The Russian word romans ("romance") denotes an art song whose lyrics usually - but not always! - deal with the subject of Romantic love. A counterpart to the German Lied or French romance, the Russian romans embarked on it's journey late in the 18th century. Predictably, the earliest romansy imitated the Western models and were set in French and Italian. As it happens time and again in Russian history, a Western innovation timidly arrived in Russia, steeped in the country's unique culture, and after years of evolution re-entered the West as something strikingly new, fresh, and... yes, indeed "Russian." When it comes to the genre in question, the West discovered the dramatic romansy by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff not so long ago. Our album L'histoire de la romance russe is designed to show what preceded these glorious masterpieces.

La Serva Padrona(Maid as Mistress) is a work written by Pergolesi, which was composed initially as an intermezzo in two parts. The libretto was written by Gennaro Antonio Federico, and this story shows the librettist’s understanding of how ordinary citizens of the time spoke. This release also includes the one part intermezzo Il maestro di cappella.

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

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.

Without denying its Classical and Romantic models (including Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber, and Franz Schubert), the F minor Symphony shows a refined grasp of formal, dynamic, and structural logic and demonstrates Bruckner’s extraordinary creative powers in this, his first symphonic work. Formal criteria like repeating the exposition before the development in the outer movements, or Beethoven-like figurations in the second thematic block of the Andante, point to Classical influences, while in the development of the first movement, besides the classically-influenced motivic and thematic treatment, there are clearly Romantic tendencies recalling Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony and Weber’s opera Der Freischutz. Here we already see Bruckner’s great skill in incorporating apparently foreign material into his thematic development- inconspicuously and fruitfully, and without making obvious citations- a quality that may well derive from his experience improvising at the organ.

ORFF Antigonae • Wolfgang Sawallisch, cond; Martha Mödl ( Antigone ); Carlos Alexander ( Creon ); William Dooley ( Chorus Leader ); Fritz Uhl ( Haemon ); Marianne Radev ( Ismene ); Paul Kuen ( Guard ); Joseph Traxel ( Tiresias ); Kurt Böhme ( Messenger ); Lilian Benningsen ( Eurydice ); Bavarian RSO & Ch • PROFIL 09066 (2CDs: 143:06) Live: Munich 1958


Every collector knows Orff’s Carmina Burana . Many are acquainted with the Catulli Carmina . Fewer know that Orff, after World War II, produced three theater works that aimed to create a contemporary equivalent of the ancient performances of Greek tragedy, heightening the texts with his paradoxically archaic-sounding modern music, and with dance. Antigonae first in 1949 and then Oedipus der Tyrann in 1959 make use of the highly expressive 1804 German adaptations of the Sophocles plays by Friedrich Hölderlin. ( Prometheus , from 1968, sets Aeschylus’s Greek.)


As in the setting of Catullus poems, the orchestra is stripped of much of the color that makes Carmina Burana so popular, while retaining the visceral impact of a large ensemble. Antigonae requires six pianos, four harps, six each of flutes, oboes (three doubling English horn), and muted trumpets, nine double basses, and a large battery of percussion. The combination makes a wonderful noise in full cry, though Orff uses the whole orchestra sparingly and, much of the time, quite delicately. Opera singers of the first rank are required, but it is not an opera as such. The text is generally sung with little accompaniment, frequently at the extremes of the range, in an intensely rhythmic chant. Piano and tuned percussion are used to establish key, add color, and punctuate the line. Occasionally greater forces are used to amplify emotion, as in Creon’s and Antigone’s pivotal scenes, and to accompany the chorus. There are, however, lengthy stretches of heroically declaimed, sparsely accompanied German. This may sound monotonous, but throughout the many hours spent listening to three versions of the two-and-one-half hour work in review, plus a recording of the later Oedipus , I did not find it so.


I say this despite little German comprehension, and the recording’s lack of texts, or even a reasonable synopsis. One may secure a translation of Hölderlin’s verse, which Orff set line-for-line, but at more than half of the cost of the recording. Doing so will add to the appreciation of the work, yet in truth, with some knowledge of the story, Orff and the extraordinary performers make this a moving experience without translation. For those fluent in German, the wonderful diction and clear recording should make a libretto unnecessary.


If lack of text is a weakness—and in fairness, this is common to all releases—it is the only one. If one is going to issue a recording of such an obscure work, one best make it a superlative one, and that is just what Profil has done. On disc, the work has been almost exclusively the property of the Bavarian Radio. After the 1949 premiere at Salzburg, recorded but currently out of print, all but one CD release has been made in Munich either by the Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, or the State Opera. Georg Solti’s 1951 recording on Orfeo is distinguished by the incomparable Creon of Hermann Uhde, but is put out of contention for a general recommendation by some rather scrappy orchestral and choral execution. Ferdinand Leitner’s is a studio recording from 1961, notable for the conductor’s subtle and nuanced pacing, which gives a spiritual quality to a performance that emphasizes character delineation. Inge Borkh is a vulnerable Antigone, heartbreaking in her grief and moving in her preparation for death. The recording, which I admire greatly, is currently available only as a download, so the discovery and release of this Sawallisch live recording from 1958 is particularly welcome.


