Includes work(s) by Samuel Scheidt. Ensembles: La Capella Ducale, Cologne Musica Fiata. Conductor: Roland Wilson.

Classical Music

This opera, Handel's penultimate, is relatively direct, both in its scoring--just strings and oboes--and its plot: Rosmene (soprano) must choose between Tirinto (mezzo-soprano), whom she loves and who loves her, and Imeneo (bass-baritone), who rescued her from pirates. Rosmene's confidante Clomiri (soprano) loves Imeneo, but it is unrequited; he loves Rosmene. Argenio (bass) is Rosmene's father; he wants her to marry Imeneo. This simplicity might lead you to believe that the opera is lightweight or emotionally void (it was referred to as an "operetta" at its premiere), but it's remarkable how involved the listener gets in the plot. Until the very last moment we don't know who Rosmene will select, and furthermore, when she feigns madness because she must choose between duty and love, she either feigns it so well that we believe her too, or like Hamlet, she actually is mad--at least for a little while. She opts for duty and picks Imeneo, explaining in a brief final aria that she's like a boat at the mercy of the wind that has gone from one shore to another: "Dear deserted shore," she sings to Tirinto, "if fate took it elsewhere, how did the unfortunate boat commit a sin?"


So we are dealing with an essentially four-character opera (Argenio just worries and prods) in which only one of the lovers--Imeneo--winds up happy in the end. Except for one big scene for Tirinto, all of the arias are short and the recitatives are even shorter. One interesting touch, before Rosmene's decision, is Imeneo singing a half-minute arioso of longing, then a few minutes later Tirinto sings the same tune, and then a few minutes after that the two men sing it as a duet! Handel's final chorus is not joyous; it extols the primacy of a noble ideal and reason and is in a rather sad minor key. This is a subtle, rather than simple opera.


A recording of this work appeared 15-or-so years ago on Vox. It cut and re-arranged arias, and except for Julianne Baird's beautiful, moving Rosmene, it yields in every way to this new CPO set. (A one-CD, abbreviated version in German appeared on Berlin Classics more than 30 years ago, but it is out of the running.) Tirinto is the major role (it was the castrato role at the opera's ill-fated premiere) and Ann Hallenberg is simply wonderful. She sings with real heart, and while I would have preferred a somewhat darker sound, that is only a personal preference. She has a lovely legato and sings with ardor. Johanna Stojkovic's Rosmene is excellent as well--as I said, not as sheerly lovely as Baird on Vox, but elegant, pure of tone, and convincing in her "I'm-half-crazy" scene. Siri Karoline Thornhill sings Clomiri with a bright, girlish tone that contrasts well with Rosmene's; Clomiri only wants to be happy. Light baritone Kay Stiefermann is a fine Imeneo--easy with coloratura, noble, never a bully--and bass Locky Chung rounds out the cast as Argenio. Along with the orchestral forces under Andreas Spering, this is true, wisely performed, dramatically infused Handel. It's also highly recommended, and don't let its modest feel fool you: this is Handel at his most psychologically astute. [3/16/2004]
--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Look at the dates of these three quartets. Marx’s beloved Austria was tightly coiled in the murderous embrace of the Nazi regime. In 1938 Marx was removed from all his institutional posts and offices. This music operates as a statement of faith in traditional values although its endearing and warmly retrospective romanticism would have made the music acceptable to the Third Reich. Certainly all three achieved premieres in Graz and Vienna with prestigious ensembles.

Those who are familiar with his irresistibly sumptuous orchestral music of the 1920s must prepare themselves for quartets that look back well into the mid-late nineteenth century. The style in the Modo Antico and Modo Classico is classical-romantic; more the former than the latter. There is none of the multi-tiered impressionism to be found in the Herbstsymphonie or the Naturtrilogie. The music radiates grace, sprightly virtues and well-turned elegance. Its heartland is clearly with Schubert and Mozart – lightly modernised. This latter element can be heard in the delightful finale of the Modo Classico work. This is gifted writing.

The earliest work here, the Quartetto Chromatico was revised in 1948. Its language is more closely related to the Marx of the 1920s but also declares kinship with early Schoenberg and Karl Weigl. In the Sehr Langsam third movement Marx’s tenderest romantic inspiration is in constant efflorescence. A more carefree spirit pervades the finale yet the chromatic ascendancy is still there. The sound reminded me of John Foulds’ string quartets (Intimo and Romantico).

Things are looking up for Marx. The number of Marx CDs in the catalogue is not great but it’s a transformational improvement on the position only ten years ago. This is the second CD with this programme. The other is ASV CD DCA 1073 which gave world premiere recordings by the Lyric Quartet in 2000.

The CPO engineers placed their microphones that much closer to the ensemble so we get a more intense and vital engagement with the players and their ardour. There is also the occasional rhythmic low thud well down in the sound-picture which perhaps suggests a tapping foot. If you enjoy that close-up engagement and appreciate a less expansive approach to Marx then the CPO is for you. Otherwise the more concert-natural and slightly distanced ASV disc is to be preferred. In the Classico the Thomas Christian Ensemble are about two minutes faster overall. For the other works there are only seconds of a difference between ASV and CPO.

The Classico and the Antiquo found their way into orchestral form and those versions can be had on ASV (see review).

Berkant Haydin, founder and General Secretary of the Josef Marx Society and the architect of the Marx revival is our reliable and inspired guide in the extensive booklet notes. Do not miss his website.

Vital, ardent, close-quarters playing and recording of these variously retrospective and romantic quartets.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

If you're up for nearly 160 minutes of quintessentially charming German baroque chamber music, here is the set for you. The Camerata Köln lucidly performs Telemann's six concertos and suites with as much style and invention as we're ever likely to hear. These players clearly understand how Telemann's inventive variety of dance forms, sudden chromatic harmonic shifts, and parallel note sequences reflect his awareness of national styles outside of Germany. They also tactfully embrace the improvisatory freedom Telemann encouraged. If you've enjoyed Telemann's more well known (and recorded) Paris Quartets or Methodic Sonatas, or his famous Tafelmusik series, you'll likely enjoy these debut performances as well. CPO's presentation, notes, and sound are, as usual, impeccable. A must for Telemann completists (and good luck to them!). Others may not need too much of a good thing. --John Greene, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Classical Music

Schittke's music for these four films sounds just like Schnittke, big surprise. Leaving out his late works, most of which are just plain miserable, his eclectic poly-stylistic mode of composition makes him a "natural" composer for the cinema, and all four of the suites on display here show him in vintage form. There are those wonderful pastiche pieces of fake "classical" music, several tangos, foxtrots, and the like, all fertilized by Schnittke's slightly twisted way of looking at such things, and there's plenty of very creepy mood music. He gets tremendous mileage from simple effects: the sound of the harpsichord in unexpected places, sparing touches of percussion, persistent rhythmic ostinatos, snatches of popular tunes (there's a particularly pungent setting of the Marseillaise here), and the eerie wordless chorus in My Past and Thoughts.


The most remarkable thing about all of this music is its economy and sureness of touch: there's not a note too much. Every mood expresses itself immediately, with no preliminaries. If I haven't gone into the specifics of the four suites that extensively, it's because they have so much in common with each other, and sound so typical of what we already know of the composer, that they are really best considered together. Frank Strobel leads the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus with a sure hand, and he's very atmospherically recorded too. This is a major addition to the discography of a very remarkable composer, and great fun. Don't miss it.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

This is just the sort of music that the CPO label specializes in: well-wrought works by a worthy yet relatively obscure composer. Neither piece on this disc is a lost masterpiece (as more than a few CPO discoveries are), but both are ingratiating--worth hearing, but not likely to appear on anyone's required listening list.

Ferdinand Ries was a 14-years-younger contemporary of Beethoven, who was one of his piano teachers and also mentored him. The disc's liner notes quote an 1813 review that found Ries' ideas not very original but praised his skills and the beauty of his music. (Beethoven himself put it more succinctly: "He imitates me too much.") The music is beautiful to be sure--I've listened to this program three times and enjoyed it enough that I will occasionally hear it again; but what will bring listeners back is the gorgeous scoring and creative good taste, like a cross between Mozart and Mendelssohn.

The Sextet, a work of four-movement symphonic proportions and structure, is for piano, clarinet, two horns, violin, cello, and double bass. Its rather gentle funeral march second movement is an obvious imitation of Beethoven, but it is followed by a Scherzo that quite charmingly presages Mendelssohn. The Grand Octet of 1826, a more concerto-like work in three movements (employing the same forces as the Sextet, less one horn, but adding a bassoon and a viola) suggests Schubert.

