MAHLER Des Knaben Wunderhorn • Markus Stenz, cond; Christiane Oelze (sop); Michael Volle (bar); Cologne Gürzenich O • OEHMS OC 657 (SACD: 61:28 & no trans)


This recording of the Wunderhorn songs was made simultaneously with that of Symphony No. 4 (reviewed last issue), which not coincidentally features Christiane Oelze as soloist. The song that constitutes the symphony’s finale, “Das himmlische Leben,” is also included in this program, placed last and, appropriately enough, after its earthly predecessor, “Das irdische Leben.” The two performances are so similar that one would assume them to be the same, but there are subtle differences in timing and execution that prove them to be different. It is evidence of the care invested in this project that this extra effort was expended; Stenz’s symphony cycle is thus both extended and enriched.


As in the classic set on EMI featuring Schwartzkopf and Fischer-Dieskau, several of the songs here are presented as duets, a practice condemned by Donald Mitchell: “Mahler, I am sure, did not have this possibility in mind. He would have expected a capable singer to have been able to characterize each role sufficiently, without recourse to a partner.” ( The Wunderhorn Years, p. 260 n. 34). Be that as it may, the device can be justified from a dramatic standpoint, and I find the added variety refreshing. The pairing is only applied to three songs—“Trost im Unglück,” “Lied des Verfolgten im Turm,” and “Verlor’ne Müh”—and each one consists of pure dialogue (the last stanza of “Trost im Unglück” is written for both protagonists) so it hardly seems far-fetched to characterize the songs through the use of two voices. The voices of these particular singers, youthful and unaffected, produce versions of the songs that should please all but the Mitchellian purist.


Volle and Stenz give “Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt” a somewhat slow and dark reading, which adds just the right touch of irony to this familiar piece. The two later songs, “Revelge” and “Der Tamboursg’sell,” find Volle in martial mode, his delivery falling somewhere between the declamatory and lyric, but always dramatically true. “Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen,” sung by Oelze alone, is quite moving, her pure tone adding the appropriate touch of pathos.


Oelze offers a moving “Urlicht,” for which she manages the darker mezzo timbre very convincingly (she recorded the soprano part of the “Resurrection” Symphony with Fabio Luisi, reviewed in Fanfare 31: 5). The song is given a very close audio perspective—this is almost an intimate setting, highlighting the simple sincerity of the words and setting it apart from the lighter vein or martial theme of the preceding songs. Another notable vocal achievement occurs with “Das irdische Leben,” which is sung by Volle—if not actually unique, certainly exceptionally rare. One might have expected Oelze to take this song, thus providing the finale of a mini-drama with “Das himmlische Leben.” Volle also begins the program with a charming “Rheinlegendchen,” another song more characteristically taken by the soprano when the vocal duties are shared by two singers.


Two classics, the EMI previously alluded to and the more recent DG set featuring Thomas Quasthoff and Anne Sofie von Otter, accompanied by Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic, provide stiff competition for any newcomer. I have no qualms about placing this new set in such august company. Stenz and his Cologne orchestra produce accompaniment of subtlety, humor, and power by turns, never content to simply play along. The sound production is spacious, detailed, and grounded with solid lows. I recommend this inspired set to Mahlerites and Lieder-lovers without reservation. (There is one minor blemish: The songs come with no translations.)


FANFARE: Christopher Abbot

The award-winning young Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna performs selected works by J.S. Bach and Philip Glass on the organ of the picturesque Himmerod Abbey in the Eifel, valley of the Salm, in Germany.

October 2011 marked the 100th anniversary of the Hamburg premiere of Mahler’s Second Symphony. This release features music recorded from the previous year with the Hamburg Philharmonic under the direction of Simone Young. Michaela Kaune and Dagmar Pecková appear as the soloists, performing with the NDR Choir and the Latvia State Choir in an impressive interpretation of Mahler’s Second.

REVIEWS:

Hugely impressive, a must for all Mahlerians...the heroine of the hour is Simone Young.

Mahler’s Resurrection has been much recorded in recent years, so much so that new versions prompt one to groan inwardly and mutter: ‘Not another one’. Such ubiquity has its price, for any newcomer has to be something out of the ordinary if it’s to have any impact. Of recent releases David Zinman (Sony-BMG), Jonathan Nott (Tudor) and James Levine (Orfeo) definitely belong in this category; Vladimir Jurowski (LPO) and Markus Stenz (Oehms) manifestly don’t. And now Oehms are taking another bite out of the cherry, with the Hamburg orchestra led by their chief conductor Simone Young.

But does this strategy pay off? First impressions are highly favorable; Young adopts sensible speeds and a generally spacious approach that really lets the music breathe. As for the orchestra, they play like a group of chamber musicians, each miraculous contribution dovetailing neatly with the next. Textures have a shot-silk quality that’s especially attractive, putting Oehms’ Super Audio efforts for Stenz to shame. And climaxes are superbly judged as well, expanding without any sense of strain; as for the soundstage, it’s as broad as it is deep, perspective natural and timbres vividly registered.

This lightness of touch – not to be confused with lightweight – is such a relief after the heavy-handedness of some rivals, especially in the affectionate phrasing of the Andante. Young doesn’t dawdle, the music as fleet-footed as one could wish for, the silken strings lifting Mahler’s lovely tunes and really making them sing. There’s little of the tugging and misjudged tempo relationships that mar so many readings of this symphony; that tends to underline this conductor’s unwavering sense of clarity and purpose, qualities that I yearn for – but don’t always find – in this glorious work.

This tautness of conception and ensemble continues in the Scherzo...As for the woodwinds, they’re alert and idiomatic, the lower brass growling with the best of them. But it’s the liquidity of rhythm that’s most telling here. Young presses on without ever seeming rushed or perfunctory. Indeed, that’s another aspect of this performance that demands a mention; none of Mahler’s quirkier passages is ignored or sidelined. The music is in a constant – and intoxicating – state of efflorescence. This really is Mahler playing of the highest order, magnificently recorded

Young builds and maintains tension throughout. The sudden eruptions are entirely expected and, more important, suitably scaled. Just sample the outburst at 8:04; it’s massive without being ponderous or overdriven. Moreover, it’s not as histrionic as some, which fits in well with Young’s clear-eyed view of this score. I know Klaus Tennstedt’s recently released live Resurrection has its devotees, but its extreme soul-baring strikes me as self-serving and, ultimately, self-defeating. While the LPO play this music as if to the manner born, the Hamburg playing is more sharply characterized. They’re precise but not at all pedantic, every nuance and instrumental strand is uncovered in the most easeful way.

...the cataclysm that follows is truly thunderous, Young dimming the lights as it were, so that when the Resurrection motif appears it glows beautifully in the inky darkness. It’s an effective piece of theatre that works this time round. Although the passages that follow aren’t as broad as they can be, they’re alive with incident and chockful of detail. This really is a most impressive recording, every bit as immersive as Nott’s Super Audio disc. Indeed, the crack of timps here is just as arresting as it is on the high-tech Tudor one; oh, and I’d love to know what tam-tams the Hamburg band use, as they pack a mighty shimmer.

Young presses on, but there’s so much in which to revel – helped by the fact that the orchestra keeps its composure throughout – that one isn’t aware of just how swift she is from this point on. It’s incredibly exciting, the offstage contributions rather distant but just audible above the hike in ambient noise.

Again one can only marvel at the subtle instrumental and vocal shading the engineers extract from this acoustic. It’s a pity the soloists aren’t ideally secure, but what a heart-racing sense of anticipation Young conjures here - what trembling inexorability, that throwaway harp figure like the rending of a veil. Although the organ isn’t very prominent the tam-tams are simply stunning, the closing pages as death-defiant as ever.

What a glorious coda to this double centenary, with its hits and misses, and what a triumph for Oehms[.] But the heroine of the hour is Simone Young who, while no stranger to these symphonies, here confirms her Mahlerian credentials in a most emphatic fashion. Despite one or two minor caveats, this Resurrection belongs in the select company of recent issues from Zinman, Nott and Levine, all of whom bring something memorable to this oft-played score. Hugely impressive, a must for all Mahlerians.

-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International

HOLST The Planets • Hansjörg Albrecht (org) • OEHMS 683 (SACD: 60:08)


The story of this organ transcription of Gustav Holst’s iconic orchestral masterwork starts with the duo-piano score—and perhaps an organ version of Neptune, the last movement—created by the composer to assist with orchestration. The keyboard original—a recording is available on Delos Facet—retains a surprising degree of the character of the eventual orchestral suite, and inspired, we are told, this organ version by renowned organist and period keyboard artist Peter Sykes. The transcription is extraordinary, conjuring up all of the color and intensity of Holst’s huge orchestral forces, and Sykes’s 1996 recording on Raven Records leaves one incredulous that anyone could surmount the many daunting technical challenges with just 10 fingers and two feet, and still create a compellingly musical performance of the work. And yet he does so, with little or no evidence of the compromises of pacing and flow usually associated with the sheer physical complexity of fingering, changing registration, adjusting the swell shades, and moving from one manual to another. The relative downside of the Sykes recording is the engineering with which, in truth, I have happily lived for years. It is very likely an accurate representation of the sound of the 100-plus-rank 1933 Ernest M. Skinner organ midway back in its Girard College, Philadelphia hall, but the (glorious) wash of sound produced in the louder sections does leave one guessing at the details.


Enter this new recording from the recording wizards at Oehms Classical. Recorded in the resonant spaces of the restored medieval Church of St. Nicholas in Kiel, Germany, it manages to be hugely powerful in the largest climaxes, while remaining transparent, detailed, and present in both the loudest and softest sections. This is particularly impressive as it can be assumed, since specifications for both are included in the notes, that both of the church’s two organs, located at opposite ends of the nave and playable from a single console, are being used. The 48-rank 1965 Detlef Kleuker organ is surely the lead instrument in the recording, as the 17-rank Aristide Cavaillé-Coll/Charles Mutin organ clearly does not have the pipes to produce such power. Currently lacking surround-sound reproduction, I cannot know if the engineers have clarified the issue of usage by placing the multichannel listener between the organs front and back as they did with the earlier Oehms Wagner: Der Ring—An Organ Transcription SACD produced in this venue. Yet in the end it does not matter, as the sound even in SACD stereo is so impressive and the organs are so well integrated that the effect is of a single instrument with breathtaking French symphonic articulation.


This new release pales in comparison to the earlier Sykes release only in matters of style. Hanjörg Albrecht, the organist in the aforementioned Wagner, as well as in a Poulenc release I lavishly praised in these pages (33:6), is in every way Sykes’s technical peer. What Sykes offers more consistently than Albrecht is not only the essential steak-and-kidney-pie Britishness of the thing, and its moments of wry humor, but also a telling subtlety of voicing. Albrecht is inclined to be a bit too stiff, as in the big tune of “Jupiter,” a bit too obvious in the misty domains of “Venus,” and to linger too long in the reflective passages of “Saturn” and “Neptune.” Still, absent the comparison, I suspect I would have overlooked it for the sheer brilliance of the playing.


And then, what a glorious sound he and his engineers produce. What a rush it must be to create these massive waves of sound, or these complex layers of counterpoint, from a single instrument. What a thrill it is to hear them so clearly. Sykes’s instrument is not so distinctly defined in space as this, though I was happy enough until I heard the new release. I would probably still choose Sykes’s recording if I could have only one. But I have both, and that is the best solution I can offer. Enjoy the sonic feast, and don’t leave it for just the organ buffs.


FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

Since its foundation in 2013, the Berliner Operngruppe has made a name for itself with Berlin premieres such as Donizetti's Deux Hommes et une Femme and Betly and other operatic rarities. This album is a recording of the world premiere of Donizetti's opera Dalinda from the Konzerthaus Berlin on 14 May 2023, the opera that emerged from the censorship and plagiarism confusion surrounding Lucrezia Borgia, but which did not withstand the censorship either and disappeared unperformed until it was found a few years ago by the musicologist Eleonora Di Cintio.

Bach’s The Art of Fugue offers us profoundly sensual music, magnificent, poetic, colorful, thrilling, meditative, temperamental, intended for the ears of all times and deeply human.” That’s how the quartett itself characterizes Bach’s masterpiece and opposes Stefano Pierini’s Cantai un tempo (dopo una lettura di Monteverdi) to the magnum opus which was especially composed for the delian::quartett. The namesake of the delian::quartett is the Greek god Apollo who was worshipped as god of the fine arts, the muses and especially music, and also named Delian after his place of birth, the island of Delos. “What is outstanding about this Quartet”, stated the Hessian Broadcasting Company in October 2008, “is, firstly, the absolutely vibrant, personal coloring of their interpretations and the ability to also spontaneously react with interest to what the public shows, to absorb their vibrations and energies and transform them into music. This makes every concert a unique experience.”

This is one of the few recordings of Josef Suk's rarely performed Symphony, with which the composer came to terms with personal blows of fate, captured in this recording with sensitivity and meticulous detail. This production marks the beginning of a highly promising collaboration between the Essen Philharmonic and OehmsClassics. Meyerbeer's Le prophete has already been planned for 2018.

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REVIEW:

This is as sober as vivid a performance of Suk’s Asrael Symphony. Tomas Netopil’s account of this work is eloquent in every respect and a worthy alternative to existing recordings.

– Pizzicato

”His Mozart combines the clarity of Christian Zacharias with the refined nuances of Alfred Brendel and the warm sound of Daniel Barenboim.“ This was the verdict in the 5/2015 issue of Fono Forum, which in the next issue promptly awarded the star for the Album of the Month to William Youn for Volume 2 of his edition with Mozart’s piano sonatas. OehmsClassics is proud to have completed this cycle with an exceptional artist, and to be presenting all five volumes here in one spectacular set. The award-winning pianist William Youn has been described by critics as a “genuine poet” with “sovereign, bravura technique of touch”. After early studies in Korea and in the USA, William again changed continents to study at the Hanover University of Music and at the Piano Academy Lake Como, where he worked regularly with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Dmitri Bashkirov, Andreas Staier, William Grant Naboré and Menahem Pressler. Based now in his adopted hometown of Munich, Germany, William performs internationally from Berlin via Seoul to New York with major orchestras

Michelagnolo/Michelangelo Galilei was born in 1575 as the second son of the influential music theoretician Vincenzo Galilei and was the younger brother of Galileo Galilei. Michelangelo, who was considered a musical prodigy during his youth, embarked on the career of a professional lutenist and, following several stations in Poland and Lithuania, entered the service of the Court Orchestra of Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria in Munich on 16 February 1607. Axel Wolf presents here Galilei's Primo libro d�intavolatura di liuto, Munich 1620. The German lutenist, Axel Wolf, studied with Hans Michael Koch and Rolf Lislevand. As a member of the ensemble "La Sfondrata" he was a prizewinner at the 1992 International Competition for Early Music Ensembles in Utrecht, Netherlands. In the course of his concert career Axel Wolf has made appearances at international festivals in Boston, Bruges, Utrecht, Prague, Edinburgh and Innsbruck, as well as appearances in Rome, Tokyo, New York and Tel Aviv as soloist or member of ensembles such as Musica Fiata Koln, Freiburger Barockorchester, Ars Antiqua Austria and The English Concert London.

Bruges la morte – The Dead City: This was the name of the novel published in 1892 that the young Erich Wolfgang Korngold used in 1920 as the basis for his first and most successful opera. The music of Tote Stadt, composed during the turbulent yet wildly creative time of nascent atonality, holds steadfastly to the operatic forms and tonal world of Puccini. Korngold‘s enormous richness of musical colors are irresistible, as are his harmonies – which go to the outermost bounds of the expected – and impressionistic tone-painting.

Included is a 43 page color booklet with notes on the performance, musicians and sung texts.

Jenufa was Janácek’s third opera, based on the play Její pastorkyna “Her Stepdaughter”, by Gabriela Preissová. The libretto is a grim tale of complicated relationships in a village context, with violence and tragedy driving the drama. More importantly, this is the opera in which Janácek’s distinctive musical voice became more established after the folk-influenced Romanticism of his earlier period.

There are quite a few recordings of Jenufa around these days, and I pulled out my copy of the classic 1977 Supraphon recording conducted by František Jílek by way of orientation. I had forgotten quite how good this is, and still sounding very fresh despite its vintage. I was glad to have it to hand, since the libretto in the booklet for this Graz recording is given only in Czech and German, the Supraphon edition helping us out with both English and French as well.

