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Beethoven: German Dances
Naxos May 1991
CD
$19.99

Schubert: German Dancea, Landlers & Ecossaises / Liu

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% May 27, 2022

Schubert was known in his time primarily as a composer of songs, but he was also a master of the dance form and wrote prolifically for a middle-class society eager for domestic entertainment. He loved Ländler (triple time country dances), the Écossaises (supposedly Scottish), and the rich variety of genial German dances. Viennese pianos of the day produced a sound that was clear and transparent, very different from modern instruments, and in this recording Yang Liu plays on a Steinway grand and a copy of a mid-1820s fortepiano by Conrad Graf, a maker well known to Schubert.

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Schubert: German Dancea, Landlers & Ecossaises / Liu
Naxos May 2022
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

PIANO SONATAS 15 & 19 / 16 GERMAN DANCES
ALTO Jan 2009
CD
$11.49

Schubert: Impromptus, Moments musicaux & German Dances / Vogt

Ondine

$17.99 Oct 14, 2016

Following Lars Vogt's massively popular recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, this new recording features much-loved piano works by Franz Schubert. Vogt was appointed the first ever "Pianist in Residence" by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2003-2004 and enjoys a high profile as a soloist and chamber musician. Schubert's Impromptus, D. 899 and the famous Moments musicaux are some of his most well-known pieces that are featured on this release.

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Schubert: Impromptus, Moments musicaux & German Dances / Vogt
Ondine Oct 2016
CD
$17.99

Gluck: Orpheus und Eurydike - A Dance Opera by Pina Bausch

BelAir Classiques

DVD

$29.99 Jan 26, 2010

Choreography and stage direction by Pina Bausch.

Dancers: Yann Bridard (Orpheus), Marie-Agnes Gillot (Eurydike), Miteki Kudo (Amor), Ballet de l'Opera national de Paris.

Duration: 104 minutes
Image: 16:9 NTSC
Sound: PCM Stereo, Dolby digital 5.1
Subtitles: French, German, English, Spanish, Italian
Region: All

This is in a class by itself: it is the late choreographer Pina Bausch's vision of Gluck's Orfeo, originally produced in Germany in 1975. This performance took place at Paris' Palais Garnier in February, 2008. Bausch presents two sets of protagonists--for each solo singing part there is a solo dancer--with the dancing, of course, taking physical precedence, but with the singers thoroughly engaged as well. You might think this awkward on stage but it is not; like any great choreographer, Bausch knows her space, and furthermore has choreographed minimal movements for the singers to emotionally mirror the dancers'. Just so you know, Bausch eschews Gluck's happy ending: both main characters remain dead at this performance's close.

I could describe the entire performance--so rich, so fluid, so moving--but the opening scene will suffice. As the dancing Orfeo, the magnificent, muscled Yann Bridard enters on the right, dressed only in flesh-colored briefs, and stands perfectly still while mezzo Maria Riccarda Wesseling, the singing Orfeo, cries out Eurydice's name (forgive me for not using the German spelling despite the fact that the opera is sung in German); a dead tree is the only prop.

Stage left is Eurydice herself, silent (the dancer Marie-Agnes Gillot), sitting high above the stage floor in her white, shroud-like wedding dress which reaches to the floor, a bouquet of blood-red roses cradled in her arms. She looks down at the grief around her; black-clad women and men writhe with anguish, their hands imploring and twisting. Orfeo lies face down near the tree and as the mourners leave slowly, he begins a tortured solo, clearly begging the gods' assistance. Bausch's choreography throughout is filled with swaying and upper-body movement; the feet never fidget. After a brief while the singing and dancing seem inevitably intertwined, as if the opera were always performed this way. Much of it gives the impression of a dream.

Hell is watched over by three men in leather aprons; they return after Eurydice dies a second time to take Orfeo. A remarkable moment occurs at the opera's peak moment: Eurydice, now in bright red, has been dancing madly, trying to get Orfeo to look back at her. He does and she dies in his arms as the singing Eurydice falls to the ground. Dancing Orfeo picks her up and places her atop the dancing Eurydice, and singing Orfeo kneels and sings the opera's most famous aria, "Che faro senza Eurydice". The effect is ravishing.

