Three live recordings from Lucerne, released for the first time, commemorate Vaclav Neumann, one of the most distinguished podium stars of the so-called Eastern Bloc. As chief conductor of the legendary Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for many years, Neumann was regarded as an accomplished advocate of the music of his homeland in particular, which he shaped without sentimentality, but rather with a sense of form, a love of detail and a singing espressivo. "I am a Czech through and through," Vaclav Neumann once confessed - thus subliminally hinting that even in the politically turbulent times of the Cold War, he could not imagine any other homeland than Prague. Czech identity was also his artistic trademark, especially during his years at the helm of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, which he conducted from 1968 to 1990 and established as a cultural ambassador for his country on countless tours. The impetus for his international career, however, came from the GDR, where Neumann worked at Walter Felsenstein's Komische Oper in Berlin and later as Gewandhaus and opera conductor in Leipzig - a position steeped in tradition, which he resigned in 1968 in protest against the events of the "Prague Spring". In the summer of 1969, the Czech Philharmonic was the first orchestra from beyond the "Iron Curtain" to perform at the Lucerne Festival - under Neumann's baton, of course. Four further guest appearances followed between 1984 and 1990, including thrilling interpretations of Dvorak's Eighth Symphony, his late tone poem The Wood Dove and the prelude to Smetana's opera Libuse. Neumann never lapses into national emphasis, instead seeking a balance between richly nuanced lines - the trained violinist and violist spoke of the "singing orchestra" -, strict form and precise realisation of the musical text. All three live recordings are first releases. The 32-page, trilingual booklet contains a portrait of the conductor by Michael Struck-Schloen and shows previously unpublished photos from the festival archive. In cooperation with audite, Lucerne Festival presents outstanding concert recordings of formative festival artists in the "Historic Performances" series. The aim of the edition is to unearth hitherto largely unpublished treasures from the first six decades of the Festival, which was born in 1938 with a "Concert de Gala" conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The audio documents come from the archives of SRF Swiss Radio and Television, which has regularly broadcast the Lucerne concerts since the beginning. They have been carefully restored and supplemented with material and photos from the Lucerne Festival archive: a festival history in sound.

After Salve Reginas, Pastorellen, the C minor Requiem, masses and motets, audite now presents the fourth part of the excursion into the work of Haydn's predecessor. The recording, a multi-faceted compendium of fugue, explores the musical connections between Antonio Caldara and his pupil Gregor Joseph Werner. It culminates in the Requiem in G minor, a retrospective by the composer before his death. Werner used madrigals by Caldara and thus reflects his own artistic career as well as the influence of his teacher, the Venetian vice-chapelmaster Antonio Caldara.

Musical individuality rather than symbiotic fusion: on historical instruments, but with the greatest expressive freedom, the musical details of Beethoven, Schubert, and Vorisek's works from early-nineteenth-century Vienna speak directly to the listener.

An exciting listening adventure: The "Ten Preludes" by Sofia Gubaidulina from 1974 merge with the Allemandes from Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites into a fascinating dialogue between past and present.

Antonin Dvorak's 'American' chamber music works are the fruits of a happy, carefree time. And this is reflected in the music: colourful, vibrant, imbued with the musical and scenic impressions he gathered in the bustling metropolis of New York and during his summer holidays in rural Iowa. Antonin Dvorak spent a happy time in America in the early 1890s. As director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, he was generously paid, and concert audiences adored him. Some of his most famous and beloved works were created in the United States, including the 'American' String Quartet, which uniquely combines landscape painting and emotional expression in chamber music. Unjustly overshadowed by this piece is the String Quintet in E flat major, also known as the 'American' Quintet: a colourful, masterfully crafted work in which Dvorak sought to capture the spirit of Native American music. Both works have been among the Mandelring Quartett's favourites for many years. However, the Humoresques, Op. 101 were a new discovery for the ensemble. Presented here in a first recording of an arrangement for string quartet, they include the immortal melody that the Comedian Harmonists made into a hit, titled "Eine kleine Fruhlingsweise".

