"This is a convenient recital, presenting—unusually, it turns out, in a single program—the clarinet-and-piano works of Debussy and his contemporary Florent Schmitt, plus those of the demi-Six Honegger, Milhaud, and Poulenc (the other three were Auric, Durey, and Tailleferre), who were more or less a generation younger. Despite a name that sounds as German as, say, “John Barbirolli,” clarinetist Ralph Manno is a native German, making the program all the more atypical. This disc follows soon after Oehms’s release of a two-CD set featuring Manno and Alfredo Perl in music of Brahms; both that and the present disc, however, turn out to be reissues of 1995 recordings.

Manno’s performance of Debussy’s Rhapsodie (there never was a deuxième) is languorous at first, then fluid and dynamic as the music demands. His sound, appropriately international rather than characteristically German, is attractive and well focused, and his technique and control are impressive. The aptly named Petite pièce, written as a sight-reading exercise, is smooth and expressive.

The Lorraine-born Florent Schmitt (1870–1958) should be better known; he is remembered today mostly for the extravagant, almost expressionistic La Tragédie de Salomé. The present Andantino, by contrast, is brief, modest, and perhaps even a bit sentimental...

If the composers who made up Les Six had any musical trait in common (and Milhaud, for one, denied that they did), it is a quintessentially French irreverence, even impudence. (Two of the movements of Milhaud’s sonatine are marked Très rude.) The Honegger and Milhaud sonatines were both composed in the 1920s; the former is an aphoristic work in three movements lasting only six minutes all together; Manno plays with impressive command here... The late, folksy Duo Concertant is an attractive example of Milhaud’s Provençal style; the slight Caprice, running under two minutes, serves as a sort of encore...this disc can be recommended for its overview of the core French clarinet recital repertoire."

FANFARE: Richard A. Kaplan

OehmsClassics now releases the recording of this controversial production of Doktor Faust by Nicolas Brieger made in 2008 just in time for the Munich Opera Festival. The title role is sung by Wolfang Koch, who will sing Wotan this year at Bayreuth in the Jubilee Ring Cycle. The singer can be assured of an appropriate portion of attention, and the new CD could hardly appear at a more favorable time.

This new release features the complete symphonic recordings of OehmsClassics with Bertrand de Billy and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2003-2010 when Bertrand de Billy was Chief Conductor in Vienna. Bertrand de Billy was born in Paris where he studied music. Starting as a member of an orchestra, he soon took on conducting. 1993-95 he was first Kapellmeister and Deputy Music Director at the Anhaltisches Theatre in Dessau, 1996-98 he held the same position at the Vienna Volksoper. 1999-2004 he was Music Director at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and 2002-2010 he was Music Director of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna. Bertrand de Billy is principal guest of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (2013-2016). Since 2014/2015 he is also principal guest conductor of the Dresdner Philharmonie.

Creating excitement is the aim of this effective music with it's trombone attacks, bell tolls and horrors, sentimental cantilenas, sweet love duets and the famous overture: never was there the least doubt that Sebastian Weigle with the Frankfurt ensemble would succeed in bringing these off. With Rienzi, Oehms Classics now presents the last of the three operas attributed to the youthful years of Richard Wagner.

It is said about the Hungarian mentality that they dance and cry at the same time and celebrate when they have problems. Of course, this is a cliché, but hits the nail on the head in the context of the fin de siècle and the operetta itself. Kalman confronts Viennese Classicism with the rather rustic czardas. This way, he gave new inspiration to the genre. Moreover, the Hungarian soul is evoked by sentimentality and melancholic dreaminess. Michael Hofstetter; who brings the almost forgotten operetta to a new, livelier life, acts as the trustee of these magnificent qualities.

This disc is a treasure, a rarity to behold.

I have encountered relatively few instances in which an artist’s sensibilities have seemed perfectly attuned to the music presented. Here is one such case. Bernd Glemser grasps the full measure of the Chopin Scherzos and Ballades like no other pianist in memory. Lise de la Salle’s recent recording on Naïve was certainly compelling, even if the tempos were stretched a bit. Kissin (RCA), however, was my previous favorite in the Ballades, in a field that includes Ashkenazy (Decca), Zimerman (DG), Pollini (DG), Biret (Naxos), Gavrilov (EMI) and many others. But Glemser clearly trumps Kissin and probably all other individual performances of the Ballades and Scherzos that I can ever recall hearing.

