The program of this literary reading with music gives us insight into Anton Bruckner’s correspondence, beginning with the first three extant letters from the year 1852, during his years in Upper Austria and particularly during his time as the parish organist at Old Cathedral in Linz from 1855 to 1868. The selected writings reveal much about the self-presentation and self-image of the musician and composer who never ceased studying. Lesser-known lieder and piano works by Bruckner allow us audibly to trace the composer’s development in the period between 1850 and 1868. In the intertwining of his words with his works, a multifaceted and surprisingly sophisticated yet uncommon image of Bruckner’s “hidden personality” (Elisabeth Maier) is revealed.

After the celebrated start of the series "B�ck reads Bruckner" provided insights into the Upper Austrian period of life and the composer's self-image, the second reading with music was dedicated, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, to Anton Bruckner's decades-long, clearly unsuccessful search for a wife. Using extant letters to and from them, it introduces some of the ladies earmarked as Bruckner's significant other and thematizes the "downright absurd numbers of rash marriage proposals" (Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen) by the eternal bachelor. It likewise introduces letters in which female admirers of the composer, who had meanwhile achieved fame and recognition, made advances at him. Among other selected pieces, the letters are framed and commented on musically by piano pieces and songs with piano accompaniment from the so-called "Kitzler-Studienbuch" (Kitzler Study Book), which contains works and drafts which show Bruckner on his way to developing his individual style.

The young, Venezuelan pianist Walkiria Izaguirre who received her musical training in Vienna presents her debut album with a pure Beethoven program, which features an early, a middle and a late piano sonata and thereby gives an overview of the master’s oeuvre. In her own words, this album is a tribute to one of the most important figures in the history of music, whose musical creativity would reach an unexpected and wonderful development towards freedom and individual expression for eternity. The sonata in F major Op. 10/2 was called one of Beethoven’s most joyful works by Paul Badura-Skoda, the sonata in D major Op. 28 described by him as gentle, idyllic and light-filled to the brim, perhaps a response to the gloomier previous “Moonlight” sonata, a rejection of depression, a move towards friendlier climes, and is also called the “Pastoral” sonata. Finally, the sonata Op. 109 is kept in the ‘mystical’ key of E major, expressing exhilaration, rapture, earthly, and heavenly love. The variation movement’s theme is proof that, despite some contemporary critic’s judgement, Beethoven was indeed capable of writing beautiful melodies.

The final chords of the revolutionary world premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna on May 7, 1824 had hardly faded away (one of the many enthusiastic listeners in the hall was the 27-year-old Franz Schubert!) when the star composer got straight to work on a new string quartet; the work, following his latest string quartet, Op. 45 which was composed 14 years earlier, was commissioned by Prince Nikolaus Galitzin and became the quartet in E-flat major, Op. 127. In the same year, and interestingly written in immediate spatial and temporal proximity to the studio in which Beethoven was just about to open the doors to musical modernism, Schubert, after having spent several weeks in the Vienna general hospital for treatment of his suspected syphilis disease, composed his String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804, the so-called Rosamunde Quartet. It may be said that, precisely due to Schubert’s bleak outlook on the future, the categories of “loss” and “memory” became central parameters of an entire composition for the first time in music history. Both quartets are performed by the internationally acclaimed Pacific Quartet Vienna for their third album release with Gramola Records.

The violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger, the cellist David Geringas and the pianist Barbara Moser play piano trios by female composers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Amy Marcy Beach artfully combines French modernity with late romantic and American folklore elements in her trio from 1938, Sonia Eckhardt-Gramatté's work “Ein wenig Musik” (A Piece of Music) impresses with originality, melodious ideas and diverse rhythmic components, Louise Farrenc's trio from 1857 shows that she was a contemporary of early Romanticism, but also dealt with Ancient music, Mélanie Hélène Bonis’ pieces for piano trio “Soir” and “Matin” were created in 1907 and reflect the different moods of a day, while Julia Frances Smith's Cornwall Trio from 1966 expresses the funny, playful energy of the gifted composer that she was.

Classical Music

A MusicWeb Internaional Recording Of The Month

Somehow this series had escaped my attention and that of my fellow reviewers at MusicWeb International. In my defence, as surveyor of the piano trio repertoire, I did say that I couldn’t possibly hope to cover all recordings of the big names.

Naming your ensemble after a famous composer, especially one whose works you have chosen to begin your recording career, does create something of an expectation of a “special” relationship. Violinist Verena Stourzh has “form” here, as she was a member of the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt until its disbanding in 2010. I’m pleased to report that in this volume at least, TrioVanBeethoven does have a special relationship with the great one, as they have given us stunningly good performances here.

