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Brandt: "Drei Laub auf einer Linden" - German Lute Songs / Pahn, Held
Haenssler Classic · Jan 2024CD$20.99 -
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I'll Dance to Heaven with You: Music for Propaganda Films / Theis, Munich Radio Orchestra
BR Klassik · Jun 2022CD$19.99 -
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Deutsche Geistliche Barockmusik: Weihnachten (German Baroque Sacred Music: Christmas)
Ricercar · Nov 2014CD$42.99 -
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A. Herrmann: 3 Songs at the Open Window & Tour de Trance / Bavarian Radio SO
BR Klassik · Jan 2023CD$19.99 -
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Henselt & Bronsart: Piano Concertos / Paul Wee, Collins, Swedish Chamber Orchestra
BIS · May 2024SACD$21.99 -
SaleWeber: Der Freischutz / Janowski, Sweet, Ziesak, Seiffert, German Symphony Orchestra Berlin
Sony Masterworks · Feb 2017CD$15.98$7.99 -
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Weinberger: Overture to a Chivalrous Play, 6 Bohemian Songs & Dances & Passacaglia / Albrecht
Capriccio · May 2016CD$21.99 -
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![Wagner: Die Meistersinger / Jurowski, Finley , Selinger, Miles, Gabler, Jentzsch [blu-ray]](//arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/2059095.jpg?v=1790208809&width=800)
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![Wagner: Die Meistersinger / Jurowski, Finley , Selinger, Miles, Gabler, Jentzsch [blu-ray]](//arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/81i9r02AIXL.jpg?v=1790208809&width=800)
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![Wagner: Die Meistersinger / Jurowski, Finley , Selinger, Miles, Gabler, Jentzsch [blu-ray]](//arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/2059095.jpg?v=1790208809&width=400)
Wagner: Die Meistersinger / Jurowski, Finley , Selinger, Miles, Gabler, Jentzsch [blu-ray]
Opus Arte · Oct 2012Blu-Ray$39.99 -
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Brandt: "Drei Laub auf einer Linden" - German Lute Songs / Pahn, Held
With this CD, we present a composer who is almost completely unknown. An astonishing admission, because his work is well documented in Georg Forster's songbooks and his compositions have also been published in print. Georg Forster himself held vom Brandt in high esteem, so much so that he dedicated the third volume of his"Teutschen Liedlein" to him. This dedication emphasises Forster's high regard for vom Brandt, but he also made dedications to other composers. Forster dedicated Volume II to his former fellow student Eck, Volume IV to Stephan Zirler, and Volume V to Dietrich Schwarz von Haselbach, with whom he had been associated since his Heidelberg days. While on the one hand friendship was important to him, he did not lose sight of quality when he wrote that he had"picked out the loveliest and worst from all of them". Forster's collection is aimed at the"friend and lover of noble music", not at the professional musician. Hence, the focus on the fact that he had selected not only the"loveliest" but also the"worst" (in the sense of plain or simple). Forster underscores that Brandt"noch heut bey tags ein sonderlicher Liebhaber un(d) fürderer ist, unnd solchs auch selbs mit der that alß mit setzen oder Componiren… noch heut bey tag beweyset" (still today by day a special lover and fancier, and also proves this himself with the deed as with setting or composing…still today by day). It seemed remarkable that vom Brandt composed during the day, for composing was not his main occupation.
Gaßmann: Oboe Quintets & Quartets / Gersbacher, Wipfler, Szigeti Quartet
From today's perspective, Florian Leopold Gaßmann (1729-1774) falls into one of those time gaps that, like black holes in the universe of art, threaten to swallow up everything that cannot be easily assigned to an era in retrospect. And this despite the fact that the German from Bohemia was anything but a minor master of music notation during his lifetime and for several decades thereafter, both in Italy, where he began his actual career, and in Austria, where shortly before his untimely death he was appointed imperial court conductor: his operas were in such demand on both sides of the Alps that Gaßmann really did not have to worry about making a living, and his instrumental music was also distributed widely, mostly in the form of copies.
This production cleverly combines the two main areas of his activity, for the two quintets for oboe and strings recorded here are arrangements of some particularly popular arias from the successful opera Amor und Psyche, while other light music undoubtedly belonged to the "occasional works" that the "court and chamber composer" of Joseph II. These are all extremely beautiful-sounding, imaginative and varied creations, which are coming to life under the umbrella of the now legendary master oboist Lájos Lencsés and, thanks to their colorfulness, will no longer have to fear a black hole.
I'll Dance to Heaven with You: Music for Propaganda Films / Theis, Munich Radio Orchestra
Deutsche Geistliche Barockmusik: Weihnachten (German Baroque Sacred Music: Christmas)
Zimmermann: Recomposed / Holliger, WDR Sinfonieorchester
[The] new three-CD set titled “Zimmermann: Recomposed,” on the German Wergo label, is among the standout releases of 2022. -- The New York Times
Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970) was one of the most distinctive composers in the musical avant-garde after the Second World War. While Karlheinz Stockhausen served as a kind of ‘generator’ in Cologne during the 1950s and 60s, inventing completely new sounds and techniques, Zimmermann was in many ways his opposite, a ‘transformer’ who redefined previously existing material by placing it in new contexts and collage-like structures, anticipating the ideas of the Postmodernists. Zimmermann created these new contexts on many levels.
Especially in his younger years, he arranged and orchestrated songs and piano pieces using brash and daring instrumental colors. These arrangements then found their way into his works that are now recognized as modern masterpieces: “Alagoana”, “Konzert”, “Sinfonie in einem Satz”, “Stille und Umkehr”, etc. His self-composed works employing numerous quotations as well as his arrangements ‘recomposing’ previously existing music are juxtaposed in the excellent recordings presented by WERGO in this collection. It contains more than three hours of music as well as an extensive booklet with a wealth of information and an interview with Heinz Holliger, the guiding spirit behind this production.
Holliger conducted all of the recordings and has worked for years to ensure that Zimmermann’s long-forgotten arrangements were rescued, published, performed, and recorded. The performances and recordings took place as part of the celebrations organized by the WDR in Cologne in honor of Zimmermann’s 100th birthday. This new release from WERGO presents a fresh perspective on the composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, whose tragic suicide shortly after the completion of “Stille und Umkehr” shocked the musical world. His fascinating instrumental effects and his embrace of popular and traditional music make his works feel much more at home in our contemporary world than they did in the cultural atmosphere of his time, with its faith with technology and progress.
Grieg: Norwegian Dances, Symphonic Dances, Lyric Suite / Ruud, Bergen PO
Another BIS first. Not the music this time but the way it is packaged. BIS breaks new ground by offering the public the first surround-sound version of Grieg's justly popular Symphonic Dances. Like all our hybrid SACD releases, this disc is compatible with all CD players but will also provide a surround-sound performance - at no extra cost - to those who are equipped with the relevant hardware. This highly atmospheric music, which so easily removes the listener to the lonely beauty fo the Norwegian fjords, gains especially from the striking realism of a musically balanced surround-sound recording. Further enticement is added by the inclusion of both the Norwegian Dances and the Lyric Suite on this disc. The performances are by Grieg's own orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ole Kristian Ruud. This disc follows the recently released SACD1191 containing, among other works, the famous 'Piano Concerto' in our Grieg-Bergman PO - Ruud cycle.
Bohemian Legacy
Schumann, Vol. 3
Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch / Gerhaher, Erdmann, Huber
Baritone Christian Gerhaher and soprano Mojca Erdmann perform Hugo Wolf's dramatic and poetic song cycle, "Italian Songbook." Highly appealing to listeners yet challenging for singers and hence rarely heard, Wolf's 46 songs stand as exquisite gems that also embrace a larger story arc, creating a highly memorable dramatic experience. Gerold Huber is the skilled piano accompanist and all three musicians are highly acclaimed.
