Trau

Johann Strauss II’s operetta Waldmeister was staged for the first time in December 1895. The plotline - a case of mistaken identity somewhat reminiscent of Die Fledermaus - is lively, but the libretto itself proved to be less than satisfying. However, the vivacious and immaculately orchestrated music featuring several pieces that would go on to become famous, including the waltz Trau, schau, wem and the polka Klipp-Klapp-Galopp, earned Strauss immense admiration. Attending the opening night with Johannes Brahms was Vienna’s leading critic Eduard Hanslick who hailed the new work by asserting that "Mozart’s golden sound reigns in [Strauss’s] orchestra".

Johann Strauss II’s operetta Waldmeister (‘Woodruff’) was staged for the first time in December 1895. The plotline—a case of mistaken identity somewhat reminiscent of Die Fledermaus—is lively, but the libretto itself proved to be less than satisfying.

Anhand zweier aufschlussreicher zeitgenössischer Textquellen ‒ das Tagebuch des Abts Maurus Friesenegger von Andechs und die Aufzeichnungen eines einfachen Söldners ‒ sowie ausgewählter Musik aus der ersten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts beleuchtet das Ensemble Paper Kite hier die Mentalität der Menschen zur Zeit des Dreißigjährigen Krieges, als in manchen Landstrichen Deutschlands Tod und Verderben Teil des täglichen Lebens waren. Insgesamt entsteht ein faszinierendes Bild dieser düsteren Zeit, aber auch der erstaunlichen menschlichen Fähigkeit, in all dem Elend noch etwas Positives zu finden.

By transcribing its haunting Sinfonia for two pianos, György Kurtág gave the early Actus Tragicus funeral cantata by Bach a second life. He was only following good Bachian practice, which was to make the best of what was available to him. In his sinfonias, Bach often reused movements from previously composed longer instrumental works some of them now lost in their original, others still very much with us, such as the Brandenburg Concertos. When adapting the first movement of the Third as the opening gambit of BWV174, Bach added wind and a pair of virtuoso horn parts with a flair and audacity that would make most modern transcribers quail. The album ends with a much straighter transcription of the exuberant hunt music for the horn-led first movement to Brandenburg No.1 repurposed as the Sinfonia to BWV52.

Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim The South-West German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim was founded in 1950 by Friedrich Tilegant, a student of Paul Hindemith, and is based in the City Stadt Pforzheim, Southwest Germany. The orchestra was directed by Paul Angerer from 1971 to 1981, by Vladislav Czarnecki from 1986 to 2002, by Sebastian Tewinkel from 2002 to 2013, by Timo Handschuh from 2013 to 2019, and since 2019 by Douglas Bostock.

Ich habe genug is a timeless, transcendental masterpiece: a profound expression of Christian faith at the very end of life. It demands artistry of a special order, and Iestyn Davies now joins the likes of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson in the work’s distinguished discography. The couplings are equally ravishing performances of two other great solo cantatas, while the two orchestral sinfonias which complete the album will prove refreshingly familiar.