Serenade no. 1 / Variations on a Theme by Haydn by Residentie Orkest The Hague

Residentie Orkest The Hague

Serenade no. 1 / Variations on a Theme by Haydn

Price: € 19.95
Format: SACD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917269222
Catnr: CC 72692
Release date: 06 May 2016
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917269222

Catalogue number
CC 72692

Release date
06 May 2016

"Consigliati Da Classic Voice - 01/01/2017"

Consigliati Da Classic Voice, 01-1-2017

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

In today's world, one often perceives a division between art and academia, and composers and musicologists generally don't have much to say to one another. But that division has not always existed. Brahms himself was surrounded by a circle of academics who for him were also a source of animated comradeship. With some of them, Brahms would go on long walks outside Vienna and even on summer holidays. The men enjoyed long and sometimes loud, discussions about their shared obsessions, discoveries and findings. Brahms had these very discussions to thank for his lifelong interest in 'early music'. He even collaborated intensively on the critical editions of Couperin, Handel and Bach's sons and received interesting and useful advice form his friends. Since adopting a new artistic profile, The Hague Philharmonic is demonstrating more than ever that symphonic music can still be meaningful to large and diverse audiences in the 21st century. The ensemble performs regularly at various major concert halls around the world. Their ambitions are spreaheaded by a proactive education policy and are the driving force behind music education in the region.

De eerste opname van Jan Willem de Vriend met het Residentie Orkest
Dit album bevat de eerste opname van Jan Willem de Vriend na het nieuws van zijn aanstelling als dirigent bij het Residentie Orkest. Het bevat twee ‘lichte’ orkestrale werken van Brahms: Serenade no. 1 en Variaties op een Thema van Haydn. Beiden horen tot de meest klassieke werken van Brahms.

Dit is het eerste deel van een serie van De Vriend die gewijd is aan Brahms. Het volgende deel bevat Ein Deutsches Requiem.

In 1857 werd Brahms een positie aan het prinsdom van Lippe-Detmold aangeboden, dat verborgen lag aan de rand van het Teutoburgerwoud. De muziek van Haydn en Mozart waren van groot belang voor zijn muziek. Hij hoorde hun serenades en divertimenti vaak op hofconcerten. Brahms componeerde zelf ook een serenade voor negen instrumenten voor deze concerten. Zijn vrienden en collega’s moedigden hem aan om het werk voor klein orkest, en later ook voor een volledig orkest te bewerken. Deze laatste bewerking staat bekend als de Serenade no.1.

Tegenwoordig is er een scheiding tussen kunst en de academie, tussen componisten en musicologen. Deze scheiding was er echter niet altijd geweest. Brahms werd zelf omringd door een groep van academici, die ook zijn vrienden waren. Ze gaven hem soms interessant en handig advies. Een van deze adviezen kwam van Pohl, de biograaf van Haydn, die Brahms het thema aanraadde dat hij later verwerkte in zijn Variaties op een Thema van Haydn. Dit werk is het testament van Brahms’ meesterlijke contrapunt.

Bei seinen letzten Projekten bei Challenge Classics hat sich Jan Willen de Vriend überwiegend mit Schwergewichten der Orchesterliteratur des späten 18. und des 19. Jahrhunderts auseinandergestetzt: Beethovens sämtliche Symphonien, seine Klavierkonzerte mit dem jungen Hannes Minnaar am Piano, Mendelssohns Symphonien.
In seiner ersten Aufnahme seit seiner Berufung zum Chefdirigenten des The Hague Philharmonic / Residentie Orkest steht nun ein weiterers Schwergewicht der deutschen Symphonik auf seinem Zettel, und doch schaltet er einen Gang zurück. Den Zugang zu Brahms wählt de Vriend über zwei "leichte" seiner Orchesterkompositionen, seine Serenade No.1 und die Variationen über ein Thema von Haydn. Wenn man so will, kann man das als eine 'Fingerübung' verstehen. Die Aufnahme soll die erste in einer Brahms gewidmeten Reihe von CDs sein und schon auf der nächsten wird die Leichtigkeit spürbar nachlassen, denn geplant ist das Deutsche Requiem.