Bach's trio sonatas, once written as teaching pieces for his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann, show Johann Sebastian Bach at the zenith of his compositional art: three independent voices engage in a captivating dialogue, combining cantabile melodic lines with an artful yet natural-sounding counterpoint - all embedded in an experimental formal design and balanced proportions. Martin Neu makes this core repertoire his own with his lively and eloquent interpretation on the Ahrend organ in Herzogenaurach. The unusual directness and proximity to the pipework of the organ, combined with the excellent acoustic conditions, create a unique sound experience. For the first time, this is also available immersively in Dolby Atmos - a sonic innovation that allows the music to be experienced with unprecedented intensity.

Even their genesis seems mysterious: manuscripts of Johann Sebastian Bach's toccatas have not survived. However, it is assumed that the works were composed in the years of his Arnstadt and early Weimar period, when Bach was gradually working his way up to become a renowned organist. And it is no wonder that he chose the toccata as the playground for his development: since the days of the Roman Girolamo Frescobaldi, the toccata was a kind of musical laboratory in which one could try out anything with impunity. There are virtuosic, glittering improvisations next to strict but extremely energetic fugues, expressive arias next to lively, folksy dances. Bach has thus compiled entertaining suites and potpourris with great freedom, but always allowing them to breathe under great dramatic arcs. Jonathan Ferrucci is certain that the toccatas are among Bach's most interesting piano works. 'He is bubbling over with ideas and always creates abrupt contrasts when you least expect them. There is this wild, youthful energy with which he explores all the affects and formal possibilities of the music of the time. And when I play, I feel as if I'm composing the music together with Bach in the moment - that's because of this incredible spontaneity and his delight in invention.' Born in Florence to Italian-Australian parents, Ferrucci's childhood was already characterised by the glorious history of the Renaissance and Baroque periods and the vast Australian landscape.

Gabriel Fauré, a master of song, piano, and chamber music, particularly appreciated the modulation-rich sound of the Érard grand piano. Its rich overtones and clear bass tones made it the ideal instrument for the French salon. This release presents not only Fauré's musical vision but also the sound world of the Érard grand piano, which played an important role in the musical scene at the time. Marc Coppey fully embraces the fluid rhetoric of Fauré's musical language. His interpretation deliberately eschews stylistically unfamiliar permanent espressivo and instead delves deep into the nuances and facets of Fauré's compositions. "Fauré authentique" thus presents not only musical brilliance but also an authentic journey through the French composer's complete works for cello and piano, embedded in the beautiful sound of the Érard grand piano.

Ingenuity and variety characterise Locatelli's concertos. His Introduttioni teatrali are a veritable firework of musical ideas, contrasts and effects; his Concerti grossi showcase the virtuosity of the soloists. This recording realises the concerti in a small ensemble. This was Locatelli's intention, who played with local ensembles on his travels: an interplay of highly virtuosic, demanding solo passages and simpler tutti passages. The Thuringian Bach Collegium follows on stylistically from the highly acclaimed release of the concertos of Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar and continues the series of recordings on audite.

A special selection from Ludwig van Beethoven's late period works: folk song variations for piano with optional flute part. Framing the monumental "Hammerklavier Sonata", they form an impressive contrast and show a rarely illuminated facet of the composer. This release marks the beginning of a two-part series which will subsequently be dedicated to Beethoven's early works for flute and piano.

The heyday of English consort music coincides with the exciting change in style from musical Renaissance to early Baroque between 1580 and 1630. William Byrd and his successors played a decisive role in shaping it with sacred and secular songs, fantasies and dances. This production on the 400th anniversary of William Byrd's death shows how diverse and colourful the repertoire of consort music is. On the one hand, the English composers impress with sophisticated compositional art, on the other hand, they take up popular music of their time. The result is musical atmospheres that reflect the deep melancholy, pious confidence and plump joie de vivre of Shakespeare's time.

An impressive continuation of the documentation of Gregor Joseph Werner's work, which shows Haydn's predecessor at the Esterházy court as a pioneer of further musical development. Gregor Joseph Werner was by no means a mere minor master in Haydn's immediate predecessor - this is already impressively shown by the previously released recordings. Now the newly acquired picture is further intensified: Werner, whose symphonies and instrumental concertos composed for the princely table have been lost, comes to the fore for posterity as a grand master of Latin musica sacra. With his sharpness of character and contrapuntal perfection, he proves to be not only a prerequisite and teacher for Joseph Haydn, the father of Viennese Classicism, but himself a gateway to this stylistic epoch. Werner appears to us today as the spiritual support of the rather profane Viennese Classicism. The recorded masses need in no way fear comparison with Haydn's, Mozart's and Schubert's smaller and middle masses. They unite the greatest contrasts imaginable between instrumental brilliance and polyphonic richness of the vocal. Werner is also the last great master of Palestrina's stile antico. The way in which he updated the imitated motet structure, which was already 200 years old at the time, by increasing the dissonance reveals a hidden power in the development of Western composition.

