Ludwig Schupmann

Ludwig II of Bavaria, more commonly known by his nicknames the Swan King or the Dream King, is a legendary figure - the handsome boy-king, loved by his people, betrayed by his cabinet and found dead in tragic and mysterious circumstances. He spent his life in pursuit of the ideal of beauty, an ideal that found expression in three of the most extraordinary, ornate architectural schemes imaginable - the castle of Neuschwanstein and the palaces of Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5
Beethoven Orchester Bonn / Stefan Blunier
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,23 GB | 24Bit/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 985 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold" # 937 1756-6 | Country/Year: Germany 2012
Genre: Classical | Style: Classical Period, Symphony

…While purists may still take issue with the use of modern instruments, the large size of the orchestra, and a few minor issues, even they will recognize that Blunier has learned a great deal from the early music camp and that his interpretations are intelligent and insightful. They also have an appealing warmth that is sometimes lacking in versions with original instruments, and the vigorous playing certainly keeps the music from seeming fussy or sterile. 4,5/5 ~AMG

Three Centuries of Bagatelles: what a neat idea! Although most of the music comes from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries – the only work that comes from eighteenth century is Couperin's Les Bagatelles (Rondeau) from Book Two of his Pièces de Clavecin – the selection is so cool – Beethoven's supremely well-known Bagatelle Für Elise, plus other far-less-well-known works by Saint-Saëns, Liszt, Bartók, Lyadov, Tcherepnin, and Denisov – and the performances are so sweet it's almost impossible to resist this disc. Superbly played by Russian-born, American-based pianist Julia Zilberquit, each little work comes alive with its own personality and its own melodic charms and stylistic quirks. With an agile technique and a brilliant tone – listeners may recall her superlative 1996 recording of Shostakovich's concertino arranged for piano and string orchestra by the performer – Zilberquit never fails to find what's distinctive about each tiny piece – the 36 pieces here average only a bit longer than two minutes – and never fails to make it appealing. Recorded in clear, round digital sound by producer Vadim Ivanov in the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory in 2001, this disc will delight all but the stubbornest fans of musical giganticism.

Transcriptions of chamber works to orchestral works have been interesting asides for composers for a long time - whether the transcription are alterations of a composer's own songs or chamber works to full orchestral size or those of other composers for which the transcriber had a particular affinity. Stokowski's transcriptions of Bach's works are probably the most familiar to audiences. The two transcriptions on this recording are the creations Gustav Mahler and his election to transcribe the quartets of Beethoven and Schubert is not surprising: Mahler 'transcribed' many of his own songs into movements or portions of movements for his own symphonies. Listening to Mahler's transcriptions of these two well known quartets - Franz Schubert's String Quartet in D Minor 'Death and the Maiden' and Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet in F Minor 'Serioso' - provides insight into both the orginal compositions and the orchestration concepts of Gustav Mahler. The themes of these two works would naturally appeal to Mahler's somber nature. Mahler naturally extends the tonal sound of each of these transcriptions by using the full string orchestra and in both works it is readily apparent that his compositional techniques within string sections are ever present.