Bausznern / Bengtsson / Berolina Ensemble - Chamber Music 2 [CD]

The Berolina Ensemble scored a sensational success with it's discovery of Waldemar von Bausznem's music- and not without reason. Bausznern's music is distinguished by individual wit and instrumented with rich imagination, and what the young Berlin chamber ensemble gets out of the unusual instrumental combinations is an absolutely listening must. Now the Berolinas have unearthed yet another treasure trove: a quintet and a trio frame Bausznern's Chamber Songs, which Maria Bengtsson interprets with a fine feel for the traditional French, German, and Italian melodies. Bausznem, who grew up in Transylvania, quite early developed an interest in the folk music of his Hungarian surroundings. He was influenced by the New Germans, educated in the Brahms tradition in Berlin, and went on to develop a most highly individual personal style that is always good for surprises. However, it seems to have been too "far out" for the conservative Berlin public of his times, whose members evidently were irritated by it's great artistic freedom. All of which makes it all the more enthralling today: the works recorded here offer exemplary illustrations of the very different aspects in Bausznern's oeuvre.