Wonderfully passionate and beautifully melodic.

This disc was another learning experience for me for, though I knew the composers’ names, I knew nothing more apart from Goldmark’s Violin Concerto and his Rustic Wedding Symphony (Symphony No.1). What I learned, first of all from the booklet notes, was that as Jews each of the three composers suffered, as was so often the case in our intolerant world. Their works were banned under the Nazis and Gál and Zemlinsky were forced to flee abroad. Dying in 1915 Goldmark was at least spared the upheavals caused by the Second World War.

Born in Keszthely on Lake Balaton, Hungary, Goldmark was one of over twenty children of a cantor. With twelve of the children surviving, life was extremely poor for the family. It is surprising that somehow Goldmark was able to study music, first in Sopron then in Vienna. To make ends meet he became a music journalist who was renowned for his even-handed treatment of Wagner and Brahms in a world that was divided into two opposing camps, each viewing the other with suspicion. Goldmark became friendly with Brahms though Goldmark kept him at arm’s length due to Brahms’ prickly personality. Goldmark’s reputation hangs mainly on the above-mentioned Violin Concerto and Symphony, his chamber music still remaining relatively unknown. On the evidence of this piano trio, Amicably dedicated to Pablo de Sarasate, this situation is undeserved. It is to be hoped that this disc will help rectify it. The work was written in 1879 at the height of his career following the great success of his opera Die K onigin von Saba (The Queen of Sheba). Cast in four movements the piano trio is a joyous work with some very beautiful tunes, a feature that distinguishes all three of these trios. It opens with a clearly stated and memorable tune introduced on the piano before the other two instruments join in. It is passed from one to the other to be worked on and the whole is an exemplary demonstration of the sort of chamber music interplay that characterises the best compositions of the genre. Each movement has at its centre an achingly heartfelt tune, including the scherzo that is otherwise lighter in tone than its surrounding movements. I’ve read that Goldmark had little sympathy with the piano. This is surprising when the piano writing in the trio is taken into consideration as it is excellent, as is the writing for the violin and cello. That said, just as there are only a few solo piano pieces and no piano concertos there is but a single string quartet.
 
Hans Gál’s Piano Trio dates from 1949 though you’d be hard pressed to guess it from the writing. It is as unashamedly romantic as are the other two. Again, as with Goldmark’s work, this is joyful music that exudes light-heartedness at every turn. Though it lasts a mere eleven and a half minutes it incorporates an extremely successful set of musical statements that are clearly expressed and well developed. This short work is chock full of the most beguiling tunes and is as charming and enjoyable a piano trio as you’re ever likely to hear. Knowing nothing about Gál I looked on the internet and discovered a really interesting and informative Personal tribute and memoir by Margaret Moncrieff Kelly from 2003 and an article by Guy Rickards entitled Three emigrés: Gál, Gerhard and Goldschmidt, originally written in 2001, and subsequently updated at various times - both of these are to be found on MusicWeb International. These two pieces are fascinating and highly informative. They also reveal that little was known of Gál’s music here in the UK his adoptive country - he lived almost half his life in the UK, in Scotland - at the time, which was a scandal. In the 2001 article Rickards informed us that only three works were available on record - how shameful! Looking at the situation now there are over forty discs on which you can find works by Gál, a vast improvement and one that will inspire me to discover more. The present recording of the Piano Trio is not the first so things are definitely looking up, thank goodness.
 
Alexander Zemlinsky’s Piano Trio dates from 1896 and is another discovery for me. This is late romantic music on a grand scale, full of rich and gorgeously melodic tunes. The title of the booklet’s article is A Leitmotif called Brahms because it is Brahms who is, in a sense, the linking figure in these three trios. As noted at the start, Goldmark knew Brahms and admired him as did both Gál and Zemlinsky. Gál was responsible, along with his teacher Eusebius Mandyczewski, for editing ten volumes of Brahms works. This has become a standard reference resource for scholars. On one website people who regret that Brahms didn’t write enough piano trios are directed to hearing the trio on this disc. Zemlinsky, interestingly, actually had his trio performed in a competition at which Brahms was one of the judges. He received third prize though the works that came first and second are no longer known or performed. Another interesting fact about that trio is that it was originally written for the unusual combination of piano, clarinet and cello, an obvious link to Brahms’ Trio, Op.114, written only five years previously and only otherwise used by Beethoven in his Trio, Op.11 (Gassenhauer Trio). I read on another website that the Zemlinsky piano trio doesn’t particularly sounds Brahmsian. I beg to differ - just listen to the opening bars with its main theme that recurs again at the trio’s close, and see what you think.

