Pietro Mascagni’s single work for the early days of cinema was composed in the winter of 1914-15, and premiered by him in 1917. The idea behind Rapsodia Satanica and the film’s director Nino Oxilia was to create a “Poema cine-musicale”, a synthesis of the arts with music, poetry and finally cinematography. The plot is something like a female version of “Faust”, based on poetry by Fausto Maria Martini (1886-1931). The work is oriented toward Richard Wagner’s musical language. The French-German TV channel Arte restored this treasure of early cinema in 2006 and recorded the complete film music score, now available also on CD. Luciano Visconti’s Il Gattopardo (The Leopard, 1963), based on the Lampedusa novel, is one of his most striking films, as is its Nino Rota-supplied score. Frank Strobel helms the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz in the CD presentation of these scores.

The great niece of the largely unsung early-mid 20th century Austrian writer Heimito von Doderer whose book "Die Wasserfalle von Slunj" brought him rare recognition and was conceived as a novelistic counterpart to Beethoven's 7th Symphony, this premiere of Johanna Doderer's 2nd Symphony 'Bohinj' is an artistic memorial to Lake Bohinj in Slovenia, around 300 km away from the Croatian waterfalls her great uncle wrote about to great effect. Doderer has said she "was fascinated above all by the superb scenery. In the course of time, I found out what happened there during the First World War. In short, the idyll utters a silent scream. My three-movement work also touches on this sound." With the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz conducted by Ariane Matiakh, the release also features teh soprano Anne Schwanewilms as well as the violinist, Yury Revich and is an excellent introduction to U.S. audiences of this prolific and much commissioned contemporary composer.

In terms of style, with his works linked to basic tonalities Weigl drew on the sound realm of late Romanticism, from whose aesthetics he never departed in favour of more progressive contemporary trends. Whereas Weigl’s Symphony No. 1, written in 1908, associatively evokes the mood of a composer thinking of new territory and inquiring into the future, the dissimilar pair of his Symphonies Nos. 4 and 6 shows the musician’s intellect at historically distinctive periods, allowing an assessment to be made as to whether what could be expected, intended and hoped for at the time of his early works was achieved or whether it developed in an entirely different manner. The background to Symphony No. 4 in 1936 was the emergence of dictatorial Austro-Fascism. Symphony No. 6 of 1947 is in a certain sense a continuation and a conclusion following the end of the Nazi terror and a war that did not remain without profound changes and far-reaching effects for almost all the countries in the world.

HAYDN Organ Concertos: in C, Hob XVIII:1; in C, Hob XVIII:8; in C, Hob XVIII:10. Fortepiano Concertos: in G, Hob XVIII:4; in D, Hob. XVIII:11. Harpsichord Concertos: in D, Hob XVIII:2 in F, Hob XVIII:3; in C, Hob XVIII:5 • Christine Schornsheim (org, hpd, fp); Mary Utiger (vn, cond); Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik (period instruments) • CAPRICCIO 5022 (2 CDs: 131:18)


Many of us tend to pigeonhole composers; we think of Beethoven and Brahms as symphonists (and rightly so) and associate the name of Mozart with his 20-odd piano concertos. With Haydn we might answer with either the symphony or his unassailable settings of the Latin Mass. Seldom—if ever­—is the gentleman from Rohrau, Lower Austria, thought of as a composer of concertos. But Haydn wrote a respectable number of them, including ones for flute, bassoon, and double bass that are irretrievably lost. Surviving ones include two each for horn and cello, one for trumpet and a number for keyboard as well. Although Haydn’s gifts as a keyboard performer were not comparable to those of Mozart, Haydn was a confident, not to mention accomplished performer, shown not only in the numerous surviving keyboard sonatas, but also in the solo parts of the keyboard concertos. With the exception of Hob XVIII: 11—the Concerto that concludes with the “all’ungarese,” or “Gypsy Rondo”—all of Haydn’s keyboard concertos were written before 1770.


The question of a solo instrument in these concertos is not an easy one to put to bed. The compass of the solo part in the five earliest concertos (Hob XVIII:1, 2, 5, 8, and 10) suggests the organ, with the first of these designated on the manuscript as “Concerto per l’organo.” But in his own catalog of compositions, Haydn wrote “per il clavicembalo,” so it seems that substitutions as pursued here by Schornsheim in the aforementioned concertos are entirely appropriate. However, in the later concertos (Hob XVIII:3, 4, and 11), the solo instrument was more than likely intended to be the harpsichord, the instrument of choice in Austria until around 1780. This explains the designation of the solo instrument in hand-written copies. But in the published versions, generally after the mid 1780s, the performer is offered a choice of either harpsichord or fortepiano.


As for the music itself, it is unquestionably solidly written, but it is not the Haydn of the middle or late symphonies; his comparative lack of interest in the keyboard concerto speaks volumes of his course and objective as a composer, as well as of the popular trend of the period. Beginning in the 1760s, the symphony emerged as the most accomplished form of orchestral music, and most composers placed the concerto in lesser regard. In Johann Georg Sulzer’s General Theory of the Beautiful Arts , we read that concertos were “nothing more than an exercise for the composer and performer, and an entirely indefinable, aimless diversion for the ear.”


Last year, Naxos released two CDs of Haydn’s keyboard concertos: the first disc (8.570485) contains Hob XVIII:3, 4, 9, and 11 performed by pianist Sebastian Knauer and the Cologne Chamber Orchestra. The second (8.570486) offers another five concertos, Hob XVIII: 1, 8, and 10 played by organist Ketil Haugsand and Hob XVIII:5 and 7 in performances by harpsichordist Harald Hoeren, both with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra. But all of the music on the Naxos discs may not be by Haydn, for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians lists Hob XVIII:7 and 9 as spurious, with the first possibly written by Georg Christoph Wagenseil. There is also a period-instrument set of these concertos included in the 150-CD Haydn commemorative edition issued by the Dutch label Brilliant Classics, but I wouldn’t recommend buying it simply for the keyboard concertos unless they are something that you simply cannot live without, especially since the new Capriccio releases are now available stateside.


Schornsheim’s talents are hardly challenged by this music; her playing exhibits sparkling virtuosity and an exceptional sense of line. The outer movements exude typical Haydnesque vigor and the slow movements are appropriately lyrical, with nicely shaped melodic lines as well as fluent but never tedious ornamentation. Energetic, vibrant, and colorful, these comfortably paced performances are supported with sympathetic and precise, but never antiseptic playing from Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik, their biting brass and potent timpani adding much ceremonial pomp to Hob XVIII:1 and 8.


FANFARE: Michael Carter

Capriccio Encore is a series of re-releases of the most famous recordings from Capriccio's back catalogue, fully re-mastered. The legendary recordings of artists such as Sandor Végh, Ton Koopman, Sir Neville Marriner and the Vienna Boys' Choir also contain repertoire highlights that have a particularly special appeal, from the baroque to the present day. This Encore album features violinist Andrea Keller, flutist Martin Sandhoff alongside the Concerto Koln playing works by Francois-Joseph Gossec.

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REVIEW:

The two central works, each in three movements, are exceptionally compact while remaining gently amiable. This lively music heard in lively music-making. It draws on an amiable personality who mines both serene dignity and regal grace.

– MusicWeb International

Classical Music

Walter Braunfels (1882-1954) was applauded as a pioneering representative of New Music. Leading conductors such as Hans Pfitzner, Ernst von Schuch, Bruno Walter, Arthur Nikisch and Wilhelm Furtwängler performed his orchestral works in major cities. But following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, as a 'half-Jew', even Braunfels lost all of his positions and was banned from either performing or having his works performed; his name was systematically deleted from musical literature and reference works. Written in a classicromantic style, Braunfels' 7-movement phantasmagoria “Don Juan” incorporates variations on themes and motifs from Mozart's opera “Don Giovanni”, which was premièred in 1787. He thus deliberately placed himself in the German classical-romantic traditions, which he sought to transfer to his 20th-century resources in compositional style. The work was premièred in 1924, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. - Naxos

From the outset, Ernst Krenek stood between the sometimes antagonistic musical worlds of his mentor Franz Schreker, on the one hand, who wrote in the world of late Romanticism, and Arnold Schoenberg, on the other, who broke new ground. So, his own development towards becoming a unique personality in modern music history progressed correspondingly slowly. In his subsequent travelling years, as a composer he was on a quest for new means of expression, finally culminating in two such contrasting works as the jazz opera Jonny spielt auf and the technically strictly twelve-tone opera Karl V. Afterwards, he occasionally resorted to these earlier stylistic devices like we can hear on this recording as example of the 1927 composed Potpourri and years later written Tricks and Trifles (1945)

In his late years Hanns Eisler concentrated more and more on compiling his film music scores for the concert hall. That's the case also with his Leipzig Symphony which was not completed when he died. The (at that time) young composer Thilo Medek recognized this gap and completed the symphony with different pieces out of Eisler's film music scores. The compilation of Funeral pieces from Film Music scores was realized by Tobias Faßhauer and Jürgen Bruns in 2015. The scores use film music from the 1947/48 Hollywood movie ‘So Well Remembered.’

