Mstation Classical Reviews

Age of the Diva Albinoni Almost Christmas Arias, Hampson, Harnoncourt Bach Keyboard Concertos Bach Viola Bach, Barenboim Bach, Cantatas Bach, Concertos Bach, JS, Keyboard Works Bach, Mass in B Minor Bach, Mutter Bach, trio-sonatas Baroque Christmas Album Baroque Trumpet Bartok, Concertos Bartoli Bartoli, Opera Proibita Bax, Baroque Beethoven Piano Beethoven String Quartets Beethoven and Brahms Beethoven, piano Bella Donna: Courtly Love Belle Epoque Melodies Berlioz, Les Troyens Binchois, Dufay Boccherini, Cello Concertos Boxed Baroque Boyce, Eight Symphonies British Light Classics British Piano Concertos Brubeck, The Gates of Justice Bruch, Violin Concerto Callas Canteloube, Chants d'Auvergne Carols Chanticleer, Sound in Spirit Charpentier Charpentier, Lebegue Christmas 04 Christmas Vespers Contemporary and Medieval Copland Delius Der Rosenkavalier Dukachev - Beethoven, Prokofiev, Rachminov Elgar Elgar, Marches Elgar, The Enigma Variations Faure songs French Medieval Songs Fux Gounod, Faust Graham: Causon, Ravel, Debussy Great Ballets Grieg, Franck Handel Arias Handel, Deborah Handel, Messiah Handel, The Triumph ... Handel, Water Music DVD Hapsburg Music Haydn Haydn, Handel DVD's Herz Piano Jane Austen's Songbook Josefowicz Recital King's Singers La Fille Mal Gardee Lang Lang and Yo Yo Ma: Farewell Isabella and Chinese things Lauridsen Llibre Vermell Luci, Bartoli, and a dead diva Lully, Comedies-ballets, Phaeton Maerzmusik sampler Mahler Symphony No 7 Mahler, Berg Mantovani Matsudaira Medieval French Songs Mendelssohn Sacred Mendelssohn, Dvorak Messa di Gloria Michael Haydn Miles Davis ... sorta Monterverdi, Orfeo Monteverdi Vespers Monteverdi, Poppea Monteverdi, The Sacred Music 3 Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Handel Montiverdi Vespers Morricone Mozart Symphonies Mozart, Cosi fan tutte Mozart, Exsultate Jubilate Mozart, Mass in C Minor Mozart, symphonies 40, 41 Mozart: Die Zauberflote Mozart: the string quartets Mozrt Requiem Mutter Mozart New English Hymnal New RSS system and Feeds Nikolay Roslavets Peerson, Latin Motets Penguins March Pergolesi, La Serva Padrona Philip Glass, Symphonies 2 and 3 Poulenc concerto Proms Purcell - Dido and Aeneas Purcell Sonatas Purcell: Dido and Aeneas Rachmaninov, Piano Ramallah - Beethoven No. 5 Rameau, Les Paladins Reger, Bach and Telemann Variations Renaissance Organ Music Romantic Cello Concertos Romantic Violin Russian Album -Anna Netrebko Rutter Mass Sanctuary, the heart has its reasons Scarlatti, The complete Keyboard Sonatas Schubert and Mozart piano Schubert Ð Death and the Maiden Shostakovich Shostakovich and Schnittke, Cello Shostakovich/Josefowicz Sibelius String Quartets Sixteen: Ikon South American Baroque Stainer, The Crucifiction Sting does Dowland Strauss tone poem Takemitsu Tallis Tchaikovsky, Symphony No 5, Verdi, Sibelius The Kirov celebrates Nijinsky Toshiro Mayazumi Vaughan Williams Verdi View from a dark tunnel Virginal -Susann van Soldt Vivaldi Cello Vivaldi, Motezuma Vivaldi, Sacred Music Vivaldi: Dixit Dominus Von Otter Wagner, Das Rheingold Wagner, Gotterdammerung DVD Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks Weir, Gillian Weiss / Lindberg Lute Whitacre, Cloudburst Williams, Bingham: Mass von Weber, Chamber Music

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 Mahler, Berg Gustav Mahler - Symphony No.4 Berg - Sieben Fruehe Lieder (Seven Early Songs) CD, Deutsche Grammophon Berliner Philharmoniker Claudio Abbado - conductor Renee Fleming - soprano solo Guy Braunstein violin solo (Recorded live in Berlin) "The Symphony is the world! The Symphony must embrace everything!" (Gustav Mahler) Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911) was best known as one of the foremost conductors of his age during his lifetime. Today he is also remembered as one of the most important composers bridging the transition from romantic music in the nineteenth century to the music of the twentieth century, going on to inspire such composers as Shoenberg, Berg, Webern of the second Viennese school, as well as Shostakovich. He was born in Kaliste, Bohemia,into a Jewish family, but in 1897 decided to convert to Catholicism. This was due to the anti-semitism, rife in Vienna at the time, which had prevented him from receiving the post of conductor at the Vienna Court Opera. He was to work there for the next ten years, conducting for 9 months of the year in Vienna, then retreating to his small house in Woerthersee in Maiernigg. It was there that he composed many of his symphonies, including the fourth symphony on this recording (which was composed between 1899 and 1901, premiered in November 1901). The deaths of his parents, sister and suicide of his brother around this time led to an almost unhealthy preoccupation with death and had an obvious effect on his music (this type of tragedy seemed to become a trend throughout his lifetime). In 1902 he married the beautiful but difficult Alma Schindler who went on to become famous in her own right, (mainly for the various surnames she collected through marriage after Mahler's death!). His influences include Johann Sebastian Bach and those composers of the early Viennese School (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert). He was also influenced by romantic nineteenth century composers such as Schumann, Mendelssohn and most importantly perhaps, Wagner. His earlier symphonies, including the fourth are dominated by "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" poems and often quote melodies from his own settings of these poems. He was deeply spiritual and had a profound respect for Nature, which is frequently reflected in his music. The fourth symphony seems to contain all of these elements, and is also remarkable for opening in B minor, being mainly in G major then ending in the "heavenly" key of E major with a solo soprano part with "Wir geniessen die himmlischen Freuden" (We enjoy Heaven's delights) from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn." Alban Berg (1885 - 1935), a Viennese composer, had a deep respect and admiration for Mahler. He began his formal music training with the founder of twelve-tone music, Schoenberg. However, his "Sieben Fruehe Lieder," composed between 1905-1908, revised and orchestrated in 1928, does not show signs of the radical atonality and ciphers that he was to use in his later compositions, such as his second opera, "Lulu". The influence of Mahler is shown, not only in the rich romanticism of these songs, but also in the idea of using different orchestration for each of the songs, contributing to the structure of the composition. As one would expect from a live recording with a combination of such highly distinguished artists as the Berlin Philharmoniker and Renee Fleming with the legendary Claudio Abbaudo, the recording, in my opinion at least, is brilliant. The orchestra is sensitive, and yet never afraid to create the more plucky, rustic and at times, parodic sounds of Austrian music, such as the "Laendler" in contrast to the light Viennese style, or indeed creating the volatile, brooding and threatening side (most likely due to Mahler's nearly unhealthy obsession with death), present throughout the symphony. The rich variety of orchestral sounds also show off Mahler's expert orchestration to great effect. Guy Braunstein's violin solo in the scherzo captured the wonderfully sarcastic nature of this movement. Finishing with Berg's songs, so clearly inspired by Mahler, compliments the programme extremely well. (M. North) [] permanent link