On their new recording ,,A late romantic Christmas Eve" the ensemble Le Quatuor Romantique plays the music like it might have been performed in the home of a large, middle-class family around 1900, particularly focusing on the exciting, colourful melodies, breaking pensive moments with cheerful episodes only to question them again, experiencing childlike delight as well as darker thoughts. And as Christmas is also a time for carolling and singing, Quatuor Romantique invited Elena Fink to interpret some of the enchanting as well as the rare Christmas carols which used to be at the heart of the late Romantic repertoire but which are often completely forgotten and disregarded today.

C.P.E. Bach’s Flute Concerto in d, Wq 22 dates from his years in Berlin during the reign of Frederic the Great. + Bach’s music was the immediate starting point for Hans Werner Henze’s conception of musical and aesthetic history as well as for his work as a composer, so for example in his interpretative transcription of one of Bach’s Fantasias. + Mozart is here represented by his Concerto for Flute and Harp, KV 299. + “The young Argentinean flautist Maria Cecilia Muñoz has astounding technique… beauty and refinement of sound…supple opulence and luminous tone.” (Wiener Zeitung, Austria)

The composer Julius Röntgen (1855-1932) was born in Leipzig. His father was first violinist in the Gewandhaus Orchestra, his first piano teacher was Carl Reinecke, the director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. In 1877 Röntgen went to Amsterdam, and became a piano teacher in the Conservatory there. As renowned accompanying pianist, Röntgen was working for the great violinist Carl Flesch and the cello player Pablo Casals. For a while these musicians even formed a piano trio with Röntgen. After the highly acclaimed volume one with Piano Trios (ARS 38031), the Storioni Trio presents now the Piano Trios no. 2 and 4, written in 1894 and 1898. The Storioni Trio, founded in 1995, has worked over the years with great musicians such as Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Menahem Pressler, as well as members of the Emerson Quartet and the Vermeer Quartet, and performs chamber music with artists such as Gidon Kremer, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Rainer Kussmaul, Nobuko Imai, Emma Johnson. The Storioni Trio regularly give concerts at all major venues in the Netherlands, such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and at the most important music centres in the world, such as the Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) or the Wigmore Hall in London.

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Following the triumphant reception of the six ground-breaking London Symphonies Hob. I:93-98 during his first visit to England, Joseph Haydn was at the height of his fame when he embarked on his trip back to Vienna in July 1792. Although he had planned to return to the city on the River Thames within six months, Haydn's second visit to England was delayed for an entire year for unknown reasons. In the meantime, he continued to compose and finished his Symphony No. 99 in Vienna in 1793, although the work did not receive its premiere there. Unlike London or Paris, Vienna did not have an active concert life outside of the world of court music at the time. London's large and capable orchestras did not have their equal in Vienna, and neither did London's music press, which enticed the public with timely announcements and reviews. Bruno Weil and the Cappella Coloniensis inspire also with an enthralling and intelligent play in the third serie.

Cappella Coloniensis, founded 1954, was the first orchestra in the world to make music according to historical performance practices, and an important principle remains the use of historically determined instruments and the playing techniques they require. + Under principle conductor Bruno Weil, Cappella Coloniensis was twice awarded the Echo-Klassik Prize of the German Recording Industry. + Recorded live in concert, Bruno Weil leads the CC in Franz Joseph Haydn’s final three symphonies and the last of the “London Symphonies”, Nos. 102, 103 & 104, with a bonus CD of explanations by Mr. Weil.

,,This sonata combines pleasurability, interestingness and substance; novel and charming melodies with elegant modulation and exquisite harmony. The sonata's magnificent style compares favourably to Mozart's best works of this kind." (Review of the Sonata op. 11 in: Zeitung für die elegante Welt, 1807) "Whether or not Wilms had Mozart in mind - he certainly held him in his heart! Without doubt, he has matched the master with this work." (Review of Sonata op. 29 in: Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, 1813) The violin sonatas Op. 11 and Op. 29 lay testament to the popularity of Johann Wilhelm Wilms (1772-1847), a composer living and working in Amsterdam, among his contemporaries; it was an appreciation of the highest order since Mozart was already considered an undisputed genius at the beginning of the 19th century. And indeed, both sonatas appear to be stylistically close to the great master. Few composers of Wilms's era may have had a similarly developed sense for the movement's harmonic proportions, a keen awareness of structural balance, or a highly developed gift for motivic economy yet formal variety. The violinist Werner von Schnitzler (b. 1978) performed as a soloist in many European venues such as at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Tonhalle Zurich, the Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, the Philharmonie Köln, Musikhalle Hamburg, Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Berlin Schauspielhaus.

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.

Ignaz Joseph Pleyel (1757-1831) wrote a number of remarkable string quintets that have largely been ignored by musical scholarship owing to the fact that there were no extant scores or reprints available. As part of their efforts to produce a complete scientific edition of Pleyel’s oeuvre, the Int’l Pleyel Society has undertaken the task of setting the scores and individual parts of all 17 String Quintets (Ben 271-287) using the Sibelius software program. Pleyel’s string quintets are firmly rooted in the Viennese tradition of such composers as Hoffmeister, Krommer and Wranitzky.

Great works of chamber music by a master of melodies, performed by internationally renowned musicians - all the elements are in place for a feast of surprises on this recording. First up is a string quartet for violin, two violas and violoncello. Pleyel's String Sextet, a work that holds up well against other sextets from that time, was first recognized in the Hoffmeister edition published on 14 May 1791. Pleyel's four-movement Quintet in G minor with its surprisingly short and slow introduction could be described as "a prodigious and prescient romantic reconception." In this work, Pleyel did not comply with the dictate of fashion - instead of writing for the music market, he wrote for an audience of connoisseurs, availing himself of "the science of composition." As the musicologist and composer Vogler put it, "he can when he wants to." In all likelihood, the String Quintet has never been publicly performed and is therefore one of his (and not only his) most interesting string quintets.

'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))

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

Iganz Joseph Pleyel (1757-1831), composer, music publisher and student of Haydn, was a much admired figure in his day, popular in his lifetime throughout Europe and even as far away as America (New York).This recording, the sixteenth volume in the Ars Produktion label’s diligent and noteworthy Pleyel project, highlights three of the composer’s Symphonie Concertante.The Camerata pro Musica, a Hungarian ensemble of twenty year’s standing, is led by conductor Christian Birnbaum, a former orchestral concertmaster and current, consistent presence on the music scene in Vienna.

The album Histoires by the Duo Praxedis proves once again that the chamber music combination of harp and piano simply sounds charming and appealing, especially with the romantic repertoire heard on this recording. The double album contains arrangements of unknown composers who dedicated themselves to the opera heritage of Mozart, Donizetti and others. The mother and daughter piano/harp duo Duo Praxedis conveys a particular feeling of joy and musical eloquence through this unusual combination- both of their instruments and their personal relationship. Full of enthusiasm and dedicated to bringing this rich repertoire before a wider audience, this exceptional Swiss harp and piano chamber-music duo has been delighting the public since 1996 both in classical and contemporary repertoire and with their own arrangements of renowned works. Praxedis Hug’s talent as a pianist, together with Praxedis Hug-Rütti’s prowess as a harpist enables them both to perfect their creative range and unique soundscape.