In recording these, the earliest revelations of Schubert’s boundless lyricism in his early romantic compositional voice as applied to instrumental chamber music, we sought to pay homage to the original intent as well as the authentic sounds.
The Sonatinas, (a posthumous title), were written for music of the chamber, a time of gathering, sharing, and delighting in the discoveries, creations, and talents of others. The Sonatinas are a revealing view into the birth of Schubert’s romantic voice. Whether the sturm und drang of the G Minor and its Haydn-esque representation of drama, the early Beethovenian poise, manner, and delight in the D Major, or the unabashed dramatic and unapologetic severity in the A Minor, (Lord Byron’s Manfred was written the same year!), these works show us young Schubert’s boundless expressive spirit.
The piano is an Érard concert grand, built in Paris circa 1835. It is in immaculate condition, superbly conditioned by Frits Janmaat at Maison Érard in Amsterdam. Parallel-strung, and with dampers beneath the strings, the registers have clear distinction; the action is agile; the rich tonal depth is special. The violin is a rare find, built by Franz Kinberg after the Second World War and set up for late Classical and early Romantic historical instrument performance. The gut-strung violin is paired with an extraordinary bow made by John Dodd, London, circa 1800. This pre-modern, transitional bow is a perfect example of the bows still in favor in Vienna at the time the Sonatinas were composed.
REVIEW:
These are wonderful works whose considerable depths certainly belie the “sonatina” designation and whose structure and emotional heft Gajić and Carrettin explore with remarkable sensitivity and thoroughness—and with instrumental sound that is, in and of itself, a real joy to hear.
Schubert: The Piano Trios / Irnberger, Geringas, Korstick
Gramola Records
SACD
$31.99Feb 17, 2017
Secretly, I hope to make something of myself, but after Beethoven who can do anything? These words by the juvenile Franz Schubert might explain why it took him 15 years - until 1827, just one year prior to his death - to begin writing both of his great piano trios, works of epic, almost symphonic dimensions. This new interpretation by violinist Thomas Albertus Imberger with David Geringas, cello and Michael Korstick, piano works out the lyricism and thematic work as well as the affects and discontinuities which illustrate the large influence, that Beethoven's composing had on Schubert's oeuvre. Similar effects can be observed with the Notturno D 897, in contrast to the Trio Movement Allegro D 28, which being an early work exhibits closer ties to Mozart. Many awards, performances at international festivals and co-operations and recordings with musicians such as Jorg Demus, Evgueni Sinaiski or Paul Badura-Skoda as well as with the Israel Chamber Orchestra conducted by Roberto Paternostro and the orchestra "Spirit of Europe" under its principal conductor Martin Sieghart stress the young Salzburger's musical skills. Born in Vilnius / Lithuania, the cellist and conductor David Geringas is today numbered among the elite of music. His intellectual severity, stylistic versatility, his melodic feeling and the sensuality of the sound he produces have brought him awards from all around the world.
Schubert moved to Vienna in early 1817, which was the center of musical activities in Europe at that time. Schubert focused strongly upon composing piano sonatas, and the result was these four superb works. Korean-born pianist Sookkyung Cho brings these sonatas truly to life. Noted for her sensitive and imaginative (New York Concert Review) playing, Sookkyung Cho has been captivating worldwide audiences with her personal, thoughtful expressionist style. She has appeared in venues such as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, Sarasota Opera House, Baltimore Museum of Art, Montreal Conservatory, Beaux concerts de la releve in Quebec, Château de Fontainebleau in France, and Zijingang Theater at Zhejiang University in China, among others, and was recently heard on Chicagos WFMT.
