With this Genuin release, we're carried away on a musical journey to other spheres in a live concert recording by rising young South Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo. The late Beethoven Sonata, Op. 109, Chopin's 24 Preludes, and piano works by Liszt an dTchaikovsky form a substantial and multi-faceted selection that does full justic to the 2015 International German Piano Award winner's dynamic playing style. The transparent sound of his Bechstein grand allows even the subtlest nuances of color to shine through. The phrases and structures are brought out with such clarity and lucidity that we're more than happy to simply follow along as the pianistic guide shows us the way.

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Hailing from Frescia, cellits Paolo Bonomini offers a survey of 200 years of musical Italy on his Genuin debut release. The First Prizewinner at the 2016 Leipzig Bach Competition performs works by Joseph Dall'Abaco, Luigi Boccherini, Alfredo Piatti, and Luigi Dallapiccola. In terms of the program, we could hardly imagine a more rich and varied overview, and the young, internationally-successful soloists's playing more than fulfills our expectations - from his lean and buoyant sound in the playful and exuberant Baroque works, to his crystal-clear articulation and bold risk-taking in the modern selections. A brilliant and highly promising debut!

The pianist Hans H. Suh presents both large and small works on his GENUIN album with piano music ranging from Beethoven to Debussy. The winner of numerous international competitions, including the 2018 International German Piano Award, is a master of the moment as well as of sweeping lines: Schumann's, Beethoven's and Debussy's "little things," i.e., preludes, bagatelles, and other snapshots, shine with tremendous and enduring radiance. Suh brings Liszt's gigantic B minor Sonata into the present and lends it the magic of the moment. This combination of successful repertoire selection and exquisite interpretation invites more than just piano lovers on a virtuoso journey through time.

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On it's 60th birthday, the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen is giving itself and it's audience a youthful present: virtuoso orchestral music by the ever-young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The elite chamber orchestra's second GENUIN release, following the highly acclaimed recording of Mozart's Horn Concertos with Christoph Ess as soloist, features symphonies from all phases of Mozart's life: from early works to the great symphony in G minor. The award-winning conductor Johannes Klumpp let's his ensemble play this filigree yet passionate music extremely fast and at the same time with deep feelings. A real pleasure! Energetic concerts, bold and inquisitive programming and musical excellence are the trademarks of the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen. In it's concerts, the young international ensemble under the direction of Principal Conductor Johannes Klumpp explores musical boundaries and introduces experimental formats, genres, and styles with considerable success.

We wonder whom we should admire the most: the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who at the age of fifteen wrote such consummate, sparkling, and profound music, or the Hanover Piano Trio, which with violist Konstantin Sellheim has so immaculately recorded the young master's quartets on this GENUIN release. The four internationally sought-after artists demonstrate a great understanding of historically-informed performance practice, dedicating themselves with panache and at a high level to an oeuvre that deserves more attention - perfect timing for the Beethoven anniversary year!

What did Haydn sound like while he was on tour in London, giving concerts and teaching? Today, nobody perhaps comes closer to the sound from that time than Rebecca Maurer, who plays here on her original London fortepiano from 1816. Furthermore, the internationally sought-after fortepiano virtuoso does this with dazzling technique and immaculate stylistic confidence. The repertoire is also sensational, above all because it is not every day that one finds world premiere recordings by Haydn students on program flyers: fragrant music of Sentimentalism with some hints of Romanticism by Thomas Haigh and Christian Ignatius Latrobe. Outstanding repertoire! Equally at home on the fortepiano and harpsichord, Rebecca Maurer is acclaimed as one of the outstanding specialists for historical keyboard instruments of her generation. She studied piano, harpsichord and fortepiano in Freiburg, Amsterdam and at Cornell University where she held a fellowship. Her previous recording was nominated for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik as well as for an International Classical Music Award in the Baroque instrumental category.

An illustrious guest on the 17th CD of the Edition Artist Consort: the grand seigneur of the oboe, Heinz Holliger, plays Mozart's sparkling Oboe Quartet with his Swiss compatriots. The two other woodwind chamber works by the greatest Viennese classicist on this new GENUIN CD are of the same extraordinarily high level. As first among peers, Felix Renggli interprets the fragrant Flute Quartet, and François Benda plays the basset clarinet in the same role as in the original version of the Clarinet Quintet.

