Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major, & Piano Quintet in E flat major | Johann Sebastian Bach: Five Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 2, arrangement for string quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Isabelle Faust, Anne-Katharina Schreiber, Antoine Tamestit, Jean-Guihen Queyra, Alexander Melnikov (HD 1080p)

Isabelle Faust (violin), Anne-Katharina Schreiber (violin), Antoine Tamestit (viola), Jean-Guihen Queyra (cello), and Alexander Melnikov (period piano), play Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op.47, and Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op.44, and Johann Sebastian Bach's Five Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 2, arrangement for string quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, KV.405. Recorded at the 17th Chopin and his Europe International Music Festival, at Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, on August 18, 2021.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

♪ Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op.47 (1842) [7:06]*

i. Sostenuto assai - Allegro ma non troppo 

ii. Scherzo. Molto vivace

iii. Andante cantabile

iv. Finale. Vivace

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

♪ Five Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 2, arrangement for string quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), KV.405 (1782) [38:56]

i. Fugue in C minor, KV.405 No.1 (after BWV 871)

ii. Fugue in E flat major, KV.405 No.2 (after BWV 876)

iii. Fugue in E major, KV.405 No.3 (after BWV 878)

iv. Fugue in D minor, KV.405 No.4 (after BWV 877)

v. Fugue in D major, KV.405 No.5 (after BWV 874)

Robert Schumann

♪ Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op.44 (1842) [54:45]

i. Allegro brillante

ii. In modo d'una marcia: Un poco largamente – Agitato

iii. Scherzo: Molto vivace

iv. Allegro, ma non troppo

Encore:

Szymon Laks (1901-1983)

♪ Piano Quintet on Popular Polish Themes (1945) [1:28:15]

iii. Vivace non troppo

* Start time of each work

Isabelle Faust, violin

Anne-Katharina Schreiber, violin

Antoine Tamestit, viola

Jean-Guihen Queyra, cello

Alexander Melnikov, period piano

17th Chopin and his Europe International Music Festival, Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, August 18, 2021

(HD 1080p)

Isabelle Faust fascinates audiences with her outstanding musical interpretations, imbued with profundity and intense playing. She dives deep into every piece, considering its historical context and suitable instruments. She complements this sense of authenticity with the need to approach a composition from the present.

After winning the renowned Leopold Mozart Competition and the Paganini Competition at a very early age, she began appearing regularly with the world's major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Close and sustained collaborations with conductors including Claudio Abbado, Giovanni Antonini, Frans Brüggen, John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Andris Nelsons and Robin Ticciati have likewise evolved.

Isabelle Faust's artistic curiosity embraces all eras and forms of musical collaboration. As well as performing the major symphonic violin concertos, she also plays works such as Schubert's Octet on historical instruments, Kurtág's Kafka-Fragmente with Anna Prohaska and Stravinsky's L'Histoire du soldat with Dominique Horwitz. She is also committed to contemporary music and will give the premieres of works by Peter Eötvös, Brett Dean, Ondřej Adámek and Oscar Strasnoy over the coming seasons.

Her recordings have been unanimously praised by critics, as well as being awarded the Diapason d'Or, the Gramophone Award, the Choc de l'année du Monde de la Musique and various other prizes. Her most recent recordings include Bach's violin concertos with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor Op.64 with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Pablo Heras-Casado. In 2018 a recording of Bach's sonatas for violin and harpsichord was released in collaboration with Kristian Bezuidenhout. Isabelle Faust's other acclaimed recordings include Bach's solo violin sonatas and partitas, as well as the Beethoven and Berg violin concertos with Claudio Abbado. She enjoys a long-standing collaboration with pianist Alexander Melnikov and their recordings include sonatas for piano and violin by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.

This season, Isabelle Faust is artist in residence at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

During her studies in Freiburg with Rainer Kussmaul, violinist Anne Katharina Schreiber became a member of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in 1988, with whom she has given concerts around the world and recorded numerous CDs. She also continues to be active as a soloist, concertmaster and director of her own projects. She collaborates regularly with ensembles in both the Baroque and modern repertoire, including ensemble recherche, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Collegium Vocale Gent under conductors such as René Jacobs, Pablo Heras-Casado, Marcus Creed and Philippe Herreweghe.

She also has a great love of chamber music. For over 20 years, she has been a member of Trio Vivente, with whom she has recorded numerous highly acclaimed recordings. As well as works by Haydn and Schubert, her discs include piano trios by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, released in 2013, and a 2017 CD of piano trios by the long-forgotten Romantic composer Emilie Mayer, which demonstrated the Trio’s commitment to rediscovering neglected repertoire, as well as contemporary music. Anne Katharina Schreiber is also a sought-after chamber music partner for various other groups, collaborating with musicians such as Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Daniel Sepec and Roel Dieltiens.

Anne Katharina Schreiber is frequently asked to conduct guest projects with the Basel Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Resonanz and the Norsk Barokkorkester Oslo. She is also the concertmaster of the Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Gent. She has been teaching at the University of Music in Freiburg since 2007.

Antoine Tamestit is recognized internationally as one of the most important viola players. As a soloist and a chamber musician, he is known for his unsurpassed technique and the beauty of his sound. His broad repertoire ranges from the Baroque to the present day. His engagement with contemporary music is reflected in numerous world premieres and recordings, including Thierry Escaich's La Nuit des chants, Bruno Mantovani's Concerto pour deux altos et orchestre and Olga Neuwirth's Remnants of songs... an Amphigory and Weariness heals Wounds. One of the works commissioned by Antoine Tamestit is Jörg Widmann's Viola Concerto and he gave the premiere in 2015 with the Orchestre de Paris and Paavo Järvi. He has appeared as a soloist with such renowned orchestras as the Czech Philharmonic, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, working with well-known conductors including Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Harding, Marek Janowski, Antonio Pappano, François-Xavier Roth, Emmanuel Krivine and Franz Welser-Möst.

In the 2020-2021 season Antoine Tamestit has been invited to perform with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre de Paris.

