In Latin America, you don‘t only dance at parties, and so even children learn how to dance to the typical rhythms. During her studies, Leticia Gómez-Tagle taught flamenco in several ballet studios and dance schools and even had a small flamenco group. With this background it becomes clear why the pianist has chosen this title for her first CD on Ars Produktion.

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The life and work of Christian Ernst Graf (1723-1804) remains largely unexplored - a striking fact given the outstanding quality of the works that have been re-discovered and recorded. Little is known about Christian Ernst's life in his birth town Rudolstadt before he moved to the Netherlands. In the 1750s, he became a composer at the court of Princess Anna van Hannover (1709-1759), widow of stadtholder Willem IV (1711-1751), and at the Court of His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange. Graf's compositional idiom is characterized by an almost modern sensibility and inventiveness, both expressive and brilliant in style - qualities that are apparent in the two violoncello concertos presented on this SACD. Like Marin Marais in his viola da gamba pieces, Graf explored the virtuosic possibilities of the violoncello to its limits. Founded in 1983 as one of the earliest German early music ensembles, L'arpa festante has developed an outstanding reputation. One of the ensemble's main interests is the rediscovery and historically informed performance of forgotten works from the 17th Century and the Classical era as well as the symphonic and oratorio repertoire of the Romantic era.

Composers Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) and Viktor Kosenko (1896-1938), two versatile and strong-willed men who lived complex lives in a complex reality, each created his own world of music. Despite having lived in different times and places, they shared many common passions, music foremost among these. This disc alternates Poèms, Mazurkas and Sonatas by Scriabin and one of his younger idolizers. The Ukrainian-born, prize-winning pianist and co-founder of “Duo Kiol”, Violina Petrychenko, lives in Köln, Germany and works as a piano instructor at the Music Academy Köln-Süd.

Classical Music

This recording contains the piano concertos of Maurice Ravel and a piece for piano and orchestra by Florent Schmitt, performed by pianist Vincent Larderet, the OSE Symphonic Orchestra, and conductor Daniel Kawka. Vincent Larderet's performance of Ravel's piano concertos is marked by careful adherence to the original score and respect for the composer's markings, while at the same time, liberating it from certain habits of interpretation. Florent Schmitt's reputation as a composer rivaled Ravel's during his life time, though his music has now inexplicably and unjustifiably fallen into obscurity. The restoration of an extraordinary musical score may contribute to the rehabilitation of one of the greatest French composers of his generation.

Classical Music

Described as "a poet of the piano" by Die Welt, the rising-star pianist, Danae Dörken is rapidly becoming one of the most sought-after soloists of her generation. She has developed a passion not only for recitals but also chamber music, performing with artists such as Gustav Rivinius, Christiane Oelze and Carolin Widmann. Ms. Dörken, particularly fascinated by the freedom inherent in the Fantasia form, presents an album of keyboard Fantasies by Schumann, C.P.E. Bach and Schubert.

Der Musikalische Garten's second recording "A Visit to the Blue House: Trio Sonatas" continues their exploration of the collection of 18th century Basel merchant Lucas Sarasin. Building on the strengths of their debut with the uncommon scordatura tuning, the depth of Lucas Sarasin's music collection is further revealed with these trio sonatas that showcase the breadth of composers working in southwestern Germany and northern Italy, the two centers of instrumental chamber music of the day. The 'Blue House' of the title references Sarasin's home which doubled as a salon and performance space and this recording allows us indeed a visit to eavesdrop during a fertile time of transition that bridged the Baroque and Classical eras.

Virtuoso bravura paired with elaborate detail - Vivaldi’s cantatas for soprano and basso continuo combine of the rousing effects of the operatic stage and the sophistication of intimate chamber music in a unique manner. One can rightly claim that Vivaldi went to the very limits of what can be depicted while offering a true summation of the Italian baroque cantata. The soprano Camilla de Falleiro and the basso continuo specialists of the Accademia Apollinea ensemble ignite the passions for which this magnificent music of the Italian High Baroque is so well known.

Andre Cheron was an influential musical personality in Paris during the mid-eighteenth century. He worked at the Paris Opera as a harpsichordist and inspecteur de l’orchestre de l’Opera. In this capacity he supervised several premieres of Rameau’s operas and the controversial performance of Pergolesi’s intermezzo La serva padrona. With his 1729 sonata collection, André Cheron (1695-1766) cultivates the “Corelli” notation, which was so highly regarded in the French Régence. Ensemble Matis is made up of young musicians of various nationalities who originally met at the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya in Barcelona, and ultimately came together to form the current group at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. Since the ensemble’s inception in the autumn of 2012, they have worked together intensively in formations contingent on the repertoire and have attempted to share and expand upon their experiences in their joint music-making. With Japan, Switzerland, and South Kroea, many different cultures are represented in the ensemble, which enriches and consistently makes the collaboration exciting. The ensemble has specialized in the performance of Baroque chamber music and, as the name “Matis” implies, pays special attention to small details, nuances, and timbres in the music and in ensemble playing. The ensemble’s goal is to bring the music with its wealth of color closer to the audience and to bring to life different expressive values.

