Pan Classics Releases Mahler 9 With Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe 2/28

On February 28, 2012, Pan Classics (PC 10262) releases a new SA-CD of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9 by the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, Germany, led by its General Music Director, British conductor Justin Brown. This debut recording by the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe and Brown celebrates the orchestra's 350th anniversary as one of the oldest orchestras in the world, originally founded in 1662.

The CD marks an important landmark in the collaboration between Justin Brown and the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, where he has served as General Music Director since 2008.

The recording originated from the orchestra's live performances of Mahler's Ninth Symphony in 2011, programmed in honor of the 100th anniversary of the composer's death. Brown says, "Recording this work was important for me. I grew up listening to this symphony on record, particularly my parents' old LP of the 1953 Horenstein recording from Vienna."

Brown also recalls a special encounter with Mahler's symphonic masterpiece as an assistant to Leonard Bernstein early in his musical career. "My first meeting with Leonard Bernstein was in London in 1986. He was conducting Mahler's Ninth with the Concertgebouw on tour. The day before the concert, he was generous enough to allow me two hours of his time, looking over his score. I remember being struck more than anything else by his insistence on the architecture of the work, how to navigate the ebb and flow. To conduct this symphony was actually one of the reasons I decided to become a conductor; another was Wagner's Ring Cycle, which I also conducted for the first time in 2011 in Karlsruhe."

Prior to the Mahler release on February 28, the orchestra's 350th anniversary season kicked off in January, 2012, with MR. Brown conducting performances of Brahms Symphony No. 1, which was premiered in Karlsruhe in 1876. In March, they continue their tradition of premiering important works with a major world premiere by Wolfgang Rihm in a concert honoring the composer's 60th Birthday.

Two additional important events follow in MR. Brown's spring 2012 season in his position as music director and principal conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in the United States. In March, Bridge Records will release a CD featuring world premiere recordings of works by American composer Paul Lansky, performed by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Justin Brown. Another oF Brown's releases on Bridge Records included Peter Lieberson's The Six Realms, which garnered a 2006 GRAMMY® nomination for Best Classical Recording and won a 2006 WQXR Gramophone American Award. Accolades continued for MR. Brown in 2007. In his five seasons with the ASO, Brown has won national recognition for the orchestra with a first-place ASCAP award in 2010, and the 2011 ASCAP John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music.

On May 10, 2012, Brown and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra will make their Carnegie Hall debut as part of the prestigious 2012 Spring for Music Festival, with a program featuring the New York premieres of Israeli composer Avner Dorman's Astrolatry (commissioned by the ASO in 2010-2011), and Lansky's Shapeshifters for Two Pianos and Orchestra (commissioned by the ASO in 2009-2010); plus Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. 

ABOUT Justin Brown

Internationally recognized in both the symphonic and operatic repertoires, Justin Brown is Music Director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and General Music Director of the Badisches Staatstheater, Karlsruhe.

In his five seasons with the Alabama Symphony, he has won recognition for the orchestra across the country, particularly as a vibrant destination for contemporary music (the orchestra received a first-place ASCAP award in 2010, and the 2011 John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music). In addition to commissioning new compositions, MR. Brown has conducted major works by distinguished composers such as Elliott Carter, George Crumb, John Adams and Peter Lieberson. Building on the success of recent years, the orchestra received a prestigious invitation to perform in Carnegie Hall as part of the Spring for Music Festival in May 2012, one of only six invited orchestras.

In Karlsruhe, which has a rich and historical Wagner tradition, Justin Brown has been particularly celebrated for his conducting of The Ring, as well as the late operas of Verdi and Strauss. In October this year, his interpretation of Berlioz' Les Troyens received rave reviews in the National press. Other productions this season will include Lohengrin, Der Rosenkavalier, La Traviata, Katya Kabanova, and A Village Romeo and Juliet (Delius). Since becoming music director in 2008, he has also significantly expanded the orchestra's symphonic repertoire through a range of diverse programming.

As guest conductor, Justin Brown has worked with many of the world's top orchestras, including, in the UK: the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony; in Scandinavia: the Oslo Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic and Swedish Chamber Orchestra; in mainland Europe: the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Symphony, Musikkollegium Winterthur and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse; in the United States: the Indianapolis and Dallas symphonies; and further afield: the Malaysian Philharmonic, São Paolo Symphony, Sydney Symphony and the Tokyo Philharmonic.

Since beginning his opera career at the English National Opera and Scottish Opera, MR. Brown has conducted at Covent Garden, Santa Fé, La Monnaie, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Frankfurt, Opéra de Nantes, Opéra de Strasbourg, Teatro San Carlo/Lisbon, and the Norwegian Opera. In December 2010, he made his Bavarian State Opera (Munich) debut with L'Elisir d'amore.

Justin Brown's recordings include a critically acclaimed recording of the Elgar and Barber cello concertos with Anne Gastinel and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on the French label, NAÏVE. His recording of Peter Lieberson's The Six Realms won a 2006 WQXR Gramophone American Award, and was nominated for a GRAMMY® in the Best Classical Recording category. For Bridge Records, his CD of Gershwin's complete music for Piano and Orchestra, with Anne-Marie McDermott and the Dallas Symphony was designated as an Editor's Choice by Gramophone Magazine. Also for Bridge, he has recorded works by Carter, Ruders, Gershwin and Dvo?ák.

Born in England, Justin Brown studied at Cambridge University and at Tanglewood with Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein; he later served as an assistant to both Bernstein and Luciano Berio. He made his highly acclaimed conducting debut with the British stage premiere of Bernstein's Mass. Also in demand as a pianist, MR. Brown has garnered high praise for his performances on both sides of the Atlantic. He has played and directed concertos by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich, and performs regularly in chamber music series both in the United States and Germany.

ABOUT THE BADISCHE STAATSKAPELLE KARLSRUHE

The Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe is one of the oldest orchestras in the world with a rich tradition which continues to flourish today. The ensemble was established in 1662 as the court orchestra in the margrave residence at Durlach in Baden and developed to become an ensemble with a substantial national and international reputation.

Renowned court musical directors of the orchestra, such as Franz Danzi, Hermann Levi, Otto Dessoff, and Felix Mottl conducted numerous premieres and first performances including works by Hector Berlioz, Johannes Brahms and Béla Bartók, thereby transforming Karlsruhe into a major musical center. Not only Brahms, but other great composers such as Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss personally conducted the ensemble on several occasions. Illustrious soloists including Niccolò Paganini, Clara Schumann, and many others were also welcome guests in Karlsruhe. Hermann Levi inaugurated regular subscription concerts in the 1860s when the ensemble was still known as the court orchestra, and this tradition is still continued today by the Badische Staatskapelle in their symphony concert series.

The traditions of the orchestra remained unbroken despite various repercussions of wars and financial crises. Music directors such as Joseph Keilberth, Christof Perick, Günther Neuhold and Kazushi Ono led the ensemble into new areas of modern music without neglecting the pillars of standard repertoire. Contemporary works formed a regular element of concert programs and composers such as Werner Egk, Michael Tippett and Matthias Pintscher have conducted the orchestra in performances of their own works. The Badische Staatskapelle continues to demonstrate its great flexibility today through its wide spectrum of repertoire and the presentation of future-oriented contemporary composers such as Wolfgang Rihm.

Justin Brown, who has been the orchestra's General Music Director since 2008, has particularly devoted himself to the operas of Wagner, Verdi and Strauss and the compilation of highly varied concert programs. Brown and his ensemble will be celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Badische Staatskapelle in 2012 in events focusing on the vibrant and highly accomplished orchestra with its rich performance tradition.