With Gustav Mahler, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has a very special relationship. The composer conducted the orchestra no less than 12 times and found in Amsterdam an understanding audience. Mahler's Fourth Symphony was premiered in Amsterdam by the composer, who conducted it twice, once before and once after the interval, so that the audience could get to know the work better. With this release, Mariss Jansons and the Concertgebouw orchestra add an impressive new chapter to the RCO's recorded history of Mahler Symphonies.
Schubert: Landler, Minuets & Ecossaises / Daniel Lebhardt
Naxos
CD
$19.99Feb 26, 2021
Social and musical life in Biedermeier Vienna during the first decade of the 19th century created a great demand for dances which took place in the residences of wealthy citizens. With their echoes of the Austrian countryside Schubert’s folk-type Ländler are dances in 3/4 time, precursors of the waltz. Composed towards the end of his life when Schubert wrote his greatest music, the sets of 16and17Ländlerare notable for their melodic inventiveness. The 16arededicated to the ladies of Vienna and known as the Wiener Damen-Ländler; while the Écossaises were intended for facing lines of dancers rather than couples. Daniel Lebhardt relishes the joy and ‘irresistible and sometimes quite delirious’ ingenuity of thesejewel-like dances.
At the heart of this album from the Gould Piano Trio is Schubert's Piano Trio in E-flat major, D. 929, a late masterpiece of emotional depth and formal ingenuity. Heard here in it's complete version, the finale restores the haunting B minor passage, it's circling piano figures echoing Der Leiermann, while the Andante's cello theme weaves through the work like a recurring memory. Alongside it is the youthful Piano Trio in B-flat major, D. 28 - fresh, lyrical, and full of promise, whilst Schubert Dances - a charming new suite of waltzes, Landler and Deutscher arranged for piano trio by Brian Newbould, completes the programme and showcases Schubert's lighter side. Together, these works chart a compelling path from teenage inspiration to late-style mastery.