The costumes, sets, and lighting by Rolf Borzik, as suggested above, are evocative yet unfussy. The Balthasar-Neumann Ensemble & Choir play and sing handsomely throughout, with the chorus placed in the pit behind the musicians. Thomas Hengelbrock leads sensitively, whipping up a storm for the Furies and serving the needs of both singers and dancers. Mezzo Wesseling's Orfeo is strongly and movingly sung; hers may not be the greatest voice or interpretation, but she fits this production. However, Bridard's dancing of the part is unmatchable--he's on stage throughout and he seems thoroughly transfixed, expressing every emotion wordlessly and with grace and power. Julia Kleiter's Eurydice is lovely, a perfect match for the glorious Marie-Agnes Gillot. And Sunhae Im's shining Amore matches Miteko Kudo's dancing of the part.

As mentioned, the opera is sung in German, which I guess we will simply have to forgive. Subtitles are in all major European languages; the High Definition picture is superb and the sound (PCM Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1) matches it. There is some strong DVD competition, but this really is one of a kind.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

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Gluck: Orpheus und Eurydike - A Dance Opera by Pina Bausch
BelAir Classiques Jan 2010
DVD
$29.99

Zender: Schubert's Winterreise / Spuck, Ballett Zurich, Philharmonia Zurich [DVD]

Accentus Music

DVD

$41.99 Nov 19, 2021

Franz Schubert’s Winterreise, a cycle of 24 songs for voice and piano set to poems by Wilhelm Müller, is not only regarded as the zenith of Schubert’s song composition, but as the pinnacle of German art song in its entirety. German composer Hans Zender arranged the cycle in 1993 with the title: “Schubert’s ‘Winterreise’ – a composed interpretation“. Zender’s version for tenor and chamber orchestra reveals the cycle’s potential to disturb, and approaches Wilhelm Müller’s poems in its own way. Zender pushes into the darkest regions of human existence. With his interpretation, he brings to light emotions that pulsate just beneath the surface in Schubert’s work, uncovering the uncanny layers in the depths of the music. Like Hans Zender, Christian Spuck’s production, which was awarded the renowned Prix Benois de la Danse in 2019, concerns itself less with illustrating the external stations of the traveler’s journey. Instead, it approaches the cycle with thoroughly comprehensive abstraction. Using a mixture of large ensemble scenes and intimate solo images, Christian Spuck undertakes a journey into the innermost self. As he does so, he explores such timeless themes as love, longing, alienation, and abandonment, allowing the medium of dance to provide new perspectives on one of the greatest works of classical music.

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Zender: Schubert's Winterreise / Spuck, Ballett Zurich, Philharmonia Zurich [DVD]
Accentus Music Nov 2021
DVD
$41.99

Dances, Poems, Fairy Tales
Genuin Mar 2014
CD
$20.99

Landstreichmusik: Altfrentsch unterwegs

Musiques Suisses

$20.99 Nov 18, 2016

“Altfrentsch” is a rarely used concept in Appenzell dialect that has its origins in the German expression “altfrankisch” (“old Franconian”), which itself derives from the Middle High German “altvrenkisch”, thus “in the manner of the old Franks.” It means roughly “old fashioned” or “in the old manner.” “Altfrentsch” is also used to denote the original forms of Appenzell string music. “Altfrentsch” is thus the name given to the oldest collection of dances from Canton Appelzell. The dances in this collection, dating from the late 18th century, were only discovered in Gonten in 1998, and have thus not been frequently recorded or performed.

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Landstreichmusik: Altfrentsch unterwegs
Musiques Suisses Nov 2016
CD
$20.99

20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 2: Germany / Wallisch

Grand Piano

$19.99 Nov 13, 2020

Also available: 20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 1 and 20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 3

The first volume in this series traced the inter-war craze for carefree dance music in Austria and the Czech Lands (see GP813). This latest album focuses on Germany where jazz-influenced music flourished from the mid-1920s onwards even in the face of some social, political and racial opposition. Cabarets and dancehalls rejected this nationalist resistance and the Weimar Republic rejoiced in a cross-pollination of symphonic jazz and Kunstjazz – a fusion of dance and classical elements. The many previously unrecorded pieces here chart the progress of this vigorous musical rejuvenation. GOTTLIEB WALLISCH has performed on stage at the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals: Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zurich, and the NCPA in Beijing, also the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, and the Festivals of Lucerne and Salzburg. Conductors with whom he has performed as a soloist include Sir Neville Marriner, Dennis Russell Davies, Kirill Petrenko, Martin Haselboeck and Bruno Weil. Orchestras he has performed with include the Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra Budapest and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. He has made numerous recordings for record labels, including Naxos. Gottlieb Wallisch is a Steinway Artist.

