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Label: CYBELE RECORDS SACD 001 Our Price: $38.00 Quantity in Basket: none KARL AMADEUS HARTMANN (1905 – 1963) – COMPLETE WORKS WITH STRING QUARTET 1st String Quartet “Carillon” (1933) 2nd String Quartet (1945-48) Little Concerto for String Quartet and Percussion (1931/32)* Ulrich Dibelius in Conversation with K. A. Hartmann’s Wife, Elisabeth Hartmann (1994) *Live Recording, April 23, 2008, Jurriaanse Zaal - De Doelen, Rotterdam Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905-1963) inaugurates our Artists in Conversation Edition. Sincerity, courage, consistency, and intensity were traits that marked Hartmann's life and work. During the war, he buried the manuscripts of his compositions far underground, he had his son Richard safely stowed away with his grandparents and, from the earliest days of the Nazi régime, he began his inner emigration, withdrawing into himself and into his work room. From this earliest phase of his inner emigration date, among other works, the first string quartet, the first symphony and the symphonic poem Miserae. Hartmann was an exceptional phenomenon. He was unique in how his beliefs in justice, humanity and artistic truthfulness became more pronounced as he aged, or to paraphrase Oscar Wilde: Who thinks not of his ways, thinks not at all. In the course of our work on this project, our interest in Karl Amadeus Hartmann the man grew and grew. We followed leads and discovered voice recordings, most of which have never been released on disc. These recordings illuminate, from various perspectives, Karl Amadeus Hartmann as an incorruptible and extraordinary artist and, as a result, allow a many-hued, multi-dimensional image of this "whitest of all German musicians" to emerge. *WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING! (3 CDs for the price of 2) |
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Label: CYBELE RECORDS SACD 002 Our Price: $38.00 Quantity in Basket: none HANS ERICH APOSTEL (1901 – 1972) – COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS String Quartet, Op. 7 (1935) String Quartet in One Movement, Op. 26 (1956) Six Epigrams, Op. 33 (1962) Variations on an Original Theme for String Quartet (1925) String Quartet in D Minor (1926) Archival Recordings with the voice of Hans Erich Apostel (1968); Mirjam Wiesenmann in Conversation with His Student and Friend Rainer Bischof (2010) If the subject of Hans Erich Apostel comes up at all, he is known above all as a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg, and later of Alban Berg, as a member of the Schoenberg circle and perhaps as the most talented lyrical composer among Schoenberg’s students, as someone who later developed a purely instrumental style. The present recording displays Apostel’s complete output for string quartet (5 quartets, four are World Première Recordings), completed by archival recordings with the voice of Hans Erich Apostel, and a conversation of Mirjam Wiesemann and Apostel’s pupil and friend Prof. Dr. Rainer Bischof (both in German language). Bischof remembers his admired and beloved teacher in a lively, precise and multifaceted way; Apostel taught Bischof about much more than being a composer and left a lasting impression on Bischof’s views on composition and the world. Rainer Bischof recalls anecdotes that reveal Apostel the man, depicts the artistic and personal developments undergone by Apostel and sheds light on a few traits of his teacher’s personality. Apostel was like the edelweiss in the Bergian tradition, a flower that Apostel kept on his writing desk, and like the skull in the Schoenbergian tradition, symbolizing the past. Bischof describes Apostel the man, caught between Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg, between charm and rudeness, between a fear of life outside his study and a musical micro-life with an unusual propensity for adventure (Dr. Harald Kaufmann). Apostel was a devoted humanist, musical architect and intellectual, a musician deep in thought, opposed to any form of emotional aesthetics (Rainer Bischof), but also prone to vitriolic outbursts and an intense fear of illness and madness. – Mirjam Wiesemann (3 CDs) WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS!!! |
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Label: CYBELE RECORDS SACD 060701 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none GUNTHER BECKER (1924 – 2007) – THE COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS Drei kleine Orgelstücke (1978); A la mémoire de Josquin für Orgel (1975) Interpolationen (1993); Meteoron for Organ, Percussion and two track tape (1969) The organ oeuvre of Günther Becker reveals a broad spectrum of compositional concerns, never reducing himself to a personal style. Instead, his claim that he aimed to allow each work to pursue its own, individual idea, becomes clear. As a result, his organ compositions are not only a cross-section of Becker's own creative work, but also a reflection of the times in which they originated: first the experimental years of new organ music in its infancy, then the first post-modern attempts at an integration with early music (citations of music by Josquin des Prez). These organ works are a testament to his internal debate about