Baroque Beyond invites you on a sonic journey between Baroque tradition and modern expressiveness. Shorena Tsintsabadze combines historical piano works and arrangements with a contemporary perspective characterized by profound reflection and artistic virtuosity. In an era of great social and technological upheaval, reminiscent of the transition from the late Renaissance to the Baroque period, this album demonstrates how music can serve as a human anchor and an expression of inner strength. A captivating listening experience that connects past and present and raises questions about our humanity in the digital age.

Die Geigerin Natalia van der Mersch und die Pianistin Natalia Kovalzon spielen in dieser Aufnahme die drei Sonaten fur Violine und Klavier von Edvard Grieg bieten. Ihre Spielweise, brillant, dynamisch und zugleich der interpretativen Tradition verpflichtet, fuhrt dazu, die Eigenheiten und Starken dieser drei Sonaten neu zu entdecken, die sich in ihrer Sprache und in ihrer Aussagekraft sehr voneinander unterscheiden - mit Momenten lyrischer Abschweifung, aber auch mit Hohepunkten virtuoser Gestaltung, insbesondere in der dritten Sonate, einem charakteristischen Werk aus der vollen Reifezeit des Komponisten. Grieg schreibt: "Die drei Sonaten gehoren zu meinen besten Kompositionen und reprasentieren verschiedene Perioden meiner musikalischen Entwicklung: die erste ist naiv und ideenreich; die zweite ist von nationalem Schwung inspiriert; die dritte ist die mit dem weitesten Horizont."

Das Bearbeiten eigener oder fremder Werke ist eine seit der Barockzeit eingefuhrte Verfahrensweise, um Werke einem breiteren Auffuhrungsspektrum zuganglich zu machen. Dabei war den Komponisten jener Epoche bei solchen Transkriptionen eine wertende Differenzierung zwischen Originalwerken und Bearbeitungen fremd. Sie gingen noch von der Einheit geistlicher und weltlicher Musik aus und von hoherbestimmten, den Komponisten vorgegebenen Affekten. Dies fuhrte in vielfacher Weise zur Wiederverwendung und Wiederverwertung bereits vorhandener Werke i'm sogenannten "Parodieverfahren", wobei diese inspirierte Bearbeitung nahtlos an neues Schaffen anknupfte, etwa durch das Transponieren in andere Tonarten, durch Besetzungsanderungen und vieles mehr. Romain Nosbaum spielt Klavierbearbeitungen von Liszt/Bach, Bach/Marcello, Kornienko/Tschaikowsky u.a.

High Hopes, the debut album by Arvid Fagerfjall and Hikaru Kanki, is dedicated to the search for a balance between reality and our inner self - and the attempt to maintain hope in life. For their program, the two drew from two centuries of song repertoire, with each of the selected works also being lively and complex in it's own unique way.

For this album, Narek Hakhnazaryan has selected works that showcase the characteristics of cello playing: it's tonal warmth, emotional depth and versatility. The interplay of original works and arrangements has resulted in a program that sees the cello as a unifying voice - inspired by the figure of the medieval minstrel in Glasunov's Chant du menestrel Op.71.

2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Johann Strauss Sohn. An occasion for the Duo Praxedis (harpist Praxedis Hug-Rutti and pianist Praxedis Genevieve Hug) to rearrange selected compositions by the composer for harp and piano. The Baba Bussi album also includes works by other composers who have a close connection to Vienna and are firmly rooted in it's musical tradition. It is a tribute to Johann Strauss and to Vienna as the 'world capital of music' - and is being performed for the first time with this delightful instrumentation.

This CD uses early and late songs, three excerpts from the successful opera Astorga, a piano arrangement of the best-known orchestral work Columbus, the only two organ pieces and excerpts from his String Quartet Op. 25 to create a comprehensive panorama of Johann Joseph Abert's (1832-1915) multifaceted oeuvre from the Prague years to 1879.

The musical language of Bernd Stegmann (*1952) moves in seemingly very different stylistic spheres: Elements of old a cappella culture stand next to hammered recitativo passages, big band effects next to minimal music sections, medieval-sounding drone fifths next to palatable Latin jazz harmonies. These heterogeneous building blocks are held together by an all-embracing motoric structure.

For his debut album, Arsenis Selalmazidis has chosen works by Schnittke, Ravel and Faure because their work had a profound influence on him. All the pieces are arranged in such a way that the difference between the musical eras is barely noticeable. With this album, it is important to him to give listeners the opportunity to slow down and pause for a moment in the hectic rhythm of modern music.

