Classical Music

Classical Music

After the phenomenal success of their Saxofolk debut album, the members of the Berlage Saxophone Quartet now explore entirely different terrain. Five famous composers who found themselves ad odds with the political circumstances of their times produced key works of great intensity viewed here from a completely new perspective in these virtuosic arrangements for four saxophones. In Search of Freedom advocates the freedom of art, which manages to survive even in situations of limited personal liberty. For various reasons Hanns Eisler, Kurt Weill, and Erwin Schulhoff fell into disfavor under the National Sociality regime. They sympathized with the Communist Party, some of them were of Jewish background, and they composed ''degenerate music'' - which in Germany had no future. While Weill and Eisler were very successful as exiles in the United States, the former on Broadway and the latter in Hollywood, Schulhoff got caught between the fronts and died in a concentration camp. Songs from Weill's Threepenny Opera and Eisler's Suite No. 6 are heard here along with Schulhoff's Five Pieces for String Quartet, which as a suite of popular dances ranging from the waltz to the tango seems to be quite remote from teh political sphere. Arvo Part earned his place of dishonor on the index of the Soviet authorities when he turned to music of religious and meditative character. Dmitri Shostakovich's dealings with the Soviet state apparatus were very ambivalent. It continues to be debated whether even his celebratory compositions were not perhaps already intended as caricatures. The Berlage Quartet's negotiation of its abrupt alternations between heartrending lament and ecstatic rhythm make this an unforgettable album.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The singing is uniformly fine. The crucial central roles of Hänsel (Sayaka Shigeshima) and Gretel (Elisabeth Wimmer) are well contrasted but sung without any arch affectation. Wimmer in particular has a voice of ideal clarity and lightness and she sings the folksong like "Mitt den Füsschen tapp, tapp, tapp" with a perfect air of artless innocence.

– MusicWeb International

HOFMANN Octet. Serenade. Sextet • Berolina Ens • MDG 948 18086 (SACD: 78:03)


There are some 20 composers named Hofmann or Hofman or Hoffman or Hoffmann listed in ArkivMusic.com. This one is Heinrich Karl J. Hofmann (one “f,” two “n”s). I find only one other listing of a piece by this composer on ArkivMusic, and nothing in the Fanfare Archive. Hence, this 78-minute program of three substantial chamber works fills a need.


The music is conservatively romantic in style, coming from a composer (1842–1902) who lived through the ages of Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, and early Mahler, seemingly without being touched by any of them. Does that mean Hofmann is not worth remembering? The extensive program notes by Michael Wittmann make a strong case for the composer, noting that music need not be “metaphysical” to be eminently enjoyable and worthy, and that Hofmann “was one of the most frequently performed German composers during his lifetime.” Wittmann goes on to make the almost unbelievable claims that the Symphony, op. 22, of 1874 was “for a time the most frequently performed symphony in the German empire,” and that “the cantata Märchen von der schönen Melusine was performed more than 1,500 times” between 1875 and 1895 in Germany, England, and the U.S.A.


Weber, Spohr, Reinecke, and Bruch are the names that come to mind when listening to Hofmann’s chamber music. It is invariably pleasant, easy-going, lyrical, and melodious without being remarkable. It does not reach out and grab you, but then neither does Beethoven’s Septet, which was one of that composer’s most popular works during his lifetime. As a measure of Hofmann’s standing in the U.S. in the late 19th century, it was the New York Philharmonic Club that commissioned his Serenade for Flute and Strings. The Serenade impresses not so much for its melodic ideas, but for the skill with which Hofmann handles his material. The addition of a double bass to the standard string quartet gives the music an almost symphonic weight. The sonata-form first movement is full of sparkle, the second has an elegiac quality, the scherzo makes its mark with unusual rhythmic patterns, and the energetic finale is imbued with strong dance-like impulses.


