Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The Austrian-Jewish composer Erich Jacques Wolff (1874-1913), falling into oblivion after his untimely early death, is absent from both the New Grove and the Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart reference works. A fine craftsman, Wolff never ventured much beyond what Wagner had done in Tristan und Isolde. In the musical language of his Lieder, more than 150 in total, he owes a strong debt to the older Richard Strauss. American soprano Rebecca Broberg’s intensity and commitment to text fascinates audiences and critics alike. Her recordings include operas and songs of Siegfried Wagner and Ludwig Thiulle.

Opposites in worldliness, Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) and Hans Pfitzner (1869-1949) had in common their ages and the German tradition of music making and composing. Busoni, a tonality adherent, wrote with respect on atonality; Pfitzner lashed out in a fit of disrespect for both. Their violin sonatas have in common a virtuosic, difficult piano part, expected from the virtuoso Busoni, not so much from Pfitzner, merely a competent pianist himself. Both works are in three movements; Pfitzner’s however, is the more conservative work, written 20 years later. Played by Dauenhauer-Kuen.

The French composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, unlike his near-contemporary Bach, wrote music, and much of it, that, opposing the profound, inward-looking manner of Bach, exhibits a cheerful, somewhat superficial outlook very much interested in worldly matters of kings and courts. In the end, his efforts paid off handsomely, earning him today's equivalent of two million dollars during his life. His bold idea heard here, one that violated the composing precepts of his age, of scoring sonatas for two melodic instruments, are rounded off by later works of others using the same instrumentation.

Those familiar with modern brass instruments often forget that natural horns and trumpets of the past, those without valves, could not produce chromatic tones. This changed in 1814 when Heinrich Stoelzel created the first horn with valves; valved trumpets soon followed. Horns and trumpets were no longer relegated to drones or shackled to the percussion section. Hungarian trumpeter Krisztián Kováts celebrates the innovation of the valve with virtuoso selctions from the entire 2 centuries’ worth of repertoire.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The composer Ludwig Thuille (1861-1907) is today almost completely forgotten, which is unfortunate as he is an interesting and surprisingly original composer in his own right. Stylistically Thuille is an unashamed romantic steeped in the German tradition. First and foremost a master of smaller genres, as his Lieder for singer and piano set to music on poems from the German romantic poets indicates. The American soprano Rebecca Broberg, German baritone Martin Schmidt and pianist Rainer Klaas bring audible joy to these delightful works that close a real gap in the repertoire.

Christian Segmehl (b. 1977) is one of Germany’s, if Europe’s, foremost saxophonists. A freelance musician and former student of Arno Bornkamp, his activities range from teaching and performing to organizing and coordinating events, playing in smaller ensembles and performing with the finest orchestras in the world. He and Ingo Dannhorn, a well-documented pianist with wide-ranging musical interests, are heard together on Aggro, a collection of largely 20th c. music by composers past and present, written for, or transcribed for, saxophone and piano duo.