The bottom-line is this: the new Vienna Piano Trio CD is excellent. By all measures—performance, sound quality, booklet notes—this is a quality product, something I have been able to say consistently about every MDG release that has come my way. - FANFARE

Contained on this CD are two of Dvo?ák’s finest and most beautiful chamber works. By what measure, you may ask, is one able to say that one piece of music is more beautiful than another, or even that it is beautiful at all? Is beauty not, after all, in the eye—or in this case, the ear—of the beholder? It is an interesting question, and one that has been posed and examined by many philosophers and aestheticians (e.g., Eduard Hanslick, The Beautiful in Music). My test, hardly scientific, has to do with memorability. Play the opening of Dvo?ák’s A-Major Piano Quintet. Do you find yourself wondering how a melody so simple, yet so heartfelt, could ever occur to anyone? Do you continue to hear that melody in your head long after the piece is over? If there were a rating for arresting beginnings, this one would have to be at or very near the top. Yet this is not a work that says everything it has to say in its first few measures; for its 40-minutes-plus duration, it never flags once. It’s almost too full of ideas and invention to be absorbed all in one hearing. Just listen to the Finale, a movement that begins with another tune, again simple and equally memorable. The developmental possibilities Dvo?ák finds in it, including a fugue midway through the movement, turn into a nonstop dance-a-thon.

The Piano Quintet was written in 1887, prior to Dvo?ák’s event-filled visit to the US (1892–1895). The E?-Major String Quintet dates from 1893, in the midst of that visit, and was written in Spillville, Iowa, where the composer summered with family and friends. As in most of the works Dvo?ák wrote during his “American” period, we are told that there are African-American and Native-American elements in the music: modal scales minus leading-tones, pentatonic scales, strongly syncopated rhythms, and narrowly circumscribed melodic arcs that center around a repeated chant-like tone. Be that as it may (and I won’t dispute it), I have yet to hear anything by Dvo?ák—and that includes the “New World” Symphony and the so-called “American” Quartet—that doesn’t sound like Dvo?ák, which is to say, Czech. Perhaps the Slavic folk elements that are so pronounced in Dvo?ák’s music somehow made the voyage to the New World and ended up among Iowa’s Fox Indian tribes. But I’ve always found it a stretch to imagine that anything like the scherzo movement (Allegro vivo) or the typically Dvo?ákian “dumka” movement (Larghetto) of this quintet would strike a familiar chord at one of the great council meetings of the Plains tribes described in James Michener’s Centennial. Too much, I believe, has been made of Dvo?ák’s Native-American ethno-musicology. He may have borrowed certain Native-American elements, but he didn’t dress them up in buffalo hides and feathered headgear. It was Rudolf Friml, if I’m not mistaken, who wrote the Indian Love Call.

In past reviews, I have waxed ecstatic over performances by the Leipziger String Quartet (Andreas Seidel and Tilmann Büning, violins; Ivo Bauer, viola; and Matthias Moosdorf, cello), as well as over performances by pianist Christian Zacharias. In the case of this current release, I must temper my enthusiasm slightly, but not because the playing or the recording are in any way undeserving of a strong endorsement. To the contrary, they are excellent. It’s just that the competition, especially in the Piano Quintet, is formidable. In my own collection alone, I find six versions of the Piano Quintet, and current catalogs list at least two dozen more. Second only to the “American” Quartet, the A-Major Piano Quintet is in a dead heat with the “Dumky” Piano Trio for number of recordings.

One of the classics is with Artur Rubinstein and the Guarneri Quartet on RCA, paired with the composer’s “American” String Quartet. The performances are white-hot, but the 1970s sound is a bit congested. Also on RCA, in a much improved 1990 recording, is my current personal favorite with the late Rudolf Firkušný and a wonderful group, the Ridge String Quartet, that ought to be better known. An additional bonus is that the discmate is Dvo?ák’s earlier (1872) and seldom heard A-Major Piano Quintet, op. 5. I’m not sure, though, that this recording is still available. Another one that is, however, and that also includes the earlier quintet, is a Dorian CD with pianist Antonin Kubalek and the Lafayette String Quartet in gorgeous sound and performances.

