A MusicWeb International Recording of the Month!

For those who love Czech music, this is a highly valuable disc. For those, like me, passionate about Martin?, it is indispensable.

Martin? is one of those twentieth-century composers, like Prokofiev of Malcolm Arnold, who are sometimes taken less than seriously because they composed so prolifically, and with such apparent ease. Facility seems, to some at least, at odds with the knotty, hard-won efforts of pure genius (especially if Beethoven, or, in painting, Van Gogh, is taken as an archetype). Yet we make no such charges against eighteenth-century composers. Genius has many forms, and we should perhaps look to the prolific type as a source of unending treasures.

Bouquet of Flowers is a very attractive piece, with depths that become more apparent with each hearing. It was composed to a commission from Czech Radio and premiered in April 1938. The music is in Martin?’s most accessible idiom, based on Moravian folk songs, with a prominent part for two orchestral pianos and harmonium. Martin? had a gift – sometimes overlooked – for word-setting, and in the five songs which make up the cycle (plus an overture, and two interludes) he is able to demonstrate enormous emotional variety. The purely orchestral third movement, ‘Idyll’, has gentleness and great lyricism, yet also, in its accompaniment, rhythmic solidity. It is a charming and immediately enjoyable piece. The succeeding ‘Kravarky’ is a song about a little girl cowherd preparing to meet her young man. It has an interesting sobriety despite the apparent lightness of the theme. The last three songs have darker themes – the imprisoned young man (though he is helped to escape by his fair maid), ‘Koleda’ (‘A Carol’) about the consequences of Original Sin, and a final meditation on death before a concluding orchestral section. This is an important work, and a very satisfying one.

The three dances by Jan Novák are a valuable filler. By the way, he should not be confused with the better known Vít?zslav Novák (1870-1949). Jan Novák was a friend of Martin? and, in later years, an émigré, following the Soviet invasion of 1968. He had also been forced to work in Germany during the Second World War. Martin?’s influence on his idiom is evident, yet he has a distinctive voice. The three Philharmonic Dances are extended showpieces, readily accessible, and together they form an attractive suite. This is their first recording.

Performances throughout are excellent. Recordings are clear, and Netopil is emerging as a formidable musician. I have been impressed by previous recordings, and the Czech musical tradition seems very safe under his direction.

– MusicWeb International (Michael Wilkinson)

On this new release, The Klenke Quartett, who are well-versed in the performance of Mozart, present the Mozart’s String Quartets Nos. 1-6. The Klenke Quartett, based in Berlin and Thuringia, was founded in 1991 at the Musikhochschule Weimar. Since then, and still in its original formation, it enriches the concert life “as one of the most distinguished European ensembles.” (Gewandhausmagazin) The immediate response of the musical world to the Klenke Quartett’s performances and recordings of Mozart’s string quartets was one of acclaim and superlatives. In the view of the music magazine Rondo: “With their precise, controlled, and masterly grasp of the music, the four women of Weimar moved international critics to a storm of enthusiasm.” And Deutschland Radio exclaimed: “They are four equally talented musicians, who interact in the most marvelous, indeed, most exquisite fashion.”

REVIEW:

The Klenke Quartett’s new 3-disc set of Mozart’s complete string quintets (with guest violist Harald Schoneweg) constitutes a welcome return for the group to the music of Mozart. This new release shows some familiar strengths: a fine ensemble sound, careful but not over-precise, with enough character to set these performances apart even from such well-known groups as the Amadeus Quartet with Cecil Aronowitz or the Guarneri Quartet with Michael Tree, both of which I find just a bit superficial. My gold standard for these great works has always been the 1973 Philips set with Arthur Grumiaux and four other very fine instrumentalists (or, as they say in the Season One Gilligan’s Island theme song: “and the rest”). Of course, this new recording comes from a completely different tradition of playing, more historically informed and without the fine Corinthian leather upholstery of earlier days, but it has the same high standard of musicianship and not-too-careful tightrope-walks between dancing joy and intense despair. The Accentus engineers provide a surprisingly big, resonant space which matches well with the big sound of these fine string players. This is a more than just an enjoyable release; it’s a profound experience.

