Kalliwoda / Daskalakis / Cologne Academy / Willens - Overtures - Violin Concertinos - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Walter Wurzburger fled from Nazi Germany and via Australia he eventually arrived with his family in London, settling in Kingston. Here he founded the Kingston Symphony Orchestra and taught at both Kingston Polytechnic and Morley College. He continued composing throughout his life and these three quartets span over a thirty year period. 'I find it always hard (and perhaps unnecessary) to say anything in words about my music. If the music has not said anything then I fear words will not contribute very much. Words do not explain what lies behind the notes, namely the entire make up of the composer's personality, his aspirations, fear, terrors, but also his joys and happiness. All this will, if he has succeeded, have been expressed in his music but can only be described by the music itself.' Walter Wurzburger, 1989 Walter Wurzburger (1914-1995) Walter Wurzburger is one of a number of musicians of the 20th Century whose lives have been shaped by exile in his case, fleeing from Nazi Germany, and re-establishing himself first in France, then Australia, and finally in England. His life was dedicated to music as performer, composer, arranger and as conductor, he lived through the social and musical changes of the 20th Century, and his life and musical development reveal much about that century. By the time of his death in 1995, he had written over 60 completed works, for a wide variety of ensembles, including 5 string quartets, a piano concerto, a violin concerto, a number of chamber works, studies and songs and a sequence of works for solo piano. The three quartets recorded here represent the complete historical range of Walter Wurzburger's composing career from 1944 while serving in the Australian army; to the serial compositions of his main period of composition (stretching from the Darmstadt years of the early 1960s through to the late 1980s); and finally into his late

Kalliwoda / Leclair / Sechter - Deux [COMPACT DISCS] date 01/01/2012

Widely recognized as one of the leading conductors of his generation, LSO Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda presents the first in a new series exploring Tchaikovsky's final three symphonies. Urgent, supercharged and violent in places, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.4 is said to reflect the turmoil he found himself in while composing a disastrous marriage, struggles with his sexuality and severe depression. Yet, despite the gloomy outlook, the symphony proves undoubtedly that Tchaikovsky knew how to fill his works with memorable melodies. Known for his mastery of Russian repertoire, for this album Noseda pairs Tchaikovsky with a masterpiece by his fellow countryman, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, performed here in Ravel's iconic orchestration.