Kassel, in the heart of Germany, is internationally known as the city that hosts the documenta art exhibition every five years. In 1989, Kassel also drew the attention of the musical world when �d�m Fischer, the city's General Music Director at the time, founded the Gustav Mahler Fest Kassel. With the Gustav Mahler Fest Kassel, the city received another internationally important cultural attraction. The inaugural Gustav Mahler Fest in 1989 consisted of three concerts with performances of the first, third and fourth symphonies, the Totenfeier from the second symphony, ieder eines fahrenden Gesellen performed by Thomas Quasthoff, and eight Lieder fromDes Knaben Wunderhorn with Iris Vermillion and Thomas Hampson. The 1989 concert recording impressively documents the spirit of optimism of the participants, but also Fischer's achievement as an outstanding Mahler exegete of international standing.

In his Divertimento KV 563 Mozart moves between a cheerful, seemingly light tone of voice and the very highest art of composition. From highly concentrated seriousness to wistful melancholy to the typical wink of Mozart's eye, everything is abundantly present. The trio fragment in G major KV 562E, also recorded here by Trio Oreade, proves that this was by no means easy for him to compose that way. With its exciting and imaginative playing the Trio Oreade, based in Zurich, Switzerland, brings to life the masterpieces of the First Viennese School as well as virtuoso early modern music and contemporary music. The group has won several prizes, including at the Munich International String Trio Competition, and the Basel August-Pickhard Foundation’s Chamber Music Competition.

Every piece on this album by pianist Romain�Nosbaum�has a reference to the Portuguese word 'Saudades'. It embodies the desire for a place (Adios a Cuba, Asturias), the soul, the human being (Alma�Brasiliera) or popular manifestations. The music usually has a close connection to dance and is very much connected to the human emotional world. Romain�Nosbaum�is an individualist among the pianists of his generation. Without airs and graces, but with modesty and passionate devotion, he is solely focused on music. Both the grand gesture and sheer brilliancy have no meaning to him - instead, his playing stands out through intelligence, subtle individuality and technical perfection. The subtlety and immediacy of his pianistics encourage Romain's repertoire, which focuses on the romantic piano literature as well as music of contemporary composers. A universal interest in 'tradition and innovation' expresses itself not only�soloistically, but also through his activities as a passionate chamber musician. Thus, he regularly performs as a vocal accompanist with artists such as his sister V�ronique. He is also a member of the Random Trio, which comes with the colorful instrumentation of flute, violoncello, and piano. Moreover, Romain is very involved in interdisciplinary projects such as Claude Mangen's staging of Schubert's�Winterreise, Giorgio Mancini's live choreography A�nima, or the musical readings of texts by�Vaslav�Nijinsky and Michel Houellebecq together with actor Christian Berkel and pianist Kevin�Tamanini.

“I like the way the world reveals itself in Chopin’s music: Very pure, very subtle, lyrical, often even tragic, but sometimes light and cheerful, with a belief in something very good. I think that Chopin will always be a reason for me to love life even more. […] Why these compositions? Of course they shaped my soul when I heard them for the first time, and afterwards I really wanted to continue playing them.” (Ivan Bessonov) Ivan Bessonov is fascinated by Chopin's works, which not only manifests itself in his performance, but also encourages him to create his own works. In them little details and intonations of Chopin’s music are heard. Born in 2002, Ivan Bessonov comes from a family of musicians in St Petersburg. He started taking piano lessons at the age of six. Since 2012 he has been studying piano at the Moscow Central Music School for particularly gifted children of the Conservatory in the class of Professor Vadim Rudenko.

Founded in 2015, Oberton String Octet can look back on a successful career after only a few years. The eight young musicians from different nations are constantly working to expand their repertoire - from standard works and distinctive arrangements to rarities and world premieres. Here they present themselves with three string octets by Russian composers. Since their inception in 2015, the OSO has performed widely throughout Europe to critical acclaim. Highlights include performances at the 22nd Music Night of Sarajevo Festival, the Euro Chamber Festival in Gdansk (Poland), Carinthian Summer in Ossiach (Austria), Vienna Film Festival in Yekaterinburg (Russia), Kultur. LEBEN concert series in Bludenz (Austria), Jeunesse concert series in Vienna, as well as a collaborative concert with Markus Schirmer at MuTh concert hall in Vienna. Apart from this, the octet is also the Ensemble in Residence and makes regular appearances at the Steirisches Kammermusik Festival in their home region of Styria. Their recent debut at the Musikverein Graz was received with high praise after the ensemble delivered a high energy performance of works by Shostakovich, Raff and Enescu. Alongside these highlights, the octet also continues to perform various concerts at their training base of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, with several of their performances there having been broadcasted on Austrian national radio and TV over the years.

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.

Considering Ignaz Pleyel's complete oeuvre, his works for solo piano are not so numerous like in the oeuvres by Haydn, Wanhal, Kozeluch, Clementi, Mozart or Dussek. Pleyel's varied piano chamber music (48 piano trios and 15 violin sonatas (violin & piano)) proves his preference for this genre, obviously an inspiration during his youth. However, his mastery in composing appears also in his works for solo piano, such as the sonatas Ben 571, 572, 601-670 and in his own arrangements of his chamber music like the Sonata in three movements V, G major, Ben 332, 1786, which is recorded on this album. This sonata is played in a subtle way by the pianist Varvara Manukyan on a grand piano of Camille Pleyel. Compared with other grand pianos of that time, this one has the finest and leanest sound, due to it's very thin soundboard, it's thin strings and little lightweight hammers.