Schubert: Winterreise / Stefan Hunstein, Hugo Siegmeth, Axel Wolf
Oehms Classics
CD
$19.99Oct 16, 2020
This interpretation of Die Winterreise is certainly unusual. Here, there is no singer; instead, the text is recited. The music still allows Schubert’s themes and motifs to ring out, but it treats them with complete freedom. The instrumental timbres are also different: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and bass clarinet exchange with lute and theorbo. Axel Wolf and Hugo Siegmeth join narrator Stefan Hunstein on an introspective journey that is finely connected, both musically and interpretively. Die Winterreise is about human existence, about a redefinition of one’s position after a setback, when someone who has been rejected reflects on his life, surrounded by cold and darkness. This recording reflects an interplay between faithfulness to the original and freedom of expression, creating a personal world of winter travel that resembles a musical-text radio play.
In a word I feel myself the most unhappy and wretched creature in the world. Imagine a man whose health will never be right again, and who in sheer despair over this ever makes things worse and worse instead of better... but I have tried my hand at several instrumental things... in fact, I intend to pave the way towards a grand symphony in this manner. These extracts from a letter of 1824 epitomize the paradox of Schubert, the manic-depressive composer. On the one hand his music has that world-weary element of profound grief - 'the most wretched creature in the world' - and on the other a life-affirming exuberance bordering on the manic that characterizes the Wanderer-Fantasie and parts of the D major sonata D.850. In this final volume Llyr Williams plays a selection of Franz Liszt's evocative Schubert song transcriptions, including works from Die schöne Müllerin, Wintereise and Schwanengesang.
Friedrich Ladegast was one of the most important organ builders during the 2nd half of the 19th century. Especially with his first large organ at Merseburg Cathedral, he set the benchmark for organ building and at the same time influenced the further development of organ music: Franz Liszt and his "adlatus" Alexander Winterberger immediately recognized the new symphonic options of the organ sound and therefore with their new works established a basis for using the organ in a new symphonic manner. This development saw it's peak half a century later in Max Reger's monumental organ works and found a parallel development in France where the French symphonic organ concept was based on the organs by Aristide Cavaille-Coll. Friedrich Ladegast was born in 1818 in Hochhermsdorf, therefore the musical world has just celebrated his 200th birthday. This marks the occasion for the release of two albums on the Querstand label which contain the programs of the first concerts played at two of the greatest Ladegast Organs: the above-mentioned in Merseburg Cathedral and the organ at Schwerin Cathedral.
Recording these works today has become a rite of passage for singers aspiring to being accepted as mature interpreters, also true for violinists with the Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas and for cellists, with the same composer's unaccompanied Suites. It was not always so. When Ms. Matthews taped her reading of these songs about 1953-4, there had been only a few 78 sets of each and another few on LP. These recordings differ from many others since they are usually performed by men as the protagonists are male. They are sung here by mezzo soprano Inez Matthews. Of women singers only soprano Lotte Lehmann had recorded them before her.
Opus 2 - the second album of violinist Sebastian Bohren & Chaarts Chamber Artists for RCA Red seal. A singular combination of Mendelssohn’s early, rarely performed violin concerto in D minor with works by Hartmann, Respighi & Schubert. The Violin Concerto in D minor was composed when Mendelssohn was just 13, and has remained popular since its rediscovery in the middle of the 20th century by Yehudi Menuhin. The Concerto funebre for violin and strings has established itself as Karl Amadeus Hartmann's most familiar work. Hartmann (1905-1963) discovered new and individual solutions that confirm the importance of his concertos as significant and original contributions to the development of this form in the 20th-century. “Old dances and arias”, Suite No. 3 - masterpieces of Ottorino Respighi. His Antiche danze ed arie, free arrangements of arias and dances from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, enables listeners to rediscover forgotten rhythms and tones. Franz Schubert wrote the Rondo for Violin and Strings, D 438 in 1816. Like the roughly contemporary Adagio and Rondo concertante in F major, D 487, the work is a concertante piece designed to highlight the skills of the violin soloist. The piece was unpublished during the composer's lifetime, not seeing publication until 1897, when Breitkopf & Härtel published it in an edition edited by Eusebius Mandyczewski.
