Credits:

Matthias Schutea, Ensemble Reflector

Description:

A New Generation of Cologne WDR Symphony Orchestra's Masterful Player Making Great Strides After Winning the ARD Award, a Collection of 18th Century Bassoon Concertos with Surprising AppealAfter becoming principal player of the Cologne WDR Symphony Orchestra in his 20s and winning second prize without first prize (tied with Andrea Cellacchi) in the bassoon category at the ARD Munich International Music Competition in 2019 Matthijs Stier, the new generation's prodigy, releases a concerto album with a program of one masterpiece each from the first, middle, and second half of the 18th century. The Ensemble Reflector, which will perform with him, made its CD debut with an album of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony with works by Rameau and Tule, and has recently launched a Bach-themed music festival in Lüneburg. The synergy between the two groups has resulted in a listening experience that belies, in a positive sense, the impression that this is a "moderate Baroque and Classical concerto album. Stier, who studied under Lyndon Watts, also known as an antiquarian instrumentalist, plays with a certain sense of style, full of song in every corner, but not too sweet. The music is created together with the orchestra in close cooperation, as if it were chamber music.In the Hertel's minor works with vivid shadings from the "Fast and Furious" period, the sound of the ancient instruments stands out, while in the Bach concertos often restored as solo oboe d'amore, the bassoon's beautiful sound is surprisingly natural and even has universal value as an arranged work. This is an album that raises expectations for the activities of the new generation, including Mozart's works that are full of flavor. Naxos Japan