tonality and to a reflexive return to the idea of pure music and its many incarnations. Becker showed himself to be a composer in flux, one whose authenticity manifested itself in distinct artistic phases. Taken as a whole, the great Sauer organ displays a true versatility, an instrument of many colours suited for a vast stylistic range of organ music. This recording proves it to be a perfect match for the contemporary organ répertoire and for the music of Günther Becker in particular: one is seated in front of an instrument capable of the special synthesis of sounds often required by the composer, sounds whose roots may be traced back to the serial structures of his compositional method. The organ simultaneously allows, however, a solid basis for orchestral sounds via its numerous foundation stops and the innumerable ways in which sounds could be tinted and nuanced. |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 001 Our Price: $38.00 Quantity in Basket: none 1ST STRING QUARTET "CARILLON" (1933); 2ND STRING QUARTET; LITTLE CONCERTO FOR STRING QUARTET AND PERCUSSION; ULRICH DIBELIUS IN CONVERSATION WITH K.A. HARTMANN'S WIFE, ELISABETH HARTMANN (1994) Sinfonia Rotterdam/Conrad van Alphen Speaker: Karl Amadeus, Elisabeth and Richard Harmann, Ulrich Dibelius, Mirjam Wiesemann Live recording, April 23, 2008, Jurriaanse Zaal - De Doen, Rotterdam. 3 SACD (3 for the price of 2) |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 003 Our Price: $38.00 Quantity in Basket: none Requiem; Nine Spiritual Concertos for piano, trumpet and chamber orchestra; Archival recordings with the voice of Hans Werner Henze, in conversation with Mirjam Wiesemann and Henze’s personal assistant Michael Kerstan in Henze’s Marino home (2010, in German, ca. 96 minutes). Hans Werner Henze’s Requiem was composed in the early 1990s, and marked a significant turning point for the composer. Dedicated to the memory of Michael Vyner, the one-time director of the London Sinfonietta, it reflects an acceptance of death as final, culminating in a hymn to life. Henze holds that “Paradise is here, or should be here, not hereafter, when nothing happens.” These and other subjects are discussed at length in the conversation included with this release, which also features a performance of Henze’s Neun geistliche Konzerte. The 72-page booklet contains texts in German and English. 3 SACDS for the price of 2 SACDS |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 030202 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685 – 1750) – ORGAN WORKS Prelude and Fugue in C minor BWV 546 Choral Partita Sei gegruesset, Jesu guetig BWV 768 Choral Prelude Allein Gott in der Hoeh sei Ehr BWV 663 Prelude and Fugue in C major BWV 547 Choral Prelude Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 659 Passacaglia in C minor BWV 582 The great Silbermann organ in the Cathedral of Freiberg, built between 1711 and 1714, is the oldest organ by Gottfried Silbermann still in existence. This magnificent instrument has 44 register-stops, three manual keyboards and one pedal keyboard. It was designed by the young organ player Elias Lindner, at that time employed at the Cathedral. In 1738 a large restauration included the gilding of pipes by Christian Polycarp Butzäus as well as improvements made by Gottfried Silbermann himself (concerning the register-stops and the 6 wedge-shaped bellows). More recently, Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden undertook a thorough restauration in the years 1981-1983, at which the pressures were corrected to approximate those of 1711. The organ is tuned to a' = 476,3 Hz at 15 °C, and though an unequally tempered tuning is still preserved, today the tuning is in fact a compromise between the old, mid-tone tuning and the modern, equally tempered system. |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 030802 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685 – 1750) Goldberg Variations: Aria with diverse variations BWV 988 About Gottfried Silbermann "...the superb neatness, goodness and durability of its materials as well as its craftsmanship; the great simplicity of its inner construction; the uncommonly splendid and full intonation; and the extreme ease and comfort of its keyboards". These words of praise from Johann Friedrich Agricola, a pupil of Bach, referring to the organs of Gottfried Silbermann, attest to the exceptional quality of organ-building in Germany during the high-baroque period. The Organ of the Catholic Court Church, Dresden (Cathedral) has 47 stops on three manuals and pedal and is Silbermanns grandest organ. 1755 – only a few years after Bach’s death – the Organ was consecrated. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played the organ in 1789 and praised all of its aspects in a letter to his wife. During the Second World War the organ's pipes were transferred for safe storage to the Marienstern monastery in 1944, soon before the bombing of Dresden. Since 2001 the Organ sounds again with its original pitch of 415 Hz. The Organ Version of the Goldberg Variations "Aria with diverse variations for a harpsichord with two manuals" (part 4 of the Clavier-Übung). – Johann Sebastian Bach unequivocally sets forth his requirements on the title page of the first printed edition of the "Goldberg Variations": The harpsichord enables a large amount of variability in terms of technical and sonic possibilities (intersecting of pitches, changing of manuals, changing of timbres, changing of pitch through registration, etc). The arrangement for organ is, from the point of view of the formation of sound, a natural evolution from the original version for harpsichord. The intended effects and contrasts, often abrupt, that occur during the course of the work are rendered in a particularly plastic manner on the organ, through the multiplicity of stops at one's disposal. |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 050502 Our Price: $38.00 Quantity in Basket: none FELIX MEDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809 – 1847) – SIX SONATAS FOR ORGAN, OP. 65 Sonata in F minor, Op. 65 No. 1; Sonata in C minor, Op. 65 No. 2 Sonata in A major, Op. 65 No. 3; Sonata in B flat major, Op. 65 No. 4 Sonata in D major, Op. 65 No. 5; Sonata in D minor, Op. 65 No. 6 JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833 – 1897) – ORGAN WORKS Fugue in A flat major, WoO 8 Eleven Chorale Preludes, Op. 122 The organ heard on this recording dates from 1900 and was manufactured by the Ludwigsburg-based company E. F. Walcker. It is recognised as a historical monument due to it being one of the few surviving instruments with a pneumatic tracker action. Its differentiated colours blend remarkably well, as was required at the time. In relation to these chorale preludes by Johannes Brahms, the organ is a near contemporary; the six Mendelssohn organ sonatas were finished 55 years before its construction, but in their utopic potential herald the arrival of such an instrument. On 10 April 1845, Mendelssohn wrote to his publisher Breitkopf und Härtel: “I have now completed the work for organ which I mentioned at the beginning of winter. It has grown, however, much larger than I had originally imagined. That is to say that there are six sonatas in which I have sought to express my way of treating the organ and of conceiving for it. Therefore, I would be pleased were they to be published as one work...”. This work influenced the evolution of organ-building, an arc which stretches back to Bach’s suggestions and extends to the so-called “future music” of Liszt. Not surprisingly, it is a multifaceted piece. From his letters, it is known that Mendelssohn loved baroque organs. In his lifetime, however, several modifications had been introduced. Among them was equal-tempered tuning and its consequences for the mixture stops. What today is known as a “romantic” organ was not yet a reality. In fact, such organs started to be built in response to the variety of these sonatas and as such, a rarity occurred: the repertoire preceded, and helped dictate the design of, the instrument. Until then the reverse held true: the organ of the era spurred the compositions that suited it best. The appreciation that César Franck had for Mendelssohn is also well known and this preference is obvious in his own organ oeuvre. The Walcker family, which later built this instrument in Essen-Werden, were close friends and one-time apprentices of Cavaillé-Coll, César Franck’s organ-builder. (2 CDs) REVIEW AUDIOPHILE AUDITION The Walcker organ - built in 1900 - has a pneumatic tracker action and a great variety of tonal colors. While not as versatile as the organs of the French romantic school, it has a number of modifications over the basic baroque organ of Bach’s day. While Mendelssohn loved baroque organs, he wrote his six organ sonatas in a more advanced style that perfectly fits this organ design. Mendelssohn was the first to unite sonata form with the Protestant chorale in his organ sonatas. He saw the entire cycle as one cohesive work, with the individual sonatas representing the different movements of one massive sonata. Although he composed them in a different order, he arranged the six works of the cycle with a key sequence of f-c-A-B flat-D-d (with the lower case denoting the minor keys and the caps the major). The first sonata is a the longest of all at over 15 minutes. It has four movements on a large scale, blending the choral with sonata movement structure. The second sonata has no chorale and starts with two slow movements. It’s primary theme is a fugue. The third and fourth sonatas are in major keys and highly contrasted with one another. The fourth takes the form of a four-movement classical piano sonata. The fifth is the shortest of the six and again begins with two slow movements and a chorale. The final sonata uses a Luther chorale “Our Father who are in in heaven” for an overall theme and variations structure. Brahms’ Fugue is quite chromatic and was a strong influence on Arnold Schoenberg. The 11 Chorale Preludes was the only work Brahms left behind upon his death. They used variations on lieder and hymn melodies from his childhood, and in fact he had played some of them on the piano for his friends the night before his death. The acoustics of the church are well-preserved via the full 5.1-channel surround reproduction. Although all solo instruments benefit from surround sound reproduction, the pipe organ benefits more than any other, since the acoustics of its venue are so much a part of the musical experience. Audiophile