The fact that Niels Wilhelm Gade became famous as a composer primarily for his symphonic and concertante music is probably one of the reasons why his piano music, despite being widely published in print during his lifetime, has been relegated to the shadows. Marie-Luise Bodendorff presents a selection of Gade's piano works here, which makes it clear that we should revise our image of Gade.

On this CD Fabian Muller presents his String Quartets Nos. 2-4, superbly recorded by the Swiss Galatea Quartet. Each of the three quartets from the years 2010 to 2011 reveals a unique tonal language that is equally inspired by Swiss traditions and timeless themes. An extraordinary chamber music experience with an unmistakably Swiss character.

In this recording, the Wang-Zadra Duo, consisting of saxophone and guitar, explores the versatile tonal possibilities of this special and unusual chamber music instrumentation. All the works on the CD were either composed especially for saxophone and guitar or were carefully arranged for the project. The result is a versatile musical sound experience.

The poet's words awaken the song that sleeps dreamily in all things, as Eichendorff aptly put it. According to Romantic artistic aesthetics, however, only instrumental music can reveal the inexpressible. The two works by Brahms and Schubert presented here harbour auratic traits that can be traced back to the origin of their lyrical themes in their own songs.

This first set of piano works by Joseph Haas (1879-1960) with Gerit Lense offers a representative selection of his pianistic oeuvre and already hints at the diversity and distinctiveness of his compositional style. He once defined it as follows: "Music should delight, not offend; it should shake, not shatter; it should ennoble, not trivialize."

At a time when the world situation is changing drastically and fear, worry and negativity reign, many people feel tired and overwhelmed. With "HOPE", the release of various spiritual and gospel songs, the duo Praxedis would like to set an antipole to let hope and confidence flow into people's hearts. For the first time, they are dedicating themselves to the fascinating world of sacred, heavenly songs from America and have written their own arrangements for the duo genre of the two solo instruments harp and piano, which was popular in the 19th century. The complexity of the poetry in the 23 songs allows for different moods and interpretations. On the one hand, there are allusions to the social situation alongside a belief in the hereafter. The call to protest stands alongside the longing for freedom. The belief in a higher power stands alongside the need for a leader to save us from enslavement by the events of the world. Just as it was today when the songs were written. Living on multiple planes of existence as a citizen of the earth is becoming increasingly oppressive, with well-defined structures as a projection screen for the social cliche that society makes of us all. While songs used to be performed as a vocal construct with accompanying instruments, the interpretation with harp & piano dusts off the religious scheme of the time by omitting the singing voice and emphasizes the topicality of the works, which deal with themes of the human longing for love, light and peace, through spherical harp sounds in dialogue with sparkling piano dynamics.

'Although the three selected piano sonatas were all composed in the first half of the 20th century, they convey very different musical impressions. Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Kabalevsky - these are three composers, each with their own personalities and distinctive compositional styles. This diversity opens up three unique musical worlds for us. But through the common genre of the piano sonata, we also gain an insight into the musical and cultural development of Russia and the Soviet Union between 1908 and 1946. Dramaturgically, these works take us through the uncertain and turbulent period between revolutions and the First World War, through the tragedies of the Second World War to a hopeful outlook on a 'bright future' in more peaceful times. For me, all three works are among the hidden treasures of the pianistic repertoire.' Anastasia Yasko

The four-hand versions of orchestral works by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy recorded here by Sontraud Speidel and Franziska Lee are all by the composer himself and correspond to the musical text of the respective first editions published during Mendelssohn's lifetime, with the sole exception of the overture to the early Singspiel Soldatenliebschaft, whose first publication as part of the Mendelssohn Complete Edition appeared with so many printing errors that a correction was urgently required. This was done by Sontraud Speidel and the Karlsruhe music researcher Dr Joachim Draheim. The five works span a period of 22 years, presenting interesting examples of little-known music for the operatic stage and the Overture op. 24, unfortunately almost never heard, with two famous compositions from Mendelssohn's mature years, both of which were inspired by the profound impressions of the journey to Scotland (summer 1829).

The basic idea behind this album and the compositions for the 'pure' concert programme of the same name is to present the percussion instruments in their full range. The focus is on the creation of new sounds and tones and the exploration of boundaries. As a result, in addition to our classical acoustic instruments, 'pure' also utilises artificial sounds and everyday objects and elements from our environment such as water, wood and iron. Furthermore, as classically trained percussionists, it was also important to us to venture into classical pieces and reinterpret them with our instruments and, in some cases, by adding synthetic sounds and noises. For this reason, in addition to two arrangements, 'pure' features exclusively our own compositions, which will provide listeners with a completely new sound and listening experience.

