Fidelio turns 200 .. among other birthdays!

This Friday on Vivace, we have some special birthdays and anniversaries to celebrate.  We'll start at 6 am with the Piano Concerto No.2 by Ignaz Moscheles, whose 220th birthday it is.  A Clarinet Concerto by Carl Stamitz rounds out the first hour.

In the second hour, we'll enjoy a cello concerto by Italian composer, Giovanni Viotti, another birthday celebrant. and a harp concerto by Georg Wagenseil, among other works.

At 8 am, the big birthday of the day will be celebrated. Beethoven's Fidelio turns 200.  We'll have the overture.  The full opera can be heard this Sunday on WTJU's Sunday Opera Matinee.

We'll also hear a world premiere recording of a recorder concerto by Johann Fasch, and a string quartet by Brahms which had its premiere on this day in 1876.

There will be much to enjoy and as ever, I hope you'll join me, Friday morning, 6-9 am, for Vivace, right here on WTJU-Charlottesville.

Stuyvesnat Quartet: Brahms & Mozart -- Audio Treasures

Stuyvesant Quartet with Alfred Gallodoro, clarinet
Brahms/Mozart
Bridge

The Stuyvesant Quartet was a group of talented musicians who left a remarkable legacy. Founded by by the Shulman brothers, Sylvan (violin) and Alan (cello) in 1938, the quartet consisted of preeminent musicians from broadcast network symphony orchestras. In 1950 they formed their own label -- Philharmonia -- with audio legend Norman Pickering as their recording engineer.

Although Philharmonia was short-lived, the recordings and performances were top-notch, as this current reissue attests. The sound is warm, but detailed. The ensemble is nicely balanced, with a natural-sounding blend. And the performances are very much of their time.

The Brahms Clarinet Quintet with clarinetist Alfred Gallodoro is given a heavily romantic and sometimes sweet, reading. It's a performance that's full of drama, yet there are passages where the ensemble seems to be simply savoring every note.

The Stuyvensant's performances of Mozart's String Quartet in D major, K. 499 and String Quartet in D major, K. 575 are more straight-forward. While there is more vibrato than you'd hear in a modern recording, the ensemble keeps things simple and uncluttered.

This reissue is a window into the past, and a valuable one. No modern quartet would perform these works in the manner of the Stuyvesant. Yet the high degree of musicianship and the emotional charge they give these works makes for compelling listening even today. And the Stuyvesant's interpretations yield insights that can still sound fresh to modern ears.

Friedrich Gernsheim - Forgotten Genius

Friedrich Gernsheim, 1836-1916
A pretty good composer once you get
to know him.

Beginning this Wednesday, "Gamut" (6-9am Wednesday mornings) will be featuring a cycle of symphonies by German composer Friedrich Gernsheim.

Who?

Although Gernsheim's reputation has lapsed into relative obscurity, it wasn't always the case.

Friedrich Gernsheim (1838-1916) was a well-respected composer, conductor, and teacher in the latter half of the 19th century. Like Mendelssohn, Gernsheim was born into a wealthy Jewish family that valued the arts and supported his efforts.

Young Friedrich had a natural talent for the piano and studied with virtuoso Ignaz Molscheles. But rather than pursue a career as a performer, he chose to concentrate on composition and conducting.

In the late 1850's he lived in Paris, where he associated professionally with Rossini, Lalo, and Saint-Saens. Returning to Germany, he joined the faculty of Conservatory of Cologne, where he taught (among others), Engelbert Humperdink. He was a great friend of Brahms, whose style closely resembled Gernsheim's own. Gernsheim championed Brahms' music, and often programmed and conducted it.

And no wonder. Gernsheim and Brahms had very similar views about music, and wrote in similar styles. Gernsheim's First Symphony (1875) follows the same structure as Brahms' First Symphony (premiered 1876), although the two men worked independently. Gernsheim, like his friend, would write just four symphonies. He also composed a piano concerto, two violin concertos, a cello concertos, as well as an extensive amount of chamber music -- 5 string quartets, 3 piano quintets, 2 string quintets, and more.

But as good as it was (and most of his works were premiered to critical acclaim and widely performed), Gernsheim's music was still overshadowed by that of Brahms.

While I'm not suggesting we should stop playing Brahms and play Gernsheim instead, I do think the latter's music is of a quality that's worthy of the time investment to listen to it -- at least once. Which is why I'll be presenting it to you over the next month or so.

And if I can track down some recordings of Gernsheim's chamber works, I'll share them as well. But for now, between 8 and 9 AM, we can enjoy the symphonies of a perhaps unjustly neglected master. You be the judge.

8/14/13 - Symphony no. 1 in G minor, op. 32 (1875)
8/21/13 - Symphony no. 2 in E-flat major, op. 46 (1882)
8/28/13 - Symphony no. 3 in C minor 'Miriam', op. 54 (1887)
9/4/13 - Symphony no. 4 in B♭ major, op. 62 (1895)

Here's a sample:

 

You can also replay the program anytime from the WTJU archives. The program will be available for replay up to seven days after the original broadcast.

Helmuth Rilling Personal Selection: Indeed the best of the best

Helmuth Rilling Personal Selection
10 CD Set
Hänssler Classic

Conductor Helmuth Rilling has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the Hänssler Classic. To celebrate Rilling's 70th birthday, Hänssler released this 10-CD set, Rilling's hand-picked favorites from the over 240 recordings he's made with the label. With that much material to choose from, it's safe to say this set is indeed the best of the best.

Rilling is perhaps best known for his traversal of Johann Sebastian Bach cantatas and oratorios. That cycle is well-represented in this collection. In addition to the St. John Passion and the "Peasant" Cantata, there are also some shorter works by Bach in the set.

Rilling takes a straight-forward approach to Bach. He tends to keep things moving briskly along, with tight, clean ensembles that make the counterpoint easy to follow. Rilling lets the music speak for itself, and in these recordings, it has a lot to say.

That same type of unadorned, no-nonsense direction is equally effective in Rilling's recording of the War Requiem by Benjamin Britten.

The collection includes many works by romantic masters, and Rilling adjusts his style appropriately. César Franck's Les Béatitudes shimmers with a soft glow. Rilling lingers lovingly over each beautiful turn of phrase in Schubert's Gesang der Geister. His performance of Bruckner's Te Deum is emotive, with just the right amount of gravitas and portent.

Also featured in the collection is Haydn's Harmoniemess in B-flat. Rilling's precise interpretation captures the classical era's ideal: the perfect balance between form and emotion. Mendelssohns' Heimkerh aus der Fremde is full of good humor. The work was written for private performance (to celebrate an anniversary), and Rilling maintains a light hearted and casual mood throughout this seldom-heard work.

Hänssler's crystal-clear recording techniques perfectly match the style of this remarkable conductor. If you're not familiar with Helmuth Rilling, this collection is an excellent place to start. It spans a good portion of his time with Hänssler, and shows a remarkable consistency of quality throughout.

2011 Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival

I was quite excited to be able to attend 3 out of the 6 concerts for the 2011 Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival. The first two of those were at UVA's Old Cabell Hall, and the last at The Paramount Theater.

There was much pleasure to be had with the first group of performers, which included Matthew Hunt and Alasdair Beatson. The piece by Peteris Vasks, Episodi e Canto perpetuo was quite athletic, for both performers and audience. In his opening remarks Mr. Beatson seemed to want to "caution" the audience as to its intensity, but it left me breathless and intrigued, and in a good way. The piece, in eight movements performed attacca (that is, without pause), was not difficult for difficulty's sake, as some modern music can seem to be. Certainly the performers were challenged, but the music held it's arc, and appealed with portions of beautiful legato to balance the more stark moments.

Mr. Hunt featured prominently in Weber's Duo Concertant and Brahms' Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115. A technically exciting performer, there were times his breathy lead-ins to pianissimo were distracting, but they diminished as the concert moved along. At times unashamedly flamboyant visually, Mr. Hunt shone brightly in the Weber, but could hold a languid line in the more moody Brahms.

The next concert, also at Old Cabell Hall, began with Mozart's delicate Duo for Violin and Viola in G major, K. 423. Steven Copes and Timothy Summers were careful not to over-dramatize the piece, lest it become sentimental. Instead, each proved the simple task of listening to the other player is a critical component in mature performance of art. The music stood on its own.

Aki Sauliere, Alasdair Beatson, and Raphael Bell joined the performers in the Shostakovich Piano Quintet in G minor. One of the chamber pieces from Shostakovich's middle, less turbulent years, it has moments of pure acidity, but also humor, which the performers conveyed beautifully.

The last piece, Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2, written during the composer's travel to England, was, at once, poignant and crystalline.

The final concert I was to attend was on September 22 at The Paramount Theater. Joan Tower's Island Prelude was a fitting start to the performance, but I felt strangely disconnected from the performers, but it wasn't until later in the evening that I realized why.

Soprano Roberta Alexander set out on an American Song expedition, bringing out some charmers (Samuel Barber, Alec Wilder, Charles Ives), along with the tried and true of Copland and Gershwin. The pieces were of medium difficulty, but there were quite a few moments of vocal instability, particularly in the middle register. Andre Previn'sVocalise was marked by some rather unfortunate sounds from Ms. Alexander, and compared to Mr. Bell's sensual performance, they bordered on ugly.

The intermission was moved around so that the American pieces were concluded in the first half, and the French in the second, beginning with two of Satie's Gymnopedies (as per the composer's request), haltingly lovely in their string form. Chausson's carefully woven Chanson perpetuelle followed, and again, I felt a distinct separation from the performers. Several times I could not hear the cellist, and the pianist's notes were lost. It only became clear to me during the Faure that it was the venue itself that was the difference.

While The Paramount Theater is a lovely hall, it did not do service to the chamber music. Old Cabell Hall provided a much more intimate setting, cordial to the music itself. The Paramount sucked the intimacy away, and I missed it very much.

Please do not mistake my meaning: The Paramount has had some lovely performances for which I have been in attendance, but it cannot match Old Cabell Hall for warmth and nurturing of small ensembles.

I do hope that the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival continues on a long and prosperous life here in Central Virginia. Hearing chamber music, well-played, from modern composers, along with the more traditional pieces, is a great boon to Charlottesville.