Ernst Wanczura; Evstignej Fomin - Orchestral Works (Ensemble Altera Pars)

Information

Composer: Ernst Wanczura; Evstignej Fomin

• Fomin - Novgorodskij bogatyr’ Boeslavich
• Wanczura - Symphonie Russe sur l’Airs Ukrainiennes
• Wanczura - Symphonie Russe

Ensemble Altera Pars

Pavel Serbin, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: CPO

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Music history resists the comfort of absolutes, and labels such as “inventor” or “father of” a national style often collapse under closer scrutiny. The origins of Russian music, commonly associated with Mikhail Glinka and later the circle known as The Mighty Handful, appear in this light as part of a broader and more complex genealogy. Earlier figures such as the Bohemian-born Ernst Wanzura (1750–1802) and Evstignej Fomin (1761–1800) suggest a more gradual formation of stylistic identity, shaped through transnational exchange rather than singular invention. In Wanzura’s symphonic use of folk material and Fomin’s stage works—inflected by Italian training under Giovanni Battista Martini—one encounters an early synthesis of local and imported idioms. What emerges is less a point of origin than a layered process of stylistic convergence, in which Russian musical identity takes shape through accumulation rather than proclamation.

Ensemble Altera Pars emerges as a Cologne-based collective of musicians drawn from leading European period-instrument orchestras such as Concerto Köln, Orchestre Wiener Akademie, Hofkapelle München, and Orkiestra Historyczna Katowice. United by both performance practice and musicological inquiry, the ensemble is dedicated to the rediscovery of neglected and forgotten repertoire from the 18th and 19th centuries, treating archival exploration as an integral part of artistic creation. Its recordings, beginning in 2021 and 2023, focus on chamber works by German composers active in Russia between 1770 and 1800, and have received international critical attention and radio broadcasts across major European outlets. Alongside its discographic work, the ensemble has established a concert series at Oldenburg Castle and appears regularly at major early music festivals throughout Europe, presenting flexible forces ranging from trio formations to larger chamber orchestra configurations.

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