A. Herrmann: 3 Songs at the Open Window & Tour de Trance / Bavarian Radio SO
Born in Heidelberg in 1968, Arnulf Herrmann is considered one of the most renowned German composers of contemporary music. He studied piano, music theory and composition in Munich, Dresden, Paris and Berlin, where he completed his studies in 2002. In 2003, he was entrusted with a teaching position for theory, analysis and aural training at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin; from 2004, he was the main teacher for composition there and, from 2006, also lectured on instrumentation and analysis. Since 2014, he has held the chair of composition at the Hochschule für Musik Saar. Herrmann mainly composes ensemble and chamber music, but also pieces for orchestra and the stage. In 2012, his opera "Wasser" (“Water”) premiered at the Munich Biennale; excerpts from it had already been heard in 2011 as part of the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik. In 2017, his opera "Der Mieter" (“The Tenant”) premiered with great success at the Frankfurt Opera, which had commissioned the work. Numerous international contemporary music ensembles perform his works at music festivals such as the Donaueschinger Musiktage, the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, and Wien Modern.
"Drei Gesänge am offenen Fenster" (“Three Songs at the Open Window”) for soprano and large orchestra, based on texts by Händl Klaus and Arnulf Herrmann, was commissioned by musica viva/BR. This release documents the live recording of its premiere on October 24, 2014. The performers are Anja Petersen (soprano) and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Stefan Asbury. "Tour de Trance" for soprano and piano, on a text by Monika Rinck, was commissioned by the Musiktage Hitzacker, and premiered in 2017. This studio recording from September 19, 2022 is one of the new versions of the song cycle from the year 2022. Anja Petersen sings, with Björn Lehmann accompanying on the piano.
Affinities - Greek & German Art Songs / Antonelou, Mörk
The Greek soprano Fanie Antonelou and German pianist Kerstin Mörk here join forces in an exciting project, entitled ‘Affinities’. In a carefully constructed sequence of 23 songs, they explore the kinship between Greek and German art songs – a varied one, filtered through friendships, family connections and teacher-pupil relationships. All the composers represented on the album studied and/or worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the three great German-speaking musical centres – Vienna, Munich and Berlin – and include figures both well known (Schoenberg, Weill, Skalkottas and Mitropoulos) and less familiar (Emilios Riadis, Dimitrios Lialios, Ludwig Thuille). With twelve composers and even more poets involved, the subject matter of the individual songs is diverse indeed – from a café scene in Berlin (Der Abschiedsbrief by Kurt Weill in cabaret mode) to a hymn to Aphrodite, set by Dimitri Mitropoulos in a highly expressionistic free atonal idiom inspired by Schoenberg.
Henselt & Bronsart: Piano Concertos / Paul Wee, Collins, Swedish Chamber Orchestra
After three solo recordings, virtuoso pianist Paul Wee brings us two forgotten concertos from the Romantic period with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Michael Collins.
Premièred by Clara Schumann under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn, Adolph von Henselt’s Concerto in F minor was eventually performed by the greatest virtuosos of the 19th and 20th centuries. It has, however, inexplicably disappeared from the repertoire despite its obvious qualities: soaring melodies and tender lyricism, colorful orchestration, dramatic intensity across its three movements and piano writing of astounding inventiveness and brilliance.
The familiarity between Henselt’s concerto and some of Sergei Rachmaninoff's works can be explained by the profound influence that the German composer exerted on the Russian. Hans von Bronsart’s Concerto in F sharp minor did not enjoy the same public acclaim, although it is rousing, intimate and electrifying in turns. The richness of its orchestration is matched by an uncommonly brilliant piano part that is a model of practical virtuosity. Breathing late-Romanticism, it requires a soloist to embrace its superheated Romantic language unashamedly if its passions are to take flight.
REVIEWS:
Paul Wee’s fingers dance with clarity and delight around the keyboard. He and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Michael Collins, have an excellent rapport.
— BBC Music Magazine
There is no question that Wee and his cohorts do a tremendous job in bringing these works to life. Wee has warmth and a Romantic stain that encompasses steel along with the requisite limpid lyricism and sparkling decoration. In short, Wee is a pianist you need to hear, whatever the context.
