Ein Menschliches Requiem by Vlaams Radiokoor

Johannes Brahms

Vlaams Radiokoor

Ein Menschliches Requiem

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Evil Penguin
UPC: 0608917723328
Catnr: EPRC 0046
Release date: 11 February 2022
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Label
Evil Penguin

UPC
0608917723328

Catalogue number
EPRC 0046

Release date
11 February 2022

"Vocal top quality!"

Stretto, 03-2-2022

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About the album

Come, come a bit closer: there he is, sitting in his study. Look over his shoulder – what is he working on so intensely? Why that sorrowful glance in his youthful eyes? First his mother, then his good friend and mentor Robert Schumann, two people very dear to him were no more...

Johannes Brahms is an icon. When you say Johannes, you know it refers to Brahms. The successor to Beethoven, the sober man who took seriousness very seriously, the chief protagonist of the classical tradition, an intimate friend of the Schumanns.

But how well do we really know Brahms? How close does he let us come to him through his music? In search of the man who was Brahms, through his Requiem and the music of his good friend Robert Schumann.

The death of his mother and his mentor Schumann, two people so close to him marked Brahms – but it also led to the creation of one of his finest works.

Bent over his writing desk, full of sorrow over his loss, Brahms wanted to write music that would nevertheless offer some support: hope for those near him, comfort for the living – and not with a sombre funeral march. Initially, he gave his composition the title Ein menschliches Requiem (A Human Requiem). The monumental composition for orchestra and choir that would become Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) lies far from that intimate beginning. But Brahms did not forget his initial plan: he even transcribed a version for piano 4 hands, soloists and choir: transparent, intimate, colourful and, most importantly, very personal.

In search of the man who was Brahms, we weave some childhood memories of his good friend Schumann in between the movements of the Requiem. In his Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Schumann in turn combined various short works that were close to his heart and through which he thought back, filled with nostalgia, to his own childhood.

Op deze cd een intiemere, menselijke versie van ‘Ein deutsches Requiem’ van Brahms, een requiem voor de levenden. Werkelijk prachtig uitgevoerd door het Vlaams Radiokoor onder leiding van Bart Van Reyn. Het koor, sopraan Sarah Wegener en bariton Thomas Oliemans zorgen voor indringende vocale muziek en maken deze opname, 'Ein mensliches Requiem', tot een waar genot om naar te luisteren. De delen van het requiem worden afgewisseld met korte pianostukken uit Robert Schumanns 'Kinderszenen'.

Johannes Brahms is een icoon. Zeg Johannes, en je weet dat het om Brahms gaat. De opvolger van Beethoven, de sobere man die ernst hoog in het vaandel droeg, voorvechter van de klassieke tradities, innige vriend van Clara en Robert Schumann.
Maar hoe goed kennen we Brahms echt? Hoe dichtbij laat hij ons komen in zijn muziek?

“Kom, kom wat dichter: daar zit hij, in zijn werkkamer. Kijk over zijn schouder - waar werkt hij zo intens aan? Waarom die droeve blik in zijn jonge ogen? Eerst zijn moeder, dan zijn goede vriend en mentor Robert Schumann: hij verloor twee dierbaren...”

Het album ‘Ein menschliches Requiem’ schetst een portret van de mens Brahms, in zijn Requiem, en in de muziek van zijn mentor en goede vriend Schumann. De dood van zijn dierbare naasten tekende Brahms - maar zorgden ook voor één van zijn mooiste werken.
Gebogen over zijn schrijftafel, vol verdriet om zijn verlies, wilde Brahms toch muziek schrijven die houvast zou bieden: hoop voor de nabestaanden, troost voor de levenden - en geen sombere treurmars voor de doden. Het was Brahms' persoonlijke antwoord op de dood. Aanvankelijk gaf hij zijn compositie de titel 'Ein menschliches Requiem'. De monumentale compositie voor orkest en koor die 'Ein deutsches Requiem' uiteindelijk werd, staat soms in schril contrast met dat aanvankelijke doel. Maar Brahms vergat zijn opzet niet: hij maakte zelf een versie voor vierhandig piano, soli en koor: transparant, intiem, kleurrijk en vooral heel persoonlijk.

Op zoek naar de mens Brahms, is het Requiem in deze opname gelardeerd met enkele herinneringen uit de kindertijd van Schumann. In zijn ‘Kinderszenen’ verwerkte Schumann op zijn beurt verschillende korte stukken, die hem na aan het hart lagen en die hem vol nostalgie, terugvoerden naar zijn kindertijd.