REVIEW:

One of the year’s most surprising and consistently charming recording projects continues to gather steam. The second volume of the pianist Gottlieb Wallisch’s “20th Century Foxtrots” compendium follows up on the sprightly success of the initial set.

In Wallisch’s latest batch of performances there are once again some discoveries from lesser-known artists. (Multi-movement works by Leopold Mittmann and Walter Niemann are a delight to encounter.) The new album kicks off with a spirited performance of a Paul Hindemith fox trot. And this edition also includes the world premiere recording of a piano arrangement of a “Tango” by Kurt Weill.

– New York Times (Seth Colter Walls)

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20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 2: Germany / Wallisch
Grand Piano Nov 2020
CD
$19.99

Scheidemann: Organ Works Vol. 7 / Julia Brown

Naxos

$19.99 Oct 29, 2013

Heinrich Scheidemann’s significance as a composer lies in his absorption of the influence of his teacher Sweelinck, and his subsequent forging of a new, independent style in North German music in the first half of the seventeenth-century. Volume 7 includes one of his significant settings of the Magnificat and presents chorales, liturgical extemporisations, and keyboard realisations of vocal motets. Also included are some brief dance pieces showing Scheidemann’s lighter side.

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Scheidemann: Organ Works Vol. 7 / Julia Brown
Naxos Oct 2013
CD
$19.99

Lehár: Das Land De Lächelns / Schirmer, Et Al

CPO

$36.99 Sep 25, 2007

A brand new recording in excellent sound and a Sou-Chong to challenge even the great tenors on other sets … well worth consideration.

After Franz Lehár’s initial success with Die lustige Witwe in 1905 – an operetta that harked back to the jolly 19th century works of Johann Strauss II, Millöcker and Suppé – he gradually changed direction. For him there were to be new dramaturgical models including the “lyric operetta” where the focus is on the ‘inner world of the figures’ as Doris Sennefelder puts it in her perspective building notes to this issue. Paganini, Der Zarewitsch and Friederike are all in this mould and in Das Land des Lächelns a further aspect comes to the fore, the cultural clash between East and West. The Viennese Lisa falls in love with the Chinese Prince Sou-Chong but she can’t accept the demands of Chinese values. As in every operetta of the traditional kind act 2 ends in bitter conflict. So does Die lustige Witwe but there everything is sorted out in the third act as Hanna and Danilo dance away to eternal happiness – or so we believe. In Das Land des Lächelns the conflict is resolved insofar as Sou-Chong allows Lisa to leave China and return to Vienna. He displays some humanity after all but this does not really lead to increased understanding.

The Chinese or ‘Oriental’ setting was by no means unique to opera and operetta of the late 19th and the early 20th century. Massenet’s Le roi de Lahore and Delibes’ Lakmé are well-known examples. Mascagni’s Iris and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly are others and even Gilbert and Sullivan went Asian in The Mikado. Later Lehár and Puccini actually worked in parallel on Chinese projects, Puccini with Turandot and Lehár with Die gelbe Jacke which was premiered in 1923. It was later revised and presented in new guise in 1929 with Richard Tauber in the main lead. Then it was a tremendous success. This was Das Land des Lächelns.

There is no denying that Lehár was a tremendously skilful composer. The Chinese allusions in the score are no less striking than corresponding music in Turandot. The procession with chorus at the beginning of act 2 could just as well have been written by Puccini. It is followed by a highly attractive Chinese ballet suite. Towards the end of the act the wedding procession is colourful and powerful, also incorporating quotations from Sou-Chong’s first act song Von Apfelblüten einen Kranz.

