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4.11.10

Side Notes - Errata Corrige: Michael Sanderling Heads Dresden Philharmonic

I had the right conductor in mind but the wrong name at hand: it is of course Michael Sanderling who will be the new conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic, not his elder brother Thomas.


Michael Sanderling, who I was much impressed with when he recently pulled a difficult concert off very well (having to stand in on short notice for Riccardo Muti and meeting the BRSO in one of its less-than-genial moods), has a new job, and it’s a pretty terrific one: He is the new music director of the Dresden Philharmonic. Not to be mistaken with the more famous Staatskapelle (which just finished its North American tour in Washington, D.C.), it’s a major orchestra with a reputation, history, and discography that would be the envy of many other orchestral bodies in the world. In fact, I can’t think of any city even remotely the size of Dresden (the population hovers around half a million) that has a ‘second’ orchestra anywhere as good.

Thomas Sanderling succeeds Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and steps into a line of conductors that include (in reverse chronological order) Marek Janowski, Michel Plasson, Herbert Kegel, Günther Herbig (a Baltimore regular, appearing this month with the BSO, I believe), Kurt Masur, Heinz Bongartz, Carl Schuricht, and Paul van Kempen. He will start his tenure just as Christian Thielemann will start his with the neighboring orchestra: This should spell exciting times for music lovers in and near Dresden.


Below I’ve selected a few favorite discs from their vast discography—which happens to include what I consider the very best choice for Liszt Piano Concertos.




available at AmazonBruch / Brahms, Violin Concertos,
Masur / S.Chang
EMI
available at AmazonF.Liszt, Piano Concertos 1 & 2,
Plasson / N.Freire
Berlin Classics (also Brilliant)
available at AmazonM.Reger, Sinfonietta, Hymn of Love, et al. Bongartz
Berlin Classics
available at AmazonLuigi Gatti / J. Haydn, "Creation" Mass & Schöpfungmesse,
Roderich Kreile et al.
Carus
available at AmazonSchnittke, Symphony No.9,
D.R.Davies /
Hilliard Ensemble
ECM
available at AmazonM.Reger, Variations & Fugue on a Theme of Mozart,
J.P.Weigle
Capriccio SACD

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