Lost Times by Theo Plath & Aris Alexander Blettenberg

Theo Plath & Aris Alexander Blettenberg

Lost Times

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: CAvi
UPC: 4260085530373
Catnr: AVI 8553037
Release date: 09 July 2021
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Label
CAvi

UPC
4260085530373

Catalogue number
AVI 8553037

Release date
09 July 2021

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

LOST TIMES by THEO PLATH

I always found that the music of Impressionism and Late Romanticism was an object of longing for me as a bassoonist; Saint-Saëns was one of the few composers of his time who helped to expand the repertoire of “one of these otherwise so neglected instruments”.

He was unfortunately rather alone in that endeavour – which I find all the more regrettable, since I regard the bassoon’s timbre as quite appropriate for the music of that period.

With this CD I have fulfilled my personal dream to revel in the music of Romanticism and Impressionism, an era otherwise mostly lost for the bassoon as a solo instrument.

Art often depicts our yearning for what is lost in the past. Proust, more than any other author, evoked memory as a source of artistic inspiration in his multi-volume novel In Search of Lost Time, to which this CD’s title refers.

Proust also showed how music can play a primordial role in the process of unwittingly recalling past events. When his characters hear the melody of the ineffable Vinteuil sonata, it triggers a series of thoughts, memories, and emotions. These are probably the most impressive depictions in literature of a person’s relation with music, showing that the link between music and recollection is essential.

Music can take up several functions:
- A piece of music that has been part of our lives is unavoidably linked with many past events which
resurface when we hear it.
- Music can also give rise to dreamlike images that surge from the interaction between our recollections
and our imagination.
- From a purely abstract point of view, music can depict memory per se. Thematic material is restated
in another context, in which it is shown in a new light.

(Excerpt from the liner notes by Theo Plath)

Artist(s)

Theo Plath (bassoon)

As a prizewinner at the renowned ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 2019, and as Principal Bassoon of Frankfurt HR Radio Symphony Orchestra, Theo Plath is fairly in demand as a soloist, and player for chamber music and orchestra.
The year 2020 saw the release of his début CD with bassoon concertos by Weber, Jolivet, Bitsch and Crusell, a recording he made with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Deutsche Radiophilharmonie) under the baton of Leo McFall.
Theo has made appearances in solo bassoon concertos with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Frankfurt HR Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others, and in concert halls including Dortmund Konzerthaus and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie.
As a chamber musician in high demand, Theo Plath is a regularly invited guest at international festivals such as the Spannungen Chamber Music Festival in Heimbach and the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, where he concertizes with celebrated performers including Vilde Frang, Christian Tetzlaff, Maximilian Hornung, and Lars Vogt. Theo Plath is also a member of the prize-winning Monet Wind Quintet.
Theo studied bassoon at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (Hochschule für Musik), and received further valuable counsel from professors Sergio Azzolini and Nikolaus Maler. Apart from winning 3rd Prize in the Bassoon category at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, he has also won First Prizes at the Aeolus Wind Competition (Düsseldorf) and the German National Music Competition (2018).
As a volunteer for the Rhapsody in School project, Theo communicates his enthusiasm for classical music to children and youngsters in school sessions all across Germany.

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Aris Alexander Blettenberg (piano)