This recording is the fourth of a Lehár operetta from CPO to have come my way the last couple of years and it is in the main very successful. Ulf Schirmer, who also conducted Schön ist die Welt (review), secures excellent playing from the Munich Radio Orchestra. His choices of tempo seem unerringly right. He is very close to Otto Ackermann in the historical 1953 recording now on Naxos (review) and that is my benchmark. The long overture, with quotations from the music that follows, very clearly prepares the listener for a largely serious, even tragic play and the ballet suite in act 2 is excellently played. The chorus is also splendid. For once in a recording with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers the balance is such that one need not turn up the volume every time to hear the dialogue properly. Recorded at three live performances the technicians have succeeded in finding the best of both worlds and there is hardly any evidence of an audience. There is quite a lot of dialogue but it is separately tracked and for repeated listening this leaves the choice open for those who want to hear only the music numbers.

There is a delightful but small-voiced second couple with Julia Bauer’s Mi, who sings a charming dancing song in act 2, and Alexander Kaimbacher’s Gustl, who is agreeably lyrical in the duet with Mi in the same act. Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund as Lisa is a bit uneven and her uppermost notes tend to be rather hard and strained. She can also be lyrically appealing, not least in duet, and in the dark-tinted and operatic finale to act 2 she delivers strong dramatic singing. Prince Sou-Chong is sung by Polish tenor Piotr Beczala and he is plainly superb with a good ring in the more outgoing music. Most of all though he impresses through delicious lyric singing with carefully judged nuances that cannot be taken for granted in operetta.

I have complained in the past about sloppy presentation from CPO but in this respect they have made amends. They give us both a detailed track-list and a fairly good synopsis in three languages. I still think that a full libretto would be useful – even for German speakers.

I am not fully au fait with all existing alternative versions. Ackermann’s recording, mentioned above, with Schwarzkopf, Gedda, Loose and Kunz is a classic and at Naxos price unbeatable. Gedda’s stereo remake with Anneliese Rothenberger as Lisa is a splendid alternative and EMI’s third offer, Boskovsky’s recording with Jerusalem and Helen Donath, also has much to commend it. Robert Stolz with Rudolf Schock and Margit Schramm will certainly give pleasure, though I haven’t heard it, but for a brand new recording in excellent sound and a Sou-Chong to challenge even the great tenors on the other sets, this is well worth consideration.

-- Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International

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Lehár: Das Land De Lächelns / Schirmer, Et Al
CPO Sep 2007
CD
$36.99

Lortzing: Ouvertures

CPO

$18.99 Aug 16, 2024

Albert Lortzing, who did not even reach the age of fifty, composed a towering number of stage works, several of which are regarded as German national treasures even today. Others have proven themselves to have stood the test of time thanks to excellent recordings. Although he became immortal with his Zar und Zimmermann and Undine, his purely orchestral output is quite thin. If it were not for the concert piece for horn and a similar work for trumpet, there would only be a number of overtures and pieces of ballet music available to a symphonic ensemble to produce a colourful portrait. The WDR Funkhausorchester has thus recorded a lively mixture of soloistic brilliance, entertaining dances and "dramatic" overtures whose existence was previously only known to die-hard Lortzing fans.

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Lortzing: Ouvertures
CPO Aug 2024
CD
$18.99

BRAHMS: HUNGARIAN DANCES/DVORAK: S
IMPORTS May 2012
CD
$13.49

Bernstein: Trouble In Tahiti, Symphonic Dances From West Side Story / Schirmer, Munich Radio Orchestra

BR Klassik

$19.99 Sep 29, 2009

BERNSTEIN West Side Story: Symphonic Dances. Trouble in Tahiti 1 & • Ulf Schirmer, cond; Kim Criswell ( Dinah ); 1 Rodney Gilfry ( Sam ); 1 Marlene Grimson ( Trio sop ); 1 Adrian Dwyer ( Trio ten ); 1 Ronan Collett ( Trio bar ); 1 Munich RO • BR 719003 (77:43 Text and Translation) Live: Munich 10/12/2008

& German interview with Ulf Schirmer

I have not generally been impressed with German orchestral performances of distinctly American scores such as these by Leonard Bernstein—heavily dependent on Latin dance rhythms and jazz inflections, having found too many of them stiff and uncomfortable with the idiom. I rather imagine that Viennese listeners have a similar reaction when an American orchestra and conductor perform Johann Strauss. Like the subtle inflections of language, there are some things one just absorbs from the culture that are hard to master otherwise.

