In April of 1996, Ofra Harnoy entered the venerable Abbey Road Studios in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to record Edward Elgar’s great cello concerto. Unfortunately, shortly after this event, the end result did not end up where it was supposed to be and was not released to the public. In fact, the whereabouts of the recording went unknown for quite some time, afterward.
In early 2022, through some diligent searching, the lost recording was located and will now be released paired with Harnoy’s remastered recording of the Édouard Lalo Cello Concerto, on the Sony Classical label. With the help of session notes from and conversations with recording producer Andrew Keener, the 1996 Abbey Road sessions were edited (Mike Herriott) and mastered (Ron Searles). The result is what will likely be lauded as one of the definitive interpretations of Elgar’s great warhorse for the cello.
Described by the New York Times as “born to the instrument”, Ofra Harnoy brings her unmatched passion and virtuoso to Elgar’s masterpiece and final notable composition. Very much influenced by Jacqueline Du Pré’s 1965 recording, and the rare opportunity afforded her to study the work with Ms. Du Pré, in masterclass, Harnoy’s own voice comes to the fore to capture Elgar’s own anguish and heartbreak.
Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Gil Rose present the world premiere recording of The Lord of Cries, a breathtaking opera by John Corigliano and Mark Adamo. Telling the story of Euripides’s The Bacchae with the characters of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the piece explores the power of sexual desire and humans’ need to blame and attack others for what they can neither resist nor accept in themselves. Corigliano returns to opera for the first time since his The Ghosts of Versailles, introduced by the Metropolitan Opera, made an international sensation in 1992. The brilliant cast—most of whom introduced their parts in the world premiere in 2021—is led by star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role. Multi-award winning composer John Corigliano’s music has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by many of the most prominent orchestras, soloists, and chamber musicians in the world. The Pentatone recording of The Ghost of Versailles, released in 2016, won two Grammy Awards. Composer-librettist Mark Adamo’s four previous operas, including Little Women (1998) have been staged, recorded, and broadcast hundreds of times on five continents. Under the leadership of conductor Gil Rose, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project has become an unsurpassed advocate for 20th and 21st century American music; they make their Pentatone debut with The Lord of Cries.
Sony Classical releases the full cycle of Bruckner’s symphonies recorded by the Vienna Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann on 11 CDs. The box set, featuring the composer’s nine numbered symphonies, his ‘Study Symphony’, his ‘Nullified’ symphony, and a 172-page booklet. This release constitutes the first complete recording of the Austrian composer’s symphonies from the orchestra under a single conductor. Christian Thielemann enjoys a strong rapport with the Vienna Philharmonic and has established himself as one of his generation’s most esteemed interpreters of the Romantic Austro-German repertoire.
Past praise for previously released CDs included in this set:
Overall, there’s an aliveness to the music, inspired by the concert setting, which adds another reason this Bruckner Eighth is so satisfying. If you want to hear Thielemann at his best, conducting a stupendous orchestra, that’s precisely what we have here.
Thielemann's interpretation has intimacies hard to find in other versions, and a vulnerability movingly communicated in the Vienna Philharmonic’s super-empathetic playing.
Solitude - Songs of Schubert, C. & R. Schumann, Wolf et al. / Konradi, Cosmos Quartet
Berlin Classics
CD
$21.99May 17, 2024
In her new album "Solitude," soprano Katharina Konradi embarks on a musical journey to explore solitude. On this journey, she is accompanied by poets and composers from different time periods. The Cosmos Quartet from Barcelona joins her on her journey. Art songs by composers such as Robert and Clara Schumann, Franz Schubert, and Hugo Wolf, as well as folk songs and French chansons, are waypoints on this journey on which they explore the various facets of solitude together. Miniatures for solo soprano by the Hungarian-French composer György Kurtág serve as transitional elements, providing subtle and sophisticated coherence. Among the special rarities of the recording are the two Catalan songs by the violinist, composer, and conductor Eduard Toldrà.