Ever since he won First Prize at the International Hans von Bülow Competition in the category “Conducting from the Piano” in 2015, Aris Alexander Blettenberg has made a name for himself as a “rare double talent” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).
The young musician with Greek roots was born in 1994 in Mühlheim an der Ruhr. He received his musical education at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and at the Salzburg Mozarteum under professors Antti Siirala (piano) and Bruno Weil (conducting).
He is currently studying in the solo class of Prof. Lars Vogt in Hannover. Blettenberg is #also known to the public as a composer and as an arranger.
He was awarded the Ruhr Region Advancement Prize for Art and Science in 2012, the Steinway Advancement Prize in 2019, and the Bavarian Artist Promotion Prize in 2020. Since 2015 he has been a scholarship holder of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes).
Aris Alexander Blettenberg has made appearances in concert halls including the Golden Hall at the Vienna Musikverein, Wigmore Hall in London, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, and the NOSPR Concert Hall in Katowice.
He has been invited to concertize at such renowned festivals as the Heidelberg Spring Festival, the Bad Kissingen Summer Festival, and the Festspiele Mecklenburg- Vorpommern. Blettenberg has collaborated with celebrated artists such as Julia Fischer, Arabella Steinbacher, Maximilian Hornung, and Julian Rachlin; with music ensembles such as the Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Georgian Chamber Orchestra in Ingolstadt, the Duisburg Philharmonic, and the Meiningen Hofkapelle.
He received valuable counsel as an active participant in masterclasses imparted by Rudolf Buchbinder, Cyprien Katsaris, Gerhard Oppitz, Matti Raekallio, and Vladimir Jurowski.
Aris Alexander Blettenberg gave his debut as opera conductor in 2019 in a new staging of Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail at Meiningen State Theater, where he has been guest conductor since 2015. Blettenberg’s published compositions are being performed worldwide, broadcast on radio, and recorded on CD.

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Composer(s)

Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy was a French composer. He and Maurice Ravel were the most prominent figures associated with impressionist music, though Debussy disliked the term when applied to his compositions. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1903. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his use of non-traditional scales and chromaticism influenced many composers who followed. Debussy's music is noted for its sensory content and frequent usage of non-traditional tonalities. The prominent French literary style of his period was known as Symbolism, and this movement directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant Among his most famous works are his Clair de Lune, his Three Nocturnes...

Claude Debussy was a French composer. He and Maurice Ravel were the most prominent figures associated with impressionist music, though Debussy disliked the term when applied to his compositions. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1903. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his use of non-traditional scales and chromaticism influenced many composers who followed.
Debussy's music is noted for its sensory content and frequent usage of non-traditional tonalities. The prominent French literary style of his period was known as Symbolism, and this movement directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant Among his most famous works are his Clair de Lune, his Three Nocturnes and his orchestral piece La Mer.

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César Franck

César Franck was simultaneously a child prodigy and a late bloomer. His parents quickly discovered his enormous talent, but they were mostly interested in the money and fame that he might generate. Because of this, he was presented as a piano virtuoso, without a focus on composition. Unfortunately, his virtuoso career was less promising then they had hoped, and he started earning his money more as a teacher and organist. Composing stayed in the background, but in the mean time he did get some notable students, such as Henri Duparc. After a while, a sort of "Franck school" of students arose, albeit against his will, who affectionately called him ‘Pater seraphicus’. It was not until he was 50 before he started to receive some acclaim as a composer, and from his 52nd he started a very prolific period, lasting until his death at the age of 68.
Nowadays, Franck is mostly known for his instrumental music, peaking at the famous Violin Sonata in A. Besides this work,, his small collection of organ works was particularly influential.

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Camille Saint-Saëns

Camille Saint-Saëns was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist. He was a musical prodigy, writing his first pieces of music at the age of four and making his concert debut at the age of ten. During this concert he astonished the audience by playing one of the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven at its request. After his studying at the Conservatory of Paris he followed a career as a church organist at Saint-Merri and later La Madeleine in Paris. He was also a successful freelance composer and pianist in France and abroad.
Saint-Saëns initially helped to introduce German composers such as Robert Schumann and Richard Wagner in France. However, from 1870 onwards anti-German sentiments began to arise in France as a result of the Franco-Prussian War, which enhanced support for the idea of a pro-French musical society. In 1871 Saint-Saëns consequently founded the Société Nationale de Musique together with Romain Bussine, that was devoted to the promotion of French music and organised concerts on which young composers could perform their works.
Saint-Saëns was a keen traveler, and made 179 trips to 27 different countries during his life. He favoured Algeria and Egypt, were he gained inspiration for compositions such as the Suite Algérienne and the Fifth Piano Concerto, also known as The Egyptian.
Saint-Saëns' best-known works include the First Cello Concerto, Third Symphony, the opera Samson et Dalila, Danse Macabre and Le carnaval des animaux, a humorous suite in which various animals are musically portrayed. However, he never wanted the last work to be performed, since it was contrary to his image as a serious composer.

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