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Her repertoire currently spans more than 1000 compositions from the 16th to the 21st century, including 350 world premieres. She regularly performs as a soloist in renowned concert halls and festivals worldwide. At leading opera houses and stages she created complex female figures in music theaters, operas and monodramas. For her role as Elsa in Sciarrino’s “Lohengrin“ (2017) as well as for her performance in Philip Venables’ “4.48 Psychoses“ (2019) she was nominated as singer of the year. 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The conductor writes: ‘From the onset, the music in Das Lied von der Erde is permeated by a special mood. Even the texts, based on Far Eastern poetry, are more mood than content. Mahler repeatedly abandons the words’ meaning, but the mood remains. The music implies so much more than the words! For instance, the third poem evokes the reflection of a mirror image in water, but I don’t see those images anywhere in the music. Mahler is not concerned with helping us understand every syllable. 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Kurt Rhdl made previous DNO appearances as Hagen\/Hunding in Der Ring de sNibelungen and as Heinrich in Lohengrin. Kurt Rydl has been an honorary member of the Wiener Staatsoper since 1999. Falk Struckmann has frequently sung the role of Amfortas, but now makes his first DNO appearance in his role debut as Gurnemanz. The title role is sung by Christopher Ventris, who previously appeared at DNO as Steuermann in Der fliegende Hollander. Petra Lang previously sang Brangane in Tristan und Isolde and Venus in Tannhauser at DNO. ''There were no weak links in teh cast. Amfortas sounded suitably pained, very wobbly vibrato for it, but this very much worked. Gurnemanz was stoic and powerful. Klingsor was a rounded and full bass. Kundry has a truly bewitching voice, very powerful. Parsifal was definitely the stand out, always rising above the orchestra, his voice conveyed each emotion perfectly but was always perfectly clear and pure. Ivan Fischer's interpretation is calm, subdued, crystal clear, chamber-like. It is generally brisk, but extremely flexible, and follows Wagner's tempo changes to the letter. Nonetheless, one cannot help but be carried along with the waves of music, so that the final chords are absolutely overwhelming. The Concertgebouw, characteristically played stupendously. Beautiful phrasing, incredibly unity, and they just sound so incredibly beautiful. (Operalively.com)","brand":"Challenge Records","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray + DVD","offer_id":46012878061802,"sku":"0608917261929","price":24.48,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3660416.jpg?v=1778292733"},{"product_id":"bruce-the-north-wind-was-a-woman","title":"Bruce: The North Wind Was a Woman","description":"David Bruce’s highly personal musical and spiritual responses to the natural world inspire his second Signum album, The North Wind was a Woman. Its title song-cycle, scored for folk-imbued ensemble and recorded with the acclaimed Nora Fischer, treats various aspects of the natural world as human characteristics. The Consolation of Rain is a moving reflection on loss and the restorative power of nature, while Cymbeline draws on ancient religious attitudes to the sun. Written for mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, the work takes its name from an old Celtic word meaning ‘Lord of the Sun.’ Bruce has achieved global recognition as a composer, celebrated for his richly colourful, poetic, and joyful music. 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(The Independent). \"Glorious orchestral playing and magnificent singing under Iván Fischer\" ( Cosi fan tutte - BBC Music Magazine) \"Finely conducted by Robin Ticciati, McVicar’s production of Mozart’s Turkish comedy is a vocal and visual treat.\" (Die Entführung - The Stage) \"... this is a Figaro of rare grace, naturalness and charm.\" (Le Nozze di Figaro - The Daily Telegraph)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Opus Arte","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":46013011984618,"sku":"809478012450","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3772796.jpg?v=1778272658"},{"product_id":"chant-dautomne","title":"Chant d'Automne","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Channel Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013047800042,"sku":"723385377160","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3335040.jpg?v=1778300919"},{"product_id":"beethoven-symphonies-nos-1-5","title":"Beethoven Symphonies Nos 1 \u0026 5","description":"Iv�n Fischer leads the Budapest Festival Orchestra in Beethoven's Symphonies Nos.1 and 5. 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This date in the calendar had special significance: the first lockdown period due to the Corona pandemic set in immediately thereafter.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eThe orchestra was playing in full line-up in front of a full house for the last time for a long while. The mood was ominous: we all felt something was amiss, and the next day everything had to be cancelled. We strongly associate those circumstances with our work on the Sixth, and with the foreboding we felt of a catastrophe that has since ruined the livelihoods of many musician colleagues and deprived us all of a meaningful period in our lives. Mahler's Sixth is always a major event for the orchestra and for the audience. One leaves the concert hall weary and exhausted; time is required to regain one's composure. 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These are definitive Catholic songs—the one's that are always popular, that everyone sings, knows by heart, and wants to hear over and over again. Perhaps best of all, Catholic Classics is not \"for Catholics only.\" Catholics are joined by Christians across the other denominations in singing these wonderful and beloved hymns.","brand":"GIA","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013191913706,"sku":"785147048824","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/354951.jpg?v=1778328335"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-5-fischer-62742","title":"Mahler: Symphony No. 5 \/ Fischer, Dusseldorf Symphony","description":"\u003cimg src=\"\/graphics\/features\/gramophone_choice.jpg\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  This release is the fourth volume in Adam Fischer’s fabulous survey of Mahler’s symphonies. His previous volumes in the cycle have garnered widespread critical acclaim, including two Editor’s Choices by Gramophone. The Fifth Symphony is one of Mahler’s most loved works. Composed during the summer months of 1901 and 1902 at Mahler’s holiday cottage at Maiernigg, the 5th Symphony features a trumpet solo that opens the work with the same rhythmic motive as the famous opening of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. The scope of the work is huge, lasting over an hour and requiring a large number of musicians. The fourth movement, Adagietto, is said to represent Mahler’s love song to his wife, Alma, and is probably the composer’s most performed piece of music.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  -----\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  REVIEWS:\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Fischer’s elastic sense of tempo can be stretched to extremes in the Adagietto. What remains outstanding is the textural clarity and what is among the clearest renderings on disc of the finale’s teeming fugues. A peerless trumpet rides the first-movement welters impressively, too. The strings may not be the weightiest in the business, but every phrase is beautifully detailed and projected.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  – BBC Music Magazine\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Adam Fischer’s kinship with this music seems to grow exponentially with each successive instalment of what is already proving an exceptional Mahler cycle. There’s a stylistic and emotional understanding which goes beyond the precisely annotated scores. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this account of the Fifth Symphony is the ‘in the moment’ feeling it engenders from first to last.