He founded the Trio Zimmermann with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Christian Poltéra. Other chamber music partners include Nicholas Angelich, Gautier Capuçon, Martin Fröst, Leonidas Kavakos, Nikolai Lugansky, Emmanuel Pahud, Francesco Piemontesi, Christian Tetzlaff, Cédric Tiberghien, Yuja Wang, Jörg Widmann, Shai Wosner as well as the Quatuor Ébène and the Hagen Quartet.

Antoine Tamestit records for harmonia mundi and recently released a CD of works by Brahms with Cédric Tiberghien. Other notable recordings include Jörg Widmann's Viola Concerto with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding, which was released in February 2018.

He plays a viola by Antonio Stradivari from 1672, loaned by the Habisreutinger Foundation.

The work of cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras is characterized by his curiosity, diversity and firm focus on the music itself, whether on the concert platform or on record. He learned his interpretative approach from Pierre Boulez, with whom he established a long artistic partnership.

He is as thorough in his approach to early music, including continuing collaborations with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, as he is to contemporary music. He has given the world premieres of works by composers such as Ivan Fedele, Gilbert Amy, Bruno Mantovani, Michael Jarrell, Johannes Maria Staud, Thomas Larcher, Tristan Murail and Peter Eötvös.

The versatility of his music-making has led to invitations to be artist in residence at many concert halls and festivals, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, the TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the De Bijloke Music Centre in Ghent and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg.

Jean-Guihen Queyras was a founding member of the Arcanto Quartet and forms a celebrated trio with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov. He also works frequently with Alexandre Tharaud.

Jean-Guihen Queyras is a regular guest with such renowned orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. He has worked with conductors such as Iván Fischer, Philippe Herreweghe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, François-Xavier Roth, John Eliot Gardiner and Roger Norrington.

Jean-Guihen Queyras's discography comprises many acclaimed recordings, including performances of cello concertos by Elgar, Dvořák, Philippe Schœller and Gilbert Amy. His CDs of works by C.P.E. Bach and Vivaldi was released in 2018. Jean-Guihen Queyras records exclusively for harmonia mundi.

Highlights of the 2020-2021 season include performances with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, as well as concerts with the Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Alexander Melnikov and Isabelle Faust. He was also artist in residence at Radio France.

Jean-Guihen Queyras holds a professorship at the University of Music in Freiburg and is artistic director of the Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence Festival. He plays a 1696 instrument by Gioffredo Cappa, made available by the Mécénat Musical Société Générale.

Alexander Melnikov graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he studied with Lev Naumov. His most formative musical moments include an early encounter with Sviatoslav Richter, who regularly invited him to festivals in Russia and France.

Known for his unusual musical and programmatic decisions, Alexander Melnikov developed a career-long interest in historically-informed performance practice early on. His major influences in this field include Andreas Staier and Alexei Lubimov, with whom he has worked on numerous projects. He regularly performs with well-known early music ensembles including the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, musicAeterna and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

As a soloist, Alexander Melnikov has performed with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic. He has worked with conductors such as Mikhail Pletnev, Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Paavo Järvi, Thomas Dausgaard and Valery Gergiev.

Together with Andreas Staier, Alexander Melnikov recorded an all-Schubert programme of four-hand pieces, which they have also performed in concert. Another essential part of his work is his intensive chamber music collaborations with partners such as cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Concerts with his long-standing duo partner Isabelle Faust are also extremely important to him. Their complete account of the Beethoven violin sonatas on harmonia mundi has become a benchmark recording and was awarded the Gramophone Award and nominated for a Grammy. Their recording of the Brahms violin sonatas was released in 2015, followed by the Mozart sonatas in 2018.

During the 2021-2022 season Alexander Melnikov presents his Many Pianos project, a solo recital performed on different instruments that reflect the periods in which the works were written. Other highlights include appearances at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, recitals in Dortmund and Tokyo and concerts with the Cuarteto Casals, Isabelle Faust and Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Biographies, Source: salzburgerfestspiele.at

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See also

Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata No.3 in C major for Solo Violin, BWV 1005 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

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Alexis Karaiskakis-Νastos & Alexandra Papastefanou – Cello and piano recital – Megaron Athens Concert Hall, Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall, 17-19.02.2021 (Premiere: 17.02.2021, 20:30, Live streaming)

Οι διακεκριμένοι σολίστ Αλέξης Καραϊσκάκης-Νάστος και Αλεξάνδρα Παπαστεφάνου συμπράττουν για πρώτη φορά στο Μέγαρο Μουσικής Αθηνών παρουσιάζοντας ένα πρόγραμμα για βιολοντσέλο και πιάνο που εκτείνεται από τον 18ο μέχρι και τον 20ό αιώνα. Από τη σονάτα για φορτεπιάνο και βιολοντσέλο ομπλιγκάτο, έργο 5 αρ. 2 σε σολ ελάσσονα του Μπετόβεν, που αντικατοπτρίζει την γνωριμία του συνθέτη με τους διάσημους τσελίστες αδελφούς Ντυπόρ, οι δυο καλλιτέχνες περνούν στον ονειρικό κόσμο των φανταστικών κομματιών του Ρόμπερτ Σούμαν  καταλήγοντας στη μοναδική ως προς το μουσικό λεξιλόγιο δεύτερη σονάτα του Γκαμπριέλ Φωρέ.

