New Releases

The fourth instalment of Mario Venzago’s survey of Bruckner’s Symphonies. There are many recordings on the market which make it difficult for strikingly different interpretations, but this series has received great acclaim for its originality and the way it challenges previous conceptions.

On the series previous release, Gramophone said ‘The principle virtue of the performance is in its agility, leanness and considerable subtlety of expression, the way it challenges the Bruckner cliché (weight, breadth, monumentality) with something utterly new’.

In 1965 the St. Luke Passion of 1728 was performed in the second anniversary of the Magdeburg Telemann Festival with modern instruments. Now the Cologne Academy has interpreted the work with a soft and transparent sound on historical instruments.

This passion illustrates once again the great care, imaginativeness, and theological understanding with which Telemann repeatedly occupied himself with the gospel account, always seeking to employ music toward the goal of conveying the Passion of Jesus Christ intelligently and effectively.

N.B. Booklet notes contain English translation of libretto

Die schweigsame Frau premiered in 1935 and represents what is perhaps Strauss’s most virtuosic and technically demanding score both for the orchestra and for the soloists. This may also be one of the reasons why this turbulent masterpiece is rarely performed today.

With a lavish wealth of musical ideas, and the juxtaposition of light comedy against grand opera, Strauss quotes himself and a dozen other composers in this work. He copies Rossini and spoofs Monteverdi – this is grand farcical fun!

N.B. Booklet notes contain English translation of libretto

The Pleyel Quartet of Cologne is known for tracking down forgotten or wrongly discredited music and again rendering audible the highly valued quality it enjoyed at its time of composition.

Adalbert Gyrowetz would likely have been much better known today if he hadn’t been a direct contemporary of Haydn and Mozart. The quartets presented here were written when Gyrowetz departed from the classical instrumental style to promote a more dramatically oriented musical expression.

Here Spohr manifests himself not as a serial producer from the nineteenth century’s age of virtuosity but as a highly imaginative composer who lent a unique imprint to each and every one of his concertos. Brought together in this new box set are the Violin Concertos with the Concertanti for two violins and orchestra.

Gramophone: ‘Hoelscher has the elegance and almost cantabile qualities going hand in hand with Spohr’s composing for the violin’.

This release concludes CPO’s Gouvy Edition which has featured symphonic works by this German-French composer.

Fellow composers such as Ambroise Thomas and Charles Gounod attended the Symphony No. 4 premiere in Paris, 1856, and were moved to amazed admiration. French critics approvingly wrote how ‘finely thought out, expansively developed, and clearly and brilliantly written’ the score was.

Neukomm loved experimentation - in his chamber music he tested unusual ensembles and programmatic content. He is often concerned less with the dramaturgy of contrasting themes than with the development of the tonal charm of instruments so very different in character.

Neukomm composed all these works while residing or traveling in England.

Der Göttergatte is Lehár’s one and only comic operetta parodying the ancient Greek gods.

This historical recording from 1945 (a few weeks prior to the end of World War II) is a genuine gem and could not be topped by any new recording. The cast is simply dazzling, headed by Vienna’s then leading Mozart tenor Anton Dermota.

A landmark recording in being the first ever complete survey of Weingartner’s symphonies.

Symphony No. 7 calls for a full orchestra, reinforced brass, choir, four vocal soloists and solo organ – all skilfully blended together to create an impressive work and one which ought to be better known in the symphonic repertoire.

This is CPO’s second release of Pejačević’s chamber music. The internationally active and renowned Sine Nomine Quartet from Switzerland and Oliver Triendl are outstanding advocates on behalf of this versatile composer.

The last movement of the Piano Quintet Op. 40 is a highlight; with a solemn introduction and animated theme, which pervades the entire movement with kinetic energy.