#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 022 - Engelbert Humperdinck: Miraculous and Ecclesiastic Adventures

Welcome to #ClassicalDiscoveries. Here is a little introduction to who we are and what we would like to achive at the first (or, in a nod to Bruckner, "double-zeroëth" episode). Your comments, criticism, and suggestions remain most welcome, of whatever nature they may be. Comments on YouTube directly are even more appreciated, as they will help the visibility and reach of the podcast - and because they make us feel like what we are doing is not completely in vain.

Now here’s Episode 022, on "Mr. Hansel & Gretel", Engelbert Humperdinck, but in works you might not ever have heard of. (Arnold George Dorsey-jokes included!)

When you hear 'Engelbert Humperdinck', you'll invariably either think of the King of Romance's hit ballad "Release Me" (in which case you've got the wrong Humperdinck, as far as we are concerned) or of the King of Romantic Children's Opera's greatest hit "Hansel & Gretel". Well, in their latest podcast, Jens and Joe will try to re-wire your brain so that you will associate the name with mystical blue birds and nuns on the run. Romance, however, remains the name of the (musical) game all the same.

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#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 021 - Who is Afraid of Franz Schre(c)ker?

Welcome to #ClassicalDiscoveries. Here is a little introduction to who we are and what we would like to achive at the first (or, in a nod to Bruckner, "double-zeroëth" episode). Your comments, criticism, and suggestions remain most welcome, of whatever nature they may be. Comments on YouTube directly are even more appreciated, as they will help the visibility and reach of the podcast - and because they make us feel like what we are doing is not completely in vain.

Now here’s Episode 021, on that weird, marvelous, wondrous composer of - mainly - operas: Franz Schreker, ex Schrecker.

In this episode, Jens & Joe tackle Franz Schreker, the missing link between Schoenberg and Zemlinsky – and a composer of wildly Freudian fairy-tale operas that were all the rage between the wars. Deemed too modern in his time, and shocking in Vienna – but loved for both – Schreker was one of the most widely performed opera composers before World War II, along with Richard Strauss and Walter Braunfels. But the curse of the Nazis and the subsequent shunting of much of the romantic repertoire saw him largely forgotten, occasional resuscitation-efforts notwithstanding.

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#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 020 - Johann Strauss II and his Contemporaries

Welcome to #ClassicalDiscoveries. Here is a little introduction to who we are and what we would like to achive at the first (or, in a nod to Bruckner, "double-zeroëth" episode). Your comments, criticism, and suggestions remain most welcome, of whatever nature they may be. Comments on YouTube directly are even more appreciated, as they will help the visibility and reach of the podcast - and because they make us feel like what we are doing is not completely in vain.

Now here’s Episode 020, cunningly released around the New Year to ride the Johann-Strauss-train of popularity to its full extent, as we talk about said composers, the whole business of Waltz-writing in Vienna, his rivals and successors and his Danish counterpart, Hans Christian Lumbye!

If you wanted to dance with somebody, in 19th century Vienna, Johann Strauss was your best bet to provide the soundtrack. But he wasn't alone in churning out the waltzes and polkas and operettas - continental "light music" - that the city consumed at such a rapid rate. In this episode Jens and Joe explore some of these composers, the history of the genre, and even visit Copenhagen by way of twirling musical entertainment.

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#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 019 - Alexander Zemlinsky, the Opera Composer

Welcome to #ClassicalDiscoveries. Here is a little introduction to who we are and what we would like to achive at the first (or, in a nod to Bruckner, "double-zeroëth" episode). Your comments, criticism, and suggestions remain most welcome, of whatever nature they may be. Comments on YouTube directly are even more appreciated, as they will help the visibility and reach of the podcast - and because they make us feel like what we are doing is not completely in vain.

Now here’s Episode 019, which tackles the operatic side of Alexander Zemlinsky and his development throughout. Or as the blurb states: "Once upon a time, there was a tiny little man in Vienna, who composed the grandest operas..." Chronologically correct, we start with the alluded-to Once upon a Time, and work our way to the Ouverture to a Grand Opera.

A little note on the discography of the Florentine Tragedy, Zemlinsky's one-act opera that's the only one that has had a lot of love lavished upon it, by the record industry: Beyond the two accounts below, you can also choose from: Gerd Albrecht/RSO Berlin/1983/Schwann, James Conlon/Gürzenich/1997/EMI, Vladimir Jurowski/LPO/2012/LPO Live, Armin Jordan/ORTF/2003/Naïve, Marc Albrecht*/Nethelands PO/2021/Pentatone, and Patrick Hahn/Munich RSO/2024/BR Klassik (w/Christopher Maltman!)

Once upon a time, there was a tiny little man in Vienna, who composed the grandest operas. What started out with fairy-tale works of musical theater did, alas, take a tragic end for Alexander Zemlinsky in the New World. In their latest podcast, Joe and Jens track this wildly underrated composer’s operatic career from Vienna via Prague and Berlin to a premature death in New York.

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#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 018 - Penderecki: A Life in Four Quartets

Welcome to #ClassicalDiscoveries. Here is a little introduction to who we are and what we would like to achive at the first (or, in a nod to Bruckner, "double-zeroëth" episode). Your comments, criticism, and suggestions remain most welcome, of whatever nature they may be. Now here’s Episode 018, which I believe might be our best one yet! It attempts to cover the whole stylistic world of Krysztof Penderecki in just over 70 minutes! Fear not, that’s not the length of our podcast today, it’s the time it takes to perform all his compositions involving string quartet and string trio. And they conveniently trace the composer’s startlingly divergent stylistic output, from the wild-as-it-comes 1960 String Quartet No.1 via the masterly String Trio to the romanticism of the Third and beyond..

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#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 017 - Kurt Weill: From Brecht to Broadway

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 017, where Joe shares his enthusiasm about Kurt Weill, trying to cure my corresponding ignorance in the process.

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#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 016 - With Werner Erhardt: The Man Who Discovered Salieri

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 016, where we are talking with our special guest, the fonder and long-time leader of Concerto Kön and L'Arte del Mondo. His discography is amazingly long, both as a conductor and as the ensemble leader of Concerto Kön, on all kinds of labels, well beyond Capriccio. (Teldec, DHM, Harmonia Mundi, DG, Berlin Classics, Erato, Sony...) I hope we will publish a second cut from this conversation, which easily lasted two hours, where we talk about some of my favorite recordings of all time that he had been part of.

Werner Erhardt on Record

Concerto Köln Capriccio Collection (10 CDs) Werner Erhardt Capriccio, 2019 US | UK | DE

Concerto Köln Berlin Classics Collection (12 CDs) Werner Erhardt Berlin Classics, 2019 US | UK | DE

Concerto Köln Teldec/Warner Collection (6 CDs) Warner (2008) US | UK | DE

Concerto Köln Saraband Dream of the Orient Archiv (2000) US | UK | DE

#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 015 - Dmitri Shostakovich - The Symphonies

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 015, where we return to Dmitri Shostakoivch, but now the symphonies, not the film music. We focus on a few favorites and Joe plays plenty of music to lighten the mood. :-)

The Kitajenko-Shostakovich

DSCH The Symphonies Gürzenich-Orchester Köln D.Kitajenko Capriccio, SACDs 2005

DSCH The Symphonies Gurzenich Orchestra Cologne D.Kitayenko Capriccio, CDs 2025

#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 014 - Charles Koechlin - France's Hidden Symphonist

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 014, where we are talking about the wonderful, eclectic music of the overlooked Charles Koechlin, a Surprised-by-Beauty-composer of the first water.

Koechlin on Capriccio (so far)

Charles Koechlin Symphony No.1 Reutlingen Philharmonicn A.Matiakh Capriccio, 2025

Charles Koechlin Symphony of the Stars Reutlingen Philharmonicn A.Matiakh Capriccio, 2022

#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 013 - Dmitri Shostakovich: The Film Music Scores

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 013, where we are talking about the cinematic side of Shostakovich.

DSCH Film Music

Dmitri Shostakovich Film Music Edition DSO Berlin, RSO Berlin M.Jurowski, J.Judd Capriccio, 2025

#ClassicalDiscoveries: The Podcast. Episode 012 - Easter Classics Beyond Bach

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 012, where we are talking about Music for Easter - beyond J.S. Bach!

Recommended Easter Listening
Antonio Salieri La Passione di Gesù Cristo Das Neue Orchester, Chorus Musicus Köln Christoph Spering Capriccio, 2004	Josef Mysliveček La Passione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo L’Orfeo Barockorchester Michi Gaigg Capriccio, 2004	Claudio Monteverdi Vespers for the Feast of the Ascension Schütz-Akademie Howard Arman Capriccio, 2009	Georg Philipp Telemann Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu Rheinische Kantorei, Das Kleine Konzert Hermann Max Capriccio, 2009

#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