organ buffs will definitely want to add this expertly performed, recorded and notated album to their collection. - John Sunier |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 060302 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none MAX REGER (1873 – 1916): Variations and Fugue in F sharp minor, OP. 73 (1903) WILLEM TANKE (*1959): Two Wind Fantasies (2002) The organ: when one thinks of this instrument, one immediately thinks of the church and sacred music. And of course these associations are not entirely wrong. After all, most of these "queens among instruments" reside in houses of prayer whose administrations initiated and financed the building of the instruments. In addition, most of the music composed for the organ serves the primary purpose of praising the Creator and to provide the various liturgical rites with appropriate musical support. No other musical instrument, with the possible exception of the bell, which of course often also is asked to take over more mercantile tasks, is more closely associated with cult-like rituals than the organ, whereby these rituals predominantly are of Christian origin. Other religious communities, if they have any preference for a particular musical instrument, tend to favour other instruments. Originally the organ was of course not a liturgical instrument. The instruments' true ancestral home is called the arena. There the instrument accompanied chariot races, gladiator battles and executions in strident tones, often together with horns and trumpets. Or, in ancient times, at a time when the organ mechanics were still set in motion hydraulically, the instrument accompanied the comedies and pantomimes of the Greeks and Romans. Some Emperors even played the keyboard instrument themselves, and one of them in the eighth century elevated the organ to a symbol of imperial power. This stature was maintained for a long period and the instrument accompanied men of state also during their travels, in order to provide acoustical praise for themselves. Over time the instrument found its permanent and primary place in the Catholic churches and sounded praises to the glory of God and God's keepers of the faith here on earth (whereby in the Eastern Orthodox liturgy, the sound of instruments is to this day not permitted). In this aspect, the Reformation changed nothing, if one excludes a few Calvinistic opponents of organ music (or for that matter any instrumental music). In the late 17th century, when gradually the first public concert halls came into being, occasionally the organ too found a place in a non-liturgical setting. The repertoire that was performed however remained nearly the same. This also holds true nearly as strongly for the interpretations on these instruments, which since the 19th century have increasingly held a fixed place in newer concert halls. Having said that, by no means does every concert hall have a concert organ, although in churches in western Christianity, the church organ is indispensable. The history of the organ, even in a shortened version, is a most interesting, fast paced and at times rather confusing story. No other instrument in the history of western culture has been the subject of such strong social and church-political discussions, nor been subject to such strong reactions, rejection and acceptance both. This is of course a socio-historical family tree common to all "queens". This heritage is also bound to the individual instruments which Willem Tanke chose for the two pieces on this Super Audio CD recording. For his interpretation of Max Reger's Variations and Fugue on an original Theme, in f-sharp minor, opus 73 (1903), he chose the Adema organ, built in 1923 for the St. Bavo Cathedral in Haarlem (The Netherlands) and for the performance of his own two Wind Fantasies (2002) he chose the two Marcussen organs in the Grote of Sint Laurenskerk in Rotterdam, built in 1959 and 1973 respectively. These decisions were taken by the organist and composer Willem Tanke for aesthetic reasons and on grounds of performance practice considerations (see here as well the plans for disposition). |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 060303 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none WILLEM TANKE (*1959) Meditations for Lent (2002) Meditations for a lent is the result of a research that I carried out for the World Music Research Group of Codarts, University of Professional Arts Education. This research was called The Art of Doing Nothing, took place from 2004 till 2006 and was related to my activities as head of the theory department and professor of improvisation at Rotterdam Conservatoire. In particular, Meditations for a lent has been produced with an eye to the seminar Organ music in the 21st century, organized by Codarts in 2007. The organ-playing of J. S. Bach, who could achieve an extraordinarily powerful musical expression with very small movements of the hands and feet, according to one of his contemporaries, was the starting-point for the research. During my study and afterwards, this helped me form a picture of the ideal way of playing the organ and an attitude towards musicianship, which I later called The Art of Doing Nothing. With an eye to great composers who were also known for their