After the successful album release “Slavonic Souls” (Capriccio C5039) the Vienna State Opera Singer Zoryana Kushpler, accompanied on the piano by her partner and twin sister Olena, offer a rich recital of famous Spanish songs by the likes of Granados, de Falla, Mompou, Rodrigo and Montsalvage, including some choice rarities by these composers. Born in Lvov, Ukraine, Ms. Kushpler made her debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2007 as Adelaide in Richard Strauss’s Arabella. She has also been heard there in the operas of Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Puccini, Offenbach and Johann Strauss.

Ernst von Dohnanyi was one of the most versatile and influential musicians of his time but his works are now seldom played. A gap which Capriccio want to fill now with this fifth recording of his late romantic, sensual music, deeply rooted in the Austro-German classical tradition. An appetizer is the overture of the one-act opera Tanta Simona, which has plenty of that Italian flair to show for that runs through the opera’s plot. After its premiere in 1910, the Suite in F-sharp minor Op.19 became one of the most performed Dohnányi’s works, whereas the American Rhapsody Op.47, which is full of quotations with American folk melodies, was his last orchestral work, first performed in 1954 at Ohio University. Finally his 8 years younger colleague Leó Weiner shows us in his early composition, the Serenade in F minor (1906) apart from the influence of the German and Austrian romantics, typical Hungarian colors and rhythms.

REVIEW:

Ernö Dohnanyi’s one-act comic opera Aunt Simona was premiered in Dresden in 1913. This aunt was once abandoned by her lover. Having become misandrist, she warns the younger generation against any relationships. The overture is already full of melodious inventions and is a pleasing start to this CD, on which the Suite op. 19 is the longest work.

With its variation movement, a scherzo, a romance and a rondo, it is a particularly attractive work, full of beautiful melodies and imaginative orchestral touches. Roberto Paternostro lovingly allows the melodies to blossom, but also sharpens the contrasts, making for an exciting performance overall.

The American Rhapsody, Dohnanyi’s homage to the United States, where he settled in 1949, is based on various American melodies without ultimately sounding truly American. Paternostro does well not to search uselessly for an Americana character, but to make the music simply vital or, for long stretches, with a lot of genuine poetry too.

– Pizzicato

Ivan the Terrible – the second joint project of Sergei Eisenstein and Sergei Prokofiev – is, much like Alexander Newski, a historical epic, portraying the rise and fall of the autocratic ruler Ivan IV in the 16th century. Sergei Prokofiev’s musical portrayal is unique in film history, for the score conceives both parts of the film on an epic scale. Prokofiev’s rich melodic invention thrives on the expressive sound palette of his native Russia, mostly as they echo the spiritual works of the Russian-orthodox liturgy. These film scores were not published during Prokofiev’s lifetime. They were arranged as an oratorio for soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Levon Atovmyan, one of Prokofiev’s assistants, in 1961. This version received its concert premiere in Moscow that same year. This, however, is the original, straight from the composer’s hands, receiving its world premiere recording.

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REVIEW:

The music is well worth the listener’s time: it is very inventive and highly atmospheric owing to the composer’s uncanny ability to depict the characters, moods and historic aspects of the story. As mentioned, the performances are quite fine and Strobel, who earlier gave us the world premiere recording of the complete film music from Alexander Nevsky, has a grasp on Prokofiev’s film music style that few other conductors do.

– MusicWeb International

Ludwig Thuille was one of the leading operatic composers of the Munich School. Despite his lifelong friendship with Richard Strauss, Thuille remained a lesser-known Austrian composer during his short life and career.

Classical Music

Dora Deliyska writes of her new release: “Based on a thorough musical analysis, I have tried to make a selection of pieces that will not only respond musically to one another, but also represent part of an overarching concept, the structure of B-A-C-H. The core of my concept is based on the idea of how musical compositions, written in different centuries with different compositional styles, can find a connection between one another, giving rise to very new and unique reflections. This way, the three composers (Bach, Chopin, Shostakovich) ‘communicate’ with one another, mutually influencing their artistic ideas.” Dora Deliyska has gained an international attention of audience and critics with her concert appearances, audio and video recordings. Due to her many recordings of works by Franz Liszt, she is considered one of the mot important Liszt interpreters of the young generation. But not only this has aroused the interest of the public: she has also gained recognition for her recordings of Schubert and her regular appearances in the renowned Vienna Musikverein and in the Vienna Konzerthaus.

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 Encore release features iconic works by Richard Strauss performed by the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, lead by Sir Neville Marriner.

