned in these reviews...get these CDs before they're all gone!

"

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