Komm, komm ein bisschen näher: Da sitzt er in seinem Arbeitszimmer. Schauen Sie ihm über die Schulter - woran arbeitet er so intensiv? Warum dieser traurige Blick in seinen jugendlichen Augen? Erst seine Mutter, dann sein guter Freund und Mentor Robert Schumann, zwei Menschen, die ihm sehr am Herzen lagen, sind nicht mehr...
Johannes Brahms ist eine Ikone. Wenn man Johannes sagt, weiß man, dass es sich um Brahms handelt. Der Nachfolger Beethovens, der nüchterne Mann, der die Ernsthaftigkeit sehr ernst nahm, der Hauptprotagonist der klassischen Tradition, ein intimer Freund der Schumanns.
Aber wie gut kennen wir Brahms wirklich? Wie nahe lässt er uns durch seine Musik an sich heran? Auf der Suche nach dem Mann, der Brahms war, durch sein Requiem und die Musik seines guten Freundes Robert Schumann.
Der Tod seiner Mutter und seines Mentors Schumann, zweier Menschen, die ihm sehr nahe standen, hat Brahms gezeichnet - aber er führte auch zur Entstehung eines seiner besten Werke.
Über den Schreibtisch gebeugt, voller Trauer über den Verlust, wollte Brahms eine Musik schreiben, die dennoch Halt geben sollte: Hoffnung für die Angehörigen, Trost für die Lebenden - und zwar nicht mit einem düsteren Trauermarsch. Er gab seiner Komposition zunächst den Titel Ein menschliches Requiem. Die monumentale Komposition für Orchester und Chor, die später zu Ein deutsches Requiem werden sollte, ist weit von diesem intimen Anfang entfernt. Doch Brahms vergaß seinen ursprünglichen Plan nicht: Er transkribierte sogar eine Fassung für Klavier zu vier Händen, Solisten und Chor: transparent, intim, farbenreich und vor allem sehr persönlich.
Auf der Suche nach dem Menschen Brahms weben wir zwischen den Sätzen des Requiems einige Kindheitserinnerungen an seinen guten Freund Schumann ein. Schumann wiederum hat in seinen Kinderszenen verschiedene kurze Werke zusammengefasst, die ihm am Herzen lagen und in denen er sich voller Nostalgie an seine eigene Kindheit erinnerte.

Artist(s)

Vlaams Radiokoor

The Vlaams Radiokoor (Flemish Radio Choir) was founded in 1937 by the Belgian public broadcaster of the day. Today, the Vlaams Radiokoor is renowned for vocal music in Flanders and Europe, and is counted among the top ensembles both at home and abroad. The 32 singers rehearse under the baton of music director Bart Van Reyn in Studio 1 of the well-known Flagey building in Brussels. A shared passion for contemporary repertoire, the belief that the voice is the ultimate interpreter of our emotions, and the commitment to make our vocal heritage accessible to singers and audiences alike are what binds the ensemble together. The Vlaams Radiokoor is and remains a living portal for repertoire, knowledge, experience and voices. It makes our...

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Bart Van Reyn (conductor)

Thomas Oliemans (baritone)

Amsterdam born winner of the 2013 Prix d' Amis of The Netherlands Opera for his portrayal of Papageno in Simon McBurney's production of Die Zauberflöte, Thomas Oliemans made his professional opera debut aged 24 as the Father in Hans Werner Henze’s Pollicino with the Nationale Reisopera of the Netherlands where he also sang Minos in Händel’s Arianna in Creta and Ned Keene in Britten’s Peter Grimes. In 2005 he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival as Gonsalvo Fieschi in Schreker's Die Gezeichneten. Further important debuts followed in 2006 as Papageno in Mozart´s Die Zauberflöte at the Opéra de Nantes/Angers to great public and critical acclaim, and at the Grand Théâtre de Genève as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte. His most recent operatic engagements have included his debut at Teatro Real in Madrid with Ivor Bolton and...

Amsterdam born winner of the 2013 Prix d' Amis of The Netherlands Opera for his portrayal of Papageno in Simon McBurney's production of Die Zauberflöte, Thomas Oliemans made his professional opera debut aged 24 as the Father in Hans Werner Henze’s Pollicino with the Nationale Reisopera of the Netherlands where he also sang Minos in Händel’s Arianna in Creta and Ned Keene in Britten’s Peter Grimes.

In 2005 he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival as Gonsalvo Fieschi in Schreker's Die Gezeichneten. Further important debuts followed in 2006 as Papageno in Mozart´s Die Zauberflöte at the Opéra de Nantes/Angers to great public and critical acclaim, and at the Grand Théâtre de Genève as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte.

His most recent operatic engagements have included his debut at Teatro Real in Madrid with Ivor Bolton and Krysztof Warlikowski (Hercule in Gluck’s Alceste) Donner in Das Rheingold under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, reprisal of his Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Amsterdam. Conte in Le Nozze di Figaro in Gothenburg, Ramiro in L'Heure Espagnole in concert conducted by Charles Dutoit. He appeared as Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse partnering Natalie Dessay, had his debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden singing Schaunard alongside Joseph Calleja, Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu in La Bohème conducted by Semyon Bychkov, Papageno in a new production of Die Zauberflöte staged by esteemed director Simon McBurney and Fritz Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg conducted by Marc Albrecht at De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, Marcello in La Bohème and Gunther inGötterdämmerung at the Nationale Reisopera, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and Marcello in La Bohème at the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro and Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for the Scottish Opera, Hercule in Gluck’s Alceste at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse. His strong ties to The Netherlands Opera have resulted in parts in Don Carlo, Un Ballo in maschera, Die Zauberflöte, Meistersinger and Rameau’sCastor et Pollux. He also sang leading roles in three world-premiere productions of contemporary Dutch operas by Wagemans (Legende), Zuidam (Adam in Ballingschap) and Martijn Padding (Laika).

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Sarah Wegener (soprano)

The soprano Sarah Wegener is on the best path to a great career (...). Sarah Wegener wants to, and can, sing everything. SWR, 2012 Sarah Wegener enthrals listeners with the richness and warmth of her voice and approaches every role in a chamber musical way, whether it be contemporary, classical or romantic repertoire. She regularly works with Philippe Herreweghe, Thomas Hengelbrock, Emilio Pomàrico, Tonu Kaljuste, Heinz Holliger, Frieder Bernius and Michael Hofstetter. Concerts and recitals have taken her to the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, RuhrTriennale, Rheingau Music Festival, Konzerthaus Berlin, Tonhalle Zurich, Wiener Konzerthaus, and to the Bozar Brussels. Following her double bass studies, the British-German soprano studied singing with Prof. Jaeger-Böhm in Stuttgart and took part in masterclasses with Dame Gwyneth Jones...

The soprano Sarah Wegener is on the best path to a great career (...). Sarah Wegener wants to, and can, sing everything. SWR, 2012

Sarah Wegener enthrals listeners with the richness and warmth of her voice and approaches every role in a chamber musical way, whether it be contemporary, classical or romantic repertoire. She regularly works with Philippe Herreweghe, Thomas Hengelbrock, Emilio Pomàrico, Tonu Kaljuste, Heinz Holliger, Frieder Bernius and Michael Hofstetter. Concerts and recitals have taken her to the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, RuhrTriennale, Rheingau Music Festival, Konzerthaus Berlin, Tonhalle Zurich, Wiener Konzerthaus, and to the Bozar Brussels.

Following her double bass studies, the British-German soprano studied singing with Prof. Jaeger-Böhm in Stuttgart and took part in masterclasses with Dame Gwyneth Jones and Renée Morloc.

Highly regarded as a performer of both classical and romantic repertoire, as well as contemporary compositions, Sarah Wegener recently sang Dvořak’s Stabat Mater and Haydn’s Sieben letzte Worte (Philippe Herreweghe, Orchestre des Champs- Élysées, Collegium Vocale Gent), Beethoven’s Funeral Cantata and Mass in C major (Hans- Christoph Rademann, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart), and, in a sensational concert in Graz, Strauss‘ Vier letzte Lieder. In 2015 she made her debut with the NDR Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Hengelbrock performing Jörg Widmann’s Dunkle Saiten. The composer previously dedicated the solo part in his work Labyrinth III to her, which she premiered in 2014 to great acclaim at the Kölner Philharmonie with the WDR Symphony Orchestra under Emilio Pomàrico. Further performances of the piece took her to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Emilio Pomàrico, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest) and Casa da Música (Peter Rundel, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto).

Sarah Wegener has formed a close artistic relationship with the composer Georg Friedrich Haas. In the 2015/16 season she made her debuts at the Royal Opera House London and Deutsche Oper Berlin in his new opera Morgen und Abend. The composer also dedicated the Lieder cycle ...wie stille brannte das Licht to the soprano, drawing on her unique ability to interpret microtonal music. She was nominated for “Singer of the Year” by Opernwelt magazine in 2011 for her interpretation of the main role of Nadja in his opera Bluthaus, which she performed at the Schwetzinger SWR Festival, Theater Bonn, Wiener Festwochen, Kampnagel Hamburg and Staatstheater Saarbrücken. She returned to Schwetzingen in 2013 with the opera Thomas and Dido for string quartet and soprano. She also sang Haas’s composition ATTHIS with the Ensemble musikFabrik at the Philharmonie Luxembourg and with musicians of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra as part of musica viva.

Her discography comprises recordings with Frieder Bernius of arias by Justin Heinrich Knecht (Carus), Korngold’s Die stumme Serenade (CPO) and Schubert’s Lazarus (Carus), as well as Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle under Tonu Kaljuste (Carus) and a CD with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Heinz Holliger (Hänssler Classic).

Sarah Wegener will kick off the 2016/17 season with her first collaboration with Kent Nagano and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal: she will perform Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion and Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem in several concerts in Montréal. She will also sing Bach’s Christmas Oratorio on tour with the Basel Chamber Orchestra as well as Mozart’s Litaniae and Schubert’s Mass No. 5 with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. In celebration of the inauguration of the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie she will perform Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg and Kent Nagano. Recitals will also take her to the SWR RheinVokal Festival and the Halle Handel Festival.

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Composer(s)

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. His reputation and status as a composer is such that he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow.
Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim (the three were close friends). Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. Brahms, an uncompromising perfectionist, destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished.
Brahms has been considered, by his contemporaries and by later writers, as both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by subsequent figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. The diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahms's works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers. Within his meticulous structures is embedded, however, a highly romantic nature.

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