Search - Kreutzer, Rivinius, Mithras Octet :: Septet Op 62 / Trio Op 43

A Very Pleasant Surprise!

T. Beers | Arlington, Virginia United States | 09/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Conradin Kreutzer was a younger contemporary of Beethoven and near contemporary of Schubert and Ludwig Spohr. If his name means nothing to you, that's not too surprising: famous in his day, Kreutzer's music is largely unknown today even in his native Germany. Too bad. Like Spohr, Kreutzer was a classicist who wrote lovely scores that, in their laid back way, helped launch musical Romanticism. In Germany, music like Spohr's and Kreutzer's is identified with the "Biedermeier" movement: art that evokes a magical sort of world viewed through rose-tinted glasses, unencumbered by schizoid angst and terrors. The painting is marvelous, if you like pastels. It says nothing against such art to suggest that, by avoiding the bolder passions of experience, its range is rather limited; when done well, mere loveliness needs no further justification. On the evidence of the Septet and Trio on this disc, Kreutzer had a real gift for melody and piquant orchestration, and both these gifts are sensitively explored by a first-rate chamber ensemble drawn from Germany's far-western Saarland Radio Symphony. Recorded sound is first-rate and the price is unbelievably inexpensive.. Kreutzer may not have been a world beater as a composer, but his music makes for an exceedingly pleasant experience."