This is splendid Baroque period music composed for the occasion of Christmas Eve. Performed by the New Berlin Chamber Orchestra along with soloists on organ and violin, these nuggets include Corelli’s “Concerto grosso Op. 6 No. 8 in G minor ‘fatto per la notte di Natale”’, Handel’s “Pastoral Symphony” from Messiah, “Locatelli’s Concerto grosso in F minor,” Manfredini’s “Concerto grosso in C major,”and more works by Molter, Torelli, and Werner.

Classical Music

For this CD a program of some of the most popular Danish folk songs is selected, and Michael Bojesen arranged them anew for recorder and choir. Even if you do not know the Danish language you will feel the atmosphere of the Danish homeland. Recorded in DXD soundformat.

Classical Music

This is the third volume in the series of orchestral music by Milanese-born Elisabetta Brusa (b. 1954). Sharing its neo-tonal language with her Nittemero Symphony, which can be heard here, the imposing, vividly immediate and approachable Symphony No. 1 is her first work for large orchestra. The symphonic poem Merlin evokes the great magician of legend through rich orchestral colors and powerful rhythms. Volume 2, described by Gramophone magazine as ‘a collection not to be missed’, can be heard here.

Classical Music

In Switzerland, 1915, as WWI raged beyond its borders, Igor Stravinsky, unfit to fight, and the writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz created the basis for their future joint works, first and foremost A soldier’s tale, an early example of a multifaceted, highly vital music culture that knows no borders. The works on this Grammont Sélection, 12 world premières from 2013, offer contemporary examples of these open boundaries. Featuring composers born between 1931-79 and a slew of artists and ensembles, the diversity of works, sounds and styles makes for a most enticing 2 ½ hours of listening.

Richard Strauss's orchestral music includes several works with autobiographical significance, including Ein Heldenleben (Naxos 8.554417). Scored for large symphony orchestra, the Symphonia domestic depicts the joys and worries of married life with Strauss, his wife, child and other family members deftly portrayed in a variety of situations, including a 'cheerful quarrel' in which the father has the last word! The Symphonic Fragment from the opera Die Liebe der Danae, based on mythic themes, was arranged by one of Strauss's great champions, conductor Clemens Krauss.

This is the first recording of Antonio Pappano conducting two of Schumann’s most popular symphonies, No. 2 in C major and No. 4 in D minor. Pappano brings his customary energy to the ensemble, while drawing out the magnificent beauty of the string section and the delicacies of the woodwind. His careful approach to detail makes this a commanding interpretation. Antonio Pappano began his conducting career as assistant at the Bayreuth Festival. He became music director of the Den Norske Opera in Oslo in 1990. Since 2005 he has been music director of this ensemble, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He was knighted in 2012, and was made a Knight Grand Cross of Italy’s Order of Merit.

"Klemperer’s debut with the KRSO took place on 8 February 1954 with Mozart’s Symphony No.29, a conductor favourite. Following the successful debut, he was invited back later that month to conduct Beethoven’s First Symphony. The broadcast of the Bach Suite No. 3, another conductor favourite, followed in October 1955, almost a year after he recorded Bach’s four Orchestral Suites with the Philharmonia. These WDR broadcasts, of very high technical quality, have never been issued before."

EARLY RECORDINGS

The eccentric and reclusive conductor Carlos Kleiber has achieved cult status in music circles and has built a loyal fan base. I Am Lost to the World tries to uncover some of the mysteries surrounding the maestro, such as: what were the real reasons he cancelled so often? The film sheds light on his relationships with his family, traces the developments of his career and covers the "mythologizing" that began during the maestro's lifetime. It includes never-before-seen film footage and interviews with Ricardo Muti, Otto Schenk, Dr. Otto Staindl (friend and attending physician of Carlos Kleiber), members of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Director Georg Wübbolt
Running Time Total: 60 minutes
Picture Format: 16:9
Audio Format: PCM Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Japanese

Classical Music

This third installment in a series documenting the works of Maurice Ravel includes his longest work, Daphnis et Chloe, as well as Valses nobles et sentimentales. The works are performed here by the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR). Founded in 1945, the ensemble is one of the most significant musical ambassadors for Germany. The SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart are also counted among the top ensembles in Germany. They frequently perform concerts on their home stages, and are often invited abroad.

