Do the seasons hit differently in Ireland? Violinist Lynda O’Connor seems to think so — with surprisingly effective results. Her debut solo album is one of this week’s new recordings of note, along with Weill from Joana Mallwitz and Prokofiev from Esa-Pekka Salonen.
“The Irish Four Seasons”
Lynda O’Connor, violin
David Brophy, conductor
Anamus
Avie
“Irish and Baroque music are similar in many ways,” writes violinist Lynda O’Connor in the liner notes to her debut solo album. “The freedom to ornament, similarities in structure and the prominence of reinterpretation are apparent in both styles.” With these words, O’Connor begins to make the case for pairing Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” with a new work, Irish composer Ailbhe McDonagh’s “The Irish Four Seasons.” The Vivaldi is fine, but McDonagh’s work is the real interest here: taking each season in one movement (the last, “Geimhreadh,” or Winter, incorporates themes from the previous three), the composer weaves together Irish melodies and Glass-like repetition to stirring effect. O’Connor and her band Anamus led by David Brophy sound superb.
“The Kurt Weill Album”
Michael Porter, tenor
Katharine Mehrling, voice
Simon Bode, tenor
Michael Nagl, baritone
Oliver Zwarg, bass-baritone
Joana Mallwitz, conductor
Konzerthausorchester Berlin
Deutsche Grammophon
Rising star on the podium Joana Mallwitz brings her baton to Deutsche Grammophon for Weill’s stage work “The Seven Deadly Sins” bookended by his two symphonies. Few works crackle with the unnerving energy of 1930s Germany like “The Seven Deadly Sins,” and Mallwitz and her soloists serve the work well here. The rarely recorded First Symphony and only slightly more common Second are very worthy icing on der Kuchen.
Prokofiev: Music From “Romeo and Juliet”
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
San Francisco Symphony
SFS Media
Recorded in 2023, long before crisis gripped the San Francisco Symphony, this album of Prokofiev’s most popular work sounds phenomenal in the masterful hands of Esa-Pekka Salonen and his musicians. While we wish SFS Media would highlight more of Salonen’s expertise in new music, as it has done with recordings of works by Ligeti, Anders Hillborg, and Elizabeth Ogoneck, this is a worthy addition to Salonen’s excellent but far-too-brief legacy in San Francisco.