Glemser, who has recorded all the Rachmaninov concertos and Prokofiev sonatas for Naxos—and much else, besides — is an extraordinary pianist, an artist I have found consistently excellent over the years. Here, in my first exposure to his Chopin, I can say this is astounding playing and not just from the technical point of view. Glemser’s dynamics are rich in graded nuance, his tempo choices centrist and always a natural fit, his phrasing sensitive to the minutest emotional tic and his overall interpretive grasp of the music incisive and fully convincing. If all his Chopin is this good, he can stand with or ahead of Rubinstein, Cliburn, Perahia and other icons in this repertory.

The disc’s layout is a bit unusual, but follows the chronological order given in the headnote: scherzos and ballades are presented in ascending order according to opus number, not in an alternating pattern, as it might first appear. But whatever order Glemser had chosen, his deft interpretations would have worked.

Notice the fleet but troubled agitation in his Scherzo No. 1, played as if to express a burst of negative energy that always slackens to recall painful memories. Glemser’s dynamics and phrasing here consistently capture the roller-coaster emotions and heartrending drama. His coda is utterly thrilling. The First Ballade is filled with equally troubled emotions, all expressed so deftly by Glemser: the main theme is lovely in its neurotic longing and poetry, and the big love theme brims with hope, but ultimately false hope, that is utterly disarming and beautifully sad.

Glemser’s Second Ballade opens with a lovely serenity that yields to angry agitation, the pianist once more capturing the mood swings with such a convincing grasp on Chopin’s expressive soul as to mesmerize the listener, as if no other way with this famous music is possible. The lovely Third Ballade, the only work here mostly free of troubles, gets a perfectly balanced mixture of serenity and vigor, the whole keeping the listener smiling and comforted. The other performances are similarly convincing and Oehms Classics’ sound is vivid and powerful. All in all, then, this disc is a treasure, a rarity to behold.

-- Robert Cummings, MusicWeb International

The debut CD Wild Bird by the Duo 47/4, Music for Violin and Harp, presents a series of picturesque, contrasting 20th and 21st c works, by turns meditative, imaginative, colorful and loaded with energy. Violinist Viktoria Kaunzner and the harpist Anna Viechtl became acquainted during their period of study at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. As stipend holders of "Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now" they performed concerts together whilst still students, founding the "Duo 47 / 4". The 47 harp strings and the four violin strings give the Duo it's name.

Carl Heinrich Graun’s “The Death of Jesus” was first performed on 26 March 1755 at Berlin Cathedral. The sister of King Friedrich Wilhelm II, Princess Anna Amalia, provided the impulse for the text and character of the work. Its popularity remained strong until Bach’s St. Matthew Passion supplanted it in the late 19th c., the work succumbing to a lengthy and unjustified obscurity. A passion oratorio in the galant style, this new OehmsClassic recording features the Arcis Vocalists and the Baroque Orchestra L’arpa festante led by Thomas Gropper.

With Michael Korstick, OehmsClassics has released about fifteen albums, including a set with Beethoven sonatas which was applauded on all sides. With his first Rachmaninoff recording he once more demonstrates his inspired ability to empathize completely with the composer in question. The Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava under Dmitry Liss proves an excellent accompanist. This album is completed by the Corelli Variations, recorded in February 2018, and the Piano Sonata No. 2, recorded much earlier. Michael Korstick was born in Cologne, Germany in 1955. He studied with Hans Leygraf and Tatiana Nikolayeva and completed his professional training at The Juilliard School in New York where he was a scholarship student of Sascha Gorodnitzki for seven years. A prizewinner in many prestigious international competitions, Korstick is concertizing in major venues around the globe with a repertoire including 130 works for piano and orchestra. More than 50 award-winning albums have earned him a reputation as one of Germany's leading pianists.

Oehms presents the final volume of pianist Michael Korstick's cycle of Beethoven sonatas. Korstick, who has been named "Dr. Beethoven" by fellow students during his studies at Julliard, has become one of the most important German pianists to date.

"The Woman without a Shadow" by Richard Strauss was just the ticket for Music Director Sebastian Weigle at the Frankfurt Opera, so it is quite appropriate to make available this opera on CD. Strauss specialist Weigle has brought together excellent singers and musicians for the stage debut, including Terje Stensvold in this 2014 Frankfurt Opera series. - Oehmas, (Translated from German text.)