improvisations on the organ, such as - besides J.S. Bach - Sweelinck and Messiaen, The Art of Doing Nothing aimed at improving mental and physical conditions for musicianship, by creating a good balance between performing, improvising and composing, with the help of analysis and research. For the instruction of students, the following text has been used: At the beginning there is silence, leading towards a good performing attitude, with a calm, concentrated mind, a relaxed body and steady breathing from the lower stomach. With this attitude, a useful musical idea, or “invention”, emerges from improvisation. A second “invention” can be added to provide contrast or to enhance the structure. Then the improvisation, played repeatedly from the sketches, slowly crystallizes into a composition. This process could last several days, weeks, months or even years, the sketches becoming increasingly detailed. Ultimately each piece may be entirely composed or still permit some improvisation. All the pieces of Meditations for a lent have evolved in this manner. |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 060401 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none Echelons for Organ (1966/67) Mein blaues Klavier (My blue piano) for Organ, Barrel Orgen and Jew's harp (1969/70) Transformations II for Organ (1952) Coral de Caracola for Organ (1985) In his organ works, Juan Allende-Blin has mined the vast resources of this "wind" instrument as part of his search for new means of expression. Accordingly, unexpected effects are achieved. Bellows seem to evolve into lungs, while the pipes, keys and stops form the mechanics of speech: lips, tongue and teeth. The resonances of the oral cavity are furthermore reflected in voice-like timbres. Hands and feet dance, leap and drag in every direction on the keyboard, often only fleetingly and as a whisper. Memory bridges the largest absences of sound and enables constant comparison. 1. "Échelons" is a three-movement cycle. Timbres ("Sonorités") are first introduced one after another and then played together. A long pause of 24 seconds is suitably embedded within the middle movement. In the end, the bellows' breaths chart the course of events, endlessly flaring up and dying away ("Sons brisés"). 2. "Mein blaues Klavier" requires a large organ with reduced wind pressure, as well as a barrel organ. The former, seen as a holy instrument, and the latter, its cousin, relegated to the fair, attempt a melancholic dialogue in broken sounds. In a letter from 5 March 2003, Heinz-Klaus Metzger wrote to the composer: "For a long time I have wished to devote an essay to not only the 'varieties' but also the categories of disintegration. In this work, European civilisation collapses, and dialectically speaking, is also redeemed. I have yet to grow into this idea". 3. "Transformations II" exploits, through a sensibly-expanding rhythmic pattern, very subtle fluctuations between two tuning systems used by the organ. 4. "Coral de Caracola" treats the entire church space as a sort of mussel, in which music occurs and accumulates. It shares its vibrations and echoes with the audience, sometimes physically. |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 060501 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none TEXT - Sieben Stationen eines Textes nach Jeremia 36 (1963) SZMATY (Psalm 22, 19) (1968) VOCALISE (1971) DIFERENCIAS (1961) Realisation über Cage's Variations I (1958/1966) Ré für Orgelspieler und Intonateur (1969) The Seven Stations of a Text are based on the report of the prophet Jeremiah, specifically chapter 36. The text which the prophet dictated from prison appears in different situations, which provided me with strong musical notions concerning changing changes, variations on variations. The cycle accordingly consists of seven movements. My intent is not so much the description of these events, but rather the transformations which transpire in this text, when it is heard in another room, at another time, with other ears, or similarly done, or even destroyed. All of this is embedded in the innermost layer of this music and thus effects its shifting structure. The unity of the text is transferred into the realm of music through the twelve-tone row, which through repeated, free use enables a rich plurality of expression. The composition Szmaty is dedicated to Isang Yun. For me he created his first graphic score, “Tuyaux sonores”. But shortly before the première he was kidnapped from West Germany and taken to South Korea, on the false charge of espionage. In order to help secure his release, I frequently played his “Tuyaux sonores” or my piece dedicated to him, “Szmaty”, in public at the time. The title is the Polish word for “rags” and refers to a passage from Psalm 22, verse 19: “They divided my clothes among themselves and threw dice for my robe”. The sounds of this Polish word lent themselves to the sonic qualities of the organ as follows: SZ (spoken as “sh”) = rustling, M = humming, A = ringing, T = sputtering, Y = sound fading. |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 060701 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 060801 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none Wandlungs-Passacaglia (Passacaglia of Transsubstantiation, 