Featured New Recording on Classical Archives:
Uncover the compositions of Leo Blech on this new launch from Hänssler Basic
Leo Blech (1871-1958) was a German composer and conductor, finest recognized at this time for his many recordings of operas by Richard Wagner, lots of them accessible now on Classical Archives. Amongst them, we particularly advocate a launch of excerpts from Die Meistersinger that Blech recorded with the Berlin State Opera, that includes such towering artists as Lauritz Melchior, Friedrich Schorr and Elizabeth Schumann. Blech’s clear and structured strategy to the music is exceptional.
In 1937, Hitler ordered Blech to cease conducting in Germany, just because Blech was Jewish. Blech left Germany and went into exile in Riga, Latvia, the place he performed the Latvian Nationwide Opera through the struggle years. Whereas there, he additionally performed opera in Stockholm. Then in 1949, he returned to Berlin, the place he grew to become Music Director of the Städische Opera.
Blech’s contributions as a composer are much less well-known. However now a brand new launch, “Blech: Full Orchestral Works” from Hänssler Basic, focuses our listening on Blech’s wonderful, and infrequently inspiring, compositions. On this recording, we hear the voice of a composer who approached post-Wagnerian beliefs in a manner totally different from different Wagner-influenced composers like Berg, Schoenberg, Webern, and even Mahler. It appears that evidently as a composer, Blech selected to increase not Wagner’s chromaticism, however somewhat Wagner’s lyrical voice.
Leo Blech
The music is one thing distinctive, as you’ll uncover on this new launch. It consists of Von den Englein (“From the Angels”), a composition for refrain and orchestra that appears maybe extra influenced by Brahms than by Wagner. We additionally have been moved by three of his youngsters’s songs, that are as beautiful because the songs by Mahler, however which communicate in a gentler, much less troubled voice.
All performances are by Conductor Christopher Ward, who leads the Aachen Symphony Orchestra and the Aachen Opera Refrain. That’s becoming, as a result of Blech was born and lived out his childhood in that metropolis.
We encourage you to take the time to find the uniquely satisfying compositions of Leo Blech on this essential new launch.