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  – Gramophone","brand":"CAvi-music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013210231018,"sku":"4260085533954","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3782839.jpg?v=1778248137"},{"product_id":"othmar-schoeck-penthesilea-174194","title":"Othmar Schoeck: Penthesilea","description":"Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) was known primarily for his art songs and song cycles. His one-act opera Penthesilea is his most well-known opera. The work was inspired by Heinrich von Kleist’s tragic play of the same name. Schoeck also wrote the libretto for the work. This production was recorded in Stuttgart in 1957, and features Martha Modl in the title role.","brand":"Walhall Eternity Series","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013223436522,"sku":"4035122652253","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3378641.jpg?v=1778306107"},{"product_id":"andriessen-miroir-de-peine-alexander-porcelijn-937370","title":"Andriessen: Miroir de Peine \/ Alexander, Porcelijn, Fischer, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe opulent soundworld of a Dutch late-Romantic master, still too little known outside his native country. Rarefied spirituality and refined sensuousness are the hallmarks of Hendrik Andriessen's (1892-1981) idiom, which offers an ethereal synthesis of Franckian chromaticism with an individual interpretation of classical forms and church modes. Though he trained as an organist, his writing for other solo instruments is fluent and idiomatic. The concertos for violin, cello and oboe share the silken textures of his better-known orchestral music, and this album won glowing reviews when first released in 2000. The album’s headline work is Miroir de peine, a languorous song-cycle to Henri Vangeon’s poems of religious ecstasy describing the suffering of Christ from the perspective of the Virgin Mary. It has attracted the advocacy of great sopranos from Elly Ameling to Christiane Stotijn. This 1991 recording by Roberta Alexander won an enthusiastic welcome from the critics for the poise and beauty of her performance and the richness of the engineering. Andriessen esteemed Franck as ‘a musical philosopher in the truest sense of the word,’ who drew ‘intense sentiments from the intuitive side of his genius into an orderly gestalt.’ Much the same could be said of Andriessen’s own idiom throughout his career, as this half-century retrospective over his career confirms, from the solemn lushness of Magna res est amor of 1919 to the Chromatic Variations and Cello Concertino of 1970. The Violin Concerto (1968-9) is still essentially couched in a Romantic vein, but shaded with more 20th-century accents of tonal anxiety, akin to Vaughan Williams and Casella in the 1930s. Any listener for whom conservatism is not a dirty word will relish becoming acquainted with Andriessen’s powerful expressive voice in these beautifully prepared and engineered performances.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013227172074,"sku":"5028421961057","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3978749-2728065.jpg?v=1778227453"},{"product_id":"nozze-di-figaro-cosi-fan-tutte-3pc-84178","title":"Nozze Di Figaro \/ Cosi Fan Tutte (3pc) \/ (3pk)","description":"These three facets in the prism of Mozart's operatic genius shine in Glyndebourne's typically thought-provoking productions, featuring skilled singer-actors buoyed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's luminous period sound. 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With the \"Festspielorchester\", an orchestra of its own quality and characteristics was created. In addition to the concertmaster Rainer Hocke of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the oboe and clarinet groups of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra were formed, whose instruments have special characteristics and thus a specific sound. The same applies to the horns, which play an important role in Mahler's music. The special string sound of musicians such as the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Prague, the orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera as well as the brass, especially trumpets, from German orchestras, supplemented by musicians from Brno, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam as well as from Frankfurt, Hanover, Cologne and Düsseldorf, gave Mahler's music a particularly adequate sound. Of course, the Kassel State Orchestra, with a total of 20 musicians, who took turns, played a major role in the festival orchestra.","brand":"Ars Produktion","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46013343924458,"sku":"4260052383049","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3846940-2601519.jpg?v=1778252937"},{"product_id":"richard-wagner-der-fliegende-hollander-112523","title":"Richard Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander","description":"This never-before-released-in-any-format, newly re-mastered, 1960 live performance of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman features the soprano Anja Silja (b. 1940) as Senta in her electrifying Bayreuth Festival debut. +Ms. Silja was a sensational presence on the Bayreuth stage throughout the 1960’s. + Conducted by the eminent Wolfgang Sawallisch, this recording also features tenors Franz Crass and Fritz Uhl, and bass Josef Greindl, noted Wagnerians all, in leading roles.","brand":"Andromeda","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013379608810,"sku":"3830257451631","price":6.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2580234.jpg?v=1778319877"},{"product_id":"symphony-no-1-live-recording-1989","title":"Symphony No. 1 (Live Recording 1989)","description":"Kassel, in the heart of Germany, is internationally known as the city that hosts the documenta art exhibition every five years. In 1989, Kassel also drew the attention of the musical world when �d�m Fischer, the city's General Music Director at the time, founded the Gustav Mahler Fest Kassel. With the Gustav Mahler Fest Kassel, the city received another internationally important cultural attraction. The inaugural Gustav Mahler Fest in 1989 consisted of three concerts with performances of the first, third and fourth symphonies, the Totenfeier from the second symphony, ieder eines fahrenden Gesellen performed by Thomas Quasthoff, and eight Lieder fromDes Knaben Wunderhorn with Iris Vermillion and Thomas Hampson. The 1989 concert recording impressively documents the spirit of optimism of the participants, but also Fischer's achievement as an outstanding Mahler exegete of international standing.","brand":"Ars Produktion","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46013387309290,"sku":"4260052382592","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3813917-2569570.jpg?v=1778257265"},{"product_id":"korngold-songs-vol-2-stallmeister-fischer-856551","title":"Korngold: Songs, Vol. 2 \/ Stallmeister, Fischer, Schenker-Primus, Simon","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn his song settings, Korngold pursued the Romantic ideal and lavished considerable care and inventiveness on their composition. His seemingly effortless gift for melody is everywhere ap-parent in this second volume (Vol.1 is on 8.572027), whether in the early works or the songs from the 1940s, which would not sound out of place in an operetta or a Broadway musical. Also present, notably in the Drei Gesänge, Op.18, is an exciting, experimental approach to harmony that reflects the music of his most radical opera, Das Wunderder Heliane (8.660410-12).\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan id=\"ctl00_MainContent_gvReviews_cell0_12_ASPxPopupControl1_ASPxLabel2\" class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003eAlready in \u003cspan id=\"ctl00_MainContent_gvReviews_cell0_12_ASPxPopupControl1_ASPxLabel2\" class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003ethe 1920\u003c\/span\u003es, as a young man, Korngold was composing in a powerfully vocal idiom, as can be heard in the \u003cspan id=\"ctl00_MainContent_gvReviews_cell0_12_ASPxPopupControl1_ASPxLabel2\" class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003efour\u003cem\u003e Lieder des Abschieds (Songs of Farewell)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e. He did not become a prolific art song composer, but there are lieder dotted among his long list of compositions This second volume of his complete songs include \u003cem\u003eSonett fur Wien \u003c\/em\u003efrom 1953, just four years before his death. The mezzo, Sibylle Fischer, has the task of expressing so much sadness in the four \u003cem\u003eLieder des Abschieds,\u003c\/em\u003e a mood she passes to the baritone, Uwe Schenker-Primus, in the Drei Gesange. He also has the task to hark on sorrow in the\u003cem\u003e Lieder aus dem Nachlass\u003c\/em\u003e, and we hear him to better effect in the forthright \u003cem\u003eFive Songs\u003c\/em\u003e. That Korngold wrote songs for the cinema surfaces with Morgen from the film\u003cem\u003e The Constant Nymph\u003c\/em\u003e, here recreated with a piano trio accompaniment, and sung with a smooth elegance by Britta Stallmeister. Together with the pianist, Klaus Simon, the vocal trio give us a rare chance to hear forgotten Korngold. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003e– David's Review Corner (SDavid Dento)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013402218730,"sku":"747313308378","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3968357-2709465.jpg?v=1778230151"},{"product_id":"schumann-four-hand-piano-works","title":"Schumann: Four-Hand Piano Works","description":"Robert Schumann wrote some of the greatest works ever written for piano, four hands. Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes turn in beautiful performances of this great music. Martha Fischer is professor of piano at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, where she heads the collaborative piano program. A sought-after accompanist and chamber musician, she has performed throughout the United States and Europe with many internationally recognized singers and instrumentalists. In a review of Fischer's recording with trombonist Mark Hetzler, American Voices II, American Record Guide wrote: \"At least half of the credit for these superb readings must go to her, for she is a marvelous pianist, profound interpreter, and expert collaborator.\" Bill Lutes an independent piano teacher living in Madison. From 2000 to 2011 he was Artist-in-Residence at the University of Wisconsin\/Madison where he served as vocal coach for the University Opera. As pianist he has performed nationally as soloist and collaborative musician. Mr. Lutes received degrees piano performance from the Universities of Kentucky and Wisconsin-Madison, and the Artist's Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music.. He has taught piano and masterclasses at the Interlochen Arts Camp and at the Selma Levine School in Washington D.C.","brand":"Centaur Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013433020650,"sku":"044747375120","price":9.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3770551-2533360.jpg?v=1778251931"},{"product_id":"mahler-das-lied-von-der-erde-4","title":"Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde \/ Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the symphony, the largest form for the largest orchestra, to the song, the smallest form for the smallest ensemble, would seem to be an enormous step. Mahler nonetheless brought them together and interwove them in Das Lied von der Erde. Iván Fischer leads the Budapest Festival Orchestra and soloists Gerhild Romberger and Robert Dean Smith in this unity of symphony and song.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Channel Classics","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46013435871466,"sku":"723385400202","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3834704-2584906.jpg?v=1778227163"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-9-adam-fischer-dusseldorf-symphony-397205","title":"Mahler: Symphony No. 9 \/ Fischer, Düsseldorf Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe series of the complete Mahler Symphonies with the Düsseldorf Symphonic under the baton of Ádám Fischer continues here with the release of the Symphony No. 9. Over the last two years Ádám Fischer’s Mahler recordings grew to a most successful recording project, winning the BBC Music Magazine Award, and the OPUS KLASSIK Trophy in Germany. Adam Fischer: \"Mahler wrote his Ninth symphony in 1909, and it is about death. To be more precise it is about dying. And I know of no other language apart from German in which the words 'death' (Tod) and 'dying' have entirely different etymologies.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CAvi-music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013480993002,"sku":"4260085534784","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3867514-2646347.jpg?v=1778272360"},{"product_id":"instruments-at-prayer-vol-1","title":"INSTRUMENTS AT PRAYER, Vol. 1","description":"Instruments at Prayer is an assortment of David Haas’s most beloved liturgical music interpreted instrumentally by the amazing musical talents of Kate Cuddy, Paul Tate, Bobby Fisher, Eileen Bird, Stephen Petrunak, and Zach Stachowski. These meditative, soulful arrangements transcend the words, transporting their message on sonorous wings straight to the heart. Volume I includes such favorite Haas tunes as “We Give You Thanks,” “Deep Within,” and “You Are Mine.” Cherished titles from Volume II include “Come and Journey with Me,” “Send Us Your Spirit,” and all-time favorite “Blest are They.” It is David’s sincere hope that you will find this recording to be a source of reflec- tion, prayer, and enjoyment","brand":"GIA","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46017348272362,"sku":"785147085522","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3348007.jpg?v=1778262639"},{"product_id":"mozart-symphonies-vol-4-fischer-danish-radio-180489","title":"Mozart: Symphonies Vol 4 \/ Fischer, Danish Radio Sinfonietta","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dacapo Classical","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46017742831850,"sku":"747313153961","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1579621.jpg?v=1778323895"},{"product_id":"mozart-45-symphonies-adam-fischer-danish-national-88460","title":"Mozart: 45 Symphonies \/ Adam Fischer, Danish National Chamber Orchestra","description":"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eMOZART \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003eSymphonies Nos. 1, 4–31, 33–36, 39–41. Symphonies, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eK 19a, 42a, 45a–b, 73l–n, 73q, 111b \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Ádám Fischer, cond; Danish Natl CO \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e DACAPO 8.201201 (12 CDs: 716:42) \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI mentioned in my review of a single disc from this series, which included symphonies Nos. 28–30 (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFanfare \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e34:4), that I didn’t think that Ádám Fischer’s performances captured “Mozart’s drama as well as they capture his elegance,” but added the caveat that it’s difficult to gauge an entire series of symphonies by one CD. Alas, in later reviewing the disc including symphonies Nos. 31, 33, and 34, I had the opposite feeling, that Fischer was making a “race to the finish line” and playing the symphonies too quickly. Now, as it so happened, I reviewed those two discs about two years apart, and so did not have the first still on hand to compare to the second, or to think about the differences in approach. But now I have the full set of 45 symphonies to review, and my feelings have changed. Now I am inclined to agree with Patrick Rucker, who gave a rave review to the single disc of symphonies Nos. 15–18 in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFanfare \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e31:1 (a disc reviewed, I believe, before I joined the magazine staff), stating that he was “grasping for superlatives.” \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe difference? Listening to the entire series in chronological sequence. By doing so, I noted that, despite an overall theatrical approach to these symphonies (in the liner notes, Fischer admits that he tends to think of orchestral music “operatically,” i.e., finding a dramatic theme or thread in the music that he then tries to bring out), he does make distinctions between the earlier and the later symphonies. Reducing his approach to a few basics, he plays the earlier symphonies with equal drama and electricity but with far fewer changes in dynamics and fewer rubato touches. In addition, I was able to download the scores of four of the symphonies—two of the most famous late works (40 and 41) and two early symphonies (Nos. 5 and 15, chosen pretty much at random)—and although these are not up-to-date, verified, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eUrtext \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003escores like the ones Fischer worked from, they do include dynamics markings. And, as any number of conductors of the past have mentioned, they do not tell you what to do between the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eforte \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ehere and the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003epiano \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003efour or six bars later (or vice versa). You are expected to follow your own good taste in approaching them. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePerhaps another deciding factor for me was in hearing Philippe Herreweghe’s more dynamic performances of symphonies Nos. 39 and 41 and, believe it or not, Bruno Walter’s historic performances of symphonies Nos. 39–41. Despite Walter’s slower tempos (and richer string sound), he actually elicited much more nuance and detail from those symphonies than did Jaap ter Linden, whose set I gave a good review to and suggested at the time that it was a fine historically-informed set of the Mozart symphonies. But, to be honest, what really sold me on Fischer’s approach were his performances of the early, lesser-known, oft-neglected, and unnumbered symphonies. Each and every one of them sounded as if it was just bursting with excitement, yet not too much that it overpowered the music on the printed page. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMoreover, what struck me in the single disc of symphonies 31, 33 and 34 as too fast now, suddenly, made sense \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ein context. