SACD / DSD

Jean-Fery Rebel – Ballets Sans Paroles – Pratum Integrum Orchestra (2006)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:00:00 minutes | 1,16 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: SACD ISO |  @ Caro MitisItem Number: CM 0052005
Recorded: 5-7.11.2005 5th Studio of The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR) Moscow, Russia

In 1711 Jean-Féry Rebel published his orchestral Caprice. This piece immediately achieved great popularity among the Parisians and attracted attention of the celebrated Françoise Prévost who set her solo dance to the music of the Caprice. Her performances were so successful that soon after that each ballet dancer, making her debut, had to know Rebel’s Caprice. The transformation of an instrumental piece into a dance was not an extraordinary occurrence for the French Baroque theatre. In this domain it was common to sing a Chaconne or to dance an aria, court performances envisaged vocal numbers together with dances. For that reason, the appearance of Rebel’s Caprice merits special attention: apparently this piece was the first ballet without singing. A year after the Caprice, another piece by the composer, the Boutade (fancy, whim, joke in French), was turned into a dance.

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Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 8 (9) in C major D.944 “Great” / Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 88
Berliner Philharmoniker / Wilhelm Furtwängler
SACD ISO (Single Layer/Mono): 3,05 GB | 24B/88,2kHz FLAC: 766 MB | Full Artwork: 80 MB | 3% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Deutsche Grammophon, Universal Music LLC # UCGG-9019 | Country/Year: Japan 2011 (Germany 1951)
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School, Historical Recording

Artist Biography by David Brensilver

Although born in Berlin, conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler spent his childhood in Munich, where his father was a professor. After his talents were recognized at an early age, he was removed from school and educated privately. Furtwängler’s teachers included the composer Joseph Rheinberger and the conductor Felix Mottl. By the age of 17, the young musician had written numerous works and had his conducting debut three years later with the Kaim Orchestra, where he directed the opening Largo from his own first symphony, Beethoven’s overture Die Weihe des Hauses, and Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony. The ambivalent response to his music and the financial instability that composition offered caused him to focus his energies on conducting.

Furtwängler’s first position was at the Breslau Stadttheater in 1906 and 1907. He went to Zurich the next season, followed by an apprenticeship at the Munich Court Opera under the auspices of his teacher Mottl. From 1911 to 1921, Furtwängler served as music director of various ensembles in Lübeck, Mannheim, Frankfurt, and Vienna. From 1920 to 1922, he served as conductor of the Berlin Staatskapelle. At the age of 35, the conductor took the baton at the celebrated Berlin Philharmonic and concurrently held the same position at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, where he remained until 1928. Furtwängler led the New York Philharmonic from 1927 to 1929, but eventually declined an offer to remain there. It was during those years that Furtwängler was appointed music director of the Vienna Philharmonic. As the 1920s drew to a close, he held positions throughout Europe, including those at the Bayreuth and Salzburg festivals (1931-1932) and the Berlin State Opera (1933). In 1932, he was awarded the Goethe Gold Medal.

When the Nazis came into power in 1933, Furtwängler strongly and publicly opposed the Nazi agenda, despite pride in his German heritage, and refused to give the Nazi salute, even in Hitler’s presence. In 1934, when Hindemith’s Mathis de Maler was banned by the Nazi party, Furtwängler unilaterally resigned from all of his posts, aided numerous Jewish musicians under Nazi persecution, and refused to conduct in Nazi-occupied areas. Furtwängler eventually fled to Switzerland at the suggestion of Albert Speer. When, in 1936, the New York Philharmonic offered him the position of music director, he was dissuaded from accepting the position by anti-Nazi sentiment. After the war’s conclusion, the Allied command cleared Furtwängler of charges of being a Nazi sympathizer, although the American government did not “denazify” Furtwängler until 1946. In 1949, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra courted the German conductor, but its board of directors quickly withdrew its offer under the heavy and largely unjustified criticism from the orchestra’s musicians.