Asked to name an octet for the mixed ensemble of strings and winds, most music lovers would have no trouble citing Schubert’s. But beyond his, what else is there? Not counting those that include piano, I can come up with the paltry list of only Spohr, Rheinberger, Hindemith, Sigismund Neukomm, and now Hofmann. (I’ve probably missed an obvious one; perhaps some kind reader will send a letter to the editor.) Hofmann’s Octet is not for quite the same forces as Schubert’s (Hofmann has a flute, Schubert a double bass). Purely by coincidence, I would assume, Hofmann’s Octet opens with a subject that seems almost a clone of Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings. The movement breezes along in a most genial vein, and is followed a bucolic slow movement, a gavotte that will inevitably set faces smiling and feet tapping, and a finale that romps along with Brahmsian vigor.


The 11-member Berlin-based Berolina Ensemble is a first-class group that turns in committed performances full of vitality, dynamic contrast, and color. Hofmann may not be a composer on the order of a Schubert or a Weber, but the Berolinas make such a strong case for him that while listening one cannot but fully enjoy the experience. Excellent sound.


FANFARE: Robert Markow

Paul Hindemith intended to return to his actual instrument, the violin, “only in cases of dire need.” Why? Because the viola appealed to him so very much more.

Christian Euler’s new recording of two solo sonatas and two duo sonatas with the pianist Paul Rivinius now present these works for the first time in 3-D quality on Super Audio CD.

Christian Euler naturally masters the extreme technical difficulties of Hindemith’s sonatas with bravura – and what this experienced virtuoso and educator gets out of these so very different works is absolutely a listening must! Op. 11 No. 4, a work composed in response to the death of Claude Debussy, contains impressionistic reminiscences and forges sophisticated thematic links between the three movements.

Paul Rivinius is Euler’s perfect chamber partner in the duo sonatas and knows how to get the best of opulent and intelligent sound out of the Steinway concert grand piano “Manfred Bürki”, owned by MDG.

Without Johann Adam Hiller’s adaptation Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater probably never would have attained the popularity it enjoys today. Moreover, the fact that Hiller rescued from oblivion what today is a universally recognized masterpiece can be experienced in its full splendor on this latest recording by the Hymnus Choirboys of Stuttgart.

Hiller was very careful when it came to intervening in Pergolesi’s composition. Wind instruments are added, harmonies are reinforced here and there, and a few solo parts are also scored for male voices. The additional color very much corresponded to the taste of the times. Hiller’s own compositions are mostly forgotten today – entirely unjustly so, as the impressive Stuttgart interpretation of his Psalm 100 proves.

t was billed as a battle of titans. Franz Liszt had invited the leading pianists of his time to compose variations on Bellini's "March of the Huguenots." The international keyboard stars Chopin, Thalberg, Pixis, Czerny, and Herz had agreed to compete, but they never actually performed together in Princess Beliojoso's Paris salon. Claudius Tanski has now recreated this event with his master pupils. Unlike Liszt 175 years ago, he collaborates on equal terms with this circle of brilliant young stars emulating their immortal models with sovereignty and grandeur.

Heinrich von Herzogenberg's search for selfhood finally came to fruition in his two piano trios. After highly promising successes in his native Graz with large-format works modeled on Wagner, the talented young composer experienced a creative and existential crisis from which he first recovered when he turned to Johannes Brahms. The Vienna Piano Trio documents this artistic awakening with a top-quality interpretation, adding a new facet to the reception of Herzogenberg's music after its sleeping beauty's century of slumbering. Herzogenberg so deliberately followed the path on which Brahms had set out that we now and again might think that we were listening to a previously undiscovered work by Brahms. Brahms himself gave Herzogenberg's compositions a rather cold reception. Might the great Northern German perhaps have been shocked by the anything but epigonic creative power displayed by his younger fellow composer, who held up a magic mirror to him showing him the path leading to the future? The Vienna Piano Trio dedicates itself without preconceived notions to this magnificent music. With their powerful performance style and youthfully fresh verve the three instrumentalists inspire standing ovations from their audiences. To those who want to experience the same at home we recommend this thrilling release.

