Who would have thought at the beginning of the great Scarlatti adventure 15 years ago that there would be no CD at the end? The four of us, who sail the two-voiced oceans of the world in the Scarlatti boat, certainly not: Captain Christoph Ullrich at the steering wheel (keyboard), Gerd Finkenstein in the engine room (grand piano), me as radio operator (recording), and Thomas Seedorf (scientific support and texts) in the crow's nest. All old white men with weathered faces. Well, the CD is still alive. But the project needs another two years... We're going to see it through! Who knows, maybe it will be the last serious big complete edition ever produced for this medium? Then, among many other things, it will also be a tribute to the days when you could still hold what you loved in your hands. Our current position: Domenico Scarlatti wrote 555 piano sonatas. This is volume 12 of 17. Volumes 14 and 15 are already available, a total of 12 double and 2 triple CDs so far. Volumes 13 (already recorded, not yet released), 16 (30 sonatas), and 17 (12 sonatas) are still missing. This means that 513 of the 555 sonatas have been recorded and 477 released. There are still 42 left to go to the home port. We are getting closer to our goal! There are so many interesting, admirable, and thought-provoking aspects to this opus! It would fill books. But we'll save that for the end. Turn these 30 new sonatas into an Advent calendar! Or a January calendar. Every day is unique; every day deserves a different sonata by Domenico Scarlatti!

The German pianist and teacher Theodor Kullak, a piano student of Carl Czerny among others, enjoyed a stellar career. His transcriptions, arrangements, and studies have proved enduring, while his lesser-known original works contain an abundance of persuasive pianistic colours. The pensive and dramatic Grande Sonate in F-sharp minor reveals the influence of Mendelssohn and Beethoven, and the Symphonie de Piano displays elements of Schumann as well as Kullak's fondness for Italian models. Virtuoso panache and drawing-room grace are also represented in the smaller works in this selection.

Duarte: Homages, Works for Guitar Solo

The 'Juvenilia' programme centres around the early works of Johann Sebastian Bach. While much attention is given to his later works, his youthful keyboard compositions remain vastly underappreciated, being seldom performed and even more seldom recorded. Despite this, they exhibit a richness of inventiveness, youthful spirit and experimentation, while simultaneously foreshadowing the compositional hallmarks of his mature style. This album contains early compositions by Bach as well as pieces by Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Adam Reincken and Georg B�hm, who had a significant impact on Bach's artistic development and musical identity. The programme is rounded off by two anonymous and never-before-recorded pieces from the Andreas Bach Buch.

The desire to record all of the works for an instrument already during the lifetime of a composer points to his importance and charisma. Despite the uncertainty: will he write something else? This was also the case with TACET 129, after Erika Haase (1935 - 2013) set herself the life-long task of recording all the pieces for piano by another 'great' of contemporary Hungarian music, Gyorgy Ligeti. Now Gyorgy Kurtag, a master of the miniature almost like Anton Webern. All his works for flute, initiated and congenially played by Markus Bronnimann and friends. The very first note should, no, must contain the whole world. Many of Kurtag's pupils know this only too well, as they often didn't get past the first bars in their lessons. Because he succeeds in this concentration, this evaporation to the essentials, Kurtag only needs a few notes to create a complete little univers in which nothing is missing. The 36 tracks bear ample witness to this!

Jinhyung Park, winner of the 2023 Ja�n Prize International Piano Competition, explores the multifaceted nature of his instrument in this meeting of three 19th-century masters. Brahms' Handel Variations - a birthday gift to Clara Schumann - employs an infinite variety of pianistic and motivic devices, while Granados' Los requiebros is a dazzling interpretation of the Spanish jota folk dance. Dvor�k's formidable Second Piano Quintet is swept along by an enveloping lyricism that distils the very spirit of the composer.