Το ταξίδι του Αλέξη Καραϊσκάκη-Νάστου και της Αλεξάνδρας Παπαστεφάνου στον κόσμο της ευρωπαϊκής μουσικής δωματίου αρχίζει με τη Δεύτερη σονάτα για πιάνο και βιολοντσέλο από το έργο 5, μια νεανική σύνθεση του Μπετόβεν, η οποία γράφτηκε στο Βερολίνο στα 1796 για τον Φρειδερίκο-Γουλιέλμο Β΄ της Πρωσίας, φανατικό φιλόμουσο και εξαίρετο τσελίστα. Πρωτοπαρουσιάστηκε με τον ίδιο τον συνθέτη στο πιάνο και με τον Γάλλο βιρτουόζο Jean-Louis Duport (Ζαν-Λουί Ντυπόρ) στο βιολοντσέλο. Η μουσική διαδρομή των δύο σολίστ συνεχίζεται με τα Φανταστικά κομμάτια για κλαρινέτο και πιάνο, έργο 73 σε μεταγραφή για τσέλο και πιάνο του Ρόμπερτ Σούμαν, κορυφαίου εκπροσώπου του ευρωπαϊκού Ρομαντισμού. Ο Γερμανός μουσουργός συνέθεσε το έργο στα 1849 μέσα σε μόλις δύο μέρες και γνώρισε αμέσως μεγάλη επιτυχία. Μάλιστα, η εντυπωσιακή δημοτικότητα των Κομματιών συνετέλεσε στη γρήγορη ενσωμάτωσή τους στο ρεπερτόριο εκείνης της εποχής και στη συχνή τους παρουσίαση σε συναυλίες. Περίπου εβδομήντα χρόνια αργότερα (1921), ο Γάλλος Γκαμπριέλ Φωρέ, ένας από τους σημαντικότερους παρισινούς συνθέτες και μουσικοπαιδαγωγούς του καιρού του, θα ακολουθήσει το δικό του μονοπάτι. Θα διαφοροποιηθεί από τη Γαλλική Σχολή και θα γράψει τη Σονάτα αρ. 2 για πιάνο και βιολοντσέλο, έργο 117, αποφεύγοντας τα υπερβολικά δεξιοτεχνικά περάσματα και παραδίδοντάς μας μια σύνθεση που συνδυάζει τον λεπτό λυρισμό με την έντονη δραματικότητα.

The live broadcast is over

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No.2 in G minor, Op.5

Robert Schumann: Fantasy pieces, Op.73 (clarinet/piano), transcription for cello and piano
Gabriel Fauré: Sonata No.2 in G minor, Op.117

Alexis Karaiskakis-Nastos, cello

Alexandra Papastefanou, piano

Megaron Athens Concert Hall, Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall, 17-19.02.2021

Premiere: 17.02.2021, 20:30 (Live streaming)

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Robert Schumann: Waldszenen – Peter Serkin

Peter Serkin performs Robert Schumann's Waldszenen, Op.82, at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Studzinski Recital Hall, in Brunswick, Maine, United States, on July 29, 2018.

✻

Schumann's Waldszenen ("Forest scenes") is a cycle of fragments, written in a matter of days over New Year, 1849; it was his last major cycle for solo piano. The forest that it explores was a subject close to the heart of any self-respecting Romantic, be they writer, poet, artist or musician. Its appeal lay in its contrast: nature at its most beautiful but also an unknowable place. But there's more to it than that, for it is not simply about "nature" per se but the notion of man's position within that wilderness, and indeed how engagement with such a thing could in turn affect man's own view of himself; the external as a means of examining the internal, in other words. Certainly, in Waldszenen this is no objective foray into the woods but a very personal reaction to this imagined landscape; and equally striking is the sense that each piece represents just a shard of a larger experience, an aural snapshot, if you will.

On the whole it is the more bucolic aspect that Schumann explores, though these pieces are not without darker shadows. And while they may be technically fairly straightforward, their changeability calls for the quickest of reactions and a wealth of subtle nuance.

All seems well in the first number (Eintritt, "Entry"), its gently murmuring theme welcoming us into the forest in the most benign manner possible. The energetic Jäger auf der Lauer ("Hunters on the lookout"), horn calls aplenty, gives the lie to the idea that Schumann – beset by personal demons by this point in his life – had lost his compositional way, and there's a delightful mock-seriosity to the throwaway ending. The mood switches again in the next two pieces, Einsame Blumen ("Lonely flowers") and Verrufene Stelle ("Place of evil fame"), tinged in turn by sadness and then a persistent unease that is only banished by the rollicking Freundliche Landschaft ("Friendly landscape"), which is followed by a study in consolation and reassurance, Herberge ("Shelter"). With No.7, the famous Vogel als Prophet ("Bird as prophet"), Schumann seems to reach almost proto-Impressionistic realms, its central chorale-like section lending it an almost sacred gravitas. We return to compositionally safer, more pastoral territory with Jagdlied ("Hunting song"), which presents an image of the play of horses' hooves and the jolly red coats of the hunstmen, a notably child-friendly vision. With Abschied ("Farewell"), the innocence of the opening seems to be regained as we bid the forest a poignant farewell.

Source: Harriet Smith (hyperion-records.co.uk)



Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

♪ Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), Op.82 (1848-1849)

i. Entritt (Entry). Nicht zu schnell, in B flat major
ii. Jäger auf der Lauer (Hunters on the lookout). Hochst lebhaft, in D minor
iii. Einsame Blumen (Lonely Flowers). Einfach, in B flat major
iv. Verrufene Stelle (Haunted Place). Zeimlich langsam, in D minor
v. Freundliche Landschaft (Friendly Landscape). Schnell, in B flat major
vi. Herberge (Wayside Inn). Mässig, in E flat major
vii. Vogel als Prophet (Bird as Prophet). Langsam, sehr zart, in G minor
viii. Jagdlied (Hunting Song). Rasch, kräftig, in E flat major
ix. Abschied (Farewell). Nicht schnell, in B flat major

Peter Serkin, piano

Bowdoin International Music Festival, Studzinski Recital Hall, Brunswick, Maine, United States, July 29, 2018

(HD 720p)

The American pianist Peter Serkin, who has died at the age of 72, had an exceptional musical pedigree: his father was the pianist Rudolf Serkin and his maternal grandfather the violinist and conductor Adolf Busch. Serkin's musical sympathies were enormously broad, and though he played a huge amount of contemporary music he never liked to be referred to as a new music "champion", he merely felt playing the music of his time part of his role as a musician.

He entered Philadelphia's Curtis Institute in 1958, aged 11, and studied with Mieczysław Horszowski, Lee Luvisi and his own father. He made his debut the following year at the Malboro Music Festival which then led to major engagements with top-flight orchestras and conductors like the Cleveland and George Szell and the Philadelphia and Eugene Ormandy.

