'The subject of Mazeppa has inspired Mme Clémence de Grandval to write a truly remarkable score, the success of which will cause a stir in the musical world.' It was with these flattering words that the press greeted the premiere of the five-act opera by one of the women composers most frequently performed in late nineteenth-century France. For her career was regularly marked by flattering reviews and lasting successes, spanning all genres, from chamber music to oratorio and opera. Yet Mazeppa, though regarded as her testamentary work, did not enjoy the honour of a premiere at the Paris Opéra and had to fall back on Bordeaux to reap the rewards of glory. A model of concision, this powerful, dramatic opera relates in a little over two hours the apotheosis and fall of the Cossack general Ivan Mazeppa, a fugitive in war-torn Ukraine. It was predicted that the work would enjoy a long career, but the subsequent evolution of the musical language of the Belle Époque, followed by the composer's death, meant that Mazeppa sank into oblivion for more than a century. It was high time for it's hero to get back in the saddle.

Awarded a Golden Tuning Fork by Diapason Magazine!

Valentin Silvestrov is probably the best-known Ukrainian composer, and his Requiem for Larissa, now released on album by BR-KLASSIK, was written in response to the unexpected death in 1996 of his wife, the music and literature scholar Larissa Bondarenko. She had stood by his side from the very beginning of his artistic career. It was in 1999, shortly before the turn of the millennium, that Silvestrov was finally able to complete his Requiem.

He did not set a drama of the Last Judgement to music, as Mozart, Berlioz or Verdi had done before him, but rather wrote a lament - in seemingly endless, world-forlorn repetitions. The composer stepped out of the present and into the past, commenting on his life with Larissa with memories of music that had inspired her, and with profound allusions, retrospections and epilogues of the most personal nature. Silvestrov set the words of the Latin mass for the dead to music, yet he did not compose a mass in the sense of a liturgically close or ecclesiastically compatible piece of music. In his seven-movement requiem, the theological order of the Catholic requiem mass is irrevocably dissolved. As if religious gravity had been suspended, isolated words drift about freely and forlornly. The work begins and ends with "Requiem aeternam". At the end, only the wind rushes out of the synthesiser – and, at the very end, an echo of the wind.

REVIEWS:

Perhaps there’s never been a more apposite time for a Ukrainian Requiem. Composed in 1999, the piece is as deeply personal as it gets, being a response by the composer to the death of his wife, three years earlier. As such, it would be improper to seek to reappopriate the work as some kind of surrogate ‘Requiem for Ukraine’. Yet it’s difficult if not impossible, amid the ongoing violence to which Ukraine pointlessly continues to suffer, to listen to any Ukrainian music, particularly music expressing mourning, without some simultaneous reflection on a wider sense of loss.

The work is a refreshingly unusual take on what has become a bit of a hackneyed, even rather vainglorious concept. Silvestrov’s Requiem sidesteps the usual drama and pseudo-spiritual histrionics, for the most part showing disinterest to the familiar Latin text.

Of course, such a mindset stems from a vast, inconsolable mix of emotions, and signs of this manifest in the following Tuba mirum, where the pent-up tension turns volatile, causing turbulence. The words continue in a semi-disoriented stream, articulating an angry Kyrie not so much directed at a deity as hurled in its face. We soon become aware that, though the music is so tragically entrenched, we’re nonethless progressing through the conventional Latin text at surprising speed: less than halfway through this second section we’ve already heard Requiem aeternam, Kyrie, Dies irae, Tuba mirum, Rex tremendae, Recordare and Lacrimosa, each one reduced to a truncated utterance petering out in ellipsis.

...the subsequent Lacrimosa – how heard in its entirety – is a soft-edged return to reality, but again its language is pained, the solo soprano progressing one phrase at a time. There’s the distinct impression of an attenuated music, physicality hobbled, pulse fibrillated, coagulating into rising choral clusters as the bass sags and drags downward. We’ve moved into another form of stasis, cycling round and round, rising and falling. Again that paradoxical duality of infinity and the infinitesimal: of being locked into a single “day … of weeping”, stretching on forever.

The central movement, ‘Prochai svite, prochai zemle’ (Goodbye, o world, o earth, farewell), setting words by renowned Ukraininan poet Taras Shevchenko, both sits outside this traumatised immobility and also serves as another instance of imaginary escape from reality. Its blend of folksong- and chant-like melodic writing sounds dream-like, but is again articulated one phrase at a time, evidently still as pained and doom-laden as everything that preceded it, and its closing moments are an ominous indication that we are in precisely the same place as we were before.

The remainder of Requiem für Larissa, its final three movements, reinforce the same all-pervading stasis of grief. The Agnus Dei offers illusory evocations of Mozart that, drifting and drenched in reverb, sound even more hauntological than that glimpse of a memory in the Lacrimosa.

We’re back in darkness, and the final two sections fixate, again elliptically, on the Requiem aeternam text. The work’s conclusion, in keeping with its immobility, presents music heard previously: that radiant memory from the Lacrimosa, as lovely as it is heartbreaking, slowly evaporating, via timpani rolls and lone string phrases, into a blackness without end.

Performed by the Munich Radio Orchestra with the Bavarian Radio Choir, conducted by Andres Mustonen, this is a live recording from June 2011. It’s good that it’s not a studio recording, polished and honed; don’t get me wrong, it’s an absolutely superb performance, but a work like Requiem für Larissa benefits immensely from the vibrancy and tension that permeate the live experience. It’s not the first recording of the work, and i’m sure more recordings will come, but everything about this sounds definitive.

