BRUCKNER Symphony No. 1 (1866 vers) • Philipp von Steinaecker, cond; Musica Saeculorum • FRA BERNARDO 1310322 (47:57) Live: Musik Meran


The program notes to this recording state that the 60-person Musica Saeculorum opted to record Bruckner’s Symphony No. 1 in its original 1866 edition on period instruments in an effort “to identify any possible connection to Schubert and the early Romantics.” Harmonically, of course, Bruckner is worlds removed from Schubert and his contemporaries. But the use of period instruments does offer Bruckner a slightly more subdued timbral palette than most listeners are accustomed to in his music. The strings are somewhat darker, the brass a bit more veiled. Whether because of instrumentation, recording engineering, or conducting choices, though, I find that the strings have a tendency to overbalance the other instruments in tutti sections, occasionally making melodic material difficult to discern. This is my primary criticism of this disc. Bruckner at his most forceful can and should be overwhelming, but the counterpoint should always be clear; his tuttis mark the apotheoses of thematic material. In this recording, these passages tend to be rather murky and undifferentiated.


This criticism aside, Philipp von Steinaecker demonstrates a keen understanding of Bruckner’s aesthetic. The dotted rhythms of the first movement’s main theme are crisp and energetic, as are the horn’s responses. Von Steinaecker lingers appropriately on Bruckner’s extended passages of dominant harmony, building harmonic tension through strategic ritards in preparation for majestic statements in the brass. Even within string passages, though, figuration occasionally overshadows melody, as in the contrapuntal development of the first theme in the violins against sextuplet scales in the lower strings or the recapitulation of the second theme in the basses against eighth-note figuration in the upper strings. The modulatory passages that follow, however, are forceful and stern, and the rush to the final bars is quite exciting, though I would have liked the thematic material in the winds to be clearer.


Von Steinaecker’s is one of the more expansive readings of the symphony’s second movement, over a minute longer than Jochum’s. I find the expansiveness effective; the chromatic introduction becomes nebulous enough to make the eventual arrival of stable tonality a genuine relief. In the soaring passages that follow, though, minimal differentiation is made between melody and accompaniment. Von Steinaecker is sensitive to the ebb and flow of harmonic tension, but the melodic contours are lost throughout much of the movement.


The third movement is perhaps the most successful, with strong, almost violent accents and sharp contrasts in dynamics. At nearly a minute shorter than Jochum’s performance and 90 seconds briefer than Barenboim’s, it is among the more energetic recordings of this movement. I only wish that the brass dissonances toward the end received more weight. And the trio has the same problems with balance as the previous two movements: the motivic fourths in the horn are quite difficult to hear.


The fourth movement has almost no balance issues, although Bruckner’s orchestration is not particularly different in this movement than in the others. The opening pages are powerful and imposing, though I would have liked von Steinaecker to take an even greater ritard over the extended dominant harmonies that precede the second statement of the first theme. The second theme, stated in the violins with offbeat accents in the basses, is appropriately rustic. Likewise, von Steinaecker builds tension admirably before Bruckner’s characteristic pauses. The development maintains a consistent sense of direction. Von Steinaecker is particularly effective in his treatment of Bruckner’s obsessively-repeated scale fragments in the strings, which he leads gradually from background to foreground against the melodic material in the horns. The ending is triumphant and grand, though a broader ritard before the final cadence would have made it more so.


Because of the balance issues mentioned above, I cannot give this recording a wholehearted recommendation, but von Steinaecker’s conception of the piece is intelligent and appealing. The sound is generally crisp and live, with very slight tape hiss apparent at the beginnings and ends of tracks.


FANFARE: Myron Silberstein

Dreams, illusions, nightmares, tender and formidable images: all this can be heard on the new, third GENUIN CD by the Japanese flutist Atsuko Koga. From the first lost melodies by her fellow countryman Akira Miyoshi and the yearning musical arcs of Carl Maria von Weber to the playful, even euphoric figurations of Bohuslav Martinu, Koga and her partners succeed in taking us into ever-new musical and spiritual landscapes.

"• Russian-German pianist Anna Scheps debut CD • Concert program with works of a fairytale and dance-like character • Continuing her career comeback following the birth of her three children • Committed to many social projects"

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One can experience with admiration how one of the most important works in chamber music literature lives and breathes when it is awakened to sonorous life. Laureates of the German Music Competition play Schubert's great Octet of 1827 and these young musicians perform at the highest level.

The Edition Primavera already consists of numerous commendable CDs, produced by GENUIN in collaboration with the German Music Competition! The latest offering in this series is the debut CD of pianist Frank Dupree (b. 1991), the 2014 prizewinner. His clever program spans an extremely wide range of music: bracketed by Beethoven's first and last piano sonatas, works of the 20thand 21st c. – a world-premiere recording of Peter Eötvös, as well as Berio's Encores and Alban Berg's first sonata, are performed, all-in-all an intellectual as well as a sensual musical pleasure.