Classical Music

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 2 in c, “Little Russian.” Variations on a Rococo Theme1. String Quartet No. 1 in D: Andante cantabile • Dmitri Kitaenko, cond; 1Leonard Elschenbroich (vc); Cologne Guerzenich O • OEHMS 669 (SACD: 62:56)

As of early February 2013, here is the status of the four major ongoing Tchaikovsky symphony cycles.



Poppen Reviewed Reviewer Kitaenko Reviewed Reviewer

1 34:3 Dubins 1 36:3 Dubins

2 36:1 Morrison/Bayley 2 36:6 Dubins

3 36:1 Morrison/Bayley 5 35:6 Dubins

4 33:3 Dubins 6 35:1 Morrison

6 35:4 Dubins

Pletnev Reviewed Reviewer Jurowski Reviewed Reviewer

1 35:6 Dubins/Grames 1 33:4 Dubins

2 36:2 Dubins 4 36:4 Dubins

3 36:4 Dubins 5 36:4 Dubins

4 34:6 Pomeroy 6 33:4 Dubins

5 35:3 Rabinowitz

6 35:3 Dubins

Notes:

(1) Thus far, only Pletnev’s cycle is complete. Poppen’s is close, with only the Symphony No. 5 left to go. If a symphony number is absent from one of the above tables, it means that that symphony has not yet appeared as of this writing.

(2) Of the four cycles, two are on SACD—Pletnev’s on PentaTone and Kitaenko’s on Oehms.

(3) One label is competing against itself—the Kitaenko and Poppen cycles are both on Oehms, but only the former is available in SACD format.

(4) For the sake of consistency, I’ve adopted the spelling of Dmitri Kitaenko’s name as it appears in the Fanfare Archive, but the Oehms discs give his name as Kitajenko, and I’ve encountered it elsewhere as Kitayenko.

(5) As is clear from the above tables, the overwhelming majority of these releases have been assigned to me. I’ve enjoyed the assignments because I’m a fan of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies—well, most of them, anyway—but I wish that more of my colleagues could have submitted reviews of these releases as well; for I, and the reader, I’m sure, would be interested to learn if others share or disagree with my conclusions.

For the most part, I’ve favored Pletnev for his dramatically charged readings, for the superb playing of the Russian National Orchestra, and for PentaTone’s exceptionally dynamic recordings. But what I call dramatically charged, others might call volatile and over the top. I’ve also criticized PentaTone for its rather ungenerous fillers.

Between Poppen and Jurowski the only question is which one I prefer less than the other. Both conductors and their respective orchestras—the London Philharmonic for Jurowski and the Southwest German Radio Orchestra for Poppen—have their strong points, among which are solid and secure playing in even-tempered, articulate performances and first-rate recorded sound. But relistening to them in preparation for this review, I found my original conclusions confirmed. There’s nothing exceptional in Poppen or Jurowski’s readings to make them standouts in the crowd. Then too, of the four cycles under discussion, these are the two that are not in SACD. A few years ago that wouldn’t have mattered; the recordings would have been considered state-of-the-art. But Tchaikovsky is one of music’s greatest orchestrators, and the subtleties and myriad details of his orchestration really benefit from well-engineered multichannel recordings.

So, here we are with Kitaenko’s fourth installment in his cycle, Tchaikovsky’s “Little Russian” Symphony, the No. 2. As I’ve had occasion to opine before, it’s a tossup, as far as I’m concerned, as to which is the weakest of the composer’s symphonies, the No. 2 or the No. 3. Kitaenko actually makes a stronger case for No. 2, I believe, than does Pletnev, the only other No. 2 out of the four above cycles I’ve reviewed. Kitaenko’s first movement is slower by only 33 seconds—11:29 vs. 10:56—but that slightly slower tempo gives the performance a feeling of being tighter, more disciplined, and better controlled. Pletnev drives the movement harder, which, in comparison, makes it sound a bit wild-eyed. In Kitaenko’s hands, the remaining three movements are slower too, considerably so in fact, such that his overall timing for the symphony is 36:07 compared to Pletnev’s 31:47. That’s really a significant difference. For the most part, I do think Kitaenko’s slower tempos work to the advantage of this particular score. Tearing through it the way Pletnev does only further trivializes its already subpar inspiration.