-- 5 Against 4

A remarkable piece, [here] handled with great delicacy and control.

-- Choir & Organ

The composition of the Requiem was a necessity for Silvestrov to come to terms with the unexplained death of his wife Larissa. That is why his work became a lament and not a drama of the Last Day. The endless, world-forlorn repetitions may be heard as a commentary on their life together, peppered with reminiscences, retrospectives and personal epilogues. Meanwhile, one may hear the work of this Ukrainian composer more generally also against the background of the war of Putin and the Russian army against the brother country with connotations of senseless murder.

For a good half century Silvestrov has had an independent style, which he himself calls meta-music and which one might locate close to Western neo-romanticism or post-modernism. The sweeping gestures still show mourning and the time of processing loss rather than reconsideration. The five-part chorus, rounded out with a basso profundo in the low register, and the soloists who come from it, make this mood, which lets nothing but dejection be heard, impressively clear.

In this recording of a concert that took place back in 2011, the orchestra finds more of an underlining role, where accents are also added. In some sections, including those in which a synthesizer is added, natural sounds such as wind, are also imitated, as well as the old, ideal world with Mozart sounds. Andres Mustonen keeps all participants in contact with the necessary freedom with good coordination in such a way that a very dense and impressive music becomes audible, which nevertheless does not let despair arise despite all the pain. The recording, produced by the Bayerischer Rundfunk technical department, together with the informative booklet, therefore offers a high-quality rounding off.

-- Pizzicato

Puccini's "Messa di Gloria" is one of the most popular settings of the Latin Mass, and is also featured on many concert programmes in the Puccini Year of 2024. The musical quality, energy and freshness of this youthful work ensured it's ever-growing popularity after it's rediscovery in the early 1950s. The composer even went on to quote some of the melodies in his famous operas, notably "Manon Lescaut". The "Messa di Gloria" was most recently performed on June 27, 2024 in the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Munich by the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Munchner Rundfunkorchester under it's chief conductor Ivan Repusic. To mark the 100th anniversary of the death of the great Italian composer, BR-KLASSIK is now presenting the live recording of this outstanding concert on CD. Giacomo Puccini wrote his "Messa a quattro voci con orchestra" ("Mass for Four Voices with Orchestra") between 1878 and 1880 as the final thesis of his music studies in his hometown of Lucca. The first preparatory work was done when he was just eighteen, and the young composer was only 21 when the work was first performed on July 12, 1880. The Mass remained unpublished during his lifetime but became immensely popular after it's rediscovery in the early 1950s. However, in the first printed edition and in later performances it was inaccurately described as a "Messa di Gloria", a term that in fact refers to a (usually shorter) composition consisting only of Kyrie and Gloria; Puccini's Mass is in fact a full work, the complete setting of the Latin Ordinary with Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus/Benedictus and Agnus Dei. Puccini had begun his work on the Credo as early as 1878. In the "Messa di Gloria", the choir takes centre stage with increasingly beautiful melodies; the solo parts for tenor and baritone are sung by Tomislav Muzek and George Petean. The approximately 45-minute-long work is complemented on this CD by Puccini's orchestral works "Preludio sinfonico" and "Crisantemi" - the latter in an arrangement for string orchestra by Lucas Drew. (Studio recordings from February 2023.)

Looking back on the Verdi year of 2013, BR-Klassik has now supplemented its discography with the live recording of a concert highlight of October 2013. + With the Messa da Requiem, the conductor Mariss Jansons is now represented on the BR-Klassik label with Verdi's choral-symphonic legacy. + Together with international soloists Krassimira Stoyanova, Marina Prudenskaya, Saimir Pirgu, Orlin Anastassov and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Chorus of the Bayerischer Rundfunk is also a fundamental element of the Requiem, and its tonal versatility received special praise from the press. + Giuseppi Verdi’s Requiem, as dramatic a work as are any of his immortal operas and reproached in its day in some quarters as more theatrical than spiritual, was completed in 1874 shortly after the death of the great Italian author and patriot Alessandro Mazzoni, for whom it was performed on the first anniversary of his death.

Weber: Der Freischütz, Op. 77, J. 277

Gluck Opera Gala is a 2-album compilation of highlights from seven previously released albums on the ORFEO label. It contains excerpts from Gluck's semi seria opera Alceste (album 1, tracks 1-7); his reformist operas Iphigénie en Tauride (album 1, tracks 8-14), Orfeo ed Euridice (album 2, tracks 1-9) and Paride ed Elena (album 2, tracks 10-16); and two works in a more light-hearted vein, Le Cinesi (album 1, tracks 15-16) and Les Pélegrins de la Mecque (album 2, tracks 17-23). All of the recordings are star-studded, featuring performances by legendary artists such as Jessye Norman, Nicolai Gedda, Thomas Moser, Ileana Cotrubas, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Franco Bonisolli and Julia Kaufmann.

