Carl Schuricht part II - Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Wagner ea on Spotify

April of this year, I posted the Spotify link to a 20 CD box with the German born conductor Carl Schuricht (1880-1967). Here is the follow up of that box, with more recordings from the archive of the South-German SWF radio. More about there recordings can be read here:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/July13/Schuricht_collectionII_CD93292.htm

Hope you will enjoy these performances as well!

Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Carl Schuricht, conductor

Tracks: 01 to 08 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1 3/7/1961 (23:29). Symphony No. 3 2/29/1952 (45:56) 

Tracks: 09 to 16 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4 4/8/1959 (33:47). Symphony No. 5 4/10/1953 (31:22) 

Tracks: 17 to 25 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 2/14/1957 (37:20). SCHUBERT Symphony No. 5 4/11/1960 (24:28) 

Tracks: 26 to 33 BRAHMS Symphony No. 1 9/18/1963 (42:55). Symphony No. 3 12/2/1954 (34:47) 

Tracks: 34 to 39 BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 3/6/1964 (43:46). Alto Rhapsody Lucretia West (alt); SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart; 3/5/1964 (12:16). Tragic Overture 1/29/1954 (13:08) 

Tracks: 40 to 49 SCHUMANN Symphony No. 3 9/15/1960 (29:44). R. STRAUSS Sinfonia domestica 12/14/1960 (42:05) 

Tracks: 50 to 55 WEBER Euryanthe: Overture 2/19/1962 (8:46). Oberon: Overture 4/10/1953 (9:32). WOLF Italian Serenade 2/14/1957 (7:17). TCHAIKOVSKY Hamlet Overture 10/24/1952 (19:05). VON REZNIEK Donna Diana: Overture 2/12/1960 (5:44). BLACHER Concertante Music for Orchestra 10/29/1951 (9:42) 

Tracks: 56 to 64 DEBUSSY La Mer 5/23/1952 (23:28). RAPHAEL Sinfonia breve 3/14/1952 (21:20). OBOUSSIER Violin Concerto Roman Schimmer (vn); 1/4/1955 (13:29) 

Tracks: 65 to 78 LISZT Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne 3/7/1961 (27:30). REGER Variations and Fugue on a Merry Theme by Johann Adam Hiller 1/10/1953 (39:54) 

Tracks: 79 to 82 Rehearsal Excerpts from: BRAHMS Symphony No. 2: Finale 3/15-16/1966 (17:48). WAGNER Parsifal: Act I Prelude, Act III Good Friday Music and Conclusion 3/15-16/1966 (32:20) 

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/0uupc6ECJ8sPfR6YhUf8Mn

(Spotify Webplayer link)

Noël Lee, connoisseurs pianist, in Faure, Franck and Debussy (on Spotify)

The American (Chinese born, French citizen, a real cosmopolitan!) Noël Lee (1924-2013) was a real connoisseurs pianist. He excelled in the French repertoire and was one of the finest accompanists in chamber music in that genre. With his musical partners Gérard Poulet and Bernard Kruysen, thirteen of the sixteen LP’s and CD’s they made received a French “Grand Prix du Disque” award. I’ve selected several works in this playlist that demonstrate the unique understanding and empathy of Noël Lee for French Chamber music. 

One remark, unfortunately the “tagging” of the works by Spotify is erratic, description below is the correct one. The Debussy sonata has a special particularity, as the composer dedicated (and played!) the sonata to Gérard Poulet’s father; the violinist Gaston Poulet. 

These are recordings I cherish very much; hope you will enjoy them as well!

The correct order of the playlist is:

Gabriel Faure (1845-1924):

1- Berceuse in D major op 16 (1878)

César Franck (1822-1890)

2-5 Violin sonata in A Major (1886)

Gabriel Faure (1845-1924) 

6-9 Violin sonata no 1 in A major op 13 (1875)

Claude Debussy (1867-1918)

10-12 Violin sonata (1917)

Gérard Poulet, violin

Noël Lee, piano

Jules Massenet (1842-1912)

13-19 Poème d'avril, Op.14 (1866)

Bernard Kruysen, Baritone

Noël Lee, piano

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/3QLt6CdQSbmUOoCA9ea8uK

(link to Spotify Webplayer)

Noël Lee (1924-2013)

Ignaz Pleyel, the 18th century hope for the future on Spotify

Ignaz Joseph Pleyel’s music can be described in two quotes. His early music, full of promise, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a letter to his father “It will be a lucky day for music if, when the time comes, Pleyel should replace Haydn”. Boom. Yet a later quote by an English newspaper called the morning herald of London shows why the mature Pleyel was so immense popular in the late 18th century, but is now almost completely forgotten: ”Pleyel is becoming even more popular than his master [Haydn], as his works are characterized less by the intricacies of science than the charm of simplicity and feeling.” 

The charm predominates, especially in the works selected below, with Pleyel’s speciality, the so called “concertante symphony”, a piano trio played by the excellent trio Joachim and a symphony of which the last movement sums up all qualities attributed to Pleyel in the London newspaper come forward. 

Ignaz Josef Pleyel (1757-1831)

-Symphony concertante in F major for 

flute, bassoon, oboe, horn and orchestra (1805)

Gaby Pas-van Riet, flute

Anne Angerer, oboe

Wolfgang Wipfler, horn

SWR Radio Symphony orchestra Stuttgart 

Johannes Moesus, conductor

-Piano trio in e minor op 16 no 5 (1788)

Trio Joachim

Massimo Palumbo, piano

Sulea Mullaj, violin

Sara Airoldi, cello 

-Symphony in C major op 66 (1803)

London Mozart players

Matthias Bamert, conductor

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/3iSwa8zSJyBKtAl75ErcU4

(Spotify Webplayer link)

Unknown Beethoven on Spotify

You might have heard of Beethoven’s 5th symphony or Appasionata sonata, but have you ever heard his Scottish songs, string quintet, piano fantasy or horn sonata? Last one was so poorly written for that instrument, Beethoven decided that it could better be played on cello than on the originally intended horn. If the op 17 is a little slight, the other works are truly fine works and the performances absolutely worth hearing. Hope you will enjoy them as well…!!

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1828)

-Scottish songs op 108 (1812)

 -no 16 “Could this ill world”

 -no 13 “Come fill, fill, my good fellow!”

 -no 03 “Oh! Sweet were the hours”

 -no 20 “Faithfu' Johnie"

 -no 02 “Sunset”

Christian Gerhaher, baritone

Gerold Huber, piano

-String Quintet in C major op 29 (1801)

Tokyo String Quartet

Pinchas Zuckerman, viola

-Fantasie op 77 (1809)

Jonathan Biss, piano

-Cello version of Horn sonata in F major op 17 (1800)

Guido Schiefen, cello

Alfredo Perl, piano

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/1DYWLEQ9HFBAqxlwYwoeOo

(Web player link)