Here comes the hard choice. Complementing the symphony on Kitaenko’s disc is Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, welcome for its brilliant performance by young, London-based cellist Leonard Elschenbroich who plays the magnificent “Leonard Rose” cello made by Venetian luthier, Matteo Goffriller. Unfortunately, Elschenbroich chooses to perform the defiled Wilhelm Fitzenhagen version of the score, as so many cellists do. In a nutshell, Tchaikovsky entrusted Fitzenhagen, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, to edit and fine-tune the cello part. In the composer’s absence, the emboldened professor performed a sorcerer’s apprentice repair job on the vehicle, connecting the windshield wipers to the exhaust pipe. When the sorcerer returned from abroad, he was so shocked and disgusted by what Fitzenhagen had done that he washed his hands of the whole thing, exclaiming, “Let the devil take it; let it stay as it is.” And for the most part it has.

Beyond the minor changes to dynamics and phrasing, Fitzenhagen reduced the number of variations from eight to seven and moved the third variation, along with the cadenza that precedes it and the Allegro that follows it, to the very end of the work. This resulted in two variations of similar character being juxtaposed, a problem Fitzenhagen solved by removing the last variation and tacking its closing paragraphs on to the concluding Allegro vivace. What possessed him to do all of this is not clear, but Tchaikovsky’s exasperated “let it stay as it is” has been taken by many, if not most, modern cellists as license for performing Fitzenhagen’s hatchet job. If you would like to hear the piece the way Tchaikovsky originally wrote it, I can recommend Julian Lloyd Webber’s Philips recording with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maxim Shostakovich.

The thing is that Elschenbroich’s performance of the work on this disc is really outstanding, which, in part, is what makes the choice between this new Kitaenko release and Pletnev’s a difficult one, for Pletnev offers as a filler for his Tchaikovsky Second the composer’s original first movement to the symphony, which the composer majorly revised a number of years later. The revised version is the standard form in which the symphony is performed today, so it’s instructive to be able to hear Tchaikovsky’s original thoughts.

The current Oehms album concludes with a souped-up version of the famous Andante cantabile movement from Tchaikovsky’s D-Major String quartet in what sounds like an arrangement for solo cello and string orchestra. My guess is that Elschenbroich plays the cello part while the orchestra’s strings play the violin and viola parts, but the cellist is placed so far forward and is so dominant that for much of the time it’s hard to tell what the strings are playing, or if they’re playing at all.

Decisions, decisions. I prefer Kitaenko’s way with the Second Symphony to Pletnev’s, and I’m very impressed by Elschenbroich’s Rococo Variations, though I wish he’d have opted for Tchaikovsky’s original version. On the other hand, Pletnev’s inclusion of the Second Symphony’s original first movement is a valuable addition to his disc. As for the respective orchestras and recordings, both make an equally visceral impact. I suppose the only advice I can offer you is to acquire them both. FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

The style of the Czech composer Bohuslav Martin? was enriched by numerous influences which are reflected in The Greek Passion; magnificent choirs contrast vividly with intimate chamber music, and folkloristic elements are placed next to complex, classically worked-out orchestral movements. A highly emotional mixture of oratorio and dramatic opera takes the listener into a world in which catastrophes abound. Lorenzo Fioroni, who has directed operas in Nuremberg, Augsburg and Heidelberg, has produced this dramatic contest against fear in Graz.

-----

REVIEW:

A burning issue still today, this opera about migrants arriving in a Greek community just preparing a passion play was written by Bohuslav Martinu in the 1950s. The music is colorful and ardent, and the recorded production from the Graz Opera deserves lots of praise.

– Pizzicato (Luxembourg)

Oehms Classics presents the debut recording of young, virtuoso violinist Caroline Adomeit. This bold program of music ranging from Bach's Partitas to Ysaue's Mazurka showcases her diverse skill set. Strad Magazine praised Caroline Adomeit: "An uneven program does little to hide the obvious skills of a young fiddler."

After his 1920s opera The Birds, Walter Braunfels shot into stardom and enjoyed a highly successful career. Braunfels’ versatile catalog of compositions includes a great deal of choral works, orchestral works, operas, Lieder, chamber music, and piano works. He was frequently praised as a cosmopolitan representative of new music, and the most highly regarded conductors of the era frequently performed his music. Branfels himself regarded his compositional style as traditional late-Romanticism, and saw himself a successor to Wagner, Bruckner, and Berlioz. These beautiful orchestral songs are sung by some of the most respected voices of our time, including Valentina Farcas and Michael Volle.