The works of violinist and composer Nicolaus Richter de Vroe (*1955) have been and are regularly performed by the most renowned organisers and festivals of new music. The musician began his training at the Special School for Music in Dresden, now known as the Sachsisches Landesgymnasium fur Musik Carl Maria von Weber. After studying the violin at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, he performed with various chamber music, improvisation and experimental ensembles. In 1980, he joined the Staatskapelle Berlin and completed his composition studies with Friedrich Goldmann and Georg Katzer at the Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic. In 1982, he founded the Ensemble for New Music Berlin (East), which quickly became an important platform for contemporary music in the GDR. From the mid-1980s onwards, Richter de Vroe performed his own works and appeared as a performer at all ARD radio stations, as well as at international festivals. In 1988 he joined the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and, one year later, founded the XSEMBLE Munich - an ensemble characterised by experimental programming and stylistic openness. In 1996, he co-founded the Munich Society for New Music, dedicated to promoting contemporary music. Alongside his work as a composer and performer, Richter de Vroe has been a regular guest at Goethe Institutes worldwide since 1994, delivering lectures and giving portrait concerts and presentations of his work. In 2008 he was admitted to the Saxon Academy of Arts. Richter de Vroe's Violin Concerto was composed between 2018 and 2020 as a commission from musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk, kindly supported by the Friends of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. The world premiere, recorded on this CD, was performed by Ilya Gringolts and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Johannes Kalitzke on October 28, 2022 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. - The initial inspiration for Richter de Vroe's Violin Concerto came from Ilya Gringolts' interpretation of Gyorgy Ligeti's Violin Concerto. The concerto begins with an introduction, followed by a first cadenza accompanied by individual instruments in a drone-like manner. This is followed by the first nocturne, which features sounds reminiscent of natural lutes. In the so-called 'Main Movement', "things get pretty crazy! There's a real frenzy with lots of momentum and variety, not to mention a lot of - how shall I put it - 'nasty surprises'!" (Richter de Vroe) Avenir for organ, choir and orchestra was also commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk in 2013/14. This CD features the recording of the world premiere on June 6, 2014, performed by Wolfgang Mitterer on the organ and accompanied by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Johannes Kalitzke.

Marina Rebeka is one of the most successful sopranos of her generation. To mark the occasion of the upcoming Rossini year of 2018, she and the Munchner Rundfunkorchester, conducted by Marco Armiliato, have recorded an album of highly dramatic opera arias that is now being released by BR-KLASSIK. The album "Amor fatale" offers the opportunity to reacquaint oneself with the great soprano arias from Rossini's less well-known but musically convincing tragic operas, in a fine interpretation.The concept album entitled "Amor fatal" focuses on powerful female roles from the operas Otello, Armida, La donna del lago (The Lady of the Lake), Maometto II, Semiramide (Semiramis), Moïse et Pharaon (Moses and Pharaoh) and Guillaume Tell (William Tell). The women are obliged to choose between love and duty, and frequently have to subordinate their personal fate to that of their family, nation or homeland.The Latvian soprano has quite some experience with roles in Rossini, above all from his great tragic operas: the role of Anna Erisso from Maometto II, which she performed in 2008 at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, the composer’s birthplace, marked the very start of her career. She went on to attract international attention in 2009 when she debuted at the Salzburg Festival, as Anaï in Moïse et Pharaon. For her album she has worked through Rossini's original handwritten manuscripts and included this in her performance; she also developed her own coloratura, which not only suits her voice both musically and technically, but also best corresponds to the specific stage events and emotions encountered in her respective operatic roles.

SONDHEIM Sweeney Todd • Ulf Schirmer, cond; Mark Stone ( Sweeney Todd ); Jane Henschel ( Mrs. Lovett ); Gregg Baker ( Anthony Hope ); Rebecca Bottone ( Johanna ); Jonathan Best ( Judge Turpin ); Adrian Dwyer ( Beadle Bamford ); Diana DiMarzio ( Beggar Woman ); Ronald Samm ( Pirelli ); Pascal Charbonneau ( Tobias ); Bavarian R Ch; Munich R O • BR 900316 (2 CDs: 123:59) Live: Munich 5/6/2012


Composer-librettist Stephen Sondheim maintains that Sweeney Todd is not an opera, and so does the annotator for the present release. Nevertheless, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (its full title), since it premiered on Broadway in 1979, has been revived by several opera companies, including the New York City Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Chicago Lyric Opera. Why? Musically, it is highly sophisticated, and operatic voices are not wasted on it. Furthermore, with its larger-than-life dramatic themes, including mistaken identity, lust, vengeance, obsession, madness, and murder, how more operatic could a theatrical work be?


There have been several recordings of this work, including the unforgettable original cast recording on RCA with Len Cariou in the title role, and Angela Lansbury in the role of Mrs. Lovett, his cheerfully amoral partner in crime. That version will never be eclipsed, but each new recording adds a welcome new perspective. The one reviewed here, recorded in the Munich’s Prinzregententheater, is the most operatic yet, even more than the one with the New York Philharmonic which features singers such as Heidi Grant Murphy (Johanna), John Aler (Beadle Bamford), and Paul Plishka (Judge Turpin). This time around, we have legitimate operatic singers in all of the main roles; only DiMarzio appears not to be a “classical” musician per se. In other words, here we have an ensemble of acting singers, as opposed to singing actors such as Cariou, Lansbury, George Hearn, Patti LuPone, and Michael Cerveris, who all have made major contributions to this opera’s . . . I mean, musical’s performance history.