In 1968, aged 21, he took a break from music, moving with his wife and young child to Mexico. It was apparently hearing the music of JS Bach on a neighbour’s radio that convinced him of his need to play again. He returned and continued a major career which also included, in 1973, forming the chamber group Tashi (with Ida Kavafian, violin, Fred Sherry, cello, and Richard Stoltzman, clarinet), initially assembled to play Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time (which they performed over 100 times and recorded in 1975). Together they commissioned numerous works and recorded for RCA. (The group reformed in 2008 for a tour to mark Messiaen's centenary.)

Serkin's repertoire ranged from Bach's Goldberg Variations (which he recorded five times, the first at 18 and the last at 70) to numerous modern works written especially for him by major composers including Elliott Carter, Hans Werner Henze, Luciano Berio, Peter Lieberson, Oliver Knussen, Alexander Goehr, Tōru Takemitsu and Charles Wuorinen.

He recorded extensively for RCA, and among his finest releases were Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus ("Messiaen's harmonic colours take on a luminous quality under his fingers, the rhythmic ostinati are imperiously compelling; the dynamic range, immense, yet always within musical bounds; the total effect, overwhelming" wrote Felix Aprahamian in Gramophone's December 1976 issue), a Takemitsu programme, an album of six Mozart piano concertos with the ECO and Alexander Schneider, the Brahms violin sonatas with Pamela Frank (for Decca) and an album of music for two pianists with András Schiff (for ECM New Series). Serkin was unusual among top-flight pianists in playing on both modern pianos and period fortepianos, using a Graf instrument to record the last six Beethoven piano sonatas (for Musical Concepts).

Serkin taught at Curtis, Juilliard, Yale and, latterly, at Bard College in Upstate New York near where he lived.

Source: gramophone.co.uk

It all began in May 1964, when Bowdoin College Music Department chair Robert K. Beckwith invited Lewis Kaplan to propose a concert series to take place at the College that summer. Thus the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival was born. After a successful first season of concerts, the Festival returned in 1965 with 19 students and a cadre of contemporary composers including Elliott Carter, Meyer Kupferman, George Rochberg, and Morton Subotnick. The Festival's contemporary music component became known as the Charles E. Gamper Festival, after its chief patron. In 1966, George Crumb made the first of many Festival appearances for the world premiere of his Eleven Echoes of Autumn. This solidified a tradition of commissioning and offering residencies to notable composers.

Early students who have gone on to prominence, such as Emanuel Ax and Fred Sherry, helped to cement the Festival's reputation as an attractive summer program for top musicians to hone their skills. With alumni in many major orchestras, chamber groups, and conservatories worldwide, that vibrant reputation continues.

The Festival grew rapidly as a program of the Bowdoin College Music Department through the 70s, 80s, and 90s, changing its name along the way to the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival. In 1997, the Festival became an independent non-profit organization, and in 2004 changed its name to the Bowdoin International Music Festival in recognition of its world-wide reach.

In September 2014, David Ying and Phillip Ying, members of the famed Ying Quartet, succeeded co-founder Lewis Kaplan as the Festival’s Artistic Directors. Through their leadership, the Festival engages exceptional students and enthusiastic audiences through world-class education and performances. After a competitive admissions process, over 270 students are invited to attend the Festival and study with distinguished faculty and guest artists. Audiences are invited to more than 175 free events such as student performances, lectures, masterclasses, studio classes, and community concerts.

The Festival continues to thrive, attracting record numbers of applicants, continuing to build a diverse and world-renowned faculty, and reaching thousands of music lovers across the globe.

Source: bowdoinfestival.org

More photos


See also

“Remembering Peter Serkin, the Searching Pianist”

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Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor – Martin Helmchen, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Klaus Mäkelä (HD 1080p)

Accompanied the hr-Sinfonieorchester under the baton of the young Finnish conductor and cellist Klaus Mäkelä, the rising German pianist Martin Helmchen plays Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54. The concert was recorded at Alte Oper Frankfurt, on November 1, 2019.

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In September 1840 Clara and Robert finally married. After years of producing one masterpiece for solo piano after another (his first twenty-three opus numbers are solo piano works) he turned gloriously to song, and in the space of a single year wrote something like 168 of them. Alongside his composing, he was editor of the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. This didn't bring in much income, and he knew the time had come to prove himself with a big symphonic work. His first success in that field came with his "Spring" Symphony, sketched in just four days and premiered at the Gewandhaus on 31 March 1841 with Mendelssohn conducting.

Just over a month later, he began work on a Phantasy for piano and orchestra, again working with great speed and completing it in ten days. The following week he orchestrated it, and a few months later made some revisions. It was first played through during a rehearsal for his "Spring" Symphony at the Gewandhaus on 13 August 1841. The orchestra's concertmaster, Ferdinand David, conducted, and Clara, two weeks away from giving birth to their first child, was of course at the piano. In her diary she wrote: "I also played the Fantasie in A minor; unfortunately, the performer herself had little pleasure (in the empty auditorium, that is), she heard neither herself nor the orchestra. But I played it twice and found it wonderful! When properly rehearsed, it is certain to give audiences the greatest pleasure. The piano is superbly woven together with the orchestra – you cannot conceive of one without the other".

It seems, however, that nobody much wanted a one-movement work. Despite many attempts, a publisher could not be found and the work was put aside. Another four years passed before Schumann worked on it again. He generally immsersed himself in one genre at a time, and 1842 was his year for chamber music. His Piano Quintet Op.44, with its virtuoso piano part, served as a pseudo-concerto for Clara, still awaiting the real thing. In 1843 Schumann devoted himself to large-scale choral works, and the following year Robert and Clara undertook a five-month tour of Russia. Robert was seriously ill for some time after his return from Russia, and at the end of 1844 they moved to Dresden in order to find more peace and quiet to work.

When Schumann did finally turn his attention to his piano concerto once more, he started by composing the third movement finale, calling it a Rondo. Only after completing that did he write the Intermezzo that connects this with the original first movement (which he then revised). It also seems that the bridge passage connecting the Intermezzo with the Rondo gave him particular trouble (there exist seven different versions). We are all so familiar with this music now that it seems so evident, but it wasn't arrived at easily.

