16.99

On this new recording, the Klenke Quartett enter a unique and fascinating musical field of contrasts between compositional avant-gardism and a return to folk melodies and native roots with string quartets by Maurice Ravel, Erwin Schulhoff and Ulvi Cemal Erkin. All three composers were very aware of their musical origins and incorporated them into their works in their own unique way. All three combine sounds and dances from very different countries and cultures in a marvelous way and draw listeners and players alike into a whirlwind of musical rhythms and melodies. In Erwin Schulhoff's "5 Pieces for String Quartet", you can hear echoes of waltzes, as well as tangos, and tarantellas. In his string quartet, Ulvi Cemal Erkin creates a cosmos of Turkish tradition paired with cosmopolitanism and combines the rhythmic-melodic elements of Turkish folk music with classical Western European compositional art, as he had studied it in Paris. With his string quartet, Maurice Ravel creates an innovative work within traditional forms that is unparalleled in it's richness of detail, luminosity, and variety. A program of the heart for the musicians of the Klenke Quartet, for whom the music of the early 20th century has always exerted a great attraction and which they regularly present in their concerts. "It is the personal, sensitive, intimate level of the compositions that inspires us and infuses our very own approach to this music," says Annegret Klenke. A passion that shines through in every note of this recording.

Valentine Michaud was the first ever saxophone soloist to perform with the Vienna Philharmonic. She and her regular collaborator, pianist Akvilé Silekaité, comprise the award-winning AKMI Duo. They debut on AVIE with Beyond the Wall, an album of contrasting 20th century sonatas linked by history and geography. Edison Denisov’s Soviet serialism, tinged with forbidden jazz influences, took a cue from the American modernism of William Albright. Austro-Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff embraced avant garde and jazz idioms, leading the Nazis to brand his music “degenerate”; he perished in the Wülzburg prison camp in 1942. Paul Hindemith fell in and out of favour with the Nazis, leading him to immigrate to Switzerland and later America. His popular Saxophone Sonata is by turns lyric and dramatic, imbued with irony and humour.

Beethoven und Schulhoff in Dialogue
Schuch:"Indeed, it’s quite exciting to look at what was going on exactly 100 years ago – perhaps because 1923 doesn’t seem all that distant to us.
Certain events and circumstances seem to mirror one another a century apart. From a musical point of view, Erwin Schulhoff’s piano concerto is a truly interesting work that has not attained the recognition it deserves…
In terms of style, the piano concerto, composed between 11 June and 10 July 1923, is one of those works where Schulhoff radically deals with the dance types of jazz, which had crossed the Atlantic at the end of the First World War and spread out from Paris until taking all of Europe by storm…
No other pair of composers could be more different – on paper – than these two.
Schulhoff always took a decisive stance against traditionalism. Indeed, he may have been something of an iconoclast, but he was also a talented and well-trained pianist – a pianist who wanted to earn success in that very role. Of course, Schulhoff studied the Beethoven concertos, performed them, and ultimately also took the opportunity (like many other composers before him) to put his stamp on these works by writing his own cadenzas…
…It was also in Berlin – in February 1923, to be exact – that Schulhoff conceived and worked out the cadenzas for the first four Beethoven piano concertos…" (Excerpts from the booklets notes)

Experience a captivating juxtaposition of four distinct and mesmerizing compositions spanning a mere decade on the GENUIN CD recorded by violinist Friederike Starkloff and pianist Endri Nini. The duo has compiled works from 1913 to 1923 by Erwin Schulhoff, Claude Debussy, George Antheil, and Leoš Janácek — echoes of an era characterized by tumultuous innovation and pioneering spirit where artists across all genres laid the foundations for modernity. Starkloff, who embarked on her career as the youngest first concertmaster of a German radio orchestra, and Nini, esteemed internationally as a chamber musician, breathe life into these extraordinary, kaleidoscopic compositions with unparalleled intensity and technical mastery.

The Schumann Quartet dedicates its latest studio production "1923" to that year in which new musical paths were sought, found, or questioned, and at the same time, the birth of radio heralded a new age for composers and the dissemination of their works. The CD program combines selected quartet music by Paul Hindemith, Alban Berg, Erwin Schulhoff, and Leoš Janácek.

In 1938, at the Reichsmusiktage in Düsseldorf, the Nazi regime opened an exhibition around music with the theme: 'Entartete Musik'. They collected examples of what they considered degenerate music. Gustav Mahler, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Mischa Spoliansky; these were just a few names on the long list of depraved composers. On this album, this music and more.