Xavier Sabata has long since established himself as an exponent of the great roles for countertenor and he is a welcome guest on the stages of opera houses worldwide. His discography to date illustrates his voice-motivated focus on music from 1600 to 1800 while also presenting the portrait of an artist who engages with intellectual concepts across the world and throughout the ages. His debut album on Berlin Classics marks his departure from Baroque terrain and makes him a wanderer, in more senses than one, facing the emotional and vocal challenges of Schubert's "Winterreise". In an age in which Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition are played on the accordion, Vivaldi's Four Seasons taken apart and rearranged, and a chamber septet can perform the Goldberg Variations of Johann Sebastian Bach, the old idea of fidelity to the Urtext loses it's significance. It seems that these days, nothing is sacred: not even the greatest work of the Lieder repertoire, Franz Schubert's Winterreise. Catalan countertenor Xavier Sabata sings the work, written one year before the composer's death, with the support of pianist Francisco Poyato and in doing so is one of the first of his fach to have tackled the cycle. He himself sees no reason why his voice register should be an issue. "Schubert had friends who were not professional singers and still sang his Lieder. I am so grateful that women have taken it upon themselves to sing this work. Why should a counter-tenor not sing it too, if he succeeds in bringing out the deep inner conflicts, feelings and meanings of the piece?" "I am no lover of assignment to particular registers," says Xavier Sabata. "Many people are happier when they can pigeonhole a thing. That may even provide a degree of reassurance. But music and art must never have labels stuck to them! Every time something is performed, a new work of art is created."
Lucas Debargue’s third recording presents sonatas by Franz Schubert and polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882 – 1937) Besides recording Schubert's famous Sonatas No.13 & No.14 the pianist continues to dedicate his musicianship to composers and works left in the shadow and presents Karol Szymanowski “I think it makes more sense to devote myself to an astonishing but little-known work, than it does to focus on pieces that people have heard too often.” – Lucas Debargue about Nicolai Medtner’s piano sonata, recorded on his last release Lucas Debargue has always been far off the beaten track, starting with his unusually late musical career to his interpretation of works where he widens the boundaries of the norm “Anyone who complains about uniformity in today’s music business will find the greatest pleasure in Debargue. He is different.” – NDR, Germany. “ Lucas Debargue takes the music beyond the accepted norm, questioning the status quo with a fresh perspective” - San Francisco Classical Voice. “Debargue is fantastically gifted: original, not tamed by any academicism, eccentric to the point of being mannered, but also thrilling as a result of his very personal tone.”– Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Violins of Hope presents instruments that were owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust, representing strength and optimism for the future during mankind’s darkest hour. They have been refurbished by luthiers Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein, founders of the Violins of Hope project. On this album, recorded live at Kohl Mansion, the instruments are used to perform two string quartet masterpieces by Schubert and Mendelssohn, alongside a new composition by Jake Heggie, inspired by the violins’ histories.
Schubert’s unfinished Quartettsatz is often considered Schubert’s first mature work, and displays a typically Schubertian mix of impetuous agitation and sublime lyricism. Mendelssohn wrote his Quartet in F Minor as a “Requiem” for his deceased sister Fanny, not knowing that – tragically enough – he would follow her fate only two months later, at the age of 38. These two captivating works are performed by Kay Stern, Dawn Harms, Patricia Heller and Emil Miland, who join forces with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, violinist Daniel Hope, and the young violin talent Sean Mori on Heggie’s INTONATIONS: Songs of the Violins of Hope.
The recording took place in the context of Holocaust Memorial Day 2020. Jake Heggie has a vast PENTATONE discography, including the opera It’s a Wonderful Life (2017) and song recital albums by Jamie Barton (Unexpected Shadows, 2020), Melody Moore, Lisa Delan and Joyce DiDonato. Sasha Cooke returns to PENTATONE after having featured on Mason Bates’ Grammy Award-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (2018). Daniel Hope, Sean Mori, Kay Stern, Dawn Harms, Patricia Heller and Emile Miland all make their debut on the label.
