Martin Stadtfeld / Hallé Orchestra / Sir Mark Elder SCHUMANN Kinderszenen - Klavierkonzert

“Stadtfeld brings his trenchant and clearly structured approach to both the Baroque and the Romantic works. His music-making is playfully light in touch, without lapsing into frivolity, while the range of expression extends from dance-like elegance to arioso intimacy, but always with the necessary drive and, where need be, with a forward-thrusting impetus.” (Frankfurter Neue Presse)

Students of the piano occasionally struggle through Bach’s preludes in strict sequence, their only solution being to discover some personal element in them by romantically transfiguring them. But it is clear from Martin Stadtfeld that the freedom and vitality of this music are to be found precisely in the strict observance of lucid form. With his responsiveness to detail, the pianist uses structure as a means of providing the listener with a sense of orientation. Ornaments and changes of rhythm seem all the more surprising and full of life. In his unorthodox way Stadtfeld unobtrusively yet unmistakably throws open the score so that every listener can follow it and sees what lies inside it. Bach’s architectural form and delight in mathematical proportions become a fascinating background, and the individual details stand out like a diagram that one contemplates, its precise details becoming increasingly fascinating, the longer one looks. What a difference in character when we turn to Schumann! We hear what Romanticism in music really means, mellifluous without being saccharine. We stop, almost afraid to breathe, so delicate is the touch. Whether fast or resolute, whether serenade or scherzo, Schumann’s Bunte Blätter are turned into character studies, into brief yet delightful sketches. (Rondo, February 2006)

Jiyoon Lee / Odense Symphony Orchestra / Kristiina Poska KORNGOLD - NIELSEN Violin Concertos

Orchid Classics releases the debut album of Jiyoon Lee, the 26 year old South Korean violinist who won joint first prize of the 2016 Carl Nielsen International Competition. The album was recorded in Odense, home of the Carl Nielsen Competition in Denmark, together with the Odense Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kristiina Poska in June 2017 as a part of the competition prize. 

Alongside the Nielsen violin concerto, which Jiyoon Lee performed at the finals of the 2016 competition, she has chosen to record Korngold’s violin concerto. "To understand the musical language of Carl Nielsen was the most challenging part" explains Jiyoon, "but his music is fascinating and the the concerto is a wonderful piece for the violin. It might seem a little exotic at first, but once you understand it, you really can appreciate his musical world."

It was Jiyoon’s performance at the Carl Nielsen Violin Competition which led the President of the Jury, Nikolaj Znaider, to comment "When you sit on a jury you are looking for somebody who makes you forget that it is a competition and I remember very clearly hearing Jiyoon play for the first time in 2016 and she did just that. Her playing was immediately a breath of fresh air. She is a terrific violinist and I can see her going very far. She has lightness in her playing and yet is a musician who takes her craft very seriously."

Such praise has marked the 26 year old violinist out as a genuine talent to watch. Born in 1992 in South Korea, Jiyoon comes from a musical family. She studied with Nam-Yun Kim at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul and moved to Berlin to continue her studies with Kolja Blacher at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’. Alongside her growing list of solo engagements, Jiyoon Lee was this month appointed the youngest ever concert-master of the Staatskapelle Berlin and is a devoted chamber musician who participates in music festival across the world, including both Verbier and Tanglewood. On 24 June she performs at the Boulez Saal in a chamber music programme together with Antonio Pappano and returns in February 2018 for a solo recital in the "Rising Stars" programme. With pianist Henry Kramer, Jiyoon will release a second CD on the Champs Hill label early this autumn entitled "Myths", featuring works by Szymanowski, Stravinsky, Bartok, Ravel and Wieniawski.

Since the 2016 Carl Nielsen Violin Competition Nikolaj Znaider has invited Jiyoon Lee to perform as soloist in concerts which he has conducted with both the Poznan Philharmonic (Mozart Concerto in G Major, KV216) and Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra in South Korea (Mendelssohn Violin Concerto). Jiyoon returns to Denmark in March 2019 to perform with the Carl Nielsen National Academy Orchestra and Marek Janowski as a part of the celebrations to launch the next Carl Nielsen International Competition.

