Alone among Frenchwomen of her era, Louise Farrenc (née Dupont) (1804-1875) achieved real fame as a composer during her lifetime. She was also a brilliant pianist and was the only woman teacher of any instrument at the Paris Conservatoire in the whole of the 19th century. She had come to this rare acclaim as the result of a liberal upbringing amongst a family of noted painters and sculptors living in an enclave of similarly artistic and intellectual families at the Sorbonne. She studied with Reicha from her teens, but her lessons had to be private because women were not allowed to study as regular pupils at the Conservatoire. She wrote three symphonies; Nos. 1 & 3 are contained on an earlier issue from cpo featuring the same artists, the NDR Radiophilharmonie (Hannover) conducted by Johannes Goritzki, also available (and favorably reviewed) here at Amazon. This CD contains the middle symphony and two much earlier overtures, simply called 'No. 1' and 'No. 2.'

Few will have heard of Louise Farrenc (1804-1875). She seems to have spent most of her life in Paris, receiving tuition from Antonin Reicha, Hummel and Moscheles. She wrote a considerable amount of piano and chamber music and was appointed professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire in 1842. Whilst other female composers of the period, such as Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann, focused on songs and instrumental works, Farrenc progressed to writing three symphonies and two overtures.

Wie spannend und aktuell auch die Beschäftigung mit über 200 Jahre alter Musik sein kann, zeigt unsere Edition aller Sinfonien von Michael Haydn sehr deutlich. Nun ist es mal wieder so weit: vier wundervolle Sinfonien sind produziert. Die Nummern 22, 23, 33 und 1C (Perger 1) stammen aus zwei Schaffensperioden Michael Haydns, die durch etwa 20 Jahre voneinander getrennt sind. Sie geben einen faszinierenden Einblick – sowohl in Haydns kompositorische Entwicklung als auch in die Vielfalt, die das Experimentierfeld Sinfonie jener Jahre bot. Die Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss unter Johannes Goritzki ist hörbar zum Michael-Haydn-Spezialisten geworden.

In unserer Edition der Sinfonien Michael Haydns streben wir nun einem neuen Höhepunkt zu: den 6 Sinfonien Nr. 34-39. Haydn schrieb sie in der unglaublich kurzen Zeit von nur sieben Wochen zu Beginn des Jahres 1788, und nicht nur die Tonartenfolge macht deutlich, dass ihnen eine zyklische Idee zugrunde liegt.

Wiedergaben, die durch präzise Konturierung, plastische Artikulation, instrumentalen Farbenreichtum und Detailgenauigkeit charakterisiert sind. Die Symphonien Michael Haydns erweisen sich als veritable Entdeckung. Rätselhaft ist, daß sie nicht schon längst weitere Verbreitung im Konzertsaal gefunden haben. Mit dieser CD jedenfalls kehrt ein Komponist zurück in die Musikgeschichte.

Musicology is alive and well!« Those who have followed the release history of our edition of the symphonies of Michael Haydn will necessarily have to come to this same conclusion. Whenever another one of his forty-one symphonies that was thought to be lost was found, it was immediately slated for production – and this took its time. During this period the artistic constellations, by which we mean the orchestras and conductors, underwent modification. But now we are on the homestretch: Frank Beermann and the German Chamber Academy of Neuss (continuity!) have produced a splendid recording of the nine »missing« symphonies. These works offer an overview of the entire creative career of Joseph Haydn's younger brother and once again reveal to us a highly imaginative artist who delighted in experimentation and abounded in musical humor. It is thus hardly surprising that the young Mozart repeatedly followed his lead and took him as his model.

E.T.A. Hoffmann is better known for his literary works, mainly of Gothic stories, early horror fiction, and fairy tales. Some of his his works were used by Offenbach in the composition of his last opera, "The Tales of Hoffmann".

Together with Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Heinrich Graun was the chief representative of Italian Opera in Germany in the 18th century. The story of »Montezuma« accords with the historical fate of the last ruler of the Aztecs. The text is by King Frederick II, Graun had a close friendship to him and became chief of the circle of Berlin composers. »Montezuma« can be seen as Frederick’s countersignature to his own fate, which made him into a martial war-prince. »Montezuma« shows him in a field of tension: thus the artistically-minded idealistic prince became the royal practical politician: if justice is to be seen to be done to life’s reality, Montezuma must die. Montezuma is mor than just a Baroque opera. This opera can allude to the history of its own nation. It directs our ear to the destiny of America and the destiny of Prussia, to the German’s view, 200 years ago, of America, and American history as the mirror of its own.

Even when the Symphony No. 1 debuted in 1831, it was considered old fashioned. Although it was well received, audiences that same year were also exposed to Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Old fashioned or not, Onslow’s first symphony was performed throughout Europe to generally high acclaim. There were some dissenters who felt Onslow’s themes would have been better served in chamber works using fewer musicians (Symphony No. 3 actually began as a string quintet), but other people felt Onslow moved the symphony in a new direction and his works should not be compared to the symphonies of other composers. Onslow’s symphonies are classical in structure: four movements, not straying too far from the Classical notions of harmony; however they embrace the burgeoning Romanticism of the time.

The symphonies of Georges Onslow (1784-1853), rather than following the path blazed by countryman Hector Berlioz, instead adopt the German romantic style epitomized by Schumann and Mendelssohn. For example, the high-spirited Symphony No. 2, a smart and finely crafted work continuously self-propelled by busy string writing, presents a very Schumannesque profile (explicitly so in the scherzo), while the orchestration, with its bucolic woodwind writing, owes much to Mendelssohn. Symphony No. 4 immediately announces its weightier countenance with a powerfully portentous introduction reminiscent of Schubert. Onslow enlivens both the first movement and finale with skillful pacing and an unerring sense of dramatic timing, but it's the spiritually elevated adagio–the emotional center of the work–that remains most in the memory.

Othmar Schoeck est né en 1886 à Brunnen (Suisse). Fils du peintre Alfred Schoeck, Othmar fut d'abord élève au Conservatoire de Zurich, puis passa quelque temps à Leipzig, où il étudia la composition avec Max Reger (1873-1916). À son retour en Suisse, il connut une intense activité pratique dans la direction d'orchestre, et fut en particulier le chef d'orchestre des concerts symphoniques de Saint-Gal, occupation qui fit peu à peu place à l'activité créatrice.