{"id":2910,"date":"2012-04-10T06:43:25","date_gmt":"2012-04-10T11:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=2910"},"modified":"2012-04-10T06:43:25","modified_gmt":"2012-04-10T11:43:25","slug":"cd-reviews-fine-orchestral-music-from-composers-on-the-run-wagner-strauss-and-weinberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2012\/04\/10\/cd-reviews-fine-orchestral-music-from-composers-on-the-run-wagner-strauss-and-weinberg\/","title":{"rendered":"CD Reviews: Fine orchestral music from composers on the run Wagner, Strauss and Weinberg"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Woodwinds of the Bienne Orchestra playing Sigfried Idyll<\/em> in the stairwell at Tribschen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ORCHESTRA SYMPHONIQUE BIENNE\/ROSNER<\/strong>
\nWagner en Suisse (ATMA)<\/em>
\n\"\"<\/a>The title of this new CD is Wagner in Switzerland,<\/em> but it also contains the music of Richard Strauss, who fled Germany for the relative peace and quiet of the Alpine country a century after Wagner’s first flight from creditors and irate husbands.<\/p>\n

Overall this is a gorgeous album, marked by the utter clarity of the interpretations.<\/p>\n

The historically noteworthy piece on the disc is the world-premiere recording of Wagner’s re-working of the Overture to Gluck’s opera Iphig\u00e9nie en Aulide<\/em> (Wagner pretty much re-wrote Gluck’s work) that was discovered in the Central Library in Zurich in the late-1990s. Wagner’s version adds heft to the orchestral sound, which might have been nice in the mid-19th century, but sounds heavy-handed now.<\/p>\n

Much more satisfying are the original, chamber-sized arrangement of the Siegfried Idyll<\/em> Wagner wrote to wake his mistress (later wife) Cosima von B\u00fclow on Christmas Day, 1870, at their hideaway villa, Tribschen (now the Wagner Museum). Thomas R\u00f6sner, music director of the Bienne Orchestra until this season, takes the piece at a good clip that suits the music very nicely.<\/p>\n

The disc includes a video of the orchestra members performing the piece in the Tribschen stairway for which Wagner’s piece was originally intended.<\/p>\n

Other Wagner goodies on the album are his revised Faust<\/em> Overture and an arrangement of one of his Wesendonck-Lieder<\/em>, Tra\u00fcme<\/em> (Dreams), for violin, nicely played by Daniel Kobyliansky.<\/p>\n

Louise Pellerin’s oboe is a lighter-than air presence in Richard Strauss’s sweet and playful 1946 Oboe Concerto<\/em>. Strauss, who turned 80 in 1944, caught a second wind when he crossed the border from war-ravaged Germany into Alpine sunshine. This gorgeous, three-movement concerto is a great example of his final creative burst. The orchestra matches its soloist with light and limpid navigation on Strauss’ endless modulations. It’s a treat from beginning to end.<\/p>\n

For full details on the disc, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are the Bienners, gathered at Tribschen to work their Siegfried<\/em> magic:<\/p>\n