Die Serenade No.1 verfasste Brahms, inspiriert von Haydns und Mozarts Divertimenti und Hofkonzerten, zunächst als Serenade für neun Instrumente die gemütliche Hofatmosphäre des Füstentums Lippe-Detmold. Von Freunden und Kollegen ermutigt, weitete er dieses Stück später für Orchester aus und nannte es Serenade No.1.
Das Thema zu den Variationen über ein Thema von Haydn wurde Brahms vom Haydn-Biographen Pohl emfohlen. Das Stück ist Zeugnis von Brahms Meisterschaft im Kontrapunkt, der Technik über die er mit dem Bach-Gelehrten Philipp Spitta während der gemeinsamen Spaziergänge und in Briefwechseln austauschte.

Artist(s)

Residentie Orkest The Hague

Since adopting a new artistic profile, The Hague Philharmonic is demonstrating more than ever that symphonic music can still be meaningful to large and diverse audiences in the 21st century. At the new Zuiderstrandtheater in Scheveningen, the orchestra’s home venue, prior to concerts audiences are treated to a lively RO-Starter pre-programme of live music and interviews. Special productions are also provided at The Hague’s Paard van Troje throughout the season, making the orchestra appealing to both students and young professionals as well. In addition, The Hague Philharmonic performs regularly at various other major concert halls at home and abroad.

Over the next few years, The Hague Philharmonic will be working with two principal conductors: Jan Willem de Vriend and the young Englishman Nicholas Collon (from summer 2016). Richard Egarr has been appointed principal guest conductor of the orchestra.

The Hague Philharmonic is renowned throughout The Hague and Leiden region. The orchestra takes part in many important high-profile events, including the annual Speech from the Throne, Festival Classique and, starting in 2017, the performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion at St Peter’s Church in Leiden. During Christmas, New Year and Prince’s Day, the orchestra celebrates with people across the region by performing various special concerts. There are also many prolific collaborations with a wide range of local partners, including the Dutch National Theatre, Paard van Troje, Gemeentemuseum and The Hague African Festival, as well as with the Dutch National Opera and the NTR Saturday Matinee.

The Hague Philharmonic’s ambitions are spearheaded by a proactive education policy. Its educational projects involve over 31,000 contact moments with school children annually, which makes The Hague Philharmonic the driving force behind music education in the region. Numerous special activities have been developed for both primary and secondary schools, from school concerts and rehearsal visits to a refresher course for teachers and an intensive three-year music education programme for the city’s primary schools. The orchestra also regularly organises masterclasses and weekends for amateur musicians.

The Residents project is designed to provide primary school pupils in The Hague’s Schilderswijk, Transvaal, Escamp and Mariahoeve neighbourhoods with an opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument. Initiated by The Hague Philharmonic in 2011, the aim of the programme is to help build social cohesion within the city. The orchestra is actively involved in talent development as well through an intensive collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire, which includes the Orchestra Master Programme and joint projects with the Composition Department. Furthermore, The Hague Philharmonic is heavily involved with the Dutch National Opera Academy and the National Master Programme in Orchestral Conducting.

In the early years, The Hague Philharmonic was conducted by Henri Viotta, who founded the orchestra in 1904. The orchestra soon attracted composers like Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Max Reger, Maurice Ravel, Paul Hindemith and Vincent d’Indy. Guest conductors included Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Leonard Bernstein and Hans Knappertsbusch. After World War II, Willem van Otterloo was appointed chief conductor. He led the orchestra from 1949 to 1973 and built a strong reputation by combining high-quality performances with adventurous programming. After Van Otterloo, the chief conductor mantle passed to Jean Martinon, followed by Ferdinand Leitner, Hans Vonk, Evgenii Svetlanov, Jaap van Zweden and Neeme Järvi.

Composer(s)

Johannes Brahms

Press

Consigliati Da Classic Voice - 01/01/2017
Consigliati Da Classic Voice, 01-1-2017

The richness and breadth of the multichannel sound is beyond question.
Stereophile, 05-12-2016

"The recorded sound is vivid but slightly tubby."
Gramophone, 01-9-2016

" [...] Both the performance and the recording quality are great, which makes that the countermelodies and the rhythmic variations can be heard beautifully [...] "
Luister, 08-7-2016

" [...] And how good sounds the grunting horns at the beginning of variation six. "
De Volkskrant, 29-6-2016

"[...] Almost cheecky playfull [...]"
De Gelderlander, 01-6-2016

" [...] An album that makes you curious to the next one, but also stimulated to follow De Vriend at Den Haag with the best of interest. [...] "
Opus Klassiek, 25-5-2016