Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Unlike the last Karl Böhm set with gramophone recordings of overtures and concert pieces, the recordings in this new release are all radio broadcasts. The exciting thing is that the Schubert Fifth Symphony is one of the earliest radio magnetic tape recordings that we have. The 1941/42 season had just ended when the stage of the Steinsaal in Dresden’s Hygiene Museum was first prepared for use as a broadcasting studio for the programmes of Reichssender Berlin. In contrast to the gramophone recordings current until then, brand new magnetic-tape players were humming in an adjoining room, in service for the first time that year as a high fidelity replacement for the disc cutters that had been used for the past decade and more. The use of magnetic tape opened up a new and more varied world of sound to the broadcasting technicians. Whereas music programmes had previously broadcast longer works from discs playing for three or four minutes, involving constant changes of disc, the broadcasting engineers now had a “sound scribe” and the associated “magnetic tape” medium that would record and transmit recordings lasting up to 20 minutes per tape plate. That meant that complete movements of symphonies could be recorded and played without a break. No wonder, then, that the “Magnetophone” tapes promptly replaced the highly breakable wax discs. Musicians and conductors were equally appreciative of the new recording method, given that it was no longer a matter of the highest priority to play with maximum concentration and minimum error for as long as possible, since the Tonmeister’s “magic snips” would leave any mistakes or shortcomings on the cutting-room floor. The 1942 recording of Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 presented here is a priceless early audio document, surely the first attested Magnetophone recording by the Dresden Staatskapelle.

Classical Music

Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) composed his last symphony in two phases: two movements in each of the summers he spent in M�rzzuschlag, in 1884 and 1885. He completed the work in September of the second year. This Symphony in E minor is Brahms's longest and also the one with the strongest historical references. It was his last work in the genre and ends his extraordinary series of four strongly contrasting symphonies. He had said everything that the form permitted him to express. On this release, Jukka-Pekka Saraste leads the WDR Sinfonieorchester in the performance of this legendary work. Finnish conductor and violinist Jukka-Pekka Saraste studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula. In 1983, he cofounded the Avanti Chamber Orchestra, and in 2000 he founded the Ekenas Summer Concerts-Festival with the Finnish Chamber Orchestra. He became principal conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester in 2008.

• The little-known 19th century German romantic guitarist and composer Adam Darr wrote many guitar duos; this recording focuses on the more substantial works. • The popularity of the guitar was in the ascent in mid-19th century German as it was going into decline elsewhere in Europe. • Mr. Darr wrote for guitar, terz-guitar, guitar in D, and guitar with additional basses.

This recording presents virtuosic and cheerful Viennese Classical works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart alongside contemporary compositions that were influenced by the “wunderkind,” juxtaposed with colorful and melodious Spanish and South African Impressionist compositions. Some of these works were written for guitar, others are arrangements. The highly individual refinement and sensitivity of Friedemann Wuttke’s music makes him one of the most important artists of a musical genre which is called »contemporary instrumental music«. It is inspired by many different sources. His intelligent melange of pop, jazz, chamber music, meditative soundscapes and world music constitutes a refreshing alternative for an adult audience oversaturated with the meaningless glitter of the pop music scene today.

Classical Music

Classical Music