So it proves here, especially in the “Symphonic Dances.” The percussion get the rhythms, and the brass have the feel as well, though the trumpets seem reluctant to wail with sufficient abandon, but generally, the woodwinds just can’t quite bring themselves to let lose in the long stretches of exuberance, and the strings are too polite by half. Add to that Ulf Schirmer’s tendency to relax momentum in the more lyrical sections—something Bernstein never did—and you have a performance that is a little too pokerfaced to take flight. It is not bad by any means—Schirmer often generates a good deal of energy and excitement—but it is simply not competitive with more idiomatic performances by the composer and others.

Some of that same orchestral stiffness infects the performance of Bernstein’s heavily ironic, autobiographical one-act opera, Trouble in Tahiti —the characters almost certainly represent Bernstein’s mismatched parents, Jennie and Sam—but this performance is harder to pass over. First of all, there are not a lot of recordings around, and more important, these singers have the style to make it work. The issue raised by this interpretation is one of genre: is it opera or is it musical theater? While most performances are cast with classically trained singers who can act, this recording straddles the fence by using an operatic baritone and a Broadway mezzo. (They also appeared in Simon Rattle’s 1999 EMI Wonderful Town .) Both are very fine: Gilfry, with his virile, flexible instrument, is a perfect self-absorbed and egotistical Sam, and Criswell, a singer with a vibrant and colorful voice, though rather limited on top for “I was standing in a garden,” is an emotionally fragile and angry Dinah. Their voices never blend, but one has to wonder if the stylistic contrast is an interpretive choice. Certainly, even if the combination gives less aural pleasure than two matched operatic voices might, it makes some sense for the antagonistic characters. And the choice of Criswell, a brilliant actress, is vindicated by an absolutely stunning performance of the show-stopping, musical theater-style “What a movie!” The Greek-chorus jazz vocal trio is classy with a reasonable sense of swing, and though the balance between the voices is not always ideal, they create just the right balance of satire and empathy.

In the end though, effective as this performance is, it must still take second place to the 1973 Bernstein-led performance on Sony 60969: very stylish and expressive, with excellent soloists and a perfect trio. There are other performances on CD: the student-cast performance by the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater on Newport Classic 85641 is quite good, and the 2006 Calliope recording (9391) in accented English with French performers, is an interesting novelty: urbane and very coolly jazzy. But once you have the Bernstein CD, Gilfry and Criswell make this new release an ideal supplement.

FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

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Bernstein: Trouble In Tahiti, Symphonic Dances From West Side Story / Schirmer, Munich Radio Orchestra
BR Klassik Sep 2009
CD
$19.99

Brahms: 10 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1 - 16 Waltzes, Op. 39

Naxos

$19.99 Jun 03, 1994

The set of ten Hungarian dances opens with the famous G minor dance, followed by a D minor dance, with a central D major episode, and a third in D minor, with a lively D major middle section. The fourth dance, in F sharp minor, is of a more expressive cast, leading to a more passionate companion in the same key. The sixth of the set, in D flat major, frames a slower C sharp minor section in livelier outer sections, leading to the rhythmic seventh dance and an eighth in A minor in the rhythm of the first. A dance in E minor is succeeded by the final rapid E major that rounds of the work. The sixteen Waltzes that form Opus 39 were written in Vienna in 1864 and published two years later with a dedication to the critic Eduard Hanslick, who welcomed such an unexpected gift from a serious, North German composer, who might have been supposed incapable of such Viennese abandon. If the great symphonies of Brahms continue the tradition of Schubert, they may be imagined as a tribute to the city where the compose was now to make his home. The original version seems to be that for piano duet, a form that had an immediate popular commercial attraction and would have provided Hanslick with music to share with young ladies of his acquaintance, with whom he was accustomed to play duets. The Waltzes are in a simpler and shorter form than the slightly more complex Hungarian Dances. Idil Biret born in Ankara, Idil Biret began piano lessons at the age of three. She displayed an outstanding gift for music and graduated from the Paris Conservatoire with three first prizes when she was fifteen. She studied piano with Alfred Cortot and Wilhelm Kempff, and composition with Nadia Boulanger. Since the age of sixteen Idil Biret has performed in concerts around the world, playing with major orchestras under the direction of conductors such as Monteux, Boult, Kempe, Sargent, de Burgos, Pritchard, Groves and Mackerras. She has participated in the festivals of Montreal, Persepolis, Royan, La Rochelle, Athens, Berlin, Gstaad and Istanbul. She was also invited to perform at the 85th birthday celebration of Wilhelm Backhaus and at the 90th birthday celebration of Wilhelm Kempff. Idil Biret received the Lily Boulanger Memorial Fund Award (1954/1964), the Harriet Cohen/Dinu Lipatti Gold Medal (1959) and the Polish Artistic Merit Award (1974) and was named Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite in 1976.

