Available from November 21st on:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9826969--f-kauffman-piano-trios-opp-9-20
Wow! Commercial recognition at last.
Good on cpo.
And for once they didn't sit on the recording for ages.... The discovery of Kauffmann and the subsequent recording were announced on German TV (https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/mdr-sachsen-anhalt-heute/ersteinspielung-zur-wuerdigung-von-fritz-kaufmann/mdr/Y3JpZDovL21kci5kZS9iZWl0cmFnL2Ntcy8wZjA2ODUzNy0zNTQ5LTRmNzUtOTQ0Ny04ODBmNTcwNTllNDU) in February.
Has there been any mention of the Franke affair?
Not in that brief item, no, but it might be worth contacting the pianist about it, and/or the musicologist in Magdeburg who appears in the programme.
It seems unlikely, by the way, that either of these trios is the same as the work published as Franke's trio no.4 or trio no.5...
It seems that Franke didn't pilfer from the same composer more than once.
So far as we know now...
Franke would be spinning in his grave at the irony of Kauffmann's discovery - all thanks to him.
Quote from: Ilja on Monday 13 October 2025, 23:50So far as we know now...
Exactly. Thanks for that important caveat.
This is such poetic justice.
The booklet should prove to be very interesting reading.
Maybe this is the harbinger of good recording news about the rest of Kauffmann's works....
Quote from: Mark Thomas on Tuesday 14 October 2025, 07:12Franke would be spinning in his grave at the irony of Kauffmann's discovery - all thanks to him.
The best you can say about him is that he was at least a plagiarist with decent taste.
Now listed in jpc's monthly New Releases.
I can't find it, Eric. Could you supply a link, please?
My mistake. At least some of the movements -are- available on YouTube, maybe that's what I was thinking of, but yeep, am I getting easily confused between the one thing here and the other thing, there. I apologize (it's been a week?)
Not to worry, Eric. I'm sure it'll appear there soon.
Sorry, I meant "it's been quite a week"/"it's really been one of those weeks", that was ambiguous!
The CD's now available to order from jpc:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/fritz-kauffmann-klaviertrios-c-moll-op-9-es-dur-op-20/hnum/12009204
My copy arrived in the post this afternoon and I must say that I am extremely impressed with the music. Interestingly, the Franke affair is mentioned in the booklet, although there's no specific mention of our part in uncovering Franke's plagiarism. Nevertheless, this is evidence that news of the scandal has spread far and wide, in this case in connection with Kauffmann's A minor Symphony.
What would now be good to know is whether we have in effect rescued Kauffmann's name from total obscurity, with Reverie's digital realisation of his Symphony being the pivotal moment.
The download became available yesterday (you should now also be able to stream it through Presto and Spotify), and they're very worthwhile pieces. Clearly in the Brahmsian mould, they are nonetheless purposely more light-hearted. Kauffmann's music knows how to flow, and at rough half an hour each these entertaining pieces don't outstay their welcome. The E-flat Trio is particularly attractive, and contains a few genuine ear-worms.
This has been one of my favorite 2025 releases. Both works have a freshness and spark in their writing, a complete joy to listen to.