Brahms: The Symphonies Thomas Zehetmair & Musikkollegium Winterthur

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68:
• 1 Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68: I. Un poco sostenuto - Allegro - Meno allegro 15:15
• 2 Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68: II. Andante sostenuto 08:03
• 3 Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68: III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso 04:18
• 4 Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68: IV. Adagio — Più andante — Allegro non troppo, ma con brio — Più allegro 15:41
• Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90:
• 5 Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90: I. Allegro con brio - Un poco sostenuto - Tempo I 12:09
• 6 Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90: II. Andante 08:08
• 7 Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90: III. Poco allegretto 05:37
• 8 Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90: IV Allegro 07:40
• Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 :
• 9 Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 : I. Allegro non troppo 19:10
• 10 Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 : II. Adagio non troppo - L'istesso tempo, ma grazioso 08:48
• 11 Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 : III. Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino) - Presto ma non assai 05:12
• 12 Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 : IV. Allegro con spirito 09:16
• Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98:
• 13 Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98: I. Allegro non troppo 11:47
• 14 Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98: II. Andante moderato 09:42
• 15 Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98: III. Allegro giocoso - Poco meno presto - Tempo I 05:50
• 16 Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98: IV. Allegro energico e passionato - Più allegro 08:56
• Total Runtime 02:35:32

Info zu Brahms: The Symphonies

The Musikkollegium Winterthur rounded off its 2018/19 concert season with a six-day Brahms Festival, during which – besides numerous other works by Johannes Brahms – the composer’s four symphonies were performed under Principal Conductor Thomas Zehetmair. Steeped in tradition and boasting a proud history dating back to 1629, the Swiss orchestra thus commemorated the years when Brahms was a frequent visitor to Winterthur and his compositions were released by the Winterthur music publisher Jakob Melchior Rieter-Biedermann. Eldest son of the successful Winterthur machinery manufacturer Heinrich Rieter, Rieter-Biedermann opened his publishing house in 1849 and the first two compositions appeared in 1856: Theodor Kirchner’s Albumblätter op. 9 and Hector Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été.

Kirchner, who had been employed as Winterthur’s full-time city organist since 1843, met Johannes Brahms for the first time that same year at the Lower Rhenish Music Festival in Düsseldorf and suggested the Winterthur music publisher to him. Brahms displayed an interest and as early as August 1856 embarked on the first of a total of 14 trips to Switzerland. The journey led to his first face-to-face encounter with Rieter-Biedermann, who first published a work by Brahms two years later – Volks-Kinderlieder mit hinzugefügter Clavierbegleitung, Den Kindern Robert u. Clara Schumann’s gewidmet (Children’s Folk Songs with additional piano accompaniment, dedicated to the children of Robert and Clara Schumann). Kirchner reported how Brahms soon became the talk of the town in Winterthur: “All of us, each in his own way, now revolve around Brahms, whom I am learning to appreciate more and more. Quite apart from his musical talent, the man has an abundance of wisdom and a hardworking attitude that I have rarely seen.”

Brahms was a frequent guest at the Haus zum Schanzengarten, where Rieter-Biedermann lived with his family. There would often be music-making, and both daughters of the house were highly accomplished pianists. Brahms enjoyed the fact that Rieter-Biedermann’s wife Louise took care of his well-being and kept his wardrobe in order: “Every morning, I feel grateful for how amiably and entirely maternally you have ensured that I feel at ease – not in my own skin – but very much so in my own clothes.” Mother Louise and daughter Ida also helped the famous composer, who was occupied with the German Requiem, to find appropriate passages from the Bible to set to music. They became close. Clara Schumann claimed to have sensed that Ida would have been a suitable wife for Brahms during her first visit to the Rieter- Biedermann household. Her observation to that effect was probably unnecessary. Brahms liked the “honoured and dear Fräulein,” as he addressed her in his only surviving letter to her: “What did I think I should have to say about how I found people like us to be so especially entitled and qualified for it – and how superfluous everything is in view of this happy event.” Superfluous due to Ida’s engagement that had just taken place – presumably anything but a “happy event” for Brahms himself …

