The Bach project started in 2010 with the Bavarian Radio Choir under the direction of Peter Dijkstra comes to an end with the complete recording of the Mass in B minor, which was recorded in April 2016 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residence. It now includes Bach’s four summit works, the three Protestant oratorios and the great Catholic mass in an outstanding artistic quality, with renowned vocal soloists and accompanied by top-class ensembles of historical performance practice: three works were created in collaboration with Concerto Köln, another with the Akademie für Early Music Berlin.
The will to happiness determined the life and work of the great Russian composer Peter I. Tchaikovsky, even if he was not always able to achieve his goal with this motto. The title of Jörg Handstein’s audio biography takes up this motto and fills it with the moving story of Tchaikovsky’s life and survival and of course with his impressive music. Nine days after the premiere of his sixth symphony on October 16, 1893, Tchaikovsky was dead. The unheard-of conclusion of the work, the melody of which sighs deeper and deeper with heavy sighs until it fades in the darkness of a night-black chord, came together with the surprising death of its creator the so-called Pathétique immediately became one of the most famous orchestral works of all, partly a myth that equated life and work. This fits the novel-like story, long refuted by research, that his homosexuality drove him to suicide. While the Tchaikovsky myth paved its way into mass culture, even inspiring novels and films, German musicology mercilessly ignored it: its aesthetics, which are oriented towards melody and emotional expression, made it suspect. In the audio biography, in addition to the life of the famous composer, his music plays a major role: pieces from all of his creative periods are heard, but above all masterpieces such as the ballet music (Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty), the great operas (Mazeppa, Eugen Onegin, Queen of Spades) , the solo concerts (the first piano concerto and the violin concerto), the symphonic poems (Capriccio Italy, Francesca da Rimini, Ouverture solennelle 1812) and many more mostly in full or in essential movements. Of course, his six masterful symphonies are also represented; the Pathétique in a complete recording under the direction of Mariss Jansons on its own CD. Outstanding actors, above all Udo Wachtveitl (narrator) and Stefan Wilkening (Tchaikovsky), as well as numerous renowned music interpreters of our time, proven experts for the often powerful, representative music of the famous Russian composer, occasionally touching sentimentality, ensure extensive listening pleasure. In nine chapters on 3 of the total of 4 CDs, Tchaikovsky’s life can be experienced visually, his most famous and most important compositions can be heard, which are closely interwoven with the extremely exciting biography. The numerous music examples come from well-known performers, choirs, orchestras and conductors. The fourth CD awaits with a complete recording of the sixth Symphonie Pathétique and the first CD recording of the a capella song Die Nachtigall with the Bavarian Radio Choir and Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mariss Jansons (live recordings from June 2013 and January 2016). The result is an exciting, music-rich portrait of Tchaikovsky, told vividly and inspired by his time.
