Wagner: Gesegnet soll sie schreiten (from Lohengrin) (Zug zum Münster, Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral, Procession of the Women to the Minster)

With Richard Wagner's bicentenary coming up on May 22, there are all kinds of sounds in the air and words to be read about the great Romantic music dramatist. But where among all this Wagneriana are we to find the truly original messages? Some of them are to be encountered right here, because when GERMAN BRASS tackles Wagner, expectations are always high. The brass ensemble is justly regarded as one of the world's finest, consisting of the best musicians from Germany's leading orchestras (including Bayreuth's!), so this is a special event, music made, played and recorded with total commitment.We still come back to the question: Wagner for brass – how is that going to sound? It seems a bold idea at first sight, but as soon as you hear it, it turns out to be a stroke of genius: Wagner was no stranger to fullbodied brass sound, and the musicians of GERMAN BRASS succeed brilliantly in coaxing the complex timbres of Wagner's mixed sounds from their instruments. This is due as much to their virtuosity as to the creative arrangements of their artistic director Matthias Höfs. The verve of the "Ride of the Valkyries" will astound the listener as much as the alternating blocks of sound at the start of the "Pilgrims' Chorus" from Tannhäuser, where original and arrangement seem to keep changing places. Familiar passages come over as well known and yet subtly different – a stimulating experience!

Excerpts from Wagner operas have, on countless occasions, been transcribed for piano. A fairly long list of transcribers could be made, starting with Joseph Rubinstein, the first transcriber of an extract from Parsifal, going on through Bülow to Brassin, then from Carl Tausig to August Stradal, to speak only of those who were pupils of Liszt. It is an established fact that Liszt, the greatest master of transcription and paraphrase, made very little use of Wagner’s works. In this highly-regarded recording, once more appearing on CD, the transcription honours are shared between Liszt and Kocsis.

recorded in Bayreuth, July-August 1936

This CD celebrates the 60th anniversary of the ever-youthful Saxon Wind Philharmonic. Under their new Principal Conductor Thomas Clamor, they perform works such as Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba and Verdi’s Triumphal March form Aida with buoyant energy.

The spotlight is on Richard Wagner in this 22nd volume of the Staatskapelle Dresden Edition; the thrilling programme includes scenes from four of Wagner’s most popular operas.