In my experience nothing beats this remarkable Haitink account.

On those very special occasions the excellence of the music and the quality of the playing and live atmosphere can combine to produce something quite special. So it is with this Profil disc.
 
Every year on 13 February a memorial concert is given in the German city of Dresden to commemorate the anniversary of the terrible World War Two allied air raid carried out in 1945. The night bombing left large tracts of the city in ruins and thousands of people dead. Traditionally a requiem mass has been given at the memorial concert. However, in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Dresden devastation Mahler’s Resurrection was presented. Performed at the Dresden Semperoper this massive score was considered to have the appropriate character to complement the solemn occasion. At these Dresden anniversary concerts it has been the tradition for the audience not to applaud before or after the performance. Instead the audience stand in quiet remembrance before leaving the hall. Incidentally, Haitink also performed the same Mahler score at Rotterdam in 1990 to mark the 50th anniversary of the destruction of the Dutch city by German bombers.
 
The opening movement originated as a symphonic poem entitled Totenfeier (Funeral Rites). It was composed in 1888. Between 1888 and 1894 Mahler laboured hard on his five movement symphony undertaking revisions in 1905. At the time Mahler was still carving out a name for himself as a conductor so work on the score was confined to his spare time, mainly during his summer holidays. Owing to the progressive nature of the writing, its unconventional design, the extended length and the massive forces Mahler must have hardly dared to imagine that he would ever hear it performed during his lifetime.
 
The first performance was given at Berlin in 1895 with the composer conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In this score Mahler attempts to explore the existence of humanity in its entirety using sung text in the final two movements. In the fourth movement the text is from the collection of German folk poetry known as Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Youth’s Magic Horn), The fifth movement uses text from Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock’s ode Die Auferstehung (The Resurrection). Then Mahler uses his own words beginning with O glaube, mein Herz (O believe, my heart). It was the composer’s friend Oskar Fried who first recorded the symphony in 1924 with the Berlin State Opera. The complete version of the Resurrection was introduced in Dresden in 1901 by conductor Ernst von Schuch, general music director of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Maestro Haitink’s stunning live account which was broadcast on the radio has so much going for it. The persuasive Haitink fashions the architecture and space of Mahler’s vast symphony splendidly, avoiding any sense of affectation. This reading feels completely spontaneous. Born in Amsterdam, maestro Haitink brought with him to Dresden a pair of renowned Dutch singers, Margiono and van Nes.
 
Right from the opening Allegro maestoso the weight, bite and sheer power of the Dresden orchestra is striking. There’s impressive pacing throughout with beautiful playing especially in the more lyrical passages. Although all sections impress I found the stunning playing of the brass and woodwind highly dedicated and perfectly in unison. The exquisitely scored second movement Andante moderato with its gentle Ländler feels so light, poised and elegant. It feels like a mid-nineteenth century dance hall in Vienna. As the music briskly develops in weight the sound produced is remarkable especially from the golden-hued Dresden strings. Towards the conclusion of the movement the swirling strings can make the listener dizzy. When attending a concert I love to watch as well as hear the section with guitar-like strumming by the violins and violas, and the delightful pizzicato from the cellos. Sounding like gunshots the timpani strokes announce the opening of the third movement Scherzo. The writing draws on the captivating melody from Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt ( St. Anthony’s Sermon to the Fishes). I love the way that Haitink underlines the acerbic sarcasm. In the section reminiscent of a klezmer band the schmoozing clarinet solo has the patina of Jewish folk music. The angry brass outburst is especially striking as is the potency of the pent-up energy released in Mahler’s agonised thrust. This puts a brisk halt to the bucolic frolicking.
 
