The ouevre of Gustav Mahler has been a focal point of the ten year cooperation between the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and Gabriel Feltz (2003 - 2013). The last recording made during this period is Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony". The Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and Feltz are joined by the outstanding soloists Chen Reiss and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner and the Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno. Feltz writes: "Gustav Mahler's symphonies have accompanied me since I was a youth of about 13. It is certainly not unusual for a youth who is interested in orchestral music to be fascinated by these works once he has discovered them. The abundance and complexity of the scores, which I was fortunately able to study in my early years, was however, somewhat overpowering. The composer's aspiration to create "whole worlds" is overwhelming, and which young person is averse to being overwhelmed?"
Since his inauguration as the new General Music Director of the Dortmunder Philharmoniker (Dortmund Philharmonic) in the 2013/14 season, Gabriel Feltz has been able to draw attention to himself and his orchestra with a series of high-caliber performances and productions that have been noticed throughout Germany. Since its foundation in 1887 the Dortmunder Philharmoniker have consistently been at the forefront of Germany’s concert and opera orchestras. The recording of the first Rachmaninoff symphony is another highlight in the highly praised Rachmaninoff cycle. This special work is the least performed of Rachmaninoff’s symphonies, partially due to the disturbing feeling one gets when listening to the work for the first time, as opposed to his other symphonies which sound more familiar. The First Symphony was written when the composer was only 22, but as this recording proves it is more than just a youthful work- it turns out to be a very singular contribution to the genus “symphony.”
The premiere of the monumental Third Symphony Op.42 Ilya Murometz on 23rd March 1912 was a huge cultural and political event in Russia. A program symphony, the music depicts the life of Kievan Rus’ folk hero Ilya Muromets. The piece was dedicated to Alexander Glazunov, and won Reinhold Gliere his third Glinka Award. The work lasts between 70 and 80 minutes, and is divided into four sections, each of which depicts an episode from the epic. Gliere wrote a narrative in both Russian and French to accompany the score. On this recording Gabriel Feltz presents the remarkable work together with the orchestra Beogradska filharmonija and makes it clear that we should keep a closer eye on the works of this extremely interesting Russian late romantic.
Intolleranza 1960 was Nono's first work for the opera stage, and is a flaming protest against intolerance, oppression and the violation of human dignity. Premiered in 1961, the premiere night was interrupted by neo-facists shouting "Viva la polizia!" during the torture scene.
The legacy of Sergei Rachmaninov encompasses a staggering plethora of musical styles and sensibilities and a fascinating bridge between the Romantic and modern musical eras. His 2nd Symphony is, at it's core, imbued with the ancestral Russian temperament, and permeated with longing is given a pitch perfect performance by the Dortmunder Philharmoniker (Dortmund Philharmonic) led by the conductor Gabriel Feltz, considered to be among the vanguard of emerging baton masters.
Recording such a world-spanning œuvre as Gustav Mahler's ten symphonies is truly a Herculean task. After 15 years of intensive musical work, Gabriel Feltz is the only German conductor of his generation to present such an impressive complete recording. Two orchestras, the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Dortmund Philharmonic, are featured in this highly acclaimed album cycle. It reveals once again Feltz's flair for focusing on the essentials of Mahler's music in these exuberant works. The German magazine Fono Forum praised him for "recordings conceived with a cool head," and the Stuttgarter Nachrichten exulted over "a production of unleashed sonic contrasts." In September 2021, the project will come to a brilliant conclusion with the release of the overwhelming 9th Symphony and the original two-movement fragment of the 10th Symphony.
Gabriel Feltz writes: "The choral symphonic poem "The Bells" was written during Rachmaninoff's last years in Russia (first performance 1913, emigration 1917). It is, without a doubt, note- worthy that the Russian translation of a poem ("The Bells") by Edgar Allan Poe was used. I know of no other famous Russian composition of that time which is based on an American text. Rachmaninoff conducted the first performance in Saint Petersburg himself. In spite of already having a very successful career as a soloist behind him, composing was always more important to him than playing concerts. Respighi wrote to Rachmaninoff asking to be allowed to orchestrate some of the Etudes. Rachmaninoff helpfully suggested titles for some of the pieces, which provided a degree of insight with regard to their content. It is quite interesting that these titles are not included in the original piano version. In a way this somehow reveals Sergei Rachmaninoff's inner world, something which he had not been willing to divulge earlier.
