Following our first album with sacred concertos by Johann Rosenmüller, we are now releasing another album with concertos for larger ensembles by this genial composer and musician who quite soon attracted attention with his perfect musical blend and tireless creative drive as well as with his persistent striving for innovation. In his works Rosenmüller succeeded in blending the new Italian colorfulness and tonal sensitivity with the gravity of Central German music into a unique, sublime style. The more than one hundred works by Rosenmüller that have come down to us, most of them dimensioned on the large scale, reveal a composer who gave everything he had to bring to perfection the mixing of Central German and Italian stylistics begun in Leipzig and ultimately to lend the sacred concerto a personal signature. “The music speaks for itself, for it is filled with enthralling moments. Such a discovery would not be possible without such an impressive interpretation as that of the Ensemble 1684. The soloists shine in their outstanding textual articulation and flawless vocal technique; the instrumentalists always provide for optimally balanced dialogues.”

Our previous release of three piano concertos by Joseph Wölfl featured the recording premieres of “mirthful pieces in the style of Mozart and Early Viennese Classicism" And our second new release with more concertos by Wölfl – this time congenially interpreted by Nastaša Veljkovic – shows just what magnificent music this composer working in Beethoven’s immediate musical environment was writing. As in Wölfl’s second piano concerto, so too in his third such work: he follows the tradition shaped by Mozart in matters of form. However, here a tendency toward formal trimming is already in evidence, a tendency that Wölfl pursued in his later London concertos and very decidedly so in the Concerto da camera WoO 97 for piano, flute, and strings. What we have in this work, which was published in London in 1810, is in every respect a reduced concerto, not only in the dimensions of the orchestral ensemble but also in length, though the overall formal scheme is retained. The solos in particular are more tightly constructed and more strongly integrated into the orchestral part – with the small ensemble size contributing its share here.

During his lifetime Anton Rubinstein was regarded as the greatest pianist among composers and as the greatest composer among pianists. He himself assigned clear functions to his two fields of activity: he concertized to live, and he lived to compose. Such a plan of action finds its greatest fulfillment when the two spheres overlap: in Anton Rubinstein’s piano concertos, which were products of his compositional calling for his concert profession and works by the composer for the pianist. Thirteen years, stylistic nuances, and a decisive step on the career ladder came between his Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 4. The twenty-one-year-old’s early second concerto met with a very favorable response in its time because of its marvelously beautiful tonal effects. It was then above all his fourth concerto that from the very beginning was enthusiastically received by fans of symphonic orchestral music and friends of virtuoso solo performance. Here Schaghajegh Nosrati, who is regarded as an extremely versatile musician and owing to her outstanding reputation as a Bach interpreter very early was able to establish herself as a concert pianist, interprets these works for us.

One aspect in the life and work of the great Genoese virtuoso Nicolò Paganini that may be lesser known but in no way should be underestimated is the pronounced interest with which he dedicated himself to chamber music both as an interpreter and as a composer. He was drawn in particular to the genre of the string quartet – and here we are presenting his energetic String Quartet No. 3, a work revealing his brilliant mastery in the field of chamber music. In his Tre Duetti for violin and bassoon Paganini also proves to be a very sophisticated composer of chamber music who succeeds in lending each of the three duets an individual, independent character. Among other things, these works have in common the beautiful cantability of their themes and a writing style radiating obvious joy in the shared musical experience, in “jouer,” as the French so fittingly term it. The influence of song is in constant evidence when we speak of the Italian instrumental music of the nineteenth century in general and in particular of Paganini’s chamber music or that of composers such as Rossini and Donizetti who distinguished themselves mainly in the field of the opera. In the three duets this vocal influence is naturally combined with the clear requirements of instrumental part writing.

