Rezensionen
Grosse Sinfonik von einem knorrigen Bergler
KULTURGUT ⋅ Rainer Held hat mit dem Schottischen Nationalorchester die sinfonischen Hauptwerke des Obwaldner Komponisten Caspar Diethelm auf CD eingespielt: Die späten Uraufführungen sind eine Empfehlung auch für Live-Aufführungen im Konzertsaal.
von Urs Mattenberger
Manchmal würden Kunstpreise ohne Kenntnis des Werks vergeben, meinte der Obwaldner Komponist Caspar Diethelm, als er jenen der Stadt Luzern erhielt. Sie verlieh ihm nämlich 1986 den Kunstpreis, obwohl keine seiner Sinfonien je aufgeführt worden waren. «Wer wie ich acht Sinfonien schreibt, ist ein Spinner», meinte er in einem Interview: «Er hat sich mit dem Gedanken anzufreunden, dass er seine wichtigsten Werke nie hören wird.»
Das war tatsächlich der Fall, als Diethelm 1997 starb. Und es war umso erstaunlicher, als der Obwaldner nicht nur als Komponist seiner Generation die markanteste Persönlichkeit der Zentralschweiz war, sondern sich auch als Politiker für Umweltanliegen engagierte.
Recording of the Month - Caspar DIETHELM (1926-1997)
by Marc Rochester
Last year Guild Records changed hands for the third time in its 50 year existence. Begun in 1967 by Barry Rose initially as a means of promoting the musical excellence of his choir and organ at Guildford Cathedral (from which the label’s name partially derives), Guild Records became a byword for excellence in recordings of British cathedral organs and choirs. That speciality was initially continued by the Swiss entrepreneur, Kaikoo Lalkaka, who bought the label in the early 1990s. But Lalkaka gradually broadened its scope to move beyond the cloisters of British cathedrals and embrace a much wider repertory which included jazz, light music and historic reissues. In particular, Lalkaka was determined to mine the rich seam of Swiss music which had, in the main, been ignored by the mainstream labels, and among the very finest non-choral or organ Guild CDs over the past two decades have been recordings of works by Carl Rütti and Volkmar Andreae. Now Guild Records has returned to its roots in the UK county of Surrey, and whether or not its new owner, Nicholas Dicker, intends to continue in the long term the invaluable work Guild has done in promoting Swiss music (and I, for one, would urge him to do so), in the short term he has brought to fruition one of Lalkaka’s last Swiss music projects, this three CD set devoted to the symphonic output of Caspar Diethelm.
Orchestral delights from Switzerland
by Graham Rickson
Swiss composers? There's Honegger, and Frank Martin... add to that list one Caspar Diethelm (1926-1997), a prolific musical polymath and teacher who also dabbled in politics, botany and mineralogy. Somehow he found the time to compose, and this three-disc set collects four of his eight symphonies alongside other orchestral works. Encountering unfamiliar composers can be a fraught business: there's the worry that their neglect might be deserved. The Lucerne-born Diethelm doesn't fall into this category; the opening minutes of his extended suite Saturnalia are winning, and should engage anyone listening with open ears.
Review: MusicWeb International
by Stephen Greenbank
Outside of its home country, 20th century Swiss symphonic music has been underrated and underappreciated, this despite some significant names who’ve made notable contributions. I'm thinking of such composers as Fritz Brun, Volkmar Andreae, Ernest Bloch, Frank Martin and the composer featured in this recent release from the Guild label - Caspar Diethelm. Browsing Amazon I noted a marked absence of recordings of his music. Though Guild paired him up with music by his compatriot Carl Rütti in 2014 (review), this set seems to be the first devoted exclusively to his music.
Sinfonische Werke von Caspar Diethelm
Verena Naegele, 27.04.2018
(Quelle: https://www.musikzeitung.ch/rezensionen/2018/04/werke-eines-charakterstarken-berglers )
Rainer Held dirigiert fünf sinfonische Hauptwerke des Innerschweizers Caspar Diethelm.
Vielen Insidern ist er ein Begriff: Rainer Held, der Luzerner Dirigent und Musikpädagoge mit bündnerischen Wurzeln, der seit vielen Jahren an der Pädagogischen Hochschule Luzern als Leiter der Musikabteilung wirkt. Seine Berufung zum Dirigenten muss er freilich, wie so viele Schweizer, im Ausland ausleben, sei es als Erster Gastdirigent des Radio-Sinfonieorchesters Minsk, in der Zusammenarbeit mit dem Kammerorchester der Philharmonie Novosibirsk oder mit dem Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Dabei macht Held immer wieder mit interessanten CD-Einspielungen auf sich aufmerksam: Werk von Schweizer Komponisten wie Carl Rütti, Arthur Honegger und Ernst Widmer.
Forgotten Music by Great Composers and Great Music by Forgotten Composers
31 August 2018
The albums below are "Classical Releases Of Current Key Significance," or "CROCKS", if you will. To purchase an album, simply click on one of the Web site retail outlets given in the "AVAILABILITY" table under the write-up.
Diethelm: Syms 1, 3, 4 "Homage…", 5 "Mandala", Sym Ste "Saturnalia", Sym Prologue; Held/RScotNa O [Guild]
RECOMMENDED (3 CDs)
Around three years ago, Guild issued a superb album of music by Swiss composers, which featured a profound choral symphony by Carl Rütti (b. 1949; see 30 September 2015), and some captivating short works for string orchestra by his older colleague Caspar Diethelm (1926-1997). This left many listeners wanting to hear more of Caspar's symphonic fare, which hasn't been available until this recent, three-CD Guild release. It's a significant sampling of same that well makes up for the wait!
CD Last Works for String Orchestra
CD Guild: The Last Works for String Orchestra | Caspar Diethelm
John Quinn
(...) This second disc, which has a much shorter playing time, is given over to three works for string orchestra by a composer whose name and music were completely new to me. The Swiss composer, Caspar Diethelm was a native of Lucerne. Among his composition teachers were Hindemith and Honegger. He taught at the Lucerne Conservatoire between 1963 and 1993. Besides a busy musical life he was heavily involved in politics and in conservation. As can be deduced from the opus numbers of the three works recorded here, he was a prolific composer. The three compositions in question were written in the last year of his life – the 12 Segments for string orchestra were completed only weeks before he died.