— Limelight
Weber: Der Freischutz / Janowski, Sweet, Ziesak, Seiffert, German Symphony Orchestra Berlin
– Gramophone
Weinberger: Overture to a Chivalrous Play, 6 Bohemian Songs & Dances & Passacaglia / Albrecht
Legendary Berlin Concert 18 May, 1986 / Vladimir Horowitz
Pianophiles who share an affinity for the legacy of Vladimir Horowitz will find this latest Sony release hard to resist. For the younger generation, this is one of those recitals the “Horowitz sensation” can still be fully appreciated as if it took place just yesterday. Following the release of Deutsche Grammophon’s ‘Horowitz in Hamburg - the Last Concert’ (21 June 1987), Sony has unveiled this legendary Berlin Concert from its archive. It takes us back a year before the Hamburg concert. Captured live and released on digital media for the first time, this is a recital that has both historical and musical values.
Horowitz made his solo début in the Atlantic Hotel in Hamburg on 19 January 1926. According to historical accounts, this event was nothing short of spectacular. The featured programme included Liszt’s B Minor Sonata, the Figaro-Fantasia, plus the Barcarolle and a number of Chopin Études and Mazurkas. Between this time until the early part of the1930s, Horowitz gave performances in Hamburg and Berlin. These included the Second Piano Concertos of both Brahms and Liszt (with Wilhelm Furtwängler and the Berlin Philharmonic), Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 (under Oskar Fried, and later, with Eugen Pabst, also with the BPO). He made his only surviving gramophone recording from that era in Berlin on 9 June 1931 at the Philharmonie’s Beethovensaal, with Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G Minor, Op.23 No.5. Anti-Semitic sentiment and political unrest limited Horowitz’s activities in Germany. His absence was further compounded by his notorious “withdrawal” and “returns” from the public concert-stage during the ensuing years. As a result, Horowitz did not again tread on German soil for 54 years until 1986. Three intriguing accounts by Dr. Norbert Ely, Jürgen Kesting, and Dr.Elmar Weingarten in the accompanying liner-notes recollect the experiences each of these writers had with Horowitz, focusing on how the fulfilment of the Berlin and Hamburg recitals in the latter years of the pianist’s life came to be. It was Dr. Weingarten’s first-hand memories as the Head of the music department of the Berlin Festival (1985-1990) that provided the most vivid account. He recalled how Horowitz spontaneously decided to offer an additional concert to the Berlin public at very short notice, by scribbling on the ‘dining menu of Hotel Kempinski’ the programme of what ultimately constituted his recital on 24 May 1986. Perhaps this later recital will be the topic of a future release from Sony Music, but in the present recording, listeners witness the reunion of a lost bond - the one between Horowitz and his German audience - a bond that had been severed for more than 54 years.
The first sounds on the first disc are of the audience applauding and applauding as Horowitz enters the Grosser Saal of the Berlin Philharmonie. Every recital since the pianist’s return to public performance in 1985 was a world wonder, synonymous with the acclaim received by pop-stars.
Then follows a series of three Sonatas from Scarlatti, a composer to whose works Horowitz brought ample delight and a fabled delicacy of colour on his infamous Steinway D instrument. Horowitz was however at his ideal best with the works of the Romantic composers, particularly those of Schumann, Liszt and Chopin. Kreisleriana evinces finesse and playful elegance - allusions to the world of E.T.A. Hoffmann. This masterly interpretation is both pliable and alive. The lilting dance at the centre of Liszt’s Soirée de Vienne No.6 was a favourite of Horowitz’s. Her it is played with virtuosic delight that even at the age of 83 shows that he remained in command of his fingers. This combines with a radiant and complementary youthfulness. The Sonetto del Petrarca 104 is delivered with a myriad colours and such intimacy that the fading final notes literally took the listeners’ breaths away. It was an experience that seemed almost spiritual.
