SONGS AND PSALMS FROM FRANCE TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

After two volumes praised by the international press (Diapason d'Or, Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik etc.) the Tonhalle-Orchester Z�rich presents the third release in it's Tchaikovsky cycle, featuring the Sixth Symphony and Romeo and Juliet. A boxed set of the orchestra's complete Tchaikovsky recordings under Paavo J�rvi is issued simultaneously. Tchaikovsky said he 'put his entire soul' into the Sixth Symphony. He admitted that his program was 'more subjective than ever' and that he 'often [...] wept copiously' while working on it. The overall atmosphere is created by the somber key of B minor and an obsessive sighing motif that recurs throughout the symphony. In Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky focused on thematic areas, setting them to music in different ways: the peaceful, chorale-like gesture associated with Friar Lawrence in the introduction, the bitter struggle between the Capulet and Montague families, and the intoxicated love of Romeo and Juliet. The work ends with the return of a chorale of reconciliation and the transfiguration of the lovers.

The last three of his thirty-two sonatas for the piano, composed 1821-22 but published separately, nonetheless form a musical and poetic trilogy. Much about these works: their inter-key signature relationships, thematic development, meter subtlety, trills up high, etc., was groundbreaking then and remain awe-inspiring still. Eric Le Sage, one of the leading pianists of his generation and a famed representative of the French piano school, is regularly praised for his subtle sound and real sense of structure and phrasing, with many recordings receiving France’s highest awards.

After a first recording of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations acclaimed by the critics (Diapason d'Or, BBC, Guardian, Le Monde) Filippo Gorini, a student of Alfred Brendel and winner of the first Prize and Audience Prize of the Bonn Beethoven Competition in 2015, pursues a fast-growing career. His concert appearances have drawn unanimous acclaim on many prestigious stages such as the Berlin Konzerthaus, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Munich Herkulessaal, Societ� del Quartetto di Milano and the Samsung Concert Hall in Seoul. Here he returns to Beethoven and tackles the perilous Sonata no.29, known as the 'Hammerklavier', which the composer himself said would pose a challenge for future generations, along with the Sonata no.32, which according to Thomas Mann represents the supreme accomplishment of and 'farewell' to sonata form.

Passion, solitude, nostalgia, the pain of the world, flight, death - these are the typical themes of Romanticism. Konstantin Krimmel had already explored the extreme emotions that characterise this era of extreme emotion in Saga, his first recital album (Alpha549); he now plunges even deeper into this cosmos with collaborative pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz. "I simply love telling stories. Even as a child, I loved listening to old legends and tales", says Krimmel, who is indeed a fabulous storyteller-singer. The two artists have chosen here to compare songs by Franz Schubert and Carl Loewe that embody these great themes. The two composers, both masters of the Lied, had very different destinies: Loewe lived to be 72 years old, more than twice as old as Schubert, who had died aged 31.

Each of the works on this recording was either composed by or inspired by a woman. We meet Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944) and her Concertino - 'a piece that has accompanied me for years and encapsulates her immense talent', says Mathilde Calderini; Claude Arrieu (1903-90), a pupil of Marguerite Long and Paul Dukas; Mel Bonis (1858-1937); and the young composer Lise Borel (b. 1993), whom Mathilde Calderini commissioned to write a piece entitled Miroir, which she premiered in 2023 with Aurele Marthan, the pianist on this recording and a longstanding artistic partner of hers. Debussy's famous nymph Syrinx and a transcription of his prelude La Fille aux cheveux de lin are also on the programme, as are his Six epigraphes antiques, inspired by the Chansons de Bilitis, named after an (entirely fictional) ancient poetess. Francis Poulenc's Sonata of 1957 is 'probably one of the most beautiful pieces ever written for flute and piano', according to the French flautist. The work was commissioned by the American pianist and philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, who also did a great deal for such composers as Ravel, Stravinsky and Barber.

