Romantic Era
3839 products
Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch
Dvorak, A.: Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" / Carnival
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3
Chamber Music / Warsaw String Ensemble
Nowadays, the oeuvre of Polish composers active in the 19th century can be considered one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of our national music. In recent years, works of many of them have experienced a well-deserved renaissance, which is reflected in their increasingly marked presence in concert halls and among album releases. This is a direct result of intense research activity of musicologists as well as of the considerable interest and growing awareness of performers, who are more and more keen to include these pieces in their repertoires. This release is a collection of chamber music by Jozef Nowakowski and Fryderyk Chopin, performed beautifully by the Warsaw String Ensemble.
Beethoven, Armstrong, Haydn & Liszt: Piano Trios (Movimentos
Beethoven: Unknown and Rarely Played Works / Various
Reinecke: Complete Works for Cello & Piano
Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7 & 9 / Norrington, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
| Sir Roger Norrington has been chief conductor of the former Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra RSO (today SWR Symphonieorchester) for thirteen years. During this time he caused internationally quite a stir with what got to be called "The Stuttgart Sound", a synthesis between historically informed performance and technical capabilities of a modern orchestra. Whether Mozart or Haydn, Bruckner or Brahms, Norrington's main focus laid on quick tempi, a "pure ton" (that is, vibratoless), articulation, seating plan and orchestra size as experienced by the composers themselves back in their time. With the present re-issue of his Bruckner SWR-recordings, Norrington sought to render the "human face" of Bruckner, not just the quasi-religious abstraction the public is sometimes given instead. His symphonies are secular works written with the Musikverein Vienna in mind. They contain descriptive music (journeys, nature, birds), dance music and humor, unexpected dramatic passages, and pauses. In his entirely individual style (culled from Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Wagner, but rarely sounding like any of them), Bruckner echoes memories of his own violin playing as a youth at village weddings, quite as much as those of the St. Florian organ loft. |
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 15 / 13 Variations / Deutscher In
WINTERREISE (COUNTERTENOR)
TCHAIKOVSKY VOL. 2
Rode: Violin Concertos Nos. 11 & 12 / Eichhorn, Pasquet, Jena Philharmonic
As a leading virtuoso who premiered Beethoven’s final violin sonata with the Archduke Rudolph, Rode was at the center of European musical life, his compositions sitting at the apex of the French violin school. The final volume in this acclaimed series presents one of his most inspired pieces, the Violin Concerto No. 11 in D major, lyrically expressive and full of good-humored zest. Violin Concerto No. 12 in E major is notable for the ingenious ways in which, through trills, staccato, spiccato and cadenzas, Rode heightens the music’s bravura. Violinist Friedemann Eichhorn studied with Valery Gradow at the University of Music in Mannheim, with Alberto Lysy at the International Menuhim Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland, and with Margaret Pardee at The Juilliard School in New York. He performs with many renowned orchestras across the globe, and his previous recordings for Naxos were highly acclaimed.
Verdi Operas: The Royal Opera House Box Set / Rizzi, Pappano, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House [Blu-ray]
This trio of unforgettable Royal Opera productions feature some of the most cherished and admired examples of Verdi’s operatic genius. The composer returned to his early masterpiece Macbeth after the great successes Il trovatore and La traviata had propelled him to universal fame, and his 1865 revision – today the most popular version of the work – shares the marks of dramatic and musical innovation that enshrine all three operas as undying classics. Phyllida Lloyd stages Verdi’s setting of the Scottish play, featuring Simon Keenlyside’s athletic, brooding Thane opposite Liudmyla Monastyrska’s imperious Lady. Rivalry blazes between José Cura’s troubadour and Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s Count in an Elijah Moshinsky production with sets by noted film designer Dante Ferretti. Starring as the illfated courtesan Violetta in Richard Eyre’s classic production is Renée Fleming, loved by Joseph Calleja as Alfredo against the wishes of his unyielding father, played by Thomas Hampson. Verdi’s best-loved works brought vividly to life.
SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE HAROLD
POETICA
Brahms & Carter: Clarinet Quintets / Lieb, Phoenix Ensemble
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REVIEW:
The playing in the Carter quintet is assured and confident, as one would expect from contemporary music specialists. This is also a slightly different team from that in the Brahms. I have no complaints about the recording. The disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve rather than a jewel case and the booklet notes, in English only, are printed reversed out (white lettering on a dark ground), which does not make for easy reading. If the programme suits, don’t hesitate.
