Chor Der Bayerischen Staatsoper Bayerisches Staatsorchester Richter - Die Schopfung - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Distler / Monteverdi Chor Munich - Geistliche Chormusik Op 12 [COMPACT DISCS] date 09/22/2005

Despite a certain inner distance to the Communist regime, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny was considered one of the most distinguished artistic personalities in East Germany. Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan were only two of the distinguished conductors to champion his music. Although he himself was not regarded as a stylistic pioneer, the way Wagner-Régeny took up and blended old and new elements formed a highly individual musical diction that might well be defined as a personal style. Genesis (1955/56) is a blend of oratorio and cantata. It was written prior to East Germany's ambivalent attitude towards the church. The latter represented the strongest opposition to the regime and was discriminated mainly during Walter Ulbricht's tenure as the chairman of the Central Committee.

Giovanni Antonini has been recording the complete symphonies of Joseph Haydn with the Alpha tag for more than five years. Now the series is enriched by another monument by the Austrian composer Die Schöpfung (The Creation), recorded in 2019 with the Bavarian Radio Chorus and his own orchestra, Il Giardino Armonico. This great oratorio was inspired by those of Handel, which Haydn heard performed by very large forces during his visits to England. The Creation, composed between September 1796 and April 1798, demanded such a colossal effort of him that he even fell ill just after it's first performance; but the work enjoyed immense success. The marriage between the Bavarian chorus, so familiar with this masterpiece, and the period-instrument musicians of Il Giardino Armonico works perfectly, with a vocal trio composed of leading soloists Anna Lucia Richter, Maximilian Schmitt and Florian Boesch.