The Metamorphosis Ligeti referred to in the title of this PentaTone Classics release could refer to the subtitle of Ligeti's String Quartet No. 1 ("Métamorphoses nocturnes"). It could also suggest how much Ligeti's style changed in the 15 years between the String Quartet No. 1 and String Quartet No. 2; the first quartet was begun in 1953 and still, with its Hungarian folk influences, still fit barely within the dictates of Hungarian socialist realism, while the second is an extreme modernist work. However, the two works are not so far apart as a casual listen might indicate, and the edgy performances of the Quatuor Diotima emphasize the continuity. The String Quartet No. 1 consists of a dozen short movements, as brief as 55 seconds, that, in their economy, suggest that something other than semi-traditional melodic material is happening here, and the Quatuor Diotima gives sharp, clipped performances that bring out the modernity of the work. The quartet is sometimes called "Bartók's seventh quartet," but the Quatuor Diotima stresses the departures from Bartók. The same is true even in the Andante and Allegretto for string quartet of 1950, a more folk-oriented work. The String Quartet No. 1 has its quota of technical challenges, but it is simple compared with the Second Quartet, a work that requires hair-trigger concentration from the players and the ability to make extremely quiet sounds at the top of the instruments' registers. The Quatuor Diotima's performance in the various insectlike sounds in the work is nonpareil. A truly excellent Ligeti recording that penetrates deeply into the composer's essence.© James Manheim /TiVo

One may be puzzled initially to see Mozart, Schumann (twice), and Webern on a program in a cycle devoted to the complete variation sets of Beethoven, but this is a typically ambitious idea from pianist Cédric Tiberghien and the music of the other composers mostly has connections to Beethoven. Schumann's Etudes in Variation form on a Theme by Beethoven, WoO 31, are underrated indeed, weaving quotations from several other Beethoven symphonies into its basic material from the slow movement of the Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92. Perhaps the Webern Variations, Op. 27, are the odd piece out here; it is debatable whether they are variations at all, but in a way, the pieces by the other composers strengthen Tiberghien's main thesis, which is that Beethoven's variations are fully serious works that shouldn't be underestimated. His cycle opens with the Variations and Fugue in E flat major, Op. 35, called the "Eroica Variations" because they use a theme that recurred in the finale of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55. Tiberghien gives these a big, sweeping performance that suggests the work's prominence in Beethoven's output. Yet even the smaller sets, based on simple operatic arias of the day, have some weight in Tiberghien's performances, which indicate ways in which Beethoven worked out problems of register and harmony in these works. By the end, when Tiberghien offers a transcendent performance of Schumann's Geistervariationen (the last work Schumann wrote, already in the grip of madness), the listener has the feeling of having been on quite a ride. One is excited to discover the content and structure of Tiberghien's next volume, which presumably will include the Diabelli Variations, Op. 120.© James Manheim /TiVo

This 2010 recording of Tchaikovsky's eternally popular Swan Lake ballet, with Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra might be ideal for dancing, but it is less ideal purely as a listening experience. On the whole, and in most of its parts, theirs is a highly dramatic and very fast-paced performance, filled with plenty of vigor, energy, color, and contrast. The score requires more pathos and bathos than depth and profundity, and Pletnev elicits from the Russian musicians a sweetly soulful and wholly polished performance. But this version misses the lightness and buoyancy of Gennady Rozhdestvensky's classic account of the work, a performance that sacrifices none of the work's drama, and allowing it space to dance. Pletnev's recording has many virtues, though, and the listener may find a place on the shelf for both his and Rozhdestvensky's versions. Ondine's sound is clean and lush, with plenty of detail. © TiVo

Studio recordings of full operas are not so common anymore, but among the few positive side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was that it did spawn several. This one sounds a bit buttoned-up, perhaps because of the restrictions of the time; the album was made in the summer of 2021, and the contributions of the Transylvania State Choir were downloaded from afar (actually, this would be hard to tell by listening), but there is a lot that is distinctive about the performance of this Verdi opera, whose tragicomic quality has made it a special favorite in modern times. Verdi moved the action from Sweden to Boston to circumvent a censorship restriction; nowadays, the Swedish setting is generally preferred, but the curious American colonial setting somehow seems to fit the mixture of elements in the opera, loading political intrigue onto the old comic trope of the masked ball. The biggest news is the presence of tenor Freddie De Tommaso in the lead role of Riccardo. He has been bubbling under the surface of the opera scene, and with this recording, he takes a major step into the spotlight. Consider one of his big numbers, like "Forse la soglia attinse" in Act III, for an idea of why his performance is bringing to mind some of the greats who have recorded this opera. He is ably backed by a strong cast, including the rougher but powerfully dramatic Lester Lynch as Renato, making a compelling contrast with De Tommaso and Saioa Hernández as Amelia. This vocally strong Un ballo in maschera is well worth the attention of Verdi lovers.© James Manheim /TiVo

This is not the first recording of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's three string quartets, but they are hardly common items. This is perhaps because Korngold spent so much of his career as a film composer. The quartets are especially interesting in that two of them, at least, seem to anticipate phases of his career that were coming next. The String Quartet No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 26, is a more melodic and more positive work compared with its predecessor, surprising, given its origin in the grim year of 1933, but it seems to point to Korngold's incipient turn toward film music. Likewise, the String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 34, composed in 1945 in the U.S., suggested Korngold's return to concert music after the war. It is an intriguing work, tonally but not motivically conservative, and really unlike anything else of the period. The String Quartet No. 1, Op. 16, is given the A major key designation, but it definitely was written under the influence of Schoenberg and flirts with atonality. The Tippett Quartet deserves credit for shifting gears effectively, cultivating quite a hard edge in the String Quartet No. 1 but producing real lyricism in the underrated slow third movement of the second quartet. With excellent sound from the School Farm Studios in Essex, U.K., this is a release that will find a place in many collections of 20th century chamber music; it appeared on classical best-seller charts in early 2023. © James Manheim /TiVo