CD 2 opens with groups of Russian pieces, two each of the Preludes of Rachmaninoff and Études of Scriabin. A glimpse of Horowitz’s love for the Polish dances was represented in two of Chopin’s Mazurkas preparing the ground for an elegantly majestic account of the A Flat Polonaise with its vociferous moments during the notorious left-hand octaves. Unexpectedly, the most impressive readings were saved for the very end of the recital in two of the three encores. These pieces were by far his most beloved: Schumann’s Träumerei and Moszkowski’s Etincelles. In the Träumerei, one can hear the poetic delicacy that washed away all technical impurities, while in the Etincelles, the delicate passages were equipped with a buoyancy and a tenderness that one might not have envisioned possible from the pianoforte.
Those who were able to afford the unprecedented ticket price of more than 300 marks apiece (or the discounted student price at 25 marks) to attend this recital must certainly have their own fantastic recollections to share, but to reiterate one such example from Dr. Norbert Ely who was the radio presenter during this Berlin concert, he described the recital experience as one that ‘revealed a lot of his [Horowitz’s] soul, exposing the inner conflicts of a century. One could hear that an era was coming to an end.’ The authentic Horowitz magic has been revived thanks to Sony who have captured a musician whose artistry was mellowed by age and experience.
-- Patrick P.L. Lam, MusicWeb International
Made in Germany
Schutz: A German in Venice
One of the key German composers before Bach with over 500 surviving individual pieces, Heinrich Schütz mainly composed church music. Credited with bringing the Italian style to Germany, he continued its evolution from the Renaissance into the early Baroque. Despite living most of his long life in Germany, Schütz made two trips to Venice in his twenties. The first was between 1609 and 1613, during which he studied under Giovanni Gabrieli. The second trip occurred in the late 1620s, possibly to meet and study under Monteverdi. These visits significantly influenced Schütz’s music as he blended the ornate and theatrical Venetian style with the more subdued Lutheran tradition. This album explores his solo cantatas alongside examples of the brilliant and virtuosic Venetian-style instrumental music.
Samya: The Best of Farid Al Atrash
![Wagner: Die Meistersinger / Jurowski, Finley , Selinger, Miles, Gabler, Jentzsch [blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/2059095.jpg?v=1790208809&width=800)
![Wagner: Die Meistersinger / Jurowski, Finley , Selinger, Miles, Gabler, Jentzsch [blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/81i9r02AIXL.jpg?v=1790208809&width=800)
Wagner: Die Meistersinger / Jurowski, Finley , Selinger, Miles, Gabler, Jentzsch [blu-ray]
Also available on standard DVD
English-speaking audiences have always found Die Meistersinger to be a life-enhancing celebration of wisdom, art and song. So it proves in David McVicar's production – the first at Glyndebourne – which is updated to the early-19th century of Wagner's childhood. At the centre of a true ensemble cast is Gerald Finley, a 'gleamingly sung', 'eminently believable' Sachs (The Independent on Sunday), supported by the dynamic conducting of Vladimir Jurowski which, like McVicar's production, uses Glyndebourne's special intimacy to bring sharp focus to bear on the subtlety of Wagner's musical and dramatic counterpoint.
McVicar has put on a great show with style, intelligence and insight. -- The Telegraph
Musically, it was judged faultlessly for the scale of the theatre by Vladimir Jurowski, who conjured playing of mercurial clarity not the first words one would normally choose for this gargantuan score from the London Philharmonic Orchestra, sustained with unfailing vigilance and concentration. -- The Guardian
Richard Wagner
DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG
(Blu-ray Disc Version)
Walther von Stolzing – Marco Jentzsch
Eva – Anna Gabler
Magdalene – Michaela Selinger
David – Topi Lehtipuu
Veit Pogner – Alastair Miles
Sixtus Beckmesser – Johannes Martin Kränzle
Hans Sachs – Gerald Finley
Kunz Vogelgesang – Colin Judson
The Glyndebourne Chorus
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
David McVicar, stage director
Recorded live at Glyndebourne, Lewes, July 2011
Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German
Running time: 300 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)
R E V I E W:
WAGNER Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg • Vladimir Jurowski, cond; Anna Gabler ( Eva ); Michaela Selinger ( Magdalene ); Marco Jentzsch ( Walther von Stolzing ); Topi Lehtipuu ( David ); Gerald Finley ( Hans Sachs ); Johannes Martin Kränzle ( Sixtus Beckmesser ); Alastair Miles ( Veit Pogner ); Glyndebourne Festival Ch; London PO • OPUS ARTE OA 1085 D (2 DVDs: 300:00) OA BD7108 (Blu-ray) Live: Glyndebourne 6/2011
John Christie, Glyndebourne’s founder, was Wagner-obsessed and would have dearly loved to present one of the composer’s operas early-on in the Festival’s history. But such an undertaking was not a reasonable possibility in Glyndebourne’s original 300-seat theater. As John Christie’s grandson recounts in one of this Blu-ray’s “extras,” an early Glyndebourne conductor commented “if you put on Wagner, you’ll need to put the audience on the stage and the stage in the auditorium.” Glyndebourne got a new opera house in the 1990s, seating 1,250, and Wagner finally came to East Sussex in 2003 with a production of Tristan und Isolde. This David McVicar-directed Meistersinger represents Glyndebourne’s second Wagner staging, and it’s something special.
