Raphaël Pichon, Pygmalion, Julian Prégardien, Stéphane Degout, Sabine Devieilhe, Lucile Richardot, Christian Immler, Reinoud van Mechelen, Maitrise De Radio France – J. S. Bach: Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:41:27 minutes | 3,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
Dès le chœur d’entrée, Raphaël Pichon et son ensemble Pygmalion seront sensibles à la nuance, emplissant leur geste de couleurs et d’attentions finalement peu courantes dans ce moment le plus souvent marqué par l’ampleur et la densité du son. Les inflexions pianissimos, le soudain allégement des textures, le ton général chambriste placent cette Passion, devenue a posteriori le temple et sommet de l’expression dramatique religieuse du XVIIIe siècle, ailleurs. Bach y est ici le cousin direct d’un Georg Philipp Telemann dont les propres Passions présentent des effectifs plus restreints et parfois plus variés en terme d’instrumentarium. Elle s’inscrit aussi dans les perspectives doloristes des Membra Jesu nostri de Dietrich Buxtehude.
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Christian Immler, Clematis, Leonardo García-Alarcón – Bach & Böhm: Music for Weddings and other Festivities (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:08:05 minutes | 626 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Ricercar
Let us once more immerse ourselves in the musical life of Eisenach as it was at the end of the 1670s. One Sunday afternoon, after having played for the services in their respective churches, the cousins Johann Ambrosius Bach and Johann Christoph Bach were sitting in a Bierstube, each with a mug of beer and a meerschaum pipe. A moment of relaxation, with word games, laughter and a discussion about Johann Christoph’s coming marriage. There would naturally be music for the wedding, with a cantata for the church service at the very least. That particular Sunday morning’s cantata had been based on texts from the Song of Solomon — not Böhm’s, of course, because Böhm had only been born in 1661. The sensual and at times erotic flavour of the words amuses them and, after several beers and pipefuls of tobacco, they have an idea for a secular cantata for the festivities that will follow the wedding ceremony. Christoph will compose the music, whilst Ambrosius will put together the text and instructions for its performance. Even though we do not know how this cantata was performed, its score has survived complete with all of its the puzzles and riddles.
Read moreChristian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Hidden Treasure (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]
Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Hidden Treasure (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:12:25 minutes | 1,21 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
Growing up in Vienna, with its great Lied tradition, Hans Gál had written about 100 songs before leaving secondary school. He later destroyed them, along with all his other works composed prior to 1910, but between 1910 and 1921 he wrote many more. Except for the five songs of Op. 33, these were never published, and Gál himself would later refer to them as ‘laid aside’. Many of these songs were publicly performed at the time, however, often with the composer at the piano.
Read moreChristian Immler & Andreas Frese – Das heiße Herz (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:09:23 minutes | 1,12 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alpha Classics
Bass-baritone Christian Immler, accompanied by the pianist Andreas Frese, juxtaposes the contemporary composer Jörg Widmann with the Romantic Schumann in three cycles of lieder written between 1849 and 2013. ‘For us, Jörg Widmanns song cycle Das heiße Herz (‘The Burning Heart’) is to be numbered among the very greatest song cycles, and not just among those of this century. During our intensive rehearsals with Jörg Widmann, the many questions we had (and what a joy to be able to ask them!) often had surprisingly simple answers. The combination with Schumann’s late Harper and Lenau song cycles seems absolutely perfect, for similar situations permeate these cycles as well”. Das heiße Herz is recorded here for the first time.
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