For the op. 97 String Quintet, there are about half the number of choices, but among them are some very good ones. A fairly recent release on the Cedille label with the Pacifica String Quartet is especially worth seeking out, as is a Hyperion release with the Raphael Ensemble.

The current release with Zacharias and the Leipzigers is very good, and I am pleased to recommend it. I’m just not able to say that it edges out the others I’ve mentioned.
Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

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

Felix Draeseke considered the Symphonia tragica (his Third Symphony) to be his orchestral masterpiece. So did many of his contemporaries. They were wrong. In the first place, there's nothing especially tragic about it. It operates across a narrow emotional range for much of its length, only waking up for a finale that arrives at a somewhat strained climax (featuring the work's only cymbal crash). Unfortunately, this is marred by an overly prominent piccolo part that gives an unintentionally melodramatic, almost comic touch to what the composer clearly intended to be the symphony's grandly impressive highpoint. The very opening sounds like Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3 with faulty ignition, and a few rhythmic outbursts from the timpani in the slow movement do not an effective funeral march make. So far Draeseke's finest symphonic effort seems to be the comparatively light-hearted and jolly Symphony No. 2, recently issued on CPO.


The overture to the opera Gudrun is so forgettable that you may think you suffered an 11-minute seizure or blackout while it was playing. On the other hand, the Symphonic Prologue to Penthesilea is a masterpiece, as fine a tone poem as Liszt never wrote. Surging rhythms, characterful scoring (including much freer use of brass and percussion than in the symphony), and distinctive thematic material accurately chart the downfall of the Kleist's Amazon Queen heroine within the framework of a tightly argued sonata structure. The last bars, with their sharp orchestral exclamations against a mournful, quiet background have genuine originality of conception and make a powerful impression. It's such a pity that Draeseke allowed his anal retentive impulses to so often rein in his creative energy, but then in the late 19th century he was hardly alone in this regard.


Unlike their flat recording of the First Symphony and Piano Concerto, George Hanson and the Wuppertal Symphony really wake up this time around and deliver fine accounts of all three works. In the symphony, Hanson offers substantially identical tempos to the only competition (on CPO), but presents a better-focused conception with sharper, more powerfully shaped climaxes (relatively speaking). There's no competition for Gudrun, not that it would matter much if there were, but Hanson and his players make an extremely impressive statement in Penthesilea, generating plenty of excitement on the way to the music's brooding resolution. MDG's recorded sound has plenty of impact and opens out nicely in louder passages. Draeseke was indeed an uneven composer, and you might respond to the Tragica's thin-blooded Romanticism more positively that I do, but you definitely should try to hear Penthesilea. It deserves to return to the active repertoire.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

An impressive portrait of one of Europe's most glorious historical organs.

North Germany is full of valuable historical organs. The instrument which Martin Rost plays here is the largest in Europe originally built in the 17th century without the use of material from older instruments. It is a musical and architectural monument of unique quality. It is quite surprising, though, that we don't know who played the organ at the time it was built and the decades after. I have searched the internet, but I have only been able to find information about the builder and the history of the organ, but nothing about organists of the 17th and 18th century who were the happy players of this instrument. The booklet also omits to name names. Therefore all the music on the programme is by organists who were active in Lübeck.

The organ was built by Friederich Stellwagen from 1653 to 1659. He was from Halle an der Saale and went to Hamburg where he worked as an associate under Gottfried Fritsche, who was the court organ-builder of the Electorate of Saxony. In 1633 or 1634 he settled in Lübeck as an independent organ-builder. The construction in Stralsund, which was completed only a couple of months before his death, was the highlight of his career. Over the centuries the organ has been the victim of various changes, and was sometimes substantially damaged. Fortunately it survived the two World Wars, and in the last decade a thorough restoration and partial reconstruction could be performed. The discovery of documents about the building from Stellwagen's time was of great help. More information about the history of the organ and technical details can be found here.

This organ is pretty much the ideal vehicle for the music of the North German organ school. The central figure is Dietrich Buxtehude, who is represented here by various specimens of his oeuvre. The Praeludium in d minor is written in the stylus phantasticus with its sequence of contrasting sections. Komm, heilger Geist, Herre Gott is one of Buxtehude's most impressive chorale arrangements, with a highly ornamented cantus firmus in the upper voice. Martin Rost's performance is faster than I am used to, but it works very well. The Passacaglia in d minor is one of the earliest organ pieces in Germany which is based on a basso ostinato. Italian influence is notable in the slight Canzona in g minor.

What is especially interesting here is that Buxtehude's predecessors are also represented. First Franz Tunder, whom Buxtehude succeeded in 1667. He was the founder of the tradition of the Abendmusiken which were to become famous in Buxtehude's time. Little is known about his early education, but according to Johann Mattheson, the German theorist of the early 18th century, he had studied with Frescobaldi in Rome. Italian influence is noticeable in the Canzona in G. His organ music requires two manuals and pedals, and is often quite virtuosic. That is certainly the case with Jesus Christus, unser Heiland in which the number of parts rises to five and which includes a section for double pedal.

Tunder's music is often played and recorded, but his predecessor in Lübeck, Peter Hasse the Elder, is hardly known. He was the great-grandfather of Johann Adolf Hasse, the German opera composer of the 18th century. He was organist in Lübeck from 1616 to his death in 1640. It is assumed he was a pupil of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck in Amsterdam. During his time in Lübeck the three organs in the Marienkirche had been enlarged, the large organ by Friederich Stellwagen. Only two organ works by Hasse are known, and both are played here. In Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr the cantus firmus is largely unornamented.

Also little known is Buxtehude's successor as organist of the Marienkirche: Johann Christian Schiefferdecker. He was from a family of ministers and church musicians who were active in Weissenfels and Zeitz and has been a pupil at the Thomasschule in Leipzig. He composed some operas which are all lost. Also lost are the 22 pieces which he performed as Abendmusiken in Lübeck, where he succeeded Buxtehude as organist in 1707. Very little of his organ music has survived, the most important work being the variations on the chorale Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, the German rhymed version of the Magnificat.

Nicolaus Bruhns never worked in Lübeck, but studied for a while with Buxtehude. He became organist in Husum, a town close to the border with Denmark. He is another typical representative of the North German organ school. His Praeludium in G is a brilliant piece, with two pedal parts. It is known that Johann Sebastian Bach admired and studied this work. He is also present in this programme, with a chorale fantasia which clearly shows the influence of Buxtehude. When he studied with his brother Johann Christoph he had already copied pieces by Buxtehude, and in 1705 he went to Lübeck to hear and meet the master himself. He remained longer in Lübeck than planned, and this visit had a lasting influence on his development as a composer of organ music.

Martin Rost has been choirmaster and organist of the Marienkirche in Stralsund since 1997. He is very active as an expert in the field of organ history and is regularly involved in restoration projects. He proves an excellent guide who shows all the aspects of the organ as well as the various styles and genres in the repertoire of the great masters of the North German organ school. His performances are very impressive, and the engineer has done a brilliant job in recording the programme. Interestingly during the recording the wind was produced by bellows rather than the modern organ engine. This results in a natural and breathing sound which is ideal for this kind of music. The only reservation in regard to the interpretation is the frequent change of registration during single pieces. The figure of the organ assistant, changing stops during play, was unknown in the 17th century.

The booklet contains programme notes on music and organ, the disposition of the organ and the registration of every single piece. There are also some pictures of detail of the organ. And on the reverse of the booklet we find a magnificent picture of this wonderful organ in its full glory.

For organ aficionados this disc is indispensable. If you are an organist yourself, it may make you envious of Martin Rost.

-- Johan van Veen, MusicWeb International

This set contains 1 blu-ray audio disc playable only on blu-ray players and 1 Hybrid SACD playable on all CD players.

DIABOLO presents music at its finest, as one has come to expect from MDG, with a unique cast featuring the crème de la crème of the classical world: Elisabeth Leonskaja, Christian Zacharias, Hariolf Schlichtig, the Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn, the Mozart Piano Quartet, Jin Ju, Frank Bungarten, the Norddeutscher Figuralchor, and many others promise you a top—class musical fireworks. Seventy-eight minutes of performance joy from Bruckner to Beethoven, from Chopin to Shostakovich, and from Scheidemann to Schönberg recreate MDG’s legendary recording venues in all their facets right in your own living room and with a breathtaking you - are - there feeling never experienced before.

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: 14 Berlin Flutes. Conductor: Andreas Blau.

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

Der Golem is one of the twenty-one operas penned by Eugène d’Albert. He used big sound and an eruptive musical idiom with a touch of the poetic here and there to set this action-packed tale from his late period. The score offers a rich color spectrum ranging from tender, bright, supernaturally sensuous tones to dark, deep, mystical shadings. He does without a full ensemble, and the solo setting is reduced to a minimum, in the manner of a chamber drama, while the chorus and a richly endowed orchestra form the overall musical framework. - Dabringhaus & Grimm

A splendid disc of music for strings from the 19th and 20th Centuries - despite the title above, the Janacek dates from 1877. More of that sort of thing later. The Suite for Strings by Janacek is an early work and not really characteristic of him, more related to Dvorak if anyone. Each of its six movements is attractive and lyrical, with just the occasional hint of his later style in the rhythms. Those who love the music of the mature composer should not dismiss the piece but accept that it is different and has a lot to offer. I would classify it as essential listening, especially in this very good performance. The Kalabis Diptych of 1980 is a more challenging work but only because it is less lyrical and has the angularity and harmonies of late Bartok. It is still an extremely satisfying piece by an important but rather neglected figure. Kalabis made valuable contributions to all the main genres, symphonies, quartets, concerti and chamber music. His output is a rewarding corpus from a man much more influenced by the tonal masters of the 20th century like Hindemith, Honegger and Martinu, than by the Second Viennese School. This Diptych is solemn and has more than a hint of Bartok's Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta, though without its extreme dynamism. The most characteristic pieces on the disc are the two works by Martinu. His Partita of 1931 is a lovely piece written at the height of his powers. The Serenata II is one of the five short serenades he wrote for various instrumental groups. This one is for just two violins and one viola, though played here with great skill by about three of each (it is hard to tell exactly because the documentation is not explicit). Several recordings exist of this delightful and masterly short work, some recorded by small string groups, others with just the three instruments intended by the composer. Both ways work if well enough played, as it definitely is here.

The Suk Chamber Orchestra have been in existence for over forty years and have an admirable list of recordings focussed mainly of Czech repertoire, from the classical to the modern period. This recording is quite old, 1988, and is possibly a reissue, but there is no statement to that effect in the cover or booklet notes. It was obviously made with a minimal number of microphones because it sounds very clean and realistic. I would go so far as to say it sounds outstandingly good. The playing is very fine indeed, as it should be from the famously productive home of so many top string players including the eponymous Josef Suk. To clarify, the violinist who died in 2011 was the first director, and his grandfather, who died in 1935, a composer and also a violinist, was the source of the orchestra's name. The pedigree doesn't stop there for the elder Suk was also the son-in-law and a pupil of the great Antonín Dvorák.

The documentation has several shortcomings, though none that should put purchasers off buying. The orchestral listing includes players who are clearly not playing this program; not many harpsichord, horn and oboe players are needed in string pieces for example. No mention is made of the fact that this is the arrangement for string orchestra of the Martinu Serenata and the note assumes solo instruments; the death of Kalabis in 2006 is overlooked in the notes on the Diptych and as mentioned at the start, the music is not all 20th Century despite the title. MDG should be a lot more careful when editing accompanying material. Nonetheless, I recommend the CD very strongly as a great 57 minutes of musical pleasure.

– MusicWeb International (Dave Billinge)