Sawallisch was recording a fair amount of Orff in this period: a 1956 monaural EMI Carmina Burana that rivals Jochum’s classic account (DG) for acute conducting, and splendid recordings of the two fairy tale operas, Der Mond and Die Kluge , also for EMI in 1956–57. He was therefore an old hand at Orff by the time he led this performance. He does not linger as much as Leitner—his performance is more than a quarter-hour faster—exchanging some poignancy and understatement for an implacable sense of impending doom. Martha Mödl’s imperious Antigone fits into this approach perfectly, as does Carlos Alexander’s pitiless Creon and Fritz Uhl’s desperate Haemon. Paul Kuen is a fine Mime-like Guard, but must give pride of place to Gerhard Stolze’s conspiratorial reading for Leitner. William Dooley sings the Chorus Leader movingly, and the men of the Bavarian Radio Choir are the finest group to record this music, even preferable to their subsequent outing three years later. The remaining singers are equally fine, with special mention necessary of Kurt Böhme’s sonorous Messenger.


The recording itself is a marvel, showing almost no sign of its age. It is monaural, but with subtle ambient processing that provides some sense of space without adding artificial reverberation. (The booklet is silent on the matter, but the effect is pleasantly audible, and visible when scoped.) The sound is detailed and immediate, with remarkable percussion transients, solid bass, and the voices placed naturally in relation to the instruments. (Leitner achieves some of his delicacy and intimacy through forward placement of the voices.) The audience is almost completely silent. In all, this is the most desirable of the recordings of this work, a superb introduction to Orff’s too-seldom explored Greek tragedies, and a gripping dramatic experience.


FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

The first complete recordings of the original versions of the Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 by Anton Bruckner.

The way Richard Strauss spoke of his “beloved Dresdeners” rang of Bavarian humor blended with a subtle touch of mischievous irony and, first and foremost, a good dose of respect and appreciation. Home to the Königliche musikalische Kapelle (“Royal Musical Ensemble”) and the Court Opera, Dresden soon became a center of Strauss’s music; many of his works were given their premiere there. Ernst von Schuch, Strauss’s “most loyal conductor of choice”, was a key figure: at the symphony concerts given by the Kapelle, the Dresden General Music Director soon acquainted audiences with all of Strauss’s tone poems, from Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche through Also sprach Zarathustra to Sinfonia domestica. Strauss enthused that, years later, it was “the brilliant Schuch’s untiring magic wand” that eventually opened the series of “exemplary premieres” of his operas in Dresden. Works including Salome, Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier made Strauss the leading musical dramatist of his time. He had no fewer than nine operas premiered in Dresden, his “Eldorado for premieres”, and dedicated the Alpine Symphony to the Dresden Kapelle as a token of his gratitude. The present release is the 44th volume in the Staatskapelle Dresden’s exploration of Strauss’s work, and includes, most notably, his Konzert fur Horn und Orchester op. 11.

Classical Music

Compared to the far more popular cycles by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, the piano sonatas of Franz Joseph Haydn have for too long occupied an inferior position among listeners, though they are highly esteemed by pianists who know their importance and greatness. Musically, Haydn's sonatas are formally innovative and rich in invention and expression, and they require great skill and taste to be performed effectively. This is perhaps why only the most confident and capable of pianists, such as Marc-André Hamelin, Jenö Jandó, John McCabe, and Rudolf Buchbinder, attempt to record complete sets. Add to this select company the name of Ekaterina Derzhavina, a Russian pianist who has established a fine reputation for her interpretations of Bach, and who now demonstrates her thorough mastery of Haydn. Playing with clean lines and a refined touch, Derzhavina creates the effect of Classical period practice on a modern piano, and by avoiding the pedals, her sound is crisp and intimate, without the quirkiness of a fortepiano's tone quality. These recordings were made between 1993 and 2008, and Profil's audio quality is first-rate, with close microphone placement and a pleasantly resonant acoustic that makes the music especially appealing.

-- All Music Guide

Classical Music

Classical Music

Composers include Robert Anderson, C. Coleman, Fanel Cornelius, Thomas A. Dorsey, Robert Fryson, G. Haenssler, Brendan Keeley, Robert McGimsey, Lars Morlid, Kenneth Morris, Lukas Di Nunzio, Peter Sandwall, Felicia Taylor, Ken Taylor, Leon Taylor and Lee Weisman. Lyricists include James Waddell Alexander, Robert Anderson, Anonymous, Bible - Old Testament, C. Coleman, Thomas A. Dorsey, G. Haenssler, Lars Morlid and also includes such artists as Choralerna, the Golden Gate Quartet, Mahalia Jackson, Soul Affair, Tullamore Gospel Choir, Brendan Keeley and more.

Classical Music

Classical Music

While many historic editions focus on a performer, a less obvious but sometimes more artistically resonant choice is to focus on a conductor, one of those musical minds which shapes so much of what we hear. The Genter Wand Edition focuses on that great personality of the German music world, and this recording of Wand over the NDR Sinfonie Orchester and Jorge Bolet in his final years is filled with great musical moments. Wand once said "The older one gets, the clearer one's vision of perfection becomes," a sentiment befitting his masterful interpretation of Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The German daily newspaper Die Welt described a performance by the Boulanger Trio as “irresistible”, and Wolfgang Rihm wrote in a letter: “To be interpreted like that is surely the dream of every composer.” Founded in Hamburg in 2006, the 3 women now live in Berlin.

Classical Music

Classical Music