Combine the artistry of Richard Proulx and the glorious choral strains of the Cathedral Singers with delightful, often forgotten works of master composers like Mozart, Salieri, Diabelli, and Bruckner and you've got this must-have recording! Not only is the music stunning, but music enthusiasts will also love the wealth of historical notes on each piece and composer included in this collection!

To his audience back then, Beethoven must have been radical, stormy, piercing - overwhelming! Even the smallest loudspeaker jumps to the Aris Quartet, grabbing the listener and not letting go – pretty amazing for an ensemble whose members’ combined age is not yet 100! The multiple prizewinners of the 2016 International ARD Competition are among the absolute shooting stars of the quartet scene and, with their GENUIN album, they show why: cutting edge middle and late Beethoven – definitely worth listening to! The Aris Quartett was founded in 2009 on the initiative of Hubert Buchberger, Professor of Chamber Music at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. At the time, Anna Katharina Wildermuth (violin), Noemi Zipperling (violin), Caspar Vinzens (viola), and Lukas Sieber (cello), were still high school students, but already studying their respective instruments as junior students at the music university. Begun as an experiment, this meeting between the four young musicians proved to be a genuine stroke of luck. Zipperling writes: “It was truly a wonderful accident that he chose us in particular. Otherwise it probably never would have occurrec to us to play chamber music in this combination, since at the time we didn’t know each other at all.” Eight years later, the Aris Quartett is one of the most striking quartets of the younger generation.

Mozart: Rare Chorale Works - The world has enjoyed the genius of Mozart through his symphonies, operas, chamber and piano music. In addition, his Requiem, left incomplete at his death, remains one of the most beloved of sacred choral works. Gloriae Dei Cantores presents a rare look at a side of Mozart that is not so well known: his contribution to music for the Church. Included in this recording are two rarely heard major works of great beauty and invention: Davide Penitente K. 469 and the Litaniae de venerabili altaris Sacramento K. 243. Also included are a further litany, several motets, and two of the famous church sonatas for small orchestra and organ, giving a rounded picture of Mozart, the sacred musician.

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Classical Music

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Following up to her recording of piano concertos by J.N. Hummel and Beethoven, Austrian pianist Ingrid Marsoner is now presenting her interpretations of late piano sonatas by Beethoven. Marsoner's subtle yet vigorous play is opening with the Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101. The Rondo alla ingharese, quasi un capriccio, Op. 129 i sbetter known by its popular name ''Rage Over a Lost Penny'' and is as an early work like the ''lighter'' Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major, Op. 78, a welcoming intermezzo and an interesting contrast to the somewhat more profound late sonatas. As such the Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 symbolizes this world and the hereafter with its two very dissenting movements. The Austrian pianist Ingrid Marsoner is blessed with a musical sensitivity rarely to be found in the younger generation. Without any mawkishness, she is capable of moving listeners with Franz Schubert, accomplishing structural and atmospheric miracles with J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, unfolding an amazing energy in musical competition with symphony orchestras and then, when she dips into the subtleties of a Mozart sonata or a modern impression, differentiating the finest nuances so fluently that the famous borderline between musical art and music ocne more completely loses its validity. She has received major musical inspiration from other eminent pianists such as Tatiana Nikolayeva, Paul Badura-Skoda and Alfred Brendel.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Beethoven performing seemingly rather trivial tasks for publishers offers a lesser known perspective on the mastermind: the businessman. Like with Joseph Haydn, there exist a multitude of folk song arrangements by Beethoven from many different language areas, besides the here portrayed Scottish, Irish and Welsh songs also Spanish, Hungarian or Swedish ones. Scottish musicians Lorna Anderson, soprano and Jamie MacDougall, tenor and the Austrian TrioVanBeethoven (Verena Stourzh, Clemens Zeilinger, Franz Ortner) take on an exploration to the treasures of Celtic melodies. Beethoven's personal touch in these songs is not only perceivable in the pre- and postludes, but is present in all of the instrumentation - a fact that motivated the initiator George Thomson several times to request even more simple instrumental parts as accompaniment, which Beethoven rejected in his very own way: "Unfortunately, I am not able to fulfill your request. I am not accustomed to retouching my compositions."

