Classical Music

With some unusual takes on the standard repertoire already in their catalogue, the Duo D'Accord (pianists Lucia Huang and Sebastian Euler) set out to do something very special: an "Hommage à Weber" - as the title says. It not only contains the complete works for piano duet but also arrangements of some opera overtures and a special adaptation of the 2nd piano concerto for piano four hands by Weber’s friend and biographer Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns: a first recording and a masterstroke of artistic curiosity. Two Weber tribute encores by Ignaz Moscheles and Leopold Godowsky also appear.

REVIEW:

Remarkable as it may seem, this is the only available at present CD of Weber’s complete music for piano 4-hands. Now I’m sure, having said this, that a dozen others will show up in short order. There were two rather poor discs kicking around for a bit at the dawn of the CD era, but they are long gone. The complete works consist of three collections: the Six Pieces Op. 3, Six Pieces Op. 10, and Eight Pieces Op. 60. Not only are they interesting and enjoyable in their own right, for modern listeners they are fascinating as the sources of three of the four movements in Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis. The amazing thing about Hindemith’s arrangements is just how little he had to do to make the music sound modern (sound clips). The concluding march (in the orchestral work) is particularly interesting, stern and strong in Hindemith’s realization, but slinky and rather creepy in Weber’s original. Two of Hindemith’s movements come from Op. 60, and one from Op. 10.

These performances by Duo d’Accord, are far better than any previously released, being fresh, rhythmically supple, and lyrical expressive by turns. They also provide a whole range of interesting couplings, from transcriptions by various parties–including themselves– of three overtures (Abu Hassan; Silvana; Der Freischütz), to a four-hand version of the Second Piano Concerto. Then there are two original compositions based on Weber that are just splendid: Godowsky’s characteristically insane Contrapuntal Paraphrase on Invitation to the Dance for two pianos, and Ignaz Moscheles’ Hommage à Weber, based on music from the operas and subtitled a “Grand Duo”–and so it is. The sonics are a little bit lacking in openness on top, but otherwise capture the players well. This is a great set, and a splendid opportunity to fill out your collection.

— ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz

Paul Hindemith was an all-round musician, virtuoso violist, composer and educator. He mastered all the instruments of the orchestra to a more or less professional level of proficiency, all of which was more than adequate preparation for conducting too. He was strongly influenced in his conducting by Wilhelm Furtwängler, placing the highest value on the living tradition of interpretation. This release features his 1958 recording of Bruckner’s radiant Seventh Symphony; the mature master locating Bruckner’s achievements as a high point on the continuum between Bach and his own work.

Complete Recording of Mozart’s Violin Concertos - Lena Neudauer belongs to the most famous violinists of her generation - In combination with the Deutschen Radio Philharmonie - Lena Neudauer already inspired with the complete recording of Schumann’s Works for Violin and Orchestra: „The sonorous voice of the Guadagnini-Violin of Lena Neudauer fills the whole sound stage.“ HifiRecords 2011 zu CD 93.285 At age 15, the young violinist Lena Neudauer had already won the famous Leopold Mozart International Competition in Augsburg, where she not only was awarded 1st prize, but also took home the Mozart Prize, Richard Strauss Prize for the best interpretation of Richard Strauss' Violin Concerto and the Audience Prize. Yet despite this spectacular accomplishment, she refused to be pushed into becoming another “child prodigy.” This well-balanced, clear-thinking side of her being plays a special role with her interpretations of Mozart's music. We are reminded of what father Leopold wrote to his son Wolfgang Amadeus in 1777: „You yourself do not know how well you play the violin; if only you will do yourself credit and play with energy, with your whole heart and mind...“. Lena Neudauer‘s beautiful, pure violin tone perfectly fits the spirit of these less-than-virtuoso, but supernaturally lovely concertos, her sensitivity illuminating these works from the inside. She is joined by conductor Bruno Weil, an expert in the music of the Viennese classicists and period instrument specialist, who transforms the German Radio Philharmonic into an aural carpet, upon which the soloist can move with quiet expression and grace.