The Graz cast is good, with the main characters all strong enough and mostly well characterised. There are a few weaker moments, but I’m reluctant to point out any names in particular since voices I’d marked up as being weaker links tended to redeem themselves further along. Recorded live, this Graz recording is very much a theatre version as you would expect, so if you are used to more opulent versions such as the EMI, now Warner Classics Prague recording with Libuse Domaninská conducted by Bohumil Gregor this might seem a step backwards. There are advantages to be heard however. The vocal balance is much more natural in the Oper Graz, and while the scale is less grand the orchestral detail is more direct, the impact of the drama less extravagantly ‘operatic’, if you follow my meaning. If language is an issue then Chandos’s version in English might be of interest, but you still need the libretto to hand to really be able to follow what is going on. With Janácek’s specific connections with the setting of his native language to music this always sounds like a distortion too far for me – even with the authoritative conducting of Sir Charles Mackerras.

This Graz production is not the last word on Jenufa. That honour probably has to go to Elisabeth Söderström and Sir Charles Mackerras with the Vienna Philharmonic on Decca, but this Oehms Classics recording is a version which will grow on you. Personally, I have to admit finding it hard to avoid being drawn back to the special character brought to the title role by Gabriela Benacková in that Supraphon recording. There is no denying that the strength of an all-Czech cast and orchestra is very compelling in this opera. Gal James is very good as well though, and deeply affecting in crucial moments such as Scene 6 in Act 2 where, all alone, Jenufa sings of her baby as yet oblivious to the unfolding tragedy. The Stepmother’s anguished cry towards the end is truly chilling, and stands as an emblem for the admirably realistic approach in this production – one you can add to your collection with confidence.

-- Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

This illustrious fifteen disc set packs together some of the most famous and best loved operettas to have ever graced a stage. These tracks were all recorded at the Morbisch Lake Festival between 1996 and 2015. Present day opera stars sing the leading roles, including Martina Serafin, Silvana Dussman, and Dagmar Schellenberger. Since 1957 the Morbisch Lake Festival has been drawing listeners to its operettas and musicals. Held at the Neusiedler See National Park, the music is draped against the natural background of Lake Neusiedl. Herbert Alsen began the festival, where 1200 audience members watched the premiere of “The Gypsy Baron.” The festival has grown over the last half century and now boasts 220,000 visitors.

The present recording especially concentrates on works by Johann Sebastian Bach in minor keys; these are contrasted by four works in major keys. The general perception is that minor key works frequently emanate a certain sadness as their fundamental emotion. Bach, on the other hand, repeatedly develops in his minor key compositions-particularly in the organ works- an unsurpassed elegance out of the melancholy depths, as Joseph Kelemen impressively proves at the Treutmann Organ of the Grauhof Monastery Church. Joseph Klemen completed his studies in organ, harpsichord, and choral conducting at the Academy of Music in his native city of Budapest, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the Academy of the Arts in Bremen. He has been active as a church musician in Southern Germany since 1986. With a strong commitment to historical performance practice, he is considered by specialists to be an authority on German organ music of the 17th century and the organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach.

In honor of the open-air festival season, Oehms Classics has compiled this extensive album with wonderful arias and scenes from the best known and most beloved operettas. Top opera stars Martina Serafin and Nikolai Schukoff are featured on the release. Several Strauss selections are included in this release, as well as works by Offenbach, Zeller, Lehar, Benatsky, and Kalman. Austrian soprano Martina Serafin was born in Vienna to parents who were singers. She studied at the Vienna Conservatory and from 1995 to 2000 was a member of the ensemble of Graz Opera. She is particularly renowned for her interpretation of the role of Tosca, which she has sung for companies including the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, Milan, and more. Austrian tenor Nikolai Schukoff is one of today’s important voices on the international and concert circuit. After a few years as a member of opera ensembles, his international breakthrough came in 2006 with roles such as Siegmund and Sergej. On the concert stage, he has appeared alongside the Munich Philharmonic and other renowned orchestras, and under the batons of renowned conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Christoph Eschenbach, and Marek Janowski.

Elisabeth Brauss was born in 1995 in Honnover. She was admitted to the piano class of Dr. Elena Levit at the age of five and studied from 2007 to 2010 at the “Institut zur Fruhforderung musikalisch Hochbegabter” (Institute for the Early Furtherance of the Highly Gifted) of the Academy of Music, Theatre and Media in Hannover. She studied from 2008 to 2010 in Hannover in the piano classes of Dr. Elena Levit and Prof. Matti Raekallio; she has been studying at the HMTMH in the piano class of Professor Bernd Goetzke since 2010. Elisabeth makes regular guest appearances at the Laeisz-Halle in Hamburg, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival. In January 2015 Elisabeth Brauss won first prize at the competition “Ton und Erklärung” in Frankfurt and performed with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony in the finale. This prize is awarded annually by the Cultural Society of the German Economy in BDI; OehmsClassics also presents the prize winner album each year. The 2015 prize winner obviously has a great career before her.

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REVIEW:

The maturity and sophistication of her thoughtful interpretations would be the pride of any pianist twice her age. It is rare to encounter the degree of instrumental mastery wed to musical depth and sensitivity in one so young. Her exhilarating Beethoven is so thoroughly integrated that each movement is emotionally and spiritually amplified by what has gone before. Her original and unaffected Chopin-playing is fresh and a joy to listen to.

– Gramophone

The Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra is one of the most important orchestras in the Germans-peaking world. In 2001 it was selected Orchestra of the Year for the third time in succession in the critics' survey of the specialist journal Opernwelt. Currently they perform as a concert orchestra at the Museum Concerts organized by the Museum Society.

Chicaquicha – this is the name of the indigenous peoples who used to live in the area where today’s city of Zipaquirá, Colombia is, and where Andres Villamil was born in 1976. He studied classical guitar with Gentil Montaña, Sonia Diaz and Roberto Aussel at the ALAC music academy and the Universidad Nacional conservatory, both in Bogotá, as well as at the Academy of Music and Dance in Cologne. In 1998 he won First Prize as soloist in the IDCT competition “Intérpretes del Próximo Milenio” in Bogotá. In 2004, a First Prize at the international “Voice and Guitar” competition with the Duo Ymaya in Germany followed. In addition to his classical training, Andres Villamil concentrates on the music of his home continent, South America. This program, his debut CD, pays homage to the music of his country. He selected original compositions for guitar as well as his own arrangements of Colombian songs and instrumental pieces. The program ends with four of his own works.

The celebrated Bruckner cycle by the Hamburg Philharmonic under Simone Young saw its completion during the 2014–15 season. On 30 August 2014, this mature, practiced Brucknerian orchestra recorded Bruckner’s radiant Seventh Symphony in the Laeiszhalle, heard live on this CD. With the beauty of its themes and its moving homage to Bruckner‘s great, intimidating model, Wagner, this Symphony - ranking among the composer’s finest orchestral statements - offers a particularly impressive listening experience.

REVIEWS:

The most apposite word I can apply to Simone Young's approach to Bruckner is 'fluidity.' She allows the lyrical melodies of the first two movements to unfold naturally and with a good sense of structural cohesion.

-- BBC Music Magazine

I enjoyed this performance very much. I also liked the sound on this SACD which has presence and definition. There’s a good front-to-back perspective and all sections of the orchestra have been well served by the engineers. In particular the brass, so important in Bruckner’s sound-world, register very satisfyingly yet never excessively.

-- MusicWeb International

This is one of those performances where you feel from the opening phrases that everything is just right. The music soars, yet has all the heft and depth one could want. Orchestral balances are excellent… Above all, the spirit of Bruckner, often felt in the concert hall but so elusive in recordings, is present. This is a glorious Bruckner Seventh.

-- Fanfare

Sweelinck composed his keyboard music (as much as we know of it today) only after 1605, rather late in his career. The works that have been handed down to us have the eff ect of a summing-up, a written resume of his improvisatory and pedagogical activity. These works, about 60 in number, were widely distributed during his time and much appreciated by colleagues. This recording presents a representative cross-section of his oeuvre for keyboard music played on the organ.