John Worthen in his excellent biography of Schumann notes how ironic it was that Schumann finally gave Clara "her" concerto at a time in her life when she could hardly practise. By now she had three children and knew a fourth was on its way (she was pregnant ten times in fourteen years), and because Robert needed silence to compose she could only practise when he took his afternoon walk. Often she was too exhausted by that time to get much work done, and her performances were not frequent. But finally she had her concerto, and the first performance was given in the Hôtel de Saxe in Dresden on 4 December 1845. Ferdinand Hiller, to whom the concerto is dedicated, conducted the orchestra of the subscription concerts.

The Concerto was a success, as was confirmed by the review in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung: "We all have reason to hold this composition in very high esteem and place it among the best by this composer, primarily because the usual monotony of the genre is happily avoided and the entirely obbligato orchestra part, fashioned with great love and care, is given its full due without leaving the impression of impairing the piano's achievements, and both parts keep up their independence in a beautiful alliance". The second performance (although it is often referred to mistakenly as the premiere) was given in the Leipzig Gewandhaus on New Year's Day 1846. There seems to be some confusion over who conducted: some sources say Mendelssohn, others say Niels Wilhelm Gade, who shared the conductor's duties at the time with his illustrious colleague.

Few pieces attract the attention of the audience so quickly as this Concerto. As Michael Steinberg so vividly writes: "The orchestra fires the starting gun, a single eighth-note [quaver] E, and the piano moves out of the blocks with a powerful cascade of fully voiced chords". The soloist, in fact, hardly stops playing during the entire concerto. The winds are given the initial statement of the opening melody, one in which the "Clara" motif of descending notes – abundantly used throughout Schumann's piano works – is fully apparent. There is no change of tempo marking here, even if the "tradition" is to slow down. The subsequent piano entry of the theme is powerfully expressive but intimate at the same time. The dialogue between piano and orchestra is constant, each taking their turn to be soloist and accompanist. This is most striking in the slower passage, marked Andante espressivo, in the middle of the first movement – a magical moment of repose, where the clarinet and piano are the featured soloists. It is interesting to compare the piano part in the central Più animato with what remains of that early Phantasy in A minor, where the writing is a lot more difficult in the later version. Perhaps Clara complained that it wasn't showy enough? The written-out cadenza is perfectly paced, and gave Clara the chance to shine. It begins with counterpoint, goes through some recitative-like passages, gains huge momentum with a brilliant outburst of chords over descending octaves, and returns passionately to the opening theme. From there the cadenza dissolves into a trill, but ends not with the standard cadence but rather leads directly into the re-entry of the orchestra, now giving us the theme much faster but in hushed tones. The crescendo to the final, uncompromising chords is dramatic to say the least.

Having written the last movement next, it is understandable that Schumann didn't want anything too "meaty" for the "slow" movement, when he finally got round to composing it. After the drama and shifting moods of the first movement, a short Intermezzo seems just the thing. Here, the notes of the first movement's descending motif are turned upside down and now go upwards, but the chamber-music feeling continues and is even amplified. The clarinet again features strongly, but so does the cello section, called upon to give us a "big tune". So often this central section can become distorted, wallowing in sentiment rather than retaining its confidentiality.

The bridge that Schumann finally settled on to link the Intermezzo with the finale returns to the "Clara" motif, first in the major, then in the minor, before bursting into the theme of the Allegro vivace. Here the ascending notes create a sense of unbounded joy. All the passagework in the piano part must sing and be heard. All that scurrying about in different keys during the most difficult moment of the Concerto – where Schumann inserts a prime example of his beloved rhythmic games, terrifying every conductor, even Mendelssohn himself it seems – must sound easy and coherent. And danceable. But what an exhilarating piece of music it is. Clara waited a long time for it, but it was worth it in the end.

Source: Angela Hewitt, 2012 (hyperion-records.co.uk)



Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

♪ Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54 (1841-1845)

i. Allegro affetuoso
ii. Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso
iii. Allegro vivace

Martin Helmchen, piano

hr-Sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra)
Conductor: Klaus Mäkelä

Alte Oper Frankfurt, November 1, 2019

(HD 1080p)

“Nothing disconcerts the glorious, unshowy Martin Helmchen – the kind of performer who lifts his audiences up to heaven just by penetrating inside his music with nimble fingers, questing intelligence and a beating heart.” — The Times

Martin Helmchen has established himself as one of the prominent exceptional pianists of the younger generation. He performs with such orchestras as Berliner Philharmoniker under Herbert Blomstedt, Wiener Philharmoniker under Valery Gergiev, London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski, City of Birmigham Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony under Andris Nelsons and New York Philharmonic under Christoph von Dohnányi.

He also enjoys collaborations with conductors such as David Afkham, Marc Albrecht, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, Paavo Järvi, Emmanuel Krivine, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Christoph Poppen, Michael Sanderling and David Zinman.

His quest for exploring all facets of music-making is born in his passion for chamber music – which was largely ignited in early collaborations with the late cellist Boris Pergamenschikow. Helmchen's chamber music partners have included Juliane Banse, Matthias Goerne, Veronika Eberle, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, Carolin Widmann and Frank Peter Zimmermann. He is a regular guest to London's Wigmore Hall.

Scandinavia is a focus of his 2018-2019 season, which includes his debut with Oslo Philharmonic, plus returns to the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Elsewhere, he debuts with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai / Italy and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. Helmchen continues his close cooperation with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin under Andrew Manze, and also returns to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

He furthermore embarks on his Beethoven Cycle project with Frank Peter Zimmermann, which will span into 2019-2020, and features the duo in London, Berlin, Dresden, Freiburg, Warsaw, Madrid and Bilbao. To round off the season, he will additionally tour with Sabine Meyer and wind ensemble.

Martin Helmchen is an exclusive artist of Alpha Classics. Last year he released a solo CD of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, a CD of Schumann's chamber music featuring Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Antje Weithaas, and a Duo CD of Brahms featuring Marie-Elisabeth Hecker. He has recorded numerous CDs for Pentatone Classics, which include piano concertos by Mozart, Schumann and Mendelssohn, as well as chamber music by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms.

