Jonathan Berman releases debut recording – the four symphonies by Franz Schmidt

HANNOVER, GERMANY, September 21, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- English conductor Jonathan Berman will release a recording of Franz Schmidt's four symphonies on 1st December 2023 – in fact, his debut CD. Together with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Briton has recorded the entire symphonic oeuvre of the Austro-Hungarian composer for the German label Accentus Music, in time for Schmidt’s 150th birthday in 2024. Also on the disc: the “Íntermezzo” and “Carnival” of the opera “Notre Dame” by the same composer.

Franz Schmidt's symphonies are characterised by their great expressiveness and emotionality. Echoes of his contemporaries Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss permeate his oeuvre. As probably the last late Romantic, he remains true to the tonal language of his time and is therefore perceived as conservative on the one hand. Nevertheless, Schmidt goes to the limits of tonality and is thus considered progressive on the other hand.

Jonathan Berman, trained on several instruments, is known for his unbiased and sensitive approach to music-making as well as for his broad repertoire. A champion of lesser-known works, including contemporary and new music, Berman established the Franz Schmidt Project to promote this music. He has performed Schmidt's music throughout Europe and America and written musicological essays about it.

During the pandemic, he launched Stand Together Music, which promoted the conscious streaming of music and mirrored the UK's cancelled concerts (both classical and non-classical) with over 1000 hours of curated Spotify playlists, generating vital revenue for artists. Jonathan Berman also taught himself filmmaking during this period, building on his experience as curator and director of the Southbank Centre and Bridge Theatre's Changing Britain Festival in London. He has since made nine films, including the documentary series Postcards from Vienna, which has won awards at the Global Music Awards, Palm Beach Film Festival and Venice Shorts Film Festival.

Influenced and encouraged by Oliver Knussen and Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Jonathan also studied with Jac van Steen at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and with Leonid Korchmar in Saint Petersburg.

In 2014, Jonathan Berman won the prestigious Kempinski Young Artist Programme Fellowship, which enabled him to work with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony. He became Assistant Conductor to Vladimir Jurowski with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and worked as assistant to Oliver Knussen and Jac van Steen throughout Europe and America.

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