Harald Genzmer was a composition pupil of Paul Hindemith in Berlin from 1928 to 1934. Whoever studies Genzmer’s enormous oeuvre in detail will recognize in the pupil’s music many Romantic gestures and a sensual imagination rarely occurring in the teacher’s works. What Genzmer adopted from his mentor was the masterly craftsmanship, an awareness of classicism and form and joy in performing in itself and in the colours of the most differing instruments. The broadly educated scion of an academic family never regarded himself as a genius transcending boundaries, but as the servant of performers and the public: ‘Music should be zestful, artful and comprehensible. As practicable, it may win over the interpreter, and then the listener as graspable’. Musicians have always enjoyed performing Genzmer’s inspired music, which is affectionally adapted to the most varied instrumentations, and are now continuing to do so in increasing measure.

Together with his friend Holst, at the beginning of the 20th century Ralph Vaughan Williams deliberately took the course of liberating himself from ''German influence'', as they called it, working for original British music. He found models and inspiration in original English folk music. Most of the works recorded here rank among the less known pieces by the composer, but all of them very clearly reflect the personal hue, the absolutely ''personal style'' of Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Austrian composer Hanns Eisler is best known for composing the national anthem of the German Democratic Republic, for his long partnership with Bertolt Brecht, and for his film scores. His promising career in Hollywood, however, was interrupted by the Cold War. Film studio bosses blacklisted his music, and he was subjected to two interrogations by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Despite efforts by his American musical powerhouse friends Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland, he was deported in 1948. In addition to the Oscar-nominated score for Fritz Lang’s film “Hangmen Also Die,” this release contains other rarely heard works by Hanns Eisler, in which the special interpretation that this pupil of Schoenberg had developed of the twelve-tone technique plays an astonishingly important role for the field of film and orchestral music.

REVIEWS:

Eisler's music bears the stamp of a modern original. Thankfully, recordings of his works are far more plentiful than they once were. The Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Johannes Kalitzer do the honors for these works and their dedication gives us what sound to be very fitting performances, spirited and detailed.

-- Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review

The composer wrote the first book on composing for film and treated the craft as an art in its own right. His score to Hangmen Also Die was nominated for a 1942 Oscar. The Grapes of Wrath is an alternative score to John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, which was being filmed at the time by John Ford with music by Alfred Newman. Eisler’s work, with a searing twelve-tone lament, is infinitely preferable. And then there is a serialist score for Joris Ivens’s Maiost propaganda film, The 400 Million, again a work of uncompromising power. Beautifully played. We really need to hear more Eisler.

-- Musical Toronto

The cellist Harriet Krijgh and pianist Magda Amara present a program of Rachmaninov pieces that sensitively reflect and capture his genius with this release. Along with well known Rachmaninov repertoire, the CD also includes Sonata for cello and piano op.19 which evolved after a lengthy period of depression and compositional despair catalyzed by the critical failure of his Symphony Nr. 1 and requiring therapeutic treatments to end. Some have said that after emerging from this creative black hole, Rachmaninov’s humility and compassion produced works that were richer than was the case previously. This release makes a convincing argument that this was indeed the case.

With Capriccio Encore we re-release the most famous recordings from the back catalogue in a remastered version, new design and for a special price. Legendary recordings of artists like Sandor Vegh, Ton koopman, Sir Nevill Marriner or the Vienna boys’ Choir are also included as special repertoire highlights from the baroque to the contemporary era. This release features Concerto Koln performing music by the songs of the most famous Baroque composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. These songs come from his children Johann Christian, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Wilhelm Friedemann, and Johann Christoph Friedrich. While the master father’s influence can be clearly heard in all of these works, one can also hear the subtle shift to the Classical era in these pieces. Celebrated harpsichordist Gerald Hambitzer is the featured soloist for CPE Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto in G minor.

Composer Arthur Lourié was born as Naum Izrailevich Lur'ya in 1892. Lourié wasw a charismatic bohemian and Soviet cultural politician who did not return from a so-called official journey to Berlin in 1922. Lourié was a pioneer of Modernism music and he enjoyed mingling among the poets and painters of the Silver Age and was greatly inspired by them. His musical oeuvre is just as multi-faceted and diverse as the writings of that time.

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REVIEW:

This overview of Arthur Lourié’s music for solo piano tends to bear out an idea now gaining credence, namely that Lourié, at least in some instances, anticipated rather than echoed Stravinsky. Ernst’s sensitively artistic performances point up Lourié’s remarkable diversity of expression, and make a compelling case for his music.

– Gramophone

Busoni never came closer to his dream of Italian music than with that night on May 11, 1917 of double performance in Zurich, which he calls himself "La Nuova Commedia dell' Arte" I ("Turandot") and II ("Arlecchino"). In the unusually short time from December 1916 to March 1917 Busoni reworked the already existing material to the Incidental Music of Gozzis "Turandot" into an opera. This happened 4 years before Puccini started to work on the same content. "Arleccino", though in immediate neighborhood to "Dr. Faust" looking almost like a secondary work, is perhaps the composer's actual key composition. The speaking hero of his "theatralische Capriccio" represents a role model, which is at times more important to him than his aesthetic Faust, especially as the World War was increasing in intensity.

