im Moto

The title of ECM's release of works by three composers born in the former Soviet Union perfectly captures the mood of the CD – it is truly mysterious. Although more than half a century separates the first of these pieces from the most recent, they share a sense of otherness that defies easy explanation. The pieces are not so much mysterious in the sense of being eerie (although there are several moments that might raise the hairs on the back of your neck if you were listening alone in the dark); they are unsettling because they raise more questions than they answer.

Sic transit gloria mundi – so vergeht der Ruhm der Welt, dieser alte lateinische Spruch kommt unwillkürlich dem in den Sinn, der sich mit Leben und Werk von Bernhard Romberg beschäftigt. Zu Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts gefeiert als exzellenter Virtuose auf dem Violoncello und anerkannt als einer der wichtigsten zeitgenössischen Komponisten drohte er schon gegen Ende seines Lebens als veraltet und sich selbst überlebt habend zu gelten.

Ignaz Moscheles - Il Virtuoso Vol. 2
Consortium Classicum / Claudius Tanski
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 286 MB | Full Artwork: 90 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold / Anthologie Deutscher Musik im Osten" # 325 0669-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1996
Genre: Classical | Style: Classicism, Romantic, Chamber Music

“It’s a refreshing piece, idiomatically written and with more than a few rewards for the careful listener. It’s also very beautifully played and recorded… highly recommended for chamber-music enthusiasts.“ ~Fanfare

The Gramophone-award winning partnership of Gerald Finley and Julius Drake turns to perhaps the most celebrated song-cycle of them all. Schubert’s Winterreise is a masterpiece of despair, astonishing in its bleakness and enthrallingly mesmerizing as the journey continues. Finley brings all his considerable dramatic powers to his performance—and all but submerges them under the ice.

This spectacular set features a quintessential selection of western sacred music that that will please one and all, from an inquisitive novice to a discerning connoisseur.
It features a vast array of critically acclaimed recordings of more than seventy cornerstone works, ranging from the earliest Christian chants to gospel songs and Gershwin's blues.

This entertaining CD takes its name from a cantata, which forms one part of this recital devoted to the music of Georg Benda (1722-95), one of a distinguished family of Bohemian musicians who settled in Berlin in the 18th century and became part of the German enlightenment. Georg became Kapellmeister at Gotha in 1750 and gained widespread approval for his compositions and for his skill as a violinist, oboist and keyboard player. Mozart admired Benda’s music and carried two of his melodramas with him on his travels. Hyperion have put together a pretty record containing piano pieces (played here expertly on the fortepiano by Timothy Roberts), lieder and the above cantata for soprano or tenor by two of our best ‘chamber singers’ (which does not mean that they do not sing other genres, only that they excel in this kind of intimate sphere). It might be a good idea not to play the whole hour of music at one go but (say) to have half before dinner and half afterwards.