Stefan Henneken Solid

The Thomaskantor position in Leipzig was one of the most important jobs for musicians in Germany in the 18th century; several important musicians applied to succeed Johann Kuhnau after his death in 1722. In the recruitment process, the Leipzig city council was able to choose from the most famous personalities of the time. The first choice was Georg Philipp Telemann, who declined however, after he had obtained a decent salary increase at his Hamburg post.

The Danish choir under Stefan Parkman is splendid in this repertory. Their almost flawless intonation and ensemble make easy work of Brahms's thick textures and rich harmony….An embarrassment of riches–one you should take advantage of.

Alberto Ginastera left his massive orchestral piece Popol Vuh, which had been commissioned by Eugene Ormandy, unfinished at his death in 1983, and it was only after it was discovered by pianist Barbara Nissman that it had its premiere in 1989, with Leonard Slatkin and Saint Louis Symphony. A musical reimagining of Mayan creation mythology, it's a monumental piece that viscerally evokes a primitive world using both folk elements and sophisticated modernist techniques. The composer wrote that he was aiming for a "reconstitution of the transcendental aspect of the ancient pre-Columbian world," and the piece is fully successful at capturing that vision with music that is powerfully primal, strange, and darkly beautiful.

The grand opera Die Hugenotten was one of the greatest operatic successes of the 19th century, and its creator was hailed as the foremost composer of his time. Yet today, he is largely forgotten by the opera-going public and his works lie gathering dust in opera house repertories around the world.

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