Always welcomed in Europe, Furtwängler enjoyed continued success throughout the region. While uninterested in recording live performances, citing the impossibility for technology to capture a mood or aesthetic, he was responsible for countless recordings, most of which were made after the war. His dedication to the works of Beethoven was unsurpassed, and his enthusiasm towards the contemporary compositions of the time impressive, evidenced by his aggressive programming. Furtwängler’s idiosyncratic approach to the repertoire and spontaneous interpretations were unique to say the least. Furtwängler remained a popular artist and kept a busy schedule conducting throughout Europe until his death in Baden-Baden in 1954. According to his second wife Elisabeth Ackermann, he died a darkened and melancholy man, troubled by the atrocious history his beloved Germany had written. allmusicguide (more…)

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Joseph Haydn – If Haydn Had Written For Oboe, vol. 2 – Alexei Utkin, Hermitage Chamber Orchestra (2009)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 00:51:43 minutes | 993 MB | Genre: Classical
Source: SACD ISO |  @ Caro MitisItem Number: CM0012007
Recorded: 12-16.05.07 5th Studio of The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR) Moscow, Russia

There’s hardly anyone not familiar with Haydn’s canonical image, omnipresent in his popular biographies: the endlessly jovial old man, ‘Papa Haydn’, pious, amiable, easy-going and industrious, without a hint of a tortured soul, that hallmark of genius in new European culture since Romanticism. This deliberately contrast-free, and yet remarkably truthful image of the great master, created towards the end of his life, corresponds well to his artistic career, also apparently devoid of storms and crises. In the composer’s lifetime, his music was greeted with enthusiasm not in Europe alone, but in overseas colonies as well. He died a venerable old man, having known in full the sweetness of recognition and the love of his contemporaries. A telling example of the attitude towards Haydn in the classical age are the words by Ernst Ludwig Gerber that introduce the master in his Historischbiographisches Lexikon der Tonku?stler from 1790: “Our greatest man, great in every small thing and even greater in big things, the pride of our times.”

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Joseph Haydn – If Haydn Had Written For Oboe, vol. 1 – Alexei Utkin, Hermitage Chamber Orchestra (2007)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 00:55:14 minutes | 0,99 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: SACD ISO |  @ Caro MitisItem Number: CM0042006
Recorded: 2006, April: 13, 15, 16, 18–19 5th Studio of The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR), Moscow, Russia

Here’s another delectable SACD from Caro Mitis—oboist Alexi Utkin playing music of Haydn, one of his favorite composers. The Oboe Concerto actually wasn’t written by Haydn although attributed to him, the oboe plays a relatively insignificant part as one of four soloists in the well-known Sinfonia concertante, and the oboe d’amore here replaces the cello in the Divertimento. Exquisite performances, beautifully recorded. The only negative feature is the relatively short playing time of the disk (55:14).

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – The Last 6 Symphonies
Philharmonia Orchestra / New Philharmonia Orchestra – Otto Klemperer
3xSACD | ISOs (2.0): 6,52 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 2,90 GB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: EMI Classics # 50999 9 55932 2 | Country/Year: Europe 2012 (1956-1962) | 3% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School, Orchestral, Historical Recording

In the online discussions about the best recorded versions of the Mozart symphonies there is little reference made to Otto Klemperer, although at one time his EMI recordings of the last several Mozart symphonies were considered the epitome. His various recordings have been available in one form or another ever since his first LPs came out in the late 1950s.

After Klemperer escaped Germany when Hitler came to power, he had a difficult time in the U.S., even getting himself arrested. In 1954 a young agent in NYC arranged for him to conduct a concert in Portland, Oregon. He became famous overnight with his superb performance of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, and he ended up in London, where he was asked to conduct EMI’s house band, the Philharmonia. Most British orchestras of the period played well enough to get by but were not first rate. Klemperer fired up the Philharmonia and made London a benchmark for orchestral excellence during the 1960s.

These recordings were originally made in 1956 thru 1962. The first couple of Mozart Symphonies were done in mono in 1956, but then stereophonic recording hit the record business and Klemperer did them over again in stereo for a set of the last six. (No. 37 was discovered in 1907 to have been actually by Michael Haydn, not Mozart.) These are full-bodied performances of great power and knowledge, yet with sensitivity when required. Klemperer may have a reputation for stodgy tempi, but actually the rhythm force of his conducting relieves any of these movements from sounding too slow. The music can still be light and graceful when required – such as in the minuet movements.

