Notes and Editorial Reviews
It seems that the Antigone music was widely performed in many European countries throughout the nineteenth century. Considering the eminence of its composer Antigone today languishes in relative obscurity... Mendelssohn opens the score to Antigone with an orchestral introduction marked Andante maestoso. In this overture the Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart under Frieder Bernius are in impressive form. The valiant opening measures soon give way to music of an elegiac quality... The four narrators are a splendid group. Angela Winkler as Antigone, Joachim Kuntzsch as Creon, Michael Ransburg and Julia Nachtmann all deliver clear and precise enunciation... This is a splendidly performed and recorded release for those interested in rare
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Mendelssohn repertoire.
-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International
reviewing the original release of Antigone
Standing at the centre of Sophocles’s Theban trilogy, Oedipus in Kolonos forms a melancholy, meditative interlude between the more dramatic events of Oedipus Rex and Antigone... Did Mendelssohn respond to the murmurings of discontent over Antigone? Whatever the case, his choruses of four years later for Oedipus display a greater range of texture, as well as more sophisticated interplay between chorus, reciters and orchestra... [T]he chorus lamenting the horrors of old age is spare and terrifying, while the final bars achieve an almost Wagnerian grandeur. All in all, the performance is superb, with a special wreath for the brows of the tenor section. Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)
-- Roger Nichols, BBC Music Magazine
reviewing the original release of Oedipus at Colonos Read less
Works on This Recording
2.
Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61 by Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Sibylla Rubens (Soprano),
Claudia Schubert (Soprano)
Conductor:
Frieder Bernius
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Stuttgart Baroque Ensemble,
Stuttgart Chamber Choir Women
Period: Romantic
Written: 1842; Germany
Language: German
3.
Antigone, Op. 55 by Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Michael Ransburg (Speaker),
Angela Winkler (Speaker),
Joachim Kuntzsch (Narrator),
Julian Nachtmann (Speaker),
Manfred Bittner (Bass)
Conductor:
Frieder Bernius
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Stuttgart Classical Philharmonic Orchestra,
Stuttgart Chamber Choir
Period: Romantic
Written: Germany
4.
Oedipus at Colonos, Op. 93 by Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Julian Nachtmann (Speaker),
Joachim Kuntzsch (Voice),
Angela Winkler (Voice),
Michael Ransburg (Speaker)
Conductor:
Frieder Bernius
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Stuttgart Classical Philharmonic Orchestra,
Stuttgart Chamber Choir
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845; Germany
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