Classical Music

On this production Hans Agreda shows impressively that the prejudices traditionally held against the contrabassoon are incorrect. With this recording he wants to break through boundaries and show positive perspectives. Indeed, the contrabassoon proves to be a concert and chamber music instrument that can also fulfill soloistic tasks as a matter of course. Hans Agreda was born in Venezuela in 1981. At the age of 14 he took up his musical studies at the Universidad de Los Andes in Merida, Venezuela. A few years later he moved to Germany to study at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Dusseldorf in the class of Gustavo Nunez. During his studies he also took private lessons with Klaus Thunemann. He graduated from university with the best possible grade. At the moment he is a Postgraduate Student at the same university, doing his Konzertexamen.

With Horn6, Joachim Ba?nsch presents the sound world of his instrument to the listener in all it's variety, ranging from solo works and original compositions to six-part arrangements. The recording was completed with the help of multi-track equipment. Ba?nsch notes: 'Dauprat's Sextet has fascinated me since my student days. Again and again, our concert performances of the sextet have come to grief, and even today we consider it barely playable on account of it's enormous technical challenges. I hired a sound engineer and spent two weeks recording it at a church in the Provence region of France.'

Classical Music

Classical Music

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Katharina Treutler's new release offers devilish pleasure alongside intimate worship of God. For example, Ligeti's tricky, demonic 'Treppenwitz' stands opposite the glistening piano work of the faithful Catholic Messiaen. Enlivened by variations of the Holy Spirit, his music seems to sparkle through the windows of an important French cathedral. Katharina Treutler has given numerous recitals around the world, performing in Europe, Asia and in the United States. As a soloist she has played with leading orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Armenian Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, the San Diego Symphony, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. In February 2015, the album Final Symphony was released worldwide with Katharina performing works by composer Nobuo Uematsu. Featuring pieces performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as solo performances, the album was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios and reached number one in the iTunes Classical Music Charts in more than ten countries, as well as the Classical Album top 5 of the Billboard Charts and the Official Charts UK. Her other albums include a recording of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1.

Classical Music

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Aurelia Shimkus wanted to create a selection of works that would best illustrate Bach's relationship to the divine sphere. Because prayers are the best way to communicate and get in touch with the divine, she decided to put together a program that would seem like one big prayer and named it after the Chorale Prelude No. 5 "Ich ruf' zu dir" (I call yo tou). The pieces of the program are grouped together by their tonal relationships - this allowed Shimkus to combine music from different times and epochs, consolidating them into one large work of prayer.

A program combining the musical traditions of Western Europe and Ukraine. The first part presents two composers, whose work is rooted in the classical traditions: Levko Revutsky and Viktor Kosenko. The remaining three, Kolessa as well as Igor and Juri Shamo, strove to draw on a greater number of folkloristic motifs. It was the piece Carpathian Fantasy by Juri Schamo, which gave her the idea to this program, because the work itself stands for the combination of musical traditions.

The young Austrian harpist Elisabeth Plank has already won several awards at international competitions - the latest one, a Primo Premio Assoluto, in April, 2016 at the international competition ''Musica Insieme''. For her debut album, she has selected a varied program that is intended to give an insight into the variety of the harp repertoire - even away from typical sounds.

Finding the names of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven on the track list of a CD or on the title page of a concert program provokes a sense of familiarity and natural affiliation in the minds of most music lovers and experts, who not only associate the three composers with each other but also, inevitably, with the concept of Viennese Classicism. On this recording, Ola Rudner and the Wu?rttembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, flanked by soloists Ramo?n Ortega Quero (oboe), Sebastian Manz (clarinet), Marc Gruber (horn) and Theo Plath (bassoon), explore the symphonic world of Viennese Classicism.

The Bergmann Duo is made up of pianists Marcel and Elizabeth Bergmann. “Always adventurous, the married couple combines virtuosic dedication with the instincts of professional entertainers who love their music.” (Showtime Magazine) Performing works by Chick Corea, Leonard Bernstein, Pat Metheny, and other American composers, Michael Bergmann has arranged all of these works for he and his wife specifically. This release is a wonderful example of the duo’s continuously evolving musical dialogue, reflecting upon the passion the group has for jazz and improvisation.