#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 011 - Franz Schmidt & Jonathan Berman

Welcome to #ClassicalDiscoveries. Here is a little introduction to who we are and what we would like to achive at the first (or rather "double-zeroëth" episode). Your comments, criticism, and suggestions remain most welcome, of whatever nature they may be. Now here’s Episode 011, where we are talking with our special guest, the conductor Jonathan Berman, about Franz Schmidt, another Surprised-by-Beauty-composer, going well beyond the symphonies of which Berman has recorded the most recent cycle for Accentus (with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales). We hope you will enjoy it!

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Franz Schmidt Symphonies 1-4 BBC Ntl. Orch. Wales J.Berman Accentus, 2024

Franz Schmidt Symphonies 1-4 Frankfurt RSO P.Järvi DG, 2021

Franz Schmidt Symphonies 1-4 Detroit/Chicago SO N.Järvi Chandos, 1997

Franz Schmidt Symphonies 1-4 Malmö SO V.Sinaisky Naxos, 2024

#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 010 - Christian Sinding: Rustles of German Romanticism

Welcome to #ClassicalDiscoveries. Here is a little introduction to who we are and what we would like to achive at the first (or rather "double-zeroëth" episode). It bears mentioning every time, that your comments, criticism, and suggestions are most welcome, of whatever nature they may be. Now here’s Episode 010, where we are talking about Christian Sinding, another Surprised-by-Beauty-composer, a Norwegian-in-German's-musical-clothing, and his symphonies of which a new (the third, by my count) cycle has been issued on Capriccio.:

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Christian Sinding Symphonies 1-4 Norrköpping SO K.H.Steffens Capriccio, 2024

Christian Sinding Symphonies 1-4 Norwegian RO (KORK) Ari Rasilainen Finlandia/Warner, 2000

Christian Sinding Symphonies 1-2 NDR RP Hannover Thomas Dausgaard CPO, 2001

Christian Sinding Symphonies 3-4 NDR RP Hannover David Porcelijn CPO, 2004

#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 009 - Nino Rota: Beyond the Godfather

Welcome to #ClassicalDiscoveries. Here is a little introduction to who we are and what we would like to achive at the first (or rather "double-zeroëth" episode). It still bears mentioning every time, that your comments, criticism, and suggestions are most welcome, of whatever nature they may be. Now here’s Episode 009, where we are talking about Nino Rota, another Surprised-by-Beauty-composer, and Italian brother-in-spirit to Miklós Rózsa:

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Nino Rota Il cappello di paglia di Firenze Graz Philharmonic & Choir Capriccio, 2023

Dip Your Ears: No. 280 (DSCH, dogmatically pumped up)

D.Shostakovich 24 Preludes op.34, Chamber Sy. op.110a dogma chamber orchestra Mikhail Gurewitsch (CM) (M|DG SACD, 2013)

Shostakovich Strung Up

It’s rare enough to hear Shostakovich’s Twenty Four Preludes op.34 on disc (much less in recital). Much rarer still, but no less interesting, is it to hear the work—not to be mistaken for the increasingly popular 24 Preludes and Fugues, op. 87—set for string orchestra. The all-lower case dogma chamber orchestra took on the task and recorded Grigory Kochmar’s arrangement to marvelous, delightfully unsettling effect: A new angle on an unfamiliar work gives us de-facto brand new Shostakovich. Compared to that, the String Quartet No.8 in its souped-up version (basically a simpler version of Chamber Symphony op.110a), is familiar territory in which dogma faces and proudly meets the competition.

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Dip Your Ears: No. 279 (The Sibelius Lure)

Jean Sibelius The Essential Orchestral Favorites Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Leif Segerstam (Ondine, 2014)

Essentials of Sibelius

Reducing “Essential Sibelius” to the Violin Concerto, tone poems, and one Symphony will make hardened Sibelius-fans wince. But then Ondine’s “The Essential Orchestral Favorites” intends not to please the hardened Sibelius-fan, it aims at making hardened Sibelius-fans out of the uninitiated. The 2-CD set does this splendidly: The Violin Concerto is the only Sibelius-work that’s permanently in the repertoire. The Second Symphony, Sibelius’ most conventional, is the ideal first symphonic exposure. And the tone poems, Karelia Suite, and three movements from The Tempest make a perfect Sibelius-starter—especially with Leif Segerstam and the Helsinki Philharmonic, whose soft-lit brawn is dream-boat stuff. Add Sibelius’ own performance of his Andante festivo and a 50-page booklet with oodles of photos of Sibelius, a timeline, and condensed biography. Start here and fall in love.

P.S. If you are ready for a more serious commitment right away, look for The Essential Sibelius on BIS, which will give you absolutely everything you could reasonably want from Sibelius (all the symphonies, tone poems, the concertante pieces, Kullervo, Suites, plenty of choral works, and selected chamber and piano pieces), in reference performances, on 15 discs.

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Dip Your Ears: No. 278 (Freiburgian Schumann Glory)

Robert Schumann Violin Concerto, Piano Trio No.3 Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Jean Guihen Queyras Freiburg Baroque Orchestra Pablo Heras-Casado (Harmonia Mundi, 2015)

Schumann Glory: Violin Concerto Edition

There are neglected works by great composers, fitfully revived and let go again and rightfully forgotten. Fewer are the works by great composers once ignored and only now rediscovered as masterpieces. Enter Schumann’s Violin Concerto. Clara Schumann, following Joseph Joachim’s advice, suppressed it. Unplayable. Drab. Tiresomely repetitive. Awkward. It’s half a miracle she didn’t burn it. And still performances remain rare. This disc might be the concerto’s best chance to change this! Isabelle Faust’s hushed gentility and her faint, otherworldly touches bring the ears to their knees with the Ghost Variation motif. The following emergence out of this gorgeous, troubled netherworld of Schumann’s mind is all the more invigorating. The Piano Trio is a stupendous bonus; the first in what might be the next touchstone set of three!

(Since then, these artists have completed the trio of concertos coupled with the trio of Piano Trios – and the happy result has been conveniently boxed.) .

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Dip Your Ears: No. 277 (The Freire & Chailly Bumble-Bee-Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Cto. No.5, Piano Sonata op.111 Nelson Freire Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Riccardo Chailly (Decca, 2014)

Bumble-Bee-Beethoven

Nelson Freire is a pianist’s pianist, and a musician’s musician: Nothing is fancy, everything is tasteful, and there’s an innate sense of rightness. His Beethoven recording of the “Emperor” Concerto and the last Piano Sonata, “opus one-eleven”, is a case in melodious point. In the concerto he benefits from a Riccardo Chailly on fire: The low strings hum like bumble-bee war-drones on a fuzzy mission of humanity. The timpani are bone-dry and caught in uncanny detail. It’s a joy how Decca records this extraordinarily well-sounding orchestra. The deal is sweetened by the surprisingly soft-spoken, delicate Sonata opus 111.

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#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 008 - Karl Weigl: Viennese Glory and American Obscurity

Welcome to #ClassicalDiscoveries. Here is a little introduction to who we are and what we would like to achive at the first (or rather "double-zeroëth" episode). It still bears mentioning every time, that your comments, criticism, and suggestions are most welcome, of whatever nature they may be. Now here’s Episode 008, where we are talking about Karl Weigl, a definite Surprised-by-Beauty-composer:

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Karl Weigl Sy. No.3, Symphonic Prelude J.Bruhns/Dt.St.Phil.Rheinland-Pfalz Capriccio, 2024