It turns out fairly well. I was immediately pulled in by Ulf Schirmer’s conducting, which is tense, taut, and stylish. In fact, you might not hear a better conducted Sweeney Todd anywhere. The Bavarian Radio Choir also adds much to the success of this performance. Although their diction is less clear than that of English-speaking ensembles who have recorded this music, their dramatic involvement is high, as is their musicianship.


This is an actual performance. Apparently the time, funds, or energy to correct the inevitable live lapses was unavailable, and thus we have oddities such as Henschel at one point rechristening Beadle Bamford as “Beadle Rumford.” A few memory lapses are covered professionally, but will leave those who know the show well asking, “What did (s)he just sing?” These issues are minor, though.


I’m more concerned about two other points. One is the lack of (black, very black) humor in this production. For example, I can’t understand why, in “A Little Priest,” the wonderfully uncomfortable pun about a meat pie made from a general (“With or without his privates?”) has been removed. This is a grim show, still there is much about it that can be very funny, and allowing it to be so makes the gore and horror even more effective. As the original Mrs. Lovett, Angela Lansbury was charming and endearing; she might bake you into a meat pie, but you couldn’t stay angry with her for long! Henschel can’t inspire that kind of affection, and she makes it clear that her murderous instincts were present even before opportunity allowed them to come out. The other thing that concerns me is the way in which some of the big dramatic moments are almost thrown away. Todd’s aborted murder of Judge Turpin (interrupted by Anthony’s untimely arrival) should be a big moment, but it isn’t. Similarly, soon after, in Todd’s “Epiphany,” we should feel his mind crack and his murderous rage insanely swell to encompass all of mankind, not just the Judge, but Mark Stone is not that fine an actor, the direction is too hurried, and one of the show’s most Brechtian moments doesn’t come off. The last segment of the show, with its string of murders and its Grand Guignol effects, moves forward jerkily, sometimes grinding to a halt, and sometimes not pausing long enough to make its points. On Broadway, Harold Prince would have fixed these miscalculations, but, at least as I am hearing them on CD, they were not addressed in Munich’s Prinzregententheater.


All of the singing itself is very fine. One curiosity is a baritone Anthony; Gregg Baker’s voice is darker than Mark Stone’s. Anthony is supposed to be an inexperienced sailor, newly arrived in London, and the early scenes between him and Todd feel strange, because the voice relationships have been inverted from the original production. I really missed hearing a tenor’s voice soar into “Johanna,” one of Sondheim’s most rapturous love songs. Also, the multinational cast presents a variety of accents. In 1979, Cariou had almost no accent at all, while Lansbury made the most of hers. Here, we have the reverse: a cockney Todd in Baker, and a Mrs. Lovett of no particular nationality or region in Henschel. Someday, there will be a production of this work in which everyone gets on the same page with dialects.


So, if you want an operatic Sweeney Todd , or a fresh look at it, this new recording will satisfy. It has many enjoyable moments, but a few unfortunate ones as well. If you do not know this show at all, however, the Broadway cast recording—still in print, thank goodness!—is the only place to begin. This show is one of the masterpieces of American musical theater, and absolutely needs to be heard.


FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

Classical Music

Three great choral and orchestral works of the 20th century are gathered together in outstanding interpretations on the new album from BR-KLASSIK: Arvo Pärt's "Berlin Mass" for choir and string orchestra from 1990, Francis Poulenc's "Stabat mater" for soprano, mixed choir and orchestra from 1950, and Igor Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms" for choir and orchestra from 1930. The soprano Genia Kühmeier, the incomparable Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra - two undisputedly world-class ensembles! - under the direction of Mariss Jansons guarantee the highest listening pleasure.

The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, famed for his magical sounds, created his "Berlin Mass" as a commission for the 90th German Catholic Convention in Berlin. It was premiered in 1990 for four mixed solo voices and organ. In 1997, Pärt reworked his Mass, written in the so-called "Tintinnabuli" style, for choir and string orchestra. Francis Poulenc wrote his "Stabat mater" in response to the unexpected death of his friend, the artist Christian Bérard. Like other sacred works written after his visit to the Black Madonna of Rocamadour, where he found his Catholic faith, this one ranks among his most important compositions. Igor Stravinsky's well-known "Symphony of Psalms", a three-movement symphonic work for choir and orchestra, was written in 1930 as a commission for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The unusual orchestration – with strong woodwind and brass, percussion instruments, two pianos and only the bass strings (violoncellos, double basses without violins or violas – gives the work its distinctive sound.

REVIEWS:

Just how much we miss Mariss Jansons is manifest in this Munich concert of three sacred works. Jansons, who died in November 2019, aged 76, was not principally noted for religiosity or choral masterpieces, but his shaping of this triptych is so masterful that one can hardly imagine them presented with greater coherence or sincerity.

This is altogether an outstanding record of the conductor’s art. Jansons was one of the greats. Happily, Bavarian Radio have more of his big nights coming out of their archives.

-- Ludwig van Toronto

Approaching these works with the great seriousness they deserve, Mariss Jansons and the choir create wonderous moods and make the music float in evocative fashion.

