PALSCHAU Harpsichord Concertos: No. 1 in C; No. 2 in D. SCHULZ 6 Diverses pièces pour le clavecin ou le pianoforte • Lars Ulrik Mortensen (hpd), cond; Concerto Copenhagen (period instruments) • dacapo 8.226040 (67:08)


The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians contains but a brief paragraph on Johann Gottfried Wilhelm Palschau (1741–1815). In it we learn that he was a member of the orchestra at Copenhagen’s Royal Opera. Among other things, Palschau toured extensively, visiting London a decade before Mozart (the notes tell us that Palschau lodged in the same house as Wolferl), and Hamburg in1761. In 1771 Palschau turns up in Riga, where he studied for a time with Johann Gottfried Müthel. Palschau settled in St. Petersburg (Russia) in 1771 and became highly successful as a performer. The annotations for the CD indicate that Palschau’s last documented concert was in 1800, when a German singer—H. C. Wunder—advertised in the Gazette de Saint-Pétersbourg that he had managed to acquire the services of the famous piano virtuoso, Herr Palschau.


As for Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (1747–1800), there is much more information. He was a German who studied in Berlin with C. P. E. Bach and Johann Philipp Kirnberger. Schulz was a staunch advocate of “new” music and staged operas by Gluck, Niccolò Piccinni, and others, but this got Schulz in the doghouse at Rheinsburg. Feeling it was time to move on, Schulz applied for and was appointed to a position in Copenhagen (1787–1795). There he reorganized the Royal Chapel, founded a benefit fund for musicians’ widows, wrote extensively on music education, and continued to compose. Schulz was highly influential in Denmark, and has been called a pioneer in that nation’s musical development.


This CD contains all of Palschau’s harpsichord concertos, his only other surviving compositions being several sets of variations on Russian folk songs. While not as highly developed as the concertos of his slightly older contemporary, Haydn. Palschau’s concertos are pleasant and uncomplicated works, showing more the influence of his Berlin studies with C. P. E. Bach and less of Müthel. The keyboard-writing is impressive and demanding, yet rewarding.


The title of the six pieces by Schulz indicates the changing musical times when the harpsichord was gradually being pushed aside for the more expressive fortepiano . The editor of the collection, Michael Struck, points out that the scope of the pieces is best illustrated by the difference between the Baroque character of opening prelude and the cantabile style of the melody found in the Andante.


Concerto Copenhagen, or CoCo as it is affectionately known, was founded in 1991; since 1999, Lars Ulrik Mortensen has been its artistic director. CoCo has released a number of important recordings that combine the more esoteric Scandinavian repertoire with the staples of the Baroque and Classic eras. The performances are benchmark from first note to last, compelling admiration via their seamless delivery and unforced stylistic grace. The bottom line is the music and musicians fulfill their mission: to open another chapter in music history and to spell pleasure from beginning to end.


While none of the material here will rival Haydn or Mozart, it is decidedly delightful and relaxing fare that is ideal for an occasional journey into the musical undergrowth. Bon voyage!


FANFARE: Michael Carter

So the album is now a reality with, first, the original work and then 11 very different remixes or new compositions inspired by the work. As We Like We mention in a note on their contribution, and which is also mentioned in the introduction to the work, Else Marie Pade wrote a programme note when the work was released, saying among other things: 'The first sound is set in motion, is caught up by the next, which is caught up by the next, etc., in a powerful crescendo.' That is the spirit in which the album is created: the original work was the first sound that is caught up by the next sound in the form of the next remix, which is in turn caught up by the next remix, and so on. Thanks to every single contributor on this tribute album for the musical will to pay tribute to Else Marie, for commitment, for dialogue, for inventiveness and not least for responsiveness to the many potentials of the original." - Henrik Marstal.

Booklet includes libretto in English.

I truly can't imagine why anyone would want to own more than one good recording of this opera, and so if you have none, this one will make you very happy. If you have the Harnoncourt, you'll need this to get a real sense of what the opera is about, and if you have the Hager, scene by scene you should be pleased. But Fischer almost turns this work into true drama, and his singers are marvelous. The sound throughout is bright and forward; the booklet contains interesting essays and a four-language libretto.

The approximately three-hour-long (depending on cuts, pacing, etc.) Lucio Silla was composed by Mozart for Milan in 1772, as the lad was nearing his 16th birthday. A true opera seria, with dozens of da capo arias and a plot that ties itself in knots until the eponymous hero, the despotic Silla (138-78 B.C.), suddenly decides to stop being a tyrant, has a change of heart and becomes the very model of the Enlightenment, it offers the listener no context for soul-searching, almost no action, and no character growth. However, like the best opera serie, we get many splendid frozen-in-time moments in which individual characters can stop, face us, and articulate in music and text an array of human emotion: warmth, hopelessness, fury, elation, fear, tenacity. And for the most part, they do so with great bravura.

The opera was a great success in Milan, running 20 performances. The plot tells of Silla (tenor) who lusts after Giunia (soprano), whose husband Cecilio (mezzo) he has banished and declared dead. Cecilio, back in Rome but hiding, eventually tries to kill Silla but is stopped and sentenced to death. Then, for no reason made clear to anyone, Silla denounces his own dictatorship and offers clemency to all, including Cecilio's friend Cinna (soprano) and his own sister, Celia (soprano), who loves and is loved by Cinna. A character named Aufidio (tenor), shows up occasionally; he is Silla's bloodthirsty friend, always interested in stirring up trouble.

There are several performances of this opera available, and this new one turns out to be the best all around despite some remarkable individual performances elsewhere. The cast here is made up of not-very-well-known Scandinavians, and they are all worthy. Great credit must go to conductor Adam Fischer, who leads the superb period-instrument Danish Radio Sinfonietta in a performance that unites youthful refinement with fiery delivery, textural and textual lucidity, and just the right mood and tempo for each character's situation. He rightly turns each aria into an event while having trimmed the recitative to a minimum; compared with Leopold Hager's reading on Philips, with every note and word intact, we get a performance that is 32 minutes shorter and light years more exciting. (Harnoncourt on Teldec cuts the role of Aufidio entirely as well as a couple of important arias, and his tempos and dynamics define manic depression.)

The emotional centerpiece of the opera, if there is one, is Giunia, a high coloratura who has four lengthy arias to sing, requiring great virtuosity as well as a sense of longing and moral outrage. Her opening aria changes mood effectively as it progresses, and a scene near the first act's close in which she and the chorus weep for her father (who was killed by Silla) is truly moving. Simone Nold does a fine job with her bright tone and impeccable diction; she's well up to the challenge made by Arleen Auger (Hager) and Edita Gruberova (Harnoncourt).

Lothar Odinius is the best Silla on disc. The under-composed role (only two arias instead of four due to a last-minute cast change in Milan a week before the premiere) can be effective, and Odinius not only has the notes and coloratura, but he's capable of sounding truly nasty and sings Peter Schreier (on both other recordings cited) under the table. Cecilio is represented with Harnoncourt by Cecilia Bartoli and with Hager by Julia Varady; the latter has great authority but struggles with pitch while the former is at her most expressive, noble, varied, and outraged. Kristina Hammarström cannot match Bartoli but she is nonetheless excellent, the tone perhaps not quite dark enough at times but the intelligence and accuracy outstanding. Henriette Bonde-Hansen sings with dignity as Cinna; Susanne Elmark's Celia is sincere, loving, and shallow, much like Dawn Upshaw's for Harnoncourt. Jacob Naeslund Masden's Aufidio has a nice snarl to it.

I truly can't imagine why anyone would want to own more than one good recording of this opera, and so if you have none, this one will make you very happy. If you have the Harnoncourt, you'll need this to get a real sense of what the opera is about, and if you have the Hager, scene by scene you should be pleased. But Fischer almost turns this work into true drama, and his singers are marvelous. The sound throughout is bright and forward; the booklet contains interesting essays and a four-language libretto.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

The Faroese composer Sunleif Rasmussen (b. 1961) let's the melodies of national songs become the musical DNA in powerful sound-evocations of nature; either as a basis for ingenious constructions of great sensuality, or so that anyone in the North Atlantic islands can hum along. Interpreted by members of Lapland Chamber Orchestra under the baton of John Storgards, Rasmussen's music is in strong fellow Nordic hands on this recording.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

REVIEW:

Flemming Dreisig is the organist of Copenhagen Cathedral, and thus is enrolled in the “royal succession” of Danish organists. He has been a pioneer in performing Langgaard’s organ works, and made the first recording of Messis on the Ronna organ for Danacord in 1997-8. His new performance can be regarded as authoritative. Given the huge resources of the five-manual 1995 Marcussen organ of Copenhagen Cathedral and DaCapo’s technically excellent multichannel recording on SA-CD, this 2-disc set is another valuable item in the current reinstatement of Langgaard’s music.

