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, […]
CPO
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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 […]
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Homilius and Agricola cantatas move beyond Bach
The Easter cantatas in this recording come from two contemporaries of Johann Sebastian Bach. And both take different approaches to the subject. Gottfried August Homilius was thirty years younger than Bach. Gottfried August Homilius was thirty years younger than Bach. Contemporary accounts describe him as one of the best sacred music composers of his day. […]
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David Monrad Johansen – Norwegian treasure
As I continue to explore the highways and the byways of the classical repertoire, I find that every country has its national treasure. Sometimes, as with Antonin Dvorak, that treasure is shared with the world. Norway’s treasure, David Monrad Johanson hasn’t been — so far. Johansen is Norwegian, but his taste is cosmopolitan. Mixed in […]
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Johann Theile – St. Matthew Passion anticipates Bach
Johann Theile was best known as an opera composer. But he did study with Heinrich Schutz and wrote a significant amount of sacred choral works. His St. Matthew Passion dates from 1673 – predating Bach’s by about fifty years. The work features two solo voices; the Evangelist and Jesus. Although it uses Matthew’s narrative of […]