At the end of 1955, Eisler wrote the music for the KZ Documentary Nuit et brouillard (Night and Fog) for the French movie director Alain Resnais (1922–2014). After many successful concert performances (with and without film) this piece can now be listened to for the first time on album.

REVIEW:

The performances by both the MDR-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig in the first two works, and the Kammersymphonie Berlin in Night and Fog, all under the direction of Jürgen Bruns, are excellent. Both orchestras are on top form with the excellent recorded sound and the wonderful booklet notes helping to bring out the best from this music. A very fine disc, one which will enhance any collection of Hanns Eisler’s music and of late twentieth century music as a whole.

-- MusicWeb International

Nearly every music lover is acquainted with Der Freischutz, but the fewest are aware of Euryanthe. In the light of the musical quality of the opera, the disdain for it does not seem fitting. Euryanthe was Carl Maria von Weber’s most ambitious project, one that anything but backfired. The composition may certainly be termed ground-breaking and truly deserves more attention. “A chain of glittering jewels from the beginning to the end. All witty and ingenious,” (Robert Schumann in his critic about Euryanthe.) The present release features a live recording of the work, which was taken in December of 2018 and features the Arnold Schoenberg Chor and the Orf Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as a group of brilliant soloists.

For this outstanding two-disc set, the RSO Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Cornelius Meister, brings us two works by Anton Bruckner (1824-1896): his Symphony No. 9 in D minor WAB 109, and his Mass No. 3 in F minor WAB 28. One of the more popular choral works of late Romanticism, the Mass in F minor is said to have been a work of gratitude for the composer’s recovery from a persistent nervous illness. Soloists featured here are soprano Ruth Ziesak, alto Janina Baechle, tenor Benjamin Bruns, and bass Gunther Groissbock.

Isang Yun’s works are inconceivable without the East Asian philosophy of the Tao. The more than one hundred works composed by Isang Yun in Europe combine national tradition with international modernity. Yun found his way to an individual sound in Europe through the reminiscence of Chinese-Korean court music. Furthermore, the oeuvre is characterized by the flexible, lively tone of the traditional music of his home, by the art of the flowing transition from the spirit of the Tao. The chamber music occupies an important role in Yun’s oeuvre; the composer experimented with not only the most diverse and also unusual combinations of instruments, but also continued to compose in traditional classical genres. The present release features his East-West-Miniatures, his Quartet for Oboe and String Trio, and more.

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REVIEW:

Yun radically cut sections from his 1991 Sonata for violin and piano shortly before its premiere, ostensibly to reinforce the transparency of the violin part. In Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer’s view this was a mistake, and here Egidius Streiff and Kaya Han deliver a majestic performance of the original version in what is its first recording. By Yun’s standards the opening is rather conventional, with the expressive violin singing over the piano’s chordal, punctuating accompaniment but this soon develops more unpredictably, with a rapid piano episode echoed by the violin in lively, almost neo-classical vein. Essentially the first part of the work is mercurial and turbulent, at times almost Bartokian. But the second part is slow and, reflective. There is a magical passage at 15:00 which is prayer-like in its simplicity, whereby Streiff’s violin almost seems to speak. The sonata’s conclusion is profoundly affecting as the work evaporates into nothingness.

It is largely down to CPO, ECM and Capriccio (three German labels) that Isang Yun’s legacy is primarily being maintained and reinforced. Connoisseurs of the finest modern music have much to thank them for.

– MusicWeb International

Capriccio Encore is a series of re-releases of the most famous recordings from Capriccio’s back catalogue, fully re-mastered and competitively priced. The legendary recordings of artists such as Sandor Végh, Ton Koopman, Sir Neville Marriner and the Vienna Boys’ Choir also contain repertoire highlights that have a particularly special appeal, from the baroque to the present day. This installment in the series features Sir Neville Marriner conducting his Academy of St. Martin In the Fields as they perform ballet suites written by French Romantic composer Jules Emile Frederic Massenet. Massenet was a skilled orchestrator, and willingly wrote ballet episodes for his numerous operas as well as one stand-along ballet. His style with its graceful movement was perfectly suited to classical French ballet.