The soprano, born in Kyrgyzstan, captivates audiences and critics alike with her vocal brilliance and cultivated emotional depth. The Cosmos Quartet matches her with its honest elegance and compelling expressiveness. Although the Cosmos Quartet and Katharina Konradi only met at the beginning of rehearsals for "Solitude," a very special magic immediately revealed itself, inherent in the combination of Katharina Konradi's voice and the Cosmos String Quartet. "String quartet and voice blend incredibly well together – even though the four instruments already form a perfect sonic structure on their own. I always enjoy being surrounded by so many different colors while singing," describes Katharina Konradi about the collaboration.
The result of this collaboration and shared journey is an album characterized by emotionality, a variety of moods, and the highest musicality. It invites one to linger, to listen closely, to find tranquility in the beauty of music, and to draw strength from it.
Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 / Poschner, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony
Capriccio
CD
$21.99Nov 03, 2023
Among Bruckner’s Symphonies, the Fifth is his contrapuntal masterpiece; the grandest until the Eighth. The tour-de-force of a finale gives us an idea of what the finale of the Ninth might have been like. Its magnificent dark and halting opening with the descending bass line – so effectively recalled in the finale – is inimitable. Although long available only in a disfigured version by Franz Schalk, it is also distinct for never having been the subject to revision or, perhaps, even doubt on the part of Bruckner – who never heard it performed with an orchestra. And yet, when Bruckner wrote this masterpiece, he was still far from establishing himself as a composer in Vienna and his spirits were as low as ever, writing a friend that “my life has lost all joy and delight – in vain and for nothing.” A radiant pinnacle from amid darkness.
Giovanni Battista Viotti composed 29 violin concertos, three sinfonie concertanti, a cello concerto, countless quartets, at least 20 trios for two violins and cello and an impressive array of violin duos, four of the latter recorded here. Described in contemporary reports as a generous and highly charismatic musician driven by idealistic zeal, he is now universally recognised as one of the greatest violinists of all time. In hindsight, it is clear that he and his vast oeuvre occupied a key historical position. He appeared at a pivotal moment between the end of the ancien regime and the start of the modern era: a period when, in social terms, music began to escape the courts and entertain the growing middle classes, laying the foundations for modern concert-going and the figure of the freelance musician. A period when various national traditions, both in terms of instruments and compositions, began to meet and influence each other with unprecedented dynamism, and when the formal rigour of Classicism gave way to the pathos of Romanticism. Viotti was at the heart of this time of dramatic change: the standard-bearer for a centuries-old Italian violin school that included Arcangelo Corelli, Antonio Vivaldi, Pietro Locatelli, Giuseppe Tartini and Viotti's teacher Gaetano Pugnani. He took this esteemed group's technical achievements away from the Baroque and Galant style into a new era, with the arrival of Niccolò Paganini just around the corner. He was admired by Mozart, inspired the virtuosity of Paganini's concertos, was central because of his years lived in London to the evolution of British musical life, and must surely be considered the most significant figure in the entire French violin school. Later violin giants Pierre Rode, Rodolphe Kreutzer and Pierre Baillot were all strongly influenced by his work Viotti's renowned cantabile style is echoed in the violin writing of both Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms and is amply represented in the four violin duos on this album. Other information: - Recorded November 2022, Cagliari, Italy - Booklet in English contains liner notes by Carlo Goldstein - Gianmaria Melis plays a 1745 Sanctus Seraphin; Fabrizio Falasca plays a 1727 J. Guarneri - The Italian liner notes are available for download at www. Brilliantclassics. com - Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824) received his musical education from Gaetano Pugnani. He served for a short time at the Savoy Court in Turin but soon he spread his wings and travelled to Paris, where he was an instant success as a supreme violin virtuoso. He served for a time at the court of Versailles before he founded an opera house in Paris (Theâtre de Monsieur). The French revolution urged him to go abroad and he settled in London, where he featured in the Hanover Square concert series and was active as a concert organizer and impresario, as well as one of the founders of the Philharmonic Society of London. - Viotti was an influential violin player and teacher. He composed violin concertos, string quartets, and other chamber music for strings. Based on the principles of the Viennese Classics it hints at more romantic feelings of times to come. - This new recording presents the duos for 2 violins, music of great charm, rich in melodies and brilliantly written for both instruments, which are fully equal to each other. - Played by Fabrizio Falasca and Gianmaria Melis, playing a 1727 Guerneri and a 1745 Sanctus Seraphin violin.
