Géza Anda war von 1955-1969 regelmäßig zu Gast bei den Musikfestwochen Luzern. Aus dieser Zeit stammen die drei Radiomitschnitte, die audite nun erstmals gemeinsam auf einer CD veröffentlicht.
Anfangs erklingt das Konzert für zwei Klaviere und Orchester BWV 1061 von Johann Sebastian Bach, aufgenommen unter der Leitung von Herbert von Karajan, zusammen mit Clara Haskil. Die Interpretation ist ein Kind ihrer Zeit und ein Zeugnis der engen Zusammenarbeit Karajans nicht so sehr mit Anda, aber vor allem mit Haskil, die der Dirigent verehrte und mit der er viele Konzerte gab und auch im Duo spielte.
Geza Anda war ein ausgewiesener Bartok-Spezialist und seine Berliner Studioaufnahmen der Konzerte mit Ferenc Fricsay sind legendär.
Hier sind die Konzerte Nr. 2 unter Fricsay und Nr. 3 unter Ernest Ansermet zu hören. Beide Interpretationen sind extrem spannungsvoll und fesselnd.

Géza Anda was a regular guest at the Lucerne Music Festival from 1955-1969. The three radio recordings, which audite is now releasing together on a CD for the first time, date from this period.
At the beginning, we hear the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra BWV 1061 by Johann Sebastian Bach, recorded under the direction of Herbert von Karajan, together with Clara Haskil. The interpretation is a child of its time and a testimony to Karajan’s close collaboration not so much with Anda, but especially with Haskil, whom the conductor adored and with whom he gave many concerts and also played as a duo.
Geza Anda was a proven Bartok specialist and his Berlin studio recordings of the concertos with Ferenc Fricsay are legendary. Here we hear Concertos No. 2 under Fricsay and No. 3 under Ernest Ansermet. Both interpretations are riveting.

Mehr als die Einspielung wiegt das Engagement, mit dem Toshio Yanagisawa und das Balkan Chamber Orchestra in einer Region musikalische Brücken bauen, in der noch immer ethnische und religiöse Grenzen gezogen werden. Die Aufnahme entstand in Japan während der Proben für das jährliche «Weltfriedenskonzert» des Ensembles.

L’avenante captation contribuera à plaider pour une découverte qu’on ne saurait dissuader. [...] Ce quinconce esthétique ne disconvient toutefois pas à l’écoute, et signe l’audacieux regard croisé qu’ose ce double-album, aussi intéressant dans son enjeu que dans sa réalisation. C’est la première fois qu’un tel accouplement s’aventure au disque.

For collectors of historic recordings, a must.

The "Basevi Codex - Music at the Court of Margaret of Austria" offers us pure, raw emotion in an entirely female interpretation; Dorothee Mields' unique, fascinating soprano vocal timbre captivates us from the very first note. Her silky, crystal-clear voice harmonizes with the warm, full, and sharp notes of the flutes played by the Boreas Quartett Bremen ensemble.

Il en va de Hindemith comme de Reger : les artistes qui en sont proches dans le temps en livrent une vision moins compassée que des interprètes plus récents. Böhm était l’aîné d’un an du compositeur ; sa lecture très vivante, à la fois robuste et joyeuse, du Concerto pour vents, harpe et orchestre (Lucerne 1970) illustre cet aspect, et le rapproche presque de Kurt Weill. L’énergie, le mordant, le relief, la fraîcheur d’inspiration sont réellement contagieux. S’il fixe un cadre rythmique clair au jeu instrumental, Böhm laisse les solistes s’épanouir librement. On sent que ces musiciens se connaissent par cœur – mention spéciale à la flûte irrésistible de Werner Tripp, au hautbois si viennois de Turetschek.

Cette proximité vaut aussi pour la Symphonie n° 7 de Bruckner. Ce témoignage de concert, capté au Festival de Lucerne 1964 (dans un son moins présent et lumineux), mêle limpidité chambriste (les bois) et évidence expressive. Böhm articule magistralement rayonnement et introversion, lyrisme et mélancolie. Que cette vision vit et avance, jamais figée, jamais engoncée dans une prétendue métaphysique ! L’aisance avec laquelle le chef donne de l’élan aux phrasés, ménage variations de tempos et légères accélérations pour accompagner les apogées, alterne de façon fulgurante lyrisme et éclat (à 10’ 10’’ dans le premier mouvement) sont irrésistibles. La finesse des cordes, la conversation soutenue entre les groupes, leur expressivité à fleur de peau sont devenues rares dans l’interprétation de Bruckner.