– MusicWeb International
Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3
Schubert & Szymanowski / Debargue
Lucas Debargue’s third recording presents sonatas by Franz Schubert and polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882 – 1937) Besides recording Schubert's famous Sonatas No.13 & No.14 the pianist continues to dedicate his musicianship to composers and works left in the shadow and presents Karol Szymanowski “I think it makes more sense to devote myself to an astonishing but little-known work, than it does to focus on pieces that people have heard too often.” – Lucas Debargue about Nicolai Medtner’s piano sonata, recorded on his last release Lucas Debargue has always been far off the beaten track, starting with his unusually late musical career to his interpretation of works where he widens the boundaries of the norm “Anyone who complains about uniformity in today’s music business will find the greatest pleasure in Debargue. He is different.” – NDR, Germany. “ Lucas Debargue takes the music beyond the accepted norm, questioning the status quo with a fresh perspective” - San Francisco Classical Voice. “Debargue is fantastically gifted: original, not tamed by any academicism, eccentric to the point of being mannered, but also thrilling as a result of his very personal tone.”– Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frank, C.: Beatitudes (Les)
Dvorak: Symphony No 9 - Suk: Fairy Tale / De Billy, Vienna Radio Symphony
DVORÁK Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” SUK Pohádka, op. 16 • Bertrand de Billy, cond; Vienna RSO • OEHMS 745 (72:09)
There seems to be a never-ending river of recordings of Antonin Dvorák’s Symphony “From the New World.” This particular stream flows down the Danube from Vienna to upset my notion that I’d heard all that might be done with a work deservedly known as this composer’s masterpiece. I have accumulated more than a few recordings of it: LPs by Arturo Toscanini with the NBC SO and Rafael Kubelík and the VP; CDs by Alexander Titov and St. Petersburg’s O “New Philharmony,” Pavel Urbanek and the PFO, and Marin Alsop and the BSO. These recordings span over a half-century, exposing the diligent listener to shifts in orchestral styles and gradual improvement in recording technique. The most recent, by the Vienna RSO under Bertrand de Billy, is either the culmination of these trends and developments, or merely the most recent (an Oblomovian paradox, depending on how you look at it). De Billy’s reading has its own fascinations.
For some time I had come to view Urbanek and the PFO’s traditional reading my fave, until Alsop’s version, also in the grand tradition, with the BSO took the top spot on my list. This reranking was mostly owing to improvements in recording sophistication. Now, along comes Billy—pronounced Bee-Yee, as in Puilly (or Pwee-Yee) Fuissé—who is willing to take some unorthodox risks in his interpretation, and I find myself weakening. Fickle is the heart of the record reviewer (Ovid).
Surfing quotables in my volume of The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music , I came upon a doozie. “Dvorák’s music is a particularly happy result of the major influences on his art: Wagner, Brahms, and folk music.” It encapsulates in one sentence a perhaps century-long conflict between the followers of Brahms and Wagner—an argument between Brahms’s pure music for its own sake and Wagner’s nationalistic music in service of the state. Or, in other terms, it highlights Brahms’s adherence to the classical forms vs. Wagner’s insistence upon totally new forms. Pardon this reduction to an oversimplified view, but to give both sides their due would take volumes. De Billy has a knack for bringing out the best in both points of view, to mine the series of big emotional moments and to honor adherence to form.
In the slow second movement’s second theme (4:40 in), there are passages that remind me of Wagner’s “Forest Murmurs,” and others of his original orchestral inventions. And then (8:00 in) the horns blare forth, not with the sustained force of Siegfried’s funeral music, but with enough force to prepossess one and call Wagner to mind. Shortly (at 9:30), there is a passage that reminds me of Brahms in its precise delicacy of the woodwinds. So, listening closely, one can hear Brahms and Wagner in this Dvorák Symphony. All through the work, de Billy uses subtle reversals of emphasis, bringing from background to foreground, or playing loudly what is usually played softly. Here, I must emphasize that de Billy does not choose to make such reversals each and every time the possibility arises. He is not slavishly doctrinaire about it; rather, he seems to decide on an ad hoc basis. All of the score’s notes are represented in performance, but their presentation is subtly changed, perhaps to be ironic and introduce a postmodern flair to the performance. He’s not telling.
Which brings to mind the following notion: certain music would retain its coherence even if parts were played in reverse. In Terry Riley’s In C , any musician may enter a bar and stay as long as he/she wishes by inventing variations on the notes in the score before moving on to the next bar as long as he/she remains in the key of C; and in certain of Bach’s pieces that were written for one instrument and then adapted ( by Bach ) to suit another, and owing to the qualities of one or the other (say, the slow organ instead of a quick harpsichord, with its faster action) can require more playing time to stretch out the score, and actually wind up much slower in performance though composed of the same notes. These are just two examples of music that is so formally strong the idiosyncrasies of performance can only add to its ambiance, hence interpretation, and give the music wider emotional scope to the listener and more opportunity for playfulness to the conductor.