Over the course of his life Max Bruch often made uncomplimentary remarks about the piano as an instrument – even though he himself was an outstanding and successful pianist. On the whole it was not until his later years that increasing occupation with the piano could be observed in his compositions. His late chamber music with the piano and the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra may be understood as a return to this instrument. The selection of piano works recorded here by the pianist Christof Keymer demonstrates beyond any doubt Bruch’s mastery in the compositional treatment of the piano and its special resources. Here we find a cosmos of romantic emotional worlds that in Bruch’s hands produce original, unique tones. This very personal treatment of piano sound, melodic invention, and melodic leading shows us Bruch as a great composer personality. The transcriptions almost incidentally reveal his great command of the tonal transformation of the originals, while many virtuoso elements in turn have a signature that is very much Bruch’s own. All the piano works have in common Bruch’s love of melody, which was his creed as a composer.

Johann Matthias Sperger, the standout double bassist among the leading forces of the Viennese School in Germany, honored his instrument with greater virtuosity and more compositional versatility than any other composer. This fact is documented by his eighteen double bass concertos, all of which have come down to us in the autographic scores and in some cases in the parts and are available for consultation in the Schwerin Library. On Vol. 2, which features Concertos Nos. 1 and 8, Sperger once again gives the double bass the solo space it needs to display its song qualities, often with extremely striking and exceptional themes. And as already on Vol. 1, our soloist Roman Patkoló “does complete justice to what are sometimes the breakneck demands of the concertos” (klassik-heute. com of Vol. 1). The album also includes Sperger’s Symphony No. 15, a work that has a tonal language very close to that of Haydn – and that here is being performed and recorded on album for the first time, 239 years after its composition.

Our album presents a selection of five works from the extensive, largely unexplored Easter Cantata oeuvre created by Georg Philipp Telemann during the course of his sixty years in Eisenach (1708-12), Frankfurt am Main (1712-21), and Hamburg (1721-67). Four of the works recorded here date from the 1720s and take us back to the years in Telemann’s creative life as a composer when he was the new music director of Hamburg’s five principal churches and was reorganizing the city’s church music and modernizing it in musical respects. The two cantatas from the “Annual Cycle without Recitatives” refrain from use of larger ensembles with brass and woodwind instruments and concertizing instrumental voices; the focus is on the arias and quotations from the Bible, and of these it is above all the opening dictum that is very extensive and often elaborated with rich counterpoint. On the whole, the annual cycle has an intimate, subdued character. Its music does not score points with tonal effects; instead, it generates appeal with refinements in the musical setting of the texts. The cantatas of the “Second Lingen Annual Cycle” are characterized by a fixed sequence of movement forms. The initial sinfonia is followed by an accompagnato recitative, and this weighty exordium is succeeded by two duets in alternation with chorale strophes. The duets are da capo arias and designed in such a way that one voice sings the A part, while the other voice sings the B part.

REVIEW:

Telemann has an almost inexhaustible facility for good melodies, piquant harmony, and a colorful yet discrete orchestration. To pull this off requires considerable focus and attention by the performers, and here Michael Willens knows his stuff. The tempos are all carefully chosen, the phrasing precise, and the sound clear. Soprano Johanna Winkel, who doesn’t have a great deal to do, has a clear and rather lyrical voice, while alto Margot Oitzinger is richer but not too dark in terms of tone. The real vocal work is done by Georg Poplutz, no stranger to this style of music or the composer, but the hero seems to be bass Peter Kooij, whose rich tone and vocal dexterity are evident from the start. In short, these are terrific works, varied and yet copacetic with each other, and the excellent performance of the Kölner Akademie produces a disc that should win kudos, even from jaded Telemann enthusiasts.

-- Fanfare

Our second album with music for strings by British composers features most highly creative compositions by Sir Granville Bantock and Christopher Wilson. When Bantock reached the pinnacle of his fame, the Three Choirs Festival held in Hereford in 1912 ordered a work for string orchestra from him. The result was the four-movement Serenade for Strings, to which he assigned the subtitle “In the Far West.” Bantock’s string movements are distinguished by an impressive tonal richness. After the performance Douglas Bostock remarked: “I am truly amazed – this is anything but a ‘Serenade,’ as the innocuous title suggests. The succinct, symphonically developed music is nothing other than a string symphony with a demanding writing style representing a genuine tour de force.” Moreover, extensive recorded material documents the Scottish melodies used by Bantock in his Scenes from the Scottish Highlands. For them he chose the finely managed format of three fast dances separated by two euphonious slow movements. The six short movements in traditional or dance style forming Christopher Wilson’s Suite for String Orchestra made it something new and fresh when it was premiered in 1901, and it came over very well. It is thought that one of the composer’s goals was to connect with the tradition of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Rossini’s opera overtures discharge a function of decisive importance – that of captivating listeners even before the actual opera action begins. Therefore they are the instrumental highlight of every opera and in their time quickly made their way into the concert halls. In them there are numerous aha-effects such as the unusual horn solo in the first section of the overture of the comic opera Il turco in Italia. The faster part reveals further hallmarks of Rossini’s style: catchy short motifs, loud-quiet contrasts, and question-answer games between the instruments (here, for example, between the woodwind group and the solo trumpet). In the end the concluding crescendo quite literally lifts the listeners out of their seats. And all of this occurs within a quite simple formal structure – but one that functions as a guiding idea. Whether The Barber of Seville, La scala di Seta, or Il signor Bruschino – all of these famous, sparkling opera overtures are dashingly and rousingly performed by I Virtuosi Italiani. A release that you will never forget!

This album features three dazzling but previously only little-known compositions for royals from Telemann’s immense trove of vocal music. The selections have been chosen from the field of commissioned and occasional compositions written for special occasions such as acts of homage, funerary ceremonies, weddings, birthdays, and inaugurations. Two works from Telemann’s primary creative field, that of church music, round off the program. The three works featured on this recording have in common points of reference to the particular English kings during whose reigns they were written; these monarchs were also in personal union the Prince Electors of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (for short: “Electors of Hanover”). All three works are distinguished by scoring for an ensemble with trumpets as “royal instruments” – sometimes in a majestic function, sometimes in a tonally subdued, mournful function – and with a bass singer as the vocal representative of the monarch. These works brimming with ideas and designed with virtuosity and color are from the master’s late compositional period and, depending on the particular occasion, express gratitude, appreciation, or grief vis-à-vis the British-Hanoverian rulers. Although these feelings certainly first and foremost reflect the stance of those who commissioned them, Telemann’s musical settings lend them universal appeal.

The Musicalisches Lob Gottes in der Gemeine des Herrn may be regarded as the impressive high point of Telemann’s printed annual cycles. The present recording of three cantatas from this annual cycle tends more to chamber musical design. It interprets the compositions as intimate sacred music for which an ensemble with eight members completely suffices in performance respects – something corresponding to the reality in performance practice in most German church music ensembles in the eighteenth century. In view of the intimate interpretation of these cantatas, the intermezzi interspersed in them from the Twelve Fantasies for Viola da Gamba Solo have the effect of a meditative deepening of the religious subject matter. The four fantasies selected are elaborated with fine art and are just as richly arrayed musically as are the church compositions.

The fifth concert in our series of “Music from Wolfenbüttel Castle” features performances and recordings of multifaceted cantatas by Georg Caspar Schürmann. Like no other musician before him, Schürmann exercised a comprehensive influence on the Wolfenbüttel court music world during his more than fifty years of service there. During these decades he produced an impressively extensive and richly varied oeuvre: almost thirty operas, numerous table compositions, a Passion, and church cantatas for large ensembles are documented. In his Christmas cantata “Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger” we experience Schürmann as a composer of gripping ensemble compositions with finely chiseled fugue subjects. For many years the anonymous New Year’s cantata “Nimm das Opfer unsrer Hertzen” was also ascribed to Schürmann. Although Georg Österreich is now assumed to have been its composer, the opening aria in particular with its highly effective postponement of the resolution of dissonances displays a clear stylistic closeness to Schürmann’s opera arias from this time.

