Disk of 2022 > [Archived] Clasic
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The complete works for cello and organ. Tracks by Oskar Wermann, Gustav Merkel, and Max Reger, performed by Hannah Vinzens and Gordon Safari – CD review, 26th and 27th of January 2022
The research into the original repertoire for cello and organ leads us to the city of Dresden, which had a great musical tradition since the 18th century when the Hofkapelle royal court orchestra was ruled by famous composers such as Heinrich Schütz, Jan Zelenka, or Johann Adolph Hasse. Also in Dresden, during the Romantic period, there were two active composers who have enjoyed success, but they fell into oblivion at the beginning of the last century: Oskar Wermann and Gustav Merkel, musicians who left behind them a significant number of scores with a certain value.Their creations for cello and organ, an interesting and very expressive combination of instruments, were played across Germany in the second part of the 19th century. They were rediscovered and recorded for the first time by cellist Hannah Vinzens and organist Gordon Safari - two young musicians working in Salzburg. Their album, recorded in September 2020 at Christuskirche in Dresden, was released on the 26th of November 2021 at the German record label Dabringhaus und Grimm.
The songs included in this album were composed in the second half of the 19th century, when the cello was hugely popular, its full and passionate sound being suited to the romantic spirit. But combining it with the timbre of the church organ is an unprecedented thing, the pairing of these two instruments giving the chamber music a sacred character. Cellist Hannah Vinzens and organist Gordon Safari perform this repertoire expressively, with timbral variety and emotional intensity.
Hannah Vinzens is a young musician of Swiss and German origin and is established now in Salzburg. She studied at Guildhall School in London, the Basel Academy of Music, and Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Her activity is divided into several plans - she gives concerts of chamber music, performs in tours and radiophonic recordings, and released numerous albums, tackling a diverse repertoire - from Baroque to Romantic music. Passionate about historical instruments, Hannah Vinzens plays a valuable Neapolitan cello, built in 1756. The artist is co-director of the Salzburg ensemble BachWerkVokal, together with Gordon Safari, an organist with whom she recorded her recent album. He is also an acclaimed conductor and composer who studied at the Hanover University of Music, won numerous awards in international musical contests, and teaches at Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Gordon Safari and Hannah Vinzens hold concerts together and have released this admirable album, being involved in rediscovering the less-known repertoire for their instruments - cello and organ.
Translated by Camelia Diaconu,
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I
Corrected by Silvia Petrescu