Wolf-Ferrari: Orchestral Works Alban Beikircher, Philharmonie Pilsen & Chuhei Iwasaki

• Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876 - 1948): Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 26:
• 1 Wolf-Ferrari: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 26: I. Fantasia 11:10
• 2 Wolf-Ferrari: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 26: II. Romanza 08:25
• 3 Wolf-Ferrari: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 26: IIIa. Improvviso. Agitato con passione 04:59
• 4 Wolf-Ferrari: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 26: IIIb. Rondò finale. Allegro assai 14:42
• Divertimento in D Major, Op. 20:
• 5 Wolf-Ferrari: Divertimento in D Major, Op. 20: I. Variazioni su un tema capriccioso 06:42
• 6 Wolf-Ferrari: Divertimento in D Major, Op. 20: II. Canzone pastorale 03:35
• 7 Wolf-Ferrari: Divertimento in D Major, Op. 20: III. Siciliana 04:45
• 8 Wolf-Ferrari: Divertimento in D Major, Op. 20: IV. Rondo finale 05:12
• I gioielli della Madonna (Excerpts):
• 9 Wolf-Ferrari: I gioielli della Madonna (Excerpts): Festa popolare 04:02
• 10 Wolf-Ferrari: I gioielli della Madonna (Excerpts): Intermezzo 04:10
• 11 Wolf-Ferrari: I gioielli della Madonna (Excerpts): Serenata 03:26
• 12 Wolf-Ferrari: I gioielli della Madonna (Excerpts): Danza napolitana 03:44
• Total Runtime 01:14:52

Info for Wolf-Ferrari: Orchestral Works

It is regrettable that the music of the German-Italian Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) is largely forgotten today.

Yet until the 1930s he was considered a legitimate successor to Verdi and Puccini and was one of the most frequently performed opera composers in the world.

Not only did the First World War and fascism in Italy and Germany plunge him into a creative crisis, musical history overtook his tonal language, which then seemed finally obsolete after the Second World War.

A Wolf-Ferrari renaissance is still pending, but the present successful recording with instrumental music will contribute to an overdue revision.

"In the four-movement Divertimento, we hear Wolf-Ferrari as an entertaining composer. The suite I gioielli della Madonna’ (The Jewels of the Madonna) from his fifth opera in the verismo style depicts the teeming street life of Naples. The CD opens with the Violin Concerto, which at the time of its composition in 1943 was considered almost impertinent, since it adhered ironclad to tonality and romanticism and thus testifies to great inner freedom on Wolf-Ferrari’s part. The tone is probably based on the closeness to the dedicatee Guila Bustabo, which goes beyond the musical.

Alban Beikircher knows how to resurrect this world and make it resound with his playing in the right tone. He tastefully expresses the autumnal melancholy that one might hear in the composition that the almost 70-year-old composer in love wrote for the just 20-year-old violinist.

He is supported by the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Chuhei Iwasaki. This Japanese conductor, trained primarily in the Czech Republic, knows how to convey the cultivated entertaining character of the music to the orchestra in such a way that it can immediately translate that into musical value, making these recordings an elegantly pleasant listen." (Uwe Krusch, pizzicato.lu)

Alban Beikircher, violin
Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra
Chuhei Iwasaki, conductor

Alban Beikircher
The violinist Alban Beikircher, born 1968 in Bruneck / South Tirol, completed his higher studies with professor Joshua Epstein in Saarbrücken as well as in the soloist class of professor Yfrah Neaman at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

An extensive concert activity led Alban Beikircher through nearly all European countries, to Israel, China, Saudi-Arabia and Egypt.

As a soloist Alban Beikircher performed with the Münchener Sinfoniker, the Münchener Kammerorchester, the Rumanian State Philharmonic Orchestra of Arad, the State Opera House Symphonic Orchestra of Szeged, the Silesean Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of Kattowitz, the Kammersinfonie Stuttgart, Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra and others.

He played on important stages and festivals: Gasteig Munich, Philharmonie Cologne, Max-Joseph-Saal of the Munich Residence, Villa Musica, Barbican Center London, Schleswig Holstein Festival, Schloss Windsor, Philharmonie Essen, Kurt Weill Festival Dessau, Weißer Saal Stuttgart, Beethovenhaus Bonn, Maria Laach Abbey, Aachen Cathedral, La Madeleine Paris u. a.

In the 2006 Mozart year, Alban Beikircher and Anthony Spiri played all of W. A. ​​Mozart's sonatas, combined with contemporary works, in a five-part cycle at the invitation of the Philharmonie Essen.

During his studies he was a guest concert master with the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra and the Pottersbar Symphony Orchestra London.

Next to several Radio recordings numerous CD-recordings were produced by important labels (Sony BMG, ARS, Koesel, EMEC).

Chamber musical collaboration connected him with artists from very different provenance, among them with Christoph Soldan, Alfred Perl, Daniel Müller-Schott, Miriam Contzen, Anthony Spiri, Sebastian Hess, Bernd Glemser, Matteo Andreini and Benedict Koehlen. Over many years he was first violinist of the ARION quartet as well as violinist within the Balance Trio. Since 2006 Alban Beikircher is primarius of the Korngold Quartet.

In the year 2016 Beikircher and the Young Philharmonic Oberschwaben founded by him obtained the Cultural Award of the Cultural Forum from the county of Sigmaringen, as well as the Bruno Frey Award.

Alban Beikircher is strongly committed to contemporary music and has brought Works by Ernst Krenek, Wilfried Hiller, Andreas N. Tarkmann, Peter Michael Hamel, Klaus Hashagen, Tobias Peschanel, Andru Matuschka and Alexander Krampe for the premiere.

Alban Beikircher performs with a violin from Martin Schleske.

This album contains no booklet.