Klemper divided up the string sections, making for more interesting spatial effects in stereo, and although the EMI Great Recordings of the Century series did an OK job with reissuing these Mozart performances, they don’t begin to reveal the thrilling and highly detailed sonics heard on this new SACD remastered series. This time EMI’s engineers did it right, playing the original tapes on refurbished Studer open reel decks, using noise reduction judiciously if at all, and converting to 96K/24-bit PCM before mastering to stereo SACD.

This is what might be called big band Mozart, with none of the modern early music refinements coming into play as in the cycles of Pinnock or Hogwood. This is Mozart on modern instruments in a large-sized orchestra – not just 40 musicians like some so-called “authentic” recordings. On the other hand, Klemperer has a different approach to this music that he obviously adored and was fully familiar with. While cycles by Mackerras, Bohm, Karajan, Bruno Walter and others may compete in some ways, Klemperer’s efforts stand up amazingly well now that one can hear details in the recordings which were never exposed before except in the mastering studio. And like the RCA Living Stereo SACDs, they are available at bargain prices!

—John Sunier ~audiophile-audition

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Concertos for 2 & 3 Pianos
Haydn Sinfonietta Wien / Ronald Brautigam, Alexei Lubimov & Manfred Huss
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,13 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,04 GB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: BIS # BIS-SACD-1618 | Country/Year: Sweden 2007 | 3% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

This is a truly lovely recording, with original instruments, beautifully played, with devotion and care. It is also possibly the closest you will ever get to how it would have sounded, performed by the composer himself, had the technology been available to capture it when Mozart was alive.

The first piece, Concerto in E flat major for Two Pianos KV 365, also known as Piano Concerto No. 10, was the last of Mozart’s piano concertos written in Salzburg, before he left for Vienna. He composed it for his sister Nannerl and himself, and right from the start, it is obvious that she was also a gifted keyboard performer. In this recording, the piece is performed in its two versions: the original from 1779, with a small orchestra, and the other from 1782 with an extended orchestra, which deservedly gives it a certain grandeur. The work is built in three movements and is challenging for both soloists. The parts for the two pianos are equally assigned and Mozart was careful to divide up the most striking and virtuosic passages evenly between the two solo players. The first movement, Allegro, opens with a long, ambitious orchestral introduction. Both pianos finally enter together, briefly alternating introductory phrases, as if exchanging ideas with each other, to then join again in the first theme. A second theme appears afterwards, more dramatic, giving briefly the impression that something bad might be about to happen, but this never takes place. The orchestra puts an end to it by repeating the opening and leading the movement to its finish, a beautifully fluid cadenza and coda. This is brilliantly delivered by Alexei Lubimov, who plays piano 1, and Ronald Brautigam, who plays piano 2. It is all done in a suitably witty, playful and charming manner and one can imagine two siblings performing and enjoying themselves together. This fact was natural for both Wolfgang and Nannerl, who were used to performing together from a very young age but who also understood and liked each other on a personal level. The musical rapport between Lubimov and Brautigam is already present in this first movement and does justice to the Mozart siblings.

In the second movement, Andante, slow and refined, they continue the playful dialogue as if engaging in a healthy, joyful competition. After the introductory theme, a minuet, by the orchestra, the same theme appears in the pianos, divided into two solo passages to allow the soloists to demonstrate their skills individually. The two pianists soon seem to flow together again, as the movement progresses, nicely leading and accompanying each other, beautifully alternating with the orchestra though it suitably stays in the background allowing the two keyboard performers to shine. This movement finishes almost abruptly, to take us into the finale, Rondeau, Allegro, wonderfully scored by Mozart to the instruments of his day. It has such size and power that one cannot help but wonder what he would have achieved with modern day grand pianos. Again, Lubimov and Brautigam, excel and deliver the piece perfectly, with rhythmic drive and equal elegance both in the lyrical graceful passages and in the exuberant return to the main rondo theme. They left me enchanted, wishing that I could have been present to participate in such musical joy.