In this concert, the Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Andris Nelsons, present a "heavenly" pairing: Alban Berg's "Violin Concerto, To the Memory of an Angel", alongside Mahler's Fourth Symphony, whose final movement sets "Das himmlische Leben" (Heavenly Life) to music. With this performance, young German-American violinist August Hadelich gave his debut at the Salzburg Festival and thrilled the press: "The fabulous Augustin Hadelich filled the difficult solo part with emotion and fragility, his performance was sensitive and yet glowing." (Die Presse). With Mahler's Fourth, Andris Nelsons creates "a Mahler miracle of quiet tones" (Volksblatt), joined by German soprano Christiane Karg as the soloist of the finale. The concert is part of the Wiener Philharmoniker's Mahler cycle with Nelsons. Program: Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 Alban Berg: Violin Concerto "To the Memory of an Angel"
Paul Büttner was born in Dresden in 1870 and studied violin and oboe there at the Conservatory. Over the years, Büttner increasingly established himself as a fantastic musician in Dresden. But he stayed virtually completely unknown before 1915, when the famous Arthur Nikisch premiered his Symphony No. 3. Since then, Büttner was named one of the greatest and most important contemporary symphonists in succession to Brahms and Bruckner. His Symphony No. 4 from 1917 continued the success and was performed by many different orchestras. In 1933, his music was marked as "unwanted," and the regime deleted him completely from the public music culture.
but I like to sing... / Carolyn Sampson & Joseph Middleton
BIS
SACD
$10.99$21.99Save 50%Nov 03, 2023
After many acclaimed releases on BIS, most recently ‘Sounds and Sweet Airs – A Shakespeare Songbook’ (BIS-2653), Carolyn Sampson’s latest recital with Joseph Middleton lives up to its name: it is an eloquent testimony to the English soprano’s love of her art. This programme artfully blends well-known and lesser-known lieder by German and Austrian masters such as Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Richard Strauss and Hugo Wolf with French songs by Gounod, Poulenc and Franck, as well as works by Anglo-Saxon composers such as Hubert Parry, Samuel Barber and Ivor Gurney. Female composers are not forgotten, with rarely-performed songs by Rita Strohl based on slightly risqué poems by Pierre Louÿs, music by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Kaija Saariaho – who has recently passed away – and Deborah Pritchard, whose song presented here was composed especially for Sampson. And while Leonard Bernstein’s comically cheeky song ‘I hate music’, appears to be a call not to let music take itself too seriously, Errollyn Wallen’s ‘Peace on Earth’, which concludes the album, invokes calm and encourages us to find peace, a message that seems more relevant today than ever.
The library of Bologna's Conservatory of Music contains a wide set of books about music, which are almost exclusively manuscripts. The library once belonged to the nobleman Antonio Puccetti (1792-1841), a native of Cingoli, a small town in Macerata located in the Marche region. It is indeed an aristocratic music library made up of works which range from the end of the 18th to mid 19th centuries. The interesting aspect of these works consists in the fact that they make up the bibliography of a nobleman who was not a collector but rather an amateur musician. The scores represent important documents about Puccetti's family private music performances within their own four walls, the so-called hausmusik, more intimate, which was different from the brighter salonmusik genre. The recording of these vocal and instrumental scores - including composers of the caliber of Ferdinando Carulli and Giovanni Paisiello - is entrusted to the young talents of ArsEmble, continuing the historical research that began with the rediscovery of composer Mario Bianchelli from Rimini (Tactus, tc 660201).
Provocation! Anarchy! Scandal! All too often we encounter Arnold Schoenberg in writings as an enfant terrible, as a radical innovator who sacrificed late Romantic tonality for his highly complex system of "composition with twelve tones related only to each other". In this edition, the Berliner Philharmoniker and chief conductor Kirill Petrenko demonstrate that in Schoenberg's music "heart and brain" - as the composer entitled one of his essays - are in fact in balance, and that the twelve-tone technique is also entirely at the service of expression. Released in the aftermath of the 150th anniversary year of the composer's birth, it presents five central works that illustrate all of Schoenberg's stylistic periods.
A surprising and refreshing journey which explores the confines of the repertoire for saxophone and piano, Walking the Dog unites two formidable virtuosos of the contemporary classical scene, the Austrian Andreas Mader and the German Joseph Moog.