REVIEW:
The world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope headlines this extraordinary concert, performed entirely on instruments owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. The cycle, which tells the stories of instruments revivified by the Violins of Hope Project, begins with "Ashes," about a violin whose case was filled with the ashes of those burned in the ovens, and ends with "Liberation," inspired by the Liberation of Auschwitz. One of the most moving songs, "Motele," recounts the tale of 12-year-old violin prodigy Mordechai "Motele" Schlein. With excerpts from Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto weaving through the accompaniment, we learn that Schlein, who did not survive the war, smuggled gunpowder in his violin case to create a bomb he detonated in the basement of a Nazi Officer's Club.
Sasha Cook's warm, emotionally direct voice is perfect for these songs, and the heart-touching theme Heggie fashions for the final song is reminiscent of great tunes of the romantic era. How perfect, then, to conclude with Schubert's Quartettsatz in C Minor and Mendelssohn's last String Quartet, completed months before his death.
Father & Son / Christoph Pregardien, Julian Pregardien, Michael Gees
Challenge Classics
CD
$16.99Oct 16, 2020
An intriguing project, whose programme is based on Lieder and traditional songs arranged for two tenors and piano. Well-known father and son, Christoph & Julian Pregardien, present these gentle and thoughtful, improvisational and communicative arrangements for two voices. The conditions under which Schubert’s art of the song developed into a kaleidoscopically incandescent spectrum that crossed over genres and the institutionally set, historical boundaries disappear today as a rule under the pedestal that the late nineteenth century began to erect for the composer. The traces of improvisational practice were increasingly lost within a music culture that stylized the printed manuscript into a quasi sacred object. A particularly successful way of leading back to a fundamental impetus in Schubert’s art of the song is through an approach towards the songs that takes the moment of spontaneous performance seriously as a communicative act, without denying the work character of Schubert’s music. The idea of ‘one’ universal human voice seems to materialize with particular intensity in the commingling of two voices of similar timbre, which can permanently interchange and double their identity. Based on our knowledge for instance of the Schubertiade reminiscences of 1868, remembered and noted down by Moritz von Schwind, can we not imagine that the ‘Schubert singers’ Johann Michael Vogl and Karl von Schönstein might indeed have sung alternately (or even in unison)? This is an interesting project, with programme based on Schubert’s Lieder arranged for two tenors and piano.
This new release is a committing recital by young Dutch pianist, Camiel Boomsma, already praised by BBC Music Magazine for his previous release: “Camiel Boomsma plays beautifully”. Chopin’s Nocturnes and Schubert last Sonata emphasize Boomsma’s natural talent for a singing phrasing. Camiel Boomsma writes: “Musings signifies dreams, reveries, being immersed in thought. It’s the process that the composer experiences while writing the work and also what I experience when studying and performing this music. As I play, I try in turn to pass on this process, this quest for insight, to my audience. Despite the major differences in musical background, these two composers are remarkably close in spirit. The most important aspect here is their ability to create beautiful balanced melodies on the piano. They make the instrument sing more than anyone else.”
The "heavenly length" that Schumann ascribed to Schubert's Great C major Symphony could be applied to numerous other works in the latter's canon, both in temporal and qualitative terms. Schubert's sublime Octet runs more than an hour with all the repeats observed. His piano trios, Opp 99 and 100, aren't quite as expansive, yet they pack enough significant material into their respective four movements to make many symphonies of the period (and beyond) seem ill-nourished.
The Gryphon Trio's new recording of these repertoire staples confirms that Schubert had no reason to second-guess himself when it came to proportion. Both the effusively expressive B flat Trio, D898, Op 99, and hearty E flat Trio, D929,0p 100, unfold with all the inevitability the composer likely hoped to achieve. They contain some of Schubert's most stirring writing, their songful gestures rubbing shoulders with ideas of vigorous inspiration.
The key to success in the trios is lyricism, which the Gryphon musicians acknowledge to flowingly poetic effect. Even when Schubert is at his most playful, these artists maintain a sure sense of singing line, as well as interplay that is as natural as spontaneous conversation.