While I don’t believe that any of the three composers were in any way attempting to sound like Brahms it is perhaps inevitable that admirers of a composer to the extent that these three admired Brahms were bound to sound something like their idol. Even if they were unaware of it, the trios are all certainly closer in musical terms to Brahms than they are to Wagner of whom they also thought highly. In the end the only valid argument is in the ear of the listener; I for one loved all three. The music is played with huge passion by these three musicians. I hope that they will record more by other less well known composers who like the Goldmark, Gál and Zemlinsky deserve wider exposure. This is a disc of wonderfully passionate and beautifully melodic music. It does great service to these three great composers whose works are slowly becoming better known … and not before time!
 
-- Steve Arloff , MusicWeb International

From Claudio Monteverdi to Johann Sebastian Bach, this release is an entire century of Baroque music at a glance. There are many aspects that all of these pieces have in common such as the basso obstinate, the polyphonic weaving of instruments, and the clear vocal parts, but it is fascinating to hear all of the developments through this period as it pushes toward the classical era. Tenor Nicholas Spanos regularly works with ensembles such as the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Les Talens Lyriques, the Camerata Stuttgart, and more. He is joined by the Pandolfis Consort, whose repertoire focuses on early Baroque but also includes classical and modern works. Here, they perform on period instruments to create an authentic performance.

Viennese dance music and Wienerlied was referred to as Schrammelmusik ever since the work of the brothers Johann and Josef Schrammel and enjoyed great popularity at the Heurigenlokal (Viennese wine taverns) as well as in the palaces and saloons of Viennese aristocracy. The debut album of the young Austrian women’s ensemble Divinerinnen presents varied sonic impressions of traditional dance sketches interwoven with additional musical characteristics of Viennese entertainment culture. With a focus on variety in their instrumentation, the ensemble’s repertoire ranges from hidden treasures from the archive to the rarely played, all the way to compositions by contemporaries. The sound worlds produced by the instrumental cast with violins, contraguitar, clarinet, Viennese button accordion, viola and cello gives expression to the group’s intention to break established norms and listening habits.

Giya Kancheli is one of the few Georgian composers whose works are well known beyond the borders of his homeland. On her album “Poetry of Silence” the pianist Ketevan Sepashvili, also from Georgia, presents Kancheli's 33 Miniatures for Piano. The short pieces are all based on works for film or theater, which were his main areas of activity over a long period of time, and represent a broad cross-section of Kancheli's creativity from almost four decades. Four of the miniatures can be heard with additional flute, and the Twelve Miniatures for Voice and Piano were also arranged by the pianist for the trio cast, which introduces an additional tone color particularly well suited to the songs. Sepashvili is supported by her compatriots Temo Kharshiladze, flute and Madina Karbeli, soprano.

The Austrian pianist and longstanding professor of piano at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, Christiane Karajeva, describes her current recording with the following words: “To just be able to listen, to feel, to dream, to be and to let be. Without comparisons, without musicological dissection, without competition. Just like a good conversation, a nice glass of wine, a moment of peace.” With corresponding simplicity Christiane Karajeva interprets the Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 1 by Alban Berg, the Sonata Reminiscenza in A minor, Op. 38 No. 1 by Nikolai Medtner, the Sonata “1.X.1905 - From the Street” in E flat minor by Leos Janacek and the six Moments musicaux D 780 (Op. 94) by Franz Schubert.

