Regensburg Philharmonic, Stephan Veselka
Release Date: 15 August 2025
Label: MDG
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 760623236360
Genres: Classical Orchestral
Composer/Series: Walter Kaufmann
Description
Shimmering timbres, vibrant rhythms and colourful harmonies complement ragas from the Indian subcontinent. Walter Kaufmann fled Nazi Germany in 1934 to research Indian classical music and combined these influences with Western traditions in his compositions. The Regensburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Stefan Veselka present four works from Kaufmann's most productive creative phase during his time in exile, taking the listener on a voyage through the region's fascinating musical landscape.
Kaufmann was prolific - his oeuvre has over eighty works for orchestra, including six symphonies and more than a dozen operas. His career as a composer, conductor and musicologist spanned four countries and three continents.
Madras Express is a fast-paced tone poem of travelling by train to the one-time fishing village of Madraspatnam, modern-day Chennai and so-called gateway to southern India. Influences from Indian art music are integrated into symphonic form in his Second Symphony, thereby expanding the traditional boundaries of the genre. Raga techniques are intensified in the work Indian Facades: A Solemn Rhapsody for Orchestra. Each raga has its own unique melodic personality and way of colouring the mind as it engages the emotions of the listener.
Composed on the SS Strathmore somewhere between Bombay and London in a mood of farewell, Dirge laments the departed and also mourns all those who lost their lives under Nazi persecution. After twelve years of exile, Kaufmann made his way back to Europe in 1946.
Tracklisting
Tibor Gyenge, Michael Schoch
Ben van Oosten
Gudrun Sidonie Otto, Elvira Bill, Georg Poplutz, Thilo Dahlmann Goldberg Baroque & Vocal Ensemble,
Triin Ruubel, Xandi van Dijk, Theodor Sink, Kart Ruubel
Michael Schoch
Leipziger Streichquartett, Christian Zacharias
Regensburg Philharmonic, Stephan Veselka
Sestetto Classico
WDR Sinfonieorchester/National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine/Rudolf Barshai/Theodore Kuchar and oth
Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich; Paavo Jarvi
Orchestre symphonique de Montreal, Rafael Payare
Ning Feng; Antony Hermus; Konzerthausorchester Berlin
Netherlands Radio Choir, Benjamin Goodson
Joseph Swensen; Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine; Esther Brayer; Jonathan Swensen; Bruno Mauri
Josef Spacek, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petr Popelka
Jae Hong Park, Lionel Martin, Ben Goldscheider, Howard Griffiths, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchest
