Jimin Oh-Havenith dedicates this volume of her Schumann edition to his variations, which form the beginning, the core, and the conclusion of his unique piano oeuvre. In the fourth instalment of her widely acclaimed Schumann edition, Jimin Oh-Havenith turns to his works for piano in variation form. Three of the pieces recorded here occupy a singular place in Schumann's biography: both his first published composition, the Abegg Variations, and his final completed work, the so-called Ghost Variations, belong to this genre. The twelve Symphonic Etudes - situated chronologically at the heart of his piano output of the 1830s, long revered by pianists yet equally feared for their formidable technical demands - are likewise variations on a theme. Whereas the young Schumann, in the Abegg Variations, conjured a sparkling and virtuosic play on musical letters from the name of a Heidelberg acquaintance, the Ghost Variations unfold as a deeply moving dialogue between the gravely ill composer and his great models, Schubert and Mendelssohn Bartholdy. This extraordinary breadth of expression once again affords Jimin Oh-Havenith the opportunity to demonstrate the intensity and originality of her Schumann interpretation.

MASS NO. 6 IN E-FLAT MAJOR, D

A choir of young Dominicans conducted by Father Thomas sings solemn vespers in Latin in honor of St. Dominic, founder of the order, in the Hamburg Dominican church of St. Sophien. The order, which celebrates it's 800th anniversary in 2016, has a long tradition in chorale singing. The hymns and anthems on this CD continue to be sung by members of Dominican order in their liturgical prayer worldwide. The Latin chants are in exciting dialogue with the organ improvisations by Thierry Mechler.

Classical Music

Cuban-American pianist Jorge Bolet (1914-1990), misleadingly labeled the "last Romantic" among 20th century pianists and marketed under this title when he achieved world fame at the end of his career, was first and foremost a gentleman of the piano. Few pianists interpreted the great piano music of the 19th and early 20th centuries with such unerring stylistic assurance and technical mastery that was at the same time completely free of vanity and striving for effect. Rather than vague sentimentality, Bolet - who studied at the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with David Saperton, son-in-law of the legendary pianist Leopold Godowsky, and later succeeded Rudolf Serkin as director of ist piano department - sought a balance between musical and pianistic intelligence. Thanks to these qualities, his recordings, which include not-uncontroversial transcriptions from the golden age of piano playing before 1914, are considered benchmarks.

These recordings for the RIAS Berlin from 1962-73, featuring works by Chopin, Liszt, and Debussy along with highly virtuosic encores and arrangements by Moritz Moszkowski and Godowsky (among others), are no exception: here we experience a pianist and musician who rightly occupies a place among the pantheon of great pianists.

All the recordings in this three-CD box set are first releases from the master tapes.

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REVIEW:

Almost everything by Bolet is worth acquiring, but this collection is particularly valuable. Few pianophiles will be aware of the existence of these radio broadcasts from the early 1960s.

Disc 1 opens up with Bolet on top form, including an intense account of Vallee d'Obermnann that ends more in despairing torment than than rapturous ecstasy.

Disc 2 includes a number of superb accounts of Bolet favorites. The third disc contains a muscular, magisterial rendition of Chopin's F minor Fantasy, most characteristic of this great artist yet by no means devoid of introspection and sensitivity. All four of Chopin's Impromptus are a real joy. The Debussy Preludes selections form a beautifully played sequence of individually defined tone-poems.

– Gramophone

The Quartetto di Cremona have chosen for their fourth volume of the Beethoven complete string quartet cycle two works forming a portal within the quartet writing of this composer and Vienna transplant. Beethoven opened his Op. 18 set with the Quartet in F (1798/99), written at the behest of his patron and friend, Prince Lobkowicz. Even within the framework of the traditional form, Beethoven's first published quartet achieved a maximum of moods and stylistic variety. Beethoven's Quartet Op. 131 in c (1826), generally perceived as a peak within his chamber music, is entirely different, much more eccentric and "experimental". Seven sections of diverse tone and character are played without breaks in-between; a brooding fugue stands alongside a sensitive adagio, a folk tune presto is next to a restless finale. Internationally renowned for their "extremely mature and lyrical sound" (Strad), the Quartetto di Cremona grace the stages of the most prestigious venues. Their dedication to their craft is on consistent show through their music-making.

This third volume, five-disc set of early 1950s Amadeus Quartet high-quality radio recordings is dedicated to works of its eponym. These previously unreleased recordings from the archives of the RIAS feature eight of Mozart’s ten great string quartets, complemented by recordings of his four great string quintets with second violist Cecil Aronowitz. Also included is the recording of Mozart's clarinet quintet with Heinrich Geuser, one of the leading clarinetists of his time.

Zara Nelsova's technical facility along with a strong stage presence commanded attention and with the younger Jacqueline du Pre, together they formed a vanguard that forever breached gender stereotypes. Made in the period between 1956 and 1965, these recordings from the archives of RIAS Berlin range far and wide, including the Cello Concertos by Darius Milhaud and Dmitri Kabalevsky, works previously unreleased and Nelsova's first commercial recordings of this repertoire. This 4 CD boxed set spotlights the importance of her pivotal legacy. With Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and conductors Georg Ludwig Jochum and Gerd Albrecht.

Beethoven frequently aroused incomprehension amongst contemporaries with his late quartets, but never more so than with the "Great Fugue" - originally the Quartet Op. 130 finale. +The Quartetto di Cremona have made the monumental Fugue Op. 133 the centerpiece of the third volume of their Complete Beethoven String Quartets recording series, flanked by the Op. 18 and the Op. 59/1. Formed in 2000, the Quartetto di Cremona are internationally renowned for their “extremely mature and lyrical sound" - Strad

It is not a well-known fact that the Amadeus Quartet were championed the music of their contemporaries. Accomplished for radio broadcasts, they recorded string quartets written by the major English composers of their time, Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett, as well as the Hungarian composers Mátyás Seiber and Béla Bartók. By also recording Henry Purcell's string fantasias, included on this release, they followed references between Britten and the cradle of English chamber music. This edition, Vol. IV, Modernism, will substantially broaden the view of the Amadeus Quartet, demonstrating the inquisitiveness and assuredness with which first violinist Norbert Brainin and his three colleagues explored modern music. This Amadeus Quartet audite series continues to exclusively present performances seeing their initial CD release.

Audite’s second SACD release with the Trio Testore sheds light on a special side of Russian chamber music: the personal, passionate works for piano trio, both conceived as dedications and memorials, by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Tchaikovsky composed his only Piano Trio in memory of his mentor and friend Nikolai Rubinstein, paying tribute to Rubinstein's pianistic brilliance in the work's demanding piano part. Rachmaninov took this two-movement work and its fundamentally elegiac character as a model when he composed his First Piano Trio at the age of seventeen.

Bach’s Goldberg Variations are one of the most multi-faceted variation cycles in music history: a theme of unparalleled beauty, a simple bass line as the basis for thirty variations full of richly melodic invention. Bach’s cosmos leads the listener through facets of human feeling into undremt-of breadth. Pianist Kemal Cem Yilmaz writes: “The musical works of J.S. Bach have now been part of my daily spiritual bread for over 25 years. The Inventions and Suites, the Preludes and Fugues, and, not least, the rich vocal works of this musical prophet of the modern age formed the stable foundation of my artistic character.” Yilmaz began studying with Daniel Vodovoz at the age of eight. Audiences were thrilled by his numerous public appearances as a child; already at that time, his playing was mature and inspiring. In 2002 he won first prize at the Turkish National Piano Competition in Eskisehir. Since then Yilmaz performs regularly as a soloist with the most renowned orchestras in Turkey.