On the occasion of the 200th birthday of the song Stille Nacht (Silent Night), the Salzburg baritone Rafael Fingerlos, who grew up in the Stille Nacht community of Mariapfarr im Lungau, and his piano partner Sascha El Mouissi wish to approach the subjects of "stillness“ and "night“ in a completely new manner. The intentionally secular, loving selection of poetry settings of the most widely varied romantic composers forms a counterpoint to the repertoire of customary Christmas albums. Well-known settings and precious musical-literary rarities result in an especially variegated and profound sound, a deeply moving listening experience. Twenty-four musical numbers following a clear dramaturgy, including three world premiere recordings (piano miniatures by the young, up-and-coming Salzburg composer Jakob Gruchmann), will remind listeners of a secular Advent calendar. After the third transitional miniature by Gruchmann, the calendar finds its spiritual fulfilment with the world famous Christmas song Stille Nacht (Silent Night) on the 24th place. This masterwork by Joseph Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber has been recorded here in the original version for two male voices and guitar, including all six verses.

This album is being released in honor of the 90th concert conducted by Hamburg Artistic Director Simone Young. The rarely performed work The Book with Seven Seals is an oratorio by composer Franz Schmidt (1874-1938) and is based on the Revelation of St. John for soloists, choir, organ, and orchestra. The piece was composed between 1935 and 1937. Featured soloists on this recording include Klaus Florian Vogt, Georg Zeppenfeld, Inga Kalna, Bettina Ranch, Dovlet Nurgeldiyev, and Volker Krafft.

REVIEWS:

The performance under Simone Young is terrific. The Hamburg Orchestra plays eloquently, and Krafft’s handling of the critical organ part is of daemonic intensity.

The choruses sing with discipline and beauty—even the complex contrapuntal passages are always clear. The soloists acquit themselves valiantly. Especially praiseworthy are Klaus Florian Vogt as the evangelist-narrator and Georg Zeppenfeld as the voice of The Lord. Their singing is of commanding stature, with expression and enunciation to match.

-- American Record Guide

This performance has much to offer that often only a live performance can give. There is a strong line up of soloists and a first rate chorus combined with expert direction from Simone Young. This is a fine record of a special occasion that stands up well to repeated listening.

-- The Classical Reviewer

This live 2015 performance by Simone Young and the Hamburg Philharmonic is an impressive presentation of the work, and the powerful performance marked the end of Young’s decade-long tenure with the orchestra.

-- AllMusic.com

The solo and dialogue cantatas are the exceptions amongst the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach. They do not correspond to the cliche, surely already predominant during Bach's time, of works of greater length or for larger ensembles in the sequence of recitatives and arias with an instrumental or vocal instrumental introduction and concluding with a chorale for the instrumental-choral ensemble. After rave reviews of the solo cantatas in the press, Thomas E. Bauer, Johanna Winkel and Christoph Spering show us on this new production how magnificently the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach can be interpreted.

The prolific and eclectic 20th century composer Charles Koechlin is known to many as the composer of the Seven Stars Symphony and the Jungle Book. The heralded oboist Stefan Schilli together with his numerous guests presents chamber side of Koechlin with this release.

The new Oehms Classics CD by Hansjörg Albrecht contains two of Handel‘s best-known works, transcribed for organ and recorded in Handel‘s baptismal church, the Marktkirche in Halle. These magnificent sounding solo works, played by organist Martin Schmeding, as well as the newly arranged concertos for organ and orchestra, fully convey Handel‘s unbridled playfulness to the listener. An exclusive Oehms Classics recording artist since 2006, conductor and organist Hansjörg Albrecht is Artistic Director of the Munich Bach Choir and Bach Orchestra (founded by the legendary Karl Richter).

The German vocal sextet Singur Pur releases their musical Advent calendar with a song for each day in December through the 24th. With texts provided to the song, this release provides reflection during this auspicious time of year.

The Faust Symphony, first performed in Weimar in 1857, is one of Franz Liszt’s most significant compositions. For the recording of his transcription of this work for organ, Hansjorg Albrecht played the celebrated Klais organ in the Philharmonic Hall of the Gasteig, Munich.Hansjörg Albrecht, conductor, organist and harpsichordist, is Artistic Director of the Munich Bach Choir & Bach Orchestra (founded by the legendary Karl Richter). In addition to this role he regularly conducts the Bach Collegium Munich, the Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo Naples and the C.P.E.-Bach-Choir Hamburg. With these ensembles as well as in collaboration with guest orchestras he has developed new programmatic profiles and is regular guest at major music centres and European festivals. Concerts as organist have taken Hansjörg Albrecht to a number of great concert halls and cathedrals in Europe and Russia as well as to Japan and the USA. He also guested with renowned orchestras such as Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, and St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra New York.

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