Sacred Arias Katherine Jenkins Rar
Mariss Jansons considers Dmitri Shostakovich to be one of the mostserious and sincere composers ever, and finds the fifteen symphonies inparticular to be deeply moving and captivating. He sees their music asbearing shattering testimony to a traumatic era of political darkness,while remaining a timeless expression of existential human feeling andexperience. Over a period of seventeen years, hasrecorded all the Shostakovich symphonies, on each occasion together withthe orchestra he was artistically associated with at the time. Six ofthe performances were with the Symphonieorchester des BayerischenRundfunks.
In 2006 the cycle was completed in time for the centenary ofthe composer's birth. The performance of the Thirteenth Symphony wasawarded a Grammy in the 'Best Orchestral Performance' category. A recording of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ninth” is always a greatevent, especially because the symphony’s final chorus, Schiller’s “Odeto Joy”, is understood around the world as a plea for peace andinternational understanding. It was no coincidence that the catchymelody to the text “Joy, beautiful spark of divinity” was chosen as theHymn of the European Union. This recording of Beethoven’s great choralsymphony under the direction of Bernard Haitink and with excellentinstrumental and vocal soloists is not only an outstandinginterpretation of the work but also very much an event in itself –because these recordings document Haitink’s last ever concerts with theSymphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Only a few months afterhis two Munich concerts on February 21 and 22, 2019, the great Dutchconductor – who celebrated his 90 th birthday on March 4 – announced the end of his career.
In an interview with the Dutch newspaper “” on June 12this year, Bernard Haitink announced his imminent departure from theconductor’s podium. On June 15, he conducted for the last time at theAmsterdam Concertgebouw, and his very last concert of all took place inLucerne on September 6. “I’m ninety years old,” explained the maestro, “and it’s a fact that I’mnot going to conduct any longer. And once I’ve stopped, I don’t thinkI’ll be able to conduct again.” Haitink’s decision marks the end of aconducting career spanning 65 years. He has been a regular and highlywelcome guest of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, andnumerous CDs on the BR-KLASSIK label document the exceptional quality ofthis creative collaboration. As we know it today, Fidelio,Beethoven’s only opera, was first performed in 1814. But it had begunlife in 1805 as Leonore, when its premiere in Vienna, to an audiencelargely made up of French officers from Napoleon’s occupying army whocould not understand any of the German text, had been a disaster.Beethoven revised the score immediately, cutting swathes and recastingthe original three acts into two, but he was still unhappy with theresult, which was withdrawn after two performances the following year.When it emerged again, eight years later, both the music and the wordshad been even more substantially altered, and this time the premiere wasa huge success.
Jacobs’ recording, taken from a live performance in Paris a year ago,makes his case for him eloquently enough. His tempi are generally onthe fast side, though the superb, crisp playing of the period-instrumentFreiburg Baroque Orchestra ensures they never seem too hectic. Butthough the dialogue has been rewritten and apparently abridged, therestill seems an awful lot of it, with the spoken voices just a bit toofar forward in the stereo picture and sound effects ratherself-consciously prominent, too. And if the cast, led by Marlis Petersenas Leonore and Maximilian Schmitt as Florestan, does not include anyvoices to compare to those on some of the great Fidelio recordings ofthe last century, their general lightness and flexibility puts the operamore convincingly into its proper context. “A way of escaping any categorisation as a specialist in improvisationis to undertake projects in which I play pure Baroque music. I alwaystry to reinvent myself, to create something from my innermost being Ican be quite satisfied with music as it was originally written, and wewill play this music without making excursions into other fields Butit is also always exciting to look at this music through the eyes ofmusicians who come from a different musical genre, since it opens up newperspectives and gives rise to a kind of new music. That can only workwhen you are well acquainted with the original music and its style, andhave great respect for it There are pieces that lend themselves tobeing developed into something new, and there are others that mustsimply be presented in all their purity and beauty – works which must beleft as they are.
Sensitivity is everything.”. As if in a mirror, this recording juxtaposes the original piano versionsof two of Ravel's masterpieces (Le Tombeau de Couperin and Alborada delgracioso) with their respective orchestrations.
The Concerto in G majorcombines the two facets, both when the piano is integrated into theoverall sound and when it plays its role as a soloist. The subtleplaying of Javier Perianes and the refined sonorities of the, conducted by Josep Pons, also remind us that Spain was themost significant source of inspiration in Ravel's output. Lars Vogt continues his series of concerto recordings with the RoyalNorthern Sinfonia with this new recording of Johannes Brahms’(1833–1897) First Piano Concerto together with Four Ballades (Op. 10)for solo piano. As in previous albums, Lars Vogt conducts from thekeyboard. The evolution of Brahms’ 1st Piano Concerto took severalsteps. Originally conceived to become a Sonata for Two Pianos throughorchestration it was developed into a four-movement Symphony untilreaching into its final form of a Piano Concerto in three movements.During the process, which lasted from 1854 to 1856, some movements werealso discarded and replaced by new material.
Sacred Arias Katherine Jenkins Rare
This music is packed withmuch drama. No wonder since these years were particularly tumultuous inBrahms’ personal life: it was during this period when his great mentorRobert Schumann was sent into an asylum and ultimately died. It was alsotime when Brahms formed a close, lifelong friendship to Clara Schumann.Some of these feelings might well be echoed in the peaceful 2ndmovement, Adagio. Are works written in1854 by a young composer barely in his 20s, yet these pieces aretechnically mature and profound in such a manner that they could even becompared to his final piano opuses. Lars Vogt was appointed the firstever “Pianist in Residence” by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2003/04 andenjoys a high profile as a soloist and chamber musician.
His debut solorecording on Ondine with Bach’s Goldberg Variations wasreleased in August 2015 and has been a major critical success. Lars Vogtstarted his tenure as Music Director of the Royal Northern Sinfonia inSeptember 2015. Lars Vogt was nominated for Gramophone’s Artist of theYear award in 2017.
His recordings of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2& 4 together with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and analbum of Dvorak’s Piano Trios received Gramophone’s Editor’sChoice in May 2018 and in December 2018. His most recent album on Ondinefeaturing four Mozart’s Piano Sonatas (ODE13182) was also chosenGramophone’s Editor’s Choice in July 2019.