Die Meistersinger , at one level, is about intergenerational conflict and being able to cast younger singers as the quartet of lovers is a real plus. (The recent PentaTone Meistersinger on SACD succeeds, in part, because those singers at least sound youthful.) At Glyndebourne, McVicar notes, he could “cast singers that are appropriate to the ages of their characters and are physically convincing.” Marco Jentzsch, the strapping Walther, has got to be 6’3” or 6’4”—a far cry from the all-too-common fireplug Stolzings, whose boots come up most of the way to their protuberant abdomens. If Jentzsch can’t belt out the Prize Song as powerfully as a Ben Heppner or Peter Seifert, he’s fully up to the lyrical requirements of the role and his voice has a pleasant timbre. The Finnish tenor Topi Lehtipuu handles the part of David very effectively, both his character’s palpable horniness and, more critically, the act I exegesis on song writing. Anna Gabler is a complex and passionate Eva, as confused as Nuremberg’s shoemaker about the possibility of a future as Mrs. Hans Sachs. Michaela Selinger, the Magdalena, is perky and vocally appealing.
Alistair Miles portrays a Pogner that is Sach’s equal in intelligence and integrity, despite his fat-cat status; Johannes Martin Kränzle’s Beckmesser executes the requisite physical comedy and manages just the correct amount of pedantry and pride to define the town clerk’s obvious short-comings while leaving him a sympathetic character. Beckmesser, here, is a victim of his own personality failings rather than a fundamentally bad person. Any Meistersinger, of course, depends on its Sachs to keep our interest up for five hours, and Gerald Finley is a superb one. He happens to be the best singer here, but his acting is what makes this production so compelling. Finley’s character, we know from the outset, is thoroughly engaged with the dual goals of achieving artistic progress and promoting Stolzing’s romantic efforts—but is also a very conflicted human being. When the curtain goes up for act III, it’s clear that Sachs has been drinking all night and he kicks some furniture around. He uncovers a portrait of his late wife. And just before Walther enters to compose his song, we see Sachs pick up a pen to write something—presumably a contest song to compete for Eva himself. The Knight comes into the workshop and Sachs backs away from the abyss.
It’s that sort of theatrical detail that makes this production exceptional. The size of the stage and hall is still small by Metropolitan Opera or Covent Garden standards and allows for a high level of intimacy. As McVicar tells us “Everyone on stage is a character and has a story.” Watch the Masters as they congregate in acts I and III, especially the guy with the ear trumpet. That’s “Ulrich Eisslinger,” not exactly a major role—he has one line in the act I roll call. The part is positively savored by Adrian Thomson, who responds to every event on stage with facial expressions and body language that are alone practically worth the price of admission. And look at the Masters’ faces when Walther’s final version of the Prize Song takes an unexpected harmonic turn. These guys—the singers and their characters—are really listening deeply.
