Auber Overtures, Volume 7 - More Than Just Openers

I like Naxos' willingness to explore new repertoire. One of the things I like about the Naxos label is their willingness to explore new repertoire. And even go down a rabbit hole or two. 

It's what I'd do if I ran a label (although with my business sense, I'd run in straight into the ground. Case in point: the Auber Overtures series. 

Dario Salvi is the creative force behind these recordings. According to his bio, he has a "passion for the rediscovery and performance of long-forgotten masterpieces and the curation of world premieres."

 He's recorded more than Auber for the label. All his albums maintain a high standard of performance. And all benefit from innovative programming.

Auber wrote over fifty operas. If Salvi just recorded the overtures (as the title suggests), the series would span several volumes. But he goes deeper into the composer's catalog. Each volume supplements the overtures with instrumental music from the operas. 

Some present other compositions by Auber. This release includes ballets and marches from the featured operas. 

The album leads with the overture to Le cheval de bronze. Auber completed the work in 1835. For performances at the Paris Opera in 1857 he added a ballet. That music is included as well. 

Also included is an arrangement of the overture by Englebert Humperdink. Comparing the two versions of the overture provides insight into both composers' styles. Humperdink gives Auber's French music a heavier German orchestration. It doesn't ruin the music. But it does change the character of it (and not in a bad way). 

The Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava is in fine form here. Under Salvi's direction, they play with a light-hearted elegance fitting the fairy operas. And they can also deliver some dramatic thundering when necessary. 

Including additional music from the operas has slowed Salvi's traversal of the overtures. But these recordings are about the journey, not the destination. These ballets and incidental music show Auber's genius. His orchestrations set the stage and tell the story -- in music, not words. Another fine addition to this edition. 

Daniel-François-Esprit Auber: Overtures, Volume 7
Le Cheval de bronze; Le Lac des fées; Marco Spada; Jenny Bell; Das eherne Pferd
Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava; Dario Salvi, conductor
Naxos 8.574597

Maria Rosa Coccia - Sacred Music from 18th Century Rome

Maria Rosa Coccia was a composer and harpsichordist acive in the late 1700s. Her career is almost a case study in the "separate but equal" concept. Coccia showed talent at an early age. 

By 13 she had written six harpsichord sonatas. She'd also composed an oratorio "Danielli." The work was performed in the Oratory S. Fipllo Neri -- an event women were barred from attending. 

Her talent couldn't be denied, though. Anyone practicing music in Rome at the time had to enter the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. They also had to pass an exam to be a Maestro di Capella. 

Coccia did both at age sixteen. But because of her gender, she was never allowed to direct a choir. 

Fortunately, that didn't prevent her from composing music for choirs. This release features five sacred works by Coccia and two of her instrumental works. The program includes works by her contemporaries: Stane Pesci, Giovanni Battista Casali, and Sebastiano Bolis. 

Coccia writes in the clean, elegant style of the middle Classical period. If you enjoy the choral works of Haydn and Mozart, you'll find a lot to like in Coccia's music. Her clarity of line ensures the text is always readily understandable. Yet her interplay between voices shows real imagination. And she has solid contrapuntal skills. 

The Cardiff University Chamber Choir has a warm, transparent sound. Their acapella singing is assured, and their phrasing is fluid. It gives the music a supple energy I quite enjoyed. Based on the quality of Coccia's work here, I would love to hear her oratorio and large-scale cantatas. But this is a great start. 

Maria Rosa Coccia: Sacred Music from Eighteenth-Century Rome
Cardiff University Chamber Choir; Peter Leech, director
Robert Court, chamber organ
Toccata Classics TOCC 0359

#ClassicsaDay #Divertimento Week 4

 The Classics a Day team decided to lighten up a little. Webster's Dictionary defines a divertimento as "an instrumental chamber work in several movements usually light in character." 

For October, the challenge is to post videos of divertimentos written by classical composers. 

I quickly discovered that every composer had a different idea of what "light in character" meant. The only thing any of these selections have in common is the title: divertimento. Here are my selections for the fourth week of the #ClassicsaDay challenge, #Divertimento.