The program put together by the Viennese cellist Peter Hudler for his album “Cello on Fire” aims to create a space for passion, freedom, but also for poetry that the cello can express more than almost any other instrument. This spark of passion can be ignited in all sorts of styles and genres, as this bridge between folk, classical, jazz and crossover perfectly illustrates. So it happens that a movement of a Bach suite for solo cello stands next to Syrinx by Claude Debussy, a Baroque Capriccio by Giuseppe dall'Abaco next to a piece by the Latvian composer Peteris Vasks. In between there are Celtic and Scottish folk songs, a Spanish Fandango, but also pieces like Kiev 3 by John Zorn and Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix. An important part is dedicated to the so-called Contemporary Cello, whose best-known representatives – the Italian Giovanni Sollima, the Swede Svante Henryson and the Dutchman Ernst Reijseger – come into their own with some of their original compositions and express the proverbial burning for their instrument – just like Hudler himself – sometimes with virtuosity, sometimes with experimental techniques and improvisations.

Under the title “Nachtschattengewächse”, the Duo Neubauer with Stefan Neubauer, clarinet, and Severin Neubauer, saxophone presents both well-known and new works, which reflects all that is abysmal and inscrutable of the night in art, especially in music. “Life starts when fear ends”, is what Severin Neubauer wrote beneath the score of Rush, in which he depicts various states of anxiety. Life will be wonderful again once the fears dissipate. Yet, on closer inspection, neither such ostensibly gloomy titles as “Repast” (Yuki Morimoto), “Elegie” (Gregory Wanamaker), “Shadow” (Dora Cojocaru), and “Moon” (Gerald Resch), nor the aforementioned fears turn out anything near as dark as one might think. Instead, they are transformed into a beacon of light for all things new, which come in the shapes of a bouquet, the Blumenstrauß (“Hanataba”), a reunion (Réunion 2), and an upbeat dance tune (Francis Poulenc). Night leads to day. That’s life! In that spirit, let’s celebrate life – and while we’re at it, let’s celebrate the night, too! (Stefan Neubauer)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was not only one of the greatest and most important of the German poets, but without doubt also the one whose lyrics were most frequently set to music. The album “Goethe Project” by the German soprano Ute Ziemer and pianist Hiroko Imai provides a lasting impression of the diversity of composers who used Goethe's works as the basis for songs. In addition to popular composers such as Schumann, Grieg, Schubert, Verdi, Strauss, Wolf or Wagner, there are also barely performed works by Amy Beach, Johann Xaver Sterkel, Fanny Hensel, Josephine Lang, Anton Webern or Alban Berg. Even to this day, Goethe continues to fascinate composers as a poet, as shown by the songs dedicated to Ute Ziemer by Enjott Schneider (*1950), Dorothea Hofmann (*1961) and Johannes Martin Kränzle (*1962), which were recorded for the first time for this album.

The accordion has long had a reputation as an instrument for folk music and of street musicians. Its technical and cultural evolution can be neatly traced from its very invention in 1829 by Cyrill Demian in his apartment on Vienna’s Mariahilfer Straße, No. 43, to this day. The accordionist Bogdan Laketic, who lives in Vienna, dedicates his debut album “Made in Vienna” to this, “his” city, choosing works by composers who are also directly connected with Vienna. Thus, the Sonatas for Piano in A flat major, Hob. XVI:46 and in E minor, Hob. XVI:34 by Joseph Haydn, the Six little Piano Pieces Op. 19 by Arnold Schönberg and the Soirées de Vienne, S 427 No. 6 by Franz Liszt are interpreted in his own arrangements. Also based in Vienna is the Belgian composer Dirk D'Ase, who in 2011 composed Figuren/Induktionen, in which the diversity of the accordion's sound once again comes into play.

The American composer Stanley Grill was strongly influenced in his writing by his passion for music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. He has already had a long-standing collaboration with Pandolfis Consort, since a number of his works were dedicated to the ensemble which was founded by the violist Elzbieta Sajka-Bachler. The album “And the Song stands bright” of Pandolfis Consort presents some works by the composer, who was born in New York in 1954. In a changing line-up with the soprano Lisa Rombach and the countertenor Nicholas Spanos, songs and song cycles based on poems mainly by R.M. Rilke, but also Heinrich Heine, Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger and Rose Ausländer are interpreted. In addition to these vocal works, there are also three Songs without Words for two violas, violoncello and theorbo on this recording.