Classical Music

Erik Then-Bergh (1916-1982) is almost forgotten today, content as he was to confine his career, the last twenty years of which were devoted to teaching, to Germany. But to hear this favorite of Furtwangler in his early recordings is to hear playing of the highest order- his combination of superlative technique at the service of deeply profound interpretation can only be compared with the very greatest of artists. We present here his almost complete 78rpm recordings, which were mostly made in Germany during the war and hence had littler international circulation. Then-Bergh was renowned as a Reger player and in this centenary year of Reger’s death, which is also the centenary of Then-Bergh’s birth, we include his stereo LP recording of the Reger Piano Concerto from 1958 which completes his Reger recordings. Perhaps this quote from ‘The Record Book’ (USA 1948) reviewing Beethoven’s Op101 still sums up Then-Bergh’s 78 recordings today: “The performance by a pianist of whom we know nothing, Erik Then-Bergh, is spectacularly fine, and is backed by some of the best reproduction of piano tone we have ever heard.”

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REVIEW:

Erik Then-Bergh was much respected as both pedagogue and performer. His stereo recording of Max Reger's Piano Concerto, with Hans Rosbaud conducting, is thought through from the first bar to the last. It has a naturalness to it that eluded even Rudolf Serkin's otherwise fine versions for Columbia. The solo piano Telemann-Reger Variations in particular are joyous, elegant, and crisply articulated. A highly desirable memorial collection overall to a much-undervalued pianist. Excellent transfers.

– Gramophone

Classical Music

For more than two thousand years the birth of Christ, the incarnation of God as a child in the manger at Bethlehem, has fascinated and inspired artistic production and reflection. It is precisely in the field of music that thousands of songs and multipart compositions have come down to us attesting to the richness of this body of works and documenting the diversity of artistic expression. Most of these works were composed for liturgical use in the Christian churches. It is a rewarding experience to sift through the repertoire and to edit and record previously unknown works. This year our Christmas album presents recording premieres of five cantatas: one each by Bach's contemporaries Christoph Förster (1693-1745) and Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690-1749) and three by members of the following generation, one by Gottfried August Homilius (1714-85) and two by Johann Heinrich Rolle (1716-85). All the cantatas were composed for use in Lutheran religious services and are based on a similar plan of construction: an extensive opening chorus is followed by recitatives and arias, and a chorale strophe from a church hymn concludes the work. The opening choruses are usually based on short quotations from the Bible, and the festive splendor of the trumpets and timpani forms the dominant tonal element.

Hannenheim: Works for Viola and Piano

"Daniel Müller-Schott['s] Schumann rates right up there with the best (in my book Du Pré and Starker) while the inclusion of Robert Volkmann’s concerto was a stroke of genius, a wonderful work of great appeal that has only two other recordings available, for reasons unknown. Volkmann (1815–83) writes a piece that is different from Schumann in several important ways, especially the more prominent role given to the solo instrument, and his harmony is somewhat more advanced as well, probably from the influence of Liszt, who supported him, though Schumann and Mendelssohn were primary mentors. The work deserves a much wider audience.

Bruch’s Kol Nidrei has remained one of his most popular works, its pathetic and melancholy nature due to the source material, an ancient Hebrew song of repentance and the middle section of “Oh Weep for Those That Wept in Babel’s Stream.” It has never left the repertoire since it was created, and Müller-Schott performs it with a wistful sadness that will not fail to leave anyone unmoved. The Strauss tidbit here is his Romance, written when he was all of 19, and only published in 1987; yet it enjoyed many performances in the immediate years after it saw the light of day. It makes a fine and enjoyable filler that has been recorded a number of times, none better than here.

The NDR players are in top form and Eschenbach’s accompaniment is first-rate, rounding off an exceptional release of high desirability."

FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter

One of the most popular symphonic poems by Richard Strauss -actually one of the most famous tone poems ever -is his "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" op. 30, from 1896. The distinctive theme, followed by timpani blows and powerful, surging chords in the brass, was well-known long before it was used for a film score (Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey"). Fifty years ago, this work went far beyond the limits of classical music -and is now familiar to all. The cumbersome title, along with the fact that the composition tackles Friedrich Nietzsche's eponymous poetic and philosophical work may even have initially hampered its overwhelming popularity. Nietzsche himself fittingly commented: "To which genre does this 'Zarathustra' belong, I wonder? I am rather inclined to think it is 'symphonies'. "Strauss’s "Burleske" for Piano and Orchestra sounds completely different. It was composed a decade earlier in 1885/86, when the 21-year-old composer had just begun his first job as Capellmeister of the Meiningen Court Orchestra and as the assistant of Hans von Bülow. Originally referred to as "Scherzo" (Strauss also called it a "piano concerto" ina letter to his mother), the work was dedicated to Strauss’s mentor, Bülow. It was first performed in Eisenach in 1890 by the piano soloist Eugen d'Albert. The themes are cheerful and "burlesque", and the solo instrument and the orchestra perform together in the best sense. The music shows us Strauss in an early phase –he had not yet linked his compositional technique to that of Liszt and Wagner. In the year the work was premiered, Strauss himself referred to the "Burleske" as a work that "he had left far behind him". Only rarely performed for many years, the work regained popularity over the past two decades, thanks not least to Glenn Gould.

Highly respected by Toscanini, Italian conductor Guido Cantelli (b. 1920) started recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra for EMI in the early 50's but was tragically killed in an air crash in Paris in 1956. These very rare live recordings, carefully restored by Paul Baily and featuring the Philharmonia Orchestra, derive from the Music Preserved archive and have never been released before.

The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra lives up to its reputation for its brilliant Mahler performances and surpasses all expectations under the baton of conductor Marc Albrecht. And Elizabeth Watts’ performance in the final movement is surely one not to be missed. The chemistry between Watts and the orchestra is utterly pervasive. With a voice described by International Record Review as “one of the most beautiful Britain has produced in a generation”, Watts sweeps the listener off their feet with this sunny, accessible symphony from Mahler.

Review:

This is a lovely performance–sensitive, very well played, shapely and effortless. Conductor Marc Albrecht makes his points without exaggeration, revealing personal touches in his care for proper observance of Mahler’s dynamics and his concern for textural clarity. Yet the big climaxes in the first movement and Adagio have plenty of impact, and in soprano Elizabeth Watts we have one of the best singers set loose on the tricky finale in many a moon.

This being Mahler, of course, there will always be a criticism here and there. The trio sections of the scherzo might just be a touch too relaxed, and Albrecht’s fondness for portamento could well strike some listeners as excessive, particularly in the Adagio, but these are quibbles. I am less happy with the sonics, which are quite impressive when the music is loud, but lack body at lower dynamic levels, even with the substantial boost in the volume. Still, this small reservation could very easily be a non-issue on your own sound system.

Holland being “Mahler central” some of the idiomatic response to the music was to be expected, but that doesn’t do anything to diminish Albrecht’s sympathetic handling of the score overall. A winner.

- ClassicsToday

Duets from thousand years of musical history for young people from 0-100 years. Patricia Kopatchinskaja invites us to join her for a musical experience that mixes composers spanning the eleventh century to present day. This album and book tell the story of this utterly crazy recording with the help of a rich selection of photos by Marco Borggreve. The barefoot violin player is joined by many musician friends including a clarinet player, playing the ocarina, an improvisatory harpsichordist, an electro musician, a toy piano player, and even her daughter, Alice. Take Two includes compositions from Bach, Miljaud, Cage, Sanchez-Chiong, and many more. It is said that Patricia Kopatchinskaja is as irresistible as a force of nature: passionate, challenging and totally original in her approach; (RPS Music Awards) a statement that is ever apparent on this album!

Every now and again a piece of music comes along that captures the public’s attention and imagination on account of the enjoyment or interest we continue to derive from it upon repeated listening, and is catapulted into the classical canon where it assumes the status of a permanent fixture. + Such is the case regarding the pieces brought together on this CD album: ‘chart-topping’ tunes that are among classical music’s most loved and celebrated works. + The set traces over 200 years of Western musical composition to present a program diverse in both style and mood and never fails to entertain.