REVIEW:

Gerd Albrecht (so persuasive in unusual repertoire) conducts a spirited account of Turandot, attentive to both its smaller detail and its more majestic moments, and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra respond with some stunningly inspired playing. Coupled with some excellent contributions from RIAS Chamber Choir and a vivid, suitably atmospheric recording.

Josef Protschka is a particularly fine and formidable Kalaf, and a superb trio of performances from Robert Worle Johannes Werner Prein and Gotthold Schwarz as Truffaldino, Pantalone and Tartaglia (the equivalent of Puccini's Ping, Pang and Pong).

Albrecht's reading of Arlecchino is equally authoritative.

– Gramophone

The Budapest Strings present a captivating release of various flute arrangements from composers such as Joseph Haydn, Carl Maria von Weber, Adalbert Gyrowetz, Fernand De Borne and more. This double disc set features flautists Eckart Haupt, Imre Kovacs and Janos Balint, along with pianist Arkadi Zenziper and cellist Gotz Teutsch.

For decades, Fritz Kreisler left the music world under the misapprehension that he had found compositions by Cartier, Couperin, Dittersdorf, Padre Martini, Porpora, Pugnani, Stamitz or Vivaldi in monasteries and castle archives and arranged these himself for violin and piano. He left questions as to the original sources unanswered. At sixty, he publicly and freely admitted that he had played a superb joke around thirty years before: he had concealed most of his own works behind the names of masters of the 17th and 18th centuries. Many of these initially controversial compositions have become staples for violinists today.

In order to take a respite and, in his own worlds, “to recuperate,” from his own compositions, Max Reger frequently engaged in “piece work,” in which he would arrange works by other composers. This release includes Reger’s original work 5 Orchestral Songs, as well as Reger’s arrangements of songs for voice and orchestra from Edvard Grieg, Johannes Brahms, Hugo Wolf, and Franz Schubert. Conductor Gregor Buhl has made his mark as an opera conductor. He also frequently performs on the concert stage with the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Berlin, Hamburg, and Leizip, and the Helsinki Philharmonic.

"Slightly the audience remember that I'm - as a descendant of writing tonal music - still alive and continue composing." (Walter Braunfels, 1946) Walter Braunfels is a composer whose music died twice: Once when the Nazis declared his music "degenerate art". Then again when post-war Germany had little use for the various schools of tonal music; when the arbiters of taste considered any form of romantic music - almost the whole pre-war aesthetic - to be tainted. This 9th release of Capriccio's Braunfels Edition shows us also an open-minded composer who experimented with Jazz elements in his Divertimento for radio-orchestra in 1929.

REVIEWS:

This is light and delightful music, far from offering even the hint of banality or boredom. The music of Walter Braunfels can hardly be stylistically determined, as he is said to have references to all the great composers around him, though Braunfels always kept his music on his personal path. Conductor Gregor Bühl is among some who are again paying attention to this composer. He gives this positively upbeat music the affection and care that makes its special character shine, modeling both the clean craftsmanship and the warmth of the music’s content. The airiness, as in Ariel’s singing, becomes just as clear as the heart beating in the Serenade, without any unnecessary display of individual compositional elements.

– Pizzicato

That Divertimento is the real discovery here: an absolutely delicious bon-bon evocatively scored for a small orchestra including two saxophones, used with effortless freshness and not a shred of fin-de-siècle decadence (fun though that can be). Both the Serenade and Ariel’s Song date from 1910, fairly early in Braunfels’ career, and if they lack the individuality we find in his more ambitious later pieces, they certainly fall gratefully on the ear and deliver exactly what they promise – a bit of light relaxation. The “song,” by the way, is a lyrical orchestral piece, and not a not a vocal work. The Don Gil prelude offers six minutes of comic opera fun. Apparently the opera itself, composed in 1921-23, was a failure, but from such failures have come many appealing concert works, and here is one. As with previous releases in this series, the fine performances under conductor Gregor Bühl have all of the conviction and commitment of a true believer in the cause, and the sonics are excellent. This disc will appeal to music lovers of all ages. Strongly recommended.

– ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)

Nowadays William Stanford's fame is largely based on his teaching activities in London while his reputation as a "great composer" has waned considerably. The list of his students reads like a veritable Who's-Who of British music of the 19th and 20th century. Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arthur Bliss, Frank Bridge and several more were taught by Stanford. His œuvre covered a wide variety of sacred and secular music and his works carry within them elements of Irish folklore and mysticism. His many chamber works have a definite air of Brahms about them... never by way of direct quote or paraphrase, but by making Brahms' style his own.

