Wolfgang Schneiderhan

“…less poised and polished than the record perhaps but with bags of vitality, the first movement cadenza (which includes telling references to the timpani motif) sounding more than ever like a natural outgrowth of what has gone before. István Kertész conducts a powerful and vivid account of the orchestral score, just as he does for the Egmont Overture. Good stereo sound, too. All in all, a fine memorial to a significant player.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2007

“The Concerto funebre (1939, rev 1959) has fared better on disc than any other Hartmann work… Its powerful inner message of grief and protest at then encroachment of tyranny across Europe… gives it an immediacy that is compelling… Schneiderhan was one of the first violinists to take it up after the war and this 1973 archival account is utterly gripping. Maria Bergmann's connection to the Piano Concerto (1953) is closer still as she premiered the work... Bergmann's pianism shows total commitment, matched by Kubelík's inch-perfect accompaniment. Kubelík is at his best, however, in the Symphonic Hymns (1941-42). Scored for large orchestra, this is the nearest Hartmann came to a sinfonietta with a roof-raising climax that sounds tremendous in this, its belated 1975 premiere.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2007