– Music for Several Instruments

Within a short time, early music enthusiasts had to say their farewells to two personalities who, for half a century, influenced the development of what we call the authentic interpretation of early music: Gustav Leonhardt and Nicolaus Harnoncourt. In 1950 Supraphon made a complete recording of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos performed by a chamber ensemble led by a musician of Czech origin, Josef Mertin (1904–1998). A scholar and organ builder as well, he relentlessly “dusted” the works of composers from the previous centuries (including Guillaume de Machaut), stubbornly seeking the way to give their music its authentic sound. The names of his pupils who took up his legacy make an impressive list that includes Claudio Abbado, Mariss Jansons and Zubin Mehta. Mertin has managed to win a number of students for the interpretation of early music on period instruments, among them musicians without whom we can hardly imagine the field nowadays. The Brandenburg Concertos were performed by an ensemble whose members were the 22-year-old cembalist Gustav Leonhardt (playing the solo in Concerto No. 5), a rising violin star Eduard Melkus and a year younger violoncellist Nicolaus Harnoncourt. It was the first time that a chamber size of the ensemble and period instruments were used. Hopefully, listening to the recording will convince you that it is more than just a historical document. As far as Mertin and Harnoncourt are concerned, this unique recording is also a proud reminder of their Czech roots.

Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006), one of the most distinguished figures of 20th-century Czech music, wrote dozens of opuses, mainly instrumental pieces, including for his wife, the world-renowned harpsichordist Zuzana Ružickova. As he himself put it, his aim was to create music rooted in his country, music for educated listeners. Although he also drew inspiration from 20th-century classics, Kalabis arrived at a synthetic style of his own, an alternative to the rational compositional techniques – a Neo-Romantic alternative, akin to Neo-Classicism. Besides the first ever album of Kalabis’s complete piano oeuvre, Ivo Kahanek and other leading Czech instrumentalists have recorded the composer’s three sonatas. The one for cello reflects the dramatic events in Czechoslovakia between June and September 1968: the months of euphoria of the Prague Spring, followed by disillusionment and resignation in the wake of the Warsaw Pact’s invasion, which for two decades to come would numb all hopes of freedom. The clarinet sonata (1969) too clearly refers to the time of its coming into being: drama, grief and sorrow, escalated into harrowing helplessness. The elliptical and coherent violin sonata (1982) places emphasis on the instrument’s typical ethos – melodiousness, bright sound and soulfulness. After 3 albums featuring Kalabis’s symphonies and concertos, the present recording affords yet another insight into the composer’s musical universe.

The 24 Preludes and the Sonata in B minor are among the most significant works by Chopin. Despite his poor health, Chopin was able to complete the Preludes during his stay on the island of Mallorca. Chopin lost his father shortly before he began to work on the B minor Sonata and once again, he was very ill. It seems almost incomprehensible that Chopin was able to write rich, dramatic works of this magnitude during periods of intense suffering. Kotaro Fukuma’s concept for this recording was a juxtaposition of two life cycles: the first cycle consists of the Preludes paired with the Berceuse, which appear to symbolize the ascent to heaven; the Contredanse marks the beginning of a new section, of a second cycle, which comes to a triumphant conclusion with the Finale of the B minor Sonata. Born in Tokyo, Kotaro Fukama took his first piano lesson at the age of five. After winning both First Prize and the Chopin Prize at the International Piano Competition in Cleveland, Kotaro Fukuma embarked on an international concert career across the globe. He has performed at major concert venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, and many others. He currently resides in Berlin. “A fabulous artist… and a prince among peers.” (The Independent)

Classical Music

Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Alexander von Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony, composed only seven years apart, while differing widely differing in their choice of soloists, are united in their source of inspiration. The Lyric Symphony is Zemlinsky’s best known work and an homage to Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde”. It sets poems by Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) to equally poetic music. Szymanowski likely received his inspiration for the violin concerto from “Noc Majowa” (May Night), a poem by the Polish poet Tadeusz Micinski. The work is recognized as the first “modern“ violin concerto, as Szymanowski rejects the 19th-century tradition and the major-minor system, introducing a new music language full of ecstatic raptures and poetic tension.

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REVIEW:

This performance of Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony can be considered at least the equal of Chailly's or Eschenbach's notable readings. Although the singers are forwardly balanced, the recording is of surpassing transparency and richness, allowing Zemlinsky’s iridescent score to be heard to ravishing effect, and Liebreich conveys the music’s mingled ardour, otherworldliness and heartbreak with tremendous conviction.

Vähälä’s plays the Szymanowski with litheness and spontaneity, alongside an impressive technical command and a sense of rapture at key moments. The contribution of the Polish orchestra under Alexander Liebreich is as refined and impassioned as any rival.

