The Landscape of Clara Schumann unfolds like a finely drawn musical panorama: a recording that combines historical resonances, personal perspectives, and contemporary sound to create a multi-layered overall picture. Pianist Heike-Angela Moser - a descendant of Clara Schumann- dedicates herself here in a special way to the legacy of her ancestor; not in the form of a nostalgic retrospective, but as a lively, artistic exploration of origins and the future. A central element of this recording is the 1859 Schiedmayer fortepiano, whose historical character and fine timbre allow the repertoire to shine with a rarely heard authenticity. The Landscape of Clara Schumann is a poetic journey of sound: a dialogue between generations, between memory and renewal, between the historical breath of an instrument and the living voice of it's contemporary interpreter.

This recording is dedicated to two voices in Romantic music history that are almost forgotten today: Heinrich Stiehl (1829-1886) and Carl Schuberth (1811-1863). Both were highly regarded musicians in their day: one as an organist, teacher, and composer in Leipzig, St. Petersburg, and the Baltic region, the other as an internationally acclaimed cello virtuoso. Their works are exemplary of a musical "second tier" that shaped the musical life of the 19th century, but whose quality can only be rediscovered today. The focus is on Heinrich Stiehl's Sonata for Pianoforte and Violoncello in A minor, Op. 37. Carl Schuberth is represented with two works that impressively demonstrate his melodic inventiveness and virtuoso approach to the violoncello: the Grand Nocturne élégiaque, Op. 6, for two cellos and piano, and the Grande Sonate for cello and piano in D major, Op. 43, a late work that combines orchestral sonority with balladic gestures. This music is interpreted by Martin Seemann and Bettina Messerschmidt (violoncello) and Mira Lange on the historic fortepiano by Streicher & Söhne (Vienna, 1864). The historically informed performance practice lends the works a transparent, colorful sonority and allows their Romantic expression to be experienced in all it's complexity.

Hector Berlioz was a great admirer of German music, relishing in particular the intellectual depth he found in Beethoven’s symphonies. + Carl Maria von Weber provided Berlioz with an equal level of inspiration, his orchestration of von Weber’s Aufforderung zum Tanz directly expressing his reverence of the German composer. + Combining Beethoven’s wealth of ideas with the innovative and “characteristic” sound effects he encountered in von Weber’s opera Der Freischütz, Berlioz created in the Symphonie Fantastique an eminently personal work clearly departing from his musical role models.

This hybrid SACD of Coviello is, if you will, something for the brave, for it holds masses of sound at the ready, which can be a challenge for some stereo systems (and neighbors). + For the first time all four organs of Freiburg Minster are simultaneously operated by one player. Organist Gerhard Gnann has chosen original Bach works and romantic adaptations of his music for this program. + The acoustic conditions for this were also a big challenge, but sound engineer and label co-owner Moritz Bergfeld fully mastered the challenge. + The result is far more than just an audiophile experience.

For the setting of the contemplative but highly emotional text of the medieval sequence Stabat mater Boccherini chose an intimate chamber music instrumentation of soprano and string quintet (in his preferred instrumentation with two violins, viola and two cellos). The five string instruments are not only accompaniment, but together with the singing voice they transform into one instrument section, so that one can speak of a sextet for singing voice and string quintet. With the angelic singing of Núria Rial, the work becomes a real treat for lovers of beautiful voices and chamber music lovers alike. Nuria Rial studied voice and piano in her native Catalonia and was a member of Kurt Widmer's class at the Basel Academy of Music. In 2003, she was awarded the "Preis der Helvetia Patria Jeunesse Stiftung" by the Pro Europa - for her exceptional achievements as a singer. She has performed at all the leading music festivals in Europe and collaborates with such conductors as Ivan Fischer, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Paul Goodwin, Trevor Pinnock, and Teodor Currentzis as well as notable ensembles, including Concerto Köln, The English Concert, Kammerorchester Basel, Collegium 1704, Il Giardino Armonico, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Elbipolis Barockorchester, Le Cetra Basel and L’Arpeggiata, Festival Lucerne Strings.

The Silk Road connecting China with Europe since ancient times has always been a medium of cultural exchange between East and West – reflected here in a trio of works - Alexander Borodin’s well-known “In The Steppes of Central Asia”, Ferruccio Busoni’s “Turandot Suite” and the 1955 orchestral suite “Silk Road” by the Japanese composer Ikuma Dan (1924-2001). A prolific scorer of films, Dan left behind a considerable body of work besides, including symphonies, operas and chamber music. For this Coviello CD, the Swiss ‘argovia philharmonic’ is led by its current Music Director Douglas Bostock.

Jacques Duphly (1715-1789) mixed elements of traditional French Suite with influences of "modern" Italian style up to echoes of the early classical sonata in his music. The interpretations of Medea Bindewald, accompanied by Nicolette Moonen on the violin, bring unexpected vocal qualities to the warm sounding harpsichord.

The viola da gamba is generally regarded as a chamber music instrument, which rarely seeks the accompaniment of an orchestra, but apparently this was more common than one assumes nowadays. The discovery of four hitherto unknown gamba concerts in the music library of the Eleonore von Munster (1734-1794) at Ledenburg Castle is a special stroke of luck, for one of the four works is by Carl Friedrich Abel, whose concerts have so far been considered lost. On this latest COVIELLO release Thomas Fritzsch and the Merseburger Hofmusik play gamba concerts of Abel, J.C. Bach, Raetzel and others. Thomas Fritzsch was born in Zwickau and grew up in the midst of a lively tradition of Saxon church and house music. After studying cello and viola da gamba at the Leipziger Musikhochschule, he began freelance activity as a specialist for the music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, he is one of the most revered gambists in the world.

The Salzburg Chamber Soloists were formed by Lavard Skou-Larsen in 1991 with the goal of performing chamber music with the freedom and expression of soloists. Vivaldi's Four Seasons are instantly recognizable even to those with a low affinity for classical music, and they are performed here by the Salzburg Chamber Soloists with intensity and passion. Piazzola's Las Cuatro Estaciones Portenas provide the perfect foil to Vivaldi's seminal work, in the form of four sensual tangos.

Already two years ago the ensemble Der musikalische Garten brought the mastery of Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello (1690-1758), the former Kapellmeister at the Württemberg court, back to the ears. In his Concerti a tre he artistically and imaginatively demonstrates the possibilities of the friendly competition between the two fundamentally equal violin parts. The works represent a remarkable enrichment of the repertoire in the field of the late baroque trio sonata. In the eagerly awaited second series, the performers delight with beautiful slow movements and irrepressible virtuoso joy of playing. All four musicians of the ensemble Der musikalische Garten studied historical performance at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and they keep looking for new musical paths and unknown musical gems, for the hidden trails and extraordinary flowers of the musical garden.

Nicolaus A. Huber, a German composer, has been inspired in his musical experiments by Josef Anton Riedl, Dieter Schnebel, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and most importantly by Luigi Nono. Nono encouraged Huber to find more ways of eradication tonality by studying psychology. In doing so, Huber is able to better understand human responses. This album from Coviello is a clearly ambitious musical experiment recorded by ensemble reflexion K, under the direction of Gerald Eckert. Ensemble reflexion K has previously recorded an album of works by Gerald Eckert.