Both Shostakovich and Gulda were masters at blending the levels of art and light music in a profitable way. One discreetly and he almost refines through the back door, the other in the form of a provocative cultural shock in his role as a musical bourgeois terror. On his recording for Ars Produktion, Friedrich Kleinhapl unites works of the two 'opposing' geniuses. Friedrich Kleinhapl is immensely expressive and passionate. Worldwide, he entices the audience as well as critics as a soloist and as chamber musician with his noteworthy performances. He does many things in a new and different way: starting with his posture holding the cello, and his interpretations to the thrilling way to tell the pieces’ stories during the concerts and the individual arrangement of his programs and art projects. Additionally, he concerns himself in a heartfelt way with children with hearing impairment through his association “Get a Hearing”.

At the beginning of 2017, the duo Konstantin Reinfeld and Benyamin Nuss began interpreting transcriptions of classical works on the diatonic harmonica and piano. The common enthusiasm for soundtracks, world music and jazz was also discovered early on. The wide-ranging programme on the present release offers a musical experience that is as captivating as it is individual. Dubbed the „German Wunderkind“, Konstantin Reinfeld started playing the harmonica as a teenager and was recognized for his playing skills in no time. Invited to the “Harmonica Masters Workshops 2010” by none other than Steve Baker, Konstantin went on to learn from harmonica virtuoso Howard Levy. The release of his first album in 2012 established him as one of the best Jazz harmonica players. Benyamin Nuss was born in Bergisch-Gladbach on the twentieth of June 1989. At the age of six he began piano lessons. He was inspired and encouraged by his father, the trombonist Ludwig Nuss, an internationally renowned jazz musicians. Not only did Benyamin grow up with music from different genres, he really made classical music and jazz his passion. Inspired by “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum” from “Children’s Corner,” he began at the age of ten to study the composer Claude Debussy, and soon after the works of Maurice Ravel.

‘Haunting lyricist' or 'devil violinist' are terms critics use to describe impressions Manrico Padovani conveys with virtuosic, profound playing as well as flawless technique in his concerts. Here the fascination can be felt by means of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, the Romance No.2 as well as a Violin Sonata. Manrico Padovani, Swiss violinist of Italian origin is defined by critics as the "Wizard of the Violin" for his musical intensity and technical agility. He is not only a great musician able to excite and establish contact with his audience, but he involves and fascinates them by explaining classical music in a clear way, bringing it closer to everyone, even the youngest audience members.

The two musicians have been working on the Winterreise for several years now and have decided relatively early on to make a recording of the cycle together. They would like to address young people with their interpretation, as many of these people might still have fresh experiences with lovesickness. Moreover, the protagonist is also a rather young man. Hewat-Craw: "I don't think there is a more iconic song cycle than Winterreise. We wanted to announce our entry into the international song scene with a bang. This is certainly a challenge with such a prominent catalogue of recordings lining the way: wonderful artists who have given the cycle its unique stamp. Now we have put our own stamp on it. Each interpretation of the previous artists is very individual, but the cycle is enticingly unique. There is no story or substantial plot. The real story ends before the cycle begins. The cycle is an extended epilogue that delves deep into the human psyche, revealing loneliness and despair, but also perhaps a glimmer of hope. I would challenge any artist who has no interest in exploring these themes."

The fourth episode of the "Weimar Classic" is dedicated to Franz Carl Adelbert Eberwein's "Entreactes and Songs to Goethe's Wife". It's a world premiere recording and is presented by the chamber choir of the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" Weimar under the direction of Jürgen Puschbeck. They are accompanied by a number of speakers and singers, including Hans Burkia in the role of Faust. Franz Carl Adalbert Eberwein (10 November 1786 - 2 March 1868) was a German composer and violinist. He was born in Weimar, Germany and learned music under the consultation of his father. He was good friends with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and put music to many of his works, such as Faust and to Proserpina.

The third episode of the "Weimarer Klassik" is again dedicated to musical treasures from Thuringia. This time Max Pommer and the Thuringia Chamber Orchestra Weimar have concentrated on music of the 18th century, with an emphasis on the symphonic genre. Lovers of classical and pre-classical music can look forward to unusual discoveries. Max Pommer (born 9 February 1936) is a German musicologist and conductor, a director of the Leipziger Universitätschor and the founder and conductor of the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum. From 1987 to 1991, Pommer was Generalmusikdirektor of the MDR Sinfonieorchester. He was the conductor of the Hamburger Camerata from 2001 to 2011, when he celebrated his 75th birthday.

Why is America the so called 'New World'? And how did the USA actually come into being? And what does a composer named Dvorák have to do with it? On his trip to America Timmy learns about pirates, meets the music and culture of the Native Americans and is fascinated how a completely new American music developed from the classical music of the whites and the rhythmic music of the blacks. Georg Friedrich Haas grew up in Tschagguns (Vorarlberg) and studied composition with Gösta Neuwirth and Iván Er?d and piano with Doris Wolf at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria. Since 1978, he has been teaching at the Hochschule as an instructor, and since 1989 as an associate professor in counterpoint, contemporary composition techniques, analysis, and introduction to microtonal music. Haas is a founding member of the Graz composers' collective Die andere Seite. He composes in a cottage in Fischbach, Styria.

For centuries it has been regarded as the finest, the most valuable, the untouchable of high culture: classical music. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Szanto and pianist Simon Bucher have gone through the strict schooling of classical music - but at night, they danced under the disco ball, to the hits of their youth. Music is music, say the two of them, and it knows no boundaries. Szanto and Bucher attribute the most trivial hits of the 80s and 90s a splendor of sublimity, just as they view serious music with humor. And so The High Horse with its parodies is a unique blend of the best of both genres.

