BENJAMIN BILSE (1816-1902): Sturm-Marsch Galopp, Baumgartenalle-Polka, Marienwalzer, Nur mit Dir, Op. 34, Schlesische Lieder, Op. 20, Catharina-Quadrille, Op. 24, Die Fürstensteiner, Op. 28, Mit Bomben und Granaten, Op. 37, Winterflocken-Galopp, Op. 19, Victoria Walzer, Königspolonaise, Op. 26, Die Provinzialen, Concerthaus Polka, Schützenmarsch, Op. 13.

Catalogue Number: 11K106
Label: CPO
Reference: 777 341
Format: CD
Price: $15.98
Description: Bilse was foremost a conductor and orchestra founder and the notes make a good case for his being the founder of what today would be called "Proms Concerts": men drank beer and women knitted and drank coffee while he played anything from Beethoven's Eroica to Wagner, to Liszt, to Berlioz, to waltzes and polkas. His not very amicable parting with his long-time Berlin orchestra in 1884 led to the two-thirds of the players who left him becoming the nucleus of the Berlin Philharmonic. Most of his career was spent in Berlin but he toured widely through Europe and, as we hear here, found time to compose works in the tradition of the Strauss family. Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra; Christian Simonis.