Born in Berlin in 1982 and a former student of Galina Iwanzowa in Berlin, Helmchen continued his studies with Arie Vardie at the Hochschule für Musik Hannover. His other mentors include William Grant Naboré and Alfred Brendel. In 2001 he won the "Concours Clara Haskil" and in 2006 he was awarded the "Credit Suisse Young Artist Award". Since 2010, Martin Helmchen has been an Associate Professor of chamber music at the Kronberg Academy.

Source: martin-helmchen.de

Klaus Mäkelä (b. 1996, Helsinki) has established a strong international presence through his instant musical connection with orchestras around the world. Mäkelä is Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor Designate of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and will assume the position at the beginning of the 2020-2021 season. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Artist in Association with Tapiola Sinfonietta, and Artistic Director of the Turku Music Festival.

In the 2019-2020 season, Mäkelä makes his first appearances with the NDR Elbphilharmonie, Münchner Philharmoniker, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Nederlands Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orquesta Nacional de España, London Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, The Hallé and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He returns to the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, MDR Leipzig, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, The Minnesota Orchestra, NAC Ottawa, Gothenburg and Tokyo Metropolitan symphony orchestras, and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. Mäkelä also continues his tenures with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Tapiola Sinfonietta where he has embarked on a Beethoven Cycle which will continue over the next two seasons. This seasons' concert programmes also include masterworks by Bruckner, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, and Debussy, Ravel and Berlioz.

Highlights from last season include appearances with Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, Frankfurt Radio, Antwerp, Bern, and Malmö symphony orchestras, Bergen Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse which have led to immediate and consistent re-invitations.

Also working in opera, Mäkelä made his operatic debut in with the Finnish National Opera conducting The Magic Flute and a concertante performance of Erkki Melartin’s Aino.

Mäkelä studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula and cello with Marko Ylönen, Timo Hanhinen and Hannu Kiiski. As a soloist, he has performed with Finnish orchestras such as the Lahti Symphony, Kuopio Symphony and Jyväskylä Sinfonia as well as appearing at many Finnish festivals including the Kuhmo Chamber Music and Naantali Music Festival. He plays a Giovanni Grancino cello from 1698, kindly made available to him by the OP Art Foundation.

Source: klausmakela.com

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See also

Sauli Zinovjev: Un Grande Sospiro – Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Klaus Mäkelä (HD 1080p)

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No.7 in C major "Leningrad" – hr-Sinfonieorchester, Klaus Mäkelä (HD 1080p)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.9 in D minor "Choral" – Lauren Fagan, Hanna Hipp, Tuomas Katajala, Shenyang, Oslo Philharmonic Choir & Orcestra, Klaus Mäkelä (4K Ultra High Definition)

Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor – Hélène Grimaud, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Thomas Hengelbrock

Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor – Jan Lisiecki, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano

Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor – Nelson Freire, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Claus Peter Flor

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Robert Schumann: Symphony No.1 in B flat major "Spring" | Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique – Wiener Philharmoniker, Mariss Jansons (HD 1080p)

Mariss Jansons conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker in Robert Schumann's Symphony No.1 in B flat major "Spring", Op.38, and Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste, H.48 / Op.14. The concert was recorded live at Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany, on June 5, 2019.

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Schumann's First Symphony came with astonishing speed. He noted "beginning of a symphony in C minor" on 21 January 1841, but the work was abandoned. Two days later, however, inspired by a poem by Adolf Böttger, he wrote "Spring Symphony started". On 24 January, the first movement of the new work was sketched and the "adagio and scherzo made ready"; on 25 January "Symphony fire – sleepless nights – on the last movement" and on the fourth and final day, "Hurrah! Symphony finished!". Orchestration would occupy him till 20 February, but in four days and nights – "it mostly seems to have been written at night" – he had effectively written the Symphony in B flat that would become his Op.38. Clara wrote in their joint diary: "I am infinitely happy that Robert has at last arrived where, with his great imagination, he belongs".

It fell to Felix Mendelssohn to premiere the work, at a concert that March when Clara would be performing for the first time since her wedding. On 6 and 10 March, Schumann went through the Symphony with Mendelssohn. The late beginner was deeply impressed by his friend's understanding: "He always sees the right thing and fastens on to it". There was, for example, a problem with the horn calls at the very opening of the symphony – valved horns were just coming in – and at a rehearsal Schumann had to rewrite the passage to obtain something more like the effect he wanted. After some furious copying of parts, the "Spring" Symphony was given at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on 31 March 1841, just over nine weeks after Schumann had started it. The evening was a triumph, with congratulations coming from all sides. The work was performed again in Leipzig on 13 August, after still further revisions.

Source: John Worthen (hyperion-records.co.uk)

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Symphonie fantastique, H.48 / Op.14, in full "Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste", English "Fantastic Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist", orchestral work by French composer Hector Berlioz, widely recognized as an early example of program music, that attempts to portray a sequence of opium dreams inspired by a failed love affair. The composition is also notable for its expanded orchestration, grander than usual for the early 19th century, and for its innovative use of a recurring theme – the so-called ideé fixe ("fixed idea" or "obsession") – throughout all movements. The Symphony premiered in Paris on December 5, 1830, and won for Berlioz a reputation as one of the most progressive composers of the era.

After completing medical studies at the behest of his father, who was a doctor, Berlioz rebelliously pursued music and literature, for which he had harboured passions since childhood. In the fall of 1827, at age 24, he attended the opening night of Shakespeare's Hamlet, performed in Paris by an English theatre company. Because his formal education had exposed him only to Latin and Greek, Berlioz understood little of the language. Nevertheless, he was transformed by the experience and recalled it in his memoirs: "Shakespeare, coming upon me unaware, struck me like a thunderbolt".

On that night, however, Berlioz was fascinated by more than the work of the revered English poet: he was enchanted by Harriet Smithson, the young Irishwoman who played Ophelia. That enchantment soon turned to obsession as Berlioz haunted the stage door and inundated Smithson with love letters only to have his advances ignored. Motivated by the pain of unilateral love, Berlioz began after three years to compose an elaborate quasi-autobiographical piece of program music, a symphony that would depict a disconsolate lover driven to the brink of suicide by his lady's indifference. That work became Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste, or simply Symphonie fantastique.

