Michael Popp (conductor and various instruments) with German Brass. With Richard Wagner's bicentenary coming up on May 22, there are all kinds of sounds in the air and words to be read about the great Romantic music dramatist. But where among all this Wagneriana are we to find the truly original messages? Some of them are to be encountered right here, because when GERMAN BRASS tackles Wagner, expectations are always high. The brass ensemble is justly regarded as one of the world's finest, consisting of the best musicians from Germany's leading orchestras (including Bayreuth's!), so this is a special event, music made, played and recorded with total commitment.We still come back to the question: Wagner for brass – how is that going to sound? It seems a bold idea at first sight, but as soon as you hear it, it turns out to be a stroke of genius: Wagner was no stranger to fullbodied brass sound, and the musicians of GERMAN BRASS succeed brilliantly in coaxing the complex timbres of Wagner's mixed sounds from their instruments. This is due as much to their virtuosity as to the creative arrangements of their artistic director Matthias H?fs. The verve of the "Ride of the Valkyries" will astound the listener as much as the alternating blocks of sound at the start of the "Pilgrims' Chorus" from Tannh?user, where original and arrangement seem to keep changing places. Familiar passages come over as well known and yet subtly different – a stimulating experience