Bien qu'Erik Satie soit principalement reconnu pour son oeuvre de compositeur et pianiste, ses ecrits poetiques sont a l'image de sa musique : souvent courts, empreints d'un humour absurde et d'une grande sensibilite melancolique. La voix profonde et le timbre captivant de Francois Marthouret, se mele ici aux harmonies delicates du piano de Christiane Gugger. La complicite sensible entre l'acteur et la pianiste, souligne toute la musicalite et l'inattendu de ces ecrits iconoclastes signes par l'un des plus grands precurseurs de son epoque Augustin BONDOUX / Patrick FReMEAUX Although Erik Satie is primarily known for his work as a composer and pianist, his poetic writings reflect the same qualities as his music: often brief, tinged with absurd humor and deep melancholic sensitivity. The deep voice and captivating tone of Francois Marthouret blend here with the delicate harmonies of Christiane Gugger's piano. The sensitive rapport between the actor and the pianist highlights the musicality and unpredictability of these iconoclastic writings by one of the greatest pioneers of his time. Augustin BONDOUX / Patrick FReMEAUX GNOSSIENNE N�2 ET JE SUIS Ne a HONFLEUR - GNOSSIENNE N�4 - JE REGRETTE - GNOSSIENNE N�3 - LA JOURNeE D'UN MUSICIEN - VALSE-BALLET. SPORTS ET DIVERTISSEMENTS - CHORAL INAPPeTISSANT - LA BALANcOIRE - LA CHASSE - LA COMeDIE ITALIENNE - LE ReVEIL DE LA MARIeE - COLIN MAILLARD - LA PeCHE - LE YACHTING - LE BAIN DE MER - LE CARNAVAL - LE GOLF - LA PIEUVRE - LES COURSES - LES QUATRE COINS - LE PICNIC - LE WATER-CHUTE - LE TANGO - LE TRAiNEAU - LE FLIRT - LE FEU D'ARTIFICE - LE TENNIS. MUSIQUE SUR L'EAU - FANTAISIE-VALSE - ECHANGE D'IDeE - OGIVE N�1 - LES PeRIMeS - GNOSSIENNE N�5 - LE VERTIGE - SEUL a LA MAISON. LETTRE a DEBUSSY - 20 JUILLET 1903 - 14 AO�T 1903 - 17 AO�T 1903. AVANT-DERNIeRES PENSeES - IDYLLE a DEBUSSY - AUBADE a PAUL DUCAS - MeDITATION a ALBERT ROUSSEL. MICHELET ET LES ANIMAUX - PIeCE FROIDE N�2 - L'ARTISTE ET L'ENNUI - GNOSSIENNE N�1 - MESDAMES MESDEMOISELLES MESSIEURS - JE TE VEUX LETTRE a SUZANNE VALADON 11 MARS 1893 - SON BINOCLE.

Musical Life in 19th-Century St. Petersburg: Works for Russian Seven-String Guitar and Fortepiano by Vladimir Morkov This recording is based on a little-known manuscript for guitar and fortepiano held at the Glinka Museum of Music in Moscow. On one level, the album aims to support the revival of the Russian seven-string guitar, an instrument with it's own distinctive tuning (D-G-B-d-g-b-d'), rich history, and unique repertoire. On another, it uses this important archival source as a window into the broader musical culture of mid-19th-century St. Petersburg. To present a fuller picture, we have supplemented the manuscript selections with solo works for both fortepiano and guitar.

The Messa a quattro voci con Violoncelli, Fagotti, Basso, ed Organo is an example of a particular type of sacred music that emerged at the end of the 18th century at the Portuguese court, in which the bass instruments imitate a classical orchestral texture. The resulting instrumental ensemble - two cellos and two bassoons with solo lines, with the bass line assigned to double bass and organ - was to remain standard until the first quarter of the 19th century. A body of some thirty works, including masses, settings of psalms. The Te Deum, Vespers, and responsories is proof enough of the importance of this repertoire in Portuguese musical life in this period; there was nothing equivalent to this instrumentation in other European lands at that time. This, the first recording of a work from this uniquely Portuguese repertoire with obbligato cellos and bassoons, is also the first recording of a work by Antonio de Padua Puzzi.