The Linos-Ensemble is joined by pianist Konstanze Eickhorst, who intelligently chooses a balance that favors the piano as more than just "first among equals", but that is not as dominant as a concerto solo part. The studio recording (taped in 2002) has a natural intimate hall ambience and is ideally balanced. If you are looking for music that is both different and pleasing, and you don't mind that it does not go very far beyond "pleasing", this disc will serve very well.

--Joseph Stevenson, ClassicsToday.com

Franz Lehár was known as "the last waltz king", so it's not surprising that his works in the medium bear similarities to those of the Strausses, qualities most readily heard in the suave, luxuriously appointed Wild Roses (or "Valse Boston"). However, Lehár also was a strongly original voice whose harmonic and textural experiments resulted in the striking Debussyian whole-tone scales toward the end of Altwiener Liebeswalzer ("Old Vienna Love Waltz"), or the Wagnerian snarling horns at the start of the Grützner Waltz.

Strangely, the waltz from The Merry Widow, undoubtedly Lehár's most well-known composition, is omitted from this collection. Instead the disc begins with the Merry Widow Overture, which Lehár composed for the occasion of his 70th birthday in 1940. The overture contains the operetta's main tunes (including the popular "Lippen schweigen" melody) subjected to rather sophisticated motivic development, while the more conventional Clo-Clo and Der Göttergatte overtures function strictly as preludes. All pieces receive expert and enthusiastic performances by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Michail Jurowski, and CPO's warm, vibrant, and fully-present sound enhances a thoroughly enjoyable program.

--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

Julius Röntgen was a remarkable composer: prolific, joyous, traditional at heart, but eclectic in practice. As with many, similarly productive artists, his output is often adjudged “variable” by those who haven’t heard most of it. Of the roughly two dozen symphonies that he composed, most appeared in the final years of his life (he died in 1932). No. 9 dates from 1930. Subtitled “The Bitonal,” Röntgen called it “ultra-modern,” and indeed the opening bars bear a striking resemblance to those of the Berg Violin Concerto, composed some five years later (sound clips). That said, this single movement piece, lasting only a bit more than a quarter of an hour, quickly reveals its clearly tonal grounding, “bi” or not. What truly stands out is not just the harmonic audacity, but the often arresting use of instrumental color (the harp at the start) and keen feeling for atmosphere. It’s a fine piece.

Symphony No. 21 is a touch longer–a single movement just shy of twenty minutes. It has a certain Brucknerian nobility both in the writing for the brass as well as the freely contrapuntal style of much of the texture. It dates from only about a year after the Ninth, which tells you something about Röntgen’s rate of production during these late years. The earlier Serenade (1902) does exactly what music of its type ought to: it’s relaxed, tuneful, sunny, lyrical, and vivacious by turns. Röntgen’s love of Grieg and the Scandinavian nationalists is very much in evidence.

As with the other discs in this series, David Porcelijn leads vivid and confident performances of this very unfamiliar music. He secures good playing from the Frankfurt players, and CPO’s sonics, typically, are terrific. This disc admirably displays both Röntgen’s wide range of expression and his development as an artist. It’s music well worth getting to know.

– ClassicsToday (David Hurwitz)

Reznicek continues to impress as the biggest fin-de-siècle discovery since Korngold. If you took my extremely wise advice and purchased Schlemihl, the prequel to Der Sieger, then you may have an idea of what to expect, except that this work is even better. True, there's no Witches' Sabbath featuring a naked hag with pendulous breasts riding around on a pig singing "Ach! Du lieber Augustin". But then, how many times can you repeat that? Instead this three-movement extravaganza, scored for tons of winds, brass, percussion, alto soloist, and choir, features a central Dance around the Golden Calf based on the Dies Irae that's even wilder and more brilliantly scored.


Prior to that, we have a Straussian (only better orchestrated) Ascent and Female Companion--not that one has much to do with the other--and the work concludes with, you guessed it, Death. After the finale paroxysm, the soloist and choir deliver the moral of the story with positively sadistic sweetness: being wealthy is worthless, being poor is worthless, everything is worthless. After all that has come before, this is decadence and nihilism on a scale that will leave you breathless with admiration. I do hope that CPO gets around to recording Reznicek's "Ironic" Symphony. I'll bet that's a hoot too.


