This latest installment of Furstenthal’s music features four instrumental sonatas and a string quartet. Like the preceding volumes, the music here is of very fine quality, and timeless. Furstenthal’s promising musical career was derailed when Austria was invaded in 1838. The young composer fled to the United States — and never wrote another note. Not […]
Toccata Classics
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Moritz Moszkowski series continues with sweet orchestral suites
This installment of Moritz Moszkowski orchestral music features two of his three orchestral suites. Ian Hobson and the Sinfonia Varsovia deliver sympathetic performances. The strings especially seem to exude the Romantic gooeyness of Moskowski’s style. The ensemble is well-recorded. The sound has a little bit of soft focus, but all the music details can be […]
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Steve Elcock Orchestral Music Vol. 2 maintains quality
To make an impact, always lead with your best material. In the case of a recording series, that can imply that the second (and subsequent) volumes are diminishing returns. Not so with the music of Steve Elcock. Elcock is something of an outsider artist. He’s a self-taught composer who wrote for his own satisfaction. His […]
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Agnes Zimmermann — another find from Toccata Classics
Labels matter. I’ve learned to trust the record label Toccata Classics. They often release music by composers I’ve never heard of (and that’s saying something). But it’s always been music I’ve found worth exploring. So when I saw this release of Agnes Zimmermann’s violin sonatas, I knew I had to audition it. Agnes Zimmermann was […]
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The serene Sonetti Spirituali of Pietro Vinci
Pietro Vinci published his Quattordeci Sonetti Spirituali in 1580. These works are prime examples of the Italian Mannerist School. The text is by Vittoria Colonna, one of the most popular poets of the day. The poems of the Sonetti Spirituali are religious, but Vinci gives them secular settings. His florid polyphony compellingly illuminates the text. Every note (and concordance […]
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Moritz Moszkowski Orchestral Series Starts Ambitiously
Moritz Moszkowski was one of the most successful concert pianists of the 1890s. His fame today rests mainly on a small selection of his piano works that test the virtuosity of the performer. But this Polish composer wrote so much more; chamber music, concertos, and orchestral music. With this release, Toccata Classics launches an ambitious […]
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Hans Gal – Music for Viola, Vol. 1 full of lyrical gems
Toccata Classics has released several volumes of Hans Gal’s music. And in the process, I think, helped audiences rediscover his remarkable music. Gal’s career in his native Austria was cut short with the arrival of the Nazis. Because of his Jewish ancestry, he was forced to flee and settled in England in 1940. Although well-respected […]
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Henry Cotter Nixon orchestral series finishes strong
Toccata Classics have completed their Henry Cotter Nixon series. And I see the logic of their release schedule. Nixon spent most of his career outside of Victorian London, and therefore in the margins of British music. He didn’t have the resources available to his cosmopolitan colleagues and composed accordingly. The first volume of his orchestral […]
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Sweetly nostalgic chamber music from Robert Fürstenthal
The story behind these works is fascinating, and critical to appreciate them properly. Robert Fürstenthal was a young Viennese composer whose career was just taking off. Germany annexed Austria in 1938, and the Jewish Fürstenthal fled to the United States. He became an accountant and abandoned composition. Only after reconnecting with his first love in […]