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Brahms: 10 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1 - 16 Waltzes, Op. 39
Naxos Jun 1994
CD
$19.99

20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 1: Austria & Czechia / Wallisch

Grand Piano

$19.99 Feb 14, 2020

Also available: 20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 2 and 20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 3

During the inter-war period, in the cities of the West, a younger generation found ways to enjoy life in the form of dances such as shimmies, foxtrots, tangos and Charlestons: strong rhythms that became a symbol of a carefree and decadent era. The new jazz craze took hold everywhere, and Krenek’s opera Jonny spielt auf became an overnight sensation. The inter-war Zeitgeist in Vienna and the Czech lands is reflected in a programme full of première recordings – many of which were hits in their day – rich with fashionable dynamism, syncopation and joie de vivre. Born in Vienna, Gottlieb Wallisch first appeared on the concert platform when he was seven years old, and at the age of twelve made his debut in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. A concert directed by Yehudi Menuhin in 1996 launched Wallisch’s international career: accompanied by the Sinfonia Varsovia, the seventeen-year-old pianist performed Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto. Since then Wallisch has received invitations to the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals including Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zurich, and the NCPA in Beijing, also the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Festivals of Lucerne and Salzburg, December Nights in Moscow, and the Singapore Arts Festival.

-----

REVIEWS:

This new recording is an utterly delightful collection of Austrian and Czech foxtrots and other dance music, performed with panache and great affection. Most of the music was written in the 1920s and 1930s when the composers were prompted by publishers to write popular (and commercial) dance music. You can imagine this inventive, rhythmic, and sensuous music being played in pre-WW II Vienna and Prague dance halls and cabarets.

– MusicWeb International

While jazz-inspired music by the likes of Stravinsky and Weill has never been forgotten, the similar efforts of dozens of other composers from the same period have fallen into obscurity. Now some of those experiments are enjoying a fresh hearing. The German pianist Gottlieb Wallisch’s revealing and entertaining new recording is mostly made up of world-premiere recordings of these dance-oriented works, in their piano arrangements.

By grouping these works geographically, he said, he anticipates creating “an encyclopedia of music from this time.” The second volume in the series — devoted to pieces by German composers — is scheduled for release in the fall.

If you’ve heard of the Czech composer Jaromir Weinberger, it’s likely for the Polka from his opera “Schwanda the Bagpiper.” (Herbert von Karajan was a devotee of that orchestral excerpt.) But he also composed an entry in the annals of the jazz-age dance known as the shimmy, garlanding his miniature with streaks of New World suavity.

In a 1925 lecture, the Austrian composer Ernst Krenek asked aloud what the listening public wanted. “The answer,” he continued, “will perhaps be somewhat frightening: none other than dance music.” The arrangement on Mr. Wallisch’s recording was created by the composer Jeno Takacs as part of a potpourri of selections from the opera.

Jaroslav Jezek’s “Bugatti Step” was, when it was written, a calling card for its composer — including with the “jazz orchestra” that he led at the time. Mr. Wallisch’s take on the solo piano arrangement of the piece is a cut above several other contemporary performances. He has plenty of forward motion, but his way of approaching Jezek’s propulsive writing results in a smooth ride. “It’s not a Charleston or a quick-fox,” he said. “I don’t think it needs the fast-as-possible tempo.”