10/21/24 Johann Georg Albrechtsberger: Divertimento in F major for violin, cello, and contrabass

In his day, he was a big name. Today, he's best remembered (if at all) as one of Ludwig van Beethoven's early composition teachers. Albrechtsberger was a cellist and colleague of Franz Joseph Haydn. His catalog includes two divertimenti for violin, cello, and double bass.  

10/22/24 Franz Schubert: Divertissement sur des motifs originaux français, D823 for piano four hands

Schubert wrote the first movement in 1826, and the remaining movements the next year. It wasn't published until 1888, long after Schubert's death.

 

10/23/24 Bertold Hummel: Divertimento for 4 Violins

Hummel was director of the Studio for New Music in Wurzburg for 25 years. He wrote several major works: 3 symphonies, an oratorio and some ballets. And several divertimenti. 

 

10/24/24 Ellen Taffe Zwilich: Divertimento for clarinet, flute, violin, and cello

Zwilich composed this work in 1983. it is her only composition in the genre.

 

10/25/24 Leonard Bernstein: Divertimento for Orchestra

Bernstein wrote his Divertimento in 1980. The work was composed for the centenary celebration of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

 

Rediscovering Maria Herz's Piano Music

It wasn't that long ago that I reviewed a Capriccio release of Maria Herz's orchestral music. A recording of all world premiere recordings. And now here's an album of all her numbered piano works -- all world premiere recordings. 

Maria Herz was a virtuoso pianist and composer active in the between-war years. When the Nazis rose to power, her Jewish heritage put an end to her career in Germany. She left the country in 1935 with her children, never to return. 

Herz would eventually rebuild her career as a performer and teacher. But she stopped composing when she left Germany. Herz only wrote around 30 works. Who knows? In time they may all be recorded. 

Pianist Aude St-Pierre makes her recording debut, and it's a great one. Herz was a pianist. Her keyboard music is idiomatic and exploits the possibilities of the instrument. St-Pierre plays with confidence and empathy. These are performances I want to revisit again and again. 

All three works show Herz's creativity. Her Op. 1 is a set of variations on Chopin's Prelude Op. 28, No. 20. This is a core repertoire work. So much so that it simply is. To recast and rework the motives takes real imagination. And Herz delivers. Each variation takes this prelude in a new direction. And there are eleven of them. 

Her second published work, 12 (Valses) Ländler for piano also delivers. These are twelve very short pieces, but each one has its own character. Both these works come from the 1910s when Herz was just starting her career. 

She hit her compositional stride in the early 1930s. Her Piano Sonata in F minor foreshadows her mature efforts. Written in 1922, this is a complex piece in structure and harmony. Herz flirts with the chromaticism of atonality without stepping over the edge. The sonata is a work that's both modern and accessible.

I applaud St. Pierre for her bold programming choices. Most artists stick to the basics for their debuts. This is well-crafted music that indeed deserves rediscovering

Rediscovering Maria Herz
Aude St-Pierre, piano
Genuin Classics GEN 24863

Bruckner From the Archives, Volume 5 -- Another Noteworthy Release

The penultimate volume in this series continues to surprise and illuminate. All recordings come from the archives of the Bruckner Society of America. Audio 

Restorian Engineer Lani Spahr once again works his magic. These recordings sound about as good as they can. And they sound authentic. They have been restored, not remastered. 

All three recordings are world recording premieres. And they're all live recordings, which makes these performances even more remarkable. The Sixth Symphony is performed by the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi. 

Dohnányi was of a new generation approaching Bruckner. His interpretation strips away the gooeyness of Late Romantic conductors. The performance was a 1961 radio aircheck. The orchestra may not be quite world-class, but they play with energy and authority. 

Hans Müller-Kray conducts the South German Radio Symphony Orchestra in a radio aircheck from 1955. Müller-Kray's approach is also post-Romantic, but not as severe as Dohnányi's. There are times when he seems to luxuriate in the sound (and why not?).    

The "Te Deum" performance comes from a 1962 aircheck for a Vienna Festival broadcast. The concert marked the 160th anniversary of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. This organization had been promoting music in Vienna since 1812. 

Herbert von Karajan leads the Vienna Philharmonic and assembled singers in a weighty performance worthy of the occasion. The soloists sing with operatic intensity. The Vienna Singverein delivers powerful choruses. This is pure Karajan, giving us the message from On High. 

Another solid addition to this series. 

Anton Bruckner: From the Archives, Volume 5
Symphony No. 6 in A major; Symphony No. 7 in E major
Te Deum
South German Radio Symphony Orchestra; Hans Muller-Kray, conductor
Wilma Lipp, Elisabeth Höngen, Nicolai Gedda, Walter Kreppel,
Vienna Singverein; Vienna Philharmonic; Herbert von Karajan, conductor
SOMM Recordings ARIADNE 5033-2

#ClassicsaDay #Divertimento Week 3

The Classics a Day team decided to lighten up a little. Webster's Dictionary defines a divertimento as "an instrumental chamber work in several movements usually light in character." 

For October, the challenge is to post videos of divertimentos written by classical composers. 

I quickly discovered that every composer had a different idea of what "light in character" meant. The only thing any of these selections have in common is the title: divertimento. Here are my selections for the third week of the #ClassicsaDay challenge, #Divertimento.

10/14/24 Johann Baptist Vanhal: Divertimento in G major

Czech composer and multi-instrumentalist Vanhal found fame and fortune in 1790s Vienna. Mozart and Haydn highly regarded his music, and Vanhal often performed with them.

 

10/15/24 Friedrich Gernsheim: Divertimento for Flute and Strings in E Major, Op. 53

Gernsheim was an older contemporary of Johannes Brahms. Some critics compared his style to a mixture of Brahms and Bruckner.

 

10/16/24 Paul Juon: Divertimento Op.51

Swiss composer Paul Juon studied with Arensky and Taneyev. He composed his divertimento in 1913 after he had relocated to Berlin.

 

10/17/24 Elizabeth Maconchy: Divertimento for Cello and Piano

Maconchy is considered one of the most important British composers of the 20th Century. She composed her divertimento in 1954.

 

10/18/24 Grażyna Bacewicz: Divertimento for Strings

Bacewicz was a violinist as well as a composer. She composed her divertimento in 1965. 

 

Richard Flury Chamber Music, Vol. 2 - String Quartets of Quality

Toccata Classics has made a major investment in the music of Richard Flury. So far they've released three volumes of orchestral music, three operas, and now a second volume of strings quartets. I hope it's paying off for the label. Because it certainly is for the listener. 

Flury was a Swiss composer operating in relative obscurity throughout his career. His main source of income was as a violinist and a conductor. As this release (and the others) show, he was also a skillful and imaginative composer. 

This release features his second and third string quartets. Both received their world recording premieres with this album. Flury remained a musical conservative throughout his life. These two quartets are tonal, and both use a standard four-movement form. And both reward the listener time and again. 

Flury wrote his second quartet in 1929. The first movement is carried along by a flowing sixteen-note pattern. Sumptuous melodies float over it. The second movement features rich harmonies and a plaintive melody shared by the four instruments. 

The good-natured scherzo is followed by an intensely serious finale. Flury lists the quartet as being in E minor/major. That key ambiguity makes harmonic context essential in understanding the work.  

The String Quartet No. 3 in C major was completed in 1938. Flury's compositional skill shows development. The melodies are more expansive. There's a greater use of chromaticism. This heightens the music's intensity. Flury played the violin and viola professionally. His experience informs his quartet writing. 

The music sounds idiomatic to the string instruments and to the quartet as an ensemble. The Colla Parte Quartet performs these works with empathy. And also with great skill. The melodies sing, and the emotional content is always clear. And the musicians sound like they truly enjoy playing these works. 

Highly recommended -- along with volume one. I anticipate the remaining volumes will be of the same high quality.