– Gramophone

Zhu Xiao-Mei writes of this new release: “It is with children in mind that I recorded these French Suites, always having heartfelt simplicity and purity in their mind. Children see the world with hope, optimism, and cast in light – much like Miró sees the world. I find a childlike purity in him, similar to what I hear in the French Suites. There is a quote by Miró that touches me enormously and makes me think a lot whenever I play, as it reflects something that may be the most difficult aspect of musical interpretation – and of art in general: „To gain freedom is to gain simplicity.” This release was recorded at the Mendelssohnsaal of the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, May 2016.

BACH Cello Suites Nos. 1–6 • Mstislav Rostropovich (vc) • SUPRAPHON 4044-2, mono (2 CDs: 123:52) Live: Prague 5/26–27/1955


Although this set was released over two years ago, it only came to my attention more recently (and via a pirate clone on the Documents label at that). I then held off on writing a review, hoping that one of my Fanfare colleagues with expertise in string instruments would take the task in hand instead. As that has not occurred, I will now venture in where angels fear to tread. While Rostropovich did of course record the set of cello suites near the end of his career, for EMI in 1995 (issued on both CD and DVD; see the review of the former by David K. Nelson in 19:1), the release of another cycle from 40 years before, from the dawn of his career in 1955, is a major event that demands attention.


This recording was made at the annual Prague Spring Festival, when the cellist was but 28 years old. (It is also a notable occasion in that Rostropovich there met his wife, the famed soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, and proposed to her after a whirlwind 10-day courtship!) The monaural sound is quite clear, if a bit hard-edged and closely miked; the audience is very quiet, though now and then an occasional soft cough is barely audible in the background. While quite acceptable on its own terms, the audio quality of course does not compete with the velvety sound of EMI’s digital set. A similar disadvantageous comparison can be made about the quality of the cellos used; Rostropovich had not yet acquired his famed Duport Stradivarius, and the unidentified instrument used in Prague, while again good enough in and of itself, cannot compare with the ravishing, burnished tone quality of the Duport. For an instant revelation of the difference, listen to the opening of the Prelude to the Fifth Suite, where the sheer depth and opulence of the Duport in the EMI set is positively dumbfounding. There is also the occasional note in Prague that is not quite dead in tune—clearly due in part to the far less rich overtones of the instrument rather than any shortcoming on the part of Rostropovich. If the sound of the instrument itself is a decisive desideratum here—and for many people it justifiably is—then this Supraphon release will likely not be much more than a curiosity.


However, in addition to instrumental sound there is the issue of differences in interpretation over the intervening span of four decades, and that is where this set comes into its own. The first thing to note is that overall, with the major exceptions of the preludes to the First, Third, and Fourth suites, the Gigue in the First Suite, and the Sarabande in the Fifth Suite, the earlier performances are noticeably swifter. (The total timing of the EMI set is 137:54, compared to 123:52 here). That said, comparisons of some individual movements can be misleading, as in the 1955 performances Rostropovich omits repeats in some movements—e.g., the allemandes in the Third and Sixth suites, the bourées in the Fourth Suite, the Courante in the Sixth Suite—though even in some of those instances the 1955 versions would still be swifter if the repeats were observed. (The cuts in Prague doubtless stem from Rostropovich’s early training; in the booklet notes to the EMI set, the cellist recounts that his teacher, Semyon Kozolupov, strictly forbade pupils to play repeats of the second half of movements written in binary form, allowing repeats only in the first half.) If observance of all the repeats is a major criterion for evaluating a set of the suites, then again this set will not be competitive with the EMI studio recording.


What, then, does this Supraphon set have that commends it as a supplement or alternative to the EMI studio version? In a word (actually two words), that elusive and almost intangible quality I would call “narrative intensity.” Despite my unreserved adoration of Rostropovich as the greatest cellist in recorded history (and is there any lover of cello music who does not so venerate him?), I had always found the EMI set of these suites somehow lacking, and this new release has finally made clear why. As tonally gorgeous and technically immaculate as those sets are, and despite the programmatic titles and descriptions that Rostropovich gives to each suite in that set, it is live in Prague and not in the studio that the cellist finds and articulates fully sustained interpretive profiles. Listen for example to the Sarabande in the Second Suite, dubbed “Sorrow and intensity” by Rostropovich in the 1995 EMI set. While that studio recording is very beautiful, it lacks meditative profundity; whereas in Prague there is a rapt sense of total inward intensity—what the Germans call Innigkeit —that transforms the movement into one bearing comparison with the symphonic Adagio s of Bruckner. Likewise, while still too slow for my taste, the gavottes and Gigue in the Sixth Suite in Prague have some forward momentum, unlike the suffocatingly leaden versions in the EMI set.