– New York Times

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20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 1: Austria & Czechia / Wallisch
Grand Piano Feb 2020
CD
$19.99

Chopin: La Dame Aux Camelias / Schmidtsdorff, Paris Opera Ballet [Blu-ray]

Opus Arte

Blu-Ray

$52.99 Jun 30, 2009

REGIONS: All Regions
PICTURE FORMAT: 1080i
LENGTH: 191 Mins
SOUND: 2.0 & 5.0 PCM
SUBTITLES: ENGLISH/FRENCH/GERMAN/SPANISH/ITALIAN (extra features)
NO OF DISCS: 2

Based on the Alexandre Dumas novel that also inspired the stories of Verdi’s La Traviata and Hollywood’s Moulin Rouge, John Neumeier creates a riveting dance drama around the famous woman of lore, La Dame aux camélias. The passionate tale of Marguerite Gautier and Armand Duval unfolds ingeniously through a drama-within-a-drama as they meet at the theatre during a performance of Manon Lescaut. So begin their romantic adventures in Paris, brought to life by Neumeier’s intense and refined choreographic language. Chopin’s ravishing music highlights this exceptional neo-classical ballet, featuring the star dancers of the Paris Opéra Ballet. This lavish production, filmed live at the Palais Garnier in High Definition and full surround sound, is all about love, passion, danger and glorious dancing from one of the best ballet companies in the world.

Marguerite Gautier: Agnès Letestu
Armand Duval: Stéphane Bullion
Monsieur Duval: Michaël Denard
Prudence Duvernoy: Dorothée Gilbert
Manon Lescaut: Delphine Moussin
Des Grieux: José Martinez
Olympia: Eve Grinsztajn
Gaston Rieux: Karl Paquette
Le Duc: Laurent Novis
Nanine: Béatrice Martel
Le Comte de N.: Simon Valastro

The Paris Opera Ballet
Orchestra of The Opera national de Paris
Conductor: Michael Schmidtsdorff
Stage Director: John Neumeier

Recorded live at the Palais Garnier, Paris, on 2nd, 5th and 8th July 2008.

Plus
Illustrated synopsis.
Cast gallery.
Flashback to the Lady of camellias.

Reviews
‘John Neumeier has created a ballet in which emotions go crescendo … Agnes Letestu, the great dramatic heroine, triumphs in this ballet danced to music by Chopin.’ Figaro

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Chopin: La Dame Aux Camelias / Schmidtsdorff, Paris Opera Ballet [Blu-ray]
Opus Arte Jun 2009
Blu-Ray
$52.99

Henze: Ondine / Royal Ballet

Opus Arte

DVD

$34.99 May 25, 2010

Hans Werner Henze
ONDINE

Ondine – Miyako Yoshida
Palemon – Edward Watson
Berta – Genesia Rosato
Tirrenio – Ricardo Cervera
A Hermit – Gary Avis

Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth, conductor

Frederick Ashton, choreographer

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, June 2009.

Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Cast gallery
- The Making of Ondine – an interview with Hans Werner Henze

Picture format: 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish (bonus only)
Running time: 114 mins
No. of Discs: 1

Miyako Yoshida dances the title role originally created for Margot Fonteyn in the hauntingly beautiful underwater world of Ondine, vividly brought to life by The Royal Ballet. Frederick Ashton’s shimmering choreography, Lila de Nobili’s impressionistic designs and Hans Werner Henze’s specially commissioned, vibrant and inventive score, memorably combine to evoke the many moods and colours of the sea. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound.

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Henze: Ondine / Royal Ballet
Opus Arte May 2010
DVD
$34.99

Sale

Schubert, F.: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 8 / 6 Deutsche
Delos Jan 1991
CD
~~$18.99~~ $14.99

Petzold & Kayser: Harpsichord Music

Brilliant Classics

$22.99 Feb 07, 2025

A monumental collection of German-Baroque keyboard literature, presented complete for the first time on record, and coupled with dance suites by an unfamiliar name of the late German Baroque. The modern-day reputation of Christian Petzold (1677-1733) is almost wholly based on a single, modest minuet. Known to generations of young pianists as 'the Minuet in G', it was included by Bach in one of the notebooks of pieces he gave to his wife, Anna Magdalena, for her instruction. In turn this led to the minuet itself being mistakenly attributed to Bach himself. Yet much more of Petzold's output has survived, and only now is it coming to light. Having recorded complete sets of many unsung heroes of the German Baroque, Fernando de Luca now turns to the collection of no fewer than 25 'Concertos' for solo harpsichord by Petzold. Published in 1729 as 'Receuil des XXV', the collection first appeared in Dresden, where Petzold was organist to the royal court. The form of these concertos is Italianate, and their heavily ornate soundworld is recognisable from the better-known example of Vivaldi and Corelli. There are dance movements here and there - including minuets - but the predominant genres are determined by tempo: Allegro, Larghetto, Presto and so on. They make such an immediately attractive effect that it is surprising they are not better known, and this release will attract the attention of all adventurous listeners to Baroque rarities. Fernando de Luca pairs the 25 concertos of Petzold with a collection of three 'Parthias' - partitas by another name - from an even more obscure figure, Isfrid Kayser. Known as 'Concors digitorum discordia', this collection was published in Augsburg in 1746 and conforms to the conventions of a Baroque suite with it's graceful sequences of dances, prefaced by a grand overture and concluding with a dashing Presto movement. As so often, Fernando de Luca demonstrates his abilities to revive this music with lucid phrasing, lively registration and an unfailing sense of Baroque style. Scholarly background on both composers is provided in the booklet with an essay by Francesca Scotti. Christian Petzold (1677-1733) was a German organist and composer, holding court positions in Dresden. From 1703, he was organist at the Sophienkirche in Dresden and from 1709 also chamber composer at the Saxon court there. Extensive concert tours took him to Paris in 1714 and Venice in 1716.

