Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi

John Axelrod, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi – Brahms Beloved: Symphonies 2 & 4; Clara Schumann Lieder (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:53:50 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Telarc/Concord Music

John Axelrod has recorded unique Brahms symphonies + Clara Schumann Lieder cycle, exploring the symphonies as four sides of the woman with whom Brahms was obsessed. In a fascinating new concept, John Axelrod (2012 ICMA Award winner and winner of the ResMusica “Best Classical album of 2012”) is spearheading an exploration of the relationship between Brahms and the woman he loved, Clara Schumann, as depicted in their music. “If you listen to the Brahms symphonies,” says Axelrod, “each of them seems to inhabit a completely different, though connected, character. Then, if you listen to the songs of Clara Schumann, they also fall clearly into a very similar four moods. I believe that Clara’s own personality is in those songs, and so if that is true, it is also possible to think of the four Brahms symphonies as portraits of Clara – four different aspects of her.”
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John Axelrod, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi – Brahms Beloved: Symphonies 1 & 3; Clara Schumann Lieder (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:58:40 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Telarc/Concord Music

Once in his later years, Johannes Brahms wrote to the love of his life that all his works should be signed, “really by Clara Schumann.” It was a moving testament from an emotionally guarded old bachelor to the woman who had long been his muse. It was also a recognition that the composer whose work, then as now, has been regarded as the epitome of musical abstraction acknowledged that his music was grounded in his life and feelings. And Clara Schumann was always connected to Brahms’s deepest feelings. This recording is a testament to their lifelong connection.
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