Classical And Romantic Performing Practice

Robert Schumann - Piano Quartets
Trio Parnassus / Hariolf Schlichtig
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,12 GB | 24B/88,2kHz FLAC (2.0): 950 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold" # 903 1414-6 | Country/Year: Germany 2006
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

This Super Audio compact disc from the independent German label Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm label (MDG) features the prolific Trio Parnassus in their thirtieth release for the label. Augmented by violist Hariolf Schlichtig, Parnassus perform not only Robert Schumann’s renowned Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47 from 1842, but also his youthful C minor Piano Quartet, a hidden gem composed thirteen years earlier. Until recently the C minor score was thought to be unplayable, however, this is the first recording in Joachim Draheim’s new, and as yet unpublished, edition…

Irish flutist James Galway is a superb interpreter of the classical flute repertoire and a consummate entertainer. His silky tone and masterful technique, charismatic personality, and varied programs appeal to audiences of all ages and musical tastes.

As a Chilean-born composer and pianist living in Australia, I have nurtured a penchant for bringing Latin American vernacular music into the classical concert hall. Both of these musical traditions are widespread and possess an immense canon fashioned by many an inspired composer. Just as significant, both have been greatly impacted by a myriad of interactions with vernacular music over several centuries. A brief survey of the Western tradition may identify composers such as Mozart and Beethoven engaging with Turkish music, Bartók with Eastern European folk music, or Bizet and Debussy with Spain.

Yuri Bashmet is the founder and jury chair of Russia´s only International Viola Competition (Moscow) as well as president of the International Lionel Tertis Viola Competition in the United Kingdom. He is the recipient of various awards and regalia from Russia as well as from other nations. In 1995, he received the Sonnings Musikfond Prize, one of the most prestigious in the world, which was conferred in Copenhagen. Previous recipients of this award include Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Arthur Rubinstein, Dmitry Shostakovich, Mstislav Rostropovich, Svyatoslav Rikhter and Gidon Kremer.

Though a pupil of the great orchestrator Rimsky-Korsakov, and in turn a teacher to the likes of Rachmaninov, Glière, and Scriabin, Anton Arensky himself is a composer often forgotten when contemplating the Russian greats. Productive in many genres, it is perhaps in his chamber music that this unduly neglected composer truly shines. His writing has much of the same textural sophistication and melodic beauty as his close friend, Tchaikovsky. In fact, the theme on which the Second Quartet's Variations are based is drawn from a Tchaikovsky quartet. Performing Arensky's First and Second string quartets, along with the Piano Quintet, is the Ying Quartet. This ensemble's playing is characterized by a surprisingly precise, consistent uniformity of sound and exactness of articulation, making it seem as if a single instrument were playing as opposed to four independent parts. All aspects of their technical execution are polished and refined, which only enhances their equally enjoyable musical effusiveness, rich, deep tone, and understanding of Arensky's scores that casts them in the best possible light.

This production of Anna Bolena faithfully meets the musical vision proposed by Fabio Biondi. The mise-en-scène, therefore, excludes any explicit reference to the plot’s historical time, and the events have been set at the beginning of the 1800s, when Donizetti’s opera was premièred.

Gustav Mahler: Des Kaben Wunderhorn - Barbara Bonney, Sara Fulgoni, Gösta Winbergh, Matthias Goerne,
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly, conductor
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 281 MB | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Full scans | RS & 4shared links
Publisher: Decca

If you have Bernstein/Ludwig/Berry performing this music and you buy this new version, you'll have all you need for Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Riccardo Chailly offers the most fabulous orchestral playing imaginable: those celebrated Concertgebouw winds have a field-day with Lob des hohen Verstands and St. Anthony of Padua's Fish Sermon. In Revelge the big martial buildup at the center of the song is positively terrifying in its violence. Equally terrifying in its quiet, oppressive dread is Der Tamboursg'sell. Enough of this: you won't hear these songs better played or conducted anywhere. David Hurwitz, classicstoday.com