Hear an audio sample from the album!

REVIEW:

This is an enjoyable and rewarding CD. The performances, which are presented in good sound, are extremely accomplished and I hope that this CD will help to widen the reach of Stanford’s music beyond the British Isles. As I indicated earlier, it’s heartening to see young musicians from Berlin embracing these works and performing them with such skill and commitment.

-- MusicWeb International

Ernst von Dohnanyi was one of the most versatile and influential musicians of his time but his stage works, orchestral compositions including symphonies, concerti as well as his numerous chamber music are now seldom played. A gap which Capriccio wants to fill now with this fourth recording of his late romantic, sensual music, deeply rooted in the Austro-German classical tradition. There is nothing in the musical language of these Piano Concertos (rhythm, melody, harmony as well as in the traditional orchestration) which Brahms would have found unfamiliar. With Sofia Gülbadamova, who turned out to be an expert in Dohnanyi’s piano music as she has already released his complete Solo Piano Works (Capriccio C5332), this recording was in good hands, carefully accompanied by Ariane Matiakh who also recorded Dohnanyi’s The Veil of Pierrette some months before (Capriccio C5388).

The first performance of 'The Trumpeter of Sackingen' on May 4, 1884 at the Stadttheater in Leipzig was an unprecedented success. For the hundredth Leipzig performance there was a procession with flaming torches in honor of the composer. 'The Trumpeter' then began it's triumphant conquest of the entire German theatre scene; within a few years the opera had been performed several thousand times and, by the turn of the century, had established it's place in the repertoire of all the major opera houses. That great critical authority Eduard Hanslick showed most restraint, making an attempt to analyze the 'popular force, the winning something' in Nessler's 'musical mediocrity', and concluding: 'The most remarkable thing in this unprecedentedly successful opera is precisely it's success.' in 1884 - the year following Wagner's death, the year which saw the premieres of Massenet's 'Manon' and Puccini's first work, 'Le Villi', the year in which Bruckner's seventh symphony and Mahler's 'Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen' were composed, - the tastes of the Biedermeier period and quaint romanticism had made their second conquest of the German opera world.

Bohuslav Martinů has suffered the fate of not enjoying the same popularity and wide appeal like Bedrich Smetana, Antonín Dvorák und Leoš Janácek on the podium. This often goes so far that his singular skill is referred to, but that the wealth of his oeuvre in all the salient genres is hardly familiar. For decades, Martinu had shied away from composing a symphony. The first one was finally to be written in the USA in 1942, followed by another one every year until 1946 (the sixth was only added to the work catalogue in 1953). For this reason, there is sometimes talk of the ‘American’ symphonies. The symphonies do mirror the events of the time, but at the same time long passages must be regarded as absolute music. Cornelius Meister is regarded as one of the finest young conductors of our day and age, and here he fantastically interprets these six symphonies with transparency, emotion, and aplomb.

REVIEWS:

It is always good to discover new recordings of Martinů’s symphonies, a sequence all the more remarkable for the short period, in which the first five symphonies were composed. Cornelius Meister, with the ORF Orchestra, provides us with a distinctive vision of Martinů’s symphonies. These performances sit very much in the Austro-German traditions of interpretation. Some moments are almost Brahmsian, phrasing is weighty, structure is emphasized.

Cornelius Meister is one of the most interesting of the younger conductors around. He has a superb rapport with his orchestra, whose playing is very fine throughout.

-- MusicWeb International

The appearance of this complete set of six symphonies on three CDs, recorded live in Vienna from 2011 to 2017, serves to reinforce the essential importance of Martinů as a 20th century orchestral composer. Although it doesn’t supplant the splendid Belohlávek Onyx set, it's nonetheless a very fine cycle. The sound is clear and lifelike, with most of the advantages of live recording, a sense of occasion and excitement and a more organic and natural arc to the performance, without too many of the disadvantages. The audience is mainly well-behaved and the applause is edited out.

-- Music for Several Instruments

Classical Music

After her highly appraised debut CD with French Music for cello and piano, Harriet Krijgh presents her virtuosity and technical finesse with the new recording of both Cello Concertos by Joseph Haydn. Harriet Krijgh was born in the Netherlands in June 1991 and received her first cello lessons at the age of five. In 2000 she was admitted into the preparatory young talent class of Lenian Benjamins at the Conservatory of Music in Utrecht. In 2004 Harriet moved to Vienna, where she continued her cello studies with Lilia Schulz-Bayrova and Jontscho Bayrov at the Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität. In June 2012 Harriet will have her own festival at Burg Feistritz in Austria. The event marks the launch of the annual “Harriet & Friends” Chamber Music Festival, where she will play select works with musicians from around the world.

Classical Music