To my mind, the greatest achievement of the two soloists is undoubtedly the fact that very often one wonders if there are two pianos or only one, though some of the score would be physically impossible for one soloist. Without the actual view of the two pianists on stage, it is difficult to believe that, in some passages, we are listening to two distinct people. We have in Lubimov and Brautigam, two musicians of unquestionable virtuosity, who perform the piece on the fortepianos of Mozart’s time and, I believe, as the composer intended, telling musical stories playfully to each other while interfacing and alternating with the orchestra, who also use period instruments. The Haydn Sinfonietta Wien plays wonderfully throughout, suitably cushioning the two soloists, taking them along or gently conversing. Manfred Huss’s direction is expertly sensitive and delicate throughout, demonstrating his great understanding of the period instruments and of the capabilities, not only of the soloists, but also of his musicians. Clearly he feels comfortably at home with the orchestra he founded in 1984 and has led ever since.

The other piece, in this wonderful recording, is the Concerto in F major for Three Pianos KV 242, also known as Piano Concerto No. 7 or the Lodron Concerto. The name Lodron refers to the fact that this was a piece commissioned by the Countess of Lodron for herself and her two daughters. Mozart completed and presented it to her in 1776, aged only twenty. As he frequently did on such occasions, the composer geared each part to the performer who would play it, with the degree of difficulty adjusted to the differences in skill and experience. In this case, two of the solo parts are moderately difficult, while the third, for the younger of the two girls, is carefully written with fewer technical difficulties. The contribution of the third piano is much more modest and in fact the piece loses little when transferred for two soloists. A few years later, Mozart actually composed a different version for only two pianos, which he performed, for the last time, in 1780, in Salzburg, with his sister Nannerl. The fact that the solo parts do not require virtuoso performances, has sometimes caused the work to be dismissed as one of Mozart’s weaker pieces, however it cannot be rendered unimaginative. One should never forget that he composed it, not for himself but for three lady amateurs who were his students and who naturally wanted a piece that would give delight to themselves as performers as well as to their guests as listeners.

The first movement, Allegro, has an almost roaring opening by the orchestra and soon the combined presence of the three soloists produces rich, though not complex counterpoint, maintaining a charming, pleasant quality throughout, delicate and enchanting, almost feminine in style. These attributes are repeated in the third and final movement, Rondeau, Tempo di Minuetto, as the name indicates, like a minuet, which gives each soloist considerable attention, allowing them to shine as individuals though assigning to the orchestra the responsibility of building up to a dramatic finale. It is the second movement, Adagio, which contains expression equal to Mozart’s greatest works, defined by its lyrical, melodic passages. The two soloists from the Concerto in E flat major for Two Pianos, Lubimov and Brautigam, are here joined by Huss who conducts the orchestra from the keyboard, playing the third piano part. They deliver it with the same delightful, joyful enthusiasm which they had previously applied to the more virtuosic parts of the Concerto for Two Pianos. The result is totally charming, delicate, pleasantly poetic and entertaining, perfectly interpreting the composer’s intentions of making his three lady students shine in the presence of their guests. Again the Haydn Sinfonietta rises to the occasion, enhancing the performances of the three soloists, as well as carrying out the responsibility given them by the composer to deliver the more complex, dramatic parts, as the countess and her two daughters were moderately skilful performers.

The sound of the fortepianos and the orchestra is gloriously pure and clear throughout, giving the concertos a fresh, crystalline quality and purity of tone that I have seldom heard. The technical superiority of the SACD hybrid disc is very obvious, leaving one wondering why the record labels do not do more of these, particularly for classical compositions.

In short, this CD is a delight from begin to end. It will make you want to see and hear the two pieces performed live because only then can one fully enjoy the virtuosic playfulness and beauty of the musical interchange between the two pianos in the Concerto in E flat major; not to mention the pure divertimento of the Concerto in F major, which is a recreational, uplifting and entertaining.

Margarida Mota-Bull ~musicweb-international

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Walter Gieseking – Claude Debussy: The Complete Piano Works (1953/2012)
PS3 Rip | 4x SACD ISO | DSD64 Stereo > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 251:27 minutes | Artwork | 10.6 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Artwork | 3,4 GB

Complete Piano Works offer listeners more clarity and detail than ever before. The expert engineers at Abbey Road Studios who remastered the original EMI recordings on Hybrid Super Audio CDs have breathed new life into these iconic catalog recordings. Each title in the Signature Collection is beautifully presented in a full-color illustrated hardback book. The liner notes explore mot only the rich music but also the story behind original LP covers. Also included are never before seen photographs of the original master tapes. (more…)

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