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Petzold & Kayser: Harpsichord Music
Brilliant Classics Feb 2025
CD
$22.99

Lisinski: Deutsche Lieder

Haenssler Classic

$20.99 Oct 02, 2026

World Premiere Recording Vatroslav Lisinsk 1819-1854 Deutsche Lieder / German Songs In his 35 years of life, Lisinski left an unexpectedly large body of work for someone who began pursuing music relatively late. Among the 160 preserved compositions, in addition to operas and orchestral works, notable pieces include choral works, piano pieces (mazurkas and other dances), and art songs in Croatian, Czech, Slovakian, and German. Unlike the Croatian songs, which he composed throughout most of his career, the German songs were written within a shorter time span. Most of his German art songs were composed in 1846, with only a smaller number being written between 1846 and 1851. Moreover, we would be hard-pressed to find a stylistic difference between Lisinski's Croatian and German art songs. It was only after Lisinski's death that musicologist Franjo Ksaver Kuhac undertook a thorough study of Croatian folk music, and his collection of songs significantly influenced later Croatian composers. Therefore, the musical language of both Lisinski's Croatian and German songs is similar or even identical: it is the musical expression of early Romanticism.

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Lisinski: Deutsche Lieder
Haenssler Classic Oct 2026
CD
$20.99

German Folk Songs
Thorofon Sep 1995
CD
$24.99

Grieg: Symphonic Works, Vol. 1 / Aadland, WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln [Vinyl]

Audite Musikproduktion

Vinyl

$27.99 Nov 18, 2014

Edvard Grieg: Symphonic Works Vol. I present two of the composer’s principal collections on 180g vinyl LP: the first Peer Gynt Suite, Op. 46 and his four Symphonic Dances, Op. 64. Eivind Aadland's roots in the tradition of Norwegian folk music influence his interpretations. Grieg's connections with Germany stretched from his Leipzig studies to his numerous concert performances and extraordinary circulation of his works there. This recording, with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Köln, represents on several levels a German-Norwegian synthesis already in existence during Grieg's lifetime.

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Grieg: Symphonic Works, Vol. 1 / Aadland, WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln [Vinyl]
Audite Musikproduktion Nov 2014
Vinyl
$27.99

Cantilena Anglica Fortunae

Ricercar

$20.99 Oct 26, 2018

For his first recording with Ricercar, and as a prelude to an anthology of German Baroque harpsichord music, Yoann Moulin tackles works by two of Sweelinck's most illustrious disciples. The preludes, chorales, fugues, dances and arias with variations of this repertory offer great diversity and enable us to grasp the personalities of the two composers, the introverted Scheidt and the more flamboyant and Baroque Scheidemann. Yoann Moulin began his musical education with Robert Weddle. He discovered the harpsichord later, and studied with Bibiane Lapointe and Thierry Maeder before continuing his education at the Academy Villecroze and the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris. He has since performed in numerous solo and chamber music recitals and at different festivals including the Folles Days of Nantes, the Philharmonie de Paris, La Roque d'Antheron, and more. Recently, he cofounded the ensemble "A Band of Harpsichords," a consort of ancient keyboards that focuses on the music of the Renaissance, both written and improvised.

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Cantilena Anglica Fortunae
Ricercar Oct 2018
CD
$20.99