Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Few conductors of Klaus Tennstedt's generation demonstrated such complete mastery of the Classical and Romantic repertoire from Beethoven to Mahler and Strauss, coupled with an intensity in live performance that was palpable. He was among the finest German conductors to emerge after the Second World War and was in constant demand with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic the Boston Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic. This is Doremi's first release of live concert material of this great conductor: Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Symphony No. 7, Haydn's Symphony No. 45 "Farewell" (with the Boston Symphony, at Tanglewood, 1977 and 1979) and Mahler's First Symphony with the NDR Symphony Orchestra (Hamburg, 1977).

Few conductors of Klaus Tennstedt's generation demonstrated such complete mastery of the Classical and Romantic repertoire from Beethoven to Mahler and Strauss, coupled with an intensity in live performance that was palpable. He was among the finest German conductors to emerge after the Second World War and was in constant demand with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic the Boston Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic. In Doremi's second release of concert recordings, Tennstedt conducts the Chicago Symphony in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (1976), and the New York Philharmonic in Schumann's "Rhenish" symphony (1985); with the Boston Symphony in Tanglewood, Tennstedt conducts works by Haydn: the Sinfonia Concertante Op. 84 (1979), the Cello Concerto in C and the Symphony No. 64 "Tempora mutantur" (1980).

No one knows who first gave Beethoven's Trio Op. 11 the nickname Gassenhauer ("street song"). Neither do we know if the name was kindly intended or derogatory, chosen to boost sales or perhaps meant ironically (Heinrich Heine, for instance, would later satirize the omnipresence of a tune, sung everywhere, from Weber's opera chorus "Wir winden dir den Jungfernkranz").The catchy tune in Beethoven's final movement with variations was the vocal trio "Pria ch'io l'impegno" ("Before I go to work") from the comic operaL'Amor marinaro (The Sailor's Love), composed in 1797 by Joseph Weigl, who was a godchild of Haydn and had been pupil of Antonio Salieri. The aria enjoyed widespread, long-term popularity: more than 30 years after the opera's premi�re, Paganini still delighted Vienna audiences with variations on the same tune. Beethoven wrote his instrumental trio only half a year after the premi�re, probably fulfilling a commission by clarinetist Joseph B�hr, who is said to have asked for variations on that theme. When clarinetist Kilian Herold asked composer Johannes Sch�llhorn to arrange a Beethoven work for trio, Sch�llhorn thought of the Bagatelles Op.119. The idea was to add a final level to a three-level concept, Composing Beethoven, consisting in an original work by Beethoven, then one of Beethoven's arrangements of his own works, and, finally, a work by Beethoven arranged by a 21st-century composer. Sch�llhorn, already well-experienced in creative approaches to music of the past, deconstructs the original piano texture here in such a way that the resulting sound is not too lean, but opens up new areas of freedom for the pianist's new partners. He has conceived a light, airy trio texture brimming with discreet punch lines, interruptions, disruptions, unexpected connections, and cello sonorities ranging from sul tasto to col legno battuto, resulting in a fond, respectful homage to Beethoven.

Classical Music

In a series of 3 albums, the Beethoven Trio Bonn explores the confrontation between one of Beethoven's standard works for piano trio with a further "house music" arrangement of one of his orchestral works. More than providing an interesting pairing, the Beethoven Trio Bonn was keen on interpreting an original work for piano trio alongside an arrangement of an orchestral work "downsized" to piano trio format. This new concept delivers surprising, unforeseen results. Composers and publishers in Beethoven's day sought to indulge the pleasures of the middle class: dozens of arrangements and transcriptions of orchestral works were in wide circulation for domestic use. Haydn, Mozart and many others had always tried to provide access to the wonders of symphonic music for those members of the population who could not gain entrance to the grand concerts of the upper classes. Up to the 1930s, music publishers continued to commission composers to arrange and transcribe symphonies and other orchestral works, in order to make them readily available as chamber music; no composer found the task too lowly, since such work was a good source of steady income. When we hear Beethoven's Triple Concerto performed by a piano trio, as on this album, we are full of admiration for these three musicians who play all the additional orchestra notes apart from their own virtuoso solo parts. The piano has the toughest job of them all! Still, the resulting blend is thoroughly satisfying. Beethoven's Triple Concerto, arranged for piano trio by German composer Friedrich Eduard Wilsing (1909-1893), sounds entirely convincing; it still sports the same rhythmic drive as Beethoven's original work - particularly thanks to BTB's refreshing, energetic playing in an interpretation they have thought out with care.

Classical Music

Art song had blossomed into a multifaceted genre by 1800, and the debate whether to favor recurrent stanza structures or through-composed form was well underway. Lieder, as the lyrical genre per se, marked out the territory in which musicians could express the most profound emotions. The best composers therefore increasingly chose to through-compose their songs- a logical step, thanks to which they were able to closely follow the content and the speech of the poems they were setting to music. Beethoven already took that very step in his earliest Lieder. The emotional value of a song such as Adelaide op. 46 even managed to convince a late-19th century Vienna music critic otherwise well known for his harshness-Eduard Hanslick, who wrote in 1886: “No depiction of a youth’s enthusiastic love could be more faithful and exemplary than this Adelaide by Beethoven. What sweet, secret bliss shivers in every note of this golden melody!...” Beethoven’s contributions can be described as new arrangements and harmonizations of pre-existing melodies. These were true “songs without words,” since considerations of language could not be taken into account.

At the Salzburg Festival of 2014, for the first time ever a complete Beethoven sonata cycle was performed. This stunning live recording features pianist and Beethoven expert Rudolf Buchbinder performing the Beethoven piano sonatas. This release is the third volume, and features an interview with Rudolph Buchbinder about the sonatas.

The Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder was invited by the Salzburg Festival to perform a pinnacle of piano literature in it's entirety, a first for the festival: Beethoven's magnum opus of 32 piano sonatas developed throughout his life gain depths for their reflection of his evolution as a man and musician through the years. With the sonatas "Path�tique", "Moonshine", "Waldstein", "Appassionata", "Hammerklavier" and the final sonata Op. 111, the cycle is an astonishing bounty of the best-known piano pieces of all time. This 2 DVD set captures the first two concerts of the memorable performance, and Buchbinder's scholarship and attention which his playing is known for comes dazzlingly to the fore.