The idea of making an album featuring music by Krenek and Schumann had been on my mind for a long time. In 2012, I was able to discuss by concept with Gladys Krenek in Palm Springs. We reamined in regular contact over the next few years to develop the concept for this album. Gladys Krenek gave her full support for the project which has always been very close to my heart. (Tatjana Masurenko) On her latest album, Masurenko presents her comparison between Schumann's and Krenek's works. Both composers have had similar interest in music and literature and to both of them, music was a kind of therapy.

These discs are hybrid Super Audio CDs playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

The radio recordings between 1939 and 1945 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Wilhelm Furtwängler are among classical music’s most compelling sound documents. Created at the peak of the collaboration between orchestra and conductor, Furtwängler’s artist personality is conveyed more vividly than anywhere else. What can be heard is music in which inspiration and the expressive will know no bounds and in which, not least, the existential experience of the Second World War reverberates. For the first time, the Berlin Philharmonic are releasing a complete edition of these recordings.

Wilhelm Furtwängler is accorded almost mythical status to this day. Biographically and artistically rooted in the 19th century, he embodies a bridge to the late-Romantic period and the founding years of the Berlin Philharmonic, whose chief conductor he was from 1922.

Furtwängler’s auratic charisma stems from an intriguing basic interpretive concept which avoided authoritarian gestures and deliberately aimed at the blurring of tonal contours. The result was a warm, mixed sound, in which developments and intensifications never appear calculated, but seem to grow organically.

This edition not only brings together all surviving radio recordings of the period, but also draws on the best available material – in particular, original tapes, which were taken to the Soviet Union after the war and only returned to Germany from the early 1990s onwards. Especially for this edition, the recordings have been carefully restored, digitally sampled using state-of-the-art technology, and remastered in 24-bit resolution. A total of 21 concerts are presented here, in whole or in part. The edition’s features include numerous historical photos, articles on the history behind the recordings, plus an extensive essay by the American musicologist Richard Taruskin on Furtwängler’s art – all of which results in a release which provides an opportunity to discover and relive this great chapter in the history of the Berliner Philharmoniker in all its facets as never before.

-----

REVIEW:

Do you want this box? Yes, you do. Is it worth it? Again, yes, almost certainly, it is. For one thing, these are the recordings that have come, more than any other, to define this conductor’s identity, and his legacy. The audio restoration does wonders for the piano concertos in particular. These are the concerts that, so they said later, made life worth living for many Berliners. They matter.

– Gramophone

Not that a flutist would actually need to poach in foreign territories due to a lack of attractive repertoire, but the arrangements presented here, based on well-known chamber music works and songs, nevertheless make sense: they underline not only the versatility of the instrument, but also the interpreter's abilities. When the Russian-Swiss flutist Sofia de Salis, together with her piano accompanist Iryna Krasnovska, performs such well-known chamber music works as Franz Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata or César Franck's Violin Sonata on the flute, she astonishes us not only once.

The third volume of the complete orchestral works by Robert Schumann features the Cello Concerto and the 2nd version of the Symphony in d, two major works composed and revised during Schumann’s time as music director in Duesseldorf. + In both works, the movements of the classical model merge into one another without interruption. + Heinz Holliger's interpretations draw on a life-long study of Schumann's oeuvre, thought, personality and fate. + His approach imparts lightness and lucidity to these opulent scores, rectifying the widespread image of this romantic composer as a weak orchestrator.

The Saalfeld Saur organ is one of the four most important romantic organs in Thuringia. Compared to Bad Salungen, Ilmenau and Muhlhausen it is a link between the purely mechanical and the purely pneumatic organs. The instrument was built in 1894 as Opus 624 by Wilhelm Sauer. The magnificent Baroque prospectus by court painter Ziegenspeck originally belonged to a three manual organ by Johann Georg Fincke. Sauer moved the prospectus two meters to the back so that there was enough space for the rich choir music. This acoustically excellent solution let's both choir and organ sound optimal in the room. Andreas Marquardt chose compositions for this album that show the varied timbres of the great Sauer organ and bring them to life. He is a church musician in Saalfeld and also manages the Thuringian Boys Choir.

"The term 'fantasia', in music, mainly refers to a free type of structure. Throughout history, the genre has allosed composers to jot down their musical ideas directly, like an improvisation, just as they first spring to mind. The fantasia became a popular instrumental genre in the 1800's, when it started to feature the dreamy, 'phantastic' element even more prominently; the piano and its universe of polyphony likewise played an essential role. The fantasia was thus an ideal genre for Scumann, whose music I view as the quintessence of German High Romanticism. Schumann's music is full of expression and driven by passion; at the same time it is disarmingly honest and private. Its textural sonority is full of variety, yet it always remains decent and straightforward, never attempting to posture with easy, flashy, superficial effects or by adding purely virtuosic embellishments. In my imagination, this music often evokes placid romantic scenes imbued with good-naturedness and a certain vulnerability: people of the simple classes, courtly settings, flowery childish joys, or the secretly shared yearnings of two lovers. It is as if such figures or allegories were placed in the midst of mysterious landscapes, lovingly painted with an eye for detail, and impressively set to music. Schumann often used teh word "Fantasy" in the titles of his works - frequently as part of a compound noun, Fantasiestüc, or also sporadically Fantasietanz (dance). The music in such pieces is often of choice quality and profoundly expressive... (Eckardstein)

Pianist Sophia Agranovich has been called “a tigress of the keyboard.” She is an acclaimed soloist and sought after chamber musician as well as a recording artist and educator. She has performed across the United States, Europe, Israel, and Canada in solo recitals as well as alongside all of the most respected orchestras. For this release, Sophia has chosen Robert Schumann’s Carnaval and Fantasie. Carnaval, Op. 9, was written in 1834-35 and consists of 21 short pieces which represent masked revelers at Carnival, the festival before Lent. The Fantasie in C major Op. 17 is dedicated to Franz Liszt. It is known amongst pianists as one of Schumann’s greatest works for solo piano, and is one of the most important works of the early Romantic period.

SCHUMANN Gesäng der Frühe. 7 Fughetten. Kreisleriana. Geistervariationen • Dina Ugorskaja (pn) • AVI MUSIC 8553217 (77:25)


The piercing and almost hypnotic eyes of pianist Dina Ugorskaja on the back cover of the booklet betray a perception and intelligence that serves her very well in this recording of three of Schumann’s late, tough pieces, and yet she has the flash and poetic power to give us an equally penetrating reading of Kreisleriana.


This last work, based on Hoffmann’s novel Views on Life by Murr, the Cat, along with a Fragmentary Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, Jotted Down on Wastepaper Found by Chance (got to love those long titles), has the hero actually going mad at the end. Schumann found himself enthralled by the possibilities inherent in the rational/irrational aspects of the story, and the music certainly reflects this maddening dichotomy, replete with a variety of forms and a connecting inconsistency that somehow, in the end, makes sense after all. I have been big on Horowitz and (recently) Clara Würtz in this music, but Ugorskaja makes quite a play for my affections here, and definitely moves easily into a very competitive field.


The other works on this disc are very late and from Schumann’s last years when he was trying to forge a different sort of music and even tonality. The Songs from Early Morning is an attempt to forge something out of the aesthetics of Hölderlin’s writings, which had taken a turn towards looking back at earlier models. Schumann did the same, perhaps even an early shot at neoclassicism for the time, using sparse harmonies and very vague tonal references. It’s haunting and beautiful all at once, and definitely a look into the future, something that so intimidated Clara that she never once performed it in public.


The composer fought the idea of fugues for many years, ultimately giving in to them in 1849. But his Seven Piano Pieces in Fughetta Form from just a few days before his Rhenish suicide attempt explores the structure to a remarkable degree, looking back to Bach with a quote from the “Royal” theme in the Musical Offering and presenting us with really unique harmonic constructs and odd voice-leading. It is one of the great mysteries of music to wonder about the path he might have taken had he made it into his 50s.