Berlioz declared in his memoirs that the music portrays the dreams of a young man who, in the aftermath of a failed love affair, has taken an overdose of opium. The first movement, which begins gently but increases in intensity, is intended to depict the delights and despairs of love. The second movement, an elegant waltz, evokes a ball where the lover again encounters the woman he can never possess, now in another man's arms. The idyllic strains of the third movement portray his attempt to escape his passions by traveling to the countryside, but, as memories of the unattainable woman return to his thoughts, the tone grows sombre. The composition takes a highly dramatic turn in the ponderous fourth movement, when the young man imagines that he has murdered his beloved and is about to be executed for the crime. The music depicts his march to the guillotine, where his last thought is of the woman he loves. In the final movement, he is in hell at a witches' sabbath over which his beloved herself presides, surrounded by echoes of the ancient hymn Dies irae ("Day of Wrath"), from the Catholic requiem mass.

Aside from its pioneering role as a symphony with a program – that is, with a story to tell – Symphonie fantastique is remarkable for its use of the idée fixe, which surfaces in every movement and unites the entire work. The recurring theme is essentially the tune of the beloved, representing in its varying moods the woman's ever-changing image in her lover's eye. Berlioz's idée fixe paved the way for the development of similar compositional devices in the mid-19th century, including the thematic transformations associated with the works of Franz Liszt and the leitmotifs of Richard Wagner's operas. Symphonie fantastique also constituted the largest-scale symphony composed by anyone to that time, with its five movements spanning nearly an hour and a dauntingly large orchestra that employed new wind instruments – such as the ophicleide (predecessor of the tuba) and the valve trumpet – as well as doubling on the harp and timpani parts.

Although the lover and the beloved are nowhere united in Symphonie fantastique, Berlioz, against all odds, eventually achieved the union in life. Two years after the piece's premiere, when the composer was planning another Paris performance of the massive symphony together with its new choral sequel entitled Lélio, or Le Retour à la vie (1832; "The Return to Life"), he arranged for an English newspaper correspondent to attend the concert with Smithson as his guest. The unsuspecting actress was not warned about what music was on the program, nor was she aware that Berlioz himself would be there. She took the shock reasonably well and was observed to be reading the composer's descriptive program notes closely and paying keen attention to the music. The performance was well received, and soon afterward Smithson consented at last to meet Berlioz. The following year, on October 3, 1833, the two were married. Their marriage, however, was not a happy one, and the couple separated less than a decade later.

Source: Betsy Schwarm (britannica.com)



Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

♪ Symphony No.1 in B flat major "Spring", Op.38 (1841) [00:09:18]*

i. Andante un poco maestoso – Allegro molto vivace – Animato
ii. Larghetto
iii. Scherzo: Molto vivace – Trio I: Molto più vivace – Tempo I –  Trio II – Coda
iv. Allegro animato e grazioso


Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

♪ Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste, H.48 / Op.14 (1830) [01:16:53]

i. Rêveries – Passions (Daydreams – Passions)
ii. Un bal (A ball)
iii. Scène aux champs (Scene in the Country)
iv. Marche au supplice (March to the Scaffold)
v. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a Witches' Sabbath)


Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor: Mariss Jansons

Elbphilharmonie (Elbe Philharmonic Hall), Hamburg, Germany, June 5, 2019

(HD 1080p)

* Start time of each work

Mariss Jansons obituary

In any league table of great conductors, the name of the Latvian-born maestro Mariss Jansons, who has died aged 76 after suffering from a long-term heart condition, would feature very near the top. Indeed, in the first decades of this century he was frequently awarded the accolade of greatest living conductor. His tours in those years, to London and other cities, with his two primary orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony and the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, were eagerly awaited events and rarely did they disappoint.

Lacerating anguish in Mahler symphonies, blistering climaxes in Strauss tone poems, intense, finely wrought detail in almost any repertoire: these were the characteristics that defined his music-making, which consistently pushed expressive possibilities to their extremes. Even the heart attack he suffered on the podium conducting La Bohème in Oslo in 1996, from which he nearly died, did little to lower the emotional temperature of his interpretations, in which every nerve and sinew seemed to be strained.

There was subtlety aplenty too. With the Concertgebouw, in particular, he cultivated the orchestra's trademark timbral qualities: brass that sounded creamy in pianissimo and refulgent in louder passages, fruity woodwind, and miraculously full-textured strings. Sometimes it was difficult to believe there were not twice as many cellos on the stage.

Jansons showed exceptional talent at an early age. Having won a prize at the International Herbert von Karajan Competition in Berlin in 1971, he was invited by Karajan, then at the peak of his worldwide influence, to be his assistant. Jansons' native Latvia was then under Soviet control, however, and the authorities ensured that he never heard about the offer. And so it was that he secured his first post in the west, as music director of the Oslo Philharmonic, only in 1979.

But it was not until, in the early 1990s, he began to guest conduct other orchestras (including the London Philharmonic as principal guest conductor from 1992, and the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg festival in 1994) that he began to attract significant attention. His first major post came as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1997), followed by the appointments with the Bavarian RSO (2003) and the Concertgebouw (2004).

Jansons' decision to leave the Concertgebouw at the end of the 2015 season came as a surprise, despite renewed concerns about his health. There was speculation at this time that he might succeed Simon Rattle at the Berlin Philharmonic, but Jansons made it clear that he intended to stay with the Bavarians. The reason he gave for deciding in favour of the latter was his vigorous involvement in the campaign for a new home. To abandon the orchestra in its long-fought struggle for a world-class concert hall in Munich "would be like betraying them", he said.

In February 2015 the city of Munich and state of Bavaria announced that there would be no new hall; rather, that the existing Gasteig concert hall (shared between the Bavarian RSO and the Munich Philharmonic), with its notoriously poor acoustics, would be renovated. But eventually plans were agreed for a new hall to be built in the east of the city, opening in 2024, and Jansons extended his contract with the orchestra until that year.