W.A. Mozart - Symphony No. 35 "Haffner", Piano Concerto No. 24

In a time of change and challenge, Fumito Nunoya was inspired by the transcendent power of music. He experienced solace and connection through music. The album "Marimba Prayers" presents a multifaceted selection of works ranging from well-known masters such as Johann Sebastian Bach to contemporary composers. Nunoya's virtuoso playing awakens emotions and touches souls. This CD invites you on a profound journey of discovery through sounds that spring from the depths of life.

Natalia van der Mersch: The idea of recording all three Brahms sonatas came to us quite spontaneously. Olivier Roberti and I had played them together and thought: Why not? There was no lengthy deliberation, just the will to do it. And so it quickly took shape and we organised ourselves quickly. We had to organise the recording equipment, hire a piano and set the date, all of which required a certain amount of planning. In the end, the recordings took place at Conjoux Castle in Belgium - just like my previous recording with Natalia Kovalzon, with whom I form the duo Natalia. Olivier Roberti: "Despite all my experience, I see playing Brahms as a real challenge. Even in his chamber music works he is quite symphonic and when playing the piano you have to be able to imagine orchestral colours that are not typical for the piano or violin. It is particularly challenging here to shape long phrases powerfully, perhaps in a similar way to what Furtwangler did in his symphonies. For me, the pianist and teacher Leon Fleischer was a formative artistic inspiration - especially in this respect. He was one of the outstanding pianists of his time and his interpretations of Brahms' works had a strong influence on me. His approach of offering clear lines and controlled tempi helped me a lot to find a certain direction in my own playing."

Genny Basso, a classically trained pianist, interprets some Neapolitan songs - and not necessarily the most famous ones - in an unusual way, infusing them with stylistic elements that hark back to composers of "high culture", but never with the intention of sounding ingratiating or irreverent, or of confronting the listener with a self-congratulatory exercise. What at first glance may appear to be a game of musical camouflage turns out to be the culmination of an interpretation constructed with the performer's consciousness, detecting and at times inducing allusions and references. The resulting, quite surprising interweavings are made credible by an affinity for writing and by it's emotional atmosphere. It's hard to say exactly when the idea for this album was born, says Genny Basso. "Maybe I always had a project like this in mind. As a child, I was enchanted when I listened to my mum play Piscatore 'e Pusilleco on the piano. It was the beginning of a musical passion that never left me and that I continued to cultivate along with my classical training; I looked for informal situations where it was welcome. At some point, however, I realised that so much interest on my part in the Neapolitan tradition deserved a larger and more exclusive space. And that's how my first adaptations came about, those of Era de Maggio and Carmela... and the rest is history."

In addition to working on his own compositions, arranging the works of other composers was a constant in Mozart's life. In 1766, Johann Christian Bach was to publish his 'Six Sonatas for Pianoforte or Harpsichord Opus 5' in London. Wolfgang liked these so much that he arranged three sonatas from the collection as concertos for harpsichord. In these three concertos, the harpsichord part is practically identical to the original sonatas by J. Ch. Bach. Although the character of the manuscript suggests that the manuscript (which bears the hand of both Leopold and Wolfgang) could have been made between 1770 and 1772, it is likely that it is based on an earlier draft, close in time to the publication of the Opus 5 sonatas by Christian Bach. Whatever the case, Wolfgang probably planned these chamber concertos for later performances in small, private circles, both in Salzburg and on a new journey through Italy. In April 1764, Bach and the 8-year-old Mozart (!) performed together for the first time in London. The Mozart family's admiration for Johann Christian Bach lasted a lifetime.

With this programme, we want to show that these female composers - Josephine Lang and Ethel Smyth - can not only hold their own alongside an established and frequently performed song cycle by one of the "big names", Richard Strauss, but that their emotionality, quality and compositional accuracy are absolutely essential in the great canon of song literature, because that is where they undoubtedly belong, bringing a unique perspective and a message that is still far too little heard to this colourful genre in the most creative way. Duo Yvonne Prentki/Benedikt ter Braak

Discover Johanna Domotor's newly interpreted sound combination, in which flute and string orchestra merge musically. The flutist Johanna Domotor not only shines in dizzying passages, she also juggles virtuously between original works and arrangements, between arranged baroque music and early modern music. The album captures the diversity of 20th century music and presents three world premiere recordings of famous composers such as Shostakovich, Arnold and Stravinsky. The collaboration with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra enhances the auditory experience, as Johanna Domotor and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra also make their long-standing musical friendship audible outside the concert hall with this album.