John Gilbert - Weill, Ibert, Berg (2012) [Hi-Res]

The son of a cantor, Kurt Weill was born in Dessau into a family that took in operatic performances as a main form of entertainment. When Weill was in his teens the director of the Dessau Hoftheater, Albert Bing, encouraged him in the study of music. Weill briefly studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck and was already working professionally as a conductor when he attended composer Ferruccio Busoni’s master classes in Berlin. Delighted to see the positive responses of an audience to his first collaboration with playwright Georg Kaiser, Der Protagonist (1926), he thereafter resolved to work toward accessibility in his music.

French composer Jacques Ibert was born in Paris August 15, 1890. His father was a financier, his mother an accomplished pianist. She began his musical training when he was four years old, and despite his father’s objection, continued to encourage his ambition to become a musician. Upon returning from his wartime duties in the French Navy during World War I, he resumed his conservatory training, and in 1919 won the Prix de Rome for his cantata Le Poete et la Fee. His navy service in the Mediterranean gave rise to his arguably most famous composition, the 1924 symphonic suite Ports of Call (Escales). He continued to compose for virtually every genre, including seven operas, six symphonic works and five ballets, three choral works, plus scores of incidental pieces, songs, concertos, and scores for films.

Alban Maria Johannes Berg is one of the central figures of twentieth century musical composition. As one of the triumvirate of the Second Viennese School, Berg produced a rather small body of work that is nonetheless distinguished by a strongly Romantic aesthetic and a distinctive dramatic sense.

John Gilbert, violin Dmitri Schteinberg, piano George Work, cello Timothy Muffitt, conductor

Recorded at the Claude L. Shaver Theatre, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA ‐ March 17‐18, 2012
Producer: Dan Merceruio
Recording Engineer: Daniel Shores
Editing Engineers: Daniel Shores, Dan Merceruio
Mixing Engineer: Daniel Shores
Mastering Engineer: Daniel Shores

Tracklist:
01. John Gilbert - I. Andante con moto (10:49)
02. John Gilbert - IIa. Notturno: Allegro un poco tenuto (3:55)
03. John Gilbert - IIb. Cadenza: Moderato (3:50)
04. John Gilbert - IIc. Serenata: Allegretto (3:54)
05. John Gilbert - III. Allegro molto, un poco agitato (7:35)
06. George Work - I. Pastorale: Allant (3:22)
07. George Work - II. Romance: Souple (4:14)
08. George Work - III. Gigue: Anime (5:02)
09. John Gilbert - I. Thema scherzoso con variazioni, leicht beschwingt (8:57)
10. John Gilbert - II. Adagio (13:48)
11. John Gilbert - III. Rondo: Introdutione (11:20)