-- Pizzicato

‘It would be difficult to find a simpler and more poignant subject’, Massenet remarked during the composition of Ariane, a vast score in five acts premiered at the Paris Opéra in October 1906. The libretto by Catulle Mendès is part ancient drama, part symbolist poem, and sets Phaedra and Ariadne, two sisters in love with Theseus, in violent conflict with each other. This epic work does not shrink from relating the combat against the Minotaur, from showing a ship tossed by the raging billows, nor even from transporting the audience to the Underworld where Persephone reigns. Despite its flamboyant orchestration, its grandiose scenography and its triumphant premiere, Ariane remains one of the few Massenet operas never recorded until now. The young Egyptian soprano Amina Edris takes the title role with ardour and passion, surrounded by a cast well versed in the specificities of the French style. The Bavarian Radio Chorus provides dedicated support in the epic scenes, under the baton of Laurent Campellone, a great champion of Massenet.

Idomeneo has long been one of Sir Simon Rattle's favourite works, and with good reason. Mozart's "dramma per musica" from 1781 completely revitalised the opera seria genre, which had previously been considered outmoded. It opens the series of operas from the composer's mature period. For this commissioned work for the excellent ensemble of the Munich Residenztheater, Mozart had unlimited musical resources at his disposal. It was his most extensive and ambitious stage work to date, featuring demanding arias, differentiated role portraits, a virtuoso orchestral part and several large choral scenes that rank among the most impressive in his oeuvre. - Mozart's first great opera gave Simon Rattle the opportunity to work intensively with the Chorus immediately after taking up his position as the new Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra in the autumn of 2023, further deepening his interest in historical performance practice in Munich. He was supported by an exceptional cast of singers, including British tenor Andrew Staples in the challenging title role, soprano Sabine Devieilhe and mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena as the tender lovers Ilia and Idamante, soprano Elsa Dreisig as the envious and distraught Elettra, and several other soloists and choral soloists. Howard Arman directs the Bavarian Radio Chorus, and Simon Rattle conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Classical Music

On the dark side of fame awaits the slide into obscurity. That’s certainly true for a number of operas that, while popular and highly lucrative during their composers‘ lifetime, soon followed their creators into the shadowy realm of oblivion. Operas, for example, that only ever get mentioned in connection with some much more famous sibling. Giuseppe Gazzaniga’s Don Giovanni – premiered half a year before Mozart’s masterpiece – is such an example, as is Ruggero Leoncavallo’s La Boheme and George Bizet’s Djamileh, widely considered the predecessor of Carmen. Other operas just do not stand out among other works by a composer – Jules Massenet’s operas for example are hardly a footnote of music history, his opera Therese, a thoroughly forgotten work, however, is. Two examples for works that are scarcely performed or even known outside of what is now the Czech Republic are also included in this collection of Opera Rarities on ORFEO: Antonin Dvorak’s last opera Armida and Zdenek Fibich’s Sarka.

REVIEW:

Containing radio performance recordings of six works by Dvorak, Massenet, Leoncavallo, Bizet, Gazzaniga, and Fibich mentioned often in histories of music but almost never on the bill, this is a box certainly precious for those who love opera.

– Classical Music Daily (Giuseppe Pennisi)

For its latest release on BR Klassik the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk under its chief conductor Mariss Jansons has turned its attention to Rachmaninov with two masterworks that Rachmaninov himself regarded as his finest compositions: the choral symphony The Bells and the Symphonic Dances, his last completed orchestral score. Both were recorded live in concert at Munich.

Very much a Cinderella work, The Bells, which the composer described at different times as a choral symphony and also as a cantata, deserves wider circulation and certainly rewards repeated hearing. Rachmaninov was fired up to write the work following receipt of an anonymous text in Rome which he assumed was an original work by the Russian poet Konstantin Balmont. The text was in fact Balmont’s own free adaptation of the poem ‘The Bells’ by Edgar Allan Poe. Bells have a special significance for Russian people and one might imagine that for Rachmaninov the sound of bells in his Russian homeland evoked a bittersweet range of emotions, from intense joy to mourning. Various bell sounds are contained in Rachmaninov’s scoring: sleigh-bells, church bells, alarm bells, marriage and funeral bells. This is a striking live performance by the Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Jansons, supported by a fine trio of Russian soloists. In the opening movement - ‘The Silver Sleigh Bells’ - the playing conveys a crisp, wintry chill together with commitment and urgency. Singing with vitality and clarity, tenor Oleg Dolgov makes a considerable impression. In the movement ‘The Mellow Wedding Bells’, the music takes on a mysterious, rather sensuous quality with soprano Tatiana Pavlovskaya displaying clarity and an unswerving approach to the text. In ‘The Loud Alarum Bells’, marked presto, the chorus and orchestra convey a heavy sense of tension and near-angst before a more positive tone develops. The baritone Alexey Markov, in the Finale, entitled ‘The Mournful Iron Bells’, intones splendidly and convincingly the grave yet hauntingly affecting text. In the substantial part for the cor anglais, there is some lovely playing - warm and mellifluous. Inspiring and powerful are the two words that best describe this reading from Jansons and his Bavarian players. Worthy of praise, too, is Simon Rattle’s outstanding live 2012 Philharmonie, Berlin account with the Rundfunkchor Berlin and the Berliner Philharmoniker and a satisfying trio of soloists on Warner. As with Jansons’ account, Rattle’s coupling is also the Symphonic Dances. Admirable, also, is the exciting and committed 1979 account from the RSFSR Yurlov Academic Russian Choir and USSR Academic Symphony Orchestra under Yevgeni Svetlanov. Originally released on Melodiya, I have the Regis reissue. Worthy of consideration, too, is the finely judged 2000 Moscow account from the Moscow State Chamber Choir and Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev on Deutsche Grammophon.

