Wiener Akademie

Karl Münchinger recorded all the major orchestral and choral pieces by Bach for Decca, and over a period of some 30 years (from the Mono to the Digital eras), five of the Cantatas. All boast remarkable soloists from their eras. Suzanne Danco sings the two solo cantatas, BWV 51 and 202, recorded in 1953 and released on CD for the first time. Elly Ameling and Helen Watts are soloists in the early cantata, BWV 10. And the digital recordings of Ein feste Burg and Wachet auf feature Julia Hamari and Tom Krause. The collection is rounded off with two of the most popular orchestral arrangements from the Bach cantata repertoire – Jesu, joy of man’s desiring and Sheep may safely graze.

Zaide is one of Mozart’s early Singspiels, an opera that is often ignored partly because it was incomplete. The opera was based on a Turkish fairytale that was popular at the time which dealt with captured Europeans and Turkish sultans, slavery, liberation and gallantry. However, his characters have been deemed one-dimensional and the conflicts immature which is probably the reason it was never finished.

The quality of music is not to be dismissed and Mozart himself believed this to be a valuable piece of work, despite the fact he didn’t finish it. This is a stirring new recording and features a stunning cast.

Martin Haselböck is a distinguished conductor but also specializes in unearthing long lost vocal/instrumental works and transcribes them for historical resurrections on period instruments with his Wiener Akademie, an ensemble that he founded himself, and performs these round the world. He has conducted many Mozart operas and in 1991 was awarded the Mozart Prize of the City of Prague.

Performed on original instruments from the time of their first performance, this is the fifth and final volume in the critically acclaimed series “Liszt: The Sound of Weimar” which was initiated by the NCA label to mark the 200th anniversary of the great Hungarian composer’s birth. This disc by the Vienna Academy Orchestra under its highly-regarded Austrian conductor Martin Haselböck features four symphonic poems “for large orchestra”: No. 5 ‘Prometheus’, No. 7 ‘Festklänge’, No. 10 ‘Hamlet, and No. 13 ‘Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe’ (‘From Cradle to Grave’).

The project ‘The Sound of Weimar’ includes all the orchestral works of Franz Liszt in the original orchestration of the live premieres in Weimar. Recorded at the Austrian Liszt Raiding Centre, they come from performances at seven concerts during 2011 and 2012 made by the Vienna Academy Orchestra under the direction of Martin Haselböck. The first of the five-disc series featured the Dante Symphony (60234), and was followed by a first disc of symphonic poems including Les Preludes, Orpheus, and the Berg-Symphonie (60246). The third volume (60250) included three more symphonic poems, Hunnenschlacht, Hungaria, and Mazzepa. Tasso - Lamento e trionfo, Le Triomphe funèbre du Tasse, Héroïde funèbre, and Die Ideale were the works on Volume 4 (60254), also released this summer.

The Austrian conductor Martin Haselböck is the musical director of Musica Angelica in Santa Monica, California. He is the founder and also musical director of the Vienna Academy Orchestra, and with this ensmeble he has established a year-round cycle of concerts for the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in the Great Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.

In addition Haselböck is a professor at the University of Vienna, where he teaches organ. “Compelling… Haselböck’s liberated textures open up new listening horizons that all lovers of this fine but still underrated music should investigate. I anticipate more revelations further along the way.” - Rob Cowan in Gramophone on ‘The Sound of Weimar Vol. 3

This is the fourth volume in the critically-acclaimed series “Liszt: The Sound of Weimar” which NCA is releasing as part of the celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. These recordings are being made by the Vienna Academy Orchestra under its esteemed Austrian conductor Martin Haselböck and, as with the first three discs, the music is performed on original instruments from the 19th century. Included here are three more of the Symphonic Poems: No. 2 - Tasso, No. 8 - Héroïde funèbre, and No. 12 - Die Ideale, as well as the orchestral piece, Le Triomphe funèbre du Tasse.

The orchestral project “The Sound of Weimar” will include all the orchestral works of Franz Liszt in the original orchestration of the live premieres in Weimar. The recordings are taking place at the Austrian Liszt Raiding Centre, and will all be made at performances in seven concerts during 2011 and 2012 by the Vienna Academy Orchestra under the direction of Martin Haselböck. The first three CDs in the series were of the Dante Symphony (60234), released at the end of last year, and a disc which included the Symphonic Poems Les Preludes, Orpheus, and the Berg-Symphonie (60246). The third volume, released in March, featured Hunnenschlacht, Hungaria, and Mazeppa.

The renowned Austrian conductor Martin Haselböck is the musical director of Musica Angelica in Santa Monica, California, and the musical director and founder of the Vienna Academy Orchestra. He is also a professor at the University of Vienna, where he teaches organ.

This is the third CD in a critically acclaimed series entitled ‘Liszt: The Sound of Weimar’ which NCA is releasing as part of the celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the great Hungarian composer’s birth. These recordings are by the Vienna Academy Orchestra with the esteemed Austrian conductor Martin Haselböck, and as with the previous two discs the music on volume 3 is performed on original instruments of the 19th Century. Liszt wrote 13 symphonic poems in all, and the three featured here, ‘Hunnenschlacht’, ‘Mazeppa’, and ‘Hungaria’, are listed as being numbers 11, 9, and 6 respectively.

The orchestral project ‘The Sound of Weimar’ will include all the orchestral works of Franz Liszt in the original orchestration of the live premieres in Weimar. The recordings are taking place at the Austrian Liszt Raiding Centre, and will all be made at performances in seven concerts during 2011 and 2012 by the Vienna Academy Orchestra under the direction of Martin Haselböck. The first two CDs in the series were the Dante Symphony (60234), which was released at the end of last year, and a disc featuring the Symphonic Poems ‘Les Preludes’, ‘Orpheus’, and the ‘Berg-Symphonie’ (60246), which was released last month.

The renowned Austrian conductor Martin Haselböck is the musical director of Musica Angelica in Santa Monica, California, and the musical director and founder of the Vienna Academy Orchestra. He is also a professor at the University of Vienna, where he teaches organ.

This is the first CD in a project titled ‘The Sound of Weimar’ which is being released to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Franz Liszt. The two works are ‘A symphony to Dante‘s Divina Commedia’ and ‘Évocation à la Chapelle Sixtine’. The series will include world premier recordings of concert performances of all of Franz Liszt’s orchestral music in their original versions played on original instruments of the 19th Century. The Orchestra of The Vienna Academy is conducted by Martin Haselböck.

The renowned Austrian conductor Martin Haselböck is the musical director of Musica Angelica in Santa Monica, California, and the musical director and founder of the Vienna Academy Orchestra. He is also a professor at the University of Vienna, where he teaches organ.

Liszt’s Dante Symphony is based on Dante Alighieri's journey through Hell and Purgatory as depicted in The Divine Comedy. It was premiered in Dresden in November 1857, with Liszt himself conducting, and was unofficially dedicated to the composer's friend and future son-in-law Richard Wagner. It is a symphony with a distinct programme and is written in a high romantic style.

“The orchestral version (of A la Chapelle Sixtine) is among the most moving of Liszt’s compositions, and Haselböck offers a most beautiful performance of it. An auspicious start then to what should prove an important new series…” Gramophone, August 2011

‘The Infernal Comedy’ is a drama with music, based around the character of the serial killer Johann “Jack” Unterweger. The music incorporated in the play is by a range of composers including Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. On this recording of a live performance that took place in Vienna in July 2009, the title role is brought to life by legendary screen actor John Malkovich. The Orchester Wiener Akademie is conducted by Martin Haselböck, who also devised the musical concept for the drama.

In 1974 an Austrian citizen, Johann “Jack” Unterweger, was convicted of the murder of a German prostitute. After a period of 15 years in prison, during which time he became an acknowledged author, Unterweger was released on parole after a campaign led by several important figures and intellectuals, which claimed that he was a prime example of successful social rehabilitation. He went on to commit a series of murders, at some point disappearing from Vienna and fleeing to the U.S.A. He was eventually arrested in Miami and extradited to Austria, where he committed suicide after being found guilty of eleven cases of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Unterweger’s victims in ‘The Infernal Comedy’ are performed and sung on this recording by the sopranos Laura Aikin and Aleksandra Zamojska, with the arias taken from Mozart, Haydn, Weber and Vivaldi operas. Instrumental music by Gluck and Boccherini is used as a background to the text.

Born in Naples, the guitarist Edoardo Catemario possesses a rare combination of technique and musicality in the purest sense of the term. He is recognized as an amazing virtuoso and is heir to the famous and historical Neapolitan school. An award winner in some of the most important European guitar competitions, including first prize at the "Andres Segovia" contest of Almuñecar in Granada in 1991 and at the contest of Alessandria in 1992, Catemario has gone on to forge a successful career in the concert hall and as a recording artist. He is also highly-rated as a teacher and has held Master Classes in France, Spain, Italy and Austria. He has been professor in the "Conservatoire International de Paris" and regularly collaborates with Salzburg’s Mozarteum where he teaches during the Summer Academy.

The composer Mauro Giuliani and the history of the guitar in the 19th century are closley associated with each other. His success as a performer and the fact that he was one of the most important composers for this instrument made a major contribution to increasing the popularity of the guitar at that time.The first and second concertos, previously recorded by Edouardo Catemario for Arts 47688-2, are considered to be the first great examples of the genre. The Third Concerto in F, Op. 70, was composed in I816 or slightly earlier. Instead of the normal classical guitar, Giuliani chose to write this work for chitarra terzina (terz-guitar), which is pitched three half-steps higher. The concerto shows a remarkable advancement from his first efforts. The new maturity of style is clear from the opening movement with its crisp and varied themes, accomplished orchestration, new harmonic language, and mastery of form. Although there are numerous solo passages for the guitar, the cadenzas in this movement are not extensive, lending it greater continuity and finer solo-tutti balance.