Walking the Dog is a multifaceted work, an authentic melting-pot, a surprising witness to the richness of the international musical scene at the beginning of the 20th century. One would then encounter styles as diverse as the mambo, the merengue, the habanera, or the samba, or even fusions of these seemingly separate genres.
Andreas Mader and Joseph Moog open their recital with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in the inspiring version of the Japanese Jun Nagao. Under their sensitive and incisive fingers, it becomes the spirit of Jazz itself, sparkling and fresh. The Suite of seven pieces adapted from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet pursues it in a trenchant and caustic way: the saxophone, part soprano part tenor, displays all its colours.
This programme also pays tribute to France – a well-deserved homage to the country where Adolf Sax fathered such a great family of instruments. Some works are iconic, such as Debussy's Rhapsody (in a new and impressive version by the saxophonist), Milhaud's Scaramouche, some less known, like the Two Pieces by Lili Boulanger, and we have a genuine rarity, the Five Exotic Dances, a brilliant and exciting suite of miniature compositions from 1961 by Jean Francaix. Andreas Mader and Joseph Moog conclude their journey by a return to the origins – New York – by giving us the little Promenade, under the title "Walking the Dog", that Gershwin composed for the film Shall We Dance with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
This is an absolutely thrilling album which arouses both curiosity and senses, a true revelation from this surprising duo. It is impossible to resist Andreas Mader's voluptuous saxophone interlocked into the golden piano playing of Joseph Moog.
Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov & Tsfasman: Works for Piano and Orchestra / Chochieva, Steffens, BBC SSO
Naïve
CD
$16.99Nov 15, 2024
The pianist Zlata Chochieva is well known for creating unexpected associations. In "Chiaroscuro", her first album for naive (V7542, 2022), she had combined the worlds of Scriabin and Mozart, in whom she hears not only the same desire for clarity and weightlessness but also a similar poetic sense of rhetoric. Her next album ("i'm Freien", V7959, 2023), a homage to nature, revealed alongside Ravel's Miroirs and Schumann's Waldszenen a short cycle, so little known and graceful (Petite Histoire), by Felix Draeseke! No wonder she is now offering us, for her first album with orchestra, one of the most obscure works of Russian Romanticism, the Piano Concerto by Rimsky-Korsakov. Written in 1883 in memory of Franz Liszt, whose two opuses in the genre strongly influenced the author of Scheherazade, this Concerto, with it's monothematic structure, built on a Russian folk theme, had greatly impressed Balakirev, who was surprised to hear such an idiomatically written soloist part, from a composer who was not a pianist himself. At the age of fourteen, Zlata Chochieva had played the work under the direction of Mikhail Pletnev, then head of the Russian National Orchestra. This Concerto remains for her a "miracle of taste, poetry and inspiration". Her intelligent and limpid playing is ideally suited to the very delicate lyricism that Rimsky-Korsakov deploys throughout this astonishing score full of numerous and subtle contrasts. At the heart of this recording, where Zlata Chochieva is joined by the musicians of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the German conductor Karl-Heinz Steffens, surges the merciless ardor of Sergei Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto. In a departure from the stormy way in which this formidable score (for the fingers) is generally approached by pianists, Zlata Chochieva prefers a certain sense of phantasmagoria, rightly recalling that Prokofiev, as a spiritual disciple of Alexander Borodin and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, enjoyed stories, old Russian fairy tales and legends. After this, we have a total change of atmosphere with the Jazz Suite for piano and orchestra by Alexander Tsfasman which concludes the album. An eminent disciple of Felix Blumenfeld, an incredibly talented pianist, to whom Shostakovich intended piano part of one of his film scores, Tsfasman introduced American jazz to the Soviet Union, and formed the first orchestra dedicated to the genre. In Russia, he premiered Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, a composer for whom he had the deepest admiration. A brilliantly written, comforting and sincere score, his Jazz Suite sometimes evokes the American composer but above all Hollywood and Soviet film scores. Not without a most contagious and mischievous pleasure, Zlata Chochieva and Karl-Heinz Steffens revel in it's ingenuous charms (Snowflakes). 17 July 2024
In June 2015, the Berliner Philharmoniker elected Kirill Petrenko as chief conductor, and he took up office in 2019. Our exclusive vinyl edition presents key recordings of this phase of anticipation and new beginnings. Performances of works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Franz Schmidt, and Rudi Stephan reveal not only the first important programme directions, but also the exciting, intensive music-making in this partnership.
