MUSICAL JOURNEY - ITALY: A Musical Tour of the Southern Tyrol

The Places
The Southern Tyrol was in earlier times part of the Habsburg Empire, governed from Vienna, and ceded to Italy in 1919. The region remains largely German-speaking and enjoys a considerable degree of autonomy. Of particular interest are the rock-formations of the Dolomites and the many castles and fortified houses of the province. The tour shows two historic buildings, Scholss Velthurns and Schloss Runkelstein.

The Music Music for thebr> tour is by Mozart, born in Salzburg in 1756. With his father, Leopold Mozart, Vice-Kapellmeister in Salzburg, he made three notable visits to Italy, and on various occasions broke his journey at Bozen (Bolzano) and visited Brixen (Bressanone). The music heard here is the Posthorn Serenade, written in Salzburg in 1779, and the Notturno, another serenade, written there in the winter of 1776–77.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0 / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 59 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Hummel, conductor, composer and pianist, whose death ended the great Viennese lineage of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, produced a series of inspired arrangements of Mozart’s symphonies between 1823–24. A lodger and student of Mozart as a child, Hummel’s arrangements demonstrate profound understanding of his teacher’s art. Refusing to vary a single harmony, he did make some changes to accommodate contemporary early Romantic taste, and to bring out intensity of orchestral color as well as offering opportunities for pianistic virtuosity.

Immaculate professionalism … huge and telling ensemble experience, instrumental mastery practically faultless … Classical elegance and textural clarity.

This triple-CD set was originally published in 2004, but has recently been reissued, presumably to coincide with the Alexander String Quartet's newest CD, a not altogether inspiring collection of not altogether inspired arrangements of music by George Gerswhin and Jerome Kern.
 
The ASQ cannot go wrong with Mozart, though, and they do not. This is Mozart arguably at his finest in six works of sparkling imagination, style and technique, inspired by the six Quartets op.33 with which Haydn had recently opened new musical doors. Three years separate the first and last, an indication that Mozart spent a for him unusually long time working on them, a fact he confirmed in his dedication to Haydn when they were published in 1785.
 
In the last few years the ASQ have made many recordings for Foghorn Classics - to date there have been some 15 releases, including several double- or triple-discs. Their most important recordings have been the complete Quartets both of Beethoven, twice - with the current line-up for Foghorn on CD-2005 and with three-quarters the same ensemble in the Nineties for Arte Nova Classics - and of Shostakovich, on Foghorn again (CD-1988, CD-1991). Needless to say, each cycle met with considerable acclaim.
 
Individually, Mozart's 'Haydn' Quartets have been recorded countless times by every string quartet worth its salt. More importantly, there have also been numerous cycles of the six together, with or without additional works, and some of these are indisputably better deals than this Foghorn, which is dear by any standards - the equivalent, in fact, of three full-price singles. To cite merely top-rankers: the Alban Berg Quartet (7 CDs, EMI 5855812; alternatively, 4 CDs on Teldec 995495), the Emerson Quartet (3 CDs, DG 431797), the Melos Quartet (3 CDs, DG 415870), the Hagen Quartet (3 CDs, DG 471024 or 7 CDs, DG 000649302), the Quatuor Ysaÿe (3 CDs, Decca 473963), the Amadeus Quartet (6 CDs, DG 001408002), the Talich Quartet (7 CDs, La Dolce Vita 100), the Chilingirian Quartet (5 CDs, CRD 5005), the Franz Schubert Quartet (5 CDs, Nimbus NI1778) and the Guarneri Quartet newly reissued on RCA (6 CDs, 1918042). A few of these boxed sets are available at half the Foghorn price or less. On the other hand, the Takács Quartet on Hungaroton (HCD 12983-85) play only the 'Haydn' Quartets at a price that is more eye-watering still than Foghorn's, and for all its brilliance, the Quartetto Italiano boxed set (8 CDs, Philips 416419) will likely be out of most mortals' price range.
 