2001); B-A-C-H, Vier Töne für Orgel (B-A-C-H, Four Tones For Organ, 1973); Verschüttete Bauernflöte (Buried Rustic Flute, 1969); Quatemberfeste für Orgel (Ember Days, 1989); Gebrochene Flügel (Broken Wings, 1975); Rückläufige Passacaglia (Retrograde Passacaglia, 1979) Tilo Medek’s first works for organ, “Verschüttete Bauernflöte (1969)“ (buried rustic flute) and „B-A-C-H, Vier Töne für Orgel (1973)“ (Four Tones for Organ) were composed for the large organ at Merseburg Cathedral, and were inspired by its sound. Originally, the composition and the tonal character of the organ (which was constructed from 1853–1855 by Friedrich Ladegast using Baroque registers) was profoundly altered following comprehensive restoration by Kühne & Co. in 1963. In the process, Kühne replaced the typical Romantic stops, i.e. free reeds and numerous string registers, with Neo-Baroque pitches (high flutes like the rustic flute 1’ in the pedal, Aliquot as well as mixed registers). Without passing judgement on these changes, it is important to emphasize that these colourful, even bizarre overtone mixtures and fundamental tones in the string colours are typical of Medeks early oeuvre. Medek’s early works for the organ have another element in common: they experiment with sound and forms of notation. By switching the motor on and off, and half pulling off rows of register, he achieved microtonal sounds and variations of those tones. He confronted traditional methods of notation and values in this manner, with a variety of forms of free notation (i.e. spatial notation, graphic symbols and cluster-notation). |
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Label: CYBELE SACD 140402 Our Price: $19.00 Quantity in Basket: none Piano Sonata in A minor D 845 Piano Sonata in A major D 959 In the late 1970s, when I was a young piano student, I was treated to a spectacular performance: a fortepiano recital by an esteemed Austrian pianist, a pioneer in the revival of this instrument. The grand piano was, as I learned from an LP made around the same time, an 1815 Brodmann from Vienna, a model with 5 pedals. In addition to the “sustain” and “forte” pedals, it had a “moderator” pedal, a “bassoon stop” (using parchment, producing an effect similar to wires on a side drum) and a “janissary stop”, which imitated the sounds of the Turkish military’s drums, bells and cymbals.br>The concert consisted of two works by Beethoven (opp. 90 and 126) and two by Schubert: Moments musicaux and the grand sonata in B flat major, D 960. The performer enlivened the mood of the evening with his temperament and Viennese swagger, commenting on not only the works on the program, but also the instrument itself and his ideas about authentic performance practice. I only vaguely remember the impression these sounds left on me; likely, the music seemed rather curious or scurrilous. My reaction to this first encounter with “original sound” vacillated between surprise and fascination. As the pianist closed the night with Mozart’s „Rondo alla turca“, complete with much crashing of the “janissary stop”, doubts about the seriousness of the entire event plagued me ... At the time, “historical performance practice” or playing on “original instruments” did not have the same degree of understanding that they enjoy today. As a novice, the results seemed strange and mildly suspicious to me; somehow I could not refrain from the impression that some deficiency became a virtue here. The specific charms of the idea, as well as of the instrument itself, had yet to reveal themselves to me. For a long time, this remained my only encounter with this manner of interpretation. Not until some 20 years later did I listen with mature wisdom to pianists such as Andreas Staier and Malcolm Bilson – and then the connection between instrument, repertoire and pianistic history made sense! My first personal contact with a fortepiano happened in July 2004 and the instrument was the wonderful J.B. Streicher model heard on this recording. I accepted an invitation to play Schubert’s A major sonata, D 959 as a demonstration of this restored piano. The first time I touched the keys was a near shock! In the course of my studies, I was always told that old instruments had a very light mechanism, so I was very much surprised to discover how much power is needed to elicit sounds from within the instrument. Indeed, the full bodied sonority of the instrument was striking: its warmth in the treble keys, its powerful bass, matching its size, and its pronounced middle register. However, the notes did not reliably sound as I intended, especially when played piano (the aforementioned “moderator” – a piece of cloth placed between the hammers and strings, thus producing a very delicate, somewhat nasal tone – was obsolete by 1848). Understandably, I had mixed feelings when I performed Schubert’s great sonata on this instrument three days later. This performance showed me how the instrument’s inadequacies could hinder me in performance, or so I felt then. To my surprise, the audience was completely enchanted by the sound! From this experience grew the idea of presenting the beautiful and impressive sound of this grand piano to a larger audience in the form of an SACD recording. |
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