The son of the distinguished conductor Arvid Jansons and his wife Erhaida – the singer Iraida Jansons – he was born in the Latvian capital of Riga during the second world war, while his Jewish mother was in hiding after being smuggled out of the Riga ghetto, where her father and brother were killed. Jansons began to study the violin with his father, and in 1957 entered the Leningrad Conservatory. There he also studied conducting with Nikolai Rabinovich, and made his conducting debut before graduating with honours.

From 1969 to 1972 he studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna and then with Von Karajan in Salzburg. Denied by the Soviet authorities the chance to continue working with Karajan, he was instead appointed associate conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic, becoming associate principal conductor in 1985. In the same year he became guest conductor of what was then the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, continuing until 1988.

Meanwhile he had also taken the appointment with the Oslo Philharmonic, rapidly raising its status to international level. Under his charismatic leadership until 2002, the orchestra was invited to the Salzburg festival, the BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo and other prestigious venues.

Notable recordings made with the Oslo Philharmonic included the complete Tchaikovsky symphonies (including Manfred), which was praised as a leader of the field for its urgently spontaneous performances, with fresh orchestral sonorities enhanced by the richly atmospheric Chandos sound. They also recorded works by Dvořák, Grieg, Sibelius and Honegger, as well as an anthology of Russian and eastern European works for the orchestra's 75th anniversary.

After his brush with mortality in 1996 – a second heart attack followed five weeks after the first – he was fitted with a defibrillator in his chest, designed to detect any irregularity in the heartbeat and adjust it with the appropriate voltage. (Jansons' father had died from a heart attack, in Manchester in 1984, while conducting the Hallé, of which he was principal guest conductor.) Maris Jansons' resignation in 2000 followed disputes with the city authorities about the poor acoustics of the Oslo concert hall.

With the St Petersburg Philharmonic (as it was renamed in 1991) he recorded the complete orchestral works of Rachmaninov, which were characterised by warmly idiomatic phrasing and powerful climaxes. During his seven-year tenure of the music directorship of the Pittsburgh Symphony, he was credited with transforming the orchestra's sound. The players also expressed satisfaction, after the years of Lorin Maazel's soulless technical wizardry, that Jansons took the trouble to learn their names and made them think more deeply about the music they were playing. Players who had been wary of taking the lift if Maazel was in it were now more likely to mob their music director after rehearsals.

Where Maazel was very precise about every detail, Jansons talked more about the mood he wished to create, without always giving precise instructions. Often during a concert, he would stop conducting altogether, forcing the orchestral players to listen to each other. He was also renowned for asking for the same passage to be played sometimes loud, sometimes soft, keeping the players on their toes with relish.

There were also disappointments in Pittsburgh, however: consistently low audience turnout and a projected $1m deficit in his last year. His plans for a music school for young gifted children were set aside, and he also drew a blank with his outreach efforts to schools. For one reason or another – and transatlantic commuting took its toll – Jansons spent only 10 weeks a year in Pittsburgh, using the rest of the time to maintain positions with the Oslo, London and St Petersburg Philharmonic orchestras.

He also guest conducted other leading North American and European orchestras at this time, including the Chicago Symphony and Cleveland orchestras and the London Symphony Orchestra, with whom he recorded a fine Mahler Symphony No 6 for LSO Live. But it was with the Concertgebouw and Bavarian RSO that he was inspired to his greatest heights.

A visit to the BBC Proms with the latter in 2004 generated in Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony a volcanic climax to the first movement, the claps of thunderous timpani seeming to emanate from the bowels of the earth. The virtuoso orchestral playing was heard to greatest effect in the velvet-clad military machine of the third movement march – which provoked a spontaneous, if premature, burst of applause from the audience, though the ultimate ovation, when it came, was more overwhelming still.

In a 2005 Prom with the Concertgebouw, Jansons mercilessly probed the tormented psyche given such powerful expression in Mahler's Sixth, again, with, in the opening movement, the tramp of a martial beat underfoot, the strings digging deep into their appoggiatura accents, the wind adding their own plangent punctuation. Above all, conductor and orchestra showed how the nerves and sinews could be exposed without any compromise of aesthetic quality.

The following year he won a Grammy for best orchestral performance with the Bavarian orchestra and chorus for their recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No.13. Also in 2006, a visit to the Barbican with the Concertgebouw resulted in a grandiloquent but never bombastic reading of Strauss' Ein Heldenleben, the hero's aura enhanced by the vivid presence conjured by the orchestra. While the strings were able to encompass both glassy brilliance and intense, throbbing passion, the woodwind could be languid or sensuous, the brass potent or exultant. Yet it was the final section, the tenderly, infinitely protracted pastoral idyll, that, one sensed, offered the inner truth of the work, for Jansons as for the composer.

They were back at the Barbican in London in 2009 for a truly apocalyptic Mahler Resurrection Symphony, and again in 2012 for a searching account of Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra that encompassed doubt as well as affirmation.

When Jansons finally felt obliged to give up the Amsterdam appointment in 2015, his unflagging energy and total commitment were acknowledged by the players: "We will all remember him for his detail, passion and immense musicality and knowledge", one said. "There is nothing in every score he conducts that he hasn't read, researched, discussed, thought about and worried about."

As in Oslo and Pittsburgh, Jansons was credited with transforming the sound of the Dutch orchestra, in this case muting the brightness cultivated by his predecessor Riccardo Chailly and restoring the warmth and depth with which it had traditionally been associated.

In 2016 he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year’s concert for the third time. At the start of this year he gave another striking account in London of Ein Heldenleben, this time with the Bavarians. This summer he took a break from conducting on doctor's orders, but was back in action in Munich in the autumn.

Players in all the orchestras he conducted had difficulty matching his energy levels, but Jansons drove himself in the belief that he had not reached his peak, that there was still more to learn. It was perhaps that unflagging commitment, combined with his search for truth, that made him the outstanding conductor he was.

He is survived by his second wife, Irina (nee Outchitel), whom he married in 1967, and by his daughter, Ilona, a pianist, from his first marriage.

Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons, conductor, born 14 Jan 1943; died 30 November 2019. This article was amended on December 2, 2019.

Source: Barry Millington, December 1, 2019 (theguardian.com)

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Famed Conductor Mariss Jansons Dies at 76

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