Lighter fare is fitting for outdoor summer concerts

It`s July, and I must admit to a prejudice that comes over me this time of year: I like to write a few columns reviewing recordings of lighter works.

It seems appropriate. The summer concerts around the country are in full swing. And with all due respect to the heavy hitters - Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Bruckner, for instance - perhaps we can give such giants a brief hiatus and dip into that vast part of the literature that is more easily assimilated. And - dare I say - more fun? So here we go.

"The Only Operetta Album You`ll Ever Need"; RCA Red Seal/BMG 72916; DDD/ADD.

How`s this for a list of composers represented on this disc: Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehar, Friedrich von Flotow, Jacques Offenbach, Robert Stolz, Carl Zeller.

And speaking of giants of the musical world, you see that the vocal giants represented here are certainly not above lightening up a bit now and then in their own singing roles: Fritz Wunderlich, Anna Moffo, Mario Lanza, Montserrat Caballe, Placido Domingo, Lucia Popp, Rudolph Schock, Margit Schramm, Jerry Hadley, Julia Migenes, Frederica von Stade. And in addition, Robert Stolz conducts the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in the Overture to Strauss` "Die Fledermaus" and Ballet Music from "Die Fledermaus."

So if you agree with me that sometimes music should simply be a lot of fun, here`s a disc for you.

"Offenbachiana"; 11 orchestral excerpts from operettas by Jacques Offenbach. Andre Aubigny, solo violin; Radio Lyrique Orchestra of the R.T.F.; Marcel Cariven, conductor. Omega Classics 1034; AAD.

Wait a minute! Didn`t we just read that the disc considered above is "the only operetta album you`ll ever need"?

Well, yes. But they probably didn`t entirely mean it. Probably what they meant is if you have but one disc of music of the operetta - particularly vocal music - let it be this one.

This seems better put because it would be a shame to miss this splendid disc of orchestral music of the operetta by one of the great composers of the form, Jacques Offenbach.

And among the 11 selections, is one the infectious and exhilarating Quadrille from "Orphee aux Enfers"? Indeed one is. So get ready to re-create in your mind the row of high-kicking, skirt-swishing lady dancers who now and then let out a punctuating high squeal. (You furnish the squeals, they`re not included on this recording.)

"Copland the Populist"; Orchestral Suites from Aaron Copland`s ballets "Billy the Kid," "Appalachian Spring," "Rodeo." San Francisco Symphony Orchestra; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor. RCA/ BMG 63511.

The title attached to Copland`s name is interesting: The Populist. We can take the word populist as it is used here to mean someone who represents the common people. And as we apply it to Copland`s music - particularly the music of these three ballets - can you possibly think of any composer who was more successful in writing music that seemed to bespeak the essence of the American idiom?

Music for an summer outdoor symphony concert. Could anything be more appropriate than these works by Copland?

The works are beautifully performed on this recording by the San Francisco Symphony under the baton of its music director, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. Thomas gives each work the full attention of his considerable talent. His readings give proof of his meticulous study of the scores. And once again, as seems to be the case with each succeeding recording by Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, we can hear that the young American conductor is developing the orchestra into one that can compete with any orchestra, anywhere.

GREIG: Piano concerto; Piano Sonata Op. 7; Lyric Pieces Opp. 43, 54, 65. Lief Ove Andsnes, piano; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra; Dmitri Kitayenko, conductor. Virgin Classics 61745.

And here`s another work I love to hear played at summer concerts; other times too, of course, but the concerto seems so appropriate to being played out of doors. Perhaps that`s the influence of the Norse woods that surely played such an important part in Greig`s compositional career.

I am particularly pleased to hear this concerto played by Leif Ove Andsnes. I have, in columns of recent months, praised the pianist`s exquisite interpretation of Haydn. It is a pleasure to listen to him backed by an orchestra of a size needed for the Grieg concerto.

Andsnes plays the entire concerto with a feeling of the utmost intimacy. He caresses the music of the slower sections. His dynamics sometimes are reduced to a whisper. I don`t believe I have ever heard the concerto played with such minute attention to dynamics. His tempos during the quieter times in the score are slower than anything I have ever heard, and he makes a believer out of me in so playing the passages.

Not to suggest, however, that the pianist does not exert power to the parts of the concerto that obviously call for power. Indeed he does, and what he does is most appropriate. The concerto is such a familiar work that one might develop a jaded attitude to the prospect of hearing it again. Superior pianists bring their own feeling for the work to their readings, and when what is done is good, we receive added enjoyment from listening again to something familiar. What Andsnes offers us is most superior interpretation brought about not only from his technical prowess but also from the scholarship that we sense went into his preparation.

The sonata is a lighter-weight representation of the form, simple, melodious, entirely pleasant. The Lyric Pieces are treasures that perhaps best of all enable us to appreciate and understand the composer in his own milieu.

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: King Durkee