This recording presents a performance of H.C. Robbins Landon's edition of Mozart's Requiem, a product of modern scholarship, sound musicological argument, and learned intuition. It comprises Mozart's original fragment along with completions by the familiar Süssmayr, as well as Mozart's other students, Eybler and Freystädtler. The CD booklet gives details on who added what, and makes for interesting reading. But, the real concern here is the performance itself, and it is truly captivating. Bruno Weil's quick tempos bring fresh air and sunlight into the mausoleum some have made of this work. There is a compelling urgency that carries over from one movement to the next. The "Rex tremendae" here sounds chilling, its defiant anger fully embodied by the Tölzer Boys Choir, which sings with all the range and beauty of a traditional choir but with more clarity and poignancy. The four soloists are beautifully devotional, though bass Harry van der Kamp has some slight intonation problems in the "Tuba mirum". Tafelmusik's vividly colorful playing clarifies the musical lines with naturalness and subtlety, while the recorded sound marvelously balances reverberation and clarity. An outstanding release. --Victor Carr, ClassicsToday.com

*** This title is a reissue of a Japanese release with liner notes in Japanese. ***

Under Bruno Weil’s spirited direction both the Tolz Boys’ Choir, with their bright-edged, slightly breathy tone, and the crack period orchestra, Tafelmusik, are in first-rate form. These works receive energetic, uplifting readings, with brisk tempos, fresh, incisive choral work.

A special attraction for Haydn lovers here is the first-ever recording of the unfinished ode Mare Clausum, commissioned in 1794 by Haydn’s colourful English friend Lord Abingdon, and evidently abandoned when the nobleman was imprisoned for libel. The gauche, crudely chauvinistic verses, trumpeting England’s sovereignty of the sea, should make the most hardened Europhobe blush. But the two numbers Haydn completed are worthy of his ripest style: a noble F major bass aria with rich, inventive writing for woodwind, authoritatively sung by Harry van der Kamp (despite a hint of rawness on the top notes), and a D major chorus whose verve and contrapuntal power presage the late Masses and oratorios.

Under Bruno Weil’s spirited direction both the Tolz Boys’ Choir, with their bright-edged, slightly breathy tone, and the crack period orchestra, Tafelmusik, are on first-rate form here and throughout this enterprisingly planned disc. It includes the thrilling, majestic late Te Deum and the motet Insanae et vanae curae, adapted from a ‘storm’ chorus in the oratorio Il ritorno di Tobia and foreshadowing in its D minor apocalyptic grandeur the Mozart of Don Giovanni and the Requiem. Weil’s reading is eagerly responsive to the music’s drama, with taut rhythms, sharp dynamic contrasts and keen instrumental detailing; and he maintains the initial pulse through the tranquil D major sections, where most conductors I’ve heard slow up markedly, to the detriment of structural cohesion. Between these masterpieces the four little Motetti de Venerabili from the 1750s (another recorded first) inevitably sound tame, for all their easy tunefulness and skilful marshalling of rococo cliche.

The largest work on the disc is, of course, the so-called Heiligmesse, first of the six magnificent Mass settings of Haydn’s old age. Like the shorter pieces, this receives an energetic, uplifting reading, with brisk tempos, fresh, incisive choral work (real exhilaration in, say, the closing fugue of the Gloria) and strongly etched orchestral colours (clarinets, trumpets and timpani well in the picture). In one or two sections Weil can drive too hard – the gravely contrapuntal “Gratias”, for instance, which has an inappropriate restlessness (and where Harry van der Kamp sometimes overwhelms the excellent boy soloists). And I would have liked more tender, graceful shaping in the exquisite canonic “Et incarnatus est” (which follows the opening section of the Credo after too short a pause – something I noticed elsewhere in these performances), and the Benedictus, where Weil plays up the march background rather at the expense of the music’s mystery and spirituality. But there is no doubting the vigour and joyfulness of Weil’s reading, nor the skill and commitment of his forces. Quite apart from its pioneering value, this is an inspiriting Haydn collection whose appeal is enhanced by vivid sound and a typically enthusiastic, informative note from the composer’s alter ego, H. C. Robbins Landon.

-- Richard Wigmore, Gramophone [7/1996]

HAYDN: SYMPHONIES NOS 88, 89 &

Selections recorded March 27-29 and April 1-3, 1993.

BEETHOVEN: PIANO CONCERTO NO 5

Haydn: Paris Symphonies Nos. 85-87

The Creation is potentially the most life-enhancing work in the choral repertoire but it hasn’t been particularly well served on record, partly because it is difficult to sustain the necessary fervour in studio conditions. Sony has found performers who are both able and willing: Tafelmusik’s playing is predictably immaculate, and the Tölz Boys Choir (with fresh-voiced tenors and basses) is radically more accomplished than many all-male groups.

The big, set-piece choruses are very exciting, though some may find Weil’s speeds shockingly fast, and the impact would have been greater had the balance favoured the choir just a touch more. He is not afraid of greater expression in slower numbers (such as the introduction to Part 3), though on occasion the result is, I fear, too pretty for its own good.

All three soloists have something to offer: Ann Monoyios boasts a light, clear soprano ideally suited to her decorative arias in Parts 1 and 2; Jörg Hering’s warm tenor brings fluent musicality throughout; and Harry van der Kamp’s distinctive low-vibrato bass is deployed with great intelligence.