The Principality of Liechtenstein celebrates it's anniversary - and the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra celebrates with a new release in super audio quality! The orchestra's founding anniversaries are only one year and an important zero apart: while in 2018 the orchestra was in it's 30th season, in 2019 the fourth smallest country in Europe - and the sixth smallest in the world - can look back on 300 eventful years. Under the baton of conductor Florian Krump�ck, the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra performs the Symphony in D Minor op. 10 "Wallenstein" by the European romantic Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901).

Rarely has a relationship between two people been as happy and artificially fruitful as that between Clara and Robert Schumann: a long, contested love, torn apart tragically early on, yet in little more than a decade of working together they have created what one would like to call the heart of German Romanticism - conjured up by a brilliant composer, promoted by his congenial interpreter, who ultimately grew up to become a great composer herself. Judith Jáuregui's first album for Ars Produktion, a live recording with works by Debussy and others, was received very positively by the critics. Her interpretations were praised for their pianistic sovereignty and her playing was convincing with its extroverted nature and freshness. On her second album she plays together with the symphony orchestra Camera Musicae (OCM) under the direction of Tomàs Grau.

Milena Wilke was born in Freiburg in Breisgau in 1996. She won first place in the "Ton und Erkl�rung" competition ("Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft") 2016 in Berlin and won several other prizes in competitions on both national and international level. In 2017, she was awarded a scholarship by the "Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes und des Richard-Wagner-Verbands Konstanz" and was additionally welcomed in the organization "Yehudi Menuhin, Live Music Now". For this new release, together with Tatiana Chernichka she has recorded several works for violin and piano and she also has written two pieces herself.

Works for percussion and orchestra can be timbral gimmickry from the workshops of compositional Avantgardists; or they are rhythmically inspired by the nature of the solo instrument. However, they can also be full of melody and feeling. This is true of Avner Dorman’s “Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!” a concerto for two percussionists and orchestra. Instead of hailing from a theoretical ivory tower, this work adheres to the basic form of the solo concerto. In spite of this, every note speaks the language of modernism while steering clear of typically engineered moments. References to the three substances in the title are certainly intended, making it possible to view the composition through the eyes of a programme musician yet it is still acceptable to see “Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!” as “pure music,” without need for explanation. Avner Dorman, born 1975 in Israel, is one of those contemporary composers who can write freely, unburdened by the forced experimentation of modern music. His works are technically brilliant, overflowing with tonal refinement.

Claude Debussy's piano music plays a central role in his compositional oeuvre. Debussy combined Russian as well as Oriental and East Asian influences with his admiration for Bach and the French harpsichord masters to create a relatively compact body of work. The classical contours and absolute clarity of Debussy's musical forms and the unity and self-contained character of his work, for which he owed a great debt to Rameau, contradict the widely held association of his music with vague, indistinct impressionism, which Debussy vehemently rejected. Debussy's music is characterized by it's refinement of tone colors, transforming sound into a unique and highly nuanced world of expression. Debussy's emphasis on tone color is directly linked to his harmonic style: while being neither attached to tonality nor leaving it entirely behind, Debussy transcended the formative effect of functional harmonic relationships through the use of chromaticism, and pentatonic and exotic scales. Mario Haring was born into a German-Japanese family of musicians in Hanover Germany in 1989 and grew up in Berlin. He began playing violin and piano at the age of three and began receiving formal piano lessons in 1994. As a soloist and chamber musician, Mario Haring has won sixteen first prizes at music competitions all over the globe.

In this wonderful recording, baroque splendor, atmospheric and stylish elegance and cheerful Christmas melodies are put together in masterful arrangements for a festive Advent trumpet gala. The outstanding trumpeters Gernot Kahofer, Manuel Lichtenw�hrer and Leonhard Leeb are supported by the organist Bernhard Macheiner and the drummer Thomas Mair. "Noble-blown trumpet concerts and poetic enchantment that will captivate you..." The ensemble from Vienna is praised by critics and audiences worldwide. Artistic brilliance and diverse, exciting programs merge into an evening full of emotions, regardless of whether they play in a concert hall, a church or a cathedral! The three trumpeters sound classics in new tones. All ensemble members are members of various ensembles, bands and formations and are outstanding soloists. "First-class musicianship and top-notch performance," as a well-known conductor enthuses, is a matter of course with this ensemble. The Vienna Wind School is world famous - it is a breathtaking experience to hear it live. Classical arrangements of famous works of classical music combine with festive baroque, pop songs and elegant original compositions.

It is shocking to see how often, since time began, political, religious, economic and social conflicts have led to war. With over 17 million casualties from 40 nations, the First World War must certainly count among the most horrific of all. This recording is dedicated to the memory of the dead and to the Armistice of Compi�gne, which was signed a century ago, on 11 November 1918. The Regensburg-based Renner Ensemble, under the direction of Hans Pritschet, sings tragically beautiful works from five centuries by Janequin, Rheinberger, Silcher, Lennon and others. The Renner Ensemble's performances are consistently highly acclaimed by critics, who have praised the choir for it's "extraordinary homogeneity," noting that "under the conductor's skillful direction, the singers have developed an impeccable declamatory style and are in complete control of every dynamic nuance." To date, the Renner Ensemble has toured Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Spain, Latvia, Japan, Singapore, Uruguay, Argentina, and Great Britain. In addition to numerous concert performances and recordings, the Renner Ensemble has been successful at many national and international choral competitions.

During their long study of the works of the composer Richard Mico (1590-1661), the musicians of the Concerto di Viole ensemble developed characteristic images and associations that make each of the pavanes and fantasies unique to them. Following the tradition of Mico's contemporaries, they have therefore given the pieces new titles to inspire the listeners' imagination. The Ensemble Concerto di Viole was founded in Basle in 1989 and has since then been playing with almost the same lineup. The four permanent members Arno Jochem, Brian Franklin, Brigitte Gasser and Rebeka Ruso have studied at the schola Cantorum Basiliensis at different times and also perform with various different ensembles.