2014 release, the second and final volume of BRAHMS BELOVED in which conductor John Axelrod pairs the Brahms symphonies (in this set, the First and the Third) with songs by his muse, Clara Schumann. Volume 1 inspired healthy debate among Brahmsians as to how deeply enmeshed the presence of Clara is in the songs of the man who always had a love for her, and this volume takes the discussion further with afascinating booklet essay by Jan Swafford, author of the standard-reference Brahms biography. Keeping with the idea of using different voice-types for each 'set' of Clara's songs, the better to explore the notion of different sides of their composer's character, this volume introduces our two final Claras, the great Lieder singers Dame Felicity Lott and, for the more masculine side of Clara, Wolfgang Holzmair. The orchestra is again the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, of which John Axelrod is Principal Conductor, and Axelrod once more does double-duty as conductor and pianist.
2014 release, the second and final volume of BRAHMS BELOVED in which conductor John Axelrod pairs the Brahms symphonies (in this set, the First and the Third) with songs by his muse, Clara Schumann. Volume 1 inspired healthy debate among Brahmsians as to how deeply enmeshed the presence of Clara is in the songs of the man who always had a love for her, and this volume takes the discussion further with afascinating booklet essay by Jan Swafford, author of the standard-reference Brahms biography. Keeping with the idea of using different voice-types for each 'set' of Clara's songs, the better to explore the notion of different sides of their composer's character, this volume introduces our two final Claras, the great Lieder singers Dame Felicity Lott and, for the more masculine side of Clara, Wolfgang Holzmair. The orchestra is again the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, of which John Axelrod is Principal Conductor, and Axelrod once more does double-duty as conductor and pianist.