Now regarded as one of the greatest violin concertos of the nineteenth century, Beethoven’s Concerto in D major did not enjoy the success it deserved during the composer’s lifetime. It was not until almost forty years later, with the rediscovery of the work by Felix Mendelssohn and the exceptional virtuoso Joseph Joachim, that it was finally recognised as a masterpiece. An admirer of Beethoven, Franz Liszt, who made many fine transcriptions of other composers’ music during his career, orchestrated the Andante cantabile from the “Archduke” Trio, which he incorporated into a Cantata for the inauguration of the Beethoven Monument in Bonn. In recording these superb pieces, the Orchester Wiener Akademie and Martin Haselböck continue their “Resound” adventure in the company of violinist Benjamin Schmid.

The Salzburg violinist Benjamin Schmid's preoccupation with the violin works of W.A. Mozart has now lasted for more than four decades, was initially influenced by the then Mozarteum professors Sandor Vegh and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and received nume-rous awards as his style of interpretation became increasingly personalised. His first CD recording in 1990 with Mozart's Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg led by Hans Graf was also celebrated by reviewers as a discovery.

Natürlich muss man die Bearbeitung, ja Entstellung von originalen Werken der Kunst ablehen - aber man sollte die Gesetze auch manchmal ruhen lassen. In diesem Fall eröffnet sich dem Freund des Bachschen Solowerkes eine neue Welt. Ganz einfach weil die Piano-Begleitung Robert Schumanns (egal wie angemessen oder gelungen) den einzigartigen Meditationen des Barock-Meisters eine ganz neue Note verleiht. Aus dem Monolog wird eine Dialog. Aus den manchmal anrührenden, manchmal nervenzerfetzenden Phrasen des Einsamens wird eine Kommunikation, ein Gemessenwerden, ein Ver- oder Mißverständnis. Das verlangt Benjamin Schmid ein ganz anderes Musizieren ab (er hat die Original-Version schon ganz großartig genommen). Und er schafft es auch hier meisterhaft.

Adolf von Henselt’s music is not well known today outside piano circles. His Piano Trio Op. 24, dedicated to Franz Liszt, is one of the few chamber works he created, and it bears more signs of the performer’s career he left behind than of the influential pedagogue he became. If Henselt’s writing is a little over-the-top in places, the playing on this recording is even more so. The ensemble is occasionally on the heavy side, and MDG’s sound is so direct and open that the performers’ stresses are exaggerated even further. This is evident, for instance, in the closing bars of the first movement exposition and in much of the following development section.