We don’t really know what caused Schumann’s final breakdown and illness. Could it have been a slow awareness of the relationship that Brahms had forged with his wife, platonic or otherwise? Or maybe the idea of failure in Düsseldorf haunted him—hard to say. But the chaos, real or imaginary, in his head was killing him quickly. At one point in February of 1854 he suddenly got out of bed and wrote down a theme that he said had been dictated by angels to him. The theme of these five variations (which he wrote down in the following days) had been used before in his Violin Concerto. But after he had finished with these “ghosts” he tossed his wedding ring into the Rhine and followed soon after. Clara nixed both publication and performance of this piece, and the first edition is from 1939, though Brahms made a set of four-hand variations (op. 23) on the theme.


Ugorskaja makes a great case for these late works as being every bit as important as Schumann’s earlier piano music. She brings a heightened sensitivity to all her playing coupled with an extraordinary facile ability to convey the complexities of this music in an easily assimilated way. Great piano sound, too, and I can recommend this as one of the top choices for these late works, nicely gathered in one place, with the additional spice of a fully competitive Kreisleriana as well.


FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter

"[M]ightily attractive for the overall quality of the performances…. [The Berlin Philharmonic] play with altogether more heft, a quality born of longstanding tradition and communal spirit. … [T]he playing is always brilliant, with blazing tremolos from the strings, distinctive colorings from the woodwinds and golden orations from the brasses." – James R. Oestreich, The New York Times

With such fresh and invigorating performances this new set conducted by Rattle breathes new life into these Schumann symphonies and is certainly the one to own. [...]

The sound engineers at the Philharmonie are to be congratulated for providing appealing, transparent, well balanced sound with all the instrumental detail wonderfully audible. These are live recordings containing virtually no extraneous noise and I notice that the applause has been removed. As one might expect there has been a lot of time and care lavished on this inaugural release of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s own label. Typical of the work this orchestra undertakes, everything is done with integrity, precision and total empathy for the music. The set is performed with impressive solidity, feeling natural and unmannered with Rattle choosing judicious pacing throughout communicating a spring-like freshness to Schumann’s romantic vision. I can see these Rattle recordings of the Schumann symphonies becoming the benchmark for many years to come such is the excellence of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s performances.

– Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International

I enjoyed these performances greatly. Rattle displays a fine affinity with these scores and though the orchestra members must have played these symphonies many times there’s never the slightest suspicion of routine here: everything sounds fresh and newly discovered – though I hasten to add that there’s never a suspicion of disruptive point-making. In the Behind the Scenes feature one of the orchestra’s first konzertmeisters, Daniel Stabrawa, describes Rattle as one of the few conductors who know what Schumann really means and you sense that the orchestra has relished discovering these scores in performance with him.

This lavish production launches the orchestra’s own label in splendid style and I’m thrilled that I’ve had the chance to experience these fine performances.

– John Quinn, MusicWeb International

-----

For Simon Rattle, Robert Schumann is "the echt Romantic." And in fact, the exuberance of the period, its passion, and its melancholy can be heard with unique intensity in Schumann's music to this day. For the Berliner Philharmoniker, Schumann's symphonies have always been part of their core repertoire. The 1953 Wilhelm Furtwängler recording in particular has attained cult status. And so it only stands to reason that the Berliner Philharmoniker should launch their Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings label with a cycle of the four Schumann symphonies.

The Schumann symphonies have accompanied the orchestra throughout 2013 – in Berlin and on tour in Europe and Asia. The Berlin Tagesspiegel wrote of a "defining moment," while the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung praised the "truly sensational quality." Another special feature of this recording from the Philharmonie is the decision to use the early version of the Fourth Symphony from 1841, whose appeal for Simon Rattle lies in its extra "lightness, grace, and beauty" compared to the established later version. The presentation of the product, its packaging, and the special features, go far beyond what standard CDs offer.

The linen-bound CD/Blu-ray edition includes the Schumann cycle in different formats. In addition to the traditional audio CDs, there is also a Blu-ray Disc which enables music lovers to listen to the recording in audiophile studio quality of 96kHz/24bit or as HD video. If you are looking for the recording in even higher resolution, there is an accompanying code which allows you to download a version online in up to 192kHz/24bit. An additional code grants 7 days' access to the Berliner Philharmoniker's video platform, the Digital Concert Hall. The release also includes bonus material such as behind-the-scenes videos and a comprehensive booklet with articles about the composer, his symphonies, and the Schumann tradition of the Berliner Philharmoniker.