Rare Italian Madrigals Composers from the upper drawer number several well-known names (music quality increasing a lot over the century), among them principally Giaches de Wert (1535-1596), Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613), Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), and, not least, Luca Marenzio (1553-1599), to whom the present CD is entirely devoted. In his rather short lifespan, he managed to write about 500 madrigals between 1580 and 1599. In those two decades, his music developed immensely, reaching it's climax in the last ten years of his life. Though continuing to satisfy his great popular following with loads of small, lighthearted songs, Marenzio excelled also in writing ambitious madrigal cycles, of which two are recorded here: Baci soavi e cari (five 6-part madrigals describing several aspects of kissing) and, maybe his magnum opus, Capitolo - Se quel dolor (ten 6-part madrigals delving into one of the period's favourite subjects: melancholia).
Haydn's originality, wit and esprit are once again as impressive as the striking inventiveness and versatility of this highly acclaimed ensemble. If his opus one marks the birth of the genre, then opus 33 marks the rebirth, containing some of his most inspired and innovative music. Haydn skilfully plays with the listener's expectations by offering lots of surprising twists and the Leipzig String Quartet reveal and revel in the delights of Haydn's musical wit and invention.
Following her lyrical and witty complete recording of Mozart’s Keyboard Sonatas, issued by naïve in March 2023, Yeol Eum Son invites Svetlin Roussev to join her in enfolding himself in the enticingly subtle harmonic intricacies of Germanic post- Romanticism.
For their second recital as a duo, the Bulgarian violinist and the Korean pianist follow the course taken by works written over a period of slightly more than half a century by composers or famous performers upon whom Richard Wagner exercised crucial influence. They take on almost every genre – cinema, opera, chamber music, transcription – treating it in the lyrical, large-scale manner of the Bayreuth master. During their unexpected, fascinating journey, Svetlin Roussev and Yeol Eum Son chart a variety of pathways, from Waxman to Strauss.
So many different worlds! To begin, two figures who made their indelible mark on the music written for Hollywood. Of German-Polish origins, in 1946 Franz Waxman (Rebecca, Sunset Boulevard, A Place in the Sun, Prince Valiant) wrote, at Jascha Heifetz’s request, a paraphrase on themes from Wagner’s Tristan et Isolde, actually an adaptation of a section of the score he composed for the film Humoresque (Warner Brothers, 1947). In summary, a manifesto in music of an impossible love – to which, at the end of the disc, an extremely rare transcription one of the better known Wesendonck-Lieder, credited to the great virtuoso Leopold Auer, forms a response.
The programme continues with Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a child prodigy in Vienna during the 1910s. The famed Mariettas Lied – the best-known moment in his opera Die tote Stadt – and the sublime nocturne from his incidental music for Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (the Scene in the Garden) remain as much moments of lyric intensity as truly cinematographic, deliciously intoxicating love scenes. But lovers also know how to frolic, and if already in Korngold they readily do so, the three more light-hearted pieces by Fritz Kreisler will place them in everyday, commonplace scenarios, where laughing reigns.
The keystone of the programme is unarguably the magnificent Sonata for Violin and Piano that Richard Strauss composed in 1887. He was 23 years old, and still heavily influenced by Schumann and Brahms, even Grieg. Svetlin Roussev and Yeol Eum Son make its case with radiant commitment, sensitive to the spirit stirring in the young Richard, then already in love with the soprano Pauline de Ahna, who would become his wife.
Beyond Wagner, this highly original album above all celebrates that moment of falling in love when, overwhelmed, the heart quivers, to the point of being transformed.
With a sure instinct for the extraordinary the Baroque orchestra caterva musica, formed by renowned soloists, release the final installment of their "L'arte del virtuoso" series in time for the ensemble's 25th anniversary. Once more they showcase their virtuosic artistry with distinctive solo concertos by J. C. Bach, Pergolesi, Vivaldi, Telemann and Walther, inspiring 18th century masterpieces that still connect with today's audiences emotionally with their cheerfulness, solemnity or sensuality.