McVicar moves the action from the 16th century to the early 19th, the era into which the composer was born. In a second extra feature, Die Meistersinger —An Opera with Baggage, the director reminds us that the 1820s and 1830s were a time before Unification when Germans “could point to their culture as an expression of their national identity.” By considering Meistersinger in the context of this time frame, McVicar doesn’t need to directly address the future commandeering of this work for the vilest of nationalistic purposes. I like any Meistersinger where Beckmesser stays on stage after his humiliation. He’s not the “other”—he’s still part of a community.
The production is sumptuously lit and filmed, in the same league as the Met’s venerable Otto Schenk version—and the meadow scene is a real eyeful. The sound is richly detailed with excellent vocal/orchestral balances. (In multichannel, the “auf den theater” brass fanfares are definitely coming from afar.) Subtitles are offered in English, French, and German. Glyndebourne’s Meistersinger goes straight to the top of the heap among the eight video versions in my collection. It registers here, to use David McVicar’s words, as “a profoundly human, wise, warm, loving work.”
FANFARE: Andrew Quint
![Wagner: Die Meistersinger / Jurowski, Finley , Selinger, Miles, Gabler, Jentzsch [blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/2059095.jpg?v=1790208809&width=400)
Waltzes, Polkas, Marches
Germany - A Musical Tour Of Bavaria
The Places
Bavaria, in south Germany, in earlier times ruled by an Elector, whose capital was Munich, is a region of the greatest variety. The places seen here start with the Bavarian Forest and its traditional craft of glass-blowing. Other scenes are of the great palace of the Thurn und Taxis Princes at Regensburg and the fine baroque monastery church of St George and St Martin at Weltenburg.
The Music
Music for the tour is by Telemann, a friend and contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, founder of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum later directed by Bach, godfather to Bach’s second son and for many years in charge of music in Hamburg, where he was later succeeded by his godson. The music here includes a Suite for recorder and strings, and two concertos from his Tafelmusik, one for three violins and the other for two horns.
Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: Dolby Digital 5.1/ DTS 5.1/PCM Stereo 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 53 mins
No. of DVDs: 1
R E V I E W:
Bavaria, in south Germany, has a convoluted history. Conquered by the Romans, it was taken by Charlemagne and incorporated into his empire before becoming one of the great Duchies of the Holy Roman Empire. The Duchy joined the German Empire in 1871, whilst remaining a kingdom until 1918. It was an early base for Hitler and became a state of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.
Bavaria is renowned for the beauty of its rolling landscape and the charm of its villages, neither being the focus of this issue which starts with a visit to a glass factory in Frauenau. The sequence (CHs. 1-8), each with a one-line description in the booklet, is accompanied by extracts from Telemann’s recorder Suite in A minor played by Capella Istropolitana. The baroque music comes over as an ideal accompaniment to the glass-blowing and engraving skills on show which now benefit from modern technology but which date back nearly seven hundred years in this region. The technique of blowing molten glass takes power in the cheeks and lungs akin to a brass instrument; the beer belly is, however, not a pre-requisite.
The second visit (CHs.9-11) takes the viewer to Schloss Thurn and Taxis, Regensburg. This became the family home of the former postmaster to the Empress who established the first postal system in Europe and was given the old Abbey of St Emmerman as a reward. Views of the spectacular staircase and gentle ceiling décor are accompanied by more baroque music by Telemann. This takes the form of his Concerto for three violins, which, together with that for three violins is taken from his Tafelmusik.
The final visit is to the Abbey of St George and St. Martin, Weltenberg, near Kelheim. German and Celtic monks founded the Abbey in the seventh century. Its location, on a peninsula of the Danube, permits some views of the countryside as the building is approached along the river. It’s a dull day that does not do justice to the colours of the trees or surrounding countryside. The views of the façade are accompanied by Telemann’s Concerto for Two Horns whose haunting tone contrasts interestingly with both the simplicity of the exterior and the showy ornaments of the interior.
The playing time is somewhat shorter than the more usual hour. A little of the Bavarian countryside, in its usual summer sun would not have gone amiss. There is some repetition of photographs in the glass-blowing factory.
-- Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International
Liszt: Der du von dem Himmel bist - Late Lieder / Krimmel, Heide