All the pieces I chose for this album grip me in a very direct way. On top of that, the fact that they immediately won me over when I first encountered them and now feel very close to me. This choice was therefore a gut decision, based on an emotional concept. The common thread lies in the immense will to express that all these works possess. Simon Tetzlaff about his debut CD

A good year younger than Max Reger and five months older than Arnold Schonberg, Vienna's Julius Bittner (1874-1939) earned his livelihood as a lawyer for many years. Even before he gave up this profession in 1922, he was already one of the most frequently performed opera composers in Austria. In particular, his one-act opera Das hollisch Gold (Hellish Gold), which premiered in 1916, was highly acclaimed, and several of his instrumental works were also well received - even though (or perhaps because) he was anything but a "pioneer composer". His music was rooted in melody. He had broken free from Wagner's influence and became interested in folk music as exemplified by his two string quartets (1913 and 1917) with their "pastoral" flair. The former especially seems like the "Mahler of chamber music" in several passages, possibly a posthumous homage to his one-time supporter who guided Bittner's talent in the right direction.

This CD is a celebration of female composers in classical music. For too long their work has been undervalued and overlooked, and unrightly so. Their work, if not dismissed, has often been attributed to male composers. We invite you to a journey across three centuries of extraordinary piano music. See for yourself, why we chose to borrow the title of "Femmes de legende": invisible heroines, whose works deserve to become deeply embedded into our repertoire. "Frauen als Muse" alludes to our ambition for this project to become an inspiration and empower future generations of musicians.

Sir Thomas Beecham had a long association with the works of Richard Strauss, to the extent that Strauss once told him, "What you have done for my works in England cannot be sufficiently appreciated." SOMM Recordings pays tribute to this collaboration between two musical giants of the early twentieth century-and throws in an early nineteenth-century powerhouse for good measure-with the release of Beecham Conducts R. Strauss and Beethoven. This is the 33rd edition of SOMM's long-running and acclaimed series The Beecham Collection, and it marks the 70th anniversary of two remarkable recordings from 1956. Once again, audio engineer Lani Spahr brings his depth of musicality and technical expertise to these newly restored masterworks. In addition to his determined efforts to put Strauss's operas on the London stage-beginning with conducting the British premiere of Strauss's opera Elektra in 1910-Beecham was enthusiastic about Strauss's tone poems. Ein Heldenleben, in particular, became something of a calling card for him. In 1947, he made a studio recording of the tone poem with the recently established Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A few weeks after his death in 1961, his 1958 stereo recording of Ein Heldenleben was released. The present live recording comes from an all-Strauss concert given at the Royal Festival Hall on 17 October 1956. The first half of the programme included MacBeth, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, and the Dance of the Seven Veils, which SOMM released in 2023 (ARIADNE 5021). The second half, heard here, was devoted to Ein Heldenleben. Strauss's eighth tone poem is considered somewhat autobiographical despite his insistence that the hero was "not a single poetical or historical figure, but rather a more general and free ideal of great and manly heroism." It traces the dramatic arc of the hero's life through his adversaries and his companion; at battle and in peace; and it closes with his retirement from this world. Contemporary critics of Beecham's rapturously received 1956 performance were fulsome in their praise, one noting that "the epilogue was played with such tenderness as to bring tears to the eyes," and another that "this is how Strauss can sound when conducted with musical sensibility deepened by experience." Beecham's relationship with Ludwig van Beethoven was rather more ambivalent. Although he performed several of Beethoven's symphonies regularly, his recordings were more sporadic and he never completed a full cycle. SOMM is fortunate and proud to present here Beecham's exciting, fleet-footed interpretation of the Eighth Symphony, recorded at the Festival Hall on 12 December 1956. His performance brings energy and a sense of fun to the work, which musicologist Nigel Simeone describes as the "wittiest of the Beethoven symphonies."