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAnd, for the several Toscanini-bashers out there, I found it almost comical to note that Fischer takes the Finale of the “Jupiter” Symphony at virtually the same tempo that they consider “too fast.” The difference, of course, is that musicians of the 1940s and 50s weren’t used to playing Mozart this swiftly, and so they tended to sound pressed, whereas Fischer’s Danish National Chamber Orchestra skips through the music deftly and nimbly, like snow rabbits dashing across the landscape. It’s the comfort level of the executants that makes the difference, then, not the “wrong” tempo. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA good example of Fischer’s approach is CD 3, where he presents no less that four symphonies in a row that are all in the key of D Major (K 73l, m, n, and q). It would have been very easy for him, and the orchestra, to simply slip into an all-purpose style for these works, which of course would make them sound pretty much the same, yet he continually varies his approach from work to work. I do, however, caution the listener to approach this set one CD at a time. That is what I did, listening on consecutive nights to only one CD per evening, and it worked out pretty well. You get a better feel for the magnitude of Fischer’s achievement that way, and you are being fairer to both him and the Danish orchestra, whose players helped prod him on to take chances with the music and do things differently from the norm. After all, this was a seven-year project for them. These symphonies did not just get all rehearsed and recorded within a year or two. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI should also point out the work that went into Symphony No. 15, one of the four I obtained scores of. In the notes, Fischer asserts that if this work had not been by Mozart, who wrote so many symphonies and so many of good quality, it would probably be a much better known work, possibly a repertoire staple. Just reading the score, the music does look promising but certainly not brilliant. The first movement, for instance, is in a quick 3\/4 time, featuring a jagged melody with the usual wide-ranging melodic leaps. From the first bar, the dynamics marking is \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eforte, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ewhich changes to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003epiano \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eat bar 13, then back to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eforte \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eat bar 22, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003epiano \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eagain at bar 25, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eforte \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eon the first beat of bar 30 with a sudden \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003efp \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eon the second beat (a half note played by the oboes, trumpets, and first violins, while the second violins play 16ths and the violas, cellos, and basses play eighth notes). It’s all pretty cut-and-dry, you might say, and this is how most conductors play it. Fischer adds a little burst of extra volume at the top of bar 5, when the agitated strings play against long-held notes by oboes and trumpets, and there are all sorts of little gradations of sound in various places, including slight \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ecrescendos \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eto emphasize the musical drama. More interestingly, none of this sounds particularly fussy; if you didn’t have the score in front of you, or if you hadn’t heard any number of flat-response historically-informed performances, you’d think that this is simply the way the music goes. Toscanini once said it isn’t the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ef \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ehere or the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ep \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ethere that’s difficult to gauge, but what to do in between. Sadly, Toscanini paid little attention to most of Mozart’s symphonies because, except for the last three, he found most of them boring: “Is always beautiful, but always the same!” In Fischer’s performances, nothing is “always the same.” In the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAndante \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eof this Symphony, for instance, there are no dynamics markings at all, yet Fischer plays it at a moderate \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003emp\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e with further gradations down to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ep \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eor \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003epp \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand back again. By such means does he create and sustain interest. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe notes also explain the reason why the music sounds so vibrant and alive: His string players all use steel strings, which gives the music a consistently “edgy” quality that reveals, as Fischer put it, Mozart’s “earthily honest side.” The more you think about it, the more this makes sense, since Mozart was strongly influenced by both Haydn and C. P. E. Bach, both of whom exploited an earthy, dramatic quality in their symphonies. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eProbably the most difficult aspect of the earlier symphonies to overcome was the monotony of orchestration. Clarinets, horns, and other instruments only begin to appear in Mozart’s symphonies later on; earlier, the composer had to rely on his ingenuity of counter-rhythms and occasional harmonic changes to sustain interest, and unlike Haydn, Mozart almost invariably sought the widest possible popularity for his music (perhaps one of the reasons why Toscanini found it “always the same”). Yet, as the notes also point out, in Mozart’s day no one bothered to listen to music more than three years old as a rule. It was all about what was new, not what had come before. No one gave a hoot back then about “historical performance practice” because \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ethey didn’t want it and wouldn’t have listened if you gave it to them. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI still feel that occasional movements, such as the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAndante\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003es of the “Paris” Symphony and No. 39, are a shade too fast for my taste, but in the context of Fischer’s overall musical conception what he plays works very well. I can now accept what I hear in those later symphonies because my tolerance was built up through what he did with the numerous early works. In short, I have taken this symphonic journey with Fischer, the only difference being that I did it in 12 nights rather than in seven years. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI have now replaced the Jaap ter Linden set of Mozart symphonies on my shelf with this one. I strongly urge you to give them a listen and see if you don’t agree. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Lynn René Bayley \u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Dacapo Classical","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46017745223914,"sku":"636943120118","price":40.