Philipp von Steinaecker
(Orf Edition Alte Musik)
The best way to describe this live recording is as music for instant pleasure. The idea of director Philipp von Steinaecker – a one-time cellist in the Mahler Chamber Orchestra - and his ensemble Musica Saeculorum was to create the period atmosphere of a 19th-century European spa town such as Merano, Karlsbad or Marienbad. Small orchestras entertained guests as they lounged around in bath chairs or, if they could be roused, in ballrooms or casinos. Arrangements from popular waltzes and opera extracts by Johann Strauss II, Puccini, Lehar, Mascagni and Wagner make up the 13 tracks. It's not as outlandish as Uri Caine's Wagner e Venezia but occupies the same sort of cafe society soundworld and you can pretend you are abroad under a parasol.
Fiona Maddocks
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