The term violoncello was particularly fluid in the early 18th century: it referred to a wide range of bowed stringed instruments of different sizes and shapes, generally with four or five strings; some of these instruments were held between the knees and others were supported by the arm. So when Bach's wife, Anna Magdalena, wrote Suites � Violoncello Solo senza Basso (Suites for Solo Cello without Bass) on the title page of her manuscript copy, we cannot be entirely sure what type of instrument she was referring to. It is said that Bach himself played both the violin and the viola exceptionally well, and it is quite possible that he originally composed the suites for his own use and played them on a violoncello piccolo held on the arm, using viola fingerings. It is, however, also possible that he composed these works for other virtuosi known to him, these including Gregor Christoph Eylenstein, concertmaster of the Weimar court orchestra, and the Leipzig violinist Carl Gotthelf Gerlach. While being excellent violinists, they were also known as experts on the cello and viola d'amore. These considerations-and the observation that certain suites seem particularly well suited to specific instruments-inspired Ronan Kernoa to record the six suites on six different instruments.

HC25024 Schelb II "My encounter with Josef Schelb's music can be best described as a feeling of extraordinary joy. One hears such expressive sounds, paired with carefully harmonised structures. In addition, there is always a wonderfully playful approach to the various forms and to the peculiarities of some specific moments, as can also be found in Richard Strauss and Sergei Prokofiev. Definitely a musician's composer!" (Leo Siberski)

Today, his work "has no significant presence in recordings or concert life," states the boundless internet for those seeking information on the life and work of composer, pianist, and priest Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel (1750-1817). This perception, however, will have to change in the foreseeable future, for what has recently resurfaced from the legacy of this versatile Wurzburg-born musician awakens a curiosity that deepens with each encounter and is rewarded with ever-surprising creations. Now, alongside the three highly acclaimed chamber works released by cpo in November (555 499-2), two of his once widely performed symphonies join the spotlight, as well as one of the six piano concertos he composed - pieces that served both to showcase his classically refined, virtuosic eloquence and to bring universal delight in his presence.

A native of Bohemia, Wenzel Thomas Matiegka was a contemporary of Beethoven and a celebrated guitarist. His reputation was established after settling in Vienna, where he became accepted in musical circles that included Schubert. Matiegka's works reflect the influence of Mozart and Haydn while exploring the virtuoso possibilities of the guitar by blending lyrical serenity with refreshing good humour and exhilarating technique.

This album traces pianist Alexandra Dariescu's journey through discovery, memory, and celebration, uniting masterworks with neglected gems and world premieres. Mozart's radiant Rondo in D major, K. 382, opens the programme, paired with Emmy Sch�fer Klein's long-forgotten Child's Dream and James Lee III's newly composed Humble Birth. Music by Clara Schumann, Nadia Boulanger, Florence Price, Amy Beach, Germaine Tailleferre, Leokadiya Kashperova, and others highlights the voices of women across centuries. Interwoven are personal favourites-Bach/Siloti's Prelude in E minor, Villa-Lobos's sparkling O polichinelo-alongside youthful treasures by Carl Filtsch and Tudor Ciortea. Together, they form a vivid portrait of music as dream, memory, and renewal.

His First Symphony famously took Brahms twenty-one years from conception to first performance - a marker of both his own highly self-critical assessment of his output, combined with the expectation of everyone around him that his symphonic output would naturally pick up where Beethoven had left off. Astonishingly, his Second Symphony was begun in June 1877 and received it's first performance just six months later, by the Vienna Philharmonic and Hans Richter. It's cheerful nature and pastoral mood are also a stark contrast to the first symphony. Following a gap of some six years, Brahms returned to the form in 1883, and composed his third and then fourth symphonies in quick succession. Begun in 1884, the Fourth Symphony was premi�red by Brahms and the Meiningen court orchestra in October 1885. The work is especially notable for it's last movement, which takes the form of a passacaglia (an extremely rare occurrence) and is the only one of Brahms's symphonies to end in a minor key.

The extreme delicacy and finesse of Chopin's pianistic style was unusual in an era when star pianists such as Liszt and Anton Rubinstein were developing more virtuosic and experimental effects. It led some performers of the day to adapt Chopin's works to suit the context of their time. Goran Filipec has traced the practices of these pianists to fashion a programme of Chopin's works performed in the spirit of the 'grand style'. A digital EP featuring four bonus tracks is also available to stream and download (9.70383).