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2498220.jpg?v=1778320957"},{"product_id":"mozart-symphonies-vol-3-1769-1770","title":"Mozart: Symphonies, Vol. 3 (1769-1770)","description":"Mozart: Symphonies, Vol. 3 (1769-1770)","brand":"Dacapo Classical","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46019840999658,"sku":"747313153862","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1877878.jpg?v=1778332323"},{"product_id":"der-messias","title":"DER MESSIAS","description":"Schlemm\/Fischer\/Schock\/Bohme\/Schmidt-Isserstedt\/Kolner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester.","brand":"Relief","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46020383506666,"sku":"7619934800124","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2002617.jpg?v=1778319751"},{"product_id":"rite-of-spring-firebird-suite","title":"Rite of Spring, Firebird Suite","description":"The Rite of Spring's 1913 premiere created one of the most famous classical music riots in history. It's intensely rhythmic score, primitive scenery and radical choreography completely shocked the audience, who were accustomed to the elegant conventions of classical ballet. Almost 100 years later, the Rite of Spring still has the ability to shock - it still sounds fresh, pagan and new. On this Super Audio recording, Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra offer a powerful and intense performance that reveals the underlying simplicity that forms the foundation of the work.","brand":"Channel Classics","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46020706173162,"sku":"723385321125","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1931691.jpg?v=1778183943"},{"product_id":"beethoven-his-contemporaries","title":"Beethoven \u0026 His Contemporaries","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Channel Classics","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46020706369770,"sku":"723385252078","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1329426.jpg?v=1778338554"},{"product_id":"brahms-academic-festival-overture-violin-concerto-symph","title":"Brahms: Academic Festival Overture - Violin Concerto - Symph","description":"The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its sovereign, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. It is Welser-Möst’s nimble alternation between smoothness and a sound that’s as “sharp-edged as a skyscraper” (The Telegraph after the Brahms’ First at the orchestra’s London Proms concert). That keeps the ensemble and the audience figuratively on its toes. Brahms’ Fourth and last Symphony could be said to glow with autumnal colors. Endowed with a strong undercurrent of subdued melancholy, it seems to pine for an irretrievable past. Franz Welser-Möst offers a “lean, propulsive performance” (The Plain Dealer) of this work with his highly concentrated Cleveland Orchestra. The swift pace of the symphony in Welser-Möst’s hands reflects the conductor’s quest for a distinctive, far-from-the-mainstream interpretation. Written nearly contemporaneously in the late 1870s, Johannes Brahms’ rousing Academic Festival Overture and Violin Concerto op. 77 bear witness to a composer at the height of his abilities, a mature master of large-scale masterpieces. The Violin Concerto demands extreme technical proficiency. As if to exemplify this, violinist Julia Fischer gears herself from the very start of this emotionally searing work to maintaining a restrained yet passionate tone.","brand":"Belvedere Edition","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":46024038744298,"sku":"4260415080066","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3828304.jpg?v=1778276890"},{"product_id":"symphony-1-55036","title":"Mahler: Symphony No. 1 \/ Fischer, Dusseldorf Symphony","description":"\u003cimg src=\"\/graphics\/features\/gramophone_choice.jpg\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  This new release is the third installment in the successful ongoing Mahler cycle by Adam Fischer and the Duesseldorfer Symphoniker. Adam Fischer writes in his booklet notes: “I am delighted to perform and record the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler with the Dusseldorfer Symphoniker. The result, we hope, should be something special: a rendition that stems from an active collaboration in which we mutually inspire one another. This should not be “my” Mahler, but “our” Mahler… Gustav Mahler premiered his First Symphony at the age of 29. For personal reasons I feel a close bond with that 29-year-old Musical Director of the Hungarian State Opera. 120 years later, I was named General Music Director of the same opera house. We both hastily abandoned the institution after 2 ½ years. I would still like to relate a personal reminiscence of one of the performances of “my” First Symphony. The First Symphony was the first occasion I ever heard music by Mahler live on stage: in Vienna when I was nineteen years old, and the experience marked me for life.”","brand":"CAvi-music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46024102609130,"sku":"4260085533909","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3457741-2868688.jpg?v=1778297894"},{"product_id":"haydn-j-symphonies-vol-4-nos-55-69","title":"Haydn, J.: Symphonies, Vol. 4 - Nos. 55-69","description":"Christopher Tyler Nickel's contemporary classical compositions pack a bracing and emotional punch. His award-winning works for the concert hall, stage and screen have been heard in over 160 countries by audiences in the tens of thousands. His experience as an oboist instills a confidence to compose with an exhilarating freedom to explore the vast expressive range of the instrument, from lyrical and plaintive to acerbic and brittle. The world-premiere recordings of these three concertos for oboe and it's lower-pitched siblings the oboe d'amore and bass oboe receive dazzling performances by Mary Lynch, principal oboe of the Seattle Symphony, and Harrison Linsey, oboist with the Washington D.C.-based National Symphony Orchestra. Grammy Award-winning David Sabee, a tireless advocate of contemporary classical music, conducts the Seattle-based Northwest Sinfonia.","brand":"Nimbus","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025337569514,"sku":"710357559020","price":37.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/537937-2669582.jpg?v=1778187333"},{"product_id":"haydn-symphonies-vol-8","title":"Haydn: Symphonies, Vol. 7","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Nimbus","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025338716394,"sku":"710357541728","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/537898-2579510.jpg?v=1778294739"},{"product_id":"haydn-symphony-no-1-20-adam-fischer-127838","title":"Haydn: Symphony No 1-20 \/ Adam Fischer, Et Al","description":"\u003cp\u003eIncludes symphony(-ies) by Franz Joseph Haydn.  Ensemble: Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra.  Conductor: Adám Fischer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nimbus","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025348546794,"sku":"710357542626","price":37.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/169273.jpg?v=1778328168"},{"product_id":"brahms-symphony-no-2","title":"Brahms: Symphony No. 2","description":"The Symphony No. 2 of Johannes Brahms was composed in the summer of 1877. It's cheery and almost pastoral mood often invite comparisons with Beethoven's sixth symphony. On this SACD from Channel Classics featuring Iv�n Fischer leading his Budapest Festival Orchestra, Brahms's 'pastoral' symphony is paired with two overtures. The Tragic Overture offers a somber contrast to the sunny mood of the symphony, while the Academic Festival Overture ends the program on a positive and uplifting note.","brand":"Channel Classics","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025356345578,"sku":"723385335146","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2828687.jpg?v=1778289060"},{"product_id":"great-haydn-symphonies-no-6-45-48-165950","title":"Great Haydn Symphonies - No 6, 45, 48, Etc \/ Fischer, Et Al","description":"\u003cb\u003eA strong contender as an introduction to some wonderful music.\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThere are two ways to obtain the complete Haydn symphonies: a third set on Sony, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies seems no longer to be generally available in the UK, even as a download. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eOne was made some time ago by Antal Doráti with the Philharmonia Hungarica (Decca 448 5312, 33 CDs). From this set only the Paris Symphonies seem currently to be separately available (Decca E473 8102) and, at prices ranging from around £165 to £195 – even more, £352.15, for the download from hmvdigital.com – buying the whole thing may be something of a daunting proposition. Even as a download, only that Paris set, two Double Decca sets of the London Symphonies and a Decca Eloquence recording of Nos. 94, 100 and 101 remain available separately. These are fine performances of which I can speak from personal experience, having owned several of them on LP; I still have and regularly play some of the smaller CD sets from the series which were once available. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThere is, however, a far less expensive way to obtain the symphonies complete, from the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra under Adam Fischer; the whole set comes on just 8 CDs in mp3 format (NI1722) and can be purchased from MusicWeb International for £23.00 post free. The discs can be played directly from any CD, SACD or blu-ray player which offers mp3 playback, but it’s better to drop and drag the files onto a computer hard drive and play them from there. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eDominy Clements in recommending the set went so far as to include graphic print-outs of the same segment of Symphony No.1 from the normal CD and the mp3 version, demonstrating not only that they sound identical but that there is objective evidence to support the point. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThe selection listed above comes from that complete set and, although I don’t have access to that mp3 edition on disc, I’ve been listening to some of the symphonies in mp3 sound from the Naxos Music Library and I’m blessed if I can hear any difference between the versions on CD and the mp3 equivalents. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eI’ve reviewed the classicsonline.com downloads of Symphonies Nos.1-20 – July 2012\/2 Download Roundup – and Symphonies 21-39 and ‘107’-‘108’ (also known as ‘A’ and ‘B’) – July 2009 Download Roundup. Though I could hardly recommend the downloads when they are more expensive (£39.95) than their physical equivalents on 5 CDs (NI5426-30 and NI5683-7 respectively, £23.00 each post free from MusicWeb International), I was able to confirm the high quality of the mp3 sound. So if you are looking for a complete set of the Haydn symphonies that mp3 set, NI1722, looks to me like the best. If, however, you would like to ease yourself into this wonderful music gradually, the ‘Great Haydn Symphonies’ pair of CDs, obtainable from MusicWeb International for £12 post paid, would be an excellent way to dip your toe into the water. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eBy no means all the Haydn symphonies with a nickname received their nomenclature from Haydn himself, and by no means all of them are accurate. In this case, however, the set of six nicknamed works provides a very useful peg on which to hang a 2-CD set of works from all periods of Haydn’s long productive life. Not only that, but these are six of my own favourites among the composer’s huge symphonic output. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eNo.6 comes from the earliest period of his tenure with the Esterházy family. It’s one of a series of three linked works, depicting Morning, Noon and Evening, though it stands well enough on its own. Early it may be, but Haydn never really had a period when his music didn’t sound fully accomplished and its appeal is enhanced by the excellent performance which it receives. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eSymphony No.45 is the most famous of the Sturm und Drang symphonies from Haydn’s middle period, around 1770. The name Sturm und Drang or storm and stress refers properly to the pre-romantic literature of the period, notably to a series of works by Goethe and Schiller. The story behind the last movement, with the musicians leaving one by one as a hint to their employer that they needed a break, is well known but that doesn’t diminish the power of the music; it remains unhackneyed no matter how many times I must have heard it. Perhaps the performance here doesn’t quite match the power of a Vanguard recording with Antonio Janigro at the helm, which used to be available, but it comes pretty close. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eNo.48 also comes from the Sturm und Drang period. Its nickname refers to the belief formerly held that it was composed specially for a visit from the empress, Maria Theresa. For some reason she always seems to develop an spurious extra ‘i’ in the name of this symphony, perhaps by false association with the German name Mariatheresien-symphonie. As with No.45, it’s easy to see why the symphonies of this period came to be linked with the literature of the period. My only reservation about Fischer’s performance of this symphony may sound irrational, but the modern horns hit their notes just slightly too comfortably in comparison with period-instrument performances. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eIt’s not that I didn’t enjoy Fischer’s account of this work, but compare the period-instrument performance from Roy Goodman and the Hanover Band on an inexpensive Hyperion recording (Helios CDH55119, with Nos. 49 and 50, £6.99 or less; £5.99 for mp3 or lossless download: see March 2012\/2 Download Roundup) and the extra adventure involved in hitting the right notes adds an extra touch of zest to the performance, as does the inclusion of a just-audible harpsichord. Any one of the budget-price discs from this series might make a useful addition to the Nimbus ‘Great Symphonies’ set; it’s a series that was never quite completed, though it contains recordings from all periods of Haydn’s symphonic output. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eIf you’ve fallen for the appeal of Haydn in Sturm und Drang mode, Nimbus offer another 2-CD set of Nos. 43, 44, 49, 52, 59 and 64 (here). \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eSymphony No.82 moves us on several years to Haydn’s visit to Paris in 1785\/7. Fischer’s performances of the six symphonies from this period are available on a pair of Nimbus CDs (NI5419-20 - £16.00 post free from MusicWeb International here). The only reservation that I have about recommending the ‘Great Symphonies’ set is that you may well fall for the charms of No.82 and want the whole set. If you doubt the validity of the ‘bear’ nickname for this symphony, Fischer’s growly finale makes it seem thoroughly appropriate, even though it isn’t one of Haydn’s own devising. Here again, only a preference for a period-instrument performance such as Harnoncourt’s Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 3-CD set (82876606022, all repeats observed) or Roy Goodman’s on Hyperion (Nos. 82-4, CDH55123) would be reason to look elsewhere – I’m happy with either approach. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThe Oxford Symphony was performed at Haydn’s award of an honorary doctorate by the university, so the title has some validity even though in the end he failed to compose the new work he had intended for the occasion and substituted one that was already well known in England. Simon Rattle’s account of this and other symphonies from the period between the Paris visit and Haydn’s first to London has received critical praise (Nos.88-92 and Sinfonia Concertante, EMI 3942372: Recording of the Month, but I find it too heavy by comparison with the best period performances. You don’t need period instruments, however, to make the symphonies of this period sound well, as Eugen Jochum demonstrated in his BPO recordings of Nos. 88 and 98 and his later LPO set of the ‘London’ Symphonies and as Fischer demonstrates in his version of the Oxford. This is modern-instrument Haydn without the ‘big band’ effect that I find from Rattle and I found it an excellent complement to Roy Goodman’s period-band on Hyperion Helios CDH55125. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThe nicknames of Haydn’s symphonies don’t always translate from one language to another. In German No. 94 is known as the Drum Stroke Symphony (mit dem Paukenschlag), so easily confused with what is known in English as the Drum Roll Symphony, No.103. The English nickname, Surprise, like the German, refers to the loud stroke in the slow movement, designed to wake the ladies. I first got to know this symphony from Beecham’s early-1950s Columbia (CBS) performance, once available on the Philips Classical Favourites label – no longer available but his later 1950s remake, still in mono, is on the first of two EMI Gemini 2-CD sets: details below. If Fischer and his team don’t quite recapture the magic of that version – could anyone? – I can’t think of any better recent version. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eHungarian orchestras and conductors seem to have a particularly strong rapport with Haydn – surely it can’t just be due to the fact that he composed for the Esterházy family whose palaces spanned what is now the international border. There used to be several CDs of his music on the Hungaroton White Label which, if reissued at budget price, would still be well worth considering. David Blum recorded several of the symphonies with the Esterházy Orchestra for Vanguard which, like those Hungarotons, I still listen to with pleasure. Intermittently available on CD, there’s a very strong case for the latter especially to be reissued. Despite their Eastern European name, the Esterházy Orchestra are American. Still available, however, and of genuine Hungarian provenance, are the successful recordings which Naxos has made of Haydn symphonies with the Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia and Béla Drahos. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eGood as all these are, the Austro-Hungarian Orchestra, drawn from top-flight Austrian and Hungarian players, is best of all. These recordings were made over a period of seven years, during which time the orchestra had three Konzertmeister, or leaders: Rainer Küchl, Erich Binder and Wolfgang Redik. The quality of performance over that period is remarkably consistent. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eI’m not suggesting that these are perfect – even if such a thing were possible. I would have liked a little more generosity in the matter of first movement repeats, for example. Without necessarily wishing for every repeat to be observed, as Harnoncourt does in his most recent recording of the Paris Symphonies for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, I do feel that there’s imbalance in Fischer’s No.82 – Doráti’s, too, for that matter – where the first and second movements are almost exactly the same length and the finale is shorter than either. Goodman strikes a neat compromise by observing the first-movement repeats but not those in the finale (Hyperion Helios CDH55123, with Nos.83 and 84). \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eJust occasionally, too, I felt that some of Fischer’s ritardandi were slightly artificial, but that’s only if one judges them against those of Thomas Beecham, who somehow manages to make everything he does seem thoroughly natural and Haydnesque, even though he clung to outdated editions which he knew to be erroneous when better texts were already available. See the review of his EMI recordings of the London Symphonies – Bargain of the Month – and my November 2011\/1 Download Roundup. Beulah have reissued Beecham’s Symphonies Nos. 101 and 103 – see April 2012\/1 Download Roundup. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThe recordings are excellent throughout. Even the two earliest here, of Nos. 45 and 94 from 1988, are not at all bad but the later recordings sound even better. With short but valuable notes this inexpensive set is a strong contender. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e-- Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Nimbus","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025357132010,"sku":"710357704123","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/294086.jpg?v=1778295109"},{"product_id":"mozart-die-zauberflote","title":"Mozart: Die Zauberflöte","description":"Accompanied by a luxurious team of professionals, consisting of the renowned stage director Peter Stein, his stage designer Ferdinand Wöger and conductor Ádám Fischer, Teatro alla Scala presents with Mozart’s Zauberflöte a production where orchestra, chorus, soloists as well as outfitters all consisted of students of the Academia Teatro alla Scala, the educational institution aimed to train the young talents, founded by the Teatro alla Scala in 2001. The result was more than stunning and an instant success with the audience of the ten sold out performances at La Scala, which is famous for its more than critical loggionisti. According to Die Presse, Fischer “gets the best out of the Academy Orchestra with delicate execution and humane phrasing” while the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung praises Fatma Said as ''Pamina'' and Yasmin Özkan as ''Queen of the Night''.","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46025389998314,"sku":"814337014056","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3629528_207a101d-247a-478a-9c26-68c4c8d98f06.jpg?v=1778387821"},{"product_id":"julia-fischer-at-the-bbc-proms-62385","title":"Julia Fischer at the BBC Proms","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=2108415\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46025391243498,"sku":"814337013219","price":45.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3003089.jpg?v=1778386019"},{"product_id":"mozart-cosi-fan-tutte-lehtipuu-pisaroni-fischer-256575","title":"Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte \/ Lehtipuu, Pisaroni, Fischer [blu-ray]","description":"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart \u003cbr\u003e  COSÌ FAN TUTTE \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Ferrando - Topi Lehtipuu \u003cbr\u003e  Guglielmo - Luca Pisaroni \u003cbr\u003e  Don Alfonso - Nicolas Rivenq \u003cbr\u003e  Fiordiligi - Miah Persson \u003cbr\u003e  Dorabella - Anke Vondung \u003cbr\u003e  Despina - Ainhoa Garmendia\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The Glyndebourne Chorus \u003cbr\u003e  Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment \u003cbr\u003e  Iván Fischer, Conductor\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Nicholas Hytner, Stage Director\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in June and July 2006\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Bonus Material: \u003cbr\u003e  - Insights - with Ivan Fischer, Nicholas Hytner and members of the cast \u003cbr\u003e  - Illustrated Synopsis and Cast Gallery\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Picture format: 1080i High Definition, 16:9 \u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: 2.0 and 5.0 True HD \u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (All Regions) \u003cbr\u003e  Menu Language: English \u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian \u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 210 minutes \u003cbr\u003e  No. of Discs: 1 (BD50)\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Opus Arte","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46025474212074,"sku":"809478070351","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1550448.jpg?v=1778387993"},{"product_id":"bartok-dance-suite-etc-fischer-hungarian-state-154621","title":"Bartók: Dance Suite, Etc \/ Fischer, Hungarian State So","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Nimbus","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025481421034,"sku":"710357530920","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2093654.jpg?v=1778314990"},{"product_id":"mozart-symphonies-vol-9","title":"Mozart: Symphonies, Vol. 9","description":"This is the fifth release in the acclaimed series of the complete symphonies by W. A. Mozart recorded by the Danish National Chamber Orchestra and their renowned chief conductor Adam Fischer. On this volume you can enjoy the symphonies nos. 31 33 and 34 composed during 1778-80. The performances are as fine as this music has ever received.","brand":"Dacapo Classical","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025490956522,"sku":"747313154463","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2067777.jpg?v=1778312126"},{"product_id":"kodaly-orchestral-works-fischer-et-al-94728","title":"Kodaly: Orchestral Works \/ Fischer, Et Al","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Nimbus","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025957572842,"sku":"710357708121","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/762303.jpg?v=1778294628"},{"product_id":"esterhazy-recordings-haydn-symphonies-vol-2-a-75367","title":"Esterhazy Recordings - Haydn: Symphonies Vol 2 \/ A. Fischer","description":"\u003cb\u003eFischer brings his Haydn cycle to a more than satisfying conclusion with this superb volume.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Adám Fischer and the Austro­Hungarian Haydn Orchestra go from strength to strength. This culminating volume of their Haydn symphony cycle – built up over 14 years – is in many ways the most enjoyable of all‚ not just because it covers a fascinating range of works written in the 1760s‚ when the young Haydn was busy experimenting‚ but in the performances too. In most previous volumes the advantages of Fischer’s cycle as against those of Antál Dorati’s ever­fresh pioneering Decca cycle‚ have been relatively slight. Here the new performances‚ with lighter‚ more transparent textures and generally faster speeds‚ take far more note of period practice while staying faithful to modern instruments. More than ever one registers the individual virtuosity of the various soloists in the orchestra‚ often challenged to the limit by fast speeds. So a movement such as the variation finale of No 31‚ The Hornsignal‚ features a sequence of brilliant soloists such as Haydn himself might have been writing for in the Esterházy orchestra – violin‚ cello‚ horn and so on‚ even double­bass. That symphony‚ in Professor Robbins Landon’s description one of the most spectacular of the early works‚ is here presented with panache‚ with the four horns braying out superbly‚ and the fast opening Allegro adding to the intensity. The immediately preceding symphony‚ No 30‚ nicknamed Alleluia after the chant quoted‚ is hardly less striking‚ the more so here when Fischer has adopted‚ with brilliant results‚ the option for this C major work of having trumpets and drums as well as horns – a later addition as Robbins Landon suggests in Volume 1 of his monumental Chronicle and Works (Thames \u0026amp;Hudson: 1976­78). The horns are prominent throughout these performances‚ helped by the recording balance‚ bringing out the boldness of inspiration. Symphonies Nos 30 and 31 evidently date from 1765‚ but generally the regular numbered sequence from the old Breitkopf edition is even more misleading than usual. So No 26 in D minor‚ Lamentation‚ another work that quotes a chant‚ is in the darkly intense Sturm und Drang style of the middle symphonies‚ where No 37 in C is evidently one of the earliest works here‚ dating from the brief period from 1759 when Haydn was Kapellmeister to Count Morzin. Fischer in the Lamentation Symphony again makes the music more biting with his emphasis on sharp dynamic contrasts and his very fast Allegro – faster even than with Christopher Hogwood in his period performance on L’Oiseau­Lyre (4\/94). Even more strikingly‚ No 39 in G minor‚ the last of the numbered symphonies here‚ is a wonderful example of Sturm und Drang‚ enhanced by Fischer at the start by the way he exaggerates the pauses between the nervily tentative opening phrases‚ leading to the fierce and urgent Allegro. The finale too is vehemently Sturm und Drang‚ with its rushing strings and four horns‚ again brilliantly used as in the Hornsignal‚ No 31 – as Robbins Landon puts it‚ ‘a tight­fisted work’. Throughout this set Fischer consistently relishes the originality of scoring‚ as in the Trio of the Minuet of No 29 in E‚ where suddenly in E minor the horns in octaves hold a sustained note‚ an effect made the more eerie here with the strings stilling their vibrato in period style‚ as they regularly do in these performances. The Symphonies ‘A’ and ‘B’‚ the one dating from the Morzin period‚ the other from the early 1760s‚ make an apt supplement as they come from the same period. These are both works which were only identified as symphonies rather than string quartets when in recent years wind parts were discovered. Whether or not Fischer and his orchestra of selected players from Vienna and Budapest will go on to record other supplementary works and alternative versions (for another record company following Nimbus’s demise)‚ as Dorati did‚ theirs is a superb achievement‚ with the cycle of numbered symphonies now most satisfyingly completed.