Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

CRASH! and BANG! and BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! Noise levels rise when four very-very-very special people get together to party. Gordon Kampe has illustrated Brigitte Werner’s bestselling picture book WUM und BUM und die Damen DING DONG with the sound of music, and the interpretive contributions by the fabulous Sunnyi Melles and the spirited and vibrant Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn under the conductor Dirk Kaftan create magnificent, top-quality fun for young and old alike! The instrumentation of Kampe’s score is highly original: pot lids and pieces of fabric, boxes and bottles, tin cans and balloons, and even a tuneful saw are deployed – a challenge not only for the two percussionists, whose arms and hands are kept more than busy. When the corks pop at the end, the entire orchestra is invited to join in the fun – with plenty of pep and pizzazz! However, before the two ladies scuffle with the two gentlemen, each of the four gets a chance to show her or his stuff. Mr. WUM raises a racket in his house, Mr. BUM turns his march music up to the decibel max, Ms. DING crams her hoard of cartons into the garbage dumpster, and Ms. DONG warbles her ditties from morning to night. Kampe characterizes his gang of four with plenty of respect and love for these protagonists, along with allusions from music history guaranteed to tickle our ears. Sunnyi Melles lends the characters dazzling appeal. Her fascinatingly versatile voice enables her to bring the picture-book heroes and heroines to life, each in her or his own way – and let’s not forget the “Fly Poop at Four-Thirty.” From “Lascivious but youthfully free” to “Tearily operatic,” from “Super-marvelous” to “Indignation meets Bummsfallera,” Melles in her speaking role and the orchestra quite evidently very much enjoy performing Kampe’s score, to the delight of the many young participants from Bonn grade schools and to listeners everywhere!

A brilliant start and now the sequel on Vol. 2 with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's complete basset horn trios in arrangements by Ulf-Guido Sch�fer for trio d'anches. From the twenty-five individual movements - in part of quite enigmatic transmission - Sch�fer has put together two more highly entertaining divertimentos. Deeply moving excerpts from Cos� fan tutte form a dramatic contrast to the serenade tone of the trios. The trio d'anches consisting of an oboe, a clarinet, and a bassoon is actually a creation of the twentieth century. French composers in particular felt inspired by the homogeneous sound of this ensemble not unlike the sound of the human singing voice. Whether Mozart would have shared their predilection remains speculation - but not the fact that his music creates such an authentic impression in Sch�fer's arrangements that it is as if it had been composed in eighteenth-century Vienna. Sch�fer himself plays the clarinet in the Trio Roseau - the instrument that so greatly fascinated Mozart during the last years of his life. And so it is precisely in his late operas that we repeatedly encounter demanding solo passages for the winds - a genuine treasure trove for ambitious chamber arrangements. Here the Trio Roseau delves into the long and multifaceted tradition of opera transcriptions for wind ensembles. Since they could be performed in the open air, they already enjoyed great popularity during Mozart's times. This brand-new Super Audio album conveys a veritable three-dimensional sound picture and brings genuine serenade feeling into the home atmosphere of the living room.

Johannes Brahms was baptized in St. Michael's Church in Hamburg in 1833, and on this recording he returns to this site. Christoph Schoener, the organist and church music director at St. Michael's, honors his famous fellow Hamburg citizen with a special tribute. Three variation works by this Hansa town's musical great are heard in transpositions for the organ on this program, and on the mighty three-in-one St. Michael's Church organ the result is a dimension-blasting room effect. It is above all the echo organ that creates the special musical effect. When Schoener has the tenderest string stops concertize with the swell work of the grand organ in the Handel Variations, a moving one-of-a-kind atmosphere spreads out. The finely sensitive registration means that the Andante from the String Sextet in B flat major also assumes a new intensity; the arrangement is so perfect that it sounds just as if the music had been composed for the organ. And one more surprise: familiar orchestral colors from the popular Haydn Variations are interpreted anew in St. Michael's Church.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Hugo Distler’s contribution to Lutheran church music of the twentieth century can hardly be overestimated. His clear musical language marked by lightness and transparency has influenced generations of church musicians and composers. With the Norddeutscher Kammerchor in top form, Maria Jürgensen has now recorded a program with works from Distler’s Liturgische Sätze and – as a complementary contrast – Hans-Werner Zimmermann’s jazz-inspired chorale variations on Distler’s Nürnberger Großes Gloria. The Liturgische Sätze (Liturgical Settings) are based on original Lutheran melodies from the Reformation period. The various Kyrie and Gloria settings of the sixteenth century continue to be used in Lutheran religious services. In Distler’s settings the text always occupies the foreground; unfamiliar harmonies sometimes result from his very individual, word-related part writing. The rhythmic refinements of this centuries-old music also fascinated Hans-Werner Zimmermann - and did so precisely in Distler’s version of the Nürnberger Großes Gloria(Nuremberg Great Gloria). The static chorale by Nicolaus Decius is transformed into a “walking bass” under the free soprano upper voice – a splendid effect! This extensive work displaying manifold contrapuntal virtuosity, from Sprechgesang to psalmody, ends with a magnificent intensification colored with blues allusions.