Le naturel avec lequel Böhm développe et maintient la tension, sans que les chorals s’essoufflent, dit combien ce langage lui est consubstantiel. Ne nous y trompons pas : ce Bruckner naturellement puissant (la prise de son surexpose quelque peu les cuivres, comme souvent dans les documents radio assez anciens) mais d’une spontanéité frémissante s’inscrit dans un paysage mental viscéralement autrichien. C’est une nuance essentielle, qui le distingue de visions beaucoup plus (trop ?) germaniques.

Der Konzertmitschnitt überzeugt vor allem durch das virtuose Spiel von Solisten der Wiener Philharmoniker. [...] Beeindruckend als Interpretation

Italy has been the birthplace of many musical developments and genres. One of the latter was the solo concerto, which emerged around 1700 and in Vivaldi's oeuvre received the form which was to become the standard for most of the 18th century.

In Germany, Johann Sebastian Bach can be considered one of the first who composed solo concertos in the Italian style. However, it was an aristocrat, Johann Ernst Prince of Saxe-Weimar, who was largely responsible for Bach's becoming acquainted with the Italian concerto. He was the second son of Johann Ernst IX of the Ernestine branch of the Saxon house of Wettin. He was educated at the violin and received keyboard lessons from Johann Gottfried Walther. In February 1711 Johann Ernst left for the Netherlands to further his education. In Amsterdam he heard Jan Jacob de Graaf, organist of the Nieuwe Kerk, who used to play Italian solo concertos in his own adaptations for organ. This made such an impression on the young prince that he started to collect Italian concertos. Many of such works were published by Roger in Amsterdam. After his return to Weimar, Johann Ernst started to compose concertos in that style and asked his teacher Walther and Bach – who from 1708 to 1717 was court organist – to arrange them for organ or harpsichord.

The disc under review here documents Bach's investigations into the Italian style and in particular the form of the concerto. Michael Maul, in his liner-notes, points out that this was part of a common habit at the time, called in Latin imitatio and aemulatio, "i.e. the principle of an initially competitive imitation and finally the attempt to develop further and even surpass the imitation". Copying compositions and then adapting them to one's own instrument was the most suitable way to internalize the features of a style or form. Bach's instruments were the organ and the harpsichord. His concerto adaptations are well-known and available in many recordings. Some of them are included here to complete the picture of Bach's dealing with the concerto form.

One of the adaptations is heard here in an orchestral version. The track-list mentions Johann Ernst as the composer, but Maul is more cautious. The composer of the concerto that Bach adapted for the harpsichord (BWV 983), is not known, and Maul merely writes that "it is perfectly feasible" that Johann Ernst was the composer. His name as composer needs a question mark or the addition "attributed". The attempt to reconstruct it as a concerto for violin, strings and basso continuo is one of the most interesting parts of this disc.

The other concertos are rather well-known. That goes in particular for the Concerto in D minor (BWV 1043) for two violins. It is the only original work included here; the version for two harpsichords (BWV 1062) is a later adaptation for the performances of the Collegium Musicum at Zimmermann's coffee house in Leipzig. Most of the harpsichord concertos are adaptations of pre-existent works written for other instruments, either in Weimar or in Köthen. Attempts have been made to reconstruct the original versions. Some of them are controversial, but there is little doubt that the Concerto in C minor (BWV 1060) was originally conceived for oboe and violin. It is one of Bach's most frequently-performed concertos, and there are many recordings, which mainly differ in the choice of key: either C minor or D minor.

There are also several recordings of reconstructions of the Concerto in C (BWV 1064) for three harpsichords. These are usually scored for three violins, strings and basso continuo, but although the track-list mentions that an "orchestra" is involved here, the violins are accompanied by basso continuo alone. Michael Maul writes: "The small-scale themes and the fact that the three soloists often 'argue' in unison with the violins of the orchestra give rise to two assumptions: on the one hand, as has been realised here, that the concerto could originally have been conceived only for three solo instruments, probably three violins and basso continuo – in that case, Bach would have added the orchestral parts later on – or, on the other hand, that the entire style may well indicate a considerably earlier composition than assumed above". The latter refers to a copy by Johann Friedrich Agricola which dates from between 1738 and 1741. It is the first time I have heard this piece without tutti strings, and I wonder if it has been recorded without them previously. It also seems that this version is not just the same reconstruction performed in other recordings but then without strings. I had the impression to hear a different piece. This is the second reason that this disc may appeal to Bach aficionados, who have all the other items on the programme in their collection.