After finally settling in the USA in 1939, Rachmaninov completed the Symphonic Dances, his final orchestral, work at Long Island, New York in 1940. Delighted with the score, the composer commented, “I don’t know how it happened, it must have been my last spark.” Rachmaninov was certainly in a highly reflective mood, citing quotations from some of his earlier works as well as including the Dies irae motif in the finale. Jansons and his players clearly revel in the brilliant orchestration. In the opening movement, Non Allegro, Jansons provides playing of potent drama as well as strong rhythmic impetus and a weighty percussion section. The affecting lyrical middle section is beautifully played, with the solo saxophone part especially notable. It is marked Andante con Moto (Tempo di valse) and, in Jansons’ hands, the waltz rhythms are imbued with an undertow of melancholy and a sense of near despair. The colourful woodwind and brass figures and pleasingly unified strings are a constant delight. In the Finale, the sumptuous playing from the Bavarians is quite outstanding, conveying a strong element of brooding and struggle. Jansons’ control of dynamics and transitions is striking here, together with strong and committed playing in the concluding section. Jansons’ conducts a riveting account of the Symphonic Dances, then, convincingly performed with character, passion and compelling momentum. It can stand comparison with the best recordings and probably even surpasses them. Simon Rattle’s powerful 2010 Philharmonie, Berlin recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker on Warner is certainly equal to Eugene Ormandy’s passionate and powerful 1960 Cleveland Hall, Philadelphia account with the Philadelphia Orchestra on Sony Classical. Other recordings to consider are headed by the excellent 2008/09 recording, full of character, played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko on Avie. There is much to enjoy in the recordings by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Lorin Maazel from 1983 on Deutsche Grammophon and by André Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in 1974 on EMI Classics, both of which are splendidly performed and recorded.

Jansons has recorded both works at live concerts in the renowned acoustic of Herkulessaal, Munich, which the sound engineers have utilised to stunning effect, providing first class clarity and balance. Audience applause has been taken out and there is no extraneous noise to worry about. In the booklet the essay ‘Legacy of a Lost Homeland’ written by Larissa Kowal-Wolk is both readable and informative.

– MusicWeb International (Michael Cookson)

Hardly any other contemporary composer has succeeded in returning sacred music to such a firm position in the awareness of a larger audience, even outside the realm of religious services, as has Arvo Pärt from Estonia. To commemorate Arvo Pärt’s 80th birthday in the autumn of 2015, the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of Peter Dijsktra is releasing a cross-section of the Estonian composer’s sacred music.

Following Mahler's Ninth and Bruckner's Fifth, this live recording of Joseph Haydn's "The Creation" is already the third CD recording to feature master conductor Bernard Haitink at the helm of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, an orchestra he’s been guest conducting for over 50 years. The BRSO and its Choir joined forces for this recording, together with a team of renowned soloists - soprano Camilla Tilling, tenor Mark Padmore and bass-baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann. This is the first and only currently available recording of "The Creation" featuring Bernard Haitink.

The tonal language of Beethoven’s Mass in C major, the first of his two Mass settings, is that of a personal confession, making the work very modern and forward-looking and opening up entirely new worlds of expression for the liturgical text. It is in no way to be seen as a precursor of the "Missa solemnis" but instead as a highly independent work that set new standards for the advancement of mass compositions in the 19th century. Beethoven himself was well aware of its innovative nature, and wrote as much in a letter to his publisher: “I am reluctant to say anything about my Mass, or indeed about myself, but I do believe that I have treated the text in a manner to which it has rarely been treated.” For people at the time, the Mass in C major, Op. 86 of 1807 provided unprecedented access to the Christian faith in a way that is still relevant today. This important work from the history of sacred music offers a devotional sound that is simultaneously heartfelt and beautiful. Beethoven's Mass in C major was recorded at two concerts that took place exactly one year ago at the Philharmonie in Gasteig in Munich, on January 11 and 12, 2018. The high-quality performers are Genia Kühmeier (soprano), Gerhild Romberger (alto), Maximilian Schmitt (tenor) and Luca Pisaroni (bass-baritone), together with the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Mariss Jansons. These concerts took place on the occasion of Maestro Jansons’ 75th birthday. The album also includes a recording of Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, performed live in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz on January 29 and 30, 2004.

Hardly any other composer of his epoch was as deeply rooted in the German and European choral traditions as Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Strongly influenced by the art of Johann Sebastian Bach, which he had encountered in the Berlin Singakademie under his teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter, the young composer wrote a series of eight chorale cantatas, including "Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich" (“Give us Thy blessed peace”, 1831) - a short prayer for choir and orchestra set to words by Martin Luther. Mendelssohn's five wide-ranging and large-scale psalm settings became even more famous, and three of them can be heard here. The first piece in the group is the multi-part setting of Psalm 115 "Non nobis Domine" (“Not unto us, O Lord”) for soloists, choir and orchestra, op. 31 (1829/30), which was probably begun during the composer’s first stay in England and reveals his fascination for Händel's music. Mendelssohn himself considered “Wie der Hirsch schreit” ("As pants the hart"), a multi-part, cantata-like setting of Psalm 42 for soprano, choir and orchestra, op. 42 (1837/38), to be the best work of this group. Also highly praised by Robert Schumann, it remains one of the composer’s most famous choral works to this day. For the newly-formed Berlin Cathedral Choir, he also wrote a setting of Psalm 98 "Singet dem Herren ein neues Lied” (“Sing to the Lord a new-made song”) for soloists, choir and orchestra, op. 91, and in response to requests from London he composed "Hear my Prayer", a “hymn” based on Psalm 55 for soprano, choir and organ, which he later orchestrated. The piece became one of his most famous sacred works in Victorian England.