Another notable difference is that in Prague Rostropovich is metrically much more exact, whereas on the EMI set he is rather free (or “rhapsodic,” to borrow his description of Pablo Casals). This is particularly true in the in the concluding dance movements (the menuets, bourées, gavottes, and gigues), with the last two movements of the Second Suite again offering particularly striking instances. While I suppose that some might characterize the earlier recordings as comparatively stiff, I do not find them so, and indeed prefer the more strict approach as better articulating the structure of the music. On the other hand, I much prefer the brisker tempos taken in the EMI set to the preludes of the First, Third, and Fourth Suites, the Allemande in the Third Suite, and the Courante in the Sixth Suite, as imparting a necessary greater degree of energy to those movements.


While my overall interpretive preference is therefore with the Prague versions, I cannot simply recommend that set in preference to the EMI one for those desiring a recording of Rostropovich in this repertoire. The two sets are strikingly different, and each has its considerable merits in manifesting the cellist’s extraordinary musical genius. (Indeed, the Prague set caused me to appreciate virtues of the EMI set that had not registered with me before.) For fans of Rostropovich, it goes without saying that this is a mandatory acquisition; but to lovers of cello music in general and the Bach suites in particular, I would say much the same thing, despite its occasional limitations. Had this not come to my attention too late to qualify, it surely would have been a major Want List contender; urgently recommended.


FANFARE: James A. Altena

Classical Music

Since her European stage debut in the year 2000, South Korean soprano Sunhae Im has proven her artistic versatility in a multitude of international productions. Her agile voice was particularly convincing in the stage works of Handel and Vivaldi. The present album with the bFIVE Recorder Consort shows that she can do more than just voice acrobatics and baroque opera. Together they play William Byrd’s songs with subtle and elevating authenticity. Sunhae Im Ms. Im has internationally been invited to renowned festivals such as the Edinburgh International Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival, Salzburg Festival, or Haydn International Festival and has worked with the New York Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, or the Munich Philharmonic. Her repertoire includes works by Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Gluck, Rameau, Charpentier, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Mahler, and Mendelssohn.

In the year of Leonard Bernstein’s centenary, Sony Classical is pleased to present the perfect introduction to this legendary American musician. Many of the conductor-composer’s most celebrated interpretations and works are sampled on two CDs, every track chosen to display a facet of his unparalleled dynamism and versatility.

There is music by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Mahler, Shostakovich and Copland on the first disc, with great soloists like clarinettist Benny Goodman and mezzo Frederica von Stade, violinists Joshua Bell and Zino Francescatti, pianists Glenn Gould and Philippe Entremont, not to mention Bernstein himself playing and conducting Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Writing about these benchmark 1960s and 1970s New York interpretations, The Guardian’s reviewer declared: “There’s a raw ebullience to the performances that is typical of Bernstein at his best … They are all historic performances.”

Bernstein the composer is represented by a generously filled second disc. “Few composers capture their time and become the iconic voice of their age,” wrote conductor John Mauceri, in a tribute to his late mentor, one of a handful of figures in the 20th century who truly changed the face of music. In addition to highlights from concert works such as the Age of Anxiety, Serenade and Mass, there are selections from Bernstein’s ballets and musicals, including excerpts from the original Broadway cast recording of West Side Story from 1957 as well as his later New York Philharmonic recording of the “Symphonic Dances”.

Bernstein’s friend and colleague, composer Ned Rorem, summed up Leonard Bernstein’s achievement admirably when he said in 1987: “If he were not a composer he would not be the world’s best conductor. Alone among conductors he knows that the essence of music is not what it sounds like, but what the sounds are intended to communicate. Since he too is a composer, he knows that the magic lies not in the communication of sound, but in the sound of communication."

Austrian symphonist Bruckner was long denied the recognition that he deserved - which was a situation that almost endured until towards the end of his life. However, he owed his significant breakthrough as a composer to the premiere of his Seventh Symphony in Leipzig in 1884. With the famous Adagio, this work was an enormous success during Bruckner's lifetime and is still considered one of the most famous and beautiful works of romantic symphonic repertoire. Even Johann Strauss, Jr. was amazed by the symphony: "Am deeply moved. It was the musical experience of my life." For the present album, this deeply moving symphony is recently recorded in one of the most famous concert halls in the world, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, by its Orchestra in Residence NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under their new Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert. With this recording, one will experience Bruckner’s breathtaking Seventh Symphony in the spectacular big concert hall of Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

Jan Vogler's new album was recorded in a small studio in New York. He teamed with the fantastic Finnish guitarist Ismo Eskelinen for this recording.

"Songbook" presents partly pieces originally written for cello and guitar such as 3 Nocturnes by Friedrich Burgmüller (1806-1874) and the first movement of the Sonata for Guitar and Cello by Brazilian composerRadamés Gnattali (1906-1988).

"Songbook" also features several famous works in arrangements for guitar and cello: Cantabile by Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), the Gymnopédie No. 1 by Erik Satie (1866-1925), the Suite Popular Española byManuel de Falla (1876-1946) as well as the famous Aria from Bachianas Brasileiras by the most famous South American composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959). The arrangement of Paganini's Cantabile appears on this album as a world premiere recording on guitar and cello. Also the Gymnopédie No. 1 by Satie is newly arranged for this recording by Jan Vogler himself.

The album also includes several movements from Histoire du Tango - one of the most famous compositions by the world's foremost composer of tango music, Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992). One of these movements, Bordel 1900, is as well a world premiere recording on guitar and cello.

Another first recording on this album is the arrangement of a world famous hit, Moon River by Henry Mancini (1924-1994). Winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song, Moon River has been indeed covered and recorded in hundreds of versions; but it's arrangement for cello and guitar has been recorded for the first time by Vogler and Eskelinen for this album.

There is only a small number of orchestral pieces in Johann Sebastian Bach's oeuvre- which is surprising considering that the composer worked with excellent ensembles in both of his positions- as "Konzermeister" and Kapellmeister" - in Kothen and Weimar during the period between 1708 and 1723. This is particularly true of concertos where there is a high number of transcriptions, rearranged predominantly for harpsichord. Capella Savaria, Hungary's oldest period instrument ensemble, presents four of these on this album. The Capella Savaria (Szombathely) was founded in 1981 by P�l N�meth. Their aim is to play 17th and 18th century music using the documents of the period. The play on authentic instruments with copies of bows of the epoch, studying the instrumental tutors of the Baroque era, referring to articulation, embellishment and, in wider sense, the characteristic sound of the whole period. The basis of the ensemble is strings, which are joined by other instruments as required.

Brahm's viola sonatas, composed in the last few years of his life, have become cornerstones of that instrument's repertoire. They are what we regard as "the" genuine romantic viola sonata reflecting the late Brahms' substantial and richly emotional musical world. The Two Songs with viola and piano pay tribute to the friendship between the composer and the celebrated violinist, Joseph Joachim. Besides viola player P�ter B�rsony this recording features the fabulous pianist P�ter Frankl and the opera-singer, popular with the audiences of the most reputed concert halls, Ildik� Koml�si. P�ter B�rsony is a professor at Franz Liszt Academy of Music and Kunstuniversitat Graz. He regularly gives concerts all over the globe, both as a soloist and in chamber music partnerships.

Violinist Kolja Blacher, with appearances on six past phil.harmonie releases, returns for the seventh time with two works by the 20th c. Russian master Dmitri Shostakovich. Together with a cellist, pianist and three percussionists, the sextet offer interpretations of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 and the Suite für varieté-orchester, in both cases realized for these forces by Viktor Derevianko (Symphony) and Oriol Cruixent (Suite). Mr. Blacher, a Berlin native, has pursued a busy and diverse career since his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1988.

On the present release, a jazz musician, pianist, and composer plays Erik Satie. Born in 1945, Ulrich Gumpert first began piano lessons with his father before going on to study in Weimar where he majored in French horn. Beginning in 1967 he performed in various bands with Klaus Lenz, and in 1971 co-founded the jazz rock group SOK. That same year he founded SYNOPSIS, from which the ZENTRALQUARTETT emerged in 1984. Ulrich Gumpert has developed an idiosyncratic personal style by using the experience of jazz and European music history in an original way. "Gumpert, who as a person never pushes himself to the fore, is also characterized by his modest reserve on his instrument. Without becoming particularly loud, particularly weird or particularly fast, he has found his very own tone: lyrical, warm, substantial, to the point. A quiet giant of German jazz." (Jazzclub Tonne)

This new release features the complete symphonic recordings of OehmsClassics with Bertrand de Billy and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2003-2010 when Bertrand de Billy was Chief Conductor in Vienna. Bertrand de Billy was born in Paris where he studied music. Starting as a member of an orchestra, he soon took on conducting. 1993-95 he was first Kapellmeister and Deputy Music Director at the Anhaltisches Theatre in Dessau, 1996-98 he held the same position at the Vienna Volksoper. 1999-2004 he was Music Director at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and 2002-2010 he was Music Director of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna. Bertrand de Billy is principal guest of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (2013-2016). Since 2014/2015 he is also principal guest conductor of the Dresdner Philharmonie.

In the works of Krzysztof Penderecki, the cello occupies a special place, being the main protagonist of numerous chamber and orchestra compositions of this outstanding composer. This CD, which continues the series of Krzysztof Penderecki's chamber music, was devoted entirely to cello, as a solo instrument and as a multiplexed composition. The next compositions on the record illustrate the richness of the artist's work, which in the long-term process of searching and improving his musical language reached both the avant-garde and the old epochs. So we will hear the full sonoric experiments of Capriccio per Siegfried Palm, referring to the tradition of Baroque and Romanticism. Suité, virtuosic and lyrical compositions of Agnus Dei, in a word full of palette of cello artistry and expression. Everything is performed in full concentration of performance by Jakob Spahn, a young German cellist, whose chamber music has accompanied the most prominent Polish virtuosos of this instrument.

The present release features contemporary music for clarinet and electronic media. Fernando Domínguez is currently the main exponent of the contemporary repertoire for clarinet in Mexico. In addition, he teaches courses aimed at students of composition on contemporary technique and writing for clarinet are carried out on a daily basis in the country's professional schools. His repertoire includes works by Franco Donatoni, Brian Ferneyhough, Helmout Lachernmann, Pierre Boulez, Isang Yun, and Eliott Carter, among others. As a soloist, he has performed with the Life and Movement Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the National Preparatory School, Symphony Orchestra of the National Polytechnic Institute, Chamber Orchestra of Fine Arts, Chamber Orchestra of Fine Arts, Carlos Chávez Symphony Orchestra and OFUNAM.

This album features two guitar arrangements of Mexican traditional music, performed by the Aleph Duo, made up of Gustavo Camacho Gomez and Eric Trejo Santiago. Gustavo Camacho Gomez holds a Bachelor in Classical Guitar from the Superior School of Music of the INBA. He is currently studying for his Master’s Degree at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, Austria. He teaches at the State School of Music of Tabasco, and is an undergraduate professor at the State Institute of Culture of the State of Tabasco. Eric Trejo Santiago holds a Bachelor in Classical Guitar from the Superior School of Music of the INBA. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Hochschule fur Musik “Hanns Eisler” zBerlin, where he is a beneficiary of the FONCA-CONACYT Scholarship Program for Study Abroad. Along with his classical training, he practices different currents of contemporary music, free jazz, and free improvisation. In 2010, he was part of the free improvisation quintet Synergia Ensemble with which he gave two concerts at the International University Music Festival in Belfort, France.

Sir Malcolm Sargent was regarded as Britain's 'ambassador of music' and made many overseas tours as both principal and guest conductor of leading British orchestras and choirs. His energetic and efficient work to popularize classical music made him a household name. Sargent was a skilled conversationalist, and a popular member of Radio's wartime informational programme 'The Brains Trust'. He was knighted in 1947. On the present release, he is heard at the helm of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a cast of stellar soloists as they perform Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, and Dvorak's Te Deum. The Berlioz performance is a BBC Broadcast which was made live from the Royal Festival Hall on February 25, 1953, and the Dvorak is a BBC Broadcast which was made live from the Royal Festival Hall on May 26, 1954.

It is said about the Hungarian mentality that they dance and cry at the same time and celebrate when they have problems. Of course, this is a clich�, but hits the nail on the head in the context of the fin de si�cle and the operetta itself. Kalman confronts Viennese Classicism with the rather rustic czardas. This way, he gave new inspiration to the genre. Moreover, the Hungarian soul is evoked by sentimentality and melancholic dreaminess. Michael Hofstetter; who brings the almost forgotten operetta to a new, livelier life, acts as the trustee of these magnificent qualities.

Classical Music