Oliver Mascarenhas plays works by Gulda & Kapustin
Dreyer Gaido
CD
$20.99Mar 19, 2021
The very first audition brought Oliver Mascarenhas to the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover in 1997. This was followed by a busy concert schedule, radio and television productions, and successes at international competitions. On his first album production, Oliver Mascarenhas presents himself as a highly virtuoso interpreter of the cello concerto by Friedrich Gulda as well as three pieces by the Russian jazz composer Nikolai Kapustin, who died in July 2020. As grandiose bonus tracks we hear Gulda with four jazz standards, recorded in 1958 at the NDR. On bass none other than the young Hans alias James Last.
Dreyer. Gaido discovered the Uyghur band Qetiq in 2010 in a bar in Urumqi, the capital of the independent Uyghur province Xinjiang in northwest China. Some of Qetiq's songs are their own compositions, but there are also transcriptions of traditional Kazakh and Uyghur music, such as Dolan Muqam, music from the deserts of Xinjiang, which dates back centuries.
For Gabriel Feltz, Sergej Rachmaninoff's Third Symphony "communicates, in a very moving way, the life-long struggle of one of Russia's greatest musicians with this genre." Because of this, it was particularly important for the conductor to show the exuberant power of imagination, the changing moods and the extremely elaborate instrumentation of Rachmaninoff's work. Passion, discipline, dedication- these virtues are not only at home in Dortmund's football stadium, but also in the Dortmund Philharmonic. Since it's foundation in 1887 the city's orchestra has consistently been at the forefront among Germany's concert and opera orchestras. The Philharmonic Concerts are just as dazzling as the performances in the Opera House and are the reason that the Dortmund Philharmonic is consistently counted among Germany's finest orchestras. The renowned orchestra has been directed by General Music Director Gabriel Feltz since the 2013/2014 season.
On this current recording you can hear a wonderful example of a magical First Encounter. Wu Man and Wu Wei, both exceptional Chinese musicians, had never performed together. Over the years they have kicked the windows and doors of their music wide open, have assimilated diverse influences and have taken their instruments and musical traditions all over the world. Their openness and the simply phenomenal mastery of their playing have brought Chinese music to millions of listeners. Wu Man’s elegant precision of attack meets Wu Wei’s Sheng, which at times has an almost transparent delicacy, and at others can pulse as forcefully as a power house.
The Moravian-born Jewish composer Gideon Klein (1919-45) composed his final work, the String Trio (1944) while interned in Theresienstadt. + Quite a few of his works written there are based on Czech folksongs; his string trio falls into this category. + Jewish composer Josef Koffler (1896-1944) suffered a similarly tragic fate as Klein. + His Trio, op. 10 (1928) was written, however, when he was Prof. of Harmony and Atonal Composition in Lviv (Lemberg). + The Trio in D Major by Ernst Neumann (1832-1910) is a work from 1883. + The Eos Trio Frankfurt is keen to bring forgotten or unknown works back to audiences.
Yu Jung Yoon was once celebrated as a wunderkind in her childhood. She won several competitions in her homeland Korea, and at the age of 14 she was admitted as the youngest student ever at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg. She is at her best on her debut CD for Dreyer-Gaido playing works by Scriabin.
Ever since its triumphal premiere on 12th September 1910 in Munich, Mahler’s 8th Symphony in E flat major has had the reputation of being, along with Arnold Schönberg’s “Gurre-Liedern”, the piece on the whole of the symphonic repertoire calling for the largest number of participants. This recording has a number of musicians much less than the average, but Gabriel Feltz sees it more like a great chance. He used flanking positions for the choir in relation to the orchestra and lager parts of the choirs were facing each other, which gives especially the first parts stereophonic effects. For Feltz these performances of Mahler’s 8th symphony on 3rd and 4th July 2018 were especially successful and fulfilling moments in his life as a musician.