The performances are technically very good and one won't be bored by the way the Thüringer Bach Collegium is playing. However, I often felt a little uncomfortable while listening to this disc. The version of BWV 1064 played here is very interesting, but I have heard reconstructions which I found more convincing. Moreover, the three violins don't blend that well. The playing of this ensemble has some rough edges and is less polished than that of other comparable ensembles. I am all in favour of strong dynamic accents, but one should not exaggerate, and I often felt that exactly that is the case here. In the slow movement from the Concerto BWV 1043 I sorely missed the nicely swaying rhythm, which is so beautifully realised in my favourite recording by La Petite Bande, with Sigiswald Kuijken and Lucy van Dael as the soloists.

To sum it up, I find this disc interesting rather than musically satisfying and enjoyable.

Les compositeurs comme Pierre de la Rue ou Alexander Agricola sont mis à l’honneur par Dorothée Mields et le Boreas Quartett Bremen. Une manière de relire l’histoire musicale. Une première.

Die wesentlichen Kammermusikwerke für das Cello von Zoltan Kodaly hat der aus Straßburg stammende Marc Coppey zusammen mit Freunden für eine randvolle CD eingespielt. Dabei unterstützt ihn Barnabas Kelemen auf der Violine im Duo und in den Werken mit Klavier Matan Porat. Neben dem Duo sind dies die Solosonate, die Sonate mit Klavier und noch ein Lento mit Klavier.

Coppey spielt gleich in der Solosonate herausfordernd direkt, so dass seine Interpretation den Zuhörer mit ihrer Intensität anspringt. Das ergibt eine Sichtweise, die man nicht nebenbei abtun kann. Man wird als Zuhörer sofort eingesogen ins Geschehen. Diese Qualität des Herangehens kann Coppey die gesamte Strecke über überzeugend halten. In der Sonate mit Klavier lässt er der einleitenden Fantasia einen weiten Raum der Entfaltung und Ruhe, der im Vergleich zum Vorhergehenden entspannt klingt und sich erst im Laufe des Satzes wieder etwas aufbaut. Ob das anschließende Adagio einmal als weiterer Satz zu der nur zweiteiligen Sonate gedacht war, wird sich nicht nachvollziehen lassen. Aber auch als Einzelsatz mit der ausgreifenden, an das Cymbal erinnernden Klaviereinleitung und Bezügen zur Volksmusik der ungarischen Heimat entfaltet Kodaly seine ebenso persönliche wie auch heimatgebundene Stimme. Das Duo, das nicht nur mit technischen Hürden, sondern auch spielfreudigen Szenen garniert ist, schließlich bietet den reizvollen Abschluss. Auch hier sind Kelemen und Coppey sich in der gepflegt zugreifenden Herangehensweise einig und es gelingt ihnen, die modernen Seiten der Komposition hervorzuheben.

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The essential chamber music works for cello by Zoltan Kodaly have been recorded by Marc Coppey, a native of Strasbourg, together with friends for a brimming CD. He is supported by Barnabas Kelemen on the violin in the Duo and Matan Porat in the works with piano. Besides the Duo, these are the Solo Sonata, the Sonata with piano and another slow piece with piano.

Coppey’s playing is challengingly direct right from the Solo Sonata, so that his interpretation jumps at the listener with its intensity. This makes for a point of view that cannot be ignored. As a listener, one is immediately sucked into the action. Coppey is able to maintain this interpretative quality convincingly throughout the entire track. In the Sonata with Piano, he allows the opening Fantasia a wide space of development and tranquility, sounding relaxed compared to the preceding and only building up a bit in the course of the movement. Whether the subsequent Adagio was once intended as a further movement to the sonata, which is only in two parts, will be impossible to ascertain. But even as a single movement, with its expansive piano introduction reminiscent of the cymbal and references to the folk music of the Hungarian homeland, Kodaly unfolds his voice, which is as personal as it is tied to his country. Finally, the Duo, garnished not only with technical hurdles but also scenes of joyful playing, provides the delightful conclusion. Here, too, Kelemen and Coppey are united in their cultivated approach, and they succeed in bringing out the modern sides of the composition.