Between 1858 and 1873, Brahms had a total of 22 compositions published by Rieter-Biedermann in Winterthur. These include such major works as the first Piano Concerto, the song cycle entitled Die schöne Magelone (The Fair Magelone), the Piano Quintet op. 34, the Paganini Variations op. 35 as well as A German Requiem. During these 15 years, Brahms wrote 165 letters to his publisher. Almost all of them are preserved today in the Musikkollegium Winterthur’s archives – valuable reminders of an important period in Winterthur’s history.

Musikkollegium Winterthur
Thomas Zehetmair, conductor

Thomas Zehetmair
Als Geiger, Dirigent und Kammermusiker geniesst er weltweit grosses Ansehen. Seine internationale Karriere als Dirigent wird insbesondere von zwei Positionen bestimmt: der des Chefdirigenten des Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Frankreich sowie des Artistic Partners des St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, USA. Als Chefdirigent der Royal Northern Sinfonia stand er dem Orchester von 2002 bis 2014 vor und prägte es zu einem der führenden Orchester Englands. Als «Conductor laureate» wird er dem Orchester auch in Zukunft verbunden bleiben. Die äusserst erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit ist durch eine Reihe von Einspielungen dokumentiert: Brahms’ Violinkonzert und Schumanns Sinfonie Nr. 4, Sibelius’ Sinfonien Nr. 3 und 6 sowie Strawinskys Violinkonzert in D–Dur, Schuberts Symphonien Nr. 6 und Nr.9 ebenso wie die Symphonien Nr.1 und Nr.2 von Hans Gál. Die jüngsten Erscheinungen umfassen Mendelssohns Sinfonien Nr. 1 und Nr. 5 mit dem Musikkollegium Winterthur (MDG), sowie Werke französischer Komponisten auf zwei Alben mit dem Orchestre de chambre de Paris (Naïve).

Thomas Zehetmair hat den grössten Teil des Violinrepertoires eingespielt; zahlreiche seiner Veröffentlichungen sind vielfach ausgezeichnet. Zu diesen Aufnahmen gehören u. a. Bern Alois Zimmermanns Violinkonzert mit dem WDR Sinfonieorchester unter Heinz Holliger («Diapason d’Or de l’Année» 2009), die 24 Paganini-Capricen (Bestenliste «Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik» 2009, Midem Classic Award 2010), eine Einspielung von Elgars Violinkonzert mit dem Hallé Orchestra Manchester unter Mark Elder (Gramophone Award 2010) sowie Mozarts Violinkonzerte mit dem Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century unter Frans Brüggen, die als Referenzaufnahmen bezeichnet werden. Des Weiteren erschien im März 2011 bei ECM die Einspielung «Manto and Madrigals», auf welcher Thomas Zehetmair und seine Duo-Partnerin Ruth Killius eine Reise durch das moderne und zeitgenössische Repertoire für Violine und Viola unternehmen.

Thomas Zehetmairs Position als Chefdirigent wurde ergänzt durch zahlreiche Gastdirigate bei Orchestern wie z.B. dem Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, dem Hallé Orchestra Manchester, dem Residentie Orkest Den Haag, dem Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, der Camerata Salzburg (Salzburger Festspiele), dem Musikkollegium Winterthur und dem Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Als Solist ist er ausserdem immer wieder mit zahlreichen bedeutenden Orchestern zu hören.

Für seine vielseitige künstlerische Tätigkeit erhielt Thomas Zehetmair u. a. die Ehrenurkunde des Preises der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik sowie den Karl-Böhm-Interpretationspreis des Landes Steiermark. Thomas Zehetmair ist Ehrendoktor der Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar und der Newcastle University.

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet