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.” […]
Romantic period
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Friedrich Gernsheim string quartet cycle off to a solid start
The musical influences of Friedrich Gernshiem are easy to hear; Robert Schumann, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Johannes Brahms. The latter is perhaps the strongest. Gernsheim was a friend and colleague of the famous composer. Like Brahms, Gernsheim only wrote a handful of string quartets. The Diogenes Quartett launches a traversal of those five works with this […]
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Katarzyna Drogosz bring Franz Xaver Mozart out of father’s shadow
In his lifetime Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart was better known as a virtuoso pianist than a composer. And for good reason. As a performer, he was judged on the merits of his own talent. As a composer, he was always compared to his father, Wolfgang Amadeus. As a result, F.X. Mozart virtually ceased composing in […]
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Fritz Volbach Symphony lands between Brahms and Wagner
Fritz Volbach was a German composer and organist. Most of his important works were composed at the beginning of the 20th Century. Like many composers of the late Romantic era, he was pulled between the influences of Brahms and Wagner. Judging by the sound of these works, Volbach drew inspiration from both. The release opens […]
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Han Chen delivers pristine performances of Anton Rubinstein sonatas
Anton Rubinstein, both as a pianist and a composer, was wildly popular with the general public. His colleagues, though, had a different opinion. Russian musicians considered him too German (and Germans too Russian). Although he had tremendous technical ability, Franz Liszt remained unimpressed, calling him ‘a Pseudo-musician of the Future’. Shortly after his death, Rubinstein’s […]
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Georgy Catoire & Ignaz Friedman quintets – alike yet different
Russian composer Georgy Catoire remains relatively unknown. His self-effacing nature kept his music out of the spotlight, and himself out of the company of other composers. The 1914 Piano Quintet in G minor shows the effect of that isolation. While it’s a late-Romantic work, it’s also a forward-looking one. Catoire methodically lays out his themes and develops […]
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Daniel Auber Overtures — great music, disappointing sound
This release is the first volume of a Daniel-François-Esprit Auber recording series. When finished, it will include all of Auber’s overtures. And that includes 31 opéras-comiques, seven opéras, three drames lyriques and seven other stage works. Auber is mostly known for Fra Diavolo. The comic opera was an international hit when it premiered and is still performed today. But with over 40 […]
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Share the joy of classical music: WTJU Classical Marathon airs Dec 9 – 15
Share the joy of WTJU Classical – December 9 – 15 We need your help to raise $40,000 and keep WTJU going strong! Diverse and wide-ranging as they are, the wonderful classical music pieces you enjoy on WTJU have common themes that echo through each performance. Themes that celebrate excellence and creativity… evoke the deepest emotions… and […]
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Josef Labor Piano Quintets late-Romantic gems
Josef Labor wasn’t one to be hampered by disability — although it could inspire him. Labor lost his sight in childhood but went on to become a respected organist, pianist, teacher, and composer. He was also the first composer-pianist Paul Wittgenstein commissioned to write a left-hand concerto. (Wittgenstein lost his right arm in WWI.) Labor […]