Richard Flury: Chamber Music, Volume Two
String Quartets Nos. 2 and 3
Colla Parte Quartet
Toccata Classics

The Estonian Cello Presents Unknown Masterworks

I love how one thing can lead to another -- especially if it's not in a straight line. Pianist Sten Lassman recently completed what had to be a labor of love. Over 15 years he recorded the complete piano works of Heino Eller. 

Eller was a major force in Estonian music. He founded the Tartu School of Composition. Eller's students included Eduard Tubin and Arvo Part. Lassman wanted to bring more of Eller's works to the public. 

This album is the result. It includes eight works for cello and piano by Eller. It also includes compositions by Eller's students: Eduard Oja and Eduard Tubin. 

It also includes works of students of Artur Kapp's Tallinn school. Kapp and and Eller had different ideas what direction Estonian classical music should take. 

The Tallinn school is represented by Herman Kand and Villem Reimann. Both approaches have merit. And in the end, it's the listener who's the winner. All but four of the thirteen compositions are world recording premiers.

And what a gift to the world. Pianist Sten Lassman and cellist Valle-Rasmus Roots are both Estonian. They both understand the underlying aesthetics of this music. And that understanding illuminates their performances. These are beautifully realized interpretations of exceptionally fine music. Music that rewards repeated listening. 

I'm glad Lassmann wasn't done with Estonian music after his Eller cycle. A great collection of music you don't have to be Estonian to appreciate and enjoy. 

The Estonian Cello
Valle-Rasmus Roots, cello; Sten Lassmann, piano
Toccata Next TONC 0033

#ClassicsaDay #Divertimento Week 2

 The Classics a Day team decided to lighten up a little. Webster's Dictionary defines a divertimento as "an instrumental chamber work in several movements usually light in character." 

For October, the challenge is to post videos of divertimentos written by classical composers. 

I quickly discovered that every composer had a different idea of what "light in character" meant. The only thing any of these selections have in common is the title: divertimento. Here are my selections for the second week of the #ClassicsaDay challenge, #Divertimento.

10/07/24 Michael Haydn: Divertimento in D major for Horn, Viola, and Contrabass

Michael was Franz Joseph's younger brother and an accomplished composer in his own right. He wrote over 20 divertimenti for various instruments.

 

10/08/24 Niccolo Paganini: Divertimenti Carnevaleschi, Op. 4: Perigordino No. 1

Paganini's divertimenti for string trio are among his earliest published works. These date from 1804.

 

10/09/24 Edward Burlingame Hill: Divertimento for Piano and Orchestra

As a composition teacher at Harvard, Hill was a major influence. His students include Leonard Bernstein, Walter Piston, Virgil Thomson, Roger Sessions, and Elliott Carter.

 

10/10/24 Anna Bon: Divertimento in D minor, Op. 3, No. 3

Bon was a harpsichordist working at Esterhazy, where Franz Joseph Haydn was music master. She published three collections of music in the late 1700s. Shortly after, she vanished from the historical record.

 

10/11/24 Franz Liszt: Divertimento sur une cavatine de Pacini

Liszt used the melody "I tuoi frequenti palpiti" from Pacini's opera "Niobe" for this work. There's no question this piece is performed far more often than the original opera.

 

Albert Dietrich - for Brahms Fans

Albert Dietrich was one of those talents overshadowed by the company they keep. Dietrich studied composition with Robert Schumann, and the two remained close friends. When Johannes Brahms entered the Schumanns' circle, Dietrich was there. 

And the two also became close friends. Dietrich's "Recollections of Brahms" (1898) remains an important reference work for Brahms scholars. 

As a composer, Dietrich wasn't quite in the same league as Schumann and Brahms. But he was pretty close. In 1924 a piano trio was unearthed and initially attributed to Brahms. Modern scholarship now leans towards Dietrich. So, yeah. Pretty close.

This release is a great introduction to Dietrich. His Symphony in D minor from 1869 has a Brahmsian character to it. Dietrich is a more precise composer, though. He works out his themes in a deliberate manner, illuminating the structure of the movements. 