Multi award-winning Peruvian-Austrian tenor Juan Diego Flórez has now founded his own label. The first album of the label to be released is dedicated to the zarzuela genre. It also marks the star tenor‘s first recording with Sinfonía por el Perú Youth Orchestra and Choir, an organization that forms part of the social project he founded and supports. This first recording is led by conductor Guillermo García Calvo, who looks back on a long international career and has been Music Director of the Teatro de la Zarzuela between 2020 and 2024. A tour to major European arts centers featuring selected romances and orchestral pieces accompanies the release.
Juan Diego Flórez has made a name for himself as a bel canto specialist in particular. By turning to “zarzuela,” he returns to the genre with which he opened up the world of opera as a young singer and composer of popular songs. “These romances full of passion and emotion represent an almost unique opportunity for Spanish and Latin American tenors to sing in their mother tongue,” he says, describing his close connection to this Spanish form of opéra comique or operetta, which is very well-known and popular in the Hispanic world but less represented in other countries. By founding his own label, Juan Diego Flórez pursues the goal of documenting his artistic visions in a self-determined way.
The next releases include both solo albums, orchestra recitals, as well as complete operas. Having his own label also gives him the opportunity to support projects with Sinfonía por el Perú as well as promote young artists. “This recording production certainly fills me with happiness and pride. Firstly, because it represents my first recording with the Youth Orchestra and Choir of Sinfonía por el Perú - a social movement that seeks to improve the lives of Peruvian children and youngsters through the collective practice of music; secondly, because it was done in Lima, my hometown; and thirdly, because it constitutes the launch of my own record label." Juan Diego Flórez
Less than a year after the release of his recording of Schubert's Impromptus (BIS-2614), Ronald Brautigam now presents two of Franz Schubert's late masterpieces, the Sonatas D 959 and D 960. They are played here on a fortepiano built by Paul McNulty after an instrument from around 1819 by the Viennese instrument maker Conrad Graf, and presumably similar to the instrument on which Schubert composed.
Although it is tempting to see Schubert's final works as the testament of a doomed artist who feels his end is nearing, the reality is quite different: the composer displayed vitality, optimism, and a prodigious capacity for work. His last two sonatas also show that he had reached a new level, having successfully emancipated himself from the Beethovenian model. These sonatas took a long time to establish themselves, not least because of their length, which was at first disconcerting for music-lovers and pianists alike. They are now considered to be among Schubert's finest works, alongside others dating from the last years of his life, such as the String Quintet in C major and the song cycle Winterreise. All these works seemed to herald considerable promise for future works; Schubert's untimely death buried a rich heritage, but even more beautiful hopes.
REVIEW:
Paul McNulty ‘s 2007 fortepiano based on a Conrad Graf model circa 1819 served Ronald Brautigam’s Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven solo recordings wonderfully well, and does so again in the fortepianist’s powerful, passionate and musically intelligent accounts of Schubert’s last two sonatas. Indeed, these are far and away the best Schubert period instrument piano recordings since those of Andreas Staier and Peter Serkin. Brautigam dives into the A Major Sonata’s opening Allegro with both assertion and flexibility, underlining Schubert’s astonishing harmonic tangents with stinging accents, subtle accelerations and full-bodied fortes that almostd detonate. To compensate for his instrument’s limited sustaining capabilities, Brautigam builds the momentum within the slow movement’s wild central climax by occasionally scaling back the long chromatic phrases so that their loudest peaks convey maximum impact. Having recently played on a similar McNulty Graf model, I can attest that the instrument’s light action makes it easier than usual to negotiate the Scherzo at a true Allegro vivace. However, Brautigam holds the tempo back and conveys more lilt and swing in the process. He also brings a patient, songful and lovingly nuanced spaciousness to the Finale that parallels Maurizio Pollini’s sublime modern instrument recording.
The instrument’s striking timbral distinctions between registers hit home in the B-flat Sonata’s Molto Moderato, especially when the low lying trills appear to emanate from an entirely different keyboard. Likewise, the frequent repeated notes in melodic phrases and ostinato-like accompaniments gain tension. One also should note Brautigam’s shifts of emphasis and timing as he observes the long first movement repeat. He imparts more urgency than what one often hears in the Andante sostenuto, mustering up genuine orchestral impact in the central climax. The Scherzo stands out for Brautigam’s mercurial pedal shifts and curvaceously inflected Trio section. I would have imagined a more headlong Finale in Brautigam’s hands, yet he takes Schubert’s “ma non troppo” caveat to heart by easing his way into the main theme, and allowing the dotted rhythms a welcome degree of grandeur and breathing room. The interpretation suggests an opera without words more than a piano showpiece, and that’s a compliment. Superb sonics, superb annotations, superb musicianship and superb pianism: what more could you want from this most recommendable Schubert release? Don’t miss it.
The story of the Prague Symphony Orchestra is closely related to the history of the Czech capital, which leaves an impression on their repertoire. After their successful recording of Karel Husa’s Music for Prague 1968 (Supraphon, 2021), the orchestra and its chief conductor are coming up with another album dedicated to Prague. This time, the program is focused on the late 19th century, i.e. the period when the Czech nation fought for its language, culture, and identity within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The backbone of the record is Suk’s monumental symphonic poem Praga, based on the Hussite chorale, “Ktož jsú Boží bojovníci” (Ye Who Are Warriors of God); Vyšehrad from Smetana’s famous cycle Má vlast (My Country); and a rarity: Pohádka o Šemíku (A Tale of Šemík), which is a largely unknown symphonic poem based on an ancient Czech legend connected with Vyšehrad, by Otakar Ostrcil, composed when he was nineteen. And of course, there is Antonín Dvorák. In hardly any work of his is Dvorák as explicitly patriotic as in his overture My Home (which is not very well known either). It is based on the theme of the popular song “Kde domov muj,” which later became the Czech national anthem. Another rarity of this album is Dvorák’s fanfare for the opening of the National Jubilee Exhibition in Prague. After their acclaimed recording of the composer’s Slavonic Dances, the Prague Symphony Orchestra confirm that the Czech repertoire of late Romanticism is their native and most natural language. The romantic and legendary city of Prague on a record of the Prague Symphony Orchestra.
The illustrious French organ tradition is celebrated in this album of Toccatas and Meditations, including masterpieces drawn from across the repertoire. Charles-Marie Widor was the founding father of the French Organ School, and his Toccata from Symphony No. 5 is a cornerstone of the organ repertoire. The Meditation by his contemporary Louis Vierne is among the highlights of Romantic organ works. Durufle, Boellmann and Guilmant are also represented, as is a beautiful Ravel arrangement. They're played on the magnificent Grenzing organ at Bauernkirche Iserlohn by Dariia Lytvishko - a Ukrainian-born virtuoso and one of the most lavishly gifted organists of her generation.
Champagne! The Original Sound of Lumbye & His Idols
Dacapo Classical
CD
$8.99$17.99Save 50%Sep 01, 2023
With the establishment of Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens in 1843, the Danish composer and conductor Hans Christian Lumbye (1810–1874) swiftly rose to fame as the city’s internationally acclaimed king of waltzes and galops, leading his orchestra from the violin. For this recording, Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Concerto Copenhagen – Scandinavia’s leading period instruments ensemble – studied Lumbye’s original scores and used instruments from the era to recreate an authentic sound. This collection showcases Lumbye’s enchanting music, along with popular pieces by Bellman, Lanner and Strauss I.
The final volume in the historically important collection of rare recordings with the Danish versatile conductor Launy Grøndahl features the opera The Black Spider, an unknown masterpiece by the Swiss conductor Heinrich Sutermeister. In addition to never-before-released broadcast recordings, this volume collects the very first 78RPM recordings made by Grøndahl with his Olympia Orchestra in 1923. All previous volumes, from Volume 1 to this final release, are available.
Experience the rich and vibrant sounds of Europe's Romantic tradition with our latest CD featuring music by four talented composers. Discover the little-known talent of Sigurd Lie, a highly skilled violinist and composer from Norway who studied with leading teachers in Leipzig and Berlin. Immerse yourself in the enchanting folk tale inspiration of Lie's "Huldra aa'n Elland" for violin and orchestra and be captivated by the playful and seductive solo violin performed by the renowned violinist Ragnhild Hemsing. Follow in the footsteps of Lie's compatriot, Johan Svendsen, a famous violinist and composer who studied in Leipzig and Paris and is best remembered for his Romance for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 26. Svendsen's work was admired by Belgian violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe and was reprinted 65 times. This CD is a must-have for any lover of the Romantic era, the diverse sounds of Norway and Europe, and the virtuosic performances of Hemsing.
