Michael Sanderling

Matthias Kirschnereit and the hr-Sinfonieorchester under Michael Sanderling have compiled a compelling, captivating programme of music from the last days of the Classical era, on the cusp of the Romantic. This “half-way house” – in the best possible sense – accommodates the compositions of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Carl Maria von Weber and Felix Mendelssohn.

Edgar Moreau salutes his family heritage and highlights landmarks in his artistic development with Transmission – music by Bloch, Korngold, Bruch and Ravel, recorded with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Michael Sanderling. Moreau’s mother is of Polish-Jewish extraction and all five works on the album have a connection with Jewish culture. The largest work on the programme is Bloch’s Schelomo, which Moreau describes as “a majestic meeting of concerto and symphony, rich and colourful in its orchestration and full of contrasts”.

Though barely remembered now, both Salomon Jadassohn and Felix Draeseke were major figures in German musical life in the second half of the 19th century. Both began their studies at the conservative Leipzig Conservatory but after independently encountering Liszt and his work at Weimar in the 1850s both became disciples of that composer and the New German School he established. Jadassohn subsequently returned to Leipzig where he composed and had a long and distinguished teaching career, his pupils including Delius, Grieg and Busoni, while Draeseke finally ended up in Dresden teaching at the Conservatory there.

The playing is strongly Romantic in character, emphasizing the violent contrasts and almost painful expressivity of the score; the ensemble can deliver feathery, near-inaudible pianissimos and powerful fortissimos with equal presence. Intonation is more or less flawless, and ensemble work is superb with all five parts often being equally audible with no loss of coordination. On each repeated listen I find new details springing out of the texture. There are occasional miscalculations—the cello pizzicati at the start of the adagio are a bit too prominent, though the reverberant acoustic (recorded in a church) could also be partly to blame—but for the most part everything is well judged.