The 13 Barcarolles of Fauré, composed over the course of almost four decades (1882-1921), are highly representative of his piano oeuvre and are considered his most characteristic works. They reflect his separation from the romantic idiom of Chopin and Mendelssohn, in particular, and his progress towards an independent musical language in which he achieved a successful harmonious reconciliation between tradition and the modernism that was emerging at the time. Michael Endres recorded these pieces for OehmsClassics at WDR in Cologne in May 2017. The German pianist performs worldwide as a soloist and chamber music partner. He gained a Master’s degree at the Juilliard School in New York under Jacob Lateiner and studied with Peter Feuchtwanger in London. He has won several prestigious prizes at festivals and competitions, and his discography consists of 29 albums which have also been awarded.

To have the Romanian-German pianist Herbert Schuch’s complete Oehms discography collected into a single box set provides a valuable overview of this brilliantly talented performer who balances superb technique with the ability to find the essence of the composition. With a primary emphasis on the Romantic era, Schuch never falls into sentimental tropes in his interpretations. As noted in the Frankfurter Allegmeine Zeitung ,“The bright young Romanian-German pianist Herbert Schuch is building his career with marvellous consistency. This is demonstrated less by vain, flashy solo appearances than an ever deeper fathoming of individual works.”

BACH Cantatas: No. 131 2,3; No. 182 1-3 • Thomas Gropper (cond); 1 Regine Jurda (alt); 2 Maximiian Kiener (ten); 3 Franz Schlecht (bs); Arsis Vocalists Munich; L’Arpa Festante; (period instruments) • OEHMS OC 783 (47:23 Text, no Translations)


Bach’s Cantata 131 may have been his first ever, composed at Mühlhausen in 1707 or 1708. We can hear in it the youthful composer remaining true to his German roots, but stretching his wings, experimenting with an episodic, through-composed structure, and succeeding brilliantly. The experiment, however, was short-lived. By the time Bach moved to Weimar in 1714, he was settling on a new format, which he would refine and perfect in later years: a succession of individual movements, usually including an elaborate choral number, a group of solo pieces, and an unadorned setting of the relevant chorale. A heightened awareness of international trends surfaced in French overtures and Italianate recitatives and da capo arias. Cantata 182 was Bach’s first for Weimar.


Both of these early cantatas on this disc are likely candidates for chamber-sized performances, but they are sung here by a chorus of about 50 singers. Thomas Gropper’s temperate direction serves the music well. The choral singing is nicely burnished and admirably precise. The first chorus of No. 182 seemed to lose a bit of its forward momentum, but order is quickly restored and the cantata (and the disc) ends well. The soloists are similarly effective. One can get a vague sense of meandering in the bass aria of BWV 182, but the overall impression is positive. The featured (but unnamed) wind soloists—the oboe in No. 131 and the recorder in No. 182—are especially fine, more reasons to give the disc your consideration. In all, an excellent 131; a good 182.


FANFARE: George Chien

Felix Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte (Songs Without Words), comprising 8 volumes and 48 individual works, are delightful solo piano miniatures that, although not so intended by the composer in most instances, have come to embody certain descriptive characteristics of people, places or things with the help of publisher's attaching names to some after-the-fact. Michael Endres award-winning (Diapason d'or; Choc du Musique) discography is an extensive one, amounting to 30 albums; for OehmsClassics he has recorded works of Schumann, Schubert, Weber, Ravel and Gershwin, among others.

The catastrophic failure of the St. Petersburg world premiere of his First Symphony on 15 March 1897 plunged Sergei Rachmaninoff into a profound depression. It was only the intervention of renowned psychiatrist Nikolai Dahl that liberated the composer from his creative crisis. In 1906 Rachmaninoff began work on his Second Symphony. As part of its ongoing Rachmaninoff cycle with the Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne and Dmitrij Kitajenko, OehmsClassics presents the Symphony No. 2 and the ever-popular Vocalise, sung by countertenor Valer Sabadus.

The Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra dedicates itself here to a “forgotten master”. In drastic, enigmatic images of the Apocalypse of St. John, Louis Spohr’s oratorio The Last Judgement deals with the fundamental questions of humanity: justice, responsibility and redemption. Shortly after its world premiere, one could say that this work was an international success. Since the Spohr Year of 2009 it has returned to concert stages all over the world, including in Salzburg on 6 June 2013. OehmsClassics presents a live recording here of this concert from the Mozarteum.