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e -- Gramophone 1\/2002\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Nimbus","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025977725162,"sku":"710357568329","price":37.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/396016.jpg?v=1778294910"},{"product_id":"mozart-lucio-silla-fischer-odinius-nold-danish-233986","title":"Mozart: Lucio Silla \/ Fischer, Odinius, Nold, Danish Radio Sinfonietta","description":"Booklet includes libretto in English.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003eI truly can't imagine why anyone would want to own more than one good recording of this opera, and so if you have none, this one will make you very happy. If you have the Harnoncourt, you'll need this to get a real sense of what the opera is about, and if you have the Hager, scene by scene you should be pleased. But Fischer almost turns this work into true drama, and his singers are marvelous. The sound throughout is bright and forward; the booklet contains interesting essays and a four-language libretto. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The approximately three-hour-long (depending on cuts, pacing, etc.) Lucio Silla was composed by Mozart for Milan in 1772, as the lad was nearing his 16th birthday. A true opera seria, with dozens of da capo arias and a plot that ties itself in knots until the eponymous hero, the despotic Silla (138-78 B.C.), suddenly decides to stop being a tyrant, has a change of heart and becomes the very model of the Enlightenment, it offers the listener no context for soul-searching, almost no action, and no character growth. However, like the best opera serie, we get many splendid frozen-in-time moments in which individual characters can stop, face us, and articulate in music and text an array of human emotion: warmth, hopelessness, fury, elation, fear, tenacity. And for the most part, they do so with great bravura.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The opera was a great success in Milan, running 20 performances. The plot tells of Silla (tenor) who lusts after Giunia (soprano), whose husband Cecilio (mezzo) he has banished and declared dead. Cecilio, back in Rome but hiding, eventually tries to kill Silla but is stopped and sentenced to death. Then, for no reason made clear to anyone, Silla denounces his own dictatorship and offers clemency to all, including Cecilio's friend Cinna (soprano) and his own sister, Celia (soprano), who loves and is loved by Cinna. A character named Aufidio (tenor), shows up occasionally; he is Silla's bloodthirsty friend, always interested in stirring up trouble.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e There are several performances of this opera available, and this new one turns out to be the best all around despite some remarkable individual performances elsewhere. The cast here is made up of not-very-well-known Scandinavians, and they are all worthy. Great credit must go to conductor Adam Fischer, who leads the superb period-instrument Danish Radio Sinfonietta in a performance that unites youthful refinement with fiery delivery, textural and textual lucidity, and just the right mood and tempo for each character's situation. He rightly turns each aria into an event while having trimmed the recitative to a minimum; compared with Leopold Hager's reading on Philips, with every note and word intact, we get a performance that is 32 minutes shorter and light years more exciting. (Harnoncourt on Teldec cuts the role of Aufidio entirely as well as a couple of important arias, and his tempos and dynamics define manic depression.)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The emotional centerpiece of the opera, if there is one, is Giunia, a high coloratura who has four lengthy arias to sing, requiring great virtuosity as well as a sense of longing and moral outrage. Her opening aria changes mood effectively as it progresses, and a scene near the first act's close in which she and the chorus weep for her father (who was killed by Silla) is truly moving. Simone Nold does a fine job with her bright tone and impeccable diction; she's well up to the challenge made by Arleen Auger (Hager) and Edita Gruberova (Harnoncourt).\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Lothar Odinius is the best Silla on disc. The under-composed role (only two arias instead of four due to a last-minute cast change in Milan a week before the premiere) can be effective, and Odinius not only has the notes and coloratura, but he's capable of sounding truly nasty and sings Peter Schreier (on both other recordings cited) under the table. Cecilio is represented with Harnoncourt by Cecilia Bartoli and with Hager by Julia Varady; the latter has great authority but struggles with pitch while the former is at her most expressive, noble, varied, and outraged. Kristina Hammarström cannot match Bartoli but she is nonetheless excellent, the tone perhaps not quite dark enough at times but the intelligence and accuracy outstanding. Henriette Bonde-Hansen sings with dignity as Cinna; Susanne Elmark's Celia is sincere, loving, and shallow, much like Dawn Upshaw's for Harnoncourt. Jacob Naeslund Masden's Aufidio has a nice snarl to it.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e I truly can't imagine why anyone would want to own more than one good recording of this opera, and so if you have none, this one will make you very happy. If you have the Harnoncourt, you'll need this to get a real sense of what the opera is about, and if you have the Hager, scene by scene you should be pleased. But Fischer almost turns this work into true drama, and his singers are marvelous. The sound throughout is bright and forward; the booklet contains interesting essays and a four-language libretto.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e --Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dacapo Classical","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025987096810,"sku":"636943606926","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1367445_b7e8ef67-52c5-43fd-87fc-02485d6b982f.jpg?v=1778329406"},{"product_id":"in-memoriam-yakov-kreizberg","title":"In Memoriam Yakov Kreizberg","description":"\"Music allows us to really find our inner self, to be free to search for those things that we normally don't have the opportunity or the time to search for. It opens up many, many doors within us. It opens the doors to our soul, to our feelings, to humanity as a whole.\" – Yakov Kreizburg  One of the most interesting and exciting conductors of his generation, Yakov Kreizberg conducted most of the major orchestras throughout Europe, North America and Asia. At the time of his death he held the posts of Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, and Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Netherlands Chamber orchestras.  PentaTone presents In Memoriam Yakov Kreizberg , a collection of the Kreizberg’s excellent PentaTone recordings, in honor of the esteemed conductor.","brand":"PENTATONE","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025989816554,"sku":"827949046162","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1957409.jpg?v=1778320238"},{"product_id":"bach-3-viola-da-gamba-sonatas-bwv-1027-1029","title":"Bach: 3 Viola da Gamba Sonatas, BWV 1027-1029","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Stradivarius","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46026125738218,"sku":"8011570370365","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3345796.jpg?v=1778292318"}],"url":"https:\/\/arkivmusic.com\/collections\/brent-fischer.oembed?page=3","provider":"ArkivMusic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}