Humor in music is the theme of this album by the 25-year-old pianist Hanna Bachmann from Austria, who plans debuts in the Berlin Philharmonic and concerts in the UK and US next season, and whom the conductor Kirill Petrenko attested “great musicality, creativity, high technical ability, fine sound and a matured personality”. The spectrum of variety of this program spans from the childlike cheerfulness of Mozart (Variations on “A Woman is the Most Delightful Thing” K. 613) to the profound wit and deliberate irony of Beethoven (“Diabelli Variations” Op. 120) to the pungent laughter of Prokofiev (“Sarcasm” Op. 17).

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A program of Serenades and Symphonies from Mozart's Salzburg period has been chosen for this latest henssler CLASSIC'S release. His Salzburg years being centered on orchestral music, this is, altogether, a delightful sampling of some of Mozart's most extrovert and joyous music!

There is little known about the composition of Zaide; Mozart rarely mentions it in correspondence of the period. We do know that he began work on it in 1779-80 but stopped composing after 15 numbers had been completed. Perhaps it was because there was no prospect of a production; perhaps he was left at a creative loss by the fact that the hero and heroine--Zaide and Gomatz--are romantically attracted to each other and at the opera's close turn out to be brother and sister. More likely, a commission from Munich for Idomeneo arrived, and it was a far grander proposition. When Joseph II asked Mozart for a new Singspiel after Idomeneo, the composer looked at Zaide again but decided instead on a work with a similar plot and Turkish atmosphere, Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

Zaide is a far simpler work than Entführung. The orchestration is less complex, the arias less ornate; indeed, had it been completed it would have been a type of "popular" entertainment that Mozart later validated with Die Zauberflöte--essentially a spoken play with songs--but not as rich. But several of the 15 numbers that were composed are top-drawer Mozart--utterly charming, gentle, fervent--and you could argue that the aria "Ruhe sanft" is his most beautiful for soprano voice. Furthermore, it is the only work of Mozart's to include melodrama--text spoken over music that more-or-less underlines the words' feelings--an odd practice whose most famous examples are found in the dungeon scene of Beethoven's Fidelio and the Wolf's Glen Scene in Der Freischutz.

There have been several recordings of the opera: One (which I've not heard) dates from a 1956 broadcast and stars Fritz Wunderlich and Maria Stader; a 1982 recording under Leopold Hager (on Orfeo) is heavy-handed and lacks charm; one led by Bernhard Klee in the complete Mozart Edition on Philips is prosaic and lacks any real sense of drama; another features Paul Goodwin leading a terrific performance with fleet tempos, youthful energy, and warmth (on Harmonia Mundi), with the lovely Lynne Dawson as Zaide. This new DHM set, recorded at concert performances in Vienna in March, 2006, has a great deal to recommend it and is now the recording of choice--but there is a serious caveat.

The caveat, which I'll explain below, has little to do with the leadership of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Aside from a weirdly slow "Ruhe sanft" (he might have just been bathing in the beauty of Diana Damrau's voice and is to be forgiven for such an indulgence), tempos are un-eccentric, and his Concentus Musicus Wien plays with alternating grace and potency, able to pull out all the stops, say, in Soliman's entrance and Zaide's rage aria in the second act. Mozart supplied no overture, and Harnoncourt wisely uses the similarly scored K. 184.

In addition, the cast is terrific. As suggested above, Damrau is lovely and endlessly interesting as Zaide, the Sultan Soliman's favorite, and her sweetness and sadness are as effective as her fury. Michael Schade as Gomatz, enslaved by Soliman, gets to express his outrage well, and he's very fine indeed. Soliman is another tenor role, and Rudolf Schasching attacks it with vehemence, only occasionally overdoing the teeth-gnashing. Allazim, a Muslim convert from Christianity who lives at the Palace and decides to escape with the others, is sung nicely by baritone Florian Boesch, and he makes the most of this conflicted character. Anton Scharinger sings the bass role of Osmin with the right combination of menace and humor.

