Albert Hude

Albert Dietrich’s music is only now being revived 100 years after his death. Dietrich was the music director at the Oldenburg Court, Germany, from 1861-1891. His friendship with Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms helped to raise his profile and throughout his lifetime his music was frequently performed. Both Schumann and Brahms valued him very highly as a composer and Brahms often visited Dietrich in Oldenburg to perform with him. To celebrate this forgotten composer’s 100th anniversary, the Oldenburg State Orchestra under their Music Director Alexander Rumpf join forces with two soloists to perform three of Albert Dietrich’s most important works.

Albert Lortzings Opern werden leider heute nur noch selten gespielt. Das ist schade, denn zum einen lassen sie sich mit relativ geringem Aufwand sehr effektvoll auf die Bühne bringen - Lortzing war selber Schauspieler und Spieltenor, wusste also, was er sich und seinen Kollegen zumuten durfte.

Paul Graener’s early happy years in London motivated him to gain British citizenship, but it is no secret musicians and musicologists have detoured around his music because of his allegiance with the Nazi Party. His music is anything but nationalistic; it is the work of a late romanticist with a strong inclination toward French impressionism. Having previously released his Piano Trios, cpo now turn their attention to his Orchestral Works, giving his music the recognition it deserves.

Hermann Bischoff, a pupil of Richard Strauss, was a highly gifted composer and always reaped high praise from music critics and the press, but his compositional output remained relatively small. A mere two symphonies, two shorter orchestral pieces, one and a half operas, and a handful of songs were produced during his lifetime. This disc is the second in a two volume series and presents the recording premieres of Symphony No. 2 and Introduktion & Rondo.

Hermann Bischoff, a pupil of Richard Strauss, was a highly gifted composer and always reaped high praise from music critics and the press, but his compositional output remained relatively small. A mere two symphonies, two shorter orchestral pieces, one and a half operas, and a handful of songs were produced during his lifetime. This disc is the second in a two volume series and presents the recording premieres of Symphony No. 2 and Introduktion & Rondo.

Frostbite was the first indication that Albert Collins' Alligator albums were going to follow something of a formula. The album replicated all of the styles and sounds of Ice Pickin', but the music lacked the power of its predecessor. Nevertheless, there was a wealth of fine playing on the album, even if the quality of the songs themselves is uneven.

Albert King recorded a lot in the early '60s, including some classic sides, but they never quite hit the mark. They never gained a large audience, nor did they really capture the ferocity of his single-string leads. Then he signed with Stax in 1966 and recorded a number of sessions with the house band, Booker T. & the MG's, and everything just clicked. The MG's gave King supple Southern support, providing an excellent contrast to his tightly wound lead guitar, allowing to him to unleash a torrent of blistering guitar runs that were profoundly influential, not just in blues, but in rock & roll (witness Eric Clapton's unabashed copping of King throughout Cream's Disraeli Gears).