Includes cantata(s) by Gottfried H. Stölzel. Ensemble: Michaelstein Telemannisches Collegium. Conductor: Ludger Rémy. Soloists: Dorothee Mields, Jan Kobow, Christian Immler.

JOSQUIN DES PREZ De profundis. In exitu Israel. Domine ne in furore tuo. Miserere mei. Memor esto verbi tui. Qui habitat in adjutorio. Misericordias Domini • Manfred Cordes, dir; Wester-Renaissance Bremen • CPO 777 588-2 (70:26 Text and Translation)


This is a good selection of motets because it hardly duplicates the last two such discs. On Orlando Consort’s collection of Josquin’s motets ( Fanfare 34:1), only De profundis is heard, and none of them are on David Skinner’s more varied disc (33:1). It follows another Josquin disc by Cordes (35:6), though it was recorded a year later, a fine offering that unfortunately had to compete with an excellent recording of a Mass in Peter Phillips’s ongoing series. The unusual aspect of this program is its concentration on psalm settings, Psalms 129, 113, 37, 50, 118, and 90, respectively; the final piece is a compilation of texts mostly from six other psalms. The predominant sentiment that runs through these texts is repentance, most notably in the Miserere mei , one of the composer’s greatest works and the most familiar of these on disc. Standing apart from the rest is In exitu Israel , a psalm that simply narrates the passage of the Israelites out of Egypt and celebrates the glory of the one true God, mocking the idols who “have mouths, but speak not.” This psalm concludes Vespers every Sunday. Another familiar psalm is Qui habitat in adjutorio , which is sung every night at Compline, the concluding Office of the day, expressing not so much repentance as trust in God’s mercy.


The two psalms just cited seem to be first recordings, and the remaining four are poorly represented on disc ( Memor esto verbi tui is on Jeremy Summerly’s Ockeghem disc, 22:1), so this collection is not only well focused but also desirable, for Cordes shows a fine grasp of the style, and the voices are warm and well blended. It may be noted that De profundis is on Andrew Kirkman’s interesting collection (25:4) with attributions to Champion as well as Josquin, but the authenticity of the Josquin attribution, like all of these pieces, is validated by Helmuth Osthoff, Jeremy Noble, and both old and new editions of the complete works. The performances by Cordes’s ensemble of eight singers are uniformly fine. Again Franz Vitzthum is a distinguished member of the group, but all the voices blend effectively. Let us have more like this, for there has never been a systematic survey of Josquin’s motets on disc.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

Natanael Berg (1879 - 1957) studied at the Stockholm Conservatory and was a Swedish Army veterinarian who, as a freelance musician also composed music in a Late Romantic style. Natanael Berg's colorful music is the subject of an on-going project on the CPO label.

The tension between a high-flying artistic existence and down-to-earth middle-class life in the person of the composer Richard Strauss was the theme of the 2011 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Richard Strauss Festival. The musical highlight of the festival was the concert performance of Strauss’s opera Intermezzo (1924) by the Munich Radio Orchestra under Ulf Schirmer. Brigitte Fassbaender, artistic director of the Festival, was present on the stage – in many minor speaking roles and also as a skat player.

These selections were recorded in Altkainach Castle in Bärnbach, Steiermark and Kremsmünster Monastery, Upper Austria.

Includes work(s) by Ferdinand Ries. Ensemble: Schuppanzigh Quartet.

Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek might have the most multifaceted style and is the most difficult composer to classify of the German late romanticism period. The Goldpirol Overture gives off a bright and carefree mood while naturally suggesting the picture of a bird flying through the woods in the Alpine foothills.

Classical Music

REZNICEK Symphony No. 1, “Tragic.” 4 Songs of Prayer and Repentance 1 • Frank Beermann, cond; Marina Prudenskaja (mez); 1 Brandenburg St O Frankfurt • cpo 777 223 (68:50)


In some ways, Reznicek might be described as the poor man’s Richard Strauss. Cpo, which is engaged in a project to record Reznicek’s orchestral output, has already released the composer’s Second and Fifth Symphonies and two tone-poems, Schlemihl and Raskolnikoff , reviewed by Henry Fogel in 28:2. Schlemihl has been dismissed in some quarters as the effort of a jealous and bitter Reznicek to parody and deflate the puffed up ego of Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben, schlemihl being Yiddish for an unlucky, incompetent boob upon whose head every manner of misfortune falls—in effect, the anti-hero to Strauss’s Übermensch . But the non-Jewish Reznicek, as Fogel pointed out, may have misconstrued the caustic connotation of the word, which imparts the flavor of not just a pitiable sad sack, but of a fool who invites bad luck and ridicule; for Reznicek’s trials and tribulations—the deaths of two children and his first wife—were real and indeed heartbreaking.