The repertoire for string trio is comparatively small, but in addition to the relevant works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Reger, it also contains surprising, newly discovered, and newly composed pieces. In the selection of pieces for the current recording, the Trio Lirico has looked off the beaten track with works by Eugène Ysaye, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Zoltán Kodály. The program is completed by a string trio by Péter Eötvös, a haunting memorial composition with a variety of different playing techniques and gestures of sound and expression.

BACH reconstructed - Neubrandenburg Concertos based on Bach's originals - On the trail of the wonder of Bach's music: resounding works of art such as the Brandenburg Concertos have awakened the ensemble's spirit of discovery. In order to better understand their inner architecture, their genius, ensemble member Christoph Harer has created baroque transcriptions from Bach's originals in exchange with solos and orchestra and combined them into three "Neubrandenburg Concertos". A harpsichord concerto thus becomes music for three competing string trios. Solo and chamber music are transformed into colorful concerto movements for different instrumentations. And a simple vanitas song is transformed into a dreamy string aria. In the process, la festa musicale reaches top form: solo parts are distributed across the whole orchestra, the concertos are carried by the virtuosity and imagination of many together. The creative play with the originals opens up new, unexpected perspectives on Bach's great music.

With Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Monologues, the piano duo Vincent and Sophie Neeb place a rarely performed masterpiece at the centre of their debut recording. The composer describes his work, first performed in 1965, as "dialogues across the ages of dreamers, lovers, sufferers and praying people", which offers a journey through music history with sophisticated collages.
Following this inspiration, the programme is completed with a contrasting selection of compositions quoted there: Works by Bach and Debussy, creatively arranged for two pianos and percussion by Johannes Xaver Schachtner, and a Mozart arrangement by the piano duo Neeb enter into a unique dialogue via this inner context?

Together with percussionists Christian Benning and Patrick Stapleton, the piano duo Neeb explores surreal dream worlds - playfully light and enigmatically profound at the same time.

On its second CD, the piano duo Neeb presents works that illustrate the beginning of an auspicious period in the life of various composers: Full of creative energy, Max Reger threw himself into creative work after surviving years of health and mental strain. Franz Schubert fared similarly after an attack of syphilis, who, in addition to a permanent position at Esterházy Palace, was even inspired to new creative vigour by a secret love. Johann Sebastian Bach was motivated to write new concert repertoire by conducting the high-calibre Collegium Musicum, while Rachmaninov overcame his depression with the Suite op. 17, which had prevented him from composing for three years after the failure of his first symphony. The piano duo Neeb illuminate these emotional worlds in their intelligent interpretation - with creative imagination and effervescent joy of playing.

The ARUNDO quintet shines with virtuosic expressiveness and a variety of sounds in the classical lineup of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn. On its second CD, "Saga," the ensemble brings to life four varied worlds of sound that immediately stimulate the imagination. Claude Debussy's colorful re-creations of a bygone ideal, Carl Nielsen's play with the diversity of human characters, and Lalo Schifrin's reinterpretation of the New Orleans style have long accompanied the ensemble and have become part of its own history as "heartfelt pieces." As with the highly acclaimed debut CD, "Origin," the ARUNDO quintet has commissioned a new work from the American composer Kevin Beavers: The "saga" continues…

The year 1810 is not only the birth year of Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann, but also of Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke. All four composers knew and appreciated each other in the form of artistic inspiration as well as friendly affection. While Schumann and Chopin later achieved world fame with their works, Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke, however, died in their youth and left behind only a small œuvre that is hardly known today. This recording brings together early compositions by Chopin and Schumann with selected virtuoso works by Burgmüller and Schuncke. All the works represent an expression of these young geniuses that is still youthful, sparkling and seeking orientation, yet already manifest due to their precociousness.

Once again la festa musicale focuses on the music of Gregor Joseph Werner, Kapellmeister and immediate predecessor of Joseph Haydn at the Esterházy court. The second album in the recording series dedicated to Gregor Joseph Werner is characterized by darkly shimmering hues between suffering and redemption. In his Requiem of 1763, Passiontide motets and instrumental oratorio introductions, Haydn’s largely unknown predecessor astounds with his contrapuntal artistry, spirituality and expressiveness. An insider’s tip for church music!

New discoveries with countertenor Alex Potter and la festa musicale – Three Venetian contemporaries named Antonio - one, Vivaldi, achieved world fame with his concerti. But who has heard of Antonio Lotti and Caldara today? In their time, they were famous composers beyond the borders of Venice, and yet some of their music has lain dormant in archives for over three hundred years. Now selected alto cantatas by Lotti as well as oratorio introductions and an "Ave Regina" by Caldara may reawaken attention: paired with the "Nisi Dominus", RV 608, and two rousing concerti by Vivaldi, the baroque orchestra la festa musicale and the internationally acclaimed countertenor Alex Potter present an album full of virtuoso and touching musical treasures by the three Antonios from the Canal Grande.

The present album is a multifaceted homage to French cello music, and features heavyweights of French cello literature, recorded by one of today's leading cellists: from Camille Saint-Saëns' "The Swan," perhaps the most famous cello solo ever, to Léon Boëllmann's Variations symphoniques, combining playful wit with highly original form, contrasted by the sense of tragedy in Gabriel Fauré's Élégie. The two concertos by Saint-Saëns and Lalo represent weighty warhorses of the French cello repertoire which require not only technical mastery but, above all, musical penetration in order to highlight their subtleties. As an advocate of the ars gallica movement, Saint-Saëns included in his first cello concerto several allusions to the French baroque tradition, but also showed commitment to French clarity, turning his back on any bombast which was considered "Teutonic". Lalo's cello concerto, on the other hand, is highly expressive, energetic and very romantic, with the solo cello almost depicting the literary heroes of the time who populated the novels of Balzac, Hugo and Dumas père and fils.

REVIEWS:

A distinguished French cellist and a French orchestra present a fine programme which celebrates the important role of the cello in late 19^th century France. This is a shrewd selection: the works by Saint-Saëns and Fauré are familiar, that by Lalo less so, and (outside the organ loft) the music of Léon Boëllmann remains obscure.

I was very glad to discover Boëllmann’s concertante work, as I suspect will be many music lovers. Its thirteen minutes contain plenty of rewarding music, and no note-spinning. The title pays homage to Franck’s piece for piano and orchestra, and it sounds to me almost in the same class as that work.

Is there a finer cello concerto than Saint-Saëns’s A minor? Maybe, but few that are over in less than twenty minutes and offer such opportunities for a skilled cellist. The soloist has a showcase for all the instrument can offer, including becoming a chamber musician, or one who is primus inter pares. Coppey’s playing is impressive. In particular, there is a rapturous quality to his playing of the lyrical music in both of this work’s outer movements. The disc inevitably [also] offers Saint-Saëns’s The Swan. This perhaps best known of all cello works is played here in Paul Vidal’s arrangement for cello and chamber orchestra, and it casts the usual serene spell.

Another arrangement for cello and orchestra, this time by the composer, is Fauré’s noble Élégie, originally a fragment of an abandoned cello and piano sonata. Coppey gives it a spontaneous-sounding account, at times almost improvisatory in feeling. The cellist’s tone and line are deployed in the service of a haunting interpretation, aided by touching flute and oboe contributions from the Strasbourg players under John Nelson, attentive collaborators throughout.

Lalo is best known for a single work, his Symphonie espagnole. His Cello Concerto could well stand alongside it if it received more performances as good as this one. The stormy opening is stirring, and the lyrical passages silken[.]