Beethoven’s piano trios, for me, are the least stormy, most cheerful of his output. In part, this may be due to their relatively early composition. Even the final, and perhaps greatest of them - the Archduke, op. 97 - was written in his middle period. There are none to parallel the ground-breaking late quartets and piano sonatas.

The two complete works presented here are among his sunniest. His three Opus 1 trios are very much in the mould of Haydn and Mozart, and are considered by some to be lesser works. Mature Beethoven they may not be, but I have a great deal of affection for them, and especially No. 2. No. 6 may be somewhat dwarfed by those chronologically before (Ghost) and after (Archduke) but is still a great work.

My yardstick for the Beethoven trios is the Florestan Trio (review) and that remains so, despite the very significant impression that TrioVanBeethoven has made on me here. The Florestans give a brilliant performance, and I employ that adjective for both its meanings: splendid/excellent and glittering/bright. TrioVanBeethoven give a more genial and spacious reading of both works, especially Op. 1/2, where they take almost three minutes more. This is a smiling, playful even relaxed Beethoven, not necessarily adjectives normally applied to him, but not out of place in this work. Trio No. 6 is taken similarly, though the difference to the Florestans is less here. In case you begin to think these are old-fashioned big Romantic performances, let me assure you that they are not. There is nothing heavy about them; somehow TrioVanBeethoven have managed to balance a lightness of touch with a sense of repose. They provide a quite complementary view to the Florestans, whose brilliance might even be too dazzling, depending on your mood.

The sound quality lives up to the performances: immediate, natural and without any extraneous breathing or mechanical noises. When you factor in informative liner notes, you have the complete package. I’m off to buy Volumes 1 & 2, and I look forward to Volume 4 – may it not take too long to arrive.

– MusicWeb International (David Barker)

The ensemble KLANGKOLLEKTIV WIEN as newly founded orchestral body in the Austrian cultural landscape has already with their first Schubert recording (Gramola 99180) met with an enthusiastic audience. The unique approach of the musicians with conductor and “sound designer” Rémy Ballot to get to the bottom of the works of Viennese classical music and to reveal their inner logic, leads to a new understanding of orchestra. Gramola now publishes a concert recording of the “Vorstadt premiere” in Vienna’s Penzing district with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” as well as the Egmont Overture for the Beethoven year 2020 (250th anniversary of his birth). Following their self-conception KLANGKOLLEKTIV WIEN interprets these works in the slim and transparent original cast of the premiere with only six first violins, thus opening an acoustic reminiscence of the year 1804.

For many years Austrian bass singer Robert Holzer and pianist Thomas Kerbl have been performing manifold concert programs and album recordings. Their latest release puts a focus on the literary form of the ballade and its musical processing. Subtitled “Ballades Through the Ages” it spans an arc from works of the middle ages (two ballades with hurdy-gurdy), by Franz Schubert (e.g. Erlkönig and Prometheus), Carl Loewe (Die Uhr), Heinrich Marschner, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms und Hugo Wolf (Der Feuerreiter) to the Ballade vom Bettelvogt by Wilhelm Weismann. This is a musical program which has proven very successful in many concerts will finally be released on recording. Robert Holzer studied singing at the Bruckner Konservatorium in Linz and at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. His career was launched when he won first prize at Austria’s National Youth Competition, subsequently debuting at the Kammeroper Vienna. Because of his wide Lied and concert repertoire, Holzer is a residence artist at international festivals and concert halls across Europe, North America, and Asia. Thomas Kerbl completed his piano studies at the Bruckner Konservatorium in Linz. In addition to many solo concerts, it was the art of lied accompaniment that got himmany concert invitations and led him to head the lied oratorio class at his alma mater at the age of 27.

Vivaldi, one of the most-performed composers these days, had lain dormant for nearly two centuries; his works were considered lost. All that changed when a stash of manuscripts was found in the library of a monastery in Piedmont/Italy. Vivaldi’s style is so unmistakable, that we can tell his authorship after just a few bars of music. We’re more likely to mix up phrases from differing works of his than we are to mistake any of his music for that of a contemporary composer. Vivaldi took the text from Psalm 126, which belongs to the Pilgrim Songs in the Book of Psalms and are meant to prepare believers for their meeting with God. The text which is ascribed to King Solomon speaks of the greatness of God without which all human toil remains fruitless. With its contemplative, touching, even glum sound “Stabat Mater” (RV 621) is one of the most popular works by Vivaldi. The first four tercets portray the Sorrowful Mother. The next four contemplate suffering as such. With the ninth tercet we arrive at the apex, the music thus calls to mind the image of Christ suffering from the lashes. Only the last stanza, set in a pastoral 12/8 rhythm, and a long Amen brings us any consolation.

