Bach, Mozart, Schubert & Schumann: Songs and Arias

Die berühmten Ouvertüren

MOZART HIGHLIGHTS

BEETHOVEN:HIGHLIGHTS

Pergolesi, Monteverdi, Frescobaldi: Stabat Mater - Sacred Ba

The album entitled Message from G that was released in 1979 on the MPS label embodies more than any other the visionary creativity of the composer and pianist Friedrich Gulda. On the album, he traces the paths of the great masters- Bach, Mozart and Debussy, whose work he plays- works which then provide him with the most diverse of inspirations for his own compositions, long before classical music opened up to other influences. “My aim in remastering “Message from G” was not to change anything in the recordings of the three concerts of 1978; not to adapt them to today’s listening habits or to modify them; on the contrary, the aim was to capture that special beauty of musicality and tone and to achieve a sound as close to the original recordings as possible. To that end, the master tape was comprehensively reworked: on the one hand by careful selection and the finest calibration of the tape equipment and the subsequent signal chain, and on the other hand by making very sensitive adjustments to the frequency range and the amplitude level. The theoretical basis for this was, among other things, an original vinyl disc that I used frequently for comparison purposes. We worked exclusively with analogue technology to produce the re-release…” (Producer’s comment, Christoph Stickel, July 2015)

Discover Mozart includes a selection of works from the composer who defined the Classical era, including Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the “Jupiter” Symphony, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, and more.; The Discover Series from Berlin Classic aims to make classics popular, firing people up about the music presented, regardless of musical taste.; Rather than focusing on complete works, this series focuses on individual pieces that have rewritten our musical history.

With it's latest CD, the Trumpet Consort, under the direction of renowned trumpeter Matthias Hofs, takes you into a fascinating world of trumpet sounds that unites tradition and innovation in a unique way. With exceptional skill and impressive arrangements, the ensemble showcases the entire range of the trumpet family - from festive baroque works to modern compositions. Experience the masterful variety of sounds created by the special collaboration between experienced musicians and young talents.

Konstantin Reinfeld and Benyamin Nuss are releasing "Merry Harmonica", a Christmas album that presents well-known Christmas carols in new, surprising arrangements. The idea arose spontaneously during a performance in Dubai at EXPO 2021. Reinfeld, who has been fascinated by the harmonica since his youth, brings the instrument to the album with emotional depth. The repertoire includes classic Christmas songs and international hits, reinterpreted in different styles such as jazz, blues and Latin. Prominent guest musicians such as Alma Naidu and Marc Marshall further enrich the album.

Schubert: Wandererfantasie

To mark the 250th anniversary of the death of George Philipp Telemann, mandolinist Alon Sariel presents a diverse compilation of remarkable works by the great German composer. Together with his ensemble Concerto Foscari he plays repertoire that has never been heard before in this musical form. Born in the Israeli city of Beersheba, Alon Sariel encountered the mandolin at a young age. Constantly in search of a new challenging, he discovered Telemann's solo fantasias, which were originally written for another instrument, and arragned them for the mandolin. Clearly impressed by this discovery, he started to take a broader interest in Telemann, his incredible wealth of ideas and his compositions, whcih are not limited to any particular genre. Telemann effortlessly mastered every style of his age.

The existing recordings of Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in A minor op. 3/8 and Bach’s Concerto for two violins in D minor BWV 1043 came into being in April 1957 at Leipzig’s Kongresshalle. Since their joint debut in 1947, the Bach Double Concerto was the central work in the joint repertoire of David and Igor Oistrakh, which they performed in numerous concerts before David’s death in 1974. The then Eterna boss Dieter-Gerhardt Worm reminisces: “David Oistrakh was a very kind and approachable person. You can hear this in his recordings. His playing is so unbelievably accomplished yet nevertheless so humanly accessible. He was seized with the ambition to be at least as good as Menuhin, whose Bachian style he greatly admired. During the recording of the Bach Violin Sonatas in Dresden’s Lukaskirche, he constantly disappeared from the studio with his little tape recorder in order to listen to excerpts of Menuhin’s recording. And yet he had a much better technique, in fact the recordings with Oistrakh moved along very quickly.” – The recordings from 1957/58 were remastered in original monaural reproduction quality.

Handel: Water Music Suites Nos. 1 & 2 - Music for the Royal

A leading ensemble of period performance practice, Concerto Koln has been acknowledged for their rediscovery of musical rarities. Regardless, the ensemble still views the Baroque as being shaped by two driving forces- Bach and Handel. For this release, parts of three masterpieces have been coupled for the first time: Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto,” No. 5 and No. 1 of his Orchestral Suites along with Handel’s “Water Music.” Artistic Director Lorenzo Alpert explains the symbiotic nature of this release: “Our intensive engagement over the last 30 years with composers, music theorists and contemporaries from the time of Bach and Handel… opens up new vistas for us as we approach the works of these two great masters… What a joy to recreate a sound that seemed lost forever!”

This new release opens an unusually varied chapter in music history, ranging from the first 16th-century arrangements of Luther’s hymns to the sacred music of the 21st century. The initiator of this development was in every sense a man of his word: Martin Luther. The sequence of works on this release can be understood as an audio history of one of the most important hymns of the Protestant Reformation: “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.” The hymn first appeared in 1533 in Martin Luther’s book “Sacred songs newly amended at Wittemberg. Over the following centuries, many composers re-set and rearranged the work. Martin Luther wrote several dozen hymns for all the Christian festivals too. “Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her” (1535) is one of his best known. Some of the adaptations by Eccard, Praetorius or Bach (from the “Christmas Oratorio”) are to be heard on this release. Schooled in the Protestant tradition, the trumpeter and conductor Ludwig Güttler regards Luther as a constant point of reference. He acknowledges the great reformer’s current relevance: “A man like Martin Luther, who in the face of all opposition finds a way, goes his own way, with this faith in God, this strength, this fearlessness, insight and perseverance, and who never wearies of praising music as second only to theology, makes use of it and reveals himself as a thoroughly musical person, is more than role model and inspiration for us; he is our strong companion.” A world premiere and first recording top the album off. The composer, saxophonist and flautist Daniel Schnyder engages with Luther’s “Feste Burg” and creates his own version in the musical form of an oratorio. This work was commissioned by the Frauenkirche Dresden to mark the Luther Decade.