Now for the caveat. The unfinished work "ends" with a quartet in which the Muslim Soliman is about to kill Zaide and Gomatz, while Allazim, disappointed in Soliman, pleads for their lives. No happy ending is in sight. It is impossible not to draw comparisons with today's Christians vs Muslims political climate, but in case we missed it, for these performances a text has been written and performed by the Austrian actor Tobias Moretti. It starts and ends the action and is inserted occasionally between numbers, adding about 25 minutes to the opera. It begins with some genuinely nasty exchanges heard at the last Republican Party Convention and continues with a discussion about freedom, the Enlightenment, class distinctions. In between numbers it explains the action, often in very modern slang, which could pass for "hip" if it weren't so obtrusively self-conscious, and it closes the opera, after the vicious, pessimistic quartet (a great piece of music, by the way), by wondering what the conclusion will be: "A military intervention, perhaps, a bush fire for liberty and culture"? Very clever, and We Get It, We Get It; it's a point well-taken, even if it has no place vis-a-vis Mozart's unfinished opera. It then goes on to philosophize.

But here's something even more bothersome: Moretti's opening remarks include a discussion of freedom of worship, spirit, and thought, "the latter something Thomas Mann recommended to the Germans once more after 1945, as they had mislaid it..." As long as Moretti is pointing a well-placed finger, would he like to say a few words about his fellow Austrians' involvement in mislaying freedom while the Germans were doing the same thing? Or do politics of that sort have no place in the Musikverein? My advice: Listen to the wonderfully performed music and use your remote control to avoid the lecture.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

MOZART Allegro in g, K 312. Andante and 5 Variations, K 501. 1 Minuetto in D, K 355. Marche funèbre, K 453a. Andantino, K 236. Klavierstücke in F, K 33b. Adagio for Glass Harmonica, K 356. La‚t uns mit geschlungen Händen, K 623. Rondo in F, K 494. Theme and 2 Variations in A, K 460. Fantasia in d, K 397 (2 versions). Sonata in D, K 381 1 • Christopher Hogwood (clvd); Derek Adlam (clvd) 1 • DEUTSCHE HARMONIA MUNDI 82876 832882 (73:46)


Mozart played on the clavichord? What at first may seem an odd concept has ample documentary evidence to support it. As anyone who has been to the Geburtshaus in Salzburg will probably recall, Mozart himself owned a clavichord that he used as a compositional tool for his last major works, according to his widow Constanze’s testimony. And as Christopher Hogwood reminds us in his notes, Mozart makes frequent reference to the instrument in general in his correspondence. As Bach, and Handel before him, then, it seems extremely likely that Mozart used this quietly intimate instrument in domestic music-making.


Hogwood’s recital is played on three instruments, including Mozart’s own, an unfretted instrument of unknown provenance conforming to the simple construction methods of late 18th-century German clavichords. It is the brightest and clearest of the three, with an attractive bell-like sonority in the upper register that makes it highly suitable for the late Adagio for Glass Harmonica, and a “buzzy” quality in bass, as heard in the final passage of the F-Major Rondo, the final movement of the composite Sonata, K 533/K 494. The oldest instrument, used for the first three works in the heading, is an unfretted clavichord by the Hamburg maker Johann Albrecht Hass, signed and dated 1761. The sound (at least as recorded) is to my mind rather on the “tubby” side, with a veiled quality that works particularly well in the chromatic intensity of the Minuetto in D.