The Fitzwilliam Virginal book is one of the primary sources of keyboard music. The book, which is now housed in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, hails from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods in England. This release features excerpts from the Fitzwilliam Virginal book from composers including Giovanni Picchi, Orlando Gibbons, John Bull, William Bird, and more. English conductor, organist, and harpsichordist Ton Koopman performs the works on this album. He was knighted in 2003, receiving the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and is currently a professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

Known as a piano teacher and possibly also as a pupil of Beethoven, Carl Czerny (1791-1857) enjoys practically no fame as a composer today. The composing maniac (round about 800 published works) acquired great reputation (and wealth) from piano teaching and educational writing for the piano and compositions the market expected from him. His string quartets have only been passed down as manuscripts from Czerny’s estate. Czerny composed in the tradition of Haydn and Beethoven. Echoes of Mendelssohn can be discerned as well as a romantic style full of drama and profundity of expression.

This album is, simply, a necessary addition to the Busoni discography, carried off with panache. A studio recording, sound is uncramped, gutsily close, and incisively detailed. Sine qua non for the Busoni aficionado, and enthusiastically recommended to all who care for the literature of the piano.

- Adrian Corleonis Fanfare (From review of Capriccio 10896 which contains the same performances.)

Sinfonie concertanti and several concertos by J.C. Bach are exceptionally well played by the Budapest Strings with fine soloists... The work where J.C. Bach’s influence on young Mozart can be strongly felt is on Side 4, for piano, oboe, violin, cello and orchestra. Not only is it the longest (25 minutes) but its piano writing seems to have served Mozart as a model. -- Paul Turok, Turok’s Choice [Summer 2009]

Popular vocal and instrumental works and excerpts from the Baroque era through earlier 20th Century, all associated with the Winter season and Christmas. On 5 CDs.

Adam:
O Holy Night
Albinoni:
Adagio for Strings and Organ in G minor
Bach:
Air on the G string
Bruch:
Jubilate, Amen Op. 3
Bruckner:
Ave Maria
Corelli:
Concerto grosso Op. 6 No. 8 in G minor 'fatto per la notte di Natale'
Gabrieli, G:
Sacrae Symphoniae No. 2
Gounod:
Ave Maria
Grüber, F:
Stille Nacht
Handel:
Messiah: Pastoral Symphony 'Pifa'
Manfredini:
Concerto grosso in C major, Op. 3 No. 12 'per il Santissimo Natale'
Molter:
Concerto pastorale in G major
Mozart:
Laudate Dominum from Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, K339
Praetorius, M:
Kindelein zart von guter Art
Reger:
Mariä Wiegenlied, Op. 76 No. 52
Traditional:
Süsser die Glocken
O Jesulein Zart
Vivaldi:
The Four Seasons: Winter, RV297

Period instrument keyboard performers, like organists, are severely constrained by the tone of their instruments. Too often we are asked to accept thin, ugly, inexpressive sonorities simply because they allegedly represent historical “truth.” The reality, of course, is that there are good-sounding old instruments and bad-sounding ones. I have had the opportunity to inspect (and play) dozens of them over the years, and having done that I can state categorically that there is simply no excuse for listeners being forced to endure sub-standard instrumental tone whatever the instrument happens to be, especially on recordings.

For this program, Christine Schornsheim has selected an absolutely magnificent tangent piano housed in Schloß Bad Korzingen, one which, along with her scintillating playing, really brings this music to life. Not only does it allow her to sweep up and down the keyboard in those glittering arpeggios with which Bach adorns his Fantasias (try Wq 58/6), but the instrument turns on a dime. It can sustain a tone, or cut it off with amazing abruptness, giving an extra punch to those sudden modulations and changes of timbre and texture that make this music so exciting.

The program is also an unusually interesting one–a selection of Rondos and Fantasias from Bach’s Kenner and Liebhaber series of late keyboard works. The Rondos are supposed to be CPE’s concession to the popular taste, but they are anything but “easy” in the sense that they are often just as virtuosic as anything else that he wrote, and they are not rondos in the classical sense at all. Formally, they are more like variation sets with brief interludes coming between each varied restatement of theme, which may not return in its entirety.