Urlicht (Primeval Light) from one of Mahler’s own Wunderhorn songs is the title of the fourth movement. A real highlight is the entrance of Jard van Nes, rich and mellowed toned, commencing with the words O Röschen Rot! ( O red rose!). It’s a yearning declaration for respite from world weariness. I believed every word, such was her expressive power and clear diction. Van Nes also has an attractive timbre and supple projection. Following on closely is the rather brief and spiritually affecting chorale. This is intoned splendidly on the brass with woodwind playing of an elevated quality. The final movement Im Tempo des Scherzos, opening with Mahler’s terrible scream of anguish, is given such tremendous weight it feels terrifying before it decays into mere dust. In the ‘wilderness’ section the off-stage brass make a sure impression with the Dies irae chorale followed by blazing brass. The great drum-rolls at 10:06-10:24 are striking and shook me right down to my boots. A distinct martial quality to the brass fanfares is interrupted only by tetchy woodwind and angry percussion. Off-stage brass lingers in a lament interspersed with a flurry of birdsong on flute and piccolo. At 20:39 the Dresden chorus enter with the words Aufersteh’n, ja aufersteh’n wirst du ( Rise again, yes rise again you will). It feels mellow and tender and makes a spellbinding impact. The text O glaube, mein Herz ( O believe, my heart) is sung at 27:28 to magical effect by Charlotte Margiono with her secure technique and appealing tone. Both Margiono and van Nes combine with the heavenly Dresden chorus for the words O Schmerz! Du Alldurchdringer! ( O suffering! All pervading or O all-piercing pain!). With singing of such quality from the impeccably matched soloists and chorus one might be excused for thinking they - and we - had been transported to paradise. The final section begins with the familiar Viennese string sound that soon develops in sheer weight. The massed forces, including organ and percussion battery, combine in a thunderous climax; the most remarkable that I have heard on disc.
 
Recorded live in 1995 for radio broadcast at the Dresden Semperoper the engineers have produced a warm sound that is clear and well balanced. Although a live recording I struggled to hear any significant audience noise and as I explained earlier there is no applause after the conclusion of the score. I found the substantial Profil booklet notes exemplary being especially highly detailed.
 
At this poignant 50th anniversary concert the magnificent playing was outstanding right from the high strings playing the softest pianissimo to climaxes of sonically massive proportions.
 
I have numerous recommended versions of the Resurrection but nothing beats this remarkable Haitink account.
 
-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International

To get a sense of the ambition of the Romantic movement, one need only hear Franz Liszt's A Symphony to Dante's Divine Comedy, which represents one high point of exploration that had wide influence, and Alexander Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy, which is characteristic of the period's final efflorescence. These are the major works of this album by Yuri Ahronovitch and the Orchestra of the Alte Oper Frankfurt, with Richard Wagner's Rienzi Overture serving almost as a light interlude between them. While this operatic piece is certainly an important indication of the groundbreaking directions Wagner would take in his later music dramas, it is still a comparatively modest musical example, particularly when compared to the weighty works on either side of it, which leave a clearer impression of Romantic innovations. In terms of orchestration, form, and harmonic advances, the Dante Symphony and Poem of Ecstasy both seem to burn with originality and still have the capacity to surprise modern listeners, where Wagner's overture has sections that hearken back to early 19th century Italian opera and seems at time predictably bombastic. The live performances date from 1983, so the sound quality is not outstanding, and the sound of the orchestra is a little shallow in dimensions. All the same, this CD will be a keeper for Ahronovitch fans, and an interesting offering for beginners exploring Romantic music.

-- All Music Guide

This incredible 11-disc set is a vast path through the career of conductor Kurt Sanderling. The discs include works by powerhouse composers such as Bruckner, Beethoven, Brahms, and Rachmaninov. The ensembles featured on this set include Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, NDR Sinfonieorchester, Berliner Sinfonie Orchester, WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln, Liningrad Philhamonic Orchestra, USSR State Symphony Orhestra, and soloists include Thomas Zehetmair, Antonio Meneses, and Sviatoslav Richter.

This is a recommended disc...if you don’t already have this CD in its former incarnation [Calig 50995], I strongly urge you pick up a copy of it. Korngold is one of music’s authentic geniuses. He began playing the piano and improvising his own compositions at the keyboard almost before he was out of the crib. By the age of 11, he had written his Piano Sonata No. 1 in D Minor, which is already a work filled with the sweeping melodies and the hyper-Romantic harmonies that would reach full bloom in his operas, Violanta and Die tote Stadt. Make no mistake, this is keyboard-writing that seems to combine the big gestures of Brahms with the sweeping virtuoso displays of Liszt and Alkan. It is hard to know what music and how much of it Korngold was exposed to as a child, but as if by intuition (which is the nature of true genius), the pre-adolescent’s works already embrace the sound worlds of Mahler, Pfitzner, and Richard Strauss, and point presciently to worlds beyond.

