Spanning 6 CDs and featuring many a consummate performance, this release celebrates the genius of Schubert through detailing all of his late chamber music. The compilation begins with the two piano trios, works of immense virtuosity whose fluent melodies betray the composer's affinity for song. Moving on to the quartets, we encounter expressive depth, melancholy and drama; while the Quartettsatz movement in C minor displays all the hallmarks of Schubert's late style - including dark lyricism and shifting chromaticism - D810 'Der Tod und das M�dchen' takes the idea of tragedy to a whole new level, it's second movement's melody lifted directly from the identically titled song. The String Quintet follows, a work written just two months before Schubert's death and which replaces the conventional second viola part with that of a cello. Last, but by no means least, the Octet; composed in 1826, this piece was conceived in a response to a commission by the renowned clarinetist Ferdinand Troyer. Recorded 1995-2009. In his last years (though he was only in his late twenties...) Schubert achieved a unique musical form in which structure and content fuse into an inseparable unity. His later works present a soul in anguish, darkness and light alternate, terror and happiness go hand in hand. The three late string quartets (counting among the best and most famous quartets ever written), the two piano trios, the string quintet of heavenly proportions and the octet all reveal grand musical structures, laden with a depth of feeling which belies the comparative youth of the composer. Excellent performances from the Klaviertrio Amsterdam (Spanish classical magazine Scherzo: "The best recording available"), the German Brandis Quartet and the famous Berlin Philharmonic Octet.

This release is a first recording of these rare works by Robert Lach (1874-1958). Robert Lach was not only a composer, but also a scholar, ethnomusicologist, philosopher, and Professor at the Wiener Akademie. During his career he composed 10 symphonies, several masses, 25 string quartets, and a myriad of other chamber works. He was the last composer to write for the viola d’amore, which was popular during the Baroque era. A strong advocate for the music of Robert Lach, Italian violinist Valerio Losito performs these pieces, and also has provided extensive liner notes for the album.

He is perhaps best known now for his clarinet concertos, to which his quartets including the instrument form a not insubstantial pendant: they, too, are full of virtuosic writing for the instrument, who placed forward in a soloistic position, with the string parts mostly moving together to accompany it. In the late Clarinet Quintet, however, the instruments enjoy a more equal balance of the kind familiar from Brahms's chamber music for the instrument: indeed, in the opening movement's fugue, the clarinet is the last voice to enter. Here the harmonies are cloudier, more Romantically inclined, and a more reflective spirit presides even in the quick outer movements: there is a rapt and melancholic Andante which deserves far greater popularity. These new recordings come from Dutch instrumentalists who have specialized in this repertoire. As principal clarinettist of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra for many years, Henk de Graaf has recorded Mozart's Clarinet Concerto (as soloist) and much chamber music from the late-Classical/Early Romantic period by Crusell, Weber, Spohr and others.

Johann Krieger (1652-1735) won the esteem of Handel, no less, for the skill of his counterpoint and the inventive power of his organ music. For the theorist Mattheson, Krieger was likewise the pre-eminent exponent of complex counterpoint in his generation. Yet music-lovers have hitherto been able to sample Krieger's work only in excerpted compilations. The present album occupies a unique place in the catalogue as by far the most extensive recorded survey of Krieger, containing his two published collections of keyboard music. Album 1 is filled with the six harpsichord suites which were published in 1697 in Krieger's home town of N�rnberg, though by then the composer himself was employed as an organist in the Saxon town of Zittau: a post he filled for 54 years until his death. The Suites are themselves prefaced by an elaborate fantasia, and they contain the standard sequence of dance numbers - allemandes, courantes, sarabandes and gigues. Published two years later, the Anmuthige Clavier-�bung was probably written earlier, and functions as a small library of preludes, ricercares, fugues, fantasias, toccatas and a chaconne, which are not grouped together by key. Both collections make clear that Krieger deserves to rank with Fischer, Kuhnau and Pachelbel as one of the outstanding German keyboard composers of the generation before Bach. Boccaccio has paid careful attention to the details of old fingering techniques; the resultant variety in phrasing and articulation gives new life to figurations that with a more modern legato approach can seem plain. As his own booklet note explains, he has also taken considered decisions about when discreet ornamentation can enhance the music's impact and when to let Sweelinck's notes

Lullabies of my sorrow", that is how Brahms described his short pieces for piano, the intermezzi, capriccii, Klavierst�cke and others. In the small form he expresses his deepest musical thoughts, full of tenderness and melancholy. A new recording with Norwegian pianist H�kon Austb�, who shows his deep insight into this complex music. Austb� already revealed his great artistry in his recordings of Erik Satie and of the complete Lyrische St�cke of Edvard Grieg, which received rave reviews.

KLAVIERSTÜCKE

The pianist Wilhelm Kempff (1895-1991) belonged to that tradition of German musicians - notably including conductors such as Furtwangler, Klemperer and Walter - for whom composition hardly less essential a component of their musical personalities than performing, even if it was an activity they largely undertook privately. Working day to day with imperishable masterworks by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, they did not expect to meet such standards, yet their own creative voices required an outlet through more than recreation of others. Left cold by the musical innovations and developments of their own time in the work of Schoenberg and Stravinsky, they wrote in a heightened Romantic idiom, and in genres - especially song and chamber music - which lay separately from their own professional activity as performers. Both chamber works presented here date from Kempff's youth. The Piano Trio was composed in 1911, when Kempff was 16, and bears a clear Brahmsian influence in thematic conduct and emotional landscape, through the guidance of Kempff's teacher Robert Kahn, who had himself been a student of Brahms. The Quartet is scored for the more unusual combination of flute, violin, cello and piano. It dates from 1920, and was composed on the island of Capri during a period of recuperation from a serious illness which had laid him low during a concert tour of Sweden. Thus the second movement is based on a Swedish folk theme and the finale ends with a whirlin Tarantella di Taormina, in the tradition exemplified by Mendelssohn's 'Italian' Symphony of German musicians letting Italian sunshine into their work. The Quartet is led by the flautist Ginevra Petrucci. Now based in the US, Petrucci has made several well-received recordings for Brilliant Classics, among them Romantic-era concertos by Briccialdi and a 'winning' (MusicWeb International) album of chamber music by the Polish-US immigrant Robert Muczynski.