As played by violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon, cellist Roman Borys and pianist Jamie Parker, the radiance, serenity and vitality in these works come across with a keen blend of sweep and nuance. Balances, so difficult to accomplish in this instrumentation, are carefully set, and each player evidently knows his or her primary or secondary place in the evolving narratives.
Schubert lovers who are taken with his monumental piano trios will relish the single movements he composed early and late in his career for the same complement. The Gryphon players invest the invigorating movement in B flat, D28, and tranquil E flat trio movement entitled Notturno, D897, Op posth 148, with the same zest and affection they bring to the well known works.
Timelapse creates a space where sounds of the past and present collide to form a unique musical landscape. Although the pieces were written, in some cases, centuries apart and in culturally disparate eras, it is striking how much these contrasting works inhabit such similar emotional territory. Intriguing pairings of works by Rameau and Radiohead, Schubert and The Smiths, Adés and Grieg, Satie and Reich, compliment each other beautifully in the context of Timelapse. This recording by Orchestra of the Swan provides a place where notions of time and style have become irrelevant.
The swan is famous for its song. The Indo-Germanic stem “suon/suen” stands for “moaning” or “resounding.” But can he really sing? The mute swan, common in the composer’s region, does not. The great white bird usually glides majestically yet silently over the water. The singing swan, a bird with a more upright neck that ever more frequently winters in Germany, is another case altogether. After Die Winterreise (Winter Journey) and Die schone Mullerin (The Fair Maid of the Mill), Roman Trekel has selected Schwanengesang (Swan Song) for his latest Lied- album available from OehmsClassics. He interprets well known titles from this cycle, such as Kriegers Ahnung (Warrior’s Foreboding), Liebesbotschaft (Love’s Message) and the famous Standchen (Serenade) with intelligence as well as a mature, warm voice. His regular piano partner, Oliver Pohl, accompanies him with sensitivity, at times with vigour as well.
Homelands is a powerful album of classical art song about exile. Featuring Ian Bostridge, Jennifer France, James Atkinson, Wonsick Oh, and pianist Aron Goldin, who curated the project. The songs (include many favorites by Tchaikovsky and Faure) are on the theme of exile and yearning for home. A performance of Homelands at the Royal Academy of Music in London on World Refugee Day in June 2022, with Olivier Award, Bafta and Tony Award winning actor Sir Simon Russell Beal reading poems by Auden, Brecht and Carol Ann Duffy with ancient Hebrew and Chinese poetry raised over £200,000 for the 30 Birds Foundation, a charity that enabled 500 Afghan school girls to escape the Taliban and fly from Kabul to Canada.
This new release is the final installment of the Schubert Piano Sonatas series. Pianist, conductor, and educator Vladimir Feltsman is one of the most versatile and consistently interesting musicians of our time. Born in Moscow in 1952, Mr. Feltsman debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at the age of 11. In 1969, he entered the Moscow Conservatory to study piano under the guidance of Professor Jacob Flier. He also studied conducting at both the Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatories. In 1971, Mr. Feltsman won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris; extensive tours throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe, and Japan followed. In 1979, because of his growing discontent with the restrictions on artistic freedom under the Soviet regime, Mr. Feltsman signaled his intention to emigrate by applying for an exit visa. In response, he was immediately banned from performing in public and his recordings were suppressed. After eight years of virtual artistic exile, he was finally granted permission to leave the Soviet Union. Upon his arrival in the United States in 1987, Mr. Feltsman was warmly greeted at the White House, where he performed his first recital in North America. That same year, his debut at Carnegie Hall established him as a major pianist on the American and international scene. Since then, Mr. Feltsman has performed with major American and European orchestras and appeared at the most prestigious concert venues and music festivals worldwide. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to the twenty-first century.
Sir Roger Norrington's approach to adapting historical performance practice for a modern symphony orchestra has yielded excellent results. This recording features the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra performing Schubert's most famous work, Symphony No. 8.