There is no doubt that although Messis might be off-putting on account of its length and complexity, it really does grow on you. A fearsome challenge to organists, it is certainly an experience which organ-lovers should have, although I would not advise newcomers to Langgaard’s music to start with Messis, its seminal status notwithstanding. But clear some space in your diary and schedule a three night organ marathon at home; you could not have a better organ and organist to convert you.

– SA-CD.net

This is the fifth release in the acclaimed series of the complete symphonies by W. A. Mozart recorded by the Danish National Chamber Orchestra and their renowned chief conductor Adam Fischer. On this volume you can enjoy the symphonies nos. 31 33 and 34 composed during 1778-80. The performances are as fine as this music has ever received.

With this new release, Danish musicians Henrik Dam Thomsen and Ulrich Staerk explore the music of four great French composers, Debussy, Faure, Vierne, and Saint-Saens. This is truly a unique album, as it is being released in conjunction with the special album app “French Pieces,” which puts the music together with videos, bonus tracks, and essays about the composers and performers, and can be downloaded in App Store or Google Play. “Henrik Dam Thomsen is a splendid player.” (Gramophone) “Thomsen is a Rolls Royce among players.” (Classic FM Magazine)

TRIBUTES-Pulse is a collaboration between American filmmaker Bill Morrison (b. 1965) and Danish composer and percussionist Simon Christensen (b. 1971).

Christensen originally conceived of the project as a tribute to four American composers, Charles Ives, Conlon Nancarrow, Steve Reich and Trent Reznor. The project is comprised of four movements, with the themes of Shifting (slightest change), Multiple (simultaneously different), Across (different directions) and Beat (moving synchronized) respectively corresponding to each composer.

The idea of "Pulse" is explored in both the music and the film. Christensen conceived of the role of Pulse - the rhythmic recurrence of vibration - in the music of these four composers. But pulse is also explored as the through-line in a life, civilization, and nature. Using exquisitely deteriorating nitrate-based archival film, Morrison weaves a story from the remnants of disparate narratives. The episodes appear intermittently between the undulating pulse of the film's decay, the imagery compromised - yet made all the more poignant - by a dying celluloid medium. The four sections correspond visually to the four elements as a frontier for Man - Water, Earth, Fire and Air. The first glimpses moments in a woman's life. The second cuts between two frontier stories, when buffalo freely roamed the plains. The third examines industry and the loss of the frontier. The fourth explores flight, humankind's attempt to escape to the heavens, and Man's inevitable return to earth.

The story of DIEM (The Danish Institute of Electronic Music) is the story of 25 years of believing that the newest technology can move existing musical boundaries by creating new sounds, new structures, and pioneer the development of the music of the future. This double CD presents a broad selection of works produced at DIEM from 1987 to 2012; all of them presented in their original form and many of them released for the first time. DIEM is dedicated to artistic production, teaching, research and performance in the area of electronic music in Denmark. DIEM is led by the Californian-born composer Wayne Siegel, himself an electronic pioneer with several releases on Dacapo Records such as the recent TERRA in the spring of 2012.

" Mixed Company is the world premiere recording of a remarkable cycle of works by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (b.1932) presented by London Sinfonietta, Theatre of Voices and conductor Paul Hillier. Composed around John Dowland’s iconic Lacrimae, these seven new pieces have all been tailored to the excellent “mixed company” of Danish and English vocal and instrumental performers gathered in Copenhagen to celebrate the Danish composer in 2012."

Eichberg is the first composer in residence in the history of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. This CD presents the premiere recordings of his Symphony No. 1 and Symphony No. 2 that was first performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and concludes an explosive phase of creativity in the young composer.

• Traditional Nordic folk music with Middle Ages roots meet three new compositions by Danish trio Gáman. • Drum songs from Greenland, chain-dances from the Faroe Islands, wedding music from Fanø island and brand new sounds enrichingly elucidate one another. • Gáman (the name refers to the old Norse word for “joy”), are three of Denmark’s most celebrated young classical musicians exploring their common musical passions. Gáman had their US debut at the Other Minds Festival, San Francisco in 2013.