Classical Music

Classical Music

Carl Maria von Weber wrote his two charming symphonies - the only works in the genre that he composed - in his early 20's in the space of sixw eeks around New Year 1808. They bear witness to the period of transition from classicism to romanticism, particularly in terms of orchestral color. That both should be so neglected is partly down to historical accident: they were composed just four years after Beethoven's monumental ''Eroica'' Symphony. So when Weber's symphonies saw the light of day, overshadowed by the great master, no one took much notice. There are certainly more mature symphonies than Weber's two youthful essays, but few are as much fun; the second might have been composed by a Haydn in the making. An unmistakably Viennese band, with a rustic oboe as from a bygone VPO era plus horns to match, the Wiener Concert-Verein and Claus-Peter Flor are aided here by a well-integrated recording tha tputs space around music.

Talk about politically incorrect! This opera, based on a play by Voltaire and first presented at La Scala in 1817, presents the prophet Mohammed ("Maometto", tenor) as a traitorous, conniving thug who has enslaved the children--Seide (mezzo-soprano, trouser role) and Palmira (soprano)--of his rival, Zopiro (bass), the sheriff of Mecca. The kids do not know that Zopiro is their father, and Mohammed and his henchman Omar (baritone) trick the zealous Seide into murdering Zopiro, who as he dies reveals that Seide and Palmira are brother and sister, and his children. Seide is poisoned in prison and dies in Palmira's arms a bit later while his "fate" is being decided by divine providence in front of the populace. Palmira expresses her wish to die as Mohammed tells the people to tremble in front of his power over life and death, and they ask forgiveness.

One theory states that Voltaire in fact was making a statement about the cruel power of the Jesuits, but because that was deemed too inflammatory he transferred the guilt to Mohammed. Who would be bothered by that? Well...enough said.

Peter von Winter (1754-1825), a student of Salieri's, was first a violinist and then began conducting at the Munich court. In 1778 he composed his first opera and eventually wrote more than 40 stage works for Munich, then Vienna, and then Italy. His music is more Mozartean and Gluckian than Rossinian, and Maometto is a fine example. The overture is martial in character, with cymbals and prominent woodwinds, and like the opera in general it's more moody and dramatic than easily tuneful. But there are lovely moments: the chorus introducing Palmira is delicate and preciously scored for high winds, and that gives way, in her recitative and aria, to a still delicate but far more somber tone. And a trio in the second act, in which Zopiro prays off-stage with the brother and sister in the foreground, is rare and fascinating. Von Winter's orchestration is very full--more Germanic than Italian--and the chorus plays a big part, interjecting into arias and scenes, expressing real sentiments, and taking part in the action. In short, given the opera's dark plot and its dark outcome--the bad guy wins, there is a parricide, a murder, and a (wished-for) suicide for the siblings--the music suits it to a tee.

The live performance, from July, 2002 in Bad Wildbad, Germany, is excellent. None of the singers is famous but probably will be. Sebastian Na, a Korean tenor, is a fine, no-nonsense Maometto (the part was written for the tenor who created Pollione in Norma). His voice is substantial and he sings with authority. His future probably doesn't lie in the bel canto, however--he has a bigger edge to his sound. Antonio de Gobbi's bass voice is unusual: it has very little depth and his pitch is occasionally suspect, but it's an even sound throughout two octaves, and he commands attention and makes an impression at all dynamic levels. He makes Zopiro the moral center of the opera, which is correct.


Gloria Montanari as Seide starts out very badly, with plumy, matronly sound, but she soon gathers momentum and status; by her second-act duet with Zopiro, she's terrific. Similarly, Maria Luigia Borsi's soprano is not as sweet as we might like, but when it's all over, it is her coloratura, sharp diction, and fine ensemble work that stay in the mind. Luca Salsi's rich baritone makes Omar stand out. The Czech Philharmonic Choir, Brno and Czech Chamber Soloists play and sing splendidly under Maestro Bellini, with the Choir being particularly noteworthy. The recording could have more presence; the opera sounds best when played loud. The packaging contains a full Italian libretto with no translations, along with a good track-by-track synopsis and informative notes. This is highly recommended--a rarity, and a nice link between the German and Italian works of the period.
--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Classical Music

WEBER: Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn

Classical Music

Classical Music

WEBER: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 and 2

WEBER: Piano Music, Vol. 1

WEBER: Piano Music, Vol. 3

6 Violin Sonatas, Op. 10b

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.


This is an absolutely wonderful disc in every way. Weber's clarinet music is delightful, and it's hard to imagine it being better played or recorded. Martin Fröst has such a supple, liquid timbre that at times you could almost swear there were words behind the notes, especially in the slow movements of all four works. And few soloists manage to bring such an irrepressible feeling of joy to the virtuoso passages that you can hear, say, in the finale of the Second concerto.

Kantorow and the Tapiola Sinfonietta also offer perfect accompaniments: swift, sensitive, texturally transparent, and rhythmically snappy. The F minor concerto in particular has plenty of passion and drama. The conductor's own transcription of the Clarinet Quintet for string orchestra works beautifully and fills out the disc generously, while the engineering in all formats couldn't be better balanced or fall more easily on the ear. There's no need to go on at length: this is now the reference recording for this music. It defines "state of the art."

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.



