Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie; Stefan Vanselow
Release Date: 05 November 2021
Label: Christophorus
Packaging Type: Brilliant Case (Jewel Case size, Holds 2 CDs)
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 4010072774583
Description
Philipp Wolfrum (1854-1919) was one of the most influential personalities in German musical life around 1900.
He worked as a choirmaster, organist, composer, professor and university music director in Heidelberg and friendships connected him with Engelbert Humperdinck, Max Reger and Richard Strauss. He also maintained close contact with the Bayreuth circle around Richard Wagner's widow Cosima. Liszt and Wagner were his great idols and this is also noticeable in his compositions.
His opus magnum is the "Weihnachtsmysterium" (Christmas Mystery), first performed in 1898, in which the birth of Jesus is pictorially staged.
The conception for this more than one-and-a-half-hour work is influenced by medieval mystery plays and Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk.
The musical material consists of well-known German Christmas carols, which are processed in high chromatic harmony and late Romantic melody as well as with masterfully colourful orchestral treatment and are reminiscent of Wagner's operas or Liszt's symphonic poems, in places also of Brahms, Humperdinck or Reger.
Tracklisting
Soloists, Kammerchor der Christuskirche Karlsruhe, L'arpa festante, Peter Gortner
Heinrich-Isaac-Ensemble; ensemble officium
Soloists; l'arpa festante
Rafael Catala, Musica Iberica
Rebeka Ruso; Sebastian Wienand
Kurt Meier; Howard Griffith; Royal Northern Sinfonia
Francesca Venturi Ferriolo; Salon Violet
Luca Cervoni; Concerto Romano
Polina Pastirchak, Anke Vondung, Sungmin Song, Milan Siljanov, Chorwerk Ruhr, Bochumer Symphoniker,
Kammerchor Stuttgart; Barockorchester Stuttgart; Frieder Bernius; Hannah Morrison; Franziska Bobe;
Choralchor der St. Johannis-Kantorei Rostock
Capella Daleminzia, Capella Vocale Waldheim, Rene Michael Roder
Gewandhaus Children's Choir, Frank-Steffen Elster, Gewandhaus Youth Choir, Gewandhaus Choir, Gregor
Aukso - Chamber Orchestra Of The City Of Tychy, Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers' Ensemble, Marek Mos
Herbert von Karajan; The Philharmonia Orchestra; Berliner Philharmoniker
Soloists, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Bruggen
