Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Celibidache conducts the Orchestra Sinfonica di Teatro della RAI in Turin in 1969.

With his Männerchorvereinigung and the brass ensemble of the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz, Thomas Kerbl presents the second edition of secular men’s choirs. Bruckner’s own choir experience as a bass and his activity as a musical director formed the basis for a vast number of choir works, in which the large quantity of secular works displays a hitherto hardly known facet in Bruckner’s oeuvre, as he was frequently reduced to his function as a church musician. Trained as a pianist in Linz, Thomas Kerbl has been dean of artistic studies at the Bruckner University since 2009.

Anton Bruckner’s First Symphony and the question of the right version: a conversation with conductor and Bruckner specialist Gerd Schaller. “Above all, I am fascinated by this perfect blend of intellect and emotion. It is something that I cannot find in this form in the work of any other composer. And then these incredible walls of sound, when the music climbs from a passage almost of chamber intimacy to an overwhelming fortissimo, it simply takes possession of me! Then there is the ground-breaking harmony and profundity of his late work in particular. And then the spiritual dimension of his music, the soaring wind passages, the wild string figures, all the brilliant instrumentation, his amazing feel for the different voices... — So, to sum up, there is actually nothing that I do not like!” This release belongs to the project Bruckner 2024: all Bruckner´s symphonies in their most important versions will be performed and recorded to the composer’s bicentenary in 2024

Bruckner's Second, like most of his symphonies, underwent numerous changes and revisions during the composer's lifetime, in this case on the advice of his patron, Hofkapellmeister Herbeck, before the first publication by Bruckner himself, "so as not to overwhelm the audience". The sheet music of the very first 'unheard' version lies in the archive of the Sankt Florian Abbey, from which the prominent Bruckner researcher William Carragan reconstructed the first untouched version of this great symphony. This version is presented as live recording from the Bruckner Tage 2019 with the Altomonte Orchestra under the baton of Remy Ballot.

Gerd Schaller writes: “Bruckner conceived and composed his String Quintet in F major as a work of chamber music. It is accordingly different from his symphonies in its layout and its realization; one substantial difference, for instance, is in the lack of mysticism in the string quintet: on the contrary, there is a sense of radiant blossoming. The underlying atmosphere is brighter, more optimistic, clear, even a little livelier; there is a constant flow and current running through the work. The slow movement is so full of inner meaning and in my view is certainly one of the most beautiful pieces of music that Bruckner ever wrote. The heaven-storming events, the concentrations of sound and erratic blocks of the symphonies, will be sought in vain.“ The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest and most important Czech orchestras and is a welcome guest throughout the Czech Republic and on concert platforms abroad. The orchestra was established in 1926, three years after the foundation of Czechoslovak Radio. Gerd Schaller studied conducting and held positions at various German state theatres until 2006, and since then has been a freelance artist in constant demand as a guest conductor with well-known orchestras and at concert halls and opera houses at home and abroad.

In the Bruckner Year 2024, St. Florian Abbey, with the master's burial place, the famous organ and the world-famous St. Florian Boys' Choir, will become even more of a focus for the international Bruckner fan community than it already is. A special prelude to this was the intermission film of this year's New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, in which two Florian Boys' Choir led an audience of millions through all the Bruckner memorials and in which the choir performed the single release of the moth "Locus iste". Almost every concert of the St. Florian Boys' Choir, which was founded in 1071, includes a work by Anton Bruckner, as the choir is proud to have the "most famous member" in it's history. The "Locus iste" has long since become the secret anthem of the choirboys, and the other great motets such as "Ave Maria", "Os justi" and "Tota pulchra es" are also part of the regular repertoire of the Florian Boys' Choir. All of these works have now been re-recorded under the direction of Markus Stumpner and will be released on CD and digitally on March 1 for the Bruckner Year 2024 under the title "Remembrance". However, not only the master's best-known choral works will be presented, but also rarities: the recently restored Bruckner grand piano, a Bosendorfer built in 1846, which accompanied Bruckner's creative output from 1848 to 1896, will play a special role. Franz Farnberger will play Bruckner's best-known piano piece, "Erinnerung", and accompany another former choirboy, the now internationally renowned countertenor Alois Muhlbacher, in two Bruckner songs. The boys perform the "22nd Psalm" together with the pianist, while an ensemble of former choirboys perform the two male choruses "Um Mitternacht" and "Herbstlied". Franz Farnberger rearranged "Der Lehrerstand", a men's choir whose text is difficult to understand today, into a humorous alternating song by teachers and pupils. This Bruckner CD recorded in St. Florian naturally also features the famous Bruckner organ - masterfully played by the monastery organist Klaus Sonnleitner.

