Classical Music

Yes, it's really that Schlemihl, the poor guy in Jewish folklore for whom nothing goes right. The composer describes the work's "orgy" sequence as follows: "A fat naked witch, with breasts and belly hanging down, arrives riding a sow to the tune 'Ach! Du Lieber Augustin'." Now who wouldn't want to hear that? The music actually sounds a bit like the waltz from the second movement of Mahler's Ninth Symphony with lots more percussion thrown in (in fact it was composed a couple of years after Mahler's death). The work's subtitle, "A Symphony Life Story", doesn't really begin to describe it, for the piece is a gigantic parody, principally of Strauss' Ein Heldenleben and Sinfonia Domestica. As with those works it has sections that describe the title character's wife, his child, and his various tribulations, but it's at once less specific than Strauss and if anything even more colorful.


Take the opening, a very funny Wagner/Strauss parody that represents the "hero". All of the clichés are firmly in place: the simple triadic melodies, bold writing for brass, and repeated wind chords. There's only one problem--the music can't make up its mind what key it's in. However, the composer's message couldn't be clearer, and while there's much that's quite beautiful (the music of "the woman" and the entire last few minutes), the overriding impression remains one of good-natured fun. There's even a brief tenor solo toward the end that basically says "Your life hasn't been a total waste and you've earned a rest" (or words to that effect), plus some solemn writing for organ that hits an aptly religious note, but not too seriously. It's all gloriously played by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under Michail Jurowski and fabulously well recorded, and I can't recommend it highly enough.


Reznicek apparently did for Raskolnikoff (of Crime and Punishment fame) what Beethoven did for Leonore. This is the second of two Raskolnikoff overtures that he wrote, and it dates from the 1920s (Reznicek was born in 1860, the same year as Mahler, and died in 1945). While not as interesting as Schlemihl (no surprise there), and despite the fact that it takes a while to get going, the piece is just as immaculately crafted and certainly as well performed here. The ending, with the birdsong from the slow movement of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony putting in a brief appearance, can't fail to please even if it leaves open the question of what any of it has to do with Dostoyevsky. Never mind; Reznicek is a major composer and one of the great discoveries of this (or any) year. CPO's ongoing series of recordings is turning into a major event. Just remember, you heard it here first. [3/5/2004]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Born in 1819 as a Prussian citizen in a Saarbrücken suburb then named Goffontaine (today’s Scheidt-Schafbrücke), when Louis Théodore Gouvy died in 1898 he was regarded as a Frenchman in Germany and as a German in France. No other foreign composer’s works were performed as frequently in Leipzig during the 1850s as those by Gouvy. In his symphonic oeuvre, Gouvy displays the bravura and clarté that his contemporaries valued in his music. “Melodic richness, natural sovereignty in the treatment of harmony, and a completely unaffected originality… play[ed] with fine nuance…” (klassik-heute)

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

This is exactly the kind of music that serious collectors of good Romantic music should snap up without hesitation, that radio stations should play, and that orchestras should consider programming. It's likely to be overlooked because, first, Max Bruch was not a terribly interesting composer most of the time, and the folk music of Sweden doesn't have the cachet of, say, Hungary, the Czech lands, or Spain. It's a pity, because the tunes are delicious, and Bruch's arrangements are perfectly charming, tasteful, and spirited. They are also immaculately performed by Werner Andreas Albert and the Kaiserslautern orchestra. Yes, the English horn player has a tendency to quack, and the music makes no unusual virtuoso demands, yet such is the interest in the repertoire that the finer technical points can't detract from the strongest possible recommendation.

This last point applies with particular force to the Suite on Russian Folk Melodies. It's a really gorgeous 20 minutes of music, with luscious writing for harp and some particularly colorful contributions from the winds and percussion. In short, it shows Bruch writing at the same high level of inspiration that characterizes his famous First violin concerto and Scottish Fantasy--miles away from the often routine, somewhat dour world of the symphonies. The sonics are also excellent, as German radio productions usually manage. So if you're looking for some really enjoyable, off-the-beaten-path 19th-century repertoire (and a disc you will want to play over and over), do check out this release.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com