Sanselig nærvær. Berlin-innspillingene faller naturligvis ikke som fløyel i øret, de er 60/70 år gamle – men: Lydmessig vesentlig oppjustert. De som leter etter Celibidache og hans musikk, hører forbi slikt. For nettopp ikke å gå glipp av noen store øyeblikk i musikkhistorien. Sanselig nærvær og våken registrering av omverdenen er ikke bare et fremtredende trekk i hans personlighet, det er en livsholdning. Som vi hører.

Wie in den vorausgegangenen beiden groß gelungenen Folgen lichtet Holliger den Orchestersatz auf und betont durch kongeniale, oft überraschende Detailarbeit den leidenschaftlichen Charakter dieser Musik. Der große Bogen der Vierten bleibt dabei stets gewahrt, vor allem ergeben die Stimmverdopplungen der Neuorchestration ihren klanglichen Sinn. In Oren Shevlin findet er einen kongenialen Solisten, der dem Cello-Konzert die nötige lyrische Versenkung und Melancholie gewährt.

Wie schon in den vorangegangenen drei Folgen seiner Einspielung sämtlicher Orchesterwerke Griegs macht Eivind Aadland auch diese Musik so stark wie irgend möglich, vor allem gönnt er ihrem poetischen Zauber die erforderliche Transparenz und die Vielfalt der Orchesterfarben. Auf vordergründige Effekte verzichtet zumal die Wiedergabe des Klavierkonzerts. Herbert Schuch musiziert ganz auf dieser Linie, indem er bei tadelloser Technik, niemals vordergründig den Virtuosen ausstellt, um stattdessen vielmehr die Schönheiten dieser Partitur lyrisch und sanglich zu entfalten. Eine Empfehlung!

'Must never be performed' is an obvious red rag to any musical bull and although Grieg's youthful C minor Symphony reveals numerous influences, some more obvious than others, it's confidently built, thematically appealing and mildly memorable in a way that recalls similarly derivative early symphonic works by Dvorak and Glazunov. Its first recording, by the Bergen Symphony Orchestra under Karsten Andersen, is now out on Decca Eloquence (appropriately coupled with Goldmark's equally engaging Rustic Wedding Symphony), and shares the market with worthy versions under Ari Rasilainen, Okko Kamu, Terje Mikkelsen and Neeme Järvi. Up until now I would probably have rated the latter as top contender but this newcomer from Eivind Aadland and the Cologne WDR Symphony Orchestra, which is captured in admirably natural sound and appears in the context of Grieg's 'Complete Symphonic Works, Vol 4', is a fresh, lightly sprung performance that avoids any inappropriate feelings of portentousness and highlights the mazurka-style third movement as the most characteristic in terms of its thematic material.

A good idea to couple Grieg's least familiar orchestral work with its totally familiar near contemporary, the A minor Piano Concerto, in a not insubstantial reading by the excellent Herbert Schuch, who sounds-as if he's worked over every semiquaver with infinite care. Not that the performance lacks spontaneity, more that inner voices, crisp rhythms and a sculpted brand of poetry suggest a truly 'settled' interpretation, one that happily compares with (but hardly replaces) the best available. Again Aadland and his Cologne players provide an excellent account of the orchestral score, supportive of Schuch and distinctive on its own terms, and the recorded balance is excellent.

The Mantovani-style fanned chords at the start of Arthur H Lilienthal's all-strings rewrite of the Cello Concerto does not augur well, though Raphael Wallfisch rises from his freshly retextured orchestral bed determined not to allow the missing wind lines with their absent acerbities to compromise the strength of Schumann's message. He offers a convincing performance, phrasing with warmth and agility, while at the transition into the slow movement (at the start of tr 2) he achieves an affecting level of poignancy. But compare the close of the movement with Oren Shevlin's recording of Schumann's original with the Cologne WDR Symphony under Heinz Holliger, where the sting of brass and rocketing winds intensify the drama, and you soon realise what's missing in Lilienthal's rewrite, even though the arrangement was prompted by Schumann's own unrealised plan to prepare a version for string quintet. Had he done so I rather suspect it would have involved a certain amount of re-composition, not the blanket softening that we have here. And good as Wallfisch is, Shevlin suggests more of the fragile resolve that underlies the piece, fighting the dying light in a way that only Schumann could. Shevlin's tone is more subtly variegated than Wallfisch's, while his attack in the finale is toughened and springy. Holliger too keeps things stripped to the bone, sweetening the line where necessary, though never to excess, and with a level of clarity that others aim for but achieve only at a price of compromised expressivity. As to rivals, among older recordings I would especially recommend Janos Starker's Cologne version under Rafael Kubelik, recently issued by Orfeo as part of a three-disc Kubelik collection (all first-release material), probably the best we've had from Starker, simultaneously tender-hearted and tough-grained.

Most of Wallfisch's Schumann extras with piano are nicely done, the Fünf Stücke im Volkston delivered in the main with a light touch both by Wallfisch and by his fine pianist John York, the Three Romances, Op 94, and the Op 73 Fantasy Pieces similarly eloquent in a relaxed, unassuming way (barring the fiery last movement of Op 73), the Adagio and Allegro, Op 70, in many respects the disc's highlight. I wasn't too keen on the two Lieder transcriptions (both taken from the Op 39 Liederkreis collection), certainly not the start of 'Mondnacht', where the cello's presence spoils the music's solitary atmosphere, and in 'Frühlingsnacht', where the soloist ideally needs to project with greater presence.

Holliger's account of the 1851 Fourth Symphony has all the qualities that make his accompaniment to the Cello Concerto so distinctive, namely flow, transparency, and character (note the subtle but dramatic diminuendo among the horns at 4'42"). The expressive Romanze follows close on the heels of the first movement, surely as it should, the Scherzo asserts a virile presence, while the fast-paced finale is breezy and exhilarating, with plenty of light and shade. Altogether a worthy continuation of Holliger's Schumann series, with excellent playing and well-balanced sound.

Kritiker loben ihre Stimme als nuancenreich, lyrisch, natürlich und unprätentiös. [...] Ina Siedlaczek hat viel Herzblut in die Auswahl der Musikstücke eingebracht [...] Nun ist die Sopranistin auch für die International Classical Music Awards 2015 (ICMA) in der Kategorie "Barock vokal" nominiert worden.

Als kleines Mädchen hat sie in der St. Antoniuskirche im Kinderchor gesungen,...

This is as fine a performance of the Tchaikovsky Trio that you’ll ever find with these players putting their hearts and souls into the music. The engineers provide a fine recording in the acoustic of the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin-Dahlem, Germany the venue for so many fine recordings. There are informative notes.

Diese Archivaufnahmen haben in sorgfältiger Aufbereitung heute nichts von ihrem einstigen Glanz verloren, zeigen den Chor in der abgerundeten Schönheit, Sicherheit und Souveränität seines legendären Klangcharakters.

Getragen wird dies alles vom schönen, geschmeidigen Gesang des hervorragenden Chores.