FRANCK COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS • Hans-Eberhard Roß (org) • AUDITE 21413 (6 CDs: 411:46)


When it comes to the organ, I think it’s safe to say that César Franck is the most important composer since Bach, and here we have a survey of Franck’s organ music so complete that it would take an entire page to list the entire contents of these six discs in standard Fanfare headnote format. In fact, there’s not another collection in existence this complete—not Jean Guillou’s, Marie-Claire Alain’s, Anthony Newman’s, or anyone else’s—since whole discs full of items here are flagged as being premiere recordings, premiere recordings for organ, premiere complete recordings, or premiere complete recordings for organ. So, I have decided to describe the set’s contents on a disc-by-disc basis. Let me forewarn the reader, though, that this is a release dedicated to the doggedly determined among lovers of organ music in general and Franck’s organ music in particular.


Organist Hans-Eberhard Roß performs all 142 pieces on a single instrument, the Goll organ at St. Martin’s Church in Memmingen, Germany. I haven’t been able to find any detailed information on the organ builder, but the enclosed booklet gives the following specifications for the organ: built in 1998, it has four manuals plus pedal, controlling 62 registers. The recordings were made between 2004 and 2005 and were originally released in three two-disc sets in SACD. The boxed-up, six-disc set that came to me for review was on standard, two-channel CDs.


One criticism I will lodge about the presentation is this: the track listings for every piece give the date it was composed, the date it was published, and which of nine editions Roß uses. This last bit of information about the editions may be of interest to the musicologist or scholar studying Franck’s organ works, but more interesting to the general listener, I think, would have been a concordance of stops and registrations used for each piece, something I’ve seen in the notes to other organ recordings, and something that ought, I think, to be material to an undertaking of this seriousness.


Disc 1 starts off with a first-time recording of Pièce en mi bémol ; i.e., Piece in E?. Of course, you’d have to listen to it to know if it was major or minor, but I’ll save you the effort. It’s more or less both, opening with a chord progression that eerily anticipates the ear-curling pronouncement at the beginning of Poulenc’s Organ Concerto. This is followed by another early work, Pièce pour Grand Orgue . It’s not asterisked as a premiere recording but is nonetheless absent from current listings except for this version. Several more early works fill the first disc, all dating from between 1854 and 1856. There are five pieces by Franck originally written for harmonium and transcribed for organ by Louis Vierne, and this is their first time on record. Also a first on record is a first version of a Fantaisie in C Major. Its second version, apparently not a first on record, is also included on the disc. Roß, himself, has transcribed the harmonium piece, Quasi Marcia , op. 22, and plays it here for the first time on organ.


If it’s mainly a CD of Franck’s big organ hits you want, you would be happy with just disc 2. They’re all there in one place: the Fantaisie in C Major, op. 16, the Grand Pièce Symphonique , op. 17, the Prélude, Fugue, et Variation , op. 18, the Pastorale , op. 19, Prière , op. 20, and Final, op. 21.


Disc 3 contains no fewer than 39 short pieces collected under the heading of Posthumous Pieces for Harmonium or Organ with Pedal for L’Office Ordinaire . This spills over onto disc 4, which contains another seven pieces that are part of the same collection. The fourth disc is then filled out by Three Pieces for Grand Organ , a Petit Offertoire , and an Untitled piece, that last two of which were both originally for harmonium. The entire contents of discs 3 and 4, with the exception of the Three Pieces for Grand Organ , are flagged with three asterisks (***), referencing the fact that they are heard here for the first time complete on organ.


Disc 5 and almost all of disc 6 are occupied by Franck’s answer to Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier , the sets of Pieces for Organ or Harmonium. The number seven must have held some mystical significance for Franck because there are nine sets of these pieces, each containing seven numbers, beginning with 7 Pieces in C Major and C Minor , progressing to 7 Pieces in D?-Major and C?-Minor , then to 7 Pieces in D Major and D Minor , which he subtitles, Pour le temps de Noël , and so on. The cycle stops after the 7 Pieces in A?-Major and G?-Minor , leaving the keys of A, B?, and B unexplored. There’s nothing mysterious or supernatural about the reason; Franck died before he was able to finish the project. The entirety of the Pieces for Organ or Harmonium is also thrice asterisked, meaning this is its first complete recording on organ. The final disc in the set concludes with the 3 Chorales for Grand Organ.