Financial differentials aside, all the readings above have their own many strong points, with perceived weaknesses often coming down to aesthetics. The ASQ - who last year celebrated their 30th anniversary - are hard to fault in any regard: their professionalism is immaculate, their ensemble experience huge and telling, their instrument mastery practically faultless. They exhibit a Classical elegance and textural clarity that Haydn would surely have approved of. For those not on a budget, this is a safe purchase that will repay the outlay with hours of repeated pleasure.
 
Sound quality is very good indeed, as it invariably is at the AAAL: intimate, yet spacious, with all four instruments beautifully defined. The accompanying booklet is excellent - notes by Eric Bromberger provide just the right amount of detail for everyman and expert alike, though in English only.
 
Rather wantonly, each CD ends with a literal foghorn. These are thankfully on separate tracks!
 
-- Byzantion, MusicWeb International

This extensive 7CD overview of the German conductor Günter Wand & the NDR Sinfonieorchester concentrates its attention on Austro-German Classical and Romantic-era orchestral works. Reflecting Mr. Wand's close association with the music of Anton Bruckner (his many recordings of the Bruckner symphonies brought him late, and great acclaim), this set offers 4 of his symphonies, including the sublime 7th, the magisterial 8th, and the transcendent, unfinished three-movement 9th.

Issued in cooperation with the Bayreuth Radio and part of Hänssler’s ongoing Profil series devoted to Wand, these performances—recorded at the 1982 Nuremberg Mozart Festival—are at once tasteful and stylish. The heaviness that sometimes infected the approach of such one-time admired Mozartians as Beecham and Walter is absent: tempos are well judged, mannerism avoided, the music simply set forth without affectation. I have always found this huge eight-movement serenade somewhat uneven, but it certainly has more than a few magnificent Mozart moments. And the great (extraordinarily demanding) concert aria, K 528, is projected by Wiens with virtuosity and temperament. Aside from a slight edginess in the strings, the sound is fine. In short, for those interested in the artists or the repertoire, this release is worth having.

Mortimer H. Frank , FANFARE

A phenomenal technician and colourist who made melody communicate to a unique degree and played with great stylistic differentiation, Walter Gieseking was one of the most individual and consistently inspired pianists of our time. Although his commercial recordings encompass some of the great recordings ever made, he didn't live to record under ideal circumstances even a small part of his vast repertoire. The present disc of broadcast performances is therefore of special importance not only in increasing the Gieseking legacy but in chronicling the history of great pianism. The Concerto K488 and Sonata K545 appear on CD for the first time in this collection, while the Concerto K467 and the Sonata K576 are issued here in considerably improved sound over prior editions.

Mozart: Piano Music, Vol. 1

Classical Music

Classical Music

'The school for lovers', Mozart's alternative title for Cos� fan tutte, is given a playful, theatrical treatment by German director Jan Philipp Gloger, who sets this new production for The Royal Opera in a theatre. The four lovers are performed by a cast of young rising stars, with Sabina Puertolas as the fun-loving Despina and acclaimed German baritone and comic genius Johannes Martin Kranzle as the impresario Don Alfonso, who leads the lovers on a role-playing journey full of picturesque settings. Semyon Bychkov conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in one of Mozart's most beautiful scores, packed with wonderful arias and ensembles. "Ensemble singing is strong; the standout is Daniel Behle's gorgeous tenor as Ferrando. Above all, Semyon Bychkov's impeccable balance and pacing in the pit allows it full space to blossom." (The Independent) "Semyon Bychkov gives an enthralling lesson in Mozart from the outset. Conducting his first Mozart opera in 20 years, he has a style might be said to belong (in the best sense) to the old school. But, Bychkov draws glowingly warm playing, and the textures are lithe and lively. The score's darker colours are all brought out in a performance that bristles with dramatic tension." (The Daily Telegraph)

'The school for lovers', Mozart's alternative title for Cos� fan tutte, is given a playful, theatrical treatment by German director Jan Philipp Gloger, who sets this new production for The Royal Opera in a theatre. The four lovers are performed by a cast of young rising stars, with Sabina Puertolas as the fun-loving Despina and acclaimed German baritone and comic genius Johannes Martin Kranzle as the impresario Don Alfonso, who leads the lovers on a role-playing journey full of picturesque settings. Semyon Bychkov conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in one of Mozart's most beautiful scores, packed with wonderful arias and ensembles. "Ensemble singing is strong; the standout is Daniel Behle's gorgeous tenor as Ferrando. Above all, Semyon Bychkov's impeccable balance and pacing in the pit allows it full space to blossom." (The Independent) "Semyon Bychkov gives an enthralling lesson in Mozart from the outset. Conducting his first Mozart opera in 20 years, he has a style might be said to belong (in the best sense) to the old school. But, Bychkov draws glowingly warm playing, and the textures are lithe and lively. The score's darker colours are all brought out in a performance that bristles with dramatic tension." (The Daily Telegraph)