If one tries to characterize Russian music, then one almost involuntarily finds descriptions such as "soulful", "melancholic" or even "emotionally charged", attributes that could also apply to the sphere of sound of the violoncello. Benjamin Kruithof and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie conducted by Conrad van Alphen play Tchaikovsky's short tasteful salon piece Pezzo Capriccioso, the cheerful, elegant and witty Rococo Variations, the Nocturne in C-sharp minor from his piano cycle Opus 19 and the slow movement (Andante cantabile) from his String Quartet No. 1 op. 11 - plus Glazunov's Chant du Ménestrel op. 71 and Dawidov's peacefully flowing Sunday Morning op. 20. Popper's Fantasy on Little Russian Songs op. 43 combines the lyrical mellifluousness and sheer unfailing bravura that also distinguished Popper's own cello playing. Rachmaninov's Vocalise Op. 34, No. 14 completes RUSSIAN MOOD.

Gustav Mahler's death left his Tenth Symphony unfinished, consisting only of an unfinished score and several sketches. Ensemble Mini, a radical collective of soloists from Germany's finest orchestras, presents Michelle Castelletti's fascinating recreation of the work - one of the most powerful sound creations ever written - in a version for chamber ensemble. Ensemble Mini is a radical collective of super-sonic-soloists from Germany's top orchestras that repackages super symphonic music for new audiences. Addressing the need to make classical music cool for the 21st century, its mission is to revolutionize the symphonic concert experience through new style, sound and setting whilst never dumbing down.

Josef Suk is the successor of Dvorák, and aside from Leoš Janácek, he is considered the most important composer of the Czech modernism that began with him. Starting from the influence of his famous mentor, Suk finally found his way from late romanticism to a very independent and complex late style. On this recording one can hear his Piano Quintet in G minor op. 8 and Zivotem a Snem, which consists of ten pieces for piano. The pieces are presented by Kiveli Dörken. Kiveli Dörken was born in 1995 in Duesseldorf, Germany. She has been playing piano since the age of five. Her first music teacher was Marina Kheifets. In 2003, at the age of eight, she was the youngest candidate ever to pass the entrance exam for the early studies program for gifted children at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien (HMTM) in Hannover (class of Professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling). Following her professor’s death in 2012 she continues her studies in HMTM under Lars Vogt.

Singing together, whether spontaneously with family and friends or organized in choirs, was an integral part of bourgeois musical life in the 19th century. Franz Schubert created numerous works in various formations for such occasions, some of which are still part of the repertoire of amateur and professional choirs today. The Renner Ensemble Regensburg under Hans Pritschet has put together a diverse programme for ARS PRODUKTION, which impressively shows that these are not trivial by-products of a genius, but masterpieces of their genre, which are still of interest today.

All of the works gathered on this album have - as different as they may be - one thing in common: they can be heard in the popular and idealized folk tone popular in the Romantic period. Whether Schumann's Fantasiestücke or Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata, all of these pieces catch the ear quickly, stir deep emotions and yet are complexly composed works that place the highest demands on cello and piano. Born in Freiburg, Germany, into a musical family, Tatjana Uhde took her first cello lessons at the age of 6, with her mother Sanja Uhde Mitrovic. She later went on to study with Martin Ostertag (Hochschule für Musik, Karlsruhe), Philippe Muller (Conservatoire national supérieur de Paris), and Antonio Meneses (Hochschule der Künste Bern). Since 2008 Uhde has been Associate Principal Cellist at the Paris National Opera. She is also a member of the Festspielorchestra in Bayreuth. A sense of sound, virtuosity, stage presence and a special feeling for an interesting selection of programs characterize the pianist Lisa Wellisch. Her particular concern is to facilitate access to classical music for a diverse audience through exciting music education - without compromising on the always demanding selection of works. She especially likes to give lecture recitals and in 2009 founded the concert series “Klassik im Sigma Zentrum” Bad Säckingen, which makes an important cultural contribution to the region with 10 top-class concerts a year, moderated by the artists.

“Schubert's Winterreise was present for both of us very early in our lives. Daniel keeps telling me how he sat at the piano with his grandfather and played "Der Leiermann". We were fascinated by this work, which seemed to know so much about what we felt and whose story was somehow our story. The negation of the physical in song singing and the wish of the guards of the genre to use only the voice for expression were always suspicious to me and I wanted to find out what expressive possibilities Schubert's songs reveal once you dare to give up the format that has been in use since the 1950s. It was clear to us that we would not only find approval, but we were willing to take this risk. […] And in the end we arrived back at the beginning - with the music of Schubert and the poems of Wilhelm Müller. For despite all our search for a new format, we always wanted to be faithful to the text. And that's why we rehearsed for many hours during this time, listened to our concert recordings, argued and struggled for every note, every bar and every word. We discovered how wild, expressive, desperate but also hopeful, melancholic and quiet Schubert's winter journey is. And over the years an interpretation matured which we have now recorded on this album with sound engineer Franz Schaden near Vienna. It is not our last word on the winter journey, only a snapshot.” (Johannes Held)

Die Shone Mullerin is Schubert’s first and most popular major song cycle. Husband and wife duo Klemens Sander and Uta Sander perform this cycle beautifully, exposing its moving subtleties and expressive simplicities. Baritone Klemens Sander is winner of the International Robert Schumann Competition in 2000 and the Richard Tauber Prize in 2003.