At first, I was a bit skeptical of how Franck’s organ music would sound on a modern, German-built instrument. It’s difficult to disassociate these works from the Cavaillé-Coll organs that inspired them. Much of this music, in fact, was composed during Franck’s tenure as organist and maître de chapelle at Sainte-Clotilde between 1858 and 1872. Of the three-manual plus pedal Cavaillé-Coll organ installed in the church, Franck is quoted as saying, “If you only knew how I love this instrument . . . it is so supple beneath my fingers and so obedient to all my thoughts.”


Concluding the 63-page booklet note by Martin Weyer (translated by Viola Scheffel) is a lengthy apologia in defense of playing these works on a Goll organ. The author twists himself in knots talking about the historical period-instrument movement and then tries to turn the argument on its head by explaining why this modern Goll instrument is an appropriate substitute for a Cavaillé-Coll organ and Franck’s music. “Upon hearing the instrument,” Weyer contends, “one will discover a lot of similarities to the sort of instrument that Franck found inspiring.” One could counter that many an organist has recorded Franck’s organ works on authentic Cavaillé-Coll instruments, and that if organist Hans-Eberhard Roß had betaken himself to France to make these recordings, he could have done likewise. But, as far as I’m concerned, the point is irrelevant. Roß is a consummately accomplished player who uses the richly variegated palette of the Goll organ to paint Franck’s pieces in an amazing array of tonal color combinations both bright and subtle, and the acoustic of Memmingen’s St. Martin church, perfectly captured by Audite’s engineers, is ideal. Franck and Cavaillé-Coll are nodding their heads in approval.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

Continuing the recording series of instrumental music by Eduard Franck which already includes his Violin Concertos Op. 30 and Op. 57, and also his Symphonies Op. 42 and Op. 47, now presents Franck's orchestral works. Once again, we hear music of the highest technical quality as well as a characteristic idiom. All were written during the 1840s when Franck set out on his career as a composer, attracting the interest of the music critics who from this time onwards were increasingly to influence musical history. The works recorded here reveal an attractive amalgamation of classicist and progressive trends, referring on the one hand to Schumann and Brahms, and on the other to Wagner and Liszt. They more than hold their own as original contributions to nineteenth century instrumental music.

Classical Music

The WDR Sinfonie Orchester and the Norwegian conductor Eivind Aadland continue their survey of Edvard Grieg's orchestral works with this selection from the composer's orchestral repertoire which he liked to conduct across Europe.

Classical Music

There are several parallels to be found in the lives of the Southern French composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) and the Moravian-Bohemian composer Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959). Both needed the metropolis of Paris, that seething artistic melting pot after the First World War, in order to refine their originality; both were open to all kinds of musical styles, from South American folklore to North American jazz through to Bachian counterpoint; finally, both had to flee the Germans in France in 1940, heading for the USA - Milhaud on account of being a Jew, and Martinu as a patriotic Czech in exile. The two composers' complete works for string trio, contrasted here for the first time, uncover various similarities - even though each work bears the hallmarks of its composer, and Martinu's trios were written in Paris, whilst Milhaud did not compose his until he had reached America. The works are characterised by a playful, spirited tone as well as the charm of Mediterranean and Czech folk tunes. But there is also what Milhaud termed, and valued, as "discipline" in chamber music: strict counterpoint and technical skill - utilised radically, without slipping into dry pedantry. These are four marvels of intimate music-making, assembled by the Jacques Thibaud Trio with their own artistic instinct and flair.