By playing Dvorák’s very familiar “New World” Symphony with his personal vision of how some loud passages might be better if played softly, of how with the woodwinds “backing up” the strings, some passages might be bettered by emphasizing the winds and letting the strings serve as “back up.” Employing such stratagems, de Billy brings a new spotlight to the bas-relief of the score. By shining his spotlight at slightly different angles, he creates new relationships among the shadows. It is still the same Symphony, but with slightly different emphases in the presentation, de Billy has made it new. He has traded in a tired, if venerable, old warhorse for a high-spirited young one. To add to this, the recording engineering is very, very clear and crisp. On a high-resolution system, say a good headphones rig, you can hear every damned thing; and such a recording will bring out the best in nearly all stereo rigs.
I’m only familiar with one other recording of Josef Suk’s (Dvorák’s son-in-law) symphonic suite, Fairy Tale , and that one is played by Jirí Bêlohlávek and the Czech PO (1992) for Chandos. De Billy’s elapsed time for this piece is about 29:30, and Belohlávek’s is about 30:00. This makes the difference in elapsed times about 1.5 percent and pretty indistinguishable. De Billy’s version was recorded in 2008, and, owing to whatever technological advances, profits by each individual instrument’s better definition and the complete ensemble’s better balance. Suk was a very solid composer; though it was hard for him to step outside the shadow of his father-in-law, he does. Fairy Tale has considerable charm, and de Billy, aided by the ORF (Austrian National Radio) engineers, brings it to the fore more than his predecessor managed to do.
If you are the kind of record collector who is always on alert for the analogy to a very unique wine, like an Australian Rosé made from rich Shiraz grapes, you might like this album. It contains a richly flavored Dvorák Symphony “From the New World” at its best, and a zesty and charming Pohádka , both benefitting from very fine recording engineering. Highly recommended.
FANFARE: Ilya Oblomov
Rossini: Le Nozze di Teti e di Peleo / Rizzo, Gorecki Chamber Choir, Virtuosi Brunesis
Rossini’s Neapolitan theatrical debut in 1815 won him overnight esteem as well as the favor of the Bourbon dynasty, ensuring lucrative contracts and commissions. The following year he composed Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo, an allegorical cantata on the theme of the wedding between the sea goddess Thetis and the hero Peleus. Written to celebrate a royal marriage, it is an intensely theatrical work in which Rossini drew on some of the greatest contemporary singers, specialists in the ornamented bel canto style, and created a staged spectacular with chorus and a wealth of colorful orchestration.
Violins of Hope - Heggie, Schubert & Mendelssohn
Violins of Hope presents instruments that were owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust, representing strength and optimism for the future during mankind’s darkest hour. They have been refurbished by luthiers Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein, founders of the Violins of Hope project. On this album, recorded live at Kohl Mansion, the instruments are used to perform two string quartet masterpieces by Schubert and Mendelssohn, alongside a new composition by Jake Heggie, inspired by the violins’ histories.
Schubert’s unfinished Quartettsatz is often considered Schubert’s first mature work, and displays a typically Schubertian mix of impetuous agitation and sublime lyricism. Mendelssohn wrote his Quartet in F Minor as a “Requiem” for his deceased sister Fanny, not knowing that – tragically enough – he would follow her fate only two months later, at the age of 38. These two captivating works are performed by Kay Stern, Dawn Harms, Patricia Heller and Emil Miland, who join forces with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, violinist Daniel Hope, and the young violin talent Sean Mori on Heggie’s INTONATIONS: Songs of the Violins of Hope.
The recording took place in the context of Holocaust Memorial Day 2020. Jake Heggie has a vast PENTATONE discography, including the opera It’s a Wonderful Life (2017) and song recital albums by Jamie Barton (Unexpected Shadows, 2020), Melody Moore, Lisa Delan and Joyce DiDonato. Sasha Cooke returns to PENTATONE after having featured on Mason Bates’ Grammy Award-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (2018). Daniel Hope, Sean Mori, Kay Stern, Dawn Harms, Patricia Heller and Emile Miland all make their debut on the label.
REVIEW:
The world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope headlines this extraordinary concert, performed entirely on instruments owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. The cycle, which tells the stories of instruments revivified by the Violins of Hope Project, begins with "Ashes," about a violin whose case was filled with the ashes of those burned in the ovens, and ends with "Liberation," inspired by the Liberation of Auschwitz. One of the most moving songs, "Motele," recounts the tale of 12-year-old violin prodigy Mordechai "Motele" Schlein. With excerpts from Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto weaving through the accompaniment, we learn that Schlein, who did not survive the war, smuggled gunpowder in his violin case to create a bomb he detonated in the basement of a Nazi Officer's Club.