Alexis Kossenko delves into the repertoire of one of the most admired orchestras in Europe during Bach’s lifetime. The greatest composers of the century composed for this famous ensemble, a showcase for the musical splendour of the court of the prince-electors. Combining concerti and sacred music, this album is the first volume in an exceptional series devoted to this orchestra. © Aparté

When it comes to French string quartets, Autumn 2021 has been notably nocturnal-flavoured. First there was the superb “round midnight” from the genre’s rockstars, Quatuor Ébène – a programme of music for after dark that paired Dutilleux’s Ainsi la nuit of 1976 with a quartet arrangement of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (1899), bridged by a new jazz-infused work by the quartet’s cellist-composer Raphaël Merlin. Now here’s “Not all cats are grey” from one of France’s most exciting new generation quartets, Quatuor Hanson, whose own night-themed trio of works has the Dutilleux sitting at its climax, preceded by Bartók’s String Quartet in A minor of 1917 – metaphorically representing a dark time for Europe, and studied by Dutilleux before he wrote his own quartet – and Ligeti’s String Quartet No 1 “Métamorphoses nocturnes” of 1954. Beyond having one of the smile-eliciting album titles of the year, “Not all cats are grey” also thoroughly delivers on its actual contents. If you’re wondering what the title actually refers to, it’s the fact that at night time all cats suddenly look grey on account on it being more difficult to distinguish separate colours, and that in the same way it can be all too easy to hear so-called contemporary music as all sounding the same. The Hanson’s mission is therefore to bring out the myriad of contrasts between these three major works via a multi-hued night time musical landscape representing everything from sleep, dreams and hallucination, to liveliness and intense movement; and they’ve very much achieved that aim. First thing to say is that there’s a very satisfying balance to the programme’s overall architecture, thanks to their having placed the Dutilleux and Ligeti – each a series of micro-movements heard as a single movement which organically develops an initial motivic idea – as their two-book-ends; and you’re hearing an equal degree of architecture across the interpretations themselves, on both the macro and micro level. Tone and articulation-wise, there’s just the right, brightly crystal-edged, lucid-textured sound that served them so well in their Diapason Award-winning Haydn recording of 2019. Favourite snapshots? How about the exhilarating bite, folky kick, momentum and technical precision of the Ligeti’s Vivace, capriccio; then the similar qualities they bring to the even more obviously folky strains of the following Bartók’s central Allegro molto capriccioso; the slender-toned delicacy with which they open the Bartók’s Lento, and the dramatic tautness with which its long lines then proceed; the gorgeous gossamer wisps heard in the Dutilleux’s Nocturne 2, and the nimbleness, colouristic range and sense of organic progression they bring to that entire work’s exploration of different sound effects. Essentially, I won’t be surprised if this album ends up picking up an award or two, too. © Charlotte Gardner/Qobuz

Everyone knows Camille Saint-Saëns has a great sense of humour thanks to his Carnaval des Animaux in which no one escapes ridicule, not even him. Now the Palazzetto Bru Zane Foundation and Hervé Niquet have unearthed Phryné, a forgotten comic opera from 1893 enriched with recitatives composed by André Messager three years later.Received with immense and lasting success in its time, this brilliant work eventually fell into the abyss, never to be seen again. Fortunately, fans of Saint-Saëns made great efforts to rediscover his works on the centenary of his death in 2021. Phryné captures the "Grecomania" that was prevalent in all the arts in France at this time, especially in Offenbach’s music and even in architecture (just think of the beautiful Parisian district of New Athens in the 9th arrondissement). Ironically, and perhaps a little cheekily, Saint-Saens confessed that he was “working on this little piece with infinite pleasure” and was infatuated with this courtesan musician who had served as a model for the sculptor Praxitele.Always keen to discover a forgotten repertoire, Hervé Niquet brought together a few singers, Florie Valiquette, Cyrille Dubois, Anaïs Constans and Thomas Dolié, to breathe some life back into Phryné with his Concert Spirituel, with the aim of producing a concert version to be performed in the Opéra de Rouen Normandie in 2021. Though Lucien Augé’s libretto may seem tasteless today with its hefty dose of misogyny, Saint-Saens’ music is simply delicious, with a succession of arias and ensembles. This modest and charming opera-comedy, which Charles Gounod so enjoyed, offers a less serious and less academic take of a composer that well and truly deserves to be rediscovered. © François Hudry/Qobuz

It was time for Ludovic Tézier to finally provide his admirers with a recital. His performances as a Verdian baritone are impressive: Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Falstaff, Giorgio Germont (La Traviata), Posa (Don Carlo), Le Conte De Luna (Il Trovatore), Renato (Un ballo in maschera), Iago (Otello). And almost all of these are reprised in this solo album. To this impressive list of stage roles, Tézier brings the welcome addition of arias from Ernani, Macbeth and Nabucco all accompanied by Frédéric Chaslin at the head of the orchestra of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna. It was in 1998 in Tel Aviv that the French baritone played his first Verdian role. He was thirty years old when he was Ford in a production of Falstaff. "There is an absolutely fascinating energy in Verdi, both for the audience and for the singers", he admits. "His roles are usually very challenging, but his music acts at the same time as a fountain of youth. Verdi is brimming with vitality, which is what allowed me to return to the stage just two days after my father's death". Now with a fully-matured voice, Ludovic Tézier is in demand all over the world for his Verdi roles. He is one of the best performers of Verdi's work, standing alongside the late Piero Cappuccilli who remains his great role model. This record offers timely confirmation of his stature. © François Hudry/Qobuz