SOMM Recordings announces the second instalment in Bruckner from the Archives, “a major commemorative series” (ConcertoNet.com) in six double-CD volumes celebrating the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner’s birth in 1824.
Conceived and designed by SOMM Executive Producer and acclaimed Audio Restoration Engineer Lani Spahr with support from the Bruckner Society of America, the series features rare archival recordings of Bruckner’s 11 symphonies and selected other important works, many appearing for the first time in any form. Recordings have been sourced from the more than 11,000 Bruckner performances in the Archive of John F. Berky, Executive Secretary of the Bruckner Society of America, who also acts as Consultant for this important series.
Volume 2 offers live radio broadcasts of Bruckner’s Symphony No.2 by the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra (today’s WDR S.O. Cologne) under Georg Ludwig Jochum (1955) and his unnumbered Symphony in D minor “Die Nullte” by the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under Eduard van Beinum (1962). Joining these is the first recording in the long-play era of the Mass No.2 in E minor, made by the Berlin Philharmonic under Karl Forster with the Choir of St Hedwig’s Cathedral (1956).

This is the first commercial release of the compelling performance of the Second Symphony, but all three of these works are presented here for the very first time in Lani Spahr’s expert new restoration and remastering.

The recordings are accompanied, as ever, by authoritative notes on the works’ genesis in the context of Bruckner’s life and compositional development, written by Professor Benjamin Korstvedt, President of the Bruckner Society of America and member of the Editorial Board of the New Anton Bruckner Complete Edition.

In his notes, Prof. Korstvedt enthusiastically assesses the live broadcasts, noting the first release from Cologne is “undoubtedly a very good performance … which responds vividly to the contrasting moods of the music and presents the Second as a symphony of emotional depth, brilliant imagination, and sonic grandeur.” The “Nullte” from Amsterdam “conveys Van Beinum’s typical style. The tempos are generally brisk and his approach refreshingly direct, at times unabashed in its ardour, keenly alive to the vigour of the music.” The late Bruckner discographer Dr Hans Roelofs said of the Forster Mass: “The interpretation exudes power and solidity … a radiant choir, good balance with the orchestra and rather brisk tempos make the recording a real experience.”
Lani Spahr’s previous SOMM releases include the lauded four-volume sets Vaughan Williams Live (ARIADNE 5016, 5018-20) and Elgar Remastered (SOMMCD 261-4), as well as Elgar from America, Volume 3 (Ariadne 5015-2), which garnered a Gramophone Editor’s Choice for “superb audio restorations [bringing] performances fully to life”

This series marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bruckner, which falls in 2024. It’s dedicated to Bruckner’s symphonies, most of which are heard in new transcriptions for organ performed by Hansjörg Albrecht. This latest album in the edition features Erwin Horn’s transcription of Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony, performed on the organ of the Musikverein in Vienna.

It seems that the Ninth is a limit. He who wants to go beyond it must pass away. [...] Those who have written a Ninth stood too close to the hereafter. Arnold Schoenberg wrote those words in reference to Gustav Mahler, who had just died without ever having heard his own Ninth Symphony performed. Bruckner was apparently afraid of the fatal number as well: "I don't want to start on my Ninth at all, I don't dare". However, very soon after the completion of his Eighth Symphony in September 1887, Bruckner started on his first drafts. Overall, work on the Ninth then dragged on over the long period from 1887 to 1896, having to be constantly interrupted because of the composer's deteriorating health. Bruckner finally died while working on the fourth movement - and his masterpiece dedicated to "the beloved God" remained unfinished. Even without a finale, the three-movement torso that survives is, of course, extremely impressive. The completed movements were first performed in Vienna on February 11, 1903, in an unusual personal version by the conductor Ferdinand L�we. The actual first performance of the original score with it's three movements only took place on April 2, 1932 in Munich. Ever since, Bruckner's Ninth has been an essential part of the Late Romantic symphonic repertoire - above all in it's original version. In January 2014, Mariss Jansons and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks presented the original version of the three completed movements to the public in Munich at the Philharmonie in Gasteig. In it's current position, the slow movement cuts a fine figure and helps the symphony reach a dignified conclusion. What could be more appealing than this swan song, swaying as it does between suffering and promise before fading away into a vision of peace and serenity?

Hans Knappertsbusch conducts Bruckner Symphony No. 8