Giovanni Benedetto Platti was born when Johann Sebastian Bach was 13, and died when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was seven. Just as his life spanned the late Baroque and the early Classical era, so did his music. This release features four of Platti’s nine published harpsichord concertos. The works were written between 1730 and 1750, for […]
CPO
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Carl Reinecke – Orchestral Works show influences
Carl Reinecke studied with Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt. And those influences can be heard in various works. For his piano concertos, it’s Liszt. For his symphonies, it’s more Mendelssohn/Schumann. At least, that’s what I heard in this first installment of Reinecke’s orchestral works from CPO. It includes two of Reinecke’s symphonies, plus […]
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Mariani Klavierquartett excels with Emilie Mayer works
The Mariani Klavierquartett has only been around since 2009, but they’ve already accumulated an impressive body of work. This is their fifth release, and it’s a winner all the way around. Emilie Mayer (1812-1883) was a well-respected composer in her lifetime. Her music was frequently performed, and she was the Associate Director of the Opera […]
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Raphael Wallfisch shows affinity for Weinberg Cello Concerto
At first blush, it may seem like a recording of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s music doesn’t belong in the Cello Concertos by Exiled Jewish Composers series. After all, wasn’t Weinberg a Soviet composer? He was, but he very much belongs in this series. Weinberg was born in Warsaw. His family moved to Russia, and after the Revolution, […]
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Johann Evangelist Brandl Symphony anticipates Beethoven
This release features two works by Johann Evangelist Brandl, a younger contemporary of Mozart. Their lives were hardly parallel, but both had to deal with the business of music — like finding employment. Brandl composed his Symphonie Concertante for just that purpose. He used the work as an audition piece for prospective employers (members of […]
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Julius Rontgen Piano Concertos – originality in traditional forms
In the Netherlands, Julius Röntgen is a cultural hero. But for the rest of the world, not so much. If you’re not familiar with Röntgen, this release is a good starting point. Röntgen was a piano virtuoso, whose playing at age 14 impressed Franz Liszt. Röntgen was friends with Brahms. Although he lived until 1932, […]
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Emil von Reznicek String Quartets late-Viennese Gems
The title of this release is officially “Five String Quartets.” But it actually has six, as the fourth quartet is essentially a reworking of the second. Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek’s quartets have a complex history. It may hinder musicologists’ work with Reznick’s catalog. But it needn’t detract from enjoying these works. Reznicek continued to write […]
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Felix Draeseke string quartets draw on tradition
This release features two of the three string quartets composed by Felix Draeseke. Draeseke was an enthusiastic supporter (and emulator) of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. Yet Draeseke a composer in the New German School style, seemed to have other influences as well. These two quartets, written in 1880 and 1886 respectively, remind me more of […]
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Johann Matthias Sperger bass concertos more than novelties
So who was Johannes Matthis Sperger? He was an Austrian contrabassist and a contemporary of Haydn and Beethoven. And he was also a composer. It’s important to make that distinction. At the time, many virtuoso musicians wrote concertos for themselves — some are little more than a series of technical feats strung together. Sperger wrote […]