Klengel

While not many listeners in the present day may remember the name Julius Klengel, his name was virtually synonymous with the cello less than 100 years ago. The majority of Klengel's career centered around either performing – as principal cellist of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, as a chamber musician, or as a soloist – or pedagogy. In fact, he was one of the most sought-after teachers of his time, and his numerous students include the likes of Feuermann and Piatigorsky. Klengel also composed a great deal of music for the cello, especially pedagogical works. His performance works, including the three concertos heard on this disc, are infrequently played. Compositionally, they are generally enjoyable works but not terribly original or moving.

To the extent that he is remembered at all, the Dresden-born August Alexander Klengel (1783–1852) retains a toe-hold in music history thanks to a monumental set of 48 canon and fugues. But he was an important early-Romantic composer and celebrated piano virtuoso. August Alexander Klengel enjoyed a reputation that stretched from St Petersburg to London; indeed, he lived in both cities for a while, although later returning to his native Dresden. This first recording of his piano and chamber music reveals a personality with a strong lyrical impulse, somewhere between Field, almost certainly an acquaintance during Klengel's five years in the Russian capital, and Mendelssohn and Chopin, who were personal friends. The principle task of the Trio Klengel founded in 2016 is to perform rare and forgotten chamber music. It takes its name from a trio founded a century ago by three daughters of the cellist Julius Klengel (Julius Röntgen's father-in-law), who was distantly related to August Alexander Klengel. This Trio Klengel consists of Keiko Yamaguchi (violin), Stefania Verità (cello) and Anna Petrova-Forster (piano).

Daniel Lozakovich’s rich, romantic style of playing often sees him likened to the iconic violinists of the 20th century. On his latest album, Spirits, he celebrates some of his forebears in the hope of passing on their style and repertoire to younger generations. “When I hear these violinists play I understand why the violin is my life”, he says. Partnered by pianist Stanislav Soloviev, Lozakovich performs favourite encores by Elgar, Debussy, Falla, Gluck, Brahms and Kreisler.

Following the 2011 landmark Beethoven cycle, Riccardo Chailly returns with a recording of the complete Brahms symphonies and orchestral works including the overtures and Haydn Variations. Rarities include world premiere recordings of two piano intermezzi orchestrated by Paul Klengel (brother of the Gewandhaus’ long-standing principal cellist Julius Klengel); the 9 Liebeslieder waltzes; the original first performance version of the Andante of Symphony No. 1 and the even rarer revised opening of the Fourth Symphony. Chailly has radically rethought his approach to these works, re-examining the scores and returning to the recorded interpretations of a generation of conductors alive during Brahms’ lifetime, principally Felix Weingartner and one of his Gewandhaus predecessors Bruno Walter.

Unlike many a young artist, Natalie Clein has resisted the temptation to rush into the recording studio at the earliest opportunity. That such patience has brought considerable dividends is evident from this impressive and well-recorded debut CD which boasts a particularly sensitive and beautifully shaped account of Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata. The work may not lie very easily on the cello, but Clein makes light work of its technical difficulties, delivering the brilliant passage work in its outer movements with an irresistible mixture of bravura and Viennese charm. Clein and her reliable partner Charles Owen also offer musically incisive accounts of the two Brahms sonatas.