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Green is the third of the highly praised color series by the award-winning Amaryllis Quartet. White received the ECHO Klassik in 2012.

The Great Gate of Kiev is in itself huge. But with the eight horns of German horn sound plus percussion amplification it becomes gigantic! After their successful Verdi-Wagner Portrait "Siegfried and Violetta" the world-class horn players appear again in 8.1 wide-screen format on their second GENUIN-CD. However, before the listener is blasted away by the sound of the Great Gate, he travels through a veritable musical Jurassic Park: spooked by the Gnome, a witches' Sabbath on the Bald Mountain, and morbid waltzes and emotional suffering with Romeo and Juliet. On the program: Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev - here dances the Russian bear!

Lieder and Pictures, featuring 12 Schubert-Liszt transcriptions and Mussorgsky's greatest piano cycle, is the young pianist Mikhail Mordvinov’s GENUIN debut CD. + Mr. Mordvinov was first propelled onto the international stage when he won the 12th Robert Schumann Competition (Zwickau ‘96) and the 6th Schubert Competition (Dortmund ‘97). + His busy touring schedule includes performances at the world’s major concert venues. + Reviews have noted his virtuosity, clarity, lyricism and confidence.

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The two musicians Lenka Matejáková (violin) and Dariya Hrynkiv (piano) possess Slavic sound in their blood. You can hear this in the glowing recordings of their debut release, which is dedicated exclusively to Czech composers. The two prizewinners of numerous competitions follow the stylistically diverse paths of works by Antonín Dvorák, Leoš Janácek, Josef Suk and Bohuslav Martinu down to the smallest detail. With enthusiasm and deep insight, they allow us to experience how each of the four composers uniquely unite national heritage with European culture. A musical treat!

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MENDELSSOHN String Quartet in f, op. 80. 4 Pieces for String Quartet, op. 81. MENDELSSOHN-HENSEL String Quartet in E? • Merel Qt • GENUIN GEN 11204 (69:26)


The pairing of the two chief works on this disc is most apt: the only string quartet by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel and the last string quartet by brother Felix, the latter penned in 1847 to express his terrible grief over her tragically early death, with his own following shortly thereafter. They are supplemented by the four pieces of the op. 81, of which the first two ( Andante and Scherzo ) also date from 1847, the third ( Capriccio ) from 1843, and the last ( Fuga ) from 1827; they were published together posthumously. Mendelssohn’s op. 80 surely needs no introduction from me; suffice it to say that it is to my mind his greatest masterwork among his chamber pieces, and its heartfelt searing drama completely refutes the absurd canard that its creator was content with producing works of faultless formal elegance but lacking in expressive depth. The Mendelssohn-Hensel work, timing out at about 20 minutes, is finely wrought and delicate. It opens with a genteel and placid Allegro ma non troppo, moves on to a graceful but stately Allegretto and slightly pensive (and slightly overlong) Romanze, and closes with a spirited and energetic Allegro molto vivace. As always, the compositional style is markedly similar to that of her brother, somewhat less imaginative melodically and harmonically but nonetheless of considerable quality and having distinct touches of individuality. One can only wonder about and regret what she might have produced but did not due to her untimely demise and the social restrictions of her era.


The Merel Quartet of Zurich, performing on modern instruments but with interpretive touches clearly informed by period-instrument practices (leaner tone and use of reduced vibrato), presents top-notch performances all around. The Mendelssohn-Hensel quartet is given a warmly sympathetic reading; the rendition of the Mendelssohn op. 80 has a knife-edge tension and keenness that unashamedly bears comparison to the best recorded competition, and the members of the op. 81 foursome are treated as substantial works in their own right rather than as mere afterthoughts. The recorded sound has a bright, crisp immediacy without harshness.


I presume that most collectors already have at least one recording of the op. 80 and are more likely to consider acquiring this disc for the Mendelssohn-Hensel quartet, for which alternatives are scarce. I would avoid the Asasello Quartet on Avi, the Lafayette Quartet on CBC Musica Viva (currently out of print, but available as an MP3 download), and the Fanny Mendelssohn Quartet on Troubadisc (diffidently reviewed by David Johnson in Fanfare 18:1, though he recommended the accompanying performance of her trio), all of which are slack or overly cautious and lackluster. That leaves only the Erato Quartet on cpo, a performance strongly recommended by John W. Lambert in 23:5. That is a fine interpretation, but very different from this one; it takes an overtly big-boned romantic approach, and is set in an extremely resonant recording acoustic, with the result sounding more like a small string ensemble than a quartet. That disc is filled out by the quartets of two now quite obscure women composers, Maddalena Laura Lombardini-Sirmen and Emilie Mayer. One’s choice between the cpo disc and the present one will therefore be determined by preferences in pairings, interpretive approach, and sonic ambience. For anyone desiring alternative recommendations for the op. 80 and 81 of Felix, I would turn to the complete quartet cycles by either the Leipzig or Emerson quartets; see the excellent summary of their respective strengths by Burton Rothleder in his review of the Leipzig cycle (my own preference) in 32:6.


