Classical Music

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by John Playford, Henry Purcell, John Ravenscroft. Ensemble: Lautten Compagney.

Born in Munich in 1895, Carl Orff is one of the 20th century’s most fascinating creators of music. He is famed for his “Carmina Burana”, a work of dazzling brilliance. It forms part of his triptych Trionfi alongside “Catulli Carmina” and “Trionfo di Afrodite”, each of which is equally represented in this edition under the musical direction of Herbert Kegel. Die Kluge is a modern fairy-tale in the manner of a Brechtian moral fable, telling the story of a king, a peasant and the peasant’s clever daughter. The recording is one of the most important in the extensive ETERNA catalogue and remains a benchmark to this day on account of its sound quality and musical interpretation. The conducting repertoire of Herbert Kegel was so wideranging and its special features so unusual that it would be difficult to “sell” him as a specialist for a single composer or a particular era of musical history – indeed, it is tempting to label him a “specialist for everything”, which may sound contradictory, but sums up his abilities in a way that would be suitable for very few other conductors. Kegel’s series of Carl Orff recordings – Carmina Burana being a work he recorded twice for ETERNA – seems out of place (from today’s conventional box-ticking perspective) for a conductor known for his passionate commitment to the modernist works of the Second Viennese School, works he successfully championed in the GDR, as is to be seen – in premiere recordings, of course – from their copious documentation in the catalogue of the state-owned VEB Deutsche Schallplatten record company. Herbert Kegel’s aesthetic horizon crossed borders of every kind and made no compromises in its expansiveness. The same painstaking refinement that he applies to Webern’s filigree textures is prominent in his treatment of Carmina Burana, often presented as a larger-than-life audience-friendly “showpiece”, but here endowed with a rarely experienced aura of ritual solemnity and seriousness.

When you read the name German Brass, you know just where you’re at: here are musicians who can conjure up the most finely-honed degrees of timbre, volume and pitch that it is humanly possible to produce on brass instruments. It rings true: German Brass represents the hallmark of the highest quality brass music made in Germany – or as Concerti magazine put it: “Trailblazers of the Brass scene”. The ensemble’s last album was all about pre-Christmas anticipation, joyful messages and everything that revolves round Bach, Telemann and Handel. Brass Hommage takes us to the opposite end of the calendar spectrum. Things are colorful, rhythmic, exotic even. After a bombastic introduction by way of Strauss’s Thus spake Zarathustra it’s off to the south and the west, armed with a sun hat and shades with classics ranging from Black Bottom Stomp, via Quien Sera, As Time Goes By, Tico Tico to Oye Como va. This is the perfect programme for hot days and balmy nights. With their virtuosity, their brilliant musicality and their own special charm, they have definitely placed their stamp/made their mark on brass culture. Their declared goal is to reproduce the grand-scale resonant sound of an organ. That’s what inspires German Brass’s arrangers and members to produce that sound which has given this top-flight ensemble an inimitable edge for decades. They have been making German brass history now for more than 40 years. Founded in 1974, they seem not to have grown a day older since then. Proof of that can be seen in their full concert schedule. The fact that the ensemble recruits musicians from Germany’s top orchestras means that they can offer outstanding quality, and their collaboration over decades still has audiences gasping, wide-eyed and perking up their ears to hear this musical cornucopia.

When the ten virtuoso musicians of German Brass unpack their lustrous horns, trombones, trumpets and tubas and strike up Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Ratswechsel” Cantata, written to mark the election of a new city council, celebration is in the air. Following on from their successful album “Bach on Brass”, the ensemble now presents a joyful selection of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries, notably Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel, just in time for the run-up to Christmas. From Bach’s Ratswechsel Cantata, by way of the aria “Bist du bei mir” from the “Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach” through to his famous Doric Toccata and Fugue, this album includes works that express hope, consolation and courage. The arrangements are all showcase pieces for brass ensemble. Here are familiar works in a new, unexpected garb; they radiate a high degree of homogeneity and their sound is at once pleasing to the ear. German Brass’s performance validates the musicians’ reputation as brilliant exponents of the genre and marks them out as heralds of the happiest season of the year. Their declared role model in sound is the voluminous and multi-hued sound of the organ: the instrument has inspired arrangers and members of German Brass to produce an inimitable sound that has placed this ensemble at the pinnacle of music-making for decades.

Beethoven’s three most popular and most performed piano sonatas are featured on this new benchmark release, “Moonlight Sonata,” the “Appassionata,” and the “Pathetique.” Pianist Peter Rosel recorded the works on this album in the late 1970s. Here they are beautifully remastered for optimal sound quality and presented in collector’s edition packaging. “Without wanting to seem immodest, I can say that I was pretty satisfied with the result, and I still am today. The fact that the recording will now be made available on both CD and vinyl for today’s music lovers gives me immense pleasure.” (Peter Rosel)

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Peter Schreier is one of the legendary tenors of the twentieth century. Throughout his 60-year career and even after his passing, he has been celebrated by listeners, friends and colleagues, especially as Bach interpreter and Lied singer. To celebrate the Christmas holiday, he devoted himself to a selection of carols by the four great song masters of the late Romantic period: Peter Cornelius (1824- 1874), Joseph Haas (1879-1960), Max Reger (8173-1916), and Hugo Wolf (1860- 1903). From well-balanced, melodic and, above all, singable tunes to challenging piano parts, they offer a wide variety of emotional statements and subtle detail, not least through the interpretation of these two sensitive artists.

For years, Peter Kopp and his Vocal Concert Dresden have been making a name for themselves through the discographic release of highly interesting and hitherto little-noticed compilations and programs. After works of the Dresden court music or Venetian treasures, it was most recently Masonic music of the 18th century. Now music of the Moravian Church, the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine. Its historical significance and international appeal, which literally radiates from a tranquil village in Upper Lusatia into the entire world, will not only celebrate its 300th anniversary next year, but will also be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Through the brothers' emigration and mission to North America, they left behind a fascinating musical treasure there that is considered one of the cornerstones of North American musical history. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, one could encounter high-quality music from Europe in the settlements of the Brethren, there called "Moravians." The Moravians thus became a musical bridge between Europe and the New World. What is remarkable about this connection is that compositions written in faraway places were also brought back to Germany and again included in the repertoire here. This may have been an absolutely unique feature of the Herrnhuter in the 18th century. Notwithstanding its high repertoire value, this production presents festive Christmas music. It will appeal to the lover of baroque Christmas music as well as to the listener who wishes to broaden his or her musical spectrum.

For this extensive four-album set, which includes a brilliant descriptive booklet, Christoph Eschenbach and his Konzerthausorchester Berlin with their take on Brahms' four symphonies. Christoph Eschenbach is in demand as a distinguished guest conductor with the finest orchestras and opera houses throughout the world, including those in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, London, New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Milan, Rome, Munich, Dresden, Leipzig, Madrid, Tokyo, and Shanghai. Mr. Eschenbach is currently principal conductor of the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin. In June 2017 he received the title of conductor laureate of the National Symphony Orchestra after having served as music director (2010–17). He was also music director of the Orchestre de Paris (2000–10), The Philadelphia Orchestra (2003–08), NDR Symphony Orchestra (1998–2004), and Houston Symphony (1988–99). Mr. Eschenbach’s many honors include the French distinctions of Légion d’Honneur, Officier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite, and Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He also carries the Commander’s Cross of German Order of Merit and the Leonard Bernstein Award from the Pacific Music Festival. In 2015 he received the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Award in honor of his life’s dedication to music.

One is inclined to speak of soulmates after hearing Simon Höfele and Elisabeth Brauss play as a duo and after getting to know them both personally. It is like two people connecting with one another in music and in conversation when they either know each other very well or have forged a special bond for some other reason. The latter is sure to be true this album is their first joint recording venture. With his album Standards, a testament to his time as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and in collaboration with two BBC orchestras, he devoted himself to the core repertoire of trumpet and orchestra and the great trumpet concertos by Haydn, Hummel, Copland and Arutiunian. Spearheading a young, go-getting generation of artists and awarded an Opus Klassik, he now takes a look at the New Standards the 20th century chamber music for trumpet. Together with pianist Elisabeth Brauß, he interprets works by Arthur Honegger, Karl Pilss, Georges Enescu, Paul Hindemith, Jean Françaix and Alexander Arutiunian, which illustrate the mutability of his instrument in an astonishing way: The trumpet repertoire contains works by many unfamiliar composers, works which really hardly anybody knows, there are nowhere near as many as there are for violin, and we have no Beethoven or Brahms its very much of a niche thing, and yet its our standard repertoire and really great, wonderful music. The album is a kind of Best-Of of the chamber music literature for trumpet, its a good selection and shows off the many facets of this repertoire, says Simon Höfele.

On Røta, her debut album with Berlin Classics, Ragnhild Hemsing presents her Norwegian roots on the violin and Hardanger fiddle, thereby placing her identity and the link to her musical training centre stage. Central to this theme is the relationship between classical and Norwegian folk music and the contrast between the different sounds of the two instruments. Ragnhild Hemsing, in compiling Røta, has recorded works by famous Norwegian composers alongside four different folk melodies for the Hardanger fiddle from her homeland. "I find it very interesting to combine the repertoire of composers who were inspired by folk music and the traditions of their individual homelands," is how Hemsing explains her choice of works for this album. Ole Bull, Edvard Grieg, Johan Svendsen and Johan Halvorsen are famous Norwegian composers of the nineteenth century, whose music gives her a cozy, reassuring feeling of "home". Together with Mario Häring at the piano and Benedict Kloeckner on cello she embarks on a journey through her native country's sound world. All of the composers featured on the album were closely affiliated with their homeland and were in contact with each other, exchanging ideas. Bull, for instance, provided Grieg with inspiration, who in his turn was a very close friend of both Halvorsen and Svendsen. The beauty of Norway, it's characteristic traits and landscape, is palpable; it can be heard and sensed in the music. Grieg's Lyric Suite (op. 54) is a reflection of mystic nature, with reminiscences of quiet nights, hiking outdoors and finally the March of the Trolls.