Walther

In what Et’cetera has described as Volume I, Pavlo Beznosiuk couples three of Westhoff’s suites for solo violin from 1696 with six items from Walther’s scherzos from 1676. His program opens with Walther’s Sonata VIII, offering a startling initial barrage of signature chords and double-stops, giving way to flurries of rapid notes and studded with brilliant staccatos, beside which the demands of Corelli’s solos about a generation later pale, and the Sonata closes with fireworks that make a greater cumulative effect than the works of Locatelli, often identified as the precursor of Paganini’s technical demands.

This beautiful new CD by the outstanding organist Heinrich Walther contains, in addition to works by Johann Sebastian Bach, a selection of lesser-known and rarely played compositions from the Romantic and Late Romantic periods. These include three of the Eleven Chorale Preludes op 122 by Johannes Brahms as well as his Prelude and Fugue in G minor WoO 10. And by José María Usandizaga the first movement “Andante” from the Fantasia for cello and orchestra (1908) in the one written by Heinrich Walther himself in 2022 written organ version, an artist who loves the music he performs and unspectacularly delves into each of the works before him.

Walther von der Vogelweide - Lieder von Macht & Liebe - Per-Sonat (2015) {Christophorus CHR 77394}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 378 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 171 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 28 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Christophorus | CHR 77394
Classical / Medieval / Early Music

There is hardly a better representative of medieval poetry than Walther von der Vogelweide. He is considered one of the most important Minnesänger and Sangspruch (sung speech) poets of the Middle Ages. Sabine Lutzenberger and the ensemble Per-Sonat have underlaid some of Walther's poems with his own "Tönen" (= melodies), others with music of his contemporaries, completing fragments and reproducing several melodies in the style of the period. Sangspruch, one of most important handed-down traditions together with the Minnesang, functions here as the link between history and living performance practice. The sources extend from the 13th century to the Meistersang. Listeners can now experience Walther's magnificent poetry sung for the first time on this CD.

Johann Jakob Walther - Hortulus Chelicus Mainz, 1688
Les Plaisirs du Parnasse - David Plantier
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 382 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Zig Zag # ZZT060902 | Country/Year: France 2006
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque

…It will, of course, be of strong interest to lovers of the Baroque violin, however, and Plantier is a superbly agile player capable of producing the large variety of tone colors this music needs. The bright sound, recorded in a large public hall in Basel, Switzerland, is attractive and brings out small details in Plantier's performances.

Johann Jakob Walther - Hortulus Chelicus: Complete Recording - Sean Yung-Hsiang Wang (2016) {4CD Centaur Official Digital Download}
FLAC (tracks) - 44kHz/16 bit - Official Digital Download (wimpmusic.com) -> 1.46 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 590 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 2016 Centaur Records | CRC 3493/94/95/96
Classical / Baroque / Chamber Music / Germany / 17th Century / Violin

Little is known about the life of German violinist and composer Johann Jakob Walther. It is said that he was a violinist in the orchestra of Cosimo III from 1670 to 1674, and afterwards was concertmaster at the court of Dresden. Forty of Walther's compositions are extant, and are contained in two volumes: Scherzi da Violino solo con il basso continuo, published in 1676, and Hortulus chelicus, published in 1688. This release features his Hortulus Chelicus, which scholars believe was composed between 1650 and 1688. In this collection, Walther wrote at a new, higher technical playing level for the violin. The musicians featured on this recording perform on period instruments- Baroque violin, harpsichord, and Baroque cello.