Barely two years later, in 1910, at the age of 13, Korngold composed his Second Piano Sonata in E Major, and dedicated it to his teacher, Alexander Zemlinsky. It was premiered in Berlin in 1911 by Artur Schnabel. Even more ambitious than the previous work, this sonata is now in four movements instead of three; and in addition to going even further in the direction of tonal expansion that was leading inexorably to Schoenberg and Berg, the E-Major Sonata exhibits a grasp of formal cohesion and developmental discipline that represents a quantum leap over the D-Minor Sonata.

Twenty years would pass before Korngold turned his attention once again to the piano sonata, writing the C-Major, op. 25, in 1929. It, too, is a fine work, but one that seems almost like a step back in tonal language. The opening trumpet-like fanfare, in fact, bears a curious resemblance to Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy. The 1926 Four Little Caricatures for Children are not quite, as might be expected from the title, Korngold’s answer to Schumann’s Kinderszenen. Each of the four pieces, in fact, is a musical portrait of a composer with whom Korngold was personally acquainted: Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Bartók, and Hindemith. The publisher, Schott, who originally requested the work from Korngold, refused to publish it, possibly believing that the composers it caricatured would be offended. It wasn’t published and performed until 1978, until well after all of its intended targets were safely dead.

The Tales of Strauss is less of a caricature than it is a paraphrase of waltz tunes and operetta numbers by various members of the Strauss family. Considering its date of composition (1927), it is hardly surprising that the work comes across sounding not unlike much of the cabaret music that was being written at the time.

Michael Schäfer, who is now approaching 50, was certainly a fine pianist when he recorded this program nearly 10 years ago. Other than as accompanist to Dietrich Henschel on a Harmonia Mundi CD of Beethoven songs, he does not appear to have had a very extensive recording career, and I cannot honestly say I’ve heard him other than on these two discs. Technically, he sounds quite assured and up to the challenge of Korngold’s demanding writing, and the recording itself captures his instrument in a very clear and true acoustic. One should not overlook another fine recording of the sonatas with Geoffrey Tozer on Chandos; however, the Schäfer CD throws in the Four Caricatures and Tales of Strauss for extra measure.

Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

Includes suite(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Baroque and Blue. Soloists: Roger Goldberg, Rainer Gepp, Andrè Schubert, Christiane Meininger.

• A six-disc set devoted exclusively to Karl Richter's Munich Bach recordings. Works include the complete Brandenburg Concerti, the complete Orchestral Suites, The Musical Offering, harpsichord concerti and an organ recital on the sixth and final disc.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Soloist: Joseph Schmidt.

Despite her modest discography, Irene Dalis was a singer of global renown. She played the Nurse in the American premiere of Richard Strauss’s opera Die Frau ohne Schatten (the woman without a shadow) in San Francisco in 1959 and did the same at the British premiere in London in 1966. She continued her stage career until 1977. She subsequently taught singing at her own studio. An “Honored Citizen of the City of San Jose,” she started to direct the city’s opera company in 1984 and continued to do so for nearly 0 years. She retired from her office in 2015 and died after a brief illness. Since the two studio recordings reissued here are all that remains of her heyday as a singer, this recital, which was first released in 1960 (with the tracks in a different order), and the rare medley of Carmen piece are to be treasured all the more.The recital was transferred by remastering to LPs pressed then by Telefunken. The Carmen medley was transferred by means of a mono LP pressed by Telefunken as well. By using modern technology, the remastering studio was able to eliminate nearly all the distortions on the original LPs. This sole surviving recital by the singer is highly coveted among collectors and music-lovers after decades of searching and is thus, alongside the Carmen medley, a valuable account of a great artist who can now be heard again.

Gerd Schaller, who has made a name for himself by discovering unknown works and versions by Herbeck's contemporaries like Bruckner and Supp� has now discovered Herbeck's completely forgotten Great Mass in E minor almost 150 years after it was premiered. Like Bruckner's Mass in E minor, the work eschews fanciful and secular-seeming (operatic) solo vocal parts and consists solely of impressive and dignified sacred choruses that vary between simple melody and eruptive Romantic harmony. The work reverts to structures from past eras, in line with the 19th c. revival movement, which championed the qualities of early choral melody, Palestrina's polyphony and Bach's fugal tradition.