For this complete recording of Johannes Brahms' piano trios, the internationally successful Salzburg violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger chose his usual top-class ensemble partners. Irnberger has long had an intense artistic friendship with the versatile cellist David Geringas, who, like the Russian-born pianist Lilya Zilberstein, can point to a number of recordings that are as long as they are impressive. The Piano Trio No. 1 in B major op. 8 can be heard here in the revised version, which closes the time gap of almost 25 years to the other two trios (No. 2 in C major Op. 87 and No. 3 in C minor Op. 101), since the revision took place after the completion of these works and thus at the peak of Brahmsian compositional art. For the Trio for Clarinet, Violoncello and Piano in A minor Op. 114, Brahms envisaged the viola as an alternative instrumentation from the very beginning, which is mastered by Irnberger as brilliantly as the violin.

When the first bars of Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony reached the recording equipment in March of 2018, it wasn’t merely the musicians’ “daily grind” but rather the birth of an ensemble: the chamber orchestra Klangkollektiv Wien. The mission of the Klangkollektiv Wien is to perform the music of the Viennese Classical era with care and love, beyond more routine. This is why we - musicians from all of Vienna’s orchestras - came together for the first time. This music, which was at the onset of the development of the modern orchestra - with which we handle a diverse program of works from all different eras every day - becomes ever more an oasis of tranquility through its clear form and inner beauty, the epicenter of our lives as musicians. Our goal is to give these works the attention they deserve, to communicate their message to listeners. This first document of our common passion came about in collaboration with the conductor Remy Ballot and the record label Gramola, who were involved in this project’s development from the very beginning.

Franz Schubert’s opera “The Magic Harp” was premiered in 1820 at Theater an der Wien, Vienna, but was withdrawn after only eight performances due to in part devastating response from audience and critics (“nonsense and tedious”, “wretched trash”). The apparently poor libretto and detailed records of the staging were lost, only the music survived, with the overture later serving as the overture to “Rosamunde” and becoming extremely popular. The musicologist and Schubert specialist Brian Newbould transformed the existing melodramas into an orchestral suite, which was premiered in 2019 by the Junge Philharmonie Wien under conductor Michael Lessky. The present world premiere recording of this Magic Harp Suite shows that the music of the then 23-year-old Schubert is already quite progressive and forward-looking, and full of gripping drama in support of the action of the libretto, which could be reconstructed in excerpts.

Anton Bruckner's Fourth Symphony, the so-called "Romantic", is characterized by a long history of development, stretching from the first drafts in 1874 to the third version in 1888. However, this version, which was common until the 1950s, was rejected in the "version dispute", and instead the second version from 1878/80 became the prevailing version during the second half of the 20th century. The third version was only rediscovered in 1996 by the Bruckner researcher Benjamin Korstvedt and re-edited in 2004. This version, regarded by Bruckner as the final version, which contains a few cuts and mainly tempo adjustments in favor of a slower playing style, was presented by conductor Rémy Ballot and the Altomonte Orchestra at the St. Florian Brucknertage Festival 2021.

In the recording of the festive summer concert with pianist SoRyang and Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie, the string orchestra of Germany’s music schools, conducted by Wolfgang Hentrich from the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein on August 1, 2021, an attractive selection of works can be heard with Edvard Grieg’s suite From Holberg’s Time“, the 2nd Piano Concerto in F minor by Frédéric Chopin, as well as Roland Baumgartner’s “Gondellied Variation” for piano, harp and string orchestra, in which the composer resorted to the “Venetian Gondola Song” from Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s “Songs without Words”. Further works presented on this 2 album set are Wojciech Kilars “Orawa” for string orchestra (1988), Samuel Barber’s famous solemn “Adagio for Strings”, Johann and Joseph Strauss’ “Pizzicato-Polka”, Astor Piazzolla’s “Oblivion” and “Presto” from “Summer” of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four seasons”.