Hindemith: Mathis der Maler; Konzertmusik for Brass & Strings (1996)

These recordings, taken from the early '90s, came at an intense period in the Czechoslovakian region: in 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. At about the same time, the Czech Philharmonic had some civil unrest of its own: after some growing pains in its organization, in 1994 it voted to oust music director Jirí Belohlávek in favor of Gerd Albrecht.This release features the embattled Belohlávek conducting his former orchestra in the era immediately preceding his departure in a performance of ... Read More

These recordings, taken from the early '90s, came at an intense period in the Czechoslovakian region: in 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. At about the same time, the Czech Philharmonic had some civil unrest of its own: after some growing pains in its organization, in 1994 it voted to oust music director Jirí Belohlávek in favor of Gerd Albrecht.This release features the embattled Belohlávek conducting his former orchestra in the era immediately preceding his departure in a performance of Hindemith's symphonic masterpiece Mathis der Maler. Ironically, Hindemith's work also had significant pains of its own: the fierce political climate in Germany as the Nazis rose to power made performances of new works hard to come by. Mathis, completed in 1934, was no exception. It began as a commission from conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler (who also helped secure the first performance) and is based on real-life artist Mathias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece for the Monastery of St. Anthony... Read Less