The overall style of performance is relatively intimate, so it’s a shame that the engineers give us quite so much resonant church acoustic; but the well-articulated German text is never under threat. Anyone not allergic to period-instrument Haydn will find much to enjoy here.

-- Stephen Maddock, BBC Music Magazine

Haydn: Paris Symphonies Nos. 82-84

This CD includes additional tracks of spoken commentary by musicologist H. C. Robbins Landon on Missa "Sunt bona mixta malis" in English, German and French.

BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

“Weil and his [Tafelmusik] players convince us that Beethoven can sound as radical in the 21st century as he must have done in the 19th”- Gramophone Magazine. Tafelmusik is thrilled to present its recordings of the complete Beethoven symphonies, six CDs packaged in a striking box set. Recorded under the direction of conductor Bruno Weil over a twelve-year period, Tafelmusik’s cycle marks the first time a North American orchestra has recorded all nine Beethoven symphonies on period instruments. Recorded in Toronto at Koerner Hall and George Weston Recital Hall between 2004 and 2016, these performances chart Tafelmusik’s evolution as it expanded its repertoire to explore the music of classical and early romantic composers. The set contains recordings originally made for the Analekta label, including the JUNO Award-winning Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6, and the JUNO Award-nominated Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8. Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and the JUNO Award-nominated Symphony No. 9 were recorded live in concert on the Tafelmusik Media label. Under the direction of Bruno Weil, Tafelmusik first performed a Beethoven symphony (No. 2) in Toronto in 1993. Maestro Weil also directed the orchestra in international performances of Beethoven symphonies at the Klang und Raum Festival in Irsee, Germany, during its 19-year tenure there as orchestra-in-residence. Much admired by the international music press, Tafelmusik’s Beethoven interpretations have been praised for their “transparency of articulation and balance … remarkable precision, vitality and tonal focus. Beethoven benefits mightily from the silken strings, woodsy winds, clarion brasses and pinpoint timpani” (Gramophone Magazine). “We approach the Beethoven concerts and recording as if they were the very first performances, as though the music had been composed yesterday. There’s no sense of routine with Tafelmusik musicians and everybody’s playing with a full heart and a full soul and spirit. That is the secret to a great performance,” - Bruno Weil. “Although the Beethoven symphonies are familiar to many music lovers, few have had the privilege to experience them as Tafelmusik and Bruno Weil have over the past many years. Our journey with Bruno exploring these great works has been a profound and intensely personal one.” - Jeanne Lamon, Music Director Emerita

Songs old and new, standards and rarities, all make up this delightful new album for the Christmas season. A quartet of New York cabaret favorites led by the legendary Steve Ross sing their way through some of the oldest carols as well as some of the newest. It's Almost Christmas Eve is a nostalgic, cozy, smart, sophisticated and sometime even wistful journey through the Great American Songbook. Here you'll find great songs from Broadway and popular song favorites including Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Charles Strouse, Cy Coleman, Sammy Fain, E.Y. Harburg, Carolyn Leigh and also Richard Maltby and David Shire. Plus a bevy of newer composers taking a crack at Christmas cheer and goodwill toward men.

Tafelmusik presents Beethoven's landmark Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" - an heroic and monumental symphony originally dedicated to Napoleon - and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 "Italian." with historical performances Maestro Weil and his players may yet convince you that "Beethoven can sound as radical in 21st century as he must have in the 19th" (Gramophone).

Classical Music

Drawn from the worldwide catalog holdings of Sony Classical, which includes both the Columbia/CBS and RCA Victor label imprints, the SONY Classical Originals, SONY Classical Masters Singles and Box Sets, SONY Opera and Opera House series offer an extensive selection of highly desirable and collectible pressed import editions, smartly-designed and graphically-pleasing, featuring the most sought after recordings by the world's preeminent, legendary artists both past and present, with many titles newly re-mastered in 24 bit High Resolution Audio.

Tafelmusik's recording of Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth with conductor Bruno Weil a few years ago was an Earth-moving revelation, thanks to its rhythmic liveliness. The Seventh and Eighth are equally beautiful, but Tafelmusik's excellent interpretations are no longer sensibility-altering. Filled out to double its normal size, the orchestra remains agile and Weil creates a thrilling sense of underlying momentum in the music. The recording, made in George Weston Hall, glows. A DVD with rehearsal footage and interviews with Weil and Tafelmusik boss Jeanne Lamon is included.

-- Toronto Star

"Every so often, you come across a performance that renders you powerless to resist, that sweeps you away with it, that reminds you of why you fell in love with music in the first place" (The Globe and Mail)Tafelmusik is thrilled to present its live recording of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony — the final work in the orchestra’s complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies, which began 18 years ago. With the September 30, 2016 release, Tafelmusik makes history as the first North American orchestra to have recorded all nine Beethoven symphonies on period instruments. The recording took place February 4 through 7, 2016, during a series of sold-out, critically acclaimed public performances in Toronto’s Koerner Hall, with conductor Bruno Weil leading the combined forces of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, and guest soloists Sigrid Plundrich, soprano; Mary-Ellen Nesi, mezzo-soprano; Colin Balzer, tenor; and Simon Tischler, bass-baritone. “We approach the Beethoven concerts and recording as if they were the very first performances, as though the music had been composed yesterday. This is the real thing — there’s no sense of routine with Tafelmusik musicians and everybody’s playing with a full heart and a full soul and spirit. That is the secret to a great performance,” stated Maestro Weil, who marks the 25th anniversary of his first collaboration with Tafelmusik this year.