WEBER Symphonies: No. 1; No. 2. Andante e Rondo ungarese. 1 Bassoon Concerto in F 1 • Jean-Jacques Kantorow, cond; Jaakko Luoma (bn); 1 Tapiola Sinfonietta • BIS 1620 (Hybrid multichannel SACD: 67:42)


There is little that can be done for Weber’s gauche, mindless early symphonies, written when he was 21. They are all sparks and bombast, with colorful surfaces but virtually no content. Single woodwinds (there are no clarinets) generally carry the tunes, passing them around the section, while strings offer some relief; brass join in for consistently loud, fanfare-like tutti. The general consensus has been to play the symphonies as fast as possible (to get them over with?). Kantorow does that too, and his 40-piece orchestra, playing modern instruments with all the snap, sparkle, and tonal panache of period practice—more so than Roy Goodman’s period-instrument Hanover Band—makes the most of the symphonies, aided by BIS ’s usual sensational recorded sound. Luoma’s bassoon stands out among the winds; Roger Norrington’s London Classical Players have better-balanced wind soloists, but the overall performances are not as precise. The Second Symphony opens this disc, beginning with a stunning two-bar fanfare; unfortunately, it never does anything with it, making the 10-minute Allegro seem endless. As if the composer immediately recognized the problem, the following three movements whiz by in a mere eight minutes. After the “final” coda and a pause, two brief pp notes from bassoon and low strings bring the proceedings to a close. Haydn did everything better, including jokes and false endings.


Concerted pieces always inspired the best from Weber: three for clarinet, three more for piano, one each for oboe and French horn. These two for bassoon are the cream of that instrument’s repertoire (there also was a kid named Mozart). Playing a bassoon built in 2000 by Wilhelm Heckel—I don’t know if he is related to the creator of the heckelphone—Luoma sails through both works with the greatest of ease, producing consistently lovely tones. Whatever happened to that grumpy old instrument that was so difficult to play?


The First Symphony comes last, probably so that its Presto finale, the most successful movement of the eight, can wind up the disc with a bang. As fine as the CD is, SACD opens up the sound, giving it more life. Trumpets and strings gain clarity and presence, which makes the winds recede slightly from the spotlight. Surround sound adds an airy feeling, but doesn’t alter the basic sound. If you must have Weber’s symphonies, this is certainly the disc to get, especially so given the bonus bassoon works. But the others mentioned also include marvelous bonuses: Melvyn Tan plays the fortepiano Konzertstück with Norrington, and Anthony Halstead plays a natural horn in the Horn Concertino with Goodman.


FANFARE: James H. North


Finely honed performances of charming music played with relish.

These works were all written between 1807 and 1811, so pre-date Weber’s fame as an opera composer. He had just left Breslau, having survived a dreadful accident when his father, a printer, left a nitric acid solution in a wine glass which his son absent-mindedly then drank. His next post was a temporary one, when he went to Bad Carlsruhe and the court of Count Eugen Friedrich of Württemberg-?ls, who, being himself a fair oboist, encouraged Weber to compose. Both symphonies were written there during these idyllic few months, the first in C major in December 1807 and January 1808, the second (also in C major) later the same month. Reflecting the resources he found there, the scoring lacks one flute and most surprisingly there are no clarinets. Solos for the rest abound however, some of them very demanding, so standards must have been high. Obviously the oboe has his plate full, but the remaining winds, particularly the bassoon, are active, so too the French horn and some solo strings; in fact pretty well everyone has their fifteen seconds of fame. Written when Beethoven’s first three symphonies were already known, it is important to regard Weber’s more in Haydn’s style, with the crossing of the cusp between Classic and Romantic reflected more by orchestral colour than any disturbance of formal structure. Even so, these are not predictable works, in particular the finale of the Second, which stops and starts for individual solos before scampering on to the next pause like an American football game. This is Haydn’s wit at work. Much the same can be said of the First Symphony, which highlights individual wind players once again. It is full of confident orchestral outbursts on the one hand - the opera conductor here - and charming melodies of an almost rustic hue. At a minute and a half, the Minuet and Trio of the Second Symphony must be the shortest ever. Note that this recording inexplicably starts with the Second Symphony and ends with the First, easy to miss that as both are in the same key.

The rest of the fare is devoted to two concerted works for bassoon and orchestra. The brief Andante and Hungarian Rondo was originally composed in 1809 for Weber’s violist brother Fritz, while the bassoon transcription was made for the virtuoso player Georg Friedrich Brandt with some inevitably consequent changes. The Rondo’s rhythms emphasise the Hungarian flavour of the music. Weber’s writing exploits fully the facility of the instrument, its agility over a wide range of notes, tonal quality, and its lyrical as well as comical element. It was in March 1810 that he found himself conducting a concert with the Munich Court Orchestra, its programme including a clarinet concertino he had written for Heinrich Bärmann. Its success encouraged the orchestra’s principal players to ask for solo works, so two concertos for clarinet followed in 1811 and, on 28 December, a bassoon concerto for Brandt. He made some revisions in 1822, expression and dynamic indications expanded and some string accompaniments rewritten, and this is the version heard on this CD.

The performances by Jaako Luoma are finely honed in both works. His instrument paints a wide palette of colour, his phrasing is stylish. The Tapiola Sinfonietta under its former (1993-2000) director Jean-Jacques Kantorow match him in detail in a cleanly balanced recording. Both symphonies are played with relish, all solo opportunities exploited to the full. The music is charming, but Weber is surely still going to be remembered best for his operas and their overtures, but at least it gives clarinettists and, in this instance, bassoonists a chance to shine. 

-- Christopher Fifield, MusicWeb International