Finally, Hogwood plays four works on an unfretted instrument by the Bavarian builder Johann David Schiedmayer. Interestingly, this late example (1791) is the one that approaches most closely the sound of a fortepiano, although I’m not sufficient of an expert on the subject to know if this was a conscious aim of later makers. Among the works played on it are both versions of the familiar Fantasia in D Minor, one of Mozart’s most unsettling keyboard works. The original breaks off on a dominant cadence, while there is another with a 10-bar completion by another hand, possibly August Müller. Hogwood plausibly suggests that the incomplete version was intended as the introduction to a work in D Major (he is not, as he implies, the first to do so; Alfred Einstein advanced the same theory 60 years ago), and consequently uses it as a lead-in to the Sonata in D, K 381, a not altogether convincing solution since the latter is for four hands. The sonata, much the most substantial work on the disc, is given a high-spirited performance by Hogwood and Derek Adlam, who achieve excellent ensemble (listen to the unanimity of the detached eighth-notes at the start of the second half of the opening Allegro), while making much of the concerto-like texture of the finale.


In general, Hogwood’s performances are as accomplished as would be expected from such a seasoned performer. Tempos are sensible, with andantes and allegrettos kept moving purposefully, while fingerwork is clean and well articulated. Ornaments are added where appropriate. Occasionally, I felt the touch was a little heavy and that rhythms were rather unyielding. A little more flexibility and expressivity would not have come amiss, but the recital is nonetheless highly rewarding both as to repertoire and as the rare opportunity to hear what Mozart sounds like on the clavichord. The CD is the third in a series devoted to the clavichord and entitled “The secret . . .”, previous issues having been devoted to Bach and Handel (both on Metronome). To come are “The secret Haydn,” and “The secret Beethoven.”


FANFARE: Brian Robins

Columbia Symphony Orchestra/Bruno Walter. Sony Classical SMK 64460 [Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, with Coriolan Overture]; 64461 [Nos. 3 (Eroica) and 8]; 64462 [Nos. 4 and 6 (Pastorale)]; 64463 [Nos. 5 and 7]; and 64464 [No. 9]

Walter recorded the Beethoven symphonies in stereo for Columbia in 1958-59, taping No. 9 in New York and Nos. 1-8 in Los Angeles with orchestras of freelance and studio musicians who rose magnificently to the occasion. Walter was in his eighties, but that didn’t stop him from grabbing these works by the throat; there is no mincing around, no effusive lingering over phrases, no ponderous trudging either. The even-numbered symphonies are sunny and outgoing, full of the warmth the conductor exuded during his Indian-summer years in the studio. Yet the drama of the odd-numbered works is not slighted. Walter’s account of the Fifth, for example, is an intensely expressive one in which lyricism and thrust are in perfect balance, an evocation of stormy Romanticism at its best. The recordings have held up extremely well; the sound on these 20-bit CDs is spacious yet detailed, with amazing presence and solidity. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection, reviewing Bruno Walter's recordings of Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, with Coriolan Overture]; 64461 [Nos. 3 (Eroica) and 8]; 64462 [Nos. 4 and 6 (Pastorale)]; 64463 [Nos. 5 - reissued as Sony 93012, and 7]; and 64464 [No. 9].

This is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording

This is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording

This is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording

This second volume of early Mozart symphonies features a really biting, vivid performance of the "little G minor" K. 183, with its prominent writing for four horns very well realized. The other treat comes in the form of the massive (more than seven minutes) Minuet K. 409, a magnificent work for trumpets and drums whose existence is often overlooked. The other major work here is the vibrant Symphony in G K. 199, a large piece in three movements lasting more than 20 minutes, composed in 1773. The remaining pieces are less consequential, and three of the symphonies here were fashioned from opera overtures: Ascanio in Alba, Il sogno di Scipione, and La finta giardiniera. As you might expect, they are all charming, and immaculately crafted.


Harnoncourt conducts all of this music with evident affection and a welcome absence of affectation. It's fun to hear how he treats minuets: you never know how the trio will relate to its surroundings, but somehow whatever Harnoncourt does always sounds right. It almost goes without saying that the playing of the Concentus Musicus Wien is excellent; the rich, fruity quality of the woodwinds sounds particularly fine in this music, and the sonics are terrific. In short, this is a very appealing release, and it's nice to see these early symphonies coming in a two-disc-per-set format rather than a single big box. This gives you the opportunity to savor each work without feeling obligated to wade through a ton of similar-sounding stuff in one shot.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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