It was one of the most popular symphonies of the early 1870s, and it's easy to hear why. It's a well-crafted work written in the then-new style of Schumann and company.  

The 1874 Violin Concerto in D minor was composed for Joseph Joachim. Joachim was a virtuoso violinist/composer -- and part of Brahms' circle. The work was premiered by Johann Lauterbach. It's not clear if Joachim ever performed it. 

Too bad. It's a delicious work full of rich, Romantic harmonies and heart-on-your-sleeve melodies. Violist Klaidi Sahatci delivers a warmly expressive performance. It gives us every ounce of emotion Dietrich wrote into the score. I'm surprised more violinists don't have this in their repertoire. It's just a pleasure to listen to (especially if you like Brahms). 

The Solistes Europeens Luxembourg deliver some fine performances. Conductor Christoph Konig's interpretations are spot on. Brahms' style informs these performances. But it doesn't overwhelm them. Dietrich was in tune with Brahms' aesthetic. But he had his own ideas of where they should go. And those differences make this an engaging (and fun) listen.    

Albert Dietrich
Overture in C major, Op. 35
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 30
Symphony in D minor, Op. 20
Klaidi Sahatci, violin; Slistes Europeens, Luxembourg; Christoph Konig, conductor
Naxos 8.574507

Balkan Piano Music Unified in Quality

The core of the classical repertoire is centered in Western Europe -- Germany, Austria, Italy, and France. But every European country has a strong classical music tradition. And often that tradition adapts the genre in fresh and interesting ways. 

This release samples piano music from the countries that make up the Balkans. And what a rich and varied sampling it is!

Volume one features composers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia, and Slovenia. The music is as diverse as the language and customs of the regions.

Pancho Vladigerov is considered the father of Bulgarian classical music. His 1941 Improvisation No. 4, Op. 36 anticipates the sound of post-war Errol Garner. By contrast, Serbian Milan Mihajlović's "Three Preludes" have a sparse, atonal sound.  

Dusan Bavdek is from Slovenia. His "Awakening" shows minimalist influence with its repeated and shifting patterns. Kosovar Faret Rudi draws on folk traditions for his work "Les cloches Arberesh." And I could go on. Ten composers from ten different countries with ten different approaches to music. And each one is well-written.

Amir Xhakovig delivers each work on its own terms. His performances highlight the differences -- and the commonalities -- between these pieces. Each country is represented by a single composer. And we know each country has many, many more composers of equal talent to these. 

This is a series worth exploring. I was familiar with Vladigerov through his orchestral music on Capriccio. But the rest were unknown. I'm grateful for the introductions. This is fine music, indeed. 

The Balkan Piano, Volume One
Amir Xhaoviq, piano
Toccata Classics TOCN 0034

#ClassicsaDay #Divertimento Week 1

The Classics a Day team decided to lighten up a little. Webster's Dictionary defines a divertimento as "an instrumental chamber work in several movements usually light in character." 

For October, the challenge is to post videos of divertimentos written by classical composers. 

Seems straightforward enough. However I quickly discovered that every composer had a different idea of what "light in character" meant. The only thing any of these selections have in common is the title: divertimento. Here are my selections for the first week of the #ClassicsaDay challenge, #Divertimento.

10/01/24 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento No. 1 in E-flat major, K. 113

Mozart's first divertimento was composed during his second visit to Italy in 1771. It was created for a subscription concert.

 

10/02/24 Franz Schubert: Divertimento all'ungherese op.54 D818

This Divertimento by Schubert is atypical of the genre. It only has three movements, instead of five or more. The first is extremely long, and the melodies are more involved than most divertimenti. But it's Schubert, so who's complaining?

 

10/03/24 Vincent Persichetti: Divertimento for Band, Op. 42

This work was supposed to be for orchestral. But as Persichetti describes it, at some point during the writing, he realized the strings were never going to enter. And at that point, it became officially a work for band.

 

10/04/24 Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel: Divertimento in B-Dur

Princess Anna Amalia was a patron of the arts. And she was also an accomplished composer. Her residence, Wittum Palace, was described as the "court of the muses."