REVIEW:

It’s always pleasing to have a new album of Mendelssohn’s exalting psalm settings which sadly are an all too neglected part of his oeuvre. It is sometimes said that the German composer’s greatest accomplishment lies in this field. Here we have a judiciously chosen programme of four psalm settings and a single chorale cantata. Especially gratifying too is that these live performances, from a quartet of soloists, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Münchner Rundfunkorchester under Howard Arman, feel so inspiring.

With utmost conviction from beginning to end the renowned Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks deliver appropriately devout singing, well focused and eminently unified. Conductor Howard Arman pulls everything together with calm assurance, adopting sensible speeds and dynamics. Of high order too is the playing of Münchner Rundfunkorchester such a versatile ensemble that seems completely at home with Mendelssohn’s music.

– MusicWeb International

Dvorák's haunting 'Stabat Mater' for solo voices, chorus and orchestra is not only the most famous work of church music by the Bohemian composer, it is also one of the most impressive ever settings of the medieval hymn in which Mary, the mother of Jesus, gives vivid expression to the pain she feels at the sight of her crucified son. The terrible misfortunes that befell the composer in his private life during the creation of this work may have been a reason for this. It is the continuous expression of deep piety, above all, that gives this music its special dignity. It was precisely this intensity that was conveyed by the concert on March 26, 2015 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz, where the four renowned soloists were in fine voice, and the Bavarian Radio Chorus once again delivered the "crystal clear sound" and "incredible three-dimensionality" for which it is highly praised time and again. and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mariss Jansons, performed Dvorák's deeply moving music authentically, in keeping with the composer's intentions: sensitively felt, yet with a resonant, magnificent sound.

Hollow pathos is not his thing. From an artist like Mariss Jansons Friedrich Schiller's Ode: ''An die Freude'' must receive a far deeper significance, which also fully encompasses the doubt and profound hope embodied in this text. And thus, in Jansson's recording of the Ninth Symphony, the choral finale does not degenerate to mere superficial orgy of jubilation, but rather becomes a delicately balanced, wisely developed drama. On October 27, 2007 teh Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks played Beethoven's Ninth in the presence of the Pope in the Vatican. The recording of this memorable concert is now being released by Br-Klassik.

From its 1742 premiere, Handel's oratorio "Messiah" has continued to be an audience favorite and for many, the initial portal into the world of Classical choral music. Portraying the life of the "anointed one" (the literal meaning of the Hebrew word 'Messiah'), from the Annunciation and his birth to his death on the cross and revelation, and including the famous 'Hallelujah Chorus.' , “Messiah” continues to draw rapturous reception when performed live. Featuring vocalists Julia Doyle, Lawrence Zazzo, Steve Davislim and Neal Davies performing in the original English-language version, along with the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of Peter Dijkstra, and accompanied by the whimsically named B'Rock, the Belgian Baroque Orchestra Ghent, working from the original and historically informed scoring, this live recording manages to add to the canon of the “Messiah”.

Telling the story of Christmas from the Nativity to the visit of the Three Wise Men, J.S. Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" and comprised of six cantatas, this piece remains for many, ubiquitous to the holiday season. What elevates this December 2010 live recording from the Herkulessaal in the Munich Residenz is the spirited collaboration between the young and excellent vocalists including Rachel Harnisch, Anke Vondung and more, along with the fine Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of Peter Dijkstra with the transcendental period instrument ensemble, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin all of whom provide a stunningly fresh take on this baroque masterpiece.

During the Weimar Republic era, alongside Richard Strauss, the then oft-performed composer Walter Braunfels was considered an important exponent of a moderate modernism. Despite his Jewish roots, his works are characterized by a deep Christian humanism. Written in 1933, Verkündigung ("The Annunciation"), set in medieval times, reflects on the major issues of that time, including a search for meaning behind undeserved suffering. Ulf Schirmer leads the Münchner Rundfunkorchester with renowned soprano Juliane Banse and rising tenor Matthias Klink in the main roles.

Ivan Repusic, the new chief conductor of the Munich Rundfunkorchester, devotes his first album on BR-Klassik to works by the composers Maurice Durufle and Ottorino Respighi, both of whom took a major interest in the melodies and harmonies of Gregorian chant. The French composer Durufle’s “Requiem” is based on the Gregorian “Missa pro defunctis,” the Latin Mass for the Dead, and the Italian Respighi, in his “Concerto Gregoriano,” used Gregorian chant as a source of inspiration for the harmonious sound of the concerto and for the song-like treatment he gives to the solo violin. Maurice Durufle’s “Requiem” became especially well-known. Its first performance in 1947 was one of the high points of his career; the work not only helped to establish Durufle as a successful composer but also brought him fame far beyond the borders of France. This self-contained, homogeneous and contemplative composition is based on themes from the Gregorian Mass for the Dead. In his work, Durufle succeeded in fusing Gregorian chant, Baroque polyphony and colorful orchestration into a unified whole, and the spiritual, inward-looking character of the chants harmonizes most effectively with the composer’s personal style.

