Classical Music

'During the three days of recording and preforming Pleyel's sacred music it became clear to me that the composer's most significant contributions to church music lie in the way in which he puts choir and orchestra into context. Even though Pleyel composed relatively few sacred works when compared to other genres in his voluminous coeuvre (possibly due to the cathedral fire during the Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871), they are of particular interest because they provide, more than any other musical genre, a unique overview over the entire range of Pleyel's faculties as a composer: Everyone performers and listeners alike, were positively surprised by the quality of Pleyel's sacred works during the recording session. Pleyel's sacred music should receive more attention. It was important and appropriate to put these works from Pleyel's first and second creative period to disc.' (Adolf Ehrentraud, President of the Internationale Ignaz Joseph Pleyel Gesellschaft (IPG))

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The Vogtland Philharmonic, conducted by the music director Stefan Fraas, present their second album with next highlights from famous Hollywood film scores from the recent years, as well as popular classics of the genre film music. Appropriate for Hollywood film music it is presented in spectacular surround sound.

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

The Renner Ensemble has established themselves as one of the leading male choirs in the world since 1987. The ensemble is renowned for its versatility, a wide-ranging repertoire from early medieval to Renaissance to modern avant-garde. This release showcases the ensemble's talent as well as teh musicianship of all it's members. The lyricism of Liszt and textures from Verdi shine through this entire album.

Classical Music

Both Shostakovich and Gulda were masters at blending the levels of art and light music in a profitable way. One discreetly and he almost refines through the back door, the other in the form of a provocative cultural shock in his role as a musical bourgeois terror. On his recording for Ars Produktion, Friedrich Kleinhapl unites works of the two 'opposing' geniuses. Friedrich Kleinhapl is immensely expressive and passionate. Worldwide, he entices the audience as well as critics as a soloist and as chamber musician with his noteworthy performances. He does many things in a new and different way: starting with his posture holding the cello, and his interpretations to the thrilling way to tell the pieces’ stories during the concerts and the individual arrangement of his programs and art projects. Additionally, he concerns himself in a heartfelt way with children with hearing impairment through his association “Get a Hearing”.

Classical Music

Classical Music

For the curious music lover the string quartets by Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) have a special appeal because his music is written in a highly familiar style, but brand new and full of surprises: unexpected turns from major to minor and its fine-grained detail. In the first episode of the new series 'Hidden Gems', dedicated to the composer, the Ignaz Pleyel Quartett plays for the first time the string quartets published in 1792. - Ars Production

If the 17 string quartets by Ignaz Joseph Pleyel (1757 to 1831) have been neglected, it's not due to their quality, but it's due to the fact that, until recently, few or only inadequate modern editions of these works were tangible. Now available these quartets are presented here, thanks to the meritorious Pleyel series at Ars Produktion.

Classical Music

After some successful studio recordings a live recording was overdue for Hanna Shybayeva. For the pianist, it is clear that she can only get the best out of herself in concert, adding the ''extra dimension of excitement and energy'' to her playing. On her latest recording, this can be seen in a lively, fiery performance.

Classical Music

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Classical Music

Classical Music

On this new release, The Goldberg Trio presents well-rehearsed string trios by Klein, Weinberg, Dohnányi and Cras. These pieces are some of the most important and interesting contributions to the genre in the 20th century. The Trio Goldberg was founded when three key members of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra (Liza Kerob, Federico Hood, and Thierry Amadi), rich with the diversity of their respective cultural backgrounds, joined forces to create this dynamic and eclectic ensemble. With a repertoire ranging from Mozart to Schnittke, the Trio performs works by Schubert, Enescu, Kodaly, Piazzolla, Sibelius, Jean Francaix, Ysaye, and Ton-That Tiet, among others. It draws its name from the brilliant transcription by Dmitry Sitkovetsky of J.S. Bach’s immortal Goldberg Variations. A passionate devotion to this masterwork soon became the ensemble’s trademark and led to a recording that received warm response from the press. Frequently the ensemble collaborates with prestigious musicians such as Patrice Fontanarosa, Regis Pasquier, Olivier Charlier, Gerard Causse, Dominique de Williencourt, Jean Ferrandis, Matan Porat, Iddo Bar-Shai, and Luis Fernando Perez.

This recording features works by some of the most well-known composers from the era of the musical Baroque. Born roughly within two decades of each other in Italy and Germany, the influence of the older generation on the younger was significant. The common thread of the selections on this recording is the subject of Christmas, explicitly so in the case of Corelli and Torelli, implied by the time of year in the case of Vivaldi, and by the choice of festive trumpets, the pastoral flute and the oboe d'amore as solo instruments in the works of Bach, Handel and Telemann.

Not that a flutist would actually need to poach in foreign territories due to a lack of attractive repertoire, but the arrangements presented here, based on well-known chamber music works and songs, nevertheless make sense: they underline not only the versatility of the instrument, but also the interpreter's abilities. When the Russian-Swiss flutist Sofia de Salis, together with her piano accompanist Iryna Krasnovska, performs such well-known chamber music works as Franz Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata or C�sar Franck's Violin Sonata on the flute, she astonishes us not only once.

The violin virtuoso Heinrich Anton Hoffmann (1770-1842) was a member of the Kurmainzer Hofkapelle until 1799. Later he moved to Frankfurt, where he became concertmaster of the theatre orchestra and vice music director. His string quartets Op.3 (1795) astound with their modernity, which despite their proximity to the models of the Viennese Classical period already show the style of later decades. They are characterized by formal variability and harmonic flexibility with a special preference for chromaticism. The Ensemble Alte Musik Köln, playing on historical instruments, lets us discover this amazing Beethoven contemporary.

Both composers on this recording, Johann Benjamin Gross (1809-48) and Julius Rietz (1812-77), belonged to the artistic circles around Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. This recording presents a selection of cello concertos, a genre that experienced a significant upturn during the 19th century. The two Rietz pieces at the center of this recording, the Fantasy for Violoncello and Orchestra, op. 2 and the Violoncello Concerto, op. 16, likely date back to the mid-late 1830’s.

Pianist Elena Margolina enjoyed a highly distinguished musical education, graduating with a piano concert diploma from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and, summa cum laude, from the University of Music in Detmold in 1996. She has made numerous recordings for radio, television and also several CD recordings. On her latest recording she plays three piano pieces and a sonata by Franz Schubert.