Erwin Schulhoff went through many stages in his emergence as pianist and composer. Antonin Dvorák recommended the seven-year-old to the conservatory of his native city of Prague, then at 14 the boy moved to Leipzig to learn composition from Max Reger. While there, he gained valuable insights into the piano from Robert Teichmüller. In the last years of his course of study (from 1911) Schulhoff moved yet again, this time to the Cologne Conservatory, where his teachers were Fritz Steinbach for composition and Carl Friedberg for piano. Immediately upon graduating in 1913, Schulhoff succeeded in obtaining a few lessons from a normally student-shy Claude Debussy. Michael Rische´s commitment to the music of the twentieth century, however, quite clearly marks a contrast to his discoveries: the original or first premieres of piano concertos by George Antheil and Erwin Schulhoff, as well as recordings of other works in the “jazz influenced” style by Copland, Honegger, Gershwin and Ravel, have gained him an international reputation.

The powerful and amazingly varied music of Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff, whose art was suppressed by the Nazi regime and who died in captivity in 1942, is given stirring performances by brilliant young players from the Colburn School, Los Angeles’ elite conservatory. James Conlon, world-renowned conductor and LA Opera music director, leads the RVC Ensemble in Schulhoff’s Piano Concerto, Op. 43, with Dominic Cheli as soloist. Four other pieces — all strong and unique —complete the album’s offerings, which span the years between 1923 and 1937. Cheli and violinist Adam Millstein are particularly outstanding contributors.

While Schulhoff’s music has been gradually emerging from near-total obscurity in recent years, Shapeshifter is especially notable as the first album-length example of his works being taken up by American musicians of classical’s ascendant “next generation.” We at Delos hope the album sparks increased interest in Schulhoff among younger players and their audiences. The project is intimately connected to the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices, which encourages greater awareness and more frequent performances of music by composers whose careers and lives were disrupted or ended during the years of the Nazi regime in Europe. The Recovered Voices initiative was established at the Colburn School in 2013.

REVIEWS:

The Piano Concerto is a unified work with integrity and a strict formal structure. In each of the three movements, it explores romanticism with a touch of impressionism, and nods to modernism and jazz. The latter is particularly prominent in the Allegro alla jazz finale, where Schulhoff calls for an 18-piece percussion section that includes cog rattle, cowbell, sleigh bells, castanets, tambourine and siren. Foxtrot and Romany music lead towards a riotous conclusion, but not before a magical sostenuto section.

The Five Pieces for string quartet, dedicated to Darius Milhaud, can be construed as a “dance suite” which nods towards the Baroque models. A work of this vitality ought to be in the standard repertoire of all string quartet ensembles.

In the Suite for piano left hand, the listener is left marveling at the technical brilliance of the soloist being able to play this music with his left hand alone. At nearly 19 minutes, it is too long for an encore, but it does deserve its place in the recital room.

In the period when Schulhoff wrote the Violin Sonata No. 2, he was often influenced by jazz. Yet, it is Bartók and Berg that are the obvious models here. Adam Millstein and Dominic Cheli’s performance points up the virtuosity and brilliance of the piece.

The final number is Susi. This short “cocktail bar” piano piece is a sheer delight. It would seem to be a transcription of a song. Written when Schulhoff was exploring Socialist Realism and implementing the diktats of Marxist ideology, it is surely decadent. But one must recall that he was also earning money as “one half of a piano duo”. Susi is full of nostalgia and, possibly, regret.

I have noted the superb performances of all this music. The outstanding liner notes include biographical information, analysis, and details of the performers. The recording reflects the vibrancy of this repertoire.

This disc makes a great introduction to the achievement of an unjustifiably less well-known composer, although in recent years his music has been making a comeback on the recording scene. This release is worth the price for the stunning performance of the Concerto alone. Everything else is a wonderful bonus. I need to hear more of Erwin Schulhoff’s music.

-- MusicWeb International

This album offers mainly chamber music, but with the concerto for piano and small orchestra also a work in larger instrumentation. The album, performed by instrumentalists and thus also soloists of the Colburn School, not only demonstrates Schulhoff’s versatility, but above all his variability in the use of means, such as jazz and other influences, as well as his humor, for example when he forces the waltz into a limping march beat and at the same time still mixes the waltz of high society with a Ländler. Illuminating is also the versatility of styles and characters in the 5 Pieces for string quartet, which shows the alert mind of this composer. These works, especially from the period after his return to Prague in 1923, also provide an opportunity to perceive the energy of this idiosyncratic musical voice.

The young artists specialize in the music of ostracized musicians of the last century. The coordinating hand is James Conlon, tireless despite his numerous activities, who also successfully conducted the concert.

In addition to the above-mentioned aspects, it is noticeable in all performances that the musicians wonderfully succeed in extracting the vibrant energy from the music and transforming it into rousing sounds. Each piece sounds like a freshly created work.

-- Pizzicato