Oehms

Old technology meets modern technology on this release from Germany's Oehms label, a top-notch Bach organ recording equally worth the consideration of the first-timer or those with large Bach collections. Featured is one of the monuments of central German organ-building, the Silbermann Organ at the Catholic Hofkirche in Dresden. The organ was dismantled during World War II but subsequently rebuilt and later thoroughly restored. It's a magnificent beast, with plenty of power and some unusual, highly evocative tone colors in the quieter registrations.

German men's vocal sextet Die Singphoniker was established in the early '80s and has made it its mission to take on a promiscuous variety of music, including plainsong, the repertoires of music for men's voices of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras, as well as folk song and American popular song. In this album the group brings its commitment to diversity to new level. Taking Pierre de la Rue's Requiem, Missa pro fidelibus defunctis (ca. 1506) as its central work, the group intersperses its seven movements with a wild variety of other pieces, including the spiritual Deep River; a movement from Weill's Berliner Requiem; German folk songs; contemporary pieces by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Knut Nystedt, and Hans Schanderl; and arrangements of songs by Sting and Eric Clapton.

The name of Georg Kreisler is not much known in English-speaking countries, but his death in 2011 occasioned considerable notice in his native Austria. Of Jewish background, Kreisler fled Vienna in 1938 for the U.S., where he served in the army fighting his former homeland. He wrote songs in English, one of which, Please, Shoot Your Wife, is recorded here. That song was rejected by American publishers, however, and Kreisler returned to Europe and eventually to Vienna. He has been compared to Tom Lehrer, and indeed several of his songs, notably Tauben vergiften im Park (Poisoning Pigeons in the Park) are close enough to Lehrer's to have inspired charges (and counter-charges) of plagiarism. Actually his range was greater than Lehrer's, and he was more prolific, even if he lacked the deadly satirical accuracy.

Martinu / Zimmermann / Strauss: Oboe Concertos
Stefan Schilli / Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Mariss Jansons
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 221 MB | Full Artwork: 67 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Oehms # OC 737 | Country/Year: Germany 2009
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century, Contemporary, Oboe

"…All three works are superbly played here by the brilliantly nimble Stefan Schilli, and Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian orchestra give him vivid support. I cannot think of a more enticing triptych of modern oboe concertos from any other source." ~Grammophone

Morton Feldman's late period was characterized by works dedicated to friends, his "For …" pieces. One of the best-known and most frequently performed is the piano piece For Bunita Marcus, who was a composition student of his. The work consists of single notes and short patterns of notes spatially notated, without precise rhythmic values. The effect is of a very leisurely improvisation, using a limited number of pitches, played in apparently random manner over the whole expanse of the keyboard. Listeners expecting a structured musical experience governed by conventional musical logic would probably find the piece infuriatingly scattered and pointless.

It has long been known that William Youn has joined the ranks of the world's leading Mozart and Chopin interpreters. The complete recording of the Mozart piano sonatas, made for the Oehms label by the South Korean pianist based in Munich, is already setting new standards of excellence in their interpretation on the modern grand piano.