Mozart: Complete Works For Two Pianos

Mozart's final opera returns to Glyndebourne after an absence of nearly 20 years in a 'stark, compelling and very well acted' production directed by Claus Guth. Richard Croft sings the title role 'with exemplary stylistic poise and tonal sweetness', and Anna St�phany is a Sesto 'touchingly full of angst and remorse... with terrific �lan and immaculate technical control' in the arias (The Telegraph) - her "Parto, Parto" 'simply breathtaking' (The Guardian). Guth's vision sets the first-century Roman story in a two-storey office suite bureaucracy 'exquisitely lit by Olaf Winter', aptly framing the scheming of Vitelia, sung by Alice Coote 'in terrific form'. The OAE under Robin Ticciati 'brings out the sheer beauty' of Mozart's score (Express). Extra features on this release include 'When Worlds Divide' and a cast gallery. The press gave rave reviews: '... The director gives an exceptionally convincing cast the time to develop their characters, conflicting relationships and moral dilemmas' (The Times) 'Conductor Robin Ticciati combined elegance with urgency' (The Guardian) 'Stark, compelling and very well acted' (The Daily Telegraph)

Mozart's final opera returns to Glyndebourne after an absence of nearly 20 years in a 'stark, compelling and very well acted' production directed by Claus Guth. Richard Croft sings the title role 'with exemplary stylistic poise and tonal sweetness', and Anna St�phany is a Sesto 'touchingly full of angst and remorse... with terrific �lan and immaculate technical control' in the arias (The Telegraph) - her "Parto, Parto" 'simply breathtaking' (The Guardian). Guth's vision sets the first-century Roman story in a two-storey office suite bureaucracy 'exquisitely lit by Olaf Winter', aptly framing the scheming of Vitelia, sung by Alice Coote 'in terrific form'. The OAE under Robin Ticciati 'brings out the sheer beauty' of Mozart's score (Express). Extra features on this release include 'When Worlds Divide' and a cast gallery. The press gave rave reviews: '... The director gives an exceptionally convincing cast the time to develop their characters, conflicting relationships and moral dilemmas' (The Times) 'Conductor Robin Ticciati combined elegance with urgency' (The Guardian) 'Stark, compelling and very well acted' (The Daily Telegraph)

BUZZ: There was a time--specifically, the middle years of the 20th century--when the music in this recital used commonly to be played in a somewhat prettified, Dresden-china fashion. Nothing could be more different than Claudio Arrau's approach to Mozart even in the relatively early stages of his career (and he was sixty-one when these live performances were given). Certainly, some other pianists in those days gave full value to the dramatic power of the minor-key sonatas, K. 310 and K. 457, though very few approached the sheer volcanic force he brought to those bass octaves in the A-minor's finale. But you encounter Arrau's no-holds-barred style even in seemingly less serious works: the finale of K. 283, for example, already sounds, under his hands, more unpredictably Beethovenish than in the interpretations of some of his contemporaries; and in the relatively relaxed finale of K. 570, he punches out the insistent staccato repeated notes of the contrasting central episode with positively demonic relish. This, then, is in an important sense "bigger" Mozart playing than was the norm 50 years ago. At the same time, the clarity of Arrau's texture and the often airy lightness of his pedaling keeps his view of the music from transgressing 18th-century stylistic norms. And while his reputation is based to a degree on his notably classical restraint, you will find in these performances any number of moments when the wit of his timing creates a delightfully mischievous effect. Baldwin piano. Restoration engineer: Gene Gaudette. Premiere CD release! Issued with the kind permission of the Arrau Estate. AAD stereo Total Time:100 min.