20 Pages Illustrated Booklet
Reviews
Brilliant. Vibrant. Alive. This outstanding CD brings the music of Joseph Woelfl squarely into the 21st Century, where it resides at the pinnacle of musical achievement with the best of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Haydn. Lost for nearly 2 centuries (perhaps due to the Napoleonic wars and Woelfl’s untimely demise), it is only recently that this monumental artist’s work has been rediscovered through the painstaking work of music scholars and artists like these. Woelfl would have recognized Guillaume Sutre’s brilliantly played violin, an instrument that reached its full form in his time, but would have marveled at the beautiful blend of Kyunghee Kim-Sutre’s exquisite harp performance with Steven Vanhauwaert’s beautifully played modern Steinway piano. His only regret would be that he never lived to play such an instrument himself, which, I assure you, any Woelfel would desire.
Great music transcends its age, and with the masterful performances of these three artists (and the outstanding quality of the recording!) Woelfl’s 200-year-old music is as fresh as if it were composed yesterday. For those of you already familiar with Woelfl’s music, these wonderful performances will cast a new light on his work. For those of you who have not yet heard Woelfl, you are about to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience – the music of a previously unknown great master, lovingly and brilliantly performed by three world-class artists.
Joseph Woelfel, Ph.D. (Descendant of Joseph Woelfl)
State University of New York at Buffalo