Alessandro Deljavan / Daniela Cammarano / Luca Magariello HUMMEL Complete Piano Trios

Although hardly a household name today, Johann Nepomuk Hummel was a pupil of Mozart, and was considered in his time to be one of Europe’s greatest composers and pianists. Like his teacher, he was also a child prodigy, and he so impressed Mozart that the composer began to teach him free of charge. These piano trios were composed in the late 1700s, a time of Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, with great upheaval reverberating throughout the continent. This upheaval is clear to see in the experimentation in Hummel’s music; he started to abandon the usual threemovement form for one with four movements, a remarkable feature more common of the orchestral symphony than chamber music at the time. Despite the apparent simplicity of Hummel’s music, a closer listen reveals the tightly constructed complexity beneath: the Trio in E Op.83, for example, ironically marked ‘innocente’, starts in E major, only to move swiftly into the distant key of A flat. Hummel then leads the listener through some beautifully lyrical melodic writing, underpinned by unusual modulations and harmonic changes. The release features three young Italian performers, Alessandro Deljavan, Daniela Cammarano and Luca Magariello, who, despite their youth, all have established careers behind them. With Deljavan and Cammarano having studied in Milan, and Magariello in Turin, the three musicians have all worked variously as soloists and orchestral players both in Italy and abroad, counting several international prizes between them. They are delighted to be collaborating together for this project, being enthusiastic performers of Hummel’s music and committed to bringing his extensive oeuvre to new audiences. (Arkiv Music)

Duo Cammarano-Deljavan GRIEG Violin Sonatas

The 3 Violin Sonatas by Edvard Grieg are a mixture of German and Austrian traditions with the Nordic folk. The experience at the Leipzig Conservatory, where the strong influence of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Robert Schumann was felt, and the trips to Italy, especially Rome, where Grieg met Franz Liszt, contributed greatly to the formation of the style of the Norwegian composer. Similarly of crucial importance were the years he spent in Copenhagen where he completed his studies under the guidance of the Danish composer Niels W. Gade. 

The complete Sonatas for violin and piano are included in this album signed by the well-matched duo Cammarano-Deljavan.

"Cammarano and Deljavan have a very different vision. They offer Grieg on a grand scale. This is passionate music, played aggressively. They bring these sonatas into the world of Grieg’s String Quartet, with brooding, double-stopped romanticism." (Richard Kraus, Music-web International)

"Commendable, thoughtful readings, rising to the various challenges of the fast movements and responding well to the abundant lyricism in the slower ones. Their characterisation [and] expansive expressive range are especially admirable." (Robin Stowell, The Strad)

Isabelle Faust FRANZ SCHUBERT Oktett

In response to a commission from Count Troyer, who wanted a work closely modelled on Beethoven’s famous Septet op.20, Schubert – despite his fervent admiration for the older composer – resolutely struck out on his own by delivering an . . . Octet. While the enlarged forces opened his path towards symphonic writing, examination of the form and expression reveals a much more accomplished and personal composition than has generally been recognised by commentators. Isabelle Faust and her partners, enthralled by what is an exceptional work in every respect, offer us a new interpretation of it on period instruments.

Hespèrion XXI / Jordi Savall MUSICA NOVA

 For more than fifty years, Jordi Savall has rescued musical gems from the obscurity of neglect and oblivion and given them back for all to enjoy. A tireless researcher into early music, he interprets and performs the repertory both as a gambist and a conductor. His activities as a concert performer, teacher, researcher and creator of new musical and cultural projects have made him a leading figure in the reappraisal of historical music and recipient of many awards and honors. Together with Montserrat Figueras, he founded the ensembles Hespèrion XXI (1974), La Capella Reial de Catalunya (1987) and Le Concert des Nations (1989), with whom he explores and creates a world of emotion and beauty shared with millions of early music enthusiasts around the world. He is European Union Ambassador for intercultural dialogue, and received a Grammy for Small Ensemble Performance, among many others.

On Musica Nova, Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI have collected the best pieces for viol consort composed between 1500 and 1700. London, Venice, Rome, Versailles, Madrid: all the great European courts were fascinated by the new 'musica nova' style, which dreamed of a harmony beyond time and frontiers. With this recording, Jordi Savall sets a new standard by delivering the comprehensive vision of a repertoire for which he is already famous.

REINIER BAAS Reinier Baas vs. Princess Discombobulatrix

‘Discombobulatrix’ is a mostly instrumental, partly improvised surrealist opera in three acts, masterfully illustrated by Amsterdam based comic artist Typex. The story revolves around ‘Princess Discombobulatrix’, a highly confusing figure, ‘The Duke of Waalwijk’ and ‘The General’, who attempt to woo the Princess desperately, and a shapeshifter called ‘The Enormous Wizard Zendor’. It’s not long before the events turn into a tragedy, in which all the characters die a bizarre and violent death. Soprano Nora Fischer plays the role of ‘Princess Discombobulatrix’ (sporadically), while the rest of the line-up is comprised of the creme de la creme of the Dutch jazz scene, with among others Joris Roelofs, Ben van Gelder and Martijn Vink. The musicians are pushed to their limits by Baas’ happily deranged eclectic melting pot: they play with ‘classical’ precision, improvise parts of the music on the spot and go back and forth between highly danceable post-punk and Wagner-like ballades.