Max Drischner’s “Neobaroque” music is best understood when it is viewed in its context shaped by the youth music movement and the organ revival. Drischner composed most of his works for church performance in simple circumstances. He wanted to write appealing music that would reach »the people« and receive a positive response from its audiences – and even today his music attracts quite a few genuinely enthusiastic fans. The selection of compositions recorded here on a magnificent, richly colored symphonic organ consists of free pieces and pieces set to chorales that can also be played on small organs or in some cases even on the piano.

Among the free organ works, the impressive Passacaglia in E major occupies a special place in Drischner’s self-understanding because of his detailed comments on it and his suggestions for interpretation. Its title, Sonnen-Hymnus (Sun Hymn), owes to several factors: Drischner incorporates his experiences of sunrises in the mountains of his native Silesia into it and forms associations with creation hymns such as Psalm 104: 27-28 (verses with parallels in an ancient Egyptian hymn ascribed to the pharaoh Akhenaten) and St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Sun (“Cantico di Frate Sole,” 1224 / 25). Drischner renders this into music based on a theme of eight measures developed from an E major chord and cited a total of thirty-four times. It typically occurs in triple rhythm and is elaborated in registers, degrees of textural complexity, and forms of rhythmization. Drischner’s chordal doubling of the voices produces a hymnic character in the concluding part, and the registration with cimbelstern bells lends a special radiance to this segment.

The first piece composed by Max Bruch during his child prodigy years was a song, and the Five Songs op. 97 number among the last creations with which he closed the files on his long artist’s life shortly after World War I. This fact alone would suffice to make us understand the great value attached to song – whether of vocal or instrumental nature – in the oeuvre of this lifelong Romanticist. From the peppy male chorus to the full-length colossal oratorio, from the Loreley to the immortal cantilenas of his Violin Concerto No. 1, Scottish Fantasy, and Kol Nidrei, he sang out his songs to his heart’s content while revealing lyrical qualities that come to light in special measure in his collections of solo songs distributed over the entire course of his career – a fact underscored by the Austrian baritone and his piano partner Sascha El Mouissi on this new and so far absolutely unique anthology. Along with delightful tidbits from all of Bruch’s compositional periods, we are presenting the five songs from Paul Heyse’s novella Siechentrost for One to Four Voice Parts, Violin, and Piano op. 54. Max Bruch’s musical setting produced not only an original piece of chamber music but also an intimate look at his self-understanding and his goals. Behind their creator’s blustery façade there was also a man of tender, vulnerable character!

Rare but Irresistible: Cello Meets Harp Singing melodies of the cello borne by the silvery splendor of the harp’s tonal cascades – Mathias Johansen and Silke Aichhorn formed their duo in 2018 in order to revive the rarely performed literature for these two instruments. It is not clear why there are so few original compositions for this duo form. In the nineteenth century the tradition was for the harp to accompany virtuoso violinists. In his time Frederick the Great of Prussia employed a harpist to accompany his own flute solos and the violin sonatas of his violinists Benda and Graun. Prior to the French Revolution this combination was very much in vogue in the distinguished residences of the Parisian nobility, and then, in the early nineteenth century, it found its place on the German concert stage with the musical husband and wife Louis and Dorette Spohr. The combination of soft, bowed tones on the violin or the cello with sparkling runs on the harp is tonally irresistible – as Silke Aichhorn and Mathias Johansen demonstrate on their first joint album. The program includes original works as well as familiar classics and hidden treasures for orchestra or other combinations of instruments – all masterfully presented by the two musicians. The result is a unique sound space, full of romantic feeling, power, and emotion, in which listeners will experience new fascination on each new hearing.