Classical Music

This CD launches a complete series of recordings of Robert Schumann's orchestral works, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Heinz Holliger. Holliger's performances draw on a lifetime study of Schumann's music, thought, personality and fate. His approach imparts lightness and lucidity to these opulent scores through a hierarchical balance of parts, delicately gradated dynamics, and invigorating tempos. The widespread image of this romantic composer as a weak orchestrator receives a refreshing and well-grounded correction. Volume 1 of the series presents the First Symphony in B-flat major (Op. 38), Overture, Scherzo and Finale (Op. 52) and the original 1841 version of the Fourth Symphony in D minor (Op. 120).

January 8th, 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Carl Schuricht. This release of two live recordings made in 1961 and 1962 pays tribute to a renowned conductor who was only to enjoy great international fame in his old age - as one of teh last representatives of the generation of the old German conductors, and as a master of the classical and romantic repertoire. ''Neither recreating a facade nor exposing feelings'' was how Carl Schuricht once summarized his artistic credo. These two Lucerne live recordings document the compelling persuasiveness and the intensity that Schuricht's interpretational style - his tremendously inspired objectivity, entirely at the service of the music - could develop: in Mozart's final Piano Concerto, K 595 in B flat major, Schuricht proves to be a sensitive accompanist. Together with the French pianist Robert Casadesus he manages to strike the distinctive tone of this concerto between simplicity and noblesse, innocence and wisdom, buffa nad elegy. In cooperation with Audite, Lucerne Festival presents the ''Historic Performances'' series featuring outstanding concert recordings of artists who have shaped the festival throughout its history. The aim of this album edition is to rediscover treasures - most of which have not been released previously - from the first six decades of the festival, which was founded in 1938 with a special gala concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini. These recordings have been made available by the archives of SRF Swiss Radio and Television, which has broadcast the Lucerne concerts from the outset.

In Ernst Krenek's 'Works for Violin', Christoph Schickedanz convinces with outstanding technical brilliance, multifaceted coloration and exuberant music-making.

This new release features Saint-Saëns' Second Piano Concerto with Nelson Freire under the baton of AdAm Fischer. Not many pianists are able to accomplish the stylistic and technical challenges of this concerto, demanding complete precision in fingering and leaps, as well as perfect command of the "jeu perlé": Nelson Freire masters this work with great aplomb, quiet assurance and, at times, a twinkle in his eye. He is completely committed and happy to take risks, triggering veritable "Sturm und Drang", and always congenially accompanied by AdAm Fischer. Twenty years previously, the Brazilian pianist (then aged 22) had made his German radio debut with a recital programme which he recorded at the RIAS's Lankwitz studio in Berlin. In Grieg's Lyric Pieces and the Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos 5 and 10 by Liszt, as well as his Polonaise in E major, Freire not only demonstrated his stupendous manual prowess, but also what was already at that stage his extraordinary touch and stylistic confidence. These early solo recordings anticipate his brilliant later style, completing the picture of the exceptional pianist. All recordings on this album are released for the first time.

Wilhelm Furtwaengler conducted Beethoven's Ninth Symphony more than 100 times. + In August 1954, three months before his death, he directed his last performance in Lucerne, leading the Philharmonia Orchestra and a stellar cast of soloists (Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elsa Cavelti, Ernst Haefliger and Otto Edelmann), which proved to be an "elemental musical event" (Neue Zuercher Zeitung). + For this release, the original tapes from the SRF archives have been newly re-mastered, and crucially, the pitch adjusted, bringing the audio, for the first time, as close to the original as possible.

A journey into the spheres of improvisation and traditional requiem chants. Hansjörg Fink and Elmar Lehnen prove to be border crossers, demonstrating that contrasts can be tied together. Age-old tradition meets vibrant, jazzy joie de vivre; composed music meets improvisation; liturgy meets world; spirituality meets sensuality. Fink and Lehnen move assuredly on historic foundations, adding their own, liberal figures. Sombre moments of death appear here in a new, milder light.