As with the previous release in this series, Michail Jurowski and the WDR orchestra play the living daylights out of the music. The brass handle the considerable demands that Reznicek makes on them with aplomb, the singers sound aptly mellifluous, and CPO's recording is outstanding. If you like big orchestral works of the Mahler/Strauss school, then you owe it to yourself to hear this. Reznicek has a distinctive voice and a technique as virtuosic and highly polished as anyone's from the period. Outstanding. [8/23/2004]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Carl Goldmark was not a symphonist – and that is no secret. His few attempts in this field – an early work, in part lost, and his second symphony, his op. 35, did not add up to much, and the Ländliche Hochzeit, to which the generic label »symphony« was assigned, does nothing more than confirm that this master of orchestral colors was above all good at atmospheric and character pictures. Goldmark very evidently needed a programmatic or dramatic “pretext” in order to rise up to his creative best, which is why he was able to gain the greatest fame and to score his most important successes with his stage works (tops here: Die Königin von Saba) as well as with his concert overtures. As he himself said, a change of milieu was good for his powers of inspiration, and so he repeatedly sought out extremes while selecting his materials and subjects. Accordingly, this new album with the Bamberg Symphony and the conductor Fabrice Bollon is also a “composite”: it complements Vol. 1 (555 160-2) with a program including the three mirthful overtures Im Frühling (In the Spring), In Italien (In Italy), and Aus Jugendtagen (From the Days of Youth), the preludes to his last two operas, Götz von Berlichingen and Ein Wintermärchen (A Winter’s Tale), and a special rarity in the form of the symphonic tone picture Zrinyi – a musical monument to this Hungarian-Croatian national hero and a work with which Goldmark wanted to express his gratitude to his home Magyar territory.

Louise Farrenc, a fine early romantic-era composer, led a charmed life as a youngster. Born into a ‘high art’ family, she also had the advantage of coming into contact with dozens of other artistic families at the Sorbonne. With an impeccable cultural background and artistic bloodline, Farrenc was certainly in excellent position to learn piano and music composition. She also was trained by some of the most esteemed musical artists of the time: Antoine Reicha, Johann Hummel and Ignaz Moscheles.

Although Farrenc had to deal with restrictive views concerning acceptable female roles in life, she always considered herself first and foremost a composer of music. Her works were widely performed in Europe during her lifetime, but her current reputation is slim indeed. Her obscurity likely derives from two considerations. First, unlike Clara Schumann or Fanny Hensel, Farrenc was not aligned with a famous relative. Second, Farrenc’s music was of the Germanic tradition, and this style was not popular in 19th century France.

Of the best composers of Farrenc’s era, her music most reminds me of Beethoven’s with a dash of Chopin added into the mix. Her works display an expert sense of construction, ample variety of form and emotional content, and a fine penchant for attractive melodies. However, readers should not think that Farrenc possessed the musical inspiration of a Beethoven or Chopin. Farrenc’s musical magic is more in the range of Hummel and Reicha, which makes her music highly desirable as opposed to essential.

This is not CPO’s first Farrenc recording. The company has already issued a disc of Farrenc symphonies and another of her large-scale chamber works. Those recordings were well received, and I have no doubt that this new solo piano disc will also garner fine reviews. I should also relate that being a pianist, Farrenc’s early compositions consisted primarily of piano music, and that the works on the new disc are from her early career.

Konstanze Eickhorst has the honor of performing Farrenc’s piano music. Ms. Eickhorst is no stranger to Farrenc’s music, performing the piano parts of CPO’s previous chamber music disc mentioned above. Eickhorst currently enjoys a busy concert schedule that started with winning the Clara Haskil Competition in 1981 at the age of twenty. She has also won other piano competitions and performed with many of the most prestigious orchestras and conductors in Europe in addition to chamber music groups such as the Melos Quartet, Carmina Quartet, and the Linos Ensemble. Eickhorst has played a wide range of keyboard music from the Baroque period up to contemporary pieces. Her recordings include Bach’s Goldberg Variations for Bella Musica and Clara Schumann’s piano works on CPO.

Eickhorst programs three types of Farrenc’s piano music: works based on a basic theme with variations, character pieces and Études. Of the two variation works, the Air russe varié is the more contemplative and consists of a Preludio, Theme, eight short variations and a Finale. This expansive structure is expertly crafted by Farrenc and quite distinctive. The Preludio is a serious Moderato of a pleading and compelling nature that is followed by the basic theme that I must admit is rather simple in the manner of the Diabelli theme that Beethoven made into a marvel of variation technique. Although not at Beethoven’s exalted level, Farrenc gives us eight inventive variations. The Finale is rather special, having a first section of Bachian fugue proportion with overlapping voices and a second section of exuberance and triumph.