-- MusicWeb International

With this recording, la festa musicale follows up on the outstanding success of its first release with works by Venturini and once again devotes itself to high-quality but unknown repertoire: Gregor Joseph Werner (1693-1766), a titan on the threshold of Viennese Classicism, was Kapellmeister and immediate predecessor of Joseph Haydn at the Esterházy court. He was above all a supreme master of Latin musica sacra, though most of his instrumental music has been lost. Werner's compositions, including his Salve Reginas and Pastorellen presented here, display beguiling melodic invention and bold harmonic expressivity combined with enormous contrapuntal skill. Haydn profited considerably from his predecessor and actual teacher; the gallant, erudite synthesis of the late Mozart is already largely preformed in Werner. Werner's œuvre, which is difficult to access and has survived almost only in individual parts, has been researched by Lajos Rovatkay - also conductor of this recording - in decades of work. Together with the top-ranking ensemble of soloists and la festa musicale, impressive interpretations of the works of this unjustly neglected master have emerged.

With Storie di Napoli, la festa musicale now presents its third production on AUDITE and approaches the varied and expressive Neapolitan baroque repertoire with an innovative approach. Sensual arias and virtuoso concerti by composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti, Francesco Mancini and Nicola Fiorenza combine in this concept album to create a sonic collage that tells Naples' best stories and pages from the Baroque heyday of what was then Europe's third-largest metropolis. These include an encounter with the seductive siren Parthenope, to whom the mythological foundation of the city goes back, a visit to Naples' multi-layered underworld with thoroughly surprising twists and turns, and the exuberant atmosphere of typical Neapolitan street life full of festivities and joie de vivre. Together with the young, promising soprano Maria Ladurner and under the direction of the renowned recorder player Barbara Heindlmeier, who is known for innovative concepts, la festa musicale treads a completely new path in this project. Sometimes the movement sequences of the concerti are broken up and interwoven with the arias. In this way, a new, overarching storyline is told that skillfully captures the multi-layered facets of a fascinating city. The North German baroque ensemble la festa musicale stands for first-class artistic quality, which is reflected in creative, cross-disciplinary concert formats and top-class collaborations. In addition to well-known works, Storie di Napoli also features rarely heard discoveries and a premiere recording of the aria "Nel mio petto" (from Il ritorno d'Ulisse) by Giuseppe Porsile. The richness of color, the emotional density and the fast-moving contrasts of this repertoire are underlined by the baroque ensemble with variable instrumentation and - completely dedicated to the art of ornamentation and improvisation of the baroque - its own contributions, such as in the lively Tarantella napoletana alla festa musicale.

The common question as to who was the most important Hungarian composer of the twentieth century - Bartók or Kodály - would have been vehemently rejected by the two like-minded friends. On the one hand, they shared many ideas and goals, such as researching Hungarian folk music, which they recorded in the countryside before and after the First World War using a wax cylinder phonograph. Bartók and Kodály made the original music of the peasant societies, which has nothing to do with the idea of Csárdás fire and Puszta romanticism, the basis of their own idioms, which they further developed in very personal ways. On the other hand, the careers of the two composers progressed in entirely different ways. While Bartók embraced international modernism and went into American exile at the height of fascist rule in Hungary, Kodály remained in his home country even under politically difficult circumstances, devoting himself unswervingly to his great task: integrating music into the school curriculum in order to make it the basis of national consciousness and social behavior. The works that Kodály composed in this spirit during the interwar period now form part of the canon of orchestral and choral music. But there is also a lesser-known Kodály who until 1918, almost unnoticed by the international music world, wrote chamber music whose boldness was met with much hostility in Hungary. At the center of these works was the cello: the virtuosos emerging from the legendary master class of the cellist David Popper in Budapest introduced Kodály to the instrument's expressive and stylistic variety. But even for the master cellists of his time, the Sonata Op. 4 with piano, the Duet Op. 7 for violin and cello and, above all, the challenging Solo Sonata Op. 8 were expeditions into new technical and musical territory.

Weimar in the middle of the 19th century, in Franz Liszt's artistic circle: after years as a traveling piano virtuoso, he now devoted himself to composing and conducting. When the city was only feeding off its past greatness under Goethe and Schiller, Liszt re-established Weimar as a musical center of European stature; in the process, he met eminent organ virtuosos who introduced him to the multi-faceted instrument. His large-scale organ works were composed here. In a two-part series of publications, Anna-Victoria Baltrusch first presents compositions from the pens of those organists who reflected Liszt's musical innovations. She will then turn to the master himself in the second part, next month's release.