The Spin Doctor Europadisc's Weekly Column

In a time of increasing uncertainty and change for some high-profile record labels, the good news is that Chandos Records, founded in 1979 by the late Brian Couzens, continues to thrive since its acquisition over a year ago by Klaus Heymann (founder and owner of the Naxos group). Of course, it’s too early to tell what the long-term effects of this transfer might be, but the assurances of independence from Heymann and the continued leadership of the label by Couzens’s son Ralph, together with an uninterrupted recording schedule, are all positive signs. With its special focus on British music (its roots lie in the brass band tradition), as well as unearthing rarely-recorded repertoire, Chandos has long been a major jewel in the crown of the UK’s classical music scene.

One of Chandos’s most enduring musical partnerships has been with the veteran Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi, often in lighter repertoire, not least in neglected gems from French late-Romanticism. However, his latest release marks a return to the more ‘heavyweight’ works of some of his earlier recordings on the label (including Bruckner and Prokofiev). Wilhelm Furtwängler’s Second Symphony is the best known work by the iconic conductor who also regarded himself (like his contemporaries Bruno Walter and Otto Klemperer) as a composer. It’s a work that has met with mixed responses from critics over the years, obviously indebted to the music of Bruckner yet perhaps lacking a truly distinctive cut of its own. Previous recordings have been by Furtwangler himself as well as his devoted acolyte Eugen Jochum (the latter in much better sound). Järvi’s new recording with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, however, brings all the benefits of modern digital recording, enabling one to judge the work much more fairly, and to admire the undoubted craftsmanship and care that went into it.

Chandos’s historic roots in the brass music scene have in recent years been strengthened with a series of releases by Onyx Brass in partnership with conductor John Wilson. Their latest disc, ‘Transatlantic’, celebrates the contrasting (and in many ways complementary) traditions of brass writing in Britain and the USA. As well as Florence Price’s Octet for Brasses and Piano and Malcolm Arnold’s Brass Quintet no.1, the album includes the first recordings of two occasional works – a Fanfare and Funeral March – by Britten, ensuring that this disc will be of interest to all lovers of English music.

One of the most successful Chandos series of the past couple of years has been the discs devoted to Tchaikovsky’s orchestral music. Under the splendidly engaging direction of Alpesh Chauhan, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra steers away from the usual focus on the symphonies, instead unearthing mainly rarities such as The Voyevoda, The Tempest and Fate alongside orchestral excerpts from the operas. The latest instalment includes the Waltz and Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, the overture The Storm, and the Suite no.2, as well as that perennial crowd-pleaser Marche slave.

Chandos has led the way in promoting the music of women composers, notably Ethel Smyth, Ruth Gipps and Grażyna Bacewicz. Following a highly successful coupling of Bacewicz’s Third and Fourth Symphonies, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo have just released a disc of her Second Symphony and Concerto for Orchestra, together with the Piano Concerto (featuring soloist Peter Donohoe). It’s yet another disc that sheds valuable light on this major but (until recently) often overlooked figure from Polish 20th-century music. On a more intimate and lighter scale, oboist Nicholas Daniel has put together an attractive survey of the complete works for oboe of Madeleine Dring. Most of these works were composed for Dring’s husband, the long-time LSO principal oboist Roger Lord, and demonstrate Dring’s gift for writing evocative music even with limited resources.

Among Chandos’s current roster of conductors, Edward Gardner has delivered some outstanding releases, including absorbing series of orchestral works by Lutosławski, Szymanowski, Janáček, Mendelssohn and Schubert. September will see the latest release in his cycle of Nielsen symphonies and concertos with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was chief conductor from 2015 to 2024. Most recently for Chandos, however, they have collaborated on a critically acclaimed account of Richard Strauss’s boundary-stretching opera Salome, with a superb cast led by Malin Byström in the title role, Johan Reuter as the ill-fated Jochanaan, and Katarina Dalayman as Herodias.

No survey, however brief, of Chandos’s recent releases would be complete without a paragraph on conductor John Wilson, who has resurrected the Sinfonia of London as a hand-picked orchestra as much at home in classic English music for strings, French Impressionism and the heady Russian Romanticism of Rachmaninov as they are in Hollywood film scores and Broadway musicals. Their recordings of Oklahoma! and Carousel have been huge hits with our customers, and their forthcoming release of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady – due for release in late September, and incorporating every note written for the score, fastidiously reconstructed – is sure to match the high standards synonymous with this team. A starry cast is led by Scarlett Strallen and Jamie Parker, and also includes Alun Armstrong as Alfred Doolittle and Penelope Wilton as Mrs Higgins.

Finally, a big thank you to all who responded to last week’s piece on collecting second-hand discs: we really appreciate your feedback. It’s clear that many of you are devoted buyers, and it’s a subject to which we hope to return in the not-too-distant future.

Recent recommendations from the Chandos label:
Bacewicz - Orchestral Works Vol.2 (Donohoe, BBCSO/Oramo) CHSA5345
Onyx Brass: Transatlantic (Onyx Brass) CHAN20399
Furtwängler - Symphony no.2 (Estonian National SO/Järvi) CHAN20373
Tchaikovsky - Orchestral Works Vol.3 (BBC Scottish SO/Chauhan) CHSA5352
Dring - Complete Works for Oboe (N Daniel et al.) CHAN20344
R Strauss - Salome (Byström, Bergen PO/Gardner) CHSA53562
Ravel - Complete Works for Solo Piano (Bavouzet) CHAN202872

Browse our complete listing of Chandos titles here:
https://www.europadisc.co.uk/label/Chandos.htm