The other variation work, the Variations brillantes, takes its basic theme from the cavatina "Nel veder la tua costanza" from Gaetano Donizetti’s Opera "Anna Bolena". Although of equal length to the Air russe varié, there are only four variations, which does lead to greater thematic development. Further, the Variations brillantes is very much a work for public display with its virtuosic requirements and exhilarating nature.

The two character pieces on the disc, the Valse brillante and the Nocturne, were both published in the early 1860s but may well have been composed in the early years of Farrenc’s musical career. Neither piece displays the brilliant artistry of Chopin’s character pieces, but both are rewarding in their own right. The Valse brillante is true to its title and consists of a series of contrasting dance themes of a generally upbeat and vivacious nature. The Nocturne is in the style of Chopin’s works in this genre and is quite lovely and poignant.

I have left the best for last: Eickhorst’s selection of nine of the thirty Études of Opus 26. With this body of music, Farrenc shows her expertise in conveying a compendium of the piano techniques used during the first decades of the 19th Century, employing the extended ‘circle of fifths’ as her structural guide. Of course, we are not able to follow the architectural path when only given selections, but Farrenc often programmed just a few of her Opus 26 Études in piano recitals. Each of the pieces is in ABA form and ranges in length from under two minutes to over four minutes.

The Études Nos. 22 and 19 are so propulsive and concentrated that they take on a relentless quality that is compelling. No. 7 is a gorgeous and uplifting Andante, while No. 4 is thoroughly invigorating. Contemplation and melancholy pervade No. 10, and No. 11 has the relentless qualities mentioned for Nos. 22 and 19. My personal favorite is No. 12, another Bachian style fugue that clearly reveals Farrenc’s affinity for baroque form and counterpoint.

In summary, the new CPO disc of Farrenc solo piano music is a highly rewarding effort having both excellent music and performances. The recorded sound is fine, although a little thin compared to current standards of piano richness in recordings. This enjoyable disc represents great entertainment value and should appeal to piano enthusiasts and anyone wanting to travel the byways of the early romantic period.

-- Don Satz, MusicWeb International

Violinist/composer Karol Lipinski (1790-1861) has been dubbed the "Polish Paganini". Is that nickname a compliment or something of a slight? The two men were contemporaries who at first meeting were mutual admirers and even colleagues in presenting double concerts; later, their partnership soured, and now Lipinski's soubriquet might sound more like second-best than a mark of distinction. And although Lipinski's contemporaries left records of their admiration for his performing skills (among his fans were Berlioz, Schumann, and Wagner), we can only directly judge his merit by his compositions.


Like the Italian violinist, Lipinski focused his energies on writing caprices and concertos for the violin--horrendously difficult works that meander quite a bit, as evidenced on this disc, while providing a compelling platform for a talented technician to let sparks fly. Here, French/German violinist Albrecht Breuninger and conductor Wojciech Rajski reexamine Lipinski in a program that features a complete reading of his second violin concerto as well as the allegro movements from Lipinski's third and fourth concertos. (Lipinski was not a composer of any great brevity; each allegro runs about 15 minutes.) These concertos may have all the heft of a cream puff, but all the tricks of a virtuoso violinist's trade are here: flashy runs, extended trills, dazzling pizzicato passages, the whole spectrum of bowing techniques, outrageous string crossings, and a tonal range that takes the soloist to every left-hand position possible.


And Breuninger soars; his light and unerring touch, such as in the concluding two minutes of the third concerto's Allegro movement, makes these thrilling passages sound like child's play. These showcases are where Lipinski really excels, but don't overlook the sensual lyricism of the one Adagio (from the second concerto), where Breuninger's masterful sense of phrasing brings out all of the piece's shapeliness. The orchestral accompaniment is no less showy: the haughty, pompous opening to the "Concerto Militaire" signals Lipinski's love of grand gestures, and Rajski and his forces dispatch their duty with plenty of zest. The orchestral sound is more two-dimensional than would be ideal; the colors of the brass and winds in particular are quite muted in favor of putting Breuninger upfront. By contrast, the violinist's sound is vibrant and fully realized.
--Anastasia Tsioulcas, ClassicsToday.com