The van Hagerbeer organ at St. Peter's Church in Leiden, Holland numbers among the oldest instruments of its kind. Most of the original pipes date from the first half of the fifteenth century and have managed to survive. Restored with loving devotion, it radiates a brilliant and magnificent Renaissance organ sound and in the hands (and feet) of organist Leo van Doeselaar we have a recital of of organ works by Heinrich Scheidemann (1596-1663). - MD&G (Translated from German text.)

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

HAYDN Symphony No. 88 in G. L’isola disabitata: Overture. Symphony No. 101 in D, “The Clock” • Adam Fischer, cond; Austro-Hungarian Haydn O • MDG 9011441 (Hybrid multichannel SACD: 55:18)


Fischer and the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra recorded 107 Haydn Symphonies—including A, B, and the Sinfonia Concertante—from1987 to 2001. They began with the “Clock” and the “Drumroll.” That Nimbus disc was dreadful: the orchestra had little feel for Haydn, and the recording site, the Haydnsaal of the Esterhazy palace in Eisenstadt, where some of the works had been premiered, was so reverberant as to confound the engineers. Conductor, orchestra, and engineering got better with experience. When I wrote a Classical Hall of Fame review of the complete set (a 33-CD box from Brilliant Classics) I sampled many of the recordings in the order they were recorded. Improvements can be heard year by year; the final group—mostly symphonies numbered in the 30s—is breathtaking, played on modern instruments but with period sensitivities. Now Fischer and his Haydn orchestra are starting all over again, in the same hall, on SACD for MDG.


All the lessons have been learned. These are beautiful readings. Strings, winds, and brass blend perfectly, which may be the essential factor in any performance of the G-Major Symphony. I count 45 players in the team picture (taken in the gorgeous Haydnsaal), which means about 33 strings; they are modern instruments played lightly, so one is seldom aware of metal strings. Perhaps that’s why Fischer employs so many; they sound more like 20 than 33. The introduction is no Adagio, running about one third faster than six other performances I checked. I like Fischer’s rapid Allegro; fortunately, he gives us both repeats in this glorious movement. The Largo is also quick, but it has no feeling of impatience, as does Szell at a similar tempo. A soulful solo oboe helps the movement maintain its gravitas; trumpet and hard-stick drum outbursts are crisp and potent. The Menuet is highly pointed, at a relaxed tempo, a few Luftpausen emphasize its rural nature. No repeats are taken in da capo returns. The finale begins at a measured pace but soon steps up to its Allego con spirito ; like every other conductor, Fischer races through the coda. The CD layer sounds fine, but SACD cleans it up, reaching that marvelous stage where one can hear every part while sacrificing none of the blend. I’m not sure how MDG’s “2+2+2” recording translates into my five-channel system; it adds a fullness that blurs some of the details. Two-channel SACD is perfect for these performances. This is now my preferred recording of the G-Major Symphony.


The same virtues are offered in the D-Major Symphony. After another too-quick Adagio introduction, Fischer’s lively Presto is just right. Flute/violin balances are ideal, and the rambunctious trumpets-and-drum outbursts are delicious. The Andante, a movement for which the tempo should be obvious, is too fast. Have conductors forgotten the tempo of a ticking clock in this age of digital timepieces? The Menuet is crisp rather than swinging; Haydn’s wrong-notes joke in the Trio doesn’t come off, perhaps because the trumpets are so prominent; their hard attacks make us less sensitive to their pitch. The Vivace final is very neat, and the solo oboe shows he can chirp as sweetly as he sings.


The Overture to L’isola disabitata is a welcome bonus. Although composed in 1779, its music maintains a Sturm und Drang character throughout its slow-fast-slow-fast structure—perhaps because it was the one serious opera among Haydn’s many comedies. This performance has more charm and vigor than Dorati’s cold, harsh reading in his complete recording of the opera.


An earlier (first?) installment of this series—the “Oxford” and the “Surprise”—was reviewed by James Reel in Fanfare 29:1; he didn’t like that disc quite as much as I do this one, but he also felt that two-channel SACD is the best way to hear it.


FANFARE: James H. North

Classical Music