This is re-issue of the previous bestseller C756081 (4011790756127). Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's 1985 production of "Pagliacci" (and "Cavalleria rusticana") was one of the French director's last assignments at the Vienna State Opera before his untimely death 1988. The sensation of that June evening in 1985 was, however, Placido Domingo's consummate performance in Leoncavallos Pagliacci. He was more than an expressive singer with an incomparable tenor voice, he was also a truly great actor able to convey the whole world of his emotions to every member of the audience. Domingo's ability to bring out utter hopelessness transformed Leoncavallo's hackneyed opera into a highly individual tragedy from whose sway no one could escape. The dramatic intensity of his performance fired the other singers, too: thanks not least to her extraordinary vocal skills, Ileana Cotrubas was able to make Nedda's easygoing attitude as credible as her genuine feeling for Silvio and her struggle to safeguard the new love that had entered into her life; Wolfgang Schone gave Silvio an unusually clear-cut character and Heinz Zednik's presence in the cast likewise gave Peppe a whole new dimension. Finally, the French baritone Matteo Manuguerra was able to display thanks to his great and powerful voice a "terrifyingly evil" Tonio. By the end of the evening the public and the critics "were genuinely gripped"
This repertoire spans almost eighty years of classical composers' excursions into blues, folk, hip-hop, jazz, musical theater, samba, tango, techno and other genres. Each piece goes beyond mere stylistic imitation, cultivating an authentic expressivity within a transcribed musical language rooted in the Americas. ___Alexander Crosett
Missa Criolla, by Argentine composer Ariel Ramirez (1921-2010) is a Spanish vernacular setting of Roman mass liturgy. Navidad Nuestra, composed in 1964, is subtitled"A folk drama of the nativity based on rhythms and traditions of Hispanic America"
Puccini is renowned as one of the greatest opera composers of all time, and his early works - before Manon Lescaut catapulted him to international fame - offer a fascinating insight into his development as a composer. John Wilson and Sinfonia of London explore this repertoire with characteristic style and commitment, leading us on a journey through student compositions and orchestral extracts from his earliest operas. Studying under Amilcare Ponchielli at the Milan Conservatory from 1880 to 1883, he created the Preludio sinfonico (loosely based on Wagner's Prelude to Lohengrin), the Scherzo, Trio, and Adagetto, and Capriccio sinfonico, his graduation piece, which famously pre-echoes the opening of La bohème by a decade. The one-act opera Le villi was composed for a competition launched by the publisher Sonzogno (Puccini didn't win), whilst themes from the contemporaneous Tre minuetti and Crisantemi (both for string quartet) were subsequently re-cycled in Manon Lescaut. Verdi's publisher, Ricordi, bought the rights to Le villi, and commissioned a new work at the same time: Edgar, which, largely owing to the absurd plot, is arguably Puccini's only failure, despite some fully mature music easily the match of the more celebrated scores.
Both these violin concertos have been long-neglected for the same reason: their composers were much better-known for their achievements in musical theatre rather than for their works for the concert-hall. Robert Russell Bennett studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, and his output includes seven symphonies. He also orchestrated some of the highest-profile musicals in Broadway history, including works by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Rodgers and Hammerstein. (Richard Rodgers modestly claimed that Bennett's skills in instrumentation had made his music 'sound better than it was'). Vladimir Alexandrovich Dukelsky changed his name to Vernon Duke at the suggestion of his friend Jacob Gershovitz - better known as George Gershwin. Duke received a rigorous training in classical music at the Kyiv Conservatory; was friends with Prokofiev and composed ballet scores for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris, as well as three symphonies. He remains better known as the creator of hit shows, such as Cabin in the Sky, and as the composer of numerous songs that became jazz standards, including 'April in Paris'. Chloe Hanslip, Andrew Litton, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra perform both concertos with aplomb, and Andrew Litton also takes the role of pianist in Bennett's Hexapoda.