Two well-known and two less-familiar orchestral works by Debussy • A new recording from the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) and Heinz Holliger, following up on their globally acclaimed Koechlin series • A continuation of the orchestra’s exploration of the French orchestral repertoire that began with their CDs of the music of Koechlin • May 21st 2014: Heinz Holliger’s 75th birthday The "Afternoon of a Faun“ together with the orchestral "Images" are among Claude Debussy’s best known and most popular compositions. Both works show different side of the composer: "Afternoon of a Faun" is a textbook example of musical impressionism, while about the "Images", the composer himself said that his goal was to “try to achieve something different – an effect of reality”. The scores contrast well with the two Rhapsodies: the one for clarinet, called the "first" Rhapsody, was sketched out within a few weeks at the end of 1909, while the "second" Rhapsody for saxophone was only completed and orchestrated after the death of its author. The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) and conductor Heinz Holliger manage to bring out the evocative, dynamic colors and peculiarities to be found in all of these works with precision.

With “Aus Italien”, sketched while on a tour of Italy suggested to the young composer by Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) began his decisive journey into the musical form that would come to define his orchestral output, the tone poem. In this work, Strauss‘ orchestral mastery is already plainly evident. Honoring the composer’s sesquicentennial, François-Xavier Roth couples this work on his third volume of the complete Strauss tone poems with the monumental “Also sprach Zarathustra” – a work inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophic prose poem.

Antonio Salieri had long arrived at the height of his European fame as an opera composer when he began dealing with smaller forms of vocal music, including several collections of Scherzi armonici, canons, divertimenti vocali, as well as many duets and trios. This new recording will be of tremendous interest to both aficionados and scholars as it presents an area of Salieri’s output previously overlooked. The performers, Ilse Eerens, Annelie Sophie Müller and their experienced accompanist Ulrich Eisenlohr, elevate this recording into something much more than an academic curiosity!

The two-compositions featured here, the Trio, op. 8 and the Sonata, op. 65, rank among the very few chamber music pieces Chopin left behind. Whilst predominantly piano-focused, those few occasions when Chopin did explore other idioms always prominently featured the cello, so naturally this disc is a feast of musical riches for young cellist Johannes Moser. The needed ability to draw out every emotion and nuance from these works, from the noble to the pathetic, from soaring lyricism to sober solemnity, are known and admired characteristics of Mr. Moser and his esteemed ensemble partners.

Florian Uhlig‘s recent recording of French Piano Concertos created a sensation. Though originally conceived as a respite from his ongoing project to record the first, truly complete edition of the piano works of Robert Schumann, Mr. Uhlig’s excursion into late 19th and 20th century French repertoire demonstrated his knack for the brilliant, urbane sound-world of the great French composers. He continues his explorations in this new recording of the piano works of Maurice Ravel.

“America” was the title of the first CD in a new series of recordings, each dedicated to the choral music of a different country, by the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart. What could be better than to have followed “America” than “Russia”?! This CD offers a wide range of Russian composers who composed in the tradition of Orthodox Church music. The outstanding virtuosity of the SWRVokalensemble Stuttgart, offers an opportunity to discover a number of previously under-represented works.

The recordings of the gifted Shostakovich interpreter Andrey Boreyko have met with great acclaim; his Shostakovich’s Symphonies No. 9 & 15 (CD 93.284) were awarded the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in 2012. Shostakovich completed his Fifth Symphony in July, 1937 as a "response of a Soviet artist to justified criticism" – a critique which befell Shostakovich in 1936 over Stalin’s particular displeasure with “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District”.

The focus of pianist Michael Korstick’s third third volume of Debussy-explorations is the three volumes of the “Images” from the years 1894, 1905 and 1907. They contain some of Debussy‘s most famous and popular piano works. In addition to these well-known collections Korstick has programmed the “Images oubliées” the “Six Epigraphes antiques” and a series of occasional pieces – which despite their “lesser status” in the composer’s catalogue, are among the most beautiful pieces Debussy wrote.

"For this May 1973 concert, the two veteran instrumentalists, Josef Suk and János Starker, chose the then only 27-year-old Rudolf Buchbinder as their pianist to complete the trio. The performances are full of sensitive – and when necessary – forceful music-making. Three famed soloists playing masterworks from the piano trio repertoire A further highlight from the Schwetzingen SWR Festival concert series Musically outstanding presentations"

"From 1970 to 2008, the Viennese Alban Berg Quartet was one of the most successful string quartets in the world. Their playing influenced an entire generation of subsequent quartets. The reason for their worldwide success lay both in their outstanding virtuosity and their unerring ability to perform live with the same precision and exactitude of a studio recording. A further highlight from the Schwetzingen SWR Festival concert series Unique interpretations of two extraordinary works"

An attractive programme of 20th-century American music, moments of choral weight and exposed fragility alike approached with great individuality.

– Gramophone [7/2014]