Sasha Cook's warm, emotionally direct voice is perfect for these songs, and the heart-touching theme Heggie fashions for the final song is reminiscent of great tunes of the romantic era. How perfect, then, to conclude with Schubert's Quartettsatz in C Minor and Mendelssohn's last String Quartet, completed months before his death.
– Stereophile
Milan Dvorák: Complete Jazz Piano Etudes
Born in 1934, the Czech jazz composer Milan Dvořák, no relation to his better-known classical composer namesake, has been active since the 1960s leading big bands and swing ensembles and remains active today. This is the debut recording of his 45 Jazz Piano Etudes which combine transcriptions of popular songs with classical influences and features the pianist Milan Franěk.
Violin Concertos Conducted By Wilhelm Furtwangler
Il etait une fois / Devos, Meng, Quatuor Giardini
With the rise of Romanticism, the topics of opera changed from the mythological fantasy of Baroque operas to the fairytale fantasy which graced the French stage long before Romanticism reached other European nations. Initiated by the Palazzetto Bru Zane, this project is built like a universal fairytale, inspired by Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, and others, as set to music by French composers of the Romantic period, alternating between famous composers such as Offenbach and Rossini and little known masters like Viardot, Silver, and Isouard. This imaginary opera was conceived and transcribed by Alexandre Dratwicki for piano quartet and two singers- a soprano and a mezzo, the roles of which are performed here by Jodie Devos and Caroline Meng.
Liszt: Excerpts from Années de pèlerinage deuxième année: It
Brahms & Dvorák: Orchestral Works
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko / Zangiev, Bolshoi Theater Orchestra [Blu-ray]
| In the 13th century, the rich merchants of Novgorod mock the dreams of far-away journeys and of commercial conquests brought forth by Sadko, a musician and singer. But Volkhova, the Sea King’s daughter, is enchanted by Sadko’s voice, and promises to help him fulfill his dreams... Sadko is a decisive work in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s aesthetic evolution. As in many operas, the composer draws his artistic material from Russian folk and fairytales, but also from old musical and poetic forms. The result is a prodigious opera, whose modernity - both dramatic and musical - erupts from the fabulous resources of traditional Russian epics, but also from the wonders of the marine universe, close to his former navigator self’s heart. A subtle analyst of the slavic soul, stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov comes back to the great stage of the Bolshoi Theater and devises a surprising production that perfectly underlines the ambiguities of this paradoxical opera, between past and present, fantasy and reality. He surrounds himself with magnificent Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, but also some of his favorite singers : Mikhail Petrenko, Ekaterina Semenchuk... In the pit and at the head of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, young Russian conductor Timur Zangiev breathes in this little-know masterpiece all the energy, all the poetry, and all the passion it requires. |
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko / Zangiev, Bolshoi Theater Orchestra [DVD]
| In the 13th century, the rich merchants of Novgorod mock the dreams of far-away journeys and of commercial conquests brought forth by Sadko, a musician and singer. But Volkhova, the Sea King’s daughter, is enchanted by Sadko’s voice, and promises to help him fulfill his dreams... Sadko is a decisive work in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s aesthetic evolution. As in many operas, the composer draws his artistic material from Russian folk and fairytales, but also from old musical and poetic forms. The result is a prodigious opera, whose modernity - both dramatic and musical - erupts from the fabulous resources of traditional Russian epics, but also from the wonders of the marine universe, close to his former navigator self’s heart. A subtle analyst of the slavic soul, stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov comes back to the great stage of the Bolshoi Theater and devises a surprising production that perfectly underlines the ambiguities of this paradoxical opera, between past and present, fantasy and reality. He surrounds himself with magnificent Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, but also some of his favorite singers : Mikhail Petrenko, Ekaterina Semenchuk... In the pit and at the head of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, young Russian conductor Timur Zangiev breathes in this little-know masterpiece all the energy, all the poetry, and all the passion it requires. |
Rootsongs / Davis, Jupiter String Quartet
The Jupiter String Quartet feels a strong connection to the core string quartet repertoire. they also frequently commission and premiere new works, including string quartets by Syd Hodkinson, Hanah Lash and Dan Vixconti, as well as a quintet with vocalist Thomas Hampson. This release has a well-known classic by Dvorak, an arrangement of African-American spirituals and a contemporary reflection on the music of Tin Pan Alley.