Young and foolish is the title Café Zimmermann has chosen for this program, which features music from the 1770s and 1780s by Mozart and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, starting with Mozart’s famous and sparkling Divertimento KV 138. For this fascinating W.A.-C.P.E. face-off, Café Zimmermann has invited an exceptional musician: the fortepianist Alexander Melnikov. They perform the Concerto no.17 in G major KV 453, of which Mozart said in a letter to his father that (like his concertos KV 450 and KV 451) ‘they make you sweat’! Melnikov is joined by harpsichordist Céline Frisch, co-founder of the ensemble, in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Concerto for fortepiano, harpsichord, and orchestra, the only one of its kind ever composed, a work full of energy and mischief.

REVIEW:

This album hosts works by two of the greatest composers of the Classical Era, C.P.E. Bach and Mozart. The performances, featuring the outstanding solo artistry of pianist Alexander Melnikov and harpsichordist Céline Frisch, supported by the ensemble Café Zimmermann, are captivating, and the recording boasts a clear and intimate soundscape.

— The Classic Review (Tal Agam)

This recording of Mahler's Ninth Symphony is an event, because it was made with period instruments of the kind the composer used in Vienna. The Mahler Academy Orchestra set itself the task of reconstructing this instrumentarium and researching how musicians of the time played it: 'We were struck during our rehearsals by the incredibly distinctive characterisation of the woodwinds, the shattering blare of the brass, the perfect balance between the instruments, and the pure and warm sound of the strings... They took Mahler's brilliant orchestration to yet another level', says Philipp Von Steinaecker, artistic director of this ambitious 'Originalklang' (original sound) project and conductor of this orchestra, which brings some fifty young musicians into contact with the finest instrumentalists from the world's leading formations (Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Wiener Symphoniker etc.). Together they made this historic recording in Dobbiaco-Toblach in Italy, where Mahler composed his monumental symphony in 1909, two years before his death.

This ninth volume in the Next Generation Mozart Soloists series brings together four young soloists under conductor Howard Griffiths and reveals the sheer breadth of Mozart's creativity. Mozart most probably heard a sinfonia concertante - a work in which a group of solo instruments embarks on a dialogue with orchestra - for the first time in Paris in 1778. He composed such a work for violin, viola, and orchestra the following year: the Sinfonia concertante KV 364. It is recorded here by Johan Dalene and Eivind Ringstad, who are full of praise for how Mozart gave the viola equal footing with the violin. Mozart composed no fewer than four horn concertos in Vienna; the first that he composed is performed here by Alexandre Zanetta, who admits to being fascinated by it's finesse, it's complexity and it's humour. The pianist Ariel Lanyi describes the two rondos for piano and orchestra KV 382 and KV 386 recorded here as perfect examples of simplicity and variety, as well as of passages that are truly operatic in style.

Juri Reinvere, born in Tallinn in 1971, is an Estonian composer with a passion for theology and psychology; he has also written poetry. His collaboration with Paavo Jarvi began in Parnu, the birthplace of the Estonian Festival Orchestra, in 2016. This programme begins with And tired from happiness, they started to dance, in which feverish rhythms are followed by moments of ecstasy. Debussy's music here comes to mind, as does the glistening brass in Bruckner's symphonies. This is followed by a playful double concerto for flute - Reinvere had studied the flute, and it was thanks to this that he was able to join a military band instead of fighting in the Soviet army. On the ship of fools is inspired by the key phrase of a 16th-century novel: Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur (The world seeks to be deceived, therefore let it be deceived). "People deceive each other on Facebook and Instagram", comments Reinvere, whose music is both heady and troubling.

Arto Koskinen is a Finnish composer, pianist and harpsichordist who has devoted his musical life to establishing a dialogue between the Asian, European and Afro-American traditions. In the 1970s, he developed a passion for jazz, then went on to study Indian vocal music at a music and dance school in New Delhi. He also immersed himself in the study of polyphonic techniques from the Baroque era and sought to make them compatible with the melodic principles of oriental music. The result is this 'Indian fugue', composed between 1987 and 2000, whose main sources are North Indian classical music, traditional western polyphony and Afro-American improvisations. His compatriot Joonas Ahonen, a polymorphous pianist who has already recorded Le Monde selon George Antheil with Patricia Kopatchinskaja (ALPHA797), is a passionate advocate of Koskinen's music. This monograph at last spotlights the music of a composer with a highly original voice.