Like Brahms, who didn’t complete his First Symphony until he was 43, Reznicek was 41 in 1901 when he wrote his Symphony No. 1 in D Major. The original booklet essay written in German by Eckhardt van den Hoogen is, in translation at least, incomprehensible gibberish. I was unable to make heads or tails of its mishmash of arcane literary references and absurdist metaphors—“the Criminal Tango of the first movement and the Jesus Christ Superstar of the last movement”—not to mention the mental imagery of “pulling on the pigtails of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto,” and the depiction of Reznicek’s beard as a “foot muff” that put me off my dinner. From what I was able to glean, it seems that the only “tragedy” that led the composer to subtitle the work “Tragic” was a ride on a crowded city train in which a pretty young girl who caught Reznicek’s eye got up and offered the “old man” her seat.


So what does this “tragic” concoction sound like? Well, a bit like Strauss being badgered by Pauline to go to his room and compose something. Then, beginning at 12:08 in the first movement, a sequence that seems to mimic the development section in the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” makes a discomfiting appearance. Here comes a snippet of Schumann, there a scrap of Brahms, and everywhere the oddments and leftovers of Liszt. This symphony would be a piece of utter trash were it not for the twofold fact that it was obviously written by a master orchestral craftsman of the first order, and that it buys one entrance to a musical circus of clowns dressed up as Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Wagner, and Liszt somersaulting around the ring. I defy anyone to listen to Reznicek’s Symphony No. 1 and not laugh out loud as the parade of jesters passes by. If the piece had been written after Schlemihl instead of before it, a more appropriate subtitle might have been Schlamazel.


Having had my say on the Symphony, let me turn now to the Four Songs of Prayer and Repentance after words of the Holy Scriptures. Reznicek really ought not to be judged by his First Symphony, which has got to be either an aberration or some sort of off-color, politically incorrect joke. He was a serious composer with a quite significant catalog of works to his credit: five symphonies, a dozen operas, numerous orchestral and concerted compositions, at least five string quartets, two piano trios, and a considerable volume of solo piano and organ pieces. Very little of it has been recorded; and, except for the Donna Diana Overture, I’ve no recollection of hearing any of it performed live—which is a shame, because the Four Songs are gorgeous.


Written in 1913, long before Strauss said sayonara with his Four Last Songs , Reznicek’s songs take their cue from Brahms’s Four Serious Songs , though they are not nearly as reverential and austere. Where Brahms chose Biblical texts that reflect the fatalism of his last years—“for that which befalls man befalls beasts”—Reznicek selected verses from Ecclesiastes and The Book of Sirach that focus on comforting, acceptance, and the beauty that is to be found in wisdom—“The pipe and the psaltery make sweet melody, but a pleasant tongue is above them both.” Reznicek’s songs are supple and sensuous, but not sensual in that steamy, erotic way that many of Strauss’s songs are. The orchestral accompaniments caress the words with an angelic tenderness.


Marina Prudenskaja, who is identified as a mezzo-soprano, actually has more of a dark-hued contralto quality to her voice that reminded me a bit of Rita Gorr. She has the right timbre and range, I think, to be an ideal candidate for Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody.


Despite what you may have concluded from my opinion of the Symphony, this disc comes with a hearty endorsement, and not just for the Four Songs , which are lovely beyond description, but yes, for the Symphony, too, which is a laugh-a-minute Hooterville riot. Performances and recording are first-class.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) is rightly regarded as one of the great writers of German romanticism but not as one of the epoch's great composers. Nevertheless, he repeatedly attempted to earn his livelihood as a composer and conductor because for him music was the most romantic, and thus the highest, of all the arts. His more than 70 compositions, representing most musical genres, demonstrate his thorough knowledge of the compositional trade. This release features his Symphony in E flat major, his most successful musical work, and his two overtures to Undine and Aurora, all composed 1804-07.

Classical Music

Recording information: Funkstudio im SWR Stuttgart (01/17/2005-01/20/2005); Funkstudio im SWR Stuttgart (11/17/2005-11/18/2005).

Recording information: 02/28/2009-03/02/2009.

The Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo was awarded the Echo Klassik in 2017 for the album Béla Bartók und Viktor Babin – Concertos for Two Pianos with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Yordan Kamdzhalov. The new release by these artists is destined to become another one of their highlights: concertos for piano duo by Carl Czerny and Max Bruch. Carl Czerny and Max Bruch in one program? At first glance this is a very improbable encounter as these two names suggest the opposite ends of the musical spectrum. On the one side, an even-tempered master of piano courses and études with a virtually baroque self-understanding enabling him to compose everything for which he received an order; on the other side, a fiery archromanticist for whom every work involved a struggle with demons. And yet these extreme positions from the nineteenth century fit together perfectly, just like a medallion cut in two. Here we have a concerto for four hands for a social occasion, there we have a panoramic pictorial suite for two virtuoso pianists, and in the middle there is a rarity with which the young Max Bruch referred to a genius without whom neither he nor Carl Czerny would have become what they became: to Johann Sebastian Bach.

ROSETTI Violin Concertos: in D (C6/III:9); in d (C9/III:5). Symphonies: in G (A39/1:16); in B? (A45/1:14) ? Johannes Moesus, cond; Anton Steck (vn); Kurpfälzisches CO ? cpo 777 028 (76:08)


Francesco Antonio Rosetti (c. 1750?1792) was born Anton Rössler. He was but one of numerous exceptional musicians and composers whose homeland was Bohemia, a region that produced more than its fair share of talent (including Vanhal, Stamic, and Jirovec) in the 18th century. While in his twenties, Rössler turned his back upon the clergy, embraced music, and chose the Italian spelling of his name.


After obtaining a post at the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein, Rosetti?s reputation as a composer began to spread far afield. In his early thirties, Rosetti, in Paris, writes that most of the symphonies performed in the French capital were either his or those of Haydn. And it was Haydn who suggested that Rosetti?s symphonies be included in the London concerts managed by Johann Peter Salomon. Rosetti?s catalog, while not as extensive as that of Haydn or Mozart, contains over 400 items (symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and vocal works), and more than half of these were published during the composer?s lifetime. This serves to strengthen a 1784 comment by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart in Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst that Rosetti ?was one of the most beloved composers of our time . . . something easier, fuller of light, and more honey-sweet than the pieces of this man can hardly be imagined.?


Indeed, Rosetti?s toolbox was well stocked; it included an exceptional grasp of technique, not to mention extraordinary contrapuntal skill. He was also inventive in his use of the orchestral winds and liberally employed chromaticism, which doubtless raised more than an isolated eyebrow in the audiences of the era. Rosetti was one of the darlings of Classicism and many critics and performers were not shy about mentioning Rosetti in the same phrase as Haydn and Mozart. However, musical tastes, call them fads if you like, can and do change with the rapidity of the speed and direction of the wind, and by the end of the 18th century, Rosetti?s music was old hat.


Rosetti?s extensive catalog?already noted?included 44 symphonies and more than 60 concertos, including half a dozen for violin. The recipient of these works is unknown, but speculation is that they were composed for Johann Anton Hutti, who joined the Oettingen-Wallerstein musical establishment not long after Rosetti. We know a bit about Hutti?s musical ability as his violin concertos?published in the 1780s by Breitkopf & Härtel?indicate he was a ?well versed and capable performer.? Both the violin concertos and symphonies on this recent arrival from cpo are exceptional in content. The former are on a high level of inspiration; they include all of the virtuoso?s tricks of the trade and augur well for Rosetti?s contemporary reputation. The latter?though less substantial than the symphonies of either Haydn or Mozart?offer taut but never truncated structure and memorable melodic material. It?s easy to see why the Parisian musical public and Haydn respected Rosetti?s abilities.


One of the finest Baroque violinists active today, Anton Steck has recorded with Reinhard Goebel?s Musica Antiqua Köln, Marc Minkowski?s Les Musiciens du Louvre, and in 1997 became the leader of the Handel Festival Orchestra in Hallé. Since period instruments are not the domain of the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, Steck has put aside his gut-strung violin and opted for a Tilman Muthesius instrument copied from a 1741 Guarneri del Gesù.


Exhumed from the shadowy recesses of oblivion, Rosetti?s concertos receive passionate and well-deserved advocacy on this release. Steck?s execution is flawless, his tone secure, and his sense of musicianship unfailing from first note to last. Johannes Moesus and his band prove they are more than equal to the task, both in the concertos and the symphonies, exhibiting model musicianship and many other qualities indigenous to many of the orchestra?s better-known competitors. As for the sound, it?s up to the usual high standards that we have come to expect from Burkhard Schmilgun and his colleagues at cpo.


This is an exceptional release, holding extraordinary music that is presented with enviable and commanding feel for the repertoire. If you like Mozart and Haydn, there?s no doubt you?ll quickly warm to this beautifully recorded and well-executed release.


FANFARE: Michael Carter