Sigfried Karg-Elert (1877-1933) is best remembered for his organ works, and more specifically, for the harmonium. His dense, chromatic and complex counterpoint and rich late romantic harmonies put him next to his compatriot Max Reger. This set contains the complete works for flute solo and flute and piano. His 30 Caprices for solo flute are not only interesting for professional flute players, and the works for flute and piano, notably the substantial Flute Sonata, are masterworks in their genre, showing an original mind and a fine ear for the flute's lyrical and seductive qualities. Excellent and compelling performances by two young Italian musicians.

The product of almost 20 years' work, a true fusion of many types of opera, thanks to the buffa elements of Till's trickster personality, the drama of Klaas' death, and the opera engage nature that introduces the characters of Charles V, Philip II and the Count of Egmont. This is the only recording of this significant work. In the title role is Boris Koudriavstev, and Katrina Mazo plays Till's fianc� alongside a native cast that contributes to this 'fascinating, important and inspiring issue' (Gramophone).

Giya Kancheli's cult reputation as one of the most profound musical voices of our time has not always been matched by the availability of his music on record. These world premiere recordings of works written (or recomposed and arranged) between 2016 and 2018 are thus a significant contribution to the Kancheli discography. They find the composer at his most charming and epigrammatic in a series of 25 musical 'letters' for violin and string orchestra. Most of them are under three minutes in length, taking their material from themes written by the Georgian composer for the film scores which he has composed throughout his career. Compared to his more celebrated concert works such as the symphonies and cantatas of often starkly imposing and monumental expression, these letters strike a more whimsical, often wistful tone. The subjects - to whom they are addressed - are mostly actors and directors who have worked on the films scored by Kancheli. But there are also pieces written with palpable affection to performers such as the composer Jansug Kakhidze, who have championed his music over the years, to fellow composers such as Bidzina Kvernadze, and to artistic friends such as the writer, puppeteer and painter Revaz Gabriadze. The project was initiated by the violinist Andrea Cortesi, who had asked for a piece for violin and string orchestra. Kancheli returned to a cycle of 18 miniatures he had written for violin and piano with Cortesi in mind, and then further back to a collection of 33 piano-only miniatures. Kancheli explains this in a booklet introduction, complemented by a fuller essay from Cortesi, making this album an authoritative recording of Kancheli at his most appealing - perhaps the ideal introduction to his unique voice.

JOLIVET: JARDINS D'HIVER, COMP

Classical Music

Several of the works on this new recording were composed expressly for Dieci, including Overshadow (Notturno), Light Frameworks, Sectional Drawings and Sharp Outlines, forming a compositional series that centers on the integral role of rhythm and the way it contributes to composition. Nicola Jappelli is one of the most interesting composers of the young generation in 21st-century Italy.

This third installment of Bach's complete organ works presents a fine and balanced selection of the intimate and the magnificent: Chorale preludes alternate with some of the most glorious and substantial organ works ever written: Toccata & Fugue in D minor, Pi�ce d'orgue BWV572 and the Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C major. For this recording organist Stefano Molardi chose a superb historical instrument, the Zacharias Hildebrandt organ (1728), in the St. Jacobikirche, S�ngerhausen, Germany. Bach knew Hildebrandt well, and Molardi's performance on this organ gives a particular "authentic" thrill to this recording. Stefano Molardi is unquestionably one of Italy's foremost organists, scholar and conductors. His playing however is far from academic: lively phrased, with brisk tempi and articulations he shares the joy, wonderment and love for these eternal masterpieces!

For this uniquely compiled new recording of Bach's organ works, the Italian organist Manuel Tomadin devised a concept of organizing music by the four seasons. There are 12 pieces on the album, opening with the vaulting arpeggios of the G major Prelude BWV541. To each season is given it's own prelude and fugue - all of them masterpieces from Bach's Leipzig period - as well as a pair of shorter works. These include superb chorale preludes such as Christ unser Herr, zum Jordan kam BWV564 but also much lesser-known music such as the C minor Fantasia BW1121: a youthful piece of reverent serenity, and the Kleines Harmonisches Labyrinth BWV591. The authorship of this tripartite work has often been questioned - it came to light as part of the Neumeister Chorales within the last century - but the daring sequences at it's close are highly redolent of the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue that is one of Bach's undisputed masterpieces. On this recording Manuel Tomadin plays the Christoph Treutmann organ of 1737 in the former Collegiate Church of St. George, Grauhof, Germany. The booklet includes photos and specification of the organ as well as Tomadin's own authoritative introduction to the music on the album. His extensive discography on Brilliant Classics has met with wide critical praise. 'For both completeness and budget price, Tomadin has no competition, and merits a cordial recommendation accordingly.' (Fanfare, January 2019, reviewing the organ works of Vincent L�beck). 'Tomadin performs with equal grace on all three instruments, demonstrating the interchangeability of the music. The phrasing is precise and convincing, and Tomadin has a positive knack for making the simplest of lines and lyrical themes interesting and listenable. He will have done a tremendous service to the world of music in this recording.' (Fanfare, July 2016, reviewing the keyboard music of Alberti).