Another noteworthy aspect of this program is that Schornsheim only includes three pieces in minor keys out of a total of thirteen (Wq 59/4, 56/5, and 61/4). So many programs stress the Sturm und Drang aspects of Bach’s music, but this program proves that he could be just as inventive, and unpredictable, writing in a cheerier mood. There are some very substantial works here, packed with colorful contrasts, including the C Major Fantasia Wq 59/6. and the wonderful E Major Rondo Wq 57/1, and Schornsheim plays them all with unaffected mastery and an impish delight in their “what comes next” abruptness. The engineering of her splendid instrument is also drop-dead gorgeous. This is a great recital from start to finish, an aural and expressive delight.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

German harpsichordist and organist Christine Schornsheim has studied at the Spezialschule fur Musik Berlin, the Hoschshule fur Musik Berlin, and individually under Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman, Johann Sonnleitner, and Andreas Staier. Christine has been an active freelance harpsichordist since 1985. She has appeared at illustrious festivals all over the world, and performs on stages with conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, Peter Schreier, and more. The cornerstone of this work is the Bach Goldberg Variations. Christine writes: “…the Goldberg Variations rank among the most significant works of clavier literature. I listened to my first recording, produced 25 years ago, only to notice that over the course of the years I have remained true to myself in many respects. On the other hand a process of maturation has taken place, the outcome of which I now indeed wanted to document.”

Gregorian Chants for Advent and Christmas sung by the CantArte Regensburg directed by Hubert Velten.

The music for Egyptian Nights is not well known... Quite a bit of it is melodrama—words spoken (in Russian) over music. One such, the finale of Act I, is quite moving. It is followed by the entracte—close to five minutes of the best music.... You are unlikely to find a more beautiful recording of Eugene Onegin than this one. The German orchestra is better than any other that recorded it, and the Russian conductor understands the music. The sound is gorgeous. There are 76 minutes here, and as far as I can determine, that is every note of the music—for the first time... Boris Godounov is the oddest music here, but very attractive... Both this music and the Eugene Onegin were written for stage plays at the time but never used... I had never heard most of this music before, and I found it really beautiful. It’s a very unusual 29 minutes, and it has Prokofieff’s special genius and originality. As for Hamlet... I would put this ahead of any other account. Again, the orchestra is part of the reason; but Jurowski is excellent—as is the sound. There are ten numbers lasting about 28 minutes— no narrator. There are four songs for Ophelia (mezzo-soprano) and a delightful song for the gravediggers. It may be three discs, but what you get here is certainly worth it. -- American Record Guide

“I have always viewed Dr. Weigl as one of the best composers of the old generation; one of those continuing the illustrious Viennese tradition.” (Arnold Schönberg) In terms of style, with his works linked to basic tonalities, Weigl drew on the sound realm of late Romanticism, from whose aesthetics he never departed in favor of more progressive contemporary trends. The Symphony No. 1 in E major op. 5, written in 1908, is also far removed from any avant-garde experiments in the Romantic tradition, as epitomized among the Austrian composers of that time in the field of the symphony by composers such as Alexander von Zemlinsky, Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek or Franz Schmidt. On this release, the work is performed by the formidable Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz under the baton of Jurgen Bruns.

This re-release is one of CAPRICCIO’s most famous recordings which has been remastered for optimal quality and offered at a special price. The first work chosen for this release is Johannes Brahms’ String Quintet in G Major. The piece, scored for two violins, two violas, and cello, was intended to be the composer’s last piece of music. The one movement string sextet Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) is considered Schoenberg’s earliest important work. The piece is inspired by Dehmel’s poem of the same name, and was written in just three weeks.

The program represents a fairly deep single-disc sampling of the instrumental music associated with St. Mark's cathedral in Venice around and after the year 1600, played on modern brass instruments rather than the motley crew of devices that a historically authentic performance would use. This so-called polychoral" music drew its structure from St. Mark's complex internal space, with groups of musicians situated in different parts of the building falling naturally into antiphonal structures... Unlike the many recordings that simply present Gabrieli's works in series, this one offers a large section of music by other composers associated with St. Mark's... [A] valuable introduction to the polychoral style." -- James Manheim, Allmusic.com [7/2009]