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.

It is Vincent Larderet's passion and artistic goal to achieve such musical and pianistic accuracy through a close reading of the annotations in Perlemuter's own edition of Ravel's works. Larderet focuses on two critical aspects of Ravel's musical language: firstly, the composer's engagement with various traditions of virtuosity and secondly, Ravel's specific ideas regarding orchestration and the orchestral character of his piano style.

This recording is the first by Ensemble La Fenice to feature English music of the 17th century and is dedicated, to give credit where credit is due, to Henry Purcell. It is above all an acoustic account of a number of concerts held in 2009, on the 350th anniversary of the composer's death. In response to invitations issued by the festivals Les Nuits Musicales d'Uzès, Festival de Lanvellec et du Trégor and during the course of the ensemble's first residency in Auxerre, Burgundy, the works were consequently performed in three different places with different acoustics. To incorporate the visual aspect, the TV station Mezzo made a video recording of pieces performed at the Festival de Beaune and the Festival de musique ancienne de Lyon.

In previous decades, the classical symphony from the second half of the 18th century onwards had been more or less synonymous with composers such as Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), and few observers would have mentioned Ignace Joseph Pleyel (1757-1831), the composer from Ruppersthal in Lower Austria, in this context. A thorough examination of the symphonic oeuvre of this unjustly forgotten composer, as carried out by the Pleyel Society since 1995, revealed a body of works that is capable of astonishing both audiences and musicians alike.

The compositions of Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) are frequently overlooked in favor of more popular works of the time. The works here are especially appealing as they are written in a very familiar style, but are full of surprises and unexpected turns. This is the second installment in the series of Pleyel’s works. Performing these pieces are violinist Cornelia Loscher, violist Robert Bauerstatter, and the Camerata Pro Musica under the direction of Christian Birnbaum.

Prior to the age of mechanical reproduction, music lovers had two primary ways in which to enjoy music: they could attend concerts, which was fraught with difficulties due to the dilapidated state of the road system and lack of transportation methods, or they could make music themselves, giving rise to the tradition of the house concert during the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. The increase in importance and popularity of Hausmusik was enabled by rapid technical advancements in the development of the piano. Composers and virtuosos created an ever-increasing number of transcriptions and arrangements for piano two or four hands with the intention of making them available to a wider audience. This recording presents a selection of arrangements of orchestral works for piano solo, arranged specifically for this purpose, by composers Bedrich Smetana, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, and Aram Khachaturian. New York-based French-Swiss pianist Francois-Xavier Poizat provides a wealth of tone colors while exploiting the virtuosic capabilities of the piano to its limits.

Carl Reinecke (1824-1910) was court pianist in Copenhagen then taught in Cologne, giving concerts with Hiller. He is remembered primarily as a stern but sympathetic teacher (from 1860) at the Leipzig Conservatory, where as director (from 1897) he perpetuated tradition and upheld the example of the Classical composers; among his pupils were Grieg, Sullivan and Weingartner. He composed, chiefly numerous piano works in the style of Schumann, Brahmsian chamber music and the simpler forms of popular 'Hausmusik'. Dian Baker and Eckart Sellheim have combined their many years of artistic experiences into the perfect medium - the piano duo. Since 1998 they have concertized - "four hands, two hearts, one piano" - in the United States and in Europe, and feel equally at home with the mainstream repertoire as well as with the lesser-known contemporary works for piano fourhands. The Duo has performed the complete four-hand works of Schubert on a variety of pianos and fortepianos; these pieces, along with integral works by Mozart, Schumann, Brahms and Debussy, form the core of their extensive repertoire.

The Ensemble Esperanza was formed in 2015 by students of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein as part of an integral musical education programme. With the exception of the concertmaster, Chouchane Siranossian, the harpsichordist, the ensemble is made up of grantees of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein who are coming together for their musical projects from all over Europe. With their debut release they are embarking on a new challenge, for which the venerable musical form of the suite provides an appropriate setting.

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.

This recording combines all the major works of bassoon repertoire written between 1770 and 1830, with Mozart's magnificient concerto as the undisputed masterpiece of the entire repertoire. He was able to bring the full range of bassoon's possibilities into play, making use of its entire tonal range in the opening movement, with semiquaver passages, glorious cantabile sections and maniacal trills. Matthias Rácz, probably one of the best bassoon players of our generation, present this work as well as the two concertos of Hummel and Weber with the greatest of ease.

On their latest recording Felicitas Erb, Judith Erb and Doriana Tchakarova present all the duets composed by Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn. Fanny Hensel’s and Felix Mendelssohn’s parallel journeys as composers began with the two songs they composed for their father’s birthday in 1819. On that occasion, the two siblings created settings of the same text, a situation that occurred several times over the course of their compositional careers. It can be seen as the beginning of their close artistic liaison as well as, possibly, their rivalry as composers. This release sheds a light on the interesting relationship between these two talented composers, and the programme is a fascinating juxtaposition of the two.

The works chosen for this recording were written in the early nineteen-thirties, a particularly creative period in Martinu’s life. Together with the Storiono Trio, and under the direction of Ruben Gazarian, the Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt presents these three pieces by Martinu.

Pianist and ECHO-winner Florian Noack releases the second volume in his exploration of the complete piano works by Sergei Lyapunov. Lyapunov was a Russian pianist and composer, who is most known for succeeding Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov as assistant director of music at the Imperial Chapel prior to his posts at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. His music is vibrant and virtuosic, exemplifying the Russian pre-war compositional style. Florian Noack has won numerous prizes across Europe, such as the Rachmaninov International Competition and the International Robert Schumann Competition, and regularly appears at festivals throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Arthur Lourie (1892-1966) is one of the most important representatives of the Russian avant-garde, even though he unfortunately never received the appropriate attention due to emigration, among other things. While his early piano pieces were still linked to Scriabin's late work, the composer soon developed completely new forms of musical discourse, including graphic notation. Christian Erny assembled a roughly hour-long selection of works that offer a foray into the innovative and fascinating world of Arthur Lourie. Christian Erny (b. 1988) is a young musician of high versatility. He is an active pianist and piano pedagogue as well as founder and conductor of the vocal ensemble The Zurich Chamber Singers. As an assistant conductor, he has been working for the Winterthur Conservatory Chamber Choir since 2012. He also is former artistic director of the series Conzerte Freulerpalast in Glarus.

The Ars Produktion CD "La Vida Breve“ presents cellist Nadège Rochat and guitarist Rafael Aguirre in a program of works by Granados, de Falla, Piazzolla, Gismonti, and others that brings out the fiery, harsh yet subtle melodic nuances of the guitar with the cello’s romantic voice. Swiss-born cellist Nadège Rochat has often performed, and been broadcast, in and from the finest concert halls in Germany. Currently teaching at the “Robert Schumann Hochschule” in Düsseldorf, guitarist Rafael Aguirre’s heralded musicianship has been heard in 22 countries across the globe.