The young multi-talented Andri Joël Harison was born in Vienna in 1995 and started showing interest in piano playing at the age of just 13 months. Later he also took great interest in composing and conducting, and consequently is getting his training now at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. His second recording spotlights on the variety of styles of the musical genres of Viennese classical and romantic music. The album contains pieces like Beethoven’s Sonata in A-flat major, Op. 26, the Sonata in A major Op. post. 120 D 664 by Franz Schubert, the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt and the waltzes “An der schönen blauen Donau” Op. 314 and “Wiener Bonbons” Op. 307 by Johann Strauss (Son) in arrangements by Harison. “Die kleine Fledermaus” are paraphrases by Andri Joël Harison on themes by Johann Strauss from the famous operetta “Die Fledermaus.” Andri Joel Harison has already won numerous awards as a soloist as well as with chamber ensembles. He is currently studying orchestral conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and additionally intends to focus on his own compositions as well as his own arrangements. His performances include guest appearances in numerous renowned theater and concert halls.

The Interpannon Concert Society presents this box of live recordings from what are now 50 years of concert activity of the concert and choral association, which was founded in the fall of 1971 by Alois J. Hochstrasser as the “Graz Concert Choir”. Alois J. Hochstrasser is the music director of Interpannon Concert and the artistic director of the Pannonian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Graz Concert Choir. After graduating from the Seitenstetten Abbey’s gymnasium, his studies at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna included composition and organ performance, as well as choral conducting with Hans Gillesberger and orchestral conducting with Hans Swarovsky. Later he studied conducting and interpretation with Sergiu Celibidache. Apart from his work with the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, Alois J. Hochstrasser’s extensive guest conducting engagements have brought him to many European countries, the USA, and South Africa. Starting with his founding of the Styrian Society of Friends of Music and the Graz Symphony Orchestra, he led the orchestra from 1975 until 1990, after which it continued to operate as the “Grand Orchestra - recreation”.

When George Gershwin presented his Rhapsody in Blue at Manhattan’s Aeolian Hall in 1924, Jazz had prized its way into the classical concert halls. Only one year later the Concerto in F followed – the motifs and themes ‘jazzy’, whilst bearing all the hallmarks of the instrumental concertos of the previous 150 years. After its premiere on December 3rd, 1925, at New York’s Carnegie Hall, the composer of songs Gershwin was fully established as a classical concert-composer. The Concerto for Piano (2020) was composed for Karl Eichinger as a commission of the state of Lower Austria by the 1990 Vienna-born Daniel Muck, who has always felt a stylistic connection with Gershwin, and hence is an expression of his intent to cleave the rift between the grand past of the romantic virtuoso concerto and contemporary popular music.

Alejandro del Valle-Lattanzio, born in Bogotá, Columbia in 1986, moved to Vienna in 2007 to complete his studies. It was in 2013 at the latest that Alejandro del Valle-Lattanzio became known to a public with an interest in music by winning the Ö1 Talentebörse composition prize, which is organized by ORF (Austrian state radio). The jury statement says: “The jury appreciates the emphatically independent, if not to say idiosyncratic musical language. Fantastical invention and unusual sound colors shape his pieces. In his creative use of unusual producers of sound and the occasional use of video material his twin talents as a student of both composition and visual art are evident.“ Of all instruments the clarinet with its closeness to the human voice is of special importance to the composer, which is why clarinetist Vera Karner and pianist Andrés Añazco present primarily works for this instrument: the Sonatina (2017), the Sonata (2019) and Six Pieces (2017) for clarinet and piano, in addition to Five Small Pieces for Piano (2020).

With his 7th album Longings the Viennese Jazz violinist Rudi Berger devotes himself to the themes of longing and hope. Completely independent in terms of style and phrasing and devoid of any academic tendencies, a picture is created of an unmistakable violin virtuoso who, like in olden times, writes, and performs his own compositions. Mauro Rodrigues, flute, Peter Madsen, piano, Rosario Bonaccorso, double bass and vocals as well as drummer Lukas Boeck reflect the wide musical field. Using New York jazz jargon, Viennese musical slang, Latin American influences, blues, and reflective, meditative ballads a story about people and their dreams is told.