This release features a selection of works written at the very beginning, and at the very end of Richard Strauss’ career. In a way, it’s not surprising at the consistency of style in these works. In those later years, Strauss became increasingly nostalgic for those earlier times. A good example is the Duett-Concertino for clarinet […]
Orchestral music
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Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist: Suites for Orchestra – Fine Film Scores
Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist had a varied career: bandleader, conductor, classical composer — and film composer. A musical jack of all trades and master of all. The two works in this release are suites from two of Lundquist’s films. And the performances are conducted by the composer. As a film composer, Lundquist blended popular and classical […]
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Johann Stamitz Op. 3 Symphonies a mixed bag
Naxos has released two numbered volumes of Stamitz symphonies. This doesn’t seem to be part of that set. Rather, it focuses on Johann Stamitz’ Op. 3, a compilation of works written over a six-year period. If I had to place them stylistically, I’d say they represent a transition from style galant of Johann Christian Bach to the […]
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Pivotal Symphonies by Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist
Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist has a musical career that almost makes him an outsider artist. He was a jazz pianist and bandleader. He began formal studies but dropped out because he felt the curriculum too confining. Instead, he took lessons from several musicians, each teaching a different aspect of music. One of them was Dag Wiren […]
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Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and Hermann Baumer deliver with early Strauss
Both scores in this release were written in 1893. Richard Strauss was just nineteen, but already an experienced composer. Both also use Beethoven works as their models, and in some parts, their style. The concert piece uses the Coreolon overture. It’s considered the least successful of the two works. The structural flaws mentioned in the liner […]
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Boris Lyatoshynsky Symphony gets spirited performance
Boris Lyatoshynsky was a Ukranian who spent a large part of his career working in Soviet Russia. It’s an important distinction. Soviet composers had to write music that followed political guidelines. In the case of Lyatoshynsky’s 1951 Third Symphony, it meant rewriting the finale. The programmatic symphony was a reaction to the horrors of the […]
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Johann Simon Mayr piano concertos on par with Haydn’s
The German composer Johann Simon Mayr dominated the music scene in northern Italy in the early 1800s. He was the maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Bergamo and wrote a prodigious amount of music: over 70 operas, 18 masses, and 57 symphonies. Today, he’s best known (if at all) as Gaetano Donizetti’s teacher. This […]
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Mieczyslaw Weinberg Chamber Symphonies – phenomenal
This release is special in two ways. First, it marks the centenary of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s birth in 1919. Second, it’s the debut recording of the East-West Chamber Orchestra. The combination is magic — we get phenomenal performances of some phenomenal music. The East-West Chamber Orchestra has been the in-house ensemble for the Yuri Bashmet International […]
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Solistes Européens deliver with Farrenc Symphony No. 1
Back in September 2018 I reviewed the debut release by the Solistes Européens, Luxembourg with conductor Christoph König. It was a release of Louise Farrenc’s second and third symphonies. I said, “The Solistes Européens has a fine ensemble blend. König leads them in fiery, committed performances. I would love to hear them perform Farrenc’s first symphony.” […]