Giovanni Simone Mayr’s most successful opera, Medea
in Corinto, is now available for the first time on
recording, performed from the new critical edition
recently published by Ricordi. For the most part,
the new edition is based on an 1821 manuscript that
contains essential changes over all previously published
editions. It excludes, for example, a cavatina
for Medea, which the composer eliminated for this
edition and then later published in a single edition
for voice and piano.
The production heard here is a live recording from
the Theater St. Gallen. The performance received
great international acclaim and was considered to be
a breakthrough for the long forgotten work by Mayr.
A new production of Medea in Corinto will be performed
at the 2010 Opera Festival in Munich....more
Sachiko Furuhata-Kersting was born in Yokohama,
Japan, and completed her piano degree at the Academy
of Music in Tokyo. She continued her studies
in Germany at the Academy of Music in Detmold
and the Robert-Schumann Academy in Dusseldorf.
Her teachers included Roberto Szidon, Detlev Kraus,
Naoyuki Taneda and Willem Brons. She has concertized
in Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland
and Japan.
This recital program shows fascinating links
between works by Mendelssohn, Schumann and Liszt.
It begins with Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses,
followed by Schumann’s Faschingsschwank op. 26,
which is clearly influenced by Mendelssohn’s piano
compositions, namely, the Songs Without Words.
When he first wrote it, Liszt subtitled his Dante
Sonata “Fantaisie symphonique”, indicating that its
concept is close to Schumann’s fanciful-romantic
piano works. The great dramatic gesture of the Dante
Sonata contrasts with the Consolations No. 3 and its
renunciation of all external virtuosity. more
Zoltan Kodály’s Duet from 1914 can be considered as
one of the major standard works for the combination
of violin and violoncello. The duet by Italian composer
Giovanni Battista Cirri, on the other hand, is a
rarity, and it is now being presented on recording for
the first time here. Cirri, who was himself a cellist, is
known today primarily for his cello sonatas and concertos,
which are frequently used as teaching material.
The duet, however, is absolutely worthy of concert
performance and offers a broad range of moods and
sound effects.
Reinhold Glière taught at the Moscow Conservatory;
Prokofieff and Myaskovsky were among his
students. He held a number of high posts in Russian
cultural politics; his works embody a Russian-nationalistic
style that was completely in line with socialist
realism. His Eight Duets portray various musical forms
and movements in charming musical miniatures.
Moldavian violinist Valeria Nasushkina and
Byelorussian-born cellist Mikael Samsonov are the
Duo Eight Strings. They won prizes at the International
Gaetano Zinetti Competition in 2008, the
International Marco Fiorindo Chamber Music Competition
in 2009 and at the International Cittá di
Padova Prize Competition in 2009 as well. more
Fragile – the famous song from Sting’s album “Nothing
Like the Sun” is likewise the title of the new CD
of the vocal sextet “Die Singphoniker”. Renaissance
composer Pierre de la Rue and his requiem “Missa pro
fidelibus defunctis” are the focus of this program of
works, which all deal with the finite nature of human
beings. The ensemble creates a mood of contemplation
surrounding one of the basic themes of all times,
contrasting the requiem, which was composed ca.
1500, with music of our age. Sting’s “Fragile” is just
as much a part of this as music by Einojuhani Rautavaara
and Kurt Weill, while gospel songs like “Deep
River” and Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” are also
incorporated.
The Singphoniker have just recently recast a
number of positions, now cultivating old strengths
with younger forces. Characteristic for the group is
the sheer disarming ease of the upper voice, sung by
a countertenor, resting on the powerful, incredibly
colorful foundation of bass to tenor voices. When the
Singphoniker sing so-called “light music”, it loses all
its supposed superficiality, and they present so-called
“serious” repertoire with a naturalness that rapidly
helps listeners lose their guardedness more
After extensive background studies in London’s daily
life during the baroque era, Stefan Temmingh decided
to dedicate his new CD to the Handel enthusiasm
of higher eighteenth-century British circles. Anyone
who wanted to be considered a “gentleman” had to
play the recorder. As opposed to this, the harpsichord
was more an instrument for “ladies”. What wonderful
opportunities for interaction this resulted in! The
arias of the respectively newest Handel operas were
analogous to pop hits, and were played in all conceivable arrangements. The demands on instrumental
virtuosity were amazing – and even today, all possible
skill is required of recorder players for them to
render these pieces with any sort of adequacy. In the
manner of the English music-making salons, Stefan
Temmingh has gathered various musician-friends and
colleagues in order to revive this fascinating repertoire
for the recorder. They have followed him with
great joy on the journey to baroque London, a city in
Handel-fever. more
Aachen, Dusseldorf, Cleves, Cologne and Liège: not
only were these centers major imperial free cities,
royal or holy seats, but magnets for sixteenth century
Renaissance musical culture as well. Rhineland musical
culture was long in the shadow of the great Flemish
musicians of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
who were active at the major courts of the time. The
music of this region was considered to be of relatively
minor significance in comparison to that of the Italian
Renaissance. Today, however, is it more strongly
perceived as valuable art with its own independent
character.
From September 2010 to February 2011, the LVRLandesMuseum
Bonn will be showing the art- and
culture-historical exhibition “Renaissance am Rhein”,
which will present the Renaissance as an independent
epoch in the Rhineland. The museum’s comprehensive
approach will also take into consideration the
musical culture of the countries along the Rhine
during the sixteenth century. This CD by Singer Pur
was developed in the context of this overall concept.
Intensive research led the interpreters and supporting
musicologists to previously undiscovered musical
treasures that are heard again here for the first time in
centuries. more
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Ein Sommernachtstraum, Lieder ohne Worte op. 62, op. 67/1
Piano Duo Silver Garburg
Hervorragende Bewertungen für ihre Einspielung der
beiden Doppel-Klavierkonzerte von Felix Mendelssohn
Bartholdy (OC 739) steigern die Erwartungen für
das Mendelssohn-Soloprojekt des jungen, international
erfolgreichen Piano Duo Silver Garburg, das
jetzt veröffentlicht wird. Hauptwerk des Programms
ist die Originalbearbeitung der Sommernachtstraum-
Musik für Klavier zu vier Händen. Hier entfalten
Sivan Silver und Gil Garburg ihr überaus vielfältiges
Klangfarbenspektrum zur Illustration der zwischen
Traum und Wachen changierenden Handlung.
Einige besonders populäre Themen finden sich in
den Liedern ohne Worte, Silver Garburg spielen den
gesamten Zyklus op. 62 sowie die Nr. 1 aus op. 67.
more
Singer Pur’s concerts and CDs of folksongs and
Christmas music have proven to be huge successes.
The romantic works on this recording are stylistically
pristine; they profit from the ensemble’s supreme
mastery and its absolute precision in intonation, harmony
and phrasing. Additionally, Singer Pur always
fascinates with an overall sound that is homogeneous
as well as exceptionally plastic and colorful. And every
voice retains its independence even as it contributes to
the ensemble sound. more
Swiss mezzo-soprano Leila Pfister studied in Zurich
and Bern as well as in Hartmut Höll’s master
class for Lied duo and in master courses with
Pierre Boulez, Christoph Prégardien, Irwin Gage and
Brigitte Fassbaender. She is currently a member of the
Aachen Opera ensemble. She is particularly interested
in the music of the 20th and 21st century as well as
the romantic Lied. Her dance and theater studies
have made her an exceptionally versatile artist who
can also be seen and heard in many types of theatrical
productions.
On this CD, accompanied by Judit Polgar, with
whom she has worked for many years, she interprets
songs that mark the change to the modern musical
age. Both Schoenberg’s George-arrangements as well
as Berg’s Lieder op. 2 are on the threshold to the new
aesthetics of atonality and use the avant-garde lyrics
of their time as the motor of a new musical language.
Honegger’s “Quatre Chansons” reflect the phase of
reorientation during western music during World
War II. Old and new, traditional and exotic serve as
inspiration for a thoroughly heterogeneous cycle.
Debussy’s Chansons de Bilitis were written based on
texts of poet and bohemian Pierre Louÿs. With their
sketchy, quasi-improvisatory musical gestures, these
songs are distinctly different from late romantic art
songs. more
Fragile – the famous song from Sting’s album “Nothing
Like the Sun” is likewise the title of the new CD
of the vocal sextet “Die Singphoniker”. Renaissance
composer Pierre de la Rue and his requiem “Missa pro
fidelibus defunctis” are the focus of this program of
works, which all deal with the finite nature of human
beings. The ensemble creates a mood of contemplation
surrounding one of the basic themes of all times,
contrasting the requiem, which was composed ca.
1500, with music of our age. Sting’s “Fragile” is just
as much a part of this as music by Einojuhani Rautavaara
and Kurt Weill, while gospel songs like “Deep
River” and Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” are also
incorporated.
After extensive background studies in London’s daily
life during the baroque era, Stefan Temmingh decided
to dedicate his new CD to the Handel enthusiasm
of higher eighteenth-century British circles. Anyone
who wanted to be considered a “gentleman” had to
play the recorder. As opposed to this, the harpsichord
was more an instrument for “ladies”. What wonderful
opportunities for interaction this resulted in! The
arias of the respectively newest Handel operas were
analogous to pop hits, and were played in all conceivable arrangements. The demands on instrumental
virtuosity were amazing – and even today, all possible
skill is required of recorder players for them to
render these pieces with any sort of adequacy. In the
manner of the English music-making salons, Stefan
Temmingh has gathered various musician-friends and
colleagues in order to revive this fascinating repertoire
for the recorder. They have followed him with
great joy on the journey to baroque London, a city in
Handel-fever.
Aachen, Dusseldorf, Cleves, Cologne and Liège: not
only were these centers major imperial free cities,
royal or holy seats, but magnets for sixteenth century
Renaissance musical culture as well. Rhineland musical
culture was long in the shadow of the great Flemish
musicians of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
who were active at the major courts of the time. The
music of this region was considered to be of relatively
minor significance in comparison to that of the Italian
Renaissance. Today, however, is it more strongly
perceived as valuable art with its own independent
character.