“From the heart, may it go to the heart.”
(Beethoven’s inscription on the manuscript score of his Missa Solemnis)

Last year at the Semperoper as part of the Dresden Musikfest 2014 I attended a disappointing performance of Beethoven’s great Missa Solemnis. Ivor Bolton was conducting a quartet of soloists, Balthasar-Neumann-Chor and the Dresdner Festspielorchester playing on authentic instruments. It was altogether below-par and I reckon the oppressive hot weather of the day affected not just the tuning of the strings but also the energy levels of the performers.

In view of that uninspiring Dresden concert when this new BR Klassik release arrived I was delighted to have the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the score. Recorded live at the Herkulessaal, Munich by the world class Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks the distinguished conductor Bernard Haitink has selected an impressive quartet of soloists.

The motivation behind Beethoven’s writing of the Missa solemnis was the appointment in 1819 of Archbishop Rudolph as Cardinal-Archbishop of Olomouc. Beethoven’s former piano and composition pupil and most valued patron, Archbishop Rudolph was the youngest son of Emperor Leopold II. Beethoven invested considerable time as well as emotional and spiritual energy on his Missa solemnis and didn’t complete this immense sacred score until 1823 some three years after Rudolph’s enthronement; a ceremony that used works by Haydn and Hummel instead. The Missa solemnis had to wait until 1824 for its première which was given not in a church setting but at a concert hall in Saint Petersburg. Incidentally, in 1807 Beethoven had composed a mass – a commission from Prince Nicholas Esterházy for the name day of his wife.

All Haitink's soloists here sing with unerring commitment and incisiveness. This is not always the case in performances of this work the quartet. They also manage to keep their operatic sensibilities under wraps and concentrate on the reverential aspect of the text. The highly appealing Salzburg-born soprano Genia Kühmeier excels with her eagerly bright and fluid tone. Another Austrian, Elisabeth Kulman is in splendid voice too. A refined well focused lyric mezzo, Kulman’s slightly dark timbre projects strongly, with clear and precise enunciation. In highly engaging voice English tenor Mark Padmore seems to improve each time I hear him. Here he displays creamy tone and impeccable diction all coupled with an eminently respectful projection of the sacred text. Dignified German bass-baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann impresses with his steady, flexible tone and dark-edged hue. He has certainly become a singer to be reckoned with. Highlights include the uninhibited weighty outburst of praise in the Gloria. This is freighted with awe. I especially enjoyed the singing of Quoniam tu solus sanctus which sounded as effectively dramatic as one could wish. The Adagio of the Agnus Dei, the conclusion to the score, has few parallels in sacred music and captures an atmosphere of spiritual serenity.

The orchestra are fully engaged with the sacred drama with no shortage of relish whilst maintaining a resolutely cohesive whole. The vitality and drive generated by Haitink are major attributes of this memorable performance. Concertmaster Anton Barachovsky adopts a pleasing, rather understated approach to his violin solos in the Benedictus — an appropriately ethereal background to the solo voices. Consistently inspiring all evening the choir is excellent and clearly well prepared.

Recorded live in the inexorably reliable acoustic of the Herkulessaal, Munich the sound team can take a bow for the satisfying, clear and reasonably well balanced sonics. The booklet that accompanies the release includes full Latin texts with German and English translations.

Previously I have not felt entirely comfortable in nominating a stand-out first choice for the Missa solemnis but this release from Haitink and his Bavarian forces is as praiseworthy as any recording I have encountered.

-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International

Haitink at 85 makes his first recording of one of music’s choral masterpieces – and what a wonderful performance his wisdom and experience offers.
– Gramophone

Just after the 150th anniversary of Richard Strauss's birth, CPO are releasing a concert performance of his rarely performed sung poem "Feuersnot" under the baton of Ulf Schirmer. The satirist Ernst von Wolzogen, who wrote the libretto for this "Bavarian burlesque" founded the first literary cabaret in Berlin, the Ueberbrettl.

Germany’s oldest Mozart festival celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2021. The present jubilee boxed set presents previously unpublished treasures from the archive of the Bavarian Broadcasting. All live recordings from the Baroque Imperial Hall at Würzburg Residence are digital remasters.

In an interview about great conductors with the newspaper Die Welt in 2015, Sir Simon Rattle said of Mariss Jansons, “He’s the best of all of us!” This new release from BR-Klassik focuses on the career of Mariss Jansons, and contains a total of five albums offering a representative cross-section of the classical symphonic repertoire- as well as a cross-section of the repertoire for which the chief conductor of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks has been highly praised again and again for his outstanding interpretative qualities. Landmarks of great choral music can be found here, as well as milestones in symphonic development and select orchestral songs. The works range from music of the First Viennese School to early 20th-century late romanticism; from Haydn’s “Harmoniemesse” to the Minuet from Haydn’s Symphony Hob. I:88; from Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, Brahms’ Fouth Symphony and Mahler’s Ninth Symphony to Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie.

REVIEW

Jansons’ thoughtful interpretations are consistently clear and often profoundly insightful, and the playing of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is impressive, whether in purely orchestral performances or with the Bavarian Radio Chorus in the Haydn and the Stravinsky. Considering Jansons’ high productivity, this set can only give a small sample of his many recordings, but fans who have yet to delve into his full repertoire will appreciate this package.

– AllMusic Guide.com