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About Maria Von Weber: Complete Overtures
Carl Maria von Webers overtures deriving from the preludes of his various stage works (apart from the Jubilee Overture) range over his entire oeuvre. On the one hand, they cover the almost forty years of his artists life, from his beginnings as a young composer around the turn of the century, through the works of his middle period influenced by his teacher Abbé Vogler, to the personal style of the mature master. On the other hand, since their form as a brilliant and ingenious index (Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung, 1821) mostly consists of the particular motifs from the operas to which they belong, they form something like an instrumental quintessence of his music for the stage. Although Weber is celebrated as the father of the German romantic opera, today he continues to be known for only one opera: Der Freischütz. Most of his other stage works are only very rarely performed, but their overtures have stood the test of time as individual orchestral works. They convince us with their colorful instrumentation and combination of elements from Viennese classicism, the new romantic drama, and lyrical moments. Our complete recording of Webers overtures with Howard Griffiths and the WDR Symphony Orchestra is distinguished by fresh verve and gripping dramatism in keeping with the dictates of historically informed performance practice.