FANFARE: James A. Altena

Ram+¦n Ortega Quero studied with Miguel Quir+¦s early on at the conservatory in his native Granada. He became a member of the Andalusian Youth Orchestra at the age of 12. In 2003, conductor Daniel Barenboim accepted Ram+¦n as a member of the East-West Divan Orchestra. Gregor Witt, Principal Oboe of Barenboim's Berliner Staatskapelle, took the gifted young man under his wing and acted as his mentor. Ram+¦n won first prize at the ARD Music Competition in 2007. Since 2008, he is the principal oboe of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under conductor Mariss Jansons. In 2011 he was named the ECHO KLASSIK "Young Artist of the Year".

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With this Genuin release, we're carried away on a musical journey to other spheres in a live concert recording by rising young South Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo. The late Beethoven Sonata, Op. 109, Chopin's 24 Preludes, and piano works by Liszt an dTchaikovsky form a substantial and multi-faceted selection that does full justic to the 2015 International German Piano Award winner's dynamic playing style. The transparent sound of his Bechstein grand allows even the subtlest nuances of color to shine through. The phrases and structures are brought out with such clarity and lucidity that we're more than happy to simply follow along as the pianistic guide shows us the way.

The works included on this album demonstrate the heart of German Romanticism, with works by Horn, Schumann, Homilius, Goldmark, Hummel, Schubert, and Steinhaur. World-renowned vocal ensemble Amarcord performs these works, alongside instrumental group German Hornsound. The timeless songs featured on this release speak to the listener of love, despair, and eternity. Brass and vocal fans alike will enjoy this album!

Played with intensively close listening and feeling the inner essence of the music: this is how Japanese pianist Nami Ejiri approaches the late works of Schubert on her GENUIN debut CD. + Alongside the great Sonata in B-flat major, she plays the Four Impromptus, D. 899 and the more rarely played Allegretto in C minor, D. 915. + Winner of the prestigious Vianna da Motta Int’l Piano Competition, Lisbon, amongst other competition successes, Ms. Ejiri has been teaching piano at the Hochschule for Music in Frankfurt, Germany since 2006.

The pianist Hans H. Suh presents both large and small works on his GENUIN album with piano music ranging from Beethoven to Debussy. The winner of numerous international competitions, including the 2018 International German Piano Award, is a master of the moment as well as of sweeping lines: Schumann's, Beethoven's and Debussy's "little things," i.e., preludes, bagatelles, and other snapshots, shine with tremendous and enduring radiance. Suh brings Liszt's gigantic B minor Sonata into the present and lends it the magic of the moment. This combination of successful repertoire selection and exquisite interpretation invites more than just piano lovers on a virtuoso journey through time.

These wonderful musical leaves, compiled for us by the pianist Tobias Koch for the fourth CD of his Schumann series on GENUIN, waft towards us as if from distant times. Alongside works of Schumann, we find delicate treasures by Johannes Brahms, Theodor Kirchner und Voldemar Bargiel – all works that these composers would have written in Schumann's poetry album, so to speak. Some of them appear on CD for the first time here. And alongside this allurement of rarity, Koch's floating, breathing piano sound fascinates us once again, conjuring up the period of these pieces with their impetuous feelings, salons and yearning for distant places - fragile and moving miniatures...

Forget everything you ever knew about all-male choirs – unless you already know the two other GENUIN CDs previously released by the highly successful Camerata Musica Limburg... Not familiar with the discs yet? Then be sure to get the new recording of Romantic vocal repertoire featuring works by Schubert, Vaughan Williams and Sjöberg. The warm timbre of the male chorus and the four fantastic French horns glow like stars in the night, and the excellent soloists Alison Browner and Christoph Prégardien are beautifully supported and can allow their artistry to effortlessly unfold. The snow melts away and love is awakened in your heart... An absolute highlight!

Schumann and Schubert's music is never simply cheerful: their dark sides attack us suddenly, unexpectedly, either like a storm or by stealthily creeping up on us. Natalia Ehwald has selected two such works for the follow-up release to the highly acclaimed GENUIN production Fantasias for Piano: Schubert's late Sonata in A major and Schumann's early, "sad" Humoresque, op. 20. Ehwald does not try to smooth out anything; she never overlooks the roughness of the music but instead becomes involved, creating associations and thereby achieving a pianism of great suggestive power. This album is a lovely new discovery of two major works!

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