Carlo Maria Giulini's large-scaled, warm-hearted Haydn is typical for its era--the live concert was recorded in 1979, before period-performance style had become prominent. The conductor's usual emphatic style--rich sonorities, exact rhythms, and insistence of full note values--makes for particularly robust-sounding Haydn, thankfully free of the heaviness that marred many of Giulini's latter-year recordings. The faster movements go at a moderately quick pace, while the Andante flows smoothly, even by today's standards. The "surprise" chord generates the intended shock effect, thanks to Giulini's scrupulous observance of dynamics, well captured by the spacious recording. The Bavarian Radio Symphony musicians play as if they're really enjoying themselves--which is not all that difficult in this delightful symphony.

Giulini's ear for orchestral color illuminates the delicate textures of Ravel's Mother Goose Suite--an interesting choice for a concert pairing. However, the low-level recording places the listener in a center balcony seat, requiring a significant volume boost for the woodwinds to register properly. No such problem affects the double basses, which resonate throughout the hall. Nor the strings, which sing sweetly in the graduated build-up to the magical conclusion, a passage that Giulini takes with exceptional deliberateness (reminding of his contemporaneous Mahler Ninth recording). In sum, while not the first choice for either work, the disc nonetheless should prove a treat for Giulini fans.

--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

This extensive 7CD overview of the German conductor Günter Wand & the NDR Sinfonieorchester concentrates its attention on Austro-German Classical and Romantic-era orchestral works. Reflecting Mr. Wand's close association with the music of Anton Bruckner (his many recordings of the Bruckner symphonies brought him late, and great acclaim), this set offers 4 of his symphonies, including the sublime 7th, the magisterial 8th, and the transcendent, unfinished three-movement 9th.

This 5CD Gregorian chant set features the Mönchsschola der Erzabtei St. Ottilien directed by Johannes Berchmans Göschl. +Mr. Göschl studied sacred music at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome and is a graduate of the Semiologia Gregoriana. +Since 1983, he is professor of liturgy and Gregorian chant at the University of Music in Monaco, Bavaria. +He is co-author of three books on Chant, and current president of the International Study of Gregorian Chant.

Issued in cooperation with the Bayreuth Radio and part of Hänssler’s ongoing Profil series devoted to Wand, these performances—recorded at the 1982 Nuremberg Mozart Festival—are at once tasteful and stylish. The heaviness that sometimes infected the approach of such one-time admired Mozartians as Beecham and Walter is absent: tempos are well judged, mannerism avoided, the music simply set forth without affectation. I have always found this huge eight-movement serenade somewhat uneven, but it certainly has more than a few magnificent Mozart moments. And the great (extraordinarily demanding) concert aria, K 528, is projected by Wiens with virtuosity and temperament. Aside from a slight edginess in the strings, the sound is fine. In short, for those interested in the artists or the repertoire, this release is worth having.

Mortimer H. Frank , FANFARE

Falling victim to two Richards in the nineteenth century, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss both reworked and revised Iphigénie en Tauride between 1890 and 1892. This French masterpiece, although manipulated several times, has withstood the test of time and remained quite popular. "With outstanding French singers of the nineteen fifties and an eponymous heroine who was brilliant rather than subtle, full justice was done to Gluck's rousing music, not least because of Giulini's impassioned conducting... a must for all opera fans." - Orpheus Magazine Reviewer

When Gina Bachauer made her first gramophone recordings in 1949, she could already look back on an impressive career. Alfred Cortot and Sergey Rachmaninov were among her teachers; Dimitri Mitropoulos conducted her first public concert in Athens in 1935, and concert appearances all over Europe soon followed. When the Second World War broke out she was in Egypt, and while there she gave more than 600 concerts to the Allied troops. 1947 saw her resume her professional activities in London and later the USA. For John Barbirolli, she was the “glorious Greek,” and Yehudi Menuhin remembered her warm-hearted humanity “always at one of those cosy tiled stoves in Germany.” Music critics were impressed by the “quite demonstrative cleanness of her solo playing” and the subtle rhythmic nuances clearly audible in the closing bars of the Rondo: “Nothing is drowned out in the pedaling” (Harden